10 years man! TEN! YEARS! Ten. TEN YEARS!

July 14, 2009 7:13 AM

Cat-Scan.com is one of the strangest sites I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these people got their cats wedged into their scanners, or why.
posted by anotherpanacea (568 comments total)

wat
posted by tapesonthefloor at 7:14 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I know for a fucking fact that no one reads the posts down here. Go away.
posted by Item at 7:15 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

the radiation has made them bald supercats that can drive cars
posted by pyramid termite at 7:15 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

I do.
posted by bjrn at 7:15 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ten! More! Years!
posted by The Bellman at 7:16 AM on July 14, 2009 [8 favorites]

Can't watch the video but we've been written up in the Globe and Mail. (thanks to Andrew Louis for sending me the link)
posted by olya at 7:16 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been?
posted by steef at 7:16 AM on July 14, 2009 [9 favorites]

Aw, I was totally going to ask if anyone even reads the stuff down here, and then I thought "Will I seem like a poser?" (since I have only officially been a member of the site for less than a year) and then I thought "Maybe, but fuck it!" and then apparently my deliberations took too long and my chance has gone by.

Happy birthday, though!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 7:16 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

You know, for the first time in years, I actually have both a cat and a scanner. Hmmmmm.
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:17 AM on July 14, 2009 [7 favorites]

Tenth!
posted by chugg at 7:17 AM on July 14, 2009 [5 favorites]

God I hate Jeremy Piven.
posted by prufrock at 7:17 AM on July 14, 2009 [5 favorites]

awesome
posted by splatta at 7:17 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

the radiation has made them bald supercats that can drive cars

Jeremy Piven is Toonces?
posted by middleclasstool at 7:19 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Man, am I disappointed; I was totally gonna go "Yo, that ain't a site, that's a SLYT!" and flag it and all, and then the light dawned.
posted by Halloween Jack at 7:19 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

You know who else wedged their cats into scanners? That didn't wendell either.
posted by Xoebe at 7:19 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hey, what happened to my gold star?
posted by Stan Chin at 7:19 AM on July 14, 2009 [21 favorites]

last post! oh wait, this thread is supposed to be closed. ;)
posted by chunking express at 7:19 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

previously
posted by cjorgensen at 7:20 AM on July 14, 2009 [6 favorites]

All those cats are dead.

Well, Piven and Cusack aren't dead, but their careers? IANAD...
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 7:20 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

I can't believe it took until 10:14 am Eastern Time for this to get posted.

On a more serious note - Matt, thanks for providing this sandbox for us all to play in.
posted by anastasiav at 7:21 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

Happy 10th!
posted by Outlawyr at 7:21 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I wish I could hug you all right now.
posted by yeti at 7:22 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

In honor of metafilter's tenth birthday, I think we should get some statistics on:

1. The number of comments total.
2. The ten most linked domains (NYtimes, Youtube, wikipedia, etc)
3. The number of comments comprising only a '.'
4. The number of links to timecube.
5. The number of times languagehat has been "summoned".

I want this report on my desk in the morning. Thanks.
posted by Pastabagel at 7:22 AM on July 14, 2009 [21 favorites]

Happy anniversary!
posted by harriet vane at 7:22 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

The link in the title didn't work for me -- my Netscape browser must be broken. This link might work better.
posted by dylanjames at 7:23 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

Thanks, friend of a friend whose name I've forgotten. Your website suggestion has worked out well.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:23 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

John Cusack? Great, that means it's not really 10 years and we're all still in that haunted hotel room.
posted by crapmatic at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Happy Birthday!

Dear old ones why did I wait so long to get an account. I've been around for way too long without one!
posted by strixus at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

We all float read the posts down here.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Happy 10 years, MetaFilter!
If I had a cat I'd scan it to celebrate. Perhaps it's a good thing I don't...
posted by gemmy at 7:24 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Can't we have the img tag today? *just* today? O PLZ O PLZ? So much more important to have img tag today than on CAPSLOCK DAY or Talk Like A Pirate Day...

PICS OR IT ISN'T TEN YEARS

dammit

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLUE!
posted by tzikeh at 7:25 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

You know, I hope there isn't like a celebrity death or a massive coup in a foreign land or a politician getting busted for snorting meth off a male hooker's chest or anything anytime soon so this post can stay at the top of the heap for the rest of the day.
posted by macadamiaranch at 7:25 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Unofficial catscan replacements: 1, and a much less on-topic 2.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:25 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I wish I could hug you all right now.

*takes off pants, outstretches arms in anticipation and blind hope*
posted by prufrock at 7:25 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'm this many: *holds up both hands, fingers splayed*
posted by ColdChef at 7:28 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

This thread is useless without pictures.
posted by mkultra at 7:28 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Related: Pikaki!
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:29 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Don't forget we're also coming up on the 10th anniversary of the JenniShow. And as ever, the hype machine for Apple's new Consumer Portable appears to be in full swing.
posted by Iridic at 7:29 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Just want to wish all friends, contacts, supporters, spouses, and co-MeFites a happy tenth!
posted by JoanArkham at 7:30 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Toot

Confetti

See y'all on saturday
posted by The Whelk at 7:30 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I had hair ten years ago. Now I am bald. I'm pretty sure it's Metafilter's fault.
posted by Optamystic at 7:31 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

oi.
posted by shoepal at 7:32 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also:

Surely this....
posted by tzikeh at 7:32 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I am also 10 years old.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:34 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

This thread is useless without pictures

have cat-ears on am about to sit on scanner brb
posted by CynicalKnight at 7:34 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

. . . and many more, on channel 4. And Frankenstein, on channel 9. And Scooby Doo, on channel 2. And a naked lady, on channel 80.
posted by stopgap at 7:34 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I first started lurking when there wasn't a choice and in the years since, nothing, and I mean nothing, has been more harmful to my productivity.
-Thanks Metafilter.
posted by lucasks at 7:35 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy birthday Metafilter!
posted by Lafe at 7:36 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I feel so old

*sob*
posted by Windigo at 7:37 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Time for your birthday spankings, Metafilter.
posted by Rhomboid at 7:38 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy 10th everyone!
posted by vacapinta at 7:39 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Woo! Happy Birthday to the best site on the internet!
posted by LeeJay at 7:39 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I like popsicles.
posted by turaho at 7:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Huh. I remember exactly where I was ten years ago today. THAT is a gruesome memory that makes me wish for the ability to time travel and share wisdom with my 17 year old self.
posted by little e at 7:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

What's this all about? Let me go search cat scan on Hotbot and find out.
posted by furious at 7:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I've been lurking for most of those years, and active for several, and this is the first year I actually understand what is going on with the cat-scan post. I'm a little worried that I'm still missing a bunch of other inside jokes...
posted by diogenes at 7:42 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Required: PepsiBLUE
posted by Zinger at 7:42 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Congratulations on 10 great years!*


* Although I've only been here since late 2007, so it could have been total crap before then.
posted by burnmp3s at 7:42 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

According to the internet, the traditional "10 year anniversary" gift is aluminum or tin.


TIN FOIL PARTY HATS FOR EVERYONE!
posted by chowflap at 7:43 AM on July 14, 2009 [6 favorites]

What do you give the website that has everything?
posted by not_on_display at 7:43 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

This will not wendell because it probably will never wend... er, end.
posted by wendell at 7:44 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

YAY!!!!!!
posted by notsnot at 7:44 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

:)
posted by sperose at 7:44 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

You are the wind beneath my series of tubes, MeFi.
posted by greekphilosophy at 7:44 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

We have achieved victory over time itself!
posted by Skorgu at 7:45 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I like turtles.
Thanks MeFi for so being so entertaining/enlightening/infuriating.
posted by preparat at 7:45 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

.
posted by johnny novak at 7:46 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

10 punches!

*pow*pow*pow*pow*pow*pow*pow*pow*pow*pow*
posted by goo at 7:46 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Is this where there be pancakes?
posted by lunit at 7:47 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

I finally ponied up the five clams in 2004.. I had been a long time lurker.

It's been a good ten year run. Let us all hope for another ten years. I know I do.

Matt and the mods, thanks for all your hard work. You've given us a great place to bounce ideas and thoughts around.

To all fellow MeFites, Happy Anniversary, and best of luck!
posted by PROD_TPSL at 7:47 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Why do you summon Languagehat?

Every time I read that name I think of a hat embroidered with various friendly international words, doffed by an eager high school Spanish teacher.
posted by mippy at 7:48 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Apparently Zalgo can't wish MetaFilter 10 years? I thought that was a swell meme. /pout
posted by cavalier at 7:48 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: freaked out, joined the army ... professional killer.
(Happy 10th).
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 7:48 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

Is there a conversion for "people years" and "internet years"? Because so many websites die out quickly I fell that MetaFilter is more then 10 years old.

Anyways Happy Birthday MetaFilter!!!
posted by lilkeith07 at 7:49 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

This thread is useless without pictures.

It's true! Now if only someone had a camera ...
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:49 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Apparently Zalgo can't wish MetaFilter 10 years? I thought that was a swell meme. /pout
posted by cavalier at 10:48 AM on July 14

Yeah, me too. B̰̫͔̖̮̺̤̠̻o͙̖̯̜̙͉o̳̘̯͈̺͎ͅ.̭͉̰̟̟͉
posted by Pastabagel at 7:51 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

This place is the Best of the Web
posted by Acey at 7:51 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

happy birthday!
posted by tiger yang at 7:51 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Happy Happy Happy
posted by readery at 7:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

In September, MetaFilter will be entering the FIFTH grade. Our little website. Such a big kid now.
posted by DU at 7:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

*Gives MetaFilter a manly hug*
posted by flashboy at 7:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Storm the prison.
posted by pianomover at 7:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy 10th, MetaFilter! This truly is the best site on the internet.
posted by evisceratordeath at 7:53 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Tenyearversary!
posted by halonine at 7:53 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

You know, it won't be very long before our youngest members are the age of the site itself.

...yikes.
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:53 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

a piece in the the uk's Metro paper this morning too.
posted by monkeyJuice at 7:53 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Thanks for creating the best part of the internet, Matt.

And for making all of my bans temporary instead of permanent.
posted by Item at 7:53 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

We were all being uncharasteristically polite, and waiting for Matt to do the 10th anniversary cat-scan post, weren't we?

Happy Birthday, MeFi!
posted by yhbc at 7:54 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Best five bucks I've ever spent.
posted by odinsdream at 7:55 AM on July 14, 2009 [5 favorites]

Best free website I ever signed up for. Sucka five dolla noobs!
posted by Item at 7:56 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

I was hoping for actual pictures of cats being scanned. I understand you guys are celebrating some kind of anniversary, but don't trick people with the promise of pictures of cats being made to feel uncomfortable.

Ah, just kidding Mefi. Happy Birthday. Thank you Matthowie.
posted by Bageena at 7:56 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Double.


Digits!
posted by Acey at 7:56 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Birthday!
posted by whimsicalnymph at 7:59 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, I get it.

Happy Metaversary!
posted by sjuhawk31 at 8:00 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Metafilter: making all of my bans temporary instead of permanent.

I like sausage.
posted by lysdexic at 8:00 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Does this mean I can have a celebratory drink at 8 am?
posted by eyeballkid at 8:01 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Hurrah! I am happy!
posted by Happy Dave at 8:02 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Cat Scan 10x

Just wanted in on the festivites. Can I offer a tenth w00t?

"w00t."
posted by indiebass at 8:02 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Does this mean I can have a celebratory drink at 8 am?

It's five somewhere, dude.
posted by middleclasstool at 8:03 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

can't watch the video because i am at work and i haven't seen that movie in longer than this site has been around, how does it relate back to mefi 10th birthday?
posted by djduckie at 8:03 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy 10th, MetaFilter! I've never loved a website as much as I love you! (And MeFites... collectively.) ♥

Thank you for making it possible, mathowie. Bottles of porkmuncher gin for everyone!
posted by Lush at 8:04 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Can I get some portabello mushrooms to go with my plate of beans?

Happy 10th MetaFilter!
posted by never used baby shoes at 8:05 AM on July 14, 2009

A moment of silence, please, for the IMG tag.

.
posted by exhilaration at 8:05 AM on July 14, 2009 [6 favorites]

First!
posted by vbfg at 8:07 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Does this mean I can have a celebratory drink at 8 am?

It's five somewhere, dude.

*pours three fingers from the good bottle of scotch*

HAPPY FUCKING BIRTHDAY METAFILTER!
posted by eyeballkid at 8:08 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy 10th! Yay!
posted by cabingirl at 8:09 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, and hopefully many, many more to come.
posted by figment of my conation at 8:10 AM on July 14, 2009

Let me be the first to say:
ZIPPITY-BOP!
posted by languagehat at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Happy birthday. I freaking love you, man.
posted by lunit at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2009

This is not an appropriate post for the blue. Best of the web, indeed. *snort*
posted by absalom at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, mefi. I've been like three new people over the last ten years (dear god, my twenties) but you've been here all the same. Plus I might never have met my husband. Here's to the next ten, no?
posted by sugarfish at 8:11 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

MeFi has the same birthday as my father. Ideally, that would help me remember one or the other, but I doubt it!
posted by infidelpants at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2009

I can put 10 cats in 10 scanners!
WEEEEYAAAA!!!
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 8:13 AM on July 14, 2009

THANKS: MATT, JESSAMYN, CORTEX, PB, VACAPINTA AND THE CABAL FOR THIS GREAT PLACE ON THE WEB!!

There is no Cabal
posted by double block and bleed at 8:14 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

10 years is a long time. Where did it go?
posted by mss at 8:15 AM on July 14, 2009

Thanks to everybody here for being a post for me to lean on when I just needed to goof off for a few hours - and for the actually cool stuff I find when I'm being productive. Here's to $5 that really paid off.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 8:16 AM on July 14, 2009

Metafilter: It's a swift, spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever.

Happy birthdayversary.
posted by Ghidorah at 8:16 AM on July 14, 2009

How can anyone hate Jeremy Piven?
posted by Mister_A at 8:16 AM on July 14, 2009

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I SET THE ROOM ON FIRE AND I HAVE NO PANTS
posted by kbanas at 8:16 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Mefi!
posted by carter at 8:17 AM on July 14, 2009

I ♥☃
posted by device55 at 8:17 AM on July 14, 2009

I love you all so much right now.

It'll fade by tomorrow, so, y'know, enjoy it while it lasts.
posted by slimepuppy at 8:18 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, Mefi. Warms the heart.
posted by muckster at 8:18 AM on July 14, 2009

By the tenth anniversary I was supposed to be posting from the moon.

Happy birthday.
posted by jjray at 8:18 AM on July 14, 2009

So many hours deliciously wasted!

"Entrances will be judged in several categories:
-Style- Does the cat's squashed hair make an interesting pattern?
-Beauty of the cat- Is this an attractive feline, or a fat, dirty old bag of fleas?
-Form- Does the cat's squashed body look like a pear, or a pile of dough?
-Positioning- Can you see the cat's face? What about his paws?
-Consistancy- Did the cat squirm much during the scan? Squirm-free, full-body scans will have a better chance of victory. "

Scanner-wise: if people feel they have missed the boat in terms of showing off their cat it is not too use it as a gramaphone.
posted by rongorongo at 8:19 AM on July 14, 2009

10th anniversary flame-out!!!! 10th anniversary flame-out!!!! 10th anniversary flame-out!!!! 10th anniversary flame-out!!!!

I JUST CHOP OFF MA RIGHT HAND STOP AM HAVING TROUBLE CHOPPING THE OTHER ONE STOP PLEASE HOPE ME YOU AWFUL BIGOTED EGOTISTICAL SNARKY SELF-CENTERED PRIVILEGED PAMPERED CIRCUMCISERS OF CATS STOP TIA STOP BITCHES STOP
posted by Mister_A at 8:20 AM on July 14, 2009

Undecuple!
posted by lowlife at 8:20 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

10 years ago I was a self-righteous, pretentious dumbass 14-year old. And Metafilter was just starting out as a collection of the best of the web.

Plus ça change. . . Happy Birthday!
posted by Lemurrhea at 8:20 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

infidelpants: MeFi has the same birthday as my father. Ideally, that would help me remember one or the other, but I doubt it!

It's also Bastille Day....

And hey! It's SpongeBob SquarePants's tenth birthday too!

Metafilter: Absorbent and yellow and porous!

(Firefox's dictionary suggests that when I typed "metafilter," I meant to type "Metamucil". Target confusion... to many possible jokes....)
posted by tzikeh at 8:20 AM on July 14, 2009

Cheers, Metafilter. Thanks for making my life more interesting. I'll drink a little drink for you tonight.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:21 AM on July 14, 2009

This Metafilter...it anniverserates?

(Happy Tenth!)
posted by arachnid at 8:22 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

COULD YOU IMAGINE HOW MUCH IT WOULD ROCK IF THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY WAS ON CAPS LOCK DAY?
posted by eriko at 8:23 AM on July 14, 2009

ten years is seventy years in webbernets time.
posted by krautland at 8:23 AM on July 14, 2009

Pony request: Just for today, change everyone's name to quonsar.
posted by Mister_A at 8:23 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

A moment of silence, please, for the IMG tag.

Ah, the good old days. I'm trying to find the thread where matthowie allowed a single blinking dot and everyone went apeshit with the spinning, flashing and otherwise obnoxiously awesome image links. *sigh* Miss those days...

One Internet to whomever can find that thread.

(by the by: I think it's good to let the MeFites do that every now and again and get it out of the system. It's healthy)
posted by indiebass at 8:24 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday! So much better than Barbelith Underground, which is how I found you, Metafilter, lo these many years ago, back when I read The Underground almost as often as I read you now.
posted by Fezboy! at 8:24 AM on July 14, 2009

I wasn't around for 0, but, dammit, I'm not missing 10.
posted by Mental Wimp at 8:24 AM on July 14, 2009

I wish I knew how to quit you.
posted by tommasz at 8:24 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Does anybody read the comments down here?
posted by Devils Rancher at 8:25 AM on July 14, 2009

i do. happy 10th!
posted by robstercraw at 8:26 AM on July 14, 2009

I have the Treaty of Westphalia!

In my pants!
posted by everichon at 8:27 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Is it that time already??
posted by kaseijin at 8:29 AM on July 14, 2009

Who's not drinking at the meetup this weekend? YEAHHH!H@$)(!@%!!!!
posted by cavalier at 8:29 AM on July 14, 2009

mods del. pls.
posted by gaspode at 8:30 AM on July 14, 2009

Happiest of birthdays, Mefites!
posted by grabbingsand at 8:31 AM on July 14, 2009

happy birthday!
posted by mwhybark at 8:31 AM on July 14, 2009

oh yeah - tl;dr
posted by mwhybark at 8:31 AM on July 14, 2009

Only two three comments so far from MeFites with UserIDs lower than 1000. Where are all the old-timers?

It's hard to believe it's been a decade.
posted by GatorDavid at 8:33 AM on July 14, 2009

I'm still mostly just a lurker. I try to post every now and then so I don't feel like a total bastard, however. Happy Birthday to the big blue.
posted by namewithhe1d at 8:33 AM on July 14, 2009

The.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:33 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Name: JtJ
Date of enlistment: 18 November 2004
Status: (Mere) Youngster
!
posted by JtJ at 8:33 AM on July 14, 2009

Is there a conversion for "people years" and "internet years"? Because so many websites die out quickly I fell that MetaFilter is more then 10 years old.

I figure Moore's Law applies, sorta kinda, making Metafilter well north of 64 years old in internet years.
posted by MrMoonPie at 8:35 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Previously (and previously and previously and previously and previously and previously and previously and previously and previously).

We got every anniversary but the first one. Drat.
posted by l33tpolicywonk at 8:35 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Now that's out of the way, some of those cats look like they could use a good declawing.
posted by Navelgazer at 8:35 AM on July 14, 2009

.
posted by Stynxno at 8:35 AM on July 14, 2009

10 years is a pretty impressive accomplishment given that the quality and ethos of the site have never declined, even as the sense of community has changed in many ways over the few years I've been a participant here.

(I know, I should been there back in the day. I get it.)

Congratulations to Matt and the other brass, and to us, somehow. It's a good thing this website exists.
posted by fourcheesemac at 8:36 AM on July 14, 2009

.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:36 AM on July 14, 2009

Oh Metafilter. Why can't I quit you?

You're just so freaking adorable. Happy birthday to both of us!
posted by gleuschk at 8:37 AM on July 14, 2009

Can't watch the video but we've been written up in the Globe and Mail.

Previously.
posted by ericb at 8:37 AM on July 14, 2009

Damn you, Stynxno!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:37 AM on July 14, 2009

*makes an enormous stack of celebratory pancakes with real maple syrup*

Happy birthday, MetaFilter!
posted by grouse at 8:37 AM on July 14, 2009

. . . . . . . . . .
posted by divka at 8:38 AM on July 14, 2009

*opens champagne with saber*

(Rusty) Bottoms up everyone!
posted by minifigs at 8:38 AM on July 14, 2009

If Metafilter is anything like I was, it's at the age where it starts huffing gasoline.
posted by The Straightener at 8:39 AM on July 14, 2009

I suppose it's a special occasion.


posted by cortex at 8:40 AM on July 14, 2009 [91 favorites]

Allons enfants de la Mefi,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
posted by jouke at 8:40 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

(Note: admin abuse. Do not try this at home.)
posted by cortex at 8:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Strange memories on this nervous night in Las Vegas on the Internet. Five years later? Six? It seems like a lifetime, or at least a main era... The kind of peak that never comes again. San Francisco Metafilter in the middle sixties late nineties was a very special time and place to be a part of. Maybe it meant something, maybe not, in the long run.

But no explanation, no mix of words or music or memories can touch that sense of knowing that you were there and alive in that corner of time in the world. Whatever it meant. There was madness in any direction, at any hour. You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. And that, I think, was the handle - that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail.

There was no point in fighting - on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. So now, less than five ten years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas on the Internet and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.
posted by prufrock at 8:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy 10th, MeFi! We've been together for a short time, but it's like I've been knowing you forever.
posted by _dario at 8:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY
posted by Greg Nog at 8:41 AM on July 14, 2009 [5 favorites]

In honor of metafilter's tenth birthday, I think we should get some statistics on:

Mine are a little harder to quantify but I'd still love to know:

6. How many hours I've spent reading this site. Seriously, I bet if it was all added up it could clear a full year.

7. How much of my knowledge is directly attributable to having spent the previous decade reading this site.
posted by quin at 8:42 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

.
posted by jewzilla at 8:43 AM on July 14, 2009

Also

MetaFilter: “community” is {not} just a euphemism for lettings commentators run amuck and calling it progress.


Paraphrased from the Ivor Tossel article in the Globe and Mail
posted by fourcheesemac at 8:44 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Metafilter, on this, the day of your birth. And may your first child be a masculine child.
posted by shmegegge at 8:45 AM on July 14, 2009

yay! party this weekend!
posted by seawallrunner at 8:46 AM on July 14, 2009

Oldie, but a goodie:

http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/funny-pictures-cat-wants-his-birthday-cake.jpg

Happy birthday, Blue.
posted by Mali at 8:46 AM on July 14, 2009

CAEK! Yay!

::pinches Metafilter's cheeks.::
posted by rewil at 8:46 AM on July 14, 2009

And someone clearly missed cortex's "do not try this at home" warning. En route to hospital for shrapnel from explodie img tags.
posted by Mali at 8:47 AM on July 14, 2009

Thanks for being a friend.
posted by AwkwardPause at 8:48 AM on July 14, 2009

Oh man, what do you get a website for a birthday present? Do websites like action figures?
posted by Del Far at 8:49 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ten years ago I read MeFi on a CRT the size of a microwave oven that took up my whole desk. Via dial-up. Now I'm reading and posting from a sleek touchscreen in the palm of my hand. Ten years from now I expect to be able to read the site simply by closing my eyes and holding my tongue right.

Thanks Matt, Jess, Paul, Josh et al. This site has entertained and informed me every single day (well, almost) for a decade. It really IS the best of the best of the web. Happy Birfday, FetaMilter!
posted by BitterOldPunk at 8:49 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Allow me to give the most MetaFilter-esque of all birthday greetings: meh.
posted by GuyZero at 8:49 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Piece on Metafilter in London's Metro.

Thanks Metafilter - I've learnt an incredible amount here over the years, and wasted an equally incredible amount of time. Thanks to Matt, pb and the mods for the incredible job they've been doing.
posted by catchingsignals at 8:50 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Anniversary, everybody! Everybody's gettin' lucky tonight!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 8:50 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday To You
posted by briank at 8:50 AM on July 14, 2009

Yay!!!! Happy birthday!!!!
posted by anniecat at 8:51 AM on July 14, 2009

I'm trying to find the thread where matthowie allowed a single blinking dot and everyone went apeshit with the spinning, flashing and otherwise obnoxiously awesome image links. *sigh* Miss those days... One Internet to whomever can find that thread.

Sketchzilla!
posted by brain_drain at 8:52 AM on July 14, 2009

I'm just here looking for a used car.
posted by porn in the woods at 8:52 AM on July 14, 2009

I celebrate this occasion the only way I know how: linking to the worst birthday music on earth.

(warning: terrible)
posted by sleevener at 8:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

When God gives you lemons, kill God.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 8:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [5 favorites]

,
posted by samsara at 8:52 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

REally??


posted by ZakDaddy at 8:53 AM on July 14, 2009

Bah. I was robbed. Happy 10th, all.
posted by ZakDaddy at 8:53 AM on July 14, 2009

Six more years till it can get a driver's license! Websites grow up so fast.
posted by starman at 8:53 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

That Metro article sums up Mefi perfectly:

"wonderful, smart and dedicated souls who hunt down the most interesting things on the web, then argue about them and make obscure in-jokes."
posted by Item at 8:54 AM on July 14, 2009 [6 favorites]

I'd be in favor of image tags for this one thread, if that's doable. :)

Happy birthday, from one of the fi-dolla noobs!
posted by Malor at 8:54 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday!
posted by sciurus at 8:56 AM on July 14, 2009

I freaked out, joined the Army, worked for the government, and went into business for myself... I'm a professional killer.

On preview: CheeseDigestsAll beat me to it. Happy Birthday!
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 8:56 AM on July 14, 2009

This site has been my main source of amusement, oddball information and time-wasting for FREAKING SEVEN YEARS now. jonson, if you see this - thx for the tip all those years ago.

Happy birthday MeFi and Matt, jessamyn, cortex, pb and vacapinta: thank you!!!
posted by widdershins at 8:57 AM on July 14, 2009

Yes. Yes. Img tag for this one thread!
posted by jouke at 8:58 AM on July 14, 2009

HELL YEAH CAPS LOCK DAY
posted by Sticherbeast at 9:00 AM on July 14, 2009

Ode to Metafilter

Your pages are so very blue,
your text so very white (or yellow) (or cream) (or gray)
I love to refresh and preview and post on a rainy day,
Because Metafilter, I love you,
I really do,
More than glue.
Or jbou.
posted by precocious at 10:48 PM on July 24, 2002 [+] [!]
posted by mippy at 9:00 AM on July 14, 2009

YAY!
posted by Jofus at 9:02 AM on July 14, 2009

I love all of you.
posted by the dief at 9:03 AM on July 14, 2009

Woot!

Here's my gift: a vibrating camera.
posted by CunningLinguist at 9:03 AM on July 14, 2009

Here are the best IMG tag-abuse threads, if you'd like to relive your Metafilter youth:

http://metatalk.metafilter.com/14809/A-moment-of-the-silence-for-the-IMG-tag

http://mssv.net/wiki/index.php/Beloved_IMG_Tag
posted by exhilaration at 9:08 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

That time again, huh? whoohoo!
posted by sunshinesky at 9:09 AM on July 14, 2009

MetaFilter has outlasted the web "magazine" where I first read about MetaFilter. (Yo, check out that awesome author profile photo at the bottom.)

I went away for a long time (AskMe had not yet been born then) because the MeFi was too addictive, and I was too busy. But I'm so thrilled with how it grew in the meantime, and the awesome amazing thing/place that it continues to be.

HAPPY BIRHTDAY!
posted by epersonae at 9:10 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy birthday, mefi and mefites. I love you more than the rest of the internet put together.
posted by notquitemaryann at 9:10 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy oh so happy birfday you MeFi you! Every time I read you my IQ goes up. AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!!!!~!1!
posted by tspae at 9:11 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, blue.
posted by ChrisR at 9:11 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy 10 us.
posted by lazaruslong at 9:11 AM on July 14, 2009

Yay I am wasting time at work to say happy 10th!! I was paid to post this!!!!
posted by Monster_Zero at 9:14 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, Metafilter.
posted by kldickson at 9:15 AM on July 14, 2009

Many happy returns of the day although it is, of course, a bittersweet occasion:

On Turning Ten
Billy Collins

The whole idea of it makes me feel
like I'm coming down with something,
something worse than any stomach ache
or the headaches I get from reading in bad light--
a kind of measles of the spirit,
a mumps of the psyche,
a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back,
but that is because you have forgotten
the perfect simplicity of being one
and the beautiful complexity introduced by two.
But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit.
At four I was an Arabian wizard.
I could make myself invisible
by drinking a glass of milk a certain way.
At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window
watching the late afternoon light.
Back then it never fell so solemnly
against the side of my tree house,
and my bicycle never leaned against the garage
as it does today,
all the dark blue speed drained out of it.

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself,
as I walk through the universe in my sneakers.
It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends,
time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe
there was nothing under my skin but light.
If you cut me I could shine.
But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life,
I skin my knees. I bleed.
posted by FelliniBlank at 9:16 AM on July 14, 2009 [7 favorites]

Happy Birthday! I need more coffee before I can say anything witty, but know that I mean it.
posted by raysmj at 9:18 AM on July 14, 2009

AND YOU SMELL LIKE ONE TOOOOO!


(don't forget, when tehloki favorites this post, we all get to make a wish)
posted by Spatch at 9:20 AM on July 14, 2009

Is this "Anniversary" something I would need a sense of time passing to understand?

Happy Birthday!
posted by dragstroke at 9:20 AM on July 14, 2009

Yay! Happy birthday!
posted by sveskemus at 9:20 AM on July 14, 2009

Metafilter 10 years: the theme song.
posted by iviken at 9:21 AM on July 14, 2009

It's five somewhere, dude.

If you're referring to the fact that it is in the 5th hour post meridian somewherethis is true. But it is not always any given time somewhere. The world marks time in jumps of 30 and 60 minute increments, except for Chatham Island.

This is my plate of beans. That is all.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:21 AM on July 14, 2009

A friend introduced me to MeFi when I was at university. Signups were restricted to, I think, twenty people a day starting at noon PST. For about a week I rushed home every day, trying to get one of those slots. I finally did, and I've been here ever since.

Happy birthday, Metafilter.
posted by emmling at 9:22 AM on July 14, 2009

Also: 10th birthdays are dull. I'm holding out for the Quinceañera.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:23 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

* cries *
posted by baby_jessamyn at 9:23 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Wow. Ten years ago, I was backwards, nerd-girl who couldn't cook and who had a bad boyfriend and a serious case of the boredoms.

Today, I'm a successful nerd-girl with a nice husband (since I DTMFA'd the bad boyfriend) who knows how to drive a stick shift, top steamed veggies, make sandwiches, and make my house smell good economically.

Metafilter has really turned my life around. Thanks, Metafilter! Happy 10 years!
posted by jeanmari at 9:24 AM on July 14, 2009 [6 favorites]

Is anybody still reading all the way down here?

Happy birthday, Metafilter! Thanks, Matt!
posted by rtha at 9:25 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Metafilter! If it wasn't for you, I'd probably have accomplished more in the last ten years, but enjoyed it less. Lemme give you a hug.
posted by jokeefe at 9:25 AM on July 14, 2009

I love you guys. See you at the party.
posted by waxpancake at 9:27 AM on July 14, 2009

i too posted in this thread
posted by Potomac Avenue at 9:27 AM on July 14, 2009

I had to post in this thread because it is this thread but it's clear that I am not original in my thinking.

YAY US!
posted by liquorice at 9:28 AM on July 14, 2009

So, if this is MetaFilter's 10th anniversary, does that make it the 15th anniversary of the Cabal? I should check my newsletter.
posted by eyeballkid at 9:29 AM on July 14, 2009

Ten years. Damn, and I thought this thread made me feel old.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:29 AM on July 14, 2009

When it began,
I can't begin to know when
But I know I've been posting long

Was in the spring, whooooo
And spring became the summer
Who'd believe you'd last so long

Links, posting links,
Reaching out
Filtring me,
Filtring youuu

Sweet Old Mefi!
(Oh Oh Oh!)
Old sites never seemed this good
(This good! This good! This good!)
I've been inclined
(Oh oh oh!)
To believe they never would

And now I,I look at the site, whoooo
And I don't feel so lonely
It's grown so far beyond the Blue, oh
And when I post
Replies from other posters
Tell me this is post number twooo

Flags, setting flaggs, reaching Out
Flagging me, Flagging Youuuuu

Sweet Old Mefi!
(Oh Oh Oh!)
Old sites never seemed this good
(This good! This good! This good!)
I've been inclined
(Oh oh oh!)
To believe they never would

Sweet Old Mefi
(Oh Oh Oh!)
Old sites never seemed this good
(This good! This good! This good!)
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:30 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Here are the posts from the early days of Metafilter. The link will only really work accuratelly for a short while until new posts push it back.
posted by exogenous at 9:30 AM on July 14, 2009

Hurf durf, celebrators!
posted by Ceiling Cat at 9:32 AM on July 14, 2009

Has nobody tried to actually revive cat-scan.com, or at least the concept? cat-scan.metafilter.com, perhaps?
posted by jabberjaw at 9:33 AM on July 14, 2009

What? I'm at the end and no cat scans yet? Yeesh.

Meet Oliver and Abigail.
posted by deborah at 9:34 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Kudos to the whole Metafilter team! And special thanks and kudos to mathowie. Awesome concept, executed with real staying power. Imagine a humane space on the web! It defies logic but must exist because of the effort of those who contribute to it daily, minute by minute. And of course, thanks MeFites for being some of the best of the web.
posted by artlung at 9:34 AM on July 14, 2009

Whoops, I realized that later, ericb.

Happy birthday to us!
posted by olya at 9:37 AM on July 14, 2009

I am taking the opportunity to re-read Be Safe And Smart on MetaFilter!, the undisputably greatest comic in the history of the Internet.

Happy birthday, Blue.
posted by Remy at 9:38 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

Aw, happy birthday metafilter! You're the best!
posted by Craig at 9:38 AM on July 14, 2009

Hippie Bathday!
posted by joelf at 9:38 AM on July 14, 2009

oh, i get it
OH I GET IT

man, don't you even know how fucking popular I am on the internet?
posted by Eideteker at 9:38 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Wooooo! Happy Birthday MeFi! And a huge thanks to the mods for making this place so damn special. I will celebrate by attending my first meetup this weekend!
posted by gofargogo at 9:42 AM on July 14, 2009

Thanks Metafilter for allowing me to remain at the same grade level at my job for 4 years (because I wasted so much time here, I could never be promoted)
posted by genefinder at 9:43 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, you crazy site!
posted by Caduceus at 9:46 AM on July 14, 2009

hooray!
posted by spilon at 9:46 AM on July 14, 2009

Yay! Happy Birthday, everyone! Hugs!!
posted by barrett caulk at 9:47 AM on July 14, 2009

Without Metafilter as a mostly-sane refuge, the rest of the web would be so fucking annoying. Happy Birthday, Metafilter.
posted by uncleozzy at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2009

I hate you all.

What? Oh sorry, thought I was somewhere else.

Yes, yes, happy birthday Metafilter! I love this place and almost all the folks here.
posted by marxchivist at 9:49 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, Metafilter!
[Thread, thread, and thread.]

Thanks to the people who made this happen. We all owe you one.
posted by bicyclefish at 9:51 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday!
posted by JeffK at 9:52 AM on July 14, 2009

MOAR CATS PLZ
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 9:54 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday metafilter!

don't know if anyones posted it already, but the original cat-scan.com is still available at the Internet Archive:

cat-scan.com from May 2001
posted by memebake at 9:54 AM on July 14, 2009

MeFi is now ten
And all I could get it was
This awful haiku

Happy freakin' birthday, MetaFilter!
posted by starvingartist at 9:55 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, Metafilter! Thank you for years and years of making office jobs tolerable.
posted by Space Kitty at 9:55 AM on July 14, 2009

Yay!
posted by dhruva at 9:58 AM on July 14, 2009

Wow. I was 11 when this shit went down. I feel old. Happy Birthday!
posted by symbollocks at 9:59 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday!
posted by Squid Voltaire at 10:02 AM on July 14, 2009

I've only been following along since 2002, when I found MeFi on a lunchbreak while temping for a large vehicular concern.

Happy birthday! Thanks for being interesting, and for not being blocked by Websense!
posted by britain at 10:03 AM on July 14, 2009

Metafilter is my one true friend. Happy birthday, friend.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 10:04 AM on July 14, 2009

I've got the BOTW,
On a cloudy day.
When it's cold outside,
I've got the Popular Favorites page.

Well, I guess you'll say
What can make me feel this way?
MeFi. (MeFi, MeFi)
Talkin' 'bout my MeFi. (MeFi)

I've got so many favorites
And my contacts linking me.
I've got my contributions listed
And I can view all activity.

Well, I guess you'll say
What can make me feel this way?
MeFi. (MeFi, MeFi)
Talkin' 'bout my MeFi. (MeFi)

Ooooh, Hoooo.

Hey, hey, hey.
Hey, hey, hey.

I don't need no Digg,
Reddit or Delicious.
I've got all the links, baby,
One man can browse.

Well, I guess you'll say
What can make me feel this way?
MeFi. (MeFi, MeFi)
Talkin' 'bout my MeFi. (MeFi)

Talkin' bout MeFi.
I've got the BOTW on cloudy day
With MeFi.
I've even got the Popular Favorites page with MeFi...
posted by allkindsoftime at 10:04 AM on July 14, 2009

Awwww. I'm supposed to be working right now.

you guys are the best. 6+MeFi 4evr
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 10:04 AM on July 14, 2009

Wiki: and is almostnow ten years old

edited.
posted by allkindsoftime at 10:05 AM on July 14, 2009

So many comments and not a single Mazal Tov yet? Or יום הולדת שמח? What a shanda!

Gotta go back and check out that SD Meetup thread, because, you know, I need more disruptions to my productivity.
posted by yiftach at 10:05 AM on July 14, 2009

You're only ten. I could still take you in a fight so don't be getting all uppity.

Happy Birthday, Metafilter.
posted by juv3nal at 10:07 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, Metafilter! I realize I've only been a member for a few months, but I've been a lurker for, um, at least five years! You're an awesome website! You're like how Usenet used to be -- full of smart people having smart discussions -- only with many fewer instances of bad ASCII art! Trust me, this is a plus! Hooray! I like exclamation points!
posted by sineala at 10:08 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy tenth, MeFi! I can't believe I've been around for eight of those years (lurker for the first year, member for the next seven), but at the same time I can hardly believe it's only been that long. You've been such a huge part of my life I know I take you for granted sometimes, but I love you.

What do you mean, I "never bring pay any attention to you anymore"? I posted to the front page just yesterday. Oh come off it, I don't know why it bothers you that I check out other websites. I mean, yeah, I post stuff to other web sites sometimes. How can you expect me to spend my every waking moment with you and to never even look at another website? That's just not fair. A web surfer has her needs. I don't expect to be the only person in your life. Look, you don't need to be nasty about the time I spend with "those bunnies". They don't trash talk you.

Oh God, do NOT bring that up. I can't believe you brought that up. Look, I made a mistake and double posted ONE TIME for crying out loud. How would you like it if I held grudges against you for being down sometimes? Yeah, yeah, I know you're way better at coping with all everyone's demands on you than you used to be. That wasn't my point. No, I'm NOT being mean to even say anything about it. I just meant... yeah, I KNOW you've got a lot on your plate. Yes, I noticed that you do something special for me every April 1st. I always notice. I just don't always think to mention it. I get busy too, you know. Lots of people make such a fuss over that I didn't think you'd care.

Yeah, well, you're not the only one who doesn't feel appreciated. You don't always answer the questions I ask you. And sometimes I work for hours on a post for you, and you barely seem to even read it, and then I make one random throwaway comment and you wig out.

Do we have to have this argument right now? I was trying to have a nice moment with you on your birthday. Fuck. Fine.
posted by orange swan at 10:08 AM on July 14, 2009 [18 favorites]

Dear Metafliter,
Thank you for all the education, all the things I've seen and all the ideas you've given me.
Happy Birthday!
posted by clockbound at 10:10 AM on July 14, 2009

There's nothing quite like wandering around with a 4 pound, 1 inch thick pentium II 366 that's network enabled.

That's right, mathowie, there's nothing quite like it.

Happy birthday, Metafilter!
posted by WalterMitty at 10:13 AM on July 14, 2009

Ok.... I get the 10 years link and it being the 10th Bday of metafilter but what is a cat-scan??? Honestly I do not know. Sniff Sniff... I fail epically at Mefi.

WAIT a second...... Don't tell me... Don't tell me (Light bulb in my head turns on! DING)....

Could it be because of this?

Say what you will but I am feeling very good about myself right now. I now have a vague idea what everyone is talking about! It's good to fit in :)
posted by Mastercheddaar at 10:13 AM on July 14, 2009

Welcome to CliffyB's Cat-Scan!

So that's what he did before Gears of War.
posted by eyeballkid at 10:14 AM on July 14, 2009

It's been a long time, hasn't it. I was surprised to see my name in the comments!
posted by pnevares at 10:14 AM on July 14, 2009

Oh yeah and also thank you Metafilter for everything.... Without you I would have to work 8 hours a day!
posted by Mastercheddaar at 10:15 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday. I can't believe it's been ten years in the blue.
posted by rodz at 10:17 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Metafilter! 10 years and untold billions of man hours down the drain!

I keed. Keep on meta, meta.
posted by ooga_booga at 10:19 AM on July 14, 2009

Ding! Gratz!
posted by bashos_frog at 10:19 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I joined a bit later then when Metafilter started, but it's still been a blast for the entire time I've been here. Happy Birthday!
posted by stoneegg21 at 10:20 AM on July 14, 2009

Man, the IMG tag was a power too great for us. It is best that such magic is lost to the world.
posted by absalom at 10:23 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Congratulations and many thanks to Matt!
posted by filmgoerjuan at 10:24 AM on July 14, 2009

We should buy cat-scan.com.
posted by Eideteker at 10:27 AM on July 14, 2009 [6 favorites]

I am reminded of Metafilter's age every time I log in: in the New Improved Internet Age, you cannot log into anywhere with just four letters.
posted by kozad at 10:28 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Metafilter, and thank you for my daily fix.

Semper Fidelis!
Semper MeFi!
posted by In The Annex at 10:29 AM on July 14, 2009

Metafilter: blue. Krishna: blue. Synchronicity or Gopi conspiracy?
posted by kozad at 10:30 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Joyeux anniversaire MeFi !!!!
posted by motdiem2 at 10:30 AM on July 14, 2009

happy birthday!

the sky is blue today -- nice touch, mathowie!
posted by gursky at 10:31 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy 10th, MeFi!! Still the first site I check every morning, right after my email!
posted by Oriole Adams at 10:31 AM on July 14, 2009

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Happy Birthday Mefi! You taught me that yes, that is indeed a cockroach. Thank you Matt, jessamyn, cortex, and pb for consistently keeping the site awesome! w00t!
posted by saturnine at 10:31 AM on July 14, 2009

HAP-PY ANN-I-VER-SA-RY!
HAP-PY ANN-I-VER-SA-RY!
HAP-PY ANN-I-VER-SA-RY!
HAAAAAAAAAP-PY ANN-I-VER-SA-RY!!!
posted by marsha56 at 10:33 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Undecuple Post!
posted by jeblis at 10:34 AM on July 14, 2009

It's a bit of a cliché, I know, but... Metafilter first showed me its potential on Sept. 11, 2001, when all the "real" news sites were down and nobody really knew what was going on.

When the Space Shuttle broke up over Texas, I got more info from ten minutes on Metafilter (on a dial-up modem!) than my mother-in-law had gotten from watching several hours of network coverage.

This is still the first place I go to get decent info on breaking news.

All the idiocy, Flash Friday, bitching, moaning, arguing, sillyness, etc. aside, this site is great and I love it for so many reasons (admittedly these reasons include the idiocy, Flash Friday, etc., etc.). Thanks, Matt, and here's to 10 more years of supplying us all with Procrastination Fuel.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:34 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

Man, the IMG tag was a power too great for us.

With great power comes great responsibility. Look, we can handle the great responsibility as well as any other 10-year-old. And Susie's parentsmoderators totally let her. Pretty please with Comic Sans on top?
posted by grouse at 10:35 AM on July 14, 2009

And after all this time, you have yet to tell me where I can find coupons for my orange juice.
posted by katillathehun at 10:36 AM on July 14, 2009

w0000000000t!
posted by ambulance blues at 10:37 AM on July 14, 2009

Yay, my first MeFi birthday party! Happy Birthday, Metafilter!
posted by daniel_charms at 10:38 AM on July 14, 2009

exogenous: Here are the posts from the early days of Metafilter.

It's weird to see mathowie posts without any comments, because 1) Matt's posts are usually fantastic and 2) his posts are usually full of annoying ass-kissers who say thinks like 'Matt's posts are usually fantastic.'
posted by shakespeherian at 10:38 AM on July 14, 2009 [3 favorites]

Sweet Old Mefi
(Oh Oh Oh!)
Old sites never seemed this good
(This good! This good! This good!)

new inning at fenway?
posted by djduckie at 10:40 AM on July 14, 2009

Memepool was better, and then it wasn't. Kuroshin seemed smarter, but it drowned in self-referential bombast. Metafilter stayed trueblue.

Thank you, Mathowie, for giving Metafilter the space to flourish.
posted by reflecked at 10:40 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Whoops. No more looking at the archives at work! Old links don't die, they just fade away into porn.
posted by Toothless Willy at 10:42 AM on July 14, 2009

HAPPY B-DAY MEFI !!

(btw i'm still pissed about this - meta - it was sooooo not a double XD)
(LOL 10MB)
posted by zenzizi at 10:42 AM on July 14, 2009

and now we do the dance of joy! :)

Happy Birthday and thanks for all the entertainment!
posted by jopreacher at 10:45 AM on July 14, 2009

If this something I would need to be a member of metafilter to understand?
posted by fuq at 10:45 AM on July 14, 2009

YOUOOOoooooooooo light up my LIIiiiiiiiife....

*mixes another celebratory G&T*

If MeFi did not exist it would be necessary to invent all of you. Which would be very difficult.

Happy Birthday!
posted by islander at 10:47 AM on July 14, 2009

CHARGE ME MORE MONEY, I DESERVE IT! C'MON BIRTHDAY BLOG!!
posted by gorgor_balabala at 10:47 AM on July 14, 2009

You know, I was like -- gosh -- there's quite a few Grosse Pointe Blank quotes here. And while I think it's one of the finest pieces of cinema ever created, I wondered how we suddenly had so many comments for it on one thread. I just saw the title. Great title. TEN!
posted by cavalier at 10:49 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy 10 year MeFi!
posted by cazoo at 10:50 AM on July 14, 2009

mippy said:
"Why do you summon Languagehat?"

"Every time I read that name I think of a hat embroidered with various friendly international words, doffed by an eager high school Spanish teacher."

I think of this guy.
posted by Araucaria at 10:50 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

thank you
posted by tawny at 10:50 AM on July 14, 2009

God, derail much? Take it to MeTa, people.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:52 AM on July 14, 2009

"Ten true summers we'll be there and laughing too"

Happy Birthday!
posted by rocket88 at 10:52 AM on July 14, 2009

Good on ya, Mefi, now give us ten more years. ;)
posted by disclaimer at 10:53 AM on July 14, 2009

Huzzuh, I say.
posted by twirlypen at 10:55 AM on July 14, 2009

Read along without joining for 3 years, missing the 30 minute window for 2 of them, gnashed teeth over some interminable outages, -- then day 2 $5.00 n00b, W00T, but I've been "here" for more like 8 now. I wish I could remember how I originally found the site.

You guys make me smarter instead of stupider, like the rest of the web.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:56 AM on July 14, 2009

"I've spent most of my life skateboarding"
posted by mathowie

Learn something new every day, dang.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:56 AM on July 14, 2009

Wow, 10 years! It's amazing to me that i have been lurking MetaFilter for almost that whole time, finally signing up for an account just a few weeks ago.

Thinking back, i believe i first discovered it in the summer of 2000, bored at work and looking for something online to distract me from the soul-crushing mediocrity of my workday. Reading this site was a light-bulb moment -- it instantly became a first-thing-in-the-morning bookmark for me and has remain such ever since.

I know that my life and mind are better for it, not just because of the fantastic things i have learned about and been entertained by via this site, but also because of the friendly, hilarious, lively, intelligent and enlightening conversations surrounding each post.

So, in that spirit, I want my first post to The Blue to convey my appreciation and gratitude to mathowie, the mods and the entire community for making this site what it is -- truly the best of the web.

Thank you & congratulations.
posted by khregs at 10:58 AM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Optamystic: "I had hair ten years ago. Now I am bald. I'm pretty sure it's Metafilter's fault."

You think that's bad? I was childfree and living in Manhattan; now I'm a suburban mother-of-two. I really should've read the fine print a bit more carefully.
posted by The corpse in the library at 11:06 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Birthday, Metafilter!
posted by FireballForever at 11:06 AM on July 14, 2009

The miracle that almost wasn't.

Re-reading this makes me want for us all to go back in time so we could have let Matt know that the best was yet to come.

Scary to think how close MeFi was to going away.

I'm so grateful to Matt for sticking it out, for putting up with us for all these years.

And of course to all the mods, cortex, jess, vaca and pb too!

Thanks guys !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great big sloppy hugs and kisses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted by marsha56 at 11:07 AM on July 14, 2009 [4 favorites]

Pastabagel: "I want this report on my desk in the morning. Thanks."

"It's sorta brown, with four legs, and there's two drawers on the right-hand side."
I can't believe how long I had to wait to get to make that joke.

Herzlichen Glückwunsch zum Jubiläum! And a lot of thanks to the people who made it all possible!
posted by PontifexPrimus at 11:07 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Matt's little project has made all of our lives a little bit richer. Thanks Matt and happy b-day mefi.
posted by caddis at 11:08 AM on July 14, 2009

Bad pithy harpy!
posted by Iridic at 11:08 AM on July 14, 2009

You lurked for 9 years?!
posted by jouke at 11:08 AM on July 14, 2009

ohhhh, ho'-to-cultuuuure.

Happy Birthday, Metafilter!!
posted by horsewithnoname at 11:15 AM on July 14, 2009

Gefeleciteerd Metafilter!!!!!
posted by Pendragon at 11:17 AM on July 14, 2009

Ten years. It's been a fucking roller-coaster. I feel sick. But I still can't get off. (Fnarr, fnarr).

Happy Birthday all...
posted by benzo8 at 11:17 AM on July 14, 2009

Whoa, oh, oh, oh
For the longest time
Whoa, oh, oh
For the longest--

If you said goodbye to me tonight
There would still be music left to write
What else could I do
I'm so inspired by you
That hasn't happened for the longest time

Once I thought my innocence was gone
Now I know the internet goes on
That's where you found me
When you wrapped your links around me
And I have been here for the longest time

Whoa, oh, oh, oh
For the longest time
Whoa, oh, oh
For the longest--

I'm that voice you're hearing on the nets
And you know what is best of the best?
It's how I need you
And how you needed me too
That hasn't happened for the longest time

Maybe this won't last very long
But it's been ten years
So I could be wrong
Maybe I've been hoping too hard
But we've come this far
And you're more than I hoped for

Who knows how much further we'll go on
Of course I'll be sorry when you're gone
Won't keep my distance
Won't forget this site's the nicest
You're gonna be here for the longest time

I was not sure where this would go
I said to myself
The net is dumber than you know
Now I know the website that you are
You're wonderful so far
And it's more than I hoped for

I don't care what consequence it brings
I have been a fool for lesser things
I want you so bad
I think you ought to know that
I intend to post here for the longest time

Whoa, oh, oh, oh
For the longest time
Whoa, oh,oh
For the longest time
Whoa, oh, oh
For the longest time
Whoa, oh, oh,
For the longest time
posted by Night_owl at 11:17 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday MeFi!
posted by hardcode at 11:18 AM on July 14, 2009

orange swan, I could have told you that getting into a relationship with a ten-year-old was a risky proposal at best, and set up to fail from the beginning at worst. And if Metafilter is female, Mark Regnerus thinks you should already be married, but we don't talk to him much these days.
posted by filthy light thief at 11:18 AM on July 14, 2009

I thought I signed up post-peak. I guess I was wrong. What a strange (and different and yet still awesome) place.
posted by norm at 11:22 AM on July 14, 2009

HAPPY BDAY!
posted by Hairy Lobster at 11:29 AM on July 14, 2009

I know for a fact that nobody reads the posts up there. But they read the posts down here.
posted by ardgedee at 11:33 AM on July 14, 2009

The corpse in the library - You think that's bad? I was childfree and living in Manhattan; now I'm a suburban mother-of-two. I really should've read the fine print a bit more carefully.

If we're going that route, then Metafilter made me gay. Thank you Metafilter! And おめでとう　ございます！
posted by ikahime at 11:37 AM on July 14, 2009

Cat-scan is where I come out from the woodwork to say hello to all the mefites. I've been a lurker since 2001. I finally was able to make an account in 2004 when the roles re-opened. I'm a daily reader and a lover of things meta but rather not get into the constant fracas.

So anyway, Happy Birthday Metafilter!

I will now go back to my hole in the ceiling watching ur internets
posted by JayG at 11:37 AM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy birthday, MetaFilter!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 11:37 AM on July 14, 2009

:)
posted by reptile at 11:38 AM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday MetaFilter, Thanks for all the smiles.
posted by BillsR100 at 11:40 AM on July 14, 2009

Congratulations, everyone!
posted by zennie at 11:40 AM on July 14, 2009

Maybe I'll repeat it one more time, now that it's appropriate: Guys, I love MetaFilter. (Warning: highly-caffeinated profession of affection.)
posted by skwt at 11:44 AM on July 14, 2009

I never knew mathowie was in the army. He probably shouldn't have told Jeremy Piven that he's a professional killer, though. Especially not on video. These things get out, you know.

Also, he looks a lot like John Cusack. How could I not have discovered that some time in these last ten years?
posted by brina at 11:44 AM on July 14, 2009

Woo Hoo!
posted by From Bklyn at 11:44 AM on July 14, 2009

Thanks, Matt. I'm glad your idea has blossomed into something that means to such to so many, and a living for you and others. All those sites with all that money that were supposed to re-define the web, where are they now?

Congratulations to you and the mods. Many happy years.
posted by sacre_bleu at 11:44 AM on July 14, 2009

WooHoo! WooooooHoo!
(I love parties)
posted by DaddyNewt at 11:46 AM on July 14, 2009

Once again, Cookie Monster has made my day.

(Also: TEN MORE YEARS. TEN MORE YEARS. TEN MORE YEARS.)
posted by sparkletone at 11:46 AM on July 14, 2009

Many happies, MeFi. This is my favorite web site, and I mean it. The wisdom of the ages, Jack.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 11:49 AM on July 14, 2009

happy birthday!
posted by xbonesgt at 11:49 AM on July 14, 2009

God. I've barely been around here for three years and it's felt like a lifetime. What is it like for the 1999 members (or those who are left, anyway).
posted by Navelgazer at 11:49 AM on July 14, 2009

How can anyone hate Jeremy Piven?

You forgot the "not." How can anyone not hate Jeremy Piven?
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 11:52 AM on July 14, 2009

:D
posted by zsazsa at 11:55 AM on July 14, 2009

I'll pile on. Yay!
posted by rainbaby at 11:56 AM on July 14, 2009

Link 404'd.

Try this one.
posted by spacely_sprocket at 11:58 AM on July 14, 2009

Hurf durf Metafilter. Needs more bacon. And maple syrup.

(Also, happy birthday Mefi! I have been lurking here since... about when Memepool ran out of new content. I finally coughed up the five bucks this year to become a member, but I have read something on Metafilter almost every day this millennium. Thank you, Matt, the moderators, and everyone in the community for building such a rich, deep, and intelligent resource.)
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 12:02 PM on July 14, 2009

Oh, Joyous day! Let Meta Filter prosper and her enemies soon stumble.
posted by milestogo at 12:03 PM on July 14, 2009

I for one, welcome our blue|grey|green|delete as appropriate overlords.

Happy Birthday MeFi!
posted by pharm at 12:04 PM on July 14, 2009

Grattis på födelsedagen, MetaFilter! Ja må du leva uti hundrade år!
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:06 PM on July 14, 2009

Hooray!
posted by Pronoiac at 12:06 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday you big blue beast.
posted by cortex at 12:08 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

+1(0)
posted by joeclark at 12:15 PM on July 14, 2009

A big fat "Happy Birthday!" from a twennyfi'-dolla noob. (No sockpuppets, just a policy of tossing five bucks into mathowie's hat on my MeFi-versary.) Thanks, #1, for making a place where smart people can hang out on the internets; and thanks, mods, for keeping it that way; and thanks to all of us, I guess, for the wonderful posts and comments which "are © their original authors".
posted by Quietgal at 12:18 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I read through three hundred comments just to find out that Marsha56 beat me to my own idea.

Happy etc. anyhow.
posted by evilcolonel at 12:20 PM on July 14, 2009

Thou Shalt Always Filter is worth re-visiting.
posted by theora55 at 12:20 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, dear Matt and thanks for all the good times!
posted by Lynsey at 12:23 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, MeFi.

Easily the best site on the web, and I really wish I had ponied up the $5 a year ago when I started reading instead of two months ago.
posted by spitefulcrow at 12:23 PM on July 14, 2009

.
posted by radiosilents at 12:26 PM on July 14, 2009

Here's to 10 more years of daytime distraction! Huzzah!
posted by Big_B at 12:28 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday! Thanks for all the awesomeness!
posted by ahdeeda at 12:29 PM on July 14, 2009

The light at the end of the .com bubble burst. Thanks Matt! Happy 10th, all!
posted by jwells at 12:30 PM on July 14, 2009

Oh man, the fun I have had reading some of the threads and general hi-jinx round here.

Sometimes I go back to old threads and re-read them just for how incredibly entertaining they are.

Anyhow happy birthday to one of the best places and some of the nicest, smartest, funniest people on the interweb. I know I would hate the web a lot more, if it wasn't for Metafilter.

Happy Tenth Big Blue!! See you guys on Saturday.
posted by Skygazer at 12:31 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy 10th, MetaFilter. You are one of the best parts of the whole internets.

Here's to the next 10.
posted by defenestration at 12:31 PM on July 14, 2009

Administrator, please hope us all.
posted by JHarris at 12:35 PM on July 14, 2009

i'm a cancer too!
posted by tarantula at 12:35 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, MeFi, and thank you for the enjoyment I've gotten out of reading you over the past 8 or 9 years. Thanks for the entertainment I've gotten over so many morning coffees, over all the breaks between classes I spent in a computer lab, over wifi in airport terminals waiting for a flight, and over many late insomnia filled nights. If MeFi suddenly disappeared one day, I'd quit the internet. Well, maybe not, but I'd give it serious thought at least.
posted by threetoed at 12:36 PM on July 14, 2009

When I get home tonight and am likely very drunk, I am going to favorite every motherfucking comment in this thread. A little birthday present to Mefites everywhere. Also, my girlfriend will be receiving some, er, extra attention since she is the one who turned me on to the blue. And because I will likely be very drunk.
posted by barrett caulk at 12:37 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

I forgot to mention the most important thing. The reason I like to come here, other than the reasons I mentioned above is because they're an extension of one person's patience and tenacity and wisdom beyond his years, and a guy I think of as my friend and someone who inspires trust, even though I've never met him, yet his warmth shines through. And I guess what I'm trying to say here is that Matt Howie is fucking awesome.

Congratulations Matt. Thanks for sticking it out. You're an inspiration.
posted by Skygazer at 12:51 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yahoo now has co-branding arrangements going on. I hate to see this trend continue, as I see it diluting the reputation of both companies. What's Pepto-Bismol got to do with teens having a fun summer? Anyone care to make the connection for me? What's next, Geritol sponsoring a site aimed at toddlers?

posted by mathowie at 5:59 PM PST - 0 comments - Post a Comment

GYOBFW.

Heheh. Couldn't resist, Matt. My how things changed over the years.
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 12:53 PM on July 14, 2009

Xst, I've been here for seven of those years. I need to log out or something.
posted by Ogre Lawless at 12:55 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, MeFi!
posted by rmannion at 12:57 PM on July 14, 2009

*pours out the Treaty of Westphalia for the dead homies*
posted by loquacious at 12:57 PM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Happy [tenth] birthday MeFi! Yay! Congrats to mathowie and everyone else!

Also, one thing I love about these yearly birthday threads is how all the n00bs come in wondering what the fuck catscan is about and how shit a post it is, or mention its a double or whatever. And then they get it. Great stuff.
posted by Effigy2000 at 1:00 PM on July 14, 2009

Hey, I gave you $5 to spend however you wanted. That's the only way I know how to show I care, man.
posted by maxwelton at 1:03 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday MeFi! You've taught me a lot. Mostly about how to more effectively waste time on teh interwebs, but still, it's been magic.

*sniffs back a tear*
posted by ob at 1:13 PM on July 14, 2009

I can't believe there are people who lurked for years. I think I lasted maybe a month before I ponied up my $5.

Happy birthday, Metafilter! You've improved my life in ways I can't even begin to calculate. All those hours I thought I wasted were worth it.

On preview, what ob said - tear and all.
posted by bristolcat at 1:15 PM on July 14, 2009

They call it a decade...
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:18 PM on July 14, 2009

.
posted by XQUZYPHYR at 1:19 PM on July 14, 2009

Yay!
posted by jessamyn at 1:22 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

yay - cake!

and fine wine. we want the finest wines known to humanity. we want them here, and we want them now!
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:25 PM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Thank you Metafilter.
posted by robot at 1:26 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday Metafilter!
I've (mostly) lurked here daily for the past eight years, and I love this place. Thanks to Matt and all the mods!
posted by ants at 1:30 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, Metafilter! I may not be the most prolific poster, but I've been here, as a lurker and then a member, most days for most of those ten years. And my life wouldn't have been the same without MeFi.
posted by sueinnyc at 1:31 PM on July 14, 2009

Is this something I would need to have a MetaFilter to know something about?
posted by chinston at 1:31 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, Metafilter!!!
posted by scottymac at 1:32 PM on July 14, 2009

and fine wine. we want the finest wines known to humanity. we want them here, and we want them now!

We are multi-millionaires!!
posted by Skygazer at 1:33 PM on July 14, 2009

I look forward to the imminent launch of MetaFilter 2: Electric Booga-blue.
posted by davejay at 1:36 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also, if you hosted this site in California, I think you'd be entitled to half of our earnings now.
posted by davejay at 1:37 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy brfday, Metafilter!
posted by Askiba at 1:45 PM on July 14, 2009

So a guy logs into MetaFilter and the bartender sez to him he sez 'Why so blue?'

Har har!
posted by mazola at 1:52 PM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Only Metafilter and the magic of the Wayback Machine can show us what was important 10 years ago.

Happy birthday Metafilter.
posted by jaybeans at 1:55 PM on July 14, 2009

Its really a shame that cat scan couldn't have been brought back up for just a few weeks in recognition of ten years of MeFi.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:00 PM on July 14, 2009

With a new baby, and a great new job I've been spending way too little time with you, Metafilter. You got me through the Bush years, you've inspired me, you've entertained me, you've given me new lifelong friends, my life is very obviously better because of you. Happy Birthday, all.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 2:04 PM on July 14, 2009

Wheeeeee!
posted by subbes at 2:08 PM on July 14, 2009

Despite its legendariness, I had never actually seen cat-scan before. Wow. I don't know if I'd call it NSFW, but it certainly does bring the "What the hell are you looking at?" stares.

Also, ten years! Hooray!
posted by maqsarian at 2:10 PM on July 14, 2009

without you, i'm nothing. well nothing but a hideous lurker.

well not so hideous, I do go on and on and on about most of the stuff I read here.

respec' innit.
posted by you're only jung once at 2:17 PM on July 14, 2009

Two whiskeys in and I should warn y'all of the possibility that it could turn into one of those (rare, but they happen) drunks that turn ugly. In which case I may flag every comment in this thread and not move on, posting a MeTa call out for every comment. Also, my, er, extra attention is met with a bottle of lotion tossed roughly at me, followed by the slam and *click* of the bedroom door. The laundry pile inhabiting the couch is shoved onto the floor and the night ends pathetically there. Through the hot thickness of the next morning I experience pangs of shame, sharp but indistinct. Over cold coffee and repressed retching I wonder Does my blanket apology to Metafilter cover Lauryl, too?
posted by barrett caulk at 2:17 PM on July 14, 2009

Frankly my money was on cat-scan.com to outlive MetaFilter but who can predict the future?
posted by mazola at 2:19 PM on July 14, 2009

but who can predict the future?

I can. I predict hangovers on 7 continents Sunday morning.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:25 PM on July 14, 2009

I lurked for a long, long, time. Then I joined. Now, I still mostly lurk. But, today, I comment.

Thanks, Matt for making this happen
Thanks, jessamyn, cortex, vacapinta, and pb for making it work.
And, thanks to all you prolific posters and commenters that make all the lurking worthwhile.
Happy birthday to Mefi, truly best of the web!
posted by qldaddy at 2:27 PM on July 14, 2009

There is something so poetic that this is listed as having 404 comments. Oh how many times have I clicked a link that brought me directly back to the page it linked from? Recursive joy, that.
posted by OrangeDrink at 2:32 PM on July 14, 2009

Now, when I get to heaven, first thing I'll do.
When I get to heaven, first thing 'awm do.
When I get to heaven first thing I'll do,
Pull out my horn and call old Blue...
posted by pianomover at 3:01 PM on July 14, 2009

So a guy logs into MetaFilter and the bartender sez to him he sez 'Why so blue?'

Because he hasn't found the professional white background option yet?

Alternatively he could "Make It Start"!
posted by ZeroAmbition at 3:06 PM on July 14, 2009

Aw, now I'm all emotional.

(I've only been here three years? The fuck?)
posted by Phire at 3:07 PM on July 14, 2009

We have cat-scans.
posted by holgate at 3:07 PM on July 14, 2009

MetaFilter's own Anil Dash tweeted:

Congrats to @mathowie on starting MetaFilter ten years ago today! The web needs more communities run by thoughtful people.
posted by lukemeister at 3:08 PM on July 14, 2009

Congrats Matt and all. Happy birthday mefi, the only site I've visited daily for nearly ten years. Not sure what that says about either of us but there you go.
posted by twistedonion at 3:10 PM on July 14, 2009

Yeah, count me as one who lurked for a very long time before finally opening an account. I'm not really a joiner. But I've probably been around for 7 or 8 of these years. MeFi has been the first link in my browser toolbar for all that time. Man.

...I used to play a MUD that kept track of your total login time, and it was a little disturbing to see how many man-hours I'd spent there, all tallied up. I shudder to think what my total would be for MeFi.
posted by shadow vector at 3:11 PM on July 14, 2009

You are all over-thinking a plate of beans.
posted by Kevin Sanders at 3:19 PM on July 14, 2009

*pours a 40 oz on the ground for his absent-from-the-thread-account-disabled homies*
posted by eyeballkid at 3:20 PM on July 14, 2009

My favourite band [of merry internet rogues] does not suck.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:23 PM on July 14, 2009

eyeballkid,

Keep your 40
I'll just have an Earl Grey tea
posted by lukemeister at 3:25 PM on July 14, 2009

<Dan Brown> :-) X! </Dan Brown>
posted by rongorongo at 3:28 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Birthday from the UK....
posted by Mintyblonde at 3:31 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

wouldn't it be awesome if everyone with an account posted in this thread? like a 10th anniversary guest book?

and thanks to everyone for being here.
posted by msconduct at 3:35 PM on July 14, 2009

Dan Brown's new thriller, The Lost Symbol Mefite: The Cabal Does Not Exist - Or Does It?
posted by lukemeister at 3:44 PM on July 14, 2009

A moment of silence for the uncommented threads.

.
posted by mazola at 3:52 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

woo!
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:12 PM on July 14, 2009

HBD MF
posted by rahnefan at 4:15 PM on July 14, 2009

lessee I joined in 2003, so, thats 6 years. More than half. It really doesn't seem like that long ago, but ah, it was.

Congrats to everyone for making this place as awesome as it is. Woot.
posted by Antidisestablishmentarianist at 4:36 PM on July 14, 2009

I love it here. Thank you, everyone, so much!
posted by milestogo at 4:37 PM on July 14, 2009

Ten years of MeFi and a clip from my favorite movie ever? GodDAMN yes.
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:38 PM on July 14, 2009

Last!
posted by idiomatika at 4:45 PM on July 14, 2009

We would like to invite you all to Our private party celebrating ten years of nonexistence, but there isn't one.
posted by the Cabal at 4:47 PM on July 14, 2009

Also, it's Bastille Day.!
posted by lemuel at 4:49 PM on July 14, 2009

Pretty sure this is a double. Also, I saw this on boing boing like 11 years ago :P
posted by Mister_A at 4:56 PM on July 14, 2009

Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Pancake Pancake
Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Oolong Pancake Pancake

GREY GREY IT'S THE GREY
posted by elfgirl at 4:59 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

We would like to invite you all to Our private party celebrating ten years of nonexistence, but there isn't one.

You know,what, YES there IS a Cabal. There I said it. Yes, the Cabal exists and plays the underpinnings of Metafilter like so many harps. Controlling and managing the flow of the Meta to the Filters.

I know this because I have seen beyond them. The actuality behind the cabal. The front behind the front behind the cover up. If you'd seen what I have seen, you'd believe in the Cabal too, just our of sheer psychic self-preservation. I've seen the thing that calls it self Mathowie, the various inhuman and uncomprehending energies and *lengths* and *widths* that are called pb. I have witnessed such things, both with my eyes and other things that are not like seeing, but are even worse.

Relive in the Cabal. The truth is so much worse.
posted by The Whelk at 4:59 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy birthday!

I've been traveling all day today from New England to the Northwest and am currently in the amazing new Seattle main library. I'm so excited about the 18th it's not even funny. Actually, it's a bit funny that I'm so excited about a website's birthday, but ha ha funny, not peculiar funny because THERE'S NOTHING PECULIAR ABOUT A MAN'S LOVE FOR HIS FAVORITE WEBSITE!
posted by Kattullus at 5:00 PM on July 14, 2009

Also, it's Bastille Day!

Pours a bottle of Merlot for General Lafayette.


Dude was down with us, you dig?
posted by The Whelk at 5:01 PM on July 14, 2009

Congrats to @mathowie on starting MetaFilter ten years ago today! The web needs more communities run by thoughtful people.

Twitter's character limit cut off the rest: "Until then, at least we have MetaFilter."
posted by davejay at 5:01 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Actually, it's Bastille Day that was on the occasion of the -210th MeFi anniversary. I heard things got a bit out of hand at the Paris meetup, but it was great fun nevertheless.
posted by _dario at 5:03 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday Metafilter. Though only an occasional commenter, I can say in all honesty that you have enlightened my life over the past decade more than any other website. And almost got me fired in the process.
posted by anagrama at 5:03 PM on July 14, 2009

Welcome... to zombo.com.
posted by Evilspork at 5:03 PM on July 14, 2009

Are things possible?
posted by The Whelk at 5:04 PM on July 14, 2009

Three cheers for Metafilter!

HIP HIP ...
posted by nonspecialist at 5:07 PM on July 14, 2009

HOORAY!
posted by nonspecialist at 5:07 PM on July 14, 2009

HIP HIP ...
posted by nonspecialist at 5:07 PM on July 14, 2009

HOORAY!
posted by The Whelk at 5:08 PM on July 14, 2009

Whickawacka firecracker sis boom bah! meta filter! metafilter! rah rah rah!
posted by The Whelk at 5:08 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy 214th birthday La Marseillaise - ♫
posted by tellurian at 5:08 PM on July 14, 2009

HIP HIP...
posted by Mister_A at 5:08 PM on July 14, 2009

HO-RAY!


I wish I had a Ho Ray.
posted by The Whelk at 5:09 PM on July 14, 2009

Both the internet and I are better for it.
posted by kosem at 5:10 PM on July 14, 2009

HA-woOOOOOOSH!psnfrbnml...

'scuse me. Got a gold.
posted by nonspecialist at 5:11 PM on July 14, 2009

Also my French is now good enough that I can almost follow La Marseillaise. And I'm reading Edith Wharton's French Ways and Their Meaning, which is just a treasuretrove of early 20th century attitude. Why did we pull away from France? They've been our bestest friends since forever. The English sided with the Confederacy, after all, trying to do that divine and conquer thing they do so well with colonies. Plus, um, War of 1812? They burned down the White House! Is a common language enough to make people bestest buddies? Even Hilter was shocked when we sided *with* the British as opposed to "getting back at them". Ah well, history is funny.
posted by The Whelk at 5:14 PM on July 14, 2009

so, do we all have to make a comment on this thread?
great.
posted by sexyrobot at 5:17 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!!! umm... Happy Birthday!!!!!!!!! I love you, website, I really do.
posted by h00py at 5:19 PM on July 14, 2009

DELETE PIVEN DOUCHE IMMEDIATELY - HE CAUSES TOXIC SHOCK AND EPILEPTIC SEIZURES.
btw - saw him in "Speed the Plow" and unless tuna has ecstasy and coke in it as well as mercury he is a lying, bad acting sack o shit.
posted by hooptycritter at 5:20 PM on July 14, 2009

Yes.
posted by spiderskull at 5:22 PM on July 14, 2009

Thanks for existing, Metafilter.

I don't have much to contribute but I do have a scanned cat butt. And that's enough, I think.
posted by bobobox at 5:25 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

One of my friends is 60 today.
So yay MetaFilter, congrats mathowie, hugs for the mods:
50 more years!
posted by bru at 5:31 PM on July 14, 2009

MetaFilter saved my life. I am not kidding. Without MetaFilter there is a very good chance that I would be a homeless junkie. I won't go into detail as to why, but if you were there you would understand.
posted by mediocre at 5:34 PM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Oh, I should add.. I won't name names, but after my moment of desperation, several MetaFilter community members were saintly and made an investment in my future that I will never gorget or not feel indebted for. Knowing that there were people who cared enough to take a vested interest in my future gave me the strength I needed to pull myself out of the mire and better my life. Thank you, MetaFilter, for saving my life.
posted by mediocre at 5:37 PM on July 14, 2009

Uh, I have a horsey.
posted by The Whelk at 5:41 PM on July 14, 2009

Ah poop, the cake's all gone.

Is there any beer left?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:46 PM on July 14, 2009

Nope, but there's this bottle of purple stuff. It used to be fizzy, but someone left the lid off.
posted by nonspecialist at 5:50 PM on July 14, 2009

stav, buddy, how are...
s good to see you man i'ma a... gimme a hug, er'one needs a hug, even got the shirt says that and..
you know i love you ma.. oh shit,
fuck i din't mean a spill that on your shirt i
o
fuck

gotta puke...

lrgrrrradbbbllllallalaagh.....
posted by eyeballkid at 5:57 PM on July 14, 2009

Does anyone feed the ghosts down here?
posted by milquetoast at 6:00 PM on July 14, 2009

Hey, I found some brownies. Anyone want a brownie? Don't know who brought them, they're tasty though. Some kind of mystery ingredient, too ... basil? oregano, perhaps? dunno.

Hey, is that couch breathing?
posted by nonspecialist at 6:01 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, blue!
posted by MythMaker at 6:01 PM on July 14, 2009

I've totally got an album you guys gotta hear, one seconds...
posted by The Whelk at 6:13 PM on July 14, 2009

HappyBirthday MetaFilter.
posted by effwerd at 6:22 PM on July 14, 2009

many thanks to Matt and the Mods, this place is amazing!
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:23 PM on July 14, 2009

Per cent'anni.
posted by shoesfullofdust at 6:24 PM on July 14, 2009

but who can predict the future?

I can. I predict hangovers on 7 continents Sunday morning.

Ha! That's where you're wrong! Monday morning, here!

(although a hangover on Sunday morning too is not beyond the cards, to tell the truth...)
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:24 PM on July 14, 2009

Got off my lawn you bastards!

Oh wait... erm


HAPPY BIRTHDAY
posted by edgeways at 6:27 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday! 10 years old, so that's what, 5th grade? Seems about right sometimes.
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:27 PM on July 14, 2009

I am posting in the ten year anniversary thread. This is me, posting. Here I am. Hello.

I am at a ten year anniversary meetup right now. Present at the meetup is myself. Hello. It is nice to meet me. Have a drink. Thank you, I believe I will.

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPP HAPPY HAAPY AHPY AYPHAY AHYHY APHAYHP AYPHAY HAYHP AYHPAYHPA YPHAYHPAY!!!!!!!
posted by ook at 6:50 PM on July 14, 2009

When I joined the website back in the fall of 1999, I managed to read every article and comment posted six days out of the week. I think that lasted about six months before I couldn't really keep up any more.

It's been both an educational and entertaining (almost) ten years for me here. Hopefully I'm still around lurking for another 10.
posted by darainwa at 6:53 PM on July 14, 2009

I came for the Kaycee Nicole. I stayed for the Miguel Cardoso. Thanks you Metafilter for making my Internet tubey.
posted by cephalopodcast at 6:54 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ten years of wasting my productivity. I love this place.
posted by casarkos at 6:55 PM on July 14, 2009

This thread was great, but now it's just filled with HIPsters.

MeFiCliché with shitty pun bonus, go!
posted by defenestration at 6:56 PM on July 14, 2009

I came, I saw, I lurked...and baby, my mind blew open. Still the best thing I've ever found on the 'tubes. Thanks, everyone. Here's to ten more. Think I'll go buy a MeFi shirt to celebrate.
posted by Bron at 6:58 PM on July 14, 2009

*raises a toast*

To Metafilter, and its great mods. Love you guys.

*guzzles champagnetea*
posted by Alnedra at 7:05 PM on July 14, 2009

Remember, MetaFilter?

Remember gun-running in Antigua? Those steamy nights in the jungles of Uruguay, fleeing for our lives, you from the Cartel and me from the CIA? The hearts we broke, the bottles we recycled? Those days of thunder when we could do no wrong? Remember?

Some say those years of addiction and debauchery in the wastelands broke you; I say they molded you, refined you, made your inner light shine like an iPod Touch at a Jonas Brothers concert. And oh how you have shined, MetaFilter. The accolades, the prizes, the song dedications on NPR, our lunch with the Mandelas at the White Castle.

But do you really remember, MetaFilter? What has our time together meant after all these years? Did we really cheat death at the hands of Billy Bob Thornton just to retire in splendor in Barbuda? Remember with me, MetaFilter, and come back to your senses. Return to your roots, your true self.

Lock and load, MeFi. Time to be a revolutionary again. I'll be waiting in the hovercraft.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:12 PM on July 14, 2009

Bastille Day: old and busted.
MetaFilter Day: the new hotness.

Wikipedia says the first Fête de la Fédération in 1790 included a four-day feast, fireworks, and running naked through the streets. Surely we can top that, MeFites!
posted by Quietgal at 7:14 PM on July 14, 2009

I think this website is a good website
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:21 PM on July 14, 2009

I've lurked and read MetaFilter since...oh...about 2003 I guess. I decided to pony up the $5 and get a user name today. Happy Birthday Metafilter! Excellent site...it has brought me much enjoyment over the years.
posted by MultiFaceted at 7:38 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

MetaFilter, you so crazy.
posted by danb at 7:38 PM on July 14, 2009

I like it here. Yay, MetaFilter!
posted by sarahnade at 7:44 PM on July 14, 2009

What a crappy post; one link to something nonsensical.












I'm kidding.

Thank you for this.
posted by ambient2 at 7:58 PM on July 14, 2009

Ohhhh me so swampy
posted by pianomover at 8:00 PM on July 14, 2009

Wait, isn't this Plastic.com?
posted by 40 Watt at 8:15 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, from one of the fi-dolla noobs!

Happy birthday from one of the 2004 new-member-lottery freeloaders!
posted by armage at 8:17 PM on July 14, 2009

I miss Paris-paramus.






Just kidding! I don't!

"This is your Birthday Song, It isn't Very Long."

Happy B-Day
posted by Balisong at 8:24 PM on July 14, 2009

THE WALLS ARE MELTING!
posted by mrgrimm at 8:25 PM on July 14, 2009

[This is good]
posted by painquale at 8:27 PM on July 14, 2009

A temptingly tasteful comedy for adults who can count.
posted by Feisty at 8:34 PM on July 14, 2009

I hope that Miguel and Ethereal Bligh and amberglow and all the other ghosts of Metafilter's past apparate for this thread. They were the reason I started reading the site.

We've got a ship of Theseus thing going on here, but the quality of the site has never diminished.
posted by painquale at 8:36 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Anniversary, MetaFilter! You're older than a plate of beans that I might overthink.
posted by medium format at 8:54 PM on July 14, 2009

Ah, sweet memories of insomniac meandering. . .

I waited and read, and waited and read, and finally got my own sweet $5 metafilter shanty on the outskirts of town. Then I waited and read some more and one sweet day, finally posted, immediately embarrassing myself.

And now I lurk mostly, and love from afar so many of you, aglow in my bedroom at 3am or nestled secretly between my pivot tables and Groupwise on lazy weekday afternoons.

Here's to 10 more years of public humiliation, insomnia, and poor performance reviews. HAPPY BIRTHDAY METAFILTER
posted by flotson at 8:59 PM on July 14, 2009

Every now and again, I think about that moment, 10 years ago, when my buddy said; "Check out this site, there seems to be some neat shit" what would have happened differently had I ignored him.

It's weird when you can identify a specific moment when things started to change. Nothing you noticed at the time, but when you look back over the the many comments, you can see a different person there at the beginning.

And you realize, 'Man, that guy was a total wet blanket. No wonder I locked him in that trunk.'
posted by quin at 9:03 PM on July 14, 2009

I hope amberglow doesn't show up.

He sent me a book a few years ago, and I never mailed it back.
posted by yhbc at 9:17 PM on July 14, 2009

Damn, but I miss amberglow.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:21 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday to the only website that can make me change my mind.
posted by zinc saucier at 9:29 PM on July 14, 2009

I would like to point out that monkeys are funny.
posted by elfgirl at 9:42 PM on July 14, 2009

OK, if we are going to catalog mefites we miss, I miss:
amberglow - hugely, more than anyone ever on the site
troutfishing - always made me think, one of the best political posters on mefi
quonsar - always made me laugh, truth to power, truth to posers
daviddark - oh yeah he could make a liberal squirm
ikkyu2- House always had the goods
paris paramus - how anyone could go from screaming liberal to robot conservative with just a few planes into manhattan I can't figure, but somehow I still dug him
dios - although he isn't really gone, he just doesn't come in and provide reality as much as he used to do
and then, there is the one really big hole in mefi, the hole that has never really been filled, and the person who perhaps helped make this place so popular with his wit and being perhaps the most articulate and well spoken writer on the web - Miguel Cardoso

(so it is super late at night and I probably missed a few, but jeez, the people really helped to define this place in the day)
posted by caddis at 9:54 PM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

I'm trying to remember exactly when I saw the site for the first time. I was trying to get my own blog software running and it kept failing to meet my standards, and the Pyra crew was doing a few things that looked interesting, and probably a link from Ev or Meg sent me here. Matt was taking it up and down and changing things and of course, nobody was commenting yet, so it looked a bit quixotic and unformed. Then Pyra released Blogger to the world (now, I think I was informally a beta user, but that may be an exaggeration -- it was more like Ev knew I was interested and invited me and a few others) and I just went off with my Lake Effect thang for a while.

But I kept coming back, and more to the point, other people started showing up and actually giving mathowie some comments love.

And then somebody -- the record shows it may have been Steven C. Den Beste, but in my heart I suspect it was jonmc in a thread lost to time -- said something, and I had to respond.

Wow.

Um, cats, you say?
posted by dhartung at 9:55 PM on July 14, 2009 [2 favorites]

Happy birthday Metafilter -- best of the web, always.
posted by diocletian at 9:59 PM on July 14, 2009

It's funny because cat-scan has this other meaning. It involves scanners, but not cats. The other one is metaphorical. This one is literal. It's usually the other way around. But not this time. And there's really not so much to debate, even thought the topic comes up every year. For a reason unrelated to cats and scanners, but it is worth noting nonetheless.

Also, I want this thread in my Recent Activity.
posted by iamkimiam at 10:01 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy birthday, MeFi. I still remember the day I discovered you (prowling the bookmarks of my research advisor's laptop.. hehe...). I've since grown with your advice and wondrousness. Thanks for the community, the links and the love!
posted by samthemander at 10:07 PM on July 14, 2009

once i went to a meet-up and was too shy to say hello to anyone. once i went to a meet-up and was fed strange snacks in a bar by jonmc. that...perfectly illustrates my mefi personal growth. someday when metafilter becomes self-aware and eats all of our brains, i will consider it an honor to be one with all of you.
posted by th3ph17 at 10:08 PM on July 14, 2009

Enough hinting, th3ph17, consider yourself E-spoused.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:19 PM on July 14, 2009

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck
posted by fungible at 10:21 PM on July 14, 2009

jouke: "You lurked for 9 years?!"

I've been lurking nearly 8. I know I had started reading prior to 9/11 because I remember sitting in my cube that day hitting reload reload reload.

BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? FUCK YOU ALL! I'LL CUT OFF MY OWN HAND BEFORE I COME BACK TO METAFILTER! YOU ALL SUCK!
posted by Rat Spatula at 10:28 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also, why is Metafilter run by topless furries in Boy Scout uniforms?
posted by Rat Spatula at 10:30 PM on July 14, 2009

Damn, maybe I should go dark for months on end. Help the mythology, so to speak


*DO DAH DUM DAH DUM DAUH dododododododo*
posted by The Whelk at 10:40 PM on July 14, 2009

It's impossible to find tops for those uniforms in our sizes, basically.
posted by cortex at 10:41 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy birthday to my favourite site on the net. Matt, what you have created is just amazing and has bought so much to our lives. Congratulations and thanks for all the links. I'll be celebrating with two cats and a scanner today ;)
posted by Jubey at 10:42 PM on July 14, 2009

Been lurking since 2003/04, was able to pony up cash for an account only in 2005. I think it was my first purchase on the net, a few months after I got my first credit-card. :-)

This is perhaps contrary to the Mefi Way (tm) :-D, but Mefi was, and still is, the only web-community where I don't mind wading through long discussions without me reacting violently. Posts here are opinionated as elsewhere, but threads taken as a whole are rarely wrong; I find that most of the points I want to make have already been made by people smarter or more experienced than me.

Also, there's a lot of brain-fodder out here that you just can't get anywhere else; lots of posts on things that I am interested in (or can be convinced I am interested in) :-)

Happy Birthday, Metafilter!

_{Also, saved up the 600th comment for this. :-)}
posted by the cydonian at 10:48 PM on July 14, 2009

I'll be celebrating with two cats and a scanner today ;)

Well, I'm celebrating with two scats and a canner. To each his own.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 10:49 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Through a Rat Scatter Darkly
posted by kozad at 11:02 PM on July 14, 2009

And I'm celebrating with two scouts and a spanner.

Wait.
posted by UbuRoivas at 11:11 PM on July 14, 2009

I lurked for, I don't know, six or seven years maybe? Because I was in school and broke and I was all like screw that, I'm not paying for something on the internet. Also because actually participating in something on the internet seemed really creepy. Which is funny, because I am actually pretty creepy myself. Then I wasn't in school or broke but it took a very long time begin to recover from four years of training to communicate using only illegible sentence fragments and Latin abbreviations. But once I could form sentences again and I joined it still wasn't that fun until I went to a meetup and realized that y'all actually existed.
posted by little e at 11:12 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ten years! And to think -- if humanity had evolved with 12 fingers and toes, this would have been like any other day on Mefi. Um, excepting the fact that human history would be radically different and Metafilter probably wouldn't even exist.

Anyway, thanks to the mod squad and Mefites everywhere for proving that the internet can be consistently intelligent and fun, for providing touching, fascinating, and brilliant commentary on so many difficult issues, for showing me all sorts of amazing things I never would have seen anywhere else, and for giving me enough teary laughter to probably significantly extend my lifespan (IANADs be damned).

Happy birthday, you magnificent bastard.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:16 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Oh, for fuck's sake. What a fucking n00b! I didn't realize there was a 'favorite limit for the day'! Pony request? Fuck that for this thread? I made a promise in good faith, and now the rules make me out to be a punk? Happy Tenth, indeed. Heh. Probably shoulda read the FAQ. Jeez-us. I guess it's time to for, er, extra attention. Oh shit. She's asleep. Hug?
posted by barrett caulk at 11:22 PM on July 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

Uh, I have a horsey.

Neigh.

Start at the beginning! And when you come to the end we can start again.
posted by The Whelk at 11:26 PM on July 14, 2009

Happy Birthday, MeFi. It's been a good long while. Thanks for being there.
posted by carsonb at 11:28 PM on July 14, 2009

And I'm celebrating with two scouts and a spanner.

You're an Engineer?
posted by elfgirl at 11:31 PM on July 14, 2009

I might be a little late in saying this, but DTMFA.*

* Decennialize The MetaFilter Already
posted by Rhaomi at 11:33 PM on July 14, 2009

I just want to add my $0.02 worth.

Hippo Birdie two Ewe.
posted by Jumpin Jack Flash at 11:33 PM on July 14, 2009

So, we have moderators now? And it costs money to join? And why is the background continually changing colour?

Happy 10th mefi.

I think I still owe some people a swap disc. Sorry. I should probably get on that.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 11:51 PM on July 14, 2009

This thread is making me happy. I was really hoping that I could make the NYC anniversary party my first meet-up, but I have a different good friend whose 30th is on the same day, and friends who are not websites win birthday tug-of-wars. I'll be on a boat cruising around Manhattan while you guys are doing whatever you do at 10th anniversary parties, but I'll be sure to raise a blue drink of some sort in your direction. Preferably a flaming one.
posted by painquale at 11:57 PM on July 14, 2009

_{Errr, not 600th post. Haven't been sleeping well over the past few days.}
posted by the cydonian at 11:57 PM on July 14, 2009

I'm pretty sure I got here through dhartung (although it may have been Azrael) who I got to through zannah who I got to through Blogger's recently updated list, when such a thing still existed. So it's, er, Blogger's fault? (It's Evan's fault, he broke the 'Net. He's very sorry.)

I am a little mortified to find that my first comment included the phrase "begs the question". My activity levels since then have waxed and waned, but it's always a fun, interesting, thought-provoking place to be.
posted by elfgirl at 12:12 AM on July 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Is this "10th Birthday" thing something I'd have to use Metafilter to understand?
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:12 AM on July 15, 2009

Thanks Mefites, it's been a solid decade of fun. Sometimes it even vibrated. And of course, here's the wayback machine version...cat-scan.com.
posted by dejah420 at 12:35 AM on July 15, 2009

Happy birthday, Metafilter!
posted by Inkslinger at 12:49 AM on July 15, 2009

You're an Engineer?

I'm a wha?- oh, yes, officer, that's it, exactly! An engineer! I thought you said "A homicidal paedophile!" Boy, this flu sure is playing tricks with my hearing! Now you understand why there's all this gaffer tape & power tools lying around my bedroom...
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:04 AM on July 15, 2009

Whee! Happy birthday, MetaFilter! Can't believe I've lurked on this site for so, so many years.
posted by tickingclock at 1:20 AM on July 15, 2009

So long as nobody links to scat-can.com, we should be fine.
posted by davejay at 1:46 AM on July 15, 2009

scat-can ^
posted by UbuRoivas at 1:56 AM on July 15, 2009

It's silly that I am so attached to a website and a bunch of crazy people I've never met, but this place really has had an impact on me.

When I first came across Metafilter, I was a conservative, evangelical Christian. I was on the leadership team for Campus Crusade for Christ at my university, and was the house manager at the "Crusade House," the christian not-quite-a-frat-house headquarters for the ministry. I had been involved with churches, bible studies, ministries and youth groups since I was a kid, and carried the same mentality and political views as most of the fundamentalist right-wing.

One of my houemates had Metafilter up on his computer. I don't remember the thread or topic, but I remembered the site. I would check back occasionally to find some goofy website, or a fun new flash game, but once in a while there would be a thread with serious discussions. Discussions on topics on which I was very opinionated, and yet here were people poking holes in my arguments and making me see things from a different point of view.

A year or so later, I was able to join the website myself. A couple years after that, I found myself at a very difficult time in my life, and because of Metafilter, I was open to solutions and answers that I had been previously considered out of the question.

I've come a long way as a person since I started reading Metafilter. I don't consider myself a christian anymore. Not that it's a good thing or a bad thing, but certainly a path that I never would have taken if it hadn't been for MeFi. Still, I think I'm a better person for it. So thanks to the people who make this site a great place to call home on the web. Thanks for keeping the discourse intelligent and challenging even after 10 years.

And thank goodness I didn't find FreeRepublic first!
posted by sambosambo at 2:27 AM on July 15, 2009 [10 favorites]

[This is always good]
posted by gi_wrighty at 2:57 AM on July 15, 2009

Happy tenth birthday, Metafilter ...

Ooo mathowie, what is your site worth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
they say on Fark that the lulz come first
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?

While my coffee brews
I open tabs for green, grey and blue
then I close the blinds
so I won't risk going outside

then I sit and read the threads
that went up after I went to bed
I've never been punched in the dick before
but that's not true anymore

Reading MeFi's the best thing about work
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
to stay on BoingBoing, post steampunk first
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?

When I hit the door
I load my profile, check my favorites score
then I look and see
what's new in Recent Activity

On this site we're just beginning
to get spammed with scams of giving
I've never disposed of a body before
but that's not true anymore

Was sixcolors or Krrlson worse?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
they say that Freepers can't count to first
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?

On this site we're just beginning
to end our callouts with forgiving
I never ate a placenta before
but that's not true anymore

Who knew polygamy could cause such mirth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
why don't I score favorites when I post FIRST?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
no website does more to filter my surfs
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
they say that Mefi puts the web's best first
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
why can't MeFi be a place on Earth?
posted by EatTheWeak at 3:11 AM on July 15, 2009 [4 favorites]

<3
posted by sleep_walker at 3:17 AM on July 15, 2009

!

(That's the opposite of a period-only memorial, where I use a single character to indicate that I feel positive without actually writing anything worth reading.)
posted by mmoncur at 4:04 AM on July 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was pregnant when I first came here via "mijn kop thee" . A webblog that is gone. But Metafilter stayed in my favorites. Like my email, I visit it a couple of times a day. Elliot is soon eight! He knows when the screen is blue, there is no way he can ask to play "need for speed". Screen blue means Lego/ play by yourself time here.

I lurk mostly, my English is just not good enough in writing. But I have enjoyed every minute of reading. Thank you metafilter, the mods for all the fun hours.
Hartelijk Gefeliciteerd!
posted by kudzu at 4:44 AM on July 15, 2009

I'm so late to this party, but I feel I should say something...

Happy Birf-day Metafilter. Been a paid member since 2002, but lurked for a year or so before that. Still pretty much a lurker. This is a great site. Here's to 10 more and 10 more after that!
posted by snwod at 6:12 AM on July 15, 2009

Happy birthday Metafilter. Best of the web in content and spirit.
posted by AD_ at 6:18 AM on July 15, 2009

Happy 10th birthday! Here's to 10 more years :-)
posted by Quiplash at 6:52 AM on July 15, 2009

painquale,

Wait, you have friends who are not websites? Social butterfly!
posted by lukemeister at 7:42 AM on July 15, 2009

I missed posting yesterday as I was 35,000ft above the Atlantic ocean, so Happy Day After Your Birthday, MetaFilter. There's some cake left over in the fridge, if you can stumble over there through your hangover.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:51 AM on July 15, 2009

Sweet Old Mefi!
(Oh Oh Oh!)
Old sites never seemed this good
(This good! This good! This good!)
I've been inclined
(Oh oh oh!)
To believe they never would

Thanks for this. I have "Sweet Caroline" (the Elvis version) as my ringtone and now it's 10x more awesome.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 7:57 AM on July 15, 2009

I can't believe there are people who lurked for years. I think I lasted maybe a month before I ponied up my $5.

MeFi is an engaging and enjoyable read even if you don't participate. I visited for at least 4 years before MeFi wore down my resolution not to join any more timesuck sites. I suppose many people also lurk because they find the level of discourse on Metafilter to be extremely intimidating and/or pretentious, but I'm just grateful to have a place where I don't feel the need to abridge my inner thesaurus.
posted by zennie at 8:32 AM on July 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

.


oh, wait, I mean HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
posted by HumanComplex at 8:35 AM on July 15, 2009

I'm just grateful to have a place where I don't feel the need to abridge my inner thesaurus.

I'd pay good money for a t-shirt with this tag-line. :-)
posted by the cydonian at 9:31 AM on July 15, 2009 [3 favorites]

I'm pretty sure I came here through friends-of-friends who were active on Memepool (not a link, but maybe a discussion on Zephyr*). I'm sure I was lurking during Kaycee Nicole discussions and 9/11.

Then I went through a time in my life where I was experiencing a lot, and reading AskMe I realized "Hey! I have experience that I can relate now!" So I succeeded in giving my $5 (Paypal sucks, but I beat it) and here I am.

Every day since, MeFi has given me more knowledge and thoughtful, honest opinions than anywhere else. And now I am proud to go to meetups and say "WHY YES, I AM FROM THE INTERNET."

*look at my geek cred bitches!!
posted by sarahnade at 11:04 AM on July 15, 2009

Goddamnit, even my black heart melted.

Read this one for me and then have something to eat.
posted by solistrato at 11:24 AM on July 15, 2009

Happy birthday y'all.

I lurked here for pretty long before I joined, and it fed my brain in a time of famine.

Anyone in Bashkiria for a last minute meet up? I'll bring Scotch!
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 11:44 AM on July 15, 2009

Read this one for me and then have something to eat.

Complaint about old-timers and in-jokes. Shrill demand for inclusiveness.

<img>image of small rabbit overtaken by baked goods</img>
posted by elfgirl at 2:39 PM on July 15, 2009 [1 favorite]

Happy Birthday Metafilter! I love the birthday thread.
posted by msali at 2:53 PM on July 15, 2009

I haven't read it. It's probably funny.
posted by swift at 6:17 PM on July 15, 2009

Probably. I should read it too.
posted by flatluigi at 1:44 AM on July 16, 2009

carry on
posted by NekulturnY at 6:42 AM on July 16, 2009

I mostly lurk but I always love.

Thank you Metafilter.
posted by She Kisses Wyverns at 6:52 AM on July 16, 2009

"What's that blue site you're always reading?"

Many thanks to Matt and to all.
posted by secretary bird at 9:02 AM on July 16, 2009

Man, we're gonna hafta have some massive, epic, bridge-burning multi-post flameout to balance out all the love and hugs going on now.
posted by The Whelk at 9:05 AM on July 16, 2009

I'm working on it.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 9:39 AM on July 16, 2009

Yesterday, I caught myself trying to explain an in-joke inside an in-joke to someone. Tonight, I get to take another stab at trying to explain meetups to my wife.

I think I should quit my life & just live at my computer -- all this explaining is just too time-consuming.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:44 AM on July 16, 2009

Also. I miss cat-scan.com. catsinsinks.com isn't bad, but it's no cat-scan.
posted by Devils Rancher at 10:46 AM on July 16, 2009

Well, I've never been this late for a party before (drains the last of the flat beer from a few discarded bottles and frees the last cat from under the scanner lid).

I just wanted to stop by and say

ZIPPITY-BOP!

to everyone. Delighted to see that the much-summoned languagehat beat me to it.

Happy 10th birthday MeFi, thanks to mathowie and the mods for many years of enlightenment and entertainment.
posted by penguin pie at 1:21 PM on July 19, 2009