All you need to do now is provide a mechanism to visually remove the posts from a user's AskMe page when it has been tagged as resolved--less noise for those looking to help out. Only took Matt two years to see the light of reason on this one.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:37 AM on June 19, 2008

I hardly ever visit MeTa, but I felt inclined to stop on over because I wanted to say exactly--I mean, word-for-word--the topic of this post.

Thanks, Matt et. al.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 2:50 PM on June 5, 2008

There's no way the plane could have taken off if the conveyor belt was indeed moving in the opposite direction at the same speed as the airplane's forward thrust. If the plane moved forward at all then the experiment was a failure, because clearly the conveyor belt wasn't matching the forward velocity of the plane, which was the whole premise to begin with.

That, or the question was something completely different than what I originally thought.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:09 AM on January 31, 2008

Or maybe not. Crap. I guess I should just watch the video, huh? Where's that youtube link, anyway?
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:12 AM on January 31, 2008

Everyone knows it's what's under the desk that really counts. And I think I got ya'll beat there.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 1:41 AM on January 17, 2008

Also...

"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does a clean desk signify?"

Something to hide. My entire office at work is comprised of a desk, a computer, and acres of empty desk space interrupted by a single notepad--the same one I've had for two years running. I use it solely for meetings where I need to look like I'm paying attention. The desk drawers--all ten of them--are completely empty.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 2:01 AM on January 17, 2008

taken out of context your photo looked like it was the wall of an entire room, and those were HUGE MACHINES

The one on the left is huge, but not that huge. I wish I had an action shot when the system is testing the I/O of the array, though. It's enough to instill fear in epileptics.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 7:47 PM on January 17, 2008

I'd just like to thank the OP for this thread, because I missed the video of the two chickens breaking up a bunny fight the first time around.

Look at this funny video that relates to Chewbacca.

WIN!
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:21 PM on November 21, 2007

Portland is great, it's right on the ocean and is really lovely with all the foliage this time of year!

That goes for both of them!
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 2:55 PM on October 6, 2007

Cillit Bang and Orthogonality's SQL help is still being used by our primary internal application (banking software).

Many polyglots are to be thanked for helping a poor govt. entity demonstrate some semblance of effort with regard to helping non-native speakers.

My other questions were more informational, so the resolutions are the same (now I know...) and the efforts to answer still appreciated.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:58 PM on October 5, 2007

Wow, I just came over here to MeTa to post a request that HTML characters be more intelligently converted in AskMe answers, and here someone has beaten me to the punch. It is exceptionally annoying to have to convert every left and right angle bracket to its HTML entity.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:37 AM on August 14, 2007

Why not just add the parameters to the search form on the page? There's nothing you can do about stuff that's already been indexed except wait (and wait, and wait). But for the users of MeFi, it would be nice if the search box had the exclusion parameters hard-coded in hidden fields on the search form.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 5:23 AM on August 2, 2007

I was worried about posting in Jobs, because what I have to offer may not be very attractive to someone looking for a job, but it might appeal to someone looking for a paid distraction.

If it involves the exchange of money for services rendered, it probably belongs on Jobs. But I agree with Cortex: use AskMe to get a better understanding of what you're looking for so you can use the right (buzz- or not) words in your Jobs post.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 5:21 AM on August 2, 2007

because Metafilter.com, AKA "The Green," is considered the front page of MetaFilter, whereas AskMe, MeTa, Travel, Jobs, etc. are considered subsites

No, that's incorrect. It's called a Front Page Post to separate it from the posting you do once inside (aka comments). The term goes farther back than AskMe, to when the MeFi Global Empire was just a tiny outcropping of rocks in the turbulent seas of the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 5:15 AM on August 2, 2007

Uh...

Nothing to see here, move along...
You've stumbled upon a non-existent post, or one that was deleted for various reasons.

Might want to verify the ID exists in the database (in this case, 68059) before trying to select it.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:04 AM on July 27, 2007

the next morning, the first thing my cousin said to me was, "that guy with the camera was pretty creepy, wasn't he?"

That's the single biggest problem with using a SLR. The cost of being able to look through the lens is that you have to lug around a giant body and look like a paparazzi. This is why Leica is so popular with candid shooters: they allow you to be unobtrusive and still shoot at the crazy-large apertures you'll need for low... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:53 AM on July 21, 2007

Also, the f1.2L ain't got shit on the 24mm TS-E.

But even these are mere common goods, unfit for our worship. If the 1.2L was made by gods, surely the Nikkor 105 f/4 UV was made for the gods.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:06 AM on July 21, 2007

Matt, a recommendation:

Make the default search location use the preferences in the user's profile.

If they're not logged in, or don't provide a location, just default to whatever you're currently defaulting to. But if you already have coordinates, it seems trivial to make it default to your proximity.

Now watch as this comment is sucked into the MeTa aether and is promptly forgotten, until another year's time when someone comes up with the bright idea.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 2:35 PM on June 3, 2007

Also, from the job advert:

Experience with Struts, Hibernate and MVC design pattern helpful;

Struts suuuucks, dude. Stripes is where it's at. It's dead-simple to incorporate Hibernate and/or Spring if you like, it uses components like Tapestry (but simpler), layouts for reuse (much easier and more intuitive than Tiles), and it's just a single JAR with practically no dependencies. Oh yeah, and no XML configuration files.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 2:42 PM on June 3, 2007

User zudfunck asks what a certain type of blog is (omitted to avoid generating any extra traffic). Zudfunck's website (in user profile), links to precisely this type of blog, going so far as to have a definition of what that blog type is in the right nav bar, and links to the type of blog's home page.

I don't think the CEO of the company is involved, just because they're located in different places (at least according to WHOIS). Still, it feels weird a bit strange, as... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:18 AM on April 22, 2007

Also, to clarify my overzealousness, I personally find corporate confidence artists and marketeers more loathesome than some random user that takes a bunch of pictures and links to it on the front of MeFi. At least the latter guy had good intentions, bannable as they are. I'd just hate to see this place fill up with pseudo viral posts and comments to shill another goddamned "product" that we all just have to buy.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:27 AM on April 22, 2007

OK, Matt, I'll put out the torches and hang up the nooses.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:37 AM on April 22, 2007

I guess ruthless self-promotion is so commonplace today that people get genuinely confused when they're called out for it.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:54 PM on April 22, 2007

From Sgt. Sandwich's link:"Times sure have changed," says the 52-year-old Kurtagh. "Everyone is so into themselves and blind to anything beyond their immediate needs."
Not like the '70s when life was a trip, the world was cosmic and revolution and rebellion against anything that smacked of authority was celebrated.I don't know, what with the ever-changing definition of the word, if this constitutes irony or not, but I think it's pretty funny,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:57 PM on April 22, 2007

Also, I do feel a bit guilty harshing a 50-something's buzz. But, dude, read the guidelines, man.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:58 PM on April 22, 2007

Any time an actual authority on something that was posted pipes up, I'm for adding it to the sidebar. This community is what makes MeFi great. Not just the good comments, but the composition of its userbase. It's not quite the Well pre-Salon, but it's still one of the best online.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:42 PM on April 17, 2007

I never wanted to have to deal with errors when someone spends an hour writing a comment or post, only to have their operations die because the session is over.

Then extend the session lifecycle to a couple of hours. Storing the username and password in a cookie is just asking for trouble. Anything of value should be on the server--the only thing the user should have is a hash that points to their session, ideally tied to an IP address (also in the session).
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:08 PM on April 15, 2007

I thought ColdFengshui was an application server? Doesn't it have the ability to keep session data?
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:42 PM on April 15, 2007

Christian Bale gained something like 100 lbs of muscle in 6 months for Batman Begins after transforming himself into a repulsive skeleton for his role in The Machinist. Check it out - unbelievable!

Fuuuuuuuuuuck!
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 7:45 PM on April 10, 2007

I mean, what real purpose does it serve?

It serves to act as a giant circle-jerk for new parents' irrational, unreasonable fears. Just throw the kid in a closet with an unlimited supply of sanitizing gel and green vegetables until they're 18. That'll keep 'em safe.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:40 PM on April 9, 2007

So between 1/4 to 1/2 of children will experience sexual abuse.

This is such unmitigated horseshit.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 9:18 PM on April 9, 2007

I'm glad you wrote this call-out and not me, though I was sorely tempted, because I knew there'd be a bunch of people with lame senses of humor that would come to defend the genius of fart jokes.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:32 PM on April 9, 2007

That game totally ate my last night. I'm tempted to play again, except for a couple of things, the biggest being the "doubloons -> pieces of eight" conversion crap. They really, really, really want you to buy doubloons, huh? That kinda sucks.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:41 PM on April 2, 2007

One long thread where people offer their own stupid questions? Fuck that. I want the same questions, each in their own thread, with comments enabled. I had some good answers for the kitten question(s), dammit!
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:23 PM on April 1, 2007

I got a sneak preview of the last LOST episode and the part where Jack's legs get eaten by a polar bear is really confusing me.

Heh. Nice work, MeMods. And I admit to clicking on the kitty thread before I had even read the rest of them, being surprised that it redirected to AskMe, thinking, "Damn, must have already been deleted," going down to the next question, then finally getting it.

Success.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 1:28 AM on April 1, 2007

Like C_D, clearly you should be at the next one.

ARGH! My SO has been wanting to go skiing for the past, like, three years, and this weekend was the last chance before the weather turned Sunday River into mud. I really wanted to be there... my apologies. If it makes anyone feel any better, the mountain kicked my cigarette-smoking ass something fierce.

NEXT TIME!
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:08 PM on March 26, 2007

Yet another meetup where I didn't get a shout-out.

Call me when you've got 4300 comments and 2600 answers under your belt and we can cry together.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:33 PM on March 28, 2007

Except I *did* shout you out, I just used abbreviations.

I missed those photos! Thanks, Jess.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 4:06 PM on March 29, 2007

Seems pretty snappy so far.

But then again, it's 5 in the morning EST, the server's only just come back online, and there are probably only about 5 users on right now.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:16 AM on March 26, 2007

<blockquote><small>You don't need <i>italics</i> when you blockquote, folks.</small></blockquote>

Just so you know.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 10:48 PM on March 22, 2007

Goddamn, TPS, that's some nasty Pepto-Bismol-looking shit you got there. Fuck.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 10:42 PM on March 22, 2007

What stavros said.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:25 PM on March 18, 2007

When I accidentally got shot through the hand DID my dad yell at me about how in 'Nam they "were TRYING to kill him and - JESUS H CHRIST- he never got shot" in front of the ER nurse or not?

That's fucking hilarious.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 6:06 AM on March 20, 2007

NO NOT THE CUTE KITTY AND PUPPY.

Yes, please. Kill with extreme prejudice
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 3:49 PM on March 6, 2007

I ate four hotdogs. But they were turkey-dogs, which means they're healthy. Add some ketchup and I've satisfied three of four food groups. I was going to put some cheese on them (which would make my food group usage 4/4), but I was too lazy.

Stay tuned for more exciting stories.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 7:07 PM on March 6, 2007

Resolution: WONTFIX.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:46 PM on March 6, 2007

If you're going for "natural english" URLs, the sensible thing would be to convert any ampersands surrounded by spaces with the word "AND", and convert and ampersands that are attached on either side to characters as "%26" (the proper escaped character entity).
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 6:45 AM on March 6, 2007

I love it when no one listens to me. Do it again!
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 12:29 PM on March 6, 2007

What a simple and wonderful idea. It warms this cynic's heart to hear of your success.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 6:45 PM on March 5, 2007

I do that sometimes. Apologies.
posted to MetaTalk by Civil_Disobedient at 8:34 PM on February 11, 2007