MetaFilter

Most of the interesting and memorable people I've encountered have been vice-ridden maniacs. Through a slightly inebriated misposting I made recently, I wandered into succa's profile, and from there to his blog, where I found this post today. I offer it as a sort of coda to this MeFi discussion, and wonder if people agree with the thought. I sure as hell do, even if it gets harder to do so with the advancing years. (I note too that there are tons of other great sites by MeFi'ers out there too, but today this one did it for me.)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:37 PM PST - 48 comments

This breaking story brings a new aspect to a complex debate. Reasearchers in a private clinic in the US have created human embryos specifically for the purpose of extracting stem cells. This seems a good platform on which to discuss the wider issue of the interaction between public/private research funding, technology and life. Here's hoping it won't just end up a pro-life/pro-choice bloodbath.
posted by davehat at 8:54 PM PST - 7 comments

WhatIs - Definitions for thousands of the most current IT-related words. Not everyone knows about this site. It is pretty helpful for a quick lookup for anything computer related.
posted by sikander at 8:54 PM PST - 3 comments

I wasn't going to watch Big Brother, But... If they're going to be pulling knives on each other, then that may be some entertainment I can get behind.
posted by willnot at 5:38 PM PST - 18 comments

I can't believe that no one has posted this oldie but goodie! Very fun... My favorite musical sausage is Wu Tang Clannad.
posted by machaus at 4:28 PM PST - 11 comments

AOL is muscling its way into online journalism. Be afraid. "If AOL's version of news delivery is indicative of the future of online journalism, then the future looks mighty grim. No other legitimate news organization relies so heavily on celebrity-oriented drivel and trifling service pieces." [via ken layne]
posted by owillis at 2:24 PM PST - 10 comments

Hot diggity dog! good clean fun or are the japanese humiliating us in international competitions for a reason?
posted by ggggarret at 1:52 PM PST - 5 comments

Microsoft generously allows people to alter their computer environments. This act of corporate benevolence will allow manufacturers to - gasp! - put new links on the Start menu and desktop. Also, they will allow Internet Explorer to be uninstalled, so that a person can use the bug-ridden, crippled browser of their choice. How gracious of them.
posted by solistrato at 1:21 PM PST - 15 comments

Inmates Claim Ownership of Dogs in the San Francisco dog mauling case (that was previously discussed here). Apparently they (the inmates) are in jail for life, and the theory is that they have nothing to lose by taking the blame for the killing.
posted by bshort at 11:35 AM PST - 3 comments

A Comprehensive Flow Chart of Life's Causes and Effects. Public school, halitosis, cirrhosis, logo worship, and the inexplicable desire to evaluate self-worth in financial terms. From the LA Weekly's drug-related art gallery.

My favorite is Bovine Milk--> BGH--> GHB--> Raping Drunk Cows.
posted by thebigpoop at 11:31 AM PST - 3 comments

Modern computing born... film at 11.
"On December 9, 1968, Douglas C. Engelbart and the group of 17 researchers working with him in the Augmentation Research Center at Stanford Research Institute in Menlo Park, CA, presented a 90-minute live public demonstration of the online system, NLS, they had been working on since 1962. The public presentation was a session in the of the Fall Joint Computer Conference held at the Convention Center in San Francisco, and it was attended by about 1,000 computer professionals. This was the public debut of the computer mouse. But the mouse was only one of many innovations demonstrated that day, including hypertext, object addressing and dynamic file linking, as well as shared-screen collaboration involving two persons at different sites communicating over a network with audio and video interface."
posted by pascal at 11:17 AM PST - 5 comments

What internet uses want (at least according to the Markle Foundation.) The best part? The study asks for people that internet users would like to see on a board of net governors. Among the nominees were Bill Gates, Oprah, and the Pope.
posted by goto11 at 10:59 AM PST - 4 comments

Gnucleus - The New Napster First I've heard of this, although apparently it's been around for almost a year at least. Is this just a bunch of hype? How is it an improvement over BearShare, Limewire and other Gnutella clients? Any user feedback?
posted by ideola at 10:45 AM PST - 28 comments

There's thirsty, and then there's THIRSTY 7-11 announces a 52-ounce Xtreme Gulp. Gaw-DAMN that's a lotta pop!
posted by briank at 10:31 AM PST - 45 comments

"Gorgeous Guy" was really a Kaycee. The oft-discussed Craig's List celebrity appeared in print and on television late-night talk shows discussing his unwanted thrust into fame, but really made the whole thing up himself.
posted by ewagoner at 9:59 AM PST - 20 comments

A.I.'s chatbot from the movie's website is pretty nifty, even if it doesn't know David or recognize any other obvious questions about the movie.
posted by Zebulun at 9:39 AM PST - 41 comments

Washington Post Survey: Misperceptions Cloud Whites' View of Blacks. "I think it's pretty even, but you'd never get blacks to admit it," said Thomas Ripley, 71, a retiree who lives in Belleville, Ill. "It keeps the pressure on government for more programs."
posted by feckless at 9:13 AM PST - 16 comments

Yet another case of zero intelligence. Two days after Tiffani Ann Alvera notified her public housing resident manager that she had obtained a restraining order against her husband for domestic violence, she received a notice to vacate the apartment within 24 hours. The notice said, "You, someone in your control, or your pet, has seriously threatened immediately to inflict personal injury, or has inflicted substantial personal injury upon the landlord or other tenants," and specified her husband's assault.
posted by jameschandler at 9:03 AM PST - 4 comments

The most annoying email I've ever gotten Apparently, someone has a crush on me. That's what the email said. Give crushlink valid (they check) email addresses and you get lame hints as to who sent the email to you. I've never seen a better email harvesting system than this. Pure evil!
posted by fnirt at 7:58 AM PST - 20 comments

Don't mess with the do. OK, so you have a hair product and you get NFL quarterback Brian Griese to promote it. That's like hiring a lawyer named Freida Convict.
posted by lheiskell at 7:50 AM PST - 18 comments

Media Deception and Iraq
An interesting quick story-- one journalist smells a rat in an AP report about Iraq using money to buy weapons, investigates the genesis of the story, and finds more deception. Meanwhile statistics on children dying from sanctions go unpublished.
posted by chaz at 7:33 AM PST - 8 comments

I am really, really, really tired of the popups for the Tiny Wireless Video Camera - the ad that always has a picture of a hot chick and trumpets "FITS ANYWHERE" (in the girls' bathroom, wink nudge.)

If there are any browser coders listening, here's a feature I long for: an anti-bookmark list. Stumble on a page that pops up garbage like the above, add it to your anti-bookmarks list and it's locked out instantly and forever, no forgiveness, no rehabilitation, capital punishment for bad web pages. Yes, yes, I know about junkbuster and webwasherand hosts files. But at this late date crap lockout should be part of the browser the way kill files were (and are) part of newsreaders. Sic 'em, Fang.
posted by jfuller at 6:57 AM PST - 30 comments

Keeping with the thinking that it is "National Homophobic Week" here is an Amnestry International Report detailing the attrocities against homosexuals all over the world.
posted by benjh at 5:01 AM PST - 4 comments

Metafilter seems to slant liberal and other favoritisms: BushII's been in office for six months. Occurences of "Dubya" come up 538 times in a Google sitesearch of Metafilter. The word, Clinton: 823--despite his several more years in office since Mefi's inception. "Bush"=1580. "Bush" and "idiot" come up about 1/3 that of simple search for "Clinton". 91 times does "Clinton + idiot" come up, some of which seeming to berate Gore. Mr. Nader, ahem. . .about 618 hits! What other lexigraphic mixtures of keywords can you get the skinny on?
posted by crasspastor at 4:38 AM PST - 126 comments

What happens to the stars of Big Brother afterwards? Big Brother 2 is in full swing in the UK, and just starting in the USA. Here, Jon Ronson investigates what happened to the original contestents on BB1 in the UK. It's surprisingly poignant. (From The Guardian)
posted by salmacis at 1:08 AM PST - 13 comments