January 2011 Archives (all archives)
January 31
Any interest in a Frequently Recommended Books wiki page?
I'd like to create a MeFi Wiki page listing books that are frequently recommended in AskMe answers. Would anyone else be interested in such a resource and/or does anyone want to help out? [more inside]
The Sincerest Form of Flattery?
This comment just turned up as a Peter Sagal quip on this week's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. [more inside]
The Crying of Lot 49 Has Begun
Discussion thread regarding Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 and the accompanying Prof. Hungerford lecture just went up in Metachat. [more inside]
When is a project ready to be posted to projects?
I'm somewhat new to metafilter, and am working on something that I would like to post to projects, but don't want to do so prematurely. [more inside]
January 30
Buying a Pony Off Amazon
Is it possible for MetaFilter to make money off referral links to amazon products? That is, when someone posts a link to an amazon product, the site automatically turns it into a referral link so Matt and Co. can make a little bit of money off the link.
Here's the skinny
Yesterday, January 29th "at lunch time", chunking express and his non-MeFite wife, Shima, had a healthy 5.5 lb. baby girl named Mythalli Mythili.
Awesome! Congrats to both of you! Look forward to seeing our newest MeFite at the next meet-up.
Awesome! Congrats to both of you! Look forward to seeing our newest MeFite at the next meet-up.
Let's talk about Egypt now, not America then.
While the Egypt FPP ended with the question "Will America support Egyptian democracy?", perhaps we could separate historical hair splitting about what America has done for other countries and what America is doing concerning Egypt. [more inside]
banana banana, banana banana, monkey in a treeee
I cannot find the hilarious Monkey lyrics to the Law and Order theme that someone posted when the OG Law and Order was canceled. "Monkey in a tree...banana banana..." Help finding the thread?
January 29
The drama's done.
Follow-up: Matt Kish's One Drawing for Every Page of Moby-Dick (discussed here) is now complete. [more inside]
Taking it outside (the thread)
This FPP about women's reproductive rights and the definition of rape was rapidly taken over by a discussion of how old white men who don't fit the stereotype of old white men get their feelings hurt when "old white men" is used as a pejorative.
For those of you who want to continue that conversation, for those of you who want to discuss your frustration over the hijack, please--for the love of god--take it here instead.
January 28
Back is to the left, back is to the left
Picayune pony, please: On tag pages, the navigation is just older/newer. Would it be possible to change that so that it's paged, allowing me to go all the way back on some tags with one click instead of 30?
toppermost of the poppermost
OK, y'all just get over to Metafilter Music and listen to loud magic song. That is all.
Missing an "L"
The Challenger writeup has a leading leading with "sipped the surly bonds of earth" - can we get a change to "slipped"?
We don't do everything 'badly'
Members often complain that we "do this badly". Well, I want to point out, we've done this well. [more inside]
100K!
Congratulations to the MetaFilter community for 100,000 posts.
January 27
Hoder Watch
Hoder Update? For the first time since before Christmas, Hoder's family has posted on their blog. There have been two updates today, and on the hoderderakhshan YouTube channel two videos (from 2007) have been uploaded. [more inside]
Below the fold portion of this AskMe should maybe have more views, I think.
I think that perhaps this AskMe should have more people trying to help with the below-the-fold part of the question than might look at it based upon the above-the-fold part.
Live Preview feature is broken for Ask MetaFilter.
Live Preview feature is broken for Ask MetaFilter. [more inside]
New Cub A Friend Of Matt
"If your article was well written, and/or funny, I’d simply have had a laugh about it and went back to metafilter.com where I belong when I’m on the net when it was forwarded to me." A shoutout by new Cub... Metafilter's own.... Fernando Perez. [more inside]
IRL RSS and mobile
IRL: the RSS feed and the mobile site. [more inside]
January 26
Single RSS feed for all comments on all threads I have favorited?
Single RSS feed for all comments on all threads I have favorited? [more inside]
I guess I can stop working on my card counting.
The secret to bringing down the house and leaving Vegas without feeling dirty is just one click away. Thanks herrdoktor.
What say ye of the edit window?
Your cheatin' heart, will tell on you
Just curious about how these corners of the internet intersect
Can text links be automatically linkified?
Occasionally Mefites post links without making them linky. [more inside]
Cool! Melbourne Meetup (5 months ago)...
Are the IRL RSS feeds expected to work? [more inside]
January 25
Matt on boingboing.
Shut up, Joe.
Thank you all for a great SOTU live thread. [more inside]
Questions From Another World
January 24
Times Are Changing
Frequent (some say too frequent) MetaFilter source The New York Times is going to initiate a PayWall in the next month (according to a freely available article from the Wall Street Journal - extra points for irony). So how will this change from the Grey Lady effect the Blue? [more inside]
When should I ask my question?
When is the best time of the day to post on AskMeFi to maximize the number of people who see my question and might provide a possible answer? [more inside]
EbertFilter
There have been three Ebert posts (not even counting this one) in the last four days. Typically aren't people encouraged to fold these kinds of links to existing discussions?
January 23
Vague medical AskMe questions
This question seems like a really bad idea, heading into territory where AskMe advice may be worse than no advice at all. [more inside]
My wife and I don't agree. I mean, a friend. I mean....
AskMe question appears to have intentional misrepresentation of situation, discussion ensues. Jessamyn asked us to get it out of the thread and yet it seems there is more to ponder. So, here we are. [more inside]
January 22
cortex, easy on the deletions!
This was not a good deletion. I think cortex pulls the trigger too quickly sometimes on the deletion of Ask Me posts and more restraint would be appreciated. [more inside]
pick a reason to flag
What's the correct flagging reason for posts on the Blue we think are just plain bad? [more inside]
January 21
A study in Q&A sites
A study in Q&A sites: Ask Metafilter's "Why do some people wear shoes indoors?" versus Quora's "Do real Americans wear shoes indoors as portrayed in sitcom TV shows?" and its follow-on "In which North American locales is it more common to take off one's shoes when entering a home? In which is it more prevalent to leave them on?" [more inside]
The Itsy-Bitsy Polaroid.
Programming notice: MeFi Favorite, The Big Picture will be moving from The Boston Globe next month to The Atlantic. Now, maybe Alan Taylor will get to work on his acclaimed photolog as a full-time gig. [more inside]
Dealing with deleted posts.
Thread concerning deleted posts on the blue. [more inside]
January 20
Ask not what Metafilter can do for you...
Is anyone working on a Sargent Shriver post? My new job is keeping me from it, but the man deserves one.
Do you guys remember this cool browser thingy?
I'm looking for a Metafilter post that was about a browser ... um, application? or plug-in? or site? that featured different windows so you could drag/arrange your pages into groups by arbitrary topic or category, or work vs. leisure browsing, or whatever you wanted. Do you remember that? [more inside]
January 19
Time to update the about prompt on the profile page?
Should we update the 'About' prompt on the profile page? It still asks when the first time you used the internet was. At this point it's kind of like asking when the first time you watched TV was.
Let's all kill Jonny 5.
Metafilter is not for advertising. Damn, it appears I stepped in a publicity campaign. I'd rather not have. [more inside]
January 18
Bad artists copy. Great artists steal.
Back in March 2009, I posted this quite thoroughly researched FPP about how Nobel Prize winner Dr. Luc Montagnier had fallen in with the quack disciples of the late Dr. Jacques Benveniste. It didn't go well.
Now I've found this October 2009 article in Andy Lewis' admirable Quackometer blog, which, erm, looks awfully familiar in parts. [more inside]
There is help. Mefi win.
Buried deep in the Bill Zeller obit thread is this (new?) gem from the Mefi Wiki: There is Help. [more inside]
Two by Two. Shirts of Blue.
Does this strike anyone else as odd? This FPP contains two links to a t-shirt store (where the shirts are quite literally blue,) and a third link to an site with an ad/link to the same store.
It seems we can't Memail disabled accounts, so...
Another one bites the dust? [more inside]
January 17
The name is Foo. Mister Foo.
MeFi offers a lot of ways to format "the same" user name, thanks to the fact that spaces and caps are fair game. Mister Foo could also be misterfoo or MisterFoo or mister foo or MISTER FOO or.... So I'm wondering: has a namespace collision ever occurred? Have we ever had, say, a Mister Foo and a misterfoo active on the site at the same time?
Mystery Hunter? But I hardly know 'er!
Why Do These Links Look Weird
Any plans for the 100,000th FPP?
Any plans for the 100,000th FPP?
January 15
Utilizing a community resource
Given this post, I was thinking - about how the conversation turned to "people don't go to libraries..." I don't really do meet-ups (I'm SuperDad in my free time), but might I propose that somebody somewhere start pushing for some library meet-ups? [more inside]
Procrastination FPP just ads?
AskMe etiquette - What are the norms about showing appreciation of people for answering your questions?
AskMe etiquette - What are the norms about letting people who answer your question know that you are reading and appreciating their responses? [more inside]
January 14
How can you tell if MeFi was secretly subpoenaed a: you can't
Can we have a banner on top of MeFi similar to this famous library signs by Jessamyn. In the wake of the Twitter subpoena situation which seems to involve the electronic records of one of our members; it seems like some kind of sign indicating that "no secret subpoenas have been received sign" might be reassuring. Though I'm not sure of the legality not being a lawyer, etc.
Thanks for all the Music
Let's hear it for MetaFilter Music: 5,000+ posts and going strong. I love all of you, from the fine musicians to the devoted commenters and playlisters, to the mods who coded and managed it, to the thousands* of record label execs who've found their next pop star lurking in the shadows here. Here's to another 5,000 posts, then another 5,000, then after that we can re-evaluate. Sincere and heartfelt thanks to everyone who's ever contributed, commented, made a playlist, listened to a tune, or even planned to and hasn't gotten around to it.
See within for some fun MeFi Music links, and a little bit of a primer on how to get your feet wet in our warm little musical community!
*Citation needed [more inside]
See within for some fun MeFi Music links, and a little bit of a primer on how to get your feet wet in our warm little musical community!
*Citation needed [more inside]
MeFiSwap 2011-1 commences.
Fire up your CD-burning lazercheeses, rifle your music collection swamp for suitable floaters, and elect your stamp-licking uberminions.
MeFiSwap 2011-1 commences. [more inside]
Are there particular Ask MeFi posts that drive the bulk of the non-member traffic?
Are there particular Ask MeFi posts that drive the bulk of the non-member traffic? [more inside]
RSS feed nitpick
I recently added the sideblog RSS feed to my Google Reader page. The title always shows up as undefined.
If you were not aware I wanted to point it out. If you were aware but didn't care, I'm fine with that.
The page is still loading, please wait to add favorites.
Bits of MeTa freezing in Firefox
Bits of MeTa freezing in Firefox [more inside]
I'd vote for that!
Is there a place for campaigns on Metafilter? [more inside]
Why do I get a *fresh* AskMetafilter.com cookie when loading a YouTube page?
Why do I get a *fresh* AskMetafilter.com cookie when loading a YouTube page? I also get one on YouTube from Alternet.org, quantserve and scorecardresearch. The latter two are obvious. But WTF? [more inside]
January 13
January Taters
In tonight's Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, he joked about his Sexy Lunch Ladies calendar, claiming that Miss January had "sexy taters." Coy mefi reference? More importantly, hard core or soft?
Remember to disable adblock
What are the most popular posts ever for metafilter?
What are the most popular posts ever for metafilter? [more inside]
January 12
Vetting for doubles.
This is the second time I've made an FPP that's been a double and it hasn't turned up in my searches before posting, or warned me in preview that the site has been linked to before. [more inside]
tell.metafilter
There's already an ask.metafilter but plenty of members here would probably know more about x than I/you/we could possibly imagine.
So how about tell.metafilter ? [more inside]
Can we see favourites ordered by number and name?
Is it possible to have a "View favourites by username" feature? On a positive note, it'd require very little in the way of extra coding/templates. [more inside]
Pogo gets out of the house
Metafilter on NPR
Did anyone hear A Way With Words on NPR talking about ask.metafilter.com on Sunday? [more inside]
The Metafilter comment that was a short sci-fi story
Help me find an old Metafilter comment! It was in response to a FPP whose subject I've forgotten. The comment itself was styled a short story where far into the future, people have banded into primitive tribes, each one holding onto a few remnants of technology today. These items are highly regarded even though they have no idea what to do with them. One item was a canister that they never opened but could hear the rattle of something inside. [more inside]
Tags being included in titles — titles tags SEO
What's with the first three tags being included in the title of every AskMe post? For example, this thread's page title is "My Friend's Lost Story - loststories jealousy forgiveness | Ask MetaFilter". [more inside]
January 11
This pony is too small.
Would it be possible to raise the maximum number of mefimails to 100 per hour? [more inside]
How about YouTube's deep linking in the popup window?
MeFi members get the option of watching YouTube links in a popup window, courtesy of a button after the link text. YouTube allows deep linking via a time code appended to the URL, e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8M6S8EKbnU&t=1m21s
If you click the link text above you get the page for the video, with the flash player cued to 1:21. If you clink the popup button instead, the time suffix in the URL is ignored and the video starts at 0:00. Can we get the popup window to honor the time suffix? This seems like something either very easy or deceptively hard to implement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8M6S8EKbnU&t=1m21s
If you click the link text above you get the page for the video, with the flash player cued to 1:21. If you clink the popup button instead, the time suffix in the URL is ignored and the video starts at 0:00. Can we get the popup window to honor the time suffix? This seems like something either very easy or deceptively hard to implement.
36 hours of dodgeball later
Congratulations to MeFi's newest world record holder, ImBitman! AskMe prep question: What do ridiculous marathon athletes eat?
Contact form to MeFi Mail
When I use the Contact form, the content of my message vanishes in a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. Would it be possible to forward a copy to my Sent Mail box in MefiMail?
Re-Asking an inconclusive and long dead AskMefi Q?
What's the down-low on re-Asking and inconclusive and long dead AskMeFi query? [more inside]
January 10
A MeFi shoutout, in print, in a real-life book!
Is a wikileaks thread the place to discuss changes in rape laws?
This post regarding Naomi Wolf's comments about rape was deleted as being viewed as being correlated to the Wikileaks threads. [more inside]
Behold: Nibbus Maximus!
Mefites talk about race and cultural context like this...
Fat Acceptance Acceptance
I have a question about this post, where an anonymous poster asks why his weight loss efforts aren't succeeding. [more inside]
58: December Awesome Post Contest Results
It's the results from our December Awesome Post Contest! The podcast runs 1 hour, 5 minutes and covers a lot of our favorites. We reveal the grand prize winner and then follow it up with dozens of our favorites, but we never quite figured out the other categories. Don't fret: they are contained within this post. [more inside]
January 9
Acupuncture for a medical question?
Medical question gets placebo answer. [more inside]
Request: Smugmug option in profile
Request: Would it be possible to add Smugmug to the profile "also on" list?
Can't we have a gang sign?
Do we have a secret Mefite gang sign or anything? If not, could we get one? [more inside]
January 8
Bothered and bewildered mefite seeks hugs
Between Bill Zeller and the Arizona massacre, the first week of 2011 has been brutal. I'm emotionally drained. Can we get a do-over? [more inside]
"Load new comments" for MeFi mobile?
"Load new comments" for MeFi mobile? Especially for tragic and topical threads. [more inside]
Chrome weirdness
Chrome weirdness : Something about the back button seems to get broken, especially after I post a reply in a thread, where I end up in an endless loop and can't back out of the thread unless I right click and choose something further back in the history. Anyone else experiencing this?
Rhomboid is an awesome teacher
Shout out to Rhomboid for awesome Ask awesomosity! [more inside]
January 7
New Twitter/Facebook sharing options proposed
Check out the small new twitter/facebook share links on this thread (only enabled there as a test) and let us know what you think [more inside]
January 6
AskMe makes us better parents and spouses?
Am I the only sap who left work a bit early today after having read this thread?
Is this post acceptable?
I flagged this post (as other) on the blue because 1) It doesn't do what it says on the tin 2) it's behind a paywall 3) it has one link with no other information. Should posts only linking to a paywall be on the blue?
A sobering pony request
A little note on the profiles of MeFites who are deceased? [more inside]
Best overlooked comments of 2010
Last year, Greg Nog made up a list of tragically overlooked comments from 2009. It was more monkeys than a barrel full of fun, so let's do it again! [more inside]
WWIC
Metafilter gets a very kind shout out on Paul Ford's new essay The Web Is a Customer Service Medium.
January 5
RIP Bill Zeller
It's with great sadness that I have to share the passing of Bill Zeller, known as null terminated around here. [more inside]
Help me find an old comment about living in a war-zone?
Help me find an old comment about living in a war-zone? [more inside]
I mean I'm just curious.
January 4
Survey: Is it customary for shoes to be off in the house?
Following on this very interesting question, I present this survey to fellow Mefites: Is it customary for shoes to be off in the house? [more inside]
thread subscriptions without RSS?
Advice/pony: I often see what promises to become an interesting thread, only to forget about it afterward. is there any way to collect recent activity from several threads, without commenting in them?
Or is it just time to bite the bullet and learn this RSS rubbish?
Let's not put the n-word on the front page please.
The N-word on the front page makes Metafilter extremely not work friendly, in addition to being just plain offensive. Can we do something about that? Thanks. [more inside]
Introducing the Metafilter Frequency Tables
The perfect gift for the computational linguist in your life: Metafilter Frequency Tables! Finally you can know definitively how many times words such as "metafilter", "fucknozzle", or "mctootypoots" have been used on the site. (A: 127,484 times, 28 times, and once.) [more inside]
January 3
I feel more like Little Egypt than ever before!
This might be something like flogging a dead horse, but I need to thank my secret quonsar immediately. [more inside]
We Finally Got To It
OK, it's been slightly less than a month but wanted to let you know the MeTa book club is now (drumroll) reading Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, and the discussion of the book and accompanying lecture goes up in MetaChat on January 31. Questions? Everything you ever wanted to know about the MeTa book club is here.
jessamyn ★
What's up with the ★? [more inside]
Dataviz ahoy!
While I'm not a fan of the plethora of infographics available online these days (and lame SEO attempts to capitalize on them), I decided to make a tongue-in-cheek infographic for MetaFilter, and as everyone behind the scenes at Team MeFi scrambled in the last week to gather up all the interesting statistics we could, I threw it all into photoshop to produce this: The 2010 Year In MetaFilter Infographic. Enjoy!
January 2
Is it still possible to export all your MetaFilter contributions?
Is it still possible to export all your MetaFilter contributions? [more inside]
January 1
Moslems? Really?
Wrong Number
Looking for a Metafilter post or comment regarding a blog of text messages sent to the wrong number. [more inside]
Pony: AAC uploading to MeFiMusic?
From this distance it's hard to tell whether it's a pony or a stallion: making AAC files uploadable to MeFiMusic? [more inside]
BTW, thanks!
I just want to say, "thank you." [more inside]
Help me find a vaguely-recalled comment
Trying to find a comment I barely recall the details of. [more inside]
intrasubject derail
Any chance the mods want to redirect the Bradley Manning debate in the leak thread towards the Bradley Manning thread? [more inside]