A couple of months ago, I posted a question to AskMe. I now think I have an answer. February 2, 2004 10:27 AM Subscribe
A couple of months ago, I posted a question to AskMe. It generated a lot of interest and responses, but no definitive answer. I now think I have an answer. What should I do?
1. Keep it to myself.
2. Post it to the old, archived thread?
3. Make a new FPP?
I suspect #3 would piss some people off (because the FPP wouldn't be asking a new question), but if someone else found an answer to an old question, I'd prefer them to make a FPP. If they posted it to an ancient, archived thread, I would probably never think to go there and read it.
1. Keep it to myself.
2. Post it to the old, archived thread?
3. Make a new FPP?
I suspect #3 would piss some people off (because the FPP wouldn't be asking a new question), but if someone else found an answer to an old question, I'd prefer them to make a FPP. If they posted it to an ancient, archived thread, I would probably never think to go there and read it.
The sort by recent comments will fix the problem. You know what would be really awesome, Matt, if it's not too hard? An option that would email you if someone had posted an answer to your thread.
Or, another option would be a sidebar that listed most recently answered threads. That way, you could keep the main page set to show recently added new threads and, at the same time, see which older threads had been updated.
posted by grumblebee at 10:37 AM on February 2, 2004
Or, another option would be a sidebar that listed most recently answered threads. That way, you could keep the main page set to show recently added new threads and, at the same time, see which older threads had been updated.
posted by grumblebee at 10:37 AM on February 2, 2004
Post it to the old thread,
Sometimes they have become closed. Besides e-mailing the poster any other suggestion.
posted by thomcatspike at 10:45 AM on February 2, 2004
Sometimes they have become closed. Besides e-mailing the poster any other suggestion.
posted by thomcatspike at 10:45 AM on February 2, 2004
Why do threads get closed anyway? Is it just to stop abuse that would otherwise go unnoticed for a long time because nobody reads those threads anymore? If you have an index on thread id in the database keeping all posts in the database instead of as static HTML shouldn't give any significant performance penalties, and it'll probably cost less space than as HTML...
posted by fvw at 11:34 AM on February 2, 2004
posted by fvw at 11:34 AM on February 2, 2004
Why do threads get closed anyway? Is it just to stop abuse that would otherwise go unnoticed for a long time because nobody reads those threads anymore?
Because of "cult threads" people used as public chat boards. They're gone now.
If you have an index on thread id in the database keeping all posts in the database instead of as static HTML shouldn't give any significant performance penalties
When I moved from indexed database requests for each and every page to static pages, there was a big server hit taken off the server. Disk space is cheap, processors and memory are expensive.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:02 PM on February 2, 2004
Because of "cult threads" people used as public chat boards. They're gone now.
If you have an index on thread id in the database keeping all posts in the database instead of as static HTML shouldn't give any significant performance penalties
When I moved from indexed database requests for each and every page to static pages, there was a big server hit taken off the server. Disk space is cheap, processors and memory are expensive.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:02 PM on February 2, 2004
I didn't realise that many of the hits were on older-than-30-days pages, makes sense then I guess. Still, since disk is cheap perhaps it's worthwhile to allow AskMeFi threads to be reopened by the poster, so they can add the answer if they find it elsewhere (and to allow reactions). Possibly there could even be a separate "reopened threads" page or sidebar.
posted by fvw at 12:47 PM on February 2, 2004
posted by fvw at 12:47 PM on February 2, 2004
I hope I'm not making a fool of myself now, but I think I'll use this thread to spread the word... My old thread about Mingering Mike and his imaginary record collection just got interesting again (if you found it interesting the first time around, that is).
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:49 PM on February 2, 2004
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:49 PM on February 2, 2004
The phpBB, used, for example, at ClubB5.com, has some neat features that could perhaps be emulated. Old threads are bumped back to active status when posts appear, and they are listed ahead of inactive threads again. Users can opt for e-mail notice of subsequent posts to any thread. I know MeFi is not a BB, but the concept of AskMeFi seems to approach BB-ness a bit more.
posted by Tubes at 1:13 PM on February 2, 2004
posted by Tubes at 1:13 PM on February 2, 2004
I posted a follow-up to my Disney AskMe thread. Seemed like the right thing to do, since I got so much good advice.
posted by MrMoonPie at 3:05 PM on February 2, 2004
posted by MrMoonPie at 3:05 PM on February 2, 2004
How about rss feeds for each thread? Too much work?
posted by monju_bosatsu at 3:26 PM on February 2, 2004
posted by monju_bosatsu at 3:26 PM on February 2, 2004
It was a post about a strange little song I used to hear on the radio. I also posted to answers.google.com, and someone there posted a really interesting answer.
I can't append that answer to my AskMe thread, because it's closed.
I don't think it's a really good idea for only authors to be able to reopen old posts. Someone else, besides the author, might find a good answer way after a post is closed.
I appreciate the need to stop posts from becomming message boards, but there must be a way people can post follow-ups.
posted by grumblebee at 3:37 PM on February 2, 2004
I can't append that answer to my AskMe thread, because it's closed.
I don't think it's a really good idea for only authors to be able to reopen old posts. Someone else, besides the author, might find a good answer way after a post is closed.
I appreciate the need to stop posts from becomming message boards, but there must be a way people can post follow-ups.
posted by grumblebee at 3:37 PM on February 2, 2004
grumblebee, just this once can you post the answer here., that thread had me really curious!
posted by vacapinta at 3:44 PM on February 2, 2004
posted by vacapinta at 3:44 PM on February 2, 2004
Okay, vacapinta, but please don't anyone chew me out for posting this here (Matt, delete this if you feel it's not appropriate):
"I asked my father who has been a radio engineer for 65 years (nokidding). He has worked in everything from the earliest days of AM through to and including Internet web casting. Here is his answer (note that he assumes you were listening on AM):
"Re: WBBM...WBBM was and is also an FM Stereo station...What he heard probably was the testing of the FM sub-carrier bleeding into their AM equipment...He should also talk to WBBM's Chief Engineer.
"A sub-carrier is a special little secret frequency the FCC allows FM stations to broadcast along with their main FM signal for purposes of carrying, e.g., background music ("Muzak"). So, you could put up a special FM radio in a business and tune it to the "secret" FM sub-carrier frequency and listen to commercial-free background music for a fee. If WBBM was testing the FM sub-carrier with this special little series of tones, that tone sequence could have bled over into
the AM signal.
"I have been around radio stations my whole life and this answer makes sense to me. I would now check with WBBM is you haven't already."
posted by grumblebee at 7:48 PM on February 2, 2004
"I asked my father who has been a radio engineer for 65 years (nokidding). He has worked in everything from the earliest days of AM through to and including Internet web casting. Here is his answer (note that he assumes you were listening on AM):
"Re: WBBM...WBBM was and is also an FM Stereo station...What he heard probably was the testing of the FM sub-carrier bleeding into their AM equipment...He should also talk to WBBM's Chief Engineer.
"A sub-carrier is a special little secret frequency the FCC allows FM stations to broadcast along with their main FM signal for purposes of carrying, e.g., background music ("Muzak"). So, you could put up a special FM radio in a business and tune it to the "secret" FM sub-carrier frequency and listen to commercial-free background music for a fee. If WBBM was testing the FM sub-carrier with this special little series of tones, that tone sequence could have bled over into
the AM signal.
"I have been around radio stations my whole life and this answer makes sense to me. I would now check with WBBM is you haven't already."
posted by grumblebee at 7:48 PM on February 2, 2004
Yes, please post the answer here.
Matt, could there be an AskMeFi sidebar with answers to old questions?
posted by languagehat at 7:49 PM on February 2, 2004
Matt, could there be an AskMeFi sidebar with answers to old questions?
posted by languagehat at 7:49 PM on February 2, 2004
I've been wondering about that as well, grumblebee. Thanks for the follow up!
posted by iconomy at 6:08 AM on February 3, 2004
posted by iconomy at 6:08 AM on February 3, 2004
I also recently used the follow up technique for my guacamole question.
m_b: Matt implemented this very early on, unfortunately the titles are not recognized. AskMe RSS.
posted by anathema at 9:53 AM on February 3, 2004
m_b: Matt implemented this very early on, unfortunately the titles are not recognized. AskMe RSS.
posted by anathema at 9:53 AM on February 3, 2004
Actually, anathema, I meant rss feeds for comments in each thread in AskMe, so they could be monitored individually.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:52 AM on February 3, 2004
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:52 AM on February 3, 2004
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Also, any post to ask metafilter should be a new question, no exceptions. I think it's much more important to present complete question/answers than it is to make sure people read everything and stay up to date with old stuff (there will eventually be a "sort by recent comments" feature anyway.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:33 AM on February 2, 2004