MetaTalk

It's secret quonsar time again! Participants will find out who they have drawn on Sunday, November 11, and the gift send by (or on) date is Saturday, December 1*. Please sign up by 11:59 PM EST on Friday, November 9. The spending guideline: $10-20. [more inside]
posted by julen to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:03 PM PST - 218 comments

The jump-down anchor visible on posts on mobile takes you all the way down to the tags. I imagine most people use it like I do: to get to the comment box and/or last comment more quickly. Could this be adjusted to remove the need to scroll up each time? [more inside]
posted by cichlid ceilidh to Feature Requests at 12:26 PM PST - 27 comments

My son wants to get a MeFi account. He's 11. Pros, cons? [more inside]
posted by signal to Etiquette/Policy at 9:00 AM PST - 87 comments

In this post on the Blue a bunch of us ordered free "Zozosuits", spotted body-scan jumpsuits for ordering tailored clothing. The previous MetaTalk post on the subject expired before we got the clothes in. I just got mine, has anyone else?
posted by One Second Before Awakening to MetaFilter-Related at 1:09 PM PST - 37 comments

In this recent MetaTalk thread about an ableist slur from five days ago cortex noted that after mod discussion the ask metafilter question that provoked the thread was unilaterally edited to remove some indeed very questionable word choice, while allowing the otherwise fine question that various members had invested time into answering to remain. While I think that the previous MeTa thread functioned as an excellent forum for discussing our values with regards to abelist language, this specific solution struck me as a pretty radical departure from the core philosophy of MetaFilter with regards to both user identity and authorship as well as the public expectations laid out in the FAQ in a way that I think warrants independent discussion. [more inside]
posted by Blasdelb to Etiquette/Policy at 10:08 AM PST - 50 comments

How would you explain it to your grandmother? is such a terrible question to ask regarding tech. I work daily in my office with actual, real-live grandmothers who actively develop software with IBM and RedHat. Please kill this ageist and sexist assumption. It is actively harmful and factually incorrect.

Possible alternates could be: layman's terms, plain English, simplify it for me... [more inside]
posted by jillithd to Etiquette/Policy at 7:32 AM PST - 78 comments

Hazy memory of a reference to some kind of productivity system, in the vein of GTD but not GTD, that advises scheduling fun and leisure activities into your planner before work tasks? Googlefu not working, so any chance someone can point me to the recommendation? Thank you!
posted by doornoise to MetaFilter-Related at 4:22 AM PST - 3 comments

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, I want to know what you and yours are dressing up as for Halloween! Or what you might dress up as if you lived in a Halloween-having culture. Or what your best costume ever was, whether Halloween or cosplay or whatever. All things costumey! [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaFilter-Related at 4:43 PM PST - 119 comments

It's Thanktoberfest! If you need a refresher, that's a holiday that, like actual Oktoberfest, has only the loosest relation to October. Thanktoberfest runs from Canadian Thanksgiving through American Thanksgiving, and we encourage you to focus on things you're thankful for. People have been making a ton of awesome posts about things I'm very thankful exist in the world! Share your favorites and thank your fellow mefites within! [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaFilter-Related at 5:08 PM PST - 9 comments

OK, so I check recent activity all the time. It would be rad if I could know if any of those posts had new comments without having to scroll to the bottom of each "last ten comments". I'm open to many different implementations, but a badge on the recent activity link might be nice, but even a "no new activity since you last loaded this page you obsessive advicepig." text near the top would be nice.
posted by advicepig to Feature Requests at 3:44 PM PST - 16 comments

So, "spazzing" is acceptable to metafilter, is it? [more inside]
posted by pompomtom to Etiquette/Policy at 8:27 AM PST - 118 comments

New omnishambles venting thread. Do you realise how quiet it has been lately? [more inside]
posted by Molesome to MetaFilter-Related at 9:39 AM PST - 294 comments

This week in the news sucked and it's been all too easy to lose sleep over it. How are you? (Hugs, headpats and venting inside.)
posted by loquacious to MetaFilter-Related at 7:55 AM PST - 90 comments

I'd like a button or pin I can buy, where the profit goes to help fund metafilter, that has the metafilter logo on it, or whatever. Something about an inch in size that I can put on my backpack would be perfect. [more inside]
posted by gryftir to Feature Requests at 7:29 PM PST - 22 comments

For those of you who missed it, Infini dropped a self-link to an amazing, informative TedTalk she delivered on informal economies and markets in Africa. It was great and I am super impressed! So that leads naturally to the question... [more inside]
posted by zeusianfog to MetaFilter-Related at 1:47 PM PST - 16 comments

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, MonkeyToes wants to hear your stories of "victory over inanimate objects/frustrating situations," apropos of this post and this one! [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaFilter-Related at 5:48 PM PST - 88 comments

Do you remember reading an article on the blue about a group of ecclesiastical embroiderers toiling away in an attic room of an Anglican (I think) church? "Ecclesiastical" and "embroidery" are search terms that ought to pull it right up so maybe I didn't see it here, but I swear I did. Any idea what I'm talking about?
posted by HotToddy to MetaFilter-Related at 5:21 PM PST - 3 comments

The Card Club sign-ups were a while ago and we had an old appreciation thread several months ago, but what's new? Has everyone been enjoying sending letters? Got any good stamps? Any issues that should be discussed? Just want to squee about mail? Then this is the thread for you! Technically the old appreciation thread is still open, but the last comments were in August so I figured we were due for a new one. All the thanks to the all mighty and powerful Fig for setting this in motion and keeping everything running smooth!
posted by Homo neanderthalensis to MetaFilter-Related at 11:51 PM PST - 28 comments

Such an event falls well inside our area of expertise. [more inside]
posted by Secretariat to MetaFilter-Related at 2:18 PM PST - 30 comments

Friends! It is October and it's time to plan for this year's secret quonsar swap! The swap is - for the uninitiated - our holiday-adjacent wintery gift exchange (Read About it on the Wiki). [more inside]
posted by julen to MetaFilter-Related at 10:54 PM PST - 104 comments

Can I just mention and thank MovableBookLady for a regular series of consistently thoughtful, interesting and informative posts to the blue? The breadth of subject she posts about is truly educational. I consider myself reasonably well read and educated but I've learned so much General Knowledge (used to be a VI form subject when I was a gel - is it still?) stuff I would never have come across without her posts.
posted by glasseyes to MetaFilter-Related at 5:15 AM PST - 51 comments

I thought that it might be good to have a place for people to share links/contact information/registration/locations etc. related to voting. The 2018 U.S. Midterm elections are just around the corner (Tuesday November 6, 2018). This isn't the place to talk about #potus45, we have our mega-threads for that. But this is a good reminder to remember to vote, to make sure you're registered, and to get out there and let your voice be heard.
posted by Fizz to MetaFilter-Related at 7:38 AM PST - 28 comments

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week, terretu suggested "the opposite of the thread on bragging rights, i.e., what things in life are people consistently hilariously bad at." [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaFilter-Related at 5:36 PM PST - 307 comments

Would you like a 1.25" button (pin) featuring the "There is No Cabal" design? This is not a rhetorical question. [more inside]
posted by wym to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:23 AM PST - 143 comments

When I'm using a mobile device, I'd love a better way to favorite (or flag) items, so that I can engage with MetaFilter more. The goal here would be increased usability, accessibility, engagement and enjoyment. [more inside]
posted by iamkimiam to Feature Requests at 8:39 AM PST - 30 comments

In light of the announcement of Sears' possible bankruptcy I thought it would be interesting to revisit Pastabagel's comment on what might have been had Sears not made a few key mistakes.
posted by Deathalicious to MetaFilter-Related at 2:24 PM PST - 44 comments

Hurricane Michael has become a beast. Just want to know people in its way are safe.
posted by dances_with_sneetches to MetaFilter-Related at 10:58 AM PST - 22 comments

Back in 2006, stupidsexyFlanders asked Mefi: "Before Hitler, what historical figure did people refer to as the pure archetype of evil?" We might have a new contender for best answer. [more inside]
posted by Telf to MetaFilter-Related at 10:04 PM PST - 28 comments

Happy Thanktoberfest! What's Thanktoberfest? It's a holiday that, like actual Oktoberfest, has only the loosest relation to October. Thanktoberfest runs from Canadian Thanksgiving through American Thanksgiving, and we encourage you to focus on things you're thankful for -- making posts about awesome things you're grateful exist, thanking other mefites for their awesomeness, and just generally spreading good vibes and gratitude all around the site. Tag your posts thanktoberfest and we'll have some thankfulness metatalks and at the end of Thanktoberfest we'll have a big thanking post where we all thank each other for our favorite Thanktoberfest posts!
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaFilter-Related at 9:01 AM PST - 5 comments

Good Saturday Evening, MetaFilter! It's the first weekend of the month, which means Metaeurotalktails! Eurotalktails! Eurometatalktails? Metatalkeurotails? Whatever, we talk at the European time! This week, smoke wants to know about your favorite trees: "Tell me about your favourite tree. It could be a specific tree, or a particular variety. What about it do you love and treasure?" I will also accept particularly awesome plants. [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee to MetaFilter-Related at 7:03 AM PST - 155 comments

My friend with ovarian cancer? She died. [more inside]
posted by BlahLaLa to MetaFilter-Related at 4:42 PM PST - 66 comments

Aka the anti–fucking fuck thread. I remember we had some threads soon after the 2016 election where Mefites shared their efforts toward making the world a better place, and I would love to do it again, especially since I could use some inspiration to get my butt moving as midterms approach! [more inside]
posted by sunset in snow country to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:58 PM PST - 123 comments

Do you draw and/or not draw? Great, time to draw some stuff! (Or sketch, or paint, or whatever the hell your jam is or you would like your jam to be.) That's right, it's Inktober, and I reckon we should congregate in this thread with our various stuff-you're-drawin' feeds and such. [more inside]
posted by cortex to MetaFilter-Related at 8:13 AM PST - 41 comments

I’m not sure if this is a pony request or a bug report.... I often browse through AskMe by clicking repeatedly on the random button. On a desktop (using Chrome, modern theme), when I hit “back,” it takes me to last random thing I was looking at. On my phone (iPhone 8, modern theme), when I hit “back,” it takes me back to the last place I was before I started hitting the random button. Is this just me? I would prefer the desktop way. [more inside]
posted by Weeping_angel to Feature Requests at 2:23 AM PST - 16 comments

If you wanted to hear about the time Jessamyn went on Jesse Ventura's TV show, this episode of the MetaFilter podcast is your big chance! Also we talk about, y'know, MetaFilter and MetaFilterian things and fun stuff and stupid stuff. The whole gamut, basically. [more inside]
posted by cortex to MeFi Podcast at 12:56 PM PST - 11 comments

I'm pretty sure I read about an audiobook in a comment here. I wanted to get audiobook but now can't remember what it was or where the comment was. The gist of the comment was "[Title] is now available as an audiobook and it's read by [famous person]." Famous person who read the audibook was well-suited to the book, like maybe they had played the main character or the writer in a movie or something like that? I briefly thought "why didn't X [possibly the main charcter] read it" and then felt silly because of course X is dead? fictional? I may have found the comment after falling through a rabbit hole from this AskMe. Any ideas?
posted by If only I had a penguin... to MetaFilter-Related at 7:14 PM PST - 6 comments

Playoffs have started and I'm the past I've loved participating even in my limited amount. Had the site policy changed on event such as these or has no one posted to fanfare yet?
posted by Carillon to Etiquette/Policy at 7:14 PM PST - 14 comments

My prediction on Metafilter in 2015: "[A]s we pull back more and more and more we see a multiverse of Peter Parkers getting their powers, each played by a different actor, until one universe becomes clearer and we see..." The reality today. "As Peter trains Miles to become a better Spider-Man, they are soon joined by four other Spider-Men from across the 'Spider-Verse,' including Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, and Spider-Ham."
posted by Mo Nickels to MetaFilter-Related at 5:27 PM PST - 3 comments

It's been a pretty stressful week, and I can't be the only person who feels like they went ten rounds with a particularly exhausting Tower of Terror. So I'm looking for reasons to laugh, be it bitter black humor, all encompassing joyful bellows, groan-worthy puns, or simple funniness. [more inside]
posted by sciatrix to MetaFilter-Related at 2:16 PM PST - 51 comments

tl;dr: is there anywhere i can see every post I've ever "added to activity", or does the record of such posts get deleted at some point? [more inside]
posted by Cozybee to MetaFilter-Related at 11:22 AM PST - 9 comments

Journalist and investigative reporter Brian Krebs provides a warning that Voice Phishing Scams Are Getting More Clever. The examples of scams provided in the article include an interview with Matt Haughey.
posted by cynical pinnacle to MetaFilter-Related at 4:23 PM PST - 31 comments