Ranking most linked sites? Search posts by site?

December 5, 2001 7:56 AM

Is there a way to see a ranking of the sites most often linked to by mefi members in their posts? (would be interesting to see where mefi takes us every day, sites might find it interesting to, if that mattered) Also, is there a way to search for all mefi posts linked to a particular site? (was going to post something from ApeCulture but then thought maybe everyone goes there already, so why bother) Thanks.
posted by Voyageman to feature requests at 7:56 AM (12 comments total)

another request (doesn't need a new thread) : add something on the posting guidelines page in regard to 'slow news days' and how posting-for-the-sake-of-posting isn't very neat.
posted by kv at 8:07 AM on December 5, 2001

I'd love to know what the average daily round is. Mine's fairly standard: Telegraph, NYT, Libération, WSJ, WP, Arts and Letters, Romenesko and Drudge every day; New Yorker on Mondays, NY Observer and The Onion on Wednesdays; Spectator, New Statesman, NY Press and VV on Fridays. I also allow myself an hour's free-form Google a day. Oh, and Metafilter very occasionally, of course.

posted by MiguelCardoso at 8:27 AM on December 5, 2001

doesn't need a new thread

<MeFi cop>well it's off topic for this one</Mefi cop>

Oh, just ignore me. I needed less caffeine. I've been wondering on and off whether something like that would/should be added to the guidelines, but I think the answer is that no-one ever reads them anyway, so it's hardly worth it. The "current situation" block on the posting page didn't stop something like eight anthrax links going up in three days ... I think part of the problem is that everyone believes that their post is a special case. And people like to post links. I still keep coming back: a brain is a powerful filter and I manage not to read most of the threads I'm not into.

As to Voyageman's idea: I've always found it interesting that google, blogdex etc are quite hot on links into domains, but don't list links out (unless I'm missing something). I'd rather see google implement this feature than MeFi. It's relevant to almost any site. Doing it on a daily basis is going to hammer the servers one way or another. Just an ordered list of outgoing links would be funky though.

Dunno about searching MeFi for links: I search for URLs occasionally, but never seem to find them (maybe those ones haven't been posted though). Does the MeFi search crawl the whole post/comment, or strip out html first? That would tell you.
posted by walrus at 8:47 AM on December 5, 2001

I'd love to know what the average daily round is. Mine's fairly standard: Telegraph, NYT, Libération, WSJ, WP, Arts and Letters, Romenesko and Drudge every day; New Yorker on Mondays, NY Observer and The Onion on Wednesdays; Spectator, New Statesman, NY Press and VV on Fridays. I also allow myself an hour's free-form Google a day. Oh, and Metafilter very occasionally, of course.

Gee, Miguel, when do you find time to eat and sleep?
posted by ljromanoff at 9:18 AM on December 5, 2001

ljromanoff: as we say in Portugal, bons olhos o vejam!*

I'm a fast reader and an expert skimmer - journalist for 20 years and editor for 11, so you learn how to get through that daily ginormous pile of papers and mags on your desk pretty fast.
My trick is to print out everything that looks interesting. Then it's delicious to sit down and go through it. It never takes longer than three hours a day. Which still leaves 15 for work and life in general, plus 6 for sex and sleep. Sleep is such a waste of time, anyway - a hangover from neanderthal hibernation.
Or in the bath. Before the Internet I'd take magazines I didn't much care for(Time, Nouvel Observateur, Rolling Stone)as I couldn't keep them dry.
Now my bathroom is strewn with sodden A4 pages - ah it's wonderful! You should try it.
Of course my newspaper sends me the ink cartridges and the paper for free...

*May all with 20/20 vision have the full pleasure of setting their eyes on you*
posted by MiguelCardoso at 9:56 AM on December 5, 2001

I actually have more sake when I post for the sake of posting than when I post because I come across something that is of personal interest to me and feel some kind of need to share this link that I think is keen neato. Posting for the sake of posting causes a person to focus their energies towards finding something that will stir up community, to avoid the boredom they perceive on the front page. It can be a good thing.

When someone posts something they want to share, it sometimes comes from a personal place. It's a person's wish to not only share something that avoids boredom, but to get some kind of point across which others perceive as being too preachy.

So maybe the guidelines would be better served to have some passage about asking the poster to consider their audience more. One can post just for the sake of posting, if their purpose is more audience-oriented and less ego-oriented. Or words to that effect? Again I don't think it should be any kind of rule, but the suggestion might point more people in the right direction.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:58 AM on December 5, 2001

I actually have more sake when I post for the sake of posting than when I post because I come across something that is of personal interest to me and feel some kind of need to share this link that I think is keen neato.

That sentence hurt my brain and when I tried to read it I thought is he saying sake like for god's sake or is he saying sake like the rice wine sake and I think maybe the best thing would have been to use some form of puctuation somewhere so I didn't get all confused and have to respond with an incomprehensible keen neato comment.
posted by Kafkaesque at 12:12 PM on December 5, 2001

Miguel, you actually wait until Wednesday to read the Onion?

You do know that it usually goes up at about 9:00 PM Eastern on Tuesday nights, right?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 1:27 PM on December 5, 2001

But, mr_crash_davis, I live in Lisbon and my time zone is GMT, so it's 02:00 Wednesday for me... Hey, I'm so time-stupid I swear I was going to say unfortunately!
Once, when lighting the Sabbath candles at some precise time, 17:08, I actually told my wife "Isn't it beautiful that, at this very same moment Jews all over the world, no matter where they live, are doing the very same thing?"
How will anyone respect me after this?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:44 PM on December 5, 2001

As though this complication were to become more involved, and the Kabbalistic-Messianic disorder were to be pursued to its utmost limits, a Sabbatian champion unexpectedly appeared in a man of European culture, not wanting in gifts, Abraham Michael Cardoso. He was an original character, a living personification of the transformation of the Portuguese Jews after their expulsion. Born of Marrano parents in a small town of Portugal, Celarico, in the province of Beira, Mislel Cardoso, like his elder brother Fernando, studied medicine. While the latter devoted himself earnestly to science, Miguel dawdled away his days amidst the luxury of Madrid, sang love-songs with the guitar under the balconies of fair ladies, and paid very little heed to Kabbala or Judaism. What influenced him to leave Spain is not known. Perhaps his more serious and thoughtful brother, who, after making a name in Spain as a medical and scientific author, out of love to Judaism migrated to Venice, where he plunged deeply into Jewish literature, infected him with enthusiasm. Both brothers assumed Jewish names after their return to the religion of their forefathers. The elder, Isaac Cardoso, gave up his name Fernando; the younger took the name of Abraharn in addition to that of Miguel (Michael). Both composed verses in Spanish. While the elder brother led a regular life, guided by moral principles and a rational faith, the younger fell under the sway of extravagant fancy and an eccentric manner of living. Isaac Cardoso conferred renown on Judaism, while Abraham Michael Cardoso was a disgrace to it.
The latter lived as a physician at Leghorn, but not flourishing he accepted the position of physician in ordinary to the Bey of Tripoli. His warm-blooded, dissolute nature was a hindrance to his advancement. Contrary to the custom of African Jews, he married two wives, and instead of employing himself with his difficult science, he revolved fantastical schemes. Cardoso appears to have been initiated into the Kabbala and the Sabbatian delusion by Moses Pinheiro, who was living at Leghorn.

posted by y2karl at 12:53 AM on December 6, 2001

Er, right. Back to Voyageman's question. Google tells me that SQL Server allows for regular expressions in SQL statements, so what Voyageman is asking for (list of sites linked to) would be possible with a single SQL statement. Matt, if that sounds interesting to you I'd be happy to write it.
posted by lbergstr at 9:30 AM on December 6, 2001

I actually have more sake when I post for the sake of posting

I need some sake, when I post for the sake of posting. I need some sake now.
posted by liam at 9:40 AM on December 6, 2001