December 2013 Archives (all archives)
December 31
Help find an askme: a system for keeping track of young kids at a party?
A while ago, someone posted a question asking for help working out a system of keeping track of fairly young kids at a party or gathering. I can't find it. [more inside]
Happy new year, I guess?
As one of the first to cross the Magic Line, from the land of Easterstralia where the many-legs grow, let me tell you: the ant-lords are harsh but fair. All praise the myrmiform cabal (there is no cabal) of 2014!
Thanks for being here, again, and as always, for another diurnal rotation. Y'all are rocks, and islands.
December 29
What sorts of questions of good for AskMefi?
What would you say is the general culture of the AskMefi community? What sorts of questions get positive, supportive responses, and what sorts typically get negative responses? [more inside]
December 27
Team Metafilter passed $100k on Kiva.org
Team Metafilter has grown to 329 members and total loans made crossed $100K in November. However, it seems that growth has slowed somewhat. Total for 2012 was $23,625, whole total for 2013 is at $22,250.
A news-savvy community of over 60,000 users
User #1 describes MetaFilter in a piece "Even if it’s fake, it’s real" for the Nieman Journalism Lab. [more inside]
Protect the Liver
Metafilter's own MiguelCardoso, in his daily column in Portugal's Publico newspaper on the 26th, mentioned pjern and the blue, using the post about the BMJ article on James Bond as his launching point:
Proteja o Figado [Portuguese original] --
Google translated version.
December 26
SPELUNKY
We had so much fun in the recent Spelunky post, I figured I'd tip you guys off that for four hours more, Spelunky is on sale in the Steam store for $3.74, at 75% off.
louche mustachio, I have a boop for you!
*BOOP!* [more inside]
December 25
Yes quotes can be a bit outrageous, but..
Any comments on how this should be reworked? I avoided discussing any of the stories mentioned in the article except for the good cop one specifically to minimize the outrage filter issue. [more inside]
December 24
Merry Christmas everyone!
Here is a picture of our little tree in our house by the sea. Hope your holidays are splendid!
December 22
Mefites' Choice 2013 winners, Week Three
It's week three of our MeFites Choice contest, where we showcase the best posts according to you, the reader, via the use of fantastic flagged posts. [more inside]
Baby's first ice storm
Hey Toronto-area MeFites, looks like we could be in the dark and/or cold for an indeterminate while. Are you doing alright? [more inside]
A fun little number and you should hear it
Listen, MetaFilter, 'tis the season and all that, so get yourself over to MetaFilter Music (you know, that subsite you never go to) and check out the absolutely wonderful little Hawaiian Christmas ditty that your fellow Mefier chococat posted, OK? It's called Mele Kalikimaka and it's big fun and just all kindsa damn good and full of holiday cheer and slippery guitars.
December 19
Best O' Best Of
What were your favorite long read articles + accompanying threads on the blue in 2013? [more inside]
This AskMe is depressing me
I'm concerned about the answers to this AskMe post. Although I feel personal experiences can certainly inform our answers, in this case they seem to have become a basis for a debate on the efficacy/evilness of anti-depressants, with some over-the-top rhetoric thrown in that makes me really uncomfortable. [more inside]
December 18
Journalistic MeFite Convergence!
I wrote an article about Jessamyn. You can read it here. Comments and constructive criticism welcome!
Can we get a "Remove from Activity" button on the Mobile site?
I was wondering if it would be possible to get the "Remove from Activity" link added to the Recent Activity page of the Mobile site. Is this something that people would like to have, and if so would it be feasible to implement this feature? [more inside]
Wisdom from No. 1
December 17
Previousliest-esque
Somewhat related to this, when did the terms "previouslier" and "previousliest" come into usage? The Mefi Wiki is providing no answers.
MetaFilter Offline
MetaFilter was offline from around 9:45 PM Pacific Time to 4:00 AM Pacific Time. A hard drive failed in our database server, taking some of the database with it. We were able to restore from a backup that happened at 7:40 PM Pacific. So we lost data during those two hours. We apologize for that, the long downtime, and the bumpiness as we get things running again. [more inside]
December 16
Mefites' Choice 2013 winners, Week Two
Another week of Mefites' Choice Awards, another bunch of fantastic posts flagged by mefites as, uh, fantastic? Phrasing's a bit clumsy, let's take take that again from the top and see if—what do you mean we're live? We're, ah—yes! Welcome to week two, come inside! [more inside]
December 15
Good Advice
What is the biggest life decision you've made based on answers to one of your AskMe questions? How did that decision work out for you? [more inside]
December 14
Metafilter Youtube Rolling Playlist?
I want to see all of the metafilter-linked youtube videos in a single Youtube playlist. [more inside]
What if the answer is wrong?
I don't know for sure, but I think an answer to a question on AskMe is wrong. Do I ask about it there or here? [more inside]
December 13
Beanplating the term beanplate?
Where and when exactly did the term beanplating originate? [more inside]
Rules on ask metafilter
I have had questions deleted before for being "too chatty" but I see questions all the time that seem very chatty. Can someone tell me if you can post chatty questions?
December 11
Pony Request: Move the italicize button on the mobile site
On an iPhone, when you have a body of text entered and selected (as if you were going to italicize to quote someone, the "i" button is placed EXACTLY beneath the "Cut/Copy/Paste" dialog box no matter how you scroll. It's infuriating. The only way to get around it seems to be some random combination of zoom and scroll that sometimes results in it becoming unhidden. I can't be the only one who this drives nuts. What if the italicize button were swapped with the "<" button? Does anyone even use that button?
December 10
What happened to quality comment/ discussion threads?
I don't know if perhaps I've reached a point in my life where I'm becoming something of a Grinch or grumpy old man but I've noticed to much dismay that the quality of discussion in many fpps has plummeted, leaving me hesitant to read through what was previously my favorite part of metafilter. [more inside]
87: Dungeons and Dragons
Episode 87 of the podcast was recorded on December 9th and runs about 1hr 40min long as we recap our favorite posts from the past five weeks. [more inside]
December 9
I think I'll go and eat worms
It was my 10th birthday yesterday and no one remembered. No cake, no presents, no birthday post, not even a memail.
Ask MetaFilter.
Ask MetaFilter.
Spreading rumors is bad news
When someone posts an inflammatory article with an inflammatory pull quote that turns out to be completely false and bad information, I really think the mods should add a quick note to that effect at the end of the post. Many people don't read all the comments and might skim the first few comments, but never see the correction. A simple note at the start of the post is a reasonable way to handle issues like this.
We've had this discussion in the past, and I know the mods disagree, but I really feel like it's a bad decision on their part. Not correcting posts like this is encouraging this kind of bad behavior.
Android, Firefox, and Metafilter commenting
More and more I find myself visiting Metafilter on my Android tablet. I am using Firefox 25.0.1 on a Nexus 7 with Android 4.3. Recently, commenting has become almost impossible - namely, any kind of HTML tags get very screwed up. Typically, I'll copy a comment I want to reply to, surround that with em tags and then reply. Lately, in the process of posting, Android or Firefox or Metafilter decides to empty the closing em tag (leaving two carats) and append a set of empty carats and a closing em tag to my whole post. Trying to clean it up leads to all kinds of problems - the cursor jumps around and deletes things on its own. Has anyone else experienced this? Is it Android, Firefox, Metafilter, or some combination of all three? Any help would be appreciated.
December 8
Claim your keyboard here folks.
Ok, what Mefite owes you a keyboard or monitor because they wrote something that was so damn funny you lost bodily control for a moment? Extra credit for graphic descriptions of the mess :)
Mefites' Choice 2013 winners, Week One
Aaand the results are in for the first week of this year's "Mefites-Choose" all-singing, all-dancing Most Fantastic Posts! (Reminder: the contest is going all month, so please keep voting – using the "fantastic post" flag!) [more inside]
December 7
Pony req: to open thread
Pony request:
Currently, j/k navigate from one post to the next. Could <enter> be bound to open the selected post? [more inside]
December 6
How do you decide which tags to include?
When constructing FPPs for the blue, how do you determine which tags to use? Nouns, proper nouns, verbs, adjectives, things that appear in your post, things that don't appear in your post, number of tags? I'm rarely ... no, never ... happy with the tags I assign to a post and wonder if they are rubbish, and future readers interested in the subject will never find it because of insufficient tagging, or readers not interested in the post will come across it because of vague or overdone tagging. Reminded of this issue when looking at, and admiring, the (IMHO) beautifully contextual and comprehensive tagging that has gone into that post. [more inside]
December 5
Certainly I'm not the only one who would find this pony useful
I would like to have something like (SLNYT) automatically inserted after SLNYT embedded links the way the the indicator is inserted for Youtube links. Sometimes posters do this themselves, often they don't. I realize that there is a preview window, but it would be nice to have something a little more conspicuous right next to the link. I only have access to a few NYT articles per month, and I want to use them as judiciously as possible. What do others think? Thanks for considering this!>
December 4
Just wondering about the etiquette of threadsitting
When someone posts to AskMefi, is there a standard etiquette that posters should be knowing to follow? Something like "Do not post any responses for 24 hours after you've posted your question or else you will be threadsitting/tempted to threadsit," perhaps? I avoid Metafilter for 24 hours after I post anything because then I feel like an embarrassed ass asking a question, but that's just me. I was wondering if this was any kind of ... more official thing for everyone else, or should be, or what.
We're not talking about this. Period.
Am I correct in inferring that there has been some moderate moderation to this thread (about how fraught the use of periods has become in texting and other new communication methods) to remove references to President Obama's repeated use of the word "Period!" in speeches to attempt to add veracity to an oft-repeated lie? [more inside]
December 2
Pepsi Blue Dot EDU?
Has anyone else noticed the weird attention that this AskMe about a small liberal arts college in Iowa has attracted?
I get that everyone is welcome to pay their $5 to sign up and say their piece, but it smells a little like astroturf to me. [more inside]
But it was my favoritest George Washington comment!
Once upon a time someone posted a speech (or maybe just a link thereto) in which George Washington was saying "Ask not what your country can do for you..." to a bunch of veterans who were leaning on a cash strapped Federal government. I distinctly remember it getting tons of favorites and I even flagged it as a fantastic comment. [more inside]
>_
Interactive fiction is seeing something of a renaissance right now, with more ways and means for creating and playing it than ever. How much interest would there be in reviving the Annual Interactive Fiction Contest? [more inside]