September 2002 Archives (all archives)

September 30

self-link in comments crosses line to self-promotion

When does a self link inside the comments of a post every now and then border on sheer un-adulterated pimping of your personal site? More than half of this guy's comments are links to his own site.
posted by machaus to Etiquette/Policy at 6:05 PM PST - 26 comments

I know what's with the boxes

If you thought I was going to be a typical neophyte/scumbag and ask "What's with the boxes?" then you're sadly mistaken, my friends. I know full-well it's old hat, and that's why you won't hear a peep out of me.
posted by Ljubljana to Bugs at 12:09 AM PST - 24 comments

September 27

Userpage Error

I am trying to add information to my userpage and I get the following error:
Variable USER_MATCH is undefined.
The Error Occurred in C:\metafilter sites\www.metafilter.com\contribute\customize_action.cfm: line 59
posted by Winterfell to Bugs at 6:34 PM PST - 9 comments

Why was my post deleted?

I'm confused. I posted what I thought was a typical interesting link, but I guess it didn't pass muster, since it was dumped. What gives?

(I linked to it from my K5 diary. Now I have cleanup there to do.)
posted by tbc to Etiquette/Policy at 4:56 PM PST - 10 comments

Welcome New Member banner?

Now that membership has opened again, how about greeting new members on the front page just after they've joined with something like, 'Metafilter welcomes [insert link to username and profile'. It's always good to get a hug when you arrive at a party.
posted by feelinglistless to Feature Requests at 1:43 PM PST - 62 comments

Is crackheadmatt matthowie's alias?

Is crackheadmatt matthowie's alias?
posted by djacobs to Uptime at 8:24 AM PST - 93 comments

moratorium on all the internal squabbling?

Please can we have a moratorium on all the internal squabbling? I thought that was what Metatalk was for. This morning there are two posts (so far) in which the comments have devolved into little more than how bad the original post is. Can't we just let Matt delete the bad threads?
posted by Secret Life of Gravy to Etiquette/Policy at 8:21 AM PST - 15 comments

MetaFilter has been included in MSNBC.com's "Best of Blogs"

MetaFilter has been included in MSNBC.com's "Best of Blogs" on their new Weblog Central page.

posted by mkelley to MetaFilter-Related at 6:03 AM PST - 10 comments

MeFi Swap

Another MeFi Swap anyone? (more inside)
posted by Dreama to MetaFilter Gatherings at 2:25 AM PST - 31 comments

September 26

Dead friend hot-or-not over the line

Culling of the heard. Can somthing be done about crackedheadmatts post to someone whos friend just died. "Was she hot?" -- over the line.
posted by stbalbach to Bugs at 3:57 PM PST - 83 comments

September 25

Problem with MeFi displaying really large text.

In Windows XP version 2002, using either Mozilla 1.1 or IE6, renders Metafilter with really big letters that make reading the site difficult. Anyone got any solutions?
posted by moz to Bugs at 5:30 PM PST - 16 comments

Two self links in one post.

Two self links in one post. And they're kind of creepy, to boot. Not a particularly auspicious beginning for the 16K club.
posted by pardonyou? to Etiquette/Policy at 1:49 PM PST - 23 comments

Speed issues and Fark

So I noticed Metafilter was sloooow today, now I know why.
posted by patrickje to MetaFilter-Related at 12:03 PM PST - 46 comments

Should fictional posts be allowed to stand?

It's not a hoax, it's fiction. Marquis has apologized for any potential offense, and hey, it was cleverly done. Going forward, is a "fictional" post more appropriate for a blog? Does this exploit the membership for one's own purposes, however artistic? (But don't all posts do that?) Or is it a question of trust?

Help! Help! I'm being oppressed!
posted by onlyconnect to Etiquette/Policy at 11:05 AM PST - 33 comments

Being trolled from the outside

Is he baiting us? Noted ex-Mefite Steven Den Beste, in self-imposed exile, says he left because we got "stranger and stranger" and, according to him, the inmates are still running the asylum. Are we guilty of lefty groupthink, or is SDB focusing on the posts that annoy him and ignoring the diversity of opinions here, and quit in a huff because we wouldn't all agree with him? (Note: we've talked about him before on Metatalk.)
posted by mcwetboy to MetaFilter-Related at 10:47 AM PST - 85 comments

Login redirect back to where I logged in from pls

Often, I will be reading MeFi on a work or other computer and am not logged in. When I see a thread that I'd like to contribute to, I log in from the "Login" link on that thread...which dumps me back out on the front page. Is there any way to have the Login link on a comments page dump back to that particular page after you've logged in?
posted by Vidiot to Feature Requests at 9:06 AM PST - 3 comments

Apology for someone using anothers account

When someone else uses your MeFi account to post a typo-riddled, incoherent, inflammatory comment, maybe the best way to repair the damage to one's reputation is to apologize upfront.

I'm sorry. [more inside]
posted by acridrabbit to Etiquette/Policy at 5:44 AM PST - 27 comments

September 24

How do you link a specific comment from a thread into another post/comment?

How do you link a specific comment from a thread into another post/comment?
posted by semmi to MetaFilter-Related at 7:33 PM PST - 12 comments

Wall Street Journal Copyright

This is about the fifth or sixth thread since July to link to an e-mailed article from the Wall Street Journal Online. I only bring this up because it violates the terms of WSJ.com's subscriber agreement, and could cause copyright problems both for the individual users linking to them and for the 'Filter.
posted by dogmatic to Etiquette/Policy at 4:11 PM PST - 5 comments

"Have you ever eaten poo?"

Phrases that cause you to immediately skip to the next post in a given thread:
My example: "Have you ever eaten poo?" [more]
posted by ZachsMind to MetaFilter-Related at 2:01 PM PST - 71 comments

MeFi Swag

Has anyone ever put out MeFi keychains, mugs, t-shirts, etc.? Is there any interest? I would be proud to wear such "self link" items.
posted by kevin123 to MetaFilter-Related at 1:58 PM PST - 15 comments

I'm seeing things

Just curious - I saw a post on the front page about an Enron auction this afternoon. I look a couple hours later and it's gone. Was it my imagination? What happened? and who makes decisions like these?
posted by kevin123 to MetaFilter-Related at 1:48 PM PST - 15 comments

Help a Newbie!

I'm new to Metafilter, at least as a poster anyway, and I have been less than satisfied with the quality of my comments, especially my front page post. I think my dissatisfaction comes from my lack of experience in posting to a forum that has such a high expectation for quality. This tends to create a bit of hesitation in my posting, which results in over editing and an extremely stiff writing style. Of course the best way to overcome that, is by commenting frequently in order to become more comfortable and fluid in my comments and post. The downside to that, of course, is the possibility of tripping all over myself, in an otherwise quality message thread. This is very frustrating to me, because I see the type of poster I want to become, and I'm not sure how to get from here to there.

Making matters more difficult is my lack of computer knowledge. As an example, I love the option of renaming a url, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out how to edit multiple urls into a single paragraph.

If anyone has any helpful hints on how to gain experience as a front page poster, without making a mess of things in the process, I'd love to hear them. I've also sniffed around the web looking for a handy guide to url editing, and I've not had any luck, so if anyone could point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it.

posted by Beholder to MetaFilter-Related at 7:30 AM PST - 33 comments

2 Feature Requests

Question #1: Are there any plans for a Mozilla Calendar/iCal plugin which would state the tentative dates for future swaps/meetups?

Question #2: A number of folks (myself included) occasionally visit MeFi/MeTa via PDA; for the sake of those "handheld immigrants", could a downloadable version of the Guidelines be made available for offline viewing?
posted by Smart Dalek to Feature Requests at 7:29 AM PST - 6 comments

Middle East News

Oi! I'm a sucker for middle-east threads (and regrettably get irrationally wound up in them) (especially Israel/palestine ones), but the sheer number of similar front page posts in recent days has been exhausting and exhaustive. The topic is covered on every major news site.

What happened to "posting something interesting I've found on the web"?


posted by hama7 to MetaFilter-Related at 6:38 AM PST - 37 comments

September 23

Fix Bad HTML, Please

Fake markup = unneeded closing tags? Anyways, the text layout is broken and the font's screwy. Please fix.
Danke.
posted by Su to Bugs at 2:41 PM PST - 7 comments

Fewer updates on google services pls

If I'm making something out of nothing, please let me know.

However, I was wondering if we could possibly put a stop to FPPs that report on every new feature at the Google website? Considering the hand-in-hand nature of MeFi users and Google, it seems to be a given that we will all discover these new features by ourselves...

Yes, I know, we can discuss the usefulness of these new features. However, since when was MeFi a web-tech / design forum? Google is cool, but I use the site dozens of times every day — as I'm sure most MeFI users do. I don't really think we need burning missives telling us that a new tab has been added. It's not like Google is crowded; we're not going to miss seeing it ourselves.

Like I said, if I'm completely off base, I'm more-than willing to concede.
posted by Dark Messiah to Etiquette/Policy at 8:19 AM PST - 60 comments

September 22

What do we think about kuro5hin?

What's the relationship between kuro5hin and MetaFilter?

Searching MeFi for discussion about kuro5hin.org didn't answer my question. The site founder, Rusty Foster, does have a MeFi account, but his comments don't help much, either.

It's been said at both sites that the readership overlaps, and both sites seem to be compatriots in the community blogosphere, but I was somewhat surprised that K5 readers (well two, at least :-) didn't buy buying my assertion that K5 didn't have to link to a certain story because MeFi already had done so. Then I realized that MeFi readers would probably say the feeling's mutual.

I'm relatively new to MeFi, but I think I'm a quick study. It seems to me that because of that site's structure, K5 is more suited to long, developed, original stories. Its sophisticated mojo system (comment ratings, etc.) and nested comments allow more thorough discussions. But MeFi feels much more like a traditional blog -- updated several times a day with brief links and comments. K5 favors technology and culture stories, while MeFi is much more eclectic.

I hope other, more experienced MeFi members who also hang out at kuro5hin.org will elaborate.
posted by tbc to Etiquette/Policy at 3:54 PM PST - 32 comments

MeFi gets shout-out in Boston Globe

MetaFilter is mentioned in today's Boston Globe - oddly, though, it's this nine-month old thread about Provigil that is the topic, and the source of quotes (unattributed to specific users).

a group weblog with thousands of chatty members

Well, that sounds about right.


posted by yhbc to MetaFilter-Related at 8:34 AM PST - 44 comments

September 20

All users mapped

Courtesy of Aaaugh!'s mad GIS skillz, every metafilter member with a zipcode in their profile has been plotted on this map [inside]
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 3:19 PM PST - 108 comments

How about sticky threads?

How about sticky threads? You know, one thread that stays at the top of the page where everyone can post their War on Terrorism Link of the Day and then say the same thing about it that they did the day (or hour) before?
posted by Mick to Feature Requests at 9:15 AM PST - 28 comments

Listing links on user profile pages

To avoid cluttering up the front page, is it OK for those of us who come across a lot of interesting links to use our user pages to list some of those we'd like to share but probably won't merit much discussion? I'm worried about using up bandwidth and the old accusation of using MetaFilter as one's personal blog.

If it's OK, what's the acceptable limit? Would five or six links be acceptable? Or should the opportunity be used (as some, like Zachsmind, have done) to list some of our favourite MetaFilter threads, for example? Please advise.
posted by MiguelCardoso to Etiquette/Policy at 8:58 AM PST - 32 comments

Spell Check Problem

Spell check problem - if the text being checked has character entity sequences > or < when spell check completes they will be replaced in the textarea with greater-than or less-than signs. My browser is: Mozilla 1.1 -- Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.1) Gecko/20020826.
posted by chipr to Bugs at 12:27 AM PST - 9 comments

September 19

I can't post comments at all

I can't post comments at all: when I click "Preview", I do not see any preview and there is no "Post Comment" button. It's not a browser-display issue; I checked the page source and no preview or submit form is being sent.
posted by Mars Saxman to Bugs at 7:19 AM PST - 16 comments

Key threads for catch-up?

I haven't been on-line -- and so visiting Metafilter -- for some time (three months). Can anyone suggest some key threads I should read to catch up? I just logged onto the front page only to be told there have been over 1400 threads since my last visit ... would anyone like to volunteer to be archivist?
posted by feelinglistless to Feature Requests at 5:09 AM PST - 18 comments

September 18

16,000 member!

We've just turned over 16,000 members according to the front page. Our lucky number 16,000 is hans_1984 who wins this lovely MetaTalk thread. Welcome aboard, Hans!
posted by timeistight to Bugs at 11:47 AM PST - 76 comments

MeFi post deletion query

noticed a link I posted yesterday was removed? why? It would be nice for any moderator or higher up to e mail someone telling why the link was removed
posted by hoopyfrood to Etiquette/Policy at 7:05 AM PST - 23 comments

September 17

Have you considered a 'Back to Top' feature?

Have you considered a 'Back to Top' feature? Would be useful for those long threads where one needs to re-examine the original post....
posted by dash_slot- to Feature Requests at 9:51 AM PST - 15 comments

"follow-up" mechanism?

Have you ever considered a "follow-up" mechanism of some sort?
posted by RavinDave to Feature Requests at 3:59 AM PST - 19 comments

September 16

MeFi RSS

Does MeFi have an RSS feed? I searched around, but couldn't find one...hopefully I wasn't missing something obvious...if there isn't one, could there be?
posted by Orange Goblin to Feature Requests at 9:10 AM PST - 10 comments

Suggestion: Change default search behavior

I noticed this thread (lofi link--in case it doesn't last) earlier and noticed that the poster, BarneyFifesBullet, mentioned that he'd searched for the topic and hadn't found it. A cursory search, however, turned up that it had, in fact, been posted a few months earlier. Long story short, I noticed that the default setting when you use the search function on MeFi sets the drop-down menu to "in the past month" which seems like it could be the culprit in a case like this where the poster seems to have searched unsuccessfully for a previously-posted link. It doesn't seem like something that would be frightfully hard to chance, and it might save us a few double posts...
posted by The God Complex to Feature Requests at 12:12 AM PST - 22 comments

September 15

interrobang vs. ?!

interrobang vs. ?!. What's the deal here?! (Also refer to the recent MeFi thread about the interrobang.)
posted by riffola to MetaFilter-Related at 9:13 PM PST - 12 comments

Are you a MeFi Lefty or a MeFi Righty?

Are you a MeFi Lefty or a MeFi Righty? I honestly don't get what comments like this one are getting at, or what they would prefer to see happen here. The lack of specificity in most of these complaints doesn't help. I see good and bad arguments getting called out regularly, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum. What am I missing?
posted by mediareport to Etiquette/Policy at 4:49 PM PST - 60 comments

September 13

Longtime user making first FPP prompts query on posting demographics

This one got me to thinking…
I was surprised that someone who had been a member for over 2 years had just now posted their first story. I’m curious about other demographic oddities and averages like that.
Who holds the record for the most threads?
Many more questions inside....
posted by Blake to Bugs at 10:00 AM PST - 189 comments

What to do for thread number 20000

Sometime today, or quite possibly early tomorrow, MetaFilter will hit thread number 20,000. Personally, I think everyone should shut up once we hit 19,999 and let Matt do whatever he feels like with number 20k. Anyone agree? Other thoughts?
posted by Ufez Jones to MetaFilter-Related at 8:23 AM PST - 89 comments

September 12

Searching would be so much easier with more descriptions

Su has a point here. Wouldn't it make searching a lot easier, as well as being fairer to the original authors and more descriptive in general if users could mention the name or title of a linked item in their lead post or, at least, in a follow-up ("more inside") comment.

As it is, I fail to see how Su could have detected tomplus2's May 2002 post, unless he arbitrarily searched for "graffiti" or some other term which isn't exactly apposite.
posted by MiguelCardoso to Etiquette/Policy at 7:10 PM PST - 28 comments

Some textads are too wide

Some TextAds are too wide (on standards-compliant browsers). "www.ArtSwag.com" and
"STICKERS*PINS*SHIRTS For angry ranters and the people who love them" are two examples. It increases the width of the in which it and the sideblog are nested, thereby reducing the width of the main content column, not to mention leaving a large gap between the right-hand page margin and the sideblog.
    The culprit seems to be the title field. A multiworld title with spaces will wrap in the ad-box; the above two examples are long (but within 20-char limit) one-word titles. Can something be done?
posted by rschram to Feature Requests at 5:01 PM PST - 15 comments

Madison Metafilter Meet tonight

Since it got bumped down below the front page, here it is again: Madison Metafilter Meet tonight. The Plaza. Nine P.M. Who's coming? Should we wear name-tags?
posted by interrobang to MetaFilter Gatherings at 8:49 AM PST - 26 comments

September 11

9/11 remembered, one year later

I would just like to tell Miguel (and the MetaFilter community): Well. Done.
posted by poopy to Etiquette/Policy at 6:21 PM PST - 34 comments

Change in the style sheet weirds out Opera

Opera users now see the a page margin on the homepage, where there wasn't one before (presumably due to a change in the style sheet).
posted by kickingtheground to Bugs at 6:14 PM PST - 19 comments

Self-link, or not?

Self-link, or not? [more inside]
posted by mr_crash_davis to Etiquette/Policy at 1:15 PM PST - 40 comments

there is currently a vertical gap on the front page

With the sideblog open, there is currently a vertical gap on the front page running the entire vertical distance between the last line of the description in the "Today some of us thought it..." post, and the line with Miguel Cardoso line. The gap disappears in the sideblog is closed. This is in my Mozilla for PC.
posted by ParisParamus to Bugs at 11:10 AM PST - 6 comments

Closed thread means not-a-double policy

"Um, isn't this a kinda sorta double-post? [/meanie]"
"This thread is over 30 days old, and has been closed for archival purposes."
So it being a repost is not relevant. I propose a mortatorium on such statements, now that it is hard coded that threads are officially dead after one month. Comments pro & con are welcome herein.
posted by ZachsMind to Etiquette/Policy at 8:32 AM PST - 12 comments

Mea Culpa.

I apologise in advance for my transgression. Methinks I may have gone a bit far...
posted by Smart Dalek to Etiquette/Policy at 5:48 AM PST - 25 comments

Just one 9/11 thread?

ok! we have our first 9/11 post on 9/11. let's *keep* further discussion there?
posted by jcterminal to MetaFilter-Related at 12:13 AM PST - 37 comments

September 10

Meetups in Montreal or Ottawa?

I'm in Montréal for a couple of months. Anyone interested in doing a meetup here or in Ottawa? Here's a link to the last discussion. I'll try to email everyone who commented on it. Feel free to send me an email @odiv.net.
posted by ODiV to MetaFilter Gatherings at 5:28 PM PST - 6 comments

Is this relationship too close for posting?

There's this site that I visit fairly regularly. The creator of this site creates these cool (IMO) online illustrated one page stories. I think that many folks at MeFi might enjoy the site, but there is (what I perceive as) a problem. One of the sites I write for is one of this guy's front-page links....
[more inside]
posted by Joey Michaels to Etiquette/Policy at 5:16 PM PST - 16 comments

added embedded information about pages viewed

I added embedded information about pages viewed at MetaFilter, per the link tag. If you're using Mozilla, turn on your Site Navigation Bar link this, and you'll see additional buttons when viewing threads, like this. It makes for a nice alternate interface.
posted by mathowie to MetaFilter-Related at 2:31 PM PST - 8 comments

Bold, Italic, and link tag buttons were missing

(Mozilla 1.1 WinXP) While I was able to post a comment to a FPP on MeFi the Bold, Italic, and link tag buttons were missing.
posted by dirtylittlemonkey to Bugs at 1:28 PM PST - 4 comments

MeFi log in problem

Annoying problem: Every single time I log into MetaFilter I have to go through the login process twice before it actually works. It always works the second time, never the first. Anyone else experiencing the same thing?
posted by TurkishGolds to Bugs at 1:15 PM PST - 8 comments

how not to win friends and influence people

"ps to all the "spell check" asswipes I have compromised my systems security to please you now go away."

hoopyfrood is making friends and influencing people all over the place
posted by Irontom to Etiquette/Policy at 6:59 AM PST - 84 comments

Shoutout for good posts

These threads are brilliant examples of what Metafilter at its best is.
[more inside].
posted by hama7 to MetaFilter-Related at 6:46 AM PST - 11 comments

September 9

Proposal for a September 11 post

I've been thinking of a September 11 post that could stand as an hommage without being restrictive or cheer-leading. I wonder if we could all build a thread made of nothing but links without words... [More inside.]
posted by MiguelCardoso to MetaFilter-Related at 6:27 PM PST - 52 comments

Can't well all just get along?

Can't well all just get along? To an extent I can accept the 14k+ crowd misbehaving for awhile — at least till they pick-up on 'Metaquette' — but others should know better than to feed the trolls or fan flamebait.
posted by nathan_teske to Etiquette/Policy at 12:27 PM PST - 74 comments

9-11 joke thread call-out

I don't normaly do this, but this thread is the worst I have ever seen.
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood to Etiquette/Policy at 12:08 PM PST - 72 comments

Wisconsin Meetup

Madison/Upper Midwest meetup. Is there any interest in this?
posted by rocketman to MetaFilter Gatherings at 11:27 AM PST - 15 comments

Registration required....

"it requires registration and i'm not willing to get one for the paper"

This in response to a "Big Brother" FPP in which I included a username and password IN THE POST ITSELF for those who don't want to register themselves.

Can't people read?

posted by Irontom to Etiquette/Policy at 9:07 AM PST - 11 comments

I have no idea what I am clicking on and I don't like it.

Descriptive posting.

Perhaps this is just me, but I find posts crop up fairly frequently on metafilter with little or no indication within the post of what the linked site actually contains. Clicking links on the half-chance they are going to take you somewhere of interest is a little frustrating - I know it makes me a lot less inclined to follow the link at all - and as a result I'm possibly missing out.

Not to mention numerous accessibility issues, isn't it simply bad practice?

Apologies for not linking to any example posts - I'm not feeling at all confrontational today. No apologies if this has been discussed before - it seems to be an issue, and I think therefore worth discussing again.

posted by nthdegx to Etiquette/Policy at 6:05 AM PST - 10 comments

Less is more...

'No link here...'

Then don't post. Less is more...
posted by i_cola to Etiquette/Policy at 3:28 AM PST - 47 comments

September 8

This post is a total self link

This post is a total self link. Details inside.
posted by dcgartn to Bugs at 4:19 PM PST - 20 comments

September 7

Stop picking on the n00bs

I'd like to suggest that there might be a bit of a danger these days of stripping some potential away from the site. A lot of new users are being called out (or belittled) rather promiscuously for posts or comments that are often no different than what they have been accustomed to seeing from Metafilter elders pre-14k (as well as post-14k). Vigilance is worthy and needed in order to protect the integrity of Metafilter, but I suspect that there is a risk of creating an atmosphere of paranoia in which many promising new members will be afraid to post anything that they are not absolutely certain will not reap condemnation. (more inside...)
posted by taz to Etiquette/Policy at 1:40 AM PST - 67 comments

September 6

What is with these peeps?

Having just posted a comment, and having had a pang of worry over an unintentional snarkiness implied by an italicisation, i continued to the thread on james randi which seems to be about to blow up due to the charming "Fuck you and your know-nothing smugness." comment. An unanswearble, i guess, but what is with these peeps?
posted by robself to Etiquette/Policy at 11:13 AM PST - 32 comments

Can comments only be enabled once the links have been opened?

I wonder if it wouldn't improve the discussions if the comment feature would only come up after the posted link was visited. Too often reactions are to the post and previous comments, rather than the issue posited in the link.
posted by semmi to Etiquette/Policy at 10:10 AM PST - 13 comments

No Fun Flash Friday

Friday Flash! Friday Flash! Friday Flash! Friday! Flash!
posted by Danelope to Etiquette/Policy at 10:03 AM PST - 36 comments

What should we do about self-marketers who could enventually plant links on mefi?

yesterday, on./ was reading an interesting discussion about a product when someone accused the poster of Viral Marketing, in effect really trying to grab publicity off of ./ while they're covertly under contract to the company they are posting about.
Today, in a very useful MeFi discussion, someone raised the Same Suspicion.

Whether Octavius is correct or not, I think there's no reason to doubt that firms are cropping up to harness communities and blogs to plant publicity on the net. On its face, it would likely be far more effective advertising than a pop up or TV commercial... Once the corporate heavyweights catch on, it could get quite excessive and sneaky.

But it could seriously undermine a community since to some extent, we'll all start scrutinizing the motives of any given post and poster.

Could well be the beginning of the end (or at least the end of the beginning) of the innocence for MeFi etal... Any ideas on how to contend with this?

posted by BentPenguin to MetaFilter-Related at 8:33 AM PST - 39 comments

How to turn off broswer colors

How to turn off broswer colors (for those wanting to modify MefI to be more work friendly, a thread that pops up here occasionally). More inside...
posted by internook to Feature Requests at 8:02 AM PST - 7 comments

September 5

Unicode seems to be working!

Looks like Matt fixed the evil box problem. Thanks, Matt! Does this mean free ponys Unicode is working too?
If this has been mentioned before and I've missed it, administrator, please delet me!
posted by Slithy_Tove to Feature Requests at 10:06 PM PST - 24 comments

Good warcrimes post destroyed by personal attacks in discussion

I am disturbed by the conversations attacking the original poster in F&M's post on warcrimes (sorry I don't know how to hyperlink without the button.) I found the post well reasoned, free of ideology, and providing important considerations regarding future military action in Iraq. If someone had a legitimate complaint about the post it seems it should have been made here. To denegrate the post, the poster, and those who responded thanking the poster seems juvenial and small minded.
posted by pjgulliver to Etiquette/Policy at 5:09 PM PST - 72 comments

My apology inside.

My apology inside.
posted by caustic to Etiquette/Policy at 2:15 PM PST - 20 comments

Changing user names?

Question on how to use Mefi, from a newbie....
posted by pjgulliver to Feature Requests at 11:56 AM PST - 55 comments

Spellcheck flagging 'MeFi'

Isn't it internally ironic that when you run your post through a spell check, it gets caught on the term "MeFi"?
posted by BentPenguin to Bugs at 10:14 AM PST - 13 comments

Just because it's "another Coulter thread"

Hi, Jack. Just because it's "another Coulter thread" doesn't mean raysmj ought to piss all over it with his off-topic opinions on proper journalistic style. How many other threads have been similarly derailed by snarks on the writing style or site design of the linked page?
posted by mcwetboy to Etiquette/Policy at 8:44 AM PST - 64 comments

base-ten rollover!

Since sign-ups were turned back on the thread count has been growing rapidly. With September 11th coming up, we'll almost certainly see thread 20,000 within the week. The last base-ten rollover passed with little fanfare. Should we ignore the significance of #20k? Use it for elitist ego stroking? Perhaps pancakes are in order...
posted by nathan_teske to MetaFilter-Related at 3:22 AM PST - 10 comments

September 4

Those Harry Potter Threads.

Those Harry Potter Threads. Reading today's Harry Potter thread (now deleted) some people mentioned that the reason it was getting posted so much was because there is no previous record of it on a search, and that multiple similar posts had been deleted. Okay, repeated posts should be deleted, but why isn't the original one anywhere to be found? It's a bit Farkesque, but still not a bad link, per se.
posted by wackybrit to Etiquette/Policy at 8:38 PM PST - 47 comments

What the dogmuffins is up with this?

What the dogmuffins is up with this? I think that searching for the phrase "fuckwit" will prove that I've never used it. Is there someway to delete comments like this, which serve no purpose except to be nasty?
posted by dejah420 to Etiquette/Policy at 1:50 PM PST - 52 comments

What would happen to Metafilter if Matt (heaven forbid) were to get hit by a bus or something?

What would happen to Metafilter if Matt (heaven forbid) were to get hit by a bus or something? Is there a contingency plan in place? I could have just emailed Matt about this, but I thought some other people might also be interested in the answer.
posted by internook to MetaFilter-Related at 1:31 PM PST - 46 comments

How much will we talk about 9-11?

Can the September jitters, already being felt from all sides of the political table, be in any way lessened or avoided?
posted by MiguelCardoso to Etiquette/Policy at 1:09 PM PST - 55 comments

Newbie Policies

Where are the policies? Specifically, I know that I can't post front-page stories because I either haven't been a member long enough or haven't posted enough comments, but how long and how many is it?

I can't find the details of this policy anywhere on MetaFilter or MetaTalk.
posted by mrmcsurly to Etiquette/Policy at 11:37 AM PST - 3 comments

Why was my thread on the Greek govt outlawing games deleted?

Um...I posted a link a little while ago and now the thread is gone. Did I double-post or something bad and didn't know it? It was about the Greek government outlawing electronic games...
posted by dnash to Etiquette/Policy at 9:43 AM PST - 5 comments

September 3

login link gives cf error

If I go to login at the bottom of a thread in MetaTalk, the link gives me a CF error, but it works if I login on the index page. (Looks like an obsolete link or something easy to fix.)
posted by mkn to Bugs at 8:29 PM PST - 1 comment

I really liked that movie -> FPP

Is this thread front page material? [more inside]
posted by Hildago to Etiquette/Policy at 7:31 PM PST - 55 comments

Another unclosed italics tag

Rats. I tried to post a link in all italics (with apologies to DaveAdams), and ended up italicizing everything. I realize that this has happened before and apologize for this breech in link editing.

Is there a way for a user to edit one of their own links after posting without having to bother Matt?
posted by Joey Michaels to Feature Requests at 3:19 PM PST - 15 comments

September 2

Customized Formatting in MeTa

My font 'n' size customization displays just fine on MeFi, but doesn't seem to take effect here in MetaTalk. I'd like to have the customization on both pages. Is there anything I can do, or is that just the way it's gon' be? I appreciate any suggestions. (Win 2000, IE 5.)
posted by boomchicka to Bugs at 7:20 PM PST - 6 comments

For all the new members struggling to come up with a witty name

For all the new members struggling to come up with a witty name,here are some suggestions.
Can I change my login to "GSV Just Another Victim Of The Ambient Morality"?
posted by signal to MetaFilter-Related at 4:21 PM PST - 13 comments

Post opens print dialog

I know it has been discussed before, but this post's link to the light version does something different: it brings up the print dialog [ie 6/xp and moz 1.0/xp]. I'd prefer the regular version to a page that decides to open the printer dialog for me.
posted by birdherder to Etiquette/Policy at 1:43 PM PST - 4 comments

9/11 anniversary special policies?

There is an onslaught coming. In nine days it will be the one year anniversary of 9/11. What is our policy with FPP on that day? Are there guidelines for such "busy" day?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood to Etiquette/Policy at 11:21 AM PST - 57 comments

Why was my post deleted?

I've just posted a story to the front page, and for whatever reason, it appears to have been deleted. Now, that in itself is fine - I can handle the rejection! But I would however like to know *why* it was deleted. Is it not possible to have some form of message left to offending user, informing them of why their post has been deleted?
posted by metaxa to Feature Requests at 6:24 AM PST - 19 comments

September 1

Questionable use of Ellen Feiss' likeness in this ad

While the fad still exists, does anyone else have an issue with the textad for the Ellen Feiss parody? (scroll to nearly the end of the page) I'm not crazy about promoting profit from the theft of someone's likeness without their permission, but then again, this isn't my site. Should the bylaws of the textads merely weed out offensive material, or should they extend to intellectual property issues as well? While they may be two different things, a recent story on NPR highlighted that cafepress is deleting "Ellen Feiss" related stores as fast as they are created.
posted by machaus to MetaFilter-Related at 11:30 AM PST - 21 comments