I don't know about you, but I'm curious May 24, 2002 5:47 AM   Subscribe

I don't know about you, but I'm curious. The membercount has been hovering at 14000 for the last week (?) or so, and just this evening went to 14001. Strange that the profile for user 14001 says "member since: March 15, 2002." Is there an interesting story here, or do I just need another hobby?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to MetaFilter-Related at 5:47 AM (35 comments total)

And welcome to Metafilter, Cristiano Verondini...
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:47 AM on May 24, 2002


oh, its a VERY interesting story. but if we tell you, we'll have to kill you.
posted by quonsar at 5:48 AM on May 24, 2002


The latter, not the former. I suggest gardening or cooking, but travel is also fun, too.
posted by crunchland at 6:03 AM on May 24, 2002


Ak-chew-ally, 'twas I that just ticked the MeFi count to 14,001 altho' my user no. is 14162 so there's some kinda mystery there Mr WonderChicken...

...and after 8 months I'm no longer limited to random jabberings / dodgy tag closing in jonmc & owillis's comments boxes.

Should I sing a song or something..?
posted by i_cola at 6:03 AM on May 24, 2002


Yes, you do need another hobby.
Yes, I noticed, too.

As for the rest, I just figured it was kind of pointless to bother asking about user numbers anymore. Remember that every once in a while, someone will pop up with a number higher than the actual current "top number." Maybe this is one of the one's Matt mentioned that he's given as a result of a donation, and it only showed up today, for whatever reason.
posted by Su at 6:04 AM on May 24, 2002


*reads i_cola's comment just after hitting the Post button*

...and there you go.
posted by Su at 6:05 AM on May 24, 2002


You keep trying to get my goat, crunchy, but my goat is circling the planet, waxing gigantic and waiting for the moment to eat the continents like sugar-crusted cookies.

On refresh : well, OK, Su. That's way less interesting than I'd hoped.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:07 AM on May 24, 2002


Of course, while you weren't looking, the membership ratched up to 14012. Shhhh....
posted by werty at 6:57 AM on May 24, 2002


I've been curious about this for a few months but have not taken the time to search MetaTalk for an explanation. I assumed the discrepancy was due to the fact that some folks have been weeded out for whatever reason (re: settle). Seemed like too many though. Oh well, just curious. Welcome i_cola.
posted by anathema at 7:20 AM on May 24, 2002


All right.

So I went to visit member 14012. There's a link there, in the site, surfacelevel.com or some such.

I clicked the only link on the site.

It led to URBN.com. Urban Outfitters. I "Eh"ed and moved on.

About thirty minutes later, I receive this:
X-ClientAddr: 216.155.36.7
Received: from server02.anthropologie.com (server02.anthropologie.com [216.155.36.7])
by maggie.tera-byte.com (8.11.6/8.11.6) with ESMTP id g4ODLfW14702
for ; Fri, 24 May 2002 07:21:42 -0600
Received: (from weblinc@localhost)
by server02.anthropologie.com (8.10.1/8.10.1) id g4OEPQA10227;
Fri, 24 May 2002 10:25:26 -0400
Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 10:25:26 -0400
Message-Id: <2 00205241425.g4oepqa10227@server02.anthropologie.com>
X-Authentication-Warning: server02.anthropologie.com: weblinc set sender to messages using -f
To: misty@precocious.org
From: "URBN.COM"
Subject: Dr. Scholl's---now at urbn.com!!!
No, I didn't put my e-mail into anything. No, I've never shopped there, yes I'm the only person who uses my computer, no, I've never received e-mail from URBN.com before.

Soooooo, what's the trick here? I'm curious. (I see something in there about localhost, not quite sure how to decipher all of the headers.)
posted by precocious at 7:31 AM on May 24, 2002


Maybe they are all mathowie'stests
posted by adampsyche at 8:01 AM on May 24, 2002


Hi, i_cola, welcome to the big tent, good to have you aboard. We'll be performing your initiation ceremony shortly, as soon as we can round up two goats, a skateboard, a jar of mayonnaise and some Tito Puente records.
posted by jonmc at 8:40 AM on May 24, 2002 [1 favorite]


localhost just means that the originating computer that sent the email was the same as the mail server. (localhost is computer terminology for "myself.")
posted by moz at 8:44 AM on May 24, 2002


What happened to the third goat?
posted by pracowity at 8:45 AM on May 24, 2002


dibs on administering the mayo!
posted by quonsar at 8:48 AM on May 24, 2002


The total indicated seems to be the total number of legitimate accounts; there have also been, however, a number of test and bogus accounts set up at various times. The total number of real accounts + the total number of bogus accounts will give you the number of the last account registered; at this moment, that would seem to be 11462 (whose owner has commented in this thread).
posted by mattpfeff at 8:55 AM on May 24, 2002


Did somebody say Tito Puente? And goats? I want the first dance!
posted by ashbury at 9:00 AM on May 24, 2002


Ay caramba!

Thanks for the welcome(s)...I think

(...now about my extreme allergy to emulsified diary products...and caprines...)

Has anyone got a copy of 'So you're going to MeTa: A guide to survival' I can borrow?!

ashbury: try this li'l lay-dee here.

posted by i_cola at 9:07 AM on May 24, 2002


moz babe! I know what localhost is. *grin* I was just wondering if, oh, I dunno, there was something in the site that maybe found my e-mail address in a cookie or... I'm reaching here. Genuinely confused! This is too coincidencey to be one, y'know?

The getting an e-mail after visiting the URBN.com site, I mean. It's too early in the day to ferret out another MeFi conspiracy.
posted by precocious at 9:21 AM on May 24, 2002


Oh, hey, welcome i_cola. Toss something in your profile page, already. ;)
posted by precocious at 9:22 AM on May 24, 2002


i don't believe websites can access cookies not set by the same IP address. (i.e. by another server.) and there may be a more unique form of identification involved.

i wish i got regular, english spam. i only get freaky, korean spam. advertising for products like 'CrazyEnglish!'
posted by moz at 10:36 AM on May 24, 2002


You keep trying to get my goat, crunchy, but my goat is circling the planet, waxing gigantic and waiting for the moment to eat the continents like sugar-crusted cookies.

I reiterate, gardening or cooking or travel, preferably to some place without internet access.
posted by crunchland at 10:43 AM on May 24, 2002


precocious -- the surfacelevel site is registered to a guy who apparently works for a an email marketing company (promotif) which does not list urban outfitters or anthropologie as a client. The Weblinc in your email header is the name of URBN's web development partner I think. No idea how they got your email, its very interesting.
posted by luser at 10:55 AM on May 24, 2002


Thanx, i_cola. . .she'll do juuuust fine.
posted by ashbury at 11:44 AM on May 24, 2002


I think stavros' new hobby should involve building spacecraft, into which crunchland could be placed and subsequently flown into the sun's core.

It won't happen, of course, but one can always dream...
posted by Danelope at 1:39 PM on May 24, 2002


First the sedway ... now you can have your very own mathowie. Sadly, it's still only at the testing stage ...
posted by feelinglistless at 2:54 PM on May 24, 2002


I've feeling someone already found that. What is people usually say around here? Oh yes ...

My bad...
posted by feelinglistless at 2:55 PM on May 24, 2002

Is there an interesting story here, or do I just need another hobby?
There was this episode of Startrek Voyager where it was agreed by everyone onboard to erase a week of the Doctor's memory after he killed some people, because he could no longer live with himself.
posted by holloway at 6:30 PM on May 24, 2002


but one can always dream

You dream about me? Wow. That's kind of oogy. I don't even know you.
posted by crunchland at 7:54 PM on May 24, 2002


There's a very good explanation, and if you're a long-time Metafilter user you should know exactly why there's a burst of new users ... oh, every year about this time.
posted by dhartung at 1:54 AM on May 25, 2002


I'm a long-time(ish) Metafilter user, it's true, but nobody ever tells me nuttin'...I think I'll just blame the Cabalâ„¢. We haven't seen much of them lately!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 2:16 AM on May 25, 2002


Psst, idjit... ...5k Contest...
posted by crunchland at 4:03 AM on May 25, 2002


I thought that door had been...oh. Oops.

Nothing to see here. Move along.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:41 AM on May 25, 2002


the 5k door is closed, as the 5k is on another server right now.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 7:48 AM on May 25, 2002


When Matt closes a door, he opens a window.
posted by he opens a window at 8:53 AM on May 28, 2002


« Older Please delete the link to the Daniel Pearl video   |   Why was my post to badassbuddy.com deleted? Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments