February 2003 Archives

Yesterday's Mr. Rogers thread was cited, unkindly, I thought, by the Philadelphia Daily News in a FP story on Rogers' death.

Minutes after his death, chat began on the typically snarky Web site Metafilter.com...

I actually did not find the thread atypical at all, given the subject matter, and the subject matter was not atypical either. The writer was April Adamson -- let her know if you agree (or not).
posted by luser to MetaFilter-Related at 8:46 PM PST - 60 comments

Accidental Privacy Spills. (found via /.) In which are discussed the Laurie Garrett thread and its implications for privacy, correspondence, and the getting of life.
posted by brownpau to MetaFilter-Related at 2:42 PM PST - 6 comments

The latest in the series of MeFiSwaps is now open for sign-up. Don't be afraid that no-one will like your choices, give it a go and open your mind to the possibility that you may hear something you have never heard of before (or a combination of favourites you may not have thought of). Come one, come all, sign up now!
posted by dg to MetaFilter-Related at 10:44 PM PST - 46 comments

The coment count for this thread is two higher on the 'lofi' page than on the regular front page. Is this a bug or did Matt do a little discrete comment-deletion (I admit I go to 'lofi' at least once a day for its 'bonus content' - nudge nudge, wink wink)
posted by wendell to Bugs at 4:24 PM PST - 4 comments

Links do improve and furnish a comment: When people do a little research before they comment and include a helpful or amusing link (and some users, like sheauga and madamjujujive put in almost as much work as they do in their posts), threads gain a new life and go off in all sorts of interesting directions. Sometimes deliciously and all at once. Some more threadbare posts, like the Libeskind one, are actually repaired and rehabilitated by the ensuing links. For some, linky comments may be a pain - do many actually click on them, given that a few don't even read the main links? - but I, for one, think they're dandy and would like to see more of them.
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 12:23 PM PST - 31 comments

Isn't this FPP a textbook example of a bad op-ed piece -- a link guaranteed to generate a lot of heat but shed no light? The liberals will cheer, the conservatives will discount it as liberal propaganda, nobody will convince anyone of anything, and lots of people will call each other names.
posted by RylandDotNet to Etiquette/Policy at 12:18 PM PST - 89 comments

I've looked in the FAQ and elsewhere that I can think of, and I'm only asking because another, more longstanding Mefi-ite asked me if I knew the answer, so maybe I'm not the only one who doesn't know. What's the deal with posting a period on threads when people die? Does it refer to something specific? Does it just mean "speechless?" Is there a thread that this sprang from?
posted by soyjoy to Etiquette/Policy at 10:21 AM PST - 18 comments

This is a very small and unimportant request, but maybe it would be easy to implement. When we login, could we then return to the page we logged in from rather than jump to the main index? Or perhaps get a choice of the two? I only login at work when I want to post; maybe I'm in the minority here.
posted by teenydreams to Feature Requests at 9:46 AM PST - 11 comments

If you're going to frame a link entirely in terms of how it relates to MetaFilter, doesn't it belong in MetaTalk's MetaFilter-related category?
posted by rcade to MetaFilter-Related at 5:53 AM PST - 18 comments

I've looked in the FAQ, the Wiki, riffola's user page, and nowhere can I find a comprehensive list of MeFiers' blogs. Does such a thing exist? If not, should such a thing exist? I think a portal showing recent entries from MeFiers' blogs could be nearly as entertaining as MeFi itself.
posted by vraxoin to MetaFilter-Related at 3:49 PM PST - 23 comments

MeFi Search appears to be out to lunch [More Inside]
posted by DBAPaul to Bugs at 7:30 AM PST - 9 comments

The results of Steve_at_Linnwood's small-sample MeFi census are online. Of more amusement value than scientific, of course. I thought this chart was particularly interesting in its lack of a middle ground.
posted by oissubke to Bugs at 7:18 PM PST - 63 comments

Is there a way for a user to change their account's password? No pressing need or anything, just wondering, as I like to change my various passwords from time to time.
posted by PinkStainlessTail to Etiquette/Policy at 1:04 PM PST - 22 comments

Sideblog: The mefi political compass. Umm, what the hell is this? The whois information for politicalcompass.org is as shady as it gets. The test has a few major flaws, in my opinion, and works on a significant number of assumptions, especially in regards to historical figures. I don't know if there's an obvious slant to it like there is to the Libertarian World's Smallest Political Quiz, but considering they won't even let you see the code should we be displaying the results of something that could have major flaws written by some anonymous "academics" so prominently on the front page? Not to mention its polarizing and the traditional political labels often fall short of defining anything meaningful nowadays. Oh, and also the Star Wars character I'm most like is Chewbacca.
posted by skallas to MetaFilter-Related at 12:32 AM PST - 35 comments

This thread, despite generating a huge response, is

A.) Newsfilter
B.) Racist, inflammatory, and designed as nothing more than a troll. I realize that MaddD enjoys posts that cause controversy, as evidenced by his topic post history, but suggesting that grieving parents should be shackled to a floor because of their immigration status seems a little much.
posted by dejah420 to Etiquette/Policy at 11:58 PM PST - 95 comments

How about highlighting the threads on the front page that the logged-in user has posted in? Going to your user info to see all your recent comments is a bit cumbersome. Something like making the "n new" in "N comments (n new)" a different color and pointing that link to your most recent comment in the thread.
posted by azazello to Feature Requests at 2:03 PM PST - 10 comments

So I'm wanting to add the potential for positive voting on threads, so people can vote [this is good] and then others can view the best stuff from the past few days. I'm having some issues with the display side of things though [more inside]
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 1:41 PM PST - 160 comments

"And so the 'high-signal territory' posse was born." I'd like to apologize in advance for being annoying, but I think that it's important (in a relative sense, at least) to do this.
posted by oissubke to Etiquette/Policy at 8:08 AM PST - 94 comments

Lawmeme, Yale University's excellent law blog, has published quite an amazing analysis of the Laurie Garrett discussion.
The author, James Grimmelmann (our own grimmelm), not only critiques Garrett but also has some very interesting things to say about the MeFi response. This is not your "typical" various insundry blog entry, it is more akin to the basis of a thesis. I realize this was posted in the thread, but it is definitely worth added exposure.
posted by anathema to MetaFilter-Related at 9:10 AM PST - 48 comments

The success of the Political Compass thread a few posts back got me to thinking about an interesting notion: Might it be time for a MeFi census?
posted by oissubke to MetaFilter-Related at 7:17 AM PST - 103 comments

I cant post urls in my fpps apart from the title.
posted by sgt.serenity to Bugs at 5:27 AM PST - 9 comments

Considering two recent author responses to threads, I'm wondering if we should give certain parties the opportunity to rebut or respond to questions raised by MeFites, particularly if the parties involved are not members. I'm not sure how something along these lines could be established. We'd need some way to obtain provenance beyond an email. But if Metafilter is to raise questions and an author of an article wishes to respond, should we develop a policy to implement their participation?
posted by ed to Feature Requests at 3:55 PM PST - 37 comments

The Washington Post quotes MeFi on the Google-Pyra deal.
posted by liam to MetaFilter-Related at 8:07 AM PST - 17 comments

Hey all. Yesterday the user aeschenkarnos provided a cool link for a political compass. I thought it might be somewhat worthwhile, and possibly entertaining, if just this one time, for the sake of posterity, we could all put our political predispositions out in the open. We might even be able to better answer that age-old FAQ question: Are we guilty of lefty groupthink?
posted by dgaicun to MetaFilter-Related at 6:53 AM PST - 352 comments

I changed the fancy dhtml link titles to be purely optional. By default, they won't be seen on the site, and you have to say "yes" to them on the customize page to enable them.
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 1:29 PM PST - 26 comments

sorry to ask what I'm sure is a stupid question. Where do I find my member number? I'm trying to sign up for the CD swap and that field is required. I've looked high and low, and I'm stumped.
posted by pejamo to MetaFilter-Related at 9:07 AM PST - 6 comments

I've found a bug in the new javascript captions that come up on links with title attributes - in Phoenix/Mozilla, if I ctrl-click on a link to open it in a new tab, the caption stays up, and the only way to make it go away is to reload the page.
posted by chrisege to Bugs at 6:26 AM PST - 12 comments

Once could be considered funny, but what's the point behind this?
posted by fvw to Etiquette/Policy at 12:48 PM PST - 38 comments

Hi, just got a CF error on
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/22486#408066

Al
posted by ajbattrick to Bugs at 7:53 AM PST - 2 comments

Slithy_Tove makes a remarkable point. I know one can easily lie about it. But how about an age entry on our profile page?
posted by crasspastor to Feature Requests at 11:16 PM PST - 44 comments

The code for Freefilter, an open source clone of Metafilter is now available. Mefi's structure as a posting and discussion board is unlike most other's available. It's fluid and user friendly and it was only a matter of time before someone coded their own version especially considering the success of Whedonesque and Sportsfilter. This isn't the first time an attempt has been made of course. This version isn't 'out of the box' yet though -- as the readme.txt says, you'll need:"A Web server, preferably Loonix, MySQL, an, er, recentish version, Perl, DBI and CGI modules for Perl, these should come as standard with most Perl installations, a sense of humor to read my source code..."
posted by feelinglistless to MetaFilter-Related at 4:33 PM PST - 32 comments

Oh holy fucking oolong what the hell are those purple cupid things infesting my screen?! I think you forgot to add the pixies=yes background music to complete it. I'm putting this in 'bugs' because it bugs me. *cries* oh I'm so lonely.
posted by Stan Chin to Bugs at 11:24 AM PST - 52 comments

What's wrong with worldnetdaily? I posted a link to an article that really frightened me, and it was taken down. The message I received was: "worldnetdaily? Come on." Granted, from the little I read afterwards from the site, they are a little right of Attila the Hun, but probably no further right than yellowtimes or commondreams is left...

What gives? I'd like to know more about what worldnetdaily isn't taken seriously...
posted by drstrangelove to Etiquette/Policy at 11:20 AM PST - 7 comments

y2karl, meet the anchor tag. Say hello!
posted by Pretty_Generic to Etiquette/Policy at 11:16 AM PST - 31 comments

I wish to take my turn beating the dead horse [more inside].
posted by Yelling At Nothing to Etiquette/Policy at 9:37 PM PST - 59 comments

Since yesterday, I've been unable to use the shortcut to post links in threads. The shortcut window pops up as usual, I paste in the URL, and hit OK. Then the window closes, but without having inserted any code into the text. (I'm using the same ol' IE5 as usual.)
posted by scody to Bugs at 3:01 PM PST - 9 comments

Slight problem with the new titles. In Moz (1.2.1) When you center click the link while the title is up, it doesn't go away.
posted by raaka to Bugs at 2:11 PM PST - 9 comments

Resources. They aren't perfect, but they are out there. Problem is, nobody knows about 'em. Might I ask the relatively simple pony of a front-page resources link?
posted by frykitty to Feature Requests at 1:28 PM PST - 13 comments

Can I ask why my post about Pat Robertson having prostate cancer was pulled?
posted by stevefromsparks to Etiquette/Policy at 11:31 AM PST - 46 comments

Oh sweet jeebus. I have nobody but myself to blame. Enjoy.
posted by adamgreenfield to MetaFilter-Related at 2:54 AM PST - 35 comments

The title attribute should probably not be used as footnotes or for excerpts. Discuss.
posted by Su to Etiquette/Policy at 10:41 PM PST - 20 comments

I just updated Surfari and Mefi has gone all big on me. The first beta meant adjusting to a smaller font for Mefi when compared to IE; now the two are identical in appearance. I miss that slimming look but a change to my user settings on Mefi has no effect nor does a change to Safari's preferences. Should I just move my chair back?
posted by Dick Paris to Bugs at 9:28 PM PST - 10 comments

Nice mention of Metafilter in the Nashville Scene.
posted by Mo Nickels to MetaFilter-Related at 2:24 PM PST - 12 comments

When viewing Metafilter's home page using Mozilla 1.3 or Netscape 7.1, the background/font colors change from white text on blue, to a white background with black text when I log in. This is very painful for me to view. I've tried deleting cookies, resetting preferences, etc. Or is this is a new "feature"?
posted by MrBaliHai to Bugs at 11:18 AM PST - 2 comments

Would it be possible to have external links open in a new tab in my browser, instead of a new window or the same window? I don't know if this feature is available outside of Mozilla/Netscape, but it would save me a lot of right-clicking. Or am I the only one who uses tabbed browsing?
posted by Johnny Assay to Feature Requests at 7:54 AM PST - 16 comments

Is this acceptable? I tried to levy what I thought was a reasonable, if salty, criticism against this member for a previous comment, and I get called some colourful names. I thought the majority of the comments in the thread were a civil and rational blend of discussion, agreement and disagreement, so it made me a bit sad, though not really surprised, to see such a response, and to see it supported by another member.
posted by sir walsingham to Etiquette/Policy at 6:17 AM PST - 45 comments

Nice posts, but extremely aggravating titles.
posted by hama7 to Bugs at 2:12 AM PST - 94 comments

I got sent here in trying to find the post on stupid baby names, and got one doozy of a page as a result. Does this look extremely messed-up to the rest of you? I'm on Netscape 7.0 on Mac OS 9.
posted by meep to Bugs at 5:08 PM PST - 5 comments

Grab a modern browser (looks best in mozilla) and try hover over some of the links shown here in y2karl's posts. Is this annoying or informative? [code from here]
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 2:41 PM PST - 98 comments

This may not be strictly a Mefi bug, but...
I wanted to use the [This Is Good] script for the first time today, on this thread, and found the following error message:

"Sorry, something's broken.

Don't know why, but this script has stopped adding new posts to the database, and I'm too busy with Christmas right now to figure it out. I'll work on it soon after the Holidays, I promise. Sorry!

So, all the other users of that script - in that thread and others - I guess it ain't doing what ya thought, sadly. Is it something on the Mefi end thats causing it to freak out?
posted by dash_slot- to MetaFilter-Related at 1:50 PM PST - 4 comments

Ping ping ping! Weird TB ping problem, couldn't find anyone else having the same problem here in MetaTalk. I tried Trackbacking the thread (I linked to it in my post, and MT (yes, version 2.51) automatically found the TB URL) instead of cut and pasting the URL in the "URLs to Ping" post area, or using the MT bookmarklet.

Found a typo, deleted the MeFi TB URL in the "URLs to Ping" area when I re-saved, and it repinged Metafilter. Also strange: when I click on Previously Sent Pings in MT on the entry, it doesn't list that any were successfully sent. Haven't had this problem Trackbacking any other blogs, because when I send a ping to other sites, it appears to get sent "successfully," and no longer appears in the "URLs to Ping" area, it moves to the 'Previously Sent Pings" locale. Anyone else? I think the shuttle thread had this problem, too.
posted by gramcracker to Bugs at 12:25 PM PST - 11 comments

Weird. I can access MeFi just fine through status.metafilter.com or metatalk.metafilter.com, but www.metafilter.com has only been giving me the ColdFusion finger for a few days.

Error Occurred While Processing Request
The system has attempted to use an undefined value, which usually indicates a programming error, either in your code or some system code.
The error occurred in C:\metafilter sites\www.metafilter.com\Application.cfm: line 4

2 : clientmanagement="Yes"
3 : sessionmanagement="Yes"
4 : setclientcookies="Yes">
5 :
6 :

Anyone else ?
posted by XiBe to Uptime at 10:10 AM PST - 4 comments

Someone nicked my nick {more inside}
posted by clavdivs to Etiquette/Policy at 8:15 AM PST - 17 comments

Enough is enough.
posted by 111 to Etiquette/Policy at 7:10 AM PST - 28 comments

There now seems to be a Mozilla bug (version 1.2.1), perhaps related to these changes. When I press the "Preview" button in Opera, the window below "Comment Preview" disappears, along with my text. It used to be perfectly fine. And it still works in IE and Opera. But since some users here might be downloading the latest available release, I thought I'd bring it to Our Fearless Curator's attention.
posted by ed to Bugs at 1:35 AM PST - 12 comments

Despite MetaFilter's honourable roots and tradition, I get the feeling that a significant and increasing amount of members has no interest whatsoever in web design, computers, blogs, programming or, in fact, anything remotely technical or even geeky. A few seem to be unimpressed by the Internet itself. Are we witnessing the secularization of MetaFilter? Is our future broadly cultural and political rather than Web-specific?
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 9:13 AM PST - 58 comments

I wonder where this is going?
posted by hama7 to Etiquette/Policy at 4:54 AM PST - 37 comments

I have two issues. First, shouldn't the email link on the user pages be encrypted to make it harder for spam robots to collect the address? Second, why isn't the comment count on user pages updated when threads are deleted? I have 4 Metatalk comments listed, but only two of them are still online.
posted by einarorn to Feature Requests at 11:44 AM PST - 8 comments

I have an idea for a blog and wanted to get some feedback. Metafilter often creates great threads with each poster adding additional links and insights but one has to dig through the noise and do a lot of reconstruction to get the good bits. The idea for the blog would be a meta summary of certain threads pulling all the good links, quotes and ideas together in single post, a sort of "best-of" with appropriate footnoting for recognition of contribution. This would take some writing skill. The summary thread can then be TB'd on a separate blog so readers of metafilter would have access and because it is a "best-of" it would have more permanence and a chance for additional contributions. Thoughts?
posted by stbalbach to Bugs at 7:43 AM PST - 16 comments

Bold tag does not close if within an anchored link.
posted by The Jesse Helms to Bugs at 7:32 PM PST - 6 comments

Italics button inserts italics into text instead of comment box.
posted by hama7 to Bugs at 5:18 PM PST - 23 comments

If you're using a nightly build of Mozilla (anything released after Jan. 8th) you should now have keyboard and iconic shortcuts at MetaFilter, just like in IE for windows.
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 4:13 PM PST - 19 comments

Has anyone else noted that as of this morning NetNewsWire Lite (Mac OS X RSS reader) can't parse Metafilter's RSS feed?

Unfortunately all I get from the app is "The XML parser could not parse the RSS data." It worked yesterday, though.
posted by Cerebus to Bugs at 10:13 AM PST - 7 comments

Congratulations to all who participated in the recent thread on evangelical Christians and why people dislike them. The level of constructive dialogue on all sides of the issue was truly miraculous ...hehe. Why did this thread succeed when so many other religious threads quickly degrade into vicious flamewars?
posted by jsonic to Etiquette/Policy at 9:08 AM PST - 11 comments

Warning: this link involves music/sound/voices/heavy breathing that will make you jump and scramble to close the window before your coworkers hear.
posted by gottabefunky to Etiquette/Policy at 8:31 AM PST - 19 comments

I'm slightly disturbed by the vitriol suddenly on display here. What ever happened to quite, rational discussion? [more]
posted by feelinglistless to Etiquette/Policy at 4:15 PM PST - 103 comments

What is the policy re accesing previously deleted posts and their deletion justifications? Is there a listing somewhere ? (Could be good for learning by negative example, although certainly defeats the purpose since accesing previously deleted posts means they have not really been deleted.)
posted by Voyageman to Etiquette/Policy at 1:00 PM PST - 5 comments

It looks like the stupid "smartquotes" in this thread are breaking Metafilter's RSS feed (or at least Syndirella's ability to parse it).
posted by waxpancake to Bugs at 10:46 AM PST - 11 comments

23324 - The Grand Cabaret : apparently deleted because "It's just you. Really." Are we saying that it was deleted because everyone disagreed with the poster (they didn't) or because it was likely to offend people (which many other threads risk).

Personally, my brain can't cope when The Sun can run a sensible article about bigger women while MetaFilter responds with "yuckkkkkkkkkkkkk".
posted by twine42 to Etiquette/Policy at 5:39 AM PST - 44 comments

MeFiNYC - Karaoke on March 22^nd. Please pick a karaoke place. The date and type of venue are set.
posted by riffola to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:08 PM PST - 22 comments

23328 deleted becuase of "real time" wth?
posted by Big_B to Etiquette/Policy at 8:57 AM PST - 48 comments

I've "previewed"... hit "post", the button reacts, the aura around the button glows, but nothing is sent as far as a reply is concerned.

Waaaaaaaah!

Halfway down the thread, the indent disappears and the remainder replies are flush hard left.

Could this be my problem?

er, our problem?

Thanks.
posted by alicesshoe to Bugs at 9:37 PM PST - 12 comments

If

all

else

fails...

read the instructions!
posted by dash_slot- to Etiquette/Policy at 5:50 PM PST - 65 comments

On preview: who cares? [more inside]
posted by kirkaracha to Etiquette/Policy at 4:32 PM PST - 18 comments

There was previously discussion of having a MeFiLA gathering on February 15. Shall we make this happen?
posted by faustessa to MetaFilter Gatherings at 3:11 PM PST - 39 comments

I don't know what's worse: slamming Courtney over a photo shoot, getting riled up over the Bloggies or speculating over actors who may or may not be gay. Cult of personality or just plain boredom? Or is this a coping phase after the shuttle thread? Why can't MeFi do better?
posted by ed to MetaFilter-Related at 6:55 AM PST - 83 comments

I understand the point of the Enduring Freedom casualty count thread and admittedly admire its style. But I'm not sure trivia questions are appropriate as Metafilter posts, if only because it necessitates moderating one's own thread, which we are generally discouraged from doing here.
posted by PrinceValium to Etiquette/Policy at 7:23 PM PST - 19 comments

Aladfar makes an interesting point:

And here's the thing about self links: This was an interesting project that, were it linked by someone other than the author, would be absolutely fine on MeFi. Would it be better to ask someone else to link for you in an effort to circumvent the "rules"?

How do we feel about logrolling?
posted by PinkStainlessTail to Bugs at 1:24 PM PST - 13 comments

Re: this comment, is there a limit to how much the MeFi search will look for?
[more inside]
posted by Su to Bugs at 9:09 AM PST - 11 comments

These two comments pages, 22602 and 12831, seem to be seriously distorted. Interestingly I found them both via Janne's userpage.
posted by lazy-ville to Bugs at 8:51 AM PST - 2 comments

I recently posted a link, and in it I happened to slip a 1x1 px graphic that is used by this site to create a map of internet users. Seemed harmless enough, but in retrospect I regret having done it. It was an action of questionable ethics, and I should have avoided it. Please nix my post and accept my apologies.
posted by oissubke to Etiquette/Policy at 9:39 PM PST - 63 comments

Using Mozilla, I no longer get a comment preview, and therefore cannot post comments on MeFi proper without launching the dreaded MSIE.
posted by xyzzy to Bugs at 7:04 PM PST - 7 comments

Several blog entries make multiple appearances in the trackbacks of the shuttle thread: does MT's trackback function re-ping the server every time a single post is updated (as so many of us were doing yesterday as the shuttle story developed)?
posted by mcwetboy to Bugs at 6:04 PM PST - 4 comments

It seems like others can get to the site fine, but I've been getting this same error for a few days now when trying to access MetaFilter:

The value "" cannot be converted to a number

The error occurred in C:\metafilter sites\www.metafilter.com\header.cfm: line 166
Called from C:\metafilter sites\www.metafilter.com\index.mefi: line 178
Called from C:\metafilter sites\www.metafilter.com\index.mefi: line 349

164 :
165 :
166 :
167 :
168 :
posted by tomorama to Bugs at 9:14 AM PST - 5 comments