January 2016 Archives (all archives)
January 31
Is it possible to request a 'Force SSL' option in the User Preferences?
The EFF offers HTTPS Anywhere, but it's not available for all browser, and fails on some script calls.
As a feature this would be amazing. Thank you!
MetaFilter 2016 Election Prediction Demolition Derby
It's been an unbelievably unpredictable primary season this year, and the Iowa caucuses are less than 30 hours away. So why not get ahead of the curve with a TRUMP-SIZED election prediction contest? I'm thinking Iowa (Dem/GOP), New Hampshire (Dem/GOP), Super Tuesday (Dem/GOP), final nominee (Dem/GOP), and general election winner, with ties broken by House/Senate control, Veepstakes speculation, and as much analysis/rationalization/weeping as you feel appropriate. Prize: One (1) $50 ($fifty) donation to the charity of your choice (split equally if necessary), and eternal bragging rights over the ruins of the punditocracy. Deadline is 8:00 PM Eastern time Monday, when the caucuses start. (Feel free to enter after Iowa or New Hampshire vote, but be advised that your prediction for those states will not count!) See inside for entry form. [more inside]
January 25
Two new profile pages options available
We’re rolling out a couple of new profile preferences options today: the ability to make the “Contributions” and “Social” segments of your profile page visible only to logged-in members, and the ability to enter your geographic coordinates but have them not be visible to anyone else. Come on in for some details! [more inside]
January 22
Thank you all for the amazing David Bowie memorial post
I've had this open in a browser window since sometime a week ago Monday. There's been so many good links to videos, interviews, songs, plus all sorts of great stories. This kind of community is part of what's kept me on MeFi for so many years. <3
Make Winter Great Again!
The Weather Channel is calling it Winter Storm Jonas. The Washington Post is calling it Snowzilla. Can this be the place for us East Coast Mefites talk about the weather? [more inside]
Jessamyn on moderation
Advice for the accidental community manager at The Coral Project ("a multi-year collaboration between Mozilla, The Washington Post and The New York Times designed to lead experiments in community growth and management, seeking ways to improve the state of user-generated contributions on the internet through open-source software.")
January 21
WaPo paywall
January 20
Palin-Free in 2016
I went to re-enable the greasemonkey script shared here, which turns "Sarah Palin" into "Porky Pig" but I no longer have it. It's not in the wiki or at greasyfork.org. Anyone still have it who is able to share it?
January 19
Pony Idea: MeFi Announcement Newsletter?
The talk in the grey about making significant information visibility changes to user profiles (which I am in favor of) and how best to communicate the new setup got me thinking about the ways in which new features/changes get shared with site users. I am a regular user, and I often won't see sidebar announcements. I'm wondering whether there might be some space for a MeFi users newsletter to handle things like new site features, new podcast notifications, maybe even top posts.
This might fall into the category of 'more work than benefit' at this point. I know there are some services (like TinyLetter) that make simple newsletters pretty quick to send out. If it would help, I would be happy to volunteer my time for copy writing.
January 18
Profile Visibility Preferences
A proposal for changing the public visibility of certain profile information. [more inside]
January 15
IRL Regional Event Alerts
Today we added the ability to make an IRL event regional so that IRL alerts for the event go out to a wider audience. And now in addition to letting us know what distance you consider nearby, you can let us know what distance you consider regional. [more inside]
Looking for a Bowie quote from the memorial thread
Someone had posted a link to an interview with Bowie in the massive Bowie thread, and had selected a pullquote in which he reflected on aging. (The specific quote was about how aging helps you strip away parts of you and shows you who you really are.) I've searched the thread for "aging" and "ageing" and haven't turned up anything. Does anyone remember this quote, and can you give me the link? Thanks!
Congratulations on winning the powerball!
Great job picking the winning ticket, mefite! I only wish I was you. What will you do with your gains, and what percentage will you be donating to the site? (A large one, I hope…)
January 13
Remove voting from MeFi Projects
I think voting should be removed from MeFi Projects. What do others think? [more inside]
January 9
A question of policy
In the Oregan under attack thread there was a well researched comment by phoque naming most of the brundy bunch which was subsequently axed with an indication to bring the matter here [more inside]
January 8
Snapshots of life elsewhere
I really enjoy reading Ask questions about what it's like to live in a particular place, like this recent one comparing Portland, OR to Wellington, New Zealand. What are the best/most useful/interesting ones out there? (Qualifications inside) [more inside]
January 6
The Annotated Emotional Labor Post!
I saw this on The Mary Sue, referring to this document which has the thread, annotated.
The original being here.
Comment about Poor People and Cigarettes?
A couple of years ago there was a discussion about poverty and how poor people spend their money. Someone made a comment (or maybe linked to a comment they made elsewhere) about how it makes a certain kind of sense for people with very limited means to buy cigarettes since they were an appetite suppressant, an energy booster, a mood lifter, and a recreational activity. I would love to locate this comment again. Can anyone help me out? It was such good information.
112: FUCK ALL THE REST OF THE LETTERS
For the first time in either the history of the Best of the Web podcast or maybe just the year 2016, we're going all out with four people on the podcast! Four J's, even: joining me and Jessamyn are long-time MeFites not_on_display (Jim!) and churl (Jesse!), as we talk about the month in MeFi, the Best Post contest, and the dark Jungian substrate that lies beneath the fragile shared fiction we call "reality". Also some bathroom stuff. With all this personality bopping around, we're ringing in the new year with a hefty 2 hours of show this time, covering December 1st through January 4th. [more inside]
i was discovered on metafilter
Do you know of anyone that got "discovered" via MetaFilter? e.g. they were the subject of a FPP, which got the attention of a reader that then gave them a job. Or they got a writing contract because of their comments. Or a record label picked them up off Mefi Music. That sorta thing. [more inside]
January 5
Talkin' about a revolution...
If memory serves me correctly (which, you know, is a long shot) there was a post or a comment on Metafilter with a link to some of the common and spurious arguments about feminism and women who are doing feminism wrong according to men. I am hoping to find this link because I have foolishly decided to discuss feminism with some of my male friends who think that women have it all now. [more inside]
January 4
Most Underappreciated Comments of 2015
It is time once again for the annual presentation of sitewide comments which we enjoyed reading but which we feel perhaps did not receive the adulation they deserved. [more inside]
January 2
Mefites' Choice best post contest, Week 4 and Community Prizes
The fourth and final week of the Mefites' Choice contest is closed, and here are the results to warm your first week of 2016. Prize-givers, announce your chosen posts in here too. [more inside]