Best Of MetaFilter

Projection Booth by limecools (cc by-nc-sa)

"I set Anchorman on fire": Tales from Mefite film projectionists.

To make that sparkly tv logo without computers, the artists "stayed up all night doing drugs." - How they made animated graphics for tv before CGI.

Betamax nostalgia here - Plus how videotape and adhesive tape are made on the same machines.

Remember those 1-800- commercials from late-night tv? - I made those ads, and I worked in a call center, and we could tell when the ads aired.

Stock trader tech - lots of love for the bottomless Bloomberg terminal (internal Craigslist! extra emoji!), history of some alternatives to Bloomberg in the early 1980s, and extra tough phone equipment to survive frustrated smashing by floor traders.

Electronic medical records - A harder problem than it seems, how it's a pain for doctors, and why a lot of medical info systems still rely on fax or modem.

Hannibal Rising

For those suffering Hannibal withdrawal, here's a reminder that the fannibals are still dissecting the last episode in FanFare, with over 1,000 comments (wherein Kitteh executes a real-life Mads and Gillian Fanfare.Metafilter photo op!), plus the brand new Cannibal Club has cooked up some ideas for those hungry for more, including a club talk post to discuss the book "Hannibal Rising" in anticipation of a movie re-watch. Dig in, my fiends.

Sentiment Analysis for C-of-the-ACM by tsevis (cc by-nc-nd)

Recent comments from Mefites that go behind the scenes or look a little deeper:

pinback on using Google Mobilizer as a proxy to render encrypted and obfuscated TV listings to create electronic program guides "back in the dark early days of digital television in Australia"

Eyebrows McGee on the complicated manipulations and confusion of special taxing districts

allkindsoftime on the hair-raising dangers and machinations of Nairobi's "matatu" minibus transit chaos

yankeefog on the concept of "convening an electoral college" as One Weird Trick for negotiating disputes or decisions in a healthy marriage

a fiendish thingy on resumes and job search etiquette, and why "creative" at this stage is more likely to read as "confusing" and "non-functional"

Frowner on the various considerations of navigating content/trigger warnings or disturbing material in an academic setting

Hipsters by idealisms (cc by)

In case anyone's missed it, here's a reminder that FanFare's newish "Watercooler" page offers a quick look at what discussions have been most active recently (and you can see recently added TV and films on the FF front page sidebar), and FanFare Clubs has some fun things going on, including:

The Criterion on Hulu Club has added a second film per week, voted on from Criterion's selection of films available for free to non-Hulu subscribers

The Bond Club has been having a good time love/hate/grudge-watching smoove ol' 007, and is about halfway through the oeuvre; not too late to join in and possibly be shaken, if not stirred.

The Mefi Horror Club has been busily skulking and scurrying around the dark places, and just posted Killer Klowns from Outer Space. brrrr.

(also, psst, you can start your own club, and discuss it first in FanFare Talk, if you'd like)

Old broken TV by schmilblick (cc by)

We are testing out a new site for discussing TV shows, called FanFare. It's just covering current seasons of Mad Men and Game of Thrones during the beta test period, but will expand afterwards. More at MetaTalk.

MetaFilter member chambers recounts an amazing story of working at a college TV station and accidentally making Beavis the new face of C-SPAN for a weekend, long ago.

TV series "Breaking Bad" filming locations in Albuquerque New Mexico by Boortz47 (cc by-nc-sa)

Vince Gilligan didn't originally envision the locale as any specific place, certainly not ABQ. He saw this as a story taking place in vanilla suburban USA. So while the show has very much developed a strong sense of place, it's a carefully limited one — emphasizing the quotidian suburban life and bleakly semi-urban neglect and in contrast to the austere desert surrounding it. Missing is the mountain and national forest to the east, the more picturesque and lovely examples of Albuquerque life and architecture. BB's Albuquerque is a city of uninteresting middle-class, suburban homes. The despair of ubiquitous and shabby strip-malls is accurate, though.

Back when I read about where each of the depicted homes really were, I was pleased to find that I'd correctly identified all the neighborhoods by sight.

Ivan Fyodorovich talks about Breaking Bad's sense of place.

Dancers on The Judy Garland Show (1964) A few illuminating answers to a question about why some old Twilight Zone episodes can look especially creepy. Meet the term, and the MeFite, orthicon halo.

house-interior02 by martiniko (cc by)

Slate Magazine published a short piece today questioning how realistic the popular HGTV show House Hunters actually is. The story goes nicely with a comment from last summer on Ask MetaFilter describing just how faked and staged the show was for a member's friend that was on the show.
[via MetaTalk]

Transmitter Array by Modern Relics (cc by)

You might have been watching TV before and heard an emergency alert interrupt your show with information on weather or news. A similar new text messaging system will soon be online to warn you of severe weather alerts (and a mysterious Presidential Alert). Turns out there are several levels of interruption including the most serious, a total takeover of the US airwaves by the President. MeFi member eriko explains it all:

Despite the fact that really the only message the President would send is "So this is it. We're all going to die," the capability remains, and by law, is required to remain. So, WEA may allow you to block advisories, like AMBER alerts (CAE -- Child Abduction Emergency, but sent with an Advisory/Statement flag) but you will not be able to block an EAN.

the genius (aka dan harmon) is in the middle by irina slutsky (cc by)

If you wondered why the creator, writer, and show runner Dan Harmon was fired from his own show, what it means, and what will happen going forward, MeFi member Navelgazer explains the situation along with his own perspective from within the TV industry.