April 2006 Archives (all archives)

April 30

fix link in fpp

MinorCorrectionFilter: as luftmensch pointed out, the 6th link in this FPP should probably point to this site (or some more descriptive page within it).
posted by rkent to MetaFilter-Related at 9:54 AM PST - 10 comments [closed]

Meta-freakin-omics

How do the economics of MetaFilter work? I know this may be kind of rude to even ask, but it seems to me that this is an awful lot of coding and maintenance to be financed only by five dollar donations and small non-intrusive ads. Speaking of advertisements, does it cost Matt money if I use adblock to remove the ads before I even see them?
posted by crazyray to MetaFilter-Related at 8:01 AM PST - 53 comments

April 29

Too many links makes a post something something

Can some sort of rule/guideline/something be considered, stating that FPP's shouldn't have a bajillion links, one in each individual word?

I know it's not a serious thing, and a programmatic solution isn't the way to go, but when I see posts like this it drives me nuts. Am I the only one?
posted by pdb to Etiquette/Policy at 9:23 PM PST - 57 comments

MeFi Captcha

Apologies if this is redundant, but Yahoo's search revealed nothing about the look-n-feel of the MeFi captcha.

Metafilter's captcha is particularly irritating. Of the few sites I use that require it, this one is by far the worst. Many of the characters are ambiguous because they use a sans-serif font—combined with the size and font variation, letters like C, O, W become hard to distinguish when their cases change. And this is me being selfish—there's still the nagging problem that these are very inaccessible.

I realize (and read the thread on) why you installed one, and realize Matt-n-Co are busy creatures, and perhaps the alternatives aren't great right now. But sites like TicketBastard, Yahoo, and PayPal all use much less ambiguous, much more human-parsable captchas, and presumably have orders of magnitude more traffic than MeFi—so these must have worked pretty well so far.

Wikipedia has a list of alternatives for a variety of languages.
posted by symphonik to Bugs at 5:24 PM PST - 20 comments

Vancouver meetup.

Yo-yo!
Okay, so I'll be in Vancouver next week, and I want to know who's up for meeting at the keg on granville island, Thursday May 4, 7:30ish pm.
Be there or be hexagonical ;)
posted by Radio7 to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:10 AM PST - 23 comments

Why has MetaFilter traffic spiked so fast?

Does anyone know why MeFi has almost doubled its reach during the past 2 weeks? Just curious.
posted by bru to MetaFilter-Related at 7:52 AM PST - 33 comments

Zen-like post from a few years ago?

There was a thread here, a couple of years ago, I think, about the Zen-like (I don't remember if he was actually aligned with that tradition) aphorisms of a wise man. Many of his insights were oddly striking, but some of them seemed kind of obvious, too. An example was something like this: "People look more attractive at night."

I have searched, but not been able to find that thread. Any idea where it is?
posted by jayder to MetaFilter-Related at 7:49 AM PST - 5 comments

Stop crapping in the sports threads

I'm so cool because I don't like sports
posted by insomnus to Etiquette/Policy at 3:35 AM PST - 122 comments

April 28

Der Wiki is der spammed.

Der Wiki is der spammed.
posted by disclaimer to Bugs at 9:13 PM PST - 24 comments

New Keystroke Features

New features added to the keystrokes: hit return to go into a thread, hit ; to go back to the index page. (you might have to force a reload to get the latest javascript).
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 2:12 PM PST - 36 comments

How do I get to the sideblog page?

I was looking for something posted on the sideblog a while back and I found this page. What I didn't find was a way to navigate through the sideblog archives. Would it be possible to add that in, or is there already a way to do it that I'm overlooking?
posted by joedan to Feature Requests at 11:23 AM PST - 4 comments

Does anyone remember a thread on askme some time ago about jobs in the US for UK gap years apart fro

Does anyone remember a thread on askme some time ago about jobs in the US for UK gap years apart from summer camp?
posted by lunkfish to MetaFilter-Related at 10:34 AM PST - 5 comments

April 27

Spam alert

Fuck this.
posted by Snyder to Etiquette/Policy at 9:24 PM PST - 128 comments

April 2006 Los Angeles Meetup

Photos of last night's Los Angeles meetup.
posted by DaShiv to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:44 PM PST - 30 comments

Sock-puppet alert

Sock-puppet alert. joshuak asks a question and then logs in as alter-ego fearandloathing to ask another question. However, he forgot to change his identity back when he went back into the first thread to bitch that no one was telling him how to get a $40/hour job across the street from his house.
posted by Mayor Curley to Etiquette/Policy at 7:25 PM PST - 170 comments

April 26

Volleyball in Toronto

Are there any Toronto MeFites who would like to play volleyball on Wednesday nights for the next seven weeks?
I signed up for co-ed indoor volleyball thinking it was something new I might enjoy, but I HATE it. So I'm looking for someone to take my place.
posted by orange swan to MetaFilter-Related at 8:33 PM PST - 7 comments

pony that automatically shoves extremely long FPPs into a queue

Could we have a pony that automatically shoves extremely long FPPs into a queue for administrative approval?
posted by I Love Tacos to Feature Requests at 7:21 PM PST - 28 comments

New "Blocking" Request

Warning: long, detailed post ahead. You have been warned.
posted by davejay to Feature Requests at 7:03 PM PST - 26 comments

Can we have pictures of ourselves?

With meetups gearing up, and an eventual section to handle this being engineered (did I read that right?) - would it make sense to have an area that allowed/promoted users to upload (links to) images of themselves?
posted by strawberryviagra to Feature Requests at 7:00 PM PST - 8 comments

OMG BOOBS!!!

OMG BOOBS!!! LETS LOOK AT A LADY WHO TELLS LADIES HOW TO TOUCH THEIR (NAKED) BOOBS AND ITS OKAY BECAUSE IT IS FOR THE PREVENTION OF CANCER AND THAT IS A GOOD CAUSE TO BE FOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

except

"The evidence on breast self-examination is clear, there is no benefit to breast cancer mortality and results suggest that breast self-examination may do more harm than good." [MI]
posted by LimePi to Etiquette/Policy at 6:18 PM PST - 9 comments [closed]

"Feel free to have another bitch session about me."

If you'd like one more chance to rail on about dios, here's your chance. (Me? I don't care. I'm just tired of seeing good posts highjacked.)
posted by 327.ca to Etiquette/Policy at 2:53 PM PST - 201 comments

London Meetup

So, London meetup? Eh? Eh?
posted by ludwig_van to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:56 PM PST - 31 comments

Scientology-tagged posts averaged 82 comments in 2006.

MetaScientologyFilter. A brief analysis of the number of comments per post with various tags yields the following: Bush is a surefire way to get comments, with an average of 76 comments per post tagged with the President's name, followed by the oft-maligned Newsfilter tag, with 75.6 comments per post. They both beat sex (64.8), video (30.9), and the big loser, art (21.3). But all must bow before Scientology (82). [more inside]
posted by blahblahblah to MetaFilter-Related at 11:24 AM PST - 51 comments

April 25

Can we have access to older pages in My Comments?

Could we get a tweak on our 'My Comments' pages to look further back than the current default, on demand? A 'Page 2' link at the bottom for the next X threads back in time, maybe? Or a customizable period (within reason) on our preferences page?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to Feature Requests at 9:25 PM PST - 13 comments

Metafilter's wish is the world's command.

Metafilter's wish is the world's command.
posted by rkent to MetaFilter-Related at 9:02 PM PST - 28 comments

What askMeFi question has the most answers ever?

What askMeFi question has the most answers... ever?
posted by bjork24 to MetaFilter-Related at 6:46 PM PST - 31 comments

Reminder: Tomorrow.

Reminder: Tomorrow. Los Angeles meetup. Basix Cafe in West Hollywood. 8:00 PM.
posted by the_bone to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:44 PM PST - 13 comments

Want to see something cool?

Want to see something cool? Hit the . key on any mefi front page or comment page. Hit the , key to go up a post/comment. And don't worry, once you click into a textarea or input, it turns itself off (we couldn't ever lose the . could we?). Thanks to the hard work of delfuego for making this happen.
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 5:24 PM PST - 94 comments

Ask Metafilter's FAQs in a sidebar

Just an observation: the question which DSLR to buy comes around so often on the green, with the same answers usually (understandably, but predictably) given, that I'm beginning to think there ought to be a sidebar of such frequently asked questions (or maybe mathowie ought to sign up for an Adorama affiliate program).
posted by zadcat to MetaFilter-Related at 5:13 PM PST - 14 comments

the least of Harvard's concern

"chat on the intarweb is the least of Harvard's concern right now regarding this situation" -- Harvard notices we were talking about them.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 2:52 PM PST - 84 comments

Cleanup in this askme

Please delete me. And the other guy of course.
posted by AmbroseChapel to Etiquette/Policy at 2:33 PM PST - 30 comments

This image is too big

Can this big-ass image be made to go away? It's just stupid.
posted by cedar to MetaFilter-Related at 11:19 AM PST - 27 comments

Portland Meetup

Dear Portland, Oregon:

How are you? I've been thinking that we should be going out and getting righteously tanked one of these days. How would late May sound? Where shall we meet?
posted by cmonkey to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:41 AM PST - 64 comments

Northwest Meetup

Reminder: The Grand Seattle/Portland/Vancouver Meetup is this Saturday, April 29, 6 pm at the Elysian.
posted by agropyron to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:34 AM PST - 10 comments

He's got the whole world in his hands

Anyone remember a video going around the web that showed a guy manipulating satellite imagery--maybe directly in Google Earth--by using hand gestures instead of a mouse? I recall he was using both his hands. It was some kind of a demo video for a new human interface technology. I might have not even found it via MeFi. Ring a bell for anyone?
posted by Brian James to MetaFilter-Related at 9:29 AM PST - 2 comments [closed]

I'm getting a connection failure on the "tags" page.

I'm getting a connection failure on the "tags" page. [MI]
posted by saladin to Bugs at 6:49 AM PST - 3 comments [closed]

April 24

San Antonio meetup?

Any interest in a San Antonio get together?
posted by bigmusic to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:44 PM PST - 7 comments

Tokyo Meetup again

Tokyo Meetup again (it's a 2-fer now!) I'm there from May 10-19, and sconbie's there til the 15th.
posted by amberglow to MetaFilter Gatherings at 7:00 PM PST - 87 comments

One of Astro Zombie's play at the Vital Drama League Alumni Directors Fest in NYC

Speaking of little shows in New York, I've got one of my own. And I will probably be there!
posted by Astro Zombie to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:58 PM PST - 17 comments

NYC Meetup

Hey New York City! I'm in a little show on May 15th, and you should all come!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:26 PM PST - 19 comments

NYC meetup June 2006?

Is it too early for another NYC meetup? Everything sucks for me right now and I could use some revelry. Who wants to come out to celebrate 06/06/06?
posted by CunningLinguist to MetaFilter Gatherings at 5:17 PM PST - 16 comments

Please fix this thread!

I believe this thread is broken (some sort of html mistake has broken the input box at the bottom).
posted by Bugbread to Bugs at 8:41 AM PST - 7 comments [closed]

How did you discover MetaFilter?

Simple question: How did you discover MetaFilter?
posted by wheelieman to MetaFilter-Related at 6:22 AM PST - 279 comments

April 23

YouTubeFi?

Should there maybe be a special place within MetaFilter Network for YouTube and Google Video links (and the like)? I know that there's other video linky sites out there, but this is MetaFilter, and I like people's taste better here.

Some people really don't seem to care for video posts, and grump about how common they're becoming, but sometimes they're good. I doubt there will be a decline in the amount of video and stuff that will be available for discovering and linking to. Maybe we should get used to it, but keep the other best-o-the-web stuff separate, or distinct in some way.
posted by dammitjim to MetaFilter-Related at 11:16 PM PST - 42 comments

Green card question becomes a morality referendum

I read this as question for help on legal matters (I know...thats a separate topic) but people seem to be interpreting it as a morality question with statements such as "Why do you think a person with such low ethical standards would make for a positive contributor to the US " - and its starting to derail the thread.
posted by vacapinta to Etiquette/Policy at 6:57 PM PST - 15 comments

Followup etiquette on closed AskMe posts

Don't get me wrong -- I want to know how stuff on AskMe turns out. I don't think MeTa is the ideal place for that, though. What about allowing askers to post a followup in their own threads, even if they'd been closed & archived, which would put that thread on a new page, like the "fantastic posts" page we have now, which could be called "resolutions" or "how'd it turn out" or some such.
posted by stupidsexyFlanders to Feature Requests at 9:07 AM PST - 36 comments

Don't slag my religion and I won't slag yours

I might think your religion is a bunch of crap (in fact, I probably do) but isn't it a touch rude to be saying so in AskMe?
posted by pompomtom to Etiquette/Policy at 5:03 AM PST - 370 comments

April 22

we bought a 1999 Subaru Forester

Back in December I asked for vehicle recommendations, and I just wanted to follow up: we bought a 1999 Subaru Forester, based on the words here and of a friend of our who owns an Outback. What it all came down to was good value, great safety, and even though I paid more than I wanted to I'm happy with this step up instead of a step sideways into a RAV4 or a junkier, older vehicle. Thanks!
posted by Kickstart70 to MetaFilter-Related at 7:22 PM PST - 12 comments

Can we add title attribute to links?

Pony Request: Could the title attribute be added automatically to links generated from the link button on the posts/comments toolbar? It wouldn't have to have any default text in it, but it would make people aware of its existence, which they could then use to reduce the large number of mystery links we see in posts/comments.
posted by blue_beetle to Feature Requests at 8:16 AM PST - 6 comments

San Francisco Meetup

Bay Area meetups?

I just moved down here from Seattle because I was lonely. Now I'm noticing that Matildaben apparently launches a Seatle meetup every 10 days or so...

I'm in East Bay but pretty much willing to travel anywhere, as I need to explore more anyway.
posted by Dunwitty to MetaFilter Gatherings at 4:22 AM PST - 58 comments

Timestamp Bug

Hello, admins. It is just a tiny bug; I posted to #51093 at 12:01, the comment was timed at 12:04.
posted by Cranberry to Bugs at 12:08 AM PST - 12 comments [closed]

April 21

Piling on new user for sport

Is it me, or is piling on a new user now the official sport of AskMe?
posted by RikiTikiTavi to Etiquette/Policy at 11:17 PM PST - 81 comments

Vancouver Meetup

Vancouver Meetup? I'm a Canadian living outside the country, and will be visiting Vancouver from May3 to May 5, I'd love to meet fellow members. Anyone game? Any suggestions?
posted by Radio7 to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:11 PM PST - 19 comments

Answerers jumping the gun

While it's very nice to, for once, see an answer-poster own up to
"Crap. I posted my brilliant secret before reading the whole post. Really sorry.
I guess I got caught up a, "Holy crap I can contribute trip". Really, really sorry, and I have nothing useful to say.
Dammit."
there are another 106 times that I've seen answerers who never realized that the [mi] should have forestalled their answers.
Any ideas? Perhaps, including a "Did you read the [more inside] at the top of the page?" reminder?
posted by Aknaton to Etiquette/Policy at 5:31 PM PST - 15 comments

More Fantastic Comments Please

"Fantastic comments" make good reading. Why can I only read the last ten? Is it just a technical issue, or is there a worry that a permanent archive will result in competition?

(and if so, is competition that encourages people to write fantastic comments really such a bad idea?)
posted by tkolar to Bugs at 4:09 PM PST - 7 comments

More styled CSS for some HTML elements, such as blockquote

Slightly better CSS: Could the CSS for useful elements like blockquote be improved so that quoted text from previous posts does not have to be faked with ? A now-common style of changed font, larger left indent, and line down the left side might work.
posted by joeclark to Feature Requests at 12:02 PM PST - 64 comments

Call for Submissions - Compilation Album

Metafilter Compilation Album
Call for Cover Art Submissions
Music Submission Deadline & Details

posted by cortex to MetaFilter Music at 11:38 AM PST - 63 comments

A few too many mentions of ideagasms.com?

A few too many mentions of ideagasms.com? I'm not just feeling wholly comfortable with this, and I think I'm not the only one.
posted by anjamu to Etiquette/Policy at 9:32 AM PST - 25 comments

Metafilter Compilation Album - get yours here, now!

Metafilter Compilation album
Pre-orders and Donations open!
[details and more inside]
[posted for cortex by proxy]

posted by jessamyn to MetaFilter Music at 7:44 AM PST - 80 comments

April 20

"new" link disappears in grey but not blue or green

Why does the "new" link disappear once I've refreshed the page on the grey but not o the blue or green?
posted by kechi to MetaFilter-Related at 11:50 PM PST - 7 comments

Rewarding the best in AskMe

Two ideas: AskMe author-of-the-month -- Best of an AskMe author
posted by maschnitz to Feature Requests at 11:06 PM PST - 19 comments

AMWKE is very funny.

AMWKE is very funny.
posted by knave to Etiquette/Policy at 10:50 PM PST - 19 comments [closed]

How users get their accounts disabled

AMWKE is being a dick on AskMe right now.
posted by the_bone to Bugs at 10:49 PM PST - 3 comments [closed]

Presumably-drunk user shitting in AskMe

Presumably-drunk user shitting in AskMe: 1, 2, 3, and most egregiously 4.
posted by nicwolff to Etiquette/Policy at 10:46 PM PST - 51 comments

Multiple accounts - menace or meaningless?

"I know someone who owns hundreds upon hundreds of digg accounts, and thousands more on other 'buzz'-worthy sites. I know that he owns about 5 metafilter accounts, all registered after the $5 registration fee, all well used and difficult to call 'plant' on." O RLY? That doesn't seem like a good thing to me, at least. What say the rest of you? Menace or meaningless?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to Etiquette/Policy at 10:41 PM PST - 51 comments

Seriously, that's not what I mean

Two people have assumed, incorrectly, that I don't think DUI offenders are criminals. I would like to vent without further derailing the thread. (more inside)
posted by mullacc to Etiquette/Policy at 10:14 PM PST - 28 comments

Self links abound

Self linking and the common good (mi)
posted by strawberryviagra to Etiquette/Policy at 9:59 PM PST - 30 comments

Database server clock error bungling comment sequence

Just now in a comment I tried to include a link to a URL which contained a seven-letter word beginning with "f" that has become an epithet for those on the right side of the political spectrum. I tried to post it twice and both times when I hit "post" the screen refreshed but my post didn't show up. Is there some sort of filtration going on? Shouldn't I be told?
posted by Steven C. Den Beste to Bugs at 4:26 PM PST - 13 comments [closed]

Weird timing

Weird Timing This was just posted in response to a question asked later in the thread and it seems to have been time stamped two hours earlier.
posted by allen.spaulding to Bugs at 4:17 PM PST - 23 comments [closed]

New user has issues navigating askme

Look at all these answers- see a pattern?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero to Etiquette/Policy at 1:36 PM PST - 58 comments [closed]

FAQ launched

I just launched the FAQ engine I wrote a few weeks ago. It's got just a few questions in it and it hasn't been organized yet, but if you're logged in, feel free to suggest new questions at the bottom of the page, which me and jessamyn will review, organize, and post later on. For now, it's just starting out, but I'm sure we can fill this out and organize it into something useful for everyone in just a few weeks.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 10:49 AM PST - 58 comments

Win the thread.

What's the deal with people "winning" threads all the time?
posted by Mean Mr. Bucket to Etiquette/Policy at 10:04 AM PST - 1 comment [closed]

What are the odds that two adjacent posts would both use the word "fustian"?

What are the odds that two adjacent posts would both use the word "fustian"?
posted by adamrice to MetaFilter-Related at 7:44 AM PST - 94 comments

April 19

Deleted comments immediately reposted

I think it's a violation of the spirt of AskMe to repost derailing comments immediately after they've been deleted.
posted by Snyder to Etiquette/Policy at 6:50 PM PST - 2 comments [closed]

When is it ok to pile on a poster?

Regarding this question. What's the rule of thumb here? Is it ok to pile on a poster and not answer his question if he's a minor? If his parents are possibly rich? If he lives in LA? If you don't like his attitude? If you're mad because you had a shitty car when you were 16, or even -- GASP -- no car at all, and this kid totally doesn't even deserve one, much less a NEW one?
posted by fishfucker to Etiquette/Policy at 3:22 PM PST - 161 comments

New Feedback for Projects

I just added a feedback mechanism to Projects. If you want to test it first, try it out here and let me know if you find any bugs. You can leave one bit of feedback on any Project, and only the author will see them.
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 2:32 PM PST - 21 comments

Tell us when TSA actually finds something...

Is there anything that makes this post good? (mi)
posted by bigmusic to Etiquette/Policy at 2:27 PM PST - 20 comments

Reminder: Chicago meetup.

Reminder: Chicago meetup. Tonight, 6pm on, at Monk's.
posted by me3dia to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:31 AM PST - 24 comments

journalism, credibility, and marketing meet and go kaboom

Does the LA Times lose credibility when they change their entire site for a new movie?
posted by angrybeaver to MetaFilter-Related at 9:39 AM PST - 25 comments

"My contacts" link on header?

Pony: Can a "My contacts" link be added next to "My posts" and "My comments"? I like the "My contacts" feature, but I don't use it that often because I have to get to it via my user page, which I can only access from the main pages, not thread pages, so I tend to forget about it. I'd use it more if it was a one click thing in the header.
posted by jacquilynne to Feature Requests at 8:37 AM PST - 14 comments

This appears to be a Self-Link

This appears to be a Self-Link, both in tone and because the poster has the site listed as their homepage.
posted by OmieWise to MetaFilter-Related at 5:22 AM PST - 28 comments

I'm calling myself out....

I feel as though I may have erred by posting this. After having a good look around the site in question, I decided that whilst there was much 'subscription only' content, there was enough free content to warrant a post to the front page. A number of people have disagreed in-thread, claiming that the page is essentially spam. So I'm calling myself out, so that if the mods decide that it is, infact, spam, they can delete it ASAP.
posted by Effigy2000 to Etiquette/Policy at 5:09 AM PST - 19 comments

April 18

Anonymous Replies for AskMe For Several Hours?

Anonymous posting: time-limited cookies to enable anonymous to reply to their own threads for N hours? Perhaps tied to logins? It seems like the "anonymous" nom de plume really only needs to be a setting that is applied when a thread is marked as such and the original poster is replying. Since most of these questions are for personal, medical, or other advice that usually need more input (perhaps to triangulate its position), it seems useful.
posted by kcm to Feature Requests at 8:16 PM PST - 15 comments

We obviously can't have respectful discussions about respectful discussions

We obviously can't have respectful discussions about respectful discussions. Every time the topic comes up, the same insulting "discussion" occurs. Seeing as how no new information is ever presented in these topics, shouldn't they all be considered double posts and deleted? When they are nothing more than another opportunity to display your disgust with someone who disagrees with you, what value do they add to the site?
posted by boo_radley to Etiquette/Policy at 3:01 PM PST - 111 comments [closed]

We obviously can't have respectful discussions about evolution

We obviously can't have respectful discussions about evolution. Every time the topic comes up, the same insulting "discussion" occurs. Seeing as how no new information is ever presented in these topics, shouldn't they all be considered double posts and deleted? When they are nothing more than another opportunity to display your disgust with someone who disagrees with you, what value do they add to the site?
posted by dios to Etiquette/Policy at 12:26 PM PST - 197 comments

Still not logged in

Logged in, got redirected back to the main page, but still not logged in to Mefi - only to MeTa. Logged out, deleted cookies, tried again, same result.
posted by mr_crash_davis to Bugs at 12:22 PM PST - 4 comments [closed]

AskMe Fantastic Posts

My wife and I adopted a black, infant girl. It's not specific to iPods. There is no shrinkage.

The "fantastic answers" section of the Recent Fantastic Posts page of AskMeFi is confusing without context.... could the actual question (the short version) be printed, small, above each fantastic answer?
posted by Robot Johnny to Feature Requests at 8:45 AM PST - 24 comments

I'm asking for your input on the future of the MeFiSwap.

Survey redux... the virtual idea was overwhelmingly shot down, so once again I'm asking for your input on the future of the MeFiSwap. This will be the last survey, from here we'll move forward to start the next swap on May 1, in whichever format is most preferred, so if you have any inclination toward swap participation whatsoever, please weigh in on this one. (And let's hope this stays on the front page of the grey long enough for everyone to know about this. Spread the word.)
posted by Dreama to MetaFilter-Related at 4:59 AM PST - 5 comments

How do I customize my profile info?

I'm sorry if this has been covered or is painfully obvious, but in searching MeTa and generally scouring my profile page, I can't find where to click to change my information. The one MeTa thread I did find on the subject (here) says there's a "customize" link. It seems this has been replaced with "Preferences," since the url ends in "customize.cfm," but when I click there, I get nothing but the set of Features, Links, and Sites links. Help?
posted by Igor XA to Bugs at 12:04 AM PST - 28 comments

April 17

All tags page is down

http://www.metafilter.com/tags/ gives a connection failure.
posted by blue_beetle to Bugs at 6:30 PM PST - 11 comments

I despise comment deletion

This is why I despise comment deletion.
posted by Civil_Disobedient to Etiquette/Policy at 4:18 PM PST - 231 comments

Connecting to static.fmpub.net...

AskMe is hanging half-rendered, with the status bar reading "Connecting to static.fmpub.net...", which, indeed, is not accepting connections.
posted by mendel to MetaFilter-Related at 3:07 PM PST - 11 comments

Seattle meetup April 29, 2006

The next Seattle Meetup (with special guests from Portland, Bellingham, and Vancouver B.C. and environs) will be on Saturday, April 29, 6 p.m. at the Elysian. Previously discussed here.
posted by matildaben to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:01 PM PST - 6 comments

Dealing with illegal questions on AskMe

Do we need a note on the AskMe "post a question" page that says "Please don't ask for advice on how to do something illegal"?
posted by jjg to Etiquette/Policy at 10:46 AM PST - 51 comments

New user posting limits

Why do you need to have a certain amount of comments in order to be able to post a link to the front page?

I've just come across this brilliant documentary about Richard Feynman, but I'm not allowed to post it.

You cannot post to the front page at this time. This can be due to one of several things. You may not have been a member long enough, you may not have posted enough comments, or you may have already posted a link in the past 24 hours.

I've been a member for quite a while and haven't posted any link on the front page yet, so the reason must be that I lack the required number of comments. I understand that people need to have an idea what kind of links are appropriate on the front page; the question is whether the amount of comments one makes is a good metric to determine this. I don't often feel the need to comment on front page postings.
posted by koenie to Etiquette/Policy at 10:15 AM PST - 42 comments

MeFi Compilation Album call for submissions

Metafilter Compliation Album:
Phase one: call for submissions.
[everything of substance inside]

posted by cortex to MetaFilter Music at 8:20 AM PST - 85 comments

Follow-up to this thread

Follow-up to this thread on contacting my father for the first time. With the help of my real-world friends and the great advice at AskMe, I went into this with eyes-wide-open.
posted by KevinSkomsvold to MetaFilter-Related at 7:50 AM PST - 15 comments

MeFi in eye weekly's Weltschmerz

MeFi gets a nod in this week's Weltschmerz, which is published in eye weekly weekly.
posted by greatgefilte to MetaFilter-Related at 6:37 AM PST - 13 comments

April 16

Projects Color Change

Oh my goodness. Projects is teal now. Lovely, isn't it?
posted by MadamM to MetaFilter-Related at 11:55 PM PST - 47 comments

Mefi compilation album idea

Various artists: Feelin' Blue (Metafilter Records, 2006)
Given the response to cortex's excellent music post, and given the range and quality of music on offer, I have an idea that will make us all rich and famous* [follow me inside...]
posted by nylon to MetaFilter Music at 12:26 PM PST - 82 comments

Meetup at Cory Doctorow Debate: Sydney?

Short notice I know but are any Sydneysiders going to the Cory Doctorow debate on Wednesday? If so, do you want to catch up for a quick one afterwards?
posted by tellurian to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:41 AM PST - 25 comments

April 15

Ok to ask about sneaking into Canada?

If you answer this question on sneaking into Canada you could be breaking Canadian law. The poster clearly wants to scam Citizenship and Immigration Canada, since when is this ok?
posted by tiamat to Etiquette/Policy at 1:15 PM PST - 66 comments

Potential Fiery Train Wrecks Averted!

Two AskMe posts on interracial adoption and interracial breeding within an hour of each other. They had the potential to become fiery train wrecks, but instead, the answers were thoughtful and civil. Thanks for the quality discourse!
posted by Gamblor to Etiquette/Policy at 10:56 AM PST - 16 comments

Missing title

You forgot to include a title, please correct this.

Does it really take that much work to think of a pyramid-related lame joke?
posted by cellphone to Etiquette/Policy at 10:15 AM PST - 36 comments

Captcha borked

Captcha/Login/'badlogin.cfm' errors...

1.) If you log in correctly and the captcha is not correct, you will still be logged in when you go to the index page.
2) When you enter an incorrect captcha, you're directed to a page that simply says 'Captcha not correct!' ... not the badlogin.cfm page.
3) If you input your password incorrectly and are directed to the badlogin.cfm page, and then you input everything correctly and hit log in, it will direct you to a page that says "Contact matt if this error keeps happening" ... every time. ;)

Took me like 2-3 minutes to log in today. :-P
posted by SpecialK to Bugs at 9:57 AM PST - 8 comments

April 14

New feature: top ten most voted on projects, by month.

New feature: top ten most voted on projects, by month.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 1:09 PM PST - 53 comments

Languagehat gets a plug on Slate.

Languagehat gets a plug on Slate.
posted by small_ruminant to MetaFilter-Related at 10:18 AM PST - 49 comments

NYC Meetup: April 2006

NYC Meetup: A group of us will be going to the Beer Garden in Astoria on Saturday night. Please join us.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:08 AM PST - 55 comments

Tokyo meetup

Visiting Tokyo May10-15. Any Tokyo-dwelling MeFites interested in a meet-up ?
posted by sconbie to MetaFilter Gatherings at 5:03 AM PST - 10 comments

April 13

Phoenix meetup final plans.

Phoenix meetup final plans.
posted by mr_crash_davis to MetaFilter Gatherings at 5:51 PM PST - 6 comments

Ack, the red! it burrrrrrns!

Ack, the red! it burrrrrrns!
posted by mathowie to Feature Requests at 2:48 PM PST - 103 comments

2 manE W2 ?s - no more US taxes

Maybe that's enough US tax stuff on AskMe now? I mean, seriously.
posted by reklaw to Etiquette/Policy at 9:33 AM PST - 67 comments

[username] posts a single link to a Kos diary...

Troutfishing posts a single link to a Kos diary, acknowledges that it will be deleted, and taunts other members. Seems like a vacation might be in order.
posted by monju_bosatsu to Etiquette/Policy at 9:04 AM PST - 146 comments

April 12

Mathowie interview

"Matthew Haughey, a blogger who has been writing about TiVo for three years on www.pvrblog.com, thinks customer support issues for existing DirecTV-TiVo subscribers may be the biggest reason for DirecTV to have extended the agreement." (via forbes.com)
posted by sequential to MetaFilter-Related at 7:08 PM PST - 32 comments

This is a forum post, not an FPP

GYOBFW
posted by ChasFile to Etiquette/Policy at 1:05 PM PST - 90 comments

a self-linking double post callout

You know, there ought to be a rule (or at least social approbation) against a self-linking double post callout. It seems like it's OK to link to previous comments, but one should let a third party make the DP call.
posted by three blind mice to Bugs at 8:50 AM PST - 5 comments [closed]

Can we have a changelog?

Would it be feasible to have an admin-only message board, maybe in the sidebar? There are enough postings where #1 explains the addition or removal of a feature to merit some kind ot tracking.

I guess what I want is a Meta-Changelog (say, changes.metafilter.com?) that could just be a plain-text, "on this date there was..." sort of list.

Or, there's always the ubiquitous RSS feed.

How about it? Simple pony?
posted by ChrisR to Feature Requests at 6:43 AM PST - 7 comments

On AskMe, long comment preview is broken.

cannot preview long comments in askme
posted by andrew cooke to Bugs at 6:34 AM PST - 16 comments [closed]

April 11

Los Angeles meetup

Dear the fine folks of los angeles:

I challenge you to a meet-up! It's been quite a while since one was organized and it's high time that another one take place.
posted by punch_the_mayor to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:02 PM PST - 30 comments

Dear mathowie, your plans?

What is your project/plan of features on mefi matt?
[mi]
posted by filmgeek to Feature Requests at 7:39 PM PST - 21 comments

Offensive Ask-Me

Maybe it's just my ameri-centric liberal oversensitivity and 'wheatish' skin-tone, but somehow I find this thread to be highly offensive.
posted by matkline to Etiquette/Policy at 6:39 PM PST - 110 comments

Las Vegas Meetup

Who's gonna be in Vegas for DC14 (Aug 4-6)? I'd love a chance to have a good sized meet-up, with beer.
posted by mystyk to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:10 PM PST - 1 comment

Fix the footer?

The red footer on Projects rides too high on projects that have a few votes (obscuring the names of the voters). Example of my own projects page. I'm on Safari. Let me know if you need a screengrab.
posted by dobbs to Bugs at 4:49 PM PST - 4 comments

Opinions on MefiSwap (music)?

Voice your opinion on the future of the MeFiSwap. Or at least the MeFiSwap as I've got a hand in it. If you've been a part in the past, if you want to be a part in the future, if you've just got a thought you want to share, here's an opportunity.
posted by Dreama to MetaFilter-Related at 3:42 PM PST - 41 comments

Stunty metacallout thread

Metacallout
posted by kyleg to MetaFilter-Related at 1:25 PM PST - 21 comments [closed]

Meta

Ironic callout.
posted by keswick to Etiquette/Policy at 11:55 AM PST - 304 comments

Seattle Meetup

Hey, Seattle! How'd you like to meet up on the weekend of April 29-30? We'll probably have people from both North and South joining us. Let's talk about time and place.
posted by matildaben to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:55 AM PST - 24 comments

Personal Response to incident

Why just debate the issues surrounding the Australian government's miscarriage of justice in the case of Nick Gill, when you can actually read Mr. Gill's personal response to the incident at hand?
posted by insomnia_lj to MetaFilter-Related at 4:07 AM PST - 6 comments

Melbourne Meetup

Melbourne Easter Meetup! Victorians, not doing anything this weekend? Why not meet some people who share your love for the blue, brown, green and red + white?

Suggested time: Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday.
Suggested place: Somewhere central that is not impossible to find.
posted by asok to MetaFilter Gatherings at 2:12 AM PST - 9 comments

April 10

A HIPAA callout.

WTF delmoi? Why do you have to constantly preach to us about HIPAA?

delmoi has a problem of shitting in threads that are only tangentially related to HIPAA.

He appears to have spelled it correctly in only one comment ­- HIPAA was actually relevant to the thread, so someone commented about it before he showed up. He still managed to give terrible advice anyhow.

Why do you keep doing this? What grudge do you have against a law you can't spell?
posted by blasdelf to Etiquette/Policy at 10:22 PM PST - 99 comments

Time zones are funny when previewing comments on AskMe.

Time zones are funny when previewing comments on AskMe. I have my time zone set at Central. When I use live preview, my comments appear with Pacific time. I did the cookies/logout deal, and it still does it.
posted by MeetMegan to Bugs at 5:09 PM PST - 5 comments

Why is there not an initial "Please select category" null option?

MeTa category dropdown: Why is there not an initial "Please select category" null option? Because we all get excited and make oopsies.
posted by Eideteker to Feature Requests at 3:21 PM PST - 13 comments

Mefi Bug Tracker

I suggest implementing a bug tracking system for MetaFilter to track all the bugs and feature requests.

You could use for example the HELPNEEDED tag for things you might need help fixing. You can set priorities on bugs so that the most important and urgent problems will be fixed first. You can set WONTFIX for features that you aren't going to implement, and that way people will know not to bug you about the issue. You can enable voting for bugs and feature requests so you'll have a better idea of where to focus your efforts, you could easily assign small issues to jessamyn, etc.
posted by Sharcho to Feature Requests at 3:14 PM PST - 39 comments

Voting on Metafilter Projects?

Now that the contest is over, what is the point of having voting on Metafilter Projects? Anyone who wants to post the project to the front page can do so—no matter how many votes there are—and in most cases, having comments there instead of voting could provide the poster with valuable criticism and advice.

Is it just the worry that people will write mean things about the projects?
posted by interrobang to MetaFilter-Related at 11:08 AM PST - 78 comments

The Guardian scrapes Metafilter...

I thought jb, cribcage and delmoi might be interested to know their comments in last week's thread about liberalism on US campuses were published in Saturday's Guardian.
posted by biffa to MetaFilter-Related at 3:34 AM PST - 32 comments

April 9

Favorite member sites?

Right now there are 35,070 members in MetaFilter. Many members have their own unique personal sites. Which are your favorite less-known ones?
posted by growabrain to MetaFilter-Related at 8:20 PM PST - 38 comments

Plain text theme problem

Using the 'plain text' theme has a very small problem. In MetaTalk if you click on the category/topic of a post, the page it takes you to has the category/topic obscured by a brown box. (Slashing because sometimes it's called a Category and other times a Topic.)
posted by tellurian to Bugs at 6:16 PM PST - 12 comments

Clean up possible misquote to avoid nuclear fallout

Cleanup on aisle 50764.

While I appreciate what a fun fireball the thread might turn into, the subject of the FPP is miffed by syntax in the FPP which might be construed as attributing a quote to her (when in fact it is a quote by someone else whom she is disagreeing with), and the FPPer has also said he/she has no problem changing the syntax, so in the name of avoiding nuclear fallout, could Jessamyn or Matt edit the FPP?
posted by Bugbread to Bugs at 4:37 PM PST - 44 comments

metafilter.eu ?!

Who is Janusch Kurt (or Kurt Janusch) and does he plan to start metafilter.eu. Does anyone in Hull want to ask him?
posted by ?! to MetaFilter-Related at 4:11 PM PST - 27 comments

Chatfilter Guidelines

Why was this deleted as "chatfilter" while countless indistinguishable threads weren't? [more inside]
posted by cillit bang to Etiquette/Policy at 5:54 AM PST - 54 comments

April 8

MetaFilter in Atlantic Monthly

MetaFilter is recognized in the online version of Atlantic Monthly:
Bloggers who have referred the most visitors to The Atlantic Online in 2006:
Andrew Sullivan
Boing Boing
MetaFilter
Political Animal
Kottke.org
Daily Kos
The Washington Note
The Corner
Talking Points Memo
Power Line
Gawker
The Guardian
Althouse
Persian Blog
posted by Cranberry to MetaFilter-Related at 9:15 PM PST - 97 comments

Is this too gossipy?

Gossipfilter? Is this appropriate for Metafilter, or should insomnia_lj just have his hot-tub party rights revoked?
posted by dhartung to Etiquette/Policy at 5:38 PM PST - 86 comments

MediaShift interviews mathowie

'I did my best to make the place as welcoming as possible, and eventually a few hundred people showed up and we had something good,' Haughey told me via email. 'Since then, I think the strong sense of community — the sense of belonging and getting something out of the participation is what drives people to contribute. There are no points or karma or awards, but I think members enjoy sharing interesting links and comments with each other and seeing their name mentioned on the site.'
Scary picture, too
posted by y2karl to MetaFilter-Related at 11:13 AM PST - 60 comments

Bad newsfilter post.

This is why single link newsfilter posts are bad.
posted by TedW to Etiquette/Policy at 8:09 AM PST - 31 comments

April 7

The cursor's picked up something extra.

Recently I've begun seeing a ltitle dot just to the right of the cursor in the comment submission form (screenshot). Is this just an artifact of live preview or something? Happens in Firefox on Win.
posted by scarabic to Bugs at 12:00 PM PST - 85 comments

I'm still madly in love with MetaFilter

To be honest, I feel like we're in the goddamn Silver Age of Metafilter. [More (chatfilter) inside]
posted by loquacious to MetaFilter-Related at 4:07 AM PST - 153 comments

April 6

MetaTalk Site Improvements

MetaTalk Header and Categories [more inside]
posted by shoesfullofdust to Feature Requests at 5:58 PM PST - 16 comments

projects page-switching navigation runs the opposite direction

Nitpicky: projects.metafilter's page-switching navigation runs the opposite direction from the other three sites'.
posted by Ogre Lawless to Bugs at 2:43 PM PST - 19 comments

hidden deleted stuff

"Matt could simply change the font color to match the background color of the page, so if you wanted to read [a deleted comment] you'd have to highlight it, like spoilers on a movie review page. That would be awesome." This is an idea so good, it gets its own thread.
posted by Saucy Intruder to Feature Requests at 11:49 AM PST - 79 comments

Blink tags don't kill threads, users who post blink tags kill threads.

Blink tags don't kill threads, users who post blink tags kill threads. [more inside. this is not about a four letter word for god]
posted by cytherea to Feature Requests at 12:38 AM PST - 187 comments

April 5

Stay on subject in relationship filter

Can we try not to hijack a relationship thread with judgements about "breeders"?
posted by ThePinkSuperhero to Etiquette/Policy at 8:30 PM PST - 322 comments

"near users" for a given coordinate

I'd like to use the "near users" feature to see users near a given coordinate. [more inside]
posted by qvantamon to Feature Requests at 4:20 PM PST - 9 comments

Has anyone here "gone crazy"?

Has anyone here "gone crazy"? Has anyone been a normal, functioning person, and then been diagnosed with a serious mental illness? When did you start to notice, and what was it like when you finally realized what was going on?
posted by borkingchikapa to MetaFilter-Related at 3:16 PM PST - 37 comments [closed]

September 11th Thread

Thought you guys might be interested to know I just taught Sept 11 to my american history class by reading the first 60 or so comments from this thread. It was a near perfect capturing of that day for those too young to really understand what was going on
posted by trinarian to MetaFilter-Related at 9:15 AM PST - 164 comments

April 4

An updstanding community member

This guy has really learned his lesson. He's a worthwhile member of the community, who really respects the admins.

That's why he mentions that he'd like to do the exact thing that got him banned previously. Because he's so sorry, and has so much respect.
posted by I Love Tacos to Etiquette/Policy at 1:36 PM PST - 9 comments [closed]

Sometimes I need more then one question a week

Sometimes I need more then one question a week...

I'm thinking a feature would be nice where you could ask "4 questions a month" in stead of once a week.. or have unused questions (say you odnt ask a question on MeFi for a month) that would be "banked"?

alternately, I was thinking of "donate a question" or "extra questions dispensed" based on being selected as best answer?
posted by Izzmeister to Feature Requests at 12:20 PM PST - 87 comments

identify this photo

I seem to recall a while back there was a really creepy, possibly panoramic, photograph of a sprawling suburban housing development posted to the blue, though it may have been on mathowie or merlinmann's personal sites. Does anyone know what I'm talking about and can they point me to the image?
posted by keswick to MetaFilter-Related at 10:54 AM PST - 54 comments

E3 meet-up

Who's doing E3 this year? Me and my associates are making plans for next month, and I'd enjoy a mefi meetup seeing as how I missed the one last year.
posted by boo_radley to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:27 AM PST - 6 comments

you ask about drugs and insurance; my advice is to quit

I didn't want to derail this AskMe with this, so I clipped what I wrote there about drug testing and am posting it here. [more inside]
posted by phearlez to MetaFilter-Related at 9:31 AM PST - 43 comments

Time zone fix?

TimezonePony .... It's that time of the year again. Instead of showing the false EST/PST/etc standard timezone stamps, can the system be tweaked to either show the correct EDT/PDT/etc, or at least ET/PT/etc? Cue snarks.
posted by intermod to Bugs at 8:04 AM PST - 29 comments

Chatfilter and consistency in moderation

I'm sure this invites a pile-on, but I thought this question in askme was thought provoking and was looking forward to discussion and comment, but it got deleted as "chatfilter." How much more worthy were this or this?
posted by Pressed Rat to Etiquette/Policy at 6:49 AM PST - 46 comments [closed]

Snark fight in AskMe thread.

Fuck you for trying to be helpful
posted by cillit bang to Etiquette/Policy at 6:06 AM PST - 43 comments

Link tweaking: is a redux to supplant dead links justified, or should the links just be tweaked?

previously on mefl here, but the content is old and that link dead so I thought it was worth another post.

As meehawl points out, we've discussed Aphex Twin infinitely. If an old link breaks, is it best to send a message to jessahowie to update it, rather than dredging it back up on the front page?
posted by VulcanMike to Etiquette/Policy at 5:58 AM PST - 33 comments

Indicating fantastic questions and answers

Idea: how about indicating fantastic questions and answers in the same way as best answers? [more inside]
posted by MetaMonkey to Feature Requests at 2:33 AM PST - 7 comments

Time Zone Problem

Why is the time wrong, as I view it? Sitting here on the Australian east coast, it's 5:10 pm, or UTC + 10, which is how my preferences are set. So what's the Metafilter setting, where's it gone wrong?
posted by wilful to Bugs at 12:12 AM PST - 12 comments

April 3

Kidding, don't pile on.

Wow. A lot of you failed to get the joke.
posted by armoured-ant to Etiquette/Policy at 3:07 PM PST - 10 comments [closed]

MetaFilter mentionned on autoblog.

autoblog cites metafilter on the Chevy tahoe story. As did fark. So awesome for us.
posted by delmoi to MetaFilter-Related at 2:58 PM PST - 10 comments

Matthewchen again

matthewchen is spamming gathering demographic data in preparation to recommence spamming.
posted by dersins to Etiquette/Policy at 8:50 AM PST - 105 comments

April 2

Calling myself out.

'Help the net.cops, call yourself out!'
posted by davy to Etiquette/Policy at 11:17 PM PST - 76 comments [closed]

Sidebar URL error.

Oddly, the sideblog link to the "realistic swordfighting" thread takes me to something called www.marginalia.org. Surely, this is unintentional.
posted by SPrintF to Bugs at 8:32 PM PST - 1 comment [closed]

Self-link Callout

self-link. more inside.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht to Etiquette/Policy at 7:01 AM PST - 70 comments

April 1

did you know you can flag a post that hasn't been made yet?

Nothing world-breaking, but did you know you can flag a post that hasn't been made yet?
posted by Eideteker to Bugs at 10:09 PM PST - 53 comments

Is there no room on metafilter for fun?

I noticed all of Eideteker's "APRIL FOOLS!" comments were deleted. Is there no room on metafilter for fun?
posted by Citizen Premier to MetaFilter-Related at 6:59 PM PST - 58 comments

Avoiding bad links

In the comment box, after clicking the link icon (or Ctrl-Shift-A), and pressing the Escape button, it shouldn't insert a "null" link, but just cancel adding the link.
posted by Sharcho to Bugs at 3:15 PM PST - 13 comments

megnut marries

I missed the joke pointed out by this post. The flikr 7-day random wasn't all cats when I looked. However, it did net up this pic of a well-known mefiite which will interest many others. (The ones who are most interested, of course, will surely have seen it already.)
posted by jfuller to MetaFilter-Related at 1:17 PM PST - 34 comments