MetaFilter

Gaga for MeFiSwap! Mailing deadline Saturday August 21!

I thought I'd signed up for this one, but I never heard back, so I guess I missed it?
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:00 PM on August 15, 2010

Living in Canada, I'm willing to roll the dice on regular envelopes backed up by an FTP swap if something terrible happens -- it gets EXPENSIVE to mail stuff to/from here when the envelope exceeds standard size. I usually pack the CD in a slim case and cross my fingers.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 1:57 PM on August 17, 2010

It was a Bad Call, Ripley, a Bad Call

I agree with the deletion but I am grateful that the post led me to the CNN article that contains this sentence:

The witness asked not to be identified so that he does not anger the juggalos.

This will now be my go-to excuse for everything.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 9:35 AM on August 16, 2010

Ve haf vays of making u talk...

I was in New York in January, and fell in love with the Strand, and may well have seen you there, but not this week. I am Canadian, which may have accounted for the accent, eh?
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:34 AM on August 13, 2010

Beating a dead pony, but with pictures.

Yesterday, I found out that curry is a spice mix. There is no curry plant. There are no curry leaves or curry nuts or curry berries. Nobody harvests the humble curry; you do not grow different varieties or grow the plant in different ways to get hot or medium or mild curries.

It's just a spice mix.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 12:54 PM on August 6, 2010

MeFites playing StarCraft II?

THIS IS THE PART WHERE I LOOK AT MY SIX-YEAR-OLD PC AND CRY.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 12:46 PM on August 4, 2010

Let's bag some better bags!

For sure! I think everyone here is a good judge of what's "reasonably used" for swappin' purposes.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 3:58 PM on July 5, 2010

Shelleycat: I'm sure, once the swapsets are arranged, you can request to get only one bag per participant and to send one bag per participant. We have about five bags in our house and only use two per trip, but often find the others have other uses -- hopefully that's okay.

Misozaki: Yes, but generally much smaller than the huge blue IKEA bags. Generally speaking, these are about the same size as a plastic bag from an average supermarket or a little larger, made of… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 6:33 PM on July 5, 2010

There seem to be a fair number of well-organized and efficient people that just can't use 10 more shopping bags, which is a valid point and probably one I could learn something from.

(Probably because of the semi-regular mix CD swaps), I find five is a nice number for a swapset, as it gives you a fair bit of variety while still being manageable. I think there's a lot of latitude for people in a swapset to request to send/receive only one bag to/from five people, so once… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 2:16 AM on July 6, 2010

And yes, every decision counts. Not every decision is as clear-cut as this one, though (mental gymnastics aside). You don't need these bags.

And you don't need to waste valuable electricity and resources engaging in silly arguments with people on the Internet.

I think your point's been made. Thanks for contributing your opinion.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 8:27 AM on July 8, 2010

Quick FYI: I'm currently collating a list. A few things are becoming apparent:

1. Lots of Americans! With 50 people in the "10-bag" list, that gives 10 sets, and 3 or 4 U.S. residents per set. I'm varying by geographical area.

2. Many of our overseas participants fall in the "not-10-bag" category.

3. This is going to be fun!
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 12:39 PM on July 19, 2010

And here's what I wound up with.

10-BAG PARTICIPANTS:

I tried to organize this with a weighting system:

USA = 1. Most participants are American; other U.S. bags are the "least" interesting.
Other English-Speaking = 2. Bags will still be (mostly) in English, but a bit more exotic.
Non-English-Speaking = 3. Bags not in English will be a bit more thrilling and different.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 1:16 PM on July 19, 2010

D'oh. IGNORE THE ABOVE THEN

and I'll rejigger according to the didn't-preview adjustments and special-k's request.

Updating ASAP.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 1:38 PM on July 19, 2010

A few last adjustments to accomodate quick requests from jessamyn, corpse, and jacquilynne and special-k.

Group 3 is now a bit overbig. This is balanced by the fact that I think flex is a U.S. citizen, so postage costs are reasonable.

If you don't want 10 bags (sending or receiving), don't worry. Just make it clear when you MeMail your group members that you only want to send, and receive, one per person.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 1:57 PM on July 19, 2010

MeMailed up to NoraReed and then I got a system "cool it" warning. So I guess I'll finish alerting the troops tomorrow morning!

And yes, niles -- I (selfishly) couldn't settle on one cool bag to send to one person, so I decided to buy two bags per person so I can spread things around a little, then thought others might feel likewise.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 3:56 PM on July 19, 2010

Shocked and horrified to discover that the local library -- which was my backbone for the project -- has no more bags and has no idea when they'll be getting more. Time to improvise!
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 3:05 AM on July 24, 2010

where is the TEN coming from?

My piss-poor math skills when coming up with the idea.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:50 PM on July 25, 2010

I've got bags being sent out now -- a bit of a delay due to logistics fail -- and am looking forward to seeing what arrives! One no-show in my group, but I've MeMailed to check in and hopefully we'll connect.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:23 AM on July 30, 2010

They're coming in now, and they're awesome! Yay!
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 4:34 PM on August 3, 2010

OMG N00BS.

Lemme see...

One of the distinguishing features of MetaFilter is that most thread participants generally try to stay civil and assume good faith and investment in the conversation from other participants. It's not universal and it doesn't always work out, but there are very few "scorched-earth" style commenters on MeFi.

The mods are more approachable and responsive than you might think.

Flagging works. Not… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:31 AM on July 26, 2010

Haven't we all had enough?

My Juggalo name is henceforth The Very Model Of A Murder Major General.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 12:56 PM on July 20, 2010

Jonathan Coulton is funny and talented

Wh-whaa?

I've never been to a Coulton concert (I like the Portal song, though!) but I think you've really got to be hungry for umbrage to think that a question about whether there's some sort of unspoken "don't post a meetup every time you go to a concert, but [subset of performers] are seen as MeFi-friendly and those are good bases for meetups" is legit.

Hungry. For umbrage.

Seven… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:40 AM on July 16, 2010

"Honor killings" and Metafilter

And there's no denying the fact that the mods' being, on the whole, pleasant, patient, and polite makes the experience of their decisions to delete content easier to tolerate. I sometimes wonder if that's really a good thing.

If you like, and should the mods grant me the power, I would gladly delete most of your comments here with condescension, arrogance and no small amount of satisfaction.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 9:11 AM on July 15, 2010

MetaFilter Film Club v2.0

I'd be interested; one aspect of film that's always interested me (and that I've always wanted to start a Web site about, but haven't had time) is “puzzle movies” -- things like Memento, Lynch movies, Man Bites Dog, etc., where there's a lot of latitude to discuss not just the film and its merits but what... exactly... happened.

My dream site was one where there'd be forums to discuss the movies and a kind of vote-up vote-down system for explanations, where people can… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 1:26 PM on July 7, 2010

Ugh: Canadian, so my options are even more limited than Netflix streaming will allow. I may have to drop in and drop out.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 3:47 PM on July 7, 2010

Also I was totally unaware that Netflix streaming libraries are different from country to country.


I think I phrased things badly -- it's not that the Netflix streaming library is different in Canada, it's that there is no Netflix in Canada in any form. No other streaming media services, either -- Zip.ca is Canada's largest rental-by-mail firm, and they don't offer streaming.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:53 AM on July 8, 2010

Eeeeeeehhhh vast in one sense -- they have a copy of almost everything -- but bad in the sense that they have a copy of almost everything. Statistically, I stand a good chance of being the only Zip subscriber in the country to ask for Andrzej Wajda's Siberian Lady Macbeth, but if it's out... it's out.

I'm not currently a subscriber, but might talk to Ze Spouse about signing up again.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 11:52 AM on July 8, 2010

The generic World Cup meetup thread

I know Sherbrooke, QC is out of the question, but when it gets down to the finals, I'd love to watch some quality football with Montreal folks.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 9:19 AM on June 17, 2010

Blogpost Project Entry?

I actually asked Cortex about this once when I was about to put up a complex diagramming exercise I'd done based on Kurosawa's Rashomon, and his extended explanation (which I'm sure he'll be along soon to provide) was along the lines of just because something happens to be posted in a blog, that doesn't make it the sort of "blog entry" they discourage.

So my mental filter is "if I saw this as a standalone, single-serving Web page,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:25 AM on June 17, 2010

Foreign Language Posts? Bien sur ou mais non?

What if we had http://francais.metafilter.com just for the francophone members of the site and people learning to speak French?

Moi, j'aime l'idée, mais mon crainte est qu'il va être un cauchemar pour les modérateurs. Il faut avoir de modération basé sur une langue sécondaire ou sur les imprécisions de Google Translate, ou d'engager un modérateur seulement pour superviser le contenu de la site. Et avec les différences du localisation, je ne suis pas… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:50 AM on June 11, 2010

There's no reason why you couldn't have one page for all non-english posts, though.

Well, as I said above (in my flawed French), it would be a moderation nightmare. Google isn't up to regionalisms or slang; there'd be effectively no quality control over a chunk of the site except for self-policing by speakers of the language in question. If I decided to sacré in Quebec French, a Parisan-educated French-speaker would wonder why I… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 11:21 AM on June 11, 2010

______________ Meetup Mad Lib

I walked into the rest stop to get some coffee and a guy sitting in a chair said "Let me guess where you're from .... Connecticut!" so now I want to go burn these pants

If the source of sartorial criticism is a guy hanging out at a rest stop, you can generally safely ignore it.


Re. meetup: I'd love to go (it's actually a reasonable drive from Sherbrooke, QC) but it's too short notice. Dammit!
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 3:01 AM on June 5, 2010

Anonymous Ask MetaFilter, we need to talk

I'm very late to the party, but for what it's worth:

1. I've asked a few anonymous questions, anonymous because
1a. if my employers found out I was asking the question, it could get hairy for me at work. In short, because I'm a bit of a coward.
1b. it was a hot-button issue that can cause a lot of divisiveness in the community, I was under hella stress, and didn't want the question tied to my user name with ensuing future consequences. In short,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:42 AM on June 4, 2010

I don't understand this. I mean, I understand being willing to pay $5 to ask an anonymous question. But that feature already exists: you can buy a sock puppet account.

It hasn't yet been explained, really, why sockpuppets better than anonymous questions other than the forced $5 contribution to the site. In my case, I find non-contributing "members" that seem to have signed up only to ask a question more mildly aggravating than flat-out… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 6:57 AM on June 4, 2010

AskMe is a system that works well in aggregate, and does not require perfectly symmetrical give-and-take by every member. Some folks have more questions than answers compared to other folks. You can choose to modify your own answering behavior based on theirs, that's your right, but people answering first and foremost because they feel like they have a good answer to the question in front of them is the engine on which this place runs.

Fair enough.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 7:44 AM on June 4, 2010

So I just signed up for a sockpuppet to ask a question that I'd been on the fence about.

Paying attention to how I was feeling through the process, for what it's worth:

1. No problem with the fee.

2. Taking precautions to make sure I won't screw up and cross-post thanks to the browser remembering the wrong username and logging me in automatically: installed a browser that I normally never use, signed up using that… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 8:03 AM on June 4, 2010

FYI: you are supposed to exercise self restraint when in possession of a sockpuppet and limit your self to a single question per week regardless of which account posts it. While the technical limit is on accounts; the policy limit is on users.

Damn straight. It was more that I can now ask the question, wait a week, and ask the Anon question. I'm not planning on doubling-down every week or anything.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 9:45 AM on June 4, 2010

Detynt detente

I guess, if I were a publisher, I could see how it could get annoying to have people constantly copying my stuff and pasting it in their blogs without credit or attribution, and this (Tynt) seems like something a dim MBA with only peripheral knowledge of The Internets might greenlight as a solution.

Could this have been created to cut down on the SEO "spam content" blogs that clog up search results; the ones that just cut and paste anything containing a set of… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:59 AM on May 28, 2010

The kindness of strangers

I can't help it, and I know it's wrong, but I get exactly the same "A PLAN HAS COME TOGETHER" neck-hair-tingle from these types of threads as I do from well-crafted episodes of "The A-Team."

Which makes me feel a bit shitty, because these are real people and real stakes and not Mr. T shouting at somebody before turning a riding lawnmower into a cabbage cannon, but I can't help it. It is just so fucking awesome to see people pull together like this.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 7:24 AM on May 20, 2010

Much like how fake asked for people to not dive in with 'lecturing' about trafficking, I think the A-Team/Law & Order comparisons are gross. This is not sensational. This is not hyperbolic bad guy/good guy shit. This is someone's friend and former pupil who could be willingly tricked into walking into a very scary, dire situation. What if that was your friend at risk of being hurt, raped or killed? Would you welcome such comparisons?

Very true,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 11:34 AM on May 20, 2010

LUX LOUNGE IS HIRING!!! ONE OF THE BEST LOUNGES IN BROOKLYN IS NOW HIRING:

So after a restless night trying to reconcile how crappy I feel about getting a vicarious thrill through a real-world terrible and dangerous situation, now I feel terrible because I'm relieved that a bar may be a front for the sex trade.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 5:44 AM on May 21, 2010

Did he ask, or did he guess?

Tangerine: can I use your idea to write a book and make a lot of money so I can quit my day job and oh hell I am just not an Asker.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 2:04 AM on May 8, 2010

MC Frontalot Meetup

Matt, you rock. As do all those who find themselves Frontin'. STUPID GEOGRAPHY IS STUPID.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 9:31 AM on May 7, 2010

terrapin, I believe you're recalling MC Chicken-in-the-Hat.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 12:32 PM on May 7, 2010

Self-linker in Aisle B!

On darkest green
Or professional white
Self-linking is our greatest blight
Let those who think snark is a'ight
Revel in its power: a true MeFite!
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 12:53 PM on April 23, 2010

On Threadshitting...

When you flag
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:13 AM on March 26, 2010

A stupid thought
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:14 AM on March 26, 2010

The thread will survive
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:14 AM on March 26, 2010

The thought, will not.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:14 AM on March 26, 2010

Meta Shave.
posted to MetaTalk by Shepherd at 10:14 AM on March 26, 2010