I'm writing a paper on (animated) GIFs and am trying to track down some of the most (in)famous. I suppose I am talking memes, but I'm more interested in the GIF as an archaeological reference point. I frequent sites like dump.fm, tumblr etc. so am quite tuned in to the glitchy/kitschy side of GIF culture. How theoretical have people got on these wonders of the web? How does one trace the history of an animated GIF? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on May 16, 2011 - 11 answers

How Do You "Break Up" with Another Dude? I think I remember my present problem turning up on Seinfeld or Friends or something, which makes sense because it's kind of absurd. When a romantic relationship no longer functions, there are some established processes and social mores. When a regular friendship maybe needs to end or be heavily renegotiated, the way to proceed is much less clear. Help? [more inside]
posted by EatTheWeak on Apr 30, 2011 - 36 answers

Wikipedia makes its entire contents available in a (gargantuan) single downloadable file: the Wikipedia Dump. What are some other websites or public databases that do this? [more inside]
posted by hayvac on Mar 2, 2011 - 11 answers

What can I buy that is not Designed for the Dump? Is there a "Buy This Not That" resource for this type of thing? Also, I'm poor, but I'm willing to invest if it really will last. [more inside]
posted by rebent on Nov 19, 2010 - 13 answers

Back in the days when people commonly smoked inside their offices, and everywhere else, was it common/acceptable/possibly even polite? for people to smoke while sitting on the toilet? If so, was there a gender divide? [more inside]
posted by Ufez Jones on May 9, 2010 - 23 answers

In North America, how far inland do you have to be before you stop finding seagulls at garbage dumps?
posted by Mayor Curley on Aug 6, 2009 - 36 answers

How do I dump a heavy-loaded 800MB MySQL table without affecting anything? I have a MySQL database serving data for a business-critical popular website. I need to grab the data from one of the tables, but cannot affect the website's performance in any way. I don't mind if it takes days to do it, as long as it affects absolutely nothing.
posted by lpctstr; on Nov 9, 2007 - 17 answers

How do I get files from this old backup? [more inside]
posted by Calibandage on Oct 9, 2007 - 7 answers

We've just moved into a new house and we've noticed a strange odor both inside and outside most nights since we've been here. It's our first house ever and we're at a loss with regards what to do... [more inside]
posted by tastybrains on Jun 24, 2007 - 30 answers

What household items are hazardous to the environment when thrown away? I'm compiling a list of items that we should recycle or dispose of specially instead of tossing, like batteries and fluorescent light bulbs. [more inside]
posted by Alison on Jun 7, 2007 - 11 answers