MetaTalk

Hey folks, time for a quarterly update on how the site's doing financially, and a reminder that the direct financial support of MetaFilter's membership and readers is fundamental to keeping this place operational. Your help supporting this community is vital, and appreciated.
posted by cortex to MetaTalk on Jan 15 at 3:09 PM
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Have you noticed an increase in posts about race by people of color lately? It’s not just your imagination. Come and learn about our #poctakeover initiative, and our major takeaways in trying to provide a vision of what a site truly inclusive of people of color would look like.
posted by Conspire to MetaTalk on Jan 13 at 10:40 AM
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Like previous MeTas, this thread is a space for people affected by ableism to converse, about experiences on and off the site. We're trying to make this a space relatively free of pressure from people who AREN'T hurt by ableism. You get to decide whether ableism affects you. This thread is for everyone to read and for disabled people to (mostly) participate in.
posted by brainwane to MetaTalk on Jan 21 at 1:18 PM
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Lyssabee has subjected me to a drive-by act of kindness in response to a comment of mine. Read on.
posted by theora55 to MetaTalk on Jan 22 at 7:47 AM
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With the blessing of the lovely and talented mochapickle, I'm keeping up the mefi valentine exchange traditon! Come one, come all, and share a little love!
posted by the primroses were over to MetaTalk on Jan 16 at 6:43 PM
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End of another long week, let's carve out a space to talk about something other than politics for those that need that space. Speaking of space, let's talk about astronomy. Open chat to talk about all things astronomical: NASA, JPL, rockets, stars, planets, planetary bodies, galaxies, black holes, life on Mars, is Pluto a planet, satellites, exploration, the moon landing, SpaceX, anything and everything related to the stars up above us. As always, be kind to yourself and to others.
posted by Fizz to MetaTalk on Jan 17 at 10:40 AM
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The penultimate week of your excellent January readers' choice contest has come to an end, so hold on to your fundament for wonderments most luculent and eloquent, because, friends, we have results...
posted by taz to MetaTalk on Jan 19 at 6:11 AM
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Welcome to your week two results of Mefites' choice awards for best post as voted by members — we have such wonders to show you! Please step behind the velvet curtain to view the goods ...
posted by taz to MetaTalk on Jan 12 at 6:02 AM
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This weekend, I'm thinking about little ways that technology is cool. Yes there are lots of negatives about technology and we talk about that a lot on this site... but alongside that, there are a lot of cool things. Is there any tech thing we have that strikes you that way, where you just think, hey that's pretty amazing?
posted by LobsterMitten to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 3:15 PM
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Hello weekend! Tonight I’m wondering, do you feel the magic of the office supply aisle at the store? Is there a particular stationery item that speaks to you? Do you covet fancy pens or have a rubber band ball? Let’s hear it.
posted by LobsterMitten to MetaTalk on Jan 11 at 5:01 PM
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I grew up in a working class area. I saw first hand the extent to which people from different backgrounds (including my own immediate family) can be unintentionally dismissive and hurtful about things that are fairly central to some working class folks' culture and identity. I'd like to talk about that a little bit so we can avoid replicating that dynamic quite as much on Metafilter.
posted by quacks like a duck to MetaTalk on Jan 7 at 9:05 AM
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Thank you most excellent posters and voters for a lovely start to the January Best Post Contest! The first week was a tad short on days but nevertheless full of fantastic posts. Step inside to view Week 1 winners, and remember to keep voting with the Fantastic Flag all month.
posted by taz to MetaTalk on Jan 5 at 3:13 AM
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It's 2020 pretty much everywhere now, if I've done my timezone math right, so: here's to the new year, and to all of us in this weird old online community keeping on together and seeing what we can make of this next year.
posted by cortex to MetaTalk on Jan 1 at 8:22 AM
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I just had a fun exchange with my mail carrier.
posted by phunniemee to MetaTalk on Dec 20, 2018 at 9:39 AM
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Metafilter favorite Guess My Word was out of commission for almost all of 2019. Now it’s back! (previously previously previously previously)

[Warning edit: Daily spoilers in comments!]
posted by bq to MetaTalk on Nov 18, 2019 at 10:57 AM
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Hello all, This is a check in post for those affected by the recent flight PS752 disaster.
posted by Ahmad Khani to MetaTalk on Jan 11 at 12:41 PM
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Refound an anecdotal comment from OverlappingElvis on how he was once in a band with people who became Walk the Moon. If it's not too painful/regretful for people to say (or, maybe it'll help and bring closure?), have you been in a situation, group, job, team, project, garage band, whatever, and some or all of the others went on to great glory - but yourself, less so? (This may by definition exclude MeFites who are actually megafamous but if they have any great relevant anecdotes would love to hear them anyway)
posted by Wordshore to MetaTalk on Aug 27, 2016 at 3:10 PM
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[more posts]

I work on rockets! Did you know that navigating by the stars is still alive and well, and the applications are growing? We use stars to correct for inertial navigation errors - before the rocket is launched, a star is chosen from the catalog based on where and when the launch is happening. Our inertial measurement unit has a little camera on it;... [more]
posted by backseatpilot to MetaTalk on Jan 17 at 11:21 AM
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In the 80s, when I was about twelve years old, I got the phone number of NASA from the back of a book about the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (of which I was obsessed). I worked out the time difference and phoned NASA a few times from the UK. I loved the unfamiliar ringing tone and then the receptionist answering and saying 'NASA,... [more]
posted by einekleine to MetaTalk on Jan 17 at 11:18 AM
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I was coming back here to say thank you to everyone who was so very encouraging in this thread. I really deeply appreciate your kindness and taking the time to let me know that you have been enjoying the posts! (There's a new treat up now - a fast little short story.) And now I'm kind of struggling, because Blasdelb, you were specifically... [more]
posted by stoneweaver to MetaTalk on Jan 16 at 10:21 AM
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Maybe there should be a separate, more appropriate thread for allies to talk and plan and challenge one another to do better. Personally as a POC I would welcome this; I have personally witnessed / heard of a white people's caucus / white affinity group happening successfully a few times, with the help of thoughtful facilitation and... [more]
posted by suedehead to MetaTalk on Jan 19 at 4:18 PM
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Well, I am only able to continue my professional life (and participate here!) due to an amazing stack of software that allows me to control a computer 99% hands-free, using just my voice. It is flipping amazing, and I'm incredibly grateful the technology exists. I hope to put together a FPP about it at some point, but if anyone here has questions... [more]
posted by vers to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 4:41 PM
34 users marked this as a favorite

I have several mostly unrelated thoughts, but first: thank you for this thread. I'm excited to see where it goes. Also, good vibes to paduasoy and others going through a rough time. --- I've only ever felt access intimacy with my partner, and a lot of it comes from having a shared language to quickly convey what I need and having that... [more]
posted by brook horse to MetaTalk on Jan 21 at 5:53 PM
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Posting in the weekend loneliness thread left me feeling even lonelier. I regret sharing my experience. My disability is the cause of my loneliness because it left me homebound without transportation and there's nothing I can do about that right now. It hurt so much to see people so glibly wish they could have more alone time. There's a time and a... [more]
posted by Ruki to MetaTalk on Jan 21 at 6:31 PM
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It also probably says something about internet/online culture (or even just various professions and educations, mine included) where it's a lot easier to dig into a negative criticism of something, but harder to come up with a thoughtful comment about something that you liked. We're generally so primed for defensiveness and tearing others down... [more]
posted by rather be jorting to MetaTalk on Jan 16 at 12:49 PM
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I love GPS. Remember what a pain in the ass it was to get directions to somewhere you'd never been? To pretend to understand them if it was a stranger with a thick accent in a hurry? And then to follow them by yourself with a sheet of paper in your car, or on foot in a city while trying not to look muggable? Now you don't have to worry about that.... [more]
posted by Countess Elena to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 4:22 PM
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My e-reader is my favorite tech object. I read a lot, like a lot, I mentioned in the "what have you been up to the past decade" thread that I've read almost two thousand e-books since 2010. To be able to carry around all those books in my purse at once, and to be able to acquire new ones, seamlessly, anytime I want at a moment's... [more]
posted by Daily Alice to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 5:58 PM
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That people are responding with "keep up the good work!" rather than "This is exactly what I as a white person am going to do to take this burden off our POC members" is unconscionable Honestly, I feel like it's virtue signalling from me to jump into this thread and talk about what I've done or am going to do. I... [more]
posted by jessamyn to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 2:00 PM
18 users marked this as a favorite

I live on a lake in the country, which can seem remote but it's not—O'Hare is just 45 minutes south. I love watching the lights of planes taking off and heading north and will sometimes ask Siri, "planes overhead" to find out where they are going via Wolfram Alpha. I don't know why, but it connects me with humanity and takes me out of... [more]
posted by Short Attention Sp to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 4:25 PM
17 users marked this as a favorite

I'm sure I'm not alone in this, but podcasts are one of the best technologies around for me. I listen for possibly hours each day, at the gym, doing housework, cooking, on public transport. Just fantastic to have on-demand "radio" on your topics of choice, in a supply so constant you could never catch up & listen to every back... [more]
posted by UbuRoivas to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 7:05 PM
15 users marked this as a favorite

Not speaking for any other POC besides myself at the moment, but: Regarding whether it's appropriate for non-POC to comment on POC-related threads, I understand the reluctance to jump in on a discussion on topics outside your ethnicity, and I'm sympathetic to the well-meaning MeFites who have hesitated to comment on POC-related threads out of... [more]
posted by rather be jorting to MetaTalk on Jan 14 at 6:01 PM
14 users marked this as a favorite

I haven't been participating here in the last few months, due to the moderators' and user base's casual approach to countering racism and other oppression on the site. The response to this thread has confirmed my desire to leave. The poctakeover posts have been outstanding. That posting links from poc perspectives and keeping MeFi discussions... [more]
posted by lazuli to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 10:10 AM
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EVERYTHING about recent technology amazes me. Even the terrible stuff (which amazes me about how terrible it can be. I'm looking at you, all LMS systems ever). This weekend I'm stuck in LA, which was meant to be a 3-hour transit between Canada and Australia, but I got bumped from my plane and they couldn't get me on another one for a... [more]
posted by lollusc to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 6:52 PM
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I have the almost unimaginable privilege of being able to work as an astronomer. I'm on sabbatical from teaching and other duties at the moment and really loving the opportunity to focus on my very difficult data analysis and modeling project. I work on one of Saturn's rings and I obsess about its vertical structure. Other than me, maybe five... [more]
posted by BrashTech to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 8:43 AM
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I am glad you said what you said, lazuli - I am really proud of this project and our posts and what we've done and I like having recognition for it, but I am also really resentful about how much unpaid labor it took from us and how we were mostly left to fight our own battles and deal with a lot of bullshit that people should never have felt... [more]
posted by primalux to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 12:07 PM
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I never cared much about having a jetpack, but I longed for one book that had everything in it—a dictionary, maps, the almanac, I wanted it all in one spot so I could find out anything I wanted to know, even though I was nowhere near the library. Then, holy fucking shit—it happened, and we all have them now?! And it's also a camera,... [more]
posted by heyho to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 5:23 PM
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I saw an app on another site the other day, where you can sign up to get notifications to help out a person with visual impairments somewhere in the world with a sight-required task. The screenshot was helping a woman buy a carton of almond milk at a supermarket. https://www.bemyeyes.com/ We're only just into January and I think that's... [more]
posted by UbuRoivas to MetaTalk on Jan 18 at 7:41 PM
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[more comments]