153 posts tagged with metafilter by cortex.
Displaying 51 through 100 of 153.
Happy New Year, MetaFilter
It's 2020 pretty much everywhere now, if I've done my timezone math right, so: here's to the new year, and to all of us in this weird old online community keeping on together and seeing what we can make of this next year. [more inside]
158: Keep Them Scrollwheels Scrollin', Though The Browser's Slowin'
It's me! It's jessamyn! It's episode 158 of us podcasting about about the sort of MetaFiltery things we're wont to podcast about! It's about ninety minutes! [more inside]
157: That's The Title, Everyone Get Back To Work And Thank You
It's our Halloween episode, which is not particularly spooOOOOooOOoooky because I accidentally left it out on the counter overnight after we recorded it yesterday. But jessamyn and I catch up on the last month of MeFi stuff and you can't prove that there wasn't also a ghost on the call. Runs about 90 minutes. [more inside]
Site finance update, 10/16/19
Here's a first quarterly update on where we're at with site revenue and expenses. We've made some progress from where we were this summer; your help in funding the site is a fundamental part of that. [more inside]
Rolling out some updated site documentation
We're updating some site documents today to better reflect contemporary MetaFilter. Today's updates include the New User pages that potential new community members move through when signing up, the site's core guidelines page, and a new document discussing common microaggressions and being mindful about the impact of dominant-culture dynamics on a diverse membership. I'll talk in more detail about all that below the fold. [more inside]
156: Wasting All My Time Time
Jessamyn! Me! Podcast! MetaFilter! Talking! [more inside]
155: No curses, no whammies
After several technical hiccups, Jessamyn and I managed to record a podcast, and here it is! Lots of MeFi and Ask; lots of users' first posts, lots of animal posts, even several first animal posts. Runs about 90 minutes. [more inside]
Site finance snapshot, August 2019
It's a little over a month since the State of the Site post where I talked about our current revenue shortfall, and as part of a goal of moving toward more regular financial updates I wanted to give a quick snapshot of where we are now. [more inside]
154: I Learned It By Reading
We're back after a skipped month with an unsurprisingly longer-than-usual podcast episode, as jessamyn and I chatter about all the ususal site stuff (a month's worth is generally too much, two months definitely so) and also talk a little about MeFi history, recent site challenges, the 20th anniversary, and so on. Runs just about two hours total. [more inside]
Decommissioning the US politics megathreads
During the 2016 US election cycle, we experimented with moving US politics discussion to a catch-all megathread model: focusing almost all discussion of the topic to large omnibus threads posted every week or two. The resulting megathreads have been a valued thing for many people, and a lot of work and care has gone into them from posters and commenters to try and help them be a functional part of the MeFi posting mix. But the threads have always posed significant challenges, and the time has come when we need to make a fundamental change. [more inside]
Happy 20th Anniversary, MetaFilter
MetaFilter, that weird blue site (and, yep, we've finally turned it blue again), is 20 years old today.
It's a thrilling and boggling and remarkable and ungainly and heartening number. I've had trouble figuring out what the thing is that I want to say about the site today, and I've realized the problem is there's no one thing. MetaFilter is too complex, its history too complicated, to reduce to a tidy anecdote.
But I want to talk a little about what it means to me, and what I want it to aspire to, and to reflect a little bit on this twenty year milestone on an unsteady world wide web. [more inside]
It's a thrilling and boggling and remarkable and ungainly and heartening number. I've had trouble figuring out what the thing is that I want to say about the site today, and I've realized the problem is there's no one thing. MetaFilter is too complex, its history too complicated, to reduce to a tidy anecdote.
But I want to talk a little about what it means to me, and what I want it to aspire to, and to reflect a little bit on this twenty year milestone on an unsteady world wide web. [more inside]
State of the Site, July 2019 update
Hey, folks. It's been about a year since our last State of the Site update, and I want to let you know where things are at and where we're headed. The site turns 20 years old in a few days, which is a hell of an internet milestone. Financially, I wish I had better news: our ad revenue has dropped significantly again, and we're running at a significant monthly shortfall. This has underscored for me the need to seriously push toward the goal of making MetaFilter a fully community-funded site. Come inside and I'll talk more about our revenue picture, our short- and long-term fundraising goals, and some of where the site and community and mods are at more generally as we head on into the future. [more inside]
Following up on last month’s discussions: medium and long-term work
First, check out this other post today for necessary context and the immediate-term actions that the mod team is taking. This additional post is a roadmap for the future changes that we are considering, actions we have planned but haven't finished implementing yet, and some site issues that are not as directly related to the previous threads but tie into this process regardless. [more inside]
Following up on last month’s discussions: immediate actions and planning
Let's talk about how the MetaFilter community can be a more welcoming, comfortable, and equitable place for our non-white members. It's work that's overdue, from the moderation team and the community in general. There's a lot of context here, so read below before commenting. And it's vital that the voices at the center of this discussion are the community members with the most direct stakes in these issues, so if you're a member of the site's white demographic majority, you need to mostly be listening rather than speaking. [more inside]
153 - Josh Ruins Taiga
It's time for that monthly podcast: jessamyn and I caught up yesterday on the last month or so of all things MetaFilter, Ask MetaFilter, Projects, and so forth through the ol' enumeration of subsites. We also talk about trivia a little, and as a result I ruin taiga and possibly everything else. We also got to wondering whether Jeopardy would throw you off the show for refusing to answer questions in good faith, so, hey, Jeopardy folks: any good stories there? [more inside]
Reconsidering the rule against friend-linking on the MeFi front page
We're gonna try allowing friend-linking on the front page of MetaFilter—that is, linking to stuff on the web made by someone you are friends with or have a personal connection to. Come on inside and I'll talk about why, and lay out some expectations and guidelines. [more inside]
152: Get Jobbed At Steve MetaFilter Jobs
P O D C A S T [more inside]
151: A Birdwatching Mecha
It's podcast time, and it's a (relatively) brief, (relatively) under-produced episode this time, with me and Jessamyn chatting about MeFi stuff for about 70 minutes because my voice was a little worn out. [more inside]
150: Taking a Dinger
Here it is. A podcast. It's a podcast and here it is. Yes. Yes? Yes. [more inside]
149: IROC-Z FOMO
ARE YOU READY FOR SOME PODCAAAAAAAST because this is an episode of one. It's me and Jessamyn and a whole passel of Januarial content from MeFi, along with some youthful car stories and our belated discovery of the Spanish word for sock. Runs about 90 minutes. [more inside]
Keeping arguing about the US primaries in check
The US political cycle is creeping into the beginning of the 2020 primary season, and that means we need to talk about avoiding the stuff that has gone badly on MetaFilter in previous election cycles. That means folks making a collective effort to avoid the worse discussion dynamics we've seen in the past, and it means the mod team pushing hard when folks aren't succeeding at that effort. [more inside]
148: 2019 New Year Call-In Episode
Sheesh, it's a week into the year and I still keep trying to write "2018" on my podcasts. But it's the new year, and Jessamyn and I catch up on what's happened on the big blue linky sea lately. Also occasionally featuring my neighbor's rented wood chipper! But also, more importantly, featuring messages from a whole bunch of MeFites who called in to share well wishes, new year greetings, old year ass-and-screendoorings, and some lovely and heartfelt thoughts about where they are, where we are, and hoping for us all to keep getting there together in the next year. [more inside]
147: We Forgot What We Were Gonna Call This One
November isn't even quite over yet but Jessamyn and I are entirely done with it, and document a bunch of the good bits and some of the not so great ones in this episode of the MeFi monthly podcast. Also there is a very clever bird and some nude cats. Also I make a pretty solid joke about clouds. It's actually not very solid. The joke I mean. Also obviously not the clouds, they're made of vapor, c'mon. Yes. Okay. Hello. [more inside]
rtha in hospice
I wanted to let folks know that long-time MeFite rtha, who was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer earlier this year, has ceased chemotherapy treatment and moved to in-home hospice care to focus on comfort and quality of life, and to ask you to come share well-wishes with her and her spouse gingerbeer. [Addendum: rtha passed away on the 10th. —c] [more inside]
146: GO VOTE
It's a remarkably short one this month—just over 50 minutes—because my throat was sore in what turned out to be the preface to a nasty cold that knocked me out all weekend, which is why we recorded this last week and it's only going up to day! But here it is! Also, vote! [more inside]
It's Inktober, let's make art and stuff!
Do you draw and/or not draw? Great, time to draw some stuff! (Or sketch, or paint, or whatever the hell your jam is or you would like your jam to be.) That's right, it's Inktober, and I reckon we should congregate in this thread with our various stuff-you're-drawin' feeds and such. [more inside]
145: I Don't Own A Cellphone!
If you wanted to hear about the time Jessamyn went on Jesse Ventura's TV show, this episode of the MetaFilter podcast is your big chance! Also we talk about, y'know, MetaFilter and MetaFilterian things and fun stuff and stupid stuff. The whole gamut, basically. [more inside]
144: Give Myself A Cold Goose
In this podcast ep, I talk with Jessamyn about going camping, driving a stick-shift VW camper van, getting a cold, having a cold, and also a great deal of MetaFilter stuff. It's a bit late and there's no music bumpers because I was camping and then I had a cold! But here it is. It's about 80 minutes. [more inside]
New merch: Seal of the Cabal
We're rolling out a new shirt design, featuring art from robocop is bleeding, who has taken his rad hand-carved block printing aesthetic to the eldritch glyphs and sigils of MetaFilter history to produce the Seal of the Cabal. (There is, of course, no cabal.) (But there is an alternate, smaller version of the design for folks who prefer how that sits on a shirt.) [more inside]
143: Sisters, Am I Right?
Shooting at the walls of podcast, bang bang! I am an episode! The latest episode of the MetaFilter monthly podcast, that is, but also I have Patty Smyth stuck in my head I guess. Anyway! Me and jessamyn get to catchin' up on the month that was on MeFi, and miscellaneous kibitzing, as we are wont to do! This one runs a little under 80 minutes. [more inside]
New merch: everyone needs a mug
Hey, rolling out a new piece of merch today: a big blue mug with the "MF" logo on one side and, on the other, "Note: everyone needs a mug". [more inside]
Testing some new ads from Carbon
You may have noticed: we've just started testing some new ads from Carbon, on the front pages of MetaFilter and Ask MeFi. Please let us know about bugs, issues, etc. [more inside]
Updating the MeFi Projects subsite guidelines
Hey, so, MetaFilter Projects! It's one of my favorite parts of the site, where members can post and share their personal creative work. And we've done a little work to update the posting guidelines there, to try and make it a little more clear and generous about what's a good fit. Come on in for details! [more inside]
142: The World Didn't End
It's time for another podcast, and boy what a busy month it's been. Jessamyn and I catch up a bunch on MetaFilter news, I say thank you probably too much but jeez you folks!, and also we talk about all kinds of rad things on the site itself. Runs just about 90 minutes. [more inside]
Flagging update: new free-form text option, tweaking flag lists
I'm excited to announce we're rolling out a long-requested feature: free-form text flagging, a new flagging option that will allow you to, when necessary, leave a brief note when you flag a post or comment. We've also tweaked the list of predefined flagging reasons to reduce the length of the list a bit. [more inside]
MetaFilter revenue update: holy cow, y'all!
Recently, I announced that MetaFilter was in serious financial trouble, and asked you to help with additional community funding of the site.
Y'all have really, really come through. Recurring contributions supporting the site are up by almost $10,000 a month and growing, erasing our current shortfall and helping move MetaFilter toward a more sustainable, independent revenue model. Community funding alone now covers very nearly half our operating budget. That's amazing.
Come on in and I'll give you the details on what's happened and what we're up to next. [more inside]
Y'all have really, really come through. Recurring contributions supporting the site are up by almost $10,000 a month and growing, erasing our current shortfall and helping move MetaFilter toward a more sustainable, independent revenue model. Community funding alone now covers very nearly half our operating budget. That's amazing.
Come on in and I'll give you the details on what's happened and what we're up to next. [more inside]
Let's talk about MeFi Merch!
Alright, I suggested last week amidst the brainstorming in the State of the Site post that we set aside a thread specifically for MetaFilter merchandising chatter. This! Is! That! Thread! So, let's talk merch ideas. I'll lay out our current thinking and some options inside. [more inside]
State of the Site: Metafilter financial update and future directions
Important site updates, folks:
1. The site is running at a significant deficit and we urgently need to make that up. Part of that is through additional direct community funding; you can help here.
2. We're looking at—and inviting community input on—several big-picture questions.
Today I want to lay out our budget and income streams, to explain where we're at and what we need to accomplish. I'll also talk a bit about how the community is doing, and what's coming up in the future. [more inside]
1. The site is running at a significant deficit and we urgently need to make that up. Part of that is through additional direct community funding; you can help here.
2. We're looking at—and inviting community input on—several big-picture questions.
Today I want to lay out our budget and income streams, to explain where we're at and what we need to accomplish. I'll also talk a bit about how the community is doing, and what's coming up in the future. [more inside]
141: Is Cereal A Sandwich
Podcast! Jessamyn! Me! MetaFilter! Talking! Words! Month! Time! Listen! [more inside]
140: We Usually Come Up With A Title
It's episode 140 of the MetaFilter podcast, and you know what that means: we've been doing this a while and we're all out of clever ideas, leave us alone, sheesh. Also it means Jessamyn and I talk about MetaFilter stuff and sundry internetries. I obsess about house numbers a little, and we chatter about weddings and downtimes and some of that recent Stack Overflow stuff and so on. Runs about 90 minutes. [more inside]
139: The Joke Show
Happy Basically-Nobody's-Life-Got-Ruined-This-Year-By-April-Fools, everybody! It's the latest podcast ep, with me and jessamyn talking about MeFi as usual and also telling each other some jokes, along with a nice crop of call-in/mail-in/write-in jokes from your fellow MetaFilter members! This'n was recorded Monday April 2 and all told runs about an hour and a half. [more inside]
138: Don't Leave Me Hanging
It's a magical low-energy podcast! Okay, it's not especially magical. But it's me and Jessamyn and we talk about MeFi and shaking fists at kids and the Olympics and sundry other things. Recorded on Monday the 26th, it runs about 75 minutes. [more inside]
137: It Descended Into Butts
This episode, jessamyn and I catch up on the last month and change of MetaFilter, discuss books and the reading-or-not thereof, and workshop the title of this podcast episode briefly. Recorded Tuesday February 6th, it covers January and bits and pieces of December while we're at it, and runs about 75 minutes. [more inside]
136: 2017 year-end call-in show
It's the call-in show! Jessamyn and a very sleepy moi chatter for a bit about site and life stuff in haphazard fashion, interspersed with a couple long strings of calls from a bunch of lovely and occasionaly slightly cheeky MeFites. It was a lot of fun and a minor pain in the ass to put together, and runs about 80 minutes total. [more inside]
Known issue: logged-out search not working right now
Quick heads up since a number of folks have noted/asked about this: yes, the search function for logged-out readers is currently not working. It throws up a complaint that is unhelpful but also not dangerous: "Unauthorized access to internal API. Please refer to...". We'll have it fixed soon, but just a heads up that (a) it is indeed a thing and (b) it's not something to worry about. Sorry about the annoyance!
135: It's A Dang Podcast
It's me! It's Jessamyn! It's a damn-the-torpedoes, full-amble-ahead ramshackle of an episode as we catch up on MetaFilter, talk a bit about the recent US politics discussion changes, and just recklessly chat about this and that while I enjoy a nice big glass of wine. Covers November and runs about 80 minutes. [more inside]
Resetting expectations about U.S. political discussion on MetaFilter
Hey folks, big discussion time. We're going to be making some changes on how U.S. political discussion plays out on MetaFilter, to try and make sure it remains available as a useful resource in a way that isn't as unsustainable as the current approach has been. I’ll lay out some concrete steps we’re taking, and some general thoughts, below. This is detailed but important and I appreciate you taking the time to read through it. [more inside]
MetaFilter is moving to https as a default
A week from now, we'll be updating MetaFilter to always serve https pages instead of http! You most likely don't need to care at all that this is happening, but I'll explain what it means below. Come on in! [more inside]
134: Stuff and Things
Hey, it's me and Jessamyn chattering about MetaFilter and Halloween and more MetaFilter and large burdensome televisions and even more MetaFilter. This episode covers the month of October and runs about an hour and a half. [more inside]
Get your MetaFilter sticker pack!
Wish you could put your favorite website on your favorite automobile? Need to apply an adhesive Ask MetaFilter label to your laptop? Just like buying stickers? Good news: We've got stickers for sale (as well as some remaining t-shirt stock) over on our TopatoCo page! [more inside]