MeFi > NYT October 7, 2008 5:14 PM   Subscribe

MetaFilter, on the other hand, fixed its site within two days of being told about it…

“It was just about the nicest way imaginable to be notified of a security hole,” MetaFilter founder Matthew Haughey said in an e-mail. “[Zeller] ... explained to me how he got access and how he took over another account.”
posted by oaf to MetaFilter-Related at 5:14 PM (37 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite

This explains a lot.

Any comments supposedly by me that haven't been outstandingly witty or insightful were actually made by a hacker. Especially the extremely offensive ones. Christ, that hacker's an asshole.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:59 PM on October 7, 2008 [5 favorites]


Yeah. All of my snark in AskMe that jessamyn hates on - same hacker. (Except for the really really witty ones. Sorry about those ones.)
posted by allkindsoftime at 6:19 PM on October 7, 2008


Migs!
posted by cgc373 at 6:35 PM on October 7, 2008 [2 favorites]


Previously.
posted by Rhomboid at 6:45 PM on October 7, 2008




Previously.

D'oh. I looked through recent titles and nothing caught my eye.
posted by oaf at 7:48 PM on October 7, 2008


MetaFilter: So much better than YouTube.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:45 PM on October 7, 2008


You'd think the Daily Princetonian would know the difference between the London Times and the New York Times. Half-educated lackwits.
posted by stet at 9:01 PM on October 7, 2008


stet, what are you talking about?
posted by oaf at 9:05 PM on October 7, 2008


I am being hacked right now. FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!
posted by Artw at 9:23 PM on October 7, 2008 [1 favorite]


Princeton? Princteon Community College? Where's that?
posted by bardic at 9:46 PM on October 7, 2008


*yeesh, can't even spell today. If it's not obvious already, I didn't go to Princeton.
posted by bardic at 9:46 PM on October 7, 2008


I too would like to plead Hacker, particularly with regards to any and all instances in which the phrase "mod douches" might have been used.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:17 AM on October 8, 2008


Yes, my "fucktard" period in late 2006 is completely the result of hackage.
posted by Mister_A at 7:51 AM on October 8, 2008


Hi everyone, The Hacker here! I've appropriated this account to take this opportunity to introduce myself and let everyone know that I'll be happy to take the blame for any future comments you make while angry or drunk. See, I'm completely anonymous, and able to leap from account to account, so you'll never know if the incoherent rant your are seeing from a long time user is due to actual rage, overuse of illegal drugs, or just me having some fun.

I like to call this my "deniablity service". It's there for you, whenever you screw up, just remember this phrase: "I don't know what your talking about, I wasn't even near a computer last night... it must have been The Hacker!"

When in doubt, say my name and deflect all suspicion.

posted by quin at 8:52 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


oaf, the full name of the newspaper commonly referred to as the London Times is, in entirety, "The Times." The full name of the NYT is the "New York Times." The first paper to use the name "The Times" was the London Times and, as such, referring to any other paper as "The Times" is just plain wrong.

This is *extremely* pedantic, but that's just how I roll.
posted by stet at 8:58 AM on October 8, 2008


* imagines stet picking up a triangle of cucumber sandwich from a fine wedgewood china plate & nibbling at it, with pinky finger raised *
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:25 AM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


I'll have to plead guilty to the hacker thing, too. Every post that any of you have liked in the last few years has been done by me after I hacked accounts. By my count, all but three of the favorites marked in that time are for my work.
posted by joaquim at 9:41 AM on October 8, 2008


referring to any other paper as "The Times" is just plain wrong

You have no idea what you're talking about.
posted by oaf at 1:23 PM on October 8, 2008


You have no idea what you're talking about.

No, he's absolutely correct, if (as he says) pedantic. The Times should refer only to the U.K. paper; if you're referring colloquially to some other paper, that would be printed "the Times."
posted by languagehat at 2:06 PM on October 8, 2008


No, he's absolutely correct, if (as he says) pedantic.

His user name is amusing, too.
posted by mwhybark at 2:27 PM on October 8, 2008


These tiny little sandwiches are fucking delicious.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:07 PM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


he's absolutely correct

He is completely wrong about the Prince having referred to any other paper but the NYT. Nowhere in the article is "The Times" (with both words capitalized) used. He's getting outraged, but he's the one who's making the mistake.
posted by oaf at 3:11 PM on October 8, 2008


Ninth paragraph down they say "the Times" and I'll concede that it's not capitalized but it's still a pet peeve of mine. I shall further concede that I may have gone off half-cocked but I think that referring to the NYT as the Times is sloppy. However, languagehat agrees with me and I consider him to be a canonical reference.

Further evidence of my outrage may be found here where I tackle some persistent myths regarding the song "take this job and shove it" and here where I condemn Bach's bastard system of equal temperament.

I read ubu's comment about finger sandwiches after I'd come in from shoveling a load of chickenshit onto one of my compost piles, so that amused me.

However, if there's one lesson I'd like to impart for the ages, it is do *not* under *any* circumstances name yourself anything having to do with proofreading or editing. It guarantees that you will be plagued with typos unto the end of days. YMMV.
posted by stet at 4:15 PM on October 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


I shall further concede that I may have gone off half-cocked but I think that referring to the NYT as the Times is sloppy.

It's also the preferred usage in most of North America. If you want to be sure that people know you're talking about the one, you have to say The Times of London. Otherwise, in the eastern half of the U.S., "the Times" generally means the one in New York, unless your local paper is also called the Times, and doubly so if you've already been talking about the NYT.
posted by oaf at 4:36 PM on October 8, 2008


the one in England
posted by oaf at 4:36 PM on October 8, 2008


If you want to be sure that people know you're talking about the one, you have to say The Times of London. Otherwise, in the eastern half of the U.S., "the Times" generally means the one in New York

This is also correct (except that The in "The Times" should either be ital or lowercase). Unfortunately, far too often, instead of writing "the Times of London" (or The Times of London), people write "The London Times," which pisses off everybody who knows anything about newspapers.
posted by languagehat at 4:49 PM on October 8, 2008


In school I would go out of my way to mention the Times in my writing so I could refer to it as the London Times. I suppose it should really be The London Times. In fact, I think I'll go with that from now on.
posted by stet at 5:10 PM on October 8, 2008


people write "The London Times," which pisses off everybody who knows anything about newspapers.

Absolutely! Anybody who knows anything about the paper knows that it shifted from London proper (Fleet Street) to Wapping more than 20 years ago.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:28 PM on October 8, 2008


do *not* under *any* circumstances name yourself anything having to do with proofreading or editing. It guarantees that you will be plagued with typos unto the end of days.

See? Amusing!

Speaking as a left-coaster, my default assumption on seeing a non-localized Times citation is to the New Jack varietal, nor City nor City of Angels.

However, having worked in the yentertainment yournalism racket I was schooled in two things:

A) S-c-o-r- s -e-s-e, not S-c-o-r- c -e-s-e

B) Los Angeles Times, not L. A. Times

So I think the Times v. Times thing is probably US-ian v. not-USian. Canadians, is there a Times up upon the frozen tundras of your wide land? Persons of subcontinental Indian extraction, is a non-localized Times in your broadsheets and narrow columns understood as that of India or of that city on the Thames?
posted by mwhybark at 9:56 PM on October 8, 2008


pass the motherfucking tiny sandwiches, cortex. I am motherfucking hungry.
posted by mwhybark at 10:02 PM on October 8, 2008


no, you have to eat them fresh, at elevenses or tiffin.

once the cucumber juices soak into the bread, you wouldn't even feed one to a native.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:13 PM on October 8, 2008


I suppose it should really be The London Times.

If you're going to go that route, it should be The (London) Times.
posted by languagehat at 6:28 AM on October 9, 2008


Times, Schmimes. Just take it outside and take turns slapping each other in the face with white gloves.
posted by chillmost at 6:45 AM on October 9, 2008


A gentleman does not wear white gloves after Labor Day.
posted by languagehat at 8:59 AM on October 9, 2008 [1 favorite]


Mickey Mouse ain't no gennelman.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:30 AM on October 9, 2008


Course not. E'ry one knows he's a gennelmouse.
posted by quin at 9:56 AM on October 9, 2008


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