What happened on on December 21, 2001 that so many people joined? May 3, 2002 9:49 PM Subscribe
See also: User Growth charts (not updated since Nov. '01, however).
posted by gluechunk at 10:05 PM on May 3, 2002
posted by gluechunk at 10:05 PM on May 3, 2002
I signed up. Damn followers...
posted by bittennails at 10:22 PM on May 3, 2002
posted by bittennails at 10:22 PM on May 3, 2002
:0, 122101=7, give me your head...
posted by bittennails at 10:26 PM on May 3, 2002
posted by bittennails at 10:26 PM on May 3, 2002
12212001=9, worship me...
posted by bittennails at 10:27 PM on May 3, 2002
posted by bittennails at 10:27 PM on May 3, 2002
You did get my curiosity up though, I wonder what you mean by However, I think that this day shows up more often than most. ??
posted by bittennails at 10:49 PM on May 3, 2002
posted by bittennails at 10:49 PM on May 3, 2002
A couple of times some one said something that made me wonder when they had joined up. A lot of these people joined up on or shortly after September 11, but I noticed a lot of who people joined up on December 21 and over the next few days as well. I realize why people joined after people flew stuff into buildings, but December 21 made no sense to me, hence the question.
Add to that a uneventful Friday night and you get this thread. On a side note, I was surprised that you, bittennails, had joined up so recently. In my mind at least, you are one of the mefiesta (or however it is spelled).
posted by guyincognito at 11:05 PM on May 3, 2002
Add to that a uneventful Friday night and you get this thread. On a side note, I was surprised that you, bittennails, had joined up so recently. In my mind at least, you are one of the mefiesta (or however it is spelled).
posted by guyincognito at 11:05 PM on May 3, 2002
people who, not who people... I messed up on my first thread... I suck
posted by guyincognito at 11:09 PM on May 3, 2002
posted by guyincognito at 11:09 PM on May 3, 2002
mefiesta
Hey, wasn't that the party they just had back in New York?
Nice coinage, guy.
posted by diddlegnome at 12:12 AM on May 4, 2002
Hey, wasn't that the party they just had back in New York?
Nice coinage, guy.
posted by diddlegnome at 12:12 AM on May 4, 2002
Ten people in a day constitutes "more often than most"? Or is it that you left a bunch out? While it's easy to quantify this sort of thing, it's near impossible to explain it, barring certain obvious global-scale events which shall remain unnamed, or somebody doing some extreme server log analysis.
Maybe a bunch of people happened to link MeFi on/around that date. Maybe a bunch of people just happened to stumble upon it on/around that date. Maybe it turned up in a bunch of people's searches for various topics on that date. Maybe Skallas is right.
More likely, it was actually all of those, in some combination or other. So via the magic of a really big Occam-brand Razor, I conclude that it happened just cuz.
How's that for logic?
posted by Su at 2:56 AM on May 4, 2002
Maybe a bunch of people happened to link MeFi on/around that date. Maybe a bunch of people just happened to stumble upon it on/around that date. Maybe it turned up in a bunch of people's searches for various topics on that date. Maybe Skallas is right.
More likely, it was actually all of those, in some combination or other. So via the magic of a really big Occam-brand Razor, I conclude that it happened just cuz.
How's that for logic?
posted by Su at 2:56 AM on May 4, 2002
I think mine is December 22nd... I had only started reading here like around november, and was just occasionally clicking the register button to see if it was back up. Wish I'd have clicked it on the 21st, so I could be part of this little group.
posted by Keen at 5:40 AM on May 4, 2002
posted by Keen at 5:40 AM on May 4, 2002
heh, i was december 19th. but i have another registration from last April that I forgot about along the way. There goes any cred I could have had within MeFi. from a 5k to a 12k. blah!
posted by Ufez Jones at 5:59 AM on May 4, 2002
posted by Ufez Jones at 5:59 AM on May 4, 2002
I registered on the 26th, and I would suspect that Matt opened the registration back around that time.
posted by mkelley at 8:08 AM on May 4, 2002
posted by mkelley at 8:08 AM on May 4, 2002
December 21st (or 22nd; I can never tell) is the Winter Solstice. See, it all has to do with the position of the planet in relation to the sun.
Alternately, December 22 is my birthday, and they were all signing up in preparation of a big 'happy birthday' thread, but Matt deleted it about 20 seconds after it went live.
I cried myself to sleep that night...
posted by Danelope at 1:03 PM on May 4, 2002
Alternately, December 22 is my birthday, and they were all signing up in preparation of a big 'happy birthday' thread, but Matt deleted it about 20 seconds after it went live.
I cried myself to sleep that night...
posted by Danelope at 1:03 PM on May 4, 2002
December 21 was also a particularly good day for posts. *in Maurice Chevalier accent* I remember it well. It was a strange day. Hmmm...
Winter Olympics budget nearly $2 billion! Sydney's 2000 Summer Games cost $1.97 billion, The Atlanta Games in 1996 cost $605 million, while the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 1984 cost $75 million. Congress got a wakeup call today for just how expensive it is to host the Olympics.A new government analysis shows the federal tab for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City will cost taxpayers about $1.4 billion. “How many important public safety projects and other programs in other cities were postponed or canceled so that these cities could put on an Olympics?” asked Senator John McCain. Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt spoke of the games as a chance to bring the world together. "The world needs events like this," he said. "Good has always been the target of evil, but this is an event of such importance that we can transcend the events of September 11th."
posted by Mack Twain at 11:14 PM PST - 16 comments
FBI Declines to Release Hijack Flight Cockpit Tape "While we empathize with the grieving families, we do not believe that the horror captured on the cockpit voice recording will console them in any way,'' [an FBI spokesman] said. While the FBI claims they need to keep the information secret due to a criminal investigation, partial transcripts of the tape have shown up in Newsweek. If the FBI can leak to Newsweek, surely they could get the family members to sign a confidentiality agreement and let them in on the secret too, no?
posted by hitsman at 8:43 PM PST - 76 comments
Léopold Sedar Senghor, poet and first president of Senegal, dies at 95
He was the founder the négritude movement in French poetry, and a leader of African socialism. This "This Day" article discusses the political side, crediting him with Senegal's relative peace and success. This Libération article gives some biographical details. Like his friend and colleague, Senghor's negritude poems used images and symbolism of African folk cultures in French modernist verse to create a liberated identity for Africans.
posted by rschram at 8:33 PM PST - 6 comments
"Why do so many young Americans end their own lives?" With so much attention focused on understanding why Islamic youths are so driven to suicide, this article I ran across about U.S teenagers really hit me hard: "The suicide rate for Americans aged between 15 and 24 tripled between 1950 and 1994.....but when it comes to working out why young people end their lives, much of the clarity of the research disappears."
posted by Voyageman at 4:04 PM PST - 50 comments
Cast your vote for "Kenny of the Year"! This site first hit MeFi back in March, but now it's time to vote for the best Man Who Looks Like Kenny Rogers. I'm in favor of Kenny #1.
posted by CosmicSlop at 1:27 PM PST - 10 comments
Amazon spamming search engines? Looking around for reviews on Cooper tires, I came across 2 links in the top 20 search results on Google for sites that look legitimate, but are actually redirect pages to Amazon.com (which doesn't even sell auto tires!). What's going on here? Since when is it legitimate for large corporations to spam search engines!??
posted by yarf at 12:05 PM PST - 43 comments
The real hero of "It's A Wonderful Life" as viewed through neo-conservative goggles.
posted by Ty Webb at 11:26 AM PST - 16 comments
I think the recording industry has finally gotten it right. Let the post-post-Napster era commence!
posted by thebigpoop at 10:52 AM PST - 20 comments
ECMA ratifies C# as standard. In other news, Microsoft eats Sun's lunch. As Robert Cringely puts it: "Now Java begins its slow decline as C# becomes dominant. I don't want it to be this way, but it deserves to be this way." Does it?
posted by gazingus at 9:14 AM PST - 29 comments
Victims' families of Sept. 11 attack to get average of $1.5 million. Will this include the families of those who are still listed as missing instead of dead? Is the compensation structure fair? Should the families have to give up most of their rights to sue (and who would they be able to sue)?
posted by bakiwop at 8:49 AM PST - 19 comments
New type of RC plane going for around $100 They're electric as opposed to gas powered, lighter than their gas powered cousins, and a fraction of the cost. I've always wanted to get into RC planes, but the cost was prohibitive until now.
posted by skallas at 8:25 AM PST - 11 comments
Making plans for 2008
It's the feel good story of the day. A 12 year-old German school girl gets her place in the Guinness Book of Records for her tounge.
"I'm just proud that now people everywhere can read about me and my tongue." [via BoingBoing]
posted by DragonBoy at 8:20 AM PST - 32 comments
The Rocklopedia Fakebandica is an exhaustive compendium of non-existent musical acts from television and film. Need to know the complete lineup of Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-Wailers? It's here (via Grouse!).
posted by MrBaliHai at 8:05 AM PST - 17 comments
Two boozy British Airways staff face disciplinary action for drunken and abusive antics in first class on a flight to Londonposted by scotty at 8:03 AM PST - 3 comments
Is the Bush Administration complicit in hiding the source of the anthrax? An interesting theory with intriguing, albeit rather weak, evidence is presented. What do you guys think?
posted by donkeymon at 7:31 AM PST - 15 comments
So you think the expansion of the universe is accelerating? Think again! (Contains links to full paper in .pdf etc.)
posted by stuporJIX at 7:03 AM PST - 2 comments
Black Top Street Hockey ... it's ON! A new trend for urban sports, Black Top Street Hockey requires "...very little skill, but a lot of pent up aggression and hatred." Well, not really, but the Voice thinks it's kewl and among the best leisure sites of 2001. Reminisce about your own experiences, get some phat accessories, sticks and goals, and you'll be all set. If you're still looking for Xmas gifts, you might be too late, but you can read about the hockey experience.
posted by purplecow at 6:12 AM PST - 3 comments
The Queen's latest portrait was bound to cause controversy, what with the artist being Lucien Freud. Today a photograph of it was plastered over the front pages of nearly every major newspaper. The tabloid press are, as ever, 'up in arms' about it. I rather like it, but the palace isn't commenting as yet.
posted by davehat at 4:37 AM PST - 40 comments
Wooden Stakes? Deductible! What's the best way to make financial planning an accessible topic to young adults? Get a handful of CPAs together to examine the Vampire Slayer's cash flow problem, of course! (Via The Usual Suspects)
posted by headspace at 2:26 AM PST - 6 comments
The Holiday Season Without Vintage Port? Unthinkable, Dear Fellow!... But what vintage? I suggest the year you were born. Find out what your Vintage Port was like; how it's drinking now and what it says about your particular harvest (More inside)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:40 AM PST - 23 comments
How would you sell America to the Muslim World? Three Top U.S. Agency Executives Weigh In. Their responses really are inspired. Jim Ferguson (creator of 'Brand Bush') tops the bill with, ‘a lot of it is like selling soap.’ In another Ad Age special the important question of ‘Should American values be marketed to Muslim Nations?’ is discussed. Their answer is yes, I scream, NO! God, it can’t be long before we here calls for a marketing crusade. Please, can someone stop the advertising industry getting involved. This isn't Coke.
posted by RobertLoch at 12:46 AM PST - 26 comments
There is growing evidence that Somalia may be the next target in the "war on terrorism". Let's hope that the military doesn't repeat the same mistakes it made in the last intervention in Somalia chronicled in the book Black Hawk Down. All of this is great news for the upcoming movie based on said book. And you can't buy marketing like that. Or can you?
posted by euphorb at 12:24 AM PST - 15 comments
All good stuff, you'll agree. Now what would the connection be? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:12 PM on May 4, 2002
Winter Olympics budget nearly $2 billion! Sydney's 2000 Summer Games cost $1.97 billion, The Atlanta Games in 1996 cost $605 million, while the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 1984 cost $75 million. Congress got a wakeup call today for just how expensive it is to host the Olympics.A new government analysis shows the federal tab for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City will cost taxpayers about $1.4 billion. “How many important public safety projects and other programs in other cities were postponed or canceled so that these cities could put on an Olympics?” asked Senator John McCain. Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt spoke of the games as a chance to bring the world together. "The world needs events like this," he said. "Good has always been the target of evil, but this is an event of such importance that we can transcend the events of September 11th."
posted by Mack Twain at 11:14 PM PST - 16 comments
FBI Declines to Release Hijack Flight Cockpit Tape "While we empathize with the grieving families, we do not believe that the horror captured on the cockpit voice recording will console them in any way,'' [an FBI spokesman] said. While the FBI claims they need to keep the information secret due to a criminal investigation, partial transcripts of the tape have shown up in Newsweek. If the FBI can leak to Newsweek, surely they could get the family members to sign a confidentiality agreement and let them in on the secret too, no?
posted by hitsman at 8:43 PM PST - 76 comments
Léopold Sedar Senghor, poet and first president of Senegal, dies at 95
He was the founder the négritude movement in French poetry, and a leader of African socialism. This "This Day" article discusses the political side, crediting him with Senegal's relative peace and success. This Libération article gives some biographical details. Like his friend and colleague, Senghor's negritude poems used images and symbolism of African folk cultures in French modernist verse to create a liberated identity for Africans.
posted by rschram at 8:33 PM PST - 6 comments
"Why do so many young Americans end their own lives?" With so much attention focused on understanding why Islamic youths are so driven to suicide, this article I ran across about U.S teenagers really hit me hard: "The suicide rate for Americans aged between 15 and 24 tripled between 1950 and 1994.....but when it comes to working out why young people end their lives, much of the clarity of the research disappears."
posted by Voyageman at 4:04 PM PST - 50 comments
Cast your vote for "Kenny of the Year"! This site first hit MeFi back in March, but now it's time to vote for the best Man Who Looks Like Kenny Rogers. I'm in favor of Kenny #1.
posted by CosmicSlop at 1:27 PM PST - 10 comments
Amazon spamming search engines? Looking around for reviews on Cooper tires, I came across 2 links in the top 20 search results on Google for sites that look legitimate, but are actually redirect pages to Amazon.com (which doesn't even sell auto tires!). What's going on here? Since when is it legitimate for large corporations to spam search engines!??
posted by yarf at 12:05 PM PST - 43 comments
The real hero of "It's A Wonderful Life" as viewed through neo-conservative goggles.
posted by Ty Webb at 11:26 AM PST - 16 comments
I think the recording industry has finally gotten it right. Let the post-post-Napster era commence!
posted by thebigpoop at 10:52 AM PST - 20 comments
ECMA ratifies C# as standard. In other news, Microsoft eats Sun's lunch. As Robert Cringely puts it: "Now Java begins its slow decline as C# becomes dominant. I don't want it to be this way, but it deserves to be this way." Does it?
posted by gazingus at 9:14 AM PST - 29 comments
Victims' families of Sept. 11 attack to get average of $1.5 million. Will this include the families of those who are still listed as missing instead of dead? Is the compensation structure fair? Should the families have to give up most of their rights to sue (and who would they be able to sue)?
posted by bakiwop at 8:49 AM PST - 19 comments
New type of RC plane going for around $100 They're electric as opposed to gas powered, lighter than their gas powered cousins, and a fraction of the cost. I've always wanted to get into RC planes, but the cost was prohibitive until now.
posted by skallas at 8:25 AM PST - 11 comments
Making plans for 2008
It's the feel good story of the day. A 12 year-old German school girl gets her place in the Guinness Book of Records for her tounge.
"I'm just proud that now people everywhere can read about me and my tongue." [via BoingBoing]
posted by DragonBoy at 8:20 AM PST - 32 comments
The Rocklopedia Fakebandica is an exhaustive compendium of non-existent musical acts from television and film. Need to know the complete lineup of Evar Orbus and His Galactic Jizz-Wailers? It's here (via Grouse!).
posted by MrBaliHai at 8:05 AM PST - 17 comments
Two boozy British Airways staff face disciplinary action for drunken and abusive antics in first class on a flight to Londonposted by scotty at 8:03 AM PST - 3 comments
Is the Bush Administration complicit in hiding the source of the anthrax? An interesting theory with intriguing, albeit rather weak, evidence is presented. What do you guys think?
posted by donkeymon at 7:31 AM PST - 15 comments
So you think the expansion of the universe is accelerating? Think again! (Contains links to full paper in .pdf etc.)
posted by stuporJIX at 7:03 AM PST - 2 comments
Black Top Street Hockey ... it's ON! A new trend for urban sports, Black Top Street Hockey requires "...very little skill, but a lot of pent up aggression and hatred." Well, not really, but the Voice thinks it's kewl and among the best leisure sites of 2001. Reminisce about your own experiences, get some phat accessories, sticks and goals, and you'll be all set. If you're still looking for Xmas gifts, you might be too late, but you can read about the hockey experience.
posted by purplecow at 6:12 AM PST - 3 comments
The Queen's latest portrait was bound to cause controversy, what with the artist being Lucien Freud. Today a photograph of it was plastered over the front pages of nearly every major newspaper. The tabloid press are, as ever, 'up in arms' about it. I rather like it, but the palace isn't commenting as yet.
posted by davehat at 4:37 AM PST - 40 comments
Wooden Stakes? Deductible! What's the best way to make financial planning an accessible topic to young adults? Get a handful of CPAs together to examine the Vampire Slayer's cash flow problem, of course! (Via The Usual Suspects)
posted by headspace at 2:26 AM PST - 6 comments
The Holiday Season Without Vintage Port? Unthinkable, Dear Fellow!... But what vintage? I suggest the year you were born. Find out what your Vintage Port was like; how it's drinking now and what it says about your particular harvest (More inside)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:40 AM PST - 23 comments
How would you sell America to the Muslim World? Three Top U.S. Agency Executives Weigh In. Their responses really are inspired. Jim Ferguson (creator of 'Brand Bush') tops the bill with, ‘a lot of it is like selling soap.’ In another Ad Age special the important question of ‘Should American values be marketed to Muslim Nations?’ is discussed. Their answer is yes, I scream, NO! God, it can’t be long before we here calls for a marketing crusade. Please, can someone stop the advertising industry getting involved. This isn't Coke.
posted by RobertLoch at 12:46 AM PST - 26 comments
There is growing evidence that Somalia may be the next target in the "war on terrorism". Let's hope that the military doesn't repeat the same mistakes it made in the last intervention in Somalia chronicled in the book Black Hawk Down. All of this is great news for the upcoming movie based on said book. And you can't buy marketing like that. Or can you?
posted by euphorb at 12:24 AM PST - 15 comments
All good stuff, you'll agree. Now what would the connection be? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 1:12 PM on May 4, 2002
I propose we celebrate the day our MeFi membership was born. We could have MeFi birthday cards, cakes with blue and yellow frosting, sing an undetermined MeFi theme song and reminisce about posts gone by.
posted by jaden at 1:20 PM on May 4, 2002
posted by jaden at 1:20 PM on May 4, 2002
Anyone sign up on September 10th? I think we should report them to the Feds.
posted by vacapinta at 1:52 PM on May 4, 2002
posted by vacapinta at 1:52 PM on May 4, 2002
There's something wrong here. It looks like Miguel just reposted 23 MeFi posts in a Meta thread. Since that's totally absurd, I assume there's some problem with the database.
posted by rodii at 2:58 PM on May 4, 2002
posted by rodii at 2:58 PM on May 4, 2002
I found Metafilter in May 2001 while trying to figure out what Kaycee was all about. But I wasn't born until August 21, 2001. So were approximately 121 other users. That was about the time that new user sign-ups started again (only to stop later).
posted by piskycritter at 3:41 PM on May 4, 2002
posted by piskycritter at 3:41 PM on May 4, 2002
I'm going to update the Mefi stats soon, probably this week. Sorry about the delay.
posted by waxpancake at 7:40 PM on May 4, 2002
posted by waxpancake at 7:40 PM on May 4, 2002
Anyone sign up on September 10th? I think we should report them to the Feds.
Not sure about people signing up, but this is kinda creepy (from Sept. 10).
posted by arco at 7:58 PM on May 4, 2002
Not sure about people signing up, but this is kinda creepy (from Sept. 10).
posted by arco at 7:58 PM on May 4, 2002
"Not sure about people signing up, but this is kinda creepy (from Sept. 10)."
yep... they had it all planned out... 9-11 was all caused because we got too rowdy on metafi.... that makes the whole disaster make sense now.
sorry, i'm in an assinine mood right now. don't take it personally.
posted by Kafei at 12:24 AM on May 6, 2002
yep... they had it all planned out... 9-11 was all caused because we got too rowdy on metafi.... that makes the whole disaster make sense now.
sorry, i'm in an assinine mood right now. don't take it personally.
posted by Kafei at 12:24 AM on May 6, 2002
"But I wasn't born until August 21, 2001" 10 days before me. well, before this new user name. i lost my last one because i changed isps, and i didn't remember my password, and there's no secret question to get it back.
posted by Kafei at 12:26 AM on May 6, 2002
posted by Kafei at 12:26 AM on May 6, 2002
(holds up user number)
(celebrate me, baby, because I am older than you)
(puts end to everyone's fun)
(giggles and runs away)
Oh, and I've wager that some article was published that mentioned metafilter, Matt, or both at that time.
posted by rich at 1:16 PM on May 6, 2002
(celebrate me, baby, because I am older than you)
(puts end to everyone's fun)
(giggles and runs away)
Oh, and I've wager that some article was published that mentioned metafilter, Matt, or both at that time.
posted by rich at 1:16 PM on May 6, 2002
you guys are scaring me
This coming from clavdivs. ;)
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:43 PM on May 6, 2002
This coming from clavdivs. ;)
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 2:43 PM on May 6, 2002
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posted by guyincognito at 9:50 PM on May 3, 2002