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cortex helped!

I also have historically hated April Fools stuff that made you feel stupid or that a bunch of people were in on some joke and you weren't, where you wound up feeling p0wned. I wanted to make something that was fun and rewarded close inspection but would go away entirely if it wasn't your thing. Sorry to deny some of you the trainwreck that you felt was finally yours.
posted to MetaTalk by jessamyn at 11:04 PM on March 31, 2007

I didn't get a chance to explain, so here goes:

I was seeing loads of links to youtube all over MetaFilter, often more than one in a single post/comment. I wanted to come up with a way to hover over the link and launch a hidden div or something, so that you could watch the video without having to leave the page.

It was always a drag to open up several tabs of youtube links, watch each one, one at a time, then go back to mefi. With this feature,... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 9:34 PM on March 16, 2007

I said it the other day on the youtube inline video thread, but I'll be hooking into flickr soon so you can mirror your profile image over there and pull any images into your profile page you want.

I'm in the middle of a huge server move, but this is one of the first things I want to finish when we're on the new hardware.
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 6:03 PM on March 22, 2007

Pay attention now, crash course in behaviorism.

Nicotine is extremely reinforcing because of its effects on your neurotransmitters. It's the unconditioned stimulus.

The pleasant smells and flavors of tobacco and all the stuff they soak it in are not reinforcing, or not very much compared to nicotine. They're a conditioned stimulus. So are the appearance of the pack, and the size, shape, color and texture of the cigarette itself.... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by ikkyu2 at 6:25 PM on February 21, 2007 marked best answer

Warning: long-ass post.

MetaFilter has a lot of people who care about words and ideas and view the Web as the ideal medium for both. The cam and e/n crowds, in contrast, see the Web as a tool for personal connections. As an example (and not to pick on linuxkitty), I would be mortally embarrassed to write something like "however a way I see fit" and post it where other people could see it. This is because I value clarity and elegance in writing and I value the opinions of... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by kindall at 12:02 AM on September 23, 2001

In deference to Jess, I won't write the Tom post.

For the people who are interested in knowing what the heck she and I are talking about:

In the late 90s, the Internet was -- well, we were all there. A luminous chandelier of possibility. It was not hyperbole to say that the universe was unfolding in front of our eyes. Home pages were being bought and sold for frankly unrealistic sums of money. And there, face pressed wistfully up against the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by felix at 12:41 PM on February 6, 2007

Ben and Jerry's is really only medium fun, more of a destination ice cream resort so unless you're really into it, feel okay with letting it drop off the list of you find other tantalizing things to do. Keep in mind that Burlington in March is still pretty cold and/or muddy so plan your activities and clothing accordingly. The weather can be pretty decent and if so there are neat places to walk/bike down by the waterfront. There are harbor tours that I've enjoyed, but they're not free though... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jessamyn at 5:51 PM on February 11, 2007 marked best answer

I bet that's just what jkl345's managers feel.

Fair enough. But I should point out that I don't work at a Manager level. I am but a lowly supervisor and thus forced to engage with my employees on a moment to moment basis every day. When something is broken, either from the perspectives of those above me or those below me, I get the dubious honor of being the first to hear the complaints.

Let me be clear; I hate my job with... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by quin at 10:08 PM on February 2, 2007

I inherited a department comprised of very skilled technical people who were poor on customer service, and people who were great with the customers, but weak on the technical side. Rather than spending all my time retraining, I had a meeting and explained that as a team we had all the skills we needed to be a solid department, but individually we needed to improve. And I let them train each other. I applied pressure here and there when needed, and applied incentives to improve in certain areas,... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by quin at 4:16 PM on February 2, 2007

Good ideas so far. The key message you need to convey to management is not "I am sick and tired of training". It is "our hiring process is broken and that is hurting us".
I am trying to think of the best way to go forward with this. I think the most effective way is to put your feelings in writing in a one-page memo, send it to management, and schedule a brief meeting to discuss it. This should be all business and no emotion. For... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by PercussivePaul at 8:50 PM on February 2, 2007 marked best answer

I've been involved in the organizing of numerous online communities over the years, many of which involved forums. They really do take a lot of work to get up and running!

First of all, the proportion of lurkers to active participants tends to be around 80% lurkers and only 15-20% active members. You'll need to have a sizable number of registered members before you will ever reach a size that becomes totally self-sustaining. It can often take a year or more for an online... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by Jade Dragon at 7:24 AM on February 1, 2007 marked best answer

Rothko rocks. But I feel that way about a lot of modern art.

Thanks bru. Both of those links make Les Demoiselles look as if it were painted with Calamine lotion, which, lol, it wasn't. And this rendition makes the demoiselles look as if they'd all been to the tanning salon. This is the most true to life version I could find on the web.

In a way I owe 10 years of prosperity to Les Demoiselles D'Avignon. In 1984-85 MoMA had an exhibit called... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by nickyskye at 11:34 AM on January 12, 2007

Work emails should be:

-requests for action (clearly spelled out: "Please do this")
-responses to requests for action ("I will do that.")
-important information ("The building is on fire.")

That's it. Don't be funny. Don't write anything that isn't one of the above. Don't write anything obliquely - say it, and say it clearly and succinctly. You want "least common denominator"... [more]
posted to Ask MetaFilter by jellicle at 6:40 PM on July 10, 2006 marked best answer

I'm waiting for the day I actually sit down at my PC (or Mac) and look at photos for more than 30 seconds, then I'll feel like there is actually a use for all these digital cameras and photo and video sharing sites, besides giving disk drive makers revenue growth. The world needs more bad amateur photography like it needs more amateur video producers. If you aren't showing breasts or guys skateboarding off roofs or shit blowing up, whats the point?

*removes tongue from cheek*
posted to MetaFilter by sfts2 at 5:49 PM on June 14, 2006

Someday we could have paypal addresses for everyone in their profile, allowing other members to drop them a buck or two when they give excellent advice.
posted to MetaTalk by mathowie at 9:03 AM on May 17, 2006