Deja vu February 12, 2008 6:47 AM Subscribe
Apologies if this has been asked.... I sometimes see new AskMe postings appear that I *know* I've seen before.
For example, I'm sure I've read this post before (I would say days ago) and even recalled some of the answers before rereading it. Am I imagining this?
For example, I'm sure I've read this post before (I would say days ago) and even recalled some of the answers before rereading it. Am I imagining this?
It may be deja vu; you may be remembering a recent, similar question. You may even be seeing something that someone posted elsewhere before AskMe.
A quick search on 'mortuary' turns up nothing obvious; not bulletproof, but a good start if you want to sanity-check the feeling.
Questions reappearing on the site at different dates is the sort of thing that gets us email, and that's generally when someone actually reposts a question they've already asked and folks identify it as such. I don't know of any way a single question could itself actually, literally reappear several days later under normal operation.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:09 AM on February 12, 2008
A quick search on 'mortuary' turns up nothing obvious; not bulletproof, but a good start if you want to sanity-check the feeling.
Questions reappearing on the site at different dates is the sort of thing that gets us email, and that's generally when someone actually reposts a question they've already asked and folks identify it as such. I don't know of any way a single question could itself actually, literally reappear several days later under normal operation.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:09 AM on February 12, 2008
The precogs are never wrong. But occasionally they do disagree.
posted by breezeway at 7:33 AM on February 12, 2008 [7 favorites]
posted by breezeway at 7:33 AM on February 12, 2008 [7 favorites]
Jessamyn, no, I don't think so. I read the site from two different locations, using two different browsers, but that doesn't seem like it would come into play.
posted by Morrigan at 7:42 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by Morrigan at 7:42 AM on February 12, 2008
It's a glitch in the Metatrix.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:52 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by monju_bosatsu at 7:52 AM on February 12, 2008
This AskMe thread is one I swear I've seen before, but I think it's just someone posting the same thing again. (There's this one from last week, for example). I'd like to see more basically-identical AskMe questions deleted as doubles; contrary to some peoples' beliefs, not every question is unique.
posted by Godbert at 7:52 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by Godbert at 7:52 AM on February 12, 2008
Godbert, I had the same feeling about the first link but the difference was that the first class thing they wanted to promote cost money and now it's free. I am all for deleting doubles too, but we have to be sort of careful since people feel pretty touchy if you remove their question as a double when it's obvious to them that it's different. Maybe we should invest a little more effort in some AskMe summaries on the wiki, I'm thinking specifically of a "Make Money Fast" set because I feel the second one is more of an open-ended "this has pretty much been asked before" type and I removed it with a link to the almost identical thread form a few days earlier.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:58 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:58 AM on February 12, 2008
A lot of the questions are repeats insofar as they're by people just looking to avoid having to talk to anyone on the telephone.
A lot of the answers are repeats insofar as most Metafilter users are pretty much interchangeable in terms of their opinions, writing style, and sense of humor.
posted by 1 at 8:57 AM on February 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
A lot of the answers are repeats insofar as most Metafilter users are pretty much interchangeable in terms of their opinions, writing style, and sense of humor.
posted by 1 at 8:57 AM on February 12, 2008 [1 favorite]
Burhanistan, you are the very best kind of weird. I salute you!
posted by cgc373 at 9:16 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by cgc373 at 9:16 AM on February 12, 2008
I composed a more pointed comment about 1, but I thought better of it. Cut the new member some slack, and all that. But so far I'm not getting a good impression.
posted by languagehat at 9:17 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by languagehat at 9:17 AM on February 12, 2008
Oh, I'm still C G from the block. (Sorry.) (So, so sorry.)
posted by cgc373 at 9:21 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by cgc373 at 9:21 AM on February 12, 2008
That mortuary school question was asked by earlofgrey, and got responses from MeetCleaverTheatre and ColdChef.
That's so awesome.
posted by slogger at 9:27 AM on February 12, 2008
That's so awesome.
posted by slogger at 9:27 AM on February 12, 2008
1 is so edgy and in-your-face! I bet he wears sunglasses at night!
posted by shmegegge at 10:03 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by shmegegge at 10:03 AM on February 12, 2008
Hey, don't switch the blade on the guy in shades.
posted by brain_drain at 10:16 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by brain_drain at 10:16 AM on February 12, 2008
"Cut the new member some slack, and all that. But so far I'm not getting a good impression."
From some of the other comments he's made, I have a feeling that he's not as new as he would pretend.
posted by klangklangston at 10:41 AM on February 12, 2008
From some of the other comments he's made, I have a feeling that he's not as new as he would pretend.
posted by klangklangston at 10:41 AM on February 12, 2008
From some of the other comments he's made, I have a feeling that he's not as new as he would pretend.
Agreed.
posted by ericb at 10:44 AM on February 12, 2008
Agreed.
posted by ericb at 10:44 AM on February 12, 2008
Surely the similarity is because human life is by and large a a dreary cavalcade of the same shit happening different days to various persons. Now back to my hole in the cheaper suburbs of Eeyore's Gloomy Place.
posted by Abiezer at 10:56 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by Abiezer at 10:56 AM on February 12, 2008
From some of the other comments he's made, I have a feeling that he's not as new as he would pretend.
Agreed.
Dammit, I'm still not cynical enough. OK, the gloves are coming off!
posted by languagehat at 11:15 AM on February 12, 2008
Agreed.
Dammit, I'm still not cynical enough. OK, the gloves are coming off!
posted by languagehat at 11:15 AM on February 12, 2008
From some of the other comments he's made, I have a feeling that he's not as new as he would pretend.
Agreed.
Dammit, I'm still not cynical enough. OK, the gloves are coming off!
The three of you are wrong. I'm a long-time listener, first-time caller. (Though, languagehat, I'd be really appreciative if you MeFi mail me a draft of the flame you're working on, if this causes you to not post it.)
OK, that's enough of my secrets. Carry on with thread!
posted by 1 at 11:23 AM on February 12, 2008
Agreed.
Dammit, I'm still not cynical enough. OK, the gloves are coming off!
The three of you are wrong. I'm a long-time listener, first-time caller. (Though, languagehat, I'd be really appreciative if you MeFi mail me a draft of the flame you're working on, if this causes you to not post it.)
OK, that's enough of my secrets. Carry on with thread!
posted by 1 at 11:23 AM on February 12, 2008
So the same old sort of attention whore, just with that new car smell.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:29 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:29 AM on February 12, 2008
1, being new to your account but familiar enough with the site to run with the injoke culture (by, e.g., shitting in a just-posted Obit thread with a dig at The Dots) pretty much separates you from any "aw, he's just new here" buffer. You've been doing a lot of poking-with-sticks so far in your short tenure, and I'd appreciate it if you would rein it in and quick, especially in askme (where your deletion record so far sucks) but also just in general in the blue and over here.
Your apparent inclination to start fights or just take cheap shots is really kind of an ugly way to open up an account history. I'd strongly suggest you take a step back and think about why, exactly, you signed up for an account and what it is about this place that you value that you've chosen to make the kind of contributions you have so far. You don't seem like a bad guy in principle, but you also don't seem to be trying very hard to be a good guy in practice.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:31 AM on February 12, 2008 [3 favorites]
Your apparent inclination to start fights or just take cheap shots is really kind of an ugly way to open up an account history. I'd strongly suggest you take a step back and think about why, exactly, you signed up for an account and what it is about this place that you value that you've chosen to make the kind of contributions you have so far. You don't seem like a bad guy in principle, but you also don't seem to be trying very hard to be a good guy in practice.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:31 AM on February 12, 2008 [3 favorites]
He's like a ninja, you never see him until he's ramming some sort of metal utensil through your chest.... then he disappears again into the night.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:42 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 11:42 AM on February 12, 2008
I concur with cortex. Please lay off the trash-talking and jokesterism in AskMe. It wastes everyone's time.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:42 AM on February 12, 2008
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:42 AM on February 12, 2008
Burhanistan: I'm calling you out.... of your mind for pointing us toward that weird-ass page. It feels like 5 years has passed, yet I only (according to my clock) have been reading this thread for less than ten minutes. I saw that AskMe thread over ten thousand times in that short span. Is that what DMT's like? Have you ever really noticed your hands, man? Like, really looked at them?
OK, pass the Xanax and on with the thread
posted by not_on_display at 1:42 PM on February 12, 2008
OK, pass the Xanax and on with the thread
posted by not_on_display at 1:42 PM on February 12, 2008
I'm sorry if this is a bit O/T, but I think it's close enough to the topic of the derail and I think, funny enough to share:
A while back I joined The Well, lurked for a few weeks, and started commenting. I was somewhat divisive (mostly for some pretty heated 2nd wave vs. 3rd wave feminism debates) (go 2nd wave!) and a consensus emerged that I must have been a sock-puppet, as I was just too knowledgeable about The Well not to be one. (I was neither.) My protests to the contrary went unheeded, and a few of the members took it upon themselves to investigate who I was. (Keep in mind that one cannot post anonymously on The Well and my profile linked to my fairly personal blog, which made it clear that I was a college student, yadda yadda.)
In the end, there were two leading theories. One was that I was the second-coming of this notoriously awful user, boswell, who had disappeared years ago and of whose return all users lived in fear. (New users were regularly suspected of being boswell.)
The other theory came from someone somehow tracking down my IP address, or rather, some IP address that was not mine, and concluding, in a particularly triumphant post, that I was, in fact, the owner of a fancy Italian restaurant in New York City.
I am not a sock puppet. (Or Dave Faris's even bitterer alter ego. Or an Italian restaurateur.)
posted by 1 at 1:57 PM on February 12, 2008
A while back I joined The Well, lurked for a few weeks, and started commenting. I was somewhat divisive (mostly for some pretty heated 2nd wave vs. 3rd wave feminism debates) (go 2nd wave!) and a consensus emerged that I must have been a sock-puppet, as I was just too knowledgeable about The Well not to be one. (I was neither.) My protests to the contrary went unheeded, and a few of the members took it upon themselves to investigate who I was. (Keep in mind that one cannot post anonymously on The Well and my profile linked to my fairly personal blog, which made it clear that I was a college student, yadda yadda.)
In the end, there were two leading theories. One was that I was the second-coming of this notoriously awful user, boswell, who had disappeared years ago and of whose return all users lived in fear. (New users were regularly suspected of being boswell.)
The other theory came from someone somehow tracking down my IP address, or rather, some IP address that was not mine, and concluding, in a particularly triumphant post, that I was, in fact, the owner of a fancy Italian restaurant in New York City.
I am not a sock puppet. (Or Dave Faris's even bitterer alter ego. Or an Italian restaurateur.)
posted by 1 at 1:57 PM on February 12, 2008
My takeaway from that story is that you enjoy coming across as an asshole and do it regularly. Like cortex, I'm curious about why you bothered signing up for an account if all you were going to do was imitate a sockpuppet and/or troll. I'm willing to put up with a lot of edginess if someone contributes in other ways, but that doesn't seem to be your ambition.
posted by languagehat at 2:01 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by languagehat at 2:01 PM on February 12, 2008
I've got all sorts of great FPP's in me, which will totally excuse my tremendous edginess. You'll be putting up with me in no time!
posted by 1 at 2:05 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by 1 at 2:05 PM on February 12, 2008
Some people think that free expression is the right to be as big an asshole as they fancy, and anything short of that is censorship.
posted by loiseau at 2:11 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by loiseau at 2:11 PM on February 12, 2008
You'll be putting up with me in no time!
Unless you get yourself banned for being a constant noisemaker in AskMe. You might want to take the long view here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:12 PM on February 12, 2008
Unless you get yourself banned for being a constant noisemaker in AskMe. You might want to take the long view here.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:12 PM on February 12, 2008
Yeah, sorry, 1, but I hijacked your account and have been being an asshole with it for the past few hours. My bad.
posted by cgc373 at 2:28 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by cgc373 at 2:28 PM on February 12, 2008
1 is the orneriest number that you'll ever do. Et Tu can be as bad as 1, we can all be ornery in this Deja vu.
posted by False Dichotomy at 2:38 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by False Dichotomy at 2:38 PM on February 12, 2008
OK, your contributions in this thread are thoughtful and well written, so I'm once again willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. Er, unless that's cgc373 hijacking your account again.
posted by languagehat at 2:39 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by languagehat at 2:39 PM on February 12, 2008
Oh, I'm still C G from the block. (Sorry.) (So, so sorry.)
I am too. I thought I that would be a rickroll but it was less enjoyable.
posted by Tuwa at 3:02 PM on February 12, 2008
I am too. I thought I that would be a rickroll but it was less enjoyable.
posted by Tuwa at 3:02 PM on February 12, 2008
One was that I was the second-coming of this notoriously awful user, boswell, who had disappeared years ago and of whose return all users lived in fear.
The Well's legendary boswell is Gerard van der Leun.
And he was admired as well as feared. He reigned supreme over the weird conference.
posted by macrone at 3:18 PM on February 12, 2008
The Well's legendary boswell is Gerard van der Leun.
And he was admired as well as feared. He reigned supreme over the weird conference.
posted by macrone at 3:18 PM on February 12, 2008
Oh man, so good. I was hoping someone would have more details on him! Though I remember hearing that 50% or so of his untoppable reputation came from his inappropriate behavior at one of the in-person meetup things. I wish I could remember the story, and will email someone who surely does.
Unfortunately, by the time I joined, the mantle of #1 mentally unstable embarrassing conservative had been passed on to. . . um. . . . crap. He was this Israeli guy and his name was something similar to, but not the same as, Yakov, and he sent me a profoundly creepy email to try and recruit me to some sort of weird alliance or something after I made a post expressing indifference to (rather than hatred of) the Fox News Channel.
Oh and he had the cutest kids ever. How toasty he was roasted in Flame.ind. . .
posted by 1 at 3:35 PM on February 12, 2008
Unfortunately, by the time I joined, the mantle of #1 mentally unstable embarrassing conservative had been passed on to. . . um. . . . crap. He was this Israeli guy and his name was something similar to, but not the same as, Yakov, and he sent me a profoundly creepy email to try and recruit me to some sort of weird alliance or something after I made a post expressing indifference to (rather than hatred of) the Fox News Channel.
Oh and he had the cutest kids ever. How toasty he was roasted in Flame.ind. . .
posted by 1 at 3:35 PM on February 12, 2008
you enjoy coming across as an asshole and do it regularly. Like cortex,
When I read this I didn't initially parse the punctuation, but I figured a mod can look after himself.
posted by bystander at 6:07 PM on February 12, 2008
When I read this I didn't initially parse the punctuation, but I figured a mod can look after himself.
posted by bystander at 6:07 PM on February 12, 2008
That fascist? You bet he can.
posted by languagehat at 6:40 PM on February 12, 2008
posted by languagehat at 6:40 PM on February 12, 2008
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posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:57 AM on February 12, 2008