January 2002 Archives (all archives)

January 31

Imminent demise of Metafilter predicted in 2002....

Imminent death of MetaFilter predicted.
posted by rcade to MetaFilter-Related at 11:53 AM PST - 187 comments

penalty box

Penalty box, if not outright removal from the playing field?
posted by owillis to Etiquette/Policy at 10:37 AM PST - 59 comments

Possible double post. The same topic if not the same link.

Possible double post. The same topic if not the same link.

This post of January 23rd seems to be the same as my post of December 10th.
posted by dgeiser13 to MetaFilter-Related at 10:34 AM PST - 4 comments

Does anyone know why my post was deleted?

Does anyone know why my post...

"YayDir Blog Directory down until further notice. Not that anyone would notice (except me apparently)."

was deleted. Thanks!!!
posted by dgeiser13 to Etiquette/Policy at 10:31 AM PST - 8 comments

LJ/MeFi active users?

crap! don't know if this goes under 'general:weblog' or 'metafilter:metafilter related'.

anyways, i'm one of those filthy, filthy livejournal users, and listed in my interests is 'metafilter'. out of the thousands of people who use lj, i've found there's a total of 8 people that share such an interest. but... i'm not sure if they're actually active members. so my question is... is there anyone here that IS both an active user of both mefi and lj, or do they cancel each other out?
posted by jcterminal to General Weblog-Related at 9:33 AM PST - 10 comments

counting own comments in new comments?

I think not counting own comments as new comments is actually big of a deal.

posted by michel v to Bugs at 8:09 AM PST - 6 comments

What are you doing with your blog?

A question on new web technologies: What new stuff are you guys implementing in your blogs. On my end, I've been dealing with moving my site to an XHTML code-base and looking at stuff like RDF, but I'm wondering what the rest of the community out there is doing. Web Services? SOAP? Any other stuff? I'm trying to figure out new stuff to add to my site and was wondering what the rest of you were looking into.
posted by TNLNYC to General Weblog-Related at 6:21 AM PST - 14 comments

how to send a ping to changes.xml

Having recently switched from Movable Type to b2, I was wondering how I can send a ping to changes.xml over at weblogs.com. b2 is flexible, easy to edit and most of all, a good learning tool for PHP but no ping option.
posted by lostbyanecho to General Weblog-Related at 1:36 AM PST - 5 comments

I have my head up mu culo.

I have my head up mu culo. I have only just learnt of Blogger.com from todays post by Mr.Howie. I think I will make use of something like this, probably for professional promotion, touting my CV etc. Are there other sites more practial to my application? Any pitfalls i should be aware of?
posted by Frasermoo to General Weblog-Related at 1:16 AM PST - 4 comments

January 30

Can we have a better 404 page?

404 grammar flame? Well, hopefully a little more proactive than that. Considering the possibilities, couldn't MeFi have a more interesting "not found" message?
posted by cortex to Feature Requests at 8:26 PM PST - 19 comments

Local News Links... why????

I don't like the idea that Metafilter has turned into a news portal. But I'll learn to live with that, it seems to be what most people like. But now we're linking local news? Isn't there a better place for residents of Bradford to discuss pending bus stop proposals? In the name of God, why? Why why why?
posted by y6y6y6 to Etiquette/Policy at 3:39 PM PST - 15 comments

The Grand Liberal Metafilter Conspiracy

The Grand Liberal Metafilter Conspiracy. Step inside, won't you?
posted by solistrato to Etiquette/Policy at 1:06 PM PST - 57 comments

I miss you

This thread made me think about members who no longer participate in MeFi. Which AWOL member do you miss the most?
posted by jennak to MetaFilter-Related at 11:00 AM PST - 97 comments

Should I show customers MeFi?

As some of you might know, I sell PC's for a living. Often in the course of my sales presentation, if the customer seems the type who would be interested, I'll show them Metafilter. I try to give them a good run-down of what the site is about and the general tone of the place. I don't know if any of them have visited or joined up as of yet, but if they did I hope they enjoyed it. I just wondered if this was cool with Matt, or if any of you had requests for things I should tell these prospective MeFi newbies?
posted by jonmc to MetaFilter-Related at 9:49 AM PST - 17 comments

Is there an insider word for this yet?

What's the jargon word for a doublepost thread that's obviously doomed, and which gets quickly taken over by a cheerful bunch of people with absolutely nothing to say, and no fear of MeTa reproach because the thread could disappear at any moment? I must say, posting in these threads, I've never felt so alive.

MetaSquat?
posted by luser to MetaFilter-Related at 7:02 AM PST - 38 comments

Appropriation of well-researched links

This irks me: I post this on Friday and today--Monday-- I find this via my show's counter. Now I better understand the phrase content provider.
Rant continued within.

posted by y2karl to MetaFilter-Related at 12:10 AM PST - 22 comments

January 29

More live play-by-play threads

"State of Union play by play " post triggered a probably unoriginal thought - scheduling more events/times in advance for live play-by-play threads, something for everyone, eg Oscar or Grammy night, Super Bowl, other big bang televised events. Wouldn't it be a blast to rant and rave all together about this and that on TV? (this probably a double post, but since searching didnt bring it up, I will patiently await the first comment post alert)
posted by Voyageman to MetaFilter-Related at 8:10 PM PST - 5 comments

WinerLog has moved.

WinerLog is no longer being hosted on EditThisPage. Film at 11.
posted by rcade to General Weblog-Related at 1:47 PM PST - 22 comments

Chairman MaOwie

Metafilter -- dictatorship, monarchy, autonomous collective or religion? [more]
posted by feelinglistless to MetaFilter-Related at 1:43 PM PST - 39 comments

Macho bullshit posturing derails a thread.

Macho bullshit posturing derails a thread. I'd expect this kind of rubbish on kiddie forums, not MeFi. Yes an apology was made for the derailing, but what was the point of the comment?
posted by jackiemcghee to MetaFilter-Related at 11:35 AM PST - 56 comments

I saw it on Fark but want to discuss with MeFites

So there's interesting story (or two) being prominently linked on another site with known readership overlap. I'm interested in hearing the comments of the MeFi community on either. Is that reason enough for a FPP?
posted by NortonDC to Etiquette/Policy at 7:10 AM PST - 13 comments

January 28

what is wrong with this picture?

W hat is wrong with this picture?
posted by y2karl to Etiquette/Policy at 7:30 PM PST - 49 comments

Pony: A MeFi This! link similar to Blogger's Blog This! feature

Feature request: a MeFi This! link similar to Blogger's Blog This! feature. The upside: easy to post. The downside: more FFPs on Metafilter. Good idea, or really bad?
posted by jasonsmall to Feature Requests at 3:56 PM PST - 31 comments

consensus on multiple-topic posts?

Do we have a general consensus on multiple-topic posts? While there is a relation in that Beast was mentioned in the Casciano essay, I really wonder if one or the other should have have been linked, as the space for discussion ends up too open.
posted by Su to Etiquette/Policy at 1:31 PM PST - 6 comments

Double Posts Must Stop Or Else

I'm sick of double posting. I want to stop double posting. How can I be sure, without manually searching the source codes of every month in the archives, that I'm not double posting? And is there any point in telling someone they've double posted when there's no way they can avoid it?
posted by swift to MetaFilter-Related at 11:45 AM PST - 18 comments

January 27

racism and land rights go hand-in-hand?

I believe some of the comments in this thread are completely out of line.
posted by ashbury to Etiquette/Policy at 10:54 PM PST - 46 comments

Double-post call-out bar raised.

Double-post call-out bar raised. Thank you, SJC.
posted by SpecialK to Etiquette/Policy at 11:40 AM PST - 17 comments

More Flash!

I just adore games and animations but they're few and far between on MetaFilter, though the standard, when they are posted, seems pretty high. Ashbury's superb contribution yesterday was a welcome exception.
The few that are - most of them, in my opinion, worthy of a FPP - tend to turn up buried in threads. Why is this? Looking through the archives I get the impression that in the past there were far more games and animations.
Are less being produced nowadays or are they considered too childish or something? They're certainly very difficult to find. Woe is me. What are we games junkies to do?
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 4:15 AM PST - 4 comments

SXSW 2002

For those lucky enough to be going, what bands are you excited about seeing at SXSW?
posted by catatonic to General Weblog-Related at 12:55 AM PST - 17 comments

January 25

Love y2karl's Vivian Girls Post

I love, love, love, love, love this post. Love.
With so much trash-talk being thrown around this site recently, I just wanted to point out something good. Thanks, y2karl.
posted by jpoulos to MetaFilter-Related at 7:54 PM PST - 5 comments

You were nice when my post was wrong, thanks!

Thanks for the heads-up on my post to MeFi. The fact that people were nice and not abusive proves that self-policing sites can and do work =]
posted by manero to Etiquette/Policy at 4:13 PM PST - 0 comments

This is the greatest meta ever

Case study: A post which declares something "the greatest ever," regardless of the intentions of the poster, is bound to wind up with a discussion not of the linked piece, but of the poster, his motivations, beliefs, and interests. In this way it can be understood as a MetaSelfPost, a post whose essential link is the poster's MeFi profile.
posted by chaz to Etiquette/Policy at 3:23 PM PST - 16 comments

Bad link formed, fixed

Hey there - A post I made about a WA state Bill has had its link text munged - was this deliberate, or a bug? The original text said 'WA Lawmakers try to remove "repugnant" Theory of Evolution from schools'. It now just reads 'WA Lawmakers try to remove'. Just a curious thing - maybe quote-related. Thanks.
posted by kokogiak to Etiquette/Policy at 2:46 PM PST - 3 comments

sidebar could be used for "hot" topics

Is the sidebar able to list "hot" topics that are more than likely going to be a) a double post news item of the day b) a thread that reachs say more than 80 comments or c) a user who wants to keep a thread accessible without having to remember the day, topic, or events that seem to push a link off the page and into the archives before some have a chance to comment or view the link?
posted by brent to Feature Requests at 11:08 AM PST - 0 comments

I still can't figure out how to put a link in a response; can someone help me?

I feel dumb for asking, but... after being here for a few months I still can't figure out how to put a link in a response. Can someone tell me? Or is there a "How To" page here that I haven't found? Thanks in Advance.
posted by sadie01221975 to MetaFilter-Related at 4:12 AM PST - 19 comments

January 24

SXSWbaby is back.

SXSWbaby is back.
posted by mathowie to General Weblog-Related at 9:19 PM PST - 4 comments

Please label the NYC meetup photos.

Hope the good souls who post photos from the NY Mefi party will let the rest of us have some vicarious fun by attaching users names to users faces. Will make future posts and comments so much more vivid.
posted by Voyageman to General Weblog-Related at 9:12 PM PST - 35 comments

This thread is a good example of someone itching for a holy war.

This thread is a good example of someone itching for a holy war. Is it necessary to deride people's religious beliefs every time someone mentions God?
posted by mr_crash_davis to Etiquette/Policy at 8:09 PM PST - 32 comments

hax0r warning

Somewhere between 9:49 a.m., Jan. 23, and 1:01 p.m., January 24, a l33t hax0r took over Enginebeak's account.
posted by insomnyuk to Etiquette/Policy at 7:56 PM PST - 3 comments

I am a no-talent ass clown

I am a no-talent ass clown. Found this on google today. As usual, I'm probably behind the curve here...
posted by catatonic to MetaFilter-Related at 12:47 PM PST - 11 comments

Recommendaitons for PHP books?

When writing a weblog in PHP, one must learn PHP. Which book should a beginner pick up for the best results? Matt suggested Julie Meloni's book but it's currently unavailable here. So it's down to either the Wrox book, the SAMS book or the Osborne book. Any suggestions? Or other resources?
posted by lostbyanecho to General Weblog-Related at 10:55 AM PST - 17 comments

Best Tagline Suggestions

Riffola: "I think that line should be on the new MeFi tee :)"

It seems like just about every thread someone has a new suggestion for a MeFi tagline or tee-shirt (and yes, I could have added a memepool style link to one with every word there). Anyway, why not vent the best ones here? Or do they all not-ready for prime-time, appearing once in a thread and disappearing forever?
posted by Sinner to General Weblog-Related at 9:24 AM PST - 8 comments

January 23

I got attacked here here and here for using the phrase "filmic storyteller".

What is the appropriate balance between mentioning one's occupation as a way of explaining your perspective, and coming off as a pretentious jerk blowing his own horn? For using the phrase "filmic storyteller" to describe my complicated and amorphous job as a privately employed screenwriter, story editor, and consultant, I got attacked here here and here .
posted by bingo to Etiquette/Policy at 2:48 PM PST - 66 comments

Auto-Logout

Would it be possible to add an auto-logout option? I browse MeFi from school, and I often forget to logout when I'm finished. Perhaps an option on the Customization page to make your cookie invalid after 6 hours?
posted by skwm to Feature Requests at 1:54 PM PST - 3 comments

Is MetaFilter down for everybody else?

Is MetaFilter down for everybody else. I've been getting host not found errors all morning. I know Matt was planning to move his name server box. I'm just wondering if something in that process got hosed. If it is down, is it still available via an IP address -> I couldn't seem to find that either.
posted by willnot to Bugs at 12:57 PM PST - 11 comments

20 out of 27 posts yesterday were news pieces.

Of yesterday's 27 posts, no fewer than 20 of them were links to news sites or concerned recent events or happenings.
posted by mattpfeff to MetaFilter-Related at 7:17 AM PST - 34 comments

Just how horrible is your namesake's blog?

The Namesake Horrorshow: Just how horrible is your namesake's blog? Mine is awful, baseball-mad and is severely indicator-disabled. As this weren't enough, this Miguel Cardoso doppelganger also comes up first on Google.

Still, I bet mine is not as bad as yours...
posted by MiguelCardoso to General Weblog-Related at 12:05 AM PST - 29 comments

January 22

Ben Brown show

Hey Matt, how much did you pay for that plug on the Ben Brown Show? "It makes me smarter, and more angry about THINGS."
posted by adampsyche to MetaFilter-Related at 3:25 PM PST - 21 comments

Removing Where's Dick Post

Uggh... How will this foster a discussion any different than the other "Where's Dick" threads we have had without having any linked supporting evidence.
posted by machaus to Etiquette/Policy at 11:58 AM PST - 6 comments

How impossible would it be to merge thread displays for double-posts?

How impossible would it be to merge thread displays for double-posts? If, for example, there are parallel discussions and small cries of "double post you fool," why not parse the threads together, so each one includes posts from both threads, in date order? Voila, no more repeated conversations or wasted threads.

Pardon any programming naivete in the suggestion; I'd love to know whether this is feasible (and if it would be considered useful or confusing).
posted by werty to Feature Requests at 7:18 AM PST - 15 comments

Is Metafilter IRC down?

Is Metafilter IRC down?
posted by ParisParamus to MetaFilter-Related at 6:07 AM PST - 11 comments

what's my community value?

Should I be looked down upon because I rarely post material (other than my own wacky point of view)? I am currently a freelancer and have a girlfriend, so I don't have a lot of time to discover interesting stuff on the Web (at least before everyone else has). Do I get deficiency-filling credit for organizing the NYC Mefi meet this Thursday?
posted by ParisParamus to Etiquette/Policy at 6:03 AM PST - 11 comments

DoS spammers?

Exist-there some clever way to direct e-mail back to an offensive spammer so that they will get the message; something like a denial of service attack/overload? The spam is really getting to me these days

(and yes, it has to be legal, or I won't do it)
posted by ParisParamus to General Weblog-Related at 5:09 AM PST - 10 comments

Help with research

I was thinking about making a post that would compare and contrast US foreign aid to Europe after WWII to Afghanistan and Yugoslavia today. It also got me on the trail of the annual US foreign aid bill that passes each year. However it was next to impossible to find a breakdown of exactly who gets what each year and what the money is spent on. I consider myself a decent Googler, but I'm stumped. Any help out there? Thanks!
posted by chaz to General Weblog-Related at 12:33 AM PST - 8 comments

January 21

Request that Metatalk show number of new posts and comments: feature already exists

Why is there no "X# of new posts/X# of new comments" on MeTa? would it be that hard to implement?
posted by Ufez Jones to MetaFilter-Related at 11:18 PM PST - 5 comments

Followup: Amnesiac may have been a (gay) porn star

Here's an interesting follow up to this wonderful thread from August. Phillip Stauffen, a man suffering from
amnesia, may have been a gay porn star according to a man in France. Wait, it gets better. Inspector Steven Bone of the Toronto police will have to comb through the evidence... link from *cough* fark.com.
posted by machaus to MetaFilter-Related at 4:50 PM PST - 8 comments

SXSW 2002 meetup

So, SXSW 2002. Who's going? Maybe it would be a good time for a MetaFilter gathering?
posted by mrbula to MetaFilter-Related at 4:22 PM PST - 24 comments

Snark will be the end of MeFi

It's not the petty insults, it's the rank, disrespectful and pretentious sarcasm that's ruining discussions on MeFi. This thread is only the latest example. As discussions go, its useless. The topic, however, merits a reasoned dialogue. I could cite a few examples in which I've crossed the line. I feel comfortable that I've held my worst instincts in check most often; others have not.

It gets worse all the time. It's now customary among the hawkish set to lead off every comment with a sarcastic jibe, instead of an honest reaction. > >
posted by rschram to Etiquette/Policy at 1:42 PM PST - 41 comments

MetaFilter World Trade Center Design Contest

This thread is for the discussion of the suggested MetaFilter World Trade Center Design Contest (I'm not even going to attempt an acronym for that one)

Please comment and criticize away. Particulars that need discussion include: how to enter? how to judge? etc.
posted by Ptrin to MetaFilter-Related at 12:03 PM PST - 14 comments

Metafilter DNS change?

Metafilter DNS change?

I can no longer reach the site using http://metafilter.com, I have to add the 'www'.
posted by o2b to Bugs at 9:19 AM PST - 7 comments

custom stylesheets

Not that don't like the look of MetaFilter, but I think it would be nice if the Customize page had a textarea field for specifying custom stylesheet rules. More inside...
posted by bschoate to Feature Requests at 8:32 AM PST - 19 comments

Sharing Userids

*This is Mrs. thatwhichfalls posting, I am responsible for all my own comments*

Regardles of the merits of the FPP, shouldn't a new user go ahead and sign up, post a few comments, get a feel for the place, and earn the right to post to FP?
posted by gimli to Bugs at 7:21 AM PST - 30 comments

Flak from Requesting Spoiler Warnings

Make a simple suggestion and not get flak? No way." (more inside)
posted by cyniczny to Etiquette/Policy at 4:59 AM PST - 9 comments

Gossip filter?

Metaquette: What do you do if you know a piece of wonderfully juicy news (and substantiated with the appropriate sources), but the news is yet to break world-wide (say, two/three days away) and there is no link? Can you make a FPP? Should you be linking news at all? Huh? HUH?
posted by Neale to Etiquette/Policy at 2:25 AM PST - 27 comments

January 19

Post-moderating?

While the Ben & Jerry's thread ended up fine, it was one of the most extreme examples of a poster playing "talk-show host" I've ever seen. If jonmc didn't want a discussion of a band's merit, then why bash them in his original post?
posted by arielmeadow to Etiquette/Policy at 8:21 PM PST - 38 comments

New mefi t-shirt design

I'm working on some metafilter t-shirt designs, bascially just a slogan of some sort on the front, and the logo on the back. let me know what you think of these...
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 5:15 PM PST - 125 comments

January 18

Some of the new words included in the Oxford English Dictionary online

Girl power, grrrl, riot girl, f*** me . . . just some of the new words included in the Oxford English Dictionary online.
posted by bottledbliss to General Weblog-Related at 11:30 PM PST - 5 comments

Are people ever going to mellow out on the double post callouts?

jesus christ. Are people ever going to mellow out on the double post callouts? A couple times in the past week, I've met someone that knows about the site, and their first comment to me is "everyone there loves to bitch about a double post, I never post there because of it"
posted by mathowie to Etiquette/Policy at 6:43 PM PST - 61 comments

When did Salon start requiring a WELL account to use Table Talk?

I know I missed the boat but when did Salon start requiring a WELL account to use Table Talk? And why would anyone join the most prominent online community so they could post to Salon? Does that make sense to anyone?
posted by Brilliantcrank to General Weblog-Related at 2:37 PM PST - 3 comments

January 17

Online personality tests in NYT

The New York Times' Online Diary (scroll down to "I'm Paul!"): Online personality tests are a long-running Web "meme," or viral idea. No mention of MeFi, or how agonizing tests are, or ways to cure people's obsession with the danged things, but you can't have everything, I guess. [Login: metafi/metafi; pony not included.]
posted by mattpfeff to General Weblog-Related at 10:01 PM PST - 14 comments

thisislondon crashes IE for me. you?

Clicking on this link: http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=489715&in_review_text_id=447099shuts down my browser (IE5)...sad part of it was that it happened about five times before I figured out what was going on. Since folks are commenting, I presume it's not happening to everyone? Just tried it three more times, same thing. You know, I saw a white van with some strange antennas on it driving around here earlier...
posted by Mack Twain to Bugs at 9:34 PM PST - 3 comments

Why was the post re Terry Jones' bit about grammar and war deleted?

Why was tpoh's post re Terry Jones' bit about grammar and war deleted? Or is it only sleeping? Off pining for the fjords?
posted by obiwanwasabi to MetaFilter-Related at 6:58 PM PST - 21 comments

It seems that personal attacks are on the rise

Here is the latest example of something that's been bugging me. It seems that personal attacks are on the rise, at the expense of debate that focuses on the thread topic or rational criticism of poor posts. More inside.
.
posted by sennoma to Etiquette/Policy at 6:35 PM PST - 27 comments

MeFi Bingo

Oh this ageless double post!
[original May 2001 thread here.]
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 5:09 PM PST - 2 comments

MeFi on Howard Stern

I got an email from someone saying they heard about metafilter "on the stern show." Does anyone know of any online archives of it? I can't seem to find any at howardstern.com, koam.com, or any of his affiliate sites.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 4:51 PM PST - 14 comments

Can we please talk civilly about... the Olympics? (2002)

I'm really intrigued here. A perfectly good thread (well maybe not great) about censorship of the Olympics, derailed by general revulsion towards a religion. Some tried to get back to the point, but the damage was done. Are all posts voicing concern over how the 2002 Winter games are run doomed to the same fate?
posted by Wulfgar! to Etiquette/Policy at 2:24 PM PST - 36 comments

MetaTalk archives?

It's a pity there is no MetaTalk archives. Occasionally I take a few days off to actually get work done and I feel like I'm missing something important.
posted by dness2 to Feature Requests at 2:06 PM PST - 1 comment

MeFiSea!

MeFiSea! Another bowling night anyone? I was thinking maybe Sunday, February third, mid-day.... at Sunset Bowl. Or another date/time/location? All I know is we all very badly need to get out of the house.
posted by jessamyn to MetaFilter-Related at 1:20 PM PST - 13 comments

My Comments is not initially an option in the Sort By pull-down

Minor bug: My Comments is not initially an option in the Sort By pull-down, it only appears once any of the other sort option have been selected. IE 5.0, NT 4.0.
posted by skwm to Bugs at 12:10 PM PST - 2 comments

Mefi Not London, then?

Mefi Not London, then? With all the talk in that earlier thread about Mefiers in the area around the capitol, it would be interesting to know where other British Metafilter regulars live... and whether we can plan a get together also...
posted by feelinglistless to MetaFilter-Related at 11:38 AM PST - 10 comments

The Scooby Doo gang rides again

The Scooby Doo gang rides again: David Cassel mentions MetaFilter's crack investigative skills (and quotes headspace) in a piece about Coincidence Design.
posted by rcade to MetaFilter-Related at 6:41 AM PST - 10 comments

January 16

Apology for Actions (Jonmc, JakeExtreme): DreamFilter

Two-Part Post. One, I'd like to pre-emptively apologize for me and JakeExtreme's excessive silliness is yesterday's Al Qaeada thread. Nobody's said anything and I suppose no harm was done, but reading the posts this morning, I feel kinda stupid. Jake is gonna be in SLC on Guard duty for the olympics for a month, so it was kind of a farewell party. But we hijacked a good thread. So, sorry.
Two, last night I was staring at a blurry blue and white computer screen, dying to type, but my hands wouldn't move, I struggled then...I woke up. I actually dreamed I was reading Metafilter! Has this happened to anyone else? And what does it all mean?
posted by jonmc to MetaFilter-Related at 11:31 AM PST - 80 comments

It's hard to avoid double posts when you're travelling

Trip Observation #3 : I don't know if others share this problem, but I have now learned the hard way to think twice before posting to Mefi while traveling (now being 2 for 2 on deleted double posts during the past 4 days, even after searching prior to posting.) So much happens on Mefi in short time periods that searching is not enough, I need to also carefully read any posts and comments I have missed, and also search, before posting from the road. So apologies for the inconvenience to Matt , to the private emailer kindly alerting me, to commenters publicly noting it, to readers re-reading old stuff, to anyone else I have forgotten.
posted by Voyageman to MetaFilter-Related at 8:25 AM PST - 3 comments

Opinions sought on Photoshop Tennis

Photoshop Tennis: Has been much discussed here at MetaFilter. As I'm writing a small article about it for a Chicago Arts magazine, your opinions would be appreciated.
posted by aladfar to General Weblog-Related at 6:16 AM PST - 25 comments

London Meetup

MeFi London then? I have the organisational skills of a Pickled Herring, so hopefully someone else will have all the ideas ... just testing the water to see if anyone else is interested.
posted by walrus to MetaFilter-Related at 4:18 AM PST - 37 comments

January 15

It was a double? That hurts my feelings

Though it may make someone more hesitant to participate in the future, unless we are given a way to delete our own messages (or an easy way to alert someone who can), telling us that we've posted a duplicate link is nothing but a condescending tactic of metafilter bullies.
posted by crunchland to Etiquette/Policy at 11:30 PM PST - 24 comments

Time for a non-propietary weblog-ping service?

Time for a non-propietary weblog-ping service? It seems Winer is picking and choosing which blogs get listed on his ping-service depending on his whims. Is it time now for the weblog community to move away from this?
posted by owillis to General Weblog-Related at 11:07 PM PST - 15 comments

capitalizing usernames.

A minor etiquette question, really, regarding punctuation and capitalization. Join me inside, won't you?
posted by mr_crash_davis to Etiquette/Policy at 8:53 PM PST - 28 comments

Is Weblog Nation still the best selective web site to keep track of interesting blogs?

Is Weblog Nation still the best selective web site to keep track of interesting blogs? Was it ever? It seems a bit staid and badly classified. The last category, for instance. is a mess. Yet, for rookies like me, it delivers.

So does anyone know of a better, more critical and more up-to-date one-step guide or portal, that cuts out the dross and concentrates on what's good?
posted by MiguelCardoso to General Weblog-Related at 6:15 PM PST - 15 comments

Anonymous MeFi troll duels with self. Loses.

Anonymous MeFi troll duels with self. Loses. Seems apparent that moolafoo is trying to piss someone off here, but who? Darkaru? Metafilter? America? Granny? Ah well, doesn't matter anyway: he namedropped Hitler earlier in the thread, so according to Godwin the troll-attempt was dead on arrival.
posted by Sapphireblue to Etiquette/Policy at 9:43 AM PST - 49 comments

Multipost

Multi-post (1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Also my own double.

The server was hiccupping.
posted by Su to Etiquette/Policy at 8:39 AM PST - 18 comments

January 14

yet another question for the ages

Courtesy Blogdex, yet another question for the ages: What Kind Of Internal Organ Are You? Me?




posted by y2karl to MetaFilter-Related at 11:36 AM PST - 42 comments

from Blogger or Greymatter to MT

I've seen very little commentary on the web about using Moveable Type, other than people who use it generically saying that they like it. Has anyone here moved from Blogger or Greymatter, and can you comment on what aspects you like,miss, or wish were better fleshed out? I think that there are a lot of us that aren't ready to roll our own PHP that could use some input.
posted by machaus to General Weblog-Related at 11:24 AM PST - 26 comments

MeFi in The Times

Metafilter mentioned in an article in The Times on weblogs. (free access will expire in 7 days).
posted by nedrichards to MetaFilter-Related at 8:32 AM PST - 3 comments

Good link and good discussion

Good link vs good discussion: Which is more important? And why is it so difficult to find both in a FPP lately?
posted by dogmatic to MetaFilter-Related at 8:19 AM PST - 32 comments

No-favorite-bands policy

"I like this band. What band do you like?" Oy... Should there maybe be a specific no-favorite-bands admonishment in the link guidelines?
posted by nicwolff to Etiquette/Policy at 5:50 AM PST - 81 comments

January 13

MeTa XML stream requested

Alright, I've found the MeFi XML stream, now how about the MeTa XML stream? Search the MeTa comments and couldn't find anything... thanks in advance.
posted by manero to MetaFilter-Related at 9:43 AM PST - 5 comments

Metatalk training

Just the thing for first time posters...
posted by feelinglistless to MetaFilter-Related at 9:28 AM PST - 7 comments

Posts leading to "premium" sites are not very useful.

Posts leading to "premium" sites are not very useful. (more inside)
posted by mr_crash_davis to Bugs at 9:11 AM PST - 10 comments

A felicitous one-off or an example to be followed?

Norton DC's "marker" post is simple and to the point. It only links to a photograph but the way it's worded suggests the picture is representative of a wider subject: careless parenting, "kids will be kids", toy safety and possibly the redundance of "creative" presents such as crayons or markers for toddlers, etc. So is it a felicitous one-off or an example to be followed? [more inside]
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 7:05 AM PST - 30 comments

January 12

Mis-attributed posts?

Today my posts are attributed to "MrBrett." The other day it was "allpaws." I need simple answers, apparently. Is it aol??
posted by G_Ask to Bugs at 8:58 PM PST - 18 comments

would you pay for something you can get for free?

A new weblog publishing system? Many fancy shmancy features but would you pay for something you can get for free?
posted by lostbyanecho to General Weblog-Related at 8:34 PM PST - 13 comments

What's going on with the fonts?

What's going on with the fonts? Everything is huge in
both MeFi and MeTa.
posted by Lynsey to Bugs at 12:56 PM PST - 4 comments

Netscape problems

Disappearing comments in Netscape 4.78: when I post a comment to MeFi, it doesn't appear until I force the page to reload. When I post a comment to MeTa, it disappears completely! Obviously, I'm posting this with a different browser.
posted by MrBaliHai to Bugs at 7:03 AM PST - 11 comments

January 11

www.oralse.cx

www.oralse.cx
posted by rebeccablood to MetaFilter-Related at 8:48 PM PST - 24 comments

Self-promotion on weblogs

Winer's weblog down temporarily to plug new product. I was quite surprised to see the weblog gone.. and a product ad in my face.
 
Since it's his work and his site, it's fine ;-) But it made me think.. is there such a thing as a weblog becoming too self-promotional? Or is this a perfect use for weblogs in a society where we're all screaming for attention?
posted by wackybrit to General Weblog-Related at 8:06 PM PST - 32 comments

Trolls with spades and pitchforks

It's time to call a spade a spade and a troll a troll.
posted by NortonDC to Etiquette/Policy at 6:27 PM PST - 68 comments

Civility in politics threads: Bushtard.

Bushtard? I'm not a fan of Bush, but this is really getting old. Any suggestions for how to discourage this method of posting?
posted by jheiz to Etiquette/Policy at 6:26 PM PST - 9 comments

Thin, soggy pancakes

I realize pancake recipes have been done to death already, but
the subject ought to be brought up in light of those thin, soggy looking things.
posted by majick to General Weblog-Related at 2:13 PM PST - 22 comments

how many via's?

What is protocol re making reference to a link's source in FPP?
posted by Voyageman to Etiquette/Policy at 1:54 PM PST - 8 comments

Long-broken link

This and many other corny blogstickers.
posted by insomnyuk to General Weblog-Related at 11:29 AM PST - 14 comments

Why was the Lego bible post deleted?

There was a link earlier to the entire bible created in legos. For some reason this was deleted. It was not blasphemous in any way and actually sorta cute. Anyone know why?
posted by statusquo to MetaFilter-Related at 11:25 AM PST - 21 comments

Bad Post Callout

What do we conclude about a thread that simply poses a question?
posted by tomorama to MetaFilter-Related at 10:48 AM PST - 28 comments

No posting window?

Anyone else having this problem with Mefi? When I go to 'comments', there's no posting window available and my name doesn't appear. So, I logged in, figuring that would make a difference. No luck. Nothing's changed on my end. So sad when old friends no longer recognize you. :>(
posted by martk to Bugs at 6:28 AM PST - 3 comments

Did I screw up?

Did I screw up? I was so giddy I found a little scoop about Deputy AG Thompson that I posted it right to the front page -- without noticing the two other Enron threads. Should my post have gone in of the others?
posted by raaka to MetaFilter-Related at 4:44 AM PST - 1 comment

Enough with the pornolizer!

For god's sake, enough with the pornolizer
posted by tj to MetaFilter-Related at 12:16 AM PST - 11 comments

January 10

Blogger subscription announcement

Blogger's new announcement: just a blogspot change. Rather clever, actually. I might even buy one myself.. anyone else?
posted by insomnyuk to General Weblog-Related at 9:54 PM PST - 5 comments

Did you mean Matt Haughey?

How do you know when you're a star on the Internet?

Google attempts to correct the spelling of your name.
posted by willnot to MetaFilter-Related at 9:29 PM PST - 19 comments

User Statistics

I liked the little thingie that told how many users are on
MeFi at a time. What happened to it?
posted by Lynsey to Feature Requests at 4:07 PM PST - 8 comments

almost a year since archy died

almost a year since archy died. (more inside)
posted by clavdivs to MetaFilter-Related at 12:24 PM PST - 12 comments

Pagerank makes bad people findable

If you search for Bernard Shifman on Google, the number one result is the “Bernard Shifman is a moron spammer” page that was all over the web yesterday. His “official” web page (in an online directory) is now seventh or eighth on the list. Joseph Crosby (GM of the Houston Doubletree) has a similar problem.

If you accept the premise that many people will check out Google before hiring/dating/whatever someone, then these guys are in trouble for the foreseeable future. (more inside….)

posted by jpbutler to General Weblog-Related at 12:21 PM PST - 18 comments

Fix My Triple-Post!

Erk. How do I undo a mistake? I think I just posted a comment three times. It's not showing up on the thread, but when I click to "comments made by this user," in my profile, it does show up. Can I erase it, somehow?
posted by Badmichelle to Bugs at 11:46 AM PST - 9 comments

How are things sidebarred?

Has any thought been given before to selecting posts which can be considered "timeless" or "very important", and keeping them highlighted and visible (maybe in the sidebar) for a week+ so comments can keep going on ? Perhaps 2 or 3 "Link and Think" type posts always present and alive at the top of the sidebar ? (recognizing that the process of determining what should go in there might make this a non-starter)
posted by Voyageman to Feature Requests at 9:26 AM PST - 16 comments

When I try AOL Keyword Mefi, nothing happens.

When I try AOL Keyword Mefi, nothing happens. (more inside).


posted by ParisParamus to Bugs at 6:34 AM PST - 13 comments

January 9

getting first comment in your own post

how about a textarea on the post-a-thread page to allow you to optionally post the first comment on the thread? reading rich's comment on how not everyone wants to write up such a comment with word or notepad beforehand, it seems like this feature could be useful. no one jokes about where's the "more inside" text, and the ease of use in posting that first, explanatory comment may help in keeping FPPs from getting too large.
posted by moz to Feature Requests at 11:53 AM PST - 3 comments

he's corralling the kittens

Ha: "Matt Haughey whips scripts and pushes pixels at Pyra Labs. When he's not being cheeky on his personal site, he's corralling the kittens on his community one.

Also by Matt:
free web host
using includes

posted by elvissinatra to General Weblog-Related at 11:34 AM PST - 2 comments

Is there a picture of the actual physical embodiment of the MetaFilter Server?

Is there a picture of the actual physical embodiment of the MetaFilter Server? I'd like to be able to visualize where all the comments go.
posted by machaus to MetaFilter-Related at 10:08 AM PST - 39 comments

January 8

The Chilling Effect of Self-Policing.

The Chilling Effect of Self-Policing. Step inside, won't you? (more)
posted by solistrato to MetaFilter-Related at 7:56 PM PST - 33 comments

Are there bigots among us?

I really hesitated about bringing this up because I seem to have remembered it being discussed before. How can meaningful discussion derive from this? Let me say up front that for me at least it's not a political thing, it could have been Gore or Nader and I still would have brought this up. (more inside)
posted by geoff. to Etiquette/Policy at 2:04 PM PST - 46 comments

Was it something that I said?

I thought this post would be more appropriate in MetaTalk, and I mentioned that in comments, twice. Both comments are gone now. Was it something that I said?
posted by insomnyuk to Etiquette/Policy at 11:17 AM PST - 8 comments

Double posts getting equal love

Is this the first time where front page double post is getting equal attention as the original, and no one has asked for the double post deletion? Is this because Dave Thomas was a popular guy or what?
posted by Rastafari to MetaFilter-Related at 8:43 AM PST - 11 comments

January 7

My post was attributed to a different user

Sorry allpaws. I didn't catch it in the "preview" phase, but it appears a post of mine was attributed to user name "allpaws". allpaws and I do not share a computer and I was logged in as G_Ask. clues? Has this happened before?
posted by G_Ask to Bugs at 6:41 PM PST - 44 comments

spellchecker replacement update?

Must I continually check my spelling through Word? Has there been any headway on a spellchecker replacement?
posted by hotdoughnutsnow to Feature Requests at 3:09 PM PST - 7 comments

Vegans are not funny

why is it that everytime someone makes a post that mentions veganism or vegetarianism, a dozen or so folks stand up at once and make little jokes about how they eat meat?
posted by mcsweetie to MetaFilter-Related at 1:55 PM PST - 134 comments

Bashers

What's worse, an irrational Microsoft basher or an irrational Apple doubter?
posted by alana to Etiquette/Policy at 12:10 PM PST - 9 comments

Localised MetaFilter

Considering the exponential growth of online community sites like Mefi and Blogger, do you think that one day Metafilter will be (or should be) cloned as localized versions of the site? nyc.metafilter.com, etc.
posted by kv to MetaFilter-Related at 12:18 AM PST - 34 comments

January 6

NYC Meetup

Yay! It's on! NYC MeFiesta! Thursday, 24 January at Blah Blah, at 8 PM. (I think it might be near the 7th Avenue stop on either the F or the Q.) Be there, or be, uh, absent. Worst case, me and Paris are going to buy each other drinks until we find something to disagree about — it won't be this!.


posted by nicwolff to MetaFilter-Related at 8:20 PM PST - 171 comments

MeTa Recent Comments

A "Recent Comments" mode for Metatalk. Or some other method for active discussions to not sink quickly into the lower realms.
posted by ParisParamus to Feature Requests at 6:52 PM PST - 1 comment

Reverse chronological display

I would, again request the ability to have threads display in reverse chronological order, for ease of following new contributions. Together with an option to only display the the most recent contributions (say, last 10 or 20 within a post) there would be considerable server conservation.
posted by ParisParamus to Feature Requests at 4:27 PM PST - 0 comments

why is metafilter so slow recently?

MetaFilter has been very slow all weekend - first time this has happened since I joined last September. Access has been fine. But when I try to jump to the comments - or post a comment - it keeps timing out. What's going to happen when Monday comes? Can the greedy Google bots be munching away at more than 33% or would this alone be enough?
Any way we users can lighten the load on our side?
posted by MiguelCardoso to Uptime at 2:31 PM PST - 9 comments

Previewing the Poster's Name

How about putting the names of posters at the beginning of posts either instead of or in addition to at the end of posts? People are always saying, "Well, if you don't like what [x] says, just ignore him," but it would be easier to ignore people if you knew up front it was them posting.
posted by anapestic to Feature Requests at 2:31 PM PST - 24 comments

Chapter One of Lessig's The Future of Ideas is online

From an NYTimes review [login: metafi/metafi] of Lawrence Lessig's The Future of Ideas:

To casual Web surfers, it may hardly feel that the Internet has been trapped in an intellectual vise grip. ... Mind-expanding novelties -- like ''bloggers,'' which allow users to create instant public online diaries -- spring to life every other week.
posted by mattpfeff to General Weblog-Related at 12:03 PM PST - 1 comment

Random weblog homepages

I have Mefi set as my Home Page on IE but sometimes I wish I could just randomly have a different weblog (or website for that matter) each time I start the browser from a list I can specify (perhaps using a section in 'favourites' or a file on my hard disk). Is this possible? Anyone want to take a crack at it?
posted by feelinglistless to General Weblog-Related at 9:11 AM PST - 10 comments

January 5

Is anyone else seeing random font changes?

Is anyone else seeing random font changes?
posted by andrew cooke to Bugs at 3:24 PM PST - 4 comments

January 4

XML strips out HTML including links

Hi. I'm not sure if this is a bug or a feature request... Why does the XML feed at http://xml.metafilter.com/ strip out any HTML (namely links) out of the nodeValue of the body elements? Why does the feed at http://www.metafilter.com/metafilter.xml provide a synopsis and a link to more while the previously mentioned feed shows the complete text (it also strips out HTML too)? Boy, it'd be nice to implement some XML-RPC functions for common tasks (posting, logging in, etc.) and spice up the XML feed so that a developer could build a different client for MeFi...
posted by internook to Feature Requests at 3:26 PM PST - 19 comments

To Index or Not?

The site is getting pummelled lately, so I ran stats on the past few days to see if there was a national news story or something. Of the 300k page views in the past four days, 100k, or 1/3 of the traffic was solely due to the googlebot.

It appears that having 13k threads filled with 200k comments of google-loving ascii is acting as some sort of honeypot, attracting the google indexers like mad. Broken down by day, the Googlebot appears to visit over 25k pages at metafilter.com PER DAY. If you look at browser/OS stats, the googlebot visits metafilter more often than all Netscape clients combined. Also, the googlebot exceeds all visits by people using Mac operating systems.

Although I'm impressed with the results (google searches are the #1 referrer), is it worth basically bringing down the machine and keeping humans from being able to access it? If I were to include a robots exlusion file and block all search bots, would the net community be at a loss for not being able to find information discussed here?

I guess the big question is, does the utility of having the site indexed outweigh the problems the indexing causes?
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 11:58 AM PST - 32 comments

Just in time compilation error

Front page go boom.
posted by NortonDC to Uptime at 10:41 AM PST - 9 comments

Can we get a thread tracker?

Often, it is complained that threads scroll off of the page too quickly, etc. Perhaps some sort of thread-tracking like that suggested here could help.
posted by j.edwards to Feature Requests at 4:02 AM PST - 4 comments

A post delete feature

A post delete feature. My school's internal bbs does this by only allowing you to delete your post if it was the last post to that thread or FP, so no replier ends up looking crazy. Might clear up a lot of duplicate/angry posts.
posted by skyline to Feature Requests at 12:09 AM PST - 14 comments

January 3

New York City Meetup

Portal to this thread about a NYC Mefi meet in a few weeks (since there's no other way to get the thread higher up).
posted by ParisParamus to MetaFilter-Related at 8:14 PM PST - 10 comments

Ring of Death feature

I want me a Ring of Death feature (more inside).
posted by obiwanwasabi to Feature Requests at 7:15 PM PST - 20 comments

What kind of callout is this?

Generic bitching:

Let's start a pool to see how many quizzes will be posted to MeFi in the next year.

Ok, 2 in a day isn't that much compared to the rest of the week.. maybe someone should register amiaquizornot.com.

posted by manero to MetaFilter-Related at 6:45 PM PST - 9 comments

Request: clarification that MeFi logins work on Meta.

Would it be possible to explain on the MetaTalk login page that MetaFilter and MetaTalk logins are the same thing? I joined MetaFilter sometime around August and had wanted to participate, but thought I would need a new account, which, obviously, was (and is) not available. It wasn't until this post, followed by this response, that I realized that the logins were the same. Clearly, I wasn't the only one who had this problem. I would think a small note on the page would do the trick.
posted by Sinner to Feature Requests at 12:08 PM PST - 3 comments

Matt Drudge and Julia Phillips discuss the web

Matt Drudge and Julia Phillips discuss why the web format (and blogging, by implication) is allowing the little guy to stand up to the old media establishment, and replace it. I remember Scott Adams predicting this in his book, The Dilbert Future. It's spooky how many of his predictions have come true (including the media killing celebrities for better ratings).
posted by insomnyuk to Bugs at 10:32 AM PST - 4 comments

Sharing accounts

Now that it's becoming a trend (#1, #2, #3), does anyone else think publicly sharing accounts to circumvent site registration is a bad idea?
posted by rcade to Etiquette/Policy at 6:10 AM PST - 34 comments

January 2

Are we ready for Blogcon?

Are we ready for Blogcon?

From the FAQ: "What is BlogCon?
It's not really a Conference, it's not really a Convention. It's more of a gathering, a meet and greet fest for bloggers. We may have panels or workshops, but nothing formal, perhaps a roundtable discussions (especially if we are gathered around a table in a bar or restaurant), but no vendors or booths... "

It's scheduled for August 23-25, 2002 and in Las Vegas.
Thoughts?
posted by Hackworth to General Weblog-Related at 7:10 PM PST - 19 comments

This thread sucks and here's why....

This thread sucks. Just say no to .advocacy rants. At least abortion and gun control could possibly matter.
posted by NortonDC to Etiquette/Policy at 6:30 PM PST - 26 comments

Tips for hiding email addresses from spam bots

Zeldman offers some tips and tools on hiding email address from spam bots. Maybe that could be used instead of the %40?
posted by riffola to Feature Requests at 3:27 PM PST - 8 comments

Missing "Post" Button

The 'Post' button for comments seems to have stopped working for me in Mac IE 5.1. The button is there, but it doesn't do anything.
posted by jjg to Bugs at 12:17 PM PST - 10 comments

Usability is nice

From a usability standpoint, this kind of thread seems counter-intuitive. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. This thread, on the other hand, allows me to mentally parse consecutive words with different links, thanks to that magical grammatical feature known as "commas."
posted by insomnyuk to Etiquette/Policy at 10:58 AM PST - 8 comments

Active MeFi Members

How many of the 13179 metafilter members actively participate (post and read) on a regular basis? Is that number the result of a SELECT MAX(user_identity) type SQL statement or is it calculated somehow based on readership and usage?

How many of these accounts are test accounts? How many are inactive? How many were created and then never used or rarely used to post over the previous 2 or 3 years? How many are not Neale Talbot?

I'd love to see some histograms.
posted by internook to MetaFilter-Related at 3:14 AM PST - 24 comments

I love Matt. !

I love Matt. !
posted by anildash to MetaFilter-Related at 2:25 AM PST - 45 comments

January 1

Ad Farm is a text advertising network that has recently sprung up

Ad Farm is a text advertising network that has recently sprung up. It remains to be seen whether they're repeating the same old mistakes, making brand new ones or doing something cool.
posted by owillis to General Weblog-Related at 10:23 PM PST - 24 comments

how many MeFites visit fark?

I've noticed in a lot of recent threads a rather severe animosity towards our neighbors over at fark.com. Now obviously FARK is not exactly Mensa grade material, but I've found it is good for laugh and for entertaining bar-brawl style arguments. As someone who visits both MeFi and Fark daily I find they both provide nourishment for the opposing sides of my psyche, MeFi for my thoughtful, intellectual side and Fark for the mook within. Now I can't believe I'm alone in this. I'm just curious, just how many MeFites are also regular(or at least closet) Farkians?
posted by jonmc to General Weblog-Related at 4:24 PM PST - 26 comments

I posted MetaFilter stats for December

I posted MetaFilter stats for December, and made a separate page for all the previous stats, with a graph of pageviews for the past year.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 4:22 PM PST - 20 comments

There are some young teenagers here.

Twice in the last couple days, posters have identified themselves as much younger than I expected to find here. One said he/she was 13, another was in the "10 to 14 group." I'm not surprised, exactly, but maybe a little uncomfortable. I don't want to underrate a 14-year-old's ability to handle "adult" discourse, but I'm wondering whether there is the potential for some problems (speaking very generally) here.
posted by rodii to MetaFilter-Related at 9:26 AM PST - 49 comments