August 15, 2005

1:05 PM

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 (32 comments total)

I'd love for the question to have a "followup" area that the poster could later return to fill out, and then a notice would go up on something like ask.metafilter.com/followups, which would just be a place to view information (perhaps only from the author) for questions that have otherwise dropped off into obscurity.
posted by odinsdream at 1:23 PM on August 15, 2005

Do you have a link to the original question? I think I missed this one, and now I'm curious.
posted by frykitty at 1:26 PM on August 15, 2005

I've been searching for it but I cannot find it. I could swear up and down "security clearance" and "FBI" were used in the post along with "note" and "door" but nothing is coming up. I also posted something in the thread along the lines of "I'm interested in this and am bookmarking it", but it is not showing up. Perhaps I'm just having a bad search day or Matt deleted the thread.

I also remember checking it after the close-out period and there were no new updates.
posted by geoff. at 1:33 PM on August 15, 2005

Was it this thread? (Found by using "FBI note door site:ask.metafilter.com" in Yahoo.)
posted by Vidiot at 1:36 PM on August 15, 2005

I want to find out what happend in this thread.

We really need a way for anonymous posters to continue discussing their question in the thread, IMO.
posted by delmoi at 1:37 PM on August 15, 2005

Yes it is that thread! I used those terms, but not in Yahoo. Damn that was pissing me off.
posted by geoff. at 1:39 PM on August 15, 2005

For the FBI q: Since it was anonymous in the first place I sincerely doubt someone will post a non-anon follow-up.
posted by smackfu at 1:39 PM on August 15, 2005

Well assuming that he finds out the government isn't after him there really is no reason for him to be anonymous any longer. Plus if he happened to be on the cusp of some large government conspiracy and is now in Argentina, he could perhaps mail matt or jessamyn.
posted by geoff. at 1:41 PM on August 15, 2005

The follow-up I've been waiting for is did gucky find her baby pictures? Is there a conventional way to ask about non-anonymous posts?

Sorry to coattail on delmoi's derail.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 1:44 PM on August 15, 2005

Is this the question (found using yahoo instead of google).
posted by Chuckles at 1:49 PM on August 15, 2005

Curses, foiled again!
(yes, I did think of using preview. Doh!)
posted by Chuckles at 1:50 PM on August 15, 2005

Anonymous folks can always email me and I'll repost here (this works for now at least)
posted by mathowie at 1:55 PM on August 15, 2005

I'd love for the question to have a "followup" area that the poster could later return to fill out, and then a notice would go up on something like ask.metafilter.com/followups, which would just be a place to view information (perhaps only from the author) for questions that have otherwise dropped off into obscurity.

I sure do love this idea.
posted by frykitty at 1:58 PM on August 15, 2005

frykitty: "I sure do love this idea."

It sure is surprising no one has thought of it before! Sure is!
posted by Plutor at 2:16 PM on August 15, 2005

I'll jump in here and say that I was the recipient of a similar card, attached to my door, in the last few months. It was, in fact, a DoD security clearance investigation of one of my neighbors. He didn't give them my name, since he hadn't listed me as a reference--the investigator simply came to the guy's address and knocked on the neighbors' doors. I called, she came to my office to interview me about the guy, showed me her badge and ID and stuff, asked me a bunch of questions about the guy, and that was that.
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:33 PM on August 15, 2005

MrMoonPie, did you tell the agents that the rumors that he was a depraved squirrel-boinking communist were completely unfounded?
posted by substrate at 2:48 PM on August 15, 2005

not to worry anon, your ok and don't by that HOAX
posted by clavdivs at 4:10 PM on August 15, 2005

or someone just made a "mistake"
posted by clavdivs at 4:11 PM on August 15, 2005

once again--Updatefilter

it would work just as well for the green as for the blue.
posted by amberglow at 4:16 PM on August 15, 2005

anonymous will have a hard time responding, since he is being HELD IN GITMO FOR CRIMES AGAINST AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by angry modem at 5:16 PM on August 15, 2005

We can already add tags to our own posts, even if they're more than a month old. It seems like basically the same code could be used to add a resolution. Maybe not for anonymous, but at least for everyone else.
posted by smackfu at 6:02 PM on August 15, 2005

I still want to know why those dudes were saying "Seven" in the Paris Metro.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:37 PM on August 15, 2005

We can already add tags to our own posts, even if they're more than a month old.

Oooh, if there was a per-tag RSS feed you could get people to add a "resolved" tag [and maybe a final comment somehow, that would require some recoding I guess] and then people could subscribe to the resolution feed and learn how it all wound up.
posted by jessamyn at 7:42 PM on August 15, 2005

I guess they're looking for me now. I idly read this and the ask.metfilter threads while at work this afternoon. When I got home this evening I found a nice gold embossed FBI card and the unaddressed cover requesting a call. It's dated the 11th, it got mixed in with all the junk mail that accumulates at the bottom of our stairs. I think I'll try and get one of my roommates to call.
posted by jackmakrl at 8:01 PM on August 15, 2005

Don't worry, if they've left a calling card telling you that they are wanting information on someone else, they've already checked you out.

I bet some people's mothers and neighbors get these twice a week.
posted by Balisong at 10:41 PM on August 15, 2005

I second weapons-grade. Come on, themadjuggler, give us some resolution!
posted by languagehat at 6:15 AM on August 16, 2005

Still don't care much for the anonymous thing. Seems like a lot of work and shenanigans for very little satisfaction. The threads are frustrating and one-sided.
posted by Witty at 6:18 AM on August 16, 2005

I, too, have been up at night thinking about 'the seven' mumblers.
posted by safetyfork at 8:17 AM on August 16, 2005

It was during my last three weeks in Paris that I heard the people in the metro saying "seven" over and over again. After posting that to AskMe, I saw the first man one more time at Nation, but I was too nervous to say anything. >_< br>
I don't know any other Mefites in Paris right now. Sorry for the let-down!
posted by themadjuggler at 8:30 AM on August 16, 2005

Damn you, themadjuggler! You should have been willing to risk your very life to satisfy our curiosity!

...seven...
posted by languagehat at 9:58 AM on August 16, 2005

"I'm sorry, Allegedly Special Agent, but I don't know what you're talking about."
posted by davy at 10:04 AM on August 16, 2005

I, too wanted an update on the seduction question delmoi linked above. You get a little window into someone's life, you give a bit of yourself through advice and now I keep thinking about it! Was he into it? Did she get him drunk? Inquiring minds...
posted by slimslowslider at 12:21 AM on August 17, 2005