Why can't I add this to my wishlist? (Metafilter on Amazon.com)

August 15, 2006 3:40 PM

Why can't I add this to my wishlist?
posted by dersins to MetaFilter-related at 3:40 PM (44 comments total)

I'm from Ohio, June 1, 2002
Reviewer: A customer

And I think MetaFilter is ALRIGHT! Just nod and smile when the oldfart members start making their provincial, inside jokes, though.
posted by wryly at 3:43 PM on August 15, 2006

Even on the Intarweb, some things never change... like Alexa data.
posted by wendell at 3:50 PM on August 15, 2006

April 29, 2002
Infuriating, chaotic, undisciplined, obnoxious, freeform to a fault, self-policing, elitist, boring, repetitive stew of opinions

Yup, somethings never change.
posted by raedyn at 3:58 PM on August 15, 2006

A couple of months ago, I found that page from another MetaTalk post (the one about a big increase for Metafilter in some kind of website ranking index), noticed that there was no recent review, and submitted one as follows:

WO(world)RLD

A vast, unendable, impossibly brilliant stream of conscious novel written by God!

Which is pretty much how I feel about this place.
They were not amused.
posted by jamjam at 4:06 PM on August 15, 2006

Consciousness, that is.
posted by jamjam at 4:19 PM on August 15, 2006

provincial, inside jokes

So an Albertan, a Saskatchewanian, and a Newfoundlander walk into a bar...
posted by hangashore at 4:56 PM on August 15, 2006

Most-linked Blogs in September 2000
posted by caddis at 5:26 PM on August 15, 2006

hangashore: And the Ontarian ducks?
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 5:39 PM on August 15, 2006

Whatever Amazon charges for a Metafilter, I can get you a used one for 50 cents less!
posted by R. Mutt at 5:43 PM on August 15, 2006

What is up with this kind of page anyway?
posted by caddis at 5:52 PM on August 15, 2006

Is that really Matt's number?

...

what time is it in California?
posted by Baby_Balrog at 5:56 PM on August 15, 2006

At first look, Metafilter seemed more than a little low-fi for an Internet thing. But the posts do get stuck in your head - see if they don't. These guys are in New York a lot with the Burning Man crowd (they're pretty much a guarenteed presence at any larger Burning man event) and the site admittedly does not do the member's meetups justice.

As for all these terrible reviews from May 16th... have you ever seen ANY web site get 5 legitimate reviews, with the exact same rating, all on the same day, from people who've never reviewed anything else? Yeah, me neither.

Wild guess: some group has a real problem with Metafilter. They've got a long history of pretty anti-Bush, if their website is any indication - so I'm guessing this more a matter of some group disagreeing with their politics, than disliking (or even having visited) their web site. Doncha just love people who do things like that??? It's not often you see a web site get a rise out of those groups at this stage though, so I'll definetely be interested in seeing what Metafilter does next.
posted by Otis at 5:56 PM on August 15, 2006

nice whine, LarryC.

i called the whine-bulance. you're welcome.
posted by Hat Maui at 6:10 PM on August 15, 2006

Kinda a conflict to review an Amazon listing that you have a hand in, LarryC.

Sorry, gonna have to flag it.

/Smirks, gets hit by a speeding whine-bulance, lays in the street waiting for the smug-bulance.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:07 PM on August 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Hey, I just thought we'd have some fun playing with the Amazon review. Why not post your own?
posted by LarryC at 7:27 PM on August 15, 2006

Do they actually call them Saskatchewanians?
posted by nebulawindphone at 8:09 PM on August 15, 2006

nebulawindphone: Yup.
posted by Schlimmbesserung at 8:11 PM on August 15, 2006

I think it's funny that, because most of LarryC's Amazon reviews are snarky and negative, everyone flags them as unhelpful.
posted by painquale at 8:13 PM on August 15, 2006

And the Ontarian ducks?

Mighty tasty.
posted by hangashore at 9:41 PM on August 15, 2006

No Newfie jokes on MetaFilter, please.
posted by Cranberry at 11:17 PM on August 15, 2006

On MetaTalk, we deal exclusively in Newbie jokes.
posted by TwelveTwo at 12:33 AM on August 16, 2006

yes, LarryC. exactly. WHY NOT? or mebbe...

WHY?
posted by Hat Maui at 2:58 AM on August 16, 2006

Where does the term "provincial" come from? I always assumed it was from the provinces of France, as compared to Versailles or Paris.
posted by delmoi at 4:14 AM on August 16, 2006

It's actually from the provinces of Canada, as compared to the splendor of the you ess of ayyyyyyy.
posted by cortex at 6:02 AM on August 16, 2006

Where does the term "provincial" come from?

From French, from Latin provincialis, the adjective for provincia 'province':

1904 W. M. RAMSAY in Expositor Oct. 243: A ‘Province’ to the Roman mind meant literally a ‘sphere of duty’, and was an administrative, not a geographical fact; the Province of a magistrate might be the stating of law in Rome, or the superintendence of a great road, or the administration of a region or district of the world; but it was not and could not be, except in a loose and derivative way, a tract of country.

In English it was used with regard to ecclesiastical provinces (Caxton: "Yf the cause were shewed in the provyncyall counsel of bysshops") for two centuries before it started being used in a civil sense ("I am a poore wretched vnderling, and no prouinciall man, neither warden of my company").
posted by languagehat at 7:18 AM on August 16, 2006

Do they actually call them Saskatchewanians? - nebulawindphone

Yup. - Schlimmbesserung

Well, maybe somebody does. But not if you're from here. If you want to blend in with the locals you won't say that silly word. But you will talk about the weather everywhere you go. And not matter what the weather is, you'll say the farmers need the opposite.

(Prairie girl represent!)
posted by raedyn at 7:24 AM on August 16, 2006

Wow, Saskatchewan sounds just like Iowa.
posted by languagehat at 7:26 AM on August 16, 2006

Dang, I shoulda said Saskatchewegians, or Saskatchegonians or just Flatlanders (as my Albertan acquaintances refer to our eastern neighbours).

No Newfie jokes on MetaFilter, please.

I am a Newfie Newfoundlander, and some might say a bit of a joke - should I be worried?
posted by hangashore at 8:56 AM on August 16, 2006

In some ways, yes. Except we have medicare, abortions and gay marriage.
posted by raedyn at 8:56 AM on August 16, 2006

(replying to languagehat, of course)
posted by raedyn at 8:57 AM on August 16, 2006

Not Saskchewers?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:05 AM on August 16, 2006

"Wow, Saskatchewan sounds just like Iowa."

Just like, except eight-bazillion degrees colder.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:54 AM on August 16, 2006

Well, maybe somebody does. But not if you're from here. If you want to blend in with the locals you won't say that silly word.

Really? I'm in Saskatchewan, and I've heard the term used every so often by locals. I hear it used occasionally on the radio too, mostly CKOM. It is unwiedly, though, so I usually avoid it.
posted by smorange at 10:15 AM on August 16, 2006

*checks raedyn's profile*

Oh, you're from Regina. Well, that explains it. ;)
posted by smorange at 10:21 AM on August 16, 2006

Oh, great—inter-Saskatchewan tribal warfare breaks out as a result of a MeTa thread.

*ducks, covers*
posted by languagehat at 10:34 AM on August 16, 2006

Hey, I think that's cool. Not enough of us flatlanders on here, imo. I can't muster up any Saskatoon hate, because plenty of my family lives up there and because it's a pretty nice City. All SK folk (there only a million of us) can band together in our hate for TO, right?
posted by raedyn at 10:59 AM on August 16, 2006

*Bemusedly watches the gappers squabble* ;D
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:14 AM on August 16, 2006

Oh, great—inter-Saskatchewan tribal warfare breaks out as a result of a MeTa thread.

Shouldn't that be intra-Sasketchewan?

not snarking-- genuinely curious-- I've always been a little hazy on inter- vs. intra...
posted by dersins at 11:30 AM on August 16, 2006

The reviews are in! -

"The perfect forum for pretentious, godless hipsters. The place to go for turgid political correctness! Has an unmatched variety of smug pseudo-intellectuals, from evangelical atheists and religion-bigots, to paranoid feminazis, to hysterical skeptics of the paranormal and alternative remedies, and much much more! The highlight of the site is the question-and-answer section, where the pathetetic [sic] go to get their subjective opinions validated by a majority, and the ignorant get hilariously wrong answers to their health questions. "

Awesome!
posted by Fidel Cashflow at 12:26 PM on August 16, 2006

Yeah - I loved that review, Fidel. What I loved even more is that the reviewer's other reviews are all on new-age, mystical, magical, voodoo... Ow! Where did that sudden sharp pain in my back come from?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:38 PM on August 16, 2006

Funny, she didn't look Sasketchewish.
posted by cortex at 1:18 PM on August 16, 2006

Shouldn't that be intra-Sasketchewan?
not snarking-- genuinely curious-- I've always been a little hazy on inter- vs. intra...

And no wonder, since so is the dictionary. M-W on inter-:
1 : between : among : in the midst [intercrop, interpenetrate, interstellar]
2 : reciprocal [interrelation] : reciprocally [intermarry]
3 : located between [interstation]
4 : carried on between [international]
5 : occurring between [interborough] : intervening [interglacial]
6 : shared by, involving, or derived from two or more [interfaith]
7 : between the limits of : within [intertropical]
8 : existing between [intercommunal, intercompany]

M-W on intra-:
1 a : within [intragalactic] b : during [intraday] c : between layers of [intradermal]
2 : INTRO- [an intramuscular injection]

I personally don't like intra- because it reminds me of corporatespeak, but as you can see, there's no firm differentiation.
posted by languagehat at 2:09 PM on August 16, 2006

Infuriating, chaotic, undisciplined, obnoxious, freeform to a fault, self-policing, elitist, boring, repetitive stew of opinions
Just the way I like it.
posted by dg at 8:32 PM on August 16, 2006

It's pulling the data from Alexa. Here's when I highlighted it on November 24, 2001.
posted by feelinglistless at 1:43 PM on August 17, 2006