Cookie problem July 17, 2002 7:05 AM Subscribe
This morning, for some reason, the MeFi "cookie" starting expecting USER_NAME instead of USER_ID as it had done for the previous months. This caused an ugly blowup in the code and lots of juicy error stuff on the screen.
I deleted my MeFi cookie (thanx Mozilla) and proceeded to log in again. Now I have both USER_ID (numeric) and USER_NAME (anser) in my cookie. If the change was because they don't trust the numeric ID not to change, then there's not much point including it at all, seems to me.
I deleted my MeFi cookie (thanx Mozilla) and proceeded to log in again. Now I have both USER_ID (numeric) and USER_NAME (anser) in my cookie. If the change was because they don't trust the numeric ID not to change, then there's not much point including it at all, seems to me.
Matt, as king of MetaFilter, I think you're "they" in the sense that Queen Victoria was "we".
posted by timeistight at 9:23 AM on July 17, 2002
posted by timeistight at 9:23 AM on July 17, 2002
Back when I was still supporting a free weblog commenting system, I always used to laugh (or get annoyed) when someone complained about the "dotcomments support team", as if it was more than just me trying to keep everyone happy.
The ungrateful and demanding nature of some users eventually caused me to pull the plug entirely. One particular self-righteous twahn stated that, if I "ever expected to turn a profit", I had better "improve the quality of customer support", completely ignoring the fact that the service was free and, as nobody had paid me a dime, I had no "customers".
In other words, in these times of transition, be thankful for what you have, lest Matt take off and nuke the site from orbit. Heh.
posted by Danelope at 10:13 AM on July 17, 2002
The ungrateful and demanding nature of some users eventually caused me to pull the plug entirely. One particular self-righteous twahn stated that, if I "ever expected to turn a profit", I had better "improve the quality of customer support", completely ignoring the fact that the service was free and, as nobody had paid me a dime, I had no "customers".
In other words, in these times of transition, be thankful for what you have, lest Matt take off and nuke the site from orbit. Heh.
posted by Danelope at 10:13 AM on July 17, 2002
I of course meant Matt and his pet Northern Snakehead fish.
Ungrateful users are a pain, but I'm not one of 'em.
Just wanted to point the behavior out.
posted by anser at 10:17 AM on July 17, 2002
Ungrateful users are a pain, but I'm not one of 'em.
Just wanted to point the behavior out.
posted by anser at 10:17 AM on July 17, 2002
I suppose the Libera Manifesto is appropriate throughout MeFi, MetaTalk and surrounding environs. I do not think it very particularly applies to this particular cookie/variable side effect of the upgrade Matt performed, however.
At one point I was thinking of writing a counter-manifesto to Libera (I felt entitled since I provide free services of my own). I forgot what the set of theses I ended up with was, but I remember that a couple were
1. Code doesn't know it's free.
2. A properly functioning free service and a properly functioning pay service are both easy to run.
3. Asking for help is sometimes better than castigating your oppressors.
... and so forth. Maybe someday.
posted by anser at 3:16 PM on July 17, 2002
At one point I was thinking of writing a counter-manifesto to Libera (I felt entitled since I provide free services of my own). I forgot what the set of theses I ended up with was, but I remember that a couple were
1. Code doesn't know it's free.
2. A properly functioning free service and a properly functioning pay service are both easy to run.
3. Asking for help is sometimes better than castigating your oppressors.
... and so forth. Maybe someday.
posted by anser at 3:16 PM on July 17, 2002
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anser, there's no "they" it's just me, ok? One lowly designer/developer, not a monolithic company.
I just upgraded the server, and I'm seeing all sorts of strange requests all over the site. I think some outdated code is being called up, especially on metatalk, or outdated cookies were setting the wrong properties. I'll look into it today.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:20 AM on July 17, 2002