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Full stop the "full stop"?

This intrusion of British English into a primarily American English website must come to a full stop.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:04 AM on June 9, 2013

What to do when threads result in name calling?

As far as turning off favorites, then I won't see them but everyone else will. I'm not sure why people think putting masking tape at the bottom of the tv is going to make the Blackhawks game not have a score.

Speaking as one of the very very few users who has favorites turned off completely, I find it helps me keep out of the scoring frame of mind. People may be using favorites for either bookmarking or approval but in the end it doesn't matter:… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:48 AM on June 8, 2013

I don't know that it's "very few" or that we can know the number at any moment - can we?

Not instantaneously, but pb ran the numbers a while back. Unless there have been serious changes in the way people use the site since then we would appear to be a fairly rare phenomenon.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 3:19 PM on June 8, 2013

Right. I'm also pretty pro masturbation.

Strictly amateur over here. How do you get sponsors?
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 7:35 PM on June 8, 2013

Mmm, pie.

I wish I knew someplace that made good Pumpkin Pie. With real whipped cream.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:11 PM on June 8, 2013

How to react when the thread eats you alive

How to react when the thread eats you alive

emptythought, if you weren't a long term contributing member I might think this thread was performance art on your part. :-)
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 8:34 PM on June 6, 2013

...Can someone explain how punching someone "in the back of the face" is physiologically possible?

That part is easy. It's getting it off them that's hard.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 6:50 PM on June 8, 2013

MeFi PenPals

I think that part of the appeal is the physicality, no?

Many Bothans trees died to bring you this information.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 1:10 PM on June 5, 2013

An AskMetaFilter Question Thrice Cited Over Potential BS in the NYT

I like one of the comments on the fourth link, where it says the "cute girl" Shannon refers to was Lennay Kekua.

Ouch.

By which I mean "Good one!"
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:04 AM on June 4, 2013

Enough with the batshit insanity of Mr. Jones

The number of users who do this however is ...awfully small.

I think that's sort of the point. The users are not being called out, just this particular behavior.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:00 AM on June 3, 2013

It's a classic slippery slope.

There is nothing you can do in this world that is not a slippery slope. Going out for coffee will eventually lead you to seek stronger stimulants ending in a drug overdose. Giving your baby a bath will cause you to enjoy putting bodies in water making you a serial killer who drowns people. Don't even get me started on blowing bubbles.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:01 AM on June 3, 2013

Why would anyone expect the Southern Poverty Law Center to keep tabs on radical leftist groups? Are they some sort of public service?

It seems weird to make the assumption. SPLC doesn't keep track of NHL scores either, but people seem okay with that.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 1:03 PM on June 3, 2013

When was the last time a FPP neared 700 comments?

700 is not that big in these parts.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:37 PM on June 2, 2013

Oh, it's also worth noting that on occasion conversations have been continued in newly created threads due to the unwieldyness of an existing long one.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:40 PM on June 2, 2013

I still know who you are

The post didn't out anyone. Someone else did all that work.

My understanding was that they did most of the work, but there were still gaps to be filled in.

Frankly I find any thread about breaking someone's anonymity distasteful. There are situations where I agree it should be done, but the bar is very high. People choose to be anonymous for their own reasons and it doesn't become us to sit around and gossip about it.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:50 PM on May 31, 2013

And for what it's worth, I don't really get this sudden prohibition against all doxxing (not on Metafilter but on the internet in general).

I think it's a sea change based on changing attitudes about privacy. A generation has grown up with the internet now and they have a different perspective about how things should work.

A lot of us old-timers started at a time when anonymity was practically the default. Sure lots of people… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 12:14 PM on June 1, 2013

For what it's worth my name and address are trivially available on Metafilter. So far no one has murdered me. So far.

Talk about selection bias.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 3:40 PM on June 1, 2013

Is being an ass really an inalienable right?

The world in general and America in particular (which is where I live and only the place I feel qualified to pontificate about) are more polarized these days,

The U.S. has always been deeply polarized. In fact all politics always has been.

If you take a look through the record of American political discussions from day one, you'll find all of the same vitriol and backbiting that you see here.

I mention… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 8:50 PM on May 29, 2013

Maybe we could try not hating people for their economic status?

I've noticed what seems to be a trend lately - whenever mention is made of people who have more money than either some people have or some think they should have, we seem to get much less considerate than we are of other topics.

Metafilter used to be more welcoming about things like this, but it's started to get really bad these last fifteen years or so.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 9:17 AM on May 28, 2013

but rather the time you devote to trolling metafilter if you are that wealthy.

That's an interesting attitude actually. Aren't the rich supposed to have too much time on their hands? Where should a rich person be trolling if that's their thing? Or is trolling something only poor people do?

Also, speaking as someone in the top 1% worldwide income bracket if I'm going to get a chance to grind my heel into the face of the… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 9:52 AM on May 28, 2013

specifically talking about money and how the rich have a tendency to hoard it while supporting efforts to stymy healthcare and remove programs that support for the poor

As always it's worth remembering that the politics of the rich mirror the politics of the rest of the population. Plenty of rich people who are happy to pay higher taxes and who donate huge sums of money to social causes.

Of course there are also plenty who… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:58 AM on May 28, 2013

Acording to this if you earn more than US $39,000 per annum as a single person, you are then part of the 1% problem.

To be fair you would have to net that. In the U.S. you would have to earn about $60,000 to get your oppressor badge and be invited to the secret meetings where we conspire to keep the poor in their place.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:02 AM on May 28, 2013

Yeah, a lot of rich people are assholes, because wealth is a corrupting influence that makes it easier for people to be assholes,

In my experience wealth isn't a corrupting influence, it's an enhancing influence. People who were unpleasant become assholes, people who were nice gain the power to be nicer.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 2:36 PM on May 28, 2013

Possible sarcasm failure: Is Flint really that bad? I had heard it was having a renaissance of sorts.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 4:06 PM on May 28, 2013

When you give money to the poor, it circulates around and we tax it again.

Fair enough, let's completely bankrupt the 1% and see what we get.

Using some rough rounding:

1,000,000,000 (1 billion dollars) split among 300,000,000 people = $3 per person.
10,000,000,000 (10 billion) = $30
100,000,000,000 (100 billion) = $300
1,000,000,000,000 (1 trillion dollars) = $3,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:45 AM on May 29, 2013

Was my comment deleted?

one person flirting at the edge of deviant thought

This wasn't one person flirting at the edge of deviant thought, this was one person purposefully and gratuitously insulting a bunch of other people.

Being an asshole is not protected speech.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:22 PM on May 16, 2013

Jesus is very much a part of my cultural identity, though--ownership of Christian culture is not limited to believers.

will you please expand on this? I don't understand what you mean by Jesus being part of your cultural identity.

Speaking as an American a huge number of the people who live here -- and thus a very large percentage of the people who create and participate in our culture -- believe in Jesus. For hundreds of… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 5:10 PM on May 17, 2013

there is a time and a place for Christians to loudly and forcefully argue that atheism is based on beliefs which are not true

Beliefs? Plural? For me Atheism is simply the absence of belief that any god exist

Sure, that's the definition of Ateism. But how did you arrive there? How do you account for your own existence? Are good and evil real or abstract concepts? Is there a higher order to the universe that is not a god?… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 7:30 PM on May 18, 2013

How do you account for your own existence?Quicken. It is a great financial accounting package. Also a few smart phone apps to track food, exercise, sleep mood and other physical items related to my existence; plus a personal journal.

I had more in mind the question of how humans came to exist. For myself I'm pretty sure it didn't involve Quicken but I'm prepared to be convinced.

However, seeing as you are an Atheist I don't… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 1:02 AM on May 19, 2013

I think it pays to be a little careful with the word "belief".

Good point.

the meaning I'm attaching to [faith] is "beliefs that it is improper to doubt".

Actually propriety/loyalty would never have occurred to me with regards to faith but the dictionary agrees with you here. Definitely a word to be avoided unless you're prepared to open a large can of worms.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:02 AM on May 20, 2013

However, seeing as you are an Atheist I don't think it unreasonable for me to assume you believe in a primordial soup followed by lots of natural selection.

Because you're on metafilter, I can assume you believe the same thing, atheist or not.

Veering off from the philosophical to the demographic, I'm not sure how good an assumption that actually is. Certainly primordial soup is well represented, but I'm not sure it's an overwhelming majority.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:05 AM on May 20, 2013

Was there more to say on why the comment was deleted?
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 5:22 PM on May 20, 2013

Beware of assuming that theists on Metafilter don't also believe in evolution, adaptation and natural selection.

It's easy to believe in all of those without accepting them as the ultimate origin of humans or indeed life at all. It's also easy to believe that both the primordial soup and the seven day thing are true despite their glaring contradictions.

In fact it's easy to believe lots of things and with this particular crowd… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 5:32 PM on May 20, 2013

Deleting Damascus

carsonb wrote...
1. Don't make posts about conflict in the Middle East unless it's, like, un-fucking-believably awesome good news or the Rapture. Just cross it off the list.

This.

For your own stress levels if nothing else. The denizens of these parts are too volatile a mix on this particular topic for things not to get heated and testy, and this isn't a heated and testy discussion sort of place.

Stick to cool things you found on the web.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:10 PM on May 4, 2013

"Holy shit. So this is what it is actually like to live in Damascus right now." Honestly, I was (am) seriously overcome by the rawness conveyed in those few seconds. I meant for the post to be interpreted more as "do you believe people actually experience this? Like, in real life?"

They are powerful videos from that standpoint. If I wanted to post them I would collect a bunch of videos from different conflicts around the world and… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:28 PM on May 4, 2013

Help me understand this.

I don't like to live in an echo chamber.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:59 AM on April 30, 2013

If what's brought into the discussion are just the links to the most ridiculous things that people on the other side (whatever that means) have to say about it, the echo chamber problem gets worse, not better.

I don't know that I agree with that. There is a certain maturity you can expect in the audience -- specifically that they know that what they're seeing is from the far edge. Too many of us pretend that somehow we are the only ones who are… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 3:41 PM on April 30, 2013

Super Secret Mini Mefi Meetup

Wow, congratulations wearyaswater!

Of course depending on cell coverage and battery life it may be a month before you see this...
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 8:00 PM on April 27, 2013

Favorites begetting favorites

The distribution of existing favorites is only half the picture (although a pretty pie chart it is; Thanks pravit!)

We also need to know the ongoing favorite accumulation rates. Who's hogging the fresh favorites, depriving the rest of us of our well earned due?
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 10:39 AM on April 27, 2013

Hugs, High-Fives, and Happiness

I ate a guinea pig.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:43 AM on April 25, 2013

Oh, and on a separate occasion I had Alpaca Cordon Bleu. That was some good shit right there.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:45 AM on April 25, 2013

Hey, cool griphus and Blisterlips!
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:47 AM on April 25, 2013

Oh yeah, two days ago I released what I like to believe is a pretty good logic game for the iPad.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:54 AM on April 25, 2013

Or capybaras, but you'd have to be really hungry.

Capybaras actually look pretty tasty. Probably better than guinea pigs which are not unlike pheasant in the thousands of small bones with tiny scraps of meat department.

Still one of the great regrets of my life is losing the pictures. They were so cute splayed out on the grill with their little charred feet sticking up in the air.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 12:04 PM on April 25, 2013

I have been cited as an authoritative source of facts in Senate correspondence to an executive agency.

posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:03 PM on April 25 [+] [!]


Please, oh please, let it have been by name.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 1:11 PM on April 25, 2013

Tell Me No Lies, my wife has been playing the old desktop version of your game pretty much daily for years now. Every once in a while she asks me to hide it on my computer so she can get some work done, but that never lasts more than a week or two.

There is no better praise for a puzzle game. I'm glad to hear it's had legs too.

The reason you had trouble finding the link is that I put it under projects. For anyone interested… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 2:58 PM on April 25, 2013

Blood lost: NONE!
Explosions: ZERO!
Burns: ZERO!
Stench of gas in the garage: NONE AT ALL!

You and I have different, nay, diametrically opposed criteria for success in projects.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 3:00 PM on April 25, 2013

Those HGTV house porn shows do not tell the truth about what a crazy roller coaster ride of emotions this process can be.

Yeah, when friends ask me for advice about buying their first house, the primary thing I tell them is that it will get really personal really fast. I'm sure there is someone out there who can treat purchasing their main residence as a simple business deal, I just haven't met them yet.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 3:04 PM on April 25, 2013

Wow smoke, that sounds miserable. Congratulations on seeing it through and I'm glad to hear you'll be able to focus on recovery now.
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 6:18 PM on April 25, 2013

But perhaps I should add one bad thing -- bad for me, anyway. tkolar's logic game, mentioned above, just ate several hours of my life. Addictive, to say the least!

Oh, hey cool. Glad to know I've helped you with those pesky extra hours you had... :-)
posted to MetaTalk by Tell Me No Lies at 11:57 AM on April 26, 2013