New Mail Pony?

November 22, 2007 9:02 PM

MeFi Mail Pony Request -- I often miss that I have new messages because the icon's so goshed darned tiny and doesn't call attention to itself in any way. Since I *rarely* get MeFiMails (no one likes me), can we get something like, say, a blink tag or a .wav that says "You've got Mail!" or something up there when we have new mail?

And before I get beat up, just kidding about the blink tag. But it would be nice if the New calls more attention to itself, or if there was an option to do a javascript alert box the first time you hit the site and there's new mail or something.

posted by SpecialK to feature requests at 9:02 PM (68 comments total)

Have you thought about setting it up so it just emails you your MeFiMail? This does seem to be something that greasemonkey is made for. Anyone?
posted by jessamyn at 9:03 PM on November 22, 2007

And just kidding about the .wav too. :-P
posted by SpecialK at 9:04 PM on November 22, 2007

I agree with Jessamyn. She's so pretty when she's right.
posted by ORthey at 9:14 PM on November 22, 2007

I'm going to disagree, SpecialK: I find the new mail notification to be okay... the trick was training myself to look up there in that corner when I visit the site. Seems like it's just a new feature that will come with a learning curve. Plus, I would imagine the percentage of people who use the Mail feature is relatively small; should we size up the icon for everyone, then?

Just spitballin'.

p.s. Go Horns! A&M sucks! :) \m/
posted by pineapple at 9:23 PM on November 22, 2007

I am pretty all the time, fuckers.
posted by jessamyn at 9:28 PM on November 22, 2007 [39 favorites]

rawr!!
posted by edgeways at 9:30 PM on November 22, 2007

Make the tiny icon blink. That'll be quite enough.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:34 PM on November 22, 2007

When angry, too!
posted by ORthey at 9:37 PM on November 22, 2007

If you have an authenticated email in your profile, you can get the new message forwarded to you over email, which is awesome and works perfectly in the "push" sort of way of getting your attention.
posted by mathowie at 9:44 PM on November 22, 2007

I constantly look, over and over, at the upper right hand corner of my screen. That's what you should do.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 10:00 PM on November 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

I constantly look, over and over, at the upper right hand corner of my screen. That's what you should do.

yeah, me too. And yet, nothing ever changes. watched icon and all, I guess.
posted by pinky at 10:14 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

Me too. I always look to see if anyone has sent me a milfmail. But no, nothing.

That's OK people. I've been used to being SILENCED ALL MY LIFE.
posted by puke & cry at 10:19 PM on November 22, 2007 [5 favorites]

I'm just here to buy a used car.
posted by ORthey at 10:22 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I just set mine to forward to my all-purpose mail dump.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:45 PM on November 22, 2007

ORthey said: I agree with Jessamyn. She's so pretty when she's right.

And Jessamyn responded: I am pretty all the time, fuckers.

That, my friends, is the perfect way to deal with the boyzone. It's assertive; it's funny; it's alpha; it's empowering; it's great. Kudos to Jessamyn!
posted by amyms at 10:53 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I am enjoying this new metafilter, perhaps too much.
posted by jessamyn at 11:08 PM on November 22, 2007

oh amyms, you're so pretty when you deal with boyzone issues.
posted by philomathoholic at 11:20 PM on November 22, 2007

I just checked my mefi mail and found the same lone email from mathowie that's been in there since the fantastic new mail system started, telling me about the new mail system.

Seems like the notification's working just fine; nothing happens when you don't get any mail. That's perfect.
posted by breezeway at 11:29 PM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I guess this is as good a place as any to ask: where the hell does that SILENCED ALL MY LIFE thing come from? It's funny, but I could use a little context.
posted by tehloki at 11:52 PM on November 22, 2007

...could use a little context.

over here

(ThePinkSuperhero posted a meta callout of a deleted thread drawing our attention to it's awesome terribleness, the original poster took exception to the whole deletion, including posting an ask question about it, and declaring "That's OK people. I've been used to being SILENCED ALL MY LIFE." in the meta thread).
posted by shelleycat at 12:00 AM on November 23, 2007

You forgot to mention that the original poster's username was AngryVICTIM, which is one of the best parts.
posted by grouse at 12:17 AM on November 23, 2007

YOU GET MAIL? FUCK Y--- I mean, yeah, I totally have this problem too. I can't even keep track.
posted by blacklite at 12:21 AM on November 23, 2007

My dog said "I've been used to being LICENSED ALL MY LIFE."

Bill Nye said "I've been used to being SCIENCE ALL MY LIFE."

Coach Bill Belichick said "I've been used to being SIDELINED ALL MY LIFE."

The guy at the deli said "I've been used to being SLICING ALL MY LIFE."

And my salsa said "I've been used to being CILANTOED ALL MY LIFE."
posted by wendell at 12:24 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

YOU GET MAIL? FUCK Y--- I mean, yeah, I totally have this problem too. I can't even keep track.

Dude, you too?
posted by Forktine at 1:37 AM on November 23, 2007

That, my friends, is the perfect way to deal with the boyzone. It's assertive; it's funny; it's alpha; it's empowering; it's great.

Why's everybody always hating on Boyzone? I mean, they were no Westlife or Color Me Badd, but who is? Why all the holleration and hateration up in this dancery?
posted by jbickers at 3:17 AM on November 23, 2007

I am pretty all the time, fuckers.

We already know that. I think the implication was that you're always right. (Cutie-pie.)
posted by chrismear at 5:01 AM on November 23, 2007

Since I don't get any mail either, I'll discuss boybands instead.

So: What?! Westlife is the worst boyband ever! First of all, the Westlife-guys are just... bland. No cute guy, no ugly guy, no tough guy, no nothing. Just four (or five or whatver, I don't remember) totally nondescript pieces of lukewarm meat! And that is, of course, a crime against the whole concept!

Second, terrible songs. Crap songs. I mean, their best song was a cover of a Billy Joel song, for christ sakes! How much worse can you get? The answer is, none more worse.

Boyzone were not that great either, but at least they understood the intricate drama and subtle hints that come with the territory (ie: Ronan Keating - when he was a member - was pretty and embarked on a solo career, Stephen Gately was cute and then cute and gay) and "Love Me For A Reason" is pretty great. It even sounded great when Oizone did it.

And, it can be argued; no Boyzone, no Westlife. Boyzone paved the way for irish boybands and Westlife followed.

No, if you want to talk about the best boyband in the world, my money's on New Kids On The Block. Forget about The Monkees, Menudo and, and, and. New Kids had it all! In spades!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 5:59 AM on November 23, 2007

soundofsuburbia: All boybands are the worst boyband ever. NKOTB was one of the absolute, absolute, brain-boilingly awful ideas ever had by anyone, and if you disagree you are so far beyond wrong that you have come out the other side and into gnorw.

The Monkees, on the other hand, when allowed to play their instruments, were actually a band who even wrote some good tunes, and thus shouldn't be confused with the confusingly named boybands who just stand in a line, lipsynching to pre-recorded 'hits', raising their left hands simultaneously palm out and flicking their pelvises at girls too young to know better.
posted by Sparx at 6:14 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Any stats on how much mail is being sent? I too am without any mail.
posted by chunking express at 6:48 AM on November 23, 2007

I am pretty all the time, fuckers.

would like a .wav of this when i have mail.
or when i don't have mail.
whenever, actually.
posted by felix betachat at 7:28 AM on November 23, 2007

*I* have received mefimail, all the damn time and more than once. Oh yes, and let me tell you, folks, you have no idea what you are missing. None.
posted by crush-onastick at 7:46 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Any stats on how much mail is being sent?

As a matter of fact:

6,032 MeFi Mails sent by 1,302 members.

So if you haven't gotten mail, or sent mail, or both, you're in the majority. For now.
posted by cortex at 8:05 AM on November 23, 2007

Any stats on how much mail is being sent?

6,032 MeFi Mails sent by 1,302 members.

On preview. hi cortex!
posted by jessamyn at 8:07 AM on November 23, 2007

6,032 MeFi Mails sent by 1,302 members.

this information should appear, along with the number of consecutive days in which we have not had a lost time industrial accident, in the upper right hand corner of the front page.
posted by quonsar at 8:15 AM on November 23, 2007 [7 favorites]

Technically, *everyone* got mail - from Matt.

It's the mathowie pity mail. I printed it out.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 8:15 AM on November 23, 2007 [5 favorites]

mathowie is in your extended network
posted by grouse at 8:22 AM on November 23, 2007 [4 favorites]

"You have MeFi Mail!"
posted by KokuRyu at 8:37 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

How about you add a flashing message that says, "You don't got any mail, loser."

We unpopular ones need to be kept in our places.
posted by orange swan at 9:10 AM on November 23, 2007

Since we're talking about MeMail, I must admit that whenever I see that I have MeMail, my gut response is fear and dread. Like I've been unexpectedly sent to the principals office. What is this going to be, what will it say?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:44 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

I get MeFi mail, suckers. The trick is to send some.
posted by arcticwoman at 10:13 AM on November 23, 2007

Make the tiny icon blink. That'll be quite enough.

Oui. Because MeFi is incomplete without animated .GIF flies. In fact, I'm not sure it officially counts as "on the interpipes" since it lacks blinking.

Making the little envelope icon blink will rectify this, put the world to rights, and make sure that everyone a) knows when they have MeMail b) collects it as soon as humanly possible, if not faster.

Since we're talking about MeMail, I must admit that whenever I see that I have MeMail, my gut response is fear and dread. Like I've been unexpectedly sent to the principals office.

I know! Each time Jessamyn deletes one of my comments and tells me to stop being a douchebag, I expect a (pretty!) written warning or a time out to arrive in my inbox immediately after. This has not been forthcoming. I may have to give up my plan and just stop being an occasional asshat.

But I really want the full set - mail from Jessamyn, mail from Cortex to go with the mail from Matt - collect the full set!
posted by DarlingBri at 10:34 AM on November 23, 2007

Don't make it blink, make it PULSE. To a techno beat.

Oh yeah!
posted by blue_beetle at 10:45 AM on November 23, 2007

"You have an epileptic seizure!"
posted by wendell at 10:53 AM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

Unchecked growth will kill us all.
posted by majick at 11:20 AM on November 23, 2007

The blink tag is not nearly frenetic enough to convey the urgency a new MeFi Mail should invoke.

I saw make the envelope blink twice as fast, and make it change size depending on the number of unread messages you have.

Oh, and the screaming, the moment you hit the front page, your computer should start yelling at top volume "You have mail! For the love of God, click the envelope icon! Do you not understand? People are trying to correspond with you! Click it! Click it now!"

At the very least, no one could say that they didn't realize that a message was waiting.
posted by quin at 11:35 AM on November 23, 2007

Blink tag is definitely not enough. "New mail" icon should be replaced with this image.
posted by jbickers at 12:11 PM on November 23, 2007

If someone can be so kind as to send me a message, I can test this tiny little greasemonkey script I just wrote for this.
posted by flatluigi at 1:32 PM on November 23, 2007

I'm not as good as I thought I was, apparently. I'll toil away for now, I'll come back soon.
posted by flatluigi at 1:48 PM on November 23, 2007

Could we have a mail tab in 'recent activity'?
posted by ODiV at 1:48 PM on November 23, 2007

Er, can I edit that last message?
posted by flatluigi at 1:51 PM on November 23, 2007

(read: I just got it working, yay me.)
posted by flatluigi at 2:01 PM on November 23, 2007

I am now the proud owner of one Complete MeFi Admin Mail set.

I will be auctioning it off on Ebay shortly. BNWT, size 3, original packaging. Details as follows -

Mail from Matt: Rather perfunctory, but in perfect and unused condition.
Mail from Jessamyn: Very pretty. Contains cupcakes.
Mail from cortex: Absolutely filthy. May not be suitable for virgins.

All proceeds will benefit the Animate MetaFilter Mail Fund. Bid early, bid big, and support this crucial community fund!
posted by DarlingBri at 2:02 PM on November 23, 2007

Ooh! I want the cortex mail! I'm not a virgin! (honest!)
posted by SpecialK at 2:13 PM on November 23, 2007

I am pretty all the time, fuckers.

Is this the place to mention that I'd hit it?
posted by deborah at 2:31 PM on November 23, 2007

wtf. Could we not make sexual advances on people here? Does it seem overly creepy to anyone else?
posted by ODiV at 2:38 PM on November 23, 2007

I believe that was complicated anti-sexism irony. It's been a long week for some of us on that front.
posted by cortex at 2:42 PM on November 23, 2007

And ODiV, you MUST not have seen the thread in which dozens of us expressed our objections to "I'd hit it"... here. It was in among those 1100 comments... somewhere.

And it would be better to respond to "Is this the place to mention that I'd hit it?" with a simple...
NO-O-O-O-O-O-O!!!
...followed by a link to Fark.
posted by wendell at 2:47 PM on November 23, 2007

I completely missed that thread and that comment just struck me as completely out of the blue and inappropriate. Obviously it does seem creepy to a few others. :)
posted by ODiV at 2:52 PM on November 23, 2007

Lots of us come from out of the blue, ODiV. Some of us come from the green too.
posted by SpecialK at 2:58 PM on November 23, 2007 [2 favorites]

I am pretty all the time, fuckers.

I can't find that comment. Was it deleted or in some other thread?
posted by timeistight at 3:10 PM on November 23, 2007

timeistight: scroll up.
posted by jessamyn at 3:37 PM on November 23, 2007

Assuming you are serious timeistight, it's the fifth comment in this thread.
posted by quin at 3:37 PM on November 23, 2007

I got a nice email from a pineapple in Dallas, just today. That little exclamation point really leapt off the page right at me because, hey, what WAS that thing??
posted by Devils Rancher at 3:46 PM on November 23, 2007

How could I have missed that?

And you are.
posted by timeistight at 3:47 PM on November 23, 2007 [1 favorite]

No, if you want to talk about the best boyband in the world, my money's on New Kids On The Block.

*cough* Hanson..*cough* the Jackson 5..*cough*
posted by jonmc at 5:23 PM on November 23, 2007

Metafilter: complicated anti-sexism irony
posted by jbickers at 6:30 PM on November 23, 2007

ODiV - cortex is correct. It was due to the thread wendell linked to. I couldn't resist.

And I can now claim the dubious honour of receiving emails from all three admins. Yay me!
posted by deborah at 10:31 PM on November 23, 2007

*cough* Hanson..*cough* the Jackson 5..*cough*

As both of those played actual musical instruments, they are not technically boybands, but rather bands comprised of males. There is a distinction, easily made - if you can't see them five years on making a comeback wearing suits and sitting on stools without an instrument in sight, and harmonising in a more mature fashion now that they have outgrown pelvic teen dance moves - it's not a boyband
posted by Sparx at 1:18 AM on November 24, 2007