MetaFilter

What the fuck, carsonb? What the Holy living fuck? Ugh. I need to go lie down now. That was disturbing. I'm disturbed. What the...
posted to MetaTalk by 80 Cats in a Dog Suit at 9:30 PM on July 11, 2016

Re-signation is the process of being so onboard that you sign up for it all over again. I'm re-signed to my fate!
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 5:50 PM on July 8, 2016

Hi, I'm frimble. I've generally been a lurker over the past couple of years. I've been trying over the past bit to get up to speed as quickly as possible, but as with most things, the transition is going to take some time.

I can't promise to be a replacement pb. Not only are we different people with different personalities, he's done a lot of great work, and I'm infinitely thankful that how the site works actually makes a lot of sense. While I hope to be at a point... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by frimble at 11:05 AM on May 27, 2016

Just lost an election for neighborhood council.
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 2:50 PM on May 22, 2016

carsonb, it should say 'Flag Reason'. You might have a cached version.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 6:59 PM on May 9, 2016

I didn’t think of it that way, stupidly. I don’t mean to sound like a goofy politician but I came from meager means. My parents always had shitty small businesses that never made much money. I didn’t have any adults, like country club adults, around me to to tell me, “Oh, you should have a lawyer for that, you should incorporate as this in this state and you could avoid this tax.” I didn’t know anybody like that. I was financially illiterate until my early 20's.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Dip Flash at 5:44 AM on May 4, 2016

Why not keep the same interface as before but add 'add note' at the bottom? Choosing the 'add note' option will bring up the new interface.

This will be the same number of clicks for people who don't want to add a note.
posted to MetaTalk by Confess, Fletch at 2:07 PM on May 2, 2016

Hippy bath day!
posted to MetaTalk by blurker at 7:40 AM on April 27, 2016

Default 'Add to activity' for MetaTalk posts?

Oh man, even I wouldn't want that and I already basically have a professional obligation to do so.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 9:22 PM on April 25, 2016

There's no particular reason people need to make MeTas reactively - maybe a first step would be people deciding to discuss patterns they're seeing a little earlier. We're still probably going to want to work with people on precise timing (policy MeTas over the weekends aren't great for us, ditto when half the staff is traveling) but the whole design of the subsite is to do just that (plus we're *always* open to email conversations with anyone.)

I'm a little puzzled by... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by restless_nomad at 6:02 PM on April 15, 2016

have people seen this? is it new? The dark side of Guardian comments.
posted to MetaTalk by andrewcooke at 8:00 AM on April 12, 2016

Ufez Jones: "I cant wait to see what this does to the Treaty of Westphalia"

I got a pretty good chuckle out of it.
posted to MetaTalk by Treaty of Westphalia at 7:56 AM on April 1, 2016

Does the blink tag work now?
posted to MetaTalk by fiercekitten at 7:46 AM on April 1, 2016

Details of which:

Every post on every part of the site gets a subsite-specific post id, and these scripts look for deletions by scanning the front page of a subsite for gaps in the continuity of the postids. On the blue, that works really well: the only way two postids won't be consecutive for front page posts is if a post in between them got deleted.

Current example: Renting a Friend... has a postid of 158165; Way to give... has postid 158163.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 7:48 AM on March 26, 2016

We just added those previous and next day links to the Day in History pages.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 9:42 AM on March 23, 2016

Oh good, now I'm officially in last place in all of my pools, just barely eking out a win over the handful of "no picks." Fuck you, Duke, and your terrible un-cute mascot.
posted to MetaTalk by phunniemee at 11:39 AM on March 17, 2016

I'm a Duke grad, but I am definitely going for Virginia to win it.

You drank the water when you lived here, didn't you? I'm pretty sure that "run-off water blah blah blah zone" work they did here a few years ago was them adding special chemicals to the groundwater that makes us giddy at shot clock violations and a prolonged and abiding faith in Nolte, regardless of what happens.

I'm in.

I... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by julen at 7:16 PM on March 16, 2016

Sure, here's a quick summary. Ask MetaFilter questions are organized by categories that users choose and tags that users enter. We then look at how frequently tags are used and assign them a score. If a tag is used frequently it gets a lower score than one that is used infrequently. So the tag Art has a score of 1 while the tag Picasso might have score somewhere around 6.

So when someone is posting a question they include some tags. If it includes the tag... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 4:09 PM on March 5, 2016

I'm just a postwright, still looking for the one perfect link. For people you should keep your eyes on:

theodolite, who always sees the angles.

Blasdelb, injecting science like a phage injects RNA strands, irrevocably changing the threads.

filthy light theif, the researcher with the best eye for detail and interest I know.

flex, for posts that cut to the heart of things.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by the man of twists and turns at 8:16 AM on March 2, 2016

USERNAME — prize bull octorok
IOWA DEM — Clinton
IOWA GOP — Trump
NH DEM — Sanders
NH GOP — Trump
SUPER TUESDAY DEM — Clinton
SUPER TUESDAY GOP — Rubio
DEM NOMINEE — Clinton
GOP NOMINEE — Supreme Leader Snoke
FINAL WINNER — Can anyone truly be said to have won this cruel game the American experiment has become

HOUSE MAJORITY PARTY — GOP
... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by prize bull octorok at 1:28 PM on February 1, 2016

This is so great. I re-read that thread every few months to remind myself how to act. This document will save me some time by cutting right to the quick, the big important comments from that thread.

Since that conversation, I downloaded an app that reminds me to call my friends and relatives to say hello. I set up a spreadsheet for birthdays/anniversaries/christmas cards. I have an app that tells me what chores need to be done so I can stay ahead of them instead of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by BuddhaInABucket at 9:25 AM on January 7, 2016

hello i am here for the airing of the grievances
posted to MetaTalk by poffin boffin at 10:35 AM on December 18, 2015

The taters lady was Buzz Aldrin
posted to MetaTalk by shakespeherian at 5:10 PM on December 17, 2015

It so never gets old to hear insinuations that Mefi is an echo chamber clanging with ideological homogenity.

I first read that as "ideological homeopathy," and then I was lost in the idea of inserting tiny fragments of counter-arguments into a discussion to strengthen the main argument. 10000x diluted memes, as it were.
posted to MetaTalk by GenjiandProust at 1:31 PM on December 12, 2015

So there's a couple different levels of things that were going on there, and looking at that old discussion soberly requires synthesizing the two instead of choosing one or the other:

1. Different sites have different practices, mores, structures, guidelines, etc. And another site or community seen from a distance is going to stand out to someone largely in terms of how those things differ from their home place, and so cross-site discussions especially where they... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 7:16 AM on December 12, 2015

“For the last century, almost all top political appointments [on the planet Earth] had been made by random computer selection from the pool of individuals who had the necessary qualifications. It had taken the human race several thousand years to realize that there were some jobs that should never be given to the people who volunteered for them, especially if they showed too much enthusiasm. As one shrewed political commentator had remarked: “We want a President who has to be carried screaming... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by zarq at 11:20 AM on December 8, 2015

Totally disagree with Happy news: we're hiring. Specifically, a (etc). And I, for one, think that it will inevitably lead to the destruction of our society.

If we focus our forensic attentions on the details of this employment prospectus, we can clearly see that it encourages applications for a moderator to "weak" the "ends" of "US daytime," and to "add a little wiggle room to the current daytime schedule". In other words, the dark... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by the quidnunc kid at 6:42 AM on December 8, 2015

… so, once I get hired, I pretty much have to get a new username, right? Are those free to employees? Or can I just retroactively prune all the times I was a giant dick that I now regret?
posted by klangklangston at 8:17 PM on December 7

Y'know, despite at least a dozen instances of headbutting/mutual giant dickishness over the years, I'd hugely support your being a mod in a heartbeat. Double the headbutting, same would-support: tonycpsu.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ryvar at 1:58 AM on December 8, 2015

"Position" on "dildos"? I mean. You're just leaving yourself wide open with that.
posted to MetaTalk by dotgirl at 11:42 PM on December 7, 2015

"What's your position on dildos?"
posted to MetaTalk by taz at 11:25 PM on December 7, 2015

Curious why there's no salary range in the jobs posting...

Because I chose not to include one in the jobs posting. I aim to pay folks reasonably well, but this is a sufficiently idiosyncratic job that beyond knowing that it's a part-time job that comes with a decent paycheck I don't really want anybody applying first and foremost because they need the money and like the number they see in a listing or anything like that. It's not the sort of job... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 8:00 PM on December 7, 2015

… so, once I get hired, I pretty much have to get a new username, right? Are those free to employees? Or can I just retroactively prune all the times I was a giant dick that I now regret?
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 5:17 PM on December 7, 2015

If people want to keep responding to me, that's fine. I'm like the fucking energizer bunny when it comes to answering hostile responses on here. But I thought we could agree to disagree since I emphasized that launching an official investigation into moderation practices was never my intention.

Dude, when you feel like this, you win by saying your piece and walking away for a while. If/when you come back, rereading the comments and only... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 9:33 PM on September 7, 2015

Clavdzvlla slowly lumbers back into the Sea of Japan, a swath of toppled power lines and burning buildings behind him.
posted to MetaTalk by y2karl at 8:30 AM on October 30, 2015

I often end up feeling like there's nothing I can contribute in these kinds of discussions that won't be somehow wrong.

I've come to the conclusion that when I feel like this, maybe I actually don't have anything valuable to add to the discussion, and the thing to do is to shut up and read attentively.
posted to MetaTalk by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 7:31 PM on October 22, 2015

MetaFilter history - the day we lost the font tag (How and when to use humour).
posted to MetaTalk by unliteral at 5:10 PM on October 20, 2015

"Slavering pie-hole" is not in the thesaurus.
I re-checked.
posted to MetaTalk by clavdivs at 1:49 AM on October 18, 2015

distill my beating heart
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 1:29 PM on October 9, 2015

They all adore it. They think it's a righteous deletion.
posted to MetaTalk by maryr at 11:33 AM on October 7, 2015

MetaFilter: not fully baked enough

I'm doing the best I can, man!
posted to MetaTalk by terrapin at 5:00 AM on October 7, 2015

I want to give thanks and hugs to all of you, because MeFi is like my internet fairy godmother. So many of you have given me so much great advice, favourites, added me as a contact, helped me feel like I actually have some insight and something to offer. My life is quite literally in a different place because of MetaFilter, and it is a better and happier place.

Some specific shout-outs:
- jessamyn for being an awesome librarian, wise person and all-round... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Athanassiel at 6:54 PM on September 28, 2015

There are too many awesome people to cover, but here's some that readily come to mind: Combustible Edison Lighthouse for the Infodumpster, Pronoiac for podcast transcripts, carsonb for MeFiSwap, eriko for space stuff, various mods, especially cortex, for indulging my backtagging compulsion, and anyone who appreciated my goofy puns or historical deep dive posts.
posted to MetaTalk by zamboni at 8:22 AM on September 28, 2015

I'm another person on team "if this is real then I'm fascinated, if it's fiction I have zero interest and it's extremely unlikely I'll engage with the content", and thus a note or tag that made this clearer would have been welcome.

Trouble is, this argument applies to all "mystery meat" posts, not just those with fiction/nonfiction issues. I'm very interested in board gaming, and very little in video gaming, so I'm a bit annoyed... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by DevilsAdvocate at 9:44 AM on September 26, 2015

Metafilter is almost entirely a news aggregator in practice if not in purpose,

This is not at all the way I see Metafilter, and I think the data is on my side. Here are the topics of the FPPs on the first page of MF as I write this. I'll bold the ones that might be considered news, and I'll try to be as generous with that label as possible.

The UK tracking detailed internet activity
A long, high bridge made of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Pater Aletheias at 8:36 AM on September 26, 2015

Orson Welles would have loved this place. Orson and P. T. Barnum.
posted to MetaTalk by a lungful of dragon at 11:59 PM on September 25, 2015

Avoid Needless Hairsplitting.

It was obvious the material in question was fiction.

Some readers don't need training wheels.
posted to MetaTalk by y2karl at 9:00 PM on September 25, 2015

have i mentioned that i have a fish? in my pants?
posted to MetaTalk by quonsar II: smock fishpants and the temple of foon at 5:16 PM on September 19, 2015

I'm sorry if I was being an asshole, cortex, but your explanation really does not make sense to me. You clearly recognize that it's okay to step in and talk to people about their queued Metatalks when there are context and framing issues, and you clearly recognize that this particular post had some of those issues, but then you're saying that there's nothing you/the mod team could've done.

Except I didn't say there's nothing we could've done, I said in... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 1:16 PM on September 19, 2015

Please, if we're going to tut about the vapidness of pop music, the accepted phrase is "ass-jittering cattle". We've been over this.
posted to MetaTalk by EmpressCallipygos at 10:40 AM on September 19, 2015

I fully expect the thumping I am going to take. Fully expect the piling on always happens in these threads.

So would it be fair to say that the point of this post is not to get feedback from the community, given that you already know what it's going to be?

The reason this deletion feels so extreme to you is a product of society's default assumptions about how it's OK to talk about women. That's not specifically your fault, so... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Horace Rumpole at 10:00 AM on September 19, 2015