Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with revolution

Up, up, down, down...

LSK — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:58:02 -0800

Having an issue with a dance mat on PC - down button works, but left + down and right + down don't. I'm using Red Octane's Ignition 3.0 dance mat (for Dance Dance Revolution games) on Windows Vista using the USB plug. While all individual buttons operate properly, if I press left and down at the same time, or right and down at the same time, only left or right (respectively) is read by the computer. Is this an issue with the hardware itself or is it something that can be addressed within the OS?

It should be noted that this isn't the more common opposite-axes issue; left + right works properly, as does up + down.

Why no strike strategy in Iran?

bardona — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 19:09:11 -0800

Why hasn't Mousavi called for a general strike?

List of clean and clear Iranian government transgressions against morality?

GenTso — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:00:29 -0800

Iranian government's worst recent and verifiable transgressions? I realize we mostly all agree a more democratic Iran is better than the pseudo-democratic, mostly theocratic system they have now, and thus we side with the pro-Mousavi protestors. But I am trying to find/put together a list of the Iranian government's worst transgressions in relation to the recent elections and resulting protests. (I have searched Mefi to no avail, and my Google-fu is not helping with clear answers as much as I thought it would - I am guessing partly because of the lack of reporters allowed - I find a lot relying too much on unverifiable sources like Twitter.)

So far, I have come up with (1)Restricting Twitters, (2) Restricting foreign reporters. There is, of course, the constant violence against protesters, but some protesters seem to be willing to get violent themselves, making murky the otherwise clear moral advantage they had. (Hoping more to find more clean and clear, irrefutable violations offensive to anyone's moral sensibilities.)

Doing what I can...

hellboundforcheddar — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:06:47 -0800

Iran, right now: There have been calls for Twitter users worldwide to change their settings to Tehran time.. to make it difficult for authorities to track actual tweets out of Iran.

Does this sound like it could be effective cover for Iranians?

I am looking for a book that depicts life as a factory worker in Industrial Revolution Britain?

jacobean — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:02:01 -0800

I am looking for a book recommendation that depicts life as a factory worker in Industrial Revolution Britain? Can anybody recommend a book (factual narrative or fictional) that depicts life as a factory worker in Industrial Revolution Britain?

Pay You Want a Revolution

popcassady — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 10:11:09 -0800

If there was a revolution and the British state was completely overthrown, what would happen to the Government debt? I assume there are precedents, analogues and international laws that have dealt with this issue, and that this is more than 'hypothetical filter'.

If there was a revolution in the UK (or any other country for that matter) that overthrew the entire state and replaced it with a system that was distinct from and unrelated to the old one, what would happen to the previous government's debts?

Are there any precedents?

revolutionary reading

serazin — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:37:38 -0800

I'm looking for readable accounts of revolutionary movements. I'd like to read about any movement where there's a marginalized or oppressed group overthrowing an oppressive government (or trying to). Any time period or geographic location is cool.

Should be:
-Nonfiction or 'fiction' that is really thinly veiled nonfiction
-More focused on a movement than one individual
-Super interesting, exciting, engaging or otherwise fun to read
-Mostly I'm looking for leftist movements, but if you think there's some really wonderful read about a right wing group I'd probably look into that too.

Finding the Walls to Breakthrough

Rubbstone — Tue, 06 May 2008 00:31:51 -0800

What are the modern fields in science currently under crisis? I've been reading Thomas Kuhn, I am really curious as to if there are any areas in modern science where the models simply don't work any more. I'm mostly looking to see where I can fit my self into an emerging breakthrough

Books on Russian/French history in the 1800s?

pombe — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 22:33:39 -0800

I'm looking for some books on European history during the 1800s. I'm specifically interested in Russia from the Decemberists to the 1917 revolution, and the French student revolution of 1848. I saw Tom Stoppard's Coast of Utopia last week and was blown away by it. I'm now looking for some context to put it in. It's about Russian intellectuals trying to reform Russia in the 1800s (specifically, Belinsky, Bakunin, and Herzen, as well as a bunch of other historical figures), and a significant chunk of the second play takes place during the student uprisings of 1848. Having seen it, I now realize I don't know much of Russian history or French history after the revolution. If you could recommend some books to cure my ignorance I'd be most appreciative.

I have no problem with scholarly works so long as they're not too dry. I'm contemplating reading Herzen's memoirs, but I figure I'd better do some background reading first!

What if?

Krrrlson — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:32:40 -0800

What is the origin of the phrase: "what if they had ____ and nobody came?"

what movies have good reenactment scenes concerning the american revolution?

allthewhile — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 20:11:28 -0800

What movies or documentaries have good scenes that could help me demonstrate important topics surrounding the American Revolution? I teach 8th grade. I don't want to show an entire movie, as I think this is often a waste of precious little classroom time, but I would like to punctuate our discussions and activities with scenes illustrating a particular point or topic.

example: I imagine that a reading on the Boston Masacre would be particularly more interesting if it were followed by a short clip of it in action.

I'm pretty adpet at ripping dvds to divx and slicing them into bite sized chunks.

Viva la web revolucion!

Smarson — Thu, 29 Jun 2006 07:23:44 -0800

What is this web revolution I see before me? Over the course of the past year I have had a lot of time to surf the web and have come to the conclusion that a new era of web based communication is unfolding before my very eyes. It started when I stumbled across Lifehacker.com, which showed me a whole new side of the internet that I had never conceived of. From that point I began to discover websites that re-oriented the way I've come view information creation, distribution, and storage (Ask Metafilter being one of those discoveries). Some examples of websites I lump into this category are:

*Del.icio.us
*Metafilter
*Ask Metafilter
*Lifehacker
*Wikipedia
*Firefox
*Google (and it's all it's applications including Gmail and Gcal)
*Flickr
*Blogger/Wordpress/etc.
*Bloglines

The list goes on and on and is constantly growing (thanks largely to Lifehacker discoveries). Obviously Google and Wikipedia were known to me prior to my new found web exploration, but only as straight forward tools. It's only in the last 8 months that I've come to understand the potential of their design (e.g. Google Map Mash-ups and wiki-technology as a whole).

Among the above listed websites and others I identify in my "web revolution," I see common themes. The use of tagging is widely present as well as the concept of the blog (In reality Lifehacker and Metafilter/Ask Metafilter are just widely popular blogs with no single author and Flickr is essentially a collection of thousands of photo blogs). I guess even deeper than that is the theme of individual empowerment through the web. Most of these sites were not generated by large corporations (although they may later have been aquired by them), but rather created by a single individual or small group of individuals in order to address an existing need they percieved.

So my questions. Does anyone else see the watershed that I speak of, or is this normal web progression and my "revolution" is simply a personal one? If this is an actual distinct movement within the internet, does it have a name or other identifying characteristics similar or different to the ones I listed above?

Stages of revolution?

kensanway — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 08:21:41 -0800

I'm looking for a certain political theorist's description of the different stages of national revolutions. I think it's Max Weber, but I'm not sure. The basic theory says that there are three stages to any revolution, starting from an elite core, to a larger mainstream body, and then ending in a larger synthesis upon which the revolutionary group becomes indistinguishable from the mainstream. Does anyone know where this is from?

Another word for Revolution?

forforf — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 20:02:33 -0800

MetaThesaurus: Help me find a word similar to "revolution". The context. We are trying to illuminate a new way of looking at an old problem, we've got the approach but we don't know how to "market" it to people that are attached to the old way. Think of explaining to IRS agents on a creative tax method you've used. Calling it a revolution or revolutionary would cause a negative reaction. New paradigm is accurate, but wouldn't work because it sounds too salesy for our audience. Out-of-the-box thinking is accurate, but too wordy. Heretical is getting closer, but still has a negative connotation we'd like to avoid. Other terms that have been discarded: Harebrained, Crazy and Bizarre. The word should be a positive word for a creative solution to a problem. Please help us get out of our vernacular rut!

Looking for Modern research that dissect/defines the revolutionary process

Sagres — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 21:55:38 -0800

Looking for modern research (books, articles, papers etc) that dissect/define the revolutionary process. Inspired by an article in the NY Times concerning the chaos/madness in Jordan, and this quote from the article: "The creation of chaos has often been a first step in the revolutionary process" I am looking for Modern (not Mao Tsetung or Machiavelli) research (books, articles, papers etc) that dissect/define the revolutionary process.

Which Side Would You Choose?

Raybun — Mon, 31 Oct 2005 13:37:29 -0800

Whose side would you choose to be on in the American Revolution? Assume that you are a person of the times and not a time traveler carrying 21st century views on race and society in your baggage. Assume that your focus is on your immediate world and your information does not have the completion that you are familiar with from history. This question comes up from time to time in conversation and I am still on the fence as to which way I would fall. The Unknown American Revolution by Gary B. Nash is a good (and the only) history that I have found that discusses this question. Nash also shows that the Red State/Blue State thought divide has been with us from the beginning. Any other books/texts out there where this is discussed?

chinese cultural revolution

jruckman — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 02:59:26 -0800

I have to give a short presentation today in my Chinese Lit. class on the cultural revolution (i.e. approx. '66-'69, the upsurge by students and workers against the Chinese Communist Party, initiated by Mao) and, aside from such sources as Wikipedia, etc, was wondering if anyone had any interesting points to make about it, or revealing links, sources, etc, that would aid me in my presentation. My teacher lived in China around this time, so anything from a unique perspective would be appreciated by both her and I. Thanks!

Can you name the poem and the author?

dagnyscott — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 12:37:51 -0800

The poem involves a war-time scenario (perhaps Revolutionary War) with a wife being accosted and probably raped by the enemy in her own home. Her husband is away in the war. The enemy either rigs a strange device where if she moves she gets shot by a rifle...or something akin to that. She hears her husband coming up the road and in an attempt to alert him to the danger, shoots herself. This poem was found in an American History textbook. It might have connotations with midnight and the moon. Any help is appreciated.

French Revolution History

furiousthought — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 21:21:17 -0800

I've just reduced my book queue to a puny six or seven, I'm looking to pile a little something on, and a bookstore just opened within walking distance. I'm in the mood for a good history of the French Revolution. Any recommendations?