Was it something I said?

December 11, 2009 4:06 PM

That's the THIRD time I write an answer in the green and click on the close tab button. No, it wasn't by mistake, I just thought better of it. Is it me??!? The last one was the one was a question by Goodgrief ("Keep a name from a previous marriage?"). I realize the question is a little chatfilterish, but I was going to post my opinion; like most others were doing. Then, right as I was writing an answer, I thought... What if they don't like that answer? What if everybody thinks I'm a jerk for spouting my opinion? This has happened a little too much to be comfortable.
posted by Drasher to Etiquette/Policy at 4:06 PM (102 comments total)

I do this all the time actually. I decide either I'm a little too close to the topic to be really helpful [as opposed to just judgey] or that what I have to say isn't all that useful or unique anyhow and maybe someone else could answer just as well. I don't think it's just you.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:09 PM on December 11, 2009 [9 favorites]

Are you asking if WE ever decide not to answer? IF SO, what's so strange about that??!?
posted by katillathehun at 4:10 PM on December 11, 2009

Yeah, I do this plenty of times. I know I haven't given a ton of answers on here, but I've prepped a bunch more, and then just deleted them, mainly because I can't see what I have to contribute to the question besides a lengthy "me too" or something that just don't properly contribute to the question.
posted by SNWidget at 4:12 PM on December 11, 2009

I do too. For example, I almost posted a smartass remark about this thread, but thought better of it.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:12 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

Yeah, not hitting post comment is a good impulse to have. Tossing off opinions is too easy on the internet.
posted by carsonb at 4:12 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

I do this a lot as well, especially with relationship questions. It feels good to let it all out, but unless I have some unique qualification or insight, I don't bother actually hitting post.
posted by ODiV at 4:13 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

All the time. I get really into it and realize that if could take my advice they won't be in that situation in the first place. Besides, my advice isn't very good.
posted by GuyZero at 4:15 PM on December 11, 2009

I do that daily. It's a good thing.
posted by Nattie at 4:15 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

No.

I use ctrl+w. Who the hell uses the mouse to close a tab???
posted by qvantamon at 4:18 PM on December 11, 2009 [6 favorites]

It's not you, it's me.
posted by gman at 4:21 PM on December 11, 2009

I don't do this as much as I used to. It's actually part of my therapy to express my opinion more on these things so I can experience rejection... whoo.

I did have one where I posted an answer, thought about it the next day and realized that person could've written down my life, went back to post an anecdote that I thought would help only to find the question resolved... darn. xD
posted by biochemist at 4:23 PM on December 11, 2009

no one cares, biochemist.




just kidding
posted by ServSci at 4:25 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

That's a feature, not a bug.
posted by lucidium at 4:26 PM on December 11, 2009

I do this all the time. I figure my most valuable service to AskMe has been all the answers I didn't post.
posted by Zed at 4:28 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

I assumed everyone does this. Sometimes I decide my contribution isn't as valuable as I originally thought, or I decide that the question is crappy and not something I want to be part of, or I hit "preview" and see that someone else said it better.
posted by Forktine at 4:30 PM on December 11, 2009

This is a good thing, and I do it all the time. We need filters between our raw thought and our output, and some of those filters come from social pressure.
posted by SpacemanStix at 4:31 PM on December 11, 2009

It's not you, it's me.

No no, it's m.. Nah, it's definitely you.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 4:32 PM on December 11, 2009

^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 4:32 PM on December 11, 2009

I thought I was the only one! * bursts into tears *
posted by boo_radley at 4:34 PM on December 11, 2009

I actually have far more responses that I regret posting than responses that I regret failing to post.

After all, if the question (or FPP) is closed, you can always MeMail the author to let them know your thoughts. I've actually MeMailed a few people outside of their question while it was still active to respond in some way that wouldn't be appropriate to post in the thread.
posted by librarylis at 4:34 PM on December 11, 2009

I post about 2/3 of the comments that I actually start writing. Basically because there are a couple of users here on the site who I'd rather avoid emulating at any cost.

Buy me a drink sometime and I'll name names.
posted by hermitosis at 4:38 PM on December 11, 2009

I could fill a book with comments and answers that I've written and not posted.

On the other hand, if the main reason you aren't posting is that your answer would go against the tide, maybe you should go ahead and submit it on occasion. We're a little echo-chamber-y around here sometimes.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:39 PM on December 11, 2009

I often reconsider posting answers because I think it's likely they'll start a flame war, even though they're right. People often don't want to hear the truth, and speaking the truth is often perceived as being disruptive in itself.
posted by bingo at 4:40 PM on December 11, 2009

Right now I'm writing and deleting a MeTa about the Peter Watts thread and the way these usually go here.
posted by fixedgear at 4:41 PM on December 11, 2009

Yeah, I post maybe 1/3 of the answers I actually draft to AskMe. But then I still regret about 1/2 of the ones I end up posting.

Otherwise, the ability to self-edit is a good thing.
posted by jabberjaw at 4:42 PM on December 11, 2009

IMO, it could be done a whole lot more.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:43 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

This is funny - I was wondering this the other day. I'd say I only post 25-50% of the answers/comments I begin to type.
posted by ORthey at 4:44 PM on December 11, 2009

I write comments and then hit the back button all the time. When I write it out I realize that someone already said essentially the same thing upthread. And said it better.

Like this one. I erased this one. Its too much just like what someone else said, so I just didn't...Oh, whoops.
posted by SLC Mom at 4:49 PM on December 11, 2009

Wow, when I re-read the Mommy Mafia thread and consider the fact that there's like 3 times that amount of stuff people decided was too ______ to post, it makes my head hurt a lot.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:52 PM on December 11, 2009

And by the way, I spent a good chunk of my morning reading some long gray thread (you know which one) and had a comment all formulated in my head, only to find that the damn thread was closed. Somehow the non-posting karma flows both ways.
posted by SLC Mom at 4:53 PM on December 11, 2009

Wow, when I re-read the Mommy Mafia thread and consider the fact that there's like 3 times that amount of stuff people decided was too ______ to post, it makes my head hurt a lot.

I'm pretty sure this way of thinking didn't apply to that thread.
posted by gman at 4:58 PM on December 11, 2009

I do this frequently. Just think about all those brilliant Jaltcoh pearls of wisdom you missed out on.
posted by Jaltcoh at 5:04 PM on December 11, 2009

Yup, do this all the time, too. Probably not as often as I should, of course, since I'm a rare female sufferer of male answer syndrome.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:04 PM on December 11, 2009 [10 favorites]

And by the way, I spent a good chunk of my morning reading some long gray thread (you know which one) and had a comment all formulated in my head, only to find that the damn thread was closed. Somehow the non-posting karma flows both ways.

ME TOO! Somehow the internet has a way of keeping me from posting about gay elf sex, and I'm usually happy for it later.
posted by Nattie at 5:08 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

That's called restraint and it's a very good quality. One of the hardest things to do in life is to think of something and then actively decide to not say it because you've concluded it will not go over well.

As they say "People with tact have less to retract."
posted by pwally at 5:10 PM on December 11, 2009

I'm a rare female sufferer of male answer syndrome.

I don't believe I've ever seen anyone willingly admit that. That's all sorts of cool, PhoBWanKenobi.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:10 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also I post more since the Post Comment button has a rainbow-maned unicorn on it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:11 PM on December 11, 2009 [5 favorites]

something something
posted by Rhomboid at 5:15 PM on December 11, 2009

I use ctrl+w. Who the hell uses the mouse to close a tab???
posted by qvantamon at 7:18 PM on December 11 [+] [!] [quote]

*gasp*

You, sir, have henceforth saved my finger many miles on the touchpad shoofing the pointer around closing millions of tabs. You, sir, are a genius and a gentleman.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 5:21 PM on December 11, 2009

a rainbow-maned unicorn

I knew that something would eventually convince my lazy ass to install Greasemonkey, and this is that thing.
posted by FelliniBlank at 5:25 PM on December 11, 2009

Check out the expanded version that has a narwhal on the Preview button.
posted by subbes at 5:27 PM on December 11, 2009

I'm really surprised that people ever do this.
posted by kathrineg at 5:31 PM on December 11, 2009

Check out the expanded version that has a narwhal on the Preview button.

Sweet jesus fuck happy hannukah to me!
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:32 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Drasher: “That's the THIRD time I write an answer in the green and click on the close tab button... right as I was writing an answer, I thought... What if they don't like that answer? What if everybody thinks I'm a jerk for spouting my opinion? This has happened a little too much to be comfortable.”

I have a similar problem that's sort of analogous. A lot of times I write an answer that's so perfect that it would allow the asker, everyone in the thread, and every single other person on Metafilter to attain instant enlightenment and abide in permanent, unchanging happiness and joy for the rest of existence. But then I think to myself... if I give people the acme of spiritual attainment and perfect tranquility instantly, what will there be left to work for? If I take away the journey, the long, sometimes difficult road to happiness which they have to travel, I say to myself, then won't I be taking away something that is, in its own way, precious? And what's more, if I make everyone on metafilter a spiritual and intellectual master like myself in the space of a moment, then nobody else here will have problems, and then what the hell will I do when I'm bored on a Friday afternoon?

At the end of the day, I always feel like I made the right decision. Of course, I feel that way about everything, but still.
posted by koeselitz at 5:32 PM on December 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

I figure my most valuable service to AskMe has been all the answers I didn't post.

THIS. This times infinity. And it's not because I'm afraid of people not liking my answer/opinion; it's because I know perfectly well that my potential answer has a good probability of being jackassish and unhelpful. I am kind of a jerk, really.
posted by elizardbits at 5:42 PM on December 11, 2009

I almost posted this comment.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 5:45 PM on December 11, 2009

Ah, god damn it.
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 5:46 PM on December 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

For me it's more here and on the blue than on Ask, but I also post less than 25% of the things I type in this box. Often it's because two or three paragraphs in I catch myself feeling a major sense of relief -- and this is a tip-off that I'm really just writing to blow steam, or impress myself, or the SOMEBODY IS FUCKING WRONG ON THE INTERNET thing. You know, instead of to actually contribute something. So I'll kind of finish "unspooling", re-read what I wrote, and then close the tab.

It's pretty edifying to learn I'm not the only person here this neurotic.

HUG
posted by churl at 5:50 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

At least once a day, I compose an answer on the green and then (intentionally) navigate away from the page without posting it. Sometimes it's because, upon re-reading the question, I see that I've totally misunderstood it and my answer is useless. Sometimes it's because when I read my answer, it's so full of special conditions or vagueness that I realize it isn't helpful, or that maybe I don't understand the topic as well as I thought when I started writing. You never really know if you understand something until you try to explain it to someone else.

Or I'll think, after composing my answer, that, yeah, I'm not actually much of an expert in this area, and chances are several other MeFites actually are experts. Occasionally, I close the window rather than post, because my answer contains personal details that, on second thought, I'm not sure I want to share.

Sometimes, and I know this sounds condescending, it's because partway through writing an answer, I realize that if the person is asking this question in the first place, they don't know enough to safely do what I'm suggesting. Electrical wiring-related questions often trigger this response from me, where I start thinking, you know, there are so many ways this job could go wrong that we can't see over the Internet, and do I want to be the person who said "give this a try" if it all goes horribly wrong, in a way that a handier person would have caught before it went wrong?
posted by FishBike at 5:50 PM on December 11, 2009

Whenever AskMeFi starts to make me feel stupid I just go to Yahoo!Answers and then I feel like a freakin' genius.
posted by TooFewShoes at 5:52 PM on December 11, 2009 [3 favorites]

I post 150% of the things I type in the box.

Yeah, the mods had a little talk with me about double posting my comments for emphasis.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:07 PM on December 11, 2009

I post 150% of the things I type in the box.

Yeah, the mods had a little talk with me about double posting my comments for emphasis.

Still working on it
posted by Salvor Hardin at 6:08 PM on December 11, 2009 [4 favorites]

I don't post at least half of the comments I start.

You lucky people.
posted by The Deej at 6:23 PM on December 11, 2009

I can actually go the other way from time to time. Sometimes, I read threads that I never, ever intend on posting in and think "Wait a minute, all of this advice is crap! Fuck, I can answer this!"

This happens just about equally to writing comments and then closing the tab wondering "Jesus hell, why did I even THINK that?!"
posted by grapefruitmoon at 6:24 PM on December 11, 2009

I see what you all did there. All 100k+ of you who typed a comment and didn't post it. Clever.
posted by scottreynen at 6:51 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

OK, I get the picture.
Hey! Look, ma! I posted!
posted by Drasher at 6:59 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

cortex could crunch the numbers, but I feel like I answer less questions than I used to. It's partly because I'm preoccupied with other things, but mostly because I felt like I was just barging in and sharing my perspective on everything even tangentially related to my life. I'm trying to restrict my answers to stuff I actually know shit about.

So you won't be hearing much from me.
posted by desjardins at 7:05 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

But there's still the tab issue. What if I have second thoughts about closing a tab? ctrl+w happens so damn fast.
posted by woodway at 7:06 PM on December 11, 2009

Ctrl-F12
posted by Rhomboid at 7:25 PM on December 11, 2009

woodway: “What if I have second thoughts about closing a tab? ctrl+w happens so damn fast.”

Ctrl-Shft-T N00B
posted by koeselitz at 7:52 PM on December 11, 2009

Some of us like mice. In moderation.
posted by woodway at 8:13 PM on December 11, 2009

The Moderate Mouse theme involves Andy Kaufman standing around awkwardly for twenty seconds and then lipsyncing the words "here I come to participate equitably in the daaaaaay".
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:43 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

You think before your post. This is a good thing.
posted by zennie at 8:47 PM on December 11, 2009

I try to answer AskMe questions when I think it's actually helpful. The ones were I think "Oh God, are you fucking stupid" are avoided.

I personally am ok with putting out a lot of answers in AskMe as long as they're reasoned and thoughtful to the problem at hand. It's just one opinion in the crowd and it's up the asker to decide if it's useful or not.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:49 PM on December 11, 2009

> Check out the expanded version that has a narwhal on the Preview button.

Yay!

I like how the narwhal and the little black sphere both look alarmed, as if they're warning you to pay more attention to your comment-in-progress.
posted by cobwebberies at 9:03 PM on December 11, 2009

You think before your post. This is a good thing.

Even better is to review your grammar.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:23 PM on December 11, 2009

i've been purposefully encouraging this behavior in myself. i, like PhoBWanKenobi, totally have male answer syndrome even though i'm female. i also have the "if you bring me a problem i will solve it instead of realize that you just need to unload" (which is what i thought male answer syndrome was until clicking the link, then realizing i tend towards both).

so, if i find that i'm fired up about a topic i'll leave the tab open and go do a load of dishes or wash the tub or something, then i'll come back, reload, reread, and sometimes start up an answer. if i'm still feeling a larger than average urge to set some things straight, i'll leave the tab open and distract myself again. if after all that i still think it needs to be said, i hit post - but a lot of the times, if i have to keep myself away from it that hard, i realize everyone is better off if i go play some paper mario.
posted by nadawi at 9:28 PM on December 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

In the last 2-3 weeks, I have started closing out/deleting before posting probably one third to half of the comments or answers I have typed up. For me, personally, I think this has been an improvement. I am working on developing a little bit of a Me-filter, and am enjoying Metafilter a lot more as a result.
posted by bunnycup at 9:40 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

Since none of you exist, I simply lash out blindly. It's pretty fast.
posted by fleacircus at 10:53 PM on December 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

It just goes to show, you can't be too careful!
posted by handee at 12:42 AM on December 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

I do this, too. The other AskMe related activity I think (hope) others do is insistently frame every conundrum in my life as an AskMe. I don't mean personal topics, either, I mean that my default follow-up to "I wonder why...?" is envisioning that question as my next AskMe. You guys do this, too, right?

Weirdly, I almost never actually post AskMes. (Probably because of the one week wait: if I actually post a question, that's a week of imagining AskMes I'm not allowed to ask! Silly, I know, but powerful.)
posted by Ian A.T. at 1:28 AM on December 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

Wait, I'm confused:

Is the question whether anyone writes but then abandons a draft comment because they think better of it? Of course, and I wish more people did it more often.

Or is the question whether anyone else is troubled by the increase in "echo chamber" threads where one or two (often contradictory) sentiments are endlessly repeated, with little room for other viewpoints? Of course, and I wish more people did it less often.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:27 AM on December 12, 2009

I changed my mind about answering this.

Twice!
posted by A Terrible Llama at 3:56 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Tossing off opinions is too easy on the internet.

And remember "opinion" is just "onion" with "pi".
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:03 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

I am shocked at everyone's impulse control.

Good thing that very few rare people need to be told to hire a therapist or a stripper.
posted by kathrineg at 5:15 AM on December 12, 2009

Now that I read that again it doesn't make sense. I have this problem often. But it genuinely makes sense and seems complete when I post it, and when I preview! I think I'm going to invest in a sort of faux-post button that makes me think I have posted although I have not posted, so that I will finally remember that one thing that I was originally going to include in the comment but didn't. It will be like the unicorn button but it will actually be a button for some other kind of mythological creature where you think you're doing something but you're not. Some kind of elfspriteachan, or possibly an image of those belts that make you think you're exercising when really, you're just standing there being jiggled.

Ever since someone posted something about how they calculate everyone's popularity based on their favorite/comment ratio, I have been paranoid that they've put me on some sort of super-unpopular people who fall below the 1/1 ratio list!
posted by kathrineg at 5:44 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

I do this, too. The other AskMe related activity I think (hope) others do is insistently frame every conundrum in my life as an AskMe. I don't mean personal topics, either, I mean that my default follow-up to "I wonder why...?" is envisioning that question as my next AskMe. You guys do this, too, right?

Ooh, I sort of do this, too. The funny thing is, especially in regards to PersonalLifeFilter, that I've actually gotten better at solving my own problems this way, because I start to envision what the answers are likely to be--or how I would answer, were i going to answer it.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:32 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, man, I do this like three times a day. I have all sorts of text files and email drafts with half-written answers just collecting dust somewhere on my computer. Like, yesterday afternoon I was about to answer a relationshipfilter question with an extended analogy of how the Pokemon battle system works, and how your level is more important than your type-effectiveness, and then I was like, "you know, this is lame even for me. I'm going for a run," and I kind of wish I had posted it, but I would have been the only person on the entire internet who'd find it insightful, and in a week I will have forgotten all about it anyway.

(But if you've posted a relationshipfilter question at some point in the last 48 hours, remember, your level is more important than your type-effectiveness. Water may be super effective against fire, but if you've got a level 4 Squirtle fighting a level 50 Charizard, Charizard will always win because he put in the hard work to level up and evolve. Take care of yourselves, and each other.)
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:36 AM on December 12, 2009 [5 favorites]

You have to take as a given that everybody thinks you're a jerk for spouting your opinion. And then you have to be OK with that. Because, if you don't spout your opinion, you're just a secret jerk.
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:44 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

And remember "opinion" is just "onion" with "pi".

mmm, quiche
posted by palliser at 7:04 AM on December 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

Metafilter: you think you're exercising when really, you're just standing there being jiggled.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:06 AM on December 12, 2009

i, like PhoBWanKenobi, totally have male answer syndrome even though i'm female

I'm also a woman with male answer syndrome, but I've been trapped in a man's body from birth.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 8:02 AM on December 12, 2009 [2 favorites]

Also I post more since the Post Comment button has a rainbow-maned unicorn on it.

Yay, now I have one too! Merry Christmas to me!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 8:12 AM on December 12, 2009

Wow. I even switched browsers to Firefox just to get the unicorn. Holy awesome. I want to comment on EVERYTHING now!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:36 AM on December 12, 2009

I feel less moved to post askme answers lately. I've either gotton more humble or more selfish.
posted by Salamandrous at 9:17 AM on December 12, 2009

I actually have far more responses that I regret posting than responses that I regret failing to post.

Posting comments must be like doing drugs. I almost never regret NOT doing drugs.
posted by philip-random at 9:18 AM on December 12, 2009

Sometimes I'll write up about two thirds of a comment, then minimize the window, then come back several hours later, or even the next day. Sometimes I'll just close the damn window, because I know I'm just writing to hear the sound of my own voice, and that's dumb.

For awhile I kept a private blog in which I recorded my unposted AskMe answers. It was mostly a place where I could unleash my snark without injuring any snowflakes. Because there's no reason to post a snarky answer in AskMe, and I didn't want to create extra work for the mods. I thought about making the blog public, but that would just be mean. What if someone sincerely needed a name for her cat who doesn't know where to hang out in New York City while waiting to see a therapist about whether to break up with her boyfriend?

I'm thinking about not posting this, but I'm going to. I've made up my mind. It's important.
posted by brina at 9:58 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

also her boyfriend doesn't have a job or a visa and her mom found her boyfriend's address and sent him a roast, but he's a vegetarian.
posted by kathrineg at 10:11 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

oh my god rainbow unicorn post button

my life is complete!
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 10:30 AM on December 12, 2009 [1 favorite]

this is pretty much all i do with metafilter. read, write comments, edit the comments, preview the comments, then decide not to post them. you are not the only one.
posted by molecicco at 3:23 PM on December 12, 2009

"Tossing off opinions is too easy on the internet."
posted by mr_crash_davis mark II: Jazz Odyssey at 5:55 PM on December 12, 2009

Rhomboid will be my hero once I can add a narwhal to the preview button. How does one do that?
posted by deborah at 9:57 PM on December 12, 2009

you have to go to the link given on the userscripts page. Copy the text there. Go into where you manage your userscripts. Pick the unicorn one. Copy and paste that text into where it's supposed to go. Save, then presto. It really is something. I heartily recommend it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:05 PM on December 12, 2009

Jessamyn this is one of those times. I go to your link and nothing makes sense. I need to learn about computers. *sigh*

I'm going to Y!A for awhile. I'll be back later.
posted by TooFewShoes at 11:27 PM on December 12, 2009

HAHA YOU'RE ALL ASSHOLES YOU SUCK SO HARD YOU'LL NEVER SEE THIS BECAUSE I'M JUST GONNA HIT THE CLOSE TAB BUTTON man those assholes don't know i think they suck
posted by tehloki at 1:14 AM on December 13, 2009

I actually maintain a full mirror of the site on a private server. I call it ShadowFilter.
In my world, I shove my opinions right down your throats, and none of you can judge me, because in my secret world, you're all losers and assholes.

*hesitates over the post button*
posted by Cat Pie Hurts at 10:25 AM on December 13, 2009

In addition to the answers I type out and then delete, there's a second category of "aborted AskMe comments." That is comments that would start out with "I don't know, but..."

I see threads all the time where I desperately want to be helpful, and I have a half-baked idea or random similarity. I self-edit those comments out of existence before my fingers ever hit the keyboard.

(You're welcome!)
posted by ErikaB at 10:47 AM on December 13, 2009

How do I make my unicorns and narwhals smaller?

(I was going to post this in AskMe, but I like having an account)

<UNICORN>
posted by scrump at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2009

Ooh. Never mind. Found it. Now I just need to work out scaling the image.
posted by scrump at 11:27 AM on December 14, 2009

280px wide seems to be the sweet spot for showing both unicorn and narwhal in their existing sizes without causing a linebreak (I'm too lazy to figure out how to scale the background image).
posted by subbes at 5:57 PM on December 14, 2009

Says I need a text editor. I have NotePad and WordPad, but I can't seem to open those programs from there. Oh well, it's not that important.
posted by deborah at 12:05 AM on December 15, 2009

If that's the dialog I think it is (clicking Edit to bring up the text of the script from the greasemonkey "manage scripts" window) then it's asking for the location of the text editor you want to use, so if you want to tell it to use Notepad then navigate to your Windows directory, then System32 under that, then select notepad.exe from there. It should only ask you this once, after that it will remember which editor you selected.

Here's an alternative method if you can't get that to work (assuming that the task at hand is to install the modified extra large narwhal version of the script.) From the pastebin link, choose the download link, and then save the file giving it a filename like "something.user.js". Then in firefox, choose "File -> Open file" and navigate to where you saved that js file and select it. Greasemonkey should then pop up a dialog asking if you want to install the script.
posted by Rhomboid at 1:54 AM on December 15, 2009