We need update filter!

May 11, 2005 6:52 PM

Why did C17H19NO3's AskMe update of his prom question get deleted? I can see there's 14 responses, but clicking through I get the "move along" stuff.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders to Etiquette/Policy at 6:52 PM (50 comments total)

Just a guess, but 1. it wasn't a question; 2. it was Metafilter-related; 3. the other thread was still open. A better question would be why people posted in a thread that was doomed to be deleted.
posted by dobbs at 7:01 PM on May 11, 2005

Follow-ups go in the original post, especially if they're recent [i.e. still open]. I didn't delete this, but I can pretty well guess what it said.
posted by jessamyn at 7:07 PM on May 11, 2005

So did she say yes? How did he ask?

Why do I care?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 7:12 PM on May 11, 2005

good argument for sort by recent comments list for askme, though. There's no way anyone would see an update in the original thread otherwise...
posted by mdn at 7:13 PM on May 11, 2005

C17H19NO3's thread is still open. That's why...

He may be smooth with the ladies, but he's naughty with askme!

on preview, ssF: apparently he works in a lol tanning salon lol, and she came in for a bake...and they started talking and he was like, "hey want to go to the prom?" and she was all "YES YOU ARE SO HAWT"...and then they went in the back and had sex on teh tanning beds.
posted by naxosaxur at 7:17 PM on May 11, 2005

okay i made up that last part.
posted by naxosaxur at 7:17 PM on May 11, 2005

so, what happened? what did the deleted thread say?
posted by amberglow at 7:22 PM on May 11, 2005

you're my favorite skank, naxo ; >
posted by amberglow at 7:22 PM on May 11, 2005

Well, thank god it got deleted. Maybe we can stop talking about young love and rites of passage and move on to more important things, like questions about computer programming and how often we fart.
posted by greasy_skillet at 7:29 PM on May 11, 2005

Okay, he was like: "Please don't delete this thread, but i want to update you all on my prom situation." ...and then on the inside of the thread, he literally wrote out the exact conversation, which was rather endearing and nostalgic. My recollection was something like this:

"hey you guys remember that i work in a tanning salon, right? So i was working today and she came in and this is what happened:"

Me: hey whuts up?
Her: oh hay not much.
Me: r u tanning today?
Her: yah.
Me: great.
Her: blah blah busy time of year...[hazy details about spending a lot of money on something].
Me: so are you going to the prom or what?
Her: no not yet.
Me: do you wanna go with me?
Her: awwww hell yah!

...and everyone in the thread (me included) was like 'oh you are one smooth-operator, randomcapsalphanumeric' and there was a smattering of 'but this doesn't belong in askme, silly.'

...aren't you glad i stayed home tonight? Now you can all go to bed sated.
posted by naxosaxur at 7:43 PM on May 11, 2005

They chatted, he asked her if she was going to the Metafilter, she said "Meta wha?", he corrected himself, she said yes.
posted by stefanie at 7:45 PM on May 11, 2005

naxosaxur pretty much nailed it. Except he said "are you going to MetaFilter" and then corrected it to "the prom."

It was very sweet and I got all teary. I'm such a sap.
posted by deborah at 7:47 PM on May 11, 2005

ha ha very funny guys
posted by naxosaxur at 8:02 PM on May 11, 2005

thanks, naxo--and you go, c17!
posted by amberglow at 8:22 PM on May 11, 2005

Thanks all. naxos your limited social life is our gain. And possibly our fault.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders at 8:31 PM on May 11, 2005

I had to work really, really hard to resist the urge to add the comment on greasy_skillet's question, "My best prom story is I went into this tanning salon, and there was this guy there and he was all nervous..."
posted by Gucky at 9:00 PM on May 11, 2005

Someone who asks questions about farting frequency seems (to me) more in tune with AskMe's purpose than someone who asks generally for prom stories. In the first example, there's at least a problem the asker cares about, which is what I thought was the point of the whole thing.
posted by mediareport at 9:52 PM on May 11, 2005

Why is farting frequency a problem?
posted by dg at 10:50 PM on May 11, 2005

The original thread may still be open but in AskMe or MeTa any comment left after the first day or so may just as well be shouted into an empty room. Just ask Jim Jones. It would be nice to have some indicator of recent comments in these areas, perhaps something like the sidebar in MoFi.
posted by caddis at 11:17 PM on May 11, 2005

I <3 Jim Jones.
posted by sbutler at 12:10 AM on May 12, 2005

dg, because if the frequency is wrong it'll open half the garage doors in your neighborhood
posted by blueberry at 12:19 AM on May 12, 2005

Why is farting frequency a problem?
It depends, it could be a sweet trombone sound, a little squeak, or an ear shattering jet engine roar. The trombone would be more in tune with AskMe [think oompah oompah] ;)
posted by tellurian at 12:21 AM on May 12, 2005

Yay C17H19NO3! Thanks Naxo.

I wish I could fart like a foghorn...to warn people away. ;)
posted by schyler523 at 12:45 AM on May 12, 2005

good argument for sort by recent comments list for askme, though

Yep. But it'll never happen.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 1:41 AM on May 12, 2005

So that future historians may not lack a single detail when writing C17H19NO3's biography, here is his deleted AskMe followup post, cut-and-pasted from Bloglines...

UpdateFilter: This is actually an update to this prom question. (Please don't delete this. I tried to post in MeTa, but I haven't waited the four necessary days to post there.) So I was working, (at the tanning salon, for those who don't remember) and she comes in. This is where the dialogue starts:

Me: Hey, how's it going today?

Her: Great, you?

[tanning-related stuff here]

Me (after she gets done tanning): Wow, you're really getting dark!

Her: Yeah, I'm really liking it. [sigh] I have to go to work in like 10 minutes.

Me: That sucks, but it's good to have money.

Her: Yeah. I'm going to be spending quite a bit, though.

Me: Me too...Hey, are you going to Metafilter with anyone, by chance?

Her: Meta what?

Me: Er...Prom. Are you going to prom with anyone?

Her: No...

Me: Would you go with me?

Her: Sure!

posted by yankeefog at 2:36 AM on May 12, 2005

Oh, and let me add: way to go, C17H19NO3! Have fun at the prom. (And remember to save up your MeTa posting privilege so you can give us an update afterwards.)
posted by yankeefog at 2:37 AM on May 12, 2005

Hey, are you going to Metafilter with anyone, by chance?

What I wouldn't give to have someone ask me that....
posted by cmyk at 3:10 AM on May 12, 2005

Hey, are you going to Metafilter with anyone, by chance?

I call bullshit.
posted by nthdegx at 3:43 AM on May 12, 2005

sex on teh tanning beds

which would have been, literally, VERY HAWT.
PIPIN' HAWT, even.
anyway: naxosaxur for President.
posted by matteo at 4:26 AM on May 12, 2005

PIPIN' HAWT, even.

Is that an intentional pun on C17H19NO3's name?
posted by grouse at 4:59 AM on May 12, 2005

Is that an intentional pun on C17H19NO3's name?

Grouse, C₁₇H₁₉NO₃ is the chemical formula for morphine, not piperine.

There's no way anyone would see an update in the original thread otherwise...

That's what was going through my head when I posted. Some of the people that responded to my original thread wanted an update. I knew that if I updated in my original thread, chances were that nobody would see it. I apoligize for breaking the AskMe guidelines.

I really don't understand why a MeTa thread was created regarding the deletion of the post. It's not a big deal, really.
posted by C17H19NO3 at 5:39 AM on May 12, 2005

um...forgot to close the link...DAMMIT
posted by C17H19NO3 at 5:39 AM on May 12, 2005

too much tanning-bed sex screws up your HTML , man
posted by matteo at 6:44 AM on May 12, 2005 [1 favorite]

It's not a callout, it's a "what happened?"

And don't post any pictures.
posted by Mid at 6:49 AM on May 12, 2005

holy shit, that Jim Jones thread is hilarious.

Personally I would much prefer to have interesting follow-ups than endless repeats of the same questions (favorite book, e.g.), or bored random polling (mother's day stories), and I too am somewhat baffled by metafilter's seemingly insatiable fascination with flatulence...

But, if we can't post new threads as follow ups, then we really need a way to highlight that the thread has been updated. If not a new sorting system, at least Matt or Jessamyn could be notified of a significant follow-up, and could choose to sidebar it on AskMe?
posted by mdn at 7:56 AM on May 12, 2005

C17H19NO3, I closed the link for you. Congrats on the prom, that's very very cool.
posted by jessamyn at 7:58 AM on May 12, 2005

I think I've said this before, but I think askme really could use some sort of closure system, where the original asker would be asked to provide closure to the question after a certain time. And if closure would be provided, the thread would go to a small list, say in the askme sidebar, so we could see what car was bought, what was embroidered in the baby clothes and how was it received, etc. That would be great.
posted by lazy-ville at 8:48 AM on May 12, 2005

We need UpdateFilter...i say it all the time.
posted by amberglow at 9:01 AM on May 12, 2005

Grouse, C17H19NO3 is the chemical formula for morphine, not piperine.

It's the chemical formula for morphine. And for piperine. And for over three thousand other known compounds, according to Chemical Abstracts. A chemical formula does not always uniquely identify a single compound, especially when you're talking about organic compounds such as these, which is why organic chemists either draw pictures or else give compounds long-ass names which describe how those forty atoms are connected to each other.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 9:48 AM on May 12, 2005

MetaFilter: Hey, are you going to Metafilter with anyone, by chance?
posted by hellbient at 9:52 AM on May 12, 2005

yes!
posted by matteo at 10:07 AM on May 12, 2005

I was about to say what DevilsAdvocate just said. That's what you get for using an empirical formula, Mr. Piperine.
posted by grouse at 10:32 AM on May 12, 2005

his username looks like a british postal code to me : >
posted by amberglow at 10:45 AM on May 12, 2005

I was glad to get the update, but why couldn't he have waited the four days or whatever and post it here?
posted by Specklet at 11:04 AM on May 12, 2005

Speaking of C17H19NO3 the compound, what is the actual chemical name for morphine? I Was goin to ask ask me but I asked a question for a friend a couple of days ago.
posted by delmoi at 11:18 AM on May 12, 2005

I believe morphine is the chemical name.


posted by Civil_Disobedient at 11:29 AM on May 12, 2005

where the original asker would be asked to provide closure to the question after a certain time.

We need UpdateFilter...i say it all the time.

Good idea. It should be another little link within askme threads you start, like tags and best answers, that will automatically get it listed on a little sidebar, if you use it. Or, alternately, that will get it listed as another sorting option the way you can list just threads with "best answers" highlighted.
posted by mdn at 11:39 AM on May 12, 2005

what is the actual chemical name for morphine?

Well, first some caveats. The Preamble to the 1993 recommendations for IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry notes:

It is important to recognize that the rules of systematic nomenclature need not necessarily lead to a unique name for each compound, but must always lead to an unambiguous one.... [The] Guide to IUPAC Nomenclature of Organic Compounds often presents alternative sets of rules, equally systematic, wherever available and justifiable, to enable a user to fit the name to a particular need.... Lastly, the Commission recognizes that for certain types of compounds, there is significant disagreement among chemists in different fields as to what should be the preferred nomenclature. This situation leads to an apparent lack of decisiveness in some of the recommendations in this document.

That is, one name implies a single compound, but a single compound may have many different equally legitimate chemical names--even under a single organization's rules, and then there are other organizations than IUPAC that have their own sets of rules:

In this Guide, some practices of the Chemical Abstracts Service and/or of the Beilstein Institute have been mentioned. This is done only for informational purposes, and such instances are not necessarily recommendations of the Commission.

So for some sets of rules, C_D is probably correct that morphine is a legitimate chemical name.

ChemFinder and Wikipedia both suggest 7,8-Didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol as a systematic name. The morphinan parent, with atom numbering, can be seen here.

I don't think that's complete, though, because it lacks a stereochemical specification at atoms 5 and 6. Stereochemical descriptors always give me a headache, but if I've worked it out correctly, one systematic name would be (5R,6S)-7,8-Didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol.

Meanwhile, the Merck Index lists (5a,6a)-7,8-Didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol as the systematic name according to CAS rules--the same except using CAS's alpha/beta stereochemical descriptors (note def. 2 at the link).
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:31 PM on May 12, 2005

Argh, the old disappearing entities bug on that last paragraph. The first part of that name should be (5α,6α).
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:41 PM on May 12, 2005

I'm willing to bet that I could name the people in this thread who didn't go to their proms.

kidding!
posted by turaho at 12:41 PM on May 18, 2005