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August 2005 Archives (all archives)
August 31
I know I'm just asking for trouble since this has already been requested
a few times before (and those are only the ones I could find), but the questions on AskMe are moving faster than the speed of light and it's becoming more and more difficult to follow some of the interesting discussions. Is it really difficult to put in the "Sort by recent comments" feature on AskMe?
posted by tuxster to feature requests at 1:31 PM PST - 8 comments
How does
a member with a user number so low
make a post like this and say with a straight face, " I would also wish to add that I really don't wish to be seen as one who is trolling, because I am not...I actually don't think it's that terrible a post. "
posted by dhoyt to etiquette/policy at 6:42 AM PST - 17 comments [closed]
Where can I start a discussion without actually linking to something? I want to talk about Katrina ad my opinion on it, on a different slant -- but I don't really think it is good enough for the blue. But I still want to talk with other people from MeFi...
posted by andreaazure to etiquette/policy at 4:44 AM PST - 23 comments
Dios is blatantly trolling. Again. This time, there can be no doubt in my mind that he is simply posting ridiculous, inflammatory and disingenuous comments for the purpose of starting needless arguments. If he had bothered to read the post, he would know that his point is invalidated completely. Do we have to tolerate his constant shitting on any political thread?
posted by [expletive deleted] to etiquette/policy at 2:32 AM PST - 45 comments [closed]
August 30
Would it be possible to move the most recent end of long, breaking story posts, like the NOLA one unfolding now into a separate thread, say the last 50 posts or so? Refreshing a long thread takes too long, and wastes bandwidth.
posted by ParisParamus to feature requests at 1:42 PM PST - 36 comments
August 29
Andy Baio has just added groups functionality to
Upcoming.org. Does anyone think that a metafilter group might be a good place to aggregate meetups on Metafilter.
I'm still a pretty new member, perhaps an older, wiser, or drunker member might initiate this? anyone? anyone?
posted by djdrue to MetaFilter gatherings at 11:38 AM PST - 5 comments
The two Katrina threads are functionally the same, regardless of their original intent. Can they be merged?
posted by Vidiot to MetaFilter-related at 9:16 AM PST - 10 comments
August 28
I wouldn't have thought this needed any discussion, but after a few emails and a lecture from my father, I'll open it up. In
this thread I left some info for others, and upon receiving a "I don't think it's accurate" message, corrected them rather
snidely. (The lead-in comments are the two immediately prior.)
The question is:
Given the offense (not checking facts before posting), did I come down too tough? Is this an effective way to get people to start thinking before posting, or is this just going to be seen as obnoxious and arrogant?
posted by mystyk to etiquette/policy at 4:27 PM PST - 51 comments
How's about getting Live Preview for posting new FPPs on MeFi and MeTa? I think it would be even more useful there than it is for comments.
posted by skoosh to feature requests at 6:27 AM PST - 6 comments
August 27
This is perhaps indulgent, but it would be potentially useful in ask.mefi if the instigator of the thread could post just once after the thread has been frozen. Some questions resolve after several months, and it would be a possible benefit for those googling for information to see closure, i.e. "this is what ended up working the best, x was right" or what have you. Perhaps this is just imposing a false narrative closure on messy reality.
posted by mecran01 to feature requests at 10:31 PM PST - 5 comments
Weird one:
Whilst googling for "MetaFilter Network LLC" [I was wondering how long Mefi had been so incorporated] I came across
this page [google cache - they don't need the traffic.]
It appends a whole thread from ask.me on the end of their plain old links page of mortgage brokers -
including the source code.
posted by dash_slot- to MetaFilter-related at 11:16 AM PST - 12 comments
August 26
What if instead of being able to post a link every 24 hours, we simply post ever metafilter day? That would take away the need to count down the hours, make posting easier, and still have the same limiting effect.
posted by Citizen Premier to feature requests at 10:44 AM PST - 30 comments
August 25
NSFW? Would your bosses be okay with you looking at mindless garbage all day as long as it doesn't contain nudity? I'm really interested to know.
posted by null terminated to etiquette/policy at 10:12 PM PST - 42 comments
What's the protocol for posting about updates to previously linked sites that members might like to see? For example,
SmashUp Derby has four new downloadable mp3's but somehow I don't think it's postworthy.
posted by nile_red to etiquette/policy at 3:59 PM PST - 15 comments
No idea if anyone's interested, since I'm not exactly a MeFi celeb, but since I'm leaving the NY Metro area (going back to school), I thought I'd invite people to an impromptu meetup. It would be at the
No Idea Bar on Park & Broadway, THIS SATURDAY. (Like in two days). This will be my last NY area meetup, at least for the immediate future. Why are we having it there? Because Saturday's name (click the link) is Nathaniel, which just so happens to be mine. So if you had planned to be out drinking anyway, but didn't have a place in mind, stop in and see us.
I don't have a time yet; I figure people show up when they can. 7 or 8 sound good?
posted by Eideteker to MetaFilter gatherings at 2:30 PM PST - 16 comments
MetaFilter RSS feed broken?
The last article listed in my RSS reader is "Take me on a magic cable car ride!", from yesterday...
Is it just me?
posted by jpburns to bugs at 4:33 AM PST - 13 comments
I posted a smartass answer in this thread.
I admit it was a rude, snarky answer and shortly after posting it I wished it was deleted. Without my request, it was--to my relief.
Over the course of the evening, however, I found it unusual that what would in any other Metafilter setting would be a hugely inflammatory post (SUV, taxes, as subjects), yet after several hours no one had contributed (despite the topic matter and a user base in the tens of thousands).
So: Have Mefites become exceptionally complacent, did the topic (against all expectations) generate no interest, or was there a culling of the thread?
posted by sourwookie to etiquette/policy at 12:08 AM PST - 31 comments
August 24
The participants in
this thread (about the board game Arimaa) engaged in a long discussion about matters on which they tended to strongly disagree. Nonetheless, the discussion was almost universally polite and respectful, and took things to a level far beyond the premise of the original post. It's not every day you can watch people turn a chat about a child's game into a debate on the nature of intelligence and consciousness, or discuss such controversial issues without things degenerating into a slagging match. Kudos.
posted by obiwanwasabi to etiquette/policy at 8:04 PM PST - 11 comments
Rather than deleting comments that are "bad" because they're considered trolls (or just not helpful in AskMe), I think that it would be better to hide them so that only the person who posted the comment can still see it.
posted by freshgroundpepper to feature requests at 2:12 AM PST - 36 comments
August 23
Can we get another way to pay for accounts then
paypal? I'd rather pay $20 for an account through another service then use them. There are several, relatively cheap credit card transaction services out there.
posted by delmoi to feature requests at 2:06 PM PST - 48 comments
August 22
Ask MetaFilter post message has spazzed out and I keep getting server errors ("Server is still starting up"??).
I just thought I'd impart this thrilling news for your edification and reading pleasure.
I'm done now.
posted by bat to bugs at 9:57 PM PST - 1 comments [closed]
As it's
alright now to start posting links to copyrighted material, I wondered if anyone could FPP details on where to find the latest movies, albums and software.
posted by seanyboy to etiquette/policy at 3:25 PM PST - 52 comments
I created a gmail account for anonymous askme followups. The username is anon.metafilter and the password is metafilter. Anymore can post there. Just log in at gmail.google.com and send email from that account TO that account (anon.metafilter@gmail.com).
Since gmail allows tags, you can tag your messages. You can also reply to them (or other users can reply to them) and gmail will automatically keep all the replies together.
Why hasn't someone already done this? Is it a bad idea? (No one will be forced to use it). If it's a bad idea, why is it a bad idea? Of course, it could (perhaps will) get utterly chaotic with people deleting each others posts, etc.
Lets see what happens.
posted by grumblebee to MetaFilter-related at 12:36 PM PST - 40 comments
The front page gives an "Unterminated String Constant" JavaScript error. I think it's something to do with the search box, but I don't really get it. The error's been around for months. IE6
posted by Mephistopheles to bugs at 8:51 AM PST - 9 comments
August 21
The Linux (R) post text doesn't appear in the new mycomments page.
posted by odinsdream to bugs at 8:19 PM PST - 2 comments
Not that it's anything earth-shattering but a
post I made a few months ago has found it's way into the trackback section of Wired. September 05 issue, page 87. Just thought it was nifty. Doesn't appear to be on the web...
posted by glenwood to MetaFilter-related at 5:17 PM PST - 10 comments
August 20
Did the addition of live preview break comment posting in Opera? Comments still get posted, but on submit, the page never refreshes, and just sits there and spins.
Are other Opera users having this problem, or just me?
posted by Caviar to bugs at 5:42 PM PST - 17 comments
August 19
PickyProofreaderFilter: "You've stumbled upon a non-existent post, or one that was deleted for various reasons." Are threads never deleted for only one reason? :-)
posted by winston to bugs at 5:11 PM PST - 1 comments [closed]
ColdFusion error when trying to post a comment in the thread below.
posted by timeistight to bugs at 5:10 PM PST - 2 comments [closed]
On my home computer I'm getting a coldfusion error when trying to access metafilter, on both firefox and IE (win98se, by the way). I've deleted cookies and cache and still no go. Please hope me!
posted by ashbury to bugs at 1:56 PM PST - 7 comments
MetaFilter: Something more than an infantile masturbatory impulse.wait, maybe
Metafilter: No good can come of a thread like this.perhaps
MetaFilter: Flag it and move on...how about
Metafilter: It's a big ball of problems apart from one user with question marks.I know,
Metafilter: This post, it vibrates?That's it. I give. What are your favorite MeFi taglines?
posted by mystyk to MetaFilter-related at 10:28 AM PST - 47 comments
August 18
Just a quick thumbs up to the MeFites - skimming the blue reveals a large number of posts that are,
a. reasonably interesting and
b. well supported with lots of links. I feel like Mefi has been consistently stronger of late, perhaps fallout from the 8/1 contest? Anyway, just wanted to spread some love.
posted by jalexei to MetaFilter-related at 8:33 PM PST - 27 comments
Pony request: Could the "Post Comment" button in the realtime preview be moved a bit more to the right? As wendell
noted, it's too much of a hair-trigger.
posted by Smart Dalek to feature requests at 7:40 PM PST - 12 comments
Regarding
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/22795. So clearly the word "cult" went to my head when trying to categorize that question. But really, what would have been the right thing to have filed it under? It seems there should be a multiple categorizing feature at Metafilter. You know for things like Religion and Philosophy/Media and Arts. Basically having question/posts show up in both categories. Another example being this very question which is both a Feature Request as well as Etiquette/Policy. Peace.
-Neosamurai85
posted by Neosamurai85 to etiquette/policy at 2:36 PM PST - 29 comments
The
My Comments page is up and ready for testing. It scours the comment databases to find all the comments you've left in the past 7 days, then shows you the thread you left them in, along with the comments that followed yours, up to the last ten comments. I've been using it for the past hour or so and it's great for keeping up on threads I left comments in days ago.
I'll clean up the layout and look eventually, but for now, it's the companion to the
My Posts page, and I'm open to feedback or any problems you find. The URL will stay there, so feel free to bookmark both.
posted by mathowie to feature requests at 10:41 AM PST - 71 comments
August 17
QuickTwoPonyRequest: [1] Can a background color for alternating comment s be used to aid readability? [2] Can tags, category and poster information be added to the two RSS feeds?
posted by Rothko to feature requests at 6:21 AM PST - 35 comments
August 16
If a comment is deleted, is the user notified? I commented in the
roach question, and now it's gone. Is it because I used a bad word?
posted by hellbient to bugs at 7:03 PM PST - 11 comments
I lost an askme thread. There was one some time back asking for the source of a sample in a song where someone calls for certain military personnel.
I've tried Google and tried various AskMe tags, but I can't find it. Did I imagine it (including the responses suggesting that the poster look on various stock cue CDs)?
posted by Tuwa to MetaFilter-related at 9:43 AM PST - 3 comments
August 15
This thread has me wondering: when does discussing the law on a forum like AskMe cross over to giving legal advice? Obviously, any lawyer's first answer is going to be "talk to a lawyer." But then what? (A very similar professional ethics problem for
doctors has been discussed here before.) My legal ethics class was fantastic, but we talked more about Enron than the internet.
posted by footnote to etiquette/policy at 7:46 PM PST - 18 comments
If it's true that Yahoo! has a more complete index of Metafilter than Google does - see
here,
here and
here (just below) for tantalizing discussion - wouldn't it make more sense to point folks to Yahoo! rather than Google on the site's various
search and
posting pages? Anyone up for a semi-scientific test?
posted by mediareport to feature requests at 7:17 PM PST - 23 comments
AskMetafilter update, I really want to know what happened to anonymous in the thread which involved a weird FBI message taped to their door with something along the lines of "call this person". It's been a while since the thread occurred and I really hope anonymous is reading this as for some reason I can't stop wondering what eventually happened.
posted by geoff. to MetaFilter-related at 1:05 PM PST - 32 comments
Sorry for the downtime, I was tweaking one small aspect of the server when a comedy of errors ended up with two hours of hair pulling before the server was reachable once again. Everything should be back to normal now.
posted by mathowie to uptime at 11:16 AM PST - 10 comments
I'd like to say thank you to jessamyn for her
outstanding contributions to AskMe. She's contributed helpful and informative answers and links on a broad variety of questions, including some of mine, and raises the overall standard for answers.
posted by By The Grace of God to MetaFilter-related at 6:46 AM PST - 38 comments
Hypothetical scenario: Someone puts up a front page post, but does it in a manner with heavy editorializing / intentionally trolling / etc. The topic is interesting, but it gets removed because of the garbage that came along with it. Someone reposts on the same topic, even with some of the same links, but without the editorializing. Would it be okay? Is there a policy on this?
posted by NotMyselfRightNow to etiquette/policy at 6:35 AM PST - 16 comments
August 13
If my IP were blocked, would the symptoms be something like constantly getting a "Error Executing Database Query ... Server returned: No buffer space available (maximum connections reached?)" error, even though everyone else can connect just fine, until it occurs to me to ssh elsewhere and try connecting? At which point I get through fine?
posted by Harry Morgan to etiquette/policy at 11:01 PM PST - 23 comments
August 12
PonyRequestFilter: does anybody else (other than
amberglow) perceive a rise in spelling errors since the deployment of live preview? Is a live spell check viable?
posted by kimota to feature requests at 8:44 PM PST - 7 comments [closed]
When logging in from the bottom of a thread could the log in page return us to the thread instead of to the front page?
posted by Mitheral to feature requests at 8:17 AM PST - 11 comments
I've been letting my inner Stalinst (the one that I pretty much abandoned in college) comment for me and it's been fun having an opposing viewpoint instead of saying "yeah, me too!" Because that part of me has all the answers where the adult tends to shrug a lot. But I've been getting hate mail for it. Which is okay, even if it surprises me that anyone cares enough to actually do that.
But that leads me to my question-- does expressing strong views that run counter to general trends
really ruin anyone's afternoon? My feeling has been that this is entertainment and no one's preconceived opinions ever change at the end of a discussion anyway. So polarity makes for more interesting angles instead of everyone nodding... [MI]
posted by Mayor Curley to etiquette/policy at 5:49 AM PST - 147 comments
August 11
Would it be okay for me to do a logo design competition in an AskMefi question? I'd like a logo designed, and I'm willing to pay $100-$150 or so, and I know there are some talented mefites who could probably knock my socks off when it comes to logo design. I am asking because I don't want to just do it and then get the smackdown for it. And I am asking publicly because I think others can benefit from the answer.
posted by beth to etiquette/policy at 12:11 PM PST - 35 comments
August 10
Ask MetaFilter etiquette: I've got a ton of built-up questions and only found MeFi a couple months ago. Is it ok to post weekly (as often as I'm technically allowed), or should I give the space/attention to others with perhaps more immediately vital questions?
posted by Kickstart70 to etiquette/policy at 11:36 AM PST - 27 comments
August 9
minor grammar quibble! when posting a link, this:
"The URL you entered was not found in previous threads, though you may want to check the search page for duplicates, just to be sure"
...should end with a period. bit you know that already.
posted by mcsweetie to MetaFilter-related at 9:40 PM PST - 3 comments [closed]
Baltimore meetup? I noticed that there are quite a few active MeFites here in Charm City, so I was wondering if anyone would be up for a get-together. September 3, perhaps? Anyone have ideas for a location?
posted by amandaudoff to MetaFilter gatherings at 1:34 AM PST - 22 comments
August 8
New Comments is/are broken.
When someone adds a comment to a post, it used to say how many of the comments were new. It doesn't do that anymore.
posted by fenriq to bugs at 2:57 PM PST - 28 comments
http://ask.metafilter.com/mefi/22288. Deleted. Boo.
I want to know why. This was by far one of the Best Ask questions I've ever seen (over pet peeves.) I even flagged it as such. It was insightful, illuminating, and gave me great insight on others, as a writer, as a human being. Did it have a single answer? No. Was it a valuable question? Hell yes. Look at how many responses in such as short period of time.
Makes me want not to come here anymore. Close it instead. Deleting it robbed me of the perspectives of others. At least in closing it (Rather than deleting it) I'd have a chance to archive what I wrote (which is my copyright, isn't it?) and what others wrote.
posted by filmgeek to etiquette/policy at 9:52 AM PST - 153 comments
Spell check suddenly not working, both the blue and the green. Get this msg:
Error processing CFX custom tag "CFX_JSpellCheck".
The CFX custom tag "CFX_JSpellCheck" was not found in the custom tag database. Please be sure to add custom tags to the database before using them. If you have added your tag to the database then you should check the spelling of the tag within your template to insure that it matches the database entry.
posted by Goofyy to bugs at 1:15 AM PST - 1 comments [closed]
August 7
Ask keeps timing out on me when I do searches for anything except "questions only". I get: "The request has exceeded the allowable time limit Tag: CFQUERY..." In case it's relevant, I'm searching for
stars of the lid. I'm on Safari 2.0.
posted by dobbs to bugs at 12:05 PM PST - 6 comments
August 6
The new webserver is up and ready to go. It's at 70.86.84.162 and I'd like a few folks to test it out before moving the DNS over. To hit this server instead of the current one, for now you need to edit your hosts file, adding www.metafilter.com, metatalk.metafilter, and ask.metafilter.com mappings to the new IP. It runs off the same exact database server which is separate, so test comments will be seen on both the new web server and the old one. So far in testing the new server is going smoking fast.
posted by mathowie to uptime at 5:36 PM PST - 37 comments
Are there any members who are serving or have served in Iraq? Any members who live, or have constant contact with someone who lives, in Iraq? If you're willing, I have language-related questions, both about American military usage and colloquial modern Iraqi Arabic. Email me at the address on the web site linked in my profile.
posted by Mo Nickels to MetaFilter-related at 11:30 AM PST - 6 comments
August 5
New Yorkers: Tomorrow it will be cooler and we will celebrate by getting drunk with tourist Schyler523 (who does not stop in the middle of the sidewalk or at the top of subway stairs) at
Manitoba's. We will begin at 7.
posted by dame to MetaFilter gatherings at 11:07 AM PST - 15 comments
Last week I had to log in and forgot (temporarily) my password. I asked that it be sent to my email address and received the message that I had no email on file. Today I received an email from Jessamyn about something unrelated, so it has to be on file. Huh?
posted by Morrigan to bugs at 6:15 AM PST - 24 comments
It's about time for an SF meetup. I'm thinking, oh, Thurs, Aug 11, maybe Aug 18, from around 6 PM, at ... hmm, I don't know where! What do you think?
posted by caitlinb to MetaFilter gatherings at 12:16 AM PST - 16 comments
August 4
Anyone want to do a MetaFilter podcast? I know slashdot and digg have toyed with these where basically some users grab a six-pack, turn on a microphone, and scroll through the previous week's posts and discuss them. I tried it by myself and quickly realized I hadn't read all the posts or had much to say about the popular ones. Anyone that's an avid reader and wants to try doing the audio thing want to take a crack at it? I'd be happy to host a podcast and deal with all the bandwidth costs.
posted by mathowie to feature requests at 2:52 PM PST - 133 comments
Is it possible to update the search function so that you can search not only posts but the comments? Didn't it used to do that? Google doesn't seem to drill down to the comments (except in fairly new threads) and neither does the MetaFilter search function which can make it very difficult to track down an old comment or links that appeared only in the comments.
posted by caddis to feature requests at 1:46 PM PST - 12 comments
August 3
August 2
There are often questions on ask metafilter about animals, but most of the time, the questions are about cats. It seems to me that--among pet owners--most metafilter users that have pets have cats. Is this so?
posted by interrobang to MetaFilter-related at 10:11 PM PST - 54 comments
Is there any way to curb the Mac vs. PC flamewars that always seem to erupt when there's a Mac-related FPP? I point to
this versus
this on today's front page, which makes the blue seem like sort of geek Hatfield/McCoy thing. Should we just ignore it until it goes away? Is there a solution at all? (This is my first MeTa post, and I didn't get far with the search function, so many apologies if this is an unanswerable question or has been thoroughly covered in the past.)
posted by hifiparasol to etiquette/policy at 12:25 PM PST - 64 comments
August 1
I just wanted to say HUZZAH and thanks to posters from 5-ish Pacific yesterday to, er, NOW for a super-dense, ultra-lickable linkfest! I'll be days behind! HUZZAH!
posted by mwhybark to MetaFilter-related at 6:59 PM PST - 30 comments
It would be really nice if there was a mechanism for someone who posts an anonymous Ask MetaFilter thread can come back and make additional postings to the same thread. People often make anonymous postings because they are asking about something they find personally embarrassing, and consequently the original post is kind of vague or evasive. Many of the MeFites trying to help ask for additional information, but there's no way for the anonymous person to provide it.
posted by curtm to feature requests at 8:20 AM PST - 20 comments
Could we have a flag option called "this comment/post is broken"? For use in times of bad html or links that don't work.
posted by smackfu to feature requests at 7:04 AM PST - 4 comments
