Eventually, neither. You just start to see it as part of the design. Keeps things tidy.

"More inside" = "if we let all you wannabe-wordsmiths run your mouths the site would be a goddamn mess."
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 6:33 PM on July 14, 2008

*squeals with delight*

This is going to be so great.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 7:04 PM on July 3, 2008

To be fair, though, any time I see people go off on the tired "piracy isn't theft, it's copyright infringement" diatribe, it makes me want to beat them with their copies of The Fountainhead and stab them in the eye with their Ron Paul buttons.

I don't think very much of Objectivism or Libertarian politics. I make my living producing entertainment software - probably the most copyright infringed category of electrons with the exception of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 8:02 PM on July 3, 2008

Oh shi-
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 8:08 PM on July 3, 2008

I think you will live to regret doing this, although I hope not.

Dude! Maybe you don't like the feature but that's no reason to wish he was dead.

Sheesh.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 7:18 AM on June 29, 2008

LOW-fi dot MEH-fi, goddamnit.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 2:00 PM on June 27, 2008

Any system of criminal justice or reconciling civil disputes that is beyond the understanding and practice of the common man will become a tool for oppression to a corresponding degree.

America isn't the worst that human history has seen, but it's pretty goddamn awful.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 11:17 PM on June 15, 2008

Argyle:

Join a 50 person pure-deathmatch server. It's a clusterfuck, but the one spawn in 8 that you manage to survive more than ten seconds (immediately run backwards so the follow-ons spawn in front of you) will almost guarantee you 8-10 headshots with any weapon.

A few hours spent slogging through that will EASILY max out any and every achievement/stat.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 3:09 PM on June 6, 2008

Note: this only applies to PC COD4 users, as they are the only ones with access to sweet, sweet 50-person old-school deathmatch leveling farms.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 3:11 PM on June 6, 2008

I dunno loquacious. I mean, you and I both know (at least, I know and I think you know) that there isn't any Ultimate Justice to be had out there.

Also, if you think you don't care for S@L, count your lucky stars you never had his little Eichmann ass as your IRC admin. I can't believe, in retrospect, that I agreed to pwn #bunnies for him way back when.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 8:11 PM on May 28, 2008

And no, S@L was definitely not PP - unless that person (in the PP guise) was doing a brilliant job at faking mild technical incompetence.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 8:37 AM on May 29, 2008

From Cortex's second link, enter the following:

Select * from askme_posts where comments > 300

post_id	user_id	date    	time  	        comm    favorites
7812	14200	2004-06-08	21:12:53	402	0
27155	27799	2005-11-13	12:11:29	303	64
47757	36205	2006-10-02	18:20:16	752	172

posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:16 AM on May 27, 2008

Those of you who don't know SQL should be able to modify my query above to formulate your own, btw.

"askme_posts" is the table being queried (tables are the words in bold in the bottom section of the page)

"comments" is the variable within askme_posts that is being compared to 300. Member variables for each table are the words listed under the bold text.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:24 AM on May 27, 2008

This seems like the sort of post where a few serious links discussing the topic of age/generational divide between the (presumptive) nominees with the jokey link as the stinger would work, no?
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 12:34 PM on May 13, 2008

This might be computationally prohibitive, but why not keep track of the number of four-letter-or-more words in comments by an account?

Have a variable for each account called, say, FourLetterCount
Each time the user posts a comment, as part of the parsing of said comment the number of unbroken groupings of more than four letters is added to the current value of FourLetterCount. This keeps updates to that variable down to a once-per-comment operation.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 6:14 PM on May 12, 2008

*uses remaining hand to douse self in gasoline*
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 8:21 AM on May 12, 2008

Krautland sums it up. This reads like a noob, not a spammer.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 6:10 AM on May 11, 2008

Saturday, huh?

Hell with it, I've got nothing else going on that weekend.

Anyone who wants to carpool 2+ hours from the Boston area in an old red Saturn 2-door coupe that drives way too fast is hereby offered a ride. Limit of 3 people.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 6:15 PM on April 27, 2008

Could we add this to the sidebar?
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 5:53 AM on April 29, 2008

Parking's a pain but doable as long as you're willing to flout the law (not a problem with a motorcycle) or pay up (as in $20)
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:49 AM on April 11, 2008

Oh, and I will definitely be there.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:53 AM on April 11, 2008

That was really cool. By my count we broke 40 people around 8:30 PM - I'm pretty familiar with the Boston meetup crowd and there had to have been 20 people I didn't know there.

We gotta have a bigger / more open venue if we ever approach this size again.

Which we should attempt in the not-too-distant future.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 9:27 PM on April 26, 2008

see how long you can hold a conversation without mentioning video games (which I promptly lost).

I think I'm gonna need a handicap to play this one in future meetups.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 9:42 PM on April 26, 2008

pb's photos are up.

Thanks, pb, this is really going to help my run for office.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:47 AM on April 27, 2008

Kattullus: Mrs. Plutor was there (not a mefite, I think) which brings us to 42.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 9:28 AM on April 27, 2008

I would go farther and probably attribute it to one of the sexsexworld crew; probably TEDA or jewboy, but the exact origins would obviously require more research.

Didn't SSW import it from Fat Chicks With Party Hats?

I thought the meme originally came from there before being popularized by SSW. If it's original to SSW then yeah, my guess would be The Explosive Diarrhea Avenger - although, you were a lot closer to all this stuff than I was.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 3:42 PM on April 21, 2008

I feel pretty confident that people only ever read Jerk City because there was nothing else to read back then, webcomics-wise.
posted by shmegegge at 2:36 PM on April 22

You would be wrong. Jerkcity is all that is best and worst of IRC chat around 3 or 4AM, blended and distilled. I know a LOT of people who would tell you the same.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:08 PM on April 24, 2008

Pretty sure it came out of the SA Forums, as so much used to before they took their precipitous plunge into irrelevance.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:15 AM on April 22

Nah, sorry. Fishfucker pretty much nails it: POE largely predates SA and along with its satellite communities originated far more memes of this sort than most people realize. SA's great and all, but people mistake popularizing the modern... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:12 PM on April 24, 2008

Languagehat: ten seconds of poking says you're firewalled. It's less than ideal, but no biggie.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 12:49 PM on April 20, 2008

I don't get it.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 12:57 PM on April 20, 2008

I miss those days, MPDSEA . . .

[Begins to tell a story]

Way back in the early days, around '96-97, when you installed the AOL client it replaced Microsoft's default TCP/IP stack with its own custom one. A custom one that went several months (years? quite possibly) without a certain cute OOB data error being fixed. I remember being 16 years old, sitting in #everquest on EFNet about a month before release when the channel had 300 people in it,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:18 PM on April 20, 2008

Dude, it's right there:

wit wɪt
–noun
1. the keen perception and cleverly apt expression of those connections between ideas that awaken amusement and pleasure.
2. speech or writing showing such perception and expression.
3. a person having or noted for such perception and expression.
4. understanding, intelligence, or sagacity; astuteness.
5. Usually, wits.
a. powers... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:12 PM on April 18, 2008

Fucking hell.

I'm unavoidably in NYC that entire weekend. God fucking damnit. Have a good time, kids.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 7:48 PM on March 19, 2008

2.5 hours from Boston?

Dude. I have made it to my parents' house in Albany, from Quincy, in 2.5 hours. And that's just sticking to 17.5 miles over the limit.

Oh. Avoiding the Pike. Well, that's different - do you want to do so intentionally?
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 5:39 AM on March 20, 2008

This question is a plant. The first two paragraphs alone make that exceedingly clear.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 7:46 AM on March 14, 2008

I play Maraleth and Strait (pet named 'OutaCompton') on Doomhammer Alliance
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 12:55 PM on March 11, 2008

My feeling is that if you've gone to all the trouble required to truly cloak your self-link, then I can live with glancing at whatever has you *that* passionate. You've jumped through that many hoops? Sure, what the hell - here's my 60 seconds.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:50 PM on March 9, 2008

I could use some late-stage nursing and I think you're probably just the guy to do it

Wow.

. . . wow.^*




*Not 'just wow' because that implies I'm mocking the speaker. This is a case of jaw hitting floor.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:54 PM on March 9, 2008

People are stupid.

Also, lazy.

Which causes them to make cynical generalizations.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:49 AM on March 4, 2008

So? Then don't favor the beliefs of one group over another. Is someone trying to force you to?
posted by languagehat

Yes! I am trying to force him too. It's quiet, stealthy, and the end results will not manifest for millenia (I'm going to have hook him up with some life-extension technology), but rest assured, I will force him to favor the beliefs of One Group over Another.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 5:16 PM on February 28, 2008

quonsar?? I thought you were dead, man (or had closed your account, same thing).
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 5:55 AM on February 25, 2008

I am interested in reading and participating in discussion about the American election in exactly one place on the internet: Metafilter.

And that's just it. I *do* want to obsess over all the minutiae of this election with all the very bright political analysis Metafilter consistently musters.

I think tkolar's joke about creating a politics subsite that locks you out of posting anywhere else is actually very close to the mark... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 7:40 AM on February 22, 2008

If it's so easy and great, why aren't you doing something similar?
posted by Brandon Blatcher

Because I don't have access to Mefi's codebase or DNS records. If it's not official, you automatically wipe out the vast majority of your potential userbase.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 8:13 AM on February 22, 2008

SeizeTheDay:
Holy shit, calm down. I think you really, really missed something or are wildly misunderstanding my suggestion.

Like many people in this thread, I'd like an election/politics subsite. I'm just suggesting a way Matt could do it that might yield a good return-on-investment (of time, on his part).

Considering that a sizable fraction (9 for, 12 against as of this comment) of the people above indicated that they would like... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:09 AM on February 22, 2008

SeizeTheDay:

Restating once again - I'm asking Matt to do all the work for a) a pipedream shared by many people AND b) profit. Not just for me.

And while I'm on the topic, Matt profiting is good for Metafilter's overall continued excellence. As I told him way back when he thought I didn't like him - I want to see him make as much money off this site as he possibly can *without* fucking with my user experience, because that means good things for all of us.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 10:47 AM on February 22, 2008

I'm pretty sure it's broken, as "fuck" only returns 83 of my 3000+ comments.

I mean, 83? Bull-fucking-shit! I say the word 'fuck' on Metafilter more than 83 times a *week*.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 3:10 AM on February 19, 2008

Holy foxy moxie batman!:

Before I became an atheist, I HEAVILY plumbed the depths of 'Creation Science' - it is breathtaking, in a sad sort of way, how adroit they are at conjuring explanations that leave a tiny window open for Biblical literalism.

God created the Heavens and the Earth? Sure, but it doesn't say HOW he did it. Could have been the Big Bang.

God created everything in 7 days? Sure, but how does an... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 4:10 PM on February 17, 2008

dydecker: Sure, but if there is a God (which cannot be disproven), isn't he free to interfere with aging?

There's actually this massive pile of bullshit built up around the idea that the cause for Noah's flood was some huge 'water vapor canopy' which blocked UV and thus helped reduce aging.

. . . Goddamn. Fuck you for making me remember all this crap.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 4:13 PM on February 17, 2008

No, no, I liked your original better.
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 4:30 PM on February 17, 2008

dydecker: I don't really dispute that part of Scientology because it's not outright disprovable. I cannot *prove* there aren't thousands of Thetan spirits clinging to my body right now.

I *can* prove in a reasonably straightforward manner that the Universe was a singularity around 13.5 billion years ago. The Bible doesn't make an exact claim to the age of the universe. Scientology does, and it's directly falsifiable.

Do you understand the difference I'm getting at?
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 4:46 PM on February 17, 2008