MetaTalk

Happy New Year to you all, may it be better than this one in each and every way, and may you all continue to make the awesome posts and comments that make this place what it is!
posted by marienbad to MetaFilter-Related at 8:02 AM PST - 173 comments

I'd like to call out raccoon409 who, in response to my AskMe, sent me some bourbon balls. [more inside]
posted by Rob Rockets to MetaFilter-Related at 8:32 AM PST - 49 comments

Many years ago (maybe 8?) there was a FPP about the owner of a cycling website who had passed away. [more inside]
posted by Brittanie to MetaFilter-Related at 2:22 AM PST - 12 comments

On the front page, the link that says "n comments" actually goes to the top of the post. For longer posts, especially on mobile, that can be a good ways away from the first comment. Can this link point to the first comment - or, since that might be deleted, to the byline at the end of the post? [more inside]
posted by zeptoweasel to Feature Requests at 9:36 PM PST - 6 comments

I'm a big fan of the 'popular favorites' page, but at the moment, the comments half features a number of posts from the Star Wars Fanfare thread. At least one of which contains about as large a spoiler as I can imagine - it kind of sucked to learn how the movie ends when I was just checking to see if Greg Nog made any good good jokes this week. Should Fanfare comments maybe be ineligible for that particular page?
posted by Simon! to Feature Requests at 7:44 PM PST - 23 comments

I am just about to put together a keto Christmas meal of duck ceaser salad with all the trimmings including crispy duck-skin ‘croutons’. It’s a balmy 22 Celsius (@74 F) in my (east central) highland subtropical town although some in the south are sweltering under 35 degree heat (100 F) and there’s cyclone and tropical storm warnings for the north. What’s it like in your neck of the woods and at your single holiday table? [more inside]
posted by Thella to MetaFilter-Related at 11:13 PM PST - 140 comments

MetaFilter has been an important part of my online life for closing in on two years now, and I'd like to wish everyone happy holidays as well as give other MeFites a forum for general well-wishing and/or holiday kvetching. I wish you all health and happiness!
posted by grumpybear69 to MetaFilter-Related at 9:58 PM PST - 50 comments

A couple weeks back, we announced that we were hiring, and I'm thrilled to report that we'll be bringing a new part-time MetaFilter moderator onto the team starting in the new year. Please give a hearty welcome to Eyebrows McGee! [more inside]
posted by cortex to MetaFilter-Related at 9:46 AM PST - 311 comments

Week Three of our Mefites' Choice contest saw more fabulous posts and more voters making their voices heard. Come on in to check out the terrific links you may have missed, and hitch up your posting/voting/prize-offering pants for the final week. [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten to MetaFilter-Related at 12:04 PM PST - 11 comments

"Quonsmas organizers — this year there are three: julen, a participant since 2007 and volunteer since 2009, articseal and phunniemee — keep Quonsmas running through spreadsheets and hard work. They ensure it’s an egalitarian swap, of gifts between $10-20 made between two people regardless of how long they’ve been Metafilter members or how often they post (though Metafilter membership is a requirement for joining)." Nice writeup in The Washington Post's blog, The Intersect. [more inside]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome to MetaFilter-Related at 9:32 AM PST - 29 comments

Last year, instead of our usual MST3K Club showing around that time of week, we instead ran a holiday video marathon, a multi-day stream of MST3K and related content. The idea was to have a lot of things running continuously, so people who just wanted to hang out and watch some yuletide nonsense at odd moments could drop by, hang out for a bit, get in some laughs, then return to family/booze/bed, no matter the hour. A low maintenance, no guilt kind of marathon. We are trying it again this year, in the usual MST3K Club sync-video room. For more details, click through.... [more inside]
posted by JHarris to MetaFilter-Related at 3:29 PM PST - 18 comments

I often see short stories posted to the front page and wondered if Mefites had recommendations for ways to read them (yes, I know, with my eyes!) [more inside]
posted by marienbad to MetaFilter-Related at 5:14 AM PST - 21 comments

On December 15, pb retired a number of Social Apps that had zero users or no longer existed from profile pages- including the one for Glitch, the weird cult non-game that eventually became a glorified IRC Client unicorn. However, all of the old user pages for the game's players continue to live on at glitch.com. Couldn't we keep the memory of our participation in this weird little thing that once existed around for posterity? (Or maybe let people know when social apps are going to be cleared from their profiles?)
posted by Going To Maine to Feature Requests at 12:57 PM PST - 25 comments

This post is one of a number of posts I have seen on the site over the years exalting the dumb, dangerous, and illegal practice of trainhopping. Can we just call a moratorium on these posts? While I think I probably am more sensitive to this issue than most people here because reasons, I'd be exceptionally distressed and pained if someone were killed or injured doing something they saw romanticized on Metafilter.
posted by pjern to Etiquette/Policy at 12:25 PM PST - 164 comments

Last April, I posted a FPP on Down the Rabbit Hole, a site collecting observations about estranged parent support forums. The FPP went really well and generated some really good discussion. Today, I glanced at Down the Rabbit Hole and noted that the author had added FAQs, including some of the questions that MeFites had had about the original post. One of them prominently cites MeFi's own robot-hugs' comment as a partial answer to the question "where are the estranged fathers?"
posted by sciatrix to MetaFilter-Related at 3:45 PM PST - 17 comments

I remember an ask metafilter answer that I'm trying to find - it featured the asker having anxiety about visiting a shop or office, and wanted to know what it was going to be like. The answerer wrote a very long, detailed response about what the asker might experience - such as "you will stand in line probably for x minutes, then be called to the front where you need to say 'I'm here fore xyz' and present such and such paperwork." Something along those lines! Very grateful if anyone else remembers this.
posted by rebent to MetaFilter-Related at 12:55 PM PST - 17 comments

Our month of democratic prizery continues! Remember to vote early and often, using the fantastic flag. Step right up to see a procession of the week's best posts, borne past your hungering eyes on sumptuous golden cushions. [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten to MetaFilter-Related at 12:26 PM PST - 15 comments

I'm looking for an FPP about a free program that was secretly sending data back to its creator. [more inside]
posted by pravit to MetaFilter-Related at 6:20 AM PST - 9 comments

23 months after Metafilter solved my grandma's coded messages, and we briefly went viral, the HLN network has produced a short video segment about the true hero of this story: Metafilter's own harperpitt, her code-breaking skills, and the power of the hive mind in tackling web mysteries. Article & YT Video.
posted by JannaK to MetaFilter-Related at 1:06 PM PST - 64 comments

I've been unsuccessfully trying to search for a webcomic posted in the comments (maybe a couple/few years ago?) about a nerd 'Rip Van Winkle' illustrating the difference between the promise of 'nerds then' -- perhaps around 30 years back -- to the comparative letdown of 'nerds now'. Ring any bells? I thought it might have been SMBC, but looking through the archives, I'm pretty sure it's not. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks :)
posted by kliuless to MetaFilter-Related at 1:22 AM PST - 6 comments

The Scott Adams incident is briefly discussed in the latest episode of the podcast Reply All. The discussion begins at 18:35.
posted by chrchr to MetaFilter-Related at 6:40 PM PST - 123 comments

After too long a wait, here are some initial results from The Big MetaFilter Survey 2015.
What We Talk About When We Talk About MetaFilter - information about your interactions with the site.
Tell Us A Little About Yourself - information about the personal lives of your fellow users.
The Food Wars - what kinds of foods are acceptable and what kinds are garbage nightmares.
Other Results [pdf] - includes curated responses to the more interesting open-ended questions and some other numerical data. [more inside]
posted by Rock Steady to MetaFilter-Related at 5:57 AM PST - 366 comments

Vote with Fantastic flag, all thru December,
plus various prizes offered by members.
Now we've had one week of posts,
which did Mefites like the mosts? [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten to MetaFilter-Related at 10:33 AM PST - 56 comments

Happy news: we're hiring. Specifically, a part-time, mostly-weekends US daytime moderator to help add a little wiggle room to the current daytime schedule. Take a look at the Jobs post, and drop us an application if it sounds like a good fit. [more inside]
posted by cortex to MetaFilter-Related at 1:19 PM PST - 290 comments

via: Boing Boing [dildo warning]
posted by HuronBob to MetaFilter-Related at 11:44 AM PST - 145 comments

WICKR is an instant messaging client for secure, OTR communication that at this point has a fairly large user base; I think we should add an option for WICKR handles to the IM section of the profile.
I’m posting this to MetaTalk because, while we have a wiki page for new social sites, we don’t have one for new IM tools. That’s probably okay, but might be worth revisiting at some point. As a proxy, if people have tools that they like they could post them below.
posted by Going To Maine to Feature Requests at 11:31 AM PST - 2 comments

I was this anonymous poster. I wrote it on Thanksgiving, heartsick and sad and deeply deeply unhappy, but certain the problems were my own. I sent it out to the ether of the anonymous queue, and immediately, I felt a weight lifted. These wonderful, sharp minds, I thought, can help me, when I can’t help myself. [more inside]
posted by umwhat to MetaFilter-Related at 4:13 PM PST - 50 comments

The article is In Search of the a European Google" and the salient quote is: "A third, Google, can kill a profitable business by tweaking its search results: just ask the founders of Metafilter, who lost 40% of their visitors overnight in mid-November 2012."
posted by dfriedman to MetaFilter-Related at 10:03 AM PST - 15 comments

Sixteen years ago today, an unemployed 29-year old in Kendall, Florida followed a link from memepool and history was changed. or something. Both me and mefi are still around, course. After two job changes, four moves, a wedding or two, countless flamewars, tons of meetups, twitterstalkers, phantom cookie gifters, tons of members dropping in at my job, numerous kids, parties, gifts of beer, potato chips, harmonicas and drug paraphenalia, and of course tons of great people coming and going. In many ways, I'm still the same guy who wandered in here, but I'm also much changed as well. As a wise man once said, what a long strange trip it's been. Thanks to all.
posted by jonmc to MetaFilter-Related at 11:07 AM PST - 93 comments

John Cusack is aware of Metafilter, and the fact that we've been talking about him. Now to get him to join...
posted by COD to MetaFilter-Related at 2:24 PM PST - 103 comments

It's that especially gift-giving time of year, so don't forget: you can support your fellow community members by buying MeFite-made merch at the MeFi Mall, and if you're buying stuff at Amazon you can be sure to visit using our referral link to help support the site itself. [more inside]
posted by cortex to MetaFilter-Related at 11:14 AM PST - 12 comments

I know that MeFi Health Month exists, but is there some Mefite-populated community resource like that for goals unrelated to health? I.e., any activity or project people feel they need to Get Done that they're not currently getting done, and want help with (creative projects, budgeting, job-hunting, etc). If such a place doesn't exist, is there any interest in getting together and making one? [more inside]
posted by cotton dress sock to MetaFilter-Related at 10:22 PM PST - 33 comments

This has bothered me every year so I'm just gonna flat out ask: why no brick and mortar stores in the MeFi Mall? This just doesn't make any sense to me. I'm sure many MeFites own stores and would love to offer Christmas discounts to other MeFites in their city. I'd certainly do so at my record shop--I'd also like to support other MeFites who own independent businesses. What's the logic behind excluding those of us with small businesses simply because we do not sell online?
posted by You Should See the Other Guy to Etiquette/Policy at 9:39 PM PST - 39 comments

OH SHIT Y'ALL IT'S RINGLE JOCK SEASON
posted by nebulawindphone to MetaFilter-Related at 1:04 PM PST - 86 comments

The Windows 10 upgrade blew away my greasemonkey collection and I am struggling to find the script that showed metafilter threads with comments filtered by 5 or more comments. It had a tab interface at the top of the comments with something like "5 or more" and "show all comments". Anybody have a working link/copy of this script? I miss it dearly.
posted by srboisvert to MetaFilter-Related at 8:49 AM PST - 8 comments

It's that fantastic time of every year where MetaFilter members reach out to bring joy to others for the holidays! Via New York Cares' Winter Wishes program, we've created a beautiful annual tradition of coming together to provide gifts for kids -- and this year, some seniors. (Skip the details, show me the list!) [more inside]
posted by houseofdanie to MetaFilter-Related at 10:35 PM PST - 54 comments

This month on Best Of The Web, our special guest is each other, as Jessamyn and I pull a dynamic duo all by our collective lonesomes for once. Recorded earlier today, this episode runs about an hour and three quarters and covers November 2nd through December 1st. [more inside]
posted by cortex to MeFi Podcast at 5:42 PM PST - 55 comments

I don't want to single out a specific recent post, because my pedantic complaint is so not relevant and would harmfully distract from the discussion, but I have a request, my fellow Mefites: [more inside]
posted by eviemath to Etiquette/Policy at 4:13 PM PST - 225 comments

Just wanted to let folks know that we've just launched our 6th annual charity donation drive over at MefightClub. We're raising money for Child's Play and charity:water this year, and if you'd like to donate as part of our campaigns or just on your own, that would be a great thing to do. [more inside]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to MetaFilter-Related at 4:12 PM PST - 7 comments

The last few years we've run a Mefites' Choice December best post contest: everybody votes for posts via the Fantastic flag, one overall winner per week, and also community members can offer their own prizes for whatever kind of posts they most want to see. Let's do it again! [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten to MetaFilter-Related at 9:50 AM PST - 52 comments