July 22, 2002

9:06 AM

"Jul 16 The new server is up and running. I'll re-enable signups sometime this week."

that week has come and gone... does anyone know if this is ever going to happen...?
posted by t r a c y to MetaFilter-related at 9:06 AM (53 comments total)

What's your hurry?
posted by crunchland at 9:12 AM on July 22, 2002

erm... clearly i'm already a member, so i'm not in any hurry (other than to move on to another website). other people are lined up at the door waiting to get in and asked me to post on their behalf.
posted by t r a c y at 9:27 AM on July 22, 2002

other people are lined up at the door waiting to get in

That sounds frightening. What is Metafilter's new immigration policy going to be? Surely, President Haughey can't just open the borders. What about terrorists slipping in, or drug smugglers? We need MeFi INS agents!
posted by evanizer at 9:36 AM on July 22, 2002

Omg Trace, i can't believe you had to explain that :D
Hmmm, Evanizer has a good point. I can't say that I'd vouch for some of the people who asked my god-mom to post this. I do question their sanity and motives for wanting to join this nuthouse in the first place. I mean for pete's sake, I've been offered cash for the use of my own rarely used membership!
posted by zarah at 9:44 AM on July 22, 2002

That was a little too hasty for my liking, evanizer... Can I see your papers?

t r a c y: so i'm not in any hurry (other than to move on to another website).

Is that a snarky aside or do I just need a coffee?
posted by ODiV at 9:45 AM on July 22, 2002

I'm super busy right now, but I will enable signups soon. Sorry for the delay, but I hope people still understand it's one person (me) working on the site in my limited free time. I get half a dozen pleas for entry every day, so I am aware of the problem.
posted by mathowie at 9:50 AM on July 22, 2002

there are a lot of people doubled and tripled up on a single membership (which may explain if anyone has noticed erratic behaviour/style in any particular single personality) so i'm thinking that server overload, due to a limited open membership, may not be as bad as matt has calculated it to be...

ODiV - it was a totally snarky aside; it's me that needs the coffee...!

thanks for chiming in matt.
posted by t r a c y at 9:53 AM on July 22, 2002

People who want in should sneak in the way I did. That way you know they're serious.
posted by timeistight at 9:56 AM on July 22, 2002

Donations work too. Although why I wanted to swim in this here fishtank instead of continuing to watch from the outside...;-)


posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:59 AM on July 22, 2002

t r a c y- What I read from Matt's post is that he hasn't had time to re-code the new user forms in CFmx yet. Memberships haven't been active for months, so tell your friends to hold their horses.
posted by SpecialK at 10:30 AM on July 22, 2002

Yes, timeistight, I failed to mention that I got in by the Metafilter equivalent of crossing the desert and swimming across the Rio Grande by night. I guess you could call me a Metafilter wetback...

*runs from Mefi INS German Shepard*

DISCLAIMER: The above should not be construed as a racial slur, rather as a fun and frivolous, perhaps wryly ironic, comment made in a spirit of ethnically-diverse, socially liberal fun.
posted by evanizer at 11:02 AM on July 22, 2002

You bashing liberals? Off with his head!
posted by adampsyche at 12:29 PM on July 22, 2002

I can't wait for memberships to open. Then I can finally satisfy my curiosity and ask what is the sneaky secret way y'all have been signing up in the meantime.

'cause, y'know, I'm too lazy to go look for it myself. I'm already here.
posted by ook at 12:46 PM on July 22, 2002

t r a c y - it was never server overload that caused new memberships to be turned off. It was trying to find a balance with the new members who may or may not be aware of MeFi's culture. Change is good, too much change can be destructive, so Matt is trying to balance the rate at which change is introduced into the site. Bring in some new people, let things settle down, bring in some new people let things settle down repeat until your stew is nicely flavored and blended.
posted by willnot at 1:16 PM on July 22, 2002

So what about a lottery? X amount of people sign up and every 2 weeks, 10 are picked at random and they can sign up. Allows for email verification if Matt choses to implement it.

Or sponsorship like they do with some country clubs in the USA..
posted by Dagobert at 1:23 PM on July 22, 2002

ook - this is how i sneakily got in. About 1000 users filtered through that way before Matt shut off the backdoor.
posted by PrinceValium at 1:34 PM on July 22, 2002

Keep trying ook. When Matt shuts a door, he opens a window. (Or at least, leaves it open.)
posted by he opens a window at 1:59 PM on July 22, 2002

timeistight, could you not do that please? thanks.
posted by mathowie at 2:07 PM on July 22, 2002

Okay. My lips are sealed.
posted by timeistight at 2:11 PM on July 22, 2002

So what about a lottery? X amount of people sign up and every 2 weeks, 10 are picked at random and they can sign up. Allows for email verification if Matt chooses to implement it.

Clearly, new memberships should only be available be via essay contest.
posted by anastasiav at 2:38 PM on July 22, 2002

Aaaaaah -- thanks, PrinceValium. Now that I've got that one, I can spend my time failing to grok this "open window" clue instead. Thpbpbpbpbth. (Not that I need another account for any reason; it was just bugging me that I couldn't figure out how it worked.)

Dabogert: there was a recent discussion about various immigration policies, including both the options you describe. I still vote for just randomly selecting n new members from each day's batch of applications, for what it's worth; the other options sound either too clique-ish, too complicated, prone to abuse, or all of the above.
posted by ook at 2:41 PM on July 22, 2002

Why do I suddenly feel especially lucky?

(Quite likely because I'm horrible at finding little clues and backdoors like the above not-so-mentioned.)
posted by precocious at 3:09 PM on July 22, 2002

I'm in now, so I have changed my mind - new user sign-ups should remain turned off :-)

If you have been keeping an eye on the number of members at the top of the MeFi main page, you will note that the number has been steadily increasing. If people are keen enough to participate, they will find the way.

Seek and ye shall find.
posted by dg at 3:10 PM on July 22, 2002

Is there any way to remove accounts that have been inactive for overly extended periods of time (1 year plus), perhaps make those ids/slots available to new users?

Matt could announce that he's about to purge users, anyone who still wants their account has a month to login, or post in a particular thread, something to indicate they're still alive and interested.
posted by precocious at 3:49 PM on July 22, 2002

It was trying to find a balance with the new members who may or may not be aware of MeFi's culture.

i suddenly have a craving for yogurt.
posted by t r a c y at 3:51 PM on July 22, 2002

someone call for a locksmith?
posted by clavdivs at 3:53 PM on July 22, 2002

I may be wrong here, precocious, but I don't think inactive members are the problem. I think it's us active users the strain the system, but technically and socially.
posted by timeistight at 3:59 PM on July 22, 2002

Sorry: I may be wrong here, precocious, but I don't think inactive members are the problem. I think it's us active users that the strain the system, but technically and socially.

posted by timeistight at 4:00 PM on July 22, 2002

(Note to self: try reading your previews.)

Third time: I may be wrong here, precocious, but I don't think inactive members are the problem. I think it's us active users that strain the system, both technically and socially.

posted by timeistight at 4:02 PM on July 22, 2002

Is there any way to remove accounts that have been inactive for overly extended periods of time (1 year plus), perhaps make those ids/slots available to new users?

Every time I see this, I cringe. Why do so many people want the old accounts deleted and redistributed? What problem does this solve? Are lurkers emitting evil karma? Are abandoned accounts somehow a sign of MeFi's demise?

Regarding the idle members, there's no reason why I would ever want more members to post links or comments, there are already plenty. A lurking member is pretty light on resources and a member that has abandoned their account uses no resources. Replacing either with a new, enthusiastic member isn't going to even anything out, it would consume resources. - mathowie
posted by BlueTrain at 4:12 PM on July 22, 2002

Yeah all right. That was slightly overboard. I apologize.
posted by BlueTrain at 4:25 PM on July 22, 2002

Why do so many people want the old accounts deleted and redistributed?... Are abandoned accounts somehow a sign of MeFi's demise?

I think it's because initially, so many people (like myself) automatically equate an account not being used with an account that someone else could be using, which initially seems like a Good Thing. But yeah, I get what timeistight was saying now.
posted by precocious at 4:25 PM on July 22, 2002

Just lemme know when it does happen, somebody...pips aka mrs jonmc is dying to join the party..she's already posted as me a couple times.
posted by jonmc at 4:26 PM on July 22, 2002

Boy, in the interim, I bet that #mefi channel on irc.turlyming.com could foster some interesting discussion.

Hmmm. *thoughtful expression*
posted by precocious at 5:08 PM on July 22, 2002

I agree with leaving the old numbers alone, because now I like my big fat number.

Also, I take a kind of perverse pride in that I am apparently the lowest 14,000+ user actively participating. Course, now that I say that, old number 14,000 will pipe up to prove me wrong.

I say all of us "sneaker-inners" need to keep solidarity! 14K rules!
posted by yhbc at 7:13 PM on July 22, 2002

Why do so many people want the old accounts deleted and redistributed?

I think it's the feeling that it would be nice to be able to see at a glance a more representative count of *active* participants, rather than people who signed on as a lark two years ago and never came back. There's something vaguely shameful about bragging about a membership of 14,000 if the true number is closer to 1,000.
posted by rushmc at 7:23 PM on July 22, 2002

I say all of us "sneaker-inners" need to keep solidarity! 14K rules!

I'm with you, yhbc - we're up, now cut loose the ladder, the boat's full.

Who wants one of those puny low numbers anyway when you can have a brawny 14k plus? if nothing else, a low user number means that you are expected to know what you are talking about, while the high numbers are seen as newbies and no-one expects great things from us.

I doubt that the user numbers would change even if the database were to be purged of inactive users, for the same reason that the number of users is different to the highest user number.
posted by dg at 7:47 PM on July 22, 2002

a low user number means that you are expected to know what you are talking about,

since when?
posted by jonmc at 8:50 PM on July 22, 2002

since when?

Well, there is always the exception that proves the rule :-)
posted by dg at 9:01 PM on July 22, 2002

I've sometimes posted as myself but, I don't think anyone is catching on.
posted by Dean_Paxton at 9:06 PM on July 22, 2002

[heathers]

I love my dead, gay, 14k usernumber.

[/heathers]
posted by gummi at 9:12 PM on July 22, 2002

I'm guessing that the database stores comments and posts by user number, which would make it a programming hassle to routinely give away old user numbers to new users.
posted by rcade at 9:39 PM on July 22, 2002

Yeah! 14Ks rule!

We sneak in. We bribe The janitor. We...er, something else!

A new MeFi sub-genus is born...
posted by i_cola at 9:59 AM on July 23, 2002

If you're not 2 digits or less, then your user number is crap!
posted by jeffp at 10:08 AM on July 23, 2002 [3 favorites has favorites]

Wow, that was usernumber 13 posting for the very first time ever! Or can it be that rascal usernumber 1 pulling our legs yet again? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:14 AM on July 23, 2002

Member since 1999 and first post, EVER? I share Mr. Cardoso's suspicions.
posted by insomnyuk at 10:43 AM on July 23, 2002

mathowie, could you not do that please? thanks.

posted by timeistight at 10:44 AM on July 23, 2002

i_cola: I have had it up to HERE with that self-conscious,just-a-joke-not-really-a-joke, Bob Dobbs crap. What, are we still in high school or someth-

Oh. Sub-genus. Carry on.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:49 AM on July 23, 2002

Yeah, knock off that Bob Dobbs crap. Oh. Nevermind.
posted by subgenius at 12:20 PM on July 23, 2002

Come back jeffp! We were only kidding.
posted by timeistight at 1:47 PM on July 23, 2002

How can you determine someone's user number?
posted by bingo at 2:10 PM on July 23, 2002

Wouldn't you just like to know, 12027?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 2:17 PM on July 23, 2002

(In IE, mouse over the username on a comment and look at the bar at the bottom of the window. Not sure for other browsers.)
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 2:21 PM on July 23, 2002