Hmmm. I'm supposed to be working on the 2nd from 5-10 pm, so I don't think I'll make it, but I'll mark my calendar since that could possibly be changed. Especially since I work, oh, mere feet from Gritty's.......

August 9th is pissing me off. I'll be driving home from PA that day after a two week camping trip. Fifteen hours in the car with smelly camping gear and a two year old. Why couldn't it be the following weekend. Sigh.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 11:05 AM on June 30, 2008

Beware of geeks bearing gifts.

Nah.

I asked this question and not only did a user go above and beyond to get me a video file that solved the problem, but kindall sent my baby boy a stuffed Tivo-guy (Flickr video there) which my son is totally in love with.

Mefites in general are good and generous people.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 2:50 PM on May 1, 2008

I said I might go to the Western Mass one, and then didn't. So I'm not going to say that I'll be able to attend this one, in hopes that I can.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:19 AM on April 17, 2008

Wow, that was crazy!

I just want to thank Matt (and PB) who, after what I'm sure was a grueling week of travel and at the end of a very long day were gracious and funny and willing to talk to all the fanboy/girl nerds crushed into that bar.

And, yeah, wow is Matt tall. (Must be the timezone difference.)
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:08 AM on April 27, 2008

It looks like it would be about a 3.5 - 4 hour drive each way for me (no way to take the train, I suppose?) but given that its a Saturday I find that I'm actually considering it.

I'll keep you posted.




(geez, that sounds really self-important, like me being there would make the difference for anyone. But I suppose it does matter in terms of numbers, whatnot, which is really what I mean .... I'm over thinking this, aren't I?)
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 2:13 PM on March 19, 2008

allkindsoftime does highlight some great organizations who can assist people in need a bit farther down in that post, but I'll take the chance to plug one more here:

Safe Passage is a wonderful organization that assists families who are living in the Guatemala City garbage dump. Its founder, Hanley Denning, had been a US schoolteacher who visited Guatemala to learn Spanish. Shortly before she was to leave the country, a friend took her on a tour of the "Dump... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:53 AM on February 29, 2008

Stav, I'm sorry, had I known I would have certainly ....


.... oh nevermind.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 6:56 PM on February 15, 2008

sorry to be on topic, but I've had persistent Lat/Long error issues basically forever. I used to have a big ERROR! message that displayed on my user page, but now my (apparently correct, per the geocoder website) Lat/Long coordinates plant me in the middle of Kazakstan (I'm not kidding, look here.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 10:54 AM on November 20, 2007

I would love to join you, but sadly I'm working Saturday night and we have a Thanksgiving celebration with my husband's family on Sunday.

Some suggestions for things to do in Portland are here.

Have fun!
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 10:44 AM on November 15, 2007

Hey Matt - why isn't this on the sidebar already!?

DaShiv, have you ever wanted to visit Maine?? :-)
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:37 AM on September 29, 2007

Arco, I just want to tell you that you're one of my favorite Mefites ever, and that I admire the work that you and everyone at the museum is doing.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 1:56 PM on June 6, 2007

wait. wait. how in the hell did I miss this? And both Cortex and Jess were there? And I somehow missed it????
Why didn't someone call me???

Arrrgghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Fuckety fuck fuck.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 4:17 PM on March 26, 2007

Yeah, but you see the sweetie and the baby and I were right there. As in: we had lunch at Gritty's around 1230 as we strolled around the old port and looked at books we couldn't afford and ate ice cream and soaked up the sun.

Bollocks.

Jess, you're welcome to our Victorian guest room at any time.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 4:28 PM on March 26, 2007

Sounds like its related to this really ugly story.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:52 AM on February 14, 2007

It's a free download and well worth the less than five minutes it takes to install.

It also has a built in spell check. Which is useful.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 1:03 PM on February 13, 2007

if there was a blacklist maintained that omitted past slack fuckers

I am a past slack fucker. This past go-round, the swap deadline was 4 weeks after my son was born. When I signed up, I didn't figure on those four weeks (eight or ten weeks, actually) being so hardcore that I couldn't find enough time or energy to put together one little CD and burn it five times.

I presume I'm banned, correct?
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 4:40 AM on February 5, 2007

Matt, the "see other users near you" on my user page has been broken for months. Instead of a list of people I get a big ugly error box. I checked the profile of another user that I know lives near me, and her's is broken also.

Is it just Maine?
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:09 AM on December 7, 2006

I'd be interested in helping. It would make me feel like I'm contributing something to the site while mommyhood is keeping me from doing much more than reading at the moment.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 10:21 AM on November 20, 2006

This is awesome. I am, however, surprised that the thread with all those comments in it (you know the one I mean - the one that inspired a whole other domain and site) isn't tagged with this, although I do perhaps seem to remember Mathowie saying that it strains the server when that page is loaded....
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 10:04 PM on October 15, 2006

Is the mac guy famous too?

The Mac Guy is apparently an actor called Justin Long, who was on the TV show Ed and in the movies Dodgeball and Galaxy Quest.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:03 AM on October 11, 2006

Matt, I think its really cool that you're doing this. I almost emailed you last week and asked if I could do another "day" on August 1st, but with a three week old in the house I just can't always know that I'm going to be able to sit in front of the computer for any length of time on any given day.

You and Jess rule.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 9:23 AM on August 1, 2006

metafilter: my above post parses like a Nigerian email
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:46 PM on May 1, 2006

and wanting to get revenge

Ah, yes, but revenge on whom?
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 10:47 AM on April 5, 2006

Y6, I was a huge fan of Mefi Distilled when it was updated regularly. In fact, it is a large part of what inspired me to do this silly thing.

I hope you both keep it, and start updating it again (once the end times are over!). It was -- and is -- a great site!
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 9:38 AM on February 8, 2006

there's a big fat search box that directs to Yahoo

Yahoo?
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 11:53 AM on February 1, 2006

I do often wonder how many people sign up just to use Ask, and don't realize there are two whole other colours over here.

*sigh*
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:30 PM on January 19, 2006

I'd just like to point something out that many of you may not realize -- not everyone knows how to find a lawyer. If I needed a lawyer, I'm not sure I'd even know how to get a good one. Oh, sure I could pick one out of the phone book, but all you "get a lawyer" folks could do worse that to figure out a way to help people understand how to select and hire a lawyer. I'm just sayin', is all....
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:44 PM on January 11, 2006

My vote is for broken. I just posed this to the front page, but I can't actually see it on the front page, even after hard reloading..... Very strange.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:25 AM on January 11, 2006

*puts her hand up*

I think its interesting and appropriate that matteo is now Mefi's "best poster", as cited in noted research journals.

Great job and congratulations.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 6:42 AM on January 9, 2006

The registration for the article in question was a bit more than the normal "tell us a little bit about you" that NY Times or Boston Globe requires. Telephone number is a required field, for instance, and then after registering (using my junkmail email addres) I find that I need to go into that email and fish out something else in order to complete registration.

I'm sure the story was heartwarming. I don't mind sites with simple registration. But I had to... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:28 AM on December 31, 2005

Matt, I'm using Moz 1.7.3 and my user page shows a big ugly error box reading:

The web site you are accessing has experienced an unexpected error.
Please contact the website administrator.

Error Occurred While Processing Request
1.0000000000000002 must be within range: ( -1 : 1 )

Resources:

* Enable Robust Exception Information to provide greater detail about the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 6:27 PM on December 22, 2005

Ok, I turned off the google maps for now. I'll do some more tweaking and see if I can work them back in soon.

Matt. Step away from your computer and don't work on this again until at least Tuesday. Have a wonderful holiday weekend with your beautiful family in your fine new home.

Know that we are all very grateful for everything you do for us.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 6:18 AM on December 23, 2005

aaaand it's gone now...thanks.

Huh? Still not deleted
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 1:45 PM on December 12, 2005

You posted your last question on November 14, 2005 at 10:59 AM PST.

So you do, in fact, have only minutes to go.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 11:08 AM on November 21, 2005

** Hugs Miguel Tightly **

Gives him fine port and hopes he sticks around
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:04 AM on October 20, 2005

Its not a spoiler, its just a theory.

Even the most hardcore fansite message boards will split the fine difference between the two.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 6:35 PM on September 30, 2005

that this was a "burn your tivos!" moment but something more along the lines of "huh, we could be fucked in the future"

Now there's a quote I'd really like to see in the Post.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 12:43 PM on September 22, 2005

5 pm?! Is it a school night or something?

I thought it might be nice to actually be able to get a table.

Plus, if people are driving an hour or more, I'd like them to be able to get home at a non-stupid hour.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 9:52 AM on September 12, 2005

I knew Portland would be far, but I'm looking at the map and I'm not even sure how I'd get over there!

The best route I know of from Burlington to Portland (YMMY, obviously) is 89 south to Route 10/11 South (pick up near Enfield/Lebanon NH), to 93 S (pick up in Concord, Bowe) to 101 East (Manchester to Portsmouth), then I-95 North from Portsmouth to Portland.

That route is about 250 miles.

The more... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 12:24 PM on September 12, 2005

Well, this is kinda embarassing, but...

This was my idea, but regret to say that I cannot attend. I'm sick, and definitely contagious. I love you all enough not to share what I have with you. I hope there is some fun had, but sadly without me.

I'm going back to bed now.....
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:53 PM on September 16, 2005

First, a couple shoutouts:

Everyone please wish the always groovy stavrosthewonderchicken a happy 40th birthday! Go. Do it now. I'll wait.

Second, my thanks to Y6Y6Y6 and his excellent (but now retired) MF Distilled for planting this idea in the back of my mind, long, long ago. I've stolen copied his idea somewhat. I hope he doesn't mind. Thanks are also due to amberglow -- we may disagree, but our disagreement brought this idea from the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:34 PM on August 2, 2005

*laughs aloud, loudly*

you're welcome
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 8:57 AM on August 1, 2005

Only if you can get those things from one of the four online services mentioned in the post (I'd try Amazon first for that sort of thing if I were you...)
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 11:08 AM on July 28, 2005

Mathowie, the background is here.

Feel free to email me if you have an issue or if you think that by doing this it'll somehow overload the site.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 11:59 AM on July 28, 2005

I suspect it'll be pretty easy to spot the best post of the month.

Day. Best post of the Day. Not the month. (Although that's a good idea....)
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 12:36 PM on July 28, 2005

I'm all for it, anastasiav!

Good. thank you. It occured to me afterwards I probably should have asked you first.

If you really like it, would you link it on the sidebar? :-)

Gyan, the criteria is strictly relative. Go read some of my replies to questions in the MeCha posts that's linked here and I think you'll find the clarification you're looking for.

I... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 12:53 PM on July 28, 2005

It is best post. I'm also answering questions in the linked conversation over on Metachat if anyone wants more info about how I got to this point.

Or, you can always email me.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 1:44 PM on July 28, 2005

I suppose, she'll automatically skip it.

Well, normally I would. But on Monday I won't skip anything (unless it breaks my computer). I swear.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 4:47 AM on July 29, 2005

What?

Heh. One point to Gyan. But a single link to Google's front page is still not recommended -- it'd be a double post.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 4:39 PM on July 29, 2005

srboisvert -- check the link at the top of the page for the complete rules.
posted to MetaTalk by anastasiav at 7:26 PM on July 30, 2005