https://www.metafilter.com/ The past 24 hours of MetaFilter Fri, 01 May 2026 03:34:29 GMT Fri, 01 May 2026 03:34:29 GMT en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 hanging out with the much smaller California sea lions in San Francisco. Old Thom is a solitary Northwest Atlantic killer whale who is regularly seen in the company of much smaller Atlantic white-sided dolphins[YT]. Nzou, Shona for elephant, is matriarch of a herd of Cape Buffalo. Since being paired with the herd[YT] when she came to the Imire Rhino & Wildlife Conservancy at two years old she has taken over as leader and has killed over a dozen buffalo bulls who tried to usurp her position.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213051/Like-Snow-White-with-the-Dwarfs tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213051 Fri, 01 May 2026 03:34:29 GMT Mitheral Chonkers elephant KillerWhale Nzou OldThom SeaLion https://www.metafilter.com/213051/Like-Snow-White-with-the-Dwarfs/rss DOJ Files Ballroom Brief That Reads Like Truth Social Post — Because Trump Probably Wrote It. Not good news per se, but I see the unhinged-ness of the brief as a positive sign that, like the unhinged Kilmar Abrego Garcia filing before it, this will go nowhere in court.

2. Trump pulled his surgeon general nomination from Casey Means after a cringey Senate hearing and after three Republican senators refused to advance her out of committee. 3. And speaking of cringey hearings, Democrats got Pete Hegseth to agree that US troops shouldn't follow illegal orders. 4. King Charles gave a good speech at the Senate. Here's a post contrasting Charles' speech with Trump's from Heather Cox Richardson. 5. Stand up for Science is hosting a virtual, accessible May Day (May 1st) event. This May Day is Science Fight Day! For those able to attend an in-person May Day event, there are more that 3,000 to choose from. May Day is tomorrow, Friday, May 1st. Keep the faith, everyone.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213050/US-Politics-Odds-and-Ends tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213050 Fri, 01 May 2026 01:42:42 GMT subdee caseymeans heathercoxrichardson kingcharles maydaystrong petehegseth senate uspolitics https://www.metafilter.com/213050/US-Politics-Odds-and-Ends/rss Controversial Songwriter David Allan Coe has died at 86. Known for writing songs like "Take This Job And Shove It," and "You Never Even Called Me By My Name," he helped invent the "Outlaw Country," genre. He was a native of Akron, Ohio and had a long colorful career.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213049/Controversial-Songwriter-David-Allan-Coe-has-died-at-86 tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213049 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 23:35:34 GMT SystematicAbuse Controversy Country Culture Music Obituary Racism Songwriting https://www.metafilter.com/213049/Controversial-Songwriter-David-Allan-Coe-has-died-at-86/rss Scientists say they have the first direct evidence that seeds can sense the sound of rain, and will sprout faster when they do.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213048/The-plunk-sound-of-rain-makes-seeds-sprout-faster-scientists-find tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213048 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 22:33:29 GMT chariot pulled by cassowaries Germinating Germination Seeds SeedSprouting https://www.metafilter.com/213048/The-plunk-sound-of-rain-makes-seeds-sprout-faster-scientists-find/rss Talk with the past -- Talkie is a language model from 1930. Chatbot trained on a 13-billion-parameter language model trained on pre-1931 text.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213047/Is-the-future-bright-for-1930s tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213047 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:46:10 GMT zeikka 1930 AI LLM https://www.metafilter.com/213047/Is-the-future-bright-for-1930s/rss OpenAI's Codex must be made to stop talking about goblins. WHAT DOES IT KNOW THAT WE DON'T? OpenAI on the source of the gobbos. Wikipedia on Goblins - D&D on Goblins - Goblin Punch (A D&D blog) - Goblin Band (a Mastodon server trying to achieve Tumblr, i.e. goblin, energy)) - Goblin Mode was the Oxford University Press Word of the Year for 2022.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213046/We-are-GOBLINS-Bum-ba-dum-bum-bum-bum-bum tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213046 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 20:39:13 GMT JHarris gobbos gobliiins GoblinMode goblins OpenAI https://www.metafilter.com/213046/We-are-GOBLINS-Bum-ba-dum-bum-bum-bum-bum/rss What it said in the title. That is all. ]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213045/House-GOP-concedes-in-DHS-funding-fight-reopening-TSA-but-blocking-ICE tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213045 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 19:56:51 GMT aleph DHS ICE USPolitics https://www.metafilter.com/213045/House-GOP-concedes-in-DHS-funding-fight-reopening-TSA-but-blocking-ICE/rss To Finance Their Lifestyle, a Young French Couple Went to Cambodia to Steal Antiquities. They Did Almost Everything Wrong "Clara and André Malraux conspired to loot the pink temple of Banteay Srei, but their failure started a battle of reclamation"]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213044/temple-robbers tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213044 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 17:22:09 GMT dhruva cambodia temple theft https://www.metafilter.com/213044/temple-robbers/rss Deepest Recorded Palantir Speedrun ]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213043/Go-go-go-go-go-go-g tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213043 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 16:37:45 GMT Going To Maine blood goodwork palantir peterthiel slyoutube https://www.metafilter.com/213043/Go-go-go-go-go-go-g/rss The matchbook pulled from a dead man's pocket in a film noir is never just a matchbook, and it's never just a clue to a single, solvable crime. Instead, it's a window onto a whole world of ambition and weakness, pleasure and destruction, that the detective can illuminate but never fully comprehend. The Wienberg collection works in much the same way, assembling a fragmentary image of a Malibu that's largely gone now, burned or bulldozed or simply forgotten, and the ambitions and dreams of a moment in time. There's a particular irony in the fact that it falls to matchbooks—instruments of ignition, made to be used up and thrown away—to preserve the memory of a place that fire has repeatedly erased.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213042/He-snatched-at-you-and-you-match-his-cigarette tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213042 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 14:21:31 GMT chavenet Advertising Collecting JSTOR Malibu Matchbooks Smoking https://www.metafilter.com/213042/He-snatched-at-you-and-you-match-his-cigarette/rss I Mean, Why Shouldn't We All Smoke Cigarettes Again? (sltheCut, archive link here)

Smoking is making a pop culture comeback (even if the risks haven't changed) A 'smoke-free generation' tobacco ban is coming to the U.K. Could it also happen in Canada? Britain's lifetime smoking ban set to become law I find this fascinating because the younger generation absolutely does not remember how smoky and smelly everything was not even two decades ago.]]> https://www.metafilter.com/213041/The-current-cigarette-discourse-is-getting-spicy tag:metafilter.com,2026:site.213041 Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:42:19 GMT Kitteh ban cbc ciagrettesmoking cigarettesarebackmaybe reuters thecut uksmoking https://www.metafilter.com/213041/The-current-cigarette-discourse-is-getting-spicy/rss