Mind Performance Hack

January 18, 2009 7:04 PM

• An entry in 1001 Computer Words You Need to Know
• The Metafilter process, which is the subject of many patents, is based upon the filtration of the solution through a layer of very fine filtering material... used for, among other things, making beer
• Metafilter: adventures in zero budget usability
• The use of Ask MeFi cited as a "Mind Performance Hack"
• Actor Wil Wheaton whining about feeling rejected
• Mention of the 2003 Laurie Garrett Affair from the book The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet
• An interview with the intrepid author of librarian.net

... just a few of the fascinating tidbits unearthed by a Google Books search for the term "Metafilter".
posted by XMLicious to MetaFilter-Related at 7:04 PM (80 comments total)

Metafascinating.
posted by R. Mutt at 7:27 PM on January 18, 2009

Tsk. You guys were mean to Wesley?
posted by CKmtl at 7:52 PM on January 18, 2009

I like this Reuters report from 2000:

"I've never considered my site a Web log," said Matt Haughey, who created Haughey.com. He recently launched MetaFilter (http://www.metafilter.com), which is a site that allows other Internet users to develop their own daily Weblog.

posted by cashman at 7:59 PM on January 18, 2009

Man, I had no idea that Wil Wheaton was so very very angry. I mean, all caps in a book is pretty serious. That's like, time cube angry.
posted by Deathalicious at 8:14 PM on January 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

Hmm. I always kind of wondered why Wil Wheaton wasn't a member. He would really fit in well. Looks like someone turned him off to the site early on. Shame.
posted by team lowkey at 8:16 PM on January 18, 2009

See here; can you blame him?
posted by PercussivePaul at 8:17 PM on January 18, 2009

Where is the wil wheaton book search result?
posted by empath at 8:18 PM on January 18, 2009

The LawMeme discussion of the Laurie Garret thang from the WayBack.
posted by waraw at 8:19 PM on January 18, 2009

Wheaton's quote from Just a Geek:

Some dude at metafilter says "I'm too good" to join them. Yeah, I can't wait to get into that shit. Please, can I join your little club, so you can hold me up to further vilifcation, without ever getting to know me? Can I PLEASE spend even LESS time with my family, sitting here at this computer, so I can try to change the minds of people who are going to judge me no matter what, without EVER walking an inch in my shoes?

But, yeah, Metafilter was pretty nasty to him. Here's the comment, and this turned out to be rather prescient ...
posted by WCityMike at 8:22 PM on January 18, 2009

Jeez. More like Wil Whaaaaaton.
posted by turgid dahlia at 8:45 PM on January 18, 2009 [2 favorites]

Hmm, muppetboy's comments are interesting in that 2003 Laurie Garrett post.
posted by Combustible Edison Lighthouse at 8:48 PM on January 18, 2009

f. that crap. I'm doing the same thing I always do when a new Google search capability is brought to my attention... Dammit, howforcome I'm not mentioned in more books...? Oh yeah...
posted by jkaczor at 8:50 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

LEAVE WIL WHEATON ALONE
posted by BitterOldPunk at 9:01 PM on January 18, 2009 [3 favorites]

Dude's obviously more than redeemed himself — or, rather, his horrible not-his-fault Star Trek character — and done some pretty cool shit over the years.

Shame he bears a grudge against online dipshits.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:19 PM on January 18, 2009

Deathalicious: "Man, I had no idea that Wil Wheaton was so very very angry. I mean, all caps in a book is pretty serious. That's like, time cube angry."

Well, I'm pretty sure that first book was mainly a collection of his early blog posts (the post in question). That had to be pretty rough putting himself back out there with all the Die, Wesley, Die! shit he got.
posted by team lowkey at 9:31 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Where is the wil wheaton book search result?

The bullets are hyperlinks. Took me a while, too.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:48 PM on January 18, 2009

Wesley always seemed like an alright guy to me. Against Prop 8, too. Don't his Star Trek writers deserve the fist-shaking more?
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 9:51 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

That 'Too good' thing was obviously not malicious - the commenter makes that abundantly clear in a follow-up.

I realize Wheaton probably had to put up with a lot of shit, but he had to be pretty tone-deaf or looking for a reason to be pissy to interpret that the way he did.

I enjoyed his work and never harbored any Wesley-related resentment - shit, how many of us would have killed for the experience he had? - but reading that I come away with a slightly lower opinion of the guy, even if it was eight years ago.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:55 PM on January 18, 2009

MetaFilter: I'm too good to join you.
posted by not_on_display at 10:11 PM on January 18, 2009

Alvy Ampersand: "That 'Too good' thing was obviously not malicious - the commenter makes that abundantly clear in a follow-up.

I realize Wheaton probably had to put up with a lot of shit, but he had to be pretty tone-deaf or looking for a reason to be pissy to interpret that the way he did."

True. Actually, the majority of that thread seems to be defending him. But when the post starts with lame kid/lame adult/lame website, it's not surprising he wouldn't give it a very judicious reading.
posted by team lowkey at 10:27 PM on January 18, 2009

But, yeah, Metafilter was pretty nasty to him.

And the more I think about Wheaton referring to himself as "your uncle Willie", the less sympathy I have for him.
posted by orange swan at 10:30 PM on January 18, 2009

The Laurie Garret bullet link is giving me Handbook of Industrial Electroplating, not internet gossip.
posted by gingerbeer at 10:34 PM on January 18, 2009

The Laurie Garrett thing was hilarious. I'll never forget the way she signed up to chastise us for invading her privacy by reading her email someone had posted on the net and essentially told us we were all a bunch of losers who needed to get away from our computers and "execute a dream". [snarf] Good times.
posted by orange swan at 10:35 PM on January 18, 2009

The financial speculations in the Laurie Garrett FPP make for pretty interesting reading, particularly the discussion between muppetboy and dmt.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:48 PM on January 18, 2009

Ouch. If you go back to Wheaton's post before the "My Velouria" one, it becomes pretty easy to see why he might've been a bit sensitive around that time.
posted by Ms. Saint at 11:01 PM on January 18, 2009

That's too bad. I like Wil Wheaton, it would be pretty cool if he were actually a member of the site. Boo at pricks in the formative years of MeFi.
posted by Caduceus at 11:10 PM on January 18, 2009

Oops, the link on the bullet for the Laurie Garrett thing should be

http://books.google.com/books?id=42nJLWB0ztYC&pg=PA111&dq=metafilter&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES

...Sorry 'bout that, if an admin wants to fix it in the OP I'd appreciate it.
posted by XMLicious at 11:22 PM on January 18, 2009

Perhaps we could all chip in to send Mr. Wheaton a nice basket of fruit wrapped in cellophane... perhaps accompanied by aromatic soaps or bath salts... or some other appropriate giftie and include a card explaining that he's no longer too good, he's finally just good enough.
posted by XMLicious at 11:31 PM on January 18, 2009 [4 favorites]

Wil did a beautiful job with his PAX '07 keynote speech. The kid's okay in my book.
posted by sdodd at 11:33 PM on January 18, 2009 [1 favorite]

Wow.

Give that man a nobel prize.
posted by empath at 12:15 AM on January 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

Give that man a nobel prize.

Because he correctly called the '04 election?
i kid
posted by dawson at 1:07 AM on January 19, 2009

I've met Wil, and I like him, not because he's a former cast member of a well-known science fiction show, but he's a genuinely nice, friendly, open person. Frankly, even sharing a name with a Star Trek character is enough to make me grumpy, so I'm astonished that he's as good-natured a fellow as he is. The Web could use more like him.
posted by lore at 1:20 AM on January 19, 2009

Baaa!
/dead sheep
posted by Wolof at 1:29 AM on January 19, 2009

Yeah, I've never met him, but just based on his blog I believe he's a goodfella. So either he's truly decent, or a good enough writer to fool me. Either way... aces.
posted by team lowkey at 1:34 AM on January 19, 2009

That Wheaton thread was not our finest hour.
posted by Optamystic at 3:19 AM on January 19, 2009

Wil Wheaton gave me permission to zombify him for a comic book once -- and not only to kill him and turn him into a zombie, but to bring him back as a zombie celebrity in a way that thoroughly mocks his lack-of-celebrity status.

He gave me enthusiastic permission to kill him, zombify him and mock him. This puts him firmly in my "good guy with a healthy sense of humour" book.
posted by Shepherd at 4:23 AM on January 19, 2009 [4 favorites]

You what? YOU DROVE WIL WHEATON AWAY??!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 5:34 AM on January 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

I also like Wil Wheaton, someone email him and say sorry. Invite him over for adoration and tacos.
posted by fire&wings at 6:33 AM on January 19, 2009

Dude's obviously more than redeemed himself — or, rather, his horrible not-his-fault Star Trek character — and done some pretty cool shit over the years.

The worst part is that even during his Trek days, he wasn't a bad actor. Actually, he was quite good for a child actor. It's just that his role sucked. Hard.

Shame he bears a grudge against online dipshits.

Hah! Yeah, he obviously doesn't spend much time in online forums. My god. If I bothered to even notice who was rude to me on sites like Metafilter, I doubt I'd ever post at all. Still, occasionally during callout threads, I'll see people who will hold amazing grudges for months or even years - all over a few lines of text. Truly a level of obsessiveness of which even I am not capable.
posted by Afroblanco at 7:22 AM on January 19, 2009

Ouch. If you go back to Wheaton's post before the "My Velouria" one, it becomes pretty easy to see why he might've been a bit sensitive around that time.

True, that.

*Opinion of Wil Wheaton rises back to pre-January 18 2009 levels.*
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:24 AM on January 19, 2009

In a metaphoric battle between Wil Wheaton and MetaFilter with the prize being my esteem, I think Wil would probably win.

(I accidentally wrote that as MetaFitler at first. Typosterical.)
posted by DU at 7:27 AM on January 19, 2009

Yeah, he obviously doesn't spend much time in online forums.

Wil Wheaton is famous for spending a large amount of time online. He's like Mr Geek Actor.
posted by DU at 7:28 AM on January 19, 2009

Zømbie Wil Wheatøn once bit my sister. Nø rilly.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 7:45 AM on January 19, 2009 [4 favorites]

Wil Wheaton is famous for spending a large amount of time online.

But does he post to forums?
posted by Afroblanco at 7:46 AM on January 19, 2009

Give that man a nobel prize.

No kidding. He called this mess five years in advance. Hey, muppetboy, you still around? Drop some more wisdom on us! We need it!
posted by languagehat at 7:47 AM on January 19, 2009

But does he post to forums?

Uh, yes. He was a big Slashdotter back in mid-to-late 90s, for instance.
posted by DU at 8:03 AM on January 19, 2009

ok. I stand corrected.

(weird though, that he'd prefer slashdot to mefi. I refuse to contribute to Slashdot because I hate hate hate hate hate their mod point system. but I suppose that's neither here nor there.)
posted by Afroblanco at 8:11 AM on January 19, 2009

There was a guy at a cafe I used to hang out at who was also named Wil Wheaton (not sure if it was Will or Wil, actually). He was kind of a weird dude, had a lot of cash because of something his grandfather invented. He'd fairly regularly get fan mail intended for the decidedly more famous Wil Wheaton. The funny thing is cafe-sitting, non-famous Wil Wheaton was convinced that former-Wesley Wil Wheaton was getting fan mail intended for him, in this weird, egocentric "If I'm getting his mail, he must be getting mine!" type of logic.
posted by piratebowling at 8:13 AM on January 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

Sorry 'bout that, if an admin wants to fix it in the OP I'd appreciate it.

Garrett bullet link fixed.

I also like Wil Wheaton, someone email him and say sorry. Invite him over for adoration and tacos.

What with the recent entwittering of some of the TNG cast, maybe this is worth a shot.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:22 AM on January 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

weird though, that he'd prefer slashdot to mefi.

Not so weird in the mid-to-late 90s, if you think about it. Heh.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:23 AM on January 19, 2009

Heh. True.
posted by Afroblanco at 8:25 AM on January 19, 2009

Wow.

Give that man a nobel prize.
posted by empath at 3:15 AM on January 19 [2 favorites +] [!]

No kidding. Someone should sidebar that comment (new record: longest time gap to sidebar?). I knew things were sideways at about the same time, mostly from the ridiculous way that real estate markets were behaving in California and Vegas at the time, but that level of prescience is impressive.
posted by empyrean at 8:30 AM on January 19, 2009

Getting mad at someone for the fictional character they played on television is, like, insane. I . . . I wish I knew some better way to put that. But that's it.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:30 AM on January 19, 2009

You know who else was insane? That's right: Khaaaaaaaan!!!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:57 AM on January 19, 2009 [1 favorite]

Getting mad at someone for the fictional character they played on television is, like, insane. I . . . I wish I knew some better way to put that. But that's it.

I know, right? It's not like he was Lieutenant Tasha Yar. I hate her so much.

Anyone who got to write a monthly column in Dragon magazine is cool with me.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:57 AM on January 19, 2009 [2 favorites]

I know, right? It's not like he was Lieutenant Tasha Yar. I hate her so much.

No joke, at the Philly meetup last night, this very topic came up. I can't believe how cruel she was to Data.
posted by piratebowling at 9:18 AM on January 19, 2009

I can't believe how cruel she was to Data.

To be fair, she was repaid for her unkindness with the Least Dignified Star Trek Death Evar, followed by the Most Confusing And Least Sensible Character Resurrection Evar.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:24 AM on January 19, 2009

Anyone who got to write a monthly column in Dragon magazine is cool with me.

Dungeon, actually.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 9:50 AM on January 19, 2009

That Wheaton thread was not our finest hour.

Yea, no kidding. Wil has developed into a very good writer, and he has been really good in some of his recent acting gigs. To bad that the "Wesley Crusher, die, die" thing has followed him for so long and has cast such a shadow over his RL persona.
posted by gemmy at 9:55 AM on January 19, 2009

That Wil Wheaton sure does have a potty mouth.
posted by ericb at 9:57 AM on January 19, 2009

Forget this Wheaton dude, what's this about a Metafilter Ring?

Is it magic?
posted by The Whelk at 10:29 AM on January 19, 2009

One Ring to sniff them out
One Ring to scan them
One to self-linkers rout
And in the darkness ban them
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:09 AM on January 19, 2009 [6 favorites]

Mr. Wheaton prefers Fark and Slashdot to Metafilter because of a 9-year-old sneering FPP that would be rightfully deleted if it were made today. Good job, o2b.

Hey scalzi, can you let Wil know that this place isn't like that anymore?
posted by infinitewindow at 11:53 AM on January 19, 2009

Also, where else but Metafilter can you win a velociraptor? You know you want in on that action, Wil!
posted by Caduceus at 12:15 PM on January 19, 2009

I find this kind of interesting.

Back in the earlier days of rec.arts.int-fiction, Scott Adams (not the dilbert guy) turned up once and was abused to the point of retreating.

What is it about online quasi-celebrities that brings out the abuse? Is there some rabid not-as-famous gene that demands attention?
posted by Sparx at 1:08 PM on January 19, 2009

I'm a celebrity and nobody abuses me.

I am a celebrity, damn you.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:35 PM on January 19, 2009

Boo at pricks in the formative years of MeFi.

"Formative"?
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:27 PM on January 19, 2009

I'll abuse you, AZ!


....No, I just can't do it. You're too cute a zombie.
posted by languagehat at 2:45 PM on January 19, 2009

Astro Zombie, you ignorant slut.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 3:02 PM on January 19, 2009

"Formative"?

Formative: of, relating to, or characterized by formative effects or formation. <>formative years>

In this case used to describe the period of time shortly after Metafilter's creation when site policy was not as evolved as it is today (as such a post today would probably be deleted). If I've been writing a little less colloquially, I would have gone with "It's unfortunate that people were rude during the formative years of Metafilter, thus leaving a celebrity I like and respect with a bad taste in his mouth with regards to the site."

Incidentally, I initially assumed you were mocking my spelling, which is unkind, as I (embarrassingly) misspell things quite often enough without people making me think I've misspelled something when I haven't.
posted by Caduceus at 4:10 PM on January 19, 2009

No no, I know what "formative" means, I'm just saying, that's not the only time Metafilter has been populated by pricks.
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:45 PM on January 19, 2009

Oh, sorry. Totally misunderstood. Story of my life.
posted by Caduceus at 5:03 PM on January 19, 2009

ASTRO ZOMBIE IS SO FAT THAT WHEN HE GIVES ENTERTAINING REVIEWS AND ANALYSIS ALONG WITH SONG AND CREATIVE, ENGAGING FICTION, HE REALLY GIVES ENTERTAINING REVIEWS, ANALYSIS, SONGS AND ENGAGING FICTION!


too soon?
posted by The Whelk at 6:28 PM on January 19, 2009

Wow.

Give that man a nobel prize.

No kidding.
posted by carter at 7:09 PM on January 19, 2009

You what? YOU DROVE WIL WHEATON AWAY??!

Man, that seriously depresses me tonight.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:16 PM on January 19, 2009

Has he seen this thread yet?
posted by flatluigi at 11:57 PM on January 19, 2009

Kudos to Wil for building that frickin' hilarious auto-reply back in the day. eek humor, teehee dammit now I have a crush on him.
posted by dabitch at 1:54 AM on January 20, 2009

Sparx: What is it about online quasi-celebrities that brings out the abuse? Is there some rabid not-as-famous gene that demands attention?

Surely the canonical example being when Poppy Z Brite was banned from a Poppy Z Brite Childfree LJ community.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 2:58 AM on January 20, 2009

The mere existence of a book titled Buzz Marketing with Blogs For Dummies depresses me. Please, Buzz Marketing Dummies, do not come here.
posted by GuyZero at 1:48 PM on January 20, 2009

Oh, don't worry, they only go to blogs for dummies. I think the conclusion up above is that this is a blog for pricks.
posted by XMLicious at 3:55 PM on January 20, 2009