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January 2008 Archives (all archives)
January 31
It seems like there have been several questions lately about how to do things that make it easy to do illegal things or hide one's identity generally in a way that does not seem to have a legitimate purpose, or at the very least seems to only have a vague "I want to avoid harassment" or "I want to protect my privacy" purpose. What gives?
posted by iknowizbirfmark to etiquette/policy at 9:42 AM PST - 110 comments
How do I hack a MeFi URL if I only have the post number and not the title? For example, metafilter.com/68665/ does not work, but metafilter.com/68665/Back-to-the-Future does.
posted by desjardins to bugs at 8:06 AM PST - 14 comments
January 30
So Matt said "Full text search is in the works right now, and will be rolled out soon." Yayhooray! This is the part where I annoy him and pb and make their lives more difficult by asking everybody about their dream search features (and slip in a request or seven of my own).
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to feature requests at 11:36 PM PST - 44 comments
This post is emotive, shrill and conclusive in tone. Considering it deals with emotionally charged topics, its sure to get a lot of attention. I can take emotive and shrill if the topic had been approached from an interrogative viewpoint, rather than conclusive.
posted by Mutant to etiquette/policy at 10:57 PM PST - 66 comments [closed]
I propose that a new flag be added to AskMe posts: "OP has shown that he/she does not have a genuine interest in getting this question answered."
posted by bingo to feature requests at 5:56 PM PST - 39 comments
January 29
Why do comments that have been favorited show up with all links disabled? Are there any plans to change this behavior in the future?
posted by nzero to MetaFilter-related at 12:54 PM PST - 14 comments
Oh how easily we forget! Months ago (a year?) the server was consistently slow or down. Now it's smooth as a baby's butt and fast as the Google. Is Federer your server? I love it. My Mefi addicted brain thanks you.
posted by null terminated to MetaFilter-related at 12:43 AM PST - 23 comments
January 28
Come on y'all this is
embarassing. I don't think anyone would appreciate getting their religion bashed this way and Mormon's LOVE that man. Believe me, I know some. Totally uncalled for.
posted by empath to etiquette/policy at 10:26 PM PST - 210 comments
I'd like to publicly apologise to occhiblu, thehmsbeagle, zebra3, klango & nickyskye (and anybody else) for being a massive, trollish douche recently. That's all.
posted by UbuRoivas to etiquette/policy at 1:27 AM PST - 235 comments
January 27
January 26
I see there are "
wind and solar powered" web hosts and I assume they just buy carbon and alternate energy credits because I doubt your site would stay up when it's dark and the wind isn't blowing. I saw Dreamhost described as a "
carbon-neutral company" the other day. If I wanted to offset the energy required to power the mefi servers, how would I go about doing that? Just calculate hours in a day multiplied by the watt rating on the power supplies (as a worst-case scenario), then just buy
alternate energy credits for that amount?
(asking here because it's mefi related)
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-related at 7:00 PM PST - 44 comments
January 25
I'm not a big fan of call-outs, but
this thread, on alzheimers research that happens to involve dorky looking headgear, seems to have gone really wrong. It's pretty much entirely devoted to the false premise that the helmet would be worn at all times, and the humour derived from said dorkyness of helmet, which seems completely the wrong tone for the discussion of a serious disease and what seems to be some legit research.
posted by Artw to etiquette/policy at 9:30 AM PST - 18 comments [closed]
Anyone else getting double AskMeFi RSS posts?
Anyone else getting double AskMeFi RSS posts?
posted by prophetsearcher to bugs at 9:03 AM PST - 4 comments [closed]
January 24
Announcing: mobile.metafilter.com
It's a new version of the sites designed for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Try it out on the device, songs from MeFi Music even play in the device (works best on wifi of course). A short video if it in action is inside.
posted by mathowie to feature requests at 5:35 PM PST - 92 comments
Regarding the AskMe RSS feed formating - Currently there is no line break between the question and the [more inside]. Sometimes this makes for an odd run-on and repetitive paragraph that isn't what the poster intended. Since screen real-estate isn't a problem in the feed, might the powers-that-be consider throwing a paragraph between these sections? I use google reader but it's also formatted the same way in bloglines if this helps.
posted by FortyT-wo to feature requests at 12:14 AM PST - 5 comments
January 23
Recently, there was a
thread in which
someone was looking to meet nerdy people in the Vancouver area. Most replies mentioned organizing a meetup. This post is to explore that option and suggest venues and times.
posted by MaxK to MetaFilter gatherings at 11:31 PM PST - 50 comments
Users commenting just to say they haven't heard of the topic of discussion is 100% noise and garbage.
posted by potch to etiquette/policy at 1:30 PM PST - 83 comments
Maybe this has already been mentioned on the grey, but the
Heath Ledger thread is marred by some particularly predictable & troll-esque "why give a shit/we need to cut celebrities down to size!" comments.
posted by 235w103 to etiquette/policy at 7:23 AM PST - 213 comments
January 22
January 21
Two posts today accidentally link to Metafilter instead of their intended targets. On the main page, they link to metafilter.com, but within their individual threads, they link to their own individual threads. How is this done? Also, this seems like a pretty common mistake; I've seen it happen a few times before. To prevent the admins from having to go in and fix things, maybe the New Post code should check to see if any links point to the the main site (and if so, ask the user whether this was intended).
posted by painquale to bugs at 3:48 PM PST - 32 comments
What is the best time of day (or, even more specifically, day of week and time) to ask metafilter?
posted by rbs to MetaFilter-related at 1:24 PM PST - 54 comments
January 20
hey whats the lowest number of metatalk threads ever posted over a two day period or maybe a weekend? TIA
posted by yhbc to MetaFilter-related at 7:24 PM PST - 61 comments
January 19
When editing contact information, would it be possible for the edit to not show up in Contact Activity as a new contact?
posted by item to feature requests at 6:57 PM PST - 25 comments
January 18
Show #21 of the podcast is our return from a long holiday break. We've got an interview with
Jesse Thorn followed by recaps from the best of the last six weeks of MetaFilter. It was recorded on January 16, 2008 and runs 1 hour 10 minutes long.
posted by mathowie to MeFi Podcast at 1:06 PM PST - 57 comments
Minor usability quibble: When you're looking at who favorites a post, and click a username, it shows their favorites instead of showing their profile page, like every other linked username on the site does. Maybe a different link to show their favorites from that page?
posted by empath to feature requests at 9:38 AM PST - 18 comments
As of the time of this post, the blue has had an unbroken string of 71 undeleted FPPs (numbers 68210 to 68280). That's almost three full days with no doubles, no self-linkers, no crappy stunt posts, etc. Good work, people! It got me wondering, though, what's the longest string (number-wise and/or timespan-wise) of undeleted FPPs on the blue? Does this mean we're all finally "getting" what makes a good post? Or are people getting better at following the guidelines? Or is this just an anomaly?
posted by amyms to MetaFilter-related at 12:33 AM PST - 71 comments
January 17
Pony request: When previewing comments, can we please still be able to favorite & flag other comments in the thread? Or is there a reason otherwise?
posted by jmd82 to feature requests at 7:56 PM PST - 13 comments
Is anyone else from Metafilter going to the Jonathan Coulton show at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco on 22 February? If so, seems like pre-show eats and/or post-show drinks might be in order.
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg to MetaFilter gatherings at 2:37 PM PST - 10 comments
I see a check mark by
this question on the AskMe front page, but no best answer marked inside.
posted by googly to bugs at 10:18 AM PST - 38 comments
Feature request: a way to count, by tag, by user how many comments you posted to threads of a certain type?
posted by psmealey to feature requests at 8:00 AM PST - 16 comments
January 16
Argh! An anonymous AskMe poster sent me follow up information three days ago -- on my invitation -- but sent it to MeFi mail, so I only just discovered it! Is there some way to make MeFi mail notify my regular e-mail? I feel so guilty...
posted by amtho to etiquette/policy at 4:17 PM PST - 24 comments
January 15
How is it possible that there is no Apple post? Has there been a secret agreement to not shill that I missed? Is there a secret plot? I always enjoy the fireworks, and am missing them this Tuesday.
posted by cccorlew to etiquette/policy at 5:34 PM PST - 145 comments
Fundamentalist Metafilterism? A few days ago, I had a
post deleted. I'm actually
not complaining about that
(hey! don't jump on me! I'm not! read this before yelling at me!), but that, combined with the
belovedness of
this post, made a question form in my head.
posted by WCityMike to MetaFilter-related at 5:27 PM PST - 45 comments
[My-Little-Pony]: Is it possible to create a function that mimics the "best answer" feature, but is intended for use by the OP to highlight the OP's additional details/responses within the post?
posted by numinous to feature requests at 1:45 PM PST - 18 comments
I'm uncomfortable that this
"How Can I Be Homeless?" question was approved. Seems to me this person should not be helped to pursue a course of action that is not only dangerous but which will almost certainly involve his making use of resources intended to help people who truly have nowhere to turn.
posted by orange swan to etiquette/policy at 11:14 AM PST - 125 comments
January 14
January 13
January 12
January 11
Is there an alphabetical list of MeFi usernames anywhere? I have a vague recollection of a username I'm trying to recall and I know what letter it started with, but I'm stuck there. This wouldn't be hard to compile, it would just take a numerical increment and a simple web scraper. Just wondering if anyone's ever done it. Thanks!
posted by scarabic to feature requests at 6:34 PM PST - 55 comments
Congratulations to
tkolar on posting
MetaTalk's 500,000th comment! Imagine, a half million assorted snarks, whines, callouts, flameouts, bugfixes, meetup setups, not to mention all the pony requests granted or rejected, the longboat voyages, the real-life detective stories and serious discussion of male and female body parts. What a long Meta trip it's been.
posted by wendell to MetaFilter-related at 3:22 AM PST - 77 comments
January 10
Every now and again there's an etymology question on AskMe, and lately they inevitably feature the beloved languagehat
popping in to
warn people that speculation is pointless and that the only valid answers are to be found in reference books. (not bookist)
posted by stupidsexyFlanders to etiquette/policy at 7:39 AM PST - 257 comments
January 9
Calling All Mefi Library People!! Got an hour to kill? Some Professional Development money to spend? Want to know the secrets of AskMe from Jessamyn?
posted by Razzle Bathbone to MetaFilter-related at 12:42 PM PST - 19 comments [closed]
Requesting a "posted by" line on the entries in the personal "Favorites" page.
"Popular favorites" has this feature and it makes it really easy to scroll and re-find a popular favorite seen recently (as they are constantly shifting up and down the column, due to popularity).
posted by iamkimiam to feature requests at 12:02 PM PST - 16 comments
January 8
Littletinyponyfilter: could it be possible to have the sidebar links on the front page for contact activity work slightly differently?
posted by pjern to feature requests at 11:53 PM PST - 4 comments
I can only listen to the first few seconds of any song on MeFi music. I hit play, the first 2-3% of the song loads, and then the music cuts out. This seems to be a problem on my end, and I'm hoping someone has suggestions.
posted by chrisamiller to MetaFilter Music at 8:32 PM PST - 12 comments
This may be a stupid question; it may well have been discussed in the posts regarding the Metafilter messaging system, but they are legion and I am inebriated. But can we have a message sent to our inbox if someone adds us as a "contact"?
posted by Jimbob to feature requests at 4:46 AM PST - 38 comments
January 7
January 6
Does the thread of all threads (Givewell) break Google Reader? Or is it a feed settings thing here? Or (more likely) am I doing something wrong?
posted by nevercalm to bugs at 9:43 AM PST - 25 comments
This post which raised the issue of fears among some in the African-American electorate that Barack Obama would not be safe as president. The thread was shut down for reasons of WTF. Not exactly sure what the problem was, and I was disappointed, as I had recently heard about this and was hoping the thread would shed some light on the issue.
This NYT article would be a good starting point for discussion.
posted by flotson to MetaFilter-related at 9:33 AM PST - 47 comments
Add as a contact may or may not be broken, but it crashes Safari.
posted by emelenjr to bugs at 6:26 AM PST - 10 comments
January 5
January 4
January 3
Is there a way to have MeFi Wiki "summary articles" (like
this one) appear permanently and visibly in a MeFi/MeTa/AskMe thread that they are linked to?
posted by maxwelton to feature requests at 3:08 PM PST - 19 comments
January 2
I'm running Safari on Mac OS 10.4, and the "send MeFi Mail" link does not seem to work. Am I alone?
posted by Corduroy to bugs at 9:18 PM PST - 26 comments
I can't get to any metafilter.com addresses from my home ISP. I can get to it from other places, i.e. work, and I can get to it if I use an open proxy.
More details inside.
posted by AmbroseChapel to bugs at 4:25 PM PST - 25 comments
Finding it sad that the best answer to
this AskMe is the OP's vitriolic 'karma is going to get you' retort to another poster.
posted by uaudio to etiquette/policy at 8:41 AM PST - 165 comments [closed]
January 1
When you preview a comment the post's title disappears both in the browser's title bar and at the top of the page. Is that supposed to happen? Because it seems weird to me.
posted by sveskemus to bugs at 5:21 PM PST - 15 comments
