When can we expect an apology for this thread?
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 11:04 PM on June 19, 2007

What do you think all those yellow words at the top of the screen are for?
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:13 PM on June 13, 2007

... we had William Hung, right?
Not to mention every other half-way successful contestant on any music-related "reality" show in the world.

The latest and coincidentally (?) named such star here in the states is Hannah Montana, daughter of Billy Ray Cyrus and latest Disney Channel-dominating singing/dancing/acting manufactured star-tween of the Duff/Lohan mold.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:23 PM on April 22, 2007

imagine that.

Simply demonstrating due diligence.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 2:34 PM on September 29, 2006

Look, I don't mean to threadmod, here, but:

a) I was indicating a place where the system breaks and users get a ColdFusion error rather than a MetaFilter one. This is considered a Bad Thing from a usability standpoint, especially since the error message I got gave me no indication as to how to fix my error, and it is a bug so therefore I reported it. And anyway, if unvalidated form data is getting processed by the server, that's a potential security risk. I'm not... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 3:20 PM on September 29, 2006

Hypothesis: He's doing a reasearch project on these kinds of ask-and-answer sites and wants to find a question he can ask on all of them as a gauge of their relative responsiveness and accuracy.

Null Hypothesis: He's nuts.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:06 PM on September 27, 2006

Technically speaking, that's a trial offer, not a discount, right?
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 1:07 PM on August 8, 2006

That piece of writing breaks "show, don't tell" like it's going out of fashion.

That's because it is going out of fashion.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 11:55 AM on August 4, 2006

For the lazy who, like me, expected to find links in this thread:

Questions tagged "resolved"

Questions tagged "updated"
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 2:50 PM on June 28, 2006

also result in less questions

Less mashed potatos, fewer french fries.
[/asshole]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:22 AM on June 16, 2006

If you're talking about this post, Matt, wherein you praise a post and I hate upon it mercilessly in the very next comment, well then that's unfortunate. I assiduously reserve the right to heap scorn incalculable upon Malcolm Gladwell, anything he writes, and anyone who has ever enjoyed anything he has ever written.

If you want to read social science, then I suggest you read books by actually researchers who did actual research. You'll learn more and look like less of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:09 PM on June 14, 2006

Hey, I was DFL and am now 5th with a bullet, so anything's possible. Also, I'm looking to trade for starting pitching, so if we do get some new managers who need to make trades, take a look over my roster (12 Inches of Jesus) and let me know.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:43 AM on May 2, 2006

What about the 40/40 jigger? Are pony rides penalized? Do you use the 1995 or the 2003 proxy-rule standards?

I have no idea what that means, tho I assume 40/40 refers to 40 HR/40 SB? What's a jigger? What's a pony ride? The proxy-rule refers to the DH? But we only score hitting and base-running, so I don't see how this applies. Someone help me out, here, pretty much a roto baseball n00b.

Is the league one of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 11:19 AM on May 2, 2006

DOMINO motherfucker.

Y'all are both crazy. I'm gonna go to my car. Get my other gun. Shoot everybody.

Fuck. It's football. It's men in fucking tights hopped up on steriods running around a fake grass field, grabbing ass on and off field and getting paid way too much for it.

Fair. But re: they're overpaid, if anything, I think they're underpaid. Consider for a moment the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 12:37 PM on April 29, 2006

ChatFilter, YesterdaysNewsFilter, WhoGivesAShitFilter, ThisIsBestOfTheWeb?Filter.

This is a forum thread, not a Metafilter post.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 1:05 PM on April 12, 2006

His first language appears to be Spamish.

Ding!
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:06 AM on April 3, 2006

Prediction: this ends well.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:55 PM on March 29, 2006

Prediction: This ends now.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:16 PM on March 29, 2006

This is exactly what I come to MeFi for: something I haven't seen anywhere else followed by interesting/funny/thought provoking discussion. Since when has "too NSFW" been grounds for deletion? Its not in the guidelines. And "too NSFW" for whom? Matt or Jess? Or the gentle sensibility of the readers? Which readers.

This whole thing stinks.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:18 PM on March 29, 2006

Speaking of bullshit, ChasFile's one word post on this was itself bullshit. You can disagree without calling the admins here assholes.

You seem to be committing the fundamental attribution error: the tendency for people to over-emphasize dispositional, or personality-based, explanations for behaviors observed in others while under-emphasizing the role and power of situational influences on the same behavior. In other words, people tend... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:13 PM on March 29, 2006

Yes and yes. I dialed around the 203 CT and 212/718/617 NYC areas. I also ran a wildcat-based one off my 386 rig for about two years on the dedicated line into my attic that focused on the ska/punk scene in NYC and New Haven. Both were pretty hot spots of ska, hardcore, and punk in those days, and I lived roughly half-way between them. Hosted scans of 'zines (blogging!), announced upcomings shows, etc. Eventually I got tired of it, and the scene kinda died out (only to coming roaring-ass... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 7:35 PM on March 29, 2006

This is stupid. Realizing you need help and reaching out for it is by far the hardest step. However all that effort is wasted if it isn't directed toward constructive emotional work; 9 times out of 10 that necessitates the involvement of an emotion work professional.

And anyway, the vast majority of legal questions are answered with "IANAL, but go see a lawyer," and the vast majority of medical questions are answered with "IANAD, but go see a doctor."
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 7:08 AM on March 27, 2006

By "its content" they mean the words you are reading right now.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 3:10 PM on January 23, 2006

What I never really understood are the "So my boyfriend just did x, and I'm thinkin about doing y, what do you think?" First, I don't know either party involved or anytihng beyond your side of it, so how can I possible give an informed answer? Second, why are you even seeking a stranger's advice? Third, being as this is a wide internety audience, you are going to get every answer in the book from "dump him immediately" to "marry him immediately," so why even... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:16 AM on December 21, 2005

You ask for legal advice on an internet forum, you reap what you sow.

As my father, a lawyer, used to say, "Sure, I'll give you some free legal advice, but bear in mind you get what you pay for..."
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 12:14 PM on October 28, 2005

(Links sequential, not contextual.) The above is an unscientific survey of one year's worth of FPPs just about new products and services and widgets and games and whatnot. Does not include FPPs with links to Google's hirings, firings, technology, strategy, IPO, criticism, parodies, video office tours (for what other company does that FPP not get a PepsiBlue callout?), competitors, acquisitions, subsidiaries, state of the industry, and on and on. I mean, its a good company... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 7:01 PM on October 7, 2005

I should have put a [MI] in, and I appologize for that. As I tried to imply in the first comment: I didn't link to all posts tagged "google" because many of those posts aren't a problem. I just see those that are little more than text ads for new Google products on the front page as a problem. Were it any other company any one of those posts would get a PepsiBlue MeTa callout; because its google, we get dozens a year and nobody bats an eyelash.

I love the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:19 PM on October 7, 2005

Noob Boob (is that really a thing people say?) #2: write your [more inside] out in a text editor before you start the thread, then once you do immediately paste your [mi] into the comment box. By doing so, you will insure that you are comment #1.


You will also have some time to think about whether or not your callout is really nescessary.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 11:49 PM on October 4, 2005

I can't say much about the other two, but if you don't know who Hiroshige is, chances are you're not going to click that link no matter how much text there was explaining it. And anyway, Hiroshige is, without question, the most famous Japanese wood block artist, and probably the most famous Japanese artist period. Maybe the fact that you don't know who he is says more about your shortcomings than the poster's. Or maybe the post was intended more for Eastern readers. In any event, would you... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:54 PM on September 28, 2005

Haters.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 3:46 PM on December 4, 2004

It may just be that this is a function of all the new users asking the questions they've had saved up for months now all at the same time, but I think 24 hours is too little time for many questions to get serious or good answers to. While technology/web-related questions tend to get answered pretty quickly, oftentimes its a casual reader joining the discussion late who provides the best answers to some of the more esoteric (and for me more interesting) questions.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 12:44 PM on November 24, 2004

AnnounceFilter is akward, too long, doesn't really concatenate nicely into a single cognitive conceptual and linguistic unit the way "Metafilter" and "Metatalk" do, and also isn't really a filter at all. How about instead MetAnounce? or MetaEvent? or something where you combine the 'a' and the 'e' into one character, like Metævent or MetÆvent or Met§vent (with the 'a' and 'e' transposed on top of one another, rather than simply squashed together)? Anyway, the point is... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:10 PM on November 22, 2004

DAMMIT that's awesome that shoulda been mine.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:28 PM on November 22, 2004

It says on the wiki that there are currently 17,000 members, while MeFi home says there are now over 18,000. Perhaps a page can be made that simply outputs the number of current members, and then in place of the extimate you can simply put an include like <?php include 'http://metafilter.com/numberOfUsers.cfm'; ?> er somethin.
Or you can just go in and change the thing manually every time the odometer rolls another g of users.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:22 PM on November 22, 2004

Fixed between the time I noticed it this morning and the time I posted this evening. How embarassing!
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 5:26 PM on November 22, 2004

Attention Intenet Users:

If a someone has the ability to code and run an email harvester, then that person almost certainly has the ability to parse a string like "user AT host DOT tld" into "user@host.tld"

Bear in mind that people do this for a living. Operate under the assumption that whatever counter-measure you've devised to hide your email address, spammers have devised a counter-countermeasure. Remember when hex email... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 2:18 AM on November 22, 2004

A human user can't click the link without pointing to it first

Unless, of course, they tab to the link or use some input device other than a mouse. Can't sacrifice usability for security, that's part of the Bush Doctrine and we all hate him, right? And anyway why this insistence on a cold war of email address obfuscation? Have none of you studied your history?
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:52 AM on November 22, 2004

I feel like there are only two MeTa threads any more:

1. This is "best of the web?"
2. AskMe is doing the date-over-each-question thing again.

This place used to be like an internet Valhalla - the Viking heaven where each day was a new battle and each night the combatants were miraculously healed to fight again tomorow - now its more like a fucking color test - monotonous and annoying. That's a severely mixed metaphor, and... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 2:04 AM on November 22, 2004

I feel compelled to note that your generalized, whiny bitch does nothing to correct this sitch, ChasFile.

Indeed. Such is the nature of satire. Remember when I said "That's a severely mixed metaphor, and is symptomatic of the declining discourse on MeTa," refering to my own metaphor in the previous sentence? Get a fucking sense of humor.

Simply complaining that no one fights about... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 10:39 AM on November 22, 2004

It hurts me more than it hurts you. Remember the first time you saw a NY Times with a color photo on the front page?

Here's a kinda legit question:
So for awhile it was recommended to use long, thing lines in GIF images (like the ones at the top of the header) because the GIF algorithm was really efficient at compressing horizontal bands of similar color. Is that why you used that motif? Will the winning entry sport similar byte-saving tricks? How... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 1:24 AM on November 22, 2004

Before this gets deleted, I have to register my disgust over the fact that you ripped me off, Soze. I was a suicide bomber last year!
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 6:14 PM on October 31, 2004

Two years ago called, they want their risque character back.

15 years ago called, they want their "______ called, they want their ______ back" back.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 7:15 PM on October 31, 2004

this FPP only encourages mean-spirited and dishonest behavior.

I thought we, har on teh intarweb, had decided that creating and advertising the means of rip-off (p2p, etc.) is ok, and its up to the individual not to do so. Indeed, if Microsoft had allowed p2p distribution of SP2, this wouldn't even be an issue.

The potential for this type of abuse is quite prevalent already: free trial subscription... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:34 PM on September 28, 2004

If 2 minutes of your time is worth less than the cost of printing a CD, you're leading a pretty worthless life

at $1 a CD that's $30/hour. x40hr/week x 50wk/yr = $60,000/yr. You are therfore calling ALOT of people worthless, including the people that cook your food, mow your lawn, clean your shirts, make your clothes, clean your house, watch your kids, teach your kids, patrol your neighborhoods, fix your car, put out your fires, and fight your wars.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 9:51 PM on September 28, 2004

1) It was a crap post
2) Seth overacted (surpries)
3) everyone else overeacted to Seth's overeaction (surprise surprise)

I do have to agree with the general sentiment thus far given, though. The reason I skipped class last April so that I could be at the computer at noon PST F5ing like a sonnabitch was because the MeFi I lurked at for years was an interesting, fun, irreverent collection of content and people. Looking back, I almost wish I had... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 7:59 PM on September 28, 2004

A car. Or even a sturdy bike.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 4:52 PM on September 25, 2004

Seconded.

It's only Witty. And he's only doing it in response to the whingefest about small type.

a) No its not.
b) Then he should keep it in the small-type thread. Spreading it to the rest of the site only makes thing look sloppy and annoys people who aren't even involved. Things like this have a nasty tendancy to expand exponentially. Early call-outs are the best medicine.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 1:42 PM on September 22, 2004

The price you pay for an arbitrary elitism (no new users) is that members of that elite will take any and every opprotunity to denegrate others in an attempt to rationalize their invented superiority. As a member of an exclusive society, you may look down your nose at others not in that society, hence they are worse then you, hence you are superior, hance you belong in an elite society, hence you may look down your nose at...

MeFi: the new British aristocracy
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 1:28 PM on September 22, 2004

Ctrl+.
Ctrl-.

Life is too short, people.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 11:04 AM on September 22, 2004

Though it looks like from the replay he may have been safe, the runner was called out.

Just try and get past my tiger style, stavros.
posted to MetaTalk by ChasFile at 4:23 PM on September 6, 2004