Using the mighty combination of Discord and Steam, I will host a trial session where mefites can join my discord server, view my screen, and play Drawful 2.

Time: 8pm EST this Sunday, March 29. What: Drawful 2 -- https://store.steampowered.com/app/442070/Drawful_2/ How: Discord -- https://discordapp.com/ Where: The voice channel on my discord server -- https://discord.gg/MEcVs5S What you'll need: at the very least, a computer with a microphone, speakers, and connection to the Internet. Though if you wanted to connect without using audio, I think that should be fine too. A Discord account. Your very best drawing on a phone screen chops. A note on Drawful 2 -- it's designed for 3-8 players at a go, so depending on how many mefites show up, we may have to do some sharing. I'll be available on Mefi chat and on Discord from 7:30pm EST until the start time to assist with any technical or user set up issues. Discord can be confusing sometimes.

Sun March 29 at 8:00 PM,

Missing contact with fellow humans? How about a virtual happy hour? Now with date and time! Tuesday, April 7, at 7 PM. We can't really go to the 4th Avenue Pub, but let's pretend.

COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in my plan to have monthly NYC meetups. But perhaps we could get together virtually over drinks or dinner sometime? If you think this might be a good idea, please share your comments or suggestions! If it sounds like a terrible idea, feel free to let me know that too! (Non-NYC Mefites welcome too, of course!) I think we will use Zoom? Does that seem good? Or LiliaNic's WebEx account if we become a really large number of people? Looking forward to seeing y'all!

Tue April 7 at 7:00 PM, home

Hey y'all - let's have a virtual meetup! The theme is "Quarantine Hobbies" - let's share our tales of dead sourdough starter, failed crops, ugly sweaters, bad television!

My preference is to do this on a weekend closer to the evening. I don't have one of those fancy upgraded Zoom accounts that lets you go more than 40 minutes, so please share if you do. How does April 18th at 4:00 PM (Eastern) sound?

Sat April 18 at 4:00 PM,

MeFites in Japan, unite! (While, of course, maintaining appropriate distance) This upcoming Sunday (April 19) at 19:00 we'll be meeting on Zoom to chat and conviviate (that's probably not a real word). You're probably at home, you're probably going stir crazy, you probably want to meet new people or see familiar faces again, so you should join us! If you want to attend, say the word and we'll send you the Zoom meeting invite link via MeMail.

Sun April 19 at 8:00 PM,

I'd like to use this thread to figure out if we should, can, or will play a game inside animal crossing. I've heard it's been done but I don't know any details. Would it be funny to play a version of d&d or a similar role playing game? I think maybe? Or keep it simple? Should we try it?

Sun April 19 at 8:00 PM,

I'd like to hang out with other MeFites online next weekend (April 24 or 25), from ca. 7pm PST. Not sure how (platform), so this and precise details would be yet TBD. 19+, your choice of food/drink (surprise us), your best hangout/bar attire, some warm (flattering) lights and funky decor, and some tunes (streamed with e.g. Watch2Gether or better).

I've never ever been to a meetup yet. I fact, I don't believe I've met a single MeFite in person yet. I haven't even managed to convince a real life person to join so please let's do this! Any interest? MeMail me or post here :)

Fri April 24 at 7:00 PM,

Hey all. I don't know if you noticed this, but we're in uncharted territory here. If you look at the sidebar, it has a list of "most active cities" for meetups, and we're essentially in second place (a couple cities have had four, sure), and if we have another meetup this Sunday, boom, we'll be one of the most active cities/amorphous regional groupings in all of Metafilterland! Can't you just feel those competitive juices flowing, urging you on to meet once again on Sunday night at 8 for some light chat, witty observations, and hilarious jokes? Edit: changed time to 8, longer explanation in the comments

I can set up the zoom thing again, and will mail invites out to anyone in the going or maybe fields. We managed about seven people last week, which was nice. I figure if we're going to do these things regularly, it might be nice to have a theme of some sort, something to get things going, and honestly, all I've got is jokes. Like, terrible jokes. Not offensive, just really, painfully unfunny jokes, the best kind! Please think up a terrible joke to share when we meet on Sunday, and from there, we can just sort of go wherever it takes us. I'd like to extend the invitation to Mefites around the world, as well, just on the off chance they're awake and up for meeting at 8pm Japan time on Sunday, but I'm not really sure how. I imagine posting in MeTa would get us more people than we could probably handle, and there's also a part of me that thinks 6-8 people is just about the upper limit for Zoom anyway. What do you folks think?

Sun April 26 at 8:00 PM,

It's easy to lose track, but Golden Week is upon us! Let's celebrate Golden Week's Greenery Day (Monday, May 4) together!. We can all reminisce about Greenery Day events through the ages, exchange Greenery Day trivia (surprisingly, Greenery Day has nothing to do with the American rock band called Green Day), and discuss how Greenery Day has affected our lives. Do you remember where you were the year that "GD" was moved from April 29 to May 4?

As usual we will be on Zoom, so download the Zoom client in advance for an optimal experience, and sign up here to receive an invitation to the event. We're scheduled for 8-10pm (roughly), Monday May 4. The following day is also a government holiday. Suggestions for non Greenery Day-related topics of discussion are also welcome. And does anyone want to play Trivial Pursuit?

Mon May 4 at 8:00 PM, Zoom Zoom Zoom

Excitement! Adventure! Zoom! Witty Banter!* Mefites beamed directly to your home! Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! (Monster truck voice intensifies) *wittiness of banter not guaranteed, offer void in Taito-ku, Saitama, and some parts of Aichi, consult your doctor if banter causes itchiness or swelling

We had a nice crowd on Monday, hopefully we can have a decent one this week, too. I'll send out the invites Sunday morning, hope to see you all there.

It's a fact of life that people grapple with discouragement, despair, and depression. There are many causes of discouragement. How can we deal with it?

We all have a name but the Bible tells us there is a name above every name. When you become a Christian you take on the name of Christ.

As Christians we need to have both a practical and a biblical perspective on what is going on in the world. Most importantly, God does not want us to live in fear. We have an unprecedented opportunity to show people where to find peace and the Prince of Peace.

"Iron Mike" lässt wieder die Fäuste fliegen, bisher nur im Training. Nach Berichten könnte es aber ein Box-Comeback von Mike Tyson gegen Rugby-Spieler Sonny Bill Williams geben.

Brasilien leidet schwer unter der Corona-Pandemie. Die Zahl der Infizierten steigt nach wie vor stark. Beim Topklub Flamengo, Meister und Copa-Libertadores-Sieger, gib es nun besorgniserregend viele Fälle.

Die Bundesliga läuft wieder an, zur Freude der Vereine und zum Unmut vieler Deutscher. Laut einer neuen Umfrage spricht sich mehr als die Hälfte der Deutschen gegen den Neustart aus.

Binnen einer Halbzeit zerlegt Bremen vor 16 Jahren den Rekordmeister und krönt eine großartige Saison. „Wir haben gefeiert, bis es nicht mehr ging“, erinnert sich Ivan Klasnic an den Coup. Nationalkeeper Kahn mag davon nichts mehr wissen.

Seit seinem Wechsel von Eintracht Frankfurt zu Real Madrid ging es für Luka Jovic bergab. Der Stürmer steht vor einem Wechsel. Nun zog er sich eine schwere Verletzung zu. In den eigenen vier Wänden.

While Kelly Lytle Hernández was growing up in San Diego near the U.S.-Mexico border in the late 1980s and early '90s, she watched as people from her community, friends and neighbors, disappeared: Black youths disappeared into the prison system; Mexican immigrants disappeared through deportations. These experiences affected her deeply. "It was growing up in that environment that forced me to want to understand what was happening to us and why it seemed legitimate," Lytle Hernández tells All Things Considered . "And I wanted to disrupt that legitimacy." For answers to those questions, Lytle Hernández turned to the past. A historian and expert on immigration, race and mass incarceration, she is now a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is one of this year's 26 MacArthur Fellows . "History is a narrative of the past. It is based upon the sources that we regard as relevant or that we can find," she says. And so her work includes tracking down records that reflect

Like a lot of young women her age, 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson had a date Friday night — but unlike many of her peers, Jefferson's date was with her 8-year-old nephew. They were enjoying a heated video game that went into the early hours of Saturday when police arrived at the house Jefferson shared with her mother. Officers were responding to a nonemergency call from James Smith, a neighbor who knew Jefferson's mother was not well. (Jefferson, a pre-med graduate of Xavier University, had moved home to care for her ailing parent, who was in the hospital recovering from unspecified injuries.) Smith was worried when he saw doors to the Jefferson home wide open late at night. Despite the nonemergency nature of the call, two police officers crept up to the house unannounced, their flashlights sweeping the yard. Then one spotted Jefferson peering out of a window. In body camera footage released by the Fort Worth Police Department, an officer can be heard shouting, " Put your hands up!

Updated Nov. 12, 5:25 p.m. ET While the number of reported hate crimes dipped slightly in 2018, violence against individuals rose to a 16-year high, according to numbers released Tuesday by the FBI. The FBI's annual tally counted 7,120 hate crimes reported last year, 55 fewer than the year before. The main concern for extremism trackers, however, is the rising level of violence — the report showed an increase in the number of "crimes against persons," such as intimidation, assault and homicide. "We're seeing a leaner and meaner type of hate crime going on," said Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University San Bernardino. "Homicides were up and crimes against persons were up and that's an important thing to look at." Hate crimes targeting people accounted for 61% of all hate crimes in 2018, according to Levin, who is co-author of a report released Tuesday that analyzes law enforcement data. The FBI recorded 24 murders classified

Updated at 11:35 a.m. ET on Saturday A pair of armed robbers and two others, including the driver of a hijacked UPS truck, were killed in an exchange of gunfire with South Florida police officers after the suspects led authorities on a high-speed chase. The robbers held up a jewelry store on Thursday before commandeering the UPS truck and holding its driver hostage, according to Coral Gables Police . After fleeing the scene and evading police for dozens of miles, the truck stopped in the middle of rush-hour traffic as armed officers surrounded it. "There was exchanged fire between law enforcement and the suspects, and unfortunately, the suspects are now deceased," George Piro, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Miami office, said . "But two additional innocent civilians were also deceased." Former Department of Housing and Urban Development official Brandon Friedman described the shootout as "appalling." He said the police department should be held accountable for "choosing to

Cybercrime is booming, and victims are often at a loss about where to get help. In theory, Americans should report the crimes to the FBI, via its Internet Crime Complaint Center . In practice, the feds get hundreds of thousands of complaints a year, and have to focus on the biggest cases. But the other option, calling the police, can seem even less promising. "They didn't even respond," says Gregg Bennett, whose loss of 100 Bitcoin was described in an earlier NPR story about SIM-swap scams . He says he called his city's police department soon after discovering the theft, but concluded it was a dead end. "They have no ability to look up something like this," Bennett says. "It certainly is not local — this is not a local issue." It's conventional wisdom that cybercrime is too technical and too international for local police to handle. But as daily life becomes more digital, so does everyday crime, and some police say they can no longer avoid wading into the world of phone spoofers,

In more than 30 states, it is illegal for someone with HIV to have sex without first disclosing their status. Some are now pushing to change that, arguing that the laws are actually endangering public health. More than 1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV, and their HIV status could conceivably put them behind bars. That's what happened to Michael Holder. "I served 8 1/2 years in prison and three years after on parole," Holder says. Back in 2000, Holder's ex-girlfriend testified that he didn't disclose his HIV status before they had sex. That's a crime in Michigan and in most states in the country. He says the day after she said that, she came in and recanted. "She testified the truth and said that she had lied and said that she was jealous, and she loved me and that I had told her just like I had testified and said I'd told her," Holder says. "And she told the truth, but it was too late." Holder couldn't prove that he told her. Public health experts say that's one of many

Uber is testing a new feature in California that allows some drivers to set their own rates. The move comes in response to a new state law that requires more companies to convert their contract workers to employees, which means offering them benefits and added protections. Companies including Uber, Lyft and delivery app Postmates argue that doing so would upend their business model and eliminate the flexibility inherent to the gig economy. Uber is currently testing a feature at airports in Sacramento, Palm Springs and Santa Barbara that allows drivers to increase fares in 10% increments, up to five times the base rate. Riders are then matched with the lowest fare. In the coming days, Uber says it will also allow drivers to decrease their prices below the base rate and opt out of surge pricing. It's part of an effort to give drivers more control — and bolster the argument that they're truly contractors rather than employees. The company acknowledges the experiment could have unexpected

The Trump administration has revived the debate over "end-to-end encryption" — systems so secure that the tech companies themselves aren't able to read the messages, even when police present them with a warrant. "It is hard to overstate how perilous this is," U.S. Attorney General William Barr said in a speech last fall. "By enabling dangerous criminals to cloak their communications and activities behind an essentially impenetrable digital shield, the deployment of warrant-proof encryption is already imposing huge costs on society." Barr has been concerned about this for years, but he has become more vocal recently as encryption goes mainstream. It's now built into popular services such as Skype and WhatsApp, and even Facebook may soon be encrypted . Republican senator and Trump ally Lindsey Graham recently floated legislation that would strip tech companies of their liability protection under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act unless they comply with as-of-yet undefined

Indian police have the unenviable task of enforcing the world's biggest coronavirus lockdown . But last weekend, they handed down a punishment more common in a middle-school classroom than a police station. Ten foreign tourists caught flouting India's coronavirus restrictions Saturday were made to write the phrase "I did not follow the rules of lockdown. I am very sorry" 500 times and submit the paper to police. The incident happened at a sandy beach along the Ganges River near Rishikesh, a tourist hub in northern India famous for yoga retreats and hippie hangouts. It's where the Beatles made a spiritual pilgrimage in 1968. An officer who answered the phone Monday at the Muni Ki Reti police station near Rishikesh confirmed details to NPR, but declined an interview. The tourists were reportedly from Israel, Mexico, Australia and Austria, and were walking along the river when Indian police intervened. Under India's lockdown, all nonessential outings are banned. Video shared online by

Die Krise reißt vor allem wohlhabenden Gemeinden Löcher in die Kasse. Denn die für Städte so wichtige Gewerbesteuer bricht weg. Doch die größeren Probleme haben die ohnehin schwachen Kommunen. Sie müssen auf einen Faktor hoffen, der nicht in ihrer Hand liegt.

Zehntausende Eigentümerversammlungen fallen zurzeit aus. Denn Wohnungsbesitzer dürfen sich derzeit weder real noch online treffen. Viele Reparaturen bleiben deshalb liegen. Doch in der Krise werden die Regeln für Eigentümer neu definiert.

Zu Beginn des Shutdowns hielten Vermieter von Büroflächen das Homeoffice für ein vorübergehendes Phänomen. Doch jetzt mehren sich Hinweise, dass viele Mitarbeiter auch künftig von Hause arbeiten. Dabei spräche ein Grund ganz klar für ihre Rückkehr.

Auch Immobilienaktien sind im Zuge des Crashs abgestürzt. Analysen früherer Pandemien zeigen jedoch, dass sich die Branche immer sehr schnell erholt hat. Deshalb stehen die Kurschancen für einige Papiere jetzt besonders gut.

Finanzhilfen für besonders von der Krise getroffene Länder wie Italien? Die Erfahrung mit der deutschen Währungsunion zeigt, dass das allein nicht reichen wird. Es gilt, die Wirtschaftsstruktur anzupassen. Dazu braucht es relative Preisänderungen.

Special "came to pass in real life" edition!

I never finished my entry for the Kate Bush music challenge a while back, but I liked the bit I did get done.

Recorded with a Roland Jupiter X as a live take

Wir müssen uns vorerst von der Hoffnung verabschieden, weit weg zu fahren, um den Alltag und alles Negative hinter uns zu lassen. Was macht das mit uns? Wie können wir uns trotzdem erholen? Eine Psychologin gibt Tipps.

Der Dokumentarfotograf Steve McCurry reist seit mehr als 40 Jahren durch die Welt. Jeder kennt sein „afghanisches Mädchen“. Nun gewährt eine visuelle Biografie den bislang persönlichsten Einblick in sein Schaffen.

Zur Erholung im Urlaub gehört für viele das Reisen dazu. Sehnsüchtig warten sie auf Lockerungen der Reisebeschränkungen wegen Corona. Bis dahin bleiben aber die Souvenirs vergangener Trips. Zeit für eine Würdigung.

This plugin spotlight features the Cooper Time Cube MkII by Universal Audio, a unique emulation of the original garden hose-based mechanical delay device.

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The post Plugin Spotlight: Cooper Time Cube MkII by Universal Audio appeared first on Dubspot Blog.

Happy weekend, Mefites! I'm in search of some nice things to idly think about that aren't in my immediate view. I'd like to see a wikipedia page you like, of something that isn't in your home.

As always this is just a conversation starter not a limiter; let us know how things are with you, what media are you enjoying, etc. Just no politics please.

In order to move MetaFilter to a new server*, the site will be offline between 22:00 and 01:00 PDT Thursday evening.

The moderator e-mail (via admin@mefi.us) will still be working during this time.

In other time zones:

EDT:   01:00-04:00

BST:   05:00-09:00

CEDT:  07:00-10:00

IST:   10:00-13:30

CST:   13:00-16:00

AEDT:  16:00-19:00

If you feel up to it, please take a photo of something nice (anything that makes you feel good) and share it with all of us. It can be something on your desk. Something pretty you have hanging on the wall. Or maybe something interesting in your backyard, porch, stoop or balcony. Cute dog & cat photos are encouraged. I just want to look at something pleasant and nice. Stay safe and remember to be kind to yourself and to others.

Happy weekend, Mefites! This weekend jessamyn says: What's growing? Your garden? Your kids? Your hair? Your aggravation at your friends and neighbors? Your "What I'm gonna do when this is over" list? Your dream journal. Let's talk about growth!

As always this is a conversation starter, not limiter; feel free to let us know about non-growth things that're on your mind too. Just no politics please.

In a second attempt at moving MetaFilter to a new AWS account, the site will be offline between 22:00 and 01:00 PDT Sunday evening.

The moderator e-mail (via admin@mefi.us) will still be working during this time.

In other time zones:

GMT:   05:00-08:00

EDT:   01:00-04:00

BST:   06:00-09:00

CEDT:  07:00-10:00

IST:   10:30-13:30

CST:   13:00-16:00

AET:   15:00-18:00

Long ago we started up a group for magical mefites, it has grown into something that includes mefites and nonmefites alike, and I'd like to welcome polytheists, witches, animists, unidentified flying spiritual practitioners (or nonflying) if interested! Zoom meetings are happening.

Currently we have been focusing a lot on how to create resources from the land in connection with spirits and deities in the area. Community preparedness for uncertain times, and just general sharing of our different spiritual practices and growth. There is a zoom meeting tonight (theme of spring and what we are growing) and we might be moving our meetings from monthly to weekly for the next few months.

Message me and I'll get you into the group! Currently using facebook as a base but I am trying to move to a website as much as my technically challenged abilities let me.

Just chat it up, fuzzballs!

Greetings, Sapients! You may have visited famed site "Metafilter" before - but did you know this: Metafilter also has "Metafilter Chat"! It does.

As this chat is associated with Metafilter proper, we chat about all kinds of things! Do you like cute animal GIFs? We chat those! Do you wish to ask a question? We answer! Do you fucking fuck the fucking thing? We fuck that!

As implied above, you may chat through the standard web interface. If you wish to use alternate methods of chatting, there are OPTIONS! We are very quite versatile, you know. [previously]

Prithee, come chat. We do not bite - unless you ask!

I have successfully eliminated feeding time drama. I will tell you how.

But first - if you're willing to make a small screw hole in the pantry door, you can get an inexpensive metal latch hook that will improve that part of your system. If that won't work, you can find another way to keep that door securely closed. If you get stuck, just use your second AskMe question. You should be able to solve this problem :)

If you can't, well, it doesn't sound like you're getting a ton of help from the robot. Would it be just as easy to store the food in an air-tight container and serve whenever you feel like it?

Now - here's how I got my round little foster cat to stop harassing us for food:

I convinced her that I was not responsible for deciding when to feed her. I had an old phone with a distinctive, not-unpleasant alarm sound (harp glissando), set the alarm for her feeding times, and made a huge show about hearing the alarm sound, running over to it (to shut it off), and feeding her exactly then. It was clear that I was controlled by the harp sound. She made the connection very quickly, and would go sit and watch the sound/alarm system when it was close to meal times. My life improved. Safety improved (no cat weaving around my ankles). My estimation of my own cleverness improved also :)

People tend to overthink this, and I am speaking from real experience. Just keep the requisite number of gallons of water you'd use in the timespan for which you're planning and change them every couple of years, just for the sake of doing it. They'll last for eons in reality.

In an emergency, water's great, but in a longer-term bad situation, it falls pretty far down the list. Unless you're in an unusually arid place, a means to obtain the water necessary to live (maybe not to shower, run the dishwasher or laundry though) will make itself known. And you'd never store enough to matter for *that* long, while a few gallons of cooking oil or a bag of salt would make you a local hero for a long, long time.

What people tend to really wish they'd planned for, but don't:

1) cooking oil
2) toilet paper, paper towels
3) spices, herbs, pepper and salt
4) sugar, chocolate (especially for its fat), candy, honey
5) soap, shampoo, cleaning products
6) seeds for easy-to-grow stuff
7) vitamins
8) if you can keep a couple of hens, you won't regret it.

Nothing's as tradeable (relative to effort) as eggs!

Aside from the last three, these things can be stored for a long, long time. And in reality, #6 and #7 would be good for a few years.

I am a Sarajevan who lived during the siege with no heat, electricity, water, phone (etc) for the most of a three-year period. What's on the list above is what I was almost always missing. We got "dry" food packages from various sources. These tended to be Truman eggs (good for a little protein, but thats about it), macaroni, rice, powder potatoes, Vietnam-era "biscuits" - supposedly with vitamins, but these were from the late 1960s and of dubious nutritional value.

What was missing was: fat, protein, flavor and variety. Boiling was the only way to cook things, due to lack of any cooking oils. To fry something was a rare miracle - even if you were frying reconstituted potatoes from powder. And to have a little pepper or salt was nirvana.

My work has been doing mandatory, camera-on videoconference "socials" every Friday -- scheduled at 4pm just to twist the knife. I hate them so much and finally told my manager I'm not going to attend anymore. People seem to think that because we're working from home, they're free to push on the boundaries between work life and private life in a way that is super uncomfortable for me and it has definitely been adding to my COVID stress in isolation.

If you're so ignorant that you think any promotion involving a gun on the streets in this day and age is appropriate you are a fucking idiot and detainment is the least of your worries.

This is the sort of mentality that leads to minority kids getting killed for having the temerity to play with toy guns.