Best of MetaFilter

Having An Unplugged Wedding

jessamyn — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 18:51:09 GMT

Playing with cameras by magicmonkey (cc by)

MeFite yeolcoatl offers a suggestion about how to politely and respectfully tell people to put away their cameras during a wedding ceremony.

Since I study tea ceremony, I talked about the idea of ichi-go ichi-e (one time one meeting): the idea that this moment with these people will never happen again, and that that the moment should be experienced, because the feeling of looking at pictures you can have over and over again, but the feeling of being in this moment cannot ever be recaptured. I mentioned the professional photographers and that we could trust these experts to do their job, and then I asked them to put away their cameras and turn off their cellphones and invited them to share the experience of the moment with the bride and groom.

DO NOT EVER PULL OUT AN EMBEDDED OBJECT

mathowie — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 23:20:50 GMT

Emergency Room / Health Care by Rosser321 (cc by)

When a paramedic gives tips on what to do when something is embedded in your body, you should file this away for later, just in case.

The Fierce Power Of Tornadoes

jessamyn — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 12:00:56 GMT

A Road Less Traveled by ~Pixelsmithy, used with permission

Tim Samaras is in the same class a volcanologists who race to a volcano when eruption is eminent, the same class as the astronauts who lost their life in the Space Shuttle, or in the Apollo III fire. You try to make things as safe as possible, but you still go to work knowing that there is a risk of something going wrong. On this day, it did.

MetaFilter remembers Tim Samaras

Dodging And Burning Effects In 1950s Television?

jessamyn — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 18:11:46 GMT

Dancers on The Judy Garland Show (1964) A few illuminating answers to a question about why some old Twilight Zone episodes can look especially creepy. Meet the term, and the MeFite, orthicon halo.

"The Photos On The Blog Are Taken With A Canon S95 Point And Shoot And Then Often Garishly Oversaturated In Picasa."

jessamyn — Mon, 27 May 2013 14:48:15 GMT

This fragile card is the way refugees access non food items and multiple distributions of food.

Most of these people have been uprooted from years if not decades of living in Sudan. Their patience and grace in a very hot, dusty and challenging environment is impressive.

MeFite tarvuz talks a little about his blog featuring photos from South Sudan.

THANK YOU MEFI FOR YOUR ENDLESS PATIENCE And Excellent Advice.

jessamyn — Mon, 27 May 2013 13:01:27 GMT

The cat is off the ledge!

It's Supposed To Be Serious, Grim, And Epic, But It's Unintentionally WTF When...

jessamyn — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:01:17 GMT

I grew up without cable, and am pretty much ignorant of everything but the "classic" music videos from the 80's; please let me know what I'm missing.

An awesomely generated list of 80s videos from Ask MetaFilter. Now with playlists!

Part 1 | Part 2

AKA The "unexpected Polish Sausage" IRL

jessamyn — Mon, 20 May 2013 22:25:06 GMT

ronald McDonald house dinner by dstanfor

Chicago area MeFites got together this past weekend for the second time to cook dinner for people at the Hyde Park Ronald McDonald House.

Why Star Trek Is Great. One MeFite's Experience.

jessamyn — Thu, 16 May 2013 03:41:00 GMT

Star Trek science onesie in action by PugnoM/camustafa/Mustafa Ünlü (cc by)

My 13-year-old son and I are watching every Star Trek right now and it is a fantastic experience. In fact it has repaired our relationship.

LarryC on watching Star Trek with his son.

Star Wars Kid Speaks Up

mathowie — Fri, 10 May 2013 16:58:30 GMT

A former classmate of Ghyslain Raza (otherwise known as the infamous Star Wars Kid) talks about what it was like going through law school with him and how amazing it is to hear Ghyslain speak about cyberbullying, ten years later:

Think about that burden, and the awful paranoia and loathing that would fester. And think about the publicity and retraumatization that will entail from stepping out like this, especially considering how much he has been protecting his identity the last 10 years.
Considering all of that, it is fucking HEROIC that he has decided to step into public and take a stand for such a good and appropriate cause. I would never in a million years have the guts to do it.

New Embedded Font Option For OpenDyslexic

jessamyn — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:59:17 GMT

screen grab from opendyslexic.org

We've added an embedded font option for OpenDyslexic, an open sources font intended to help increase readability for dyslexic users. Read the MetaTalk thread for more information on how to change your settings.

User-created Mobilefilter For Megathreads

jessamyn — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 17:52:16 GMT

Folks having trouble getting this week's megathreads to load may enjoy schmod's MobileFilter paginated version. (discussed here)

Baby Turtles In The Balance

mathowie — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 04:26:03 GMT

March of the Baby Turtles by Clearly Ambiguous (cc by)

MetaFilter member Muddler studied sea turtles and came away with some important lessons:

So, there is a balance that can be reached to help save the turtles, but it takes some creativity and understanding of the predicament of both the turtles and the people who live near their beaches. Thankfully, the Olive Ridley population is doing relatively well, no doubt in part to the efforts at Ostional.

Someone A Little Older And Wiser Always Has Their Back, No Matter What

mathowie — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 03:28:11 GMT

Drawing on index card by koalazymonkey (cc by)

In a thread seeking advice/gifts to impart on a 9 year-old receiving his first wallet, MetaFilter member decathecting describes the ultimate reference card for young people:

Make a card that is twice the size you actually need. Fold it in half, and then write on both sides of what is now the outside. Tell the young man that this is his emergency card. Include on the card a telephone number that you promise to answer, day or night, if he is in trouble and needs an adult, no questions asked. Advice about stuff he can't talk to his parents about, help getting a ride home from someplace he's not supposed to be, bail money, whatever. Before you laminate it, slip a $50 bill between the two halves, inside the fold. Tell him it's there, and that it's his emergency money, and that it will always be there if he needs it, but that the money is a one-time offer, so he really needs to save it for a situation he can't get out of on his own.

Bel Canto Means Beautiful Singing

jessamyn — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:35:22 GMT

Maria Callas (La Traviata)

Madamina and others outline bel canto singing to help us understand a scene in The Fifth Element.

Exploits On A Plane

mathowie — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:06:56 GMT

Cockpit of lil plane, flying to Veiques by innuendo (cc by)

In response to a popular news story about a security researcher claiming he could crash a plane remotely via smartphone, MeFi member backseatpilot explains why concerns over this may be overblown:

The airplane is designed to remain safe and functional even if the FMSs fail. Again, multiply redundant systems. Multiple MFDs can fail, multiple autopilots can fail, you could have a total electrical failure and still fly the airplane. Even the Dreamliner, the most electric airplane in the world, is designed to fly with a total electrical failure.

Female: -19.5%

jessamyn — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 03:23:10 GMT

No, this is not by Lady Pain (Marta Manso) (cc by)

Women are, like, totally underpaid in the tech world.
Obviously, this is using proxy measures like age and education rather than experience and skill, but it's still a pretty strong statement. After controlling for age, education, specific occupation and even the labour market, there is still a very strong effect showing that women are paid 80 cents on the dollar.

Homeboy Trouble does the math.

"The Rapidly Spinning Corpse Of A Dead Star, Accelerated To Insane Energies By Magnetic Fields So Intense They'd Kill You"

jessamyn — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 03:01:14 GMT

Antimatter cloud

MeFite physicsmatt explains the day's headlines.

I don't see how AMS can say they've discovered dark matter, or even gotten us hints of dark matter. I'm actually very disappointed that they've pushed this narrative on the media: you guys who are interested in science deserve better. The experiment is a huge technical achievement, it's doing good science, and there's no reason they should be overplaying their results in an attempt to make it sound sexier or more important.

What Was The Most Comforting Condolence Sentence You Ever Heard?

mathowie — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 00:57:42 GMT

At rest by kennymatic (cc by)

Knowing what to say when a friend or family member tells you about someone's passing is never easy, and compounds an already less-than-ideal situation. The question "What was the most comforting condolence sentence you ever heard?" has so many good answers for what to say at that moment that I'll just point to the whole thread.

Face Like Sr. Wences' Fist

jessamyn — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:05:58 GMT

Punchlines without jokes (cc by)

My father passed away this morning. I'm going through his file, and I came across JOKES.TXT ... which contains only the punchlines. Can the Mind please tell me the jokes?

Turns out, it could.

What's It Like To Be The Recipient Of An Organ Transplant And Having To Deal With Immunosuppressant Drugs?

mathowie — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 00:10:27 GMT

Framed Embroidery Kidney Anatomy Art. Hand Embroidered. by Hey Paul Studios (cc by)

In a question about organ transplants and what life is like after, MeFi member k8lin gives us an insider's view of life after a transplant.

I am both a researcher of the psychosocial aspects of chronic kidney disease and a two-time kidney transplant recipient myself, so I can shed a bit of light on the kidney side of things.

Trivia About The Ministry Of Food

jessamyn — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:01:12 GMT

Rice Pudding by bgreenlee (cc by)

I ate a lot of rice pudding in WW2. Where did the rice come from?