Red Box Sighting June 30, 2011 6:12 AM Subscribe
Perhaps this was mentioned back when the "X new comments" thing was rolled out - but I didn't know that if you happen to be reading a thread at the moment it is deleted by a mod what you get instead of that box is a very cool red box that just says "This Post was Deleted". I highly recommend looking for one of these if you get the chance; it's like the MetaFilter equivalent of seeing the elusive green flash at sunset.
It's also a reminder of the great developer work that matt and pg do.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:19 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Foci for Analysis at 6:19 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
jelly!
posted by Grither at 6:29 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Grither at 6:29 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
I saw a big red box that said "Being held captive as a code monkey. No seriously, he makes me wear a monkey suit at work. I'm starting to like the feel of it. SEND HELP AND TALCUM POWDER PLEASE!!"
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:35 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:35 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
Agreed. When I was in a beleted thread recently I tabbed back to it and was like "Oooooo shiny!"
posted by cavalier at 6:35 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by cavalier at 6:35 AM on June 30, 2011
pg is the weekend coder.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:45 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by cjorgensen at 6:45 AM on June 30, 2011
Now I'm gonna make a SYLT post about Sarah Palin and just... wait.......
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 6:46 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 6:46 AM on June 30, 2011
Well, I just found out you can still flag a thread after it has been deleted. Oops.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:55 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:55 AM on June 30, 2011
Pony request: pg, please play "Shock The Monkey."
posted by mintcake! at 7:06 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mintcake! at 7:06 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is being discussed in this thread.
Whoops! Is my face ever - well, red - now!
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:13 AM on June 30, 2011
Whoops! Is my face ever - well, red - now!
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:13 AM on June 30, 2011
Pony request: pg, please play "Shock The Monkey."
Perhaps, when adding a "breaks the guidelines" flag, there can be series of audio cues and buttons: A muffled cry, followed by a button that says "Push the button." *louder sound of anguish* "Push the button!" *Horrible scream* "PUSH THE BUTTON!" Silence.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:23 AM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Perhaps, when adding a "breaks the guidelines" flag, there can be series of audio cues and buttons: A muffled cry, followed by a button that says "Push the button." *louder sound of anguish* "Push the button!" *Horrible scream* "PUSH THE BUTTON!" Silence.
posted by Devils Rancher at 7:23 AM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Someone (not it!) needs to start a blog where we can submit all the awesome posts we made that never saw the light of day because the thread was deleted before we could hit submit.
posted by bondcliff at 7:31 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by bondcliff at 7:31 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Because of the number of posts I've had deleted in my history, Metafilter looks like a red strobe light to me.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:45 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by blue_beetle at 7:45 AM on June 30, 2011
They should just be accepted but no one gets to see where they go. When you hit submit they randomly attach to some ancient thread. A once desolate thread about a man who has covered his lawn with eight feet of fencing supplies and put a webcam up is now graced by your six paragraph essay on neem oil. Or maybe they can just be kept in a big pile and every CAPSLOCK day, the orphan comments are capitalized and posted. This may actually already be the case.
posted by TwelveTwo at 7:46 AM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by TwelveTwo at 7:46 AM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
Brandon Blatcher: "I saw a big red box that said "Being held captive as a code monkey. No seriously, he makes me wear a monkey suit at work. I'm starting to like the feel of it. SEND HELP AND TALCUM POWDER PLEASE!!"
Poor Dominic. Allen
posted by boo_radley at 8:05 AM on June 30, 2011
Poor Dominic. Allen
posted by boo_radley at 8:05 AM on June 30, 2011
Tangent, and perhaps it's been mentioned before, but... why did the deleted thread blog die? I think that it's good to have a record of what's been deleted, and was something I'd sometimes use when posting something that I hadn't found through searching, seemed like it should've been posted already, and may have been deleted already as not meeting site guidelines.
posted by codacorolla at 8:12 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by codacorolla at 8:12 AM on June 30, 2011
Wait, there's a green flash at sunset?
posted by nathancaswell at 8:13 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by nathancaswell at 8:13 AM on June 30, 2011
Tangent, and perhaps it's been mentioned before, but... why did the deleted thread blog die?
I asked about it a while ago, and was surprised to discover that it's an unofficial thing, maintained by puke & cry.
His account seems to be active, but with no comments since 2009, so I guess he's on extended walkabout.
That thread seems to have resulted in some good Greasemonkey that does the same job inline, though.
posted by Shepherd at 8:21 AM on June 30, 2011
I asked about it a while ago, and was surprised to discover that it's an unofficial thing, maintained by puke & cry.
His account seems to be active, but with no comments since 2009, so I guess he's on extended walkabout.
That thread seems to have resulted in some good Greasemonkey that does the same job inline, though.
posted by Shepherd at 8:21 AM on June 30, 2011
I believe puke & cry is still around, just under a different name.
posted by Melismata at 8:48 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by Melismata at 8:48 AM on June 30, 2011
I saw the red box for the first time yesterday.
It wasn't serendipity, though, since I was the one deleting the thread in another window.
posted by vacapinta at 8:51 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
It wasn't serendipity, though, since I was the one deleting the thread in another window.
posted by vacapinta at 8:51 AM on June 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
Wanna see it! We need an orange box that appears in all the other threads, saying something like "The red box will be appearing in (eg) the 'Sarah Palin discusses Awesome I/P Issues with Microsoft and Apple Execs' thread in 30.. 29.. etc seconds".
posted by Ahab at 9:22 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Ahab at 9:22 AM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
pg...? pg?! This ain't HN! sorry, pb.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:44 AM on June 30, 2011
posted by Foci for Analysis at 11:44 AM on June 30, 2011
How about a "Flag-O-Meter" that moves the needle as flags start coming in on a thread? Sort of like my rpm it would have a red zone where the thread is about to overheat and get red boxed so to speak.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:11 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by JohnnyGunn at 12:11 PM on June 30, 2011
Has anyone posted a screenshot of the fabled red box? I would like to see it. kthxbai.
posted by deborah at 12:42 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by deborah at 12:42 PM on June 30, 2011
I have seen it, it is real and leaves one with a feeling of void like elation. I think it happens when you have typed in the live preview, refresh and red box come up when the thread has been deleted yet the comment is still in...live preview. If i am right, one quater of a 10th internets for me.
posted by clavdivs at 2:07 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by clavdivs at 2:07 PM on June 30, 2011
actually, it's more like the metafilter equivalent of coitus interruptus
posted by pyramid termite at 2:09 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by pyramid termite at 2:09 PM on June 30, 2011
Just camp a doomed thread and eventually it'll come up. I don't believe that screenshots should be posted.
posted by BeerFilter at 2:43 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by BeerFilter at 2:43 PM on June 30, 2011
Right.
posted by BeerFilter at 2:52 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by BeerFilter at 2:52 PM on June 30, 2011
I saw it the other day, but the thread had been closed and not deleted. It did still say that the post had been deleted, though, and I was confused because it was a MetaTalk thread and I don't think I've ever seen one deleted here.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 6:21 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by DrGirlfriend at 6:21 PM on June 30, 2011
...and now "It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time" will be stuck in my head for the next 2.5 hours.
Oh, come on Greg. We've read your Twitter feed. We know that song has been looping in your head for at least 8 years now.
posted by schmod at 7:38 PM on June 30, 2011
Oh, come on Greg. We've read your Twitter feed. We know that song has been looping in your head for at least 8 years now.
posted by schmod at 7:38 PM on June 30, 2011
Is a red box the opposite of blue balls?
posted by crossoverman at 8:01 PM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by crossoverman at 8:01 PM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think to be fair to all of us who haven't seen the red box the mods should come in and announce a time where they will close this thread, July 4 would work for most people I think. Then people could all come in and have a countdown and at the end we would see the red box and go home happy.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:19 PM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 8:19 PM on June 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
I saw it! I saw it!
posted by silby at 8:34 PM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by silby at 8:34 PM on June 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
Or you could just go to this thread. On preview, too late.
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:35 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:35 PM on June 30, 2011
Damn I was watching that thread and I totally missed it. Polkaroo all over again.
posted by yellowbinder at 8:36 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by yellowbinder at 8:36 PM on June 30, 2011
I'm not sure what it says about me that I probably have more of a rush about this than if I'd seen an actual Green Flash.
i'm gonna go have a cigarette i guess
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:36 PM on June 30, 2011
i'm gonna go have a cigarette i guess
posted by tivalasvegas at 8:36 PM on June 30, 2011
I saw it too! Someday I shall tell my grandchildren of this joy.
posted by bloody_bonnie at 8:37 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by bloody_bonnie at 8:37 PM on June 30, 2011
June 30, '11, I saw the Big Red Box! I looked away for a minute, though, and when I looked back it was there. Did it fade in all smooth?
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:41 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:41 PM on June 30, 2011
I've seen it! It's like a unicorn prancing on a double rainbow, all the way across. Ponies.
posted by sweetkid at 9:28 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by sweetkid at 9:28 PM on June 30, 2011
This thread is surely about to be closed. Catch the red box while you can!
posted by grouse at 10:19 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by grouse at 10:19 PM on June 30, 2011
pyramid termite wrote actually, it's more like the metafilter equivalent of coitus interruptus
From the female point of view.
posted by troll at 10:47 PM on June 30, 2011
From the female point of view.
posted by troll at 10:47 PM on June 30, 2011
From a ex professional colourist's point of view that is a very lovely red indeed. Kind of just bounces right out of the blue at you doesn't it.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:04 PM on June 30, 2011
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 11:04 PM on June 30, 2011
it's so beautiful
posted by theodolite at 6:56 AM on July 1, 2011
posted by theodolite at 6:56 AM on July 1, 2011
This is not the kind of red box I was expecting.
posted by nathancaswell at 7:00 AM on July 1, 2011
posted by nathancaswell at 7:00 AM on July 1, 2011
Also, as a hopeful note to those playing along: I know the new red box is exciting, but please do not litter threads you think poorly of with comments about how you look forward to seeing it &c. as that's not really any more okay than other sorts of threadbombing. Flag it and then wait with quiet anticipation if you like.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:56 AM on July 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:56 AM on July 1, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I'm done doing that. I don't want to make ya'll regret adding features every damn time.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:24 AM on July 1, 2011
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:24 AM on July 1, 2011
I think it would make sense to have the "This post is closed" box have a link to reload the post, or to get the rest of the comments. Especially in MetaTalk, the mods will add a comment saying why it was closed as the last one, and it seems like there should be a way to refresh the thread to get the last comments.
posted by smackfu at 8:38 AM on July 7, 2011
posted by smackfu at 8:38 AM on July 7, 2011
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posted by cjorgensen at 6:16 AM on June 30, 2011