July 2004 Archives (all archives)

July 31

MeFi Passwords

Perhaps it's right in front of my nose....

Where do we go to change our MeFi passwords? What do we do if we, heaven forbid, LOSE our password to MeFi? Do we get kicked out of the kingdom for being big dorkuses? Am I just missing it?
posted by answergrape to Feature Requests at 4:34 PM PST - 16 comments

[Max field length is 100] Is a bad choice of words a derogation during Ask Mefi?

Is a bad choice of words a derogation during Ask Mefi?
posted by wendell to MetaFilter-Related at 11:22 AM PST - 34 comments

July 30

Chicago Meetup

And now, it's time for this month's thrilling installment of Chicago Mefi Meetup Theatre! Previously...
posted by Johnny Assay to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:59 PM PST - 19 comments

are you going to log in? huh huh huh?

I'm using Firefox on Windows XP, and I just tried to go to MeFi and then here to MeTa, and it kept pestering me to login. When did THAT happen? Or, as I'm guessing, is this a bug?
posted by taumeson to Bugs at 1:34 PM PST - 2 comments

July 29

Whats the deal with the mefi swap?

Whats the deal with the mefi swap? Its supposed to be open, but is infact, not. Is it dead? That would make me very sad.
posted by bob sarabia to MetaFilter Music at 8:47 PM PST - 50 comments

What have been your best and worst links posted?

A what-makes-a-good-post question I'd like to see other MetaFilter dinosaurs answer along with me: What are the best and worst links you ever inflicted on the front page?
posted by rcade to MetaFilter-Related at 7:46 AM PST - 66 comments

July 27

DC meetup proposal, Screen on the Green

Hey MefiDC, how about a Screen on the Green meetup one of these Mondays? Preferably a non-rainy one.
posted by brownpau to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:43 PM PST - 11 comments

July 26

I am a relurker

I now find myself (temporarily perhaps) in a growing class of MetaFilter users not often mentioned: the relurkers. [More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 10:15 PM PST - 128 comments

Can I link to Geocities?

If I have found a website that I think is interesting and I'd like to share it with MeFi... but it is a geocities page that will be useless after the bandwidth limit is hit, what is the protocol? Simply not post it? Post it and let the bandwidth chips fall where they may? Advice on proper etiquette appreciated!
posted by limitedpie to Etiquette/Policy at 8:13 PM PST - 12 comments

NYC meetup

On July 5th, chicobangs asked:

Okay, then. How about Saturday, August 7th at the Bohemian Beer Hall? Could that possibly be a plan?

I have operated on the assumption that that is a plan. Am I right?
posted by caitlinb to MetaFilter Gatherings at 3:16 PM PST - 26 comments

I've never quite figured out the etiquette to follow-up posts...

I've never quite figured out the etiquette to follow-up posts...
posted by togdon to Etiquette/Policy at 1:10 PM PST - 19 comments

July 25

In MeTa, each comment gets its own div

In MeTa, each comment gets its own div. In MeFi, all the comments are in one div. Why is this?
posted by kenko to Bugs at 6:26 PM PST - 26 comments

July 24

Updated Slogans

Metafilter: the plastic.com it's OK to like.

It seems like metafilter has had the same few slogans on the main page for a long time. People always post funny suggestions for mefi taglines in the the threads, but they're never adopted.

My request: Matt, geton the ball and and some new taglines.
posted by delmoi to Feature Requests at 9:10 AM PST - 82 comments

July 23

I'm looking for a particular thread on MeFi

OK, hoping this is the right place to ask this. I'm looking for a particular thread on MeFi; it was about dental tourism and chronicled the author's experience with a much less expensive system in South America. I found the linked article very interesting. Can't find the original post now; checked Google and MeFi search for all the obvious queries. Anyone remember this one, or did I not see it here?
posted by udeups to MetaFilter-Related at 2:07 PM PST - 5 comments

will there be a Minneapolis meetup? When? Where?

On July 6th a thread was started about a potential Minneapolis meetup for August 1st. The thread seems to have died, will there be a Minneapolis meetup? When? Where?
posted by substrate to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:49 AM PST - 32 comments

July 22

"Pepsi Blue": no longer funny

NEWSFLASH: "Pepsi Blue" is no longer funny (was it ever?) As my very first post reflects, I actually am concerned about sly product placement on MetaFilter. But I'm tired of the cynical 'viral marketing' callouts on any post that is in any way tainted by the scent of capitalism. At one time I may have found it amusing, but it's just getting old. And in the FPP in question, I don't appreciate the backhanded accusation. It's obviously an innocent post, and if it garners more attention for lucky Mr. Kerry Edwards, then more power to him.
posted by _sirmissalot_ to Etiquette/Policy at 11:29 AM PST - 51 comments

July 21

More and more Newsfilter, and boring Newsfilter at that

The pancakes are getting incredibly stale, people.
Metafilter used to be an addiction for me, but lately with more and more Newsfilter, and boring Newsfilter at that, can we really say we are the best of the Web anymore? Final straw was the posting of that Bush daughter photo.
Is this really what we want this place to be?
posted by konolia to Etiquette/Policy at 12:30 PM PST - 250 comments

July 20

Single-link op-ed front page post? GYOWFW!

Single-link op-ed front page post? GYOWFW!
posted by hama7 to Etiquette/Policy at 3:08 PM PST - 123 comments

ordered by "Date Modified" instead of "Date Created"...what do you think?

All MetaFilter Comments by [Member] , ordered by "Date Modified" instead of "Date Created"...what do you think?
posted by LairBob to Feature Requests at 2:40 PM PST - 14 comments

DC/Baltimore Gaming Meetup

I just wanted everyone to know we're still trying to arrange a DC/Balitmore Board Gaming MeFi Meetup over on the Wiki. It's been a while since we've discussed it over there, because we had some roadblocks with vacations and such, so I though I'd mention it here again. If people are free, we'd even be interested in doing it this weekend.
posted by emptybowl to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:27 AM PST - 15 comments

The last line of pardonyou?'s post makes me indescribably sad.

The last line of pardonyou?'s post makes me indescribably sad.
posted by jammer to Etiquette/Policy at 7:32 AM PST - 144 comments

Webvisions conference has passed

Matt, the Webvisions conference has passed, so the gif on the MeFi front page is now out of date. Do you have something else to put there?
posted by davehat to MetaFilter-Related at 4:25 AM PST - 17 comments

July 19

MeFi obesity thread call-out

I'm not big on callouts. But this comment by the fire you left me pretty much sums up the problems MeFi has with fat-related posts.
posted by hijinx to Etiquette/Policy at 12:16 PM PST - 148 comments

July 18

It was awesome, but not on the web, does it become a self-link?

Here’s a conundrum - What if someone had something rather interesting fall into his lap that didn’t yet exist on the web, so that someone puts it up on the web... If that someone then wanted to share it with his fellow mefis (because many seem to share a similar sense of humour) and throw up a post/link on metafilter about it, would that be considered self-linking and taboo? Or does one have to find someone else to ghost post it, which seems kind of sneaky and deceptive? Or forget it altogether?

Someone = me.

Something = this.

Hey. It made me laugh.
posted by dakotadusk to Etiquette/Policy at 4:58 PM PST - 44 comments

July 17

How can I avoid making double posts?

Drat! Foiled again! If anyone needs a pony that helps prevent doubleposts, it's me. I search (google) and search (MeFi), come up empty, post, and soon discover that I've been had. We've talked about such a pony that uses a keyword, category, or subject engine... how's it coming?
posted by moonbird to Feature Requests at 1:27 PM PST - 21 comments

July 16

So I decided to build it myself...(and then it died)

FineIllGetMyOwnDamnPonyFilter - A couple days ago I became cranky that AskMe didn't have several features I felt were vital to making it work right - A keyword/topic search, categories, an area to summarize the answers, a way for the poster to sum things up, a moderation system so that quality rises to the top, a way to find if my question has already been asked, etc. I'm sure Matt will build this stuff eventually, or not. So I decided to build it myself. [more inside]
posted by y6y6y6 to MetaFilter-Related at 3:28 PM PST - 39 comments

Proxy Cookies

Bug report: MeFi has suddenly started relying on IP addresses to identify users. A coworker just emailed me with a screenshot which showed that he had my session (he has no account but was identified by my username). Loading the blue just a second ago, I myself was identified as a certain milnak whom I do not know (but that person is located very close to me geographically). The unifying thread seems to be that we work for a certain large software company and thus all access MeFi through the same outgoing HTTP proxy.

And yes, I know, I should get back to work instead of reading the blue, etc, etc.

Side note: metatalk still identifies me correctly as blindcarboncopy.
posted by blindcarboncopy to Bugs at 11:31 AM PST - 11 comments

MetaFilter Remixed is gone.

MetaFilter Remixed is gone. Sniff.
posted by DevilsAdvocate to MetaFilter-Related at 9:29 AM PST - 7 comments

No fucking way.

No fucking way.
posted by Frasermoo to Etiquette/Policy at 5:23 AM PST - 92 comments

July 15

Fun with statistics

Fun with statistics: I have always been curious to the percentage of "ghost accounts" on MeFi, and so today I decided to find out! I took a random sample of 263 (95% +/- 6) user accounts, and discovered that 61.2% of registered users have never commented or posted. Of the 38.8% who have posted, 45.1% have posted less than 10 comments, 42.2% have posted between 10 and 99 comments, and 12.7% have made more than 100 comments.
posted by Quartermass to MetaFilter-Related at 10:31 PM PST - 57 comments

First post deleted

Made my first FPP attempt yesterday, and it vanished after being up for about 10 minutes. How? Why? Which mighty being out there did it offend?
posted by of strange foe to Bugs at 7:32 AM PST - 27 comments

July 14

Entire paragraphs as linked text

Does anyone agree with me that posting an entire paragraph as a single link makes it very hard to understand? I find it very difficult to read these types of links and posts. Particularly because a mouseover event causes the entire paragraph (in bold typeface) to flash between white and yellow on a blue background.
posted by PigAlien to Etiquette/Policy at 10:45 AM PST - 19 comments

Future of MeFi

There have understandably been great outpourings of love for metafilter and Mattafilter today.
I sincerely hope it is here in five years time and beyond.
What are the chances of that?
How long will it last?
Is it just up to Matt?
posted by kenaman to MetaFilter-Related at 8:06 AM PST - 28 comments

SF meetup pics from tonight (July 14, 2004)

SF Meetup pics from tonight. I took fewer than anyone, so I know many more are on the way.
posted by scarabic to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:53 AM PST - 52 comments

Shoutout for a Unicode Converter

dorian solved a perrenial MetaFilter problem. Perhaps this could be linked on the post-writing screen?
posted by Pretty_Generic to Feature Requests at 1:33 AM PST - 26 comments

Happy 5th

Happy 5th Birthday Metafilter.
posted by karmaville to MetaFilter-Related at 12:03 AM PST - 40 comments

July 13

Heartwarming chatfilter

I've never bothered to call out and Ask Metafilter thread before, but threads such as this one are growing at an alarming rate, as was detailed the other day in metatalk. While I'm sure we all agree--or a relatively large percentage of us seem to, anyway--that these threads often result in some heart-warming tales, leaving so many of them up is probably sending the wrong message. This one is still early enough that it hasn't attained the too-heart-warming-to-delete stage that the parents thread did the other day, but it violates many of the same principles fundamental to ask metafilter (there's no query with a helpful response, only a solicitation of what could admittedly be charming anecdotes).
posted by The God Complex to Etiquette/Policy at 2:26 PM PST - 137 comments

Releasing MeFi Code

From the wiki: "MetaFilter runs on a ColdFusion engine written by MattHaughey. The source isn't available although he is thinking of GPLing it in July 2003."

I don't remember any discussion of releasing the MetaFilter code. Is it still under consideration?
posted by timeistight to MetaFilter-Related at 11:02 AM PST - 20 comments

July 12

Hanger balancing flash game

There was a flash game posted last year on Mefi involving balancing hangers against each other, while hanging elements like birdhouses and sponges off some of them. I've tired google-fu to no avail. Does anyone remember the link? Thanks in advance!
posted by phyrewerx to MetaFilter-Related at 9:24 PM PST - 12 comments

San Francisco Meetup

Reminder: SF/Bay Area meetup, Tuesday night
(7/13) at Zeitgeist. Meet on the deck in the back around 6-6:30pm.
posted by vacapinta to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:08 PM PST - 14 comments

"New" count not accurate

AskMe tells me, "There have been no new questions and 146 comments posted since your last visit." But there have actually been four new questions since my last visit.
posted by PrinceValium to Bugs at 3:42 PM PST - 3 comments

Last-second meetup? Tuesday in Dallas

Last-second, sloppily thrown together Dallas Happy Hour, featuring special guest matteo. Tuesday, July 13th (tomorrow) at 5:00, Trinity Hall Irish Pub (at Mockingbird Station). (more inside)
posted by Ufez Jones to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:54 PM PST - 25 comments

July 11

How do I search for Metafilter users?

it took me something like twenty minutes to remember how to do the "username.mefi" URL to find somebody's information. while messing around, i also found users.mefi which is a link to people who have origins in their name...and i never knew about that. what else is out there? and, is there a list of the various dotmefi pages one can use?
posted by taumeson to Feature Requests at 5:23 PM PST - 11 comments

duplicate anchor names in thread

This comment permalink should go to a Hunter S. Thompson quote, but it goes to the wrong place. There are duplicate anchor names on the thread.
posted by tomharpel to Bugs at 2:25 PM PST - 8 comments

Comment milestones

Comment milestones over time. Some comment data for stats geeks inside.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 9:14 AM PST - 28 comments

"new" replies in a post are always incorrect

Whenver I log in, the "new" replies in a post are always incorrect when you are at the main page. You know, (42 posts 2 new). Is this something common? If it is, can it be easily fixed?
posted by Keyser Soze to MetaFilter-Related at 1:44 AM PST - 1 comment

July 10

AskMe Callout

This filth is just too much. These posts are not questions, do not help anyone, and aren't funny; they cheapen, devalue and irritate our dearly beloved Ask Metafilter. Can we please not crap all over it? If you want to just hang out, go to the mefi irc channel. Or somewhere, just away. Please? Please?
posted by ac to Bugs at 12:57 PM PST - 145 comments

July 9

Fix this post please!

Can we get an edit here: 1=3584">Put Up the Hoop Sooner:"? This is a great post, which I avoided for 4 hours trying to figure out which unit of measure is 298 feet, and why that's less than basketball.
posted by daver to Bugs at 4:24 PM PST - 2 comments

Anil Dash wins the SEO link challenge.

Anil Dash wins the SEO link challenge.
posted by the fire you left me to MetaFilter-Related at 2:45 PM PST - 7 comments

Is anyone planning on attending SENT tomorrow at The Standard?

Sorry in advance.
Is anyone planning on attending SENT tomorrow at The Standard? I'm curious to know who all might be going.
posted by Lizc to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:24 PM PST - 0 comments

Was this user banned?

has 111 been banned ?
posted by sgt.serenity to Feature Requests at 10:32 AM PST - 99 comments

This is a small thing about which I am a bit paranoid

This is a small thing about which I am a bit paranoid. Don't some Ask Metafilter questions really amount to fishing for personal information rather than seeking help? Posts 8554, 8555, and 8579 are examples.
posted by Mo Nickels to Etiquette/Policy at 10:07 AM PST - 26 comments

keywords to avoid double posts

Double Post Suggestion: Part of the reason people double-post is because when they do a search, nothing turns up. This often has to do with the fact that the first poster wanted to maintain an element of surprise and therefore did not put any information into the post except a link. I would suggest that from now on, for each new front page post, that there be an additional, hidden field called 'description' or 'keywords' or both where the poster could put a list of keywords or a description that might turn up in future searches. This field would not show up on the front page, so posters could maintain the element of surprise without making it difficult to find the post in future.
posted by PigAlien to Feature Requests at 7:45 AM PST - 28 comments

July 7

"How long will there will cowards logged into Metafilter?"

ParisParamus, 4 am JST : "How long will there will cowards logged into Metafilter?"

ParisParamus, 10:37 am JST : "Metafilter: keeping as many liberal and pacifist a-holes inside, so they do the least amount of damage possible in the real world."
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to Etiquette/Policy at 5:55 PM PST - 100 comments

AgendaFilter

Asparagirl's Israeli Civil War? thread is crap. It's admitted AgendaFilter about a topic that has almost no chance of being discussed civilly, and on top of that she attacks (none too coherently) delmoi for linking to her blog.
posted by Irontom to Etiquette/Policy at 10:59 AM PST - 56 comments

More broken threads: 14134 - 16428 - 17705

More broken threads: 14134 - 16428 - 17705
posted by Irontom to Bugs at 6:42 AM PST - 4 comments

Anyone at ACLU in SF?

Sorry if this is completely inappropriate, but:
The ACLU members' conference is in progress here in San Francisco. If any of you are in attendance, i'd love to know, and buy some drinks and offer tips as an SF native (over 10 years and claiming to like the fog counts as native, according to my research). I had a fun night with the Idaho Contingent at the Gold Dust Lounge tonight- if you are near enough and would like to join up, say so here and I will find you.
posted by obloquy to MetaFilter Gatherings at 12:20 AM PST - 3 comments

July 6

the metafilter wiki has been spammed by an online casino site

it looks as though the metafilter wiki has been spammed pretty badly by an online casino site, with several pages of info replaced with their url and some gibberish. i've emailed adrian but wonder if anyone else besides him might have a back up copy of the site.
posted by t r a c y to MetaFilter-Related at 1:06 PM PST - 30 comments

Anyone going to defcon this year?

Anyone going to defcon this year?
posted by ph00dz to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:35 AM PST - 11 comments

Plan the next Minne Meetup

Lots of email chatter lately about the next Minneapolis meetup! Lawn bowling at Brit's or mini-golf at the Walker--what's the plan?
posted by clever sheep to MetaFilter Gatherings at 7:41 AM PST - 28 comments

Sidebar Newsfeed?

How about an AP news feed on the sidebar, Salon-style? It would both discourage boring cnn.com Newsfilter links, and encourage in-depth analysis posts from multiple sources.
posted by PrinceValium to MetaFilter-Related at 7:00 AM PST - 30 comments

July 5

How old are you?

so who's the oldest mefite here? the youngest?
posted by bob sarabia to MetaFilter-Related at 7:37 PM PST - 96 comments

FPPs as unordered lists in html

Matt, could you make the FPPs be unordered lists in the HTML? I want to be able to use the site with elinks in graphical mode. Just about everything else is kickass, and it loads lightning fast, but all the FPPs end up scrunched together and are very difficult to eyeball-parse. I think this would be a Good Thing, not just for links users, but for general browser cross-compatibility.
posted by bingo to Feature Requests at 7:04 PM PST - 5 comments

Do single link front page posts irritate the heck out of anyone but me?

Do single link front page posts with no addtional text and no clue to contents of the destination in the link text irritate the heck out of anyone but me?
posted by Mitheral to Etiquette/Policy at 7:55 AM PST - 60 comments

July 4

Is anybody else getting an unstyled Metafilter?

Is anybody else getting an unstyled Metafilter? Suddenly my blue is white. Specifically, http://www.metafilter.com/styles/default.css appears to be MIA.
posted by mrmorgan to Bugs at 10:32 AM PST - 5 comments

July 3

Categories on Metafilter and AskMe?

Why doesn't the green or the blue have categories like the grey?
posted by smackfu to Feature Requests at 11:05 AM PST - 29 comments

July 2

links.mefi Page Not Updating

I just noticed that my little line in the ginormous Links! Links! Links! page of members' home pages does not reflect changes I made in my user profile some weeks back.
posted by carter to Bugs at 7:24 PM PST - 7 comments

beautiful obit for marlon brando

I hate ObitFiler as much as the next guy, but this almost-literary Brando remembrance made me forget why. Thanks, Dobbs.
posted by luser to Etiquette/Policy at 11:29 AM PST - 16 comments

Is there a time interval one should wait before requesting the next meetup?

Is there any particular time interval one should wait before requesting the next meetup in some location?
posted by casarkos to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:25 AM PST - 28 comments

I think someone is trying to hack my account - or are they?

"Your MetaFilter password request"
You requested your MetaFilter password, and that is: [snip]

Login with your username and password here:
http://www.metafilter.com/login/


Uh, no i didn't! What's going on here? Is someone hacking accounts or is this a bug?
posted by internal to Bugs at 8:43 AM PST - 14 comments

July 1

How do you picture the bona-fide MeFi celebrities?

How do you picture the bona-fide MeFi celebrities? We read from them all the time, but they don't often give clues as to their real selves. If you don't make a meetup, you'll still need a picture of them in your head. So what do you think they're like? I'll leave the choice of celebrity up to you
posted by bonaldi to MetaFilter-Related at 9:23 PM PST - 141 comments

Wrongwaygoback Redirects to Metafilter

wrongwaygoback.com = MetaFilter. Huh?
posted by Mwongozi to MetaFilter-Related at 12:09 PM PST - 13 comments