MeFi Mail is here

October 19, 2007 2:26 PM

MeFi Mail is being rolled out, so pardon the dust for the next hour or so and once it's live, feel free to discuss it here.
posted by mathowie to feature requests at 2:26 PM (437 comments total)

FIRST!!%!@%^!^

Sorry.. really... not really...
posted by cavalier at 2:33 PM on October 19, 2007

OK, so... how best to actually use it? If I click your email as in your profile, it starts Outlook.

Er, simpletons guide please?!!?
posted by dash_slot- at 2:34 PM on October 19, 2007

Your inbox is empty!

Grump. Typical.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:36 PM on October 19, 2007

I haven't tried it, but I just noticed it when I came to the home page. Neat!
posted by drezdn at 2:36 PM on October 19, 2007

The status bar makes my topbar formatting go nuts unless my window is at least $large wide. (Mozilla OS 9)
posted by bonaldi at 2:36 PM on October 19, 2007

Hey! I got an email from Matt Haughey! I'm the man!
posted by eyeballkid at 2:39 PM on October 19, 2007 [12 favorites has favorites]

Yay! Thanks Matt.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:40 PM on October 19, 2007

The clickable email field in the profile is just the, you know, email field. Looks like the "send this user mefimail" link isn't so much there right yet.
posted by cortex at 2:41 PM on October 19, 2007

Every click opens mefi mail in a new tab. FireFox 2.0.0.8.
posted by xmutex at 2:41 PM on October 19, 2007

Hmm, I replied to Matt's email with an email that says "Thanks" because I wanted to see how the reply thing worked. It occurs to me now that Matt might be receiving a ton of those, so I hope we won't crash his email box.
posted by dios at 2:41 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Heh. I "blocked this sender."
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:42 PM on October 19, 2007

Wow, now MeFi can finally be Yahoo circa '99!
posted by klangklangston at 2:43 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Not bad, not bad at all! :) Thanks Matt, for all your hard work!
posted by IndigoRain at 2:43 PM on October 19, 2007

How come there's no "reply to all"?
posted by klangklangston at 2:43 PM on October 19, 2007 [9 favorites has favorites]

OK, so... how best to actually use it? If I click your email as in your profile, it starts Outlook.

Er, simpletons guide please?!!?

Can I take a stab at that without knowing the full implementation?

The email system is internal to Metafilter, like private messaging on most other web boards. Chances are Matt and pb are working on a link in your profile that will allow you to forward a message to another user as long as you are logged in. The link just isn't live yet.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:44 PM on October 19, 2007

Or, what cortex said.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:44 PM on October 19, 2007

/me sets up spam relay.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 2:44 PM on October 19, 2007

NO I D0N'T W4NT ANY C|AL|S OR V|AGR4
posted by loquacious at 2:45 PM on October 19, 2007

Now, I too can experience the joys of the little lit up envelope.
posted by Sugar Induced Coma at 2:45 PM on October 19, 2007

Allow me to be the first with a memail pony request: the ability to send someone a memail by just typing in their user id.
posted by drezdn at 2:45 PM on October 19, 2007

Ok, so...protocol time. In-thread quoting of email exchanges between users without consent is universally considered gauche. Does the same apply for MeFi mail? Or is it somewhere in between public and private?
posted by felix betachat at 2:45 PM on October 19, 2007

So what's the over/under on how long until someone has gamed this and done something silly? 20 minutes?
posted by dios at 2:46 PM on October 19, 2007

Er, yeah, got it.
skulks away
posted by dash_slot- at 2:48 PM on October 19, 2007

In-thread quoting of email exchanges between users without consent is universally considered gauche. Does the same apply for MeFi mail?

I would think so.
posted by CunningLinguist at 2:49 PM on October 19, 2007

“Does the same apply for MeFi mail?”

Of course it does. Why would you think that mefmail would be any less private than regular email?

Oh, Matt and pb: the alignment of the checkboxes for email options on the profile edit page need to be tweaked. They're misaligned for me (I'm using Georgia 14 and Eras 10, if that's relevant).
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:49 PM on October 19, 2007

here are some things that I think we know

- you can block mefimail for good. after today that is.
- you can block certain users from mefimailing you.
- mefimail is in addition to having email in your profile. you can do either/or
- you can forward mefimail to your email inbox but it still shows up in your mefimail box
- we will not read your mail, period
- there's a tiny chance that we might use this to send admin messages but even though we think we might none of us could see a reason why we might do this
- right now the 1.0 version has you having to click a link to mefimail someone, the "type a username" option was suggested but has some downsides and I don't know if it will be in a 2.0 rollout or not

other questions? bonaldi, how wide does your screen have to be to have it look weird, any idea?
posted by jessamyn at 2:50 PM on October 19, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

"Of course it does. Why would you think that mefmail would be any less private than regular email?"

Because Cortex reads every message sent?
posted by klangklangston at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2007

This is why we can't have nice... oops! Jumped the gun a little.

Thanks Matt & pb!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2007

Can we call it memail?
posted by drezdn at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

That flashing, green, "you're changes have been saved" box is.. Well.. A little surprising.. Couldn't you have just used the blink tag?!?
posted by Chuckles at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2007

Oh, and thanks so much Matt for adding the option to have it forwarded to one's regular email address.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:52 PM on October 19, 2007

Because Cortex reads every message sent?

It's ok though, because he only deletes the ones he disagrees with.
posted by drezdn at 2:52 PM on October 19, 2007 [6 favorites has favorites]

Also, will you be offering 2GB of email space like Google? That way I can keep an email from Ethereal Bligh if need be?





I kid. I kid.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:52 PM on October 19, 2007 [27 favorites has favorites]

Maybe I am little slow, but how does one send porn through this thing?
posted by dios at 2:52 PM on October 19, 2007 [9 favorites has favorites]

PWNS FACE
posted by four panels at 2:52 PM on October 19, 2007

> In-thread quoting of email exchanges between users without consent is universally considered gauche. Does the same apply for MeFi mail?

Heck, naw. The barriers between private and public are TOTALLY DIFFERENT on Metafilter compared to the rest of the world.

Seriously, just because private messages are in-venue, they're still private. Play nice.
posted by ardgedee at 2:53 PM on October 19, 2007

Don't forget plain text theme users now get a tiny colored bar at the top of the screen as well, so now you can tell where you are at in the site (blue! green! gray! grayer! sorta bluish-green!)
posted by mathowie at 2:54 PM on October 19, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

“Also, will you be offering 2GB of email space like Google? That way I can keep an email from Ethereal Bligh if need be?”

Google is up to 3.6GB now. Anyway, my messages only average about 20-30 megabytes with no attachments, so you should be covered if I ever decide to mefmail you.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:55 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

"Heck, naw. The barriers between private and public are TOTALLY DIFFERENT on Metafilter compared to the rest of the world."

I PUT MY DICK ON YOUR SCREEN!
posted by klangklangston at 2:55 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

- we will not read your mail, period

Oh, that's great, but if it's on Mefi servers, and it's offensive...
posted by dash_slot- at 2:57 PM on October 19, 2007

Quibble aside, this is a nice design, Matt! Apart from the unprofessional background. But I always prefer "clean" clients, and this is one.
posted by bonaldi at 2:57 PM on October 19, 2007

Ah cool, it looks like I can get to my profile even from within threads because of this addition. I know it has nothing to do with the e-mailing aspect. I assure you that I will cherish the automated e-mail from mathowie and nevar delete it evar.

Doesn't the signout link make the front page logout link redundant now? Or am I missing some cool mail functionality that distinguishes the two?
posted by Mister Cheese at 2:57 PM on October 19, 2007

I prefer mefmail to memail. Memail sounds like a costume a furry would wear.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:00 PM on October 19, 2007

(adding proper targets so new windows don't open)
posted by mathowie at 3:00 PM on October 19, 2007

Oh, and thanks so much Matt for adding the option to have it forwarded to one's regular email address.

This is a key option. Will it forward sent messages too? That would really complete the picture.
posted by Chuckles at 3:00 PM on October 19, 2007

What about milfmail?
posted by eyeballkid at 3:01 PM on October 19, 2007

Doesn't the signout link make the front page logout link redundant now? Or am I missing some cool mail functionality that distinguishes the two?
posted by Mister Cheese at 4:57 PM on October 19

I'm interested in the answer to the latter question. If it is in fact redundant, I'd prefer that the signout next to the mail thing be deleted in favor of the front page logout because I am apt to miss the little mail image and click logout on accident.
posted by dios at 3:01 PM on October 19, 2007

there's a tiny chance that we might use this to send admin messages but even though we think we might none of us could see a reason why we might do this

Ah. Given that I couldn't find any way to send email to anybody else, I was convinced that the only possible purpose for this would be so that mods could tell me that they've deleted my gratuitously offensive posts and be almost sure that I've read my telling off.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:02 PM on October 19, 2007

CORTEX SPAMMED ME!!
posted by jessamyn at 3:02 PM on October 19, 2007 [4 favorites has favorites]

Mister Cheese: "My Profile" gets you to your profile and is ye olde. Same for the "Posting as: your_name_here" link before the comment box.
posted by zsazsa at 3:03 PM on October 19, 2007

This and two new Facebook friends in one day?

*squeals*
posted by The Straightener at 3:03 PM on October 19, 2007

meaning: I'd like a select all box at some point to delete messages en masse.
posted by jessamyn at 3:03 PM on October 19, 2007

hovering over the envelope/ mail message generates a js error in firefox 2.0.0.8:

lnk.href has no properties:
h = lnk.href.length; t = nicetitle.length;
posted by boo_radley at 3:04 PM on October 19, 2007

i think it looks very handsome! i like the way the notification bar has been added to the white board theme. no complaints here!
posted by loiseau at 3:04 PM on October 19, 2007

- we will not read your mail, period
Hey, that makes four of us!
Only cos I know I won't be sent any. Sniff
posted by Abiezer at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007

I move that we change the Mefi Popularity Contest from being judged by favorites to being judged by how much MeFi mail you get.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Now I just need a greasemonkey script that allows me to send a message of "HIGH FIVE" and the comment url, so I can stop wasting my supply of favorites.
posted by klangklangston at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm gonna be honest. I'm loving this like it was McDonald's (barah bah bah bah~) simply because seeing "new mail/message" notification icons always makes me happy.
posted by kkokkodalk at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007

This is pretty sweet - thanks Matt.
posted by Happy Dave at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007

SEE?! IS GOOD IDEA!
posted by klangklangston at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007

Heh. I "blocked this sender."
posted by CunningLinguist

Too bad, you won't be reading your pre-ban notification, then.
posted by micayetoca at 3:06 PM on October 19, 2007

It's ok though, because he only deletes the ones he disagrees with.

And that's different because . . . ?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 3:07 PM on October 19, 2007

CORTEX SPAMMED ME!!

Usability testing. Sweartagod.
posted by cortex at 3:09 PM on October 19, 2007

Only cos I know I won't be sent any. Sniff

What, you haven't had that MefiMail I sent you yet, Abiezer?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:09 PM on October 19, 2007

Only cos I know I won't be sent any. Sniff

What, you haven't had that MefiMail I sent you yet, Abiezer? Damn slow this service if you ask me.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 3:10 PM on October 19, 2007

[THIS IS GOOD]

Thanks.
posted by ericb at 3:12 PM on October 19, 2007

Cheers, our Pete! Etiquette prevents me from telling the rest of you slobs why.
posted by Abiezer at 3:12 PM on October 19, 2007

Though that kind of utter filth is better in a higher resolution imo.
posted by Abiezer at 3:13 PM on October 19, 2007

Wow. Is this the worst idea ever or what? I can't wait to use it.
posted by phaedon at 3:14 PM on October 19, 2007

I removed the redundant info on the front pages of the subsites.
posted by mathowie at 3:15 PM on October 19, 2007

pb/matt: the dissappearing "your mail's been sent" box is fucking cool.
posted by micayetoca at 3:16 PM on October 19, 2007

I prefer mefmail to memail. Memail sounds like a costume a furry would wear.

Well, "mefmail" looked like "yiffmail" to me the first time I read it, so you're WRONG WRONG WRONG.
posted by scrump at 3:17 PM on October 19, 2007

Oh, fabulous, another empty email box. Won't someone think of the lonely?

Just kidding, this is awesome. Wait, does this thing have the img tag?
posted by sugarfish at 3:18 PM on October 19, 2007

I prefer mefmail to memail.

It's called MeFi Mail. Just one more character and no one will be confused.
posted by mathowie at 3:18 PM on October 19, 2007

pb/matt: the dissappearing "your mail's been sent" box is fucking cool.

It gave me seizures! I kid!

This is great, thanks to everyone who helped make this happen.
posted by gummi at 3:19 PM on October 19, 2007

Why does it say "welcome back" to me? I never went anywhere. Can't it greet me in some language from another country?

Seriously, this just works and I'm pleased to see that it seems to mostly work for other people too.
posted by jessamyn at 3:20 PM on October 19, 2007

I've sent Anonymous a request for dinner and drinks. Should be one wild night if I can stop them going on about their problems!
posted by Abiezer at 3:20 PM on October 19, 2007 [12 favorites has favorites]

So what are we calling this? MetaMail?

Also, small pony request: can we have it play a .wav that says "You've got snark" whenever we log in see new messages?
posted by quin at 3:23 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

::runs to message Anonymous::
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:23 PM on October 19, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

This is super sweet. Now if only I didn't feel like such a Mefi loner (constant reader, infrequent poster, so I feel like I know y'all, but you don't know me, you know?), and had someone to memail with.

oh, and: Hey! I got an email from Matt Haughey! I'm the woman!
posted by spinturtle at 3:23 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

In the "Contact Preferences" of my profile editing page, the checkboxes don't line up with their labels. The second one, "Forward MeFi Mail to your address?" takes up two lines which throws off the layout.
posted by stopgap at 3:23 PM on October 19, 2007

Oh, and this is actually really cool. Thanks guys.
posted by quin at 3:24 PM on October 19, 2007

This is cool. I get way too excited when I get mail. But, hey, it brightens my day a little.
posted by liquorice at 3:24 PM on October 19, 2007

[THIS IS WICKED GOOD]

Thank you!
posted by rtha at 3:25 PM on October 19, 2007

I like this.
posted by tepidmonkey at 3:25 PM on October 19, 2007

I just tested out the fwding thing. Here's a potential problem. What arrives in your mailbox is from Matt - if you unthinkingly hit reply, it goes to him, not the person who emailed you.
posted by CunningLinguist at 3:25 PM on October 19, 2007

PONY REQUEST(For 2.0): I'm noticing that when replying to someone, the archived reply doesn't contain the text of the original email. So if you want to follow a conversation, you'd need to switch back and forth between the "Your Inbox" and "Your Sent Mail" to reconstruct a conversation. (Yes, Gmail has spoiled me with threaded email.)

Also, this is fucking rad.
posted by eyeballkid at 3:26 PM on October 19, 2007

I love this so much. My heart is full, even though my Inbox is empty.
posted by maudlin at 3:27 PM on October 19, 2007

Cool. Hopefully this will reduce noise on the grey.
posted by blenderfish at 3:28 PM on October 19, 2007

Abiezer: I hear she has herpes. And warts.

If we've made eyeballkid happy, our job here is done.
posted by jessamyn at 3:29 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

hey monju_bosatsu: check your mail.
posted by dios at 3:31 PM on October 19, 2007

I just tested out the fwding thing. Here's a potential problem. What arrives in your mailbox is from Matt - if you unthinkingly hit reply, it goes to him, not the person who emailed you.

Yeah, we should send it from a system /dev/null/ account instead.
posted by mathowie at 3:31 PM on October 19, 2007

Can I begin the moans by saying that the comedy spam I just sent to bokane in Chinese got mangled. Any love for Unicode possible? Not a biggie of course.
posted by Abiezer at 3:32 PM on October 19, 2007

Until a few minutes ago I'd had no idea that the son of the late Burundi finance minister was a mefite.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:33 PM on October 19, 2007 [5 favorites has favorites]

Abiezer, try your message again. Unicode should be working. Let me know if not.
posted by pb at 3:34 PM on October 19, 2007

I wonder what wendell thinks of all this.
posted by BeerFilter at 3:34 PM on October 19, 2007

Shit. Now I have mefmouth. Wow, that kicks in really fast.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:35 PM on October 19, 2007

MeFail.
posted by The Straightener at 3:36 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

This will not end well.
posted by The Deej at 3:36 PM on October 19, 2007

Does this mean this is a social networking site now?

Goddammit.

*resigns*

Nah, this is cool. I can take my gmail address out of my profile and have all MeMail forwarded to it....excellent!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:36 PM on October 19, 2007

Someone memail me something!
posted by liquorice at 3:37 PM on October 19, 2007

Cool!
posted by amyms at 3:38 PM on October 19, 2007

pb - still no dice, in either subject field or body text. I'm inputting using SCIM under Linux if that makes any difference.
posted by Abiezer at 3:39 PM on October 19, 2007

Or I could message you! Silly me.
posted by Abiezer at 3:39 PM on October 19, 2007

Can we call it memail?

How 'bout Mefail?
posted by The Deej at 3:40 PM on October 19, 2007

So when threads get derailed, will we see a message from Jessamyn saying "Take it to MefiMail!!!!"?
posted by The Deej at 3:41 PM on October 19, 2007

Thankyou to the 12 witty people who mailed me the word "something".
posted by liquorice at 3:43 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

What, no points for being bilingual?
posted by maudlin at 3:44 PM on October 19, 2007

Just tried it out. Groovy blinky disappearing box messed with my HEAD, MAN.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 3:45 PM on October 19, 2007

I am tired of reaching out and touching you people.
posted by ColdChef at 3:45 PM on October 19, 2007

I would like to be able to go from message to message without having to go back to the inbox first.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 3:46 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Someone memail me something besides something :P
posted by DMan at 3:48 PM on October 19, 2007

It now tells me "welcome back"!

*sniff*

I suddenly have a tremendous urge to be where people see that our troubles are all the same, and where everybody knows my name.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:49 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

When you're reading a message and then reply to it, having it drop you into your sent mail seems slightly counterintuitive, though I'm sure I'd adjust. Is this how other PM systems do it?
posted by jessamyn at 3:50 PM on October 19, 2007

That little envelope is really f'in cute!
posted by rmless at 3:51 PM on October 19, 2007

This is really awesome.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:51 PM on October 19, 2007

This is really cool.
posted by jayder at 3:51 PM on October 19, 2007

*sobs*

Mommy the bad man touched me.

He just reached right out and touched me.

I feel all dirty now.
posted by quin at 3:52 PM on October 19, 2007

Great, another way I can feel isolated and ignored from and by all the cool mefites. I'm keeping my mathowie email, though, so my box will NEVER be empty.
posted by b33j at 3:58 PM on October 19, 2007

wow.. cool. thanks matt :)
posted by Dillonlikescookies at 3:58 PM on October 19, 2007

Did someone hear something just now?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 3:59 PM on October 19, 2007

Now that we have messaging, can we get massaging?
posted by rmless at 4:00 PM on October 19, 2007

Those wishing to subscribe to my hourly newsletter, please MeFi Mail me $5. Topics to be covered: body hair, cooking techniques, gore, Gore, and Goretex. Subscribers will also get to compete in my weekly "Guess how they died?!" competition.
posted by ColdChef at 4:01 PM on October 19, 2007 [5 favorites has favorites]

JRUN =(
posted by carsonb at 4:01 PM on October 19, 2007

This is a momentus step forward.

Matt really is waking up (albeit incredibly slowly) to the fact that vBulletin-style functionality is the future!

Next - emoticons. :)
posted by fire&wings at 4:02 PM on October 19, 2007

dananeer writes:

hi i need help guys
i sent a mail to some open and need to recall it i mean get it back from his inbox before he open it
can you help
[e-mail]
i’m using gmail

October 2nd, 2006 at 9:32 pm
posted by 31d1 at 4:06 PM on October 19, 2007

I like. Thanks!
posted by typewriter at 4:07 PM on October 19, 2007

if I block someone accidentally can I unblock them (on purpose)?

I'm scared to try to find out.
posted by aubilenon at 4:09 PM on October 19, 2007

*furiously hits "refresh"

WHERE MY NEW MESSAGES?
posted by ColdChef at 4:09 PM on October 19, 2007

OMFG, more evidence of Zawinski's Law!

Also: Wow! Nicely done guys.
posted by gwint at 4:12 PM on October 19, 2007 [4 favorites has favorites]

ColdChef: check your damn milfmail.
posted by melissa may at 4:12 PM on October 19, 2007 [5 favorites has favorites]

Very cool. I'll probably never get any mefi mail but cool nonetheless.
posted by sveskemus at 4:14 PM on October 19, 2007

Also, this is making my mash note writing so much more convenient -- thanks very much, matt!
posted by melissa may at 4:14 PM on October 19, 2007

can you make it say "you've got mail!"?
posted by quonsar at 4:16 PM on October 19, 2007

I wonder what wendell thinks of all this.

I imagine we will all receive a rambling, somewhat confusing mass-message on the topic sometime soon.

So, I guess I missed something, because the last time I dropped into a discussion about private messaging within MetaTalk I seem to distinctly recall mathowie writing at length about the several reasons why it would be a bad idea (or at least a pain in the ass).
posted by nanojath at 4:16 PM on October 19, 2007

From : It's Raining Florence Henderson
Subject : You've got mail!
Message : ...in your pants!
posted by quonsar at 4:19 PM on October 19, 2007

Wow. I've now got a stalker on MetaFilter, too. I'm a popular guy. Go away, crazy man/or/woman!
posted by ColdChef at 4:21 PM on October 19, 2007

Cool. Thanks!
posted by donovan at 4:23 PM on October 19, 2007

An observation; on the sent mail page, the space between Recipient and Subject might need to be made a little wider, it's doing strange things with the recipient's somewhat long user name.
posted by quin at 4:25 PM on October 19, 2007

Yay! I've got mail! And it's kind of sleazy, too! Thank you mefi mail!
posted by sveskemus at 4:26 PM on October 19, 2007

St pb the Awfully Clever has now resolved the Unicode problem in record time. CJK language speakers beware! I have multiple vectors for boring you silly now.
posted by Abiezer at 4:29 PM on October 19, 2007

Awesome! Thanks Matt and probably pb too!
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:29 PM on October 19, 2007

Could we add filters for this? I'd like all my incoming mails to be converted into LOLCAT for reasons I would prefer to keep private.

Thanks, I think this is great!
posted by Salmonberry at 4:30 PM on October 19, 2007

Sweet!!
posted by routergirl at 4:30 PM on October 19, 2007

Damn, ColdChef is a pervert.

I already love you, memail!
posted by melissa may at 4:30 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

It took two hours for me to get porn in it.
posted by jessamyn at 4:33 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Does this mean that when I write stupid comments in askme that I will now also get a stern warning message too?
posted by 517 at 4:33 PM on October 19, 2007

Apparently someone's got a crush on me. Not that I got a MefiMail to that extent or anything - I read it in a YouTube comment just now.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:36 PM on October 19, 2007

Man, I've been wishing for this function for like a year. I was going to post on Metatalk, but didn't want to be douchey so I didn't.
posted by milarepa at 4:36 PM on October 19, 2007

Perfect. Now I won't have to juggle my gmail from-addresses to maintain some anonymity!
posted by cobra_high_tigers at 4:43 PM on October 19, 2007

So now we have another MeFi undercurrent, much like IRC, offsite cult threads and MetaChat. The site deepens and the plot thickens.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:43 PM on October 19, 2007

So I made it to the bottom of the thread and wanted to jump to my MeFiMail box, but there's no link to it in the footer!

Can I has please?
posted by jazon at 4:45 PM on October 19, 2007

MeFi mail Wonderful idea. Thanks!
posted by nickyskye at 4:49 PM on October 19, 2007

So, what does a person see if he tries sending a message to someone who has him blocked?

May I suggest:

'No. They don't like you.'
'Denied, bitches!'
'Restraining order violation!'
'Stalker-filter has been engaged'

or just

'You lose'
posted by quin at 4:51 PM on October 19, 2007

This is one of the best things you have added to MeFi Matt. Like a lot of folks around here I have a dedicated email address for MeFi (and MeCha) but because of that I don't check it as often as I should and I sometimes take several weeks to get back to people, not that I get that much mail. I think I might a little more shy say than Coldchef and all his reaching and touching people an all. ;) Anyway, that little reminder in the upper corner should stop that. Very cool.
posted by caddis at 4:51 PM on October 19, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

It's called MeFi Mail. Just one more character and no one will be confused.

Can we call it MFmail and have Samuel Jackson saying, "You've got mutha fucking mail!" whenever you have new mail? Please.
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 4:51 PM on October 19, 2007

What the hell is this for? I don't want to talk to you people.
posted by blacklite at 4:52 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Also, like jessamyn said, I don't know why it keeps saying welcome back. It's like some kind of confused greeter who knows only one phrase in English.

Welcome back!
yes, hello.
Welcome back!
yes, we did this--
Welcome back welcome back!
posted by blacklite at 4:54 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

"Hello mister!"
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:57 PM on October 19, 2007

Shenanigans aside, this is really damn useful, and I thank Matt & pb from the bottom of my inbox.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 4:59 PM on October 19, 2007

MefiMail? Seems useful, thanks.

But, please, kill the 'welcome back' greeting. Please.
posted by carmina at 5:05 PM on October 19, 2007

Using this should be called sending someone a mema.
posted by gsteff at 5:05 PM on October 19, 2007

or a memo
posted by spinturtle at 5:06 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

*smacks spinturtle*
posted by gsteff at 5:07 PM on October 19, 2007

It's the Filtermail!
posted by Catfry at 5:08 PM on October 19, 2007

yay! my first mefi spanking!
posted by spinturtle at 5:09 PM on October 19, 2007

I'm disappointed this was rolled out without a Steve-Jobs-like keynote address by Matt.
-------
We've got something we think you will really... ... really... ... like. When we looked at MetaFilter, we thought, what would most users like to have to make flaming easier, PLUS... PLUS... offer an alternative to thread-shitting. We came up with something and we are REALLY... SUPER... excited about it. It just takes ONE CLICK. One click. One click. And you can send a message to any MeFi member. Any. Mefi. Member. It's called... MeFi Mail, and we think you're going to love it!

Oh... and one more thing... It holds... two. Billion. Songs.

Two. Billion. Songs.
posted by The Deej at 5:09 PM on October 19, 2007 [10 favorites has favorites]

I just wish reklaw was here to see this.
posted by humannaire at 5:11 PM on October 19, 2007

BTW, I vote FiMail.
posted by humannaire at 5:12 PM on October 19, 2007

I'm not seeing any welcome back message at all (Firefox/Windows), nor am I hearing the gentle voice of John Sebastian. What gives?
posted by maudlin at 5:12 PM on October 19, 2007

aubilenon, you can't unblock someone once you've blocked them. That's why the alert that pops up has the all-caps message: "YOU CAN'T UNDO THIS".

And if someone's blocked you the message isn't anything that colorful. It's just a simple "Sorry, this member has blocked messages from you."
posted by pb at 5:12 PM on October 19, 2007

I would like to be able to go from message to message without having to go back to the inbox first.

That's not a problem for some of us. (Sniff.)
posted by The corpse in the library at 5:13 PM on October 19, 2007

If we opt out of this, can the little mail icon be removed from our headers?
posted by gsteff at 5:13 PM on October 19, 2007

But, please, kill the 'welcome back' greeting. Please.

What should it say? "you are logged in as:" is pretty long.
posted by mathowie at 5:13 PM on October 19, 2007

What's the reasoning behind not being able to undo message blocking? Can you opt out and then opt in later?
posted by carsonb at 5:14 PM on October 19, 2007

If we opt out of this, can the little mail icon be removed from our headers?

Yeah, it should, I just forgot to put in the check for that.
posted by mathowie at 5:14 PM on October 19, 2007

What should it say? "you are logged in as:" is pretty long.

"Here's your mail, user:"
posted by carsonb at 5:15 PM on October 19, 2007

What should it say? "you are logged in as:" is pretty long.

Let it say nothing. Just the user name highlighted.
posted by carmina at 5:16 PM on October 19, 2007

If I've got MeFi Mail set to forward to my Gmail address, and I opt out of MeFi Mail, does forwarding still happen? I think it should; I have no wish to interact with and/or maintain yet another PM system, but I have no objections to people contacting me however they prefer.

Also: the mail verification email is worded in a way that clearly assumes it's got to the right person, and encourages unthinking idiots to click blindly on a link in their email. I'd be much happier if it were worded something like this:

You are receiving this message because somebody has attempted to use your email address to verify an account at Metafilter. If it wasn't you, simply delete and ignore this message, and no further action will be taken.

If you do wish to verify your Metafilter account, with username flabdablet and this email address, please copy the following address and paste it into your browser's address bar

https://www.metafilter.com/contribute/verify-email.mefi?k=428C9183EEF83704AD8A4BED2B31F905

or supply the following verification code when asked to do so by the Metafilter login page:

428C9183EEF83704AD8A4BED2B31F905

If you have any questions, you can always contact a site administrator directly:

http://www.metafilter.com/contact/

Thanks!

I also see checkbox misalignment like EB's, since I'm also forcing my own browser fonts.
posted by flabdablet at 5:16 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

carsonb, the idea is that people shouldn't block messages from others lightly. The MeFi Mail must flow! or something like that.
posted by pb at 5:17 PM on October 19, 2007

Thank you, this is great. I shall treasure my solitary message FOREVER.

Instead of "Welcome back" how about "Hello"?
posted by oneirodynia at 5:20 PM on October 19, 2007

If I've got MeFi Mail set to forward to my Gmail address, and I opt out of MeFi Mail, does forwarding still happen?

No. And the "send MeFi Mail" link disappears from your profile. So the only way people could send you MeFi Mail at that point is by replying to an existing message. And in that case, you won't get MeFi Mail forwarded to you. Opting-out means you don't want to look at MeFi Mail anymore.
posted by pb at 5:20 PM on October 19, 2007

Question: If I opt-out of MeFi mail in my preferences but then I send a PM to someone, what happens when they try to reply?
posted by Rhomboid at 5:21 PM on October 19, 2007

Could you take the exclamation point out of "Your inbox is empty!" so that it sounds less like it's mocking me?
posted by puke & cry at 5:25 PM on October 19, 2007 [4 favorites has favorites]

Obligatory, "what about the Jabber server, matt?"
posted by terrapin at 5:27 PM on October 19, 2007

"...you must forward this metamail to two users and favorite 10 comments in the next two hours, or something will watch you poop..."

Uh-oh.
posted by 31d1 at 5:28 PM on October 19, 2007

Huh? Mefi Mail just changed my ISP's POP settings.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 5:29 PM on October 19, 2007 [7 favorites has favorites]

"...you must forward this metamail to two users and favorite 10 comments in the next two hours, or something will watch you poop..."

Dammit, I thought I was the first to think of that!
posted by bonaldi at 5:30 PM on October 19, 2007

Rhomboid, good point. If you opt-out of MeFi Mail, you can't send messages. Now.

And you can't send messages to someone who has opted-out of MeFi Mail. A message will tell you, "Sorry, this user has opted out of MeFi Mail," before you can compose your reply to them.
posted by pb at 5:30 PM on October 19, 2007

puke&cry is my long lost sibling.
posted by carmina at 5:32 PM on October 19, 2007

A++++ DEFINATELY WOULD TYR AGAIN
posted by psmealey at 5:40 PM on October 19, 2007

btw, this is fucking good
posted by psmealey at 5:41 PM on October 19, 2007

This...kicks...ASS!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!!!! Thanks!
posted by snsranch at 5:43 PM on October 19, 2007

This is the dopest, though I'm somewhat skeptical about how much it will change my life. I want milfmails, but I don't think I'll get milfmails.
posted by wemayfreeze at 5:43 PM on October 19, 2007

aubilenon, you can't unblock someone once you've blocked them. That's why the alert that pops up has the all-caps message: ‘YOU CAN'T UNDO THIS’.”

This is not a good idea.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:44 PM on October 19, 2007

This has made my life complete.

It solves so many problems. Now if we could have a "send anonymous a message" that sends it to the actual person, that would be perfect -- then people don't have to keep making new throwaway emails (e.g. [e-mail]).
posted by spiderskull at 5:45 PM on October 19, 2007

Wow. Just finished some software tweaks I was a tad worried about, and came back online to see... I have 1 new message on MeFi mail. ... ok, then.

Very cool!
posted by dreamsign at 5:46 PM on October 19, 2007

How about just "welcome" and not "welcome back"?
posted by jessamyn at 5:47 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

This will wendell.
posted by grouse at 5:47 PM on October 19, 2007

My first MeFi Mail was to the most beautifulest MeFite in the history of forever in the whole widest world.
posted by The Deej at 5:48 PM on October 19, 2007

jessamyn: how about just "hello?"
posted by grouse at 5:48 PM on October 19, 2007

I wonder what wendell thinks of all this.
I imagine we will all receive a rambling, somewhat confusing mass-message on the topic sometime soon.

Just for the record, the only MeFiMail I've gotten in the last 3 hours was Matt's Welcome message. Surprised I haven't been inundated with "now you know how it feels".

Or maybe I've been preemptively blocked by most of the MeFi Membership? Is that possible? Should I MeFiMail Malor just to make his day? Do I care? Nope.
posted by wendell at 5:49 PM on October 19, 2007

Please change mine so it says, "Welcome back, Kotter" and plays a Horshack sample.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:52 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Actually, please don't.
posted by kirkaracha at 5:52 PM on October 19, 2007

aubilenon, you can't unblock someone once you've blocked them. That's why the alert that pops up has the all-caps message: ‘YOU CAN'T UNDO THIS’.”

This is not a good idea.

Seconded. You really should be able to undo something like that.
posted by puke & cry at 5:52 PM on October 19, 2007

Is there a way to turn this off? I don't wish to be contacted.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 5:54 PM on October 19, 2007

Correction: grouse sent me a "This will wendell" just before I posted - and just before I sent HIM a "This will wendell". Thank you.
posted by wendell at 5:54 PM on October 19, 2007

My first MeFi Mail was to the most beautifulest MeFite in the history of forever in the whole widest world.

Aww shucks Deej, thanks.
posted by quin at 5:54 PM on October 19, 2007

It took two hours for me to get porn in it.

Had to take it to dinner first, huh?


Matt, pretty cool, thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:56 PM on October 19, 2007

Aww shucks Deej, thanks.
posted by quin

I just sent yours quin. Enjoy.
posted by The Deej at 5:57 PM on October 19, 2007

aubilenon, you can't unblock someone once you've blocked them. That's why the alert that pops up has the all-caps message: ‘YOU CAN'T UNDO THIS’.”

This is not a good idea.

Seconded. You really should be able to undo something like that.

You know, that's my first thought too. But the reason it's like that is so that people will think twice before blocking someone they're upset with and only use it for blocking spammers. Since you don't really want people blocking other users, why not remove the function altogether?
posted by carsonb at 5:59 PM on October 19, 2007

My first MeFi Mail was to the most beautifulest MeFite in the history of forever in the whole widest world.

Aww shucks Deej, thanks.
posted by humannaire at 5:59 PM on October 19, 2007

MeFites are so humble.
posted by The Deej at 6:01 PM on October 19, 2007

And here I thought nobody noticed. Thanks, Deej!
posted by carsonb at 6:03 PM on October 19, 2007

matt & pb, you guys are awesome. I feel like you really nailed it.
*off to mail some of my favorite askme answerers*
posted by mosessis at 6:07 PM on October 19, 2007

Since you don't really want people blocking other users, why not remove the function altogether?

Hmm, that's a good point. I was thinking mainly of when I get wasted and randomly block a bunch of people for no reason what so ever, then wake up the next day and have no recollection of it. I demand this site take into account my excessive drinking!
posted by puke & cry at 6:13 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I really wanted to work in the Nigerian joke, but just didn't have it in me. Instead, I salute your endeavors.

Very well done, seriously.
posted by -t at 6:16 PM on October 19, 2007

This seems like a wonderful idea. The last (and first) time I actually tried sending real email to the addresses in people's profiles I got reamed out in Meta for all sorts of reasons. This way it's a more formal way, and an internal system. I like it.
posted by tiamat at 6:16 PM on October 19, 2007

On the drinking note, is there any way we can "unsend" a sent message? Otherwise, I'm afraid I'm about to get banned.
posted by Item at 6:17 PM on October 19, 2007

sub-pony request: is it possible to get the same html buttons in mefimail that we get on the posting boxes (bold, italic, link)?
posted by mosessis at 6:24 PM on October 19, 2007

and maybe a preview so we can preview the html?
posted by mosessis at 6:25 PM on October 19, 2007

I need mail! I'm so, so lonely!
posted by interrobang at 6:27 PM on October 19, 2007

All right, I'm not lonely any more.
posted by interrobang at 6:31 PM on October 19, 2007

;)
posted by carsonb at 6:32 PM on October 19, 2007

I'ma send some Mefi Mails that say

I GAV U A FAVRIT

BUT I DALETED IT

So, you know, watch out for those.
posted by sugarfish at 6:40 PM on October 19, 2007

carsonb is the milkman of human kindness.
posted by maudlin at 6:41 PM on October 19, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Thanks for the feature. If we want to signal Matamyex (I'm so sorry) for admin/tech requests, should we Mefi Mail them or is the contact link at the bottom still the way to go?
posted by ALongDecember at 6:43 PM on October 19, 2007

I thought we *all* were the most beautifulest MeFite's. (at least that is why my mom told me).
posted by thatothrgirl at 6:48 PM on October 19, 2007

Oh, and can we send messages to disabled accounts? It appears it is an option but can the person actually retrieve it?
posted by ALongDecember at 6:49 PM on October 19, 2007

HORRAY! COOL!
posted by serazin at 6:49 PM on October 19, 2007

I sent interrobang mail, to spread the milk of human kindness, and he threatened to block me.

The hell?!
posted by The Deej at 6:51 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

AlongDecember: contact form will get to me faster than MeFiMail. I'd love to not get any admin stuff in MyMeMail. In other words, use the contact link to contct us.
posted by jessamyn at 6:51 PM on October 19, 2007

maudlin:

Any spare, aftermarket, bolt-on, strap-on, and/or ingested parts are to be provided by the user.

Your order is guaranteed a poseur. Not only will our product be washable, it will probably need a wash sooner or later.

No.

Only if by extraordinary you mean hawt.
posted by carsonb at 7:00 PM on October 19, 2007

And I will totally reply to all of your damn MeFi males in-thread, yep. Just this once.
posted by carsonb at 7:01 PM on October 19, 2007

So when threads get derailed, will we see a message from Jessamyn saying "Take it to MefiMail!!!!"?

If the Lords of Kobol wish it, let it be so. Oh please, let it be so.
posted by brain cloud at 7:03 PM on October 19, 2007

Matamyex

I think preferred usage is "matamyntex". At least, I'm saying it, and thus attempting to make it so.

And I look forward to seeing how MeFiMail (and can't we all get behind "MeMail"? That's so much better) affects the social dynamics of our little circle jerk tea party. Will it promote camaraderie and relieve some of the bloviation in MetaTalk as users are admonished to take it to MeFiMail? Will it cause threads to dry up as the main participants take their discussions private? Will we have richer interactions with clever, witty people we pretend to know?

How exciting.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 7:04 PM on October 19, 2007

Okay, so is there some way I can tell MeFi Mail not to hold copies of stuff that it forwards to my Gmail address?

I think it's great that there's now an easy way for members to mail each other, but I really, really don't want to have to do regular maintenance on yet another PM inbox.
posted by flabdablet at 7:06 PM on October 19, 2007

Why does the plain theme still have the white parens for new comments? This has driven me vaguely crazy for a while now.
posted by that girl at 7:07 PM on October 19, 2007

I was starting to freak out a little bit just now when I noticed that I hadn't received any MeMail since 4:19 PM*. But then I noticed that all the times in my mail folders are in PST and not what's set in my profile, so my last message was actually about three hours ago. (That's still a long, long time. Am I so easily thrown aside? *sniff*)

Are the times going to stay as PST for everyone, or will they reflect our personal settings?

*Hey, thanks for the reply, carsonb. I especially appreciated the attached image in the original message. I think that's a distance record for humans.
posted by maudlin at 7:08 PM on October 19, 2007

Nifty app! Thanks, mathowie and pb!

*repeatedly refreshes waiting for the MeMail to roll in*




*still waiting*
posted by deborah at 7:10 PM on October 19, 2007

This is cool. Adds to the BBS feel. Now how about TradeWars 2002?
posted by starman at 7:17 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

When I'm looking at my mail (inbox and/or sent) may I please click the names in the list to mail again? No? To their profiles so I can mail them again from there, then?
posted by carsonb at 7:18 PM on October 19, 2007

jessamynAdmin: "How about just "welcome" and not "welcome back"?"

How about "Welcome Home"?



You're a Burner, right?

Tee-hee.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:19 PM on October 19, 2007

Dining one night a parson
Called out "Quickly, garçon!
Look at this soufflé,
It tastes like a toupée
That your chef wiped his grand arse on!"
posted by carsonb at 7:33 PM on October 19, 2007

You're a Burner, right?

* removes YouTube comment *
posted by jessamyn at 7:37 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

"What should it say?"

'Sup, user?
posted by ZachsMind at 7:45 PM on October 19, 2007

Oh...

And not that this isn't great, cuz it is, but before this people could just email me by... y'know... emailing me.

I mean this is cool. It'd be even cooler if I were to actually have [e-mail] as an email address. Still, beyond the obvious novelty of it, I don't get the why behind it.

Am I just missing something fundamental here?
posted by ZachsMind at 7:49 PM on October 19, 2007

Pony request:

Along the lines of "You need more MeFi in your life, after >1 week of not logging in, it should say: "Well look who's come crawling back."

*notices that MefiQuote preserves the "Admin" in admin quotes, doesn't get the "*removes YouTube comment*" comment, thus cedes victory to jess*
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:50 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Am I just missing something damental here?
posted by carsonb at 7:51 PM on October 19, 2007

Now I can finally email those kids to get off my damned lawn!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:07 PM on October 19, 2007

Someone will always bring da mental, never you fear.
posted by Abiezer at 8:15 PM on October 19, 2007

Having soo much fun with this MeFi mail thing. It rocks!
posted by nickyskye at 8:24 PM on October 19, 2007

Snazzy, thanks!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:41 PM on October 19, 2007

Am I just missing something fundamental here?
posted by ZachsMind

I'll fill you in... once you click on the Kid Nation link. :)
posted by The Deej at 8:42 PM on October 19, 2007

doesn't get the "*removes YouTube comment*"

Think back to a time—a time not so long ago—when you yourself invoked the topic of youtube commentary.
posted by cortex at 8:42 PM on October 19, 2007

Thanks. The regular email was cranky.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:43 PM on October 19, 2007

I bet poor Miguel's mailbox is busting at the seams by now.
posted by yhbc at 8:45 PM on October 19, 2007

Awesome new addition. Thank you!
posted by click at 8:50 PM on October 19, 2007

Thank you, Matt.
posted by BigSky at 8:53 PM on October 19, 2007

Thanks for the new toy because I was getting just a tad too productive there with my work and it was scaring me. I needed a new distraction!

This is mega cool, thanks! Surprises are fun!
posted by madamjujujive at 8:55 PM on October 19, 2007

Very nice. Thanks!
posted by homunculus at 8:57 PM on October 19, 2007

Such a nice pony!

I have less and less reason to spend time in the non-Metafilter world.

[drafts first mash note]
posted by orange swan at 8:58 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

So, when do we get to change our passwords?
posted by yhbc at 9:00 PM on October 19, 2007

ZachsMind: a lot(?) of people don't want to expose an actual email address to mefi, for fear of wendell/Prince Nmboko/armageddon, but do want to communicate. Some of them just set up a dedicated mefi email address, some just suck it up and expose themselves, and some go incommunicado. Now there is a communication method that doesn't put your inbox at risk.
posted by jacalata at 9:04 PM on October 19, 2007

This thread is like picture day in high school.
posted by edgeways at 9:04 PM on October 19, 2007

And, on further investigation, when can we change our currently-munged email addresses? I got the response email, but when I replied to it I got the error message, and my email is still munged in my profile.
posted by yhbc at 9:05 PM on October 19, 2007

Never Mind. The SECOND time, it worked. Nice job, gang!
posted by yhbc at 9:07 PM on October 19, 2007

some just suck it up and expose themselves

People like that just lower the tone.
posted by flabdablet at 9:09 PM on October 19, 2007

is it possible to get the same html buttons in mefimail that we get on the posting boxes (bold, italic, link)?

All HTML is stripped, so uh, nope.
posted by mathowie at 9:11 PM on October 19, 2007

So, when do we get to change our passwords?

In the next couple weeks. We're about half done redoing the whole user system and that will be the next big long overdue feature.
posted by mathowie at 9:12 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

This is very cool, thanks.

It could be interesting to measure the growth rate of Fimail traffic. I am used to sitemail in other sites, but I wonder what effect (if any) can the introduction of easier one to one communication have on the dynamics of the community.
posted by bru at 9:18 PM on October 19, 2007

In the next couple weeks. We're about half done redoing the whole user system and that will be the next big long overdue feature.

Saints preserve us!
posted by dhartung at 9:20 PM on October 19, 2007

[obligatory snark about lack of people willing to email this unpopular, shunned n00b]

on the other hand, I can spam other people now. woohoo!
posted by Phire at 9:31 PM on October 19, 2007

Has anyone mentioned how cool this is yet?

A hundred people, you say!

Well, let me make it a hundred and one.

This is the damn coolestest.

and now I can finally build my army
posted by Kattullus at 9:37 PM on October 19, 2007

I'm having more fun than I should admit to.

Thanks very much for all your hard work, pb and Matt. And thanks for keeping reg. email addresses, and the forwarding option as well. Lovely.
posted by taz at 9:46 PM on October 19, 2007

Now that we have even more tabby stuff to play with, can we have that rounded tab goodness site-wide?

Mmmmm... rounded tabs. Sacrilicious.
posted by kyleg at 9:47 PM on October 19, 2007

What taz said. Well done, pb & matt.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:47 PM on October 19, 2007

First MeMail! *dances giddily*
posted by Kattullus at 9:51 PM on October 19, 2007

~*exciting*~

I am going to watch that inbox like a hawk, and probably not get anything. But it's a cool idea.
posted by exlotuseater at 9:52 PM on October 19, 2007

Adds to the BBS feel.

Agreed. When I saw this earlier, I thought of posting this:

Awesome. Now I can't wait for the bulletin board! And the tavern and the fountain! Anybody got an extra bread?

But I resisted because I thought it might take away from the fact that I think this is an awesome idea. Thank you for the constant improvements to the site, which prove that it is possible to constantly improve something without destroying its essential spirit. Thank you!
posted by Miko at 10:01 PM on October 19, 2007

Good work and thanks, Matt.
I haven't been keeping up with meta, and I had no idea you had this up your sleeve. Very nice feature, and I'm grateful you put the time into creating it.
*pat on the back*
posted by maryh at 10:57 PM on October 19, 2007

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

To quote my response to Mathowie. I encourage you all to send me much mefimail. I have already (over?) used the function.

I go out for ONE NIGHT and this happens? I vow to never leave home again. *waits for some mail*
posted by SassHat at 11:59 PM on October 19, 2007

Uh, so there's a DoJ guy at the door, and he wants to know where to plug the wiretap in? Do I tell him post a feature request to MeTa, or what?
posted by spiderwire at 1:10 AM on October 20, 2007

ME FI FO FUM - IVE GOT A MESSAGE FROM SOMEONE.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 2:54 AM on October 20, 2007

Would be nice if the time of a message would be in local time as specified in preferences instead of in PST.
posted by jouke at 5:44 AM on October 20, 2007

NOQUEUE: reject: RCPT from 82.44.354a.static.theplanet.com[74.53.68.130]: 504 5.5.2 <C21373-84730>: Helo command rejected: need fully-qualified hostname; from=<[e-mail]> to=<[e-mail]> proto=ESMTP helo=<C21373-84730>

Your mailer isn't using a fully qualified hostname, so my server is rejecting the verification email.

That's a very odd HELO string. If you're trying to write your own mailer, DON'T DO THAT. Hand off to a real mailer. Real mailers have anywhere from full-time years to decades in development. No matter how much effort and time you put in, any mailer you write will be inferior by orders of magnitude to postfix or sendmail. The SMTP protocol is simple. A robust mailer is extremely complex. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can write one. Anything you hand-roll won't be any damn good unless you're willing to put a huge amount of time into it.

There are remarkably good programs available that are entirely free. (I recommend Postfix, as it's easy to configure, and very fast and powerful.) Hand off to one of those instead. You'll be glad you did.
posted by Malor at 6:02 AM on October 20, 2007

(and if you already are doing that, then you need to reconfigure your mail program, as it's got a very odd outbound HELO.)
posted by Malor at 6:03 AM on October 20, 2007

Just piping up to say this is hugely cool and fucking impressive. Also, I find the "welcome back" charming. Thanks!
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 6:21 AM on October 20, 2007

I agree with eyeballkid; it would be nice to see the things to which I'm replying as I type a response, because I have a goldfish-like inability to remember what happened a few seconds ago.
posted by Greg Nog at 6:30 AM on October 20, 2007

Are we turning the server logs back on now again too?
posted by blue_beetle at 7:02 AM on October 20, 2007

“A robust mailer is extremely complex. Don't fool yourself into thinking you can write one. Anything you hand-roll won't be any damn good unless you're willing to put a huge amount of time into it.”

No, no, no. You don't understand. It makes perfect sense to reinvent the wheel in ColdFusion and implement it crudely without features, robustness, and proven usability because that's what you do with web apps, right? Otherwise, the alternative would be to have two different email addresses and we couldn't have that sort of madness, now could we?
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:11 AM on October 20, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Oh this is dope.
posted by cashman at 7:26 AM on October 20, 2007

This is genius, thanks Matt!

um, can someone send me porn now?
posted by hadjiboy at 7:48 AM on October 20, 2007

To protect the stellar reputation of interrobang, may I say that my earlier comment:

I sent interrobang mail, to spread the milk of human kindness, and he threatened to block me.

The hell?!

was just so I could use a "?!" in the comment. (It's kinda an interrobang ya see... heh... )

Interrobang would never block anyone unless they deserved it. He is a fine, upstanding individual of uncommon intelligence and moral fortitude, and once beat Chuck Norris in a knife fight. He also played an key role in mapping the human genome, and has adopted all the children that were rejected by Brad and Anjelina. His scholarship program has made it possible for countless disadvantaged youths to become veterinarians, who in turn specialize in treating only seeing-eye dogs for impoverished blind people, who otherwise could not afford care.

Just wanted to clarify.
posted by The Deej at 8:13 AM on October 20, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

That's partially true.
posted by interrobang at 8:21 AM on October 20, 2007

um, can someone send me porn now?

Here ya go, you naughty boy you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:44 AM on October 20, 2007

Matt, it seems odd that after sending a message, the user is put back in the sent mail folder, as opposed to the inbox.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:46 AM on October 20, 2007

So, if I make a comment about how this is cool but I expect no one will ever message me, I will likely get multiple messages, making me a wrong, and a liar moreover because it's reasonable to expect this as an outcome when you make a comment like that here. If however, I comment to the opposite effect, that I'm sure I will get messages, then I am rather less likely to actually get any, because the certain element of transgression has been removed, and other people will make a point of not messaging me, just to prove me wrong. This has the effect of rendering the opposite statement also wrong and a lie.

I thought about making a riff off of "Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muß man schweigen", but realized that I have, in fact, said rather a bit about it. This statement becomes, itself, a riff on that statement, and the circle of metareference is complete. Also, I don't think I could have come up with anything that made sense anyway.

Now I escape before my brain leaks out my ears.

This is cool.
posted by Arturus at 9:08 AM on October 20, 2007

Nifty. So it seems like to reply you need to use the milfmail interface even if the messages are forwarded to your regular-email box?

I don't really like per-site message systems, but this seems to be a pretty good implementation.
posted by Skorgu at 9:11 AM on October 20, 2007

it seems like to reply you need to use the milfmail interface even if the messages are forwarded to your regular-email box?

If this is true, is there a way it could be made not true? Because I really don't like per-site message systems, and would much rather just do everything from Gmail.
posted by flabdablet at 9:19 AM on October 20, 2007

Hadjiboy— The porn was just in my clipboard, but if you really want it, I bet I can figure out a way to send it to you.
posted by klangklangston at 9:20 AM on October 20, 2007

is there a way it could be made not true? Because I really don't like per-site message systems, and would much rather just do everything from Gmail.

It's totally fine to just disable MeFiMail entirely and put an email address in your profile. No one who doesn't want another PM system has to use this one.
posted by jessamyn at 9:39 AM on October 20, 2007

cortexAdmin: "doesn't get the "*removes YouTube comment*"

Think back to a time—a time not so long ago—when you yourself invoked the topic of youtube commentary."

I've given it a good night's rest, and it's all coming back to me vividly: Black Rock City, 1997. I was chilling in front of Camp Now in my pink-feathered manskirt, all hepped up on puffball goofballs, when who would pull up on her bicycle but a certain jessamyn west. "Welcome Home," I said, casually brushing the sand from her hair, "wanna come inside and ride the You Tube?"

*gets idea, abandons story to employ MefiMail for the pursuit of longstanding dream: Metafilter slash fic*
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 9:47 AM on October 20, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Perhaps it would be possible on hover to indicate if there are messages, and how many?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 9:56 AM on October 20, 2007

*checks mail*

Ew!
posted by cortex at 9:58 AM on October 20, 2007

That's a very odd HELO string. If you're trying to write your own mailer, DON'T DO THAT.

I'm just using the stock built-in IIS SMTP server, and it's just spitting out the default settings for the box in the HELO.

How would I go about making sure the reverse DNS and everything in the HELO message looks more legit? Would this be a DNS/domain thing where I say that mail.metafilter.com is that server?
posted by mathowie at 10:04 AM on October 20, 2007

Anybody who mefimails me gets 10 favorites.
posted by tehloki at 10:04 AM on October 20, 2007 [3 favorites has favorites]

Perhaps it would be possible on hover to indicate if there are messages, and how many?

If you look in the upper right, if you have mail, the icon is orange-ish (lit up) and there's a "3 new" next to it. If the icon is gray and there's no new message, you have no new messages.
posted by mathowie at 10:05 AM on October 20, 2007

3 new! Goddamn.
posted by bonaldi at 10:21 AM on October 20, 2007

Can one not see one's own "email me" link on the profile page, or something? When I visit my own profile there's no "send MeFi mail" link - and I'm sure I didn't accidentally opt-out or anything. I got Matt's first email, if it matters.
posted by tristeza at 10:28 AM on October 20, 2007

Anybody who mefimails me gets 10 favorites.
posted by tehloki

So, it would be no different than your normal favorite-giving, eh?
posted by The Deej at 10:31 AM on October 20, 2007

tristeza: yes, you can't MeFiMail yourself.
posted by jessamyn at 10:33 AM on October 20, 2007

Damn, I want porn. :) I tried it when I was logged out, too, and still saw no link on my profile page. I'll go clear cache and see if I can answer my own stupid question.
posted by tristeza at 10:36 AM on October 20, 2007

yes, you can't MeFiMail yourself.

Well, you can e-mail your sock puppets.
posted by grouse at 10:42 AM on October 20, 2007

Anybody who mefimails me gets 10 favorites.
posted by tehloki

Also, anybody who doesn't.
posted by dersins at 10:44 AM on October 20, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

I will cherish my mail from MJJJ forever. *wipes tear*
posted by jokeefe at 10:48 AM on October 20, 2007

matt, flickr totally stole this idea from you
posted by matteo at 10:52 AM on October 20, 2007

"If you look in the upper right, if you have mail, the icon is orange-ish (lit up) and there's a "3 new" next to it. If the icon is gray and there's no new message, you have no new messages."

Aha. I didn't know it changed color or anything like that. Sweet!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:52 AM on October 20, 2007

matt, flickr totally stole this idea from you

heh. It's a total clone of flickr's mail thing, I'll admit that.
posted by mathowie at 10:55 AM on October 20, 2007

Y'all can send me an email if you really want unedited porn in your inboxes.
posted by klangklangston at 11:18 AM on October 20, 2007

What's an "email"?
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:35 AM on October 20, 2007

How would I go about making sure the reverse DNS and everything in the HELO message looks more legit? Would this be a DNS/domain thing where I say that mail.metafilter.com is that server?

I'm not sure if this is related to the HELO issue, but in general, mixing MX and CNAME records is not advised, which it looks like you may be doing:

Reynolds-Mactel:~ reynolda$ dig MX mail.metafilter.com

; <>> DiG 9.3.4 <>> MX mail.metafilter.com
;; global options: printcmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<> ;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

;; QUESTION SECTION:
;mail.metafilter.com. IN MX

;; ANSWER SECTION:
mail.metafilter.com. 86400 IN CNAME metafilter.com.
metafilter.com. 86400 IN MX 10 mail.eod.com.

;; Query time: 86 msec
;; SERVER: 10.0.1.1#53(10.0.1.1)
;; WHEN: Sat Oct 20 14:41:32 2007
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 76

From the Microsoft KB article above:

However, if an alias record (CNAME) is used for the hostname listed in the MX record, the sending host might re-write the envelope and redirect the RCPT command to the alias hostname and not the original recipient. This might cause the destination SMTP host to reject the message.

Instead, one option is that you could use preprocessor directives to rename headers on your end. Here's a preprocessor from googling "iis smtp preprocessor".
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:50 AM on October 20, 2007

For fuck's sake cortex, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested in penis enlargement pills?

Jeez.
posted by bardic at 11:57 AM on October 20, 2007

Nice job on the implementation, guys. Looks like you thought through most of the issues. Works well!
posted by Nelson at 12:15 PM on October 20, 2007

"For fuck's sake cortex, how many times do I have to tell you that I'm not interested in penis enlargement pills?

Jeez."

It's a hint, not spam.

(My favorites are always the ones that imply your girlfriend won't respect you unless you can fire a pint of jizz twelve feet.)
posted by klangklangston at 12:37 PM on October 20, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

this is cool---like our own private inhouse email system--thanks!
posted by amberglow at 12:47 PM on October 20, 2007

Is twelve feet considered unusually far? No wonder my girlfriend has to wear a kevlar IUD.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 12:51 PM on October 20, 2007

My favorites are always the ones that imply your girlfriend won't respect you unless you can fire a pint of jizz twelve feet

Wait, don't you work in an industry 50% of whose entire message is pretty much just that?
posted by dersins at 12:51 PM on October 20, 2007

How would I go about making sure the reverse DNS and everything in the HELO message looks more legit? Would this be a DNS/domain thing where I say that mail.metafilter.com is that server?

I have no freaking idea, being a Linux/Postfix guy myself. But, being a MeFite, that won't stop me from expounding on a subject I don't know well. :)

Configuration for outbound mail is generally pretty simple; you need to tell your mailer what name to identify as ('mailout.metafilter.com' could work, for instance), and then put A and PTR records (forward and reverse lookups) in the DNS for that name. I don't know where you configure the IIS SMTP server, but I imagine it'll be in the IIS control panels somewhere. It's possible it could be brain-dead and non-configurable.

But then you have the problem of bounces. Normally, it's considered polite to at least accept bounces, even if you just throw them away without doing anything with them. You'd need to set a machine to accept and process them, even if 'processing' consists of dumping to the bitbucket. Under Wndows, accepting email generally means running Exchange, which is a huge application with a monster footprint that you really, really don't want on your webserver. (You also don't want to pay the $1K license fee for 5 user accounts.)

Instead, you could probably talk to your hosting provider; they're likely to have all this infrastructure in place, and could route all the email for a given domain to a user account on a Unix box somewhere, which would let you either toss it or massage in a way you would prefer. An hour or two of their time should be able to get that going.

If you want to host it yourself, I can post back more info, but I suspect you'd be best served by piggybacking on someone else's setup.
posted by Malor at 1:06 PM on October 20, 2007

"Wait, don't you work in an industry 50% of whose entire message is pretty much just that?"

My primary magazine's message is more that she won't respect you unless she's 19 and doesn't know any better.

"Is twelve feet considered unusually far? No wonder my girlfriend has to wear a kevlar IUD."

Man of steel, woman of kleenex.
posted by klangklangston at 1:09 PM on October 20, 2007

RSS feed for mail? Yes please and thanks? Eventually? One Day? No rush, but would be handy (a la 'Facebook Notifications'.

Thank you for putting mail on the site in the first place!
posted by rmm at 1:39 PM on October 20, 2007

I sure hope this means people will start calling me a stupid fucking prissy loser bitch in PMs instead of right there in the thread where everybody can see it.
posted by FelliniBlank at 2:17 PM on October 20, 2007

RSS feed for mail?

That'd imply publicly exposing the contents of your mail via a URL. Unless I'm missing something, that sounds like a really bad idea. Why not just enable forwarding to your email address?
posted by cortex at 2:41 PM on October 20, 2007

RSS feed for mail?

That'd imply publicly exposing the contents of your mail via a URL. Unless I'm missing something, that sounds like a really bad idea. Why not just enable forwarding to your email address?

GMail does it, apparently.
posted by !Jim at 3:20 PM on October 20, 2007

w/r/t Malor's comment:

Seems like if the IIS setup doesn't even know how to format its HELO string properly, you'd probably be better off just running everything through postfix instead. It will do a much better job of setting everything up and negotiating the connections -- all you have to do is give it the messages and then parse them when they come back.

Since you're obviously doing some parsing anyway that should be trivial, no?
posted by spiderwire at 4:36 PM on October 20, 2007

How would I go about making sure the reverse DNS and everything in the HELO message looks more legit? Would this be a DNS/domain thing where I say that mail.metafilter.com is that server?

Yeah, those should match up or else some mail will get rejected. You also should configure your DNS to comply with SPF and DomainKeys.
posted by spiderwire at 4:41 PM on October 20, 2007

I don't mean to be a wet blanket. I'd like to send and recieve FiMail, but I can't think of a reason to bother anyone, or to get anyone to bother me. So currently, as cool as this is, it's kinda like hanging fuzzy dice from my rear view mirror.
posted by ZachsMind at 5:01 PM on October 20, 2007

Since you already have the fuzzy dice, can I interest you in a Mathowie bobblehead? (First in a series that will include jessamyn, cortex, pb, quonsar, stavros and Oolong the Bunny)

they did market research on a wendell bobblehead, but I did not test well. sigh
posted by wendell at 5:11 PM on October 20, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

Am I the first to be propositioned on Mefimail?

Any feature that gets me sent offers of willing flesh gets two thumbs up from me. Well. Two thumbs and my man-nubbin, if I'm honest.
posted by Brockles at 5:19 PM on October 20, 2007

Would it be bad taste to start a virtual snowball in FiMail? Especially since I'm in Texas and only see snow on the occasional February?
posted by ZachsMind at 5:24 PM on October 20, 2007

The above-mentioned term "virtual snowball" should read "virtual snowball fight" in actuality. Bleargh.
posted by ZachsMind at 5:26 PM on October 20, 2007

The above-mentioned term "virtual snowball" should read "virtual snowball fight"

I did wonder. I had a hideous image going through my head until you clarified that.

/gags
posted by Brockles at 5:29 PM on October 20, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

RSS feed for mail?

GMail does it, apparently.

It looks like GMail does it by using a single URL that's the same for everyone, and presumably it looks at your Google cookie to identify/authenticate you.

This works ok, but if you're not using the feed in a browser, your program needs to be able to fake cookies.
posted by smackfu at 5:55 PM on October 20, 2007

HELLO PLEASE GET MEFIMAIL OFF MY COMPUTER IT IS DELETING MY INTERNETS AND YAHOO THANKS
posted by anthill at 6:55 PM on October 20, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

That'd imply publicly exposing the contents of your mail via a URL. Unless I'm missing something, that sounds like a really bad idea.

You can implement authentication for RSS feeds. 37signals does this for their Basecamp project software.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:02 PM on October 20, 2007

Anyone who MeFiMails me gets a link to a picture of my cat.
posted by steef at 7:08 PM on October 20, 2007

Authenticated RSS is lovely.
posted by Arturus at 7:23 PM on October 20, 2007

HAY.

My MeFi Mail from this "mat" "howie" contained not a welcome message, but anthrax!
posted by sparkletone at 8:01 PM on October 20, 2007

My mail icon, so sad and grey.
posted by maxwelton at 9:22 PM on October 20, 2007

My mail icon, so sad and grey.

fixed that for you. I would have sent you a free coupon for 1 Inline Image but I can't get the printer to work right.
posted by jessamyn at 9:42 PM on October 20, 2007

Jeez, I was really looking forward to some good porn today, but nothing, bupkis.

*walks off disappointed*
posted by hadjiboy at 10:32 PM on October 20, 2007

Thing I just noticed (and maybe this has been going on for a while): On certain types of pages, MobileSafari renders the "welcome back $USER | $MAIL_ICON | sign out" bit in a place that is unhelpful, unattractive, etc.

Um. The blue, Mefi Music, user profile and projects... MetaTalk is fine.

Just FYI.

Maybe mathowie would've noticed if his iPhone worked...
posted by sparkletone at 11:07 PM on October 20, 2007

It took two hours for me to get porn in it.

Who do I have to favorite to get some pr0n?
posted by juv3nal at 11:09 PM on October 20, 2007

My first "wow this is cool" post ever, but...

WOW THIS IS COOL

Thank you admins.
posted by allterrainbrain at 11:20 PM on October 20, 2007

I am hungover. Could someone validate me by Mefimail please?
posted by Jofus at 12:49 AM on October 21, 2007

I am hungover too. Could someone violate me by Mefimail please?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:02 AM on October 21, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Since you already have the fuzzy dice, can I interest you in a Mathowie bobblehead?

So do you have any of those 'What would Jessamyn Do?' bumper stickers in stock?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 2:15 AM on October 21, 2007

I am hungover too. Could someone vindicate me by Mefimail please?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:11 AM on October 21, 2007

I am hungover too. Could someone venerate me by Mefimail please?
posted by typewriter at 7:52 AM on October 21, 2007

Oh, the hungover... Could someone...
posted by carmina at 9:07 AM on October 21, 2007 [2 favorites has favorites]

How many years do you think it'll take Postroad to respond to the mail?
posted by NortonDC at 9:33 AM on October 21, 2007

I just noticed the new feature - love it! Thanks! But...could messages have the date on them, please? Or do they, and I missed it?
posted by TochterAusElysium at 9:37 AM on October 21, 2007

Date sent is included on the Inbox and Sent Mail pages, but not on individual messages' pages. I still wish I could click on a username from the Inbox or Sent Mail pages, either to Send a new message or be directed to their user page.
posted by carsonb at 9:47 AM on October 21, 2007

I repeat:

carsonb is the milkman of human kindness.
posted by maudlin at 9:41 PM on October 19
posted by carmina at 9:58 AM on October 21, 2007

And of course the new feature is being used as.we.speak.
posted by carmina at 9:58 AM on October 21, 2007

...surely you can understand that I'm psychologically torn between offering words of comfort and maintaining my dominant rank in the social hierarchy.
posted by carsonb at 10:15 AM on October 21, 2007

This got rolled out on Monday, and people are talking about all the mash notes they're writing, and all I have is the welcome message.

*sniffle*
posted by caitlinb at 10:46 AM on October 21, 2007

Did I say Monday? How weird. Friday. The other Monday. Well, if you had a week like mine last week....
posted by caitlinb at 10:46 AM on October 21, 2007

Ditto what CaitlinB said, except for the part about not knowing what day this is. All I have is Matt welcoming me, and I have the sinking suspicion he sent that to everybody.

THE INTERNETS ARE ATTACKING ME!!!1!!
posted by ZachsMind at 1:35 PM on October 21, 2007

Blazecock, you're mixing up so many different concepts and lookups, I don't know where to start.

1. The hostname mail.metafilter.com has no meaning to anything here -- Matt doesn't use it for anything.
2. If you do an A record lookup on mail.metafilter.com, you get the wildcard reply -- Matt has every non-explicitly-defined hostname on the metafilter.com domain set to CNAME back to metafilter.com (hence the first line of your dig reply).
3. MX records don't exist for hostnames, but rather, for domains -- e.g., "I want to email [e-mail], so what's the mailhost for the domain example.com?" Your dig lookup is asking for the MX record for the domain mail.metafilter.com -- meaning that you would theoretically be asking "how do I email [e-mail]?" And the reply is answering that question, not the one you think you're asking.
4. The MS KB article you quote is saying that the actual hostname you use for the FQDN of your mail server -- the name that'll be used in HELO commands -- shouldn't map to an actual IP address via a CNAME record, but rather, should be an A-record-based hostname. Again, it has nothing to do with the domain name you're looking for the MX record for, but rather, it's the hostname of the actual mailserver that that rule concerns itself with.

In any event, I just worked with Matt, and I think all the HELO stuff is all set.
posted by delfuego at 1:59 PM on October 21, 2007

THE INTERNETS ARE ATTACKING ME!!!1!!

ZM, the internets are ignoring you.

I (MetaFilter's "Spam King") have not yet received a single MeFiMail since the 10AM yesterday. I have sent one MeFi Mail to a member complaining (in irc) that they hadn't gotten anything and I do NOT intend to get in the habit of THAT. That's why I am replying in-thread. Sorry.
posted by wendell at 2:09 PM on October 21, 2007

It turns out cortex did not know what the phrase "mash note" meant or from whence it came, so for the purposes of public education (from the OED):

B. adj. (attrib.). Designating a letter or other communication expressing infatuation or extravagant admiration, esp. one sent by a stranger. Freq. in mash note. 1880 D. K. RANOUS Jrnl. 12 July Diary of Daly Débutante (1910) 238 He had what is called a ‘mash letter’ from a schoolgirl fourteen years old. 1890 B. HALL Turnover Club 134 He is greatly afflicted by that dreadful bane of fine-looking actors, yclept the ‘mash note’ in the profession. 1899 Chicago Rec. 7 Jan. 4/6, I was writin' mash notes to myself. 1913 R. W. CHAMBERS Gay Rebellion i. 6 That poem seemed to deal a direct blow at this suffragette strike. Several women subscribers sent in mash notes. 1930 W. R. BURNETT Iron Man 85 He gets mash notes by the ton. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 20 Oct. 21/5 An aged Yugoslav awakens her in the mornings with mash phone calls. 1993 Time Internat. 25 Jan. 49/3 Columbus (‘Dad’) Joiner, the Texas wildcatter who sought money by scouring newspaper obituaries and writing mash notes to wealthy widows.

Bonus: the word "masher" -- so sadly underused these days -- dates from the Victorian/Edwardian period, and means a dandy who likes the company of women; ie, a skirt chaser, a wolf.

Finally, Portland MeFites, if you have a library card, use it and your PIN (the last 4 digits of your phone #, unless you changed it) to access the OED from the Multnomah County Library for absolutely fricking free! How great is that?

Also, memail steef for the cat picture: totally worth it.
posted by melissa may at 2:19 PM on October 21, 2007

Caitlin is no longer lonely. I resisted my mashing impulses however, and was a perfect gentleman. For now!
posted by The Deej at 2:58 PM on October 21, 2007

The little envelope is almost too cute.
posted by The Wig at 3:10 PM on October 21, 2007

very sweet!
Now that this is working, it's just a matter of implementing password changing (or OpenID!) and you can close Metatalk.
posted by lodev at 3:43 PM on October 21, 2007

I'm going to start a MeFiMail chain letter where, if you send it on to 10 people within a day, you'll be rewarded with a free illegal trip to Cuba.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:13 PM on October 21, 2007

I'm going to start a MeFiMail chain letter where, if you send it on to 10 people within a day, you'll be rewarded with a free illegal trip to Cuba.

If you forward this email advocating overthrowing the government to 10 people in one day, you get a free trip to Gitmo!
posted by spiderwire at 4:43 PM on October 21, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

So, suppose you block someone so they can't send you MefiMail messages. What does it look like from their end? Does it look like you got their message but aren't replying, or does it say "sorry, you can't send anything to that person"?
posted by LobsterMitten at 5:37 PM on October 21, 2007

LobsterMitten - when you try to send them mail you click the send icon and see a message saying "Sorry, this user has blocked messages from you." I have sacrificed communication between my sock puppet and myself to bring this news to you.
posted by jessamyn at 5:42 PM on October 21, 2007

So I've gotten my first Mefi Mail insult that would probably otherwise have been posted in the thread or not at all (because some are dissuaded by community backlash).

I don't think this is an improvement. Maybe it means less such things for the rest of us to read, but private mail insults are more personal and unpleasant.

Also, I strongly suspect that insults via MeFi Mail are much more tempting than those delivered by regular email, especially for those who want their identity shielded—who overlap (but are not identical) with those who are most belligerent in the first place.

This is an improvement?

If it were possible to temporarily filter-out Mefi Mail from particular people, I would do so in this circumstance because the probability of further such mail from that particular person is much greater in the near-term than the long-term. But since I would be permanently killfiling email from this user, I don't feel that this is the best solution.

Personally, I don't feel comfortable with giving those who wish to be anonymous another outlet to express themselves. At least in the public sphere anonymous people have to face some judgment for the behavior of their anonymous personas. In private, there's so such limit on behavior. Yes, people always have been able to get throwaway email accounts that are anonymous. But an in-site email system is much more intimately tied to that site persona and I have a strong intuition now that I've received my first such email that it will be the first of many—where, in contrast, I've received no more than five or six such emails from mefites in the past (not counting multiples from the same person).
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 5:45 PM on October 21, 2007

Jessamyn has a sockpuppet??
posted by Phire at 5:55 PM on October 21, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Several people have now questioned why blocking has to be permanent, and I'm coming to agree with them. People can make mistakes and block someone accidentally (or drunkenly), people who get pissed at each other can bury the hatchet, and some peope may need to be blocked individually only for a short period.

Currently, we can temporarily opt out of MeFiMail, but that means we'd have to go back to Pony Express (err -- regular email) to communicate.

So there seems to be good community-related reasons to allow temporary blocking. Are there any technical issues making temporary blocking a real headache for the admins?
posted by maudlin at 6:15 PM on October 21, 2007

Jessamyn's sockpuppet.
posted by jacalata at 6:24 PM on October 21, 2007

lovely. my minimalist (though relatively longtime) participation makes me unlikely to receive much in the way of mefimail, but it still makes a distant lurker feel weirdly connected.

expats need all of that feeling that they can get. thanks.
posted by squasha at 6:25 PM on October 21, 2007

I have to assume I am not the only one to get this:

From: carsonb

Subject : Welcome to MeFi Male

Message : MeFi Male is a new private dating system for Metafilter members. To ask another member out, visit their profile and click "Meet Space". From there you can propose a massage, and they will appear in your boudoir. (And your MeFi Mail "Sent Male" page.)

If you'd like to receive your MeFi male at your email address, click "Preferences" at the top of the page, and check the box next to "Table for one?" (You'll probably have to verify your email address first so we know you're the one going solo tonight.) Once checked, click "Save your Preferences" and future MeFi Males will show up in your email inbox.

If you'd rather not have other members sending you MeFi males, head to "Preferences", check the box next to "Opt-out of MeFi Male?", click "Save your Preferences", and the "MeFi Male" option will be removed from your Metafilter profile.

Thanks for checking out hawt MeFi Male. If you'd like to discuss this feature, head to MetaTalk:

http://metatalk.metafilter.com/15101/Beard-Glasses-Love-MeFi-Male

As a parody of Matt's "Welcome" message, I give it a B+ (I'd have had to work hard to do something as funny).
As MeFi Mail's first prank, I hope he sends it to enough humorless MeFites that he immediately replaces me as "MeFi's Spam King".

Remember, his handle is carsonb.
posted by wendell at 7:18 PM on October 21, 2007

Your plan to replace your own infamy with carsonb is not going to work.

This will not wendell.
This will not carsonb.

It doesn't scan. So it won't catch on!

I thought his spoof was funny.
posted by typewriter at 7:25 PM on October 21, 2007

carsonb is an anagram for "nob scar".
posted by cortex at 7:32 PM on October 21, 2007

MeFi Mail: Message
From : tehloki
Subject : Re: Welcome to MeFi Male
Message : This will wendell.

As a parody of Matt's "Welcome" message, I give it a B+

Thanks! I just played mad lib on a theme. In case anyone's wondering, it went out to about 35 people who commented in this thread something to the effect of "I'm sad my inbox is empty" or "Send me MeFi Mail".
posted by carsonb at 7:37 PM on October 21, 2007

I like MeFi Mail, and am happy to exchange non-spam-but-hopefully-still-funny massages with whomever's game. MeFi Mail in profile!
posted by carsonb at 7:42 PM on October 21, 2007

Funny massages, or "funny" massages?

Maybe this would better handled in MeMail...
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:48 PM on October 21, 2007

Are there any technical issues making temporary blocking a real headache for the admins?

I think looking at the list of everything we had to program in a short period of time, building a "blocked sender management app" seemed like overkill compared to a simple permanent blocked settting. We may create a blocked sender list page where you can turn them off again, but it's a pain in the ass and I have no idea where on earth it should reside (in the mail app? on your already crowded Preferences page?).

Can you unblock flickr people? I've blocked a few comment spammers and assholes and it seemed permanent then.
posted by mathowie at 7:54 PM on October 21, 2007

Apparently you can unblock people on flickr.

There are three ways to block a person:

1. Click the "Block [membername]" link on the person menu
2. Click the "Block this person?" link on their profile page
3. Delete a comment on one of your photos. (You'll see the option to block them, too.)

To see the people you've block on your block list, click the link at the bottom of your Contact List.

People you choose to block are not notified that you've blocked them.

You can release the blocked person anytime. Go to your "Contact List" under "Contacts" in the main menu. Removing the block does not restore anything that was deleted when you blocked them.
posted by maudlin at 8:09 PM on October 21, 2007

The MeFi Male mail only went out to 35 people?!?

damn, I feel extra special, now. like I'm truly connected...to a small clique of lonely hearts within the greater community of MeFi.

(for the record, I didn't think my initial comment was that pathetic, but now? oy. I'm fine, really. s'truth!)
posted by squasha at 8:25 PM on October 21, 2007

carsonb, I'd get a message massage from you but aren't you like 14?

here is evidence that CORTEX SPAMMED ME.
posted by jessamyn at 8:33 PM on October 21, 2007

but aren't you like 14?

I can only estimate on the emotional maturity axis, but I think you're close. By years I'm a coupla demographics out.
posted by carsonb at 8:39 PM on October 21, 2007

We may create a blocked sender list page where you can turn them off again, but it's a pain in the ass and I have no idea where on earth it should reside (in the mail app? on your already crowded Preferences page?).

Obviously the place to put within the mail 'app' itself. How you decided to implement it would be limited only by your imagination, but it doesn't seem like a complicated thing to implement on the UI end of things. Throw 'em in a drop-down list with a 'unblock' button beside it (shown if #ofblockedusers>0). Populate a list in a third 'settings' tab with tickboxes beside the names and the button at the bottom. Whatever.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:18 PM on October 21, 2007

jessamyn: thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:32 PM on October 21, 2007

stavros, my issue with having it front and center in the mail app is that it would be so seldom used it'd get in the way, but the idea of hiding the option unless your block list is >1 is a good workaround.
posted by mathowie at 11:05 PM on October 21, 2007

Yeah, a third tab with settings would be overkill at this point, but I would like to be able to specify things like 'reply in a new window/tab' so I can refer to what people'd said, or maybe/also a 'quote message on reply' too evenutally, and that sort of stuff, if implemented, would make sense on a settings tab, maybe. Or, since you're introducing things like fading alerts, go all out 2.0-stylee and go for collapsing divs or lightboxing or whatever. You're already using Prototype, and there are lots of useful effects built on that that would allow you to do some nice, unobtrusive stuff along those lines if you were so inclined.

(Probably an overall rethink and refactoring of preferences and settings UI overall might be worth considering.)

Also, I know people will probably scream NOOOOOOO! about the collapsing divs and lightboxing idea, but I'm just throwing that out there as a thought, is all.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:14 PM on October 21, 2007

I wonder if this is related to MeFi Mail and all her glorious new envelopes? (This is under, um, OSX 10.4.10/Camino 1.0.4.) I haven't seen noticed that button being there before. But, as they say, this is probably as far from a biggie as you can get.

Anyway, gotta love the new MeFi Mail! Even though my mailbox is very empty and will probably stay that way!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:49 AM on October 22, 2007

I agree that there should be a way to unblock. We're human, all too human, and sometimes drunk and human.
posted by languagehat at 6:40 AM on October 22, 2007

Don't forget plain text theme users now get a tiny colored bar at the top of the screen as well

Yay, love for the plain texters!
posted by prostyle at 6:47 AM on October 22, 2007

1. This is awesome!

2. If you like the interface on the front page, you can send me a present, because it was totally my idea.

3. Seriously, this is a very nice addition to the site. Thanks!
posted by dseaton at 6:50 AM on October 22, 2007

I agree that there should be a way to unblock. We're human, all too human, and sometimes drunk and human.

Again, if we're gonna factor regret into the system why not disable message blocking altogether? You'd probably be looking at some serious backlash revoking a 'feature', but I bet it'd be less of a headache in the long run.
posted by carsonb at 7:15 AM on October 22, 2007

/blocks Carsonb.

/has headache

/cries
posted by Jofus at 8:06 AM on October 22, 2007

This is awesome indeed.

AWESOME!
posted by mitzyjalapeno at 9:40 AM on October 22, 2007

sweeeet.

Seriously. Hats off.
posted by From Bklyn at 11:03 AM on October 22, 2007

dios writes "but how does one send porn through this thing?"

You need to binhex or uuencode it.
posted by Mitheral at 11:09 AM on October 22, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

"but how does one send porn through this thing?"

You need to binhex or uuencode it.

Or ASCII.
posted by spiderwire at 11:56 AM on October 22, 2007

rot13 ASCII porn made me gay
posted by cortex at 11:59 AM on October 22, 2007

Dudes. It's broken already. It says I have no mail.
posted by CunningLinguist at 12:46 PM on October 22, 2007

CunningLinguist: enabling carsonb since 2007.
posted by maudlin at 2:02 PM on October 22, 2007

um, matt: I always use the plain text theme, and these new changes cause an ugly blue, green or grey bar to appear up at the top of my window, above all that lovely white.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:57 PM on October 22, 2007

Feature, not bug.
posted by cortex at 6:03 PM on October 22, 2007

how in hell is that a feature?

do. not. want.

(actually, don't really care *that* much; guess i can learn to live with it, but have you seen what it does to Plain Text? - it just don't look right)
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:13 PM on October 22, 2007

All it does to the plain theme is stick a little stripe at the top. Doesn't break the layout, and does give a quick visual cue as to what site you're on, which is something a lot of people liked the idea of back in the Redesign days.
posted by cortex at 6:22 PM on October 22, 2007

[THIS IS GOOD] + 1
posted by LinusMines at 6:28 PM on October 22, 2007

all it does to the plain theme is stick a great, top-heavy wad of dark colour on an otherwise white page.

also, i personally never get confused as to which part of the site i am using, and find it surprising that anybody else might.

anyway, i've spent more time on this than it's worth to me, so i'll shut up now.

(and go teach myself greasemonkey, which is a side benefit)

/grumpy from lack of sleep after nick cave & grinderman last night
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:32 PM on October 22, 2007

...stick a great, top-heavy wad of dark colour...

18 pixels of joy!
posted by prostyle at 6:33 AM on October 23, 2007

“...stick a great, top-heavy wad of dark colour...”

Some might say that it makes it look less professional.

Not me, though.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 6:42 AM on October 23, 2007

mathowie writes 'If we opt out of this, can the little mail icon be removed from our headers?

'Yeah, it should, I just forgot to put in the check for that.'

I'm not sure what a check actually is in that context, but it'd be great it you could put it in when you have a minute. Faintly irksome to have the icon there when it's serving no purpose.

(and go teach myself greasemonkey, which is a side benefit)

I have to teach myself how to get Greasemonkey to change CSS for a site approx. once every year, when the plain theme changes in some tiny way.
posted by jack_mo at 6:45 AM on October 23, 2007

I'm probably way behind on this, but I jut noticed today the icon in the upper right corner.

I suppose taking six days to notice it is probably an indicator the icon should be bigger.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 2:47 PM on October 24, 2007

I suppose taking six days to notice it is probably an indicator the icon should be bigger.

Or that you should read MetaTalk all day every day.
posted by carsonb at 5:08 PM on October 24, 2007

God forbid I had the time :)
posted by DrtyBlvd at 6:15 AM on October 25, 2007

I like this feature. It is very nice and well executed. I have no plans to snark. However, if someone tries to sell me something through it, I will kill you all. Thank you.
posted by davejay at 1:30 AM on October 26, 2007

The website of my financial institution allows you to choose the name by which you are greeted. I set up mine so that my choice of name = cunt, because I like seeing the web page of my stuffy financial institution have the message "Hello, cunt" at the top of the screen.

I pretty much forgot I had done this, until one time the site went crazy and I had to call customer service so they could figure out the problem. The rep I spoke to did some trick to look at my account page the way I see it and immediately burst out laughing. I like to think that I made his day.

My point is that instead of saying "welcome back [username]" the message should be "hello cunt" for all users.
posted by medusa at 9:44 PM on October 26, 2007

TNAW.
posted by telstar at 9:55 PM on October 26, 2007

the message should be "hello cunt" for all users.

ah, no. I'd rather be greeted as 'hello dick'.
posted by carmina at 7:46 PM on October 27, 2007

dude. i swear to god i left a comment in this thread last week. did i? or am i just seriously spacing?
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:29 AM on October 29, 2007

You're practically a member of the Spacing Guild.
posted by cortex at 10:39 AM on October 29, 2007

...the phrase 'rife with abuse' keeps going through my head for some reason...

hm.
posted by sexyrobot at 9:00 PM on October 29, 2007

Am I just hopelessly incompetent at this computator thing (a distinct possibility), or is something not showing up on my screen that allows me to initiate mail (i.e.-- I can't figure out how to write something new; reply is a non-brainer, if someone writes to me, but how do I make a new one?)

I've tried opening MeFi in Netscape (now, don't cry), Safari and Firefox, and I can't figure it out.

(feeling pretty stupid here, but help!?)
posted by nax at 7:53 AM on November 10, 2007

nax, it starts at someone's profile page. Click on someone's name and look in the top left, under Foo's profile, for a link that says "send MeFi Mail". Bing!

If that doesn't work, then something is up.
posted by cortex at 8:29 AM on November 10, 2007

Go to anyone's profile and look for the "send MeFi Mail" link under their username at the top of the page. (If a particular member doesn't have a send MeFi Mail link, they've opted out of the system.) If you have Metafilter contacts, click the "Contacts" tab in MeFi Mail and then the envelope next to the person you want to send a message to. Here's the FAQ entry: How does MeFiMail work?
posted by pb at 8:30 AM on November 10, 2007

You win this round, cortex.
posted by pb at 8:31 AM on November 10, 2007

Hey, my car started!
posted by cortex at 8:47 AM on November 10, 2007

Thank you.
posted by nax at 12:23 PM on November 10, 2007