October 2003 Archives

I've been a MeFite for about a year now. Occasionally someone makes a post beginning with "On preview:". I still have no idea what this means. Anybody?

Which leads me to: How about adding a MeFi lexicon?

Thanks.
posted by ZenMasterThis to Feature Requests at 10:34 AM PST - 33 comments

California mefites, please phone home! Watching the news on the hell in California and having been left in suspense by a recent thread on the topic, I am concerned about many of our MeFi members....y6y6y6, batgirlHG, rschram & many others. If you live in southern CA, and if you can, please check in and let us know how you are faring!
posted by madamjujujive to MetaFilter-Related at 11:51 AM PST - 27 comments

I'm sorry if this is a stupid, self-indulgent post (so no problems if it's deleted forthwith) but it's based on over two years of reading MetaFilter almost completely. It certainly seems interesting to me - but I may be wrong. See? I've noticed several users becoming ever more adept at expressing themselves: from more drawn-out to pithier; from abstruser to clearer; from all-over-the-place to more-to-the-point. Does anyone else find, by merely participating here and being exposed to MeFi's notoriously severe critique, that they're writing better than when they first joined? Specially foreigners (or non-Americans) like me? To what an extent is MeFi interaction good practice for writers?
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 10:32 AM PST - 57 comments

Another boring post. Another policy failure.
posted by the fire you left me to Etiquette/Policy at 8:21 AM PST - 32 comments

Metrolike seems to be really really broken. Does anyone know how to contact the owner to get it fixed?
posted by anastasiav to MetaFilter-Related at 2:10 PM PST - 24 comments

When is it name calling?

OK, I did call skallas a "putz" in a thread recently. That this is name calling, there is no doubt and I am in the wrong. But where is the line drawn? Is this name calling? More Inside
posted by Dagobert to Etiquette/Policy at 2:58 AM PST - 23 comments

a b c's, 1 2 3's. Here's a thread to critique these.
posted by stonerose to Etiquette/Policy at 7:48 PM PST - 78 comments

A lot of excellent, original posts, like this one from homunculus, get zero comments because users (I'm guessing) feel it's lame just to say "Thank you"; "Good post" or something equally trite, though sincere. My feeling is that outsiders, when they see 0 or 1 comment, erroneously judge that it reflects on the post and pass on. Which is a great pity.

Can't a simple system be devised whereby those users who've appreciated a post click on a "I enjoyed this" or "(this is good)" button, the result appearing much as the trackbacks do now?
posted by MiguelCardoso to Feature Requests at 7:28 PM PST - 28 comments

MeFite bwg, also known as Big White Guy in Hong Kong, noted as notable blogger in today's Asian edition of CNN. Not mentioned in the story is that his blog was a good place to get de-hyped good info during the SARS outbreak.
posted by planetkyoto to MetaFilter-Related at 4:41 AM PST - 9 comments

Since September 1st (he's been doing it for longer than that, but I don't know how to count beyond 40), crunchland has posted approximately 40 threads to the blue. Most of these links have been fantastic eye and/or brain candy. I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you and that I hope the well isn't running dry. Keep it up!
posted by ashbury to Etiquette/Policy at 12:28 PM PST - 47 comments

How hard would it be to have a way to keep track of threads you are particularly interested in but have not posted in? I use the pulldown feature to keep track of my commented threads, but there are other threads that I would enjoy keeping up with-problem is I forget about them.
I guess I had in mind something like a checkoff box or something. Would this be hard to do?
(please don't suggest I comment in these threads too. I blab enough around here as it is.)
posted by konolia to Feature Requests at 12:35 PM PST - 44 comments

Ok, I'll be the first to say that this is racist, offensive, incredibly stupid, and I'm blown away that Miguel was the one to post it, especially considering what his reaction would be if the word "Jew" were substituted for "Arab". I don't think this post belongs on MeFi.
posted by dejah420 to MetaFilter-Related at 7:17 AM PST - 128 comments

Can't seem to find a thread I recall reading here. It was about some social science experiments correlating the size of a group of people appealed to for help with the likelihood that volunteers would actually come out of an appeal.
posted by weston to MetaFilter-Related at 6:35 PM PST - 37 comments

Uhm, forgive my wanton ignorance and woeful ineptitude, but can you change your password? I've looked, and I've looked, and I've wept.
posted by xmutex to Bugs at 11:27 AM PST - 16 comments

No big deal really, but the Mefi front page is showing today's date at three different points in the postings column.
posted by putzface_dickman to Bugs at 9:07 AM PST - 4 comments

U.S.A. bad, kills civilians. Guess what folks, we've done this before, several times. Isn't it time to declare a moratorium?
posted by mr_crash_davis to Etiquette/Policy at 10:52 AM PST - 202 comments

So who's for making Mr. Garret Vreeland an honorary member of the 'Filter? I nominate him for invitation with much aplumb.
posted by kaibutsu to Feature Requests at 12:45 AM PST - 36 comments

Considering the increasing amount of recent MetaTalk posts that have been deleted or generally derided, perhaps the time has come to propose that some Posting Guidelines, similar to those which already and profitably exist for MetaFilter, could be useful here too. Following the same dichotomy ("What makes a good thread post to MeTa?"/What makes a bad post to MeTa?"), what essential, make-or-break, very general guidelines (in the "minimum of hard rules" spirit of this community) would users suggest?
posted by MiguelCardoso to Feature Requests at 8:03 PM PST - 43 comments

On Twenty Threads? Is this new? Is it customisable? Wassadeal, Matt?
posted by yhbc to MetaFilter-Related at 4:37 PM PST - 44 comments

Eloquence posts a thread about Mother Teresa, in which he writes, "the Wikipedia article about her gives a much more balanced picture than most media reports." Trouble is, a Wikipedia member named -- wait for it -- Eloquence is a substantial contributor to that very Wikipedia article, and has, as far as I can tell (see article history), written much of the material about the controversy. (See also his contributions to the related Talk page.) This could be considered a self link as a result. Is it?
posted by mcwetboy to Etiquette/Policy at 10:19 PM PST - 38 comments

unfounded and stupid
posted by angry modem to Etiquette/Policy at 12:00 PM PST - 73 comments

We complain a lot about bad thread, but THIS is EGREGIOUS and UNFORGIVABLE and MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE.
posted by xmutex to Etiquette/Policy at 9:46 PM PST - 109 comments

Double-posts leak in. (1, 2)
posted by insomnyuk to Etiquette/Policy at 2:19 PM PST - 42 comments

Are baseless conspiracy theories appropriate MetaFilter threads?
posted by pardonyou? to Etiquette/Policy at 7:17 AM PST - 35 comments

Is MetaFilter starting down that slippery slope toward Theme Days (like on The Mickey Mouse Club)?
October 15th examples: We started the day with regrets and apologies, got playful with Hello Kitty, Fisher-Price and double Legos, and then it got ugly: bad wedding dresses, worse plastic surgery, nazi architecture, a nazi dog, a dinosaur frog, finishing up with maggots. Am I the only one seeing a pattern here?
And does this mean today will be Fun With Music Day? (Miguel, you jumped the gun)
posted by wendell to Etiquette/Policy at 4:05 AM PST - 37 comments

I feel compelled to publicly applaud and congratulate monju_bosatsu for this superb and interesting essay, elevating an otherwise lackluster post to greatness.
posted by anastasiav to MetaFilter-Related at 8:50 PM PST - 45 comments

Heh. Step back and ask yourself: How are you helping when you derail a thread by questioning its validity inside the thread?
posted by ZachsMind to Etiquette/Policy at 6:06 PM PST - 52 comments

October 14, 2003: A golden day for Metafilter? Interesting threads. Very little in the way of "you're wrong, no you're wrong," revealing anecdotes, thoughtful comments. Can we keep this up for a week? Pat yourselves on the back, MeFites. I haven't seen a day this good here in a while.
posted by ed to MetaFilter-Related at 2:04 PM PST - 30 comments

Please tell me that "here's my favorite recipe" FPP's are not going to become a habit.
posted by beth to Etiquette/Policy at 9:31 AM PST - 164 comments

I for one welcome our injoking overlords. Now I feel all caught up. Don't get an injoke? Look it up. Is this useful? Does it make the injokes more or less funny? Is the community better or worse for this listing account of injokes at MeFiWiki? Does part of the humor involve an illusion of elitism? Does Matt dislike all injokes or just some of them? Most of them? Will he buy me a pony? What do you, the viewers at home, think? psst! go cubs!
posted by ZachsMind to MetaFilter-Related at 5:10 PM PST - 72 comments

Because it is already Friday in Japan, I can be one of the first to wish mathowie a Happy Birthday from Tokyo!!!

Matt, we all owe you so much for what you have done for us here at MetaFilter and I just wanted to wish you the best for this new year to come and thank you for everything you have done.

Again best birthday wishes from Tokyo - Gen
posted by gen to MetaFilter-Related at 9:31 PM PST - 85 comments

Deleting MetaTalk threads?

Deleting blue threads, I understand and support. But deleting a metatalk thread is unexpected. Of course I'm not on the grey much. Maybe this happens all the time. This has been the first time in a very long time I've been interested in anything going on here so maybe I've just not noticed.

I would think a MetaTalk thread might be closed, but deleted too? That seems counter to what the grey is for, why it even exists. Maybe I just don't understand.

The grey is to discuss things you shouldn't discuss/don't belong on the blue. So now things in the grey are to be slashed as well?

I would prefer it not to be, but of course it is not my say. But I would like clarification, because there are other threads in the grey that have gone FAR BEYOND what I can only assume caused the demise of the affected one and survived.

(Deleted thread purposefully not mentioned so as to perhaps increase the lifespan of this question).
posted by Ynoxas to Etiquette/Policy at 12:00 PM PST - 91 comments

Text Ads. Broken? Or just worthless? [more inside]
posted by y6y6y6 to MetaFilter-Related at 2:52 PM PST - 25 comments

"Yeah, you just hate to link to those sorts of sites."

Don't you just hate being called a liar?
posted by Irontom to Etiquette/Policy at 1:09 PM PST - 45 comments

MeFiVegas.
It's a month away. There are a few confirmed and a lot of wafflers. Let me know if you think you'll be coming, and I'll be making arrangements for a place to meet. Any MeFiers live in Sin City?

Oh, and angrymodem needs a ride from Iowa. Could someone be a dear and pick him up on your way? Thanks.
posted by Salmonberry to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:29 PM PST - 19 comments

so, what happened to mefi tuesday evening?
posted by quonsar to Bugs at 12:00 AM PST - 22 comments

We've all seen what can happen when MeFi devolves into pointless personality conflicts: the site gets hijacked to propogate something that 99.9% of the users don't care about. We've also all seen one member virtually drag another into such conflicts, making a two-way crapfest out of what was originally just one-sided goofiness...[more inside]
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly to Etiquette/Policy at 12:57 PM PST - 24 comments

Dan Hersam's Mefi Contribution Index Calculator is broken. Can any of you PHP people suggest a fix?
posted by timeistight to MetaFilter-Related at 12:44 PM PST - 9 comments

GeoCities is, of course, notorious for falling to pieces if more than three people click on one of its sites (though anastasiav's secondary links more than make up for her first). It's happened to everyone, so I wonder whether more experienced posters have untold ways of guessing what sort of traffic a posted website will bear? Are there any ways to avoid the "MetaFiltered" meltdown? Are there any steps posters can take to preempt the predictable outcome, besides including the (unsatisfactory) Google cache? Can the content be saved in another way, in order to answer users' queries?

In short, what is the best policy for fragile links, assuming they're worth posting anyway?
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 11:53 AM PST - 15 comments

A year and four days after it was posted, I just wanted to offer my praise and thanks to everyone who contributed to this, the most useful thread ever.
posted by putzface_dickman to MetaFilter-Related at 6:31 AM PST - 7 comments

Why can't some people see the link in this thread? I've looked at the source, and it looks fine to me.
posted by crunchland to Bugs at 10:52 PM PST - 23 comments

Sideblog covers the entire front page for users not logged in.
posted by eddydamascene to Bugs at 7:24 PM PST - 7 comments

Blog reviews 6 hits songs from the 50s; FPP claims every #1 song for the past 50+ years. Quite a jump, eh?
posted by mischief to MetaFilter-Related at 10:47 AM PST - 25 comments

In the post regarding the Fred Phelps putting up an anti-homosexual memorial in Casper, Wyoming and the insuing religous discussion regarding said terms, I am posting this thread so everyong can get what they need to say out, whatever it is.
posted by Keyser Soze to MetaFilter-Related at 1:41 AM PST - 122 comments

The spell checker's got some bugs.
posted by betaray to Bugs at 4:48 AM PST - 8 comments

nigger
posted by Tryptophan-5ht to Etiquette/Policy at 9:54 PM PST - 108 comments

Delete this post Matt. Not only is it a repeat of a topic, the N-bomb is used. Totally unacceptable, even if you are a rapper. It still has the same connotation as hate. Still way too soon since the Civil War.
posted by alicesshoe to Etiquette/Policy at 9:10 PM PST - 24 comments

Discretion in speech is more than eloquence. - Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626)
posted by hama7 to Etiquette/Policy at 8:55 PM PST - 24 comments

A bad post to MetaFilter is something that meets the following criteria: there is nothing interesting about the content on the page, and I'm only posting it to let you know how uninteresting it is.
posted by rcade to Etiquette/Policy at 2:36 PM PST - 12 comments

My Little Pony: In addition (or instead of) Blogroots, an RSS feed to a google news search for "metafilter" in the MetaTalk sidebar. Not all big-media shoutouts require discussion, but it's still cool to know about them: and why go through all the trouble of typing when a robot can do this for you?
posted by PrinceValium to Feature Requests at 1:39 PM PST - 8 comments

Want to cut MetaFilter's bandwidth in half? Put the comment post function in a pop-up window. More inside.
posted by squirrel to Feature Requests at 10:40 AM PST - 40 comments

One of the worst posts I've seen in a long time. No focus or point of discussion, just a jumble of links. I think it should be deleted. Am I wrong?
posted by johnnydark to Etiquette/Policy at 8:30 AM PST - 52 comments

What's Your Number? Got bored and found out the comments for a thread that is my user number is this. Is yours a fun thread or are you one of the dreaded 5 comment losers?
posted by Dagobert to MetaFilter-Related at 4:32 AM PST - 65 comments

As can be seen in the title link in this post, certain characters in front page posts, like apostrophes, mess up the RSS feed. Is there some way to prevent them from being used or automatically switching them to encoded character entities?
posted by nyukid to Bugs at 8:26 PM PST - 10 comments

It's great that Matt is just one of the guys when it comes to posting but, with respect, this post of his seems way below average. It's a short news item, from a big media source, which will already be known to those who follow the news. The post, though, is not the point. My question is "To what extent are we allowed - or able - to criticize his posts as if he were just another user?" Is it ungracious, ungrateful or downright rude, for instance? Fwiw, my opinion is that special treatment and undue deference are just as annoying and even insulting.
posted by MiguelCardoso to Etiquette/Policy at 6:01 PM PST - 135 comments

Gnarly ColdFusion error on MetaFilter homepage. Someone set up us the bomb! (error message inside)
posted by insomnyuk to Bugs at 1:57 PM PST - 13 comments

One would think that sicknick.org would be the ideal link for MeFi. Nikahang Kowsar isn't quite mainstream, so a lot of people haven't seen his stuff before. His stuff is very interesting, and should warrant discussion. AND YET...! [more]
posted by ZachsMind to MetaFilter-Related at 7:13 AM PST - 34 comments

I knew there was a reason I didn't attempt any of those fancy, new-fangled front page posts for the first year (give or take) I was here. Delete at your leisure, but let my shame live on in infamy!
posted by The God Complex to Etiquette/Policy at 12:37 AM PST - 23 comments