Restrictions have been lifted for Ask Metafilter posts March 8, 2022 1:22 AM   Subscribe

We will be trying this out to see if there are bumps or potholes on the road, but as of now your way is clear to post as many Ask Metafilter questions as you need to.

We still ask that it be used with care so that it doesn't degrade as a resource (lots of easily searched questions, etc.) and we'll be watching to see how it plays out, but in many cases people are faced with situations that require more input than just twice a week and it would be helpful to be able to post as things develop, for example, or people are facing more than one issue that they need help with. Along with this, new users will be able to post immediately rather than after a waiting period (one week, previously).

If you'd like to help out with this, please let us know if you experience any weirdness or unexpected results (getting any sort of site message or mechanics that seem wrong or confusing, etc.) or notice anything else that we should be aware of.

Thank you, and enjoy!
posted by taz (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 1:22 AM (90 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite

Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?
posted by Tehhund at 3:17 AM on March 8, 2022 [36 favorites]


I would rather tame, train and harness the 100 to draw my ultralight steampunk unicycle skateboard train.
posted by y2karl at 3:22 AM on March 8, 2022 [6 favorites]


The horse-sized duck, because in between battles those eggs are gonna feed the whole village, whereas the hundreds of duck-sized horses are just going to leave slippery horse poop everywhere, bogging down the whole operation, and no delicious giant quiches or omelets to make up for it.
posted by taz (staff) at 3:38 AM on March 8, 2022 [34 favorites]


I hate this because I always told myself I didn't ask questions on the green because I was saving them. Now without that excuse I just have to admit I'm an incurious bore.
posted by Literaryhero at 4:26 AM on March 8, 2022 [67 favorites]


YEEEEE-HAAAAHHHH!!
posted by wenestvedt at 5:52 AM on March 8, 2022 [6 favorites]


The horse-sized duck will slip in its own poop and fall, and then I can leap on its back and ride it like a knight on his charger (albeit with a little duck poop on me).
posted by wenestvedt at 5:53 AM on March 8, 2022 [3 favorites]


A little duck poop is the price you pay for such a majestic steed.
posted by Tehhund at 6:03 AM on March 8, 2022 [7 favorites]


It has to be the horse-sized duck, though it's far more difficult and dangerous, because duck-sized horses would be so cute that I couldn't bear to stomp them, however hard they try to kick me with itsy-bitsy hooves and nibble my ankles with those teeny-tiny teeth.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 6:41 AM on March 8, 2022 [7 favorites]


Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?

I don’t want to be fussy. Which ever is easier to set up.

Shall we say Thursday at 8?
posted by aubilenon at 6:53 AM on March 8, 2022 [22 favorites]


...whereas the hundreds of duck-sized horses are just going to leave slippery horse poop everywhere,

Not if you sew up a bunch of teeny tiny under-the-tail shit sack diapers like carriage horses wear.
posted by y2karl at 7:49 AM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


Is that 100 in decimal, binary, octal, sexagesimal or Duck-base?
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:31 AM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


The wee horses, obviously. Because mild horses couldn't drag me away.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:37 AM on March 8, 2022 [30 favorites]


Yoohoo! No more wearing masks when posting.
posted by McSly at 9:47 AM on March 8, 2022 [5 favorites]


Oh hell yes, this is awesome! I don't know that I personally am likely to take advantage of it but it's nice to know I could if I wanted to. I also feel that I deserve some small credit for opening the floodgates on this with my request for multiple questions/per week a terrifying five years ago, how time has flown (or stayed still? Hard to say).
posted by an octopus IRL at 9:56 AM on March 8, 2022 [11 favorites]


Needs more Drunk Tucker Putin.
posted by y2karl at 10:10 AM on March 8, 2022 [3 favorites]


Woo-hoooo!
posted by SLC Mom at 12:23 PM on March 8, 2022 [1 favorite]


Tell me about pioneering synthesizer- and electronics-based music coming from outside the Western world.

What songs and albums make you feel the same way as a day with 100% cloud coverage?

Who's the most famous person with a genital piercing?
posted by box at 12:32 PM on March 8, 2022 [1 favorite]


Who's the most famous person with a genital piercing?

Is the answer Prince Albert?
posted by aubilenon at 1:34 PM on March 8, 2022 [11 favorites]


This is great news! Thanks!
posted by bleep at 1:43 PM on March 8, 2022


I really like this change! Lately we've seen several changes that are obviously meant to raise engagement with the site, and make it easier to get involved. And not only is that clearly a good idea, it also seems to be working.
posted by Too-Ticky at 1:56 PM on March 8, 2022 [4 favorites]


But you still can’t turn your question into a NFT and sell it through the Metafilter block chain. Lame.

(But seriously yay - I hope this works out well!)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:01 PM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


I think this will be good. But could there maybe be a banner on Askme or maybe the whole site announcing this change? For two reasons: a lot of people don’t pay attention to Metatalk and will still assume the restriction is in place and thus they won’t ask questions they might like to, and if there will be an increase of folks for whom their very first site action is asking a question I really hope they are given leeway for adhering to site norms and language standards.
posted by Mizu at 2:28 PM on March 8, 2022 [7 favorites]


Harumph, more changes. Why can't the world stay just exactly as it always was? I'd still hate it, but at least it's a familiar hate.
posted by dg at 2:36 PM on March 8, 2022 [6 favorites]


as of now your way is clear to post as many Ask Metafilter questions as you need to.

Nobody needs to post an Ask Metafilter question. Why not call it what it is and say people can post as many Ask Metafilter questions as they want to?
posted by escabeche at 3:09 PM on March 8, 2022 [3 favorites]


I can invent new excuses for not posting an ask. Infinite ones. But also I’ll probably ask way more forgotten movie questions.
posted by one4themoment at 3:45 PM on March 8, 2022


Why not call it what it is and say people can post as many Ask Metafilter questions as they want to?

Yeah, I thought about that, but it's not exactly true, while "need to" is closer to true, and a small nudge about how to use it (also, i wanted to get this up before I ended my shift). "Need" isn't accurate (you can just ask about things that you want to know about, but could somehow manage to survive if you didn't find the answer to, as usual).

Unfortunately, I didn't come up with a better phrase between those two options that wouldn't take a few paragraphs of exposition at the moment, but went forward with posting it this way over waiting for inspiration for the less imperfect wording to introduce itself. If people have questions about "need to" versus "go mad everything okay" we can definitely discuss. We don't want Ask Metafilter to become a less valuable space because of filler stuff, but we want it to be less constrictive and more welcoming than it was. Here is where we're starting, and we'll all together see how it goes, adjusting if necessary.
posted by taz (staff) at 4:04 PM on March 8, 2022 [9 favorites]


Good point, taz, I was not really thinking about the fact that "need" gives you the connotation you want of "there's no hard limit but there's still some expectation that you won't go completely casual about this in an antisocial way"
posted by escabeche at 4:37 PM on March 8, 2022


Is the answer Prince Albert?

Probably not, both because I’m not sure he’s that famous in 2022 and because a lot of the supposed historical record about body piercing was basically made up in the ‘70s.
posted by box at 4:51 PM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


Obviously, a horse-sized duck couldn't fly because of the inverse-square law.

But if you grafted wings on a duck-sized horse... Pegasus!

But then you'd have 100 Pegasus's (Pugasui?) dropping tiny horse turds on your head.
posted by Marky at 5:20 PM on March 8, 2022 [4 favorites]


I assume you could distract the horses with a bag or two of nasty baby carrots. On the other hand, the duck could put your local Subway out of business in an hour. I’m not saying this is a bad thing.
posted by armeowda at 6:17 PM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


Ignoring the inverse square law, I’m going to fight the duck, and train it to harness, and fly it, and my enemies will run in fear from the terrifying QUACKS echoing throughout the valley
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 7:31 PM on March 8, 2022 [2 favorites]


I’d probably make more money with the horses. Breed some tame ones and make a YouTube channel. Think of the chick-sized FOALS
posted by The Last Sockpuppet at 7:32 PM on March 8, 2022 [3 favorites]


Why can't the world stay just exactly as it always was?

Ask originally didn't have a limit. This change is actually reverting to the original.
posted by Mitheral at 8:50 PM on March 8, 2022 [4 favorites]


The question was 100 duck sized horses, not several hundred. The answer is clearly the tiny horses. They can not fly. The duck can fly. Do not fight the horse sized duck.
posted by vrakatar at 9:19 PM on March 8, 2022 [4 favorites]


I demand a subsite for those of us who don't have any questions, secure in our knowledge of the world.
posted by mittens at 4:46 AM on March 9, 2022 [10 favorites]


I can ask for help when I need it? Thank you!
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:02 AM on March 9, 2022


mittens: I demand a subsite for those of us who don't have any questions

Yes. I don't have all that many questions, but I have tons of answers. I would like to post solutions, and see what problems people come up with. Some free samples of solutions:

- Rub it with a candle.
- Get a motorcycle tyre inner tube and cut it into strips.
- Polymorph (= Friendly Plastic).
- Install Linux on it.
- Add some baking powder.

Applied to the right problem, these are really good solutions.
posted by Too-Ticky at 7:18 AM on March 9, 2022 [25 favorites]


Would you rather counsel 100 people to DTMFA or one person 100 times about the same MF they need to dump already?
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:42 AM on March 9, 2022 [35 favorites]


Applied to the right problem, these are really good solutions.

Don't forget a vinegar water rinse.
posted by y2karl at 7:56 AM on March 9, 2022 [5 favorites]


Therapy. The answer is always therapy.
posted by mpark at 8:13 AM on March 9, 2022 [4 favorites]


Turn it off, then turn it back on again.
posted by Monochrome at 8:30 AM on March 9, 2022 [2 favorites]


I know it's weird, but that other person doesn't see things the same way you do.
posted by box at 8:41 AM on March 9, 2022 [7 favorites]


09:11 "Should I eat this expired pork?"
10:45 "What does trichinosis feel like?"
11:32 "Emergency services for uninsured; USian"
16:21 "Dealing with catastrophic medical expenses"
23:34 "Potential COVID exposure in hospital; advice?"
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:44 AM on March 9, 2022 [39 favorites]


But if you grafted wings on a duck-sized horse... Pegasus!

Yes! If you have one individual winged horse, that horse could be named Pegasus.

But then you'd have 100 Pegasus's (Pugasui?) dropping tiny horse turds on your head.

Naming all of them the same thing would be terribly confusing, wouldn't it?

Pegasus is a name, and a specific example of a winged horse. Referring to all winged horses as Pegasuses or Pegasi is like calling all giants "Andres".
posted by hanov3r at 9:10 AM on March 9, 2022 [2 favorites]


100 people to dump, because that one clearly is not listening, and I can't make them listen
posted by Jacen at 9:12 AM on March 9, 2022 [4 favorites]


(But surely this announcement is a duck-sized pony.)
posted by kaibutsu at 9:22 AM on March 9, 2022 [4 favorites]


hanov3r: Naming all of them the same thing would be terribly confusing, wouldn't it?

If you say so. By the way: mind if we call you Bruce, to keep it clear?
posted by Too-Ticky at 9:44 AM on March 9, 2022 [5 favorites]

- Rub it with a candle.
- Get a motorcycle tyre inner tube and cut it into strips.
- Polymorph (= Friendly Plastic).
- Install Linux on it.
- Add some baking powder.
"I left a raw chicken breast out overnight while I installed Linux on it. Can I still eat it? I hear Linux doesn't get many viruses."
posted by Tehhund at 11:30 AM on March 9, 2022 [10 favorites]


"I left a raw chicken breast out overnight while I installed Linux on it. Can I still eat it? I hear Linux doesn't get many viruses."

Have I got the short story for you!

INSTALLING LINUX ON A DEAD BADGER: USER'S NOTES, by LUCY A. SNYDER
posted by CrystalDave at 12:08 PM on March 9, 2022 [10 favorites]


Chaos will reign!


(insert that Elmo with a fire background.gif here)
posted by Kitteh at 5:20 PM on March 9, 2022 [2 favorites]


The list of solutions without question could be used to create an askmeta answerbot that posts random answer to askmeta questions.
posted by Zumbador at 6:46 PM on March 9, 2022 [3 favorites]


Oh good, now I can query the hive mind on where I put my glasses.

(And then follow up with "Why did I put them there?")
posted by soundguy99 at 7:36 PM on March 9, 2022 [2 favorites]


The cat in the hallway with a plant stand.
posted by clavdivs at 9:06 PM on March 9, 2022


Because cats are weird.
posted by NotLost at 9:36 PM on March 9, 2022 [3 favorites]


Do not use Polymorph to fix the lift hatch on the back of your car if you live in a hot climate, you'll come out one day to find your fix all melted down the back of your car and dripping onto the ground. And BTW, that thing is a turkey call, there's a slim possibility that I made that one.

Eh, more question equals more answers?
posted by zengargoyle at 1:38 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]


The duck can fly.

You can't assume this. Square-Cube Law, etc.

But given ducks are naturally aggressive, embiggening them seems likely to embolden them also. Horses are more natural runners away, and shrinking them seems likely to undermine them psychologically in terms of their boldness. Plus they are not really team players, they run off in a group, but can they stand and fight as a unit? Unlikely.

Plus they'd have to be quackers to fight me.
posted by biffa at 4:36 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]


Why?

When?

How?

What?

Where?

Just a sneak preview of my future AskMe questions
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:54 AM on March 10, 2022 [3 favorites]


Can I eat the duck-sized pony?
posted by scratch at 6:00 AM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]


Why not? I'll be focussing on finding enough pancakes to go around my duck.
posted by biffa at 6:09 AM on March 10, 2022 [2 favorites]


Do not use Polymorph to fix the lift hatch on the back of your car

Yup. Cars have reasonably high hit dice, and you could end up having to fight a storm dragon.
posted by zamboni at 7:41 AM on March 10, 2022 [6 favorites]


I don't have all that many questions, but I have tons of answers. I would like to post solutions, and see what problems people come up with.

AnsMeFi
posted by bendy at 8:21 AM on March 10, 2022 [5 favorites]


Would you rather fight 100 bat-sized hippos, or one hippo-sized bat?

I think this is change is good, though I'm not sure I'll ever use it. I'm also hoping for a jeopardy-style April Fools Day AnsMeFi some year in the future. It might confuse the hell out of new and occasional users.

(I guess I have technically fought a horse. To the extent that being thrown from a horse and dragged helplessly counts as a fight. The horse won. But, I think I'd choose one ordinary horse over one ordinary duck. Horses *can* be mean. Ducks are born mean.)
posted by eotvos at 10:09 AM on March 10, 2022 [1 favorite]


What is the most obscure Askme?
posted by clavdivs at 8:23 PM on March 10, 2022


One you have probably not heard of.
posted by Too-Ticky at 12:23 AM on March 11, 2022 [7 favorites]


Obscure by engagement or subject matter? Because I've twice had an askme garner zero comments or favourites.
posted by Mitheral at 6:59 AM on March 11, 2022 [2 favorites]


One motherfucker 100 times. I love saying "I told you so!"
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 10:27 AM on March 11, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'd pick the 100 duck-sized horses, defect to their side and start the world's first duck-sized-horse café, selling overpriced coffees and muffins to people who'd be too charmed by the equine miniature cuties to notice we're ripping them off.
posted by signal at 11:35 AM on March 11, 2022 [1 favorite]


Too-Ticky: "- Rub it with a candle.
- Get a motorcycle tyre inner tube and cut it into strips.
- Polymorph (= Friendly Plastic).
- Install Linux on it.
- Add some baking powder.

Applied to the right problem, these are really good solutions.
"

Ah, but apply all of those solutions simultaneously to a single problem, that's when you see some action.
posted by signal at 11:37 AM on March 11, 2022 [3 favorites]


Also, as someone who has been called out for making too many askme posts, to the point of having my intelligence questioned, I fully support this.
posted by signal at 11:45 AM on March 11, 2022 [7 favorites]


Are we still filtering for substantive questions rather than chatfilter? I think observing that rule would continue to make a difference to the quality of the site.
posted by Pallas Athena at 4:06 PM on March 11, 2022 [8 favorites]


Yeah I always thought "There must be an answerable question" was a great rule & really made AskMe stand apart.
posted by bleep at 4:08 PM on March 11, 2022 [4 favorites]


"Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?" has exactly 2 answers, so it's a good AskMe question. Not that there was any doubt.
posted by Tehhund at 5:59 PM on March 11, 2022 [1 favorite]


Of course you’d rather fight 100 duck sized horses, because the first thing that would cross your mind as your amazement faded, and before the stinging sensations from the vicinity of your kneecaps became too intense, would be 'holy crap, if I could capture enough of these guys to establish a herd, they’d be worth a billion dollars!'
posted by jamjam at 7:32 PM on March 11, 2022 [3 favorites]


100 horse sized bills on the wall
(repeat)
Tie it down, ride it around
posted by clavdivs at 10:09 PM on March 11, 2022 [4 favorites]


i have posted
two questions
that were in
consecutive order

for which
you were probably
hoping
for more importance

Forgive me
they were burning
so eager
and so dumb
posted by glonous keming at 10:46 PM on March 11, 2022 [7 favorites]


I'd pick the 100 duck-sized horses, defect to their side and start the world's first duck-sized-horse café, selling overpriced coffees and muffins to people who'd be too charmed by the equine miniature cuties to notice we're ripping them off.

Until I slip in all Sally Field in Norma Rae and hold up my hand made UNICORN sign and organize a General Stampede.
posted by y2karl at 10:02 PM on March 12, 2022 [2 favorites]


The real problem with the horse-sized duck is all the unsolicited duck pics.
posted by taz (staff) at 1:03 AM on March 13, 2022 [10 favorites]


- Rub it with a candle.
- Get a motorcycle tyre inner tube and cut it into strips.
- Polymorph (= Friendly Plastic).
- Install Linux on it.
- Add some baking powder.


Associated problem: how do you fix the lights on a folding bike with a broken dynamo?
posted by Stoneshop at 8:52 AM on March 13, 2022


Could the horse sized duck Ford 5.3 feet depth, current running at 4 MPH. The distance is 36 yards to the other side landing which is 71 yard wide.
posted by clavdivs at 2:20 PM on March 13, 2022


Yes. I don't have all that many questions, but I have tons of answers. I would like to post solutions, and see what problems people come up with.
posted by Too-Ticky at 9:18 AM on March 9


I wish I could favorite this a hundred times! This would make a great MetaTalkTail subject!
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:04 PM on March 13, 2022 [6 favorites]


raw chicken breast

If ever a phrase was more redolent of memory and desire ...
posted by Chitownfats at 9:51 AM on March 14, 2022


Yay, now I can finally ask whether or not a hotdog is a sandwich! I'm so sorry and I will not actually do this...
posted by myfavoriteband at 12:45 PM on March 14, 2022 [4 favorites]


if a coney, yes.
posted by clavdivs at 12:16 AM on March 15, 2022


Yes. I don't have all that many questions, but I have tons of answers.

Me too! In my FIFTEEN (15!!) years of metafilter patronage (and yes I still feel like a relative newb) I have been humbled by a tonne of experience and very much would love to share these lessons most arduously learned.

I know full well the kids comin' up are destined to hurtle face-first into the same all-too-human fuck ups that have rendered me somewhat sage in my encroaching dotage but maybe there is solace and solidarity in hearing from those who went before.
posted by freya_lamb at 6:05 PM on March 15, 2022 [2 favorites]


So I've posted twice this week, which is a significant uptick from my usual rate of asking. And I love it! I'm asking questions that seemed silly to ask before but the lifted restrictions make things feel a little more easy to post. YAY!
posted by mochapickle at 11:43 AM on March 17, 2022 [3 favorites]


Metafilter: Applied to the right problem, these are really good solutions.

Could we do a post of a good outcome or important life lesson you learned because of an Ask that may not otherwise have happened?
posted by VyanSelei at 7:17 PM on March 23, 2022


I did a MeTa on that a few years back: making life choices based on askme.
Not that we couldn't do it again.
posted by signal at 6:57 AM on March 25, 2022 [1 favorite]


> Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?

Could I, instead of fighting them, ride the giant duck into battle, or use the tiny horses to sled me across Canada?
posted by urbanwhaleshark at 12:11 PM on March 26, 2022 [2 favorites]


I’m thinking about how big a duck-sized horse’s brain would be—I guess out of a hundred, at least one is probably qualified to be pack leader. But what if it gets tired?
posted by box at 8:16 PM on March 26, 2022

I’m thinking about how big a duck-sized horse’s brain would be
I'm guessing this will take some careful genetic engineering to deal with the difficulties of scaling laws. Unless you magically scale the distances between atoms. But, then you either have a bunch of 500 kg ducks, which might be hard to fight, but are easy to run away from, or a 2 kg horse, which is easy to fight except that doing so will make you feel bad.

Would you rather fight 100 500-kg duck-sized-horses on phobos, or one 2-kg horse-size-duck on TOI-849 b? I think I know what I'd pick.
posted by eotvos at 12:43 PM on March 27, 2022


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