dynamic.fmpub.net is dead

September 14, 2010 1:12 PM

The front page of Ask MetaFilter contains JavaScript which references the Federated Media ad server dynamic.fmpub.net. However, the ad server reports that it is should no longer be used.

Because dynamic.fmpub.net no longer returns an image (presumably previously an invisible web bug) this causes a broken image icon at the bottom of the Ask MetaFilter home page in Safari. The actual text returned by dynamic.fmpub.net is:

// the adserver at dynamic.fmpub.net no longer exists
// please remove any script tags that reference dynamic.fmpub.net
// thanks! --fm

posted by RichardP to Bugs at 1:12 PM (31 comments total)

Actually, the broken image link only occurs with Javascript turned off (due to the <noscript> tag). With javascript turned on the code is executed, but since it the Javascript code is just a comment about the server no longer existing it does nothing.
posted by RichardP at 1:18 PM on September 14, 2010

dynamic.fmpub.net.cabal does not exist.
posted by Babblesort at 1:24 PM on September 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Remember, you're not the customer, you're the produce.
posted by maxwelton at 1:34 PM on September 14, 2010

Thanks, I removed that code.
posted by pb (staff) at 1:46 PM on September 14, 2010

Fast work pb!
posted by RichardP at 1:50 PM on September 14, 2010

I'm a kumquat.
posted by slogger at 2:10 PM on September 14, 2010

What the hell are you guys talking about?
posted by Think_Long at 2:25 PM on September 14, 2010

I'm a kumquat.

My uncle and his family used to come to our house for Thanksgiving when I was little. One year my mom needed him to go to the store for an emergency last minute ingredient run, and for some insane reason he took me (I was maybe 9 and I'm the oldest), my brother, and our two cousins with us. (Because who doesn't like going to the grocery store late at night before Thanksgiving with four little kids hopped up on pie filling?)

The place was mostly deserted, this being the south where all the respectable people plan their Thanksgiving food a week in advance, so we all ran around like crazy people. The florist/balloon kiosk was unattended, and my mid-30s professional-in-real-life uncle absconded with a reserve of helium in a balloon. We then searched around for a store employee, and found some guy stocking produce. My uncle sucked some helium, approached the guy, and asked in the high-pitched squealy voice, "hi! Do you have any kumquats?" and we all dissolved in fits of giggles. We then got whatever it was we needed to get and went home, where my uncle denied everything.

Unfortunately, my cousins were too young for this to have become a lasting memory for them, but between my uncle and me, DO YOU HAVE ANY KUMQUATS is the official slogan of Thanksgiving in our family.
posted by phunniemee at 2:53 PM on September 14, 2010 [44 favorites]

I presume it has been replaced with code pointing to boring.amhome.net
posted by davejay at 2:56 PM on September 14, 2010

http://me.tafilt.er:19/
posted by blue_beetle at 3:04 PM on September 14, 2010

HOW ABOUT MY KUMQUATS
posted by TrialByMedia at 3:43 PM on September 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

IT's a shame there is no email or other way to contact the mods.
posted by micawber at 7:03 PM on September 14, 2010

That's a strange remark micawber. Are you proposing that the MetaTalk Bugs category be deprecated?
posted by RichardP at 7:30 PM on September 14, 2010 [2 favorites]

Worst callout ever.
posted by hal_c_on at 2:38 AM on September 15, 2010 [3 favorites]

Don't you know we reached Peak Threads some time ago? Remaining thread reserves must be guarded closely, lest we have to resort to rationing. Micawber was merely acting to preserve our precious bodily fluids attention spans, in case anyone else stumbled into a resolved technical thread and waste literally milliseconds of their time closing the tab.
posted by Happy Dave at 6:03 AM on September 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Are you proposing that the MetaTalk Bugs category be deprecated?

Practically speaking, it might as well. The contact form works just as well for real bugs, and doesn't have the peanut gallery.
posted by smackfu at 6:15 AM on September 15, 2010

[Flagged as Howdy Doody-ist]
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:18 AM on September 15, 2010

doesn't have the peanut gallery

AKA other people who can corroborate problems or help with common bugs and/or misunderstandings.
posted by Happy Dave at 7:29 AM on September 15, 2010

Practically speaking, it might as well.

Seems that way, pretty much. It used to be just mathowie tugging away on the duct tape and chicken wire holding this place together, but now that we've got pb it kinda seems unnecessary to post about bugs at all. Same with "uptime." The "meetups" category went away with the launch of IRL, "music" with the launch of MeFi Music, and the "general weblog-related" category hasn't been seen in lo, these many years.
posted by Gator at 7:37 AM on September 15, 2010

...and doesn't have the peanut gallery.

...which would be a real loss to us culturally. See on this wall, we have an example of early 20th century Fisher, notice the play of the light across the shell. And over here, we have the centerpiece of our collection, an original Planters, considered by many to be one of the true masters of the craft...
posted by quin at 7:40 AM on September 15, 2010

The contact form is a good way to go, but to be clear it's fine to post bug reports to Metatalk if you think there might be some utility in having it out there for public consumption, whether because it's something that other folks might have differing experiences with or (as sort of applies here with the broken image thing) other people might have wondered what was up with the bug/error/weirdness.

That there will probably be some silliness or chatter in the resulting thread is something any given poster should weigh when considering a post, but that's just kind of metatalk. If people aren't be jerks or intentionally disruptive or whatever, eh.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:39 AM on September 15, 2010

NO YOU SIT DOWN CORTEX
posted by not_on_display at 9:09 AM on September 15, 2010

Since I've been gifted with worst callout ever, which I think is egregiously unfair, I'll just offer my point of view as someone who works on things for people to consume on the internet, and works with developer types: it's the same thing as posting typos or grammar corrections as a comment instead of sending an email to the person who runs the site when there is a clearly posted email or contact form. It's making yourself look awesome, and making the person who does the work look crappy. No one likes their mistakes called out in public, and unless there's something to be learned by posting it publicly, why do it? Why not just be kind and discreet and say "Yo, hey, you might not have noticed this, but X is broken, or you're missing a div, or you meant to say X when you meant to say Y." I appreciate those when they're emailed to me but someone rushing to post them as the first comment on a post is just trying to make themselves look good.

I'm not saying that pb or anyone is a special flower who will have their feelings hurt, but if I see you and you have spinach in your teeth, I'm not going to walk over while you're talking to your friends and announce to them all that you have spinach in your teeth, i'm going to make a quiet gesture or send you a text message about it.

Not every damn thing has to be done in public.
posted by micawber at 9:55 AM on September 15, 2010

As someone who writes software myself, I vastly prefer that bugs be pointed out on the public fora I have created for this purpose. It keeps me from having to reply to each person individually, provides something people can Google for, and on rare occasions, even allows other people to chip in with a bug fix, workaround, or other helpful idea. This is an incredibly common attitude amongst developers.
posted by grouse at 10:06 AM on September 15, 2010

I personally don't mind either way. As cortex mentioned, if there's an issue that could be affecting many people, it's good to have that in a public place where anyone can post work-arounds or more info until we can fix it. On the other hand, a MetaTalk thread means more attention is required from everyone. This simple fix has turned into a policy discussion. That happens here and it's just part of the process of improving the site.
posted by pb (staff) at 10:14 AM on September 15, 2010

It's making yourself look awesome, and making the person who does the work look crappy.

I think that sort of thing can happen, but I don't think it's at all inherent in public discussion of bugs and such. It's certainly not something I get at all from RichardP's post, here. There's a long tradition of community members mentioning bugs, site issues, etc. on Mettalk, which is why there's the Bugs category in the first place.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:16 AM on September 15, 2010

PSSST CORTEX U HAVE SPINACH BUGS IN YOUR TEETH! I AM TRYING TO BE QUIET IN TELLING YOU THIS!

...on preview, hey, I look gooooood!
posted by not_on_display at 10:25 AM on September 15, 2010

Fair enough then. I didn't realize that it was common practice to report bugs in MeTa. Had I known this, I would have taken it as the same spirit as any dev forum.
posted by micawber at 10:33 AM on September 15, 2010

As someone who writes software myself, I vastly prefer that bugs be pointed out on the public fora I have created for this purpose.

OTOH, hey, if I'm getting a 404 on a link, that's not something that really needs to be preserved forever, or discussed to see if everyone else sees it.
posted by smackfu at 10:50 AM on September 15, 2010 [1 favorite]

Fair enough then. I didn't realize that it was common practice to report bugs in MeTa. Had I known this, I would have taken it as the same spirit as any dev forum.

No hard feeling here, micawber. I posted largely because in the past I've posted a couple of bugs to MetaTalk and I recalled that in the past issues with fmpub were discussed on MetaTalk. While site issues were never a significant focus of MeTa (I think policy discussion has always been the primary use), in the past they did make up a larger percentage of the MeTa posts. It's been about two years since my last post to MetaTalk — the community has grown a great deal in that time and MeTa attracts the attention of a lot more people now then it used to. So your point is certainly not without merit. In retrospect the contact form would probably been a better way to report this issue opposed to a MetaTalk Bugs post.
posted by RichardP at 11:43 AM on September 15, 2010

the south where all the respectable people plan their Thanksgiving food a week in advance

Huh. It's not done that way everywhere? I mean, I know what I'm supposed to be bringing by two weeks in advance at the latest.[*]



[*] This is usually the mashed potatoes, because hubby and I loooooove mashed potatoes and nobody else wants to peel all those taters.
posted by galadriel at 2:19 PM on September 15, 2010