Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with 1984

Can you recommend material that further analyzes Orwell's 1984?

helios410 — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:03:02 -0800

I recently read George Orwell's 1984 for the first time, and I was blown away by it! Can you recommend theses/essays/discussions that can be found on the web?

1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics on TV in the USA

alicat — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 05:26:33 -0800

Were the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics broadcast on tape delay in the United States? How can I figure out the TV schedule? Anecdotes of events you remember watching would help. I found this schedule of the Sarajevo Olympic events, but I want to know what time the events were shown on TV in the US (specifically, in the Eastern time zone). The broadcasting network was ABC.

Were all events tape-delayed or only some? Which ones? Did anyone get up early to watch Bill Johnson win a gold medal in the Men's Downhill, for instance?

This is research for a kids' novel I'm writing, so if anyone has memories of watching the Sarajevo Olympics on TV (especially if you were 8-10 years old at the time) I would love to hear them.

Print is Dead!

thegreatfleecircus — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:00:27 -0800

Print is dead? I was watching Ghostbusters (1984) this weekend, and at one point the character Egon Spengler is asked a question, to which he responds: 'Print is dead." What is the earliest recorded use of this phrase?

Antique Bicycle Roadshow Filter

snsranch — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:58:25 -0800

What's your guess on how much this bike is worth. Someone is trying VERY HARD to get this bike from me and is willing to spend around $5k US. I think he's nuts, and I'm not letting it go anyway because I like it.

I'm very curious to know what you guys think and various bike forums are letting me down.

The bike: Bottecchia manufactured in '83 or '84. 12 speed road bike, metallic blue with all the original decals and badges. Some of the decals note that it's a replica of a bike that won the 1966 national championships in Italy or something like that. It's all original aside from tires and tubes and is in pretty darn good condition.

I purchased it new in Naples, Italy for about $300. I put a few hundred miles on it and then it went into storage. Forgive me for not posting photos, but it's still in storage and I haven't seen it in a couple of years.

I know there are some hardcore and knowledgeable Mefites Bikers and appreciate any facts or opinions you have!

Thanks!

Did Ferraro cry?

serazin — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:05:45 -0800

I was sure I remembered that Geraldine Ferraro cried during the 1984 presidential election, and that the media made the event into a symbol of why women are too weak to hold national office, but now I can't find a headline or news article from that time that mentions her crying. Am I getting this mixed up with Pat Schroeder's famous breakdown when she dropped out?

What's next, no potty breaks?

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:06:08 -0800

My company just instituted a “no headphones” policy…how can I deal? Here’s the story: one of the guys on the trading floor was wearing headphones, and didn’t answer his telephone. So they banned headphone use company-wide.

I am not on the trading floor. I manage the recruiting database. I don’t get work-related calls…ever. Everything I do is by email, IM or fax. When I do get calls (primarily from the wife), my headphones (which are actually ear buds, and no, those aren’t allowed either) aren’t noise-canceling, so I can hear the phone ring. Also, my phone is DIRECTLY in front of me, smack in the center of my eye line, under my monitor. When it rings, it also flashes and displays the caller ID.

Like many people who perform mostly data entry, my iPod is what keeps me sane and productive. Without it, I’m at sea, I can’t focus, and time…drags…on…so…slowly.

Other than quitting (hate job hunting, don’t want to look until I finish my current degree), what are my options? Do non ear-based listening devices exist, maybe that transmit sound through your body? And no, I don’t think this (link possibly NSFW) is a viable alternative…heh. Help? Thanks!

Tin-foil hat - looking for books on surveillance society and the loss of privacy

TheDonF — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:17:53 -0800

I've spent the last couple of weeks reading Everyware: The Dawning age Of ubiquitous computing, 1984 and Brave New World and now I'm in full-on tin-hat mode. What I'm after now is recommendations for books on government and surveillance, privacy and the loss off and so forth. Looking on Amazon, most of the books seem to have been written in 2000/2001, but I'd much prefer more up-to-date books as so much has happened in the intervening years. Bonus points if the books have a UK-slant. What's worth reading to make me further want to live in a cave, poke out my eyes and cut off my finger prints?

Where can I find a good quality picture of 1984 the movie's glaring eye dictator.

PowerCat — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 13:40:10 -0800

I'm looking for a good quality picture of this http://www.manics.nl/images/phr_bigbrother.jpg I can't seem to find one on GIS, maybe I have its name wrong! Thanks.

Is my paranoia at all justified?

Acey — Thu, 22 Dec 2005 04:01:43 -0800

In relation to this post on the subject of personal privacy: is there really good reason to be concerned? Is there any point in keeping personal information private anymore? I have always been told by my parents growing up that you should destroy letters with your address on, avoid giving out personal information and I have always tried to maintain a healthy level of paranoia. More and more though, events are testing this point of view. So in the modern world, how can I explain why it is that I am paranoid, and am I justified to be that way?

This includes such issues as identity cards, security cameras, etc. The usual 1984 inspired stuff.

Setting cholesterol level

zouhair — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:59:46 -0800

Someone tells me if this is real! The enclosed three paragraphs, which I wrote last week for the Weston A Price Foundation website to add to the "Oiling of America" article tells how the 200 mg/dl cutoff for serum cholesterol was decided back in 1984.

Panopticon

ronv — Fri, 28 May 2004 12:07:31 -0800

continuing on the 1984- teaching front, my students are working on a final project and need some help... [mi] ... they are giving a speech next week that argues that we are nearing orwellian dystopia because of the omnipresence of satellite cameras and all variety of surveillance systems.

can anyone help them find web sites that offer zoom-able arial photography of areas in the u.s. or around the world? i know they exist, but can't find them/ don't remember URLs.

ps.
my students ROCK.

Where does 101 come from?

ronv — Tue, 18 May 2004 17:46:03 -0800

I'm in the process of teaching 1984 by George Orwell and, as we near the end of Book Three and are shown the horrors of Room 101, the question always arises: why do we use the number 101 to designate an introduction to a subject? What is the origin?