Best Post contest winner #1

August 2, 2006 2:40 PM

Ok, an update on the best post of the day. The first winner is... [more]
posted by mathowie (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 2:40 PM (68 comments total)

Yesterday was crazy good, with 42 posts, almost all top-notch quality. It was tough to narrow down the potential winners to just one. My top three favorites were the UT tower post, the finance post, and the flash thing of what's on the radio.

In the end Jessamyn and I agreed the UT tower post by dios was a great post and worthy of the best one that day. It's well-researched, covers several angles, and is on the 40th anniversary to boot.

So to the matters of payment, I added a paypal address field to the preferences page, plop that in and I'll be able to connect with everyone and drop 30 greenbacks in your account when winners are announced each day.

For now, I'm using a metatalk post each day to announce the winner, but soon I'll have a page of all the winners and runner ups available at an easy url (like metafilter.com/30dayscontest or something).
posted by mathowie (staff) at 2:41 PM on August 2, 2006

Congrats dios! It was a compelling post.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:48 PM on August 2, 2006

It probably goes without saying, but the PayPal address you list is invisible to other users.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 2:51 PM on August 2, 2006

yes, totally invisible.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 2:52 PM on August 2, 2006

Well done, dios!
posted by nthdegx at 2:52 PM on August 2, 2006

Congrats, that was a fine post.
posted by marxchivist at 3:16 PM on August 2, 2006

Some of us dinosaurs don't have paypal accounts.

*cries*
posted by konolia at 3:38 PM on August 2, 2006

Thank you very much.

I'm just happy to contribute to the community.

With regards to the prize, can I request that the money be sent to the Bridge Breast Network (listed in my user profile)?
posted by dios at 3:47 PM on August 2, 2006

(Of course, if it is easier on you, I'll set up a Paypal Account and deal with the donation issue myself.)
posted by dios at 3:48 PM on August 2, 2006

Good choice.
posted by ColdChef at 3:53 PM on August 2, 2006

One other thing: can I also get a mefi pro account for winning?
posted by dios at 3:59 PM on August 2, 2006

And the new winner is . . .
posted by Mid at 4:02 PM on August 2, 2006

That was a great post. Congrats, dios!
posted by brundlefly at 4:11 PM on August 2, 2006

UltraMefi? Silly man, thats just what rich people like Matt get to enjoy and savor.
posted by wheelieman at 4:17 PM on August 2, 2006

matt, why does every thread have to be about dios?
posted by cortex at 4:18 PM on August 2, 2006 [1 favorite]

I'm climbing a clocktower with a high-powered rifle as we speak. Can I have five bucks?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:22 PM on August 2, 2006

"I'm climbing a clocktower with a high-powered rifle as we speak. Can I have five bucks?"

Why, is there a toll?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:51 PM on August 2, 2006

congrats, dios. great idea, matt
posted by blag at 5:03 PM on August 2, 2006

Why, is there a toll?

Ask not for whom the bell tower tolls. It tolls for thee.
posted by crunchland at 5:55 PM on August 2, 2006

Who are we to say the boy's insane?
posted by LarryC at 5:59 PM on August 2, 2006

Congrats, dios, and extra props for donating the money to an excellent cause. I hope that starts a trend.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:16 PM on August 2, 2006

That was a good post dios, even if it did make me feel old because I remember when it happened AND IT WAS A VERY LONG TIME AGO.
posted by caddis at 6:19 PM on August 2, 2006

Congrats dios - a great post, but all in all, a very difficult decision given the number of fantastic posts yesterday. Here's to the community sustaining the momentum throughout August!
posted by jonson at 6:21 PM on August 2, 2006

Great idea, great post, great gesture - I feel all warm and belonging as a result.
posted by Samuel Farrow at 6:36 PM on August 2, 2006

"One other thing: can I also get a mefi pro account for winning?"

You have to earn your way into the cabal, mister. No free passes.
posted by graventy at 7:55 PM on August 2, 2006

I am so enjoying the irony of dios, roundly and loudly loathed by so many, getting the score. Congrats, dios. :-)

I suggest, matt, that 47 FPPs per day renders MeFi almost unusable for all but the most web-dedicated, unemployed geeks. Been there, done that, back to work, and can't keep up. Worth thinking about the practical usability issue.

My online bank accepts nominations for charities, and then holds a vote on which charities it will support. I suggest you consider a similar thing, so that folks like dios can redirect the payment easily and in a community-supporting manner. It would be simply awesome were MeFi to sponsor a ton of Heifer.Org livestock!
posted by five fresh fish at 7:56 PM on August 2, 2006

Hi Dios!

Congrats!
posted by Balisong at 9:15 PM on August 2, 2006

I suggest, matt, that 47 FPPs per day renders MeFi almost unusable for all but the most web-dedicated, unemployed geeks. Been there, done that, back to work, and can't keep up. Worth thinking about the practical usability issue.


We web-dedicated (quasi) unemployed geeks thank you and think you should extend the contest until we start our next job!
posted by jewzilla at 10:32 PM on August 2, 2006

Congrats (and what caddis said)!
posted by languagehat at 8:07 AM on August 3, 2006

Oh, somebody beat me to pulling Dios into Meta.
posted by Astro Zombie at 8:24 AM on August 3, 2006

Great post, dios. This place is better when you're around and contributing at a high level. And I gave myself a MeTa timeout for a couple months pretty much entirely because I got so pissed at you one day. So, good to see you back, hope to see more thoughtful stuff on all topics, particularly law and politics-related stuff from a minority perspective around here.

Thanks for running this contest, Matt.
posted by ibmcginty at 8:42 AM on August 3, 2006

Oh, wow, those were all good.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:53 AM on August 3, 2006

Great post. I have to say that the increase in quality has been dramatic and to be honest made me realise how seriously off the boil Metafilter has been lately (to my tastes anyway.) It's been so diverse and interesting the past few days and I have learned a huge amount - this is how I remember it being when I first started reading this site. If only we could pay for FPP's all year round.
posted by fire&wings at 9:03 AM on August 3, 2006

Great post. I have to say that the increase in quality has been dramatic

I agree, and think this contest was a great idea. I enjoyed the UT post, too and think dios is a deserving winner.
posted by TedW at 9:07 AM on August 3, 2006

We should just do this every day forever.

I know, I know—$11K is a lot of extra yearly overhead for Matt. That's why we need to also implement Phase 2:

Worst post of the day gets billed $30.
posted by cortex at 9:14 AM on August 3, 2006

Worst post of the day gets billed $30.

Now there's an interesting idea.
Ok, talk to you later.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:04 AM on August 3, 2006

The quality of the posts in the last few days has been off the charts!
posted by vacapinta at 10:16 AM on August 3, 2006

I won Metafilter.

To all the haters out there: suck it bitches.

posted by dios @ 9:42 AM
posted by Balisong at 12:36 PM on August 3, 2006

Let's all just hang back and save the judgment for when the results on his B sample come back, okay??
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 12:40 PM on August 3, 2006

that was in poor taste, and he wonders why he has detractors
posted by caddis at 12:49 PM on August 3, 2006

Yay! dios is finally doing something with that blog.

It's a little bit weird that anyone was paying attention to it, though, considering it just sat there for like two goddam months. I guess that's the beauty of RSS, though.

I'm also going to be a little dismayed if people actually do anything besides giggle at the "suck it" post.
posted by cortex at 12:54 PM on August 3, 2006

Oh, come on. "I won Metafilter" is a riot.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:27 PM on August 3, 2006

Dios is infinitely better at being irritating when he wants to be. That post is obviously a joke, and a pretty funny one.
posted by ibmcginty at 1:35 PM on August 3, 2006

Now there will be no living with him?
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:01 PM on August 3, 2006

Luckily, my Dios sleeps outside in the dog house.
posted by Balisong at 2:14 PM on August 3, 2006

"I like 'Dios.'"

"We named the *dog* Dios."

"The dog? You are named after the dog?"

"I've got a lot of fond memories of that dog."
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:29 PM on August 3, 2006

Worst post of the day gets billed $30.
Now, that would be a hard choice to make.
posted by dg at 2:33 PM on August 3, 2006

I think someone declared August 3rd "Blow your Posting Wad day" as the front page has been bukkaked with text. Please someone post a one link one word youtubefilter post to help break the page up a bit. Please!
posted by shoepal at 3:00 PM on August 3, 2006

So do we have a winner for yesterday, or what?
posted by cortex at 3:10 PM on August 3, 2006

Yeah, what happened yesterday, Matt? My awesome Dice Game that a whole handful of people marked as their FAVORITE POST!!! must surely be the winner, no?
posted by jonson at 3:45 PM on August 3, 2006

So do we have a winner for yesterday, or what?

Yes! Mathowie's been coding some back end stuff to make a BPOD page, but until then, today's wiener, er winner is

WIENERMOBILE

Congratulations blahblahblah, please make sure there's a PayPal address in your profile.

Also, just because the last two winners were wordy, please keep in mind that size does not matter. Our runner-ups were the single link Dice Wars post (jonson) and the Manhattan Timeformations post (nickyskye). Please tune in again tomorrow, and thanks to everyone for making some really kickass posts.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:48 PM on August 3, 2006

I wanted the dice wars to be first, just to kick the 15-links-in-a-post people to the curb, but I let jessamyn cast the deciding vote today (I cast the deciding vote yesterday).
posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:51 PM on August 3, 2006

I will forgive Jess for derailing, since she added me as a contact on flickr, which made me feel awesome until I saw that she has 7213 contacts. For revenge I will drown her in a steady stream of photos of Emerson. The Project continues...
posted by jonson at 4:15 PM on August 3, 2006

jonson, your photostream is better than cuteoverload.com
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:23 PM on August 3, 2006

jonson, I just made you family. suck it, contacts.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:26 PM on August 3, 2006

Metafilter: Suck it, (insert name here)!
posted by Balisong at 4:59 PM on August 3, 2006

w00t! I gots family in Vermont at last!! Phase one (easy access to Maple Syrup) of my plan to re-enact the Boston Molasses Flood in downtown L.A. is complete. Phase two begins Tuesday.
posted by jonson at 5:10 PM on August 3, 2006

Oh, and thanks, Matt! I think my wife Robin was inspired by the 10 Years project, only she wanted to fit that same number of photos into the first seven months of Emerson's life.
posted by jonson at 5:11 PM on August 3, 2006

Wow! Thanks so much, I am as pleased as punch. I'll get a Paypal address in there tomorrow.
posted by blahblahblah at 8:52 PM on August 3, 2006

jonson, I hope you realize that maple syrup is way more expensive than molasses. That's true even of the Grade B stuff that relatives of Vermonters usually wind up with (and grow to prefer, in many cases). If you're thinking you'll get the syrup donated, you're probably barking up the wrong sugarbush.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:37 AM on August 4, 2006

Come on now, Kirth. Once I explain that the use I intend to put the syrup to will be drowning Los Angeles from the city's historic core out to the coast, every Vermonter with a sap bucket will pitch in.
posted by jonson at 8:12 AM on August 4, 2006

Well, when you put it that way . . .

If you can guarantee that Don Johnson will perish under a tide of refined sap, you might just pull it off.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 9:04 AM on August 4, 2006

And millions of years later, our alien overlords will discover his body, perfectly preserved, and create an anachronistic tourist attraction: Miami Vice Park
posted by cortex at 9:06 AM on August 4, 2006

cortex, you're giving the aliens way too much credit. That far in the future, they'd never be able to correctly discern what Don Johnson is famous for - so it's far more likely to be Nash Bridges Park, with an animatronic Cheech Marin greeting guests.
posted by jonson at 9:16 AM on August 4, 2006

jonson, man, you don't understand—the Vice is in his blood.
posted by cortex at 9:31 AM on August 4, 2006

If you're thinking you'll get the syrup donated, you're probably barking up the wrong sugarbush.

I just brought MrMoonPie and EvilTiff a pint of the stuff just for putting up with me in DC this week.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:30 PM on August 4, 2006

Hardly a flood, jessamyn. Or are you hinting that you would donate such a large amount of Green Mountain Elixer to your new relative?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:38 PM on August 4, 2006

Jess is more than welcome to stay with me, Robin & Emerson on my new Syrup Island in Brentwood if she ever made it out to Los Angeles.
posted by jonson at 7:51 PM on August 4, 2006