The contest results for August are all posted

August 4, 2006 2:04 PM

The contest results for August are all posted here. There's a small marker at the end of the post noting the winners and the runner ups for each day (we'll pick three good ones, and one winner from that). So far, no one is putting their paypal info in their profile, so I haven't sent out one red cent, so get to updatin' your profile already (the paypal info isn't displayed anywhere on the site).
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 2:04 PM (34 comments total)

Also, yesterday's post about a crackpot crank vs. a car dealership wins for leading off a post with pure chutzpah, the image of someone's bloody stool. Kudos, b_thinky, for thinking outside the box.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:05 PM on August 4, 2006

And yes, the winner isn't shown first for each day, they're shown in order that they were posted to the site each day. Not a big deal, but I know someone would have asked for them to be in winner first, runner ups second and third order.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:06 PM on August 4, 2006

Ummm... the winners for 'August 3' are posts that (on my machine at least) were posted on August 4...
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:16 PM on August 4, 2006

Nice work there. One question though, what makes a outstanding post, besides the Crunchland method? What will you and Jess look for in a post?
posted by wheelieman at 2:19 PM on August 4, 2006

I think dios asked for his cash to be sent to the charity in his profile. I don't think he can put their PP address in his profile.
posted by dobbs at 2:41 PM on August 4, 2006

Effigy2000, We're going off the Pacific timezone, which is where I sit.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:42 PM on August 4, 2006

he said he could take the cash and pass it on as well, but I don't see a paypal address there. If they have one, just drop it in so I know where to send it to.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:42 PM on August 4, 2006

One question though, what makes a outstanding post, besides the Crunchland method? What will you and Jess look for in a post?

I believe this was answered in the original post announcing the contest. We're looking for interesting subject matter, interesting sites, and good posts about that kind of stuff. Look at the winners so far and they run the gamut. Some single link flash games, some wikipedia style many linked affairs.

Mostly I'm enjoying the ones about subjects I've never heard of that are well written.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:45 PM on August 4, 2006

I sent that bloody stool image to everyone I knew, with the text: "Warning: image of bloody stool" and yet every single one of them clicked on it, and then complained that it was, in fact, an image of bloody stool.
posted by jonson at 2:45 PM on August 4, 2006

And yes, the winner isn't shown first for each day, they're shown in order that they were posted to the site each day.

It would be nice to have something more than grey lowercase "winner" to id the WINNAR1! though.
posted by smackfu at 3:02 PM on August 4, 2006

Perhaps change the link on the sidebar to go to this new page?
posted by unknowncommand at 3:03 PM on August 4, 2006

The stool post should win a special "best of the month" $300 prize.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:06 PM on August 4, 2006

Also, yesterday's post about a crackpot crank vs. a car dealership wins for leading off a post with pure chutzpah, the image of someone's bloody stool. Kudos, b_thinky, for thinking outside the box.

That's hilarious! Heh.


....Oh, wait, you were serious. Erm.
posted by jokeefe at 3:19 PM on August 4, 2006

I think he meant outside the shitbox.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:26 PM on August 4, 2006

The $30 Conundrum: Every little thing I do these days costs money -- about $30 to be precise. While it doesn't seem like much, it sure does add up.

The $30 Music School: "Making art your full-time job is a full-time job." If you're ready to take on this job, then you're ready to follow the advice that you'll find inside $30 Music School. Do-it-Yourself recording, distribution, and promotion have made it easier than ever to make a living making music. Learn how to thrive in this new business model. $30 Music School is for people who want to be musicians, not just look like musicians. It's all about cutting through the star-system garbage and getting to the heart of art, and making great music that can reach the world on no budget. No matter what type of music moves you—rock, Alternative, Metal, Punk, Hip Hop, Country, Jazz or Salsa—you can take this book and put it to work for you. Go one-on-one with musicians

$30: The Movie: A father buys his closeted son a night with a prostitute.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:09 PM on August 4, 2006

yesterday's post about a crackpot crank vs. a car dealership wins for leading off a post with pure chutzpah, the image of someone's bloody stool.

I keep saying: money turns everything to shit.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:49 PM on August 4, 2006

Here is hoping more winners follow dios's lead and donate their winnings to charity. You don't need to announce it if you do, but it is a good thing.
posted by caddis at 5:30 PM on August 4, 2006

Bollocks to that. If I win I'm buying $30 worth of cheap cider and shouting at dogs. Will post pictures.
posted by blag at 6:16 PM on August 4, 2006 [1 favorite]

Actually, there's a charity that already does that for people who can't because they're afraid of dogs. Or cider, I forget which.
posted by jonson at 6:26 PM on August 4, 2006

An expensive cider exists?
posted by tellurian at 9:03 PM on August 4, 2006

speaking of the midnight to midnight PST cutoff, I keep switching back & forth between jonson & lilbrudder accounts, but so that we're clear, I've not once (nor will I) posted under both accounts on the same midnight to midnight period, as that has been expressively forbidden by Matt.
posted by lilbrudder at 12:42 AM on August 5, 2006

phew! now i can sleep easy, knowing that jonson/lilbrudder has so much integrity.
posted by Hat Maui at 5:04 AM on August 5, 2006

mathowie - is there an experimental element to this competition that might see it leading to a similar competition running long term to consistently raise the quality of posts?
posted by nthdegx at 5:47 AM on August 5, 2006

nthdegx, I would definitely like to keep doing this. Maybe me and jessamyn could keep doing it by hand or leave it up to the popular vote in the future.

I would love to see the /bestof/ page become a permanent fixture. It'd be an easy answer to the question new users often face: what are some examples of good posts here?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:58 AM on August 5, 2006

I think it's awesome that a deleted post became one of yesterday's runners-up.
posted by graventy at 1:39 PM on August 5, 2006

Maybe me and jessamyn could keep doing it by hand or leave it up to the popular vote in the future.

How about after this contest is over, the final winner gets to pick the next winner, and the next winner picks the next winner, and so on. The logic behind the idea is to provide a bit of variety in the best post choices, otherwise maybe winners would become somewhat homogenous and predicatable. I guess there'd be a danger of certain groups circulating winners among themselves, but that could be resolved by a communal vote on post of the week. Something like that, anyway.
posted by MetaMonkey at 2:27 PM on August 5, 2006

Bad idea. There are people here perfectly capable of 1) crafting a winning post and 2) deliberately choosing a lousy post to piss everyone off. And really, I don't see the danger of "homogenous and predicatable." Except for politics, this place is anything but.
posted by languagehat at 2:57 PM on August 5, 2006

A good point well made, languagehat, proving once again I shouldn't share ideas had immediately after napping.
posted by MetaMonkey at 3:19 PM on August 5, 2006

Today lists two runner ups already, but no winner (23:30 EDT).
posted by Eideteker at 8:29 PM on August 5, 2006

The day is yet complete yet we have a winner? What if someone posts something amazing in the next half hour? By the way, where does the day begin and end on this. Eastern or Pacific time?
posted by caddis at 8:34 PM on August 5, 2006

Matt is going to bed early these days. He can't wait up to post a winner.

This is wholly opinion, but I'm disappointed the winner was Yet Another Art site. I could see it if there was something utterly exceptional about the art on the site rather than just more of the same. Maybe the fact that the navigation was actually not Flash for a change was that crucial difference (OMG an art site that is not Flash! Alert the Nobel, Pulitzer, etc. people). Or maybe today was just crappy posts (though not even a runner up for the google maps flight 'sim'?).

OR, maybe Matt is just playing with the interface, and we should all (i.e., me and caddis) just shut the fuck up and let the man work.
posted by Eideteker at 8:56 PM on August 5, 2006

That's weird; what if something truly awesome comes up in the next 120 minutes.

Also what sucks: coming in "runner up" twice and "winner" zero times. Looks like jon jon's gonna need to go back to the posting shed & hone his craft.
posted by jonson at 10:01 PM on August 5, 2006

I've got two of these happening on that page.
"It is doubtful that the popular sport in Seattle can survive,"
posted by tellurian at 4:15 PM on August 6, 2006

Me too - also, I have four runner ups for that day, instead of two.
posted by jonson at 4:58 PM on August 6, 2006