how many members?

January 11, 2004 2:01 AM

how many members?
posted by quonsar to Bugs at 2:01 AM (40 comments total)

Connection failure members. Next question.
posted by eddydamascene at 2:56 AM on January 11, 2004

I'd say this number is more accurate than the usual.
posted by angry modem at 3:05 AM on January 11, 2004

Naw, see, Connection Failure is Matt's new Casio-punk band he's forming once he learns to play keys. Expect them to be huge. The Strokes first album : 2001 :: Connection Failure "ColdFusion Error #2417 E.P." : 2005. You heard it here first.
posted by arto at 4:08 AM on January 11, 2004

It is bad enough I fail at connecting, and now it is on the fronpage of MeFi as well.

I feel so, euhm, failed at connecting.
posted by sebas at 5:58 AM on January 11, 2004

Connection failure

On Margate Sands
I can connect
Nothing with nothing.
posted by matteo at 7:46 AM on January 11, 2004

maybe this means he's opening it up?
posted by amberglow at 7:48 AM on January 11, 2004

maybe this means he's opening it up?

Or that the connection somehow failed?
posted by hama7 at 8:17 AM on January 11, 2004

I can dream, can't I, hama? We need new blood--you bring in some repubs, and i'll bring in some dems : >
posted by amberglow at 8:21 AM on January 11, 2004

I'll bring the cheese.
posted by sebas at 8:29 AM on January 11, 2004

you bring in some repubs, and i'll bring in some dems : >

I'll tell all the guys at the shop.

Meanwhile, reusing dormant accounts might allow the MonkeyFilter waiting list to join up, and editing out unused accounts, or dual accounts, might make the total member number more accurate.

There are many accounts like this which are obviously never used, and falsely inflate the member count on the front page.
posted by hama7 at 8:37 AM on January 11, 2004

hama7, you don't know that user #14406 doesn't use metafilter. They just happen to be quite. There are advantages to being a member besides posting rights.
posted by Apoch at 8:39 AM on January 11, 2004

They just happen to be quite.

Quite quiet?
posted by hama7 at 8:44 AM on January 11, 2004

reusing dormant accounts might allow the MonkeyFilter waiting list to join up

For the seventy-fourth time, the dormant accounts use no resources and are no impediment to anyone signing up. The bottleneck is not technological, but social.
posted by gleuschk at 8:54 AM on January 11, 2004

Maybe Matt thinks we are all too obsessed with numbers.
posted by konolia at 11:18 AM on January 11, 2004

Maybe Matt thinks we are all too obsessed with numbers.
Maybe it was when we counted hanging chads to get a number of MeFites in Florida...
posted by wendell at 11:35 AM on January 11, 2004

Let us go to the mountain and there find the ones whom the gods speak to. They will tell us what the signs mean.
posted by Hildago at 11:39 AM on January 11, 2004

The database server was down when it did the nightly count. It's fixed now.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:45 AM on January 11, 2004

Look, the mountain just came to us.
posted by ginz at 12:36 PM on January 11, 2004

you bring in some repubs, and i'll bring in some dems

How about we bring in some people who aren't obsessed with the minutiae of american politics?
posted by timeistight at 12:43 PM on January 11, 2004

Aw, where's the fun in that?
posted by Johnny Assay at 2:23 PM on January 11, 2004

The highest user number is 17358. The number of users is 17175. What happened to the other 200?
posted by mkn at 3:06 PM on January 11, 2004

Don't ask that question if you don't want to find out. We'd hate to see that number increment to 201.

Fnord! There is no cabal!
posted by five fresh fish at 3:19 PM on January 11, 2004

you know, it is impossible to read the miniscule, blurred text produced by even double nested <small> tags. nesting three <small> tags is just the mark of an idiot.
posted by quonsar at 3:56 PM on January 11, 2004

Aw, quonsar, just put your bifocals on like the rest of us.
posted by konolia at 4:25 PM on January 11, 2004

Oh, is THAT how you do it?

Thanks quonsar! On a related note, when did mathowie do away with the [smaller] and [smallest] tags, or were they never here?
posted by BlueTrain at 4:50 PM on January 11, 2004

"There are advantages to being a member besides posting rights."

frequent flyer miles?

MetaFilter -- Don't Leave Home Without It
posted by matteo at 5:03 PM on January 11, 2004

It's not my fault.
posted by onlyconnect at 5:05 PM on January 11, 2004

<smock> <smock> <smock > </smock> </smock> </smock>
posted by namespan at 5:17 PM on January 11, 2004

woohoo !
posted by sgt.serenity at 2:21 AM on January 12, 2004

I know that at one point the front page was static for non-members refreshing only once every five minutes. I don't know if it still does this, but having an up to date front page was at one point an advantage to being a member.

The (x new comments) is a member only feature.

The alternate style for the front page is a member only feature (which I am aware can be done on anyone's client side with css)

Yes, the main reason to have an account is to have the option to post threads and comments, but it isn't required. Just because someone hasn't used the posting option doesn't mean they aren't using their account.
posted by Apoch at 4:33 AM on January 12, 2004

oompah...loompah...oompah....loompah
posted by sgt.serenity at 5:38 AM on January 12, 2004

this thread is sliding dangerously close to one we've had umpteen times. search metatalk for details. we now return to um, whatever it was we were doing before quonsar interrupted.
posted by quonsar at 7:47 AM on January 12, 2004

hmmm
posted by clavdivs at 8:44 AM on January 12, 2004

quonsar, perhaps this would be better in the green?
posted by DBAPaul at 9:51 AM on January 12, 2004

how weird is that? do all MeTa posts show up in AskMe?
posted by amberglow at 10:23 AM on January 12, 2004

MeTa threads won't show up on the AskMeFi front page, but since they're part of the same system you can view any individual MeTa thread in the green by changing the "metatalk" in the URL to "ask".

[ AskMeFi is basically just a list of MetaTalk threads filtered to show only the ones posted to the "Ask Metafilter" category...maybe one day it'll have a backend all of its own :( ]
posted by filmgoerjuan at 10:35 AM on January 12, 2004

Testing.

Try it, it's fun!
posted by filmgoerjuan at 10:37 AM on January 12, 2004

And, vice versa, you can view all AskMe threads via the grey.

Random AskMe Thread

Which is how I originally stumbled on this, entering 4566 rather than 4556
posted by DBAPaul at 12:47 PM on January 12, 2004

It's more than fun! It's the only way to read MetaTalk at work, for those of us whose work filters block MetaTalk (Games!) but not MeFi or AxMe. I've been doing this for a while. You mouse over the AxMe posts until you see two noncontiguous thread numbers next to each other, then supply the missing thread number and voila! the MeTa thread shows up in the green. Good, tedious fun, just like the Amish get to have, but wearing cooler clothes. Well maybe not so much with the clothes.
posted by luser at 4:36 PM on January 12, 2004

luser: http://my.work.has.lame.filters.for.metatalk.too.metafilter.com/
posted by thebabelfish at 4:47 PM on January 12, 2004