Memories in the corners of the site

July 6, 2011 2:31 PM

Memmmmmories.... For MetaFilter's upcoming 12th anniversary we're collecting stories to put on a special new site unveiled on the magic day. Your task is simple: tell us how you found MeFi and what your favorite memory is from the site. Submit your answers here. Thanks!

We'll be taking submissions for the next week and closing it up on July 13th at noon, pacific time. The site with everyone's stories will go live the next day, on our 12th anniversary.

posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 2:31 PM (116 comments total)

Silk and linen.
posted by box at 2:34 PM on July 6, 2011

I am sad that this is not the giant metal chicken anniversary.
posted by elizardbits at 2:36 PM on July 6, 2011 [36 favorites]

I'll always treasure the time Matt asked people what their favorite memories of Metafilter were, and an awful lot of people posted their contribution right in the MeTa thread, instead of reading carefully and following the link provided.
posted by Tomorrowful at 2:36 PM on July 6, 2011 [23 favorites]

Oh yeah, also note there's no editing after the fact, so make it a good one.

We'll close this down the day before (July 13th, probably around noon). One week!
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:41 PM on July 6, 2011

.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 2:49 PM on July 6, 2011

Heh. My birthday. So you want to tell me that Metafilter opened on 13 July 1999, my 40th birthday??? That is bizarre. Very black day in the course of my separation-to-be-divorce. That is not anything I will upload on that link, no.
posted by Namlit at 2:52 PM on July 6, 2011

I honestly can't remember how I found metafilter. That was over 5 years ago.

I do have a lot of good memories though.
posted by cjorgensen at 2:52 PM on July 6, 2011

Too bad, my favorite memory is that one thing we are never to speak of again.
posted by marxchivist at 2:57 PM on July 6, 2011 [7 favorites]

Oh Metafilter, you've grown up to be a fine young website. But next years, you'll be a teenager and I think it's time we had a talk about the ones and the zeroes.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:58 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

But next years, you'll be a teenager and I think it's time we had a talk about the ones and the zeroes Rule 34.
posted by shakespeherian at 3:07 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh wow. I'm coming up on my 10 year anniversary here.
posted by ODiV at 3:07 PM on July 6, 2011

My favorite memory was of all the awesome posts to the blue that Paphnuty used to make. We'll see whether my story shows up or if it vanishes down the memory hole.
posted by grouse at 3:08 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

My favorite memory was when Scott Adams posted that thing about Tom Cruise's teeth.
posted by shakespeherian at 3:11 PM on July 6, 2011 [6 favorites]

Will anonymous be posting their memories? :D
posted by zarq at 3:21 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

I've been reading the site since almost the beginning, and I can't for the life of me think of the exact thing that brought me here. I just remember one of my friends sending me a link with "This is cool." and as I recall, the link was ok, but the discussion was fantastic.

I wish I had better specifics.

I guess instead, I'll have to come up with a favorite memory that is narrower than "the last 12 years..."
posted by quin at 3:28 PM on July 6, 2011

THIS is both my favorite laugh till it hurts memory, and what I would like to see recreated in real-life if I win some kind of messed up contest.
posted by hal_c_on at 3:37 PM on July 6, 2011

My favorite memory was when Scott Adams posted that thing about Tom Cruise's teeth.

Where?
posted by hal_c_on at 3:39 PM on July 6, 2011

I had been reading Metafilter for a while before I was able to sign up, along with memepool, kuro5hin, slashdot, plastic and other proto-community blogs.

At the time I spent most of my (writing) time in Everything2.com, where they have a sort of real-time chatbox that was the source of many discussions, arguments and other shenanigans. They also had meetups very early on, but because of the spread out and relatively small userbase it wasn't uncommon for these meetups to be hosted at someone's house and last more than one or two days. Often people would sleep on floors and sleeping bags or tents in a host's backyard.

I remember following the 9/11 thread on Metafilter and staying glued to it because it was faster and often more accurate than the news.

Eventually my brother asked me if I'd heard of mefi and I said hell yes. So he pointed me to the back door URL where you could sign up for an account. At the time my brother was hanging out with Matt and doing skateboard photography or proto-SEO blogging experiments (like Matt's PVR blog, or my brother's experiments with high value google adword keywords which were still new at the time.) I don't know if he asked Matt's permission to give me the secret link or not, but I signed up.


I believe my very first comment was about the SpaceShipOne launch and X-Prize contest. If it wasn't the first, it was certainly my first "essay length" comment, setting the tone for the future. It was originally written for everything2.com, but I quickly became addicted to Metafilter's linear, conversational commenting style. It had room for long essay length comments or quick discussions, and the people on mefi were insanely smart.

And they still are still smart, but to be honest - things were much different back then. Not necessarily better, just different. Weirder, a bit zanier, less mainstream - and inherently wilder and more free form. And rowdier, more fighty. There was a sort of critical mass of engineers, programmers, scientists, writers/bloggers, artists, ex-usenet junkies. Refugees from memepool, slashdot, plastic, too.

But it was also a bit of a monoculture and very much a "boy zone" still. Trending heavily towards male computer nerd demographic. It wasn't a mature or diverse community, yet.

Things like marking threads NSFW just wasn't a concern, perhaps because for the sort of crowd that was the mainstream back then, they'd likely be in charge of their work internet connection in the first place. Plus filtering or monitoring workplace internet wasn't yet so common.

Many early links wouldn't fly today. That's fine, and evolution of a community in action. Nothing stays exactly the same for long. The way we used to argue wouldn't fly, either. It was problematic even back then, but I think a larger portion of the users had thicker skins - or simply cared less. Not necessarily a good thing.

I confess I approached Metafilter from the very beginning as a "writing project" - just like someone would approach any blog, but a conversational blog - but not to troll, or pretend, or be fake - but as a learning tool about communicaition and honesty. A place to learn to write - and by writing, to learn about life. To find a smart audience to correct me and train me through natural feedback. Not unlike I had found at everything2.com. I never intended to abandon E2 or replace it with Metafilter. It just happened, because as the tagline used to say - "Metafilter: More addictive than crack."

And I'll freely admit (that for me) Metafilter is more about the discussion than the links. Always has been, always will. But it helps that the links are so damn good. The conversation would suck without it.

And when I look way back I cringe at some of the things I've written or said, the attitudes I've copped, or some of the changes I've influenced. Boasting, egotistical, defensive. It's been a hell of a learning experience.

I've seen users come and go. I've seen users get married, or break up. I watched every new mod save for mathowie go through their startup and learning curves, and I quietly learned along with them.

I once had an exchange with jessamyn where I was clearly having a freakout and tantrum over a deletion (probably in AskMe) and she hit me with an appropriate but offhand PEBKAC comment - which is probably the very last thing you want to say to an overwrought nerd on the warpath who works or has worked in IT support or helpdesk. I nearly completely lost my shit. I either demanded or wanted to demand that they completely erase and delete my account. I may have been the first person to ever demand or threaten that, leading to the evolution of the "no deleting user history" policy, at least not without a DMCA challenge or lawyer or something. I'm not sure if they made that a policy before that exchange or after.

But when I finally calmed down and took a breath, I realized that the problem really did exist between keyboard and chair. and I've learned from it. I've thought about buttoning a cople of times since then and pulling that whole "taking my ball home" bullshit - but not for years. I've thought about taking a break, sure, but not buttoning in anger.

Why? Where else would I go? Who else would put up with my bloviating? Reddit? Hah.

I've been to... dozens of meetups? I've met hundreds of people, and at least a dozen fairly close friends. I've met dates, lovers and potential partners. I've scored jobs and side work in writing, art and design. I've gone on cross-country road trips. I had some random kid on a greyhound bus recognize my username. "Hey, I read and lurk on metafilter, who are you?", he said. That was... really weird. Cool, but weird.

I came out and revealed my complex or unusual gender identity and have received an incredible amount of encouragement and support, and it was one of the top five hardest things I've ever done in my life. I've a lot received informational, emotional and material support from hundreds on my (rather chaotic) journeys over the last 9-10 years. People here literally saved my life.

One user (who probably wishes to remain anonymous) was actually the first person ever in my life to actually say the words "You know, you could/should probably get help for your depression." and sent me off on the past 3+ years doing just that. I owe this person a lot, more than they probably realize. If I ever crawl out of my hole and stop underachieving I intend to send them on a vacation or something. (Seriously, thank you.)

This site has majorly affected nearly all areas of my life - for the better.

I've never looked this far ahead from when I joined in 2003 and thought about what the future held. Websites come and go but I didn't expect all this. It's permanently part of the fabric of who I am.

I love all of you. Grar, hugs and all.
posted by loquacious at 3:48 PM on July 6, 2011 [49 favorites]

Where?

Eh, you can't really even ask the question. It's not something we can actually discuss without a literal army of a certain movie actor's lawyers descending on the site and tearing it to pieces with their teeth.

If you're clever enough you may be able to find the topic in the internet wayback machine but it's probably thoroughly scoured from Google and most of the web with industrial strength lawyer-based floor cleaner.

It's the one counter-example to the "Streisand effect" that I can think of.

This comment may be deleted at any time
posted by loquacious at 3:53 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

My coworker introduced me to MeFi during the six-month stretch of work where we had nothing to do. Read: 40 hours/week where we would average 1.5 phone calls, each call under 10 minutes. We were bored. After a while, I paid my moneys.

In my short time on here, I once made it to the side blog with a post about a human leg. I hadn't noticed how popular my experience had gotten. My coworker begins cracking up about some guy on MeFi having tossed a human leg over his shoulder, walking it down the stairs, etc. and I completed the story for him. The look on his face was something like this, then this.
posted by Mister Fabulous at 4:15 PM on July 6, 2011

hurray -- a kuro5hin mention. What a wonderful experiment that turned out terrible in the end.
posted by garlic at 4:25 PM on July 6, 2011

My favourite memory was paying the registration fee. No, honestly. I explained it a bit better in my official submission...
posted by easternblot at 4:30 PM on July 6, 2011

hurray -- a kuro5hin mention. What a wonderful experiment that turned out terrible in the end.

I originally came here when I realized that Kuro5hin's founder, rusty, was commenting more on MetaFilter than on Kuro5hin. As soon as I figure out where mathowie is hanging out these days, I'll probably head out there.
posted by grouse at 4:32 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

Oh, and my second-favourite memory (not submitted!) is the single "Metatalk!" exclamation punctuating cortex's "Matthewchen is spamming" song.
I can't believe I've had that in my head for FIVE YEARS now. o.O My poor brain....
posted by easternblot at 4:35 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

I think it was the time I made friends by mailing out free porn coupons.
posted by The Whelk at 4:37 PM on July 6, 2011

I came for the pancakes.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:39 PM on July 6, 2011

Wait, I love everyone except eyeballkid.
posted by loquacious at 4:41 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

Awww. I hate you too loquacious.
posted by eyeballkid at 4:42 PM on July 6, 2011 [5 favorites]

I never got a porn coupon.
posted by cjorgensen at 4:44 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't even kind of remember how I came here, I just remember being pissed and baffled that I could never join.

Then, when I could join, I was pissed and baffled that I had been tested and found wanting by the "every day at noon" signup window.

Now, I am pissed and baffled about all the ants in our kitchen.
posted by everichon at 4:46 PM on July 6, 2011

Eh, you can't really even ask the question.

It wasn't really Scott Adams though.

It was Tao Lin.
posted by shakespeherian at 4:51 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

We have cameras.

It's long enough ago that I don't remember how I got here; probably through a link from Kottke or Anil or bluishorange. I didn't register for several months, and finally did less than a month before 9/11. Said event turned me into a constant reader for several years. After realizing I'd stayed up late arguing in MetaTalk because People were Wrong on the Internet, I took a break for a couple years, other than to answer Chicago questions in AskMe. I've been tiptoeing back into the Blue again recently. (Hi everyone!)
posted by me3dia at 4:57 PM on July 6, 2011 [4 favorites]

I miss Miguel.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:13 PM on July 6, 2011 [11 favorites]

You all do realize that posting on this thread is NOT the same as submitting your story, right?

Right?

Carry on.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:14 PM on July 6, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yes. My submission is different from the above. I was just, you know, participating in the discussion.
posted by me3dia at 5:18 PM on July 6, 2011

I put my two cents in, as elder statesman and all that happy horseshit.
posted by jonmc at 5:22 PM on July 6, 2011

My submission was only four words.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:23 PM on July 6, 2011 [5 favorites]

My favorite memory was when Scott Adams posted that thing

But if that IS true...isn't it just kinda sad rather than funny. And the person wants to just keep their privacy for whatever reason. Maybe embarassment.
posted by hal_c_on at 5:23 PM on July 6, 2011

You all do realize that posting on this thread is NOT the same as submitting your story, right?

DOH. Well, maybe I'll write a better one.
posted by loquacious at 5:31 PM on July 6, 2011

I think it was the time I made friends by mailing out free porn coupons.
posted by The Whelk at 11:37 AM on July 7
[+] [!]


I came for the pancakes.
posted by eyeballkid at 11:39 AM on July 7
[+] [!]

you can get coupons for pancake porn? rule 34, I guess...
posted by russm at 5:36 PM on July 6, 2011

eyeballkid: “My submission was only four words.”

HURF DURF BUTTER EATER
posted by koeselitz at 5:47 PM on July 6, 2011 [7 favorites]

you can get coupons for pancake porn? rule 34, I guess...

Well, technically, I wrote "for" not "on." But if you're willing to go there, I can play along.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:57 PM on July 6, 2011

Mine makes very little sense. Hooray.
posted by riffola at 6:09 PM on July 6, 2011

I am sad that this is not the giant metal chicken anniversary.

DON'T BE SO SURE
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:36 PM on July 6, 2011 [5 favorites]

It wasn't really Scott Adams though.

It was Tao Lin.

And it wasn't really on MetaFilter. It was on UserFriendly.org
posted by Balonious Assault at 7:17 PM on July 6, 2011

I miss Miguel.
*crumples essay of Cardosoisomisms'.
posted by clavdivs at 7:33 PM on July 6, 2011

Already told you, I was looking for memepool.
posted by Eideteker at 7:33 PM on July 6, 2011

Well, technically, I wrote "for" not "on." But if you're willing to go there, I can play along.

that wouldn't be porn, that'd be real live pancake sex.
posted by russm at 7:50 PM on July 6, 2011

Dear god what have i done
posted by The Whelk at 7:52 PM on July 6, 2011

you have done what was required.
-god
posted by clavdivs at 7:58 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

"Miiiiiiidnight, not a sound from the pavement, has the moon lost her memory? She is smiling alone. In the lamp light the withered leaves collect at my feet, and the wind begins to moan. Memory, all alone in the moonlight, I can smile at the old days, I was..."

*zarq taps IndigoRain on shoulder*

IR: "Not now zarq, it's my big number!"
Zarq: *whispers in IR's ear*
IR: "What? Not that Memory? Memories of Metafilter? Oh, oh I'm so embarrassed..."
posted by IndigoRain at 8:31 PM on July 6, 2011 [2 favorites]

Oh, look, yesterday was my 11th anniversary. I joined pretty quickly after finding the place.
posted by MrMoonPie at 9:13 PM on July 6, 2011

Many early links wouldn't fly today.

The bar done got raised, just not by Dannye this time.

Was that name supposed to be Danny-e or Dan-nye?
posted by Jpfed at 9:14 PM on July 6, 2011

Many early links wouldn't fly today.

I've introduced a few folks to MeFi... the first of them who actually joined, he posted a single self-link and a couple of comments, and hasn't been back since... that was 2002 though when (iirc) self-linking wasn't on the DO NOT DO list...
posted by russm at 9:30 PM on July 6, 2011

I've already delivered my favorite MetaFilter moment in twee-wincingly detail a couple years back. I stick by it.

So, as my second favorite MeFi memory, I'll have to fall back on the time I accidentally met Horace Rumpole on the bus, which was the first time I'd met a MeFite IRL... I was on some serious cough medication at the time.
posted by not_on_display at 9:49 PM on July 6, 2011

Jpfed: Danny-e! Which never stopped me from mentally pronouncing it Dan-nye.
posted by bewilderbeast at 10:07 PM on July 6, 2011

Late-night non sequitur: There oughta be more singing on the front page of MetaTalk.
posted by carsonb at 10:13 PM on July 6, 2011

So next year is Metafilter's bar mitzvah?

Seems like just last week we were debating whether to have to site circumcized.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 10:15 PM on July 6, 2011 [3 favorites]

I remember that I was reading the site daily, and getting kind of annoyed that I couldn't post, and I remember seeing the 'one account given away nightly at midnight' notice, and thought that's for me. For several nights in a row I sat diligently with my finger poised over the mouse button and my eye on the seconds hand. I think on the fourth night I got it. I felt quite accomplished. And I felt like my account was something precious -- were paid registrations not available then? Because I am pretty sure I owned five dollars and would have spent it instead of trying to win a clicking contest. Well, I'm pretty sure I owned five dollars. I do love clicking contests.
posted by damehex at 10:24 PM on July 6, 2011

Wait, is it for "fondest memory" or "first time the site clicked for you"? Or is it just "give us one positive memory of your choice"?
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:28 PM on July 6, 2011

I'm torn between Quonsar prank calling me or the thread, which i can't find for now, were I almost had Miguel disbelieving his own dissertation.

an embellished prank call might work.

How many pages can this be?
posted by clavdivs at 11:17 PM on July 6, 2011

I can remember when I joined (recently) but I can't remember when I first found the site. I have vague memories of 9/11 and spending too much time on Slashdot, but it seems like I've always been lurking here.
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 12:08 AM on July 7, 2011

I don't remember when I first found out about Metafilter. It must have been from Slashdot or Kuro5hin, or maybe Plastic.com. I do remember that I relied mostly on it for 9/11, so I was reading it by then. I also don't remember signing up, but apparently it was the day they opened it to the $5 people. I do remember angst about the noobs.

Basically, I don't remember anything.
posted by dirigibleman at 12:23 AM on July 7, 2011

Heh. I just started browsing back through my MetaTalk history to find my previous "How I found MetaFilter" comment. I first realized that I really haven't commented a whole lot, especially as of late, though I read every day. And then found that I am personally and solely responsible for the show new comments feature. You're welcome!

I'm pretty sure I got the idea from somebody else.
posted by team lowkey at 12:36 AM on July 7, 2011

God, I can't remember how I found this place either. How sad. I suspect, though, it was pretty mundane. I remember reading it around 9/11, so I probably I saw it linked from some other blog or community around that time. I've read it pretty regularly since then, even before I could comment (praise 2004!).
posted by cj_ at 1:01 AM on July 7, 2011

Wait, is it for "fondest memory" or "first time the site clicked for you"? Or is it just "give us one positive memory of your choice"?


Maybe stay away from "first time the site clicked for you."
posted by clearly at 1:11 AM on July 7, 2011

I was late for my first ever meetup due to taking my sister to the airport; greekphilosophy and casarkos were good enough to hang out over coffee when they could have been heading home. No banjos were involved.
posted by arcticseal at 1:23 AM on July 7, 2011

I would like a "Preview Your Memory" button IRL please.
posted by chavenet at 3:30 AM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

Dear Penthouse,
I never thought this would happen to me, but one day, as I was joining this community weblog....
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:33 AM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I can't remember a damn thing.
posted by ardgedee at 5:59 AM on July 7, 2011

MetaFilter: A lot of people who don't remember how they got here.
posted by desjardins at 7:41 AM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I don't remember what I had for dinner last night and you want surfing memories from a decade ago? ;)
posted by caddis at 7:58 AM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

You had hot beer and cold sex for dinner.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 8:14 AM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

But next years, you'll be a teenager and I think it's time we had a talk about the ones and the zeroes Rule 34.

It just occurred to me that while "Rule 34" means one thing on the internet, the same number rule authorizes Requests for Production under the Rules of Civil Procedure.

This is distressingly appropriate.
posted by valkyryn at 8:21 AM on July 7, 2011

If memory serves me right, I won second place in a beauty pageant and collected a MeFi membership as a prize.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 8:28 AM on July 7, 2011

I am sad that this is not the giant metal chicken anniversary.

I got some of the cards she made in the mail yesterday and tried to explain to my husband why they were so funny. Mostly, I got a blank look.

I'm glad to see that at least 25 of my fellow mefi members understand hilarity.

Also, I joined because Slogger would NOT stop talking about metafilter. One of his friends had to join just so he wouldn't seem so awkward at social events...basically, I took one for the team.
posted by fyrebelley at 8:47 AM on July 7, 2011

I'm shit with names and faces, I also don't remember birthdays, anniversaries or, often times, the names of close relatives.

But I remember the exact link that sent me here for the first time, which is kind of crazy.
posted by eyeballkid at 9:16 AM on July 7, 2011

When I first came to metafilter, I thought "An intimidating wall of text! It's like they haven't learned anything about web design since the 80s! This is EXACTLY what I want!"
posted by Stagger Lee at 9:25 AM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

that one time when quonsar got banned.
posted by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 9:44 AM on July 7, 2011

I had to look up my first comments/post. Tepid. And I launched my posting style ... being the last one in the thread. Originally that was probably because I was in Hawai'i then -- the last timezone of the day around the world. You guys just went to sleep and ignored me!



... watching to see if this is the last comment ...
posted by Surfurrus at 11:59 AM on July 7, 2011

I like the fights. They're not as good as they used to be, though. I also liked it when Tkchrist offered to beat me up. Those were the good old days.
posted by Decani at 12:18 PM on July 7, 2011

Please tell me more about the web design aesthetics of the '80s.
posted by SpiffyRob at 12:31 PM on July 7, 2011

IndigoRain: "IR: "What? Not that Memory? Memories of Metafilter? Oh, oh I'm so embarrassed...""

Just be glad I didn't insist on a duet! :D
posted by zarq at 12:36 PM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

that one time when quonsar got banned.
You'll have to be more specific than that ;-)
posted by dg at 2:52 PM on July 7, 2011 [2 favorites]

Of course I found the link after I posted but here it is: http://metatalk.metafilter.com/1874/
posted by Lynsey at 3:07 PM on July 7, 2011

I just dropped in to say "Yay!". This is awesome.
posted by jivadravya at 8:31 PM on July 7, 2011

I miss Miguel too. But I'm always glad to see people I remember from the early days like stavros, and jonmc, and eyeballkid. We all keep coming back, even more than a decade later, and there's a reason for that.

Thanks, Matt (and everyone else).
posted by gd779 at 8:51 PM on July 7, 2011 [1 favorite]

I was surprised a couple years ago when I looked at my profile to check out my join date and to see I had signed up on 9/11.

I know I had been a reader before that, but I guess I had never felt the need to join. I remember going to a college class that day, and not being able to get onto any news sites. Everything was getting hammered. While I don't remember the actual sign-up, I remember Metafilter being pretty much the only place I could get through to for updates.

Mefi was a lot less well-rounded/more boys' club 10 years ago. I remember getting flirty/sexual replies to comments I would make.
posted by Windigo at 12:10 PM on July 8, 2011

...And yeah, the fights were better back in the day. Much more fighty!
posted by Windigo at 12:12 PM on July 8, 2011

Oh, and fondest memory?

The mushroom thread.
posted by Windigo at 12:13 PM on July 8, 2011

I occasionally visited MetaFilter while a graduate student, lurking because the few times I tried to sign up I’d receive messages something to the effect "registration is not available at the moment." During those days, MeFi would sometimes go down because the two (?) servers hosting the site would splutter under load. I successfully registered some time after MeFi was covered/mentioned in the NYT.

One early-in-my-MeFi-user-history moment I remember stems from a thread about a supercut of women baring their breasts scored with a folksy exhortation to "show us them puppies for world peace." I was furious, full of graduate student indignation. At some point a user pointed to my zero FPP contribution and enjoined me to put up or shut up, and I replied "I paid my $5."

But who am I kidding? Every day I have a new favorite MetaFilter moment just about every time I visit. It's what keeps me coming back.
posted by mistersquid at 7:53 AM on July 9, 2011

MetaFilter: A lot of people who don't remember how they got here.

Oh god. That means we're still inside the dream.
posted by maryr at 9:17 AM on July 10, 2011

"Oh god. That means we're still inside the dream."

*Puts clothes back on the Hamburglar and Grimace*
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:28 AM on July 10, 2011

Oh god. That means we're still inside the dream.
posted by The Whelk at 11:30 AM on July 10, 2011

Taters.
posted by BaxterG4 at 12:28 PM on July 12, 2011

I missed the deadline but it still let me submit... hopefully that went through? At any rate, great idea, looking forward to reading them!
posted by churl at 2:47 PM on July 13, 2011

Yeah, we never actually turned it off. Anyone that finds this now that the site is up is welcome to post a memory.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:22 AM on July 14, 2011

And it's a go! Here's the site with everyone's collected stories of MeFi Memories.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:25 AM on July 14, 2011 [4 favorites]

Huzzah! Nice one with the domain!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:39 AM on July 14, 2011

Great site! So is the original sorting order Matt's personal favourites or did you use a tombola?
posted by arcticseal at 2:05 AM on July 14, 2011

I forgot add - happy 12th Birthday Metafilter!
posted by arcticseal at 2:06 AM on July 14, 2011

I've only read half a dozen or so, but I've ended up in tears twice so far.

I guess I'd better find another box of tissues and prepare for a late night...
posted by malibustacey9999 at 2:07 AM on July 14, 2011

As an old-timer, in MeFi years, Internet years and IRL years I can remember the wave of extremely talented designers and writers which swirled around the web at the birth of Metafilter. The jokes were about A-Listers and Cabals but there definitely was a feeling that these young artists and engineers were shaping our digital world (and they were).

While some accrued enormous fortunes and others disappeared up their two point arses I can't honestly recall a site which has survived as intact as Metafilter. Perhaps because no fortunes were accrued and certainly because no fundaments were inhabited.

Matthowie and the moderators have created a space which seems as permanent as this digital world allows. Fame and fortune is deserved, but you'll have to make do with having an army at your disposal. I'd like to thank them for having the patience to build something on a web of almost constant change and for not selling out to AOL or some shit.

Too many memories to choose from.

Some personal and some secret but the one which dropped my jaw the most is Omg Woz
posted by fullerine at 2:21 AM on July 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

damehex writes "And I felt like my account was something precious -- were paid registrations not available then? Because I am pretty sure I owned five dollars and would have spent it instead of trying to win a clicking contest."

Paid registrations didn't come in until after I joined so you didn't have that option either. I had tried and tried to get an account and was unable to and then finally got in. I was thinking it was via a Monkey filter post but just checking I see they didn't get started until after I signed up.
posted by Mitheral at 2:24 AM on July 14, 2011

give me another decade or so and I'll spell #1s name right
posted by fullerine at 2:26 AM on July 14, 2011

I am over the moon that mathowie owns that domain now. The site is great, but it sort of takes a backseat to the domain. How'd you grab it, if you don't mind me asking? Were you able to snap it up as it expired, or did you have to buy it?
posted by SpiffyRob at 5:58 AM on July 14, 2011

I see.
posted by SpiffyRob at 7:04 AM on July 14, 2011

SpiffyRob, I've been wanting to own it for like five years, but some domain squatter has always had it. I've emailed whoever the domain owner is every year for those years and it wasn't until two months ago that I got a response.

From there we had to haggle over email on price (it was several hundred bucks down from the three thousand it started at), then we had to use a escrow service and finally in the end I got the domain through some bizarre registrar I've never heard of.

SO THEN I had to copy the current domain squatter page, set it all up on MetaFilter in a hidden directory, then change the DNS to point at it well in advance, so no one would know the difference and figure out I owned it. It looked that way until about midnight last night, when I changed the index file to the new one for the memories site.

Side note: the memories site was built yesterday, pretty much from scratch. I did the design in photoshop around 6pm. It took four hours to get the CSS layout working, then I had to wait for midnight and then someone to post the original like they always do every year. Instead of waiting to swoop in and change it on the fly in the middle of the night I wanted to finally get some sleep so I asked on twitter for someone to make the post so I could do it and be done with it (I had planned on checking the site every few hours all night hoping to catch the post soon after it went up).
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:04 AM on July 14, 2011 [5 favorites]

How do domain squatters expect make money if they force you to chase after them to buy anything?
posted by ODiV at 10:06 AM on July 14, 2011

now I'm wishing I thought of a better memory rather then the first one that flew into my head.
posted by The Whelk at 10:06 AM on July 14, 2011

SO THEN I had to copy the current domain squatter page, set it all up on MetaFilter in a hidden directory, then change the DNS to point at it well in advance, so no one would know the difference and figure out I owned it.

Holy shit that's hilarious.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:10 AM on July 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

The Whelk: "now I'm wishing I thought of a better memory rather then the first one that flew into my head."

There's a typo in mine.

We need a Memory Edit Window!
posted by zarq at 10:14 AM on July 14, 2011

I don't even kind of remember how I came here, I just remember being pissed and baffled that I could never join.

Ah, the golden years when life was sweet....
posted by y2karl at 10:57 AM on July 14, 2011

We need a Memory Edit Window!

that's the kind of thing they send you to Azkaban for dude
posted by elizardbits at 12:26 PM on July 14, 2011 [2 favorites]

SO THEN I had to copy the current domain squatter page, set it all up on MetaFilter in a hidden directory, then change the DNS to point at it well in advance, so no one would know the difference and figure out I owned it.

I love it! Did anybody actually hit cat-scan.com in that interval? I'd hate to think it was all for naught. Unless someone randomly checked IPs against each other, your tracks were covered.
posted by SpiffyRob at 5:12 PM on July 14, 2011

I'd like to issue a generic thank you to any mefite who had to put up with me during my long, strange tour of England.
posted by The Whelk at 6:01 PM on July 14, 2011