JohnnyGunn's votes
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Potassium supplementation and weight loss: My n=1 experiment
Potassium chloride (KCl) is a salt substitute often used by people who have high blood pressure. Some earlier investigations suggested that daily supplementation with KCl may lead to weight loss. I performed a study on myself to test this hypothesis. I lost a modest amount of weight (about 4.2 pounds or 1.9 kg) over a period of two months. My experiment is an example of citizen science, also called personal science, n=1 investigations, or "quantified self".
posted by alex1965 at 5:03 AM on March 21, 2024
Potassium chloride (KCl) is a salt substitute often used by people who have high blood pressure. Some earlier investigations suggested that daily supplementation with KCl may lead to weight loss. I performed a study on myself to test this hypothesis. I lost a modest amount of weight (about 4.2 pounds or 1.9 kg) over a period of two months. My experiment is an example of citizen science, also called personal science, n=1 investigations, or "quantified self".
posted by alex1965 at 5:03 AM on March 21, 2024
Movie Posters Perfected
I love movies—and especially movie posters. I have very fond memories as a kid in the 80s seeing new movie posters at my local theater teasing next summer's blockbusters. So I thought it’d be fun to turn an unused TV into a digital movie poster display to help recreate some of that nostalgia at home. I figured out the best way to mount a TV vertically and connect it to a cloud-based library to display my collection of movie posters. I love how it turned out, so I decided to write a guide to help people who might be interested in putting together their own.
posted by wubbie at 2:11 PM on March 22, 2024 - 4 comments
I love movies—and especially movie posters. I have very fond memories as a kid in the 80s seeing new movie posters at my local theater teasing next summer's blockbusters. So I thought it’d be fun to turn an unused TV into a digital movie poster display to help recreate some of that nostalgia at home. I figured out the best way to mount a TV vertically and connect it to a cloud-based library to display my collection of movie posters. I love how it turned out, so I decided to write a guide to help people who might be interested in putting together their own.
posted by wubbie at 2:11 PM on March 22, 2024 - 4 comments
Eldercare, Family Caretaking, and End-of-life Logistics: Stuff I Learned
My mother died this year, after a long decline in her health, and I was one of the main people who helped take care of her. While caring for her, preparing for her death, and handling logistics afterwards, I learned a lot from online resources (including MetaFilter), various professionals, and friends. So I'm trying to pass on some things I learned -- about paperwork, patient advocacy, body donation, delegating to friends, coping with Mom's delirium and incontinence, and more -- by sharing them in a blog post I have been working on for months. It was pretty hard to write in places, and I hope it saves people a few unpleasant surprises.
posted by brainwane at 9:20 AM on November 9, 2023 - 8 comments
My mother died this year, after a long decline in her health, and I was one of the main people who helped take care of her. While caring for her, preparing for her death, and handling logistics afterwards, I learned a lot from online resources (including MetaFilter), various professionals, and friends. So I'm trying to pass on some things I learned -- about paperwork, patient advocacy, body donation, delegating to friends, coping with Mom's delirium and incontinence, and more -- by sharing them in a blog post I have been working on for months. It was pretty hard to write in places, and I hope it saves people a few unpleasant surprises.
posted by brainwane at 9:20 AM on November 9, 2023 - 8 comments
What Rosa Brought
When my kids were ready to begin learning about the Holocaust, but not to face its full horror, I told them their grandmother's story. My mom was a little girl in Vienna when the Nazis marched in. She was present for the first steps that they took against the Austrian Jews. Miraculously, she and her parents escaped in 1939. It’s not a happy story, but it's a story whose sadness a child can wrap their head around, and I thought it might be helpful for other parents who are ready to begin this conversation. So, I put it in a picture book. It was published last week, and I'm prouder of it than anything else I've written. It got starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist.
posted by yankeefog at 7:41 AM on November 20, 2023 - 3 comments
When my kids were ready to begin learning about the Holocaust, but not to face its full horror, I told them their grandmother's story. My mom was a little girl in Vienna when the Nazis marched in. She was present for the first steps that they took against the Austrian Jews. Miraculously, she and her parents escaped in 1939. It’s not a happy story, but it's a story whose sadness a child can wrap their head around, and I thought it might be helpful for other parents who are ready to begin this conversation. So, I put it in a picture book. It was published last week, and I'm prouder of it than anything else I've written. It got starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist.
posted by yankeefog at 7:41 AM on November 20, 2023 - 3 comments
Clone-a Lisa
Can you paint a copy of the Mona Lisa in 60 seconds? Anything over 80% is good, 85%+ very good, and 90% may be possible if you're extremely fast and accurate. While making it I posted updates to Twitter and Mastodon (click a later post to load more of thread).
posted by malevolent at 2:37 AM on August 21, 2023 - 1 comment
Can you paint a copy of the Mona Lisa in 60 seconds? Anything over 80% is good, 85%+ very good, and 90% may be possible if you're extremely fast and accurate. While making it I posted updates to Twitter and Mastodon (click a later post to load more of thread).
posted by malevolent at 2:37 AM on August 21, 2023 - 1 comment
down-river.net
AMZN has an extensive open box and used outdoor gear selection, but searching it is a mess. I built a little tool to declutter the experience: trim out all the distractions and sponsored products, random low quality brands, etc... All wheat, no chaff.
posted by ph00dz at 5:07 AM on July 5, 2023 - 6 comments
AMZN has an extensive open box and used outdoor gear selection, but searching it is a mess. I built a little tool to declutter the experience: trim out all the distractions and sponsored products, random low quality brands, etc... All wheat, no chaff.
posted by ph00dz at 5:07 AM on July 5, 2023 - 6 comments
Big Ben word game
A unique puzzle for each second of the day, with lots of nice touches: the background fades between day and night based on London time, there's a satisfying bonnggg sound that shakes the game when you find a long word, fireworks if you clear the grid, etc. It also features a large dictionary and generously makes sure you don't get a Q without a U next to it.
posted by malevolent at 5:02 AM on July 19, 2023 - 7 comments
A unique puzzle for each second of the day, with lots of nice touches: the background fades between day and night based on London time, there's a satisfying bonnggg sound that shakes the game when you find a long word, fireworks if you clear the grid, etc. It also features a large dictionary and generously makes sure you don't get a Q without a U next to it.
posted by malevolent at 5:02 AM on July 19, 2023 - 7 comments
Deco Deck: a new logic puzzle
My new game, Deco Deck, is now available for iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, and Mac. In Deco Deck, there's a grid of cards. Each card has one of five suits, and a number from 1-9. The goal is to link up the cards in connected groups of five, such that each group forms a valid "hand". The hands are: straight, flush, full house, five-of-a-kind, and rainbow. A rainbow is one card of each suit. Each puzzle has only one solution. There are new puzzles every day.
posted by novalis_dt at 7:33 AM on May 16, 2023 - 1 comment
My new game, Deco Deck, is now available for iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, and Mac. In Deco Deck, there's a grid of cards. Each card has one of five suits, and a number from 1-9. The goal is to link up the cards in connected groups of five, such that each group forms a valid "hand". The hands are: straight, flush, full house, five-of-a-kind, and rainbow. A rainbow is one card of each suit. Each puzzle has only one solution. There are new puzzles every day.
posted by novalis_dt at 7:33 AM on May 16, 2023 - 1 comment
Becoming a dad, ready or not
I'm a storyteller and standup comic in NYC, and I just posted this standup act/story about what it was like to have to prepare for my first baby while grieving my own father - and getting some surprise inspiration from my stoner mother-in-law. I'd greatly appreciate your checking it out and sharing it everywhere if you're so moved.
posted by chinese_fashion at 12:10 PM on May 11, 2023 - 3 comments
I'm a storyteller and standup comic in NYC, and I just posted this standup act/story about what it was like to have to prepare for my first baby while grieving my own father - and getting some surprise inspiration from my stoner mother-in-law. I'd greatly appreciate your checking it out and sharing it everywhere if you're so moved.
posted by chinese_fashion at 12:10 PM on May 11, 2023 - 3 comments
Kilogram
The worst-quality photo sharing site on the internet - each image is compressed down to 1KB or less. It uses the browser's own JPEG encoder, so results can vary quite a lot (Firefox tends to end up a lot sharper than Chrome, with Safari somewhere in the middle).
posted by malevolent at 9:06 AM on October 4, 2022 - 8 comments
The worst-quality photo sharing site on the internet - each image is compressed down to 1KB or less. It uses the browser's own JPEG encoder, so results can vary quite a lot (Firefox tends to end up a lot sharper than Chrome, with Safari somewhere in the middle).
posted by malevolent at 9:06 AM on October 4, 2022 - 8 comments
ScotRail audio announcements as an interactive database
Scottish train operator ScotRail released a two-hour long MP3 file containing all of the components of its automated station announcements, as the result of a Freedom of Information request. I have been having SO much building things with this.
posted by simonw at 5:31 PM on August 21, 2022 - 4 comments
Scottish train operator ScotRail released a two-hour long MP3 file containing all of the components of its automated station announcements, as the result of a Freedom of Information request. I have been having SO much building things with this.
posted by simonw at 5:31 PM on August 21, 2022 - 4 comments
TreasuryDirect Wikipedia article
I find TreasuryDirect.gov fascinating and frustrating. It's an aging web application that dates back to 2002, and for many years it was used by relatively few people, mostly US citizens who wanted to buy or redeem savings bonds — which heavily declined in popularity over the past few decades, since they had relatively low interest rates. TreasuryDirect suddenly got millions of new users over the past year because of high interest rates on inflation-protected Series I bonds, and the system and its customer support team have been struggling. I wrote an in-depth Wikipedia article covering the history of this service since it started in 1986, including details about a replacement web application that the Treasury has been working on since 2014.
posted by dreamyshade at 10:17 PM on August 23, 2022 - 10 comments
I find TreasuryDirect.gov fascinating and frustrating. It's an aging web application that dates back to 2002, and for many years it was used by relatively few people, mostly US citizens who wanted to buy or redeem savings bonds — which heavily declined in popularity over the past few decades, since they had relatively low interest rates. TreasuryDirect suddenly got millions of new users over the past year because of high interest rates on inflation-protected Series I bonds, and the system and its customer support team have been struggling. I wrote an in-depth Wikipedia article covering the history of this service since it started in 1986, including details about a replacement web application that the Treasury has been working on since 2014.
posted by dreamyshade at 10:17 PM on August 23, 2022 - 10 comments
MetaFilter Steering Committee Self-Nominations Open
********Hello there!******** The Metafilter Transition Team (TT) is pleased to announce that self nominations are open for the inaugural Steering Committee! The purpose of the MetaFilter Steering Committee (SC) will be to develop and implement site policy, code updates, and ensure the financial health of the site. The SC works with the site staff and site owner to ensure that there is not a single failure point for site decisions or actions, and that there are an adequate number of people available to respond to community needs. Long story short this will be a committee of Metafilter members who help guide the site and act as the voice of the members at large. Interested? Come on over to MetaTalk and read all the details!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:18 PM on July 25, 2022
********Hello there!******** The Metafilter Transition Team (TT) is pleased to announce that self nominations are open for the inaugural Steering Committee! The purpose of the MetaFilter Steering Committee (SC) will be to develop and implement site policy, code updates, and ensure the financial health of the site. The SC works with the site staff and site owner to ensure that there is not a single failure point for site decisions or actions, and that there are an adequate number of people available to respond to community needs. Long story short this will be a committee of Metafilter members who help guide the site and act as the voice of the members at large. Interested? Come on over to MetaTalk and read all the details!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:18 PM on July 25, 2022
AUTOEXEC.CAT
AI-generated art and comics about cats, from the future! I've been generating these using a tool called Midjourney, which has proved especially good at mimicking the pen-and-ink art style of New Yorker cartoons. I'm having a ton of fun making these (“new yorker cartoon about a cat being chased by a swarm of bees” is my favorite so far), so I set up a dedicated Instagram. New cat comics/art/weirdness a couple of times a day!
posted by oulipian at 9:08 AM on June 10, 2022 - 3 comments
AI-generated art and comics about cats, from the future! I've been generating these using a tool called Midjourney, which has proved especially good at mimicking the pen-and-ink art style of New Yorker cartoons. I'm having a ton of fun making these (“new yorker cartoon about a cat being chased by a swarm of bees” is my favorite so far), so I set up a dedicated Instagram. New cat comics/art/weirdness a couple of times a day!
posted by oulipian at 9:08 AM on June 10, 2022 - 3 comments
Nelson's Linkblog
A collection of links I find interesting. I write it for an audience, a few links a day of general interest.
posted by Nelson at 12:38 PM on July 20, 2022 - 1 comment
A collection of links I find interesting. I write it for an audience, a few links a day of general interest.
posted by Nelson at 12:38 PM on July 20, 2022 - 1 comment
Solfetta: a free web-based ear training app
I created Solfetta because I wanted a convenient way to practice playing by ear on my phone that could help build associations between the music being played and Solfa symbols (you can also display intervals, or note names in any key). You can play what you want or use a library of well-known melodies to get started. The tuning can be changed to match any recording. Code (VanillaJS) is on GitHub.
posted by tomcooke at 10:04 PM on June 23, 2022 - 1 comment
I created Solfetta because I wanted a convenient way to practice playing by ear on my phone that could help build associations between the music being played and Solfa symbols (you can also display intervals, or note names in any key). You can play what you want or use a library of well-known melodies to get started. The tuning can be changed to match any recording. Code (VanillaJS) is on GitHub.
posted by tomcooke at 10:04 PM on June 23, 2022 - 1 comment
Making a watermelon chair from green wood
I started making colourful stools for kids a couple of years ago in my spare time. Recently I was part of a project to film the process, and this is the result :). The link above goes to a short little teaser and some still photos, or you can go here for the whole video.
posted by twirlypen at 12:38 PM on July 8, 2022 - 7 comments
I started making colourful stools for kids a couple of years ago in my spare time. Recently I was part of a project to film the process, and this is the result :). The link above goes to a short little teaser and some still photos, or you can go here for the whole video.
posted by twirlypen at 12:38 PM on July 8, 2022 - 7 comments
Bad Moon Rising: The Strange Untold Story of the Cult Leader, his Newspaper and the Right
With the Moonies (previously on Metafilter) back in the news after the assassination of Shinzo Abe, I've re-released a free edition of my 2008 nonfiction book on this group and its connections to right-wing politics in the U.S. and Japan. In a new preface, I discuss why I made the PDF freely available with hopes of helping young people trapped inside this group.
posted by johngoren at 7:01 AM on July 12, 2022
With the Moonies (previously on Metafilter) back in the news after the assassination of Shinzo Abe, I've re-released a free edition of my 2008 nonfiction book on this group and its connections to right-wing politics in the U.S. and Japan. In a new preface, I discuss why I made the PDF freely available with hopes of helping young people trapped inside this group.
posted by johngoren at 7:01 AM on July 12, 2022
The many faces of Boris Johnson
I’ve just compiled 36 of my photographs showing London street art images of Boris Johnson into a single Twitter thread. The roles Johnson’s shown in here include comedian, demon, Beatle, blackface minstrel, clown, monster, glove-puppet, shoeshine, dominatrix, junkie and sexy manga boy. Threadreader.
posted by Paul Slade at 6:55 AM on June 17, 2022 - 3 comments
I’ve just compiled 36 of my photographs showing London street art images of Boris Johnson into a single Twitter thread. The roles Johnson’s shown in here include comedian, demon, Beatle, blackface minstrel, clown, monster, glove-puppet, shoeshine, dominatrix, junkie and sexy manga boy. Threadreader.
posted by Paul Slade at 6:55 AM on June 17, 2022 - 3 comments
Every Diner in Whatcom County, WA
I'm a recent transplant to Bellingham, Washington. In addition to rain and deer, we have lots of diners. I have decided to eat at and review each one based on the following criteria: Vibe, Song Heard, Coffee, Did the yolk pop?, Can I sit and read a while?, and Price. I'm up to 14 so far, about eight more to go!
posted by cidrab at 2:04 PM on June 16, 2022 - 8 comments
I'm a recent transplant to Bellingham, Washington. In addition to rain and deer, we have lots of diners. I have decided to eat at and review each one based on the following criteria: Vibe, Song Heard, Coffee, Did the yolk pop?, Can I sit and read a while?, and Price. I'm up to 14 so far, about eight more to go!
posted by cidrab at 2:04 PM on June 16, 2022 - 8 comments