Neat comment!

April 17, 2007 8:09 AM

Possible sidebar? The mission planner for a orbiting satellite chimes in with corrections and interesting information.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) to MetaFilter-Related at 8:09 AM (32 comments total)

Am I the only person who is annoyed by sidebar-nomination MeTa threads? It's a very cool comment, but don't we have "fantastic" flags and favorites so that very cool comments can float to the top? I don't like the idea of every comment somebody thinks rocks the house being made into a MeTa thread.
posted by PhatLobley at 8:31 AM on April 17, 2007

I'd like to nominate PhatLobley's comment for the sidebar.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 8:39 AM on April 17, 2007

Possible sidebar? Some guy chimes in with his distaste for sidebar-nom threads.

DAMNIT KRAFTMATIC ADJUSTABLE CHEESE
posted by Plutor at 8:40 AM on April 17, 2007

Your favorite MetaFilter post sucks.
posted by terrapin at 8:43 AM on April 17, 2007

I personally dislike the nomination threads, too, but since it's proved to be a popular method for people to see threads and comments they would have otherwise missed, it's something we'll probably have to just endure.
posted by Dave Faris at 8:49 AM on April 17, 2007

That comment is a little skimpy to be sidebarred, don't you think?
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:52 AM on April 17, 2007

We'll get through it, Dave Faris. As for my comment being nominated for the sidebar, however... That may not be something I will be able to live with.
posted by PhatLobley at 8:53 AM on April 17, 2007

I think the nomination threads are just peaking right now; there's been recent sidebar chatter and so it's on folks' minds more than normal. Time (and expressions of annoyance) will probably lead to a tapering-off.

And on the other hand, yeah, it's nice to see some of the little things that I don't catch otherwise.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:55 AM on April 17, 2007

email to the admins is always the best way to get a nomination onto the sidebar. I dunno if doing it this way would scale forever.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:07 AM on April 17, 2007

I also think that PhatLobley's comment should be sidebarred.
posted by grouse at 9:11 AM on April 17, 2007

Ok, I just thought it was way cool that an actual mission planner of space satellite posted in a thread.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:15 AM on April 17, 2007

I nominate this comment that I'm writing right now for the sidebar.
posted by DU at 9:29 AM on April 17, 2007

I wish this happened to me when I responded to posts about programming.
posted by boo_radley at 9:30 AM on April 17, 2007

I think it's cool too, BB. Now it may not scale, as you say, #1; but that post was like a Playboy magazine—I only looked at the pictures. Basically space porn for me, until BB brought this other really interesting thing to light, namely that the guy who DRIVES THE ROBOT TELESCOPE checked in to provide some really amazing info on the project. Also worthy of note, this saved me from burning an AskMe about how I am "writing a book about" being a NASA mission planner. Thanks BB and Astro-Man!
posted by Mister_A at 9:36 AM on April 17, 2007

Metafilter: it's on folks' minds more than normal.
posted by Duncan at 9:46 AM on April 17, 2007

I'd like to nominate the sidebar to appear in this comment:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5 years ago.

This sideblog keeps track of site news and noteworthy posts

4.13.2007
Podcast show #6 is now up.

4.09.2007
Two great MeFi Music tracks that reference MetaFilter itself: Sgt. Pepper 2.0 and OVERTHINKING A PLATE OF BEANS


New Podcast: Show #5 is up

4.08.2007
Re: humps
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:53 AM on April 17, 2007 [2 favorites]

yeah, that mission planner's comment was pretty boss. especially the higher rez and higher quality qt movie of the really impressive solar flare.
posted by shmegegge at 10:13 AM on April 17, 2007

LOL BOSS! My friend from W. Virginia used to say that when we were in college together in the late '80s.[NOT HILLBILLYIST]
posted by Mister_A at 10:16 AM on April 17, 2007

I'M IN UR METAFILTER SIDEBARRIN' UR RECOMMENDATION
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:29 AM on April 17, 2007

nobody's even commented on how nice my shiny new time machine is.
posted by shmegegge at 10:31 AM on April 17, 2007

Haha! The hooligans win again! Take that guardians of internet propriety!

Oh, and your time machine is quite rad, old chap. Maybe you can use it to pick up some of these. via.
posted by Mister_A at 10:39 AM on April 17, 2007

Astro Zombie is a zombie astronaut, therefore every one of his comments is being sent to earth from the cold depths of space itself, which outranks comments by a mission planner considerably, but you don't see anybody side-barring those. Mostly because they are dumb.

Astro Zombie 3 has some really eye opening thoughts on the effect of globalization on the environments of developing nations and the loss of native flora and fauna due to the conversion of wild lands to farmland though. Their depth and the fact that they are written by a third generation zombie astronaut hurtling through space make them serious contenders for the sidebar. Hold on. I'll make a MeTa post about it.
posted by ND¢ at 12:23 PM on April 17, 2007

email to the admins is always the best way to get a nomination onto the sidebar.

Is using the "fantastic" flag to indicate a sidebar nomination copacetic? If not, does the fantastic flag serve any purpose at all?
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 1:29 PM on April 17, 2007

I don't know about Matt and Jess, but I click on "fantastic post" flags now and then just to see what's up. If there's more than one on a given post, it sort of stands out in the admin interface, so, yeah, it's has some usefulness.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:36 PM on April 17, 2007

Any time an actual authority on something that was posted pipes up, I'm for adding it to the sidebar. This community is what makes MeFi great. Not just the good comments, but the composition of its userbase. It's not quite the Well pre-Salon, but it's still one of the best online.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:42 PM on April 17, 2007

What about Astro Zombie 2?
posted by boo_radley at 12:11 PM on April 18, 2007

What about Astro Zombie 2?
posted by grouse at 12:28 PM on April 18, 2007

The Jan Brady of Astro Zombies.
posted by ND¢ at 1:22 PM on April 18, 2007

Of course by that I mean that after a successful stint on the television show The Brady Bunch (as well as some less successful spin-offs), former child actress Eve Plumb had settled down to a quiet suburban life in her Malibu home. However, the drive that led her to pursue her dream of being an actress caused her to embark on another career later in life: that of an astronaut. Ms. Plumb went back to school and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the California State University at Fullerton in 1993 and a Doctorate in Physical Chemistry from the University of California at Davis in 1997. She received the Camille and Henry Drefus Postdoctoral Fellowship in Environmental Science to study atmospheric chemistry at the University of California, Irvine. There she investigated reactivity and kinetics of atmospherically relevant systems using atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry, Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet absorption spectroscopies.

Plumb was selected by NASA in June 1998, and reported for training in August 1998. Astronaut Candidate Training included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) systems, physiological training, ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Completion of this training and evaluation qualified her for flight assignment as a mission specialist. In 1999, Plumb was first assigned to the Astronaut Office ISS Operations Branch as a Russian Crusader, participating in the testing and integration of Russian hardware and software products developed for ISS. In 2000, she was assigned prime Crew Support Astronaut for the 5th ISS Expedition crew, serving as their representative on technical and operational issues throughout the training and on-orbit phase of their mission.

Tragically, as many are aware, this flight went horribly wrong as some form of cosmic radiation caused one of her crew members to transform into a zombie. Despite barricading herself in an external stowage platform, Ms. Plumb was eventually overrun by the newly born zombie and her face was eaten and she turned into a zombie. Thus Astro Zombie 2 was born, the Jan Brady of Astro Zombies.
posted by ND¢ at 1:56 PM on April 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty sure you're just making that up.
posted by cortex (staff) at 1:57 PM on April 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Prove to me that the actress that played Jan Brady is not currently flying through space as a mindless but immortal zombie who will, absent unforseen skull crushing, remain in that floating coffin until the end of time, unable to die but also unable to feed, and occasionally posting to Metafilter.
posted by ND¢ at 2:12 PM on April 18, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hey, I'm—I'm just saying, there are, uh, there are questions still needing answers.
posted by cortex (staff) at 2:26 PM on April 18, 2007