May 2016 Archives (all archives)
May 30
Seeking a wedding reading found on Ask
I'm seeking a poem I found on Ask, suitable for a wedding reading, that talked about love as a series of repeated, mundane, day-to-day acts of service. Do you know the poem I've lost? [more inside]
May 27
"This is all we are" - Goodbye, Wolof
Bassist extraordinaire, author/translator, lover of France, China, Oz, literature and cinema (with a PhD to boot), beloved father, husband, friend, and "big cat of cat family" (to a fluffy black cat), Wolof has passed away. [more inside]
Say hello to our new tech person, frimble!
I'm pleased to announce that we have found a new tech person to pick up the reins pb's setting down; I'm doubly pleased that it has worked out to be a member of the MetaFilter community, our very own frimble. Come say hello! [more inside]
May 26
Slack Blog discovers Ask v Guess
Slack blog on Ask v Guess Culture in the Office. Link to the original thread in the first paragraph, along with a clarifying interview with Metafilter's own tangerine. The author of the post appears to be someone who has some familiarity with Metafilter community norms.
May 23
Fanfare Pony / Feature Addition request
I know that Fanfare currently supports TV Shows, Books, Movies, and Podcasts, but is there any chance - or indeed any demand - for it to also support regular Youtube Webseries / Channels? [more inside]
May 22
Choice making outside yes or no
I'm trying to find the idea for choice resolution where a couple wanted to pick something, whether it was a TV show out dinner, and instead of just a binary yes-no, it was more like testing how much you cared about X, to allow for more nuanced choice making. But I have had no luck googling or searching on it. Can anyone help?
So, who all is in the MetaFilter Caucus?
We're your top prime cut of MeFi, We're your choice!
Who here has run for office, and/or been elected, or is running for office on Metafilter? How has Metafilter affected or influenced your campaign platform, if at all? [more inside]
May 20
MeFi Callendar of (Unofficial) Events
As December 26 is Zelda Day, thanks to the convergence of four Zelda-related posts on Dec 27, 2010, so do I dub May 19 "Happy Nappy Day" thanks to the three bed-related posts yesterday (1, 2, 3) plus my straggler today. What are other days of semi-renown on MetaFilter?
May 19
The role of libraries in a democracy
Renegade Librarian Jessamyn West On Information, Access And Democracy is a Vermont Public Radio interview with MeFi's own award-winning former mod (and moss enthusiast).
May 17
The more you know, the more you can create.
There's no end to imagination in the kitchen. Given that the cookbook thread petered out over a week ago and the caramel sugar thread is currently making me wish I was in my kitchen, describe the best thing you have ever made. In pornographic detail. If you wish to add the recipe here, those that are working on "Can I Eat This?" can start up the book.
May 16
Trying to find an old AskMeFi question
At least a couple of years ago, but maybe more than a couple, there was a question in which the poster had been asked by a friend to learn to play the violin so that the poster could perform at the friend's wedding. [more inside]
May 14
Content blocking websites are garbage and should be flagged.
A recent FPP is completely unviewable. I tried - it blocks me from viewing, demanding an email address and agreeing to a complicated TOS just to RTFA. Websites like wapo, wired, telegraph, etc are actually impossible to view for many users, and I am surprised that links to them are allowed in FPPs. [more inside]
May 12
Mathowie FTW!
I've seen mathowie pop up in lots of places before, but this one takes the cake.
May 11
Impressive. Most impressive.
I was having feelings about cheese the other night and remembered that time I asked a seemingly hopeless question that you wonderful people were able to answer. It feels like it's been a while since we had a success stories round-up! Please take a moment to share the most impossible solved ID questions you've come across. The vaguer and less detail-rich the better! [more inside]
May 10
"for some people, the trainwrecks are their favorite."
Dear favorites, today you are ten. Despite mathowie telling us to "Think of favorites as an internal bookmark system" we've decided you mean whatever we want you to mean. Happy birthday. [as promised] [more inside]
May 9
Inline Flag Notes (Take 2)
Last week we tested a new feature that would let people add notes to their flags. We listened to your feedback and incorporated many suggestions. You can try out the new version in this thread. [more inside]
Privacy policy, revisited
I think the last discussion on this was several years ago where the general consensus was that the staff just hadn't "gotten around" to creating a privacy policy. Unless I'm missing something it looks like you still don't have one.
It's not that I don't trust you guys to do the right thing. It's more that having a clear and comprehensive privacy policy is just the sign of being a good internet citizen, so to speak. Metafilter is a good community website that should set a good example for others and that includes having a clear privacy policy.
If you do have one and I just didn't find it, my recommendation would be to have a link to it clearly displayed in the footer of each page.
Something about pregnancy over 40
I'm trying to a find a comment someone made in an Ask thread about the statistics that show increased birth defects in over 40s mothers are based on over 40 primigravidae. Anyone else seen this research, or remember this comment?
May 8
Pony Request: Sports Fanfare
I'd love a sports section like fanfare. [more inside]
May 7
Pony Request: The Orange
Can we have trump.metafilter.com, and put all Trump-related content there? That way, we know where to find it and where to avoid it. The rest of the world will thank us.
May 6
Medicine spinoff?
One of today's Ask posts--and the recent no-username-at-meetups discussion here!!--prompted me to ask: Are any of the various medical students, physicians, etc. interested in forming a Google group or similar? [more inside]
May 3
"You were accidentally put in the bad pile.”
It’s funny. I was at the first XOXO, I give a talk about like “Hell, I don’t know, but it seems like the weather’s changing and this might be the sunset for blogs.” It was a really depressing talk. At the end I was like, “Maybe there will still be opportunities?” but two weeks later I woke up and the site was making half as much money overnight. -- Behind the scenes at Metafilter with former Maximum Leader mathowie.
116: Escape from Pony Island, with pb
This episode starts with a chat with departing tech wizard pb, talking about his time on MeFi, blogospheric history, and the wikipedia pages of Nebraskan high schools. After that, jessamyn and I get into our usual what's-neat-on-mefi routine. This episode covers April 8 through May 2 and is just a hair under two hours. [more inside]
What topics to include a content warning for?
When posting to Metafilter, what would you consider including a warning about, so people know what to expect in the content? Or, what would you like to have a warning about before you click on a Metafilter link? [more inside]
May 2
Go on, spill it.
Everyone is most likely familiar with the Profile page's "About" section explanatory text:
"What's the deal with your nickname? How did you get it? If your nickname is self-explanatory, then tell everyone when you first started using the internet, and what was the first thing that made you say 'wow, this isn't just a place for freaks after all?' Was it a website? Was it an email from a long-lost friend? Go on, spill it.'
I am curious if anybody's user name actually WAS inspired by an email from a long-lost friend. [more inside]
Quote from... Dan Luu?? About effort and intent
I remember a quotation from someone, I think Dan Luu, about how maybe something is hard, maybe it's easy, but the thing is, the this is possible and whether you're doing it speaks more about your values than the intent of the work.
I'm pretty sure I commented on this quotation directly, but can't find it.
Am I losing my mind? Please help me find this. Thanks.
Testing Inline Flag Notes
We're testing out a new way to flag posts and comments that lets people include a note to moderators if they'd like to. It's enabled for this thread only so you can see how it might work. [more inside]