Queries from the hive mind August 11, 2009 3:33 PM Subscribe
I was experimenting with Google's search suggestions feature when I noticed that it gave some interesting results for "metafilter + [letter]". Since it returns the most popular search terms starting with that phrase, what you get for each letter is an A-Z listing of the most sought-after topics related to Metafilter. So without further ado, I give you... Metafilter A to Z.
(each search term links to my best guess of the most appropriate page for the query)
-A-
metafilter ask - humble AskMe, of course.
metafilter april fools - a reference to Mefi's annual April Fools joke, nicely summarized at the Mefi wiki.
metafilter ayn rand - Mefi's antipathy for the creator of Objectivism is probably best summed up by this 2005 thread commemorating the 100th year since her birth, though there are many other examples.
-B-
metafilter blog - Perhaps some dedicated AskMe junkies were curious about this "community blog" they keep hearing about?
metafilter bradbury all summer in a day - an oddly popular subject for "find this book/movie" AskMe's
metafilter bale - referring to the 249-comment post to the Blue about Bale's on-set freakout.
metafilter battlestar - the interminable discussion of the BSG finale.
metafilter book - the top result is the much-loved "What book is the best introduction to your field?" AskMe (1098 favorites!), but a lot of other good book posts are summed up on the ReadMe article from the Mefi wiki.
-C-
metafilter comic sans - Mefites diss Comic Sans; Matt gets revenge.
metafilter contribution index - jaden's excellent tool for statistical analysis of any user's posting history.
metafilter cat scan - "metafilter cat scan" is one of the strangest search terms I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got this wedged into Google Suggest, or why.
metafilter clone - many sites have branched off from Mefi or use a similar layout -- the wiki provides a nice round-up.
metafilter.com - the best of the web, I hear
metafilter conficker - a thread about the "boss" of internet worms, which seemed to fizzle anti-climactically a few months ago.
metafilter cortex - Metafilter's beloved moderator/bard.
-D-
metafilter deleted - a blog that keeps track of all deleted threads on Metafilter.
metafilter down - a blog that keeps track of all deleted Metafilters on the internet (a thankfully rare event).
metafilter david lee roth - "David Lee Roth's vocal track from Runnin' With the Devil, without benefit of, you know, music."
-E-
no results! (And for the most common letter in the English language? How about that.)
-F-
metafilter flash - Mefites love themselves some Flash
metafilter flash friday - ...especially on Friday.
metafilter faq - read it, learn it, live it.
-G-
metafilter greasemonkey - Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows on-the-fly customizations to webpages. There are several dozen designed to provide bonus functionality for Metafilter, like avatars and visible deleted threads.
metafilter games - We love games! Especially free games.
-H-
metafilter hacked - Hackers? In my Metafilter?
-I-
metafilter irc - There's no official channel, but #mefi on slashnet is the unofficial equivalent.
metafilter iphone - a super-sleek Mefi interface designed for the iPhone
metafilter infodump - cortex's downloadable collection of site-wide statistics. Current as of July 30th!
metafilter is down - ...face down, that is, for a relaxing massage!
metafilter interactive fiction - A design contest for best interactive fiction game. All titles are playable on the contest site!
-J-
metafilter jobs - A popular topic in these uncertain times. Or maybe people are just gunning for adminship?
-K-
metafilter kutiman - a post discussing Kutiman's fantastic YouTube remix project.
-L-
metafilter livejournal - Blogs blogging blogs.
metafilter lofi - a professional white background for the discerning Mefite.
-M-
metafilter music - Less talk, more rock.
metafilter mobile - the iPhone version does double-duty for all mobile devices.
metafilter meetups - Metatalk's the unofficial home for them now, but word is a dedicated subsite is in the works.
metafilter mutant - the first non-mod user to show up, Mutant is Mefi's resident financial guru.
metafilter markov - cortex's language toy generated random sentences based on a user's posting history. It's sadly out of commission due to security holes exposed in this year's hacking incident.
metafilter mixtape - MixMe!
-N-
metafilter network llc - metafilter.net may be sparser, but it sure has a cool logo.
metafilter nicwolff - another popular longtime Metafilter member.
-O-
metafilter omegle - "Like a slot machine, only with people."
-P-
metafilter podcast - Mefi's own semi-monthly site round-up.
metafilter projects - Projects from the community.
-Q-
no results!
-R-
metafilter rss - The Blue is the most popular subscription, but there are feeds available for all subsites and threads, too.
metafilter running with the songsmith - mrzarquon's wonderful, horrible procedural music/David Lee Roth jam burned up the web a few months ago.
-S-
metafilter status - The status blog, again.
metafilter songsmith - The original thread on Songsmith that inspired the above song.
metafilter space game - Space and games, two great tastes that taste great together.
metafilter star trek - There've been a lot of Star Trek posts, but this YouTube mashup one is probably the most-loved.
metafilter shirt - Cover your shame!
-T-
metafilter twitter - Sidebar Twitter stream.
metafilter tf2 - A popular staple of Mefightclub.
metafilter tater - Hardcore.
metafilter travel - The neglected subsite now redirects to the main page...
-U-
metafilter userfriendly - One of Mefi's more memorable flare-ups, in which a webcomic artist pilfered users' one-liners and used them as the punchlines for his strips.
metafilter updates - followupfilter?
metafilter uptime - Moar status blog.
-V-
metafilter video - I figured this referred to video posts in general, but this is *so* much better.
metafilter vs youtube comments - As if anyone ever needed any help feeling superior to Youtube commenters.
-W-
metafilter wiki - The Mefi Wiki! A repository of all site knowledge. I honestly found browsing it more useful than the FAQ when it came to understanding site culture.
metafilter wikipedia - Eh, it's adequate.
metafilter watchmen - Metafilter's comic fans attempt the daunting task of dissecting the merits of a movie from its first trailer.
-X-
no results!
-Y-
metafilter youtube comments - The MetaTalk thread!
metafilter youtube - I'm surprised there aren't more vids, actually.
-Z-
no results!
(each search term links to my best guess of the most appropriate page for the query)
-A-
metafilter ask - humble AskMe, of course.
metafilter april fools - a reference to Mefi's annual April Fools joke, nicely summarized at the Mefi wiki.
metafilter ayn rand - Mefi's antipathy for the creator of Objectivism is probably best summed up by this 2005 thread commemorating the 100th year since her birth, though there are many other examples.
-B-
metafilter blog - Perhaps some dedicated AskMe junkies were curious about this "community blog" they keep hearing about?
metafilter bradbury all summer in a day - an oddly popular subject for "find this book/movie" AskMe's
metafilter bale - referring to the 249-comment post to the Blue about Bale's on-set freakout.
metafilter battlestar - the interminable discussion of the BSG finale.
metafilter book - the top result is the much-loved "What book is the best introduction to your field?" AskMe (1098 favorites!), but a lot of other good book posts are summed up on the ReadMe article from the Mefi wiki.
-C-
metafilter comic sans - Mefites diss Comic Sans; Matt gets revenge.
metafilter contribution index - jaden's excellent tool for statistical analysis of any user's posting history.
metafilter cat scan - "metafilter cat scan" is one of the strangest search terms I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got this wedged into Google Suggest, or why.
metafilter clone - many sites have branched off from Mefi or use a similar layout -- the wiki provides a nice round-up.
metafilter.com - the best of the web, I hear
metafilter conficker - a thread about the "boss" of internet worms, which seemed to fizzle anti-climactically a few months ago.
metafilter cortex - Metafilter's beloved moderator/bard.
-D-
metafilter deleted - a blog that keeps track of all deleted threads on Metafilter.
metafilter down - a blog that keeps track of all deleted Metafilters on the internet (a thankfully rare event).
metafilter david lee roth - "David Lee Roth's vocal track from Runnin' With the Devil, without benefit of, you know, music."
-E-
no results! (And for the most common letter in the English language? How about that.)
-F-
metafilter flash - Mefites love themselves some Flash
metafilter flash friday - ...especially on Friday.
metafilter faq - read it, learn it, live it.
-G-
metafilter greasemonkey - Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that allows on-the-fly customizations to webpages. There are several dozen designed to provide bonus functionality for Metafilter, like avatars and visible deleted threads.
metafilter games - We love games! Especially free games.
-H-
metafilter hacked - Hackers? In my Metafilter?
-I-
metafilter irc - There's no official channel, but #mefi on slashnet is the unofficial equivalent.
metafilter iphone - a super-sleek Mefi interface designed for the iPhone
metafilter infodump - cortex's downloadable collection of site-wide statistics. Current as of July 30th!
metafilter is down - ...face down, that is, for a relaxing massage!
metafilter interactive fiction - A design contest for best interactive fiction game. All titles are playable on the contest site!
-J-
metafilter jobs - A popular topic in these uncertain times. Or maybe people are just gunning for adminship?
-K-
metafilter kutiman - a post discussing Kutiman's fantastic YouTube remix project.
-L-
metafilter livejournal - Blogs blogging blogs.
metafilter lofi - a professional white background for the discerning Mefite.
-M-
metafilter music - Less talk, more rock.
metafilter mobile - the iPhone version does double-duty for all mobile devices.
metafilter meetups - Metatalk's the unofficial home for them now, but word is a dedicated subsite is in the works.
metafilter mutant - the first non-mod user to show up, Mutant is Mefi's resident financial guru.
metafilter markov - cortex's language toy generated random sentences based on a user's posting history. It's sadly out of commission due to security holes exposed in this year's hacking incident.
metafilter mixtape - MixMe!
-N-
metafilter network llc - metafilter.net may be sparser, but it sure has a cool logo.
metafilter nicwolff - another popular longtime Metafilter member.
-O-
metafilter omegle - "Like a slot machine, only with people."
-P-
metafilter podcast - Mefi's own semi-monthly site round-up.
metafilter projects - Projects from the community.
-Q-
no results!
-R-
metafilter rss - The Blue is the most popular subscription, but there are feeds available for all subsites and threads, too.
metafilter running with the songsmith - mrzarquon's wonderful, horrible procedural music/David Lee Roth jam burned up the web a few months ago.
-S-
metafilter status - The status blog, again.
metafilter songsmith - The original thread on Songsmith that inspired the above song.
metafilter space game - Space and games, two great tastes that taste great together.
metafilter star trek - There've been a lot of Star Trek posts, but this YouTube mashup one is probably the most-loved.
metafilter shirt - Cover your shame!
-T-
metafilter twitter - Sidebar Twitter stream.
metafilter tf2 - A popular staple of Mefightclub.
metafilter tater - Hardcore.
metafilter travel - The neglected subsite now redirects to the main page...
-U-
metafilter userfriendly - One of Mefi's more memorable flare-ups, in which a webcomic artist pilfered users' one-liners and used them as the punchlines for his strips.
metafilter updates - followupfilter?
metafilter uptime - Moar status blog.
-V-
metafilter video - I figured this referred to video posts in general, but this is *so* much better.
metafilter vs youtube comments - As if anyone ever needed any help feeling superior to Youtube commenters.
-W-
metafilter wiki - The Mefi Wiki! A repository of all site knowledge. I honestly found browsing it more useful than the FAQ when it came to understanding site culture.
metafilter wikipedia - Eh, it's adequate.
metafilter watchmen - Metafilter's comic fans attempt the daunting task of dissecting the merits of a movie from its first trailer.
-X-
no results!
-Y-
metafilter youtube comments - The MetaTalk thread!
metafilter youtube - I'm surprised there aren't more vids, actually.
-Z-
no results!
metafilter tldr
posted by fire&wings at 3:47 PM on August 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by fire&wings at 3:47 PM on August 11, 2009 [1 favorite]
MetaFilter: no results!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:03 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:03 PM on August 11, 2009
I would just like to preemptively remind the userbase that alphabet thread comments are strictly forbidden. Please do not risk the ire of the mod team and a potential mock banning.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:34 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by Meatbomb at 4:34 PM on August 11, 2009
Dammit Meat.. :P
You're kidding, right? Since when are they banned?
posted by zarq at 4:42 PM on August 11, 2009
You're kidding, right? Since when are they banned?
posted by zarq at 4:42 PM on August 11, 2009
MetaFilter is user friendly. It's just selective about who its friends are.
posted by netbros at 4:55 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by netbros at 4:55 PM on August 11, 2009
> You're kidding, right? Since when are they banned?
They're banned on the astral plane, where Meatbomb is mod. Do not incur his wrath if you plan to be doing astral traveling in the near future.
posted by languagehat at 5:13 PM on August 11, 2009
They're banned on the astral plane, where Meatbomb is mod. Do not incur his wrath if you plan to be doing astral traveling in the near future.
posted by languagehat at 5:13 PM on August 11, 2009
Argh. Battletoads are worming in Meatbomb's mainframe again. Comets do this to him. Don't ask me why. Elves too. Fixin' it will take a while.
posted by The Whelk at 5:15 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 5:15 PM on August 11, 2009
Netbros, ever been Astral Banned? It's like someone took away your pony. Or your dreams ..no not your dreams, your ability to remember you had dreams in the first place. It's worse than temp work that grinding a person down so far they forget where up is, or that up even exists and there is a non-khaki-colored world outside this T.G.I.Friday's of the Minf.
And that's if you're lucky. The Astral Mod Controls have many ...subtle, combinatorial effects.
You know that feeling you get when you're falling asleep and you suddenly miss a step and jerk awake? Imagine being stuck in that millisecond of fear and panic FOREVER.
posted by The Whelk at 5:21 PM on August 11, 2009 [3 favorites]
And that's if you're lucky. The Astral Mod Controls have many ...subtle, combinatorial effects.
You know that feeling you get when you're falling asleep and you suddenly miss a step and jerk awake? Imagine being stuck in that millisecond of fear and panic FOREVER.
posted by The Whelk at 5:21 PM on August 11, 2009 [3 favorites]
of the mind, not the...oh god it's happening again-!
posted by The Whelk at 5:21 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 5:21 PM on August 11, 2009
Needs more Zalgo.
(I kid, I kid. Thanks, Rhaomi!)
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:28 PM on August 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
(I kid, I kid. Thanks, Rhaomi!)
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:28 PM on August 11, 2009 [2 favorites]
What a great list! I somehow missed that "Fistful of Rikers" thread when it first when up, so that was an especially welcome inclusion. Holy hell those are funny.
posted by EatTheWeek at 5:33 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by EatTheWeek at 5:33 PM on August 11, 2009
That's only because the mefites that search for the *important stuff* know to use "site:metafilter.com [keywords]" instead.
*opens a new tab and starts obsessively reloading a search for "site:metafilter.com qvantamon"*
posted by qvantamon at 5:37 PM on August 11, 2009
*opens a new tab and starts obsessively reloading a search for "site:metafilter.com qvantamon"*
posted by qvantamon at 5:37 PM on August 11, 2009
EattheWeak, I wish I was you a few mintues ago so I could have seen "Data's Art" for the first time again. Man that---nooo------ahftk!--K=
---aaaaaaaaaaaa----Why can't us men think of these things ? Lol ...
posted by The Whelk at 5:39 PM on August 11, 2009
---aaaaaaaaaaaa----Why can't us men think of these things ? Lol ...
posted by The Whelk at 5:39 PM on August 11, 2009
And the real hardcore users just come to metatalk and post a "Hey, I'm looking for a metafilter post from some time ago... I remember it has the word [x] in it", and let other people do their googling for them.
posted by qvantamon at 5:40 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by qvantamon at 5:40 PM on August 11, 2009
Ah. Thanks. I didn't realize that Meat had delusions of (astral) modhood. :)
posted by zarq at 5:53 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by zarq at 5:53 PM on August 11, 2009
There was a comment from some guy who used to be puzzled about why, years ago, when he was a teenager, people would always come up to him wanting to buy weed. Then he looked at some pictures of himself from those days and realized that he was always, like, visibly stoned.
Anybody want to find it for me?
posted by box at 6:21 PM on August 11, 2009
Anybody want to find it for me?
posted by box at 6:21 PM on August 11, 2009
Taters! Recently I thought I found the etymological smoking gun of "taters", but was promptly disarmed by Cortex...
posted by Tube at 6:47 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by Tube at 6:47 PM on August 11, 2009
I guess this proves that no one actually searches for MetaTalk.
(Because in Soviet Russia, MetaTalk searches you! In an uncomfortable place! With a pointy stick! ::cue raucous laugh track::)
posted by armage at 7:18 PM on August 11, 2009
(Because in Soviet Russia, MetaTalk searches you! In an uncomfortable place! With a pointy stick! ::cue raucous laugh track::)
posted by armage at 7:18 PM on August 11, 2009
No mention of ticketstubs? What a shame.
posted by boo_radley at 7:42 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by boo_radley at 7:42 PM on August 11, 2009
Mutant, I understand, but this seems like a strange amount of popular for little old me to be.
posted by nicwolff at 7:42 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by nicwolff at 7:42 PM on August 11, 2009
Believe it or not, nicwolff, but I had tried this about a year ago, and not only were you one of the suggested queries for "metafilter n...", you were one of the top suggestions for "metafilter" by itself. Maybe you have a stalker?
posted by Rhaomi at 7:55 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by Rhaomi at 7:55 PM on August 11, 2009
This needs to be wikified, & then searched for so it ends up listed on itself.
posted by Pronoiac at 8:15 PM on August 11, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 8:15 PM on August 11, 2009
I thought this would be overly long and tedious when I clicked through all ready to roll my eyes and instead it was awesome. So I need to stop being so cynical and Rhaomi should be feeling that warm glow of a job well done.
(Thanks!)
(and well done!)
posted by shelleycat at 11:36 PM on August 11, 2009
(Thanks!)
(and well done!)
posted by shelleycat at 11:36 PM on August 11, 2009
The return of the infodump seems worth an announcement, too.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:38 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 12:38 AM on August 12, 2009
We need FPPs about eagles, xylophones, zebras and Qatar.
posted by Electric Dragon at 12:57 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by Electric Dragon at 12:57 AM on August 12, 2009
Mutant, I understand, but this seems like a strange amount of popular for little old me to be.
Maybe it'e because you're a fuck.
posted by cillit bang at 5:49 AM on August 12, 2009
Maybe it'e because you're a fuck.
posted by cillit bang at 5:49 AM on August 12, 2009
The return of the infodump seems worth an announcement, too.
Does it ever! I wonder if those people who asked for some stats in the MeFi user matching thread, but who weren't represented in the somewhat out-of-date infodump, are still interested in that?
posted by FishBike at 6:10 AM on August 12, 2009
Does it ever! I wonder if those people who asked for some stats in the MeFi user matching thread, but who weren't represented in the somewhat out-of-date infodump, are still interested in that?
posted by FishBike at 6:10 AM on August 12, 2009
The return of the infodump seems worth an announcement, too.
It will, I'm still doing a little bit of long-overdue TODO List stuff that I'd like to polish off before I go making a post about it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:30 AM on August 12, 2009
It will, I'm still doing a little bit of long-overdue TODO List stuff that I'd like to polish off before I go making a post about it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:30 AM on August 12, 2009
A is for Astro, Z is for Zombie.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:39 AM on August 12, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:39 AM on August 12, 2009 [2 favorites]
-Q-
no results!
*sobs*
Well, I guess it's finally time for that epic, incendiary flame out. That'll put me on the map!
posted by quin at 8:06 AM on August 12, 2009
no results!
*sobs*
Well, I guess it's finally time for that epic, incendiary flame out. That'll put me on the map!
posted by quin at 8:06 AM on August 12, 2009
Behave, shmegegge! No foul language, please!
posted by ocherdraco at 8:28 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by ocherdraco at 8:28 AM on August 12, 2009
Can't believe how awesome those Star Trek videos are. :)
posted by zarq at 8:37 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by zarq at 8:37 AM on August 12, 2009
We've still got work to do. I have to type in "metaf" before google suggests metafilter.
posted by graventy at 9:27 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by graventy at 9:27 AM on August 12, 2009
A fool's errand, no doubt.
posted by mattbucher at 9:46 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by mattbucher at 9:46 AM on August 12, 2009
Again? We have to start again?
posted by ocherdraco at 10:06 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by ocherdraco at 10:06 AM on August 12, 2009
CADDIS!!!!!!!!!
posted by ocherdraco at 10:10 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by ocherdraco at 10:10 AM on August 12, 2009
God darn it, man, screw the alphabet. What is it good for, anyway? The alphabet has brought me nothing but trouble.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:27 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 11:27 AM on August 12, 2009
Hey, upthread, cillit bang (unintentionally?) pointed out a backtagging abuse. I just flagged a 2004 post, but should I have hit up email or IM instead?
posted by Pronoiac at 11:29 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 11:29 AM on August 12, 2009
I wonder how I missed that user-matching thread. I'll put that on the wiki's MetaAnalysis page & signal, uh, Fishbike?
posted by Pronoiac at 11:31 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 11:31 AM on August 12, 2009
Flagging probably isn't great if you're trying to communicate something like "these tags are abusive" on an old post -- better to just drop us a contact mail about it.
That said, what's up with that post that you're flagging? Title being problematic and a presumed late addition? I guess I don't recall off-hand when the blue got titles, but I initially assumed that was an injoke at the time by the poster or something.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:33 AM on August 12, 2009
That said, what's up with that post that you're flagging? Title being problematic and a presumed late addition? I guess I don't recall off-hand when the blue got titles, but I initially assumed that was an injoke at the time by the poster or something.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:33 AM on August 12, 2009
Krap. I can't deal with BOTH an alphabet thread AND admin-y questions; the latter takes precedence over mindfulness to the former and I end up pooping things up.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:35 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:35 AM on August 12, 2009
Oddly, the date of titles isn't on the wiki, though I might try to figure it out. So I went to the Wayback Machine. It's a late addition, & I thought it was clearly problematic & done for the lulz, which is a no-more-backtagging-for-you offense.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:50 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 11:50 AM on August 12, 2009
Previous to the titles showing up in big letters above the body, they showed up in the, uh, ... name of the page. It's up there, so yeah, it's probably some in-joke.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:54 AM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 11:54 AM on August 12, 2009
Reading the titles tag helped: we got titles in November 2002.
(Speaking of which, dumping Metatalk tags is on your TODO list, right cortex?)
Too perfect: I just signaled someone in the match-finding thread - the person who pointed it out in this thread!
posted by Pronoiac at 12:08 PM on August 12, 2009
(Speaking of which, dumping Metatalk tags is on your TODO list, right cortex?)
Too perfect: I just signaled someone in the match-finding thread - the person who pointed it out in this thread!
posted by Pronoiac at 12:08 PM on August 12, 2009
Too perfect: I just signaled someone in the match-finding thread - the person who pointed it out in this thread!
Oh lord, and I just replied to your MeFiMail and then came here and saw that you already realized you were signaling the person who pointed out the matching thread... we are stuck in a loop!
Oh lord, and I just replied to your MeFiMail and then came here and saw that you already realized you were signaling the person who pointed out the matching thread... we are stuck in a loop!
break;Unless you stop right now, that's it, all you fuckos are mock banned.
posted by Meatbomb at 12:30 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Meatbomb at 12:30 PM on August 12, 2009
Wait. What?
Oh, FishBike, hi! Did you know the Infodump's been updated?
next;
posted by Pronoiac at 12:34 PM on August 12, 2009
Oh, FishBike, hi! Did you know the Infodump's been updated?
next;
posted by Pronoiac at 12:34 PM on August 12, 2009
you know what? I'm not sure this even counts, anymore.
posted by shmegegge at 12:37 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by shmegegge at 12:37 PM on August 12, 2009
Zounds! I just realized this is an alphabet thread. Are we allowed to use setjmp/longjmp to escape from loops on MetaFilter?
posted by FishBike at 12:44 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by FishBike at 12:44 PM on August 12, 2009
Crap, I'm still confused. Wayback has the nicwolff message in the title of the cached page, but the title isn't at the top of the actual thread—I read that as the title being original but Matt not having actually made titles display in threads yet at that point? But that seems odd too.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:49 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:49 PM on August 12, 2009
dumping Metatalk tags is on your TODO list, right cortex?
It's already on my "done" list, even. Along with a couple other things.
Currently wrestling with some SQL that is slightly beyond my ken, trying to use a couple of JOINs and a couple of COUNT() directives together to pull both fave count and comment count info for posts in a single query (because my old code is really, really embarrassingly sad and needs refactoring), but I'm running into a degenerate problem when a threads comment and fave counts are both >1.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:52 PM on August 12, 2009
It's already on my "done" list, even. Along with a couple other things.
Currently wrestling with some SQL that is slightly beyond my ken, trying to use a couple of JOINs and a couple of COUNT() directives together to pull both fave count and comment count info for posts in a single query (because my old code is really, really embarrassingly sad and needs refactoring), but I'm running into a degenerate problem when a threads comment and fave counts are both >1.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:52 PM on August 12, 2009
Fine, use the 'E' I had started this comment with:
Every time I run into a problem like the one Cortex describes above, I resort to subqueries. SQL Server seems to be able to run these unexpectedly efficiently. The "oh... I see what you did there" engine is pretty good in it.
posted by FishBike at 12:57 PM on August 12, 2009
Every time I run into a problem like the one Cortex describes above, I resort to subqueries. SQL Server seems to be able to run these unexpectedly efficiently. The "oh... I see what you did there" engine is pretty good in it.
posted by FishBike at 12:57 PM on August 12, 2009
Hey! Wasn't there somethign called the Shadowy Byways of Metafilter? It's not on the list above, and I can't find it via search. Am I just missing it?
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:13 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:13 PM on August 12, 2009
Just searching for "shadowy" shows that it started on Metatalk, but yeah, it got massive updates on the wiki.
I just wanted to say "It started on Metatalk" in a spooooky voice.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:26 PM on August 12, 2009
I just wanted to say "It started on Metatalk" in a spooooky voice.
posted by Pronoiac at 1:26 PM on August 12, 2009
K! Thanks!
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:28 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:28 PM on August 12, 2009
OK fuckos you wouldn't listen to reason, the following people are mock banned: shmegegge, shmegegge, The Whelk, Astro Zombie, Proniac, cortex, Astro Zombie, cortex, fishbike. See you in a week, when you have learned to properly respect our community's fake rules.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:44 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Meatbomb at 1:44 PM on August 12, 2009
Please, man, how many times do I have to tell you? It's "hoise", "hoising", "hoist". Archaic irregulars represent.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:46 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:46 PM on August 12, 2009
?dnoces a rof elprup etsat tsuj gnihtyreve did tiaW
posted by The Whelk at 1:48 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 1:48 PM on August 12, 2009
Really, it's petard.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:54 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:54 PM on August 12, 2009
* Thanks self for choosing an easy-to-misspell name; continues mock posting *
The dates for titles are now there on the Timeline.
Uh, didn't we just have a discussion on calling people petards, AZ?
posted by Pronoiac at 2:09 PM on August 12, 2009
The dates for titles are now there on the Timeline.
Uh, didn't we just have a discussion on calling people petards, AZ?
posted by Pronoiac at 2:09 PM on August 12, 2009
Very smooth, MetaFilter. I've never been in an alphabet thread before, so I didn't realize what it was until about halfway.
posted by Lush at 2:39 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Lush at 2:39 PM on August 12, 2009
What should I do here? I'm definitely adding "Best Answer" info to the infodump, but I can go in two directions:
1. Create a new Best Answers file that lists thread and comment id of best answers, maybe along with comment author, or
2. Add a BA flag as a new column to the existing commentdata_askme.txt file.
I'd prefer the second just to avoid duplication of effort, but that does involve making it so that that dump has a different output scheme than the rest of the commentdata files, which might be annoying for folks wanting to process stuff from different subsites.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:48 PM on August 12, 2009
1. Create a new Best Answers file that lists thread and comment id of best answers, maybe along with comment author, or
2. Add a BA flag as a new column to the existing commentdata_askme.txt file.
I'd prefer the second just to avoid duplication of effort, but that does involve making it so that that dump has a different output scheme than the rest of the commentdata files, which might be annoying for folks wanting to process stuff from different subsites.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:48 PM on August 12, 2009
Yet another option:
[x] 0. Include a 'best answer' flag in ALL the commentdata files to keep them consistent, and just set it to 0 for all those comment types where it's inapplicable.
[ ] 1. Create a new Best Answers file that lists thread and comment id of best answers, maybe along with comment author, or
[ ] 2. Add a BA flag as a new column to the existing commentdata_askme.txt file.
That's my vote. People who want to keep the files in a consistent format are probably importing them all into one big table anyway, where the best answer flag will exist for all comments from all sections. I don't think it needs a separate table like the favorites, as it's either on or off for any comment and we can tell who awarded it.
Also, how am I supposed to keep the alphabet thread going without duplication when it takes a non-trivial amount of time to write a serious comment?
posted by FishBike at 2:56 PM on August 12, 2009
[x] 0. Include a 'best answer' flag in ALL the commentdata files to keep them consistent, and just set it to 0 for all those comment types where it's inapplicable.
[ ] 1. Create a new Best Answers file that lists thread and comment id of best answers, maybe along with comment author, or
[ ] 2. Add a BA flag as a new column to the existing commentdata_askme.txt file.
That's my vote. People who want to keep the files in a consistent format are probably importing them all into one big table anyway, where the best answer flag will exist for all comments from all sections. I don't think it needs a separate table like the favorites, as it's either on or off for any comment and we can tell who awarded it.
Also, how am I supposed to keep the alphabet thread going without duplication when it takes a non-trivial amount of time to write a serious comment?
posted by FishBike at 2:56 PM on August 12, 2009
Yeah, but if your thetan doesn't have any clue about optimization, go with what someone else tells you.
How many people pull multiple data streams from subsites along with the infodump that wouldn't be comfortable dealing with different schemes?
posted by subbes at 2:57 PM on August 12, 2009
How many people pull multiple data streams from subsites along with the infodump that wouldn't be comfortable dealing with different schemes?
posted by subbes at 2:57 PM on August 12, 2009
Ack. Deciding hard. Fishbike's suggestion is okay but feels silly in terms of column bloat; subbes' argument that datanerds are probably fairly capable and flexible people is good. Hmm.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:00 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:00 PM on August 12, 2009
Bear in mind I can barely handle conditionals in SQL Server Manager.
posted by subbes at 3:01 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by subbes at 3:01 PM on August 12, 2009
'cause my Chinese co-workers are always all "here, let me do that for you, go back to writing manuals."
posted by subbes at 3:02 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by subbes at 3:02 PM on August 12, 2009
Dear cortex,
The one thing about having one comment file with a slightly different format than all the rest is it could be quite unexpected. Making them all the same would probably eliminate a fair number of "d'oh" moments for us datanerds. Yes we can handle the variation, but first we have to discover it. I say make 'em all the same or throw the 'best answer' flags into a separate file (which likely makes things harder for the less datanerdy).
posted by FishBike at 3:08 PM on August 12, 2009
The one thing about having one comment file with a slightly different format than all the rest is it could be quite unexpected. Making them all the same would probably eliminate a fair number of "d'oh" moments for us datanerds. Yes we can handle the variation, but first we have to discover it. I say make 'em all the same or throw the 'best answer' flags into a separate file (which likely makes things harder for the less datanerdy).
posted by FishBike at 3:08 PM on August 12, 2009
... even though I share your dislike of column bloat, it feels like
posted by FishBike at 3:09 PM on August 12, 2009
select min(evil) from options in this case.posted by FishBike at 3:09 PM on August 12, 2009
Fair point. Decision made: best answer columns for everyone, zeroes for almost everyone.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:13 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:13 PM on August 12, 2009
Go ahead, I think. Even if you're hardcoding processing with certain columns, *checks format*, you could put that column after the timestamp & then it would be the same up to that. Although, 95,187 best answers (according to your twit) out of 1701315 answers (as of 2009-07-30) is 5-6% or 1 in 18 of them, so it could take less space to put those in another file.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:19 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 3:19 PM on August 12, 2009
Here's my "done" list, so far:
- Added new "thread titles" files for posts on the big three and Music;
- Added a fave-count column to all the commentdata files to reduce the need for cross-referencing the faves data just to get that info for comments
- Add metatalk tags to the tag files
- Added a category column to postdata files—ask and meta both have proper categories, Music has Song vs. Talk posts these days, mefi gets happy little zeroes all the way down
- Added "Best Answer" column to postdata files, as above
Still on my TODO list:
- some dull behind-the-scenes automation for regeneration, to make this not depend on me remembering to update things manually any given week
- adding a monolithic All Files zip for folks who want to snarf it in one pull for whatever reason
- adding small reference files for e.g. category codes, fave "type/subsite" codes, etc
and, more ambitiously
- word frequency and collocation frequency tables, for anyone who wants to do some analysis of mefi vs. other corpora or such things.
I don't think I'll wait on that last bit for announcing the return, since most of the stuff I've been meaning to do for a while now is in fact done. And I'm sure I'll get new requests once I post about it, but if anybody has specific brainstorms right now, go for it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:32 PM on August 12, 2009
- Added new "thread titles" files for posts on the big three and Music;
- Added a fave-count column to all the commentdata files to reduce the need for cross-referencing the faves data just to get that info for comments
- Add metatalk tags to the tag files
- Added a category column to postdata files—ask and meta both have proper categories, Music has Song vs. Talk posts these days, mefi gets happy little zeroes all the way down
- Added "Best Answer" column to postdata files, as above
Still on my TODO list:
- some dull behind-the-scenes automation for regeneration, to make this not depend on me remembering to update things manually any given week
- adding a monolithic All Files zip for folks who want to snarf it in one pull for whatever reason
- adding small reference files for e.g. category codes, fave "type/subsite" codes, etc
and, more ambitiously
- word frequency and collocation frequency tables, for anyone who wants to do some analysis of mefi vs. other corpora or such things.
I don't think I'll wait on that last bit for announcing the return, since most of the stuff I've been meaning to do for a while now is in fact done. And I'm sure I'll get new requests once I post about it, but if anybody has specific brainstorms right now, go for it.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:32 PM on August 12, 2009
I wrote some documentation for the type/subsite code, if that helps.
posted by Pronoiac at 3:42 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 3:42 PM on August 12, 2009
Jeez, that's perfect. Fuck the reference files, I'll just link to that page prominently and make any additions I need to that. Nice work.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:52 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:52 PM on August 12, 2009
'K, I'm just going to ignore The Whelk.
posted by ocherdraco at 5:26 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by ocherdraco at 5:26 PM on August 12, 2009
Let's. Also, cortex, you might want to keep an eye out for the brokenness (with parent 0) I noted on the wiki.
posted by Pronoiac at 5:30 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 5:30 PM on August 12, 2009
Music comments with no defined parents shouldn't exist. Huh. Wonder what the hell that is about. Have you gone looking for other examples of that sort of thing, Music or otherwise? I'd hope it's just a tiny bit of cruft from rollout.
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:49 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by cortex (staff) at 5:49 PM on August 12, 2009
.pǝʇɔǝdxǝ ı sɐ unɟ sɐ ʇou sı pǝuuɐq 1ɐɹʇsɐ buıǝq 'ʍouʞ noʎ
posted by Astral Zombie at 6:01 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 6:01 PM on August 12, 2009
Never mind, I went looking myself. It does appear to be Music-specific, and was apparently a problem intermittently between June 29th, 2006 (launch day) and October 21st of that year.
Why that is, I'm not sure. There's about thirty cruft favorites in the database that we should probably either repair or remove.
Slimepuppy's comment on this thread, the second one in the thread, has one of the broken faves attached to it, and it seems to produce some weird behavior from the AJAX fave stuff for me; it wasn't until after a page reload or two after favoriting it that it settled down to just showing "[1 favorite -]" for me, but if you click through to the list you can see the fave from Alvy as well.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:05 PM on August 12, 2009
Why that is, I'm not sure. There's about thirty cruft favorites in the database that we should probably either repair or remove.
Slimepuppy's comment on this thread, the second one in the thread, has one of the broken faves attached to it, and it seems to produce some weird behavior from the AJAX fave stuff for me; it wasn't until after a page reload or two after favoriting it that it settled down to just showing "[1 favorite -]" for me, but if you click through to the list you can see the fave from Alvy as well.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:05 PM on August 12, 2009
buıopun ʍouʞ puɐ sı ʍouʞ ob1ɐz ɟo p1ɐɹǝɥ ǝɥʇ sı ǝıqɯoz 1ɐɹʇsɐ
posted by The Whelk at 6:19 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 6:19 PM on August 12, 2009
Blast you, Rhaomi, for reminding me that I still have no idea what taters are.
posted by ErWenn at 6:46 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by ErWenn at 6:46 PM on August 12, 2009
Taters, the ongoing mystery. Anyway. I think I checked for comment favorites without a parent, & Music was the odd one out; I tried deducing how they happened without any real luck.
posted by Pronoiac at 7:00 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 7:00 PM on August 12, 2009
Dammit, Kim, sometimes you have to just keep going onward! Other people want to knock you back to square one & you just have to fight to not lose your place & ... um, hold on, what's my line again?
posted by Pronoiac at 7:41 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Pronoiac at 7:41 PM on August 12, 2009
Excellent post, Rhaomi! This will kill a few hours that I am supposed to be spending on useful things.
posted by double block and bleed at 7:59 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by double block and bleed at 7:59 PM on August 12, 2009
Fucked up my tenses really bad there. How come GNFTI speaks better English than I do when I've been speaking it from birth?
posted by double block and bleed at 8:01 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by double block and bleed at 8:01 PM on August 12, 2009
Great Gods there is an raed ho esool eht no eibmoz lartsa
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 PM on August 12, 2009
¡ǝɯ ǝdoɥ ǝsɐǝןd ˙op oʇ ʇɐɥʍ ʍouʞ ʇ,uop ı ʍou puɐ „ǝɯ ʇɐǝ„ ǝɥʇ pǝıɹʇ ı puɐ ʇı uo „ǝɯ ʞuıɹp„ ɥʇıʍ ǝןʇʇoq ǝɥʇ ʞuɐɹp ı ˙ǝɹǝɥ ɟo ʇno ǝɯ ʇǝƃ ʇsnɾ ˙ʎɹɹos ɯ,ı 'qɯoqʇɐǝɯ ʎɐʞo
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 8:50 PM on August 12, 2009
.ʞ1ǝɥʍ 'ʇxǝu ǝɹ,noʎ suɐǝɯ ʇɐɥʇ .suıɐɹq 1ɐɹʇsɐ ǝʞı1 ı suɐǝɯ ʇɐɥʇ .ǝıqɯoz 1ɐɹʇsɐ uɐ ɯ,ı 'os 'dnʎ
posted by Astral Zombie at 8:55 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 8:55 PM on August 12, 2009
.ecalp siht tuoba koob a etirw llahs I emoh teg I nehW
posted by The Whelk at 8:56 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 8:56 PM on August 12, 2009
.sniarb lartsa ytsat ,ytsat...
posted by Astral Zombie at 8:56 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 8:56 PM on August 12, 2009
?woh ho-woH ?rehtafdnarg nwo sih nam a si woH ?ksed gnitirw a ekil nevar a si woH ,semag evol I ?semag ekil uoy oD ?emag a ot uoy egnellahc I
posted by The Whelk at 9:01 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 9:01 PM on August 12, 2009
.xnihps a ton ,eibmoz a m'I ,eduD
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:03 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:03 PM on August 12, 2009
.niarb elttil fo eb ot nevorp si dennaB lartsA enoyna esuaceb ,slaem retteb rof gnikool eb tsum uoy os ,eibmoZ lartsA na rof aet erofeb ylralucitrap ,kcans roop a ekam dluow I oS .lla ta sniarb hcum evah t'nac I neht ,ereh flesym dnuof I fi ,llew yreV
posted by The Whelk at 9:04 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 9:04 PM on August 12, 2009
!ydaer lla noops gnipoocs niarb ym dah I tuB
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:10 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:10 PM on August 12, 2009
!deen ll'uoy sniarb eht lla evah ll'uoy neht ,evael I fI .uoy rof ydaer eb lliw sniarb neht dna ,deraperpnu eb dluohs uoY .rof ydaer eb ot gnihton eb dluow ereht snaem ydaer gnieb naht ,enalP lartsA eht no era ew sa gnieb tub ,etanutrofnu yrev si tahT
posted by The Whelk at 9:13 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 9:13 PM on August 12, 2009
.elihw a rof taht od ot gniyrt neeb ev'uoy em ot smeeS ?mmh ,neht ,evael uoy lliw woh ,oS
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:15 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:15 PM on August 12, 2009
!raeD hO...hO-I dna .od I .ereh yats ot tnaw I ..retaw eht rednu stoor eht htiw ereh ylevol yrev si tI .evael ot gnitnaw ton yb evael llahs I
posted by The Whelk at 9:17 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 9:17 PM on August 12, 2009
.niaga delioF .timmaD
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:20 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:20 PM on August 12, 2009
All right, now that that's over...
posted by ocherdraco at 9:22 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by ocherdraco at 9:22 PM on August 12, 2009
butts lol
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:06 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:06 PM on August 12, 2009 [1 favorite]
Cripes. I just don't know what to do about the fact that there is an Astral Zombie.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:10 PM on August 12, 2009
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:10 PM on August 12, 2009
.sniarb erom ,tnellecxE .enalp lartsa eht ot revo no emoc ,eggegemhs ,eruS
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:21 AM on August 13, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 9:21 AM on August 13, 2009
I'm hiding from BIZZARO METAFILTER, is it safe in here?
posted by The Whelk at 1:49 PM on September 8, 2009
posted by The Whelk at 1:49 PM on September 8, 2009
In BIZZARO METAFILTER, longboats ride you.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:55 PM on September 8, 2009
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:55 PM on September 8, 2009
.nur t'nac uoy tub edih nac uoy ,RETLIFATEM ORRAZIB nI
posted by Astral Zombie at 2:02 PM on September 8, 2009
posted by Astral Zombie at 2:02 PM on September 8, 2009
There is no escape! Alas! Alack! A...door?
Curious!
(runs in)
posted by The Whelk at 2:07 PM on September 8, 2009
Curious!
(runs in)
posted by The Whelk at 2:07 PM on September 8, 2009
Recent Activity shines a light on all hiding places, unless you are truly alone.
posted by caddis at 2:12 PM on September 8, 2009
posted by caddis at 2:12 PM on September 8, 2009
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Thanks for the great post!
posted by porn in the woods at 3:38 PM on August 11, 2009