MetaFilter

"Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go." - Brooks Atkinson

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." - Bill Vaughn

“The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by nubs at 8:27 AM on December 31, 2014

I just added two new options to Random Favorite. You can add ?comments or ?all to the end of the URL to specify if you want a random comment or either one.

If you specify all (let's call this the wildcard option), the script will randomly choose either posts or comments and then make its random selection from your favorites.

And here are links suitable for dragging to your bookmarks toolbar:

MeFi Rnd... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 11:48 AM on July 17, 2013

I maintain a unilateral action list in my profile.
posted to MetaTalk by unliteral at 7:40 PM on December 17, 2014

Woot! I've wasted exactly one fifth of my life on this earth farting around on Metafilter. I wouldn't trade that time for anything.

I would like my hair back, though. I'm pretty sure that I had a full head of hair when I got here, not sure what happened to it since then.
posted to MetaTalk by octothorpe at 5:30 AM on November 18, 2014

his staff feel free to question and overrule the big boss's judgment calls

If you hire people smarter than yourself, it's pretty easy to agree with their advice even when it contradicts your own position -- they're probably right.
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 8:32 AM on November 19, 2014

In this case, Farsi (or Persian, as Google calls it)

Many speakers outside Iran tend to get a bit annoyed if you call their language Farsi in English, because that's strongly associated with Iran, so Persian is often used for the family that consists of Iranian, Afghan, and Tajiki Persian (and a few others), while Farsi is used for the dialect used in Iran. Of course, others argue that the differences are minor enough that it should always be... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by effbot at 5:49 PM on November 20, 2014

Yeah, on a personal level I dislike the more thin and empty listicles... but for many of them there's a personal-taste judgment call where a mod might feel like "well, not my thing, but nobody's flagging it, so I guess people are liking it well enough."

It's helpful if people do flag stuff that seems too thin. Call it 'other' or whatever. It's good for mods to see where people's line is.
posted to MetaTalk by LobsterMitten at 3:03 PM on November 8, 2014

I'm going to guess that people named Erin (or Aaron) like that link a bit. Which goes to show that different people like different things.

Also, one of the things that I've grown to appreciate about metafilter is that it isn't always a super fancy restaurant with ten course meals, but it can be. But sometimes you just want McDonalds. (Of course, I also try not to eat from a garbage can, which is why I'm glad the moderators draw the line at some point.... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by SpacemanStix at 12:17 PM on November 8, 2014

OMG are you married to We had a deal, Kyle?

We have a deal, joseph and I.
posted to MetaTalk by We had a deal, Kyle at 7:10 PM on November 1, 2014

hey guys, look at this gauntlet I'm throwing

Contrarian needs argument – badly!

Mod – shot the argument!
posted to MetaTalk by griphus at 10:33 AM on October 28, 2014

Also, it might help if you install the mefi comment divider script, which I find absolutely 100% vital to reading mefi, without it my brain can't really parse where one comment ends and the next begins. It's not a weird problem, or a rare one. It's just an annoying one. The change of font size that otherwise denotes the difference between the comment and the comment info line only confuses me more. Reading mefi without this script is fucking agony.

there's one here but... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by poffin boffin at 9:13 AM on October 22, 2014

This is pretty great!

There's a billion Metatalk threads talking about what's wrong with this place. It's true that people can sometimes be terrible when they leave comments here. I find, though, that every single interaction I've had with a MeFite that wasn't inside a thread, be it real life, MeMail, email, postcards, Secret Quansar, Twitter, Facebook, or any other way, has been awesome.
posted to MetaTalk by bondcliff at 12:35 PM on October 21, 2014

Start here.
posted to MetaTalk by sleepy pete at 12:13 PM on March 16, 2008

OK. Maybe I'm just getting used to it. Anyway, thanks pb.
posted to MetaTalk by nangar at 7:31 PM on September 29, 2014

Dark mode is pretty (and should be the default), but when in dark mode, it seems like when a page loads it displays the non-dark mode for a second, so I get a very unpleasant strobe-like flash before I can read stuff.
posted to MetaTalk by speicus at 10:04 PM on September 25, 2014

Also the IRL post title text/background contrast is really low for me in Dark Mode.

Yeah, next on the list. Plus the music display bug devilsrancher pointed out.
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 12:21 PM on September 25, 2014

For everyone who is feeling discomfited by stuff that is more sort of subjective taste than actual bugs, I strongly recommend you follow Matt's advice and just let it sink in for a while.

I'll be honest, I liked the idea but really did not feel comfortable with the reality when I started beta testing it a couple months back or whenever it was. It felt wrong, it didn't feel like Metafilter to me (that got much better once the Dark Mode toggle appeared), and I tried to... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:08 PM on September 24, 2014

"I had a really hard time getting used to the relocated Recent Activity button but I eventually made it over the hump!"

Yep. That's the worst part about the current design. Well, that and the cluttered header on the front page. I think Matt and PB went with the idea of categorical <li> elements without realizing that different people categorize them differently. A better UI approach is (generally) grouping the most common links that... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 3:24 PM on September 24, 2014

I've been using this as a beta tester for about 6 weeks now. Although it didn't feel right for a good while at the beginning, at this point, I don't think I'd want to go back.

Thanks for inviting me to test, Matt, and thanks to all involved for a long-overdue freshening up.
posted to MetaTalk by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:18 PM on September 24, 2014

I was a beta tester and missed modern mode when the beta test was over. Dark Mode solved my main problem, which was glare.

I was resistant to the idea of change, but once I got used to it, the new design made a lot of sense.

Oh, and one weirdness. I have dark mode on, using Safari on an iPad Mini iOS 8. There's about an inch and a half of white empty space to the right of the thread.
posted to MetaTalk by Kattullus at 3:02 PM on September 24, 2014

I was a beta tester and I am SO RELIEVED that this is finally sitewide and I can talk about it! My eyeballs panicked at first but now I like it a lot, especially with the COMPLETELY HYPNOTIC dark mode button which I could just push-push-push-push all day. I had a really hard time getting used to the relocated Recent Activity button but I eventually made it over the hump!

The MeFiQuote greasemonkey script hasn't worked during the beta test, nor howlsofoutrage, but my... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Eyebrows McGee at 2:53 PM on September 24, 2014

Kudos to the entire team on a huge project that seems to have yielded amazing results. I may not have articulated it very well, but all I was ever trying to advocate for was a look that was approachable and familiar to people who had never been to the site before, but would surely have been delighted to discover what a special place this is, despite its intimidating first impression. (And some members' penchants for really never letting a tired old joke go.)

I hope all... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by anildash at 2:40 PM on September 24, 2014

You could come back to a discussion about an old Mad Men episode three years later, and still chime in after just having watched the episode for the first time

But that's not a discussion...that's a guestbook. What's the incentive to leave a note in a three year old thread that's effectively abandoned, about a show that may have already wrapped?

That's not aimed at you, filthy light thief; it's something I've been thinking... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Ian A.T. at 8:03 PM on September 15, 2014

Thanks for the suggestion. This is definitely something we want to do. We're picturing a My Fanfare where you can pick your favorite shows. We have some bigger irons in the fire right now, but we do want this too.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 1:48 PM on September 12, 2014

Rude gestures may also be sent to coldchef at gmail dot com. I feel like the luckiest boy in the world.
posted to MetaTalk by ColdChef at 3:59 PM on September 5, 2014

I objectively admire people who stick around here despite holding opinions or politics that are contra the prevailing norm, especially on social issues. I do, I really do. I almost never agree with them, but I admire them, the way I admire an Eisenhower Republican. Hail fellow, well met, sportsmanship kinda thing.

But I sometimes wonder if there is some kind of false troll renaissance a brewing on the greater internet. Some of our now infrequent policy metatalk... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Divine_Wino at 6:32 PM on August 19, 2014

My guess is it's not pretty under the hood.

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 9:59 AM on August 12, 2014

For the record, I think whether or not we want Ask to grow is actually a very good question. It's bigger than this feature request, but it's worth asking. Metafilter changes over time, and I think it's good that we think about how and about what that means.
posted to MetaTalk by koeselitz at 12:57 PM on August 9, 2014

They aren't YouTube playlists, but check out Recent YouTube Links in Posts and Recent YouTube Links in Comments at Labs.
posted to MetaTalk by pb at 9:16 AM on July 23, 2014

Please no scorn, but as a busy person who must carry much of her life around in her "purse," my purse is a Jansport backpack.
posted to MetaTalk by Lynsey at 11:42 AM on July 22, 2014

It's still not as bad as being trapped on the bus with a loud crazy person who has opted the be-as-offensive-as-possible mode.
posted to MetaTalk by y2karl at 8:05 AM on July 16, 2014

Man, I'm gonna need MetaFilter to stop making me rewatch ALL THE SHOWS. FanFare is amazing but it just makes me want to watch everything. And rewatch everything else.
posted to MetaTalk by terilou at 3:34 PM on July 9, 2014

Just something I have been doing. Modeling good behavior, etc.
posted to MetaTalk by the man of twists and turns at 7:27 AM on July 11, 2014

Without looking, I'm 90% sure The Wire was supposed to be on a twice/week schedule. After a week went by, I just made a post. I've watched halfway into season 2; it's hard to watch only one or two a week! And yet, not everyone could keep up if we had an episode a day or something. Apparently other people have these things called "lives." (So I'm told.)
posted to MetaTalk by desjardins at 5:32 PM on July 9, 2014

I just wish the Wire posts were more frequent. I've been hesitant to post because I thought maybe the slow pace had already been decided on, or like I'd be stepping on someone's toes somehow - maybe that's not the case?
posted to MetaTalk by dialetheia at 5:18 PM on July 9, 2014

> I remember for the MeFi 10 anniversary meetup in LA Thin Lizzy made the coolest cupcakes with correctly-colored fondant frosting shaped like little +'s & !'s. They were awesome-post-flag-worthy and quite possibly my favorite. Oh look, there's a picture!

Ha! I clicked on the "[more inside]" handwritten words in the photograph. As if that would result in more cupcakes.

mathowie, I think... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by heyho at 1:26 PM on July 8, 2014

[…] I mentally change all instances of "email" in a boring meeting to "butt" […]

I do this with "cloud." I substitute in the word "clown." So they I get to hear about "clown computing," storing data "in the clown," Apple's "iClown" service, and people talk about clown services and clown devices.

It makes the world more interesting. I am going to adopt the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cjorgensen at 11:40 AM on July 8, 2014

The instant after I hit the button, I notice the six or seven obvious mistakes I've just committed to eternity. The passive voice. The sprained idiom. The omitted link. The misspelling of "Philippe."

That, or a much better post title occurs to me.
posted to MetaTalk by Iridic at 8:09 AM on July 3, 2014

It's by pjern. I think you want this?
posted to MetaTalk by benito.strauss at 9:32 PM on June 27, 2014

You are so NOT doing MeFi all wrong. MeFi isn't a single-passage Maze and there's no one way to MeFi. Folks should interact as much as they feel comfortable with the site and the community, showing respect for both. I live in an area reasonably populated by MeFites, and (used to live in a metropolitan area with bunches of them) have never been to a meetup. Heck, I'm pretty sure I've stood in line at the library or IGA or post office behind other mefites, and nothing happened, other a polite... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by julen at 7:33 PM on June 24, 2014

When I broke an arm and a leg, the MeFi community really came together to help my recovery. There's more in the archives, or you can just email me and I'll answer questions.
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 4:02 PM on June 23, 2014

Rhaomi's comment in the post on the Blue (The Mother of All Self-Links) links to several articles where Cutts says basically the same thing, over and over again.

Sorry about that -- it was so redundant because there wasn't yet any video or transcript from the conference, so I threw in as many eyewitness reports as I could find to capture any tidbits of info that might have been left out of any one reaction.

Anyway, the video of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Rhaomi at 7:25 PM on June 20, 2014

Hal_c_on: There's an unfortunate socialized expectation that when a man enters the conversation, he's supposed to be in charge of it. When you make sweeping statements like "I'm putting the responsibility on ALL mefites," you're being presumptive about a handful of things, including that it's your position to put the responsibility on anyone, that "all MeFites" having responsibility answers the complaint of women saying that the responsibility is unjustly placed upon them... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by klangklangston at 12:31 PM on June 13, 2014

I just wanted to say good luck, we're all counting on you.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 7:56 AM on June 13, 2014

And I also hope this isn't how people are going to treat Metafilter just because they're paying something to use the site.

I totally understand people having this reaction to the idea of a "because we paid money, ergo..." type propositions, but I don't think that was what philipy was going for at all so I'd rather people not pile on about that. If anything I think the intent was the opposite: "we're helping via method x; can we also... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 7:51 AM on June 9, 2014

I'll be honest, hal, I don't have the emotional reserves right now to do more than roll my fuckin' eyes at that question.
posted to MetaTalk by cortex at 3:43 PM on June 7, 2014

a (29 posts), an (2 posts), the (125 posts),
and (44 posts), or (8 posts),
am (13 posts), was (3 posts), of (103 posts), if (25 posts),
I (22 posts), he (3 posts), she (2 posts), it (76 posts)... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by ardgedee at 2:19 PM on June 7, 2014

I think one time when someone posts a "how did you find metafilter" MeTa we should all post "Anil Dash maybe" just for chuckles.
posted to MetaTalk by sweetkid at 6:16 PM on June 5, 2014

My mix (8tracks) consists of live music (I) recorded here in Tucson.
posted to MetaTalk by unmake at 12:41 AM on June 4, 2014

Hello. My collection is titled NSFW 2 and is available as a .zip file here. The playlist is as follows:

1 : Let's Talk Dirty to the Animals : Gilda Radner
2 : The Scotsman : Bryan Bowers
3 : Balls! : Listen With Mother
4 : Punch 'em In The Dick : Juicy Karkass
5 : The Penis Song : Monty Python
6 : Peace & Love (A Blind Man's Penis) : John Trubee (sung by Ramsey Kearney)
7 :... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by not_on_display at 7:28 PM on June 3, 2014