January 2017 Archives (all archives)
January 30
This is what MeFite democracy looks like!
Did you protest this weekend or in the previous weekend? If so, ✊! Let's keep it up! And let's share our experiences and/or pics, if you feel comfortable doing that!
January 29
Wrong!
Mefites are a smart bunch, but no one is perfect. Tell us, what is the wrongest comment you've made here?
Inspired by this comment:
Inspired by this comment:
Here is possibly my wrongest comment ever
posted by paper chromatographologist at 5:31 AM on January 27
Duolingo Clubs
Duolingo has added clubs, to allow people to learn languages together.
So for Mefites who'd like to all come and Duolingo together I made a club.
Come join a club and we can all learn together. [more inside]
January 27
Greasemonkey request
Hey, you folks who know how to do such things…
Is it possible to create a Greasemonkey script that would strip everything from a thread except the external html links?
After reading this AskMe, I was thinking for those short on time, it would be a pretty neat way to get a MeFi curated news feed.
(obviously related to current political events, but I’m guessing this level of participation isn’t going away any time soon)
January 26
Open sourcing the metafilter code base
It’s been a little over ten years since the subject was last raised (at least based on a search for “open source”), but I’m curious if there’s been any thoughts about open-sourcing the MetaFilter codebase or admin tools. (I imagine the answer is “no”, especially to that last one.)
About the Trump threads
Would it be possible to have a new Trump thread created once the previous one hits X posts? The current one, though only three days old, is well over 2000 posts and it's starting to make my desktop computer whimper. I'm not even going to try reading it on my iPad.
Thanks!
January 24
College of General Knowledge, MeFi Edition
Thanks to all who participated in solving the 2016 edition of King William's College General Knowledge Paper! How'd we do? [more inside]
On Jews and their Comments
So Joe from Australia posted this comment in the Nazi punching thread. The crux of it was a link called Solidarity is for Goyim, in which the author argues that Jews have not received the same sort of support from the left as other Jews, despite the very visible rise of antisemitism. [more inside]
January 23
Obit Post Fatigue
It seems like there have been more and more obit posts lately. I understand that some luminaries have passed, but is it really necessary to post an obit for every celebrity/musician? Do these posts live up to the "Best of the Web" standard we set for posts to the Blue? [more inside]
January 20
Seeking Metafilter comment speculating about a gender-changing lab prank
A while back on Metafilter somebody posted a comment imagining a scenario where a lab employee (or student?) in the near future could do a prank using some sort of bio-tech hack to change a co-worker's gender for a few days. IIRC the commenter said they had worked in a lab and they seemed to believe this sort of thing might actually happen someday. [more inside]
Let's have a Love-In!
In the face of all the negativity and despair, let's have a little space just for love (I've been told it's all we need). Feel free to share your favourite quote, song lyric, poem, anecdote or thought about love, or let us know what you love most in the world - people, pets, hobbies, MetaFilter, gin, whatever. Leave the hate outside, bring the love.
January 17
Mefites organizing for the Women's March
For Mefites planning to march in this Saturday's big march for women's rights, there are IRL meetup threads for several cities: the main march in Washington DC and sister marches in
Chicago,
Boston,
San Francisco, Philadelphia - or other cities. [more inside]
January 16
I...apologize
Wanda: No. Not to me. To Archie. And make it good, or we're dead.
It's been very politely brought to my attention that several of the links I've pointed to in the latest incarnation of the Great Trump Inaugural Thread had already been posted by others. I could blame the length of the thread & the loading time or whatnot but the truth is I haven't been as diligent in checking first as I should have been. I honestly feel quite bad about it & decided to make a post here as both penance for myself & reminder to others. I apologize to all & will make sure to check more thoroughly going forward.
Aren't we better than this?
I've spent the last eight years asking conservatives to refer to President Obama in respectful terms, because like him or not, he's the President of the United States of America. Now I get to ask liberals to refer to President-Elect Trump the same way. [more inside]
My first MeFi dream
So, do any of you have dreams involving MetaFilter? I just did. [more inside]
January 14
Saturday Night Metatalktails: TIL
Good Saturday night, MetaFilter! It's time for another metatalktail hour! This week's conversation starter: Today (/this week) I Learned ...
But don't restrict yourself! Talk about whatever sociable/personal thing you want! (Just no politics, the bouncers are very anti-politics.)
January 12
RIP MsMolly, MeFiBrarian Extrordinaire
A joyous and tearful farewell to MsMolly, a dynamic part of the MeFiBrarian posse. I'd known her briefly in college and then we reconnected doing MeFi Metadata projects and other MeFi nerdery over the past six or seven years. Most recently, after she relocated to Texas to be closer to her family after her cancer diagnosis, Molly became a great postal mail correspondent. While I don't know for certain, I am pretty sure she wrote her own obit. Molly, you were a smiley ray of sunshine in my online life and I was so happy to get to re-know you and work alongside you.
January 9
flapjax at the Oxford American
I was delighted to see mefi's own flapjax at midnite--aka Samm Bennett--make a walk-on appearance in an article about blues music in Japan, in the Winter 2016 edition of The Oxford American.
January 7
Rest in Peace, quin
What'd I miss?
For combination of reasons, I took 2016 as a break from MeFi. As the year passed, I thought I would see if I could make it till 2017 without signing back in, even though I missed y'all. Now I'm back (yay!) and wondering what I missed? [more inside]
January 6
Related to the Phantom Time Conspiracy, but different...
Within the last few months, there were a couple of posts on The Blue about a combined speculative fiction/conspiracy theory that we as a society have collectively forgotten (or had our memories erased of) a number of years -- perhaps a decade -- between the 1980s and 1990s? I recall it referring to an "N Decade" or the "19N0s," but MeFi searches along these lines have come up empty.
You know who needs hugs? Underappreciated comments from 2016!
The underdogs. The under-appreciated. The under-noticed comments from last year, the ones that you enjoyed and favorited and wish to share with other MeFites. Now is the time. This is the place. Bring to the Grey your favorite comments of 2016! [more inside]
What are your plans for Inauguration Day?
I really feel the need to put some positivity into the universe on January 20. I'd like to know what my fellow Me-Fites may be planning for Inauguration Day this year. [more inside]
Remember: Everyone needs a hug.
At the bottom of every post on MetaTalk thread is the topic of this post. Be kind to other Mefites and practice empathy. [more inside]
January 5
Find-that-post-filter: standardized test editor butchers a short story.
Pretty sure I saw this on Metafilter, but I don't recall it well enough to find it using search. The author of a cute and thought-provoking little short story gave permission for the story to be used, slightly edited, on a standardized test. The exam editor completely rewrote the story, adding a character, woodenizing the dialogue, and changing the ending. Trying to imagine where I lived when I read it, I figure that 2006--2009 was a more likely time period that 2010--2012. [more inside]
Why Isn't There a Mefi Personal Ad Filter?
I've been pondering mating and dating recently, and one massive void I keep noticing — and missing — is all-text personals.
I was, in fact, just thinking about this when I happened to pop over here, and suddenly it struck me: We have nearly all the elements of a well-rounded culture within a single Website here, ranging from music, to jobs, to IRL meet ups, to advice, to podcasts, to projects, to the discussion of articles. But nowhere do we make room for those who might be potentially interested in pairing off.
Why not? [more inside]
January 4
But let the damn post jump the tracks, and see who catches hell.
I was looking for something in my history, when I ran across this Metatalk thread, that just turned into this rather quickly. Wondering if anyone else might have a favored example that's worth sharing. (Yes, I find funny derails -of the thread variety- entertaining.)
January 3
Have a Very Strava New Year!
Since this is the time of year that a lot of people think of trying to become more physically active, I wanted to remind everyone that there is a MetaFilter Strava group which is open to everyone. We are a friendly group and welcome everyone that wants to come and share their cycling or running, so join up if you haven't already. [more inside]
124: Happy New Year Call-In Show
It's a new year, and good riddance to the old; jessamyn and I do a shorter-than-usual version of our usual MeFi roundup podcast chatter, but the real star of this episode is the dozens of MeFites who called in to the podcast voicemail with greetings, memories of 2016, wishes for 2017, quotes, songs, baby and pet noises, and more. The episode alternates between chatter and strings of voicemail; it covers December 1st through January 2nd and runs about 90 minutes total. [more inside]
It's a new year
It's a new year and there will soon be a new, and very different government here in the U.S. This will be a shift of a magnitude that many have never seen. Some people feel that this new world shouldn't be entered into, by individuals or groups, without a bit of advanced thinking and planning.
My question is: Has leadership here at MetaFilter given any thought as to a need to change how the site handles moderation, security, or any other aspect of our lives here, in light of the inevitable upcoming social, cultural, or governmental changes?