Comments on: MetaFilter History

MetaFilter History

SpacemanStix — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:59:37 -0800

Is there interesting MetaFilter history that newcomers wouldn't know about, but might find interesting? I'm relatively new here, but I always enjoy hearing back-history of social places that people who are new are not privy to. For example, if you join a new group somewhere, there's always an interesting history connected with the participants, including inside jokes, social drama, etc., that the average person joining wouldn't be aware of (I do know there is a place that describes the inside MeFi references). It could be something deep within the archives of MetaFilter (like the discussion thread where Woz showed up), or something that has no paper trail, but makes for interesting lore anyway. I'm not necessarily talking about a "best posts" thread (although it could be related I suppose) as much as the culture and happenings related to the board. What is your best or most interesting story about MetaFilter that the average person on the street wouldn't know about?

By: [expletive deleted]

[expletive deleted] — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:09:12 -0800

The Woz posted here once.

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:13:27 -0800

Start here.

By: vrakatar

vrakatar — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:14:14 -0800

Portobello mushrooms. Free Orange Juice. Givewell (rather recently). Quoting SCIENCE. I have't been here that long either, but those stick out, and some members seem to always talk about missing something called the image tag.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:14:56 -0800

Well there's this (on the wiki too.)

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:17:45 -0800

Damn on-screen keyboard is slow. Anyway, the wiki page is most up-to-date. I'm considering a phase 2 where any corresponding MeTa threads are linked with each entry.

By: nowonmai

nowonmai — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:18:34 -0800

Don't start there, start here.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:22:11 -0800

Yeah if people see any other AskMe or MeFi posts that don't have the metafilterhistory tag, let me know. We try to limit it to stuff that's really become part of the common culture here, but I'll add the tag if there's something we've missed.

By: jmnugent

jmnugent — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:22:48 -0800

Great question SpacemanStix. Seriously. I wish I could +10 this. (ok, I'd +5 you and +5 carsonb)
:)

By: sleepy pete

sleepy pete — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:25:25 -0800

Hey, don't tell me where to start nowonmai... oh wait, yeah, start there. I didn't realize that was going on.

By: davey_darling

davey_darling — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:51:41 -0800

This looks like the birth of Ask Metafilter - pretty cool thread with some advice from jessamyn in her pre-mod days.

One time mathowie had a web cam so people could watch him. Then it got weird so he turned it off.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 12:59:25 -0800

Well, including the gray, there is the story of Sgt. Serenity's unrequited crush upon the lovely jenleigh of fair Dundee.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:00:52 -0800

son of minya chopped off his hand.

By: churl

churl — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:06:45 -0800

I kind of thought everyone was supposed to start here.

By: Class Goat

Class Goat — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:07:05 -0800

We could tell you, but then we'd have to kill you.

By: chlorus

chlorus — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:12:57 -0800

Don't forget plo chops. Please don't.

By: SlyBevel

SlyBevel — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:14:13 -0800

Should have a mention of user ASavage. Pretty cool dude, with a cool job, and it's awesome that he ducks in here every now and then.

By: sneakin

sneakin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:16:26 -0800

That one or two threads stemming from the girl who couldn't pay her bills because her boyfriend was unemployed but spending money tricking out his car while she struggled with debt (and they were both posting to AskMe separately and it lead to massive warring) is a pretty classic piece of AskMeFi ~~dirty laundry~~ history.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:19:47 -0800

Do you know how long it took me to figure out plo chops? Maybe it's because I'm a girl and they just aren't on my mind all the time but I spent a good half-hour going, "plo chops? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Maybe I just over-enunciate my Ps.

By: SpacemanStix

SpacemanStix — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:23:24 -0800

Okay, this is great. Just what I was thinking about. Some of these references sound pretty interesting (quonsar, I have to admit, I'm intrigued, as I have no idea what that refers to), and I'll be doing some searching. Feel free to share links, if you've got 'em.

By: lukemeister

lukemeister — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:23:53 -0800

I can't believe no one has mentioned the time the mods deactivated the dirty bomb that was about to spew radioactivity all over the Internet.

By: rosebuddy

rosebuddy — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:25:00 -0800

LeeJay, the advice I've always gotten is just to breathe through your nose and relax your throat, and everything will be fine.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:34:33 -0800

But I can't pronounce my Ps at all if I breathe through my nose.

By: rosebuddy

rosebuddy — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:39:43 -0800

Maybe you can substitute a glottal stop. (Or does that only apply to Ts?)

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:44:18 -0800

Well there was that time reklaw went completely off the rails and continued insisting Hotmail hacked his ISP to forward his mail to hotmail after people told him it's essentially impossible. To the point he actually phoned up his ISP to grill them. The meta of which contains a link to s-o-m literally "betting his right hand" against quonsar lying.

We rarely see passion over trivial things like that anymore. *wipes tear*

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:53:42 -0800

Maybe you can substitute a glottal stop.

I bet I could charge extra for it too.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:57:39 -0800

LeeJay:

Maybe I just over-enunciate my Ps."

You're supposed to say it with Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent.

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:02:45 -0800

GOOGLE "SECRET MEFI CABAL CONSPIRACY"

QUICK BEFORE THEY DELETE THIS

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:06:14 -0800

This one time at a bar I totally smacked dhammond's ass.

By: LeeJay

LeeJay — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:11:40 -0800

You're supposed to say it with Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent.

I know but even that didn't help. It wasn't until I navigated away from the page in frustration that it came to me. Ohhhhhhh, PLO CHOPS!

By: mrzarquon

mrzarquon — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:20:28 -0800

> in frustration that it came to me. Ohhhhhhh, PLO CHOPS!

The level of innuendo this conversation has invoked is excessive.

By: mathowie

mathowie — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:21:39 -0800

The time we got cameras was pretty good.

By: ceri richard

ceri richard — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:28:10 -0800

hurf durf butter

By: flatluigi

flatluigi — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:30:54 -0800

There was some fun breaking Metafilter in this thread.

(check out the logo)

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:32:24 -0800

Fuzzy Skinner's very first post was at 2:44 PM on March 14.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:33:14 -0800

If you haven't bothered to learn the MeFi history before you joined, perhaps you should just get back onto your Longboat and return from where you came.

By: cortex

cortex — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 14:55:04 -0800

There's a bunch of crib-notes linked from the lyrics of this recording.

By: gsteff

gsteff — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:04:46 -0800

Don't forget the MetaFilter redesign contest. If you visited the site before, you'd hardly recognize it.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:07:18 -0800

Kaycee Nicole. 1, 2.

Someone out there must have not heard of it, and it's a damn good read.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:30:44 -0800

First thread I checked with metafilterhistory tag - towel thief - where I saw this comment "Wow.... MeFi is going downhill. posted by randyshepherd"

Apparently that guy was so dissapointed in that post he made one single comment and was never heard from again. Awesome.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:31:35 -0800

Halfway down the first page of metafilter history tags, this post makes everything go small. I think it's missing a closing tag.

By: cortex

cortex — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:48:05 -0800

Good catch. Re-embiggened.

By: amyms

amyms — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:03:24 -0800

The Portobello Mushroom thread never fails to entertain. RIP MiHail.

By: absalom

absalom — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:24:34 -0800

I went to a meetup location once, didn't tell anyone I was coming or that I went, then peed in all the drinks.

Well, that's more of a personal inside joke that's site related, but no less funny for it.

By: Bookhouse

Bookhouse — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:31:42 -0800

Use the search feature to look for rude words in MetaTalk posts for lots of nasty fun.

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:33:30 -0800

I'd forgot all about Oolong.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:39:12 -0800

Free Orange Juice.

I have no idea what this is referring to.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:42:17 -0800

There was some self-linker that was pitching coupons for orange juice or something. He also threw in a little something about women being really good at shopping. I'm sure someone can dig it up if I don't find it.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:44:14 -0800

For my money, I found the giant horse cock MetaTalk thread to be most amusing. I was thinking that was the thread that gave us "but I don't want to be exposed to anus", but no, that gem apparently surfaced elsewhere. Son of Minya was very colorful.

Some other interesting site threads that come to mind:
Who is your daddy and what does he do?
The war has begun
Mefi del.icio.us accounts
Where you live in one single photograph
Katrina related threads

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:44:35 -0800

And, bingo.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:49:32 -0800

And since we're here, I was looking for a comment made by someone who I'm pretty sure is banned now talking about putting drops of his own urine in the coffee at his workplace to make the female employees fall in love with him, anyone know where that's at?

By: konolia

konolia — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 16:55:37 -0800

Here's the thread you wanted, madamejujujive.

And if I did this right, here it is.

By: brain_drain

brain_drain — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:19:19 -0800

puke & cry: here.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:21:31 -0800

Damn, I even favorited that comment too. Thanks brain_drain! This thread as brought me a whole days worth of entertainment.

By: disclaimer

disclaimer — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 17:58:34 -0800

Ah, how can we forget thee, Comic Sans? - it could use a metafilterhistory tag I think...

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:00:16 -0800

There is a wonderful bit of invisible MeFi history that I can't exactly put my finger on, but there was once a user who posted three random comments in three unrelated threads about buying/selling a car, I think. I forget exactly who discovered the connection, but it was quite touching and compelling, in a very minimalist kind of way.

By: cortex

cortex — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:03:08 -0800

That'd be fred, Rock Steady.

By: vrakatar

vrakatar — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:22:31 -0800

Ye gods...i just reread most of the orange juice coupon thread. It holds up. Someone freeze it in carbonite and send it to NASA or something.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:29:41 -0800

Be Safe & Smart on MetaFilter!

By: stupidsexyFlanders

stupidsexyFlanders — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:52:03 -0800

The legendary Perfect MetaTalk Post.

By: 0xFCAF

0xFCAF — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:56:27 -0800

stavros - Leave the Grocery Shopping to the Women

Decided to go grocery shopping after my wife saw some minute maid juice boxes in a circular on special at target stores .. She did a search for printable coupons online ,and to my surprise she found some minute maid coupons for target stores . She printed ten coupons and got ten boxes of minute maid practically free ... (lol) . Why can't us men think of these things ? Lol

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 18:58:50 -0800

Ah, I remember that now, kinda vaguely sorta.

By: casarkos

casarkos — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:54:06 -0800

Pretty Flowers, was it?

By: casarkos

casarkos — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 19:54:57 -0800

Yeah, it was.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:06:01 -0800

Oh my God. That really was the perfect MeTa post.

The discovery.

The celebration.

Can we all go get lives now?

By: yhbc

yhbc — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:07:55 -0800

I think the very best thing about the Oolong thread, the one which became a legend and an inspiration to us all as a wonderful example of all that is right and correct about MetaFilter, the very first comment is SOME JACKOFF COMPLAINING THAT HE'D ALREADY SEEN THE LINK SOMEWHERE ELSE.

By: UbuRoivas

UbuRoivas — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:32:17 -0800

That one or two threads stemming from the girl who couldn't pay her bills because her boyfriend was unemployed but spending money tricking out his car while she struggled with debt

xteraco and fr0zen?

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:55:21 -0800

Thanks cortex. fred's unveiling is here. Thanks due to ALongDecember.

By: ashbury

ashbury — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 21:00:58 -0800

Ya know, JJ,

Yes Jim?

Thirty days is an awfully long time to hang out in a thread. I'm going to be way bored with this long before it gets archived.

A classic! It still makes me laugh. Thanks for the reminder of that thread.

Didn't somebody once say "your gay"? Who was that? It was a bit of a thing for a while.

By: ALongDecember

ALongDecember — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:15:09 -0800

Thanks cortex. fred's unveiling is here. Thanks due to ALongDecember.

Yep, my little contribution to Metafilter history. I definitely think "I hope you'll find that used car." should be the response if anyone posts they're leaving MeFi.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:19:38 -0800

RIP MARQUEE, IMG, BLINK!

By: cortex

cortex — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:29:21 -0800

Didn't somebody once say "your gay"? Who was that? It was a bit of a thing for a while.

I can't remember whatever this is you're talking about, and initial googling didn't get me anywhere, but it did get me a couple of extremely gay comments from WolfDaddy.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 22:33:42 -0800

Man, that guy is so gay.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:06:12 -0800

Especially if by 'gay' you mean 'totally awesome'!

By: carsonb

carsonb — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 23:12:29 -0800

Here's another cool little bit from back in the <marquee> days: Follow nobody (and here's the MeTa)

By: adamvasco

adamvasco — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 02:38:54 -0800

AskMe lunacy. What in the NOW is happening?
and just another day on the grey: -
-10 points for the double fuckative.

By: sveskemus

sveskemus — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:30:08 -0800

All he wanted was a used car.

.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:45:00 -0800

I'M APPALED THAT A THRED ABOUT MEFATILFER HISTORY AND THE ASOCIATED TAG DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY MENTSHUN OF CAPSLORK DAY!

By: quin

quin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 09:45:45 -0800

The 15 reasons Mr. Rogers was the best neighbor ever thread was fantastic and one of the examples I like to give when people wonder why I'm such a fan of this site.

By: SpacemanStix

SpacemanStix — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:21:07 -0800

Thanks everyone for the great stories. Lots and lots of good reading here.

I just realized that if this thread becomes legendary, it becomes self-referential. Would MetaFilter explode, or simply get hung up in an infinite loop?

By: turaho

turaho — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 10:35:07 -0800

I sometimes miss ZIPPITY BOP and when Baby Jesus would join in a thread and cry.

By: dios

dios — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:11:10 -0800

Don't try to figure out Metafilter in-joke or history to try to replicate them.

You can be a part of the group without having to go through that. There are far too many people who try to use the already way-past-funny-to-the-point-of-desperation in-jokes and self-referential comments in an effort to try to show they belong. It hurts Metafilter. It makes us insular and suggests a barrier to entry.

Just contribute meaningfully. That will get you noticed.

Be an awesome poster like blahblahblah and that will get you noticed. Don't be user #14892375 to use some lame tagline joke or talk about pancakes or mushrooms.

Meaningful contribution is all that we can ask.

Oh, and the only other thing you need to know is that everything you ever hear about me is a lie.

By: SpacemanStix

SpacemanStix — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:21:42 -0800

and self-referential comments in an effort to try to show they belong.

Was that in regards to my comment? Dang, I thought I just made that up.

By: dios

dios — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:30:52 -0800

No, it wasn't specifically anything you did.

There is just a depressingly common activity whereby "newer" members will try to exhibit their knowledge of the community in an effort to fit in. This leads to in-jokes etc. It all becomes too insular. "Ok, here is where I am supposed to make the X comment." Yuck.

I was just encouraging you to understand that fitting in does not require you to exhibit a knowledge of shared history. If you contribute well, that will bring you into the fold.

By: Dave Faris

Dave Faris — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:40:36 -0800

But more importantly, he was telling you to ignore everything anyone tells you about him.

By: cortex

cortex — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:56:47 -0800

Metafilter: This leads to in-jokes etc.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:21:37 -0800

dios is fucking cool.

By: quin

quin — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:32:25 -0800

dios : Oh, and the only other thing you need to know is that everything you ever hear about me is a lie.

This is true.

Or is it?

Dun dun duuuun!

By: languagehat

languagehat — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:34:11 -0800

What was that ridiculously soap-opera-ish AskMe thread that everyone decided was a troll? "I'm having an affair with my blind sister, and she wants the dog to join in," something like that? (I have a vague memory that it got someone—PrettyGeneric?—banned.) Anyway, it was definitely historic.

By: yhbc

yhbc — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:06:10 -0800

No no no, she wanted him to poop on her.

Or maybe she wanted the dog to poop on her. I'm not clear either.

By: lunit

lunit — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:17:24 -0800

This thread (which I found following this one tagged with metafilterhistory) is a nasty glimpse at boyzone-y metafilter back in the day. It's comforting to see that we've grown a little since that day.

But.... look! Matt kinda flips his shit reacting to a commenter.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 14:20:04 -0800

lh & yhbc, those were two separate regrettable threads. Man, I love that prarie dog.

By: NortonDC

NortonDC — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:54:08 -0800

The time we got cameras was pretty good.

Still waiting for Tivo-worthy essay to be recognized...

By: jadepearl

jadepearl — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:32:59 -0800

Err..what are the links to the couple who posted 2 seperate askmefi questions about each other?

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:22:39 -0800

Err..what are the links to the couple who posted 2 seperate askmefi questions about each other?

Well, it's not exactly like that. Here is fr0zen's question about getting her boyfriend a job. Here is where CivilDisobedient realizes who she's talking about. This is where xteraco eloquently comes to his own defense. And here's the MeTa. I think that'll get you up to speed.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:27:42 -0800

Oh and speaking of couples, who was the user that answered his own question -- the wife was logged in at home and the husband logged in from work to answer?

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:31:05 -0800

Pretty sure that was NortonDC and onlyconnect talking about whether they could get a five door Yaris in the US, but I can't remember exactly.

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:32:56 -0800

There was this but maybe that's not what you meant. Then there was the person trying to get someone to take care of their cat and someone else who was clearly an IRL friend of theirs was on AskMe being like "don't be a goober, I'll take care of it" or something.

By: Rock Steady

Rock Steady — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:36:49 -0800

No, it was something like, "Where can I get X in Toronto?" (or somewhere) and the same user posted later, "At Y, and I'll pick some up on the way home from work. You could have called, honey."

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:50:08 -0800

It was maybe dry ice or ice cream or something like that.

By: puke & cry

puke & cry — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:57:40 -0800

It was dry ice. I can't believe I remembered that.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:00:09 -0800

tamim's limning of thomcatspike's bio.

By: jadepearl

jadepearl — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 01:56:19 -0800

Thanks Rock Steady, that was amazing to read. That with Rainbow 2006 threads are amazing.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:27:32 -0800

Has anyone mentioned the Metafilter house band: Pretty Flowers?

By: Fuzzy Skinner

Fuzzy Skinner — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:47:20 -0800

Here's the MeTa about the dry ice story.

By: John Kenneth Fisher

John Kenneth Fisher — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:12:07 -0800

Has no one yet linked to How do I dispose of a body?

(and I'm totally gonna start slowly collecting these in my profile. Wanted to keep a rundown for a while now, even though threads like these make it somewhat unnecessary.)

By: John Kenneth Fisher

John Kenneth Fisher — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 21:45:00 -0800

Ok, first wave added to my profile. Wheee! I love this site.

By: krautland

krautland — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:18:34 -0800

this thread sorely lacks a long answer from matthowie.