98: A Land of Contrasts

November 4, 2014 2:53 PM

Episode 98 runs about 1hr 45min and covers the month of October on the sites.

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Misc links

Jessamyn halloween
Wedderburn-Etherington number

Hockey #99 history

Retired Hockey Numbers

Hartford Whalers

MeFi Jobs (15:50)

Portrait photographer needed in Jupiter, Florida

MeFi Projects (18:05)

Historical Wikipedia first articles by Horace Rumpole

A hexagonal Roguelike game by hexatron

Covering our Tracks - a scale model railroad building blog by bondcliff (posted to MeFi)

The Measure a typesetting contest by Alt F4

Free My Data by bwerdmuller

MetaFilter is a land of contrasts by maryr (tilde.club text dump)

Manyland a 2D browser universe by philipp (posted to MeFi)

MeFi Posts (42:50)

GWAR covers Pet Shop Boys (Punch Brothers covering The Cars)

"Tell me the most dad thing your dad has ever done"

How Liberal or Conservative is your name? (Jessamyn breaks the meter)

The story of a SR-71 breaking up at Mach 3 (SR-71 on Wikipedia, D.A.R.Y.L. movie)

A mega-post about Homestuck

GIFTube will let you create an animated GIF from any YouTube video

Simpsons World is live on FX.com

Hair work mourning jewelry from Victorian time (example)

Secret Songs - sort of glitch sound music

Mega-cut of the Grateful Dead tuning their instruments

Overtone singing

RIP former mayor of Boston

Ask MeFi Questions (1:16:20)

Do you slow down in a manual transmission car by downshifting or coasting in neutral?

Creepy 1920s-1930s music for halloween

Name that tune (currently unanswered)

What's the Big Sur of Washington State?

Are there any examples of number randomizers causing real world problems by pure chance?

Why does my local library never have the books it says it does?

What are some soup recipes to use with a stick blender?

What are you best kitchen organizer hacks?

iOS game recommendations for playing 2-player at once, across a table

What are the weirdest alcoholic spirits?

Good news follow-ups: Slumber party advice went well, barking dog was rescued and neighbors thanked them

MetaTalk Posts (1:35:55)

The 2014 MeFi Costume Parade

Which MeFi usernames match the member's expertise?

Hazlitt's love letter to MetaFilter (written by skwt)

MeFi Music's cover They Might Be Giants challenge (songs so far)

NaNoWriMo is on!

MetaTalk love-in number 2

Holiday stuff: help give toys to kids in need, secret quonsar signups open

MeFi Music (1:42:00)

In Western Lands a capella by Pallas Athena

posted by mathowie (staff) to MeFi Podcast at 2:53 PM (51 comments total)

The "Do you slow down in a manual transmission car by downshifting or coasting in neutral?" link is borked. :(
posted by iamkimiam at 3:19 PM on November 4, 2014

guh! Fixed.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 5:22 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Metafilter is a community weblog started by Matthew Haughey. From its humble beginnings as a gathering spot for A-List webloggers to trade links, the community has blossomed into a 17,000-member-strong cauldron of petty conflict, left-leaning political intrigue, and intensely vibrating in-jokery.

Strictly speaking this is the third version of the article, but it's by the same editor who posted the first one-sentence version half an hour earlier. The next edit is 15 miutes later and the description says "removing GROSSLY POV stuff".
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:43 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Some right wing "warblogger" sites used to have a thing about hating MeFi and would frequently vandalize the MeFi wikipedia page. My own page was often edited to show I had just died, many times over several years. I think it was one weirdo doing it the whole time.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:00 PM on November 4, 2014

Desperately wanting to endorse Matt on LinkedIn for inappropriate areas of expertise.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 7:38 PM on November 4, 2014

One for jessamyn: the emergency brake is the handbrake in countries where most people drive manual cars, and it's not just for emergencies. Better to have the handbrake on when you're at, say, a roundabout or stop sign on a slope, instead of relying on the brake and clutch biting point to keep you at a standstill.
posted by holgate at 7:57 PM on November 4, 2014

The Simpson's World link appears to be borked also.
posted by cashman at 8:27 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Ah, that makes sense mathowie, I was just scrolling forward through the wiki links, and thinking that they aren't very nice about early metafilter [warning: homophobic wikipedia link].
posted by Ned G at 1:52 AM on November 5, 2014

That thread on Dad Things was one of the most fun in a while. When it appeared my Dad has just left town so I won't see him again until next summer -- and that thread made me miss him less AND more.

(Also: What ho, Mods!)
posted by wenestvedt at 3:23 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

what ho, wenestvedt
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:18 AM on November 5, 2014 [2 favorites]

No comment on the epic search for the TV show intro featuring someone painting a wall, then another character opening a door in that wall, and the first character paints over the second person's face? The librarians at the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Moving Images Section are on the case! And they haven't had any success yet!
posted by filthy light thief at 7:30 AM on November 5, 2014 [4 favorites]

Thanks for mentioning my little project.

Maybe I'll paint a boxcar in Metafilter blue. What would it deliver? Beans?
posted by bondcliff at 8:09 AM on November 5, 2014 [4 favorites]

(Adds "Made mathowie's favorite post for the month" to resume under Accomplishments heading.)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:10 AM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

Big glasses with a blue shirt and knee-length skirt could be Tina Belcher from Bob's Burgers.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 9:33 AM on November 5, 2014

The podcast is so enjoyable, y'all. A highlight of my week whenever it comes out.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:05 AM on November 5, 2014

Also, Pallas Athena, that was gorgeous.
posted by ocherdraco at 10:06 AM on November 5, 2014

Holy cow, mathowies a Zombie! *Logs out, runs*
posted by marienbad at 10:26 AM on November 5, 2014

could be Tina Belcher from Bob's Burgers.

You know, I bet you're right. Thank you!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 11:09 AM on November 5, 2014

I really like the excitement about hexagonal tiles -- it makes total sense.
posted by Margalo Epps at 11:23 AM on November 5, 2014

Nice podcast this time. Secret quonsar: I can't speak for everyone but IMHO Metafilter swag in a box would be a fantastic gift. (Just sayin'.)

Also someone should made a little Chromoji for MF: plate of beans perhaps?
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:54 AM on November 5, 2014

Starting at 40:30 in, gave me the best best birthday laugh ever. Thank you. :)
posted by mrbill at 12:31 PM on November 5, 2014 [3 favorites]

It is a testament to the strength of mathowie's character that he left that entire exchange in the podcast.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 12:59 PM on November 5, 2014 [3 favorites]

Now, if he can just rouse himself to get to the post office…

If not, he can probably find a place online to order up an overflight of Bill's place by a phalanx of zeppelins hauling banners that say "HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRBILL, LOVE MATHOWIE."
posted by wenestvedt at 1:21 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

Then this happened.
posted by mrbill at 2:24 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]

OK, here's my Halloween mystery: We had a (older) kid in a classic trench coat with big sort of granny-framed glasses with half the frame red and half the frame blue. The glasses were definitely important as they were cut out of paper and applied over the kid's actual glasses.
posted by maryr at 3:16 PM on November 5, 2014

Sounds like a 10th Doctor who couldn't find proper 3d glasses.

(As a last-minute Milhouse who couldn't find proper round red specs, I empathize.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:37 PM on November 5, 2014 [2 favorites]

Eh, I guess? But the frames were red and blue, not the lenses.
posted by maryr at 4:02 PM on November 5, 2014

The transcript is open.
posted by Pronoiac at 4:04 PM on November 5, 2014

I don't want to read the epic homestuck thread bc spoilers. Can I read it on my iPhone?
posted by bq at 5:09 AM on November 6, 2014

Josh Millard
posted by Jahaza at 9:36 AM on November 6, 2014

That article is currently flagged for speedy deletion. :(
posted by ocherdraco at 9:42 AM on November 6, 2014

Ughh... yeah, 6 minutes after I created it. This kind of trigger-happy bureaucracy is one of the reasons I don't work that much on Wikipedia these days.
posted by Jahaza at 9:58 AM on November 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

If anyone is interested in actually collaborating on a "what is the [x] of [y place]" site, I'd be down. (i could research the content, just need someone to supply the coding.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:35 AM on November 6, 2014

Oh god, the soup. So. I made eggplant soup. It's lovely. At the same time, but unrelated, I gave myself food poisoning for the first time ever. I'm recovered now after two days of literal pain (and other unpleasant things) but I'm kind of scared to eat the soup because the smell is maybe too closely tied to being sick. So I'm not sure where I'm going to go with soup for now.

Which sucks because I thought that the new stick blender was going to solve all my winter eating problems and I'm kind of hungry and I like soup.
posted by shelleycat at 11:37 AM on November 6, 2014

This kind of trigger-happy bureaucracy is one of the reasons I don't work that much on Wikipedia these days.

I added an image. It will be fine.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 12:09 PM on November 6, 2014 [6 favorites]

This podcast was really good and also so long that by the end of it, I forgot what I wanted to comment on! Like some kind of really long royal-style meal.
posted by ignignokt at 1:24 PM on November 6, 2014

The Disney World of Missouri is... Silver Dollar City?
posted by jeffamaphone at 1:43 PM on November 6, 2014

yep. just need to know someone on the board of wikimedia to keep from being put in reversion hell or fast delete hell on wikipedia. The process works!
posted by garlic at 3:08 PM on November 6, 2014

I heart cortex's tshirt in that Wikipedia article.
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 3:15 PM on November 6, 2014

You know I'm just an editor like anyone else, right? I just happen to understand the inner workings of the Wikipedia bureaucrats.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 3:18 PM on November 6, 2014 [3 favorites]

I added an image. It will be fine.

I hope it is this.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:35 PM on November 6, 2014

Also:

fine removed the csd tag, please try to orientate the article according to WP:BIO,


Nobody who says "oriantate" should have any say over anything ever until they repent their wrong-ass ways.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:38 PM on November 6, 2014 [1 favorite]

Aw, you guys.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:52 PM on November 6, 2014

We had a (older) kid in a classic trench coat with big sort of granny-framed glasses with half the frame red and half the frame blue

Might be Spider Jerusalem, from Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan.
posted by MartinWisse at 5:48 AM on November 7, 2014

I just finished listening to the podcast. In addition to mentioning the wholesome project I'm doing with my young son I'm also honored that you brought up my name in the context of butt wiping.
posted by bondcliff at 7:15 AM on November 7, 2014 [2 favorites]

The Disney World of Missouri is... Silver Dollar City?

See, I'd have said Branson. Unless you're responding to their stage shows and would be categorizing it as the Vegas of Missouri. Which is a fair enough point and may be a toss-up.

In the podcast, they suggested Joplin - which I'm assuming is because of the Precious Moments Chapel, which is a theme-parky thing based on a particular enterprise and its characters. The Precious Moments Chapel is actually in Carthage, but that's so close to Joplin as to make no difference and be an honest mistake.

this is why I need someone to help me do this site as a project now because I've been thinking about all this ever since and I have OPINIONS
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:13 AM on November 7, 2014 [1 favorite]

You know I'm just an editor like anyone else, right? I just happen to understand the inner workings of the Wikipedia bureaucrats.

What I picture that looks like.
posted by maryr at 8:43 AM on November 7, 2014 [5 favorites]

Well, I think if something is Disney Land of X it needs to have rides. Sure Branson has go karts and bumper boats, but those don't really count. Plus Silver Dollar City is in Branson, isn't it?

There's also Six Flags over Mid America, but that seems like the Six Flags of Missouri. Because it is.
posted by jeffamaphone at 8:15 PM on November 7, 2014

Cortex, here is a picture of one of the bathrooms in my company's building. Besides ancient porcelain not hooked up by the Sloan Valve Company, the floor is a (filthy) hex grid.
posted by plinth at 1:51 PM on November 10, 2014 [2 favorites]

Did cortex the ever say where the term "scrubber" came from? This seems reasonable (from Webopedia):

The process of moving within an audio file or tape to locate a particular section. The term originally comes from the days of reel-to-reel players, when rocking a reel would give the impression of scrubbing tape across the head. Many audio scrub tools today allow the user to drag a cursor across the wave form to audition different sections of an audio file.

posted by Johnny Wallflower at 8:11 PM on November 18, 2014

Thank you!
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 8:14 PM on November 18, 2014