MetaFilter Projects (original) (raw)
April 7
April 6
April 3
April 1
Taeliana Creative
hi! This is the site I use to keep all my books now. It's got background info, some advertising, and links to the sites where my books can be bought - on that site itself, itch.io, Amazon (I know, but you know, lots of people use Kindles and it was the cheapest place to get solid media without doing it myself). [more inside]
posted by mephron at 4:01 AM - 1 comment
March 31
The Pelican
Interactive fiction about hiding in a 19th century harbor town, waiting for a ship to arrive. It's more of an existential mood piece than a game you can progress in or win. [more inside]
posted by Zarkonnen at 7:07 AM - 3 comments
March 30
March 24
March 18
Adventures in Higher Education Marketing
I have escaped from higher ed marketing and communications, but there was a lot I loved about it, and a lot I learned over a career spent doing it. I'm writing free (as in beer) books on various higher ed marcomms topics on lesser-explored areas like grad student recruitment (done); the eternal war between advancement/development and marketing (underway); unconventional tactics for academic self-promotion (being planned). No AI used in the creation of these (other than spell check). I hope they're useful, or at least kind of funny.
posted by Shepherd at 7:04 AM - 1 comment
March 16
spider mapping
I wrote a computational essay about finding a certain spider in Mexico, mostly to try out how to get species location coordinates from sites like iNaturalist/GBIF using Wolfram Language/Mathematica.
posted by dhruva at 7:01 PM - 0 comments - Post a Comment
March 12
March 11
March 2
'Well, it's twinkle, twinkle, little star, /
... Along come Brady in his 'lectric car, / Got a mean look right in his eye, / Gonna shoot somebody just to see him die'. So begins the classic murder ballad Duncan & Brady, inspired by the killing of a real-life St Louis cop named James Brady in October 1890. I first dug into the facts behind the song in 2017 for a short piece on my website PlanetSlade.com. I've since expanded that article into a 40-page chapter of my latest book, Blood on the Leaves. Among the new information I uncovered for the book, you'll find the song's earliest sightings as a street ballad a few weeks after the murder, an introduction to the extraordinary young Black attorney who ran Duncan's defence, the long string of re-trials and appeals he used to keep his client alive till 1894 and the killer's unexpected background as one of St Louis's finest Black singers. If you just want the basics on Duncan & Brady, then my website piece should do you fine. If you want the full story, though, please consider buying my book instead. [more inside]
posted by Paul Slade at 10:53 AM - 0 comments - Post a Comment
February 28
Analyzing 5 years'-worth of heart rate and fitness data
I've been wearing an Apple Watch since November of 2020. I recently downloaded all of my heart rate and workout data to my Windows computer. Then I used Claude Code to help me analyze the data. Some of the results were expected (exercise made my resting heart rate slower), but some were a bit surprising (elliptical training is a better workout than stationary cycling). Claude Code proved to be an able, but somewhat flawed, collaborator.
posted by alex1965 at 8:34 AM - 0 comments - Post a Comment
February 12
February 9
February 4
February 2
An experiment in reading resumes under time pressure
I’ve been thinking a lot about how resumes are actually read when the reader is tired, distracted, and skimming rather than carefully evaluating. I built a small project that models that kind of reading and reports back what comes through clearly, what feels assumed, and what remains unresolved. It doesn’t score, rank, or give advice, and it’s not trying to help anyone optimize anything. It’s simply reflecting the read. This started as a personal curiosity about reader inference rather than applicant success, and I found it unexpectedly clarifying to see what a document communicates before any judgment kicks in. I wrote a short page explaining how the reading works and what it deliberately does not do. Happy to answer questions about the approach or the limits of it. [more inside]
posted by element930 at 5:42 PM - 6 comments
January 16
January 9
January 8
January 5
January 3
December 27
"See all the other memes I made"
A couple of years ago I started creating 'Image Macros'. Basically it's just found photos with some smart / stupid tags. Some of them are semi-NSFW or politically-suspect. Most of them make sense only if you squint. But I like doing it, so there...
posted by growabrain at 1:38 PM - 2 comments
December 22
Long Dog (and other elongated animals)
Long Dog is the exciting new card game where everyone competes to make the longest dog (or other elongated animal). It's pretty good fun. In this online version, simply click on the question mark above to extend (or possibly end) your dog (or other animal). How long will your dog be? (Single player only, I'm afraid, but if you really want to play it competitively, I suppose you could all open a version of this on your phones simultaneously and try to beat each other that way.)
posted by dng at 9:20 AM - 2 comments
December 15
December 10
Eating Litter (a poem)
One of my hobbies is picking up trash. I never know if my code or my book writing is as good as it can be. Maybe there's some slight change that could make it run ten times faster or sell ten times as many copies. But an hour spent picking up trash is roughly as optimized as it can be, and there's always trash that needs to be picked up. I've commented about it on mefi here and here. It's meditative and it gets me outside while I catch up on podcasts. Anyway, here's a poem about eating garbage: [more inside]
posted by AlSweigart at 3:05 PM - 0 comments - Post a Comment
December 9
Ideal Conditions Calculator
hey all, I've built this micro site which has been helpful for me to figure out when the ideal conditions will be for projects I've been working on! maybe it can be useful to you too! thank you! xx
posted by vert canard at 3:08 PM - 3 comments
November 27
November 18
Short Fiction about Academic Tech
I'm working on a productivity suite for myself and other folks who work in fields adjacent to the academic humanities. The suite is called VIRENS, from the Latin word for "flourishing." When I'm struggling with big academic concepts, I sometimes write fiction to help me figure them out. This long short story (~7500 words) is a way to communicate what VIRENS does through a day in the life of the harried and forgetful assistant professor Dr. Vera Green. It's got details of how I've intertwingled Obsidian and reference managers and scripting and file automation, along with a couple classroom scenes, a little bit of campus intrigue, and a three-legged cat named Gaius. A PDF is available. I'd be grateful for any feedback either about the story--yes, it's trying to suggest why other people might be interested in this system I'm building, but I'm having fun with Dr. Green's character--or about the suite itself, with the scripting and templates currently about 70% complete.
posted by Deminime at 3:01 PM - 5 comments
November 16
TSOFA - The Simple, Offline Flashcard App
Anki, Quizlet, Brainscape... I dislike all these overcomplicated flashcard apps. I just want the software equivalent of index cards, so I created TSOFA - The Simple, Offline, Flashcard App. It's exists entirely in a single HTML file you can view in the browser. Check out this demo. You can edit the flashcards directly in the file, using just text or HTML tags. Or you can use this editor app. It also supports a CSV string for the flashcard content so you can import flashcards from other apps. Otherwise, it's just a simple, free flashcard app: No server, no ads, no registration, no premium features to pay for, no dependencies, no build process, no cloud sync. You can suggest improvements or report bugs on the GitHub repo.
posted by AlSweigart at 7:19 PM - 4 comments
November 12
November 11
DOCTYPE magazine
I’ve brought back ’80s BASIC type-in magazines… but for web pages. DOCTYPE contains 10 web apps to type in, including games, toys, puzzles and utilities. Also features specially commissioned artwork inside and on the glossy cover.
posted by malevolent at 7:54 AM - 5 comments
November 8
November 5
Metformin (Glucophage) may have made me smarter.
Metformin is a prescription medication used to lower blood sugar levels, though it's also rumored to increase longevity (among other benefits). My doctor prescribed it to me for pre-diabetes. I soon noticed that my reaction time improved. This was an unexpected, serendipitous result and not part of a formal self-experiment. Since reaction time has been shown to correlate with cognitive function, there's a possibility that metformin made me (slightly) smarter. [more inside]
posted by alex1965 at 6:21 AM - 1 comment
November 4
November 1
October 31
Jabo's Annual Halloween Cartoon 2025
It’s that time o’ year once again. The trees are losing their leaves, there’s a chill in the air and everyone is wondering when Death’s shadowy IQ test results will arrive. In that sinister spirit, I offer the 24th venomous visions of my Jabo's Annual Halloween Cartoon 2025. I was lucky to find those semi-expired anxiety pills in order to steady my shaky hand and guide my pen in finishing this year’s nightmare. Happy Halloween, Dia de los Muertos and Apocalypse should that come around!
posted by jabo at 9:30 AM - 0 comments - Post a Comment
October 27
New York City election endorsements (ballot proposals and judges)
I blogged my research into the six ballot measures and 29 judicial candidates for the 2025 New York City general election. I don't think there's any other non-paywalled source that collates the different local bar associations' evaluations of the candidates in the 7 competitive judicial elections; my post includes possibly the first publication of the Queens County Bar Associations ratings, as I think neither QCBA nor local media have published them yet. I also met some of the judicial candidates and incorporated my impressions of them into my recommendations.
posted by brainwane at 10:05 AM - 3 comments
October 15
October 13
October 10
The 1% Guild
An exclusive club for those who live life on the edge - you can only get in and apply for membership if your battery is at 1% (requires battery-driven device and Chrome-ish browser).
posted by malevolent at 4:59 AM - 0 comments - Post a Comment
October 9
I gave a lecture about my Egyptian furniture replicas
Several years ago I posted a project about an Egyptian lattice stool I’d made during the lock-down. The warm reception here inspired me to contact various museums and ask to examine a bunch of ancient pieces of furniture first hand. A surprising number gave me access, allowing me to make ever more accurate copies. Fast forward to this last Tuesday and I delivered a one hour lecture/slideshow plus Q&A at the fabulous Museo Egizio in Turin, Italy [more inside]
posted by brachiopod at 5:44 PM - 4 comments
October 6
Dot Battle - a Javascript Physics Toy
Watch a battle for survival play out over a few minutes on your screen. An allegory for existence? A meditation aid? An excuse to watch some colored balls bounce around for a minute or two? Dot Battle is all these things.
posted by AndrewStephens at 10:10 AM - 5 comments