July 2009 Archives (all archives)
July 31
Edgar Martins Shenanigans Update
Update: controversial photomanipulator Edgar Martins eventually releases an essay in response to having his shenanigans busted: How Can I See What I See, Until I Know What I Know?. Those hoping for preposterous, opaque and evasive nonsense will be handsomely rewarded.
Anon Y. Mous
Airport security grills him every time he flies ... Landlords and election inspectors view him quizzically, and prospective dates need more than a little assurance that he’s not hiding a dark past. -- MeFi's Own™ paladin has a name that incites skepticism when he introduces himself. Enough so that the New York Times paid notice. [more inside]
Where the hell did I put my (piano) keys?
I'm looking for an old post about learning the piano, or possibly learning to play an instrument in general. I don't remember if it was on the green, blue or grey, but I do remember that a MeFite posted in the thread about having completed a book or chapter or some such thing about learning the piano. It was interesting reading, and I'd like to find it again. [more inside]
A short time in this place
Kind of like cat scan. But not. In any way at all...
I'm looking for a site that was posted on MeFi aaaaaages ago about stopping a cat bringing mice in using a webcam to lock the cat flap. Does anyone remember what it was called? [more inside]
Should MetaTalk be the first choice when trying to find that thread
Is this "name that thread" week? [more inside]
Need help locating an askme post on programming challenges
A while back there was a post on askme about programming challenges (I think the post was by a girl on behalf of her boyfriend but I'm not 100% sure about that). [more inside]
July 30
Les cheveux de mathowie
Advice for a College Freshman
Can someone help me find the Ask MeFi post where someone asked for general advice for a college freshman? [more inside]
Angry voicemail messages to corporations?
Can you help me find a post (or just a site)? It linked to an alt-weekly site that featured "angry consumer voicemail message of the week." [more inside]
Indian Incident
Can someone point me to the AskMe post where a guy in India (I think it was India) had recently saved a woman from a fire and was asking about how to deal with stuff... [more inside]
Traverse City, MI mid-august meetup
Traverse City, MI meetup: It's summer, surely there must be some people around, right? [more inside]
Another request to find a lost MeFi post
I am trying to find the MeFi post to a YouTube video that features a little girl singing. The video was processed by the video poster by taking several snippets of a little girl talking, squealing, screeching and clapping a pair of flip-flops together. The result was an absolutely endearing "song", with a little synthesizer thrown in. [more inside]
I feel so cosmopolitan all the sudden.
"The experience of moving online actually bears quite a few similarities to becoming a New Yorker. Disorienting and seemingly endless, the Internet conversation moves at lightning speed and according to unstated social rules that can bewilder outsiders. Also, like New Yorkers, residents of the Internet do not suffer fools, or mince words in belittling them, as anyone who has contributed a redundant post to Metafilter, or an earnest comment to Gawker, can attest." Bright Lights, Big Internet by Bill Wasik.
July 29
short notice North Carolina meetup
Chapel Hill/Carrboro meetup this Friday. [more inside]
It's not like we'd tell you if there WAS a Chicago Cabal.
Announcing the August Chicago meetup. [more inside]
July 28
Do my subreddits qualify for MeFi Projects?
MeFi Projects Question: Can I post links to some subsites I've created on reddit? [more inside]
Follow up on J. R. Salzman aka Logboy
Follow up on J. R. Salzman aka Logboy in the New York Times today regarding his 7th win in the Lumberjack World Championships last weekend. A long time Mefite, he lost his right arm in Iraq in 2006, discussed previously here and here.
July 27
MeFi Auctions
A dude set up a tiny auction site designed to sell to a small, trusted community. I think something similar would work well for MeFi. (via DF) [more inside]
Best mefite pastiches and parodies?
What are the best Mefite parodies and pastiches of all time? [more inside]
Fucking Wannabe.
July 26
Good day at Black Rock
Black Rock City meetup anyone? This'll be my first time at Burning Man, and I know I won't be the only MeFite there. It'll be a rare opportunity to meet MeFites from other locations.
Meetup at Philly Folk Fest?
Shipping illegal drugs?? really?
Do we really want AskMe to be a teaching site regarding the exchange of illegal drugs? [more inside]
July 24
Hi Craig!
Yesterday's Craig Ferguson thread was kicked off with a comment by argedee: "I could be that funny too, with a laugh track like that." The thread turned into a discussion about laugh tracks and whether Craig uses one or not. In his monologue last night, Craig addressed "rumors on the internet" that his audience laughter isn't real. Argedee got called out on late night TV! [more inside]
Posting pony petition
So I posted a double of the awesome wedding dance, and now I have a pony request that might be useful. [more inside]
July 23
hope me get rid of the blue nasty
I stupidly clicked on that post that was just deleted that showed the terrible picture and tried to force videos. None of the videos opened-- the browser bounced around. I force shut down my computer by holding down the power button. Now whenever I open firefox 3 on OS X (leopard) that website appears. What do I need to do to fix that/secure my computer? I am posting this to metatalk in case anybody else was also affected.
You're no FUN!
nothing personal but if this isn't hypothetical-filter, it's "help me break the law" filter which isn't much better. Come on, this is a great AskMe thread! Jessamyn, if we'd applied that rubric for deletion in the past, we'd be without such gems as this Best of Metafilter answer.
Montreal/Worldcon meetup?
NYC Meetup: All of the Awesome, None of the Sauna.
As discussed in the Tenth Anniversary Meetup Aftermath Thread, for the next NYC meetup we'll be starting out at the FREE Dinosaur Jr. concert at SummerStage, Sunday, August 16, 2009 from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Afterparty location TBD.
More Free Form and More Go Nuts, Please
Please UTF-8 the user profile fields... [more inside]
July 22
Call into the podcst
Please call into what will become our next podcast: Tenth Party Remembrances. Dial up +1 (503) 465-4522 and leave a message up to three minutes in length. Let us know your favorite memory from last weekend's parties around the globe, or your favorite memory from MetaFilter over the past ten years. We'll take the best and edit them into our next podcast to share with everyone. Thanks!
Asking for a friend!
Are you in prison? [more inside]
Philly MeFi 10.1 meetup?
Once was not enough. Philly makeup meetup in honor of [insert Philly Mefite of your choosing], same location unless greekphilosophy would rather not, different time? [more inside]
TenFi = MeetMe
Ten.Metafilter.Com = Meetup.Metafilter.Com [more inside]
Should I get my own blog?
In a FPP, how appropriate is it to post links to something, and then give additional information about the subject from a first hand perspective? [more inside]
Criminally Bad Advice
AskMe feature request: in the drop-down menu for post flagging, can we add 'criminally bad advice' to the list of options? E.G.
NEEEEEEERDS!
Nerd Prom Meetup! [more inside]
Celebrity Dead Pool.
A lot of discussion has been had lately on obituary threads and more specifically on how crappy the initial post(s) of well known people are as posters try to take advantage of Metafilter's usual first post stays policy. Several people have proposed that Metafilter run a vetting system for obit posts or take other actions to reduce the need for multiple post deletions along with their attendant comments. One suggestion was for users to maintain a prewritten obituary pool for famous people similar to those used by news services. I've set up a proof of concept on the wiki here. [more inside]
July 21
Once, twice, three times a critter.
Hi, Metafilter. I posted a project in Projects. It has somehow shown up on the Projects page three times -- one, two, three. Not sure if I did this or if some other error occurred.
Mouseover Text and Share This Link Feature Requests
I respectfully request two ponies, please. [more inside]
Obligatory "what meets up in Vegas" joke
Las Vegas MeFites - impromptu meetup with vacationers? [more inside]
July 20
PDX MeFi 10.1 meetup?
Once was not enough. PDX makeup meeting in honour of dersins, same place, different time? [more inside]
How can i best become a productive member of the MetaFilter community?
How can i best become a productive member of the MetaFilter community? I've lurked for a while, and I just recently joined up, I've posted a few songs to music, but i don't feel confident enough to start posting to the honest to goodness "community weblog." What things do you think will make me the best possible member of this community?
http://ask.metafilter.com/april1.mefi
April 1 *2007* content not working. [more inside]
La 94-a Universala Kongreso de Esperanto
Yeah Boiiiiiiiiise!
Yeah Boiiiiiiiiise! Anyone up for a meetup next week? [more inside]
[Not DPRK-ist]
Seoul, man. I'm gonna be there from 7/25 to 8/2. Meet-up?
GiftMe
Can we have a gift certificate for a pony? [more inside]
Greasemonkey script question.
I'm trying to find a specific MeFi greasemonkey script. It would 'bookmark' the last comment you read, so when you returned to the thread, a grey scrolling bar would appear on the left-hand side, pointing down, until you hit the last(ish) comment you read, when it would turn into a slightly different shape. What was this thing called? I cannot find it on userscripts.org.
We have cameras.
Got photos? Post them here.
July 19
Let's be penpals
Remember pen pals? Wouldn't it be fun/awesome to have one again? [more inside]
Portland Meetup pictures
PDX MeFi-10 set on my Flickr page - let me know if you want larger-sized JPG files for printing, and I'll email 'em to ya gratis.
July 18
WANT .img
Can have .img? We'll pay [more inside]
I'll take "SEO spammer" for $5, Alex.
So you think you know Metafilter? [more inside]
Meetup Mashup
So, how was your meetup? What went wrong? What went right? What would you do different next time? [more inside]
July 17
Walter Cronkite, never accused of pedophilia
So Michael Jackson gets an obit post re-do, but this is the best we can do for Walter Cronkite, the most trusted man in America?
What online fora molded you?
This might be too chat-filter-y, but I get the impression that a lot of people on mefi put in serious time in other internet fora before settling here. Just kind of curious if there's a lot of common denominators (Compuserve, The Well, etc?), and if they influenced what you expect from a 'good' online community and that's why you ended up here. [more inside]
Metafilter Fantasy Football (Soccer)
MetaFilter Fantasy Football (English Premier League) 2009/2010 -- Who's in? [more inside]
We have always been at war with the DMCA....
What is MeFi policy on linking to material that is copyrighted in the US? If we don't have one, did I inadvertently do something that might cause a problem for mathowie? [more inside]
MeFi in SL
MetaMetaMetaMetaTalk
Coding Horror Guy celebrates MetaFilter's 10th Birthday by making a post with the title Meta Is Murder and bringing in cortex to explain how MetaTalk "is key to the success of the site because it's a sort of release valve." So relieve yourselves here. [more inside]
Twittering the Anniversary
Can everyone twittering the 10th anniversary use #mefi10 ? We can then append the city name, such as #mefi10london. [more inside]
Commenters make post
I like to call out the commenters in this post on credit card billing for being awesome. [more inside]
July 16
BlogHer '09 Meetup?
BlogHer '09 Meetup next week? Because there haven't been enough Meetups planned lately... [more inside]
It's not like I was asking him to put on pants.
MeetUp Ettiquette: I know that the mods are not our moms and will not be present at meet-ups, but are there any basic ground rules (and/or can we establish some) to govern interpersonal interactions at meet-ups? [more inside]
To snoop or not to snoop
This question seems to be getting a bit derailed by whether or not it's justified to snoop in your partner's email. We've had this discussion before in RelationshipFilter and rather than derailing the next relevant question, I thought we could discuss it here.
Should the profiles of deceased MeFites be preserved?
When an account is disabled, all the profile information disappears. Might it be better to preserve the information when the account is disabled due to the owner's death? [more inside]
Not a Triffid.
July 15
Bringin' it old-school.
Birthday thoughts from an old-timer. [more inside]
MeFi meme index?
Is there an index of MeFi memes? I'm pretty new here (so new I'm not sure whether this should go in MeTa or AskMe), but there are a lot of memes I don't quite understand.
Has anyone ever created a list of the more popular MeFi memes with explanations and possible origins? I'd love to see one.
Though now they are giants, once they were just like us.
What were the mods like (on Metafilter) before they were mods? Please point me to notable posts by Jessamyn, Cortex, et al from when they were just some schmo on MeFi like you or me. [more inside]
Get Your Own Blog. Well, Perhaps I May...
Etiquette call: Using one's own comments on one's own blog? [more inside]
Last shall be First, etc.
Which location will be noted for having the latest-starting MetaFilter 10th anniversary celebration? [more inside]
July 14
Quotes in links considered harmful
The AskMe link entry control generates malformed HTML when fed a URL containing double quote characters. [more inside]
PrintMe
Share your printable MeFi creations! [more inside]
Hapyy birthday, MetaFilter, from TechRadar!
July 13
Metafilter 10th Anniversary party line and voice mailbox
Metafilter 10th Anniversary party line and voice mailbox. Numbers inside! [more inside]
diet.metafilter.com
Pony request: diet.metafilter.com. I do recognize that the stable is pretty crowded already, but I see there's 371 tagged items on ask.mefi for diet questions. Seeing how Something Awful has a pretty busy weight loss forum going and diet is a multi-billion dollar industry, maybe MeFi can figure out some way to bring its great minds together to encourage one another toward weight loss goals and healthy lifestyles. Some basic weight graphs and weight tracking capability could be part of this. I realize this is getting into MeFi mission creep, so consider it just another idea for whenever the right time comes.
MetaFilter Games: It was jessamyn, with the banhammer, on the green...
What MetaFilter themed party games are you going to play at YOUR 10th Anniversary MeetUp? [more inside]
July 12
Who has cameras?
So who's engaging in tenth birthday webcammery? [more inside]
July 11
I'll Trade You Ten Mint Patties For A Pack Of American Spirit
Anybody interested in some Australian-American free market shenanigans? [more inside]
Last ditch effort for ScandiMeet
Last minute call for a Nordic birthday meetup? Stockholm in that case. [more inside]
Who wants to play scrabble?
Calling all MeFi Scrabblers! Who else uses the Internet Scrabble Club? Wanna play? [more inside]
Another site to log into every day
If anyone here uses, or is looking for an excuse to use, DailyMile.com, I've created a MetaFilter group. [more inside]
It's baaaack
Hay! That weird bar is back. Now on all pages.
July 10
MetaFilter shirts for sale
Pon...
MinorPony: Can't we limit the above-the-fold field length so that this doesn't require mod intervention? [more inside]
Tokyo 10th Meetup
Yes we can haz 10th Anniversary Meetup in Tokyo! [more inside]
URL problem in "my favorites"
There's a bug in the links on the MetaTalk "my favorites" tab. [more inside]
Open-ended chatty questions on AskMe
Open-ended chatty questions on AskMe [more inside]
July 9
Last minute tenth meetup in Dover, DE Sat night 18th?
Dover Delaware Meetup for the Tenth anniversary? (late notice, 18th, sat) [more inside]
How to scan a cat and other subjects
A nice piece on Metafilter, including an audio interview with Mathowie, from the Toronto Globe and Mail.
Craftadelphia
I'm wondering how many Philadelphia MeFites would be interested in participating in a craft night. [more inside]
July 8
?
Metafilter Music Playlists
User Music playlists. Does anyone actually look at or keep track of anyone's playlist but their own? On a regular basis? And if so, whose playlists do you recommend taking a look at (your own playlist does not count)?
SyFy font
Stop the stupid font trick, please. [more inside]
I Love You Beth Bueller
Internet much?!
Does anyone else feel it's a little unusual for characters in a prime time show(Dexter) to use internet talk? [more inside]
16.7704, -3.0057
Entering your location (lat/long) in your profile gives a street address in Google Maps when you click on the icon. This seems to be new, and fairly accurate. My guess is that some people do not want others to see this and will want to obfuscate their location. [more inside]
Up
The logos! They do nothing!
Why does the AskMeFi logo say "Ask MetaFilter" instead of "Ask MeFi"? [more inside]
July 7
The New York TimesemiT kroY weN ehT
The pictures in this feature were removed after questions were raised about whether they had been digitally altered. [more inside]
Please help me find a specific FFP
I'm looking for a particular FPP. It was within the last three months, and it was about how to be skeptical of science/things you read on the internet. It was really good, but I didn't have time to read it all then (and I was drunk), and I just now am regretting that I never finished it. I've tried searching, but things like "skeptical" and "science" return a lot of results. Can someone point me in the right direction?
I'm here to win!
Midnight Sun Meetup
I just discovered that there are a few Mefites in Anchorage, late enough to miss out on an "official" 10th meetup. Let's meetup anyway! [more inside]
I'm pretty sure it's not "Zalgo"
The quote in this comment comes out all blocks for me (FF3, OSX 10.5.7). What am I doing wrong & how do I fix it?
July 6
Sorting search results by number of favorites?
Pony request: We can already sort the posts and comments in search results by date or by relevance. Would it be possible (or even desirable) to sort by the number of favorites each item has? [more inside]
Calling Mefites in Seoul
South Korea MeFi 10th anniversary meet up? [more inside]
Recent comments bug?
There may be a bug on the recent comments page. [more inside]
Salty Tropical Offseason Meetup II
I'll be visiting family in Esperanza, Vieques, Puerto Rico from July 23 to 28, and would love to say, "Hello, fellow MeFite!" while I'm there. Especially after the emotional highs experienced at your local 10th Anniversary Gathering, I'm sure some of you will need a booster meetup... so, the Medalla Light is on me, the water is warm, one of the brightest bioluminescent bays in the world is just a few hundred yards away. Whaddaya say? [more inside]
July 5
Mini-MeFites Unite
In the heat of all of the ongoing 10th Anniversary preparations, should we consider ... a MeFi playdate? [more inside]
Oh pleasepleaseplease!
Just when you thought it was safe to post again
Is this post about shark species extinction, and the member who created it (a "Shark conservation biologist"), crossing the line into spamming/schilling? The linked article is weak and has an obvious agenda, the user and the writers of the blog linked have many connections and the username chosen by the poster is based on the title of his upcoming book.
I don't think any harm was intended but it sounds like the guy is using the front page to sell himself, his cause and his book. If so, is that ok?
Sometimes we need to know 'neigh'...
PonyRequest : When we have an AnonAsk refused, could we have a reason sent to the asker as a matter of course, so that the asker could (a) know that it's been refused and can use their weekly on something else and (b) have some idea of what they did wrong and consider if/how they should rewrite it? [more inside]
July 4
Recommendation of flapjax at midnite's I'm Waiting for the Man
Is this the place to note that flapjax at midnite's performance of "I'm Waiting for the Man" is stunningly good?
Meet-up in Toronto sometime in late Sept?
Meet-up in Toronto sometime in late Sept? [more inside]
July 3
MetaFilter meetups on seven continents
MeFi's own eotvos is organizing a tenth anniversary meetup in Antarctica. We have officially conquered this planet. [more inside]
Elevating the level of discourse
We have DVDs
Mefibrarians in the Loop
Any Mefibrarians headed to Chicago for ALA Annual? Want to meet up? [more inside]
July 2
Procession of user numbers
For the upcoming meetups, or more exactly for press and blog coverage of upcoming meetups, could PB or Cortex or somebody gin up a kind of graph or visualization of brute quantities of user signups over time, along with user numbers? [more inside]
July 1
Repurposed comment thread...
It seems that comments from a Metafilter thread have been copied into a blog linked in the post... [more inside]