'Gift account' confirmation

December 20, 2006 3:17 PM

Can anyone confirm that they have successfully used 'give a gift account'? I ask because of 1, 2.
posted by tellurian to Bugs at 3:17 PM (63 comments total)

I have succeeded. I had some odd trouble my first couple of goes, and Matt and I never really figured out why, but I've had success since.
posted by cortex at 3:19 PM on December 20, 2006

In fact, I just gifted successfully in the last five minutes. Wooha!
posted by cortex at 3:20 PM on December 20, 2006

I am the proud recipient of a gift account. So I guess that counts as a success.
posted by Help, I can't stop talking! at 3:21 PM on December 20, 2006

I wouldn't might a Lexis-Nexis gift account.

*scrunches face into pleadful expression*
posted by Smart Dalek at 3:28 PM on December 20, 2006

I have successfully received a gift account from cortex!
posted by Stove at 3:33 PM on December 20, 2006

I did. You can thank me for Rubber Key. And she can thank the anagram creator for the name.
posted by Brainy at 3:42 PM on December 20, 2006

My membership was either a gift (or a - Leave me alone and I'll give you your own account so you can ask your own questions and post your answers yourself and quit bugging me thing). I did get an odd error message upon registering my user name, but when I closed the error message I found myself logged in.
posted by goml at 3:53 PM on December 20, 2006

My account was also a recent gift.
posted by Abiezer at 4:03 PM on December 20, 2006

I gifted two. Both of them are afraid to post, but perfectly able to.
posted by ColdChef at 4:21 PM on December 20, 2006

I want very badly to create an account named "Netcraft" just for this thread.
posted by boo_radley at 4:30 PM on December 20, 2006

I'm sure it's because they've seen your mighty posts, ColdChef. They are probably afraid they will not be able to live up to the high bar that you have set.

You clearly have intimidated them with your awesomeness.
posted by quin at 4:49 PM on December 20, 2006

I'll give a gift account to the first 10 people who email me at the email in my profile. Especially for folks who dont have Paypal.

Just to put a cap on this: Do not email me after midnight tonight December 20! Thats 7 hours from the timestamp on this post.
posted by vacapinta at 5:02 PM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

Using one right now. I can't get rid of the new car smell, though.
posted by The Straightener at 5:05 PM on December 20, 2006

You are a stout one, vacapinta! Good show!
posted by cgc373 at 5:06 PM on December 20, 2006

Vacapinta, you might want to specify PST, because the time stamp *I* see on your post is 8:02 PM EST. Just sayin'.
posted by booksherpa at 5:08 PM on December 20, 2006

It'll still be 7 hours after the timestamp; just not midnight.
posted by LionIndex at 5:16 PM on December 20, 2006

Yes, I'm at PST. Do not email me after midnight PST!

But instead of doing the math just add 7 to whatever timestamp you see on the post. Is that clearer? :)
posted by vacapinta at 5:16 PM on December 20, 2006

I would like to confirm the gift account creation and also thank vacapinta for the gift in question.
posted by stresstwig at 5:27 PM on December 20, 2006

There was confirmation of success in the announcement thread.
posted by Mitheral at 5:49 PM on December 20, 2006

Cheers to vacapinta!

I love this place.
posted by geekyguy at 5:50 PM on December 20, 2006

that's the spirit of the stable baby from 2000 years ago, vacapinta! it's like you're breaking off 10 chunks of electronic frankincense for the world.
posted by Hat Maui at 6:11 PM on December 20, 2006

I am here as the recipient of a gift membership from vacapinta (Thank You, vacapinta!)... I took a chance when I read his offer of a gift membership for the first 10 people who emailed him... I've been an avid reader for over a year and I feel like I already know you all...

Okay, I'll stop before I get too gushy...

I hereby promise that I will do my best not to make vacapinta regret giving me a gift membership (he doesn't even know me at all, so if I do something stupid or silly, please don't let it reflect on him)...

I also promise never to:

1. Post an AskMe asking people to name my cat, child, or business venture.

2. Post an FPP that includes a caret as a link to a Wikipedia article.

3. Commit any of the other multitude of sins that make veteran MeFites' blood boil. (Although I'm sure I'll end up annoying someone sometime, and woe is me when I do! And, on preview, I've probably already created animosity by typing such a long post ~ Yikes!)

But for now, I'm basking in the glory of my brand new membership! Yay!

P.S. Just wanted to mention that I got a scary-looking error page when trying to log in immediately after registering, but it went away when I clicked the back button and I showed up as being logged in.
posted by amyms at 9:11 PM on December 20, 2006

If anyone is having trouble, email me and I'll issue a refund.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:13 PM on December 20, 2006

AMYMS OMG WHY DID YOU TYPE SO MANY PARAGRAPHS YOU TOOK UP TOO MUCH SPACE DIE DIE DIE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Just kidding. Welcome to Metafilter.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:15 PM on December 20, 2006 [1 favorite]

LOL at ThePinkSuperhero... I'm tempted to get all offended and have a spectacular flame-out, but I'd feel guilty if I wasted vacapinta's five bucks...

Thanks for the welcome :)
posted by amyms at 9:26 PM on December 20, 2006

Hello, Cleveland!... I really have to thank vacapinta for the gift membership, and amyms for suggesting I give it a try... I have been a reader for a while now, and this will be a cool exprience for me... Like amyms, I experienced the error page, but found my way out of it... I'll try to familiarize myself with people and things before lunging right in... Thank you again!
posted by RayOrama at 9:29 PM on December 20, 2006

This is very cool. Good on vacapinta, and welcome to amyms - may all the rest of The Ten be as good-natured, and well-versed in the ways and manners of MeFites!

And, I thought you were on vacation already, Matt. Take some time off, already!
posted by yhbc at 9:32 PM on December 20, 2006

Welcome RayOrama! (insert hugs and kisses here)
posted by amyms at 9:33 PM on December 20, 2006

on non-preview: Welcome, RayOrama. Okay, you're good-natured and well-versed also.

I'll stop now. Sheesh, eight more?!?
posted by yhbc at 9:34 PM on December 20, 2006

And, I thought you were on vacation already, Matt. Take some time off, already!
He is - don't you read MeFi when you are on vacation?
posted by dg at 9:37 PM on December 20, 2006

Thanks yhbc :)
posted by amyms at 9:49 PM on December 20, 2006

Thank you, amyms and yhbc.
posted by RayOrama at 9:54 PM on December 20, 2006

3. Commit any of the other multitude of sins that make veteran MeFites' blood boil.

2. Post an FPP that includes a caret as a link to a Wikipedia article.

I hate to tell you this, but a lot of folks (including mathowie, our genial host, he mentioned a few times back when it was a new thing) really hate 'FPP'. Me, I don't care so much. Better than LOL ROFLcoptering.

Anyway, a welcome to the giftynoobs. There's a song for you on my profile page.

Don't neglect the long-standing, solemn tradition of buying a beer for the wonderchicken for, er... luck.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:08 PM on December 20, 2006

If anyone is having trouble, email me and I'll issue a refund.
Don't worry about it. Consider it a donation for the work you put in here. I was just curious to see how the process would work.
[I swear, if you put a link up labelled 'DO NOT CLICK', I wouldn't be able to help myself]
posted by tellurian at 10:34 PM on December 20, 2006

I'll stop now. Sheesh, eight more?!?

There were only 7 takers - 3 of which have posted in this thread.

So if you're reading this and want to email me in the next 45 minutes (as promised) I still have 3 left!
posted by vacapinta at 11:16 PM on December 20, 2006

I hate to tell you this, but a lot of folks (including mathowie, our genial host, he mentioned a few times back when it was a new thing) really hate 'FPP'.

Good catch, stavrosthewonderchicken... Is the preferred term "posting to the blue" rather than "FPP"?... I need to know these things!...

If I knew how to make smaller type, I'd typed in smaller type here: I'm buying stavrosthewonderchicken a beer, as per long-standing, solemn tradition... For luck.
posted by amyms at 12:17 AM on December 21, 2006

Ah hell, just use 'front page post', I guess. And most people really don't care about FPP anymore, since it's become so common. I think the main objection people had to 'FPP' was that it was (probably) clear to Mefites, but (probably) opaque to everyone else in the world, and therefore exclusionary.

The language is messy, because we can:

post a thread
post a comment
make a thread
make a post
make a comment

but it sounds weird to 'post a post'.

I'm buying stavrosthewonderchicken a beer

I think I'm going to like this amyms!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:25 AM on December 21, 2006

Psst... stavros... here's your beer... I'll even add some tortilla chips or buffalo wings...

But, please tell me how to type in smaller type!... And... If anyone can tell me how to make a clickable link, I'll send you a virtual beer too... (or stavros, if that person is you, I'll send you a second beer)... I answered an AskMe post earlier and had to suffer the humiliation of not having a clickable link in my answer.
posted by amyms at 12:45 AM on December 21, 2006

1. Learn some HTML basics. It's easy. Small text is achieved by putting <small> before your small text and </small> after it. Don't smallify huge blocks of text. Many people freakin' hate that, me included.
2. Depending on your browser, you should have a [B I link] menu under the text area you type in. Highlight a bit of text and hit the appropriate button to bold, italicize or linkify it. Links are made by hand like this: <a href="http://wherever.com">the text you want to linkify</a> Learn more about basic HTML tags here, amongst a billion other places. To see how any page is made, View Source from your browser menu.
3. Using... excessive... ellipses... rather than actual punctuation will get you snarked at eventually. Many people freakin' hate that, me included.

I can't believe I just did an HTML primer after all these years. The Xmas spirit must be upon me or something.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:00 AM on December 21, 2006

By the way, the result of the example link I showed you above would be:

the text you want to linkify

Copy and paste it into the text area and preview it. You'll see how it works.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:02 AM on December 21, 2006

Thank You :) Merry Christmas!
posted by amyms at 1:03 AM on December 21, 2006

I don't know if I'll be able to control the ellipses... I've been typing this way forever (and so has my best friend ~and fellow newbie~ RayOrama)... I shall warn him immediately!
posted by amyms at 1:09 AM on December 21, 2006

Heh. Don't worry about it. MeFi's known as a snarky place, but most folks are very nice indeed, most of the time, at least.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:13 AM on December 21, 2006

Learning those small tags will ruin your life, amyms! You can't stop using them. Plus, it turns out you can nest them. Making things smaller and smaller. It's horrifying.

But linking is awesome. I suggest testing a link now, because once you figure out how to do it, your MetaFilter life will improve beyond mortal recognition. Plus, you won't get flamed for botching anything right now, since everybody here knows you're learning the ropes.
posted by cgc373 at 1:58 AM on December 21, 2006

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

With more and more first time posters fearing the snark their first time post might draw, with some even feeling the need to audition them in MeTa to try and avoid being blown to kingdom come by the Metafilter Welcome Wagon, one wonders why anyone would be so evil, malicious and downright psychotic as to give someone a Metafilter account for Christmas.

And on a related note, how many people would kick someone in the beanbag for giving them such a stress inducing gift?
posted by Effigy2000 at 4:12 AM on December 21, 2006

heh - I joined a year ago after lurking for a while, and just worked up to making my first post. It went surprisingly well, even though I got the link wrong (thanks jessamyn!) and got my supporting link wrong (oops) and got the guy's name wrong (ferchristsake!). But still nobody snarked!*

*This is good. I am not making a challenge, I am celebrating.
posted by jacalata at 6:09 AM on December 21, 2006

*dances naked*
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:11 AM on December 21, 2006

'm tempted to get all offended and have a spectacular flame-out, but I'd feel guilty if I wasted vacapinta's five bucks...

No, no, no—that wouldn't be a waste, that would be a spectacularly altruistic use of his five bucks, the gift that keeps on giving!

Just kidding. Leave the flameouts to the crotchety miscreants, and welcome to the madhouse, amyms (and all the rest of yez)!
posted by languagehat at 6:20 AM on December 21, 2006

one wonders why anyone would be so evil, malicious and downright psychotic as to give someone a Metafilter account for Christmas

Hey, some of us are Jewish.
posted by cortex at 6:27 AM on December 21, 2006

So . . . that's why.

Wait, what?
posted by cgc373 at 10:09 AM on December 21, 2006

You know what? My most recent comment makes the kind of sense that's not, to quote Buffy. Please strike it from the record.
posted by cgc373 at 10:13 AM on December 21, 2006

One of my gift accounts never resulted in an email to the recipient, but then a second effort worked. I can live with that.

Welcome to the Blue, ShadePlant! Woocha!
posted by everichon at 2:02 PM on December 21, 2006

I would just like to remind everybody that socks are not a good Christmas gift.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs at 2:34 PM on December 21, 2006

I'm not so sure. I had to rummage through the dirty laundry this morning to find my cleanest dirty socks, so some new ones would come in handy right now.
posted by dg at 3:34 PM on December 21, 2006

The beginning of the death of childhood: when I first thought, "oh, hey, socks! Great!"
posted by cortex at 3:48 PM on December 21, 2006

Warm, clean, un-hole-y socks are a source of great comfort. I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.
posted by everichon at 5:10 PM on December 21, 2006

The conclusion of the death of childhood: when you start asking for socks for Christmas.
posted by dg at 6:12 PM on December 21, 2006

Maybe there should be a referral fee. For every ten gift accounts you give you get a free sock puppet. Or for every gift account you give you get an emergency question.
I also think there is serious merit to Amyms's idea about giving a beer.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:11 PM on December 21, 2006

I also think there is serious merit to Amyms's idea about giving a beer.

It wasn't MY idea... I was just taking stavrosthewonderchicken's hint about solemn and long-standing traditions... For luck.

Plus, that beer was a small price to pay for the invaluable HTML tips :)
posted by amyms at 9:22 PM on December 21, 2006

Vacapinta gave me this new MeFi account and I'm drunk with power and full of Christmas spirit. In an effort to "pay it forward"I actually tipped the guy at Starbucks.
Vacapinta rules!
posted by Dizzy at 12:34 AM on December 22, 2006

I received a gift account weeks ago. I'm so used to lurking that I don't remember to use it- but technically, it works.
posted by Secretariat at 8:01 AM on December 22, 2006

Technically.
posted by cortex at 8:15 AM on December 22, 2006

I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled

And I shall button up my frock, Pru.
posted by Sparx at 10:26 AM on December 22, 2006