Happy fourth birthday!

November 17, 2008 11:11 AM

Happy birthday to us - four years old today!

18th November 2004 was the date that new accounts were made available again, after more than two years of no new signups* & enforced lurking for many of us.

For others who came in from the cold on that day, birthday donuts all round!**

* (apparently, there was some deal with 20 accounts per day - barely publicised & involving some arcane game of chance like trying at the stroke of midday, American time)

** (bring your own donuts)

posted by UbuRoivas to MetaFilter-related at 11:11 AM (94 comments total)

noobs
posted by timeistight at 11:12 AM on November 17, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

11/18 is my dad's birthday and Mefi's birthday is my wife's birthday. This is a little bit disturbing.
posted by jonmc at 11:19 AM on November 17, 2008

* (apparently, there was some deal with 20 accounts per day - barely publicised & involving some arcane game of chance like trying at the stroke of midday, American time)

Stickler but the 20 accounts per day was how membership worked pre the 2 year close in new memberships. And there was an attempt to reopen membership in April of 04 that resulted in over 100 new accounts registered when only 20 were suppose to be opened. And then the November peeps showed up. And don't forget all the people who were given accounts, who asked nicely for accounts, cracked the new account code, and other such things during the closed membership phase...
posted by Stynxno at 11:24 AM on November 17, 2008

Yaaaaay, congrats to all my fellow 11/18 $5 n00bs!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 11:30 AM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

yaaaay
posted by ludwig_van at 11:32 AM on November 17, 2008

Let them eat cake.
posted by netbros at 11:33 AM on November 17, 2008

This royal throne of kings, this sceptered isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in a silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this Community Weblog,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Feared by their breed and famous by their birth
posted by plexi at 11:36 AM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

My birthday isn't until tomorrow. Do I still get to have cake today?
posted by WinnipegDragon at 11:38 AM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Eternal November.
posted by yhbc at 11:40 AM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I understand that it's November 18 in some parts of the planet, but considering it was at 4AM EST (or 1AM PST, Mathowie's local time) that the MeTa thread was posted, we still have 10½ shopping hours remaining. Quit jumping the gun!
posted by Plutor at 11:41 AM on November 17, 2008

GODDAMN YOU HTML
posted by Plutor at 11:41 AM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Happy NewDay, littermates!
posted by Meatbomb at 11:44 AM on November 17, 2008

Quit jumping the gun!

sorry, donuts and/or cake are involved.

i might go for an aussie donut, with pineapple & beetroot.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:44 AM on November 17, 2008

Wow, I can't believe it has been four years. I had been lurking for a year or so and saw the post on Monkeychat MonkeyFilter hustled over here and thought up a username in 1.2 seconds. Best five bucks I ever spent online.

I'm surprised TPS was from the class of 11/18/04. I thought you were here when I got here. Actually, I guess based on our user numbers I was here first. :P

This brings to mind what may be my first experience with Metafilter and definitely my first exposure to goatse. Was there a thread or day when everyone figured out there was an account with user name: login and password: password and everyone went nuts posting really heinous stuff? Does anyone else recall this or is it some fever dream I had?

Cheers to everyone.
posted by marxchivist at 11:46 AM on November 17, 2008

To clarify, by "this," I mean joining Metafilter, nothing to do with TPS mentioned in above paragraph.
posted by marxchivist at 11:48 AM on November 17, 2008

Goddamnit, everything doesn't revolve around Australia! It's a global community man, for some of us it isn't even the 18th yet.

Lousy Australia-centric point of view.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:49 AM on November 17, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Bucket of cocks for all my friends!
posted by Mister_A at 11:54 AM on November 17, 2008

apparently, there was some deal with 20 accounts per day - barely publicised & involving some arcane game of chance like trying at the stroke of midday, American time

Spoken like one of the Unanointed. When the Ritual is Complete, we Aprilers will have little need of your kind any more.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:55 AM on November 17, 2008

I got lost trying to find my way out of the womb and it wound up taking me four extra days to emerge. But November 22nd, 2004 is still a hallowed day in my books.
posted by googly at 11:58 AM on November 17, 2008

marxchivist: Yeah. There was a login account.

Got goatse'd at work. :(
posted by ODiV at 11:59 AM on November 17, 2008

Yay me! Where's my present? Cake?
posted by Lola_G at 12:02 PM on November 17, 2008

To mathowie: Thanks for opening up registration!

To everyone else: You're welcome.

Sincerely,

The $5 noobs
posted by shmegegge at 12:03 PM on November 17, 2008

2004 seems like an eon ago.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 12:24 PM on November 17, 2008

Wow, looking at that thread ODiV referenced, just Matt all by himself, dealing with buttheads on his site, the server being some wheezy old computer in his closet. We've come a long way. Now the site performs much better and Matt has people to help him deal with the buttheads.
posted by marxchivist at 12:25 PM on November 17, 2008

wow, mefi and i share a birthday! never noticed that before. rad.
posted by capnsue at 12:33 PM on November 17, 2008

In many hundreds of generations, after thermonuclear war and other as yet unknown toxins ravage the human genome, human sperm will be resilient to temperature changes and thus testicles will not need to develop outside of the body. Brave new world, indeed!

Oh, sorry. Happy birthday!
posted by Burhanistan at 12:34 PM on November 17, 2008

Nanner, nanner, I got in when the gettin' in was free!

I gave Matt some cash later when the donations spot went up.

So are all us old curmudgeons just going to refer to it as 11/18 in the same way folks just call it 9/11?
posted by Pollomacho at 12:51 PM on November 17, 2008

$5 Noob Pride!
posted by Miko at 12:51 PM on November 17, 2008

Today is my birthday, but I'm a MeFi Nooner baby.
Oh, and I hate cake. You all can have my cake. Gimme beer.
posted by Floydd at 1:03 PM on November 17, 2008

My birthday isn't until tomorrow. Do I still get to have cake today?

The rule is, cake tomorrow and cake yesterday - but never cake today.
posted by creeky at 1:23 PM on November 17, 2008

One could pay five dollars to bypass the complexities of getting an account, prior to the general opening of accounts at five dollars a pop. That's how I did it (and I believe it was my maiden Paypal voyage, too).
posted by padraigin at 1:24 PM on November 17, 2008

Another MeFi related birthday- MonkeyFilter turns 5 today! Appropriately enough, it was started for the purpose of entertaining those of us who longed for a MetaFilter account, but couldn't get one for love or money. By the time MeFi flung open its doors to the great unwashed, MoFi had established its own identity and many Monkeys were happy enough with the Simian Clone that they stuck around even after they had ponied up the $5 to join the Blue. Four years later, MonkeyFilter is still chugging along (even if the daily post count has declined of late).

Happy Birthday n00bs, from all of us Monkeys!
posted by redhanrahan at 1:26 PM on November 17, 2008

Happy Mefday, my cohort! I hope you're all enjoying this seemingly endless $5 fun ride.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 1:28 PM on November 17, 2008

I knew I signed up as soon as I heard it was possible, but I never realized that it was the actual first day of sign-ups. Cool. There were lots of us!
posted by peep at 1:43 PM on November 17, 2008

You know, I was sure I was one of you, but then I looked at my profile and apparently I joined in 2002, so, um, fuck you guys, I'm super cool.
posted by kbanas at 1:46 PM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

It was the greatest day of my life. I need to get out more.
posted by bayliss at 1:48 PM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Ahhh, to have that fresh n00b feeling all day. [sniffing sweatshirt] Yep, still there!
posted by not_on_display at 1:54 PM on November 17, 2008

Probably the most entertaining $5 I've spent.
posted by octothorpe at 2:13 PM on November 17, 2008

(apparently, there was some deal with 20 accounts per day - barely publicised & involving some arcane game of chance like trying at the stroke of midday, American time)

This is how I got an account. I managed to sneak in on my third try, I think. And then I ran around my apartment shouting "glory be, I have a MetaFilter account!", much to my wife's amusement. Now, 6+ years later, I still have my MetaFilter account, but the wife is long gone. I don't think these two facts have something to do with each other, though.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 2:19 PM on November 17, 2008

And as Australians, Ubu and I shall be lobbying Parliament to implement a national public holiday on this date.
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:24 PM on November 17, 2008

Yay us!
posted by brundlefly at 2:24 PM on November 17, 2008

Marnie Stern is fucking wicked good btw.
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:25 PM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Bah, it took me until November 26th to get an account. I blame the Icelandic pony express. That, and I had never been a true lurker. I got into MeFi through my ex-husband (Kattullus) and when he got an account, I got one too. I don't know what HIS excuse is for not being in right on the 18th though. I'm sure it's a lousy one.

IT'S A LONGBOAT FULL OF $5 N00BS! WE HAVE CAKE!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 2:29 PM on November 17, 2008

We're celebrating Metafilter's Eternal September? Jesus. Fucking n00bs.
posted by eyeballkid at 2:43 PM on November 17, 2008

We improve your life and give you something to look forward to as you compulsively reload the homepage. Admit it.
posted by ardgedee at 2:47 PM on November 17, 2008

And as Australians, Ubu and I shall be lobbying Parliament to implement a national public holiday on this date.

Yes - we should be able to get it past the Communications Minister with ease.

He'll think MetaFilter is something to do with the proposed ISP-level filtering that he believes will somehow work, against the advice of, well, everybody who knows anything about the internet.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:57 PM on November 17, 2008

Exactly! He could look back on it in his twilight years and remember it fondly as the day he castrated an entire nation.
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:03 PM on November 17, 2008

I feel so young.

(Two years and five months, grr.)
posted by Phire at 3:12 PM on November 17, 2008

happy happy
posted by exlotuseater at 3:23 PM on November 17, 2008

(and it only took me four years to make 1003 comments, most of which are not as clever, insightful, or nearly as intelligent as I would have them be.)
posted by exlotuseater at 3:25 PM on November 17, 2008

wait, 1004.
posted by exlotuseater at 3:25 PM on November 17, 2008

damnit 1005, no wait.
posted by exlotuseater at 3:25 PM on November 17, 2008

math is hard. I am not makiing fine distinctions that ought to be made. 1804 including this one, askme, meta, and mefi.

see? I try to be clever and make a fool of yourself.












on purpose.
posted by exlotuseater at 3:29 PM on November 17, 2008

Happy birthday to all of my 18K brethren, whoever you are.
posted by doctor_negative at 3:41 PM on November 17, 2008

I'm embarrassed that I don't get to join in on the celebration, seeing as I didn't discover sign-ups had opened until 12 days and 2500 user IDs later. I'm ashamed of my lack of commitment to Sparkle Motion.
posted by team lowkey at 3:54 PM on November 17, 2008

How Quaint.

I remember back when you had to wait until midnight during an uphill snowstorm while nude and barefoot, and click and sign up and hope you were one of the chosen 5.

Seems just like yesterday.
posted by Eekacat at 4:09 PM on November 17, 2008

Oh neat. I'm one of those fi'dolla n00bs.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 4:13 PM on November 17, 2008

Filthy filthy noobs.

At least you aren't as bad as the 50kers. Usually.
posted by CunningLinguist at 4:24 PM on November 17, 2008

I just want to say that the 80k group started out with great promise but then really sucked hard.
posted by Mister_A at 4:53 PM on November 17, 2008

Yay (most of) us!
posted by pompomtom at 4:54 PM on November 17, 2008

I was there. And I haven't really left since.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:58 PM on November 17, 2008

And so the great $5 experiment came to a bittersweet close. Then: the mass bannings.
posted by cortex at 5:31 PM on November 17, 2008

Aww! What a bunch of cute little noobs. So what candy do you want: the chewy stuff that will pull out your fillings, or the chewy stuff that will pull out your fillings? (Hey, it's all that I have left from Halloween.)
posted by maudlin at 5:34 PM on November 17, 2008

I got in for free-eeeee. Neener neener neener!
posted by deborah at 5:59 PM on November 17, 2008

To this day, I have no idea how I got my account.
posted by prosthezis at 5:59 PM on November 17, 2008

statgods: how many 14kers are left rocking?
posted by bonaldi at 6:08 PM on November 17, 2008

Oh fuck yeah, happy b-day to the teeming masses of barbarians, myself included, who streamed over the great golden $5 gate and invaded the helpless, fertile villages of MeFiLand!
posted by baphomet at 6:12 PM on November 17, 2008

marxchivist: Yeah. There was a login account.

Is it my imagination, or is the wanker ratio in that thread awfully high. I mean "we have accounts and you don't, neener neener."

Really?
posted by maxwelton at 6:21 PM on November 17, 2008

We are the new aristocracy of Metafilter.
posted by Rumple at 6:26 PM on November 17, 2008

jonmc: "11/18 is my dad's birthday and Mefi's birthday is my wife's birthday. This is a little bit disturbing."

You think you have problems? My mom and 4 of my friends have birthdays on 11/18.
posted by IndigoRain at 6:34 PM on November 17, 2008

Today is the 30th anniversary of the Fumble or the Miracle at the Meadowlands. (See item #2)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:50 PM on November 17, 2008

I had a free Metafilter account 75 million years ago. Because of Xenu, I had to pay $5 in 2004.
posted by lukemeister at 8:00 PM on November 17, 2008

that was a happy day indeed.
posted by beandip at 8:15 PM on November 17, 2008

sweet, finally a reason for me to post something on the grey.

Okay, back to lurking.
posted by dismitree at 9:14 PM on November 17, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

I made it through that day. Jeez, I was surprised.

And my birthday is the same as Metafilter's.

17K forevaz.
posted by Bdave at 9:16 PM on November 17, 2008

The 18kers were a fine, fine vintage.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:58 PM on November 17, 2008

This is the day I signed up. It brought to an end many frustrating months of lurking. Of course, since then my fear of "the snark" has prevented me from posting or commenting, but at least the option is now there.
posted by MrMustard at 12:17 AM on November 18, 2008

four years old today!

Feels like forty.

/yet another Nov 18ther

The 18kers were a fine, fine vintage.

Sir is too kind.
posted by Wolof at 12:18 AM on November 18, 2008

A day that shall live forever in infamy.


Oh, and happy anniverserary or whatever, you unwashed hordes.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 1:13 AM on November 18, 2008

Thank you stavros. Easily the best $5 I have ever spent and well worth the lurking wait.
There used to be a Donation page but I can't find it; does it still exist? I'll happily give some more for this much fun and I don't need any more sock puppets.
posted by adamvasco at 1:25 AM on November 18, 2008

As the five d'AOLlar tsunami curled high above their little hilltop retreat, the merry little band of pranksters watched their little Happening morph into the Sturgis of the aether, like a Dr. Edward Morbius's Million Monsters of the Id March.

But the end had come long before the barbarians got to the gate....

--when rodii flashed us with his man breasts. The seers among us knew it was all downhill from there.
posted by y2karl at 4:39 AM on November 18, 2008

The cake is a lie.
posted by shiu mai baby at 4:57 AM on November 18, 2008

statgods: how many 14kers are left rocking?

All of us. We may or may not be hitting "Post," but we're all rocking.

Oh yeah, and you n00bs are great!
posted by languagehat at 6:15 AM on November 18, 2008

MrMustard,

Embrace the snark. Turn it back against thine enemies and dance upon their corpses.

If that doesn't work, resort to LOLcats.
posted by lukemeister at 7:12 AM on November 18, 2008

I wash! All the time!
posted by everichon at 8:08 AM on November 18, 2008

Some kinds of "dirty" never wash off.
posted by Pollomacho at 8:30 AM on November 18, 2008

Signups were closed? When was this?
posted by fidelity at 11:27 AM on November 18, 2008

Four years for me on MeFi, as of today. Wow, how time flies.
posted by ericb at 1:37 PM on November 18, 2008

If I recall correctly, I think I managed to squeeze in during one of those arcane moments. Regardless, happy birthday to the re-opening of sign-ups for a fee!
posted by ktrey at 8:46 PM on November 18, 2008

Signups were closed? When was this?

It was a dark time, a blue biennial when no one could see the way forward. But when Barack spoke that summer, mathowie dared to hope again.
posted by lukemeister at 9:02 PM on November 18, 2008

Birthday for Mickey Mouse too (80).
posted by tellurian at 10:30 PM on November 18, 2008

IndigoRainMe: "jonmc: "11/18 is my dad's birthday and Mefi's birthday is my wife's birthday. This is a little bit disturbing."

You think you have problems? My mom and 4 of my friends have birthdays on 11/18."

that was meant to be a lot more lighthearted than it sounded!

Happy anniversary!
posted by IndigoRain at 10:58 PM on November 18, 2008

I'm starting a Mefi National Party which will oppose anybody with a user number higher than 11806, as dangerous threats to our Mefi culture and lifestyle.
Seriously, do you know how much the mefi pay rate has dropped since all you people got here?
posted by signal at 10:16 AM on November 19, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Heh,
I remember when it was a topic of discussion about whether or not registration should be opened. If I remember correctly Stavrosthewonderchicken and languagehat, amongst others, were early and ardent supporters of opening registration for which I am grateful.

It's interesting to note that the people that advocated new membership are still here and those that opposed it are mostly departed. Metafilter might be a phase for those that love it too much.

It is more interesting to note that once I got commenting privileges I found the need to comment reduced. I've polluted MeFi not much since 4 years ago. I used to scream silently at the blue, frustrated that I couldn't be heard. Now that I know I can comment it seems less necessary.

I remember well and with some frustration that during the debate about how or whether to open membership someone proposed that an essay contest (with themselves as a member of the committee of judges of course) be the entrance exam for membership. Below, in it's entirety, plagiarized and unedited please find my essay.



I hope your head falls off.
posted by vapidave at 8:59 PM on November 19, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]