Mind you, the comment that tfylm was responding to wasn't a personal attack in any way. But calling someone gluttonous? Come on. That's childish.

Fat threads on MeFi are never, ever good. Ever. But I'm still saddened that comments of a similar nature to tfylm's are left up, unchecked, to be trampled on by some and agreed upon by others. They're hurtful and personal. They shouldn't be allowed.

As I've said before, Matt, I love the idea behind MeFi.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 12:20 PM on July 19, 2004

But let's not call #2 bigotry because we're sensitive about our weight, mmmkay?

Uhm, no. It's bigotry, scarabic. It's out there. It's obvious.

If there is anything wrong with that comment (and i'm not convinced there is) then the problem is also at large in our general culture, not just on MeFi.

Shouldn't there be a better goal at MeFi than to just mimic society's ills?... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 1:39 PM on July 19, 2004

So, let me confirm:

calling someone gluttonous based on absolutely no knowledge of another person save that she is fat: okay;
telling someone to fuck off in bold, capital letters: not okay.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 1:51 PM on July 19, 2004

Mayor Curley: Let the fire burn out naturally, but lets not let it spread onto the grey.

And yet...

I've seen overweight men throw tantrums before, so it's even funnier if you can only see it in your mind and you're free to embellish.

Thanks for upholding such a high standard to shoot for.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 1:58 PM on July 19, 2004

You nevertheless post a thread about that very subject and expect it to turn out ok?

I thought I'd give it a shot. You know why? Because I thought things might have changed. I thought, "Well, the existing thread is getting ugly. What about a new, separate thread on a different facet of fat - one involving another story - that I feel others should read?" I made certain that doing so would be in the best interest of the guidelines here. I... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 2:13 PM on July 19, 2004

You're no better than a common troll.

Woo hoo!

Well, I do apologize for calling attention to a long-standing problem within the site. I guess we can go back to just ignoring the fat hatred until it comes up again, when someone else gets insulted, posts it in MeTa, and gets deemed a troll or is told to just go away again.

By the way, I certainly wasn't going to post a thread in MeTa until tfylm posted... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 2:24 PM on July 19, 2004

You posted something not in order to add value to the community, but just to see what happens.

Prince, since you (and crunchland) purport to know my thinking, I'd like to know what I'm going to do next. It'd be helpful.

I carefully considered the "What makes a good FPP?" guidelines before posting the Anamarie link. I stand by my decision to post it. I didn't post it to get a rise out of people; I posted it because I... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 2:35 PM on July 19, 2004

I think you're missing their point.

Nah, I think being branded both a "troll" and "hypersensitive asshole" makes the point pretty clearly.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 2:45 PM on July 19, 2004

crunchland, here's a better analogy.

I put a full glass of water on the floor once, and my cat walked by it. He knocked it over. I thought, "Crap," and cleaned it up. I did this again and once again, he knocked it over. I thought, "Well, that's odd. But he's a good cat otherwise, and accidents happen." The next time I put a full glass of water on the floor, I gave the cat the benefit of the doubt. Did he knock it over? Well, that depends on if the cat... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 10:51 AM on July 20, 2004

TGC: So basically you posted another thread using the same language in order to teach metafilter a lesson about fat people (by your own words), to see if they "learned anything" from the first thread that was still very active and dealt with the exact same subject matter?

You're taking my analogy too far, TGC. The post wasn't to teach MeFi a lesson. The post was to attempt to bring another discussion to the table, hopefully one that... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 12:20 PM on July 20, 2004

There are many things that I miss about my earlier days online, and my earlier days on the web. I miss the intimacy of things like GEnie's RoundTables. I miss the idea that email that went "through" the Internet was amazing. I miss early corporate websites, which were grasping to display that they "got" the web.

Naturally, Matt "gets" the web. I think he and jack saturn are two on a very short list I have in my head of people who get the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 11:47 AM on November 7, 2002

Yelling at Nothing (an appropriate name): But to suggest it be killed, when there are obviously plenty of those who still love it, just because you no longer like it is hideously selfish.

Sure it is. But that's part of the appeal of MeFi. Almost everyone at some point thought of MeFi as theirs, even though it was (and is) Matt's baby. We've all thought, "Gosh, this is a very powerful thing." I can be selfish with it,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 8:00 AM on November 8, 2002

Matt, please keep the suicide post--the guy's really hurting and in shock about it, and there are great comments from suicide helpline people....

The thing to do when one is "really hurting and in shock" is to post about it, casually, to a public website read by gazillions of readers.

An inappropriate thing, to say the least.

I'll return to my glass house now.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:26 PM on September 26, 2002

Two thoughts:

1. Why two? Why not three or four, forthat matter? It would be interesting to see if the MeFiFactions divvied themselves up kind of naturally, though; would MeFiOne balance out? MeFiTwo focus on the Middle East? MeFiThree focus on in-jokes from MeFiMama?

2. Seems like this could both destroy and rebuild the MeFi community simultaneously.

goneill: I'm frightened of changing metafilter.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 8:45 AM on April 19, 2002

evanizer: That kind of incestuous competition is really boring and pointless. Why this constant desire to change a mostly good thing?

Some would argue that MeFi has gotten really boring and pointless. I would be one of them and, naturally, I would not blame Matt for it.

That said, while Jason's suggestion isn't "serious", I think it's an idea worth exploring.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 10:21 AM on April 19, 2002

evanizer: Then why are you here? This is what I don't understand.

I haven't been. Check my profile. Look at the last time I posted a link, and note that comments have been scarce. I don't regularly participate here. I scan, yes. Read, occasionally. Participate, very rarely.

If it doesn't suit you, there are plenty of others to go to.

And I do.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:04 PM on April 19, 2002

Zach: you missed the one year anniversary of my MeTa thread on this topic by three days. I'm hurt. I thought you cared.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 4:55 PM on April 8, 2002

This is an IE bug, whenever any kind of multiple divs are involved (or z-index) is used. It's extremely annoying, and neither NS 6.2 or Opera 5 exhibits this behavior.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:33 AM on April 3, 2002

MeTa: Your Blogger Support Forum(tm)
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 12:15 PM on March 8, 2002

Folks, two things.

First, I did an interview with Ms. Portnick, and I can tell you soundly that she is not doing this just to muck with the system or the like. She was, plainly, discriminated against.

Second, the thread in question is one of the reasons I no longer actively participate here. The troll is one thing, big deal - those happen; the subsequent bigotry that aaron correctly calls people on - that's what bugs me the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 3:46 PM on February 26, 2002

I've been unable to reach the site for about three or four hours even with the "www".
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 9:48 AM on January 21, 2002

I really want to take that Paul test. I am Paul, and would like to know what percentage of me is Paul.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:46 AM on January 18, 2002

I was going to roll my own CMS with PHP, but when MT was released all was A-OK.

I used Blogger but found I'd rather have all the goods on my own server, in case something goes south. I had worked a wee bit with Greymatter but, frankly I knew that Mena and Ben would put together something cool, and tried it out. I love MT.

It offers a great number of features I enjoy, including easy comment control. It has features I barely use but do... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 3:35 PM on January 14, 2002

I pass the test as well, although Google would get modded up +2 if it capitalized the "A" in my last name.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 2:10 PM on January 11, 2002

palegirl: it looks just like it's posted! you can pretend like you've already posted and fix all your mistakes.

Maybe Matt can add in a routine to add a few snarky, made-up comments in the Preview? Maybe it can perform a search of the MeFi database and put in a "double post!" comment by a random user. Yeah, that's the ticket....
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:27 AM on January 4, 2002

The bunny really feels like something I'd see at Mister Pants.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:56 AM on January 2, 2002

brad: ...how does this practice of Dave Winer selecting a few of his favorite and/or considered notable weblogs differ significantly from, say, Blogger's Blogs of Note....

I think a suitable analogy (stop groaning!) would be if Ev chose a peckle of blogs as the "best", and then put them over on evhead.com for people to vote, calling them the best of the year - and asking for votes. They'd be Ev's favorites, which is fine, but not a truly... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:53 AM on December 18, 2001

Voyageman: knowing what films, concerts, books, magazines, newspapers, albums, web sites and fonts mefi members prefer make their other posts and comments three dimensional.

I agree only to a point. If I read the FPP threads at all, it's to see if anyone agrees that peanut butter is the best spreadable condiment of all time. I'll sit back, smile, and think, "I'm right!" I personally don't note who posted it, when that... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 3:20 PM on December 7, 2001

Did this on my old blog a few months ago; I have multiple 2-hops from Kottke, and I've also made arrangements to be listed on his links sidebar around 2006 or so.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:00 AM on November 14, 2001

Looks like the HTML tag self-healer tripped on the fake sarcasm tag. It inserted an empty tag immediately after the slash-sarcasm.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 9:24 PM on November 5, 2001

I like the idea, but also fear that it'd get abused.

Within that idea I do like the "trusted members" idea. This is something that's been brewing in my head for a while now; MeFi is "self-policing", so why don't we "elect" people we trust to head up a committee or board? Yeah, it's bureaucratic, but outside of Matt, there are no leaders in this community - we're 12,000 equals.

Nothing wrong with being equal, but I'd argue that we're running... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 10:12 AM on November 2, 2001

Would Matt hand-pick those people?
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 10:18 AM on November 2, 2001

After seeing the McDonald's thread I thought I had walked into a Usenet forum.

While posts like that aren't really against any rules (and people will respond to them), I just don't find them challenging in any way. Yeah, great, a new movie or a fast food place. What does that have to do with the web? How is a link to McDonald's website "interesting"? Oh, wow, there's an animated GIF of Ronald McDonald!

A typical response... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 10:07 AM on November 2, 2001

I'll be in, so long as I don't get lost again grumble grumble - I know where these lanes are, so.... I'll bring my bowling ball. I have one. You think I'm joking.

The only night that I canna do is Wednesdays. The rest feel open as a 7-10 split to me.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:15 AM on November 1, 2001

patric: I actually drove by the place a few times, but mixed up the addy in my head - and didn't bother to write it down. And yes, I could have gone in... as Dan kindly mentioned, that's what humans do... but I saw roughly two people in the place at the time.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 2:36 PM on November 1, 2001

Sounds like horseplay to me.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 12:27 PM on October 29, 2001

The ads go quickly, but I'm very pleased with the price and clickthrus I've received thus far. Nice idea and execution, Matt.

owillis: The frontend of a PHP ad database like this would be fairly trivial (imho); the maintenance backend thing is another matter.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:18 PM on October 22, 2001

MeFi is us.

We're crap!

I second rebecca's motion. I'd pull the plug and go back to holding laptops in funny positions in front of the Golden Gate Bridge.

MeFi would make an excellent research study.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 9:17 PM on October 19, 2001

Take it to MetaEmail.

er, well, email. That'd probably work best, no?
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 12:54 PM on October 18, 2001

Maybe you can throw in the ability to post on those frozen topics for a micropayment?
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 7:07 PM on October 15, 2001

Holy crap, Matt, we have the same birthday!

If I had known, I would have stopped by yesterday and wished you a happy birthday - which would be the same as wishing myself a happy birthday!

So, happy belated birthday - and, might I say, nice birthday!
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 3:28 PM on October 11, 2001

Check the "Care Enough to Remedy Slandering The Very Best" section, right next to "Anniversaries".
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:20 PM on September 15, 2001

That's really sad. I was visiting jack's site as the change from web to non-web was taking place, and at one point I totally understood his perspective on personal web sites - thought it was totally brilliant and spot-on.

I wish him well.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 6:04 PM on September 13, 2001

I've got only 970,000 more pageviews to go, Matt, before MeFi gets toppled.

In seriousness, congrats!
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 8:42 PM on July 31, 2001

If I posted something that was thought to be great, and someone emailed me about it, I'd be more inclined to continue doing so.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 1:12 PM on July 31, 2001

Okay, seriously, is it worth a Metafilter thread to discuss whether another site is down?

FWIW, this isn't a MeFi thread. And I don't think it's worth a MeFi thread, no.
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 7:46 AM on July 25, 2001

And while I'm here, how about this big question. What is MeFi?

To me, MeFi is a place where people can share the interesting and/or esoteric stuff they find on the web, and relate it to others via opinion and discussion. It really is a blog, even though it has at times acted as a news source. It's a place that encourages feedback on every single post, and makes it easy for anyone to contribute. It's not a blog with dotcomments, though; something makes it more, and... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:08 AM on July 20, 2001

capt. resin: The surest way to destroy something is to try to define it. "Quality" is not only subjective, but organic and cyclical.

Well, yeah, that's why I asked for opinions. We're pretty much a self-sustaining community here, and all opinions are equal (except Matt's, since he could pull the plug.) Where you haven't seen much changing in quality, I have seen a severe change.

But can it be pinned on anything? I'm unsure.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 8:22 AM on July 20, 2001

The very first thread I thought of was the earthquake thread. I remember that was important for MeFi because it was really strutting the web's power - I recall that MeFi was the first with the news, even beating CNN. And we got stories and thoughts straight from the people there, which is far more powerful than reading a dry news report.

But then I got to thinking: this could have been duplicated elsewhere. It's all very coincidental and incidental... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:01 AM on July 20, 2001

(Note: this idea was berthed by rodii. Go rodii!)
posted to MetaTalk by hijinx at 5:09 AM on July 20, 2001