March 2004 Archives (all archives)

March 30

Does anyone else hate reading long blocks of italicized type on screen?

does anyone else hate reading long blocks of italicized type on screen??? it's nasty.
posted by specialk420 to Etiquette/Policy at 9:48 AM PST - 38 comments

Newsfilter as FPPs

Predictions: I just noticed the news, "White House to Let Rice Testify in Public" on AP. How long until this becomes an FPP. Doesn't it seem lately that every piece of news is getting posted? Where does one draw the line between news that should be an FPP and news that shouldn't
posted by Outlawyr to MetaFilter-Related at 7:28 AM PST - 110 comments

Double links are actually forbidden?

I want to post a link which I consider to be entertaining, but most of all, relevant at the current time. It is, however, a repost, last posted over a year ago. Is the policy regarding reposts that they are 100% verboten?
posted by Mwongozi to Etiquette/Policy at 5:42 AM PST - 23 comments

March 28

Why crap on good threads?

Why crap on good threads?
posted by SpecialK to Etiquette/Policy at 12:43 PM PST - 49 comments

March 27

International meetup ! Lower east side ! New york may 27th -29th !

International meetup ! Lower east side ! New york may 27th -29th !
posted by sgt.serenity to MetaFilter Gatherings at 2:40 AM PST - 19 comments

March 26

Minneapolis Meetup

Minneapolis meet-up! The last one was small, but fun and I'd love to have another one, especially with the weather getting so good.
posted by Zosia Blue to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:57 PM PST - 56 comments

FPP: Trolling?

"As for the purpose of this post, I guess I wanted to see if you loud-mouthed, violently prejudiced morons on Mefi had it left in you to try and rationally adress a troubling issue that doesn't jive with your incredibly narrow viewpoints."

Thank you sir may I have another
posted by scarabic to Bugs at 11:33 AM PST - 149 comments

DC Meetup

DC MeFi meetup! Per this AxMe thread. [more inside]
posted by MrMoonPie to MetaFilter Gatherings at 10:03 AM PST - 34 comments

March 25

Burying the hatchet.

This has gone on long enough. I'm going to take a radical step and drag myself into MetaTalk. Once upon a time skallas was a guy, whom while I disagreed with him often, I respected his intelligence and convictions. But somewhere things got weird and no we're at eachother's throats all the time. It's making this unpleasant for me, probably for him and probably for everybody reading too. So, it's gotta stop.

I could have taken it to e-mail, but I'm doing it publicly for a couple of reasons. One, I think if the both of us (two well known public fueders) can cool out and agree to disagree like gentlemen, we can set an example for the rest of the site. And also, because someone once said that I owed skallas an apology as public as the insult I made, so here it is.

So, skallas, I'm willing to bury the hatchet if you are. You with me?
posted by jonmc to Etiquette/Policy at 5:51 PM PST - 82 comments

French MetaFilter

Nous sommes tous en cela ensemble: Aeiou, 'the blog of flu,' is a new French community blog based on the 'celebrated Metafilter.' They also give you Aeiou in bad english, through le poisson. (via boingboing via ecuaderno via pointblog via chryde).
posted by carter to MetaFilter-Related at 11:50 AM PST - 15 comments

Linking to AskMe

Why isn't there a link to AxeMe on the main MeFi page? Is there a specific reason or just haven't got around to it yet?
posted by keswick to Feature Requests at 9:45 AM PST - 30 comments

March 24

Follow-up: Compiled album recommendation list.

I requested for MeFi'ers to recommend an album (or two or three) yesterday on Ask Metafilter, and got a total of 121 unique recommendations. [more inside]
posted by Quartermass to MetaFilter-Related at 6:33 PM PST - 40 comments

Is it unethical to use Ask Metafilter to answer your employer's questions?

Without getting specific, does it not seem unethical to use Ask Metafilter to answer your employer's questions?
Is this acceptable, or what is the limit? (or maybe we need to implement some sort of "I'll answer for a percentage"
scheme - since you are getting paid to know the answer)
posted by milovoo to Etiquette/Policy at 3:49 PM PST - 22 comments

Madison Meetup Photos

Photos from the Madison meetup on Saturday. We were a small group compared to last time, but fun was still had.
posted by aine42 to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:50 PM PST - 21 comments

I am not quonsar.

quonsar and I: May I point out that I am not quonsar. I don't have any particular beef with him/her, but I am being frequently mistaken for him, and vice versa.

I got my handle from a local tribe when I was living in Tanzania, but mefi is the first place where I have come across a similar handle.
posted by quarsan to MetaFilter-Related at 4:01 AM PST - 148 comments

AskMe: inline comments about the suitability or presentation are especially unwelcome

Dear No. 1: Maybe it's time for a little policy action. I think of AskMe much more in terms of archival value than I do MeFi, mostly because a great deal of the information shared there is anecdotal and experience-related, and as such is not wholly dependent on web links that may change or disappear. It seems that this is going to be a resource that will be referred to quite often in results for common searches, and in this way far less ephemeral than MeFi or MeTa. Therefore, I'm thinking that inline comments about the suitability or presentation of a posted question are especially unwelcome.

I understand that it will be overbearing and ridiculous to bring every single question of this sort to MeTa, but still, I think that in the long run it will be strange and distracting to have these asides remaining in the threads that survive to see another day, especially because they tend to drift off into discussions involving the complaint, and because the person complaining may have just been suffering from wrong-side-of-the-bed syndrome, the effects of which usually fade rapidly into obscurity on the blue and gray pages (and the inclusion of which is explicitly or implicitly more "built into" their more conversational structure), but which I suspect will end up being more "sticky", as well as oddly jarring, in the green. I also think that it will probably become impossible for you to monitor everything and delete all bad posts/comments one by one. [More, believe it or not...]
posted by taz to Bugs at 1:39 AM PST - 27 comments

March 23

Vancouver meetup

Let's try this again.
Vancouver MetaFilter Meetup
Date:
April 23, 2004
Time: 6:00pm
Location: Somewhere downtown
Featured guest: five fresh fish?
posted by timeistight to MetaFilter Gatherings at 2:43 PM PST - 24 comments

Cleveland Meetup: April 17th

Historic First Ever* Cleveland MeFi Meetup
Saturday, April 17th, 7:00 p.m.
University Circle Arabica
(*Be there, be square, make history.)
posted by Shane to MetaFilter Gatherings at 7:34 AM PST - 9 comments

Google ads in horrible colours

When logged in, the Google ads on the front page are horrible colours. When logged out, the ads revert to the correct customised Metafilter colours. This is regardless of the browser used. Can anything be done?
posted by mokey to Bugs at 3:18 AM PST - 9 comments

March 22

No more xFilter, please

I vote for a moratorium on prefacing posts with xFilter (i.e. foodFilter, sexFilter, tivoFilter, etc.) Maybe in a few month it will be amusing again, but at the moment it just makes me tired.
posted by grumblebee to Etiquette/Policy at 7:27 PM PST - 94 comments

March 21

MeFi and MeTa: booze-fueled commentary?

More than any other community weblog, MetaFilter and MetaTalk are associated with drunkenness and even alcoholism. This is an honest question: do most members here drink more than others/they ought to/than what's good for them? Is it OK to post while drunk, unless you really foul up? Is it considered funny or something? Why are there (comparatively) few other drugs extolled here? In sum, is MeFi quickly becoming MeFried?
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 9:38 PM PST - 94 comments

March 20

strange relationship between posts and the posters' usernames

We know that nofundy usually posts about "Fundies", hama7 has posted Hama-Net, and Vidiot's first post was about TV newscasts, but hasn't the relationship between posts and the posters' usernames gotten a little strange lately?

First, I saw Keyser Soze's AskMe about "my friend getting busted by the cops" and its MetaTalk follow-up. But then I noticed posts from PenDevil about rewriting the Chinese Constitution, Dome-O-Rama about an Act of Congress, psychotic venom about these depressing times, loquacious about Rumsfeld's words, ferociouskitty about howwasshe.com, and four panels about China's Building Blitz.

And AskMe has a problem with the French from staggernation and a mouse in a messy room from Slimemonster.

Am I just going overboard when I see the connections between a car insurance site and mr crash davis, Jay-Z and soundofsuburbia, or Sudden Oak Death and barkle (oops, that should be bargle) ? If so, just say "adjust your meds, Wendell", and we'll leave it at that. If not, I'll be back tonight with a post about Wendell Willkie.
posted by wendell to MetaFilter-Related at 1:31 PM PST - 78 comments

Does Google track where I'm from with cookies?

This is only tangentially related, but I'm curious - I used Google's new local search features, and this morning the Google ads on the home page had a couple local interest items in them for Los Angelenos like myself. I imagine my location has been cookied and now my visits to every site that runs Google text ads is logged as a visit by that guy from 90024... can anyone verify that? Also, curious if this means ads for product categories I've googled will soon start following me from blog to blog based on individual user recognition.
posted by jonson to MetaFilter-Related at 9:09 AM PST - 8 comments

Update to the drunk friend thread

Update to the thread detailing my friend getting busted by the cops: He made a plea bargain with his court appointed lawyer and had his sentencing dropped to 3 years probation with Alcohol Rehabilitation classes. He doesn't get drunk anymore.
posted by Keyser Soze to MetaFilter-Related at 12:03 AM PST - 55 comments

March 19

MetaFilter as social experiment hoax by mathowie

Does anybody know where that fake page that mathowie put up a few years ago when MeFi was down is hiding? This is the one where he claims that Metafilter was a social experiment in AI and that the vast majority of the writers here were simply software constructs. This was right after he got on the cover of some magazine, and said it was just some actor..... Thanks.
posted by danbeckmann to MetaFilter-Related at 5:33 PM PST - 11 comments

Don't be an ass rule

Okay, the don't be an ass rule for Ask Me and supplying actual answers? Would these over here be keeping in that spirit? Just curious.
posted by FunkyHelix to Etiquette/Policy at 4:22 PM PST - 18 comments

Toronto Meetup

Has there ever been a Toronto MeFi meetup, or are we really the cold, aloof, world-weary types we are fabled to be? If someone were to suggest meeting at Dora Keogh on April 3 around 8 pm, I wonder what would happen... dream sequence sound fx...
posted by stonerose to MetaFilter Gatherings at 4:18 PM PST - 33 comments

Vancouver meetup

Hark! I hear distant rumblings that suggest a Vancouver MeFi meetup might be a nice thing to do. Any ideas?
posted by antifreez_ to MetaFilter Gatherings at 1:51 PM PST - 14 comments

When a FPP doesn't start with a link I get confused.

When a FPP doesn't start with a link I get confused. It looks like a continuation of the previous FPP, sometimes. And I can't tell what the featured post should be. Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed this with greater frequency lately.
posted by Slagman to Etiquette/Policy at 10:33 AM PST - 32 comments

Can I link to my organisation's new product on Mefi?

I work for a large organisation that has launched a new web product. Its a paid for service. I'd like to post a link in the blue, as I am personally interested in what people think about it. I do not work on the product, but I do use it. Is this against policy?
posted by davehat to Etiquette/Policy at 4:56 AM PST - 23 comments

Oh dear

"Eat flaming dogs***, you c*cksucking, Streisand loving, m*therf*cking ___hole! Hit the road, postchoad." Oh dear.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to Etiquette/Policy at 1:00 AM PST - 34 comments

March 18

Can we have a search function for AskMe?

Matt, I'm in love with ask mefi. I have ideas for questions that I eventually want to ask (or research) but I want to make sure that it hasn't been asked before. Can we please have a "search" ask (rather than getting results from MetaTalk or the main filter?)
posted by filmgeek to Feature Requests at 3:22 PM PST - 14 comments

Auto-nude-snark

Could there be a feature that automatically makes a disparaging comment about a poster's physical appearance when a nude picture of the person is posted?
posted by brownpau to Etiquette/Policy at 3:00 PM PST - 21 comments

Sarcasm within.

Could there be a feature that automatically posts the nude picture of the poster when a disparaging comment about anyone's physical appearance is made?
posted by the fire you left me to Feature Requests at 12:47 PM PST - 33 comments

So where are we with getting the server the hell outta Some Great Guy's closet

So where are we with getting the server the hell outta Some Great Guy's closet and into Some Proper Hosting Place? There's been talk of us stumping up, and that's fine by me. Especially if it means when I press the feed button of my cage I get good nourishing MeFi goodness, not "server refused the connection".

(filed under feature requests, although I'm not sure "works" is a feature)
posted by bonaldi to Feature Requests at 9:12 AM PST - 32 comments

March 17

Trackback has been disabled from the site

FYI: Trackback has been disabled from the site until I get some time next week to put some fixes in to block certain people from tweaking with it.
posted by mathowie to Bugs at 5:20 PM PST - 8 comments

Rod Stewart Midi on FPP

Apparently Rod Stewart wants to know if you find him sexy...
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood to MetaFilter-Related at 7:57 AM PST - 44 comments

Is it possible to disallow embedded media in trackbacks?

Is it possible to disallow embedded media in trackbacks? Say for instance the song that automatically starts playing when you open this thread.
posted by willnot to Feature Requests at 7:56 AM PST - 3 comments

March 16

Does the dot mean RIP?

Does . mean something like RIP?
posted by alms to MetaFilter-Related at 6:19 PM PST - 38 comments

Big media meets bloggers

"Post editors didn’t think much of Lott’s remarks as news, and they tried to confine Edsall to a paragraph or two. He had to write his 660-word story and show it to them before they could see any real news in it. This is where prominent webloggers like Josh Marshall, Atrios, Glenn Reynolds, but also others entered in." Interesting piece taking off from "Big Media" Meets the "Bloggers." (PDF)
posted by soyjoy to MetaFilter-Related at 1:23 PM PST - 5 comments

Has Anyone Punched Anyone Else Here?

Out of curiosity, has anyone on MeFi ever made good on an online "I'll punch you" threat?
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly to Etiquette/Policy at 12:03 PM PST - 54 comments

March 15

Where does the [this is good] meme come from?

Where does the [this is good] meme come from?
posted by Tin Man to MetaFilter-Related at 8:35 PM PST - 37 comments

trackback to tubgirl

Uh, the first trackback item in this post actually goes to a really horrible unpleasant image (tubgirl). Like, don't click on it.
posted by xmutex to Etiquette/Policy at 4:20 PM PST - 13 comments

Is MeFi Slow?

Metafilter is particularly slow-loading this afternoon. Is there a problem?
posted by konolia to Bugs at 2:26 PM PST - 9 comments

Dead Milkmen <3 Metafilter

Thought I would let you all know... Metafilter is appreciated by living Dead Milkmen.

Yes! We rock!!! *air guitar solo*
posted by insomnia_lj to Bugs at 1:21 PM PST - 10 comments

The Left shall rise again?

This is probably pointless, so here goes nothing:

"Instead of South vs North, this time it will be Right vs Left.

Sounds good to me. I doubt the world will shed too many tears if these narrow-minded, short-sighted, self-serving fools start getting special deliveries in their mailboxes. What's that? You mean you didn't order the bouquet of plastique and nails?"


This is repugnant. I agree with Civil_Disobedient's politics more often than not, but this is beyond the pale.
posted by Irontom to Etiquette/Policy at 10:01 AM PST - 45 comments

March 14

Punishment for "Just google it?" replies?

If quonsar can be banned for a week , what happens to the people who continually post about google to askme ?
posted by sgt.serenity to Etiquette/Policy at 7:57 PM PST - 37 comments

Builtin Search Metafilter Functionality Request

(I couldn't find my answer in a search of meta-talk) Are there plans to make ask metafilter searchable? I love the site and would find it a very valuable reference tool if I could search previous posts. It would also be cool if posts were classified by category.
posted by tlong to Feature Requests at 2:45 PM PST - 5 comments

Where are you from? Where do you live?

How international are we? Where are you from? Where do you live?
posted by timeistight to MetaFilter-Related at 12:13 PM PST - 74 comments

Not enough to be the best of the web

Are two book seller links and a book review/article enough to foster a discussion? This concerns thread #31772.
posted by clavdivs to Etiquette/Policy at 10:28 AM PST - 24 comments

Can we make jokes in AskMe?

Would some "wisecracks" liven Ask Meta up a bit ?
We've all behaved very well so far.
posted by johnny7 to Etiquette/Policy at 1:08 AM PST - 59 comments

March 13

USA Meetups?

Meetup frenzy!
Well maybe. Tied in with this AskMeFi post I'm in the US for a couple of months from Easter weekend. LA to NYC via all sorts. Following on from amberglow's recent US to EU meetup anyone up for a reverse anywhere along the way? OK, it's not like you're getting a Miguel or anyone famous but international meetups are surely the way forward. I could even go for eyeballkid's supposed meetup record.

I know the NYC posse can deliver - 27 May to 1 June guys? - but not sure about anyone else.
posted by i_cola to MetaFilter Gatherings at 9:05 PM PST - 18 comments

It's really great when newsfilter posts don't even have links.

It's really great when newsfilter posts don't even have links.
posted by angry modem to Etiquette/Policy at 8:47 PM PST - 17 comments

Call of Duty server?

Lately I've become addicted to the multiplayer shooter Call Of Duty. Are there any others here in a similar predicament? Is there any interest in setting up a MetaFilter only server? Frankly I think settling tensions with a few team deathmatches might be healthy and productive. Anyone here have a COD server?
posted by y6y6y6 to MetaFilter Gatherings at 4:39 PM PST - 11 comments

March 12

Metafilter Stats have been updated through February 2004

Metafilter Stats have been updated through February 2004. The Passion of the Christ and same-sex marriage threads broke the top 10 most commented threads, within a day of each other. Despite that, February's thread/comment activity was the lowest since August 2001, but pretty impressive considering we've only added about 40 new users in the last 12 months.
posted by waxpancake to MetaFilter-Related at 2:23 PM PST - 53 comments

"What is this post other than newsfilter?"

"What is this post other than newsfilter?" {more inside}
posted by anastasiav to Etiquette/Policy at 11:02 AM PST - 46 comments

March 11

Users are posting to promote their own agendas

"People aren't "filtering" the best and most interesting of the web to bring here, they're grabbing the first thing that happens to be on the web and supports their position, then they bring it here for the sake of furthering their point of view or starting a discussion."
posted by keswick to Etiquette/Policy at 1:54 PM PST - 118 comments

What's the deal with the dot?

What's the deal with people posting a comment whose sole content is "."? Example here, but I've been seeing it more and more. Perhaps I missed out on some kewl new meme, but it just seems like lazy, bandwidth-sucking, "me too" ego stroking.
posted by mkultra to Etiquette/Policy at 7:29 AM PST - 142 comments

March 10

Comment count reconfiguration

Intentional Double Post! Since User No. 1 never responded when I posted this last July... These days, with our lengthy yet interesting (to me) threads I am more often encountering the timeout/comment count refresh issue and would like to again call for this value to be user configured or set to a longer value, preferably 45 minutes or so.
posted by billsaysthis to Feature Requests at 11:57 AM PST - 15 comments

How News Travels on the Internet

How News Travels on the Internet; Source -> Meta News -> MiFi - shorthand for MetaFilter, blogging on crack (all users can post?). Not accepting accounts. Currently #8 on DayPop top 40.
posted by thomcatspike to MetaFilter-Related at 10:28 AM PST - 24 comments

A callout of the American Taliban Metafilter post

Taliban: the new Hitler?
posted by oissubke to Etiquette/Policy at 8:36 AM PST - 54 comments

March 8

Calling Out McBain

"I really don't care how bad an FPP this is...basically I don't give two shits how biased my FPP is. "
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to Etiquette/Policy at 9:58 PM PST - 143 comments

Google Ads

Are You MetaPolar?
The Google Ads on the Front Page seem to be dominated by psychiatry sites and prescription drugs. Keyword: bipolar.
Is this a fair assessment of the content or membership here?
Are we all here because we're not all there?
posted by wendell to MetaFilter-Related at 4:56 PM PST - 23 comments

Secret Services

Ok, so (in reply to his AskMeFi question) I advised Tlogmer to post his 'new political meme' to his userpage, which he did -- and now I'm alarmed by it, despite his disclaimer. Is Tlogmer's meme going to cause Matt to get a call from the Secret Service (or the DHS?)
posted by anastasiav to Etiquette/Policy at 11:32 AM PST - 19 comments

Pleas explain timeout durations

Banned from MeFi? Are there any hard and fast rules? Why does lazy-ville get banned for weeks, others only a week, and others forever? If I ever happen to step on someone's toes while on a bender or something, I just want to know what the results might be. Also, is there any page for information regarding who's been banned in the past?
posted by angry modem to Etiquette/Policy at 9:44 AM PST - 117 comments

March 6

Build your own threadjack

Bloody Hell. Talk about threadjack.
posted by Blue Stone to Etiquette/Policy at 10:59 AM PST - 51 comments

March 5

Persistent MeFi Cookies

My semi-pathetic lifestyle has required me to do a lot of my web-surfing (and blog-writing) from computers at the L.A. Public Libraries, and just a few minutes ago I sat down at a machine I had last used about a week ago, went to MetaFilter and was greeted with "you are logged in as wendell". Looks like I've been bitten by the MeFi Cookie Monster (persistant little bugger).
So, if you've seen any comments under my name in the last week that sound like they were written by a nine-year-old... it's probably still me. But at least it's a better alibi than "I was out fishing on Christmas".
Is there any way to avoid this problem (besides remembering to log out)?
posted by wendell to Etiquette/Policy at 12:15 PM PST - 22 comments

More Inside

It would be nice, if when making a post, we could also at the same time post the first comment, when we want to do a "more inside". Mostly because smartasses tend to come along and make the first comment before you can.
posted by Shoeburyness to Feature Requests at 4:07 AM PST - 21 comments

March 4

please know the answer, ok?

A humble request: if you're going to answer a question in AskMe, please know the answer, ok?
posted by ook to Etiquette/Policy at 2:26 PM PST - 39 comments

Reasons for Downtime

Hey, just curious if the reason this site tends to have downtime with relative frequency (it's not terrible or anything, but it's certainly more than any other popular site I check out) is a result of the ISP it's hosted at, or the server it's running on...

I'm not asking to be a jerk or anything, I'm just curious, since I have a 1u server colocated somewhere myself, and am moving it to a new facility soon etc.. so network / hosting / downtime issues pique my interest...
posted by twiggy to Uptime at 9:29 AM PST - 7 comments

Madison meetup!

Madison, WI meetup: 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 20th at Nick's Restaurant (226 State St.). Other folks in the area are, of course, welcome. The last one kicked ass - be there or be a polygon with angles of 90 degrees and sides of equal length! (Previously discussed in this thread)
posted by UKnowForKids to MetaFilter Gatherings at 6:45 AM PST - 7 comments

March 3

big big google ad

These Google Ads are getting bigger and bigger, at least in some threads. They look like big vertical banners with BIG HEADLINES. WTF? Is this the face of all Google ads to come?
posted by jessamyn to MetaFilter-Related at 2:34 PM PST - 20 comments

Atom vs RSS?

I see on the sideblog that MetaFiler now has an atom feed.

What exactly can I do with that? And how is it different/better that the RSS feed?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood to MetaFilter-Related at 2:24 AM PST - 12 comments

March 2

ColdFusion error in this old thread.

ColdFusion error in this old thread.
posted by gleuschk to Bugs at 5:03 PM PST - 1 comment

Cold Fusion error (March 2004)

strange: I just went to metafilter.com and got the following error:
Invalid CFML construct found on line 277 at column 2801.

I then went to ask.metafilter.com and got no error
I then logged in at ask.metafilter.com and now the blue works fine

I tried this with both Mozilla and IE
posted by soplerfo to Bugs at 6:54 AM PST - 13 comments

March 1

Ladder Match, inside!

I'm calling you out jfuller! I don't know why, but it seemed like the thing to do. Dare you disgrace the name of the lovely Miss Elisabeth?! You! Me! Ladder Match, inside!
posted by Stan Chin to Etiquette/Policy at 1:03 PM PST - 56 comments

Policy against legal, medical, and tax advice?

Requests for very specific legal, medical, and tax advice make me nervous. There should be some policy against these, or at least a very bold warning strongly discouraging and expressly disclaiming liability against responses in these threads.
posted by PrinceValium to Etiquette/Policy at 8:34 AM PST - 53 comments