MetaFilter

The explanation for disallowing comments was to "offer status updates or informational announcements about things-in-process without a resource-intensive Metatalk thread being a required corollary." Interestingly no subsequent Metas have had locked comments... I don't think I am alone in saying that locking comments on this update and no others left a bad taste in my mouth.

A longer quote is

"About the closed… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 2:04 PM on June 12, 2020

In some of the past disability & ableism MetaTalk threads, people have said "I have never flagged a comment" or similar statements, or been unsure about how to flag a post or comment, what happens once you select that "[!]" icon, whether you get to keep a record of the reason you flagged something, and so on. Since some people appreciate a step-by-step guide to an unfamiliar process, I expanded the MeFi wiki page about flags/flagging, including screenshots of each step in… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 5:44 PM on June 18, 2020

meaty shoe puppet said "May I propose that we avoid discussion in this thread of individual mental health issues?"

But that would mean that people would be less free to discuss here possibly ableist implications of some suggestions and policy changes based on their own personal experiences.

And it would mean that we would have a harder time talking about how policy changes might help accommodate disabled members.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:05 PM on June 19, 2020

meaty shoe puppet asked: "How does one get an edit into the MeFi Wiki?"

1. go to http://mefiwiki.com/
2. use the Create Account link in the upper right corner http://mefiwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Special:CreateAccount&returnto=Main+Page and create an account
3. while logged in, go to the page you want to edit, such as http://mefiwiki.com/wiki/Collaborative_FPP_Drafting
4. look along the top for the word "edit"… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 3:36 PM on June 19, 2020

My gratitude to our whole mod team, old and new, to the people who ran MetaFilter's hiring process and advised it, to all the applicants for ensuring that MetaFilter had several good candidates to choose from, and to the anonymous funder.

Welcome, travelingthyme and loup! I hope you both find this to be a congenial environment, a good workplace, and a source of new insights and laughs.

Nick Bergson-Shilcock articulated a definition of community… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 5:33 PM on June 1, 2020

This is a shout-out to the band 3 Mustaphas 3 for their song "Sitna Lisa" and to a friend of mine for mentioning it in answer to the question "what is one song that always makes you happy no matter how often you hear it". I don't think I'd ever heard it before, and it was stunning and shook up my morning in a way I don't think I've felt for a year.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:33 AM on May 15, 2020

fairlynearlyready, if you don't mind me asking, have you been able to develop a bit of a routine?
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:04 PM on April 6, 2020

The largest tech industry conference that I participate in every year, PyCon North America, is scheduled to take place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in about six weeks. PyCon has just made an announcement saying that they're monitoring the situation and discussing the current advice from Pennsylvania health authorities, a lenient refund policy, and when we'll get another update (this Friday, March 6th). I asked another convention I attend whether they'll be putting out a similar update, and… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 2:35 PM on March 2, 2020

ArbitraryAndCapricious said:

State governments may bypass the Federal government and start authorizing local and/or private labs to do testing. I don't know if they're legally entitled to do that, but my sense is that some state governments are at the point of doing it and worrying about the legalities later.

I just posted some relevant material about that on the blue (trying to keep most of my comments in this thread about my individual experiences).
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 11:00 AM on March 14, 2020

Relatedly, MeFites have made several recent posts on autism, generally tagged "autism", such as this post about an adult who found it very useful to successfully seek a diagnosis. In comments there, Snarl Furillo appreciated the recent disability- and autism-related posts. And I appreciate them too. Thanks to all who make them!
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 7:15 PM on February 21, 2020

kanata, I figure one way these threads work is that disabled people talk and non-disabled people (including mods) listen and learn.

I'm sorry you didn't feel like you belonged in past threads. I'm glad you are sharing your thoughts in this one.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:15 AM on January 22, 2020

Jesse the K and I are both members of a Dreamwidth community focusing on "Access and disability issues in Fandom":

Access Fandom is a learning & teaching space. It's about how to improve access at conventions and conferences and how to make online fandom more disability-friendly. It's an open community where we welcome free-ranging discussion: Share interesting, relevant links. Talk about your experiences creating or participating in accessible events. Post… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:16 AM on January 22, 2020

kanata: I don't think you were harsh; I know this thread started pretty theory-heavy and I know that I could have chosen an opening that felt more inclusive and readable. I like and value you. It's ok for you to take a break if you want, and, it's ok for you to stay and keep chatting. *tele-hug* if that is welcome.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 1:39 PM on January 22, 2020

(Just on the topic of grocery shopping: on the blue we talked a while back about a grocery store that "implemented sensory-friendly shopping on Sunday nights", and I'm realizing I should look for resources on how to talk to my local grocery stores about implementing something similar. Like, my local transit museum offers visitors free sensory kits for checkout "including noise quieting headphones, a visual schedule, and list of quieter spaces", and I know a lot of… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 8:17 AM on January 23, 2020

The Ask Stacey has mentioned. I will go there now and, based on what Stacey has said, probably flag a few things for the mods' attention.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 2:38 PM on January 26, 2020

On flagging:

A few times in these threads, people have said "I have never flagged a comment" or similar statements. I know that for some people, it's scary to click on something they've never clicked on before, especially something that might lead to an interaction with authority figures. And the Frequently Asked Questions about flagging are useful, but I know that some people appreciate a step-by-step guide to an unfamiliar process.

So… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 6:41 AM on January 27, 2020

In response to seesom's comment above (and I'm sorry this is so long; I'm boldfacing for better ease of reading):

Hi, seesom! I am glad you are here, and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, and I thank you for working to talk with everyone else to both support having a supportive atmosphere (on MetaFilter in general) and to talk about what you find discouraging.

One thing I noticed is that you spoke about "the usefulness of having… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:08 AM on January 28, 2020

I just saw this thread ("Dear abled parents of disabled kids... ") (in ThreadReader) by jendatabasegeek. In it, she says to some parents, "You've become so wrapped up in the idea that you have to protect your child at all costs that any suggestion about letting your child make their own decisions becomes an attack. And we get concerned about whether or not you will listen to your child when they voice an opinion" -- I get the sense that's an experience some of you have had,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 1:04 PM on January 28, 2020

Autistic people might be interested in the FPP I just posted about Nicole Cliffe's recent essay. I have added the "disability" tag to ease findability; I am allistic and if I shouldn't have done that, please let me know.

I haven't joined the Slack and I probably will not, for a few reasons. I hope people are finding it useful!

There's a placeholder page on the wiki for collaboratively drafting the next MetaTalk post about disability and… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 2:53 PM on February 9, 2020

mittens: in a comment earlier in this thread you explained, about your anxiety:

I will never be able to be careful enough to make this feeling go away.

You have helped me better understand the friends of mine who have anxiety. Thank you.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 5:53 AM on February 10, 2020

Tehhund and LobsterMitten, I've been enjoying this thread a lot -- thank you for starting it.

Every once in a while I am told that someone knows someone who resembles me, but I don't think I've gotten to meet them yet; maybe I have and it's been so unnerving that I blotted it out of my memory! Sometimes the resemblance is to my "energy." Years ago somebody mistook a friend of mine for me, or vice versa, and I think we looked vaguely similar at that time from… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 5:42 AM on February 9, 2020

Oh right, drunk people are a whole other category. In 2016, in Austin, Texas, I was chatting with other OSCON acquaintances in a hotel lobby and was interrupted by a drunk white woman who called me "Mindy Lahiri" (a fictional character, played by Mindy Kaling, in The Mindy Project).
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 1:44 PM on February 9, 2020

I was born and raised in the US; my parents came from India. When we ate non-homecooked food, we usually went to chain places, like Taco Bell, Subway, and McDonald's. For a while, as an adult, I judged my parents and wished they would be more adventurous. But we were vegetarians on a single low-to-middle income, and even after money eased up a bit, it was still hard to go to a new place in medium- or small-size municipalities and figure out what they could eat. We knew there was food we could… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:08 AM on January 8, 2020

they tend to have GF options and/or food safety training drilled into them that a trendy new place might not

Ghostride The Whip, your point kind of rhymes with mine in a way .... one of the things that surprised me when I read a bunch of agriculture consultant Sarah Taber's work for the first time was when she said (I'm paraphrasing) that the worst practices she's seen were on small farms, and that many big corporate operations actually do things way… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 11:38 AM on January 8, 2020

I think the job description is good -- detailed, clear on current expectations and possibilities for future growth, explicit about payscale, encouraging to marginalized people. I'll be spreading the word.

When my spouse was hiring for a team, one thing he did that really helped (and I think this helped with gender and racial diversity in particular) was specifically saying he was happy to have informational interviews with people who were thinking of applying. I believe… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 10:33 AM on January 6, 2020

Much thanks and good luck. Please take as much of a break as you need from the site, but I hope to see you here again after.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 10:21 AM on January 6, 2020

sciatrix, thanks for working with me on writing this, and for posting this!

In one of the previous MetaTalk discussions about disability, after ArbitraryAndCapricious mentioned and linked to a new front page post that might go awry, sciatrix said:

I didn't realize until just now how important it feels to me to be able to signal boost to people who have some experience with this shit to go run and look when we talk about this topic. It matters not… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:12 PM on December 6, 2019

(Acheman's MetaTalk post is How to block a specific post category. And a few other recent MetaTalk posts that are maybe relevant to people in this thread: on how MeFites feel about comments that say things are not getting better and will never get better, a thread where there is some discussion of competing needs, and putting together a group of "parents on Metafilter wrestling with the practical, social, and other challenges of raising kids with mental health challenges or diagnoses".)… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:54 PM on December 8, 2019

sciatrix, I also want to ask how you are doing and follow up on the (new?) health issues you mentioned a few months back.

(I know some people would feel picked-on and singled-out-in-a-bad-way if I asked them a follow-up question about something they'd mentioned in a past disability MetaTalk thread, but I get the sense that it probably won't bother you -- please do let me know if I've made the wrong guess.)
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:59 PM on December 8, 2019

The Front Page Post thread in which there are comments about brains being "broken," and about whether that's an okay thing to say about someone else, is "What harm can it do."
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 6:01 AM on December 16, 2019

In the "conflicting needs and accommodations" category, I was thinking of something sciatrix wrote back in August:

.... I want to point out that this is a place where needs/wants are conflicting a little bit with respect to both disability and neurodiversity. (My preferences are usually to move fast-fast-fast and be super-sure I'm understood and to throw communication down on the page at high volume, and keeping that in check takes cognitive effort and time...… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 7:55 PM on December 20, 2019

I appreciate the kind thoughts, fairlynearlyready, and the similar-from-another-kind-of-experience perspective, gaybobbie.

I started a draft for a January open MetaTalk thread on the wiki, in case anyone would like to join in, or has something they would like to have spotlighted as a focus for the next one.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:48 PM on December 27, 2019

MetaFilter is hiring a new part-time moderator:

We especially encourage people of color, women, sexual and gender minorities, people with disabilities, and members of other marginalized or underrepresented groups to apply.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 10:19 AM on January 6, 2020

I use Brave on my phone as a way to stay a bit more secure with my mobile browsing. I'm glad to tip MetaFilter some tokens every month, but if collecting the tokens is a big pain compared to the revenue, then I can tip them elsewhere and I won't feel put out.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 7:42 PM on December 20, 2019

I am so happy for you, I am so proud of you, I am so warmed thinking of all the good you will be doing in your new vocation.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 7:39 PM on December 20, 2019

It's my experience that we, as a community, frown on "your favorite band sucks" comments. I'm feeling like "nothing will change for the better" is even worse.

This articulation resonates with me.

Some related issues came up in some MetaTalks this year on disability (including depression, anxiety, and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria) and I hope we can especially make space here for neuroatypical people to share their answers to kristi's question.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:09 PM on November 29, 2019

Maria Farrell goes into the different appalling situations of those two groups in "At least you can leave", in case that illuminates groups that have different stakes in the outcome.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 3:45 PM on October 14, 2019

I think these rewrites and the new page are great! And congrats on making the leap and letting go of the historical versions so you could do better on the rewrite. I need to learn that lesson in my own work sometimes!
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 10:00 AM on October 14, 2019

Is there a chance of a transcript soon for this episode?
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 10:03 AM on October 7, 2019

(For reference: the post about Peter Dinklage's acting career, and the post about people who describe themselves as sapiosexual.)
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 7:40 PM on September 24, 2019

(I infer that sciatrix is referring to the current post on the blue, "Why are #MeToo’s latest critics shaming women?".)
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 12:28 PM on August 28, 2019

sciatrix, glad to help.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 1:12 PM on August 28, 2019

In framing this post, cortex said:

There's a lot going on on the site, and a bunch of ongoing mod work on a bunch of non-revenue fronts as well. But I want to make this kind of snapshot easier to produce regularly and not be a big production, so I'm going to keep this post short and simple, and ask that folks keep whatever conversation is needed in here to just productive questions/suggestions about finance stuff and save other discussion for other threads.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 8:54 AM on August 22, 2019

It's August now and I remembered to post something with the postfromyourbookmarks tag!
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:31 AM on August 10, 2019

Thinking good thoughts for you today. We're in your pocket.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 4:39 AM on August 6, 2019

I'm a bit surprised Dreamwidth doesn't have a wiki function by now—I'd have thought it essential for fandom lore.

There's a wiki about the development of the Dreamwidth software itself and, separately, the Organization for Transformative Works already stewards a FanLore wiki!

I'm in favor of having the megathread Dreamwidth community and any other megathread offshoots feel free to use the existing MetaFilter wiki instead of… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 2:42 PM on August 5, 2019

Ah, sorry for missing that - thanks for the heads-up, Little Dawn. Will drop Pronoiac a note now.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 3:23 PM on August 5, 2019

rangefinder 1.4, I hope I get to hear your song someday.

cooker girl & filthy light thief, I'm with you in the "this, too, shall pass" club. A handwritten "This too shall pass" note is up next to my wall calendar.

I have what I really need to describe as a phobia about walking on bridges that cross substantial waterways. (In 2013 and 2014 I participated at the Recurse Center, and got over my fear, but it seems to have… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 7:49 AM on August 3, 2019

Oh I forgot to mention another one that I repeat to myself when I realize I'm trying to hurry through something: "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast." I hear that's something they say in the military.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 9:41 AM on August 3, 2019

Thanks for the encouragement, peppercorn and sotonohito. I published it on my blog.
posted to MetaTalk by brainwane at 10:20 AM on July 30, 2019