MeFi International September 23, 2008 10:45 AM   Subscribe

Is MeFi getting less international? This is entirely based on subjective impressions but it seems like we’re seeing a lot less posts outside of regular US waking hours. Is this just something that happens every 4 years because of all the election posts?
posted by Artw to MetaFilter-Related at 10:45 AM (129 comments total)

Well we can wait for cortex to do a database dump but my impression, based on teh same sorts of conformation bias-y things that I'm sure other people have is that it's more international not less.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:50 AM on September 23, 2008


Annyeong haseyo!
posted by bardic at 10:52 AM on September 23, 2008


And, you know, the regular "US waking hours" are also the regular waking hours for more or less the entire Western Hemisphere.
posted by Electrius at 10:56 AM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


Anyone who posts outside of 'US waking hours' is a vampire and should be banned. Also I heard Canadians wake up at like three in the morning and go to bed in the afternoon. What's up with that?
posted by Science! at 11:03 AM on September 23, 2008 [4 favorites]


I think it's combo of US election filter, Palin Filter, US Economy Filter, US Gas Prices Filter and Wall Street Filter.

We're a little stressed right now.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:03 AM on September 23, 2008


Maybe international people are just lazy.
posted by smackfu at 11:07 AM on September 23, 2008 [5 favorites]


I think it's combo of US election filter, Palin Filter, US Economy Filter, US Gas Prices Filter and Wall Street Filter. We're a little stressed right now.

Yes, because none of those things have any affect whatsoever on the rest of us.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:08 AM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


From reading AskMe there still seem to be a relatively large number of questions from non-USers. I haven't noticed a major change in the last year or so.
posted by burnmp3s at 11:09 AM on September 23, 2008


This'd be pretty easy to look at if I wasn't at work, but I've got nothing but Excel here and I'm not sure how to use that to sort datestamps into 24-hr buckets.

If you want to snag the most recent infodump post data for mefi, you can grab it right here and crunch some numbers yourself.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:10 AM on September 23, 2008


It is also not either/or. Right now, most of the Western Hemisphere is awake. It's 11am in San Francisco. It's 8pm in most of Europe. So it could be active right now and still be "International."

Folks in Hong Kong are probably sleeping as are the Australians. And they'll wake up before the Europeans go to bed (or, in Spain, before they even have dinner)
posted by vacapinta at 11:13 AM on September 23, 2008


I blame the French.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:17 AM on September 23, 2008 [4 favorites]


Yes, because none of those things have any affect whatsoever on the rest of us.

Cynically speaking, I'd say Americans are losing it and posting more on Mefi due to the world not being all sunshine and ice cream in the greatest country in the world.

They rest of ya'll knew that, so you're not as surprised, flabbergasted etc etc
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2008


Get back to work, vacapinta!

Oh, right.
posted by Mister_A at 11:18 AM on September 23, 2008


It is also not either/or. Right now, most of the Western Hemisphere is awake. It's 11am in San Francisco. It's 8pm in most of Europe. So it could be active right now and still be "International."

There's always been a lull between midnight PST and whenever the east coast get up though. It's *seeming* like it's more pronounced to me now, though as I say I haven't looked at any actually stats on that.
posted by Artw at 11:20 AM on September 23, 2008


I think it is a reflection of the silly season here in the colonies, Artw.
posted by Mister_A at 11:26 AM on September 23, 2008


Would these Quantcast numbers be of any use at all?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:29 AM on September 23, 2008


Efekt potwierdzania.

That's Polish for 'confirmation bias.'

I was going to say "Miguel, is that you?"... but I was afraid too few people remember who used to make posts like this.
posted by languagehat at 11:29 AM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


USA! USA!
posted by shmegegge at 11:31 AM on September 23, 2008


I think it's combo of US election filter, Palin Filter, US Economy Filter, US Gas Prices Filter and Wall Street Filter.

We are all Georgians Americans.
posted by never used baby shoes at 11:43 AM on September 23, 2008


I am eating falafel even as I type this on Metafilter right now.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 11:44 AM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


Here is a marginally interesting graph. I feel inclined to do a much better job of this not-with-Excel some time.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:48 AM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


Wait, it's by hour-of-day for a week, right? Or does posting peak seven times per day?
posted by GuyZero at 11:51 AM on September 23, 2008


It's seven years of 0-23 jammed up against each other. Imagine it as seven different 24-hr cycle graphs for 2002-2008, all in one place, because, seriously, fuck Excel.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:52 AM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


Actually we don't exist. We're just an invention of the industrial-military complex to keep the US population in a state of constant fear and awe.

You see, your papers keep talking endlessly about places like Georgia, Kosovo, England. Have you ever walked, driven or rowed a boat to one of those places? Flying there won't do: your plane just kept flying for hours and landed in an assigned NSA-Disney facility, where you and your fellow passengers were allowed to "visit" the foreign country.
posted by nkyad at 11:56 AM on September 23, 2008 [12 favorites]


sorry cortex, but i don't get it.

are they 7 different graphs representing the 24 hr cycle in average for the entire year? so the first spike is the 0-24 hr average for 2001?

if so, how does this help us figure out if there's been a decline over the past couple months?

if not, i'm confused.
posted by shmegegge at 11:58 AM on September 23, 2008


Nice picture, cortex. Is that the Coast Range, the Cascades or the Rockies?
posted by Cranberry at 12:00 PM on September 23, 2008


I think it may seem less international because everyone in the US is crapping balls over the election and the economy melt-down, so the front page is kind of reflecting that.

If we revisited this in December, I'm sure it'll return to normal.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 12:00 PM on September 23, 2008


I thought that perhaps now that so much internet traffic is being routed around the US, it's just missing the tube stop that is MetaFilter. Perhaps if MetaFilter was hosted in Paris .... Ah, Paris.
posted by scblackman at 12:02 PM on September 23, 2008


If we revisited this in December, I'm sure it'll return to normal.
posted by mathowie

Hey, at least somebody out there is still an optimist!
posted by Grither at 12:03 PM on September 23, 2008


Oh normalcy! That's so sweet (aka American)</small)
posted by Wilder at 12:05 PM on September 23, 2008


Oh, gotcha. yeah, too bad you can't overlay them because it looks like the peaks are getting a bit wider and shorter indicating that there are more people without normal lives posting at all hours of the day. Or international users, sure.
posted by GuyZero at 12:05 PM on September 23, 2008


Oh Jesu, joy of man's HTMLing! WTF happened to my small?
posted by Wilder at 12:06 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


are they 7 different graphs representing the 24 hr cycle in average for the entire year? so the first spike is the 0-24 hr average for 2001?

Yes. The spikiest part of the spike is the most popular hour of the day. Labeling the X Axis is overrated.

if so, how does this help us figure out if there's been a decline over the past couple months?

Compare the right-most spike with the previous ones. Except that doesn't really work, because 2008 isn't over yet and the spikes aren't normalized so the 2008 spike is smaller.
posted by burnmp3s at 12:07 PM on September 23, 2008


if so, how does this help us figure out if there's been a decline over the past couple months?

It totally doesn't! Sweet, huh? What it does tell us is that the previous six years have been pretty steady in their overall heartbeat, and 2008 so far too even though it looks like Stumpy The Incomplete Year because the data's not normalized. Which fact I'm reading as a sign that we haven't seen a steady decline in non-US visits, at least, which would be to me a lot more likely an issue than a sudden precipitous drop in such in the last couple of months.

But, yeah, like I said: it's not a super useful graph.
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:14 PM on September 23, 2008


I somehow get a very Broadwayesque feeling from this thread. Sentences turn into lyrics turn into a musical. I'll try to explain:

[A guy is sitting alone at a small wooden table, a single spotlight frames him]
Guy (singing): It's eleven o'clock in San Francisco
Where you are
And I'm sitting here alone at the corner bar
Will we ever meet again?
I so miss you, Jen
I wish you could join me for a distant drink or two
But your bar's not open and you've got work to do

[The stage goes black, another spotlight frames a woman, sitting in a cubicle]
Woman (singing): It's eight o'clock in most of Europe
Where you lurk
And I'm sitting here alone at work
Will we ever meet again?
Are you still my friend?
I wish I could join you for a drink or two
But you're in most of Europe so what can I do?

[Now the spotlights suddenly frames both the guy and the woman]
Guy & woman (singing in unison): Damn these time zones
They're keeping us apart
Whoever invented them wasn't very smart
Guy: I'm in most of Europe...
Woman: ...and I'm in San Francisco
Guy & woman (singing in unison): Like ships in the night we're only passing through
Guy: I'm in most of Europe...
Woman: ...and I'm in San Francisco
Guy & woman (singing in unison): Whatever can we doooooo?

[Stage goes black]

posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:16 PM on September 23, 2008 [13 favorites]


I suggest an International House of Pancakes meet-up with a UN-theme: everyone must pick a country out of a hat we pass around, then write a report on what you've learned about the country you picked. For instance, if you're writing about Brazil, you might mention how John McCain introduced the art of kissing into Brazilian culture.
posted by ornate insect at 12:18 PM on September 23, 2008


amazingly, all of the characters in soundofsuburbia's song are played by dhoyt.
posted by shmegegge at 12:19 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


You guys have to post after midnight. All the discussions are in Australian, which I managed to pick up a little of when I was a boy, thanks to an Australia friend I met in Bath, England, who taught me a few basic phrases. I also bought an English-Australian dictionary in high school and learned a bit of the basic syntax, so I am able to follow the conversations slightly, and also throw in a small (and I'm sure horribly ungrammatical) comment here and there.

Sometimes people from New Zealand comment as well in their native tongues. That's been harder for me to figure out, as apparently they use the word "kiwi" to mean just about anything.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:28 PM on September 23, 2008 [5 favorites]


I first joined to comment a post about Jokela school shooting last November. Today, don't ask, so I don't have to tell where to stick your Second Amendment and associated merchandising.
posted by Free word order! at 12:32 PM on September 23, 2008


Wait 'til they unblock MetaFilter in Baidu.
posted by netbros at 12:32 PM on September 23, 2008


Kiwi.
posted by Jofus at 12:32 PM on September 23, 2008


Kiwi, kiwi kiwi.

K'wi, amirite?
posted by cortex (staff) at 12:41 PM on September 23, 2008


I suggest an International House of Pancakes meet-up

You are doing this on purpose because you KNOW there is no IHOP in Vermont.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 12:42 PM on September 23, 2008


I recently moved from the US to Canada. Does that qualify as more international?
posted by googly at 12:45 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


K'wi, amirite?

Actually, K'wi is Klingon for "going potty".
posted by cimbrog at 12:48 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


I see a lot of "You Americans sure are crazy" comments.

I'd love to actually know if they're being made by non-Americans and not just "Oh I'm such a cool who me? No, I didn't get my toaster from a Wal-Mart pay no attention to that NASCAR on TV" kind of poser.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 12:50 PM on September 23, 2008


Nice picture, cortex. Is that the Coast Range, the Cascades or the Rockies?

Looks more like Cerro Torre to me.
posted by lukemeister at 1:00 PM on September 23, 2008


With any luck, this thread will result in the same thing that happened when Miguel brought it up 4 years ago.
posted by Dave Faris at 1:04 PM on September 23, 2008


I apparently uninstalled MSSQL Analysis Services from every possible place, but a quick graph makes it look like Q3 2008 has sharper daily peaks and valleys than Q1 and Q2 (graphing hour of day vs. that hour's posts as a percentage of the quarter's posts), although Q4 2007 was also a bit spikey. This doesn't really tell us anything useful. Nor is it pretty.
posted by uncleozzy at 1:04 PM on September 23, 2008


So, your subjective impression that there are fewer posts outside of regular US waking hours leads you to believe that there are fewer non-USians, even though many of "their" hours overlap with "our" hours, but you haven't actually looked at any data to support this somewhat already-flawed assertion anyway. Oh.

what
posted by desuetude at 1:09 PM on September 23, 2008


No, i mean, that's cool. I was just checking.
posted by desuetude at 1:10 PM on September 23, 2008


You are doing this on purpose because you KNOW there is no IHOP in Vermont.

Jesamyn, your kitchen is an IHOP as far as I'm concerned.
posted by Meatbomb at 1:13 PM on September 23, 2008


-J, +j, +s
posted by Meatbomb at 1:13 PM on September 23, 2008


nkyad: You see, your papers keep talking endlessly about places like Georgia, Kosovo, England. Have you ever walked, driven or rowed a boat to one of those places? Flying there won't do: your plane just kept flying for hours and landed in an assigned NSA-Disney facility, where you and your fellow passengers were allowed to "visit" the foreign country.

And they're not even very creative with the names.

I mean, everybody knows that Georgia's that place down south with all the peaches. What's all this nonsense about a sack o' shivery eels anyhow?
posted by koeselitz at 1:15 PM on September 23, 2008


With any luck, this thread will result in the same thing that happened when Miguel brought it up 4 years ago.

you mean with you repeatedly letting everyone know how much you hate him? that seems a bit much to me.
posted by shmegegge at 1:27 PM on September 23, 2008


In Europe the long, long, long, long (4 weeks long) summer vacation's over and we're working again. Well some of us. That might account for a dip in the European average.
posted by three blind mice at 1:27 PM on September 23, 2008


It may also be that Europeans, Africans, and Asians are finally heeding our requests and just staying awake while it's dark and sleeping when it's light out so that they are awake whenever we'd like to talk to them.
posted by koeselitz at 1:37 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


Anyone who posts outside of 'US waking hours' is a vampire and should be banned.

Vampires are people too, you bigot.
posted by homunculus at 1:42 PM on September 23, 2008


Is MeFi getting less cosmopolitan?
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:48 PM on September 23, 2008


Don't be rude to the blood donors, homunculus.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:49 PM on September 23, 2008


Vampires are people too, you bigot.

But if True Blood is to be believed, they're all too busy having crazy vampire sex to post here anyway. Also, they are tragically bad actors.
posted by uncleozzy at 1:49 PM on September 23, 2008


Is MeFi getting less cosmopolitan?

If it did, Rudy Giuliani would join in a heartbeat.
posted by lukemeister at 1:58 PM on September 23, 2008


I understand a lot of vampires live in Forks, Washington so that they can post during US waking hours.

Or have sex with teenage girls. That might be it, too. I haven't read the series, so I couldn't tell you for sure.
posted by Caduceus at 2:05 PM on September 23, 2008


What you're probably missing is that most of us "international" mefites have adjusted our sleeping cycles to be in synch with USians.

That way, we can be awake and active when all the best US election filter, Palin Filter, US Economy Filter, US Gas Prices Filter and Wall Street Filter happens.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:07 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

In Europe the long, long, long, long (4 weeks long) summer vacation's over and we're working again.
Rub it in, why don't you.

USA WE'RE NUMBER ONE GO US aw fuck who am I kidding *abject weeping into Starbucks cup*
posted by scrump at 2:13 PM on September 23, 2008


There's really only about 6 hours out of the day that I'm not posting on MeFi.
posted by smackfu at 2:15 PM on September 23, 2008


Is our meatbomb leaning?
posted by Mister_A at 2:16 PM on September 23, 2008


Is MeFi getting less international? This is entirely based on subjective impressions but it seems like we’re seeing a lot less posts outside of regular US waking hours.

They hate us because of our freedom.
posted by Dave Faris at 2:17 PM on September 23, 2008


I'm moving a few hundred miles further away from the USA on Thursday just to emphasise the lack of internationalism here. So there!

Unfortunately, doing that means I'm going to be living in England, so whilst distancing myself from the USA geographically, I'm approaching it culturally. My fiendish plan neutralises itself.
posted by knapah at 2:26 PM on September 23, 2008


Nice picture, cortex. Is that the Coast Range, the Cascades or the Rockies?

I thought it was Hell.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 2:28 PM on September 23, 2008


I see you've already picked up on the bizarre colloquial spellings (colour, anyoune?) and use of the word "whilst" that have come to represent the depraved state of the English mind.
posted by Mister_A at 2:29 PM on September 23, 2008


Scrump: Rub it in, why don't you.

USA WE'RE NUMBER ONE GO US aw fuck who am I kidding *abject weeping into Starbucks cup*


Then we can start talking about European health services and quality of life... ahhh.

But not fuel prices... (I worked out, roughly, that I'm paying something like $7.50/US gallon now for unleaded petrol *abject weeping into fuel tank in vain hope that tears work ing internal combustion engines*
posted by knapah at 2:30 PM on September 23, 2008


I thought it was Hell.

No, the Appalachians are much less steep and craggy in general.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:34 PM on September 23, 2008


While just lacks a certain je ne sais quois.

Maybe we should all be talking in europanto to increase the international profile of the site.
posted by knapah at 2:35 PM on September 23, 2008


[TOTALLY NSFW] Euro panties
posted by scrump at 2:37 PM on September 23, 2008


Yea well I dunno what the hell that je ne sais quois is, frankly, but i don't like it.
posted by Mister_A at 2:40 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


That's kind of terrifying.
posted by knapah at 2:41 PM on September 23, 2008


Here in Australia we're a day ahead of you slowpokes and everything you post is just old news. And we don't make any posts of our own because we don't need you worrying your pretty little heads about stuff that isn't going to happen to you for, like, 18 hours or whatever.
posted by turgid dahlia at 2:56 PM on September 23, 2008


turgid dahlia,

Since you're a day ahead, will you tell us who wins the US election a day early? I don't think I can wait 42 more days. 41, maybe.
posted by lukemeister at 2:58 PM on September 23, 2008


There's always the possibility people are posting a.m. in Europe. Both of my posts, for instance.

Hey, alliteration.

posted by ersatz at 2:59 PM on September 23, 2008


will you tell us who wins the US election a day early?

After evidence of massive voter fraud is uncovered, the US Supreme Court invalidates the entire election, and George W. Bush is granted an emergency extension.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:03 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]

After evidence of massive voter fraud is uncovered, the US Supreme Court invalidates the entire election, and George W. Bush is granted an emergency extension.
What, again?
posted by scrump at 3:22 PM on September 23, 2008


So if you care so much about mefi being international, where were you at the München meetup artw, huh?
posted by jouke at 3:32 PM on September 23, 2008


I've now started to dream bollywood dance numbers (AT LAST!) so my subjective answer is no.
posted by longsleeves at 4:00 PM on September 23, 2008


Kiwi
posted by Wolof at 4:07 PM on September 23, 2008


Time Cube can probably explain this.
posted by djgh at 4:20 PM on September 23, 2008


Did you say Internationale?
posted by tellurian at 4:21 PM on September 23, 2008


Some of us here in Japan are doing our best to keep MetaFilter hopping while you 'murikuns are sleeping. So you'll have something to read in the morning!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 4:32 PM on September 23, 2008


will you tell us who wins the US election a day early?

That depends on whether the journalists could somehow squeeze it into a story about beer, football & bikini models, because otherwise it probably wouldn't really rate as newsworthy here.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:37 PM on September 23, 2008


You forgot dogs that can surf, dude.
posted by turgid dahlia at 4:40 PM on September 23, 2008


Yeah!

Sorry, what were we talking about?
posted by pompomtom at 4:53 PM on September 23, 2008


Americans are the dominant majority on Metafilter, and they enjoy a position of privilege that they're probably scarcely aware of. The don't see anything amiss about a primarily American userbase and a front page full of American-centered posts, because to them, American is normal.

Non-Americans, of course, see an exclusionary community in which they're not welcome. One way to begin to alleviate this would be to encourage more non-American front page posts, perhaps by relaxing the guidelines with respect to such posts. For example, non-Americans could be allowed to self-link, post duplicates, and make single-link RedTube posts.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 5:15 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


everyone in the US is crapping balls

I enjoyed this phrase a lot.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:43 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


Oh thanks very much. The Appalachians are soft and lovely green mountains that look nothing like those evil craggy purple things which I actually think are vampire teeth from Europe. They're very toothy, those peaks, to be representing times of posting. Hmmm. Coincidence?
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:41 PM on September 23, 2008


MeFi is getting less international

AND LEON'S GETTING LARRRR-RRR-RRRGER
posted by Damn That Television at 7:51 PM on September 23, 2008


AFY!
posted by furtive at 8:18 PM on September 23, 2008


es nevaru saprast ko to man saki.
posted by stirfry at 8:51 PM on September 23, 2008


pa tieshaam? kaapec ne?
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:03 PM on September 23, 2008


lol, yeah!












0_o
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:05 PM on September 23, 2008

I think it may seem less international because everyone in the US is crapping balls over the election and the economy melt-down, so the front page is kind of reflecting that.

If we revisited this in December, I'm sure it'll return to normal.
Come December, it will be all international posts, because all the U.S. members will be lined up in soup lines, dressed in rags, and being photographed in sepia tones.

Vacapinta will be the only remaining moderator, ruling over the diminished kingdom with absolute power, but with a twinge of sorrow in his heart for the lost matthowie, jessamyn, and cortex.
posted by JDHarper at 9:10 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


Dibs on cortex's 'Personal Finances, And Also Porn' folder.
posted by turgid dahlia at 9:26 PM on September 23, 2008


Last one to leave, please turn out the light.
posted by netbros at 9:33 PM on September 23, 2008


Dibs on cortex's 'Personal Finances, And Also Porn' folder.

Dude, I never mix yiffness with ledger.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:42 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


Totally read that as US wanking hours.
posted by klangklangston at 10:29 PM on September 23, 2008 [1 favorite]


I notice there's nothing about the shootings in Finland.

I only bring it up because the headline for the story on The Age website reads as follows:

"Student who killed 10 loved war, lived with cat."

CATS ARE THE NEW ROCK 'N' ROLL/GATEWAY DRUG/VIOLENT VIDEO GAME!
posted by turgid dahlia at 10:55 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


Totally read that as US wanking hours.

24x7.
posted by turgid dahlia at 10:57 PM on September 23, 2008


oh, so that's why they call NYC "the city that never sleeps"!
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:00 PM on September 23, 2008


Well, shit. I live with a cat. Guess I better go kill someone.
posted by Caduceus at 11:18 PM on September 23, 2008


netbros: "Wait 'til they unblock MetaFilter in Baidu."

Little-Known Fact: The Chinese symbol for "MetaFilter" can be translated as both "snarkfest" and "asshattery".
posted by Rhaomi at 11:33 PM on September 23, 2008 [2 favorites]


With any luck, this thread will result in the same thing that happened when Miguel brought it up 4 years ago.

Douchebags engaging in a sneerfest with a decidedly nasty and personal bent in MetaTalk?

I highly doubt that sort of lightening could strike twice, you insufferably smug and talentless numbnut.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:45 PM on September 23, 2008


The Chinese symbol for "MetaFilter" can be translated as both "snarkfest" and "asshattery".

That would make sense - cryptically, it's a home for literate motherfuckers.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:57 PM on September 23, 2008


messed-up literate motherfuckers.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:59 PM on September 23, 2008


Metafilter can be just as insular as America itself, so it isn't surprising that international members feel disinclined to post anything. My recent post about Pakistan was weak and cobbled-together, but I'm still surprised that no one else has posted something better about recent events there, especially since the situation has such a direct bearing on 'the war on terror'.
posted by chuckdarwin at 1:21 AM on September 24, 2008


The Chinese symbol for "MetaFilter" can be translated as both "snarkfest" and "asshattery".
骂他诽她!
posted by Abiezer at 2:46 AM on September 24, 2008 [3 favorites]


Douchebags engaging in a sneerfest with a decidedly nasty and personal bent in MetaTalk?

Oh, it's Thursday again?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:35 AM on September 24, 2008 [1 favorite]


knapah writes "But not fuel prices... (I worked out, roughly, that I'm paying something like $7.50/US gallon now for unleaded petrol *abject weeping into fuel tank in vain hope that tears work ing internal combustion engines*"

Well luckily 200 miles is far in the UK so you've got that going for you.
posted by Mitheral at 8:07 AM on September 24, 2008


Caduceus : Well, shit. I live with a cat. Guess I better go kill someone.

I live with four. I'm so crazy, I'm killing someone right now.
posted by quin at 8:27 AM on September 24, 2008


you insufferably smug and talentless numbnut.

Interesting, I always knew this wonderful insult as "numbnuts." Is this a variant, or are you adding insult to injury by implying he only has one nut, and that one is numb?

Also, I live with two cats, but I guess they cancel each other out, because so far I haven't killed anyone.
posted by languagehat at 8:43 AM on September 24, 2008


South-Central Manitoba variation, implying that the subject is a single, lonely and sensationless teste.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:56 AM on September 24, 2008


The American cat rule has always been you get N+1 cats in your household, any more than that and you are a crazy cat person. I'm not sure how this plays in other parts of the globe.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:03 AM on September 24, 2008


There was a little kid who lived on our block when I was in like middle school who would get up early every morning and get on his tricycle and ride it around on the sidewalk near his house.

Naked. No matter what the season.

Our family name for him after that first bizarre winter was "Numbnuts".
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:12 AM on September 24, 2008


Guy: I'm in most of Europe...
Woman: ...and I'm in San Francisco
Guy & woman (singing in unison): Whatever can we doooooo?

[Stage goes black]


soundofsuburbia: Marry me?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:26 AM on September 24, 2008 [1 favorite]


For example, non-Americans could be allowed to self-link, post duplicates, and make single-link RedTube posts.

That's not my American passport sitting over there - oh, no. That's a decoy. It's to throw them off the scent that I'm really from... Mars. Yes, that's right. Mars. Can I offer you a butt plug? Maybe some Pepsi Blue, I made it myself! I'm very busy at the moment, I'm scanning cats and posting them on the internet, but I make time to follow the Palin-Filter on MetaFilter because even though she has no jurisdiction on Mars, this mess is endlessly entertaining.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 5:00 PM on September 24, 2008


I don't notice a huge US bias - though lately most of the big world news and discussion points have been occuring in the US, and those posts are US-biased since the nature of these stories is US-centric. Really, I get the same MSNBC, Fox News, CNN that the US sees and I do hold stocks traded on Wall Street but I have no local politics to attach myself to and while I get the same technical information as Americans it doesn't impact me in the same way- so I haven't posted as much lately. I supect its that the local ties that make someone like GWB electable in the USA, and unelectable in pretty much any other western liberal democracy - so I guess most of the time the non-US mefites might as well stay out of it

The talk on the Canadian election on this site has been the most sane and rational - with the exception of a few posters - I've seen on any web site and I was really impressed by that.

What I do find, is that I am quite often late in the game by being in the west... which we are pretty much used to... with things like the stock market closing at like 3pm... A US bias?... not so much, not more than anywhere else on the Internet.
posted by Deep Dish at 1:07 PM on September 25, 2008


"Really, I get the same MSNBC, Fox News, CNN that the US sees"

Do you? The couple of times that I've watched CNN abroad, it was very clear that it was a different, more internationally-focused production. (Though, if you're in Canada, you may very well, especially if you're near a border. I know I used to get the same CBC, but the BBC we see is totally different from the Beeb in Britain.)
posted by klangklangston at 2:39 PM on September 25, 2008


The couple of times that I've watched CNN abroad, it was very clear that it was a different, more internationally-focused production

I am close to the border, but I think its the same cross-Canada as the cable networks are pretty big monolithic companies. While the International version of CNN is pretty good (I've seen it on other countries) in Canada we get the Anderson Cooper 360/Nancy Grace/Wolf Blitzer/Larry King version that the US gets... its not much real news... lots of talk about missing babies and Wolf Blitzer standing in front of the White House waiting for something to happen. MSNBC is Hardball, Countdown, Rachel Maddow, Morning Joe etc too... fairly good infotainment... Fox News, I never watch.

The ads are interesting, in Canada you never see ads for prescription drugs... the US networks show them lots. The Beeb in Canada is pretty good news wise, and about the only way you will hear about places that aren't of much strategic or economic value to Canada or the US. The Beeb also has those documentary pieces which are nice, and I enjoy watching their north american news for its general lack of hysteria.

The CBC is okay for news, in that they tend to have fairly good content but their political analysis is nothing short of completely blind/insane.
posted by Deep Dish at 3:34 PM on September 25, 2008


in Canada we get the Anderson Cooper 360/Nancy Grace/Wolf Blitzer/Larry King version that the US gets.

I'm sorry. God, Canadians seeing regular CNN feels like guests accidentally seeing you taking a shit.

When I stayed in a hotel in Vancouver, I got international CNN.

"The Beeb in Canada is pretty good news wise, and about the only way you will hear about places that aren't of much strategic or economic value to Canada or the US."

The Beeb in the states is almost all entertainment programming pulled from Brit networks, like MI-5 (called Spooks there) or that Robin Hood show. They do World Service, like, twice a day.

I missed the CBC so hardcore during the Olympics. I remember their Nagano coverage being the absolute best (including those cool live shots for hours as dawn broke above the stadia).
posted by klangklangston at 5:51 PM on September 25, 2008


The ads are interesting, in Canada you never see ads for prescription drugs... the US networks show them lots.

Yeah, that blew my mind the first time I watched cable.
Well, it did.

The CBC is okay for news, in that they tend to have fairly good content but their political analysis is nothing short of completely blind/insane.

The more I watch, the more pronounced and depressing their decline becomes. I realize it's that way with most TV news organizations these days, but I would vote for someone who ate babies on-camera if they followed through on a pledge to increase funding so the CBC could have proper foreign bureaus, be less dependeny on freelancers, and get people of the same calibre as Schlesinger, Watson, and the other kickass journos I watched growing up.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:54 PM on September 25, 2008


I'll never get used to see tits in the newspaper. OK, so maybe newspaper isn't the right word for a daily publication that features topless women... but you get what I mean.

It's like this:

Front page: SPURS MANAGER SACKED

(oh, what's happened now... let me just turn the page...)

*attractive nude woman posing coquettishly*

HAZEL FROM SUNDERLAND (19, 34D) ENJOYS LONG WALKS, SEX WITH FOOTBALLERS AND RICHARD DAWKINS DOCUMENTARIES.
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:49 AM on October 6, 2008


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