April 2008 Archives (all archives)
April 30
We, have, like...commas
Gasp! Commas! [more inside]
Does this fedora make me too awesome to breed?
Am I too awesome to breed? [more inside]
keep comments while still killing posts
I was a little sad to see the Purple Reign post deleted; I realize that the post itself was DOA but I loved some of the links posted within the thread. Perhaps there is a middle ground that is a step above killing that would still allow folks to at least see the comments while still culling the post.
Easy Trips Down Memory Lane
On the front page sidebar, it says "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years ago"—links to Metafilter, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years ago. Could we please have this feature in Metatalk?
April 29
Color coded usernames
I'm terrible at remembering names. It would be great to have usernames that are favorites show up as a different color. Is there a way?
AskMe != AskToBeJudged
I slept on it, and I’m still mad about it. This thread, which contains a clear and specific question, should not be a referendum on the poster’s character or the legal profession. [more inside]
Metafilter Music Collaboration #2
A bunch of us had fun with goodnewsfortheinsane's "It's the End of the World..." project last year. I think it's time to try another project, Exquisite Corpse style. [more inside]
April 28
I'll race! To feel the wind in my face! And I'll race! To feel like I own this place!
Mario Kart Wii friend code filter: Let's drive through malls, smashing our cars into each other! [more inside]
So a murderer walks into a bar...
The filesystem jokes in this Reiser trial thread struck me as being in particularly bad taste. [more inside]
favorite? well...i mean it's not bad....
A thought: how about adding a post specific "favorite" tool for the blue (et al). Kind of an open "mark as best answer" for individual fpps. [more inside]
Beer in Istanbul?
Beer in Istanbul? Any night between 2nd and 5th May inclusive, I am buying.
Just a curious question
Dear mathowie, jessamyn, and cortex: how many hours do you commit to keeping MeFi afloat? Is it a huge time commitment, not a big deal, or somewhere in the middle? It seems like a lot to juggle between three people. True? And if so, what takes up most of your time?
jason's_planet will be in London. Let's meet up!
Hey, there, London. I'll be visiting from May 16 through the 26th and would like to drink with you. [more inside]
Mayday update
Hey, remember that MayDay meetup we will have in Minneapolis? Here is some updated info. Also mods can you create something where a user can update the info on the meetup sidebar? That would help. Thanks. [more inside]
When the cat's away the mice will SPAM.
Can we please have an automatic deletion and/or penalty box for posts that get flagged for breaking guidelines by many users at times when no mod is online? [more inside]
April 27
Nu?
I came home to see that my answer in this thread was deleted. Was it made clear that mediocre's horrible roommate is not actually a prostitute?
Popular favorites results expansion
Popular favorites (of all-time) is, well, one of my favorites. Is there a way to see even more posts that were favorited than are returned to the single result page?
Central Vermont Meetup to Welcome ThePinkSuperhero and Stynxno
ThePinkSuperhero and stynxno will be in the area over the Memorial Day weekend, and naturally we central Vermont folks must welcome them with a meetup on Saturday, May 24. [more inside]
Bizarre Firefox behavior: MeFi background colors get lighter hue over time.
Bizarre Firefox behavior: MeFi background colors get lighter hue over time. [more inside]
May Day Bank Holiday Weekend in New York!
NYC meetup next week? Sunday or Monday, 4 or 5 May? [more inside]
April 26
In my mind, I've gone to Carolina, and in May, I'll be there in person.
So, I'm going to be in Raleigh, NC, May 22 to May 29. Do any MeFites in the the triangle want to have a pub night sometime that week, and if so, may I join you?
Why aren't my preferences saved globally?
Are preferences saved per machine only? I have the plain background at my work computer and on my laptop, but my home desktop is the default colors even though "plain" is chosen on the preferences page for all 3 computers.
nuts
On the profile page, the box next to "gender" says "(this is free-form, go nuts)". [more inside]
Toronto meetup?
So, uh.. Toronto. Booze. Etc. Check one:
[ ] YES
[ ] NO
April 25
PDX Meetup
Portland, OR Meetup? Looking back, it's been a looong time since a Portland Meetup. Any one interested? [more inside]
Meetup in Buffalo??
Did the big Buffalo meetup ever happen? [more inside]
Best deleted reason this week
Best "deleted for the following reason" of the week
MetaTalk RSS feed showing MeFi posts
The MetaTalk RSS feed is showing MeFi front page posts. I'm using NewsGator, and this has only happened (last I checked) within the past 24 hours. Does anyone else have this problem?
But I don't even like this post!
My big clumsy thumbs keep accidentally favoriting things when reading MeFi on my iPhone. [more inside]
Everyone Knows Something
Should or shouldn't
April 24
A top 10 artist list in MeFi Music?
MetaFilter Music request: would it be difficult to implement a top 5 or 10 all time of MeFites with the most uploaded tracks, as well as most playlisted or played selections? [more inside]
April 23
Creepy Dutch TV Host + Paedophilia Thread.
The 'Creepy Dutch TV Host' thread is fast becoming a train-wreck, for various reasons. Context seems to be one issue; possible acts of paedophilia seems to be the other. [more inside]
Wonky Text Display...Just Me?
Is there some kind of residual April Fools joke going on? There's a weird glitch in the way MeFi displays for me over time. [more inside]
Making questions clearer
How can I word my AskMe questions better to get more relevant answers? [more inside]
April 22
GiveWell
More than 10 posts on Mefi Mobile
Mefi Mobile Pony: Can we get more than 10 posts on mobile.metafilter.com? [more inside]
I need crack.
At some point today, lost in the webs of metafilter, I came across a link to a page where a guy described seeing two men share a crack pipe then have sex with each other. There were photos too. I, ah, need to find it again. It's for a friend, I swear.
April 21
Iowa City 5/4/08
Iowa City,IA Michael Chabon reading (4pm) and dinner (6pm?) meet-up, Sunday May 4. [more inside]
ripost
I wanted to call out a post I like from misteraitch, circa 2003. I just ran across the site (specifically), and would have posted it myself had it not already found its way here five years ago.
GuateMeFi
Drinks in the evening in Antigua Guatemala, around Sat May 3rd. [more inside]
Best Of The MetaFilter
Mathowie for the win
Examples of repeated questions in Askme?
The Charlie White photo question came up again in Askme. Are there other specific questions that have been repeated over the years? Just curious...
With a hurf anf a durf and a plate full of beans
You don't have to be bananas to post here, but it helps.
Metafilter's own soulbarn recently had his new book on bananas favorably reviewed at Salon. I look forward to reading it.
April 20
Watching old askme posts
Is there a way to see what old ask threads have recent activity on them? [more inside]
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
ContactPonyFilter: non-contact contacts? [more inside]
Is the contact form bugged out?
Having problem with the contact form. Don't know if admins got my message. [more inside]
April 19
Metafilter gets a little love.
Jon Armstrong (Mr. Dooce) gives Metafilter a shout out at 20:20 on SLC's ABC affiliate.
Screwing up the "less than" symbol
or the nth time just now, I used the 'less than' symbol to mean 'less than', not as the start of some HTML.
The preview shows < as < but in the posted comment, it is treated as HTML and just screws up the post. Preview here also shows < as <
The < in this post so far have been entered as & l t ; but here is a sample:
15 days <18 days
and using the dread symbol itself
15 days <18 days
Let's see what we get.
I just noticed that on the preview page here, all the & l t ; in the Description: box were changed to <
April 18
But it was funny!
What is the verdict on clever one-liners in AskMefi? [more inside]
Server updated
Server upgrade is complete, but there were certainly bumps along the way. If you spot any weirdness after the fact, drop it here.
Seriously?
Incorrect SteamID link
"Also on" SteamID link in profile doesn't work properly. [more inside]
It's the New Madrid Fault!
April 17
Really?
Move along!
Since Metafilter will be down tomorrow, who wants to meet up at the White House at noon to gawk at Catholics and grab some pizza?
We're gonna adventure like it's 1983!
Red Box Basic D&D meetup: Sunday, May 4 in Montreal? [more inside]
Bloody Vikings.
Viking alert. [more inside]
commentiquette
Too much hate. Why can't people just be nice? [more inside]
Where everybody knows your name...
What's with the goats today?!?!?
Youtube bug?
Is anyone else hearing the sound from youtube videos played using the spiffy in-page viewer, but not actually seeing the video or player? [more inside]
April 16
Not funny.
This post on breast ironing has turned into a nightmare of inappropriate comments, jokes, and general trolling. [more inside]
Meetup Calendar Feature Requests
On the Add a new meetup to the Calendar page ground rule #1 states, Someone proposes a meetup in the gatherings category, people mull over a location and a date. Eventually an actual date and location is proposed, then people start saying if they're coming or not. It would be neat if there were (optional) entry fields for date and location and maybe location URL, and also neat if adding a meetup to the calendar posted a comment or notification in the thread stating all available specific details. [more inside]
Cycling challenges for 2008
MetaFilter cycling is starting to ramp up due to good weather, which has me wondering. Some plans for formal challenge(s) this summer would be good.
And, head over to WeEndure and start entering your rides! [more inside]
Seeking clarity on mod communication
In this thread, languagehat has spouted several lies concerning myself, communications by email, and the mods' involvement therein. [more inside]
Sidebar Picture Pony
MeTa Sidebar Picture Pony [more inside]
Afloat in a sea of commentary...
Everybody needs a mux.
Can we add muxtape to the social apps list on profile pages (and of course to the keen new social explorer)? I'd love to keep track of the mefi-mixes. [more inside]
April 15
Paging Dr. ColdChef.
A new pony? Paging mathowie... [more inside]
Drinks at Trader Vic's Dallas?
Motorcycling to Dallas — meetup anyone? [more inside]
Artomatic 2008 in Washington, DC
Any other Washington, DC area Mefites taking part in this year's Artomatic? It's May 9 to June 15. I'd like to see your work and maybe meet. Registration is still open (800 artists so far). You should at least go and see it even if you're not taking part. [more inside]
From the green to the blue!
I would like some suggestions on what to post and what not to post on the blue. [more inside]
Some MeFis in Paris
Anyone interested in a MeFi meet-up in Paris on Friday, May 2nd or Saturday, May 3rd? I think, other than myself, nasreddin can be forced to participate...
Mumbai (India) meetup in May?
Any mefites living in Mumbai, India? [more inside]
recent artefacts from all
recently.mefi? [more inside]
April 14
25: The Train Episode
Show #25 features recaps from the past two weeks of MetaFilter. It was recorded on April 11, 2008 and runs about an hour long. [more inside]
Jessamyn on FutureTense
Hey, I'm listening to Jessamyn talking about MetaFilter and revolting users on FutureTense. [more inside]
User comment dumps
Many of us have spent quite a bit of time writing our various comments and posts on MetaFilter. In the spirit of "All posts are © their original authors," I would like to request the ability for a user to be able to download all of their own contributions as a simple data dump. [more inside]
I've got a bunch of good mixes just waiting to be made.
So it's mid-April already, and I haven't yet heard anything about MefiSwap 2008. So who's in? [more inside]
iPoutine and iTakeout
Seattle Meetup! May 10 or 11! I am coming to your fair city for to find me an apartment. There should be beer. And poutine. [more inside]
How can I add Social Apps that aren't currently on the "Also On" drop down menu?
I'm "Also On" social apps that are not listed in the profile drop down box. Is there a way to add these? [more inside]
April 13
My story, on Metafilter
I posted this thread on coming out of the closet several months ago and I've updated it a couple of times since. I left a final update at the end of the thread for those who might be interested. [more inside]
Feeling crowded?
Growth [more inside]
Memorial Day MeFite Meetup in Detroit?
Detroit meet-up around Memorial Day weekend? [more inside]
April 12
Canadian Prairies Meet-up In Regina in Early May?
Canadian Prairies Meet-up In Regina in Early May? [more inside]
DC meetup over Memorial Day? Any takers?
I'm planning a trip up to DC over Memorial Day weekend. Anyone wanna meet up? My days of travel are somewhat flexible, but basically somewhere between Thursday the 22 and Tuesday the 27. [more inside]
April 11
Questions about the way Contact Activity Works.
I have some questions about contact activity. [more inside]
Thanks for the Catalogs...
Ten days have passed since I posted this thread to AskMetafilter. My postman is cranky with me, my friends think I'm crazy, I have about around 30 lbs of new catalogs [c. 200kb pics, flickr, 1, 2], and a reinvigorated appreciation for all y'all (not that it has ever been in jeopardy)... [more inside]
Los Angeleeeeeeez
Los Angeles-area Mefizens, I will be in your fair 'wood from Tuesday the 15th 'til Sunday the 20th. [more inside]
but i *deserve* it…!!
this askme post really chafed me in it's whiny sense of entitlement conveyed by it's asker. [more inside]
Ia! Ia! Cambridge, MA Meetup!
The mystical calculations and dire sacrifices have been made. As foretold by Mad Seer Wendell, there shall be a strange and wondrous confluence of mods in the Cambridge, MA on April 26th for a dread convocation. Surely we mere mortals may appease these inscrutable powers by drinking and feasting in their honor! The Stars Are Right, my friends, and you too shall be Right if you arrive at the Cambridge Brewing Company from 7PM to help toast our weary mods after they finish with their horrible rites! [more inside]
April 10
RSS feed scrubbed of deleted posts?
Greetings from a neophyte mefite. I was wondering: is there a way to get versions of the RSS feeds which don't include front-page posts that have already been deleted? If not, it's a feature suggestion, so please discuss. Apologies if I'm being dumb and this is simply not possible using RSS.
(For a while I enjoyed the "guess if this post has been deleted" game, but it's getting old...)
We are a Paragon
Does the five bucks make a difference in the quality of our discussions? There's a Freakanomics post on the NY Times today that points to a web page set up to compare comment-streams on MetaFilter and YouTube. [more inside]
A couple minor feature requests fulfilled
Slight preferences tweaks: birthday (year optional) and relationship status (datingfilter!) were just added. My profile shows what it might look like to logged-in users.
Four People Beating Up On Someone (YT): For the Blue?
I want to single link youtube post this to the blue, because it's probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen broadcast on modern television, and I think it warrants discussion. Appropriate?
I blame thread deletion
I'd like to ask for a reconsideration on this on teh grounds that, well, I was finding bits of the discussion interestign, and though I disagree with the premise of the post (as do a lot of people discussing it) deleting it seems pretty harsh. [more inside]
New York Comic Con 08 "Wooo!"
New York City Comic-Con is coming up soon, it's April 18 - 20th, I'll be going on the 19th and 20th. Anyone up for a MeFi-Meetup/Geekery/Walking around Jacobs Javits Center?
Horay for Mayday!
Mefi Mayday (May 4) Minneapolis Meetup at Powderhorn Park! [more inside]
April 9
Notice and Gratitude
Tomorrow's NPR episode of The Bryant Park Project will include features on Stuff Nobody Likes and Muxtapes, complete with an interview with our very own Afroblanco. [more inside]
Looking for a post about new laws for liquor production
Please hope me find a post! It had to do with licensing liquor production on a small scale, home brew beer and micro breweries. I'm particularly interested in the new/ish laws. My search is FAIL. Thank you.
I tried. I failed. Why?
My first ever MeFi post failed miserably. Where'd I go wrong? [more inside]
AskMe hell
Hey, I'm successful young buck at 30 years of age, but enough about me, why don't you guys talk about me?
was it THAT bland?
Hey MeFi!
Just a shout out to Lore , just watched your latest Alt Text, and spied what site you had on the computer behind you...its not tape on a door on a popular cable network show but I saw it at least
I can haz add tags?
Why can some users add tags to some other users' posts? How long has it been that way? [more inside]
"Another" Chicago Meetup?
"Another" Chicago meetup: Since only two of our members actually managed to meet up last time at Quenchers, shall we try again? [more inside]
April 8
Recent Photos page is effin' huge.
Playing around, I discovered that our community flickr / "Recent Photos" page is about 0.5MB of html, and over 25MB of img tags and other stuff. It's cool and I'd like to check it out occasionally, but it locks up Safari for solid minute or so loading all that stuff. Can we paginate it or make it smaller or something?
We'll all need lobotomies to keep from shouting "Don't do it!"
Assuming the lobotomy question is for real (and I guess it gets the benefit of the doubt because the poster's previous questions seem innocuous enough), how can it be ethically answered within the guidelines of AskMe: Please limit comments to answers or help in finding an answer? It's good to see that people linked to Howard Dully's story in the answers, but is there room for saying "You must be insane! How on earth would a lobotomy make meditation easier? Don't even *think* about doing such a thing to yourself!" to the poster while staying within the guidelines? Don't we have an obligation to dissuade askers from doing dangerous things?
Suffer the complainers in MeTa.
Will all those who think the YFZ Ranch FPP is a "yawn" or "not the best of the web" please complain about it in this thread rather than in the blue. Thank you.
SF > LA
SF Meetup for woebegone emigrating mefite duo's sousy sendoff? Needs to be April 19th! [more inside]
from a comfortable turret
You're a junior in a liberal arts program and you think you've got a career?
35 years after having had a vasectomy, you want children? Have you picked up a new trophy wife, or something, HuronBob?
Wow, someone's got his panties in a knot over this. I guess we hit some sort of nerve.
Maybe, but maybe you could be a little nicer Hildegarde
Give me twisties or give me death.
Where's that greasemonkey script or Firefox extension that adds expand/collapse twisties to you 'recent activity' page? [more inside]
April 7
Is an Infoviz of MetaFilter copying, stealing, or remixing?
I wanted to take one of AskMeFi's most awesome threads (the one about life-altering experiences) and turn it into an art project. This project is already done, except that nobody knows about it. Here is the link. I am using copies of almost every single post in that thread. This is potentially problematic. I'm asking the MetaFilter Community here, what do you think? [more inside]
Huffington Post, Lifehacker, Metafilter
Metafilter is ranked #3 (is it a ranking?) on Time Magazine's first annual blog index. The full list on one page (via Valleywag).
This is ridiculous.
Can I get some more clear guidelines about what make an Ask Metafilter question ridiculous? [more inside]
BIRTHDAY PONY?
Birthday notification? [more inside]
Followup: Weingarten wins Pulitzer
Remember that post about Joshua Bell busking in a DC Metro station? Gene Weingarten just won a Pulitzer for the stunt.
Salt Lake City meetup at the end of April?
Salt Lake City meetup at the end of April? [more inside]
Best Answer AWOL?
This AskMe post shows on the front page as having a Best Answer, but on the inside page nothing is so marked. Did a Best Answer get deleted?
Favorites Filter
Filter filter. Assuming that favorited comments are better than non-favorited comments, wouldn't the next logical step for the favorites system be to provide a way to distill threads down to their essential goodness? How about adding a drop down box at the top of each thread, letting the reader choose to filter out all the comments that don't make the grade -- displaying only the comments that have X number of favorites or more.
MyAskme pony
Pony request: Ability to add questions from particular members to "My Askme." [more inside]
April 6
Asking for the removal of a feature.
What's the point of "[Your Contact] just added [other member] as a contact."? Why should I care about that? I can understand highlighting the posts/fpps/best answers of my contacts but this just seems overkill. I'm casting my vote for removing this option. [more inside]
Look, Ma, I'm full of piss and vinegar
April 4
Is it possible to change a MeFi username?
It's important that I change my username--the reason deals with online identity cleanup. Is this possible, or must I create a new account?
Thanks in advance.
With an https
Dumb and perhaps dumber question:
I tried posting something to the blue today that included a link with https: up front, and kept getting a not coded right error. After futzing with it for a while I took the s out, and it looked right, but then the link wouldnt work.
I assume the https (secure link it sez) thing is to keep folks from hot linking directly to an article?
Just wondering if its a thing on the place I am trying to link to, or just something with the way to post on mefi?
thanks
And here's a banning for you, and yes, one for you too...
Are there different degrees of being banned on MetaFilter, if you do something inappropriate? Or is every banning pretty much permanent? I've been curious if those who have been banned are able to atone for their sins. Do their IP addresses get blocked so that they can't create new accounts, that kind of thing? (I have no personal interest in the matter aside from idle curiosity, by the way.)
And also out of curiosity, what's the worst thing anyone has been banned for?
Excellent James Brown comment where?
Where is the excellent comment about James Brown being constantly in the process of re-inventing James Brown? [more inside]
Free style
A CSS fix for the line-height issue with <sub> and <sup>, an example of which can be seen in this thread. [more inside]
Accessing the scan of existing posted URLS
My blushes at making a duplicate post to the blue have been spared more than once by the code which scans my proposed URLs and looks to see it there is an existing match. Phew! However I have only ever found a way of accessing this facility after having first of all composed a post to the point where I can preview it - hence wasting quite a lot of time. Is there a way to access this scan directly?
April 3
This is chatfilter, AMIRITE folks?
Moderation ate my homework!
I'm not sure what happened to that gaming/game reviewing link that was just posted a few minutes ago, but after having just spent a decent amount of time transcribing some portion of a Zero Punctuation review, I'm hesitant to let the effort go to waste. [more inside]
Scientology and Metafilter: Perfect together?
MetaFilter ad links to Scientology site. [more inside]
Metafilter self-fashioning
Hi. I'm Diana Christensen, a racist lackey of the imperialist ruling circles.
I know this is last-minute, but is anyone in the L.A. area interested in a Paddy Chayefsky double-bill meetup at the New Beverly Cinema? They're playing a brand-new print of "Network" followed by "The Hospital". [more inside]
Where's that post about what happens in the ER?
I can't find the comment about what happens when you show up at the ER for a mental health issue. I'm pretty sure it was in an AskMe thread posted by an anonymous person with bipolar symptoms, and I'm pretty sure it was sidebarred. (Is there a sidebar archive? Pony request!) [more inside]
Embrace this new feature, and take it to where it needs to go, where the world clamors for it to go -- OPTIONAL HYPOTHETICAL FILTER
Matthew:
For a long time, I have been sad at the loss of HypotheticalFilter. When AskMe was young, such questions would arise. But those days are gone now, as the site matured.
It's simply not done, you'd say. It floods the page with nonsense. It makes the real questions get lost. Still, I thought, I want to know how to dispose of a body, or how long we'd survive without the sun. Who would win in a fight? A squirrel, or a squirrel's weight in ants? [more inside]
April 2
Civilized discussion?
Boobs + Cured meat /= Best of the Web
It's my happening and it freaks me out!
Central Illinois meetup @ Ebertfest? [more inside]
My Ask MeFi
New Feature: My Ask MeFi [more inside]
Can't get in to Metafilter with Firefox
I can't log in with Firefox, Safari's working just fine. Following Jessamyn's suggestions I deleted cookies & disabled greasemonkey, but just get directed back to MeFi homepage as not logged in. Anyone else having trouble? Anyone solved it? [more inside]
Enough Ebert
April 1
context is for quitters
Ordinary People
Unfortunately, I can't post it to the original thread because it's more that 30 days old, but Paul Schmeltzer just posted my contribution to his Signifier-Signed project to the blog. Heh. [more inside]
Taste the rainbow!
Why are metafilter pages showing up in different colors today? I've seen red, light green, and purple in addition to the regular colors. [more inside]