Lurking flash

October 30, 2007 10:44 PM

Just out of curiosity, what's the new flash component for?

On each of the domains, except for podcast and music, there is now a flash something floating just over the sidebar. I only know because of flashblock. Unblocked, it quietly disappears. What is it/why is it there?

posted by Arturus to MetaFilter-Related at 10:44 PM (49 comments total)

Looks like an advertisement for a TV show? That's my best guess. I'm not going to click through.
posted by yeoz at 10:46 PM on October 30, 2007

It's for something called "The It Room" .com
posted by amyms at 10:48 PM on October 30, 2007

It's a small 125x125 ad. We don't get those ads often, but they have been served sporadically for the past four years or so. It's only running for the next three days.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:49 PM on October 30, 2007

I'm in ur flash rippin off ur Graham Linehan.

Sorry.
posted by roll truck roll at 10:53 PM on October 30, 2007 [3 favorites]

It's the large 125x125 ads that really cause the problems, anyway.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 11:19 PM on October 30, 2007 [3 favorites]

So these guys actually think we click on ads, Matt?

Poor suckers.
posted by blacklite at 11:28 PM on October 30, 2007 [2 favorites]

Here's a hint for the IT Room:

Finish building your website before advertising it.

I know, I know, it seems counter-intuitive. But it allows people to see what the fuck you're on about without having to commit to endless searching around your domain, or watching your shitty flash videos. It also solidifies your tenuous connection to IT cred.
posted by klangklangston at 12:14 AM on October 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

Looks like an advertisement for a TV show?

That's my guess, as well. After clicking the ad, I still don't know.
posted by normy at 6:08 AM on October 31, 2007

Is this a US adaption of The IT Crowd, then?
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:11 AM on October 31, 2007

Is this a US adaption of The IT Crowd, then?

Yep. For good or bad.
posted by skynxnex at 6:32 AM on October 31, 2007

"The IT Room" is a show where contestants carry on predator-prey relationships with one another exactly as they occur in the wild. Between predators and prey, that is. All bitey and shit. Rowr.
posted by breezeway at 6:36 AM on October 31, 2007

Is this a US adaption of The IT Crowd, then?

Yep. For good or bad.

I believe (and very much hope) you're wrong. The actors listed in Wikipedia as part of the US version of The IT Crowd do not appear in The IT Room.
posted by scottreynen at 6:40 AM on October 31, 2007

All bitey and shit. Rowr.

Indeed, I would guess that it bites.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:48 AM on October 31, 2007

scttreynen: You're right. Somehow I managed to read the Wikipedia article section about the US IT Crowd as "IT Room". That'll learns me.

cortex: No, it isn't, it appears. Sorry.

I'm going to going to guess it might be a Dell ad, since you know, they show Dells in every picture.
posted by skynxnex at 6:56 AM on October 31, 2007

Last I heard from Graham Linehan's blog was that the US version of the IT Crowd had been binned.
posted by edd at 6:57 AM on October 31, 2007

Given he seems to read Metafilter though, I expect he's seen that ad...
posted by edd at 7:07 AM on October 31, 2007

I clicked.... awwwwww, there is a monkey!
posted by R. Mutt at 7:58 AM on October 31, 2007

I hope the US version doesn't have an awful laugh track. I couldn't sit through 30 seconds of the IT crowd.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:03 AM on October 31, 2007

I clicked when I heard there was to be a monkey - awwwwwww! But I had an intense feeling of deja vu when watching the trailer. Weird.
posted by nowonmai at 8:13 AM on October 31, 2007

I guess that I shouldn't be, but I was a little surprised that the ad shows up when using the plain theme. An ad in the corner makes it a lot less plain.
posted by ND¢ at 8:16 AM on October 31, 2007

Wait, there's ads on Metafilter?
posted by blue_beetle at 8:21 AM on October 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

We have a sidebar? Why doesn't anybody tell me these things?
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:55 AM on October 31, 2007

Arturus, the flash component is used to detect Luddites. It is working quite well, no?
posted by Mister_A at 9:00 AM on October 31, 2007

I have to agree that the ad does pretty much defeat the work-friendliness of the plain theme.
posted by patricio at 9:08 AM on October 31, 2007

Ad block is your friend, I'm not even seeing the flash component.
posted by Mitheral at 9:11 AM on October 31, 2007

Is that Jim Lampley in that video acting like the evil suit and slamming down telephones?
posted by Ironmouth at 12:02 PM on October 31, 2007

There's going to be an American version of "The IT Crowd"? So the US has finished making inferior versions of the best of UK TV and moved on to the worst of it?

I can't wait to hear Joe Buck covering an Indoor Bowls Championship. And I'm excited about the impending American version of the S4 Croeso show where the people in suits talk to each other passive-aggressively in Welsh.
posted by Mayor Curley at 1:40 PM on October 31, 2007 [1 favorite]

I am intrigued by your aggressive Welsh-talking program idea.
posted by Mister_A at 1:56 PM on October 31, 2007

I'm waiting for the UK version of My Name is Earl...
posted by i_cola at 2:34 PM on October 31, 2007

That would be "My Name is The Earl of..."
posted by patricio at 2:41 PM on October 31, 2007

I thought logging in was supposed to prevent us from seeing dumb ads. Matt, is there a reason you've apparently created this odd tier of "dumb ads that members sometimes see"?
posted by mediareport at 4:18 PM on October 31, 2007

Or some special reason a TV show you hated gets special treatment?
posted by mediareport at 4:19 PM on October 31, 2007

Oh, shit, you're right! I was seeing an ad and thought, 'I should log in'... But I am logged in! Drag.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:41 PM on October 31, 2007

Adblock plus.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:12 PM on October 31, 2007

I thought logging in was supposed to prevent us from seeing dumb ads. Matt, is there a reason you've apparently created this odd tier of "dumb ads that members sometimes see"?

I don't show you google ads or skyscraper ads, but I've always shown the small 125x125 ads on the front page to all visitors, both logged in and not. I figured it was a tiny ad space and people didn't mind the old bigha bike ad there or the vox ad or other ads in that space.

You can adblock it, flashblock it, add fmpub.net to your hosts file as 127.0.0.1 -- it's not that hard to wipe it away if you really want and I'll add the ability to hide it via a click when I'm done with other projects.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:34 PM on October 31, 2007

I've always shown the small 125x125 ads on the front page to all visitors, both logged in and not

On the rare occasion when someone buys one, you mean, right? I guess I keep forgetting about them cause they're so rare, which makes them jarring all over again when they appear. Firefox blocks most ads for me so I never bothered with other software, but thanks in advance for the choice of turning them off.
posted by mediareport at 8:22 PM on October 31, 2007

(For the record, I was logged in using Firefox at the public library when I saw the ad; I don't see it at all using Firefox here at home, even without Adblock.)
posted by mediareport at 8:32 PM on October 31, 2007

(Er, which may be because I've got the Adblock add-on at home, sorry...but thanks anyway for the option everywhere.)
posted by mediareport at 8:35 PM on October 31, 2007

aha. Turning both adblock and flashblock off shows me the thing. I'd only turned off flashblock to see what it was, and assumed it was some background flash thing that was doing something interesting, since it hid itself when I let it run.

Now I know better.
posted by Arturus at 10:25 PM on October 31, 2007

I'd be amazed if it was for a real TV show, the production values of the clips I saw looked way to low. I thought it was a web show, and a rather stupid one at that.
posted by delmoi at 2:12 AM on November 1, 2007

I initially suspected it was an ad for IBM.
Now - Not so sure.

Whatever it is, it looks shit.
posted by seanyboy at 4:58 AM on November 1, 2007

Jesus wept. That looks fucking AWFUL.

A capuchin monkey?

A little person?

BON JOVI?

Man, I work in IT, and there's no fucking way I would watch that.
posted by chuckdarwin at 5:27 AM on November 1, 2007

If production companies cared whether actual IT folks watched their shows, Firefly would never have been cancelled.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:39 AM on November 1, 2007 [3 favorites]

Yea, give 'em some Twinkies, a poster of Jessica Alba, and anything by Joss Whedon, and any IT man is your friend for life.
posted by Mister_A at 9:08 AM on November 1, 2007

That's kind of oversimplifying it, man. There's a pretty serious Little Debbies contingent out there.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:35 AM on November 1, 2007

...poster of Jessica Alba...

Hey, Dark Angel was a good show!!!!
posted by chundo at 9:38 AM on November 1, 2007

Also, goddamn, does IT Room look awful.
posted by chundo at 9:41 AM on November 1, 2007

Anyone have a torrent link?

I keed, I keed
posted by blue_beetle at 9:49 AM on November 1, 2007

(found this on digg):
"Full disclosure, I'm in the show. It's not a Dell commercial, but it is sponsored by Dell and soon others.
Kinda of "The Office" for the IT room. Unobjectively, I think there are some really funny people working on the show and it has a chance to be funny.
Subjectively, the clown spot is the funniest. Theses are all teaser trailers for episodes.
Bonus fact - the yogurt popped one of the lenses out of the guy's glasses.
Give it a try and if you don't like it, don't watch.
Mike McCafferty - Digg user. Digg submitter."
posted by papafrita at 4:54 PM on November 1, 2007