PSA: This week is the last call for user nominations to the second Steering Committee, which will be setting policy and overseeing the budget for the year ahead. Do you want to help chart a course for this community (or know someone who would make a great pick)? Send in your nominations today! Or check inside for more details and questions answered.
posted to MetaTalk by Rhaomi at 1:00 PM on March 22, 2023 (52 comments)

Hi there, MetaFilter!

It’s been a while! I’m happy to be back. The last Site Update was December 2nd. For now we are thinking about resuming regular site updates on a monthly basis.

You’ll find some updates regarding the site below. I’m looking forward to your feedback and questions.

Reminder: I will be the only mod monitoring this thread so please be patient as I reply to your feedback and questions.
posted to MetaTalk by loup at 7:00 PM on March 22, 2023 (8 comments)

Neon is five minutes of mindblowing freestyle skateboarding from Andy Anderson, Isamu Yamamoto, and Kilian Martin.
posted to MetaFilter by Dysk at 12:50 AM on March 23, 2023 (16 comments)

Just Rolled In is a short-form YouTube show in which mechanics submit clips of customers' unusual cars and complaints. Clips include bizarre manufacturing defects, unhinged homebrew wiring jobs, embarrassing customer misunderstandings of basic car functions, and nightmarishly unsafe vehicles that somehow drove to the shop (and occasionally decline repairs and drive away). Each episode is around 3 minutes of gentle comedy tinged with occasional horror.
posted to MetaFilter by saladin at 11:58 AM on March 10, 2023 (38 comments)

Falling Down explores the ways that we imagine cities, Los Angeles in particular. Foster is a character who considers himself displaced, evicted from what he assumed was the promise of Southern California prosperity. And most obviously, he is out of place because he is out of his car. To complete his cinematic arc, he must experience, at three miles per hour, the reality of Los Angeles, a city he has previously known only as an abstraction. from Fatal Flâneur: On Joel Schumacher’s “Falling Down” and the Sidewalks of Los Angeles
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:01 PM on March 3, 2023 (22 comments)

An interview with the authors (podcast with transcript) of Sorry, Sorry, Sorry: The Case for Good Apologies, by Marjorie Ingall and Susan McCarthy. Ingall and McCarthy also created the site SorryWatch which analyzes apologies from celebrities, politicians, and more. Step 4 to a good apology (pop up window): "Be VEEERY CAAAREFUL if you want to provide explanation; don’t let it shade into excuse." Ingall on teaching kids how to apologize.
posted to MetaFilter by spamandkimchi at 9:49 AM on February 28, 2023 (18 comments)

Hello Everyone! Please join me welcoming our newly-hired Moderator: Brandon Blatcher!
posted to MetaTalk by loup at 10:28 AM on February 15, 2023 (92 comments)

Ted Chiang explains how ChatGPT is better understood as a lossy compression algorithm (New Yorker; archive link; Chiang previously).

Imagine what it would look like if ChatGPT were a lossless algorithm. If that were the case, it would always answer questions by providing a verbatim quote from a relevant Web page. We would probably regard the software as only a slight improvement over a conventional search engine, and be less impressed by it. The fact that ChatGPT rephrases material from the Web instead of quoting it word for word makes it seem like a student expressing ideas in her own words, rather than simply regurgitating what she’s read; it creates the illusion that ChatGPT understands the material.

posted to MetaFilter by automatronic at 5:22 AM on February 11, 2023 (100 comments)

I watched Groundhog Day every day for a year. Here’s what I learned
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 7:22 AM on February 2, 2023 (58 comments)

Chronophoto is a game in which you guess the dates of some photos — the closer the guess, the higher your score. That's it!
posted to MetaFilter by swift at 4:31 PM on January 27, 2023 (76 comments)

Adherence to TINECUC ["there is no ethical consumption under capitalism"] allows organizers to focus on building solidarity between workers or community members rather than buyers, whose common interests may be superficial. It is also, in a world system of production based on exploitation, a factually true statement, insofar as no purchase of anything made with exploited labor has any business branding itself “ethical.” But the unexamined phrase isn’t worth using; before people start attributing TINECUC to Marx or Lenin, we should figure out how Sandinista beans turned into Starbucks — and how anti-consumerist politics fell out of fashion on the American left.
posted to MetaFilter by jshttnbm at 6:34 AM on January 26, 2023 (44 comments)

In celebration of little indie film Everything Everywhere All At Once receiving 11 Oscar nominations, YouTube queer media analyst and commentator James Somerton takes his usual deep dive into the movie. The Queer Nihilism Of Joy (31m) is a journey through confusion and nihilism and into joy. Queer joy.
posted to MetaFilter by hippybear at 1:03 PM on January 24, 2023 (37 comments)

A few months ago we came to you with information we had just learned about the dire financial state of MetaFilter. The site was losing money every month and the cash reserves keeping it afloat had run dry. The situation was grim. But MeFites, you stepped up in a big, big way: recurring contributions have gone up by $9,863.10 and we have received $78,857.91 in one-time contributions (both figures are net). This means that according to our targets MetaFilter has more than enough budget to Survive, and is within striking distance of Revive! There are more details inside about the specifics of the fundraiser and how the funds will be used, so please keep reading…
posted to MetaTalk by Rhaomi at 12:28 PM on January 23, 2023 (296 comments)

"Check out this guy playing the solo from 'Free Bird.'"
"Lots of guitarists can play that."
"Yeah, but this guy, he...he plays the harmonica."
posted to MetaFilter by Faint of Butt at 7:38 PM on January 18, 2023 (20 comments)

.. but in Antarctica! This is the premise of brr.fyi ⛄, a cool little blog written by an IT worker who is currently at the South Pole.
posted to MetaFilter by Superilla at 12:45 PM on January 12, 2023 (26 comments)

"A Year of Scrabble. 47 games … 1,533 turns … 30,378 points. I catalogued every game we played for an entire year. The visuals that follow are visual experiments and focus on different ways of viewing personal data rather than exact details of who won or lost." Nicholas Rougeux's data visualization project and how it was made.
posted to MetaFilter by jessamyn at 4:06 PM on January 10, 2023 (12 comments)

A London furniture conservator has been credited with a crucial discovery that has helped understand why Ice Age hunter-gatherers drew cave paintings. (BBC)
posted to MetaFilter by MrJM at 1:49 PM on January 5, 2023 (34 comments)

"Tenement Town takes a look behind the doors I pass every day, and offers glimpses of the lives that were lived over the centuries in the places Edinburgh’s citizens still call home." - Diarmid Mogg on his new website. Each entry starts with a specific Edinburgh front door and takes us step by step through 200 years or so of the individuals who've lived there. Today's investigation covers 10 Hill Place, the latest of the 15 addresses he's tackled so far.
posted to MetaFilter by Paul Slade at 7:13 AM on December 20, 2022 (24 comments)

Even for people who do not celebrate Christmas, December 25th can be a bit of an odd day because a lot of places are closed, there's a sameness to the social media shares, and the internet gets ever so slightly quieter. Whether you celebrate or not, what are some things that you traditionally do today? Or just what are you up to?
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 8:58 AM on December 25, 2022 (73 comments)

a raccoon tries to catch falling snow
posted to MetaFilter by aniola at 8:49 AM on December 24, 2022 (19 comments)

Even in a melting pot, uncommon names can boil over From WNYC/Gothamist: Conversations with four New Yorkers who maneuver through life with names that affect their sense of place and community
posted to MetaFilter by okonomichiyaki at 5:51 AM on December 23, 2022 (87 comments)

This is your MeFi Holiday Card Exchange appreciation thread! I have received my most awesome cards ever and am feeling like I definitely need to up my card exchange game next year! ALL cards have been lovely but I especially want to thank whoever sent my dog the brilliant little crinkly dog toy and the person who sent the rainbow solstice window cling thingy. In typical fashion I mislaid the envelopes, but THANK YOU! <3
posted to MetaTalk by HotToddy at 10:41 PM on December 22, 2022 (24 comments)

Get all your baffling gender-selection webforms at genders.wtf. Curated by effy.
posted to MetaFilter by cortex at 10:57 AM on December 13, 2022 (37 comments)

Tiny Desk had Stromae in
posted to MetaFilter by mumimor at 6:08 AM on December 11, 2022 (11 comments)

For 20 years, Clarissa Crader has done everything in her power to get Justin Campbell care for his schizophrenia. He just got off probation after beating an elderly man. Now what? [TheCity.nyc]
posted to MetaFilter by riruro at 10:44 AM on December 9, 2022 (27 comments)

Subtitles, rich lifeguards, heavenbanning, and gold-plated Morse Code keys: Tom Whitwell brings us 52 things I learned in 2022. (SLMedium)
posted to MetaFilter by swift at 4:11 PM on December 2, 2022 (36 comments)

Hi there, MetaFilter!

It’s been a while! I’m happy to be back with this special update. You’ll find some updates regarding the site below. I’m looking forward to your feedback and questions.
posted to MetaTalk by loup at 10:58 AM on December 2, 2022 (19 comments)

The embodied energy just of the construction materials of the Seagram Building is estimated at 173 million kWh – almost four times the amount of energy that workers put into building the Great Pyramid at Giza (46 million kWh, approximately 78 million days of manual labour).

Barnabas Calder and Florian Urban compare the energy profile of Mies van der Rohe’s iconic Seagram Building with Waugh Thistleton’s 6 Orsman Road, London. via
posted to MetaFilter by Rumple at 9:24 AM on December 1, 2022 (40 comments)

MetaFilter’s Global BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) Advisory Board wants to share some context and plans with MetaFilter at large. This text is drawn from a conversation the BIPOC Board had with MetaFilter’s newly-elected Steering Committee in September 2022.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 11:41 AM on November 28, 2022 (28 comments)

Happy Thanksgiving everybody. I don’t celebrate this holiday but every year , I think of great people who have made a difference in my life. This year , it’s all about you mefites who I’m thinking of today.
posted to MetaTalk by SunPower at 7:46 AM on November 24, 2022 (18 comments)

The 9 best Thanksgiving songs I definitely didn't just make up by Alexandra Petri at The Washington Post, with composer Jack Mitchell.
posted to MetaFilter by the primroses were over at 9:45 AM on November 23, 2022 (9 comments)

It's Thanksgiving week, so I would like to give a big THANK YOU to the MetaFilter community. I am the least social person, but I check in with MeFi every morning and night. You all, as irascible and argumentative as you may be, are my friends. Thank you, everyone.
posted to MetaTalk by SPrintF at 4:09 PM on November 21, 2022 (8 comments)

The SCTV Guide To Showbiz [1h58m] is a fan-created 2021 documentary that covers the entire history of SCTV, from before it happened until after it ended. Witness a bunch of beloved comedians when they were puppies! Marvel at their chutzpah! Delight in whatever it is they do! Note: This is not a clip show of favorites. It's a history of SCTV told by SCTV with SCTV lore included. Enjoy!
posted to MetaFilter by hippybear at 2:05 PM on November 21, 2022 (12 comments)

"There's no way anyone could get away with such an obvious lie, it would be too easy to check. But it turns out if something is easy to check, NO ONE ACTUALLY DOES." [1h 57m] Hbomberguy spends half an hour finding the true origins of the Roblox "Oof" sound effect that plays when you die, then gets sucked into the outrageous (yet utterly banal) world of egotistical lies of veritable videogame industry icon, Tommy Tallarico.
posted to MetaFilter by AlSweigart at 6:45 AM on November 19, 2022 (25 comments)

A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discovers a bizarre, if not murderous, way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
posted to FanFare by Marky at 5:20 PM on November 18, 2022 (7 comments)

What is it like to be 41 and meet the thing that will likely kill you sometime before you turn 45? A reflection on saying goodbye to it all.
posted to MetaFilter by ewok_academy at 9:03 AM on November 16, 2022 (29 comments)

We’ve blown past our Survive target thanks to you, and are well on our way to being able to 🌱Revive🌱 Metafilter! As we enter the final week of the Metafilter Fundraiser 2022, here’s what you can do to help push the site over the finish line.
posted to MetaTalk by tavegyl at 12:30 PM on November 16, 2022 (85 comments)

For too long, the running community has pretended as though it were possible to keep politics out of running. As if, somehow, running is the great equalizer where people can come together and compete on an equal playing field, transcending all markers of identity. The truth is, when I go for a run as a Black woman, that in and of itself is a political act and one that puts me at risk—fearing for my life. As long as we live in a world steeped in white supremacy—and we do—being a Black woman will never be separate from my identity as a runner. From a conversation with Alison Désir (Instagram link), author of the new book Running While Black: Finding Freedom in a Sport that Wasn’t Built For Us, in today's Culture Study newsletter by Anne Helen Petersen.
posted to MetaFilter by Bella Donna at 6:22 AM on November 2, 2022 (9 comments)

On October 30, 2002, a cancer-stricken Warren Zevon returned to the ‘Late Show With David Letterman’ stage for one last performance. Twenty years later, Letterman and more remember the gravitas and emotion of that stunning night. (archive.ph link)
posted to MetaFilter by Etrigan at 12:04 PM on October 30, 2022 (20 comments)

Metafilter depends almost entirely on user contributions. The community needs your help to stay up and running and to improve in the future. Contributions, especially recurring contributions, are what pay for servers, moderators and technical support. Please contribute through the Metafilter funding page!
posted to MetaFilter by jacquilynne at 8:33 AM on October 25, 2022 (29 comments)

Need a perspective on Seattle from reliable narrators.
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Anonymous at 7:01 AM on October 21, 2022 (30 comments)

NASA has shared a new image, taken by the James Webb Space Telescope [previously] of the iconic Pillars Of Creation first captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 1995.
posted to MetaFilter by mhoye at 12:13 PM on October 19, 2022 (33 comments)

A TikTok by Alex Falcone
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 7:52 AM on October 17, 2022 (25 comments)

"The 2022 MacArthur Fellows are architects of new modes of activism, artistic practice, and citizen science. They are excavators uncovering what has been overlooked, undervalued, or poorly understood. They are archivists reminding us of what should survive."
posted to MetaFilter by kristi at 12:17 PM on October 14, 2022 (15 comments)

“As a teenage boy, I felt sad about lots of things,” McCloud told me. “Life seemed to be sad. And by George, Rod McKuen was sad too, and we could be sad together.” Rod McKuen sold millions of poetry books in the 1960s and 1970s. He was a regular on late-night TV. He released dozens of albums, wrote songs for Sinatra, and was nominated for two Oscars. He was a flashpoint in the battle between highbrow and lowbrow, with devotees revering his plain-spoken honesty and Dick Cavett mockingly calling him “the most understood poet in America.” Every year on his birthday, he sold out Carnegie Hall. But by the time I was a teenager, he had completely vanished from the cultural landscape. - By Dan Kois, Slate Magazine
posted to MetaFilter by MrVisible at 5:18 AM on October 11, 2022 (74 comments)

Someone is pretending to be me. [via.]
posted to MetaFilter by chavenet at 4:29 AM on October 12, 2022 (25 comments)

Tiny Desk (Home) Concert: Trueno A four song set (with bonus freestyle) from Buenos Aires hip hop artist Trueno for NPR's Tiny Desk series.
posted to MetaFilter by capricorn at 6:06 PM on October 4, 2022 (2 comments)

The MetaFilter Steering Committee is excited to bring you the first Steering Committee Check-In! Inside we have some updates on what we’ve done in the past month, what we’re working on this month, and a request for input from the community.
posted to MetaTalk by lazaruslong at 12:40 PM on October 3, 2022 (84 comments)

Introducing the Airport Book Harm Index
Type/Intensity of harm: When the book does harm, how bad is it? Who is harmed? And how are they harmed?
Influence/Scope: How many people read this book or were directly exposed to its contents? How influential was the book on society? Did it spawn other books in its harmful image?
Persistence: How long was the book able to do its harm?
posted to MetaFilter by spamandkimchi at 9:33 AM on October 3, 2022 (46 comments)

Hi there, Metafilter! You’ll find some updates regarding the site below. I’m looking forward to your feedback and questions.
posted to MetaTalk by loup at 3:46 PM on September 28, 2022 (8 comments)