Slowest research project ever? September 27, 2006 9:16 PM Subscribe
This bugs me. It can't be coincidence, but what is really going on?
Could it be a question from an exam or a paper thats been recycled?
Agreed.
Weird.
posted by gergtreble at 9:22 PM on September 27, 2006
Agreed.
Weird.
posted by gergtreble at 9:22 PM on September 27, 2006
Perhaps the asker found the google answer first, but didn't believe it?
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:25 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by Mr. Gunn at 9:25 PM on September 27, 2006
Its ernestworthings first question too...
Perhaps he was just testing us.
Still Weird.
posted by gergtreble at 9:36 PM on September 27, 2006
Perhaps he was just testing us.
Still Weird.
posted by gergtreble at 9:36 PM on September 27, 2006
Here's my take on it:
Posadnitsa enjoys posting questions and then answering his own questions. Maybe he took some flack over it when he answered his own Google question three years ago. Or maybe he's just been feeling guilty about it. But for the last three years he's been filled with a desire to post the question again and answer it himself. So this time he used a sock puppet, and figured no one would be the wiser. This is ernestworthing's first question, after all, and posadnita (in his excitement) posted the answer within 6 minutes. Unusual for someone who doesn't answer that often.
posted by agropyron at 9:37 PM on September 27, 2006
Posadnitsa enjoys posting questions and then answering his own questions. Maybe he took some flack over it when he answered his own Google question three years ago. Or maybe he's just been feeling guilty about it. But for the last three years he's been filled with a desire to post the question again and answer it himself. So this time he used a sock puppet, and figured no one would be the wiser. This is ernestworthing's first question, after all, and posadnita (in his excitement) posted the answer within 6 minutes. Unusual for someone who doesn't answer that often.
posted by agropyron at 9:37 PM on September 27, 2006
Maybe it's just a coincidence that this ernestworthing and this Slashdot user both live in Montreal, and that the person who posted and answered the Google answer is zhiwenchong-ga.
posted by tellurian at 9:45 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by tellurian at 9:45 PM on September 27, 2006
Okay, so we know he did it in the laboratory with the kitchen knife. But we still don't have a motive. Think, MeFites! Is he simply interested in marking himself a best answer? Are we all part of an elaborate scheme to overthrow the internet? I'm so confused!
posted by SeizeTheDay at 9:51 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by SeizeTheDay at 9:51 PM on September 27, 2006
Hypothesis: He's doing a reasearch project on these kinds of ask-and-answer sites and wants to find a question he can ask on all of them as a gauge of their relative responsiveness and accuracy.
Null Hypothesis: He's nuts.
posted by ChasFile at 10:06 PM on September 27, 2006
Null Hypothesis: He's nuts.
posted by ChasFile at 10:06 PM on September 27, 2006
Perhaps ernestworthing will enlighten us himself tomorrow. My googling reveals the same info tellurian posted, and not much more. The answers ernestworthing has posted certainly look legitimate, so I admit to being at a complete loss about the motive here.
(I was hoping to find something in zhiwenchong's various postings related to Oscar Wilde, as I'm assuming the user name "ernestworthing" is taken from The Importance of Being Earnest, but had no luck.)
posted by cerebus19 at 10:07 PM on September 27, 2006
(I was hoping to find something in zhiwenchong's various postings related to Oscar Wilde, as I'm assuming the user name "ernestworthing" is taken from The Importance of Being Earnest, but had no luck.)
posted by cerebus19 at 10:07 PM on September 27, 2006
ChasFile: If your hypothesis is correct, it must be the slowest research project ever. I mean, the original Google question was asked over four years ago, and I can't find any similar questions on any other site.
posted by cerebus19 at 10:09 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by cerebus19 at 10:09 PM on September 27, 2006
Weird nuts.
posted by loquacious at 10:14 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by loquacious at 10:14 PM on September 27, 2006
I agree- so weird.
It looks like it took zhiwenchong a long time to find the answer the first time. Asked July 2002, answered December 2003. Maybe s/he's curious as to how fast we would find the answer to a question that took her/him this long. (But forgot that s/he posted the answer, thus making the previously uber-hard search into a trivially easy one.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:20 PM on September 27, 2006
It looks like it took zhiwenchong a long time to find the answer the first time. Asked July 2002, answered December 2003. Maybe s/he's curious as to how fast we would find the answer to a question that took her/him this long. (But forgot that s/he posted the answer, thus making the previously uber-hard search into a trivially easy one.)
posted by LobsterMitten at 10:20 PM on September 27, 2006
My guess: ernestworthing decided to "test" Ask metafilter by asking an obscure question from Google answers that had an answer - so he could verify it.
Either it didnt occur to him that that other question could be googled or he naively believed that changing just a few words around would defy googling.
posted by vacapinta at 10:20 PM on September 27, 2006
Either it didnt occur to him that that other question could be googled or he naively believed that changing just a few words around would defy googling.
posted by vacapinta at 10:20 PM on September 27, 2006
I can't believe we're 16 comments into this thread and NONE of you have even CONSIDERED the possibility of a TIMECUBE.
posted by jonson at 10:28 PM on September 27, 2006 [8 favorites]
posted by jonson at 10:28 PM on September 27, 2006 [8 favorites]
I think it's strange he posted an answer with no citation. Perhaps it is a lifelong process of his to create a counterfeit letter from Shelley.
I have not seen that letter anywhere else, and cannot find key phrases ("stretch her on a bed of sickness" or "stifling an indignant surprise on reading".
The answer seems more suspicious to me than the question.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 10:29 PM on September 27, 2006 [2 favorites]
I have not seen that letter anywhere else, and cannot find key phrases ("stretch her on a bed of sickness" or "stifling an indignant surprise on reading".
The answer seems more suspicious to me than the question.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 10:29 PM on September 27, 2006 [2 favorites]
Hmmm. Counterfeit letter. Several years later it turns up on eBay with Googleable references, and sells for £118,000. Worth the wait, particularly with other, similar irons in the fire.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:45 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:45 PM on September 27, 2006
JeremiahBritt: If you do a Google Book search that letter is also quoted in "Romanticism and the Heritage of Rousseau"
By Thomas McFarland.
posted by vacapinta at 10:46 PM on September 27, 2006
By Thomas McFarland.
posted by vacapinta at 10:46 PM on September 27, 2006
Theory: someone created this sockpuppet account to post answers about various websites with which they are affiliated. (Half of his answers have linked pitches for products, as I recall.) Poster came up with the question to send traffic to the schoolnet site, which has ads and Amazon products. AskMe answer creates a link from a relevant, high PageRank site and sends traffic that way.
Or it's a recycled test answer.
Or we're all wrong and the poster is innocent.
posted by acoutu at 10:55 PM on September 27, 2006
Or it's a recycled test answer.
Or we're all wrong and the poster is innocent.
posted by acoutu at 10:55 PM on September 27, 2006
As additional confirmation, slashdot's zhiwenchong uses www.mcgill.ca as his home page, the sole contribution by wikipedia's Zhiwenchong is to the McGill page and the sole comment favorited by mefi user ernestworthing is about Canada and mentions McGill (not to mention that a Zhiwen Chong was attending McGill in 2003). In addition, on ehmac.ca a user account named ernestworthing links to an onlinehome page that contains invisible text "Zhiwen Chong". I'm pretty certain they're the same guy, but it doesn't explain why he'd ask a question to which he apparently already knows the answer. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it is rather odd and I find it kind of frustrating that I can't immediately suss his motive. That probably says something rather unflattering about me.
posted by RichardP at 11:01 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by RichardP at 11:01 PM on September 27, 2006
I think it's testing - either whether the question could be answered at all, or how quickly it would be answered.
posted by greycap at 11:04 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by greycap at 11:04 PM on September 27, 2006
RichardP: But more importantly, how does he treat his girlfriend?
Who knows, maybe this is his calling card, or way of introducing himself to various communities, or his "Has this place got the goods when it comes to Q&A" test.
Or he's trying to drive us all mad! Mad, I tells ya!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:08 PM on September 27, 2006
Who knows, maybe this is his calling card, or way of introducing himself to various communities, or his "Has this place got the goods when it comes to Q&A" test.
Or he's trying to drive us all mad! Mad, I tells ya!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:08 PM on September 27, 2006
I remember when Google Answers debuted (when it was over email and not web-based), and I asked a question I already knew the answer to, just to see how they did.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:22 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:22 PM on September 27, 2006
I love how the internet is spawning all kinds of new douchebag behavior. There is shit happening out there I never even considered--luckily it's usually harmless in the scheme of things.
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 11:28 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by _sirmissalot_ at 11:28 PM on September 27, 2006
he obviously has a very tragic case of memory loss, to forget the answer to something so important to him, and that he already asked it.
posted by amethysts at 11:32 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by amethysts at 11:32 PM on September 27, 2006
As it stands, I personally find the "innocent testing of AskMefi" hypothesis the most convincing.
posted by RichardP at 11:41 PM on September 27, 2006
posted by RichardP at 11:41 PM on September 27, 2006
This is just like that Sherlock Holmes story, The Copper Beeches, or The Speckled Band, or The Engineer's Thumb or something.
Most singular!
posted by ludwig_van at 12:09 AM on September 28, 2006
Most singular!
posted by ludwig_van at 12:09 AM on September 28, 2006
Ooh, I definately like the elaborate "building credibility for an antique" theory the best.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:12 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:12 AM on September 28, 2006
Are Google Answers copyrighted? With Google as the owner of the copyright?
This could be some sort of plot to bring us down, by entrapping cut-n-paste intellectual property thieves.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:11 AM on September 28, 2006
This could be some sort of plot to bring us down, by entrapping cut-n-paste intellectual property thieves.
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:11 AM on September 28, 2006
I could give a fuck why he did it, but most of the comments in that AskMe should be removed.
posted by cribcage at 4:33 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by cribcage at 4:33 AM on September 28, 2006
I removed the noise comments and wrote the guy an email in case he wanted to come to MetaTalk and enlighten us.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:51 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:51 AM on September 28, 2006
Maybe it's all a big sociological experiment to see how a community would react if this exact situation were to occur!
posted by clevershark at 6:13 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by clevershark at 6:13 AM on September 28, 2006
omg lab rats. Funny, I don't feel used.
posted by exlotuseater at 6:26 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by exlotuseater at 6:26 AM on September 28, 2006
Oh boy! You guys are really reading more into my question than I had intended!
It was actually an old question that I had stored in my scratchpad (notes.txt) file, and I had forgotten that I had already received an answer to it (much less asked it), so I thought I'd try the MeFi community.
I rephrased the question for no reason at all... I just thought I'd do it.
Anyhow, I'm glad I got an answer. But I'm amused at all the conspiracy theories surrounding such a simple question!
posted by ernestworthing at 6:39 AM on September 28, 2006
It was actually an old question that I had stored in my scratchpad (notes.txt) file, and I had forgotten that I had already received an answer to it (much less asked it), so I thought I'd try the MeFi community.
I rephrased the question for no reason at all... I just thought I'd do it.
Anyhow, I'm glad I got an answer. But I'm amused at all the conspiracy theories surrounding such a simple question!
posted by ernestworthing at 6:39 AM on September 28, 2006
:: /me grumbles as he extinguishes the torches and puts away the pitchforks::
posted by briank at 6:42 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by briank at 6:42 AM on September 28, 2006
Next time, try Google, Mr. Worthing, Google! I disapprove mightily of gadabouts such as yourself who lack the moral fortitude and fiber to seek their own enlightenment. To ask the question once may be regarded as a misfortunate curiosity; but to ask it twice looks like carelessness.
/Lady Bracknell
posted by UKnowForKids at 6:47 AM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
/Lady Bracknell
posted by UKnowForKids at 6:47 AM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
AskMe is not the place to go Bunburying.
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:48 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:48 AM on September 28, 2006
Goddamnit UKFK
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:49 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:49 AM on September 28, 2006
I had forgotten that I had already received an answer to it
But weren't you also the one who answered it? I'm confused. I can understand forgetting that you asked the question, but how did you forget finding the answer?
posted by cerebus19 at 6:55 AM on September 28, 2006
But weren't you also the one who answered it? I'm confused. I can understand forgetting that you asked the question, but how did you forget finding the answer?
posted by cerebus19 at 6:55 AM on September 28, 2006
I'm with ChasFile; my first thought on it was that it was a librarian running a study for a paper.
posted by Tuwa at 7:02 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by Tuwa at 7:02 AM on September 28, 2006
I apologize for my forgetting to google it first -- when I posted the question, it only occured to me to search askmefi to see if anyone's asked it before.
My fault entirely.
Yes, I forgot about *the fact* that I was the one who answered it. It was some years ago, you see.
This letter used to be dashed difficult to find online -- I have been searching for it off and on since 1999.
posted by ernestworthing at 7:03 AM on September 28, 2006
My fault entirely.
Yes, I forgot about *the fact* that I was the one who answered it. It was some years ago, you see.
This letter used to be dashed difficult to find online -- I have been searching for it off and on since 1999.
posted by ernestworthing at 7:03 AM on September 28, 2006
This letter used to be dashed difficult to find online -- I have been searching for it off and on since 1999.
This is like watching The Maltese Falcon.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:11 AM on September 28, 2006
This is like watching The Maltese Falcon.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:11 AM on September 28, 2006
It's more like trying to follow The Big Sleep. Entertaining, but dashed confusing.
posted by steef at 7:40 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by steef at 7:40 AM on September 28, 2006
I once remembered I knew something, but then I forgot about it.
posted by JanetLand at 7:51 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by JanetLand at 7:51 AM on September 28, 2006
Hey, just because we're paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get us and corrupt our precious bodily fluids!
posted by clevershark at 7:53 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by clevershark at 7:53 AM on September 28, 2006
Just in case you forget again, I reccomend that you tattoo the text of the letter to various extremites, a la Memento.
posted by Biblio at 8:00 AM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by Biblio at 8:00 AM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
This reminds me of that episode of Dr. Who, you know the one, where the Doctor does that thing? Remember? Ha, I'm lying, there was no episode! I made the whole thing up! Who looks stupid now, Mr. Stupidpants?
IM ON UR WEBSITE REASKIN' MY PREVIOUSLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:00 AM on September 28, 2006
IM ON UR WEBSITE REASKIN' MY PREVIOUSLY ANSWERED QUESTIONS.
posted by blue_beetle at 8:00 AM on September 28, 2006
So, ernestworthing (tell me here - am I right?) you posted the question to google answers, then you posted the answer to that question at google answers, then you forgot that you posted the answer at google answers (and even that you had discovered the answer, apparently), and then posted the original question again at ask metafilter?
Is that what you're saying? I'm not trying to beat you down or anything... but... is that what you're saying?
There are so many reasons that one might want to know if anyone else is familiar with that particular letter - if it actually exists/ever existed, but why not just be up-front about eariler inquiries? It does make you seem shady.
posted by taz at 8:08 AM on September 28, 2006
Is that what you're saying? I'm not trying to beat you down or anything... but... is that what you're saying?
There are so many reasons that one might want to know if anyone else is familiar with that particular letter - if it actually exists/ever existed, but why not just be up-front about eariler inquiries? It does make you seem shady.
posted by taz at 8:08 AM on September 28, 2006
Maybe someone's doing a comparative eval of both services. But if so, they're taking a long time to finish it....
posted by scarabic at 8:10 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by scarabic at 8:10 AM on September 28, 2006
"So earnestworthing killed Owen Taylor?"
No, UN Owen.
Do try to keep up, eh?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:11 AM on September 28, 2006
No, UN Owen.
Do try to keep up, eh?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:11 AM on September 28, 2006
Yes, that's what he's saying. It does seem somewhat incredible, but so many things are incredible but true that I have no opinion myself. But I second Biblio's brilliant advice:
Just in case you forget again, I recommend that you tattoo the text of the letter to various extremities, a la Memento.
posted by languagehat at 8:14 AM on September 28, 2006
Just in case you forget again, I recommend that you tattoo the text of the letter to various extremities, a la Memento.
posted by languagehat at 8:14 AM on September 28, 2006
Perhaps I am a butterfly, merely dreaming he is flabdablet.
posted by flabdablet at 8:20 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by flabdablet at 8:20 AM on September 28, 2006
Wow - Someone forgets their repitition of a prior action in their lives. All we need now is Fraidy Cop, and my day's complete.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:24 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:24 AM on September 28, 2006
I'm surprised no one suggested this was some kind of homework or trivia question.
scarabic writes "Maybe someone's doing a comparative eval of both services. But if so, they're taking a long time to finish it.."
Amazingly when you consider the original google question was Posted: 16 Jul 2002 and AskMe didn't get started until Dec 8 2003
posted by Mitheral at 8:31 AM on September 28, 2006
scarabic writes "Maybe someone's doing a comparative eval of both services. But if so, they're taking a long time to finish it.."
Amazingly when you consider the original google question was Posted: 16 Jul 2002 and AskMe didn't get started until Dec 8 2003
posted by Mitheral at 8:31 AM on September 28, 2006
I've done this kind of thing before because I am spacy. I bet our friend ernestworthing is no stranger to the bong.
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:54 AM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:54 AM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
Mitheral:I'm surprised no one suggested this was some kind of homework or trivia question.
It has been suggested upthread.
scarabic:Maybe someone's doing a comparative eval of both services
If you read up, you can see that has been suggested a couple times, actually.
taz: ...that particular letter - if it actually exists/ever existed..
I posted a link to a 1995 book cite upthread.
....
Yes, I agree, this ernestworthing obviously doesn't pay attention like we do... :)
posted by vacapinta at 8:57 AM on September 28, 2006
It has been suggested upthread.
scarabic:Maybe someone's doing a comparative eval of both services
If you read up, you can see that has been suggested a couple times, actually.
taz: ...that particular letter - if it actually exists/ever existed..
I posted a link to a 1995 book cite upthread.
....
Yes, I agree, this ernestworthing obviously doesn't pay attention like we do... :)
posted by vacapinta at 8:57 AM on September 28, 2006
So the fake letter scam is still up for grabs, then?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:12 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 9:12 AM on September 28, 2006
Wow - Someone forgets their repitition of a prior action in their lives.
This isn't just "a prior action"; it's not like forgetting what you had for dinner last week. Can you honestly say you can imagine yourself being concerned enough about a quote to ask the question, then finally finding the quote and answering your own question, then forgetting the source of the quote again, then finding your prior question online but forgetting that you had answered it in that very thread and not even scrolling down to see if there was an answer and rewording the question to ask it here? All things are possible, but look me in the eye and tell me you think that's plausible.
posted by languagehat at 9:16 AM on September 28, 2006
This isn't just "a prior action"; it's not like forgetting what you had for dinner last week. Can you honestly say you can imagine yourself being concerned enough about a quote to ask the question, then finally finding the quote and answering your own question, then forgetting the source of the quote again, then finding your prior question online but forgetting that you had answered it in that very thread and not even scrolling down to see if there was an answer and rewording the question to ask it here? All things are possible, but look me in the eye and tell me you think that's plausible.
posted by languagehat at 9:16 AM on September 28, 2006
...then finding your prior question online..
He didn't find his prior question online. He had kept in an old text file and was re-pasting it. So there was no dramatic "and not even scrolling down to see if there was an answer"
posted by vacapinta at 9:23 AM on September 28, 2006
He didn't find his prior question online. He had kept in an old text file and was re-pasting it. So there was no dramatic "and not even scrolling down to see if there was an answer"
posted by vacapinta at 9:23 AM on September 28, 2006
Look, some of your responses are unnecessarily hostile and are uncalled for. I had no ill intentions. It was a slip of the mind, and I'm sorry I wasted some people's time. But I really don't think it warrants all this vituperative name-calling and wild assumptions about my motives. I had no intention of manipulating the community as such -- contrary to what some of you seem to think.
All I really wanted was the text of that letter -- I first came across it many many years ago (back in high school) and I thought it was a cool letter.
And yes, it's true, I forgot that I had posted the text of the letter online. The fact of the matter is that I posted it a while back -- I typed it out from a photocopy of the text of the letter I found in my parents' basement (and no, I don't live in my parents' basement). I have since lost that photocopy, and had forgotten that I had posted it online. All I remember was that I'd tried googling it many times before that and failed.
Yes, I should have googled it again (and usually that'd be my first instinct), but we all make mistakes, don't we?
So, would some of you please just let it go? I really did not expect AskMeFi to scrutinize the intentions of an innocuous question so. It doesn't seem to me to be a very constructive activity. Most decent people would have just answered the question or posted some helpful comment and moved on. At least that's what I would have done.
To the rest of you who posted helpful comments, thank you.
posted by ernestworthing at 9:30 AM on September 28, 2006
All I really wanted was the text of that letter -- I first came across it many many years ago (back in high school) and I thought it was a cool letter.
And yes, it's true, I forgot that I had posted the text of the letter online. The fact of the matter is that I posted it a while back -- I typed it out from a photocopy of the text of the letter I found in my parents' basement (and no, I don't live in my parents' basement). I have since lost that photocopy, and had forgotten that I had posted it online. All I remember was that I'd tried googling it many times before that and failed.
Yes, I should have googled it again (and usually that'd be my first instinct), but we all make mistakes, don't we?
So, would some of you please just let it go? I really did not expect AskMeFi to scrutinize the intentions of an innocuous question so. It doesn't seem to me to be a very constructive activity. Most decent people would have just answered the question or posted some helpful comment and moved on. At least that's what I would have done.
To the rest of you who posted helpful comments, thank you.
posted by ernestworthing at 9:30 AM on September 28, 2006
languagehat, if you take some time to read carefully up-thread, you will notice that he noted down the question in a text file at that time, and that is where he found it to copy/paste/edit to AskMe. He did not google for his question, he did not get to the page where he had asked and answered his question either.
Although to me, it's damnably strange to want to answer a question so bad for such a long time, and not only forget that you found out the answer but also don't take the time to google for one. But hey, different strokes.
posted by splice at 9:33 AM on September 28, 2006
Although to me, it's damnably strange to want to answer a question so bad for such a long time, and not only forget that you found out the answer but also don't take the time to google for one. But hey, different strokes.
posted by splice at 9:33 AM on September 28, 2006
Don't take anything personally ernestworthing. This is MetaTalk. There are no rules here. Everyday we pluck a chicken from the barnyard and have our fun. Some more than others.
Let the kids have their theories. It's what makes MeTa so special.
posted by yeti at 9:34 AM on September 28, 2006
Let the kids have their theories. It's what makes MeTa so special.
posted by yeti at 9:34 AM on September 28, 2006
ernestworthing: mr. hat has been jonesing for a flameout for so long now, I don't think he's going to let up on you until you switch to all-caps, start hollering about "DA RULZ!!!" and threaten to turn mathowie over to the "authorities", so you might as well just go ahead and get it over with. You can just skip ahead to the big finish and swear to never, ever, ever come back if you want.
posted by yhbc at 9:52 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by yhbc at 9:52 AM on September 28, 2006
How would posting an extremely obscure question to an internationally available, popular enough that the question did not unduly stand out website work as a signaling device?
Then, how would posting your own answer to your own question work as a confirmation that you had received the return signal that let you know your original signal had been received?
I would say fairly well in both cases.
posted by jamjam at 9:53 AM on September 28, 2006
Then, how would posting your own answer to your own question work as a confirmation that you had received the return signal that let you know your original signal had been received?
I would say fairly well in both cases.
posted by jamjam at 9:53 AM on September 28, 2006
My theory? Cryptic message to al qaeda members.
posted by found missing at 10:06 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by found missing at 10:06 AM on September 28, 2006
I once posted a question about a idea I'd recently had, and one of the answers linked to an article about exactly the same idea. It was only later that I realized that I'd read a different article years ago by the same guy. I really thought that I'd come up with it independently of anyone else.
This one is a bit more implausible, but I'm afraid that I can imagine myself doing it. I can barely remember anything that I've done on the internet.
posted by teleskiving at 10:07 AM on September 28, 2006
This one is a bit more implausible, but I'm afraid that I can imagine myself doing it. I can barely remember anything that I've done on the internet.
posted by teleskiving at 10:07 AM on September 28, 2006
I'm glad I came late to this discussion as reading the whole thing in one go is quite amusing. I espcially enjoy the Oscar Wilde references...
posted by ob at 10:17 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by ob at 10:17 AM on September 28, 2006
ernestworthing writes "Look, some of your responses are unnecessarily hostile and are uncalled for."
er, we're joking around. It's all fun and games until someone posts that image of a micturating elephant.
posted by clevershark at 10:26 AM on September 28, 2006
er, we're joking around. It's all fun and games until someone posts that image of a micturating elephant.
posted by clevershark at 10:26 AM on September 28, 2006
Why do people find this so hard to believe? About once a month I Google for information and find that an entry on my own weblog from a few years ago is on the first page of results. I buy records and books I already own all the time, too. (To be honest, I often have very little idea of whether I've read such-and-such, been to such-and-such a place, or know so-and-so - when my best friend of ten years moved away a couple of years back, I was totally fucked, as she held most of my memories on my behalf.)
ernestworthing - I think we need to form some sort of civil rights organisation/support group for the memory-impaired ;-)
posted by jack_mo at 11:35 AM on September 28, 2006
ernestworthing - I think we need to form some sort of civil rights organisation/support group for the memory-impaired ;-)
posted by jack_mo at 11:35 AM on September 28, 2006
Metafilter: Would some of you please just let it go?
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:48 AM on September 28, 2006
posted by BigLankyBastard at 11:48 AM on September 28, 2006
languagehat, if you take some time to read carefully up-thread, you will notice that he noted down the question in a text file at that time
Yeah, sloppy reading on my part. Mea culpa, and ernestworthing, don't take it to heart—like yeti said, it's nothing personal, just snarky curiosity (and like yhbc said, I'm eagerly waiting for a spectacular flameout).
And actually, I have the same experiences as jack_mo, so I don't know why I find it hard to believe.
posted by languagehat at 12:15 PM on September 28, 2006
Yeah, sloppy reading on my part. Mea culpa, and ernestworthing, don't take it to heart—like yeti said, it's nothing personal, just snarky curiosity (and like yhbc said, I'm eagerly waiting for a spectacular flameout).
And actually, I have the same experiences as jack_mo, so I don't know why I find it hard to believe.
posted by languagehat at 12:15 PM on September 28, 2006
ernestworthing writes "Look, some of your responses are unnecessarily hostile and are uncalled for."
Ah, you're new here.
jack_mo writes "I buy records and books I already own all the time, too."
For the longest time I had more books than places to display them but that didn't stop me from buying more books. The last six months have been a continuous bibliophiliac orgy of discovery as I've started unpacking dozen of boxes I hadn't looked in in years. And I am embarrassed to say I have four copies of the second book a trilogy but not a single copy of the first or third book.
posted by Mitheral at 12:32 PM on September 28, 2006
Ah, you're new here.
jack_mo writes "I buy records and books I already own all the time, too."
For the longest time I had more books than places to display them but that didn't stop me from buying more books. The last six months have been a continuous bibliophiliac orgy of discovery as I've started unpacking dozen of boxes I hadn't looked in in years. And I am embarrassed to say I have four copies of the second book a trilogy but not a single copy of the first or third book.
posted by Mitheral at 12:32 PM on September 28, 2006
Let me highly recommend LibraryThing to anyone who suffers from Repetitive Book Syndrome. You can know within seconds whether you have a book (and which edition it is), wherever you are.
posted by languagehat at 12:50 PM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by languagehat at 12:50 PM on September 28, 2006 [1 favorite]
Back when I was buying a lot of books, if I had been looking for a book for more than a few months, I would buy the next 3 or 4 copies I found before I could make myself stop. I didn't give any of them away to anybody else, either.
posted by jamjam at 1:02 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by jamjam at 1:02 PM on September 28, 2006
This has been a great MeTa thread. ernestworthing, I thank you most sincerely for entertaining us all on this dreary Thursday afternoon.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:33 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:33 PM on September 28, 2006
found missing - nice theory, but I can confirm it's actually a secret message to reporters covering Hewlett Packard.
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 1:37 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by M.C. Lo-Carb! at 1:37 PM on September 28, 2006
A thread that has "vituperative" and "micturating" in it - golden!
posted by owhydididoit at 1:50 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by owhydididoit at 1:50 PM on September 28, 2006
This happens to me all the time with DVDs. I'll see a movie that I like, and buy it, only to find that I already have it. OR I'll not buy it because I'm pretty sure I already have it and don't. Welcome to MeTa, EW.
posted by hoborg at 2:20 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by hoborg at 2:20 PM on September 28, 2006
Same thing happens to me as well, except with Beanie Babies.
posted by jefbla at 2:45 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by jefbla at 2:45 PM on September 28, 2006
It happens to me all the time (ok, at least three or four times in recent memory) that I'll search desperately for the solution to some niggling technical problem, and find the answer I need on some newsgroup - then realize that I'm reading my own words from years and years ago, when I answered the question for someone else.
posted by dmd at 2:49 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by dmd at 2:49 PM on September 28, 2006
The DVD thing used to happen to me until I built a database to catalog them. Now whenever I go DVD shopping I simply print out the list and take it with me.
Then, inevitably, I leave it in the car.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:53 PM on September 28, 2006
Then, inevitably, I leave it in the car.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 2:53 PM on September 28, 2006
some of your responses are unnecessarily hostile and are uncalled for
Hmm. Me thinks he doth protest too much, no?
I'm still going with the fake letter theory. Hopefully whomever he tries to sell it to will use Google and come across this thread.
Lighten up, Francis.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:50 PM on September 28, 2006
Hmm. Me thinks he doth protest too much, no?
I'm still going with the fake letter theory. Hopefully whomever he tries to sell it to will use Google and come across this thread.
Lighten up, Francis.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:50 PM on September 28, 2006
I'm not sure why I'm surprised by it either, if it is legit. ... I did this very same thing a year ago, searching for one certain soup recipe. I finally found it; the link took me to one of my sites, where I'd posted the recipe months earlier and then forgotten about it.
posted by Tuwa at 5:02 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by Tuwa at 5:02 PM on September 28, 2006
Is anyone else getting a terrible feeling that if we searched MetaTalk, we'd find this exact thread, with all our comments prepeated verbatim, déjà vu et oublié?
posted by jack_mo at 5:50 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by jack_mo at 5:50 PM on September 28, 2006
jack_mo, I found it here (and I've already been to that page! spooky).
posted by Tuwa at 7:18 PM on September 28, 2006
posted by Tuwa at 7:18 PM on September 28, 2006
I recently made a mental note that we needed peanut butter, and bought peanut butter when I went grocery shopping. The next time I was in the grocery store, the mental note re-activated and I bought another jar. It happened again the next week. I was not able to stop buying jars of peanut butter until one week I remembered to write on my grocery list, "Do not need peanut butter."
Just chimin' in.
posted by not that girl at 1:29 PM on September 30, 2006 [1 favorite]
Just chimin' in.
posted by not that girl at 1:29 PM on September 30, 2006 [1 favorite]
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posted by Espy Gillespie at 9:20 PM on September 27, 2006