The quality and frequency of jonson's recent posts have been astonishing

September 16, 2006 2:16 PM

The quality and frequency of jonson's recent posts have been astonishing. Thanks for making MeFi awesome.
posted by monju_bosatsu to MetaFilter-related at 2:16 PM (78 comments total)

Indeed - I have long been a fan of jonson's posts. Thanks!
posted by greycap at 2:20 PM on September 16, 2006

We love our jonson!
posted by Chuckles at 2:20 PM on September 16, 2006

When I grow up to be a veteran mefite, I wanna be just like him!
posted by TwelveTwo at 2:25 PM on September 16, 2006

I agree. I left him a note on his blog a couple of days ago. I counted something like 31 great posts in 40 days.

Amazing.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 2:42 PM on September 16, 2006

DAMMIT, HOW DOES HE DO IT?!?

*Resumes cheating at AoE, picking MetaFights, and downloading 'art' films*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:45 PM on September 16, 2006

this jonson, it vibrates?
posted by YoBananaBoy at 2:48 PM on September 16, 2006

This callout is lame.

But yes, jonson's impeccable taste does kind of turn me on.
posted by nixerman at 3:11 PM on September 16, 2006

If only he had better taste in canine companions.

But, alas!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:21 PM on September 16, 2006

my pug resents that.


posted by quonsar at 3:41 PM on September 16, 2006

Seriously though, that caret is irritating the hell out of me.
posted by delmoi at 3:47 PM on September 16, 2006

Indeed, jonson, you do good work.


posted by cortex at 3:56 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

HIGH-BROW!
posted by rxrfrx at 4:10 PM on September 16, 2006

Jonson you can come to my wedding!
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:59 PM on September 16, 2006

I literally cannot understand the caret resentment. delmoi, caddis, others: what's the deal? Seriously, why does it bug anyone that someone would provide a shortcut to a quickie lookup of the topic being discussed. Wikipedia carets are never the meat of the post, just a shorthand for people who want to look up more detail on the subject.

Ask yourself these questions:

1) What does it hurt me to have a shortcut to lookup background information in someone's post?

2) Why does I allow it to bother me enough that I will comment on it repeatedly?

3) Why can I not stop asking myself rhetorical questions?

P.S. cortex, shame on you - how am I supposed to masturbate to that!?
posted by jonson at 5:00 PM on September 16, 2006

Also: Thanks, everyone!
posted by jonson at 5:00 PM on September 16, 2006

And thirteenkiller, I'd be totally jealous if I was at your wedding. Not sure whether it'd be you or peeg that I was jealous of, but maybe a little of both...
posted by jonson at 5:01 PM on September 16, 2006

speaking of weddings, thirteenkiller, you totally failed to provide the promised rap cover of Waltz #2. BFF status has officially been revoked.
posted by cortex at 5:02 PM on September 16, 2006

delmoi, if you continue to flag every FPP with a caret as "offensive content" you are asking for some trouble.
posted by jessamyn at 5:09 PM on September 16, 2006 [3 favorites]

Oh yeah, I recorded a bunch of versions of that and sat night after night in the studio trying to put something together but really nothing was worthy so in a rage one night I burnt the whole place down. You can probably find something about it if you search google news for "Waltz" and "in a rage". Sorry about that, but I think it's for the best.
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:11 PM on September 16, 2006

The only time I am irked by the caret is when the word to which the caret it affixed is not already linked to another site. If you're not going to link to something else, you don't need a separate character for the wikipedia link.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 5:17 PM on September 16, 2006

Your posts rule jonson. Thanks for the consistently great work.
posted by quin at 5:28 PM on September 16, 2006

The only time I am irked by the caret is when the word to which the caret it affixed is not already linked to another site. If you're not going to link to something else, you don't need a separate character for the wikipedia link.

I hate the carets in their entirety, but yes, this is incredibly annoying on top of usual annoying. Not a callout on anyone in particular, but if the word doesn't have a link, just link the word to Wikipedia, for goodness' sakes.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 5:32 PM on September 16, 2006

Yep, corking posts.

The only time I am irked by the caret is when the word to which the caret it affixed is not already linked to another site.

Same here. If folk want to use a ridiculously ugly and distracting way of linking to Wikipedia entries, that's up to them, but doing so unneccesarily is like a brutal punch in the face to the caret-sensitive among us ;-)
posted by jack_mo at 5:39 PM on September 16, 2006

Focus, people. This is about jonson, not your petty pet peeves.
posted by crunchland at 5:46 PM on September 16, 2006

XQ & Monju, but the whole point of a caret link is that it indicates the content, sparing anyone a mouseover or inadvertent click off the page. If I, for example, in today's post, linked the first occurence of "Warren Publishing" back to Wiki, that would imply the primary ("first") link in my post was to the Wikipedia. The point of a caret is to call out what specific purpose it serves - just hyperlinking, whether you're in favor of it or not - doesn't serve the same goal. Also: XQ, "hate" and "incredibly annoying" are strong words for describing the manner in which someone hyperlinks text to an innocuous research website. I reserve them for things like "I hate when someone tries to get me fired for my post on Metafilter" or "It's incredibly annoying when someone emails my boss and asks them if what I've posted on Metafilter represents their official view".
posted by jonson at 5:47 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

Let me add to the chorus: jonson has vaulted into the select company of Great MeFi Posters, and he has my deep appreciation.

Now can we quit turning this into yet another bitchfest about the Evil Caret? Jesus.

delmoi, if you continue to flag every FPP with a caret as "offensive content" you are asking for some trouble.

Wow, people keep developing new ways to be dicks.
posted by languagehat at 5:50 PM on September 16, 2006

Yeah, yeah, or "I hate it when people post racist jokes in their FPPs." You done now?

Wasn't making a personal snipe, oh thin-skinned begrudged one. But I'll repeat: the carets are annoying. Other that that, nice posts.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 5:55 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

I know, I didn't even take it as a personal snipe, I just can't help myself sometimes. There may be something wrong with me.
posted by jonson at 6:00 PM on September 16, 2006

Wow, people keep developing new ways to be dicks.

(dicks--in a thread blowing jonson) ; >
posted by amberglow at 6:09 PM on September 16, 2006

"(dicks--in a thread blowing jonson)"


posted by mr_crash_davis at 6:16 PM on September 16, 2006

(Why'd you have to call him out, monju_bosatsu? Now he's just going to be impossible at next week's meet-up.)
posted by maryh at 6:24 PM on September 16, 2006

The problem with the caret thing, jonson, is that punctuation means things.

And while language does change over time, it's worth noting that punctuation is pretty damn stable compared to, say, spelling and the coining of a new word.

I'd say it's pissing into the wind: it's been a long time since anyone successfully brute-forced a punctuation mark into the language. Even smilies mostly failed to catch on.

A caret next to a word that doesn't have its own link is especially grating, because it is so plainly unnecessary to screw with punctuation to sneak in the link: just use the existing word. Browsers all have the ability to show where a link leads: no one is going to get all confused about what they'll find past the click.

But in the end, wikipedia links are entirely unnecessary; most browsers support the ability to search for the selected word or phrase. Wikipedia is almost inevitably on the first page of results for the kinds of 'pedia links you've been providing.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:41 PM on September 16, 2006

Ironic that having said "punctuation means things," I mis-used punctuation throughout my rant.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:42 PM on September 16, 2006

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
             )
^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Suck it, jonson haterz!
posted by mathowie at 6:50 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

Is that a caret dick, mathowie?
posted by cgc373 at 6:52 PM on September 16, 2006

Carets they are so divine
You use a dozen, get a whine
It's maaaaaaaa-gic
posted by hangashore at 6:55 PM on September 16, 2006

it's a caret jonson. I'll treasure it forever.
posted by jonson at 7:03 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

XQUZYPHYR : "if the word doesn't have a link, just link the word to Wikipedia, for goodness' sakes."

Well, then you get the "signal versus noise" problem: Wikipedia links are useful, but they aren't the meat of the post. Using the carat is one way of providing a helpful Wikipedia link without it making it unclear what the real meat of the post is.

However, in the discussion long, long ago, someone's solution, which I liked best, was just to skip the Wikipedia links in the main meat of the post, and then make the first comment the link(s) to Wikipedia. That way, you've got 1) a convenient Wikipedia link 2) not positioned to get confused with the meat of the post, and 3) with no carat to fight about.

But that's not important right now.

What's important right now is: I also think your posts rock, jonson.
posted by Bugbread at 7:08 PM on September 16, 2006

five fresh fish : "But in the end, wikipedia links are entirely unnecessary; most browsers support the ability to search for the selected word or phrase."

Well, by the same logic, so are hyperlinks. You could just write the URL out, and people could copy and paste it into the address bar. Most of the internet is, strictly speaking, unneccessary.

And holy goddamn, I just realized I've misspelled "caret" for apparently my whole life.
posted by Bugbread at 7:11 PM on September 16, 2006

delmoi, if you continue to flag every FPP with a caret as "offensive content" you are asking for some trouble.

I think I just wet myself a little, lemme check... nope.


I just wet myself a LOT.

Also: The MeFi No-Carets Greasemonkey Script.
Don't Log In Without It.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:16 PM on September 16, 2006

And deserved kudos to jonson, particularly for recently pointing us in the direction of the Wife Swapping Swinger's Orgy Porgy Party.
posted by hangashore at 7:19 PM on September 16, 2006

Ironic that having said "punctuation means things," I mis-used punctuation throughout my rant.

Not really. Overused the semi/colon a bit, maybe, but you did just fine.

jonson's links rarely if ever do it for me personally, but I do recognize that he's one of the hardest working men in show business, so good on 'im for that.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:31 PM on September 16, 2006

If I do one thing in my tenure here, it's to promote that MP3 to as many people as possible. It's the absolute summit of mankind's mastery of audio technology.
posted by jonson at 7:32 PM on September 16, 2006

As for stav, seriously, I have no idea what it is you'd be interested in seeing on the blue, but I do imagine you saw a lot more of it in the good old days.
posted by jonson at 7:32 PM on September 16, 2006

I reenacted a good five minutes of it at work today.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:33 PM on September 16, 2006

I have no idea what it is you'd be interested in seeing on the blue

That's clear, but it doesn't bother me, and shouldn't bother you.

I do imagine you saw a lot more of it in the good old days.

I've never cared much about the links, so no, not really.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:36 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

Sometimes you just have to cave in and let your pet peeves go. Mine, for example, are use of the "@" notation to adress someone, the wiki-caret, the Metafilter tagline meme, and the I'M IN UR BASE meme. But I'm better now. I have learned to love them all, one by one.

@Jonson: I'M IN UR POSTS REEDIN UR WORDZ

Metafilter^: Most of the internet is, strictly speaking, unnecessary.
posted by Jon Mitchell at 7:36 PM on September 16, 2006 [3 favorites]

It's the perfect storm of metapeeves...
posted by jonson at 7:39 PM on September 16, 2006

Yes, folks like jonson are what make MeFi so valuable. He does the work finding the good stuff among all the chaff out there and serves it up with such aplomb. That is the essence of MeFi, surfing effieciency, filtering. I often have limited time to peruse what's new, but who cares? Between MeFi and perhaps a few other link blogs you will efficiently find all of what's hot with low effort. When I have more time, I will put the fun things I find back into the mix. As we all do this we profit. Matt's concept here is brilliant, and jonson is one of the hardest working posters here. Yay. My favorite poster here has long been anastasiav, but what with the new baby and all or whatever, she has been a bit quiet. Jonson has always been prolific, but particularly so as of late, with all interesting stuff. Not just effort, but a good eye for a post too. Thanks for everthing jonson and keep it coming.
posted by caddis at 7:46 PM on September 16, 2006

Actually, you know, I just followed that link to the list of jonson's posts, and though I can't recall clicking through on any of them, I almost never rarely do anyway for anyone else's either, and because I don't tend to pay close attention to who's posting what, I hadn't noticed that his recent work is not in the mold that I had come in past to expect -- wacky, weird-link-of-the-day kinda stuff -- and is in fact much more varied and interesting.

That is I guess if, unlike me, you actually follow links from the front page more than occasionally. So good on him for more than just being prolific.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:51 PM on September 16, 2006

almost never rarely
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 7:51 PM on September 16, 2006

Really, the stressful August contest made me try really hard to find something new & amazing every day. I felt like I was just getting the hang of it by September, and now I can't really stop. In between me & the sockpuppet I was using (until Jessamyn emailed me & ordered me not to), I've posted once a day for every day since August 1st, with the exception of that day Mefi took a header.

I'm sure I'll quiet down soon, but I'm shamelessly addicted to checking my "how many people marked your posts/comments as favorites" count, and I realized that my personal hero cortex has joined me in the 500 favorites club, so now I'm stressing to stay on top. In fact, amusingly enough, it was my petty snipe at XQ above that moved me into the elite 600 club. Me, Barry, Willie, Hank & the Babe. It's nice up here. I'm sure cortex will join/surpass me soon enough...
posted by jonson at 8:10 PM on September 16, 2006

Caret is the new YouTube
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:38 PM on September 16, 2006

"it's a caret jonson."

If Matt had counted a little more carefully, it would've been a 24-caret jonson, and that, my friends, would have been comedy gold.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:48 PM on September 16, 2006 [1 favorite]

So, jonson, how do you find all those interesting links? Does your job take you all over the web, do you type random keywords into Google all day, or what? I've never stumbled across anything good enough for MeFi, yet you seem to find something every day or 2. What's your secret?

Oh, and thanks for all the good stuff!

/wistfully hopes to post something to the blue herself, one of these days/
posted by Quietgal at 9:09 PM on September 16, 2006

Now can we quit turning this into yet another bitchfest about the Evil Caret? Jesus.


posted by ericb at 9:17 PM on September 16, 2006

how do you find all those interesting links?

The crunchland method is amazingly accurate ("Start with a blogger whose content you like, who has lots of links to other sites. The blogger whom you find interesting will surely know of other interesting sites.").

Whenever BoingBoing (or any other big site) gives a "via", I follow it. From there I found Bubblegumfink, Neatorama, Wonderland, and... oh yeah, Metafilter, not to mention several others. Each of those have blogrolls of their own, etc.

Whenever a question strikes your curiosity ("I wonder what happened to the guy who invented Wacky Packs"), Google/Wiki around, find out. Then, if the answer is interesting, or better yet, the answer is placed on a site that is itself interesting, snoop around.

Read the top level sites, like Digg, Reddit, etc. Or just go to Popurls. Even if you think stuff there shouldn't be posted here, the way crunchland certainly does (among others), you'll find intriguing sites linked there, and the more interesting a site is, the more interesting site that blogger will have linked on his blogroll, etc.

Finally, spend some time on it. I websurf a hell of a lot, as do many other posters here.
posted by jonson at 9:21 PM on September 16, 2006 [3 favorites]

I met jonson at an Eddie Izzard show. He seemed to be a super guy, and I'm sure he gets no work done at his office since he's web surfing looking for new posts for us all.

Which I fully support.
posted by Salmonberry at 9:23 PM on September 16, 2006

I met Salmonberry at an Eddie Izzard show, and I encourage all of you to do the same. Eddie's always funny, and Salmonberry is adorable, so it's totally win-win.
posted by jonson at 9:31 PM on September 16, 2006

Previous violence-bathed callout on that rancid sheeplicking grope-sandwich we call jonson.
posted by loquacious at 9:33 PM on September 16, 2006

omg no YOU'RE adorable - well, your baby is.

no comment on the pugs.
posted by Salmonberry at 10:11 PM on September 16, 2006

I think the caret-hate is the inevitable result of crotchety old internet prescriptivists resenting the new-fangled trends of the tech-savvy youth. Happens to the best of us. :)

Oh, and viva jonson!
posted by Arthur "Two Sheds" Jackson at 10:29 PM on September 16, 2006

I'm so against the wikipedia^g caret_{_}.
posted by blue_beetle at 10:59 PM on September 16, 2006

Caret, Smock, Caret-Caret, Smock-Smock, Pants-fish!
posted by Balisong at 11:23 PM on September 16, 2006

jonson's August was a Byron Nelsonian, Joe DiMaggian, Johnny Vander Merrian streak. Utter dominance.
posted by kosem at 11:34 PM on September 16, 2006

I love you jonson, but if I moderated MeFi, I would have instituted SA-style autobanning for anyone who posted <a> tags wrapped around a fucking caret. Be glad jesshowie are more levelheaded than I and also bad at programming.
posted by blasdelf at 11:37 PM on September 16, 2006

delmoi, if you continue to flag every FPP with a caret as "offensive content" you are asking for some trouble.
posted by jessamyn at 8:09 PM EST on September 16 [+] [!]

oh get a life, just ignore that flag from delmoi if it bothers you
posted by caddis at 1:01 AM on September 17, 2006

I digitized that propaganda pamphlet with jonson a while back. He was great to work with then - and recent posts definitely improve the front page. Thanks, jonson.
posted by fake at 1:08 AM on September 17, 2006

I websurf a hell of a lot...

Y7know, I kinda figured as much... jonson, do you have a, you know, job?

Anyway, I'd like to join the ranks of those praising you: I've enjoyed many of your posts. Bravissimo!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:46 AM on September 17, 2006

Since we're kissing arse, I thought I'd point out that blahblahblah's posts are consistently amazing and, along with people like Jonson, make this site something truly special.

Aww! Grouphug!
posted by slimepuppy at 5:30 AM on September 17, 2006

Mathowie didn't draw a caret jonson; he drew a circumcision done with pinking shears.

jesshowie

Mathowsamyn?

Anyway, I love jonson's posts; he's good at 'em. Stupidly-conceived web punctuation, though, not so much.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:15 AM on September 17, 2006

oh get a life, just ignore that flag from delmoi if it bothers you

Uh, doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of delmoi's use of the flagging system(Again, hilarious), the admin's roles in responding to flags, and... well, I guess the flagging system in toto?

Also, if any of my comments are ever flagged(Never gonna happen, they're all gems, I tells ya), the admins have my permission to ignore them.

Unless they're good flags(Even less likely to happen).
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:50 AM on September 17, 2006

flagged
posted by caddis at 11:02 AM on September 17, 2006

As fantastic, no doubt.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:03 AM on September 17, 2006

Yay, jonson - a superlative poster indeed! Many thanks for all the eclectic goodness you bring to the blue.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:16 AM on September 17, 2006

Three cheers for jonson! Hiphiphooray!
posted by five fresh fish at 6:54 PM on September 17, 2006

yay, jonson!
posted by shoepal at 7:26 PM on September 17, 2006

Yes, thanks jonson - you make this place a splendider place.
posted by blag at 3:39 PM on September 19, 2006