My name is demo, for we are many

June 10, 2003 6:37 AM

please oh please would someone enable new users on mefi again. the shame and humiliation of posting as "demo" is monumentally soul-destroying. Won't anyone think of the children?
posted by demo to Bugs at 6:37 AM (134 comments total)

So what's the problem? You're able to post, right? And I can think of lots worse usernames than "demo."
posted by konolia at 6:44 AM on June 10, 2003

Hey, look... I'm "demo" now. Wonder what my password is?

Hmm...
posted by demo at 6:51 AM on June 10, 2003

no! no! *i* am demo! feel my wrath!
posted by demo at 7:04 AM on June 10, 2003

Oh, great googily moogily.
posted by demo at 7:07 AM on June 10, 2003

Whoa!! Coooooooool!!!!
posted by demo at 7:09 AM on June 10, 2003

Coming soon from Pixar: Finding Demo. A bunch of bored MeFites locate an unused member account and flush group norms of online identity and accountability down the toilet. Rated G.
posted by rory at 7:14 AM on June 10, 2003

I made it go big and small. Big and small!
posted by demo at 7:16 AM on June 10, 2003

i'm gonna wash them group norms outta my hair...
posted by demo at 7:19 AM on June 10, 2003

now's my chance to annonymously say what I've never had the courage to. I'm attracted to small woodland fauna.
posted by demo at 7:29 AM on June 10, 2003

Are we not men?
posted by demo at 7:34 AM on June 10, 2003 [4 favorites]

A bunch of bored MeFites locate an unused member account and flush group norms of online identity and accountability down the toilet.

I resent that. How dare you call me bored.
posted by demo at 7:35 AM on June 10, 2003

DemoFilter?

I'll agree with what demo said....
posted by demo at 7:35 AM on June 10, 2003

The really fun thing will be trying to match up the real users with the demo jokes later.
posted by yhbc at 7:38 AM on June 10, 2003

This rocks!! Now to speak my mind about the Jews & homosexuals that have plagued this site with their liberal ideologies!!!
posted by demo at 7:40 AM on June 10, 2003

get your demo on.
posted by demo at 7:48 AM on June 10, 2003

demo-cracy at its finest.
posted by demo at 7:50 AM on June 10, 2003

See the amusement that mefi is losing out by not having people like me as members? Oh the humanity

-- the original demo, not the people who guessed the password after me
posted by demo at 7:50 AM on June 10, 2003

How long 'till Haughey axes us?
posted by demo at 7:51 AM on June 10, 2003

Will you people stop using my freaking username?
posted by demo at 7:53 AM on June 10, 2003

I can finally speak my mind:

Will you please please please please please stop posting, Miguel?
posted by demo at 7:54 AM on June 10, 2003

No I can't.
posted by demo at 7:55 AM on June 10, 2003

So tell me, demo, do you often talk to yourself?
posted by demo at 7:58 AM on June 10, 2003

Why yes, yes I do.
posted by demo at 7:59 AM on June 10, 2003

Only if I think I'm actually listening.
posted by demo at 7:59 AM on June 10, 2003

200/1000 or bust!
posted by demo at 7:59 AM on June 10, 2003

Shut up you.
posted by demo at 8:01 AM on June 10, 2003

IPs are logged, I vote for at least a temporary suspension of commenting, posting and viewing privileges of all the guilty parties.
posted by riffola at 8:02 AM on June 10, 2003

We have Demo.
posted by demo at 8:02 AM on June 10, 2003

See, this is exactly what I was talking about. I can't tell all these usernames apart - they look so similar at first glance - and I'm getting mixed up trying to remember exactly who said what...
posted by soyjoy at 8:06 AM on June 10, 2003

Come, riffola, join us - resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.
posted by demo at 8:08 AM on June 10, 2003

I vote for at least a temporary suspension of commenting, posting and viewing privileges of all the guilty parties.

It's just a bit of fun, riffola. But to save matt the trouble of searching through all the IP logs, I suppose you had better start by banning me.
posted by walrus at 8:09 AM on June 10, 2003

I thought that was you, walrus - it was the accent that gave you away. And to be fair, I 'fess up to the devo joke and at least one other demo comment.
posted by yhbc at 8:12 AM on June 10, 2003

I like men.
posted by demo at 8:15 AM on June 10, 2003

So, riff, were you demo #3 or #7? We're wise to your diversionary tactics. Plea-bargains won't help you here.
posted by demo at 8:15 AM on June 10, 2003

Hi demo, ol' pal. Why don't you ever call?
posted by test at 8:18 AM on June 10, 2003

I confess to writing the "Wonder what my password is..." comment. Did I incite this riot?

The original demo was begging us to figure it out. What are friends for?

riffola: It's just good, clean fun. And we kept it in the brown, where BS like this belongs.
posted by trharlan at 8:22 AM on June 10, 2003

I didn't start it though, yhbc. I'm just a wagon-jumper.
posted by walrus at 8:23 AM on June 10, 2003

I am Spartacus!
posted by demo at 8:28 AM on June 10, 2003

No, that's me. Damn! I'm doing it again!
posted by demo at 8:31 AM on June 10, 2003

commish: the Are we not men? comment was by far the best (the only one that really made me laugh). Kudos. And yes, please, keep it in the grey/brown/asphalt/whatever).
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:43 AM on June 10, 2003

I like pancakes. Do you like pancakes?


posted by demo at 9:01 AM on June 10, 2003

this is my first post to metafilter!

I can't say I much like it.
posted by demo at 9:04 AM on June 10, 2003

I hate that rabbit.
posted by demo at 9:04 AM on June 10, 2003

Me too.
posted by demo at 9:06 AM on June 10, 2003

I realize that this will probably silence me forever from the social club that is metafilter, but I'm really impressed that no-one has thought to change the password yet.

Good on you all. There is hope in the world.

-- last post by the first demo
posted by demo at 9:06 AM on June 10, 2003

That would be because you can't change the password.
posted by demo at 9:10 AM on June 10, 2003

You fuck with Oolong, you fuck with DEMO!
posted by demo at 9:10 AM on June 10, 2003

I have a sight problem, hope you don't mind the font size change.
posted by demo at 9:18 AM on June 10, 2003

Your cookie, your font size.
posted by demo at 9:19 AM on June 10, 2003

cookies?
posted by demo at 9:20 AM on June 10, 2003

cookies.
posted by demo at 9:21 AM on June 10, 2003

dammit. fucking mathowie and his newfangled cookie bullshit.
posted by demo at 9:22 AM on June 10, 2003

The rabbit is DEAD.
posted by demo at 9:41 AM on June 10, 2003

Can I have a cookie?
posted by demo at 9:41 AM on June 10, 2003

Here you go. Have a rabbit cookie.
posted by demo at 9:44 AM on June 10, 2003

hey ! how come I dont get a cookie ?
*hides bagpipes*
posted by demo at 9:48 AM on June 10, 2003

OMG i'm posting from the outside. The dirty, chaotic, perverted outside...

The call is coming from inside the house!
posted by demo at 9:50 AM on June 10, 2003

is this my great opportunity to say that i wish to bear
madamejujujives children ?
posted by demo at 9:51 AM on June 10, 2003

i wish to bear the children of my fellow demos
posted by demo at 9:52 AM on June 10, 2003

I thought cloning was illegal...
posted by demo at 9:53 AM on June 10, 2003

*hands demo a turkey baster*
posted by demo at 9:56 AM on June 10, 2003

Isn't that washbasin filled up yet, Mickey?
posted by demo at 9:57 AM on June 10, 2003

finally i get to feel like im in war games !

me is a haxor ! i pwn joo suxors !
posted by demo at 9:58 AM on June 10, 2003

Finally I get to feel like I'm Borg. Assimilating tickles.
posted by demo at 10:00 AM on June 10, 2003 [1 favorite]

I'll never know what possessed me to join the madness.
posted by demo at 10:01 AM on June 10, 2003

I did
posted by demo at 10:11 AM on June 10, 2003

Oh, you demos. What will you think of next?

No, really - this thread makes for some of the best collective comedy MetaTalk has produced. Matt, I think demo deserves a gold star. No, not that one. That one.
posted by soyjoy at 10:13 AM on June 10, 2003

Demo's in the wrong goddamn time zone.

Demo pissed!
posted by demo at 10:15 AM on June 10, 2003

the best collective comedy MetaTalk has produced

in your time, maybe...
posted by quonsar at 10:16 AM on June 10, 2003

*registers 3318.net*
posted by demo at 10:16 AM on June 10, 2003

*hands quonsar zimmer and rose tinted spectacles*
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:42 AM on June 10, 2003

IPs are logged, I vote for at least a temporary suspension of commenting, posting and viewing privileges of all the guilty parties.

hey ! riffs here ! now the party can really start !
posted by sgt.serenity at 10:49 AM on June 10, 2003

So none of you figured me out yet? Hmph. That demo gets all of the Malkovich wannabes.
posted by test at 11:08 AM on June 10, 2003

Yo. Test this, test-boy.
posted by test at 11:18 AM on June 10, 2003

Has anyone seen icle?
posted by test at 11:25 AM on June 10, 2003

Don't get testy with me, now.
posted by test at 11:29 AM on June 10, 2003

All this time, I thought test was Miguel's neighbor.
posted by Mid at 11:36 AM on June 10, 2003

<wishlist>For the love of all that is holy, show IP addresses in this thread.</wishlist>
posted by j.edwards at 11:59 AM on June 10, 2003

Test is actually Demo's neighbor, but Demo types up all of his posts for him as they are quite good friends and at one time were both quite famous in their native land, but Test's grasp on the English language is somewhat questionable.

Or something like that.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:41 PM on June 10, 2003

Ufez that's the most ridiculous story I've ever heard. Who in their right mind would believe something like that?
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 12:46 PM on June 10, 2003

matt.
posted by andrew cooke at 12:52 PM on June 10, 2003

hmmm. that snide little comment would have been so much better coming from an anonymous acct. wonder if that's possible...?
posted by andrew cooke at 12:54 PM on June 10, 2003

Sorry andrew, but it appears that dad came home and locked up the liquor cabinet again.
posted by yhbc at 12:56 PM on June 10, 2003

errr... oh dear. are you looking for advice on picking the lock?
posted by andrew cooke at 1:02 PM on June 10, 2003

Oh man, I miss dumb hilarity like this. I'm glad I got here before dad takes it outside and feeds it to the dog.

--demo

(Too lazy to log out, log in, log out, and log in)
posted by languagehat at 1:04 PM on June 10, 2003

Did you remember to pour some water into the bottles?
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 1:15 PM on June 10, 2003

I hate that rabbit
What the hell is wrong with you! Everyone loves the rabbit. How can you possibly hate him.. He's so cute, and he has a pancake on his head! A pancake! Imagine that! A pancake!
posted by ac at 1:57 PM on June 10, 2003

I've met demo, and you, sir, are no demo.
posted by holloway at 2:50 PM on June 10, 2003

And the madness continues unabated even after daddy took the t-bird away. As it should.
posted by Space Coyote at 3:18 PM on June 10, 2003

Damn stupid time zones. How come the US contingent get to have all the fun and the important parts of the world are left with nothing but seething and cleaning up the mess?

*picks up mop, starts on the only part of the floor that is still visible*
posted by dg at 3:20 PM on June 10, 2003

Wake up, neo demo.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:30 PM on June 10, 2003

*gets up bleary-eyed from behind sofa*

Did I miss something..?
posted by i_cola at 3:36 PM on June 10, 2003

Matt, seriously, block all those IPs up there.
posted by Hildago at 3:49 PM on June 10, 2003

Oh, people where just having a bit of fun, no harm done. If the "bug" hadn't been exploited here, someone else may have used it for less amusing purposes. Everybody got to play a game and the system is that much tighter for it.

*shrugs shoulders*

Of course, I didn't pile in, but only because I was too late and too dim.
posted by elwoodwiles at 4:07 PM on June 10, 2003

As long as we're telling Matt what to do, seriously, don't block 'em. Better idea would be to just block those who took advantage of the situation and did something malicious or cruel.

Oh, wait. Nobody did, as far as I can tell.
posted by cortex at 4:15 PM on June 10, 2003

Hildago must enjoy his new job in airport security.
posted by quonsar at 4:28 PM on June 10, 2003

It's all fun and games till... The demo-abuse was limited to the brown, and demo didn't do any Front Page Foolishness. Pretty restrained, I'd say.
posted by theora55 at 5:43 PM on June 10, 2003

Hildago, if Matt did as you suggested, you might have banned some of his favorite people. Heck, how do you know HE didn't join in before he took "demo" off the market?

On the other hand I think you suspect Miguel of being one of the petty miscreants, and saw a chance of disposing of him quietly.
posted by konolia at 5:45 PM on June 10, 2003

konolia? wtf?

please spit it out, because I am totally confused.
posted by taz at 6:02 PM on June 10, 2003

konolia knows where the bodies are buried, it seems.
posted by dg at 6:11 PM on June 10, 2003

limited to the brown

well, it wasn't, but it was still pretty restrained.
posted by quonsar at 6:13 PM on June 10, 2003

quonsar, I think both of those were before this post, and, if I'm right, that means that nobody playing around here strayed, and also that the "original" demo, knowing full well that his/her skeleton key would self-implode, still chose to point out the hack. In other words, a great mefi member who doesn't yet exist...
posted by taz at 6:29 PM on June 10, 2003

quonsar, I think both of those were before this post
bzzt. i have inside information.
posted by quonsar at 6:53 PM on June 10, 2003

Okay, I admit that I'm dimmer than a broken light bulb. Will somebody please explain the hack, the secret, the trick, the whateveritwas? Please?

Oh, and since when is the grey side brown? When did that happen? Or am I even dimmer than I thought?

HOPE ME?!!?
posted by ashbury at 7:14 PM on June 10, 2003

Has anyone seen icle?
posted by test at 11:25 AM PST on June 10

Hildago: you'd block me for this? And the others for that? Well, that decides it. I'm going back to calling you Hidalgo. ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:51 PM on June 10, 2003

OK, that's one confession. Now, how about the rest of you miscreants?
posted by dg at 7:57 PM on June 10, 2003

I was all the funny ones.
posted by yhbc at 7:59 PM on June 10, 2003

No! I was the funny ones!
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 8:01 PM on June 10, 2003

I had a lengthy confession spelled out, but on preview, the only thing I will now honestly confess to is being the two "test" comments bracketing the one miguel confessed to above. So there!
posted by yhbc at 8:10 PM on June 10, 2003

I was the one railing against the homosexuals & the Jews. Upon reflection, I realized there's no reason we can't all love one another. At least until the rapture, when the chosen ascend to heaven and the homosexuals and the Jews gets what's a-comin' to 'em.
posted by jonson at 8:35 PM on June 10, 2003

Ashbury, all I can tell you is that for a short period of time, if one logged in as "demo" (and used the password "demo") then, lo and behold, one was POSTING as "demo".

*munches cookie while mourning Oolong*
posted by konolia at 8:39 PM on June 10, 2003

Awwww, look...all your demo are belong to mathowie.
posted by adamgreenfield at 12:01 AM on June 11, 2003

I am so above all this. ;-P
posted by mischief at 12:58 AM on June 11, 2003

*gets home from work to find people cleaning up after a party*

I would have seconded the madamjjj comment and added dabitch.
posted by planetkyoto at 2:08 AM on June 11, 2003

Looks like I missed the party ... again. So ... are there any cookies or pancakes left? I'd even take a rabbit if someone has a spare. :D
posted by Orb at 3:28 AM on June 11, 2003

Matt, seriously, block all those IPs up there.

Hildago, seriously, take a chill pill.

We come here day after day to see what's going down in this place, to take an interest in the general health of the 'filter, and what do we get for our trouble? Moan, moan, moan, to the point where we actually start to believe the critics of MeFi who paint us as a bunch of uptight killjoys. Worse, we find ourselves drawn into the moaning, moaning along with everyone else, wallowing in our new-found puritanism 'til the negativity seeps into our pores. Then on one rare occasion we get the chance to play harmlessly with a minor security hole that we know Matt will close as soon as he sees it, which could be any time within 0 to 24 hours, yielding one of the most entertaining threads on MeTa since, ohhh, forever, and what do we get?

Block those IPs! Suspend their accounts! Stop that wanton fondling! Rock and roll is the devil's plaything!

Prescription: 1 chill pill, to be taken three times daily before meals.

Yours testily,

demo #14, 20, 21, 23, 28 and test #1 and 2.
posted by rory at 3:45 AM on June 11, 2003

Oops. Broke my own type-out-rant-but-do-not-post rule. Better get my sackcloth.
posted by rory at 3:47 AM on June 11, 2003

I previewed one of the very first demo comments and cancelled it, since I knew all of you would think crunchland was responsible.

It was great - sort of a zipless demo.
posted by crunchburger at 3:49 AM on June 11, 2003

<sheepish>
ermm i suppose i may have posted one or two ...
</sheepish>
(starts to help with clearing up)
posted by carter at 6:18 AM on June 11, 2003

I'm responsible for a few of the unfunniest comments.

I noticed this a few days ago, after the OD (Original Demo) started commenting in Metafilter. I didn't do anything with it (honest!) until yesterday's shenanigans, other than log in and screw around with the font settings--just cause, you know, bored and all.

uh, I'll get the mop
posted by arco at 6:24 AM on June 11, 2003

Thank you konolia. It's as I suspected, but when I tried to perform said shenanigan myself, nothing happened. Dad must have already locked the liquor cabinet and nobody had yet noticed. I even had my own tagline which I thought was pretty good if I do say so myself, but now nobody will ever know.

*seethe*
posted by ashbury at 6:36 AM on June 11, 2003

I'd like to nominate "Are we not men?" as the comment in this thread.
posted by GeekAnimator at 7:04 AM on June 11, 2003

I would like to thank one of the demo's for contributing the expression "Oh, great googily moogily" to my vocabulary.
posted by carter at 7:10 AM on June 11, 2003

Geek, I second the nomination-but when will we be passing out the flowerpot hats?
posted by konolia at 7:22 AM on June 11, 2003

Well there you go. Always pays to check the user page of a fellow MeFite before you go all just-woke-up tetchy on them, because it turns out he writes one of your favourite damn websites.

C'mon, Hildago, don't tell me you weren't even tempted to don the demo cloak.
posted by rory at 7:45 AM on June 11, 2003

Is it too late to suggest that we ban the IP address of anyone requesting the banning of IP addresses in this thread? No! Wait! I didn't mean ... vanishes in a puff of logic ...
posted by walrus at 7:48 AM on June 11, 2003

The IP address to find is this one, so a prize can be awarded.

This would be funnier if everybody could have posted as MiguelCardoso.
posted by theora55 at 8:13 AM on June 11, 2003

/me claims prize.

Although I personally thought the *hides bagpipes* line was the funniest.
posted by yhbc at 8:17 AM on June 11, 2003

demo #2 (feel my wrath!) and demo #6 (group norms) here, and blue demo were me. and the prize is definitely taken by our humble commish.
posted by quonsar at 4:57 PM on June 11, 2003

Well if we're counting that way, quonsar, bump all my demo numbers up by one. I had the initial post by 'original demo' as #1.

--rory #1, feeling late-night regret for his earlier tetchiness.
posted by rory at 5:44 PM on June 11, 2003

er, down by one.
posted by rory at 5:58 PM on June 11, 2003

This would be funnier if everybody could have posted as MiguelCardoso

Well, if you can get hold of his password, it can be arranged.
posted by konolia at 6:20 PM on June 11, 2003

I assumed hildago was kidding, in a morbid unfunny sort of way. If he was serious, he gets the MetaJerk of the Week award, and I too will begin calling him hidalgo.
posted by languagehat at 6:31 PM on June 11, 2003

This would be funnier if everybody could have posted as MiguelCardoso
How would we notice the difference?
posted by dg at 6:46 PM on June 11, 2003