(Possibly) deleted posts and books that are too long for their own good. October 6, 2008 5:27 PM   Subscribe

Ok. So, lets get two things straight-
a) i am a looooong time lurker.
b) i have just finished reading Anantham by Neal Stephenson.
I distinctly (DISTINCTLY!!) remember reading a post about this book and its idea of quantum consciousness, but deliberately (DELIBERATELY!!!) avoided it due to a wish to avoid spoilers.

So, i ask two things-

a) did this thread exist, or did i imagine it? (should the affirmative be affirmed, please take heed that i used all my google-fu to find this this thread to no effect...)
b) look, we've got freakin' blogspot blogs listin' metafilter's deleted threads. Can we not register 'worstoftheweb.com' or 'deleterfilter.com' and make these threads searchable...

Keep on rockin'. MeFi is the best ON the web.
posted by spongeboy to MetaFilter-Related at 5:27 PM (40 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

This post from a week and a half ago, maybe?
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:32 PM on October 6, 2008


See also a site search for anathem.

We don't really have much incentive to make deleted threads more searchable than they are, offhand. The deleted thread blog is explicitly not a Mefi property, and we prefer it that way.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:33 PM on October 6, 2008


It wasn't deleted, but you misspelled "Anathem." I think Google indexes deleted threads, too.
posted by Pronoiac at 5:48 PM on October 6, 2008


Can we not register 'worstoftheweb.com' or 'deleterfilter.com' and make these threads searchable...

It's a free internet, you can aways build this. We don't have any incentive to do it as an official site project.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:55 PM on October 6, 2008


This post from a week and a half ago, maybe?
Palindromatically numbered post alert!
Also, it's the third result for Stephenson.
posted by tellurian at 6:00 PM on October 6, 2008


I'm only 1/4 of the way through SO DON'T LET ME READ THIS THREAD
posted by DU at 6:54 PM on October 6, 2008


Is this something I'd need a...

Ah, fuhgedaboudit...
posted by djgh at 8:00 PM on October 6, 2008


i have just finished reading Anantham by Neal Stephenson.

I also liked his novel Scow Crush!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:21 PM on October 6, 2008 [4 favorites]


Was it a post on Pharyngula? P-Zed liked snow crash, did not like the first half of Anathem.

I am waiting for it to show up in a used book place.
posted by dirty lies at 9:24 PM on October 6, 2008


Step 3 PROFIT amirite?
posted by GuyZero at 11:05 PM on October 6, 2008


I also liked his novel Scow Crush!

Scow Crush sucks. You should read Quacksalver.
posted by Skyanth at 12:10 AM on October 7, 2008


Can't believe I posted such a lie just to make a joke. Sorry, Neal! I loved Snow Crash! Please don't hit me!
posted by Skyanth at 12:11 AM on October 7, 2008


Like the OP, I remembered this post and wanted to find it after I finished the book. It took a while for me to find the thread because the only tags attached to the post were physics, philosophy and books... nothing about nealstephenson, anathem, etc.

I realize there are a lot of problems with allowing non-OP members to add tags to a post (batshitinsane editorializing, for instance). But tags overall have been a blessing, especially with site search being so hit-or-miss. This post is a case where allowing users to back-tag would really have come in handy.
posted by infinitewindow at 5:12 AM on October 7, 2008


Is 'google-fu' going the route of 'hacking,' where the bar just keeps getting lower and lower until eventually I'm hacking my sleep by hitting the snooze button and using my google-fu to type a single word into a search bar?
posted by box at 6:03 AM on October 7, 2008 [1 favorite]


Is 'google-fu' going the route of 'hacking,'

Well, to be fair, 'google-fu' was a stupid word to begin with.
posted by signal at 6:23 AM on October 7, 2008


I liked his Cryptocominon.

It was all brainy and shit.
posted by quin at 7:05 AM on October 7, 2008 [1 favorite]


Your post is very emphatic–EMPHATIC!–about its emphases.
posted by Mister_A at 7:27 AM on October 7, 2008


I realize there are a lot of problems with allowing non-OP members to add tags to a post

Mutual contacts can add tags to each others' posts. Start making friends!
posted by carsonb at 7:42 AM on October 7, 2008


Scow Crush sucks. You should read Quacksalver.

Dude, you misspelled Quackslaver. If you had included the subtitle (Tales of the Rabid Duck) you would have known that.
posted by The Bellman at 7:50 AM on October 7, 2008 [2 favorites]


This post is a case where allowing users to back-tag would really have come in handy.

Anyone who is a mutual contact can tag a post anywhere on the site and you can always email/im one of us and we'll add relevant tags. I just added them to that post, thanks for the tip.

I'd write more but I'm off to Crypto-Comic-Con, if I can figure out this damned invitation....
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:53 AM on October 7, 2008 [3 favorites]


Is this Joe Biden?
posted by Neiltupper at 8:03 AM on October 7, 2008


Hah! Crypto-Comic-Con! I am putting the Moby Dork tag on this whole thread.

MOBY DORK</blink
posted by Mister_A at 9:15 AM on October 7, 2008


Dudes I totally meant to not close that tag, FYI. That's how I roll.
posted by Mister_A at 9:16 AM on October 7, 2008


Ok. So, lets get two things straight-

If you continue to abuse grammar and punctuation in this way on this site I will get in my time machine, hunt down your ancestors and eat their young.
posted by loquacious at 9:25 AM on October 7, 2008 [1 favorite]


Is this Joe Biden?

Is that you, Joe Biden? Is this me?
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:30 AM on October 7, 2008


Apologies for the bad spelling and posting-while-drunk....

Thankyou all, now back to the lurking...
posted by spongeboy at 10:00 AM on October 7, 2008


Is this Joe Biden?

No, spongeboy is Neal Stephenson. Sales are down and Neal thought this would be a good way to get them back up again by dredging up a dormant thread. Nice try Stephenson, you early got us this time.

PS: I have no evidence of this.
posted by Pollomacho at 10:42 AM on October 7, 2008


He did indeed early get us, Pallomucho.
posted by Mister_A at 12:37 PM on October 7, 2008


Girl
You early got me now
You got me so I can't
Sleep in late

posted by cortex (staff) at 1:05 PM on October 7, 2008


Anyone who is a mutual contact... [snipped]

Oh, that's cool, didn't know about that. Thanks!
posted by infinitewindow at 1:09 PM on October 7, 2008


I think we all agree that Zodiack! -- his book about Cathy, the compulsive shopper / Greenpeace activist -- really isn't very good.
posted by The corpse in the library at 1:20 PM on October 7, 2008


Did the blink tag go away?

Ceci n'est pas une unset VCR: 12:00 PM
posted by Pronoiac at 1:48 PM on October 7, 2008


Are you in IE? It doesn't work in IE.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:50 PM on October 7, 2008


It's better than The Big Q, though. Why'd he have to ruin a perfectly serviceable Animal House story with all that Bond gadgetry?
posted by box at 1:52 PM on October 7, 2008


cortex: Yes. This might not be a bad thing.
posted by Pronoiac at 2:09 PM on October 7, 2008


Using amazingly advanced video to text technology to make this comment, this actually is an unset VCR:

12:00 pm
posted by quin at 2:23 PM on October 7, 2008


I'm sad: Chrome doesn't support blink! (Firefox does. Go figure.)
posted by epersonae at 3:50 PM on October 7, 2008


A real Stephenson post would imitate his inability to properly write an endi
posted by waraw at 4:49 PM on October 7, 2008


More trivia: I checked, blink works in Firefox, but not in (Mobile) Safari.

Allegedly, Opera supports it. Also: 'The inventor of the blink tag, Lou Montulli, has said repeatedly in interviews that he considers the blink tag to be "The worst thing I've ever done for the Internet."'
posted by Pronoiac at 8:53 AM on October 8, 2008


I finished the book a while ago. And by the way, this post itself reveals some of the key stuff in the book. So thanks.
posted by delmoi at 5:14 PM on November 1, 2008


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