Dealing with deleted posts. January 21, 2011 6:26 AM Subscribe
Thread concerning deleted posts on the blue.
Is it possible to add a query when dealing with deleted posts such that if someone posts a questionable link to a video of a misbehaving monkey they can see the (quite justifiable) reason for said post being deleted without having to go looking for it on recent activity etc?
Eg, in the code which selects from the database the threads for display, it checks my user number against the post user number and if the post is deleted and the postusernumber == myusernumber, I can also see why it was deleted, and if postuernumber != myusernumber, show nothing.
Without having taken a look at your code I admit, I think implementing it would involve one or two lines of cosmetic HTML adjustment and the same again reference the code which runs the query and returns the array of thread results.
I know that technically there is a way to do this through recent activity, but I think if it was immediately obvious to the offending person why their thread was deleted, there might be less "ZOMG WHY WAS MY THREAD DUHLEATED" on MetaTalk.
Here ends request for nice things.
Is it possible to add a query when dealing with deleted posts such that if someone posts a questionable link to a video of a misbehaving monkey they can see the (quite justifiable) reason for said post being deleted without having to go looking for it on recent activity etc?
Eg, in the code which selects from the database the threads for display, it checks my user number against the post user number and if the post is deleted and the postusernumber == myusernumber, I can also see why it was deleted, and if postuernumber != myusernumber, show nothing.
Without having taken a look at your code I admit, I think implementing it would involve one or two lines of cosmetic HTML adjustment and the same again reference the code which runs the query and returns the array of thread results.
I know that technically there is a way to do this through recent activity, but I think if it was immediately obvious to the offending person why their thread was deleted, there might be less "ZOMG WHY WAS MY THREAD DUHLEATED" on MetaTalk.
Here ends request for nice things.
Well on the FAQ, the mods could put a link to either the Deleted Threads Blog or the Deleted Thread Greasemonkey script, (for Firefox users only, so maybe stick with the blog?), and have a note saying please email the mods first if you have any questions, dont start a thread on MeTa.
posted by wheelieman at 6:41 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by wheelieman at 6:41 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Deleted posts, including reasons, show up on deletedthread.blogspot.com, which is not the exact solution you want, but probably good enough.
Though seriously, how is it not "immediately obvious" why that post got taken down? It was immediately obvious even before it got axed.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:41 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
Though seriously, how is it not "immediately obvious" why that post got taken down? It was immediately obvious even before it got axed.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:41 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
The poster thought it was a great post for Mefi, but Doug wasn't sure how this place fully works I think. He just joined in October, and you have to get the hang of it. Something obvious to you may be not be obvious to the newcomer. Dougray was just amused by something we usually aren't amused by.
posted by wheelieman at 6:47 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by wheelieman at 6:47 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Basically you have to remember what other onlinne communities are out there and their standerds. MeFi has its own standerds just like everyone else, but maybe a bit higher then what people are used to, It is the Internet after all
posted by wheelieman at 6:51 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by wheelieman at 6:51 AM on January 21, 2011
Those last 2 comments were addressing Metroid Baby, not you Dougray
posted by wheelieman at 6:53 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by wheelieman at 6:53 AM on January 21, 2011
I would like a system that would scan new posts, use an algorithm to estimate whether they will be deleted, and then email me BEFORE they get deleted so I can virtuously threadshit, for great justice.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 6:54 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Admiral Haddock at 6:54 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
Yeah I knew about the blog, I was just thinking out loud really that for five minutes' worth of coding a lot of unnecessary threads could be prevented and the site as a whole could six more user friendly.
posted by dougrayrankin at 6:58 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dougrayrankin at 6:58 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
there might be less "ZOMG WHY WAS MY THREAD DUHLEATED" on MetaTalk.
There are significantly fewer of these threads than there used to be. I find that mainly the MeTa threads are by people who contest the deletion and not people who are actually confused by it. This sort of thing comes under the heading of what we call denied pony requests which we keep a list of over on the wiki. Here's a fairly recent thread where we explain our thinking on the matter.
I'm not certain how sending an automated message saying "Your post was deleted because it's a link to a monkey raping a frog" helps anything or anyone.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:59 AM on January 21, 2011 [19 favorites]
There are significantly fewer of these threads than there used to be. I find that mainly the MeTa threads are by people who contest the deletion and not people who are actually confused by it. This sort of thing comes under the heading of what we call denied pony requests which we keep a list of over on the wiki. Here's a fairly recent thread where we explain our thinking on the matter.
I'm not certain how sending an automated message saying "Your post was deleted because it's a link to a monkey raping a frog" helps anything or anyone.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:59 AM on January 21, 2011 [19 favorites]
Your punishment for posting a dud link is to be forced to go hunting for the deletion notice.
posted by londonmark at 7:06 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by londonmark at 7:06 AM on January 21, 2011
I wonder if the most recent deletion reason on the deleted thread blog "This post was deleted for the following reason: if it were my PWN" was inspired by this thread. I also wonder if cortex is actually an eleven year old with a fake beard glued onto his face.
posted by ND¢ at 7:06 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ND¢ at 7:06 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
We had a visual notification on the front page for a while, where the user who had made a deleted post could still see it in ghostly faded text on the front page, with deletion reason attached. Based on previous "I want to know!" requests it seemed like it was worth a shot, but in practice it lead to more confusion and weird reactions, and so we took that back down.
Like Jessamyn says, this is something we've thought about and talk about a great deal. The current way of doing things means it's trivially easy for someone who wants to go looking to find out what's been deleted, whether their own posts or everyone else's; the people that don't want to go looking aren't confronted with deletions they don't want to worry about. The balance works fairly well, and I don't see us moving toward a high-alert-level approach to this.
It's not a matter of how long it would take to code, its one of whether we think this place would actually be helped by it, and previous practical experience tells us it would likely not.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:12 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Like Jessamyn says, this is something we've thought about and talk about a great deal. The current way of doing things means it's trivially easy for someone who wants to go looking to find out what's been deleted, whether their own posts or everyone else's; the people that don't want to go looking aren't confronted with deletions they don't want to worry about. The balance works fairly well, and I don't see us moving toward a high-alert-level approach to this.
It's not a matter of how long it would take to code, its one of whether we think this place would actually be helped by it, and previous practical experience tells us it would likely not.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:12 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Jessamyn - Maybe I explained my suggestion in less than clear terms. What I meant was that the message the mods leave when deleting a post isn't visible unless you go hunting through recent activity AND haven't already removed the thread from recent activity. The message is usually directed to the offending party, so I suggested that if your thread is deleted, you and only you can still see it on the front page and can see the reasoning.
I hope that's clearer. It's just about altering the permissions slightly on the front page coding. If I knew ColdFusion I'd offer to write the code myself but I'm only equipped with rusty PHP...
posted by dougrayrankin at 7:12 AM on January 21, 2011
I hope that's clearer. It's just about altering the permissions slightly on the front page coding. If I knew ColdFusion I'd offer to write the code myself but I'm only equipped with rusty PHP...
posted by dougrayrankin at 7:12 AM on January 21, 2011
It's just about altering the permissions slightly on the front page coding. If I knew ColdFusion I'd offer to write the code myself but I'm only equipped with rusty PHP...
It's not about the code; it's about the people.*
*This is why Metafilter is great, btw
posted by librarylis at 7:20 AM on January 21, 2011
It's not about the code; it's about the people.*
*This is why Metafilter is great, btw
posted by librarylis at 7:20 AM on January 21, 2011
What I meant was that the message the mods leave when deleting a post isn't visible unless you go hunting through recent activity AND haven't already removed the thread from recent activity.
Whoops sorry. Yes, we used to have that as a feature and people found it confusing so we no longer have it. And really if you're removing your own thread from recent activity, I'm not sure what to tell you. An easier solution is "don't do that."
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:22 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Whoops sorry. Yes, we used to have that as a feature and people found it confusing so we no longer have it. And really if you're removing your own thread from recent activity, I'm not sure what to tell you. An easier solution is "don't do that."
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:22 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
I wish I had the kind of mind that would let things go, especially when I know they are going to be bad for me. Like, "Why would I want to watch two women sharing a cup?" Or, "Surely jessamyn, doesn't mean 'Your post was deleted because it's a link to a monkey raping a frog' literally," or "Who cares if there are naked pictures of Dr. Laura on the internet?" but no, I have the compulsion to seek these things out.
I am amazed I have all my fingers.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:28 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
I am amazed I have all my fingers.
posted by cjorgensen at 7:28 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
Maybe a MeFi Mail sent automatically to a user with the deletion reason would be helpful.
posted by Space Coyote at 7:30 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Space Coyote at 7:30 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Maybe a MeFi Mail sent automatically to a user with the deletion reason would be helpful.
Again, this is an idea we've considered and rejected. This is our usual thought process....
- most people never have a post deleted
- some people have many posts deleted
- of the people who have many posts deleted, many of them can be what you might call "fighty" about it
- for the people who never have a post deleted, we are happy fielding an email or dealing with the occasional MeTa thread
- for the people who have many posts deleted, they know where and how to find the deletion reasons [it's in the MeMail you get when you posted it]
- for the people who are inclined to be fighty about their frequently-deleted posts, we don't really want to open a backchannel conversation with them about the deletion, we'd prefer they came to MeTa so maybe the community can help us explain why their posts keep getting deleted.
- MeMail or email you can't reply to is a non-option since we don't do things that way here
And here we are. Your post was deleted because it's a link to a video of a monkey raping a frog and everyone hated it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:34 AM on January 21, 2011 [9 favorites]
Again, this is an idea we've considered and rejected. This is our usual thought process....
- most people never have a post deleted
- some people have many posts deleted
- of the people who have many posts deleted, many of them can be what you might call "fighty" about it
- for the people who never have a post deleted, we are happy fielding an email or dealing with the occasional MeTa thread
- for the people who have many posts deleted, they know where and how to find the deletion reasons [it's in the MeMail you get when you posted it]
- for the people who are inclined to be fighty about their frequently-deleted posts, we don't really want to open a backchannel conversation with them about the deletion, we'd prefer they came to MeTa so maybe the community can help us explain why their posts keep getting deleted.
- MeMail or email you can't reply to is a non-option since we don't do things that way here
And here we are. Your post was deleted because it's a link to a video of a monkey raping a frog and everyone hated it.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:34 AM on January 21, 2011 [9 favorites]
I would like to modify this request, and say that the original poster should continue see their post as if it wasn't deleted. Then they'll simply be confused about why nobody comments on it.
posted by inigo2 at 7:37 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by inigo2 at 7:37 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
- of the people who have many posts deleted, many of them can be what you might call "fighty" about it
We prefer the term "Letting Go Challenged", please use that in all instances in the future. This will help us avoid long and protracted food fights in the future, thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:39 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
We prefer the term "Letting Go Challenged", please use that in all instances in the future. This will help us avoid long and protracted food fights in the future, thank you.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 7:39 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
What you do is load this post and that one in two windows side by side and then you get all CAMERA ONE! CAMERA TWO! CAMERA ONE! CAMERA TWO! and it's suddenly a 3D Waynes World reference and this deletion reason really isn't gelling I guess. -- cortex
heh-heh
posted by angrycat at 7:53 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
heh-heh
posted by angrycat at 7:53 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Dear dugr dougrayrankin ,
This is to inform you of the deletion of your post 6 99684
about a monkey raping a frog , with deletion reason:
“
Thank you for participating in MetaFilter: Community Weblog
with your post titled a monkey raping a frog, but we feel that
MetaFilter: Best Of The Web is not the place for
a monkey raping a frog.
We hope you will participate again soon.
Sincerely,
MetaFilter: Community Weblog
posted by yaymukund at 7:59 AM on January 21, 2011 [23 favorites]
This is to inform you of the deletion of your post
about a monkey raping a frog , with deletion reason:
“
don't. --jessamyn”Thank you for participating in MetaFilter: Community Weblog
with your post titled a monkey raping a frog, but we feel that
MetaFilter: Best Of The Web is not the place for
a monkey raping a frog.
We hope you will participate again soon.
Sincerely,
MetaFilter: Community Weblog
posted by yaymukund at 7:59 AM on January 21, 2011 [23 favorites]
I would like to suggest an alternative, that when a post is deleted all the MeFi links the OP clicks on be redirected to a video of a monkey raping a frog. It wouldn't help resolve matters any, but then at least he'd know how the rest of us feel.
posted by scalefree at 8:15 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by scalefree at 8:15 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
Some friendly advice: try not to go around suggesting how easy it would be to make coding changes to a website when you don't know what it actually entails.
I was thinking it was bad from the opposite direction: it's awfully condescending to the site's coders to suggest that they need your help in doing their job.
I've had times at my job when somebody refuses to understand that there's a policy reason for not implementing something, and they keep going on about how easy it would be to code. Seriously damages my calm.
posted by kmz at 8:16 AM on January 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
I was thinking it was bad from the opposite direction: it's awfully condescending to the site's coders to suggest that they need your help in doing their job.
I've had times at my job when somebody refuses to understand that there's a policy reason for not implementing something, and they keep going on about how easy it would be to code. Seriously damages my calm.
posted by kmz at 8:16 AM on January 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
I would like to modify this request, and say that the original poster should continue see their post as if it wasn't deleted.
As always, variations on the Hellban concept are both amusing to think about and pretty much in direct violation of our "do not lie to the userbase" philosophy. This fits in nicely with the general vein here of It's Not A Can't Thing, It's A Won't Thing.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:20 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
As always, variations on the Hellban concept are both amusing to think about and pretty much in direct violation of our "do not lie to the userbase" philosophy. This fits in nicely with the general vein here of It's Not A Can't Thing, It's A Won't Thing.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:20 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
Come to think of it, if there's any crafty needlepoint types out there looking for something to kill time with, I would totally hang an "It's not a Can't thing, it's a Won't thing" on the wall behind my desk in my office. If such a thing were to mysteriously appear in the mail or something.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:23 AM on January 21, 2011 [24 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:23 AM on January 21, 2011 [24 favorites]
I've started using the phrase "free as in syphilis" to explain that sort of behavior.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:23 AM on January 21, 2011 [23 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:23 AM on January 21, 2011 [23 favorites]
On second readthrough, Dougray, sounds like you were already aware why it was deleted and just want an easier way to be notified. Usually MetaTalk threads asking about deleted posts are like "What's WRONG with you people, my monkey post was AWESOME." I may have jumped the gun with my grar-snark. (Grark?)
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:24 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:24 AM on January 21, 2011
Wait... so, someone is volunteering to help code MetaFilter to make it a better place, but they think that the links that we need include a monkey raping a frog?
I'm going to be spending the better part of my day getting my head around that, that's for sure.
posted by sonika at 8:29 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'm going to be spending the better part of my day getting my head around that, that's for sure.
posted by sonika at 8:29 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
I wish I had the kind of mind that would let things go, especially when I know they are going to be bad for me. Like, "Why would I want to watch two women sharing a cup?" Or, "Surely jessamyn, doesn't mean 'Your post was deleted because it's a link to a monkey raping a frog' literally," or "Who cares if there are naked pictures of Dr. Laura on the internet?" but no, I have the compulsion to seek these things out.
Hey hey, I just found my line! I actually HAVE NO NEED to see this.
Now if only I had known anything about what "goatse" actually was ten years ago, I would still be a little less damaged.
posted by norm at 8:42 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Hey hey, I just found my line! I actually HAVE NO NEED to see this.
Now if only I had known anything about what "goatse" actually was ten years ago, I would still be a little less damaged.
posted by norm at 8:42 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Frog rapes monkey is news.
posted by Space Coyote at 8:54 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Space Coyote at 8:54 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
a monkey raping a frog
Damn, it's really not easy being green.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:03 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
Damn, it's really not easy being green.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:03 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
Even if your post wasn't actually about a monkey raping a frog (!), it deserved to be deleted for putting "That is all" into More Inside. People, it is an optional field. You don't have to make us click on the "More Inside" to see you actually have nothing more to say.
posted by Deathalicious at 9:06 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Deathalicious at 9:06 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
cjorgensen: "I am amazed I have all my fingers."
Stick your hand in the gom jabbar. Trust me. It is awesome.
posted by boo_radley at 9:09 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
Stick your hand in the gom jabbar. Trust me. It is awesome.
posted by boo_radley at 9:09 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
jessamyn: " And here we are. Your post was deleted because it's a link to a video of a monkey raping a frog and everyone hated it."
*trashes idea for next post*
posted by zarq at 9:10 AM on January 21, 2011
*trashes idea for next post*
posted by zarq at 9:10 AM on January 21, 2011
Despite the fact that the video is not really something suitable for here, it's not a monkey, and there's a chance it might not even be a frog.
It's a Chimpanzee (which is not a monkey, it's an ape) and it might well be a toad rather than a frog. If you're going to post nasty 'amusing' videos, at least try to hit some damn accuracy so you can hold your head a little bit high.
I mean, it won't excuse it (and let's face it 'x raping y' is clearly unacceptable anyway) but you could at least show that you put enough effort in to justify being at all bothered that it was deleted.
posted by Brockles at 9:10 AM on January 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
It's a Chimpanzee (which is not a monkey, it's an ape) and it might well be a toad rather than a frog. If you're going to post nasty 'amusing' videos, at least try to hit some damn accuracy so you can hold your head a little bit high.
I mean, it won't excuse it (and let's face it 'x raping y' is clearly unacceptable anyway) but you could at least show that you put enough effort in to justify being at all bothered that it was deleted.
posted by Brockles at 9:10 AM on January 21, 2011 [6 favorites]
Note that a video of a monkey rapping with a frog might be worth posting.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:15 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:15 AM on January 21, 2011 [4 favorites]
The tone in this post is going in a strange place and getting deeply uncomfortable, so I'm going to take a deep breath, try to relax and read the Meta about anal massage.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:15 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:15 AM on January 21, 2011
I see your point, but the post in question is unarguably one of the worst things I've ever seen posted to MetaFilter.
Maybe new users and accidental dupe-posters should get the benefit of the doubt, and receive a friendly MeMail?
posted by schmod at 9:18 AM on January 21, 2011
Maybe new users and accidental dupe-posters should get the benefit of the doubt, and receive a friendly MeMail?
posted by schmod at 9:18 AM on January 21, 2011
Monkey gift-wraps frog.
also, what the Hell? I mean, growing up I heard of Central Oregon that it was the place where "men were men and sheep were nervous" but I didn't think other species were, like, crossing that line.
posted by angrycat at 9:24 AM on January 21, 2011
also, what the Hell? I mean, growing up I heard of Central Oregon that it was the place where "men were men and sheep were nervous" but I didn't think other species were, like, crossing that line.
posted by angrycat at 9:24 AM on January 21, 2011
'A misbehaving monkey'?
Yeah, yeah, I realize, anthropomorphism and the pathetic fallacy and stuff, but come on.
posted by box at 9:38 AM on January 21, 2011
Yeah, yeah, I realize, anthropomorphism and the pathetic fallacy and stuff, but come on.
posted by box at 9:38 AM on January 21, 2011
Brockles: " I mean, it won't excuse it (and let's face it 'x raping y' is clearly unacceptable anyway) but you could at least show that you put enough effort in to justify being at all bothered that it was deleted."
Just would like to point out that dougrayrankin hasn't said or implied that he was bothered his post was deleted. In fact, in the FPP he said that the deletion was "quite justifiable."
posted by zarq at 9:45 AM on January 21, 2011
Just would like to point out that dougrayrankin hasn't said or implied that he was bothered his post was deleted. In fact, in the FPP he said that the deletion was "quite justifiable."
posted by zarq at 9:45 AM on January 21, 2011
The current way of doing things means it's trivially easy for someone who wants to go looking to find out what's been deleted,
It might seem trivially easy to you, but not alas to me. Eventually and non-trivially I figured out that if I wanted to find a post that got deleted I'd have to keep the "Your post has been added" MeMails which I otherwise have no use for, and which don't mention in their subject lines which post they are about.
If there is some other easy way, well... I'm not an idiot, and I failed to find it. So how trivially easy can it be?
- some people have many posts deleted
- of the people who have many posts deleted, many of them can be what you might call "fighty" about it
If there are people who a) have many posts deleted and b) get fighty about it, how about deleting the users themselves?
I could do with a lot less "fighty" on Mefi.
posted by philipy at 9:47 AM on January 21, 2011
It might seem trivially easy to you, but not alas to me. Eventually and non-trivially I figured out that if I wanted to find a post that got deleted I'd have to keep the "Your post has been added" MeMails which I otherwise have no use for, and which don't mention in their subject lines which post they are about.
If there is some other easy way, well... I'm not an idiot, and I failed to find it. So how trivially easy can it be?
- some people have many posts deleted
- of the people who have many posts deleted, many of them can be what you might call "fighty" about it
If there are people who a) have many posts deleted and b) get fighty about it, how about deleting the users themselves?
I could do with a lot less "fighty" on Mefi.
posted by philipy at 9:47 AM on January 21, 2011
Stick your hand in the gom jabbar. Trust me. It is awesome.
Notice how when people say, "not to get pedantic, but..." they are going to get pendantic?
Anyway, not to get pedantic, but I am pretty sure the gom jabbar was the thing the witch holds at your throat to kill you with. The thing you stick your hand in is a pain box, or something dumb like that, and I would so totally stick my hand in there to see if I could beat the previous dumbass's record. I'm pretty sure I would have made a drinking game out of it in college. "Take that Kwisatz Haderach!"
posted by cjorgensen at 9:58 AM on January 21, 2011 [7 favorites]
Notice how when people say, "not to get pedantic, but..." they are going to get pendantic?
Anyway, not to get pedantic, but I am pretty sure the gom jabbar was the thing the witch holds at your throat to kill you with. The thing you stick your hand in is a pain box, or something dumb like that, and I would so totally stick my hand in there to see if I could beat the previous dumbass's record. I'm pretty sure I would have made a drinking game out of it in college. "Take that Kwisatz Haderach!"
posted by cjorgensen at 9:58 AM on January 21, 2011 [7 favorites]
Just would like to point out that dougrayrankin hasn't said or implied that he was bothered his post was deleted. In fact, in the FPP he said that the deletion was "quite justifiable."
Bothered enough to start a Metatalk thread related to it, though, telling us how not bothered they are.
Also on a more general note and not (necessarily) directed at the OP:
If you can think of a justifiable reason to have your thread deleted (especially if that reason is just "don't") then maybe you shouldn't have posted it in the first place and you need to have a word with yourself for doing so. Also, if you posted something that you aren't in the slightest bit invested in in terms of effort and interest in the subject such that you are not at all bothered if it gets deleted, then that's a damn good reason not to bother posting in the first place, no matter what the subject of the post is.
If it's a good post, chances are you didn't try hard enough to make it good, and if it isn't, you're a poopyhead for posting crap to Mefi.
posted by Brockles at 10:00 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Bothered enough to start a Metatalk thread related to it, though, telling us how not bothered they are.
Also on a more general note and not (necessarily) directed at the OP:
If you can think of a justifiable reason to have your thread deleted (especially if that reason is just "don't") then maybe you shouldn't have posted it in the first place and you need to have a word with yourself for doing so. Also, if you posted something that you aren't in the slightest bit invested in in terms of effort and interest in the subject such that you are not at all bothered if it gets deleted, then that's a damn good reason not to bother posting in the first place, no matter what the subject of the post is.
If it's a good post, chances are you didn't try hard enough to make it good, and if it isn't, you're a poopyhead for posting crap to Mefi.
posted by Brockles at 10:00 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you can think of a justifiable reason to have your thread deleted (especially if that reason is just "don't") then maybe you shouldn't have posted it in the first place and you need to have a word with yourself for doing so.
Really?
I have to go back 11 posts before I can find one that I've created that I can't think of a reason to delete it. Many were single links to things I found entertaining or cool. I think of them like little balloons with a surprise inside. Some of them might not fly, but I don't see a reason to not have posted them. And in the aggregate I think most were appreciated.
In fact, you don't have to try too hard to come up with a reason to delete that vast majority of posts. Very few are what I would call unchallengeable keepers.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:07 AM on January 21, 2011
Really?
I have to go back 11 posts before I can find one that I've created that I can't think of a reason to delete it. Many were single links to things I found entertaining or cool. I think of them like little balloons with a surprise inside. Some of them might not fly, but I don't see a reason to not have posted them. And in the aggregate I think most were appreciated.
In fact, you don't have to try too hard to come up with a reason to delete that vast majority of posts. Very few are what I would call unchallengeable keepers.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:07 AM on January 21, 2011
That post was awful and this MeTa smacks of insincerity.
posted by mintcake! at 10:12 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by mintcake! at 10:12 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Brockles: " Bothered enough to start a Metatalk thread related to it, though, telling us how not bothered they are."
He's making a pony request that isn't new. It was brought up by someone else and discussed in MeTa 7 months ago, before he became a member. He's agreeing with and not complaining about the mods' deletion reason. He hasn't defended the post, and he didn't link to it.
posted by zarq at 10:14 AM on January 21, 2011
He's making a pony request that isn't new. It was brought up by someone else and discussed in MeTa 7 months ago, before he became a member. He's agreeing with and not complaining about the mods' deletion reason. He hasn't defended the post, and he didn't link to it.
posted by zarq at 10:14 AM on January 21, 2011
Yes, zarq, I can read. I just don't necessarily agree with your interpretation.
Not that I am making accusations toward the OP despite the fact that you, for some reason, have decided you need to defend such on their behalf, but there you go.
posted by Brockles at 10:18 AM on January 21, 2011
Not that I am making accusations toward the OP despite the fact that you, for some reason, have decided you need to defend such on their behalf, but there you go.
posted by Brockles at 10:18 AM on January 21, 2011
cjorgensen: "Anyway, not to get pedantic"
Congratulations, you have sucked all the oxygen out of the internet.
You are correct, by the way.
posted by boo_radley at 10:20 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Congratulations, you have sucked all the oxygen out of the internet.
You are correct, by the way.
posted by boo_radley at 10:20 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
i think the gom jabbar was the whole procedure, i.e. figure out if this child is worthy of the Bene Gesserit or whatever the fuck they were called
posted by angrycat at 10:23 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by angrycat at 10:23 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
If there is some other easy way, well... I'm not an idiot, and I failed to find it. So how trivially easy can it be?
Sorry, I didn't mean to be dismissive. Let me rephrase, because I don't think you're an idiot at all.
When I say "it's trivially easy for someone who wants to go looking to find out what's been deleted", I mean that accessing deleted posts is not something we try to make difficult. If you're the looking-at-deleted-posts sort, there's a variety of tools available that make it really easy and convenient to check out the damage; there's information about this stuff on wiki, we can point people in the right direction via the contact form if they ask, and asking about it on metatalk is totally kosher as well and periodic discussions of how to find deleted stuff are a predictable and okay thing here. Googling "metafilter deleted posts" or "metafilter deleted threads" points you to the blog and some other stuff; google even seems to know to autocomplete usefully when you get as far as "metafilter d", all hail google.
That said, yes, you have to go looking, and I realize not everybody is going to automatically intuit that deletions work how they do here and find the tools they want independently. But asking is fine and the tools are there, and we basically prefer that step one in the process of someone looking through deletions is that they actively decide they want to; at that point, they've crossed a threshold of engagement with the idea. Notifying people not actively pondering the community dynamic with respect to deletion feels like asking for headaches without materially improving how this place works, basically.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:27 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Sorry, I didn't mean to be dismissive. Let me rephrase, because I don't think you're an idiot at all.
When I say "it's trivially easy for someone who wants to go looking to find out what's been deleted", I mean that accessing deleted posts is not something we try to make difficult. If you're the looking-at-deleted-posts sort, there's a variety of tools available that make it really easy and convenient to check out the damage; there's information about this stuff on wiki, we can point people in the right direction via the contact form if they ask, and asking about it on metatalk is totally kosher as well and periodic discussions of how to find deleted stuff are a predictable and okay thing here. Googling "metafilter deleted posts" or "metafilter deleted threads" points you to the blog and some other stuff; google even seems to know to autocomplete usefully when you get as far as "metafilter d", all hail google.
That said, yes, you have to go looking, and I realize not everybody is going to automatically intuit that deletions work how they do here and find the tools they want independently. But asking is fine and the tools are there, and we basically prefer that step one in the process of someone looking through deletions is that they actively decide they want to; at that point, they've crossed a threshold of engagement with the idea. Notifying people not actively pondering the community dynamic with respect to deletion feels like asking for headaches without materially improving how this place works, basically.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:27 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is it really rape when a monkey does that to a frog?
posted by Mister_A at 10:28 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Mister_A at 10:28 AM on January 21, 2011
how about deleting the users themselves?
It's annoying but not against the rules to be fighty. That said, the site runs with a very small staff and a lot of back and forth emails fighting with the same-old-users isn't something we're going to find another way to enable.
Maybe new users and accidental dupe-posters should get the benefit of the doubt, and receive a friendly MeMail?
Frequently we'll do exactly that. If we think the user won't be able to figure it out because they're sufficiently new we'll send a MeMail personally to them. This is different than creating some sort of auto-mailer situation which we're not doing.
It might seem trivially easy to you, but not alas to me.
Okay. We're always, almost always, happy to get suggestions about how to make policies and procedures easier for newer users. To my mind, options here are
- search faq for word "deleted"
- click on link to your post that you received in MeMail
- drop us a note via the contact form
- google some variant of metafilter deleted thread
What did you try that didn't work?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:29 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's annoying but not against the rules to be fighty. That said, the site runs with a very small staff and a lot of back and forth emails fighting with the same-old-users isn't something we're going to find another way to enable.
Maybe new users and accidental dupe-posters should get the benefit of the doubt, and receive a friendly MeMail?
Frequently we'll do exactly that. If we think the user won't be able to figure it out because they're sufficiently new we'll send a MeMail personally to them. This is different than creating some sort of auto-mailer situation which we're not doing.
It might seem trivially easy to you, but not alas to me.
Okay. We're always, almost always, happy to get suggestions about how to make policies and procedures easier for newer users. To my mind, options here are
- search faq for word "deleted"
- click on link to your post that you received in MeMail
- drop us a note via the contact form
- google some variant of metafilter deleted thread
What did you try that didn't work?
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:29 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Notice how when people say, "not to get pedantic, but..." they are going to get pendantic?
I've got other even more indefensible nerdery taking up my time this morning so I'm not going to dig into this, but there's a treasure trove of variants on this rhetorical tic in a google search for "not to * but". Fair amount of hits just on Metafilter alone, even.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:31 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
I've got other even more indefensible nerdery taking up my time this morning so I'm not going to dig into this, but there's a treasure trove of variants on this rhetorical tic in a google search for "not to * but". Fair amount of hits just on Metafilter alone, even.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:31 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
If this post is just a long winded way of saying it would be nice to have email notification of thread deletions then, yes, I would like that too, and it's kind of odd that you don't get that and instead you thread being deleted is this weird little surprise for you to uncover by accident. Not sure i really buy the "it might upset people" angle - it might upset people anyway.
posted by Artw at 10:31 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 10:31 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Not to be a dick, but this place sucks ass because of this sinister secret censorship of trans-species lovemaking, you dillweeds.
posted by Mister_A at 10:33 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Mister_A at 10:33 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
That was just an example. I love this place mostly.
posted by Mister_A at 10:34 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Mister_A at 10:34 AM on January 21, 2011
i think the gom jabbar was the whole procedure, i.e. figure out if this child is worthy of the Bene Gesserit or whatever the fuck they were called
This has some validity. I believe that when Jessica is trying to impress the Fremen so that they would keep Paul around, he tells them "he has been tested with the gom jabbar," implying much more than that he had seen the poison needle. However, we can all agree that the box itself was not the gom jabbar.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:35 AM on January 21, 2011
This has some validity. I believe that when Jessica is trying to impress the Fremen so that they would keep Paul around, he tells them "he has been tested with the gom jabbar," implying much more than that he had seen the poison needle. However, we can all agree that the box itself was not the gom jabbar.
posted by Bookhouse at 10:35 AM on January 21, 2011
They also had a deal like that in Flash Gordon, a film that inspired many facets of Lynch's Dune, most notably the costumes and special effects.
posted by Mister_A at 10:44 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Mister_A at 10:44 AM on January 21, 2011
Hey folks, sorry, having been away and read the thread a few hours later this is totally not how I imagined it panning out. Just wanted to clarify that yes, of course the thread should've been deleted. In fact, mentioning it was sort of my way of apologising, as I'm sure now a lot of people who hadn't seen it now know about it. The only other thing I wanted to say, and I think it was Burhanistan that brought it up, was that I didn't mean to be condescending either about offering to help code something. Just like to contribute (occasionally on an unwelcome amphibian tangent unfortunately), and y'know... Offered. No offence intended.
Most of the negative responses in the thread here have focused on my frog thread and so I think it was my mistake to have posted this so soon afterwards. The feature wasn't really requested to assist in cases like mine, but instead where someone perhaps made an actually interesting post but it was a dupe/legally questionable or otherwise offensive in some way.
Hope y'all can accept my apology for.
posted by dougrayrankin at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011 [7 favorites]
Most of the negative responses in the thread here have focused on my frog thread and so I think it was my mistake to have posted this so soon afterwards. The feature wasn't really requested to assist in cases like mine, but instead where someone perhaps made an actually interesting post but it was a dupe/legally questionable or otherwise offensive in some way.
Hope y'all can accept my apology for.
posted by dougrayrankin at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011 [7 favorites]
cjorgensen: I believe boo_radley's "Stick your hand in the gom jabbar. Trust me. It is awesome." is not a direct reference to Dune, but rather, to an English subtitle of a foreign dub of the Lynch film, wherein at least one of the translations was done badly; or a parody designed to look like such. Although boo should have also incorporated the "Gom Jibbar" misspelling seen there to emphasize that.
However, you are correct that in the book the gom jabbar is the needle, not the box.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
However, you are correct that in the book the gom jabbar is the needle, not the box.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
Is there any reason "if you're going to make a post you should keep the thread open a while so you can follow what's being said in it" isn't the obvious & preferred solution here? It's your thread, you thought it it was interesting enough to bring to the rest of us. Shouldn't you stick around just a little while to make sure it doesn't go sideways right off the bat?
posted by scalefree at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by scalefree at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011
...you know darn well it was bound for Deletion Town, AK
THERE IS NO DELETION TOWN IN ALASKA!
posted by Floydd at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
THERE IS NO DELETION TOWN IN ALASKA!
posted by Floydd at 10:45 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Don't forget about the abdul-jabbar, the high-handed, long-legged enemy. Also known as the skyhook.
(Wonders how many Doon nerds there are on Metafilter...)
posted by kmz at 10:51 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
(Wonders how many Doon nerds there are on Metafilter...)
posted by kmz at 10:51 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
THERE IS NO DELETION TOWN IN ALASKA!
Okay, but there are definitely four lights.
posted by katillathehun at 10:55 AM on January 21, 2011
Okay, but there are definitely four lights.
posted by katillathehun at 10:55 AM on January 21, 2011
Is there any reason "if you're going to make a post you should keep the thread open a while so you can follow what's being said in it" isn't the obvious & preferred solution here? It's your thread, you thought it it was interesting enough to bring to the rest of us. Shouldn't you stick around just a little while to make sure it doesn't go sideways right off the bat?Do you mean this one? Is this even for me? If yes to both, I had to go back to work.
posted by dougrayrankin at 11:01 AM on January 21, 2011
DevilsAdvocate: "is not a direct reference to Dune, but rather, to an English subtitle of a foreign dub of the Lynch film"
The pathetic truth. The entire thing still makes me laugh to this day.
[SLIDE WHISTLE]
posted by boo_radley at 11:02 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
The pathetic truth. The entire thing still makes me laugh to this day.
[SLIDE WHISTLE]
posted by boo_radley at 11:02 AM on January 21, 2011 [2 favorites]
so I suggested that if your thread is deleted, you and only you can still see it on the front page and can see the reasoning.
Public visibility of the deletion reason has always been seen as a community feature. It helps people learn what the criteria for deletion are. It points out the previous post in case of doubles. It cuts down on MetaTalk post's from third parties asking why a post was deleted. Finally, it is an opportunity for laughs and giggles for all and sundry.
Not sure why none of the mods picked up on this aspect of your question...
posted by Chuckles at 11:24 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Public visibility of the deletion reason has always been seen as a community feature. It helps people learn what the criteria for deletion are. It points out the previous post in case of doubles. It cuts down on MetaTalk post's from third parties asking why a post was deleted. Finally, it is an opportunity for laughs and giggles for all and sundry.
Not sure why none of the mods picked up on this aspect of your question...
posted by Chuckles at 11:24 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Not sure why none of the mods picked up on this aspect of your question...
Not really "didn't pick up on" so much as that it's a non-starter embedded in a non-starter. We're not going to reduce the visibility of deletion reasons on deleted posts, but that's ancillary to the main issue that neither are we going to increase the visibility of deleted posts themselves in the first place.
Unless I am misunderstanding what you're getting at, in which case please clarify.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:35 AM on January 21, 2011
Not really "didn't pick up on" so much as that it's a non-starter embedded in a non-starter. We're not going to reduce the visibility of deletion reasons on deleted posts, but that's ancillary to the main issue that neither are we going to increase the visibility of deleted posts themselves in the first place.
Unless I am misunderstanding what you're getting at, in which case please clarify.
posted by cortex (staff) at 11:35 AM on January 21, 2011
No no, just that dougrayrankin asked about that aspect, twice, so I figured it was worth addressing.
posted by Chuckles at 11:40 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Chuckles at 11:40 AM on January 21, 2011
Well... maybe not exactly twice. I think it is buried in there somewhere though :P
posted by Chuckles at 11:42 AM on January 21, 2011
posted by Chuckles at 11:42 AM on January 21, 2011
>Is there any reason "if you're going to make a post you should keep the thread open a while so you can follow what's being said in it" isn't the obvious & preferred solution here?
Frequently, the advice to posters is "when making an FPP, hit post then walk away from the computer for at least an hour. Do not thread-tend. Do not get argumentative. Walk away and let the thread develop on its own."
posted by Lexica at 12:01 PM on January 21, 2011
Frequently, the advice to posters is "when making an FPP, hit post then walk away from the computer for at least an hour. Do not thread-tend. Do not get argumentative. Walk away and let the thread develop on its own."
posted by Lexica at 12:01 PM on January 21, 2011
No no, just that dougrayrankin asked about that aspect, twice, so I figured it was worth addressing.No, sorry I wasn't (intentionally) advocating that once a thread is deleted, only the person who made it can see why, just that for the benefit of the erring author, it's quickly and easily visible on the front page. Sort of like "See this, this is where your thread was, and this is why it's not here any more." - It was a usability thing more than anything. At the moment it's necessary to go to recent activity, find the thread in question, load the thread in question in order to see why. Yeah, I'm lazy and don't want to click that much...
posted by dougrayrankin at 12:09 PM on January 21, 2011
"when making a FPP which is a SLYT video a monkey violating a frog, hit post then walk away from the computer for at least an hour. Do not thread-tend. Do not get argumentative. Walk away and let the thread develop on its own."
posted by fixedgear at 12:19 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by fixedgear at 12:19 PM on January 21, 2011
Or at least give the monkey some privacy.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:25 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 12:25 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Is there any reason "if you're going to make a post you should keep the thread open a while so you can follow what's being said in it" isn't the obvious & preferred solution here?
I don't really keep anything open. It's a fast moving world out there.
posted by smackfu at 12:49 PM on January 21, 2011
I don't really keep anything open. It's a fast moving world out there.
posted by smackfu at 12:49 PM on January 21, 2011
CLOACA!
posted by Mister_A at 1:12 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Mister_A at 1:12 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
a questionable link to a video of a misbehaving monkey they can see the (quite justifiable) reason for said post being deleted
Was that monkey riding backwards on a pig? If so, that changes everything.
posted by SpacemanStix at 1:19 PM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
Was that monkey riding backwards on a pig? If so, that changes everything.
posted by SpacemanStix at 1:19 PM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]
If it was a monkey wearing a cowboy hat and riding a border collie, sure. The post in question not so much.
posted by fixedgear at 1:29 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by fixedgear at 1:29 PM on January 21, 2011
A somewhat related question that occurs to me -- are links in deleted threads included in the general search that happens as part of making a new FPP? Or are we at risk of someone else posting monkey/frog sex without realizing that we've been through this before?
although, really, monkey/frog is over the line. 'guy fucking a chicken', that's more reasonable. particularly if the chicken isn't alive to complain about it.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:29 PM on January 21, 2011
although, really, monkey/frog is over the line. 'guy fucking a chicken', that's more reasonable. particularly if the chicken isn't alive to complain about it.
posted by rmd1023 at 1:29 PM on January 21, 2011
rmd1023: "A somewhat related question that occurs to me -- are links in deleted threads included in the general search that happens as part of making a new FPP? Or are we at risk of someone else posting monkey/frog sex without realizing that we've been through this before?"
I don't think they are. That's a really good idea.
posted by zarq at 1:43 PM on January 21, 2011
I don't think they are. That's a really good idea.
posted by zarq at 1:43 PM on January 21, 2011
Do you mean this one? Is this even for me? If yes to both, I had to go back to work.
I should've previewed, it came off snarkier than I intended. I meant it for your original question of how to detect deletions of your posts. Basically I just think that if you're paying attention to your own thread you'll notice when it gets deleted, & if you're not paying attention then you've done something wrong anyway. I understand you have other obligations you need to attend to but ultimately it's your responsibility to keep track of things & all of the proposed solutions end up increasing the load on someone else (either directly or indirectly) in order to make it easier for you.
posted by scalefree at 1:44 PM on January 21, 2011
I should've previewed, it came off snarkier than I intended. I meant it for your original question of how to detect deletions of your posts. Basically I just think that if you're paying attention to your own thread you'll notice when it gets deleted, & if you're not paying attention then you've done something wrong anyway. I understand you have other obligations you need to attend to but ultimately it's your responsibility to keep track of things & all of the proposed solutions end up increasing the load on someone else (either directly or indirectly) in order to make it easier for you.
posted by scalefree at 1:44 PM on January 21, 2011
Yes, if it's the same domain or in the case of YouTube, the same exact link (including whatever jazz is appended to the URL), it shows up in the post-preview test.
posted by Gator at 1:50 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Gator at 1:50 PM on January 21, 2011
Burhanistan: "Actually, I just tested the deleted threads in the search, and they come up."
Excellent! Thanks. :)
posted by zarq at 1:53 PM on January 21, 2011
Excellent! Thanks. :)
posted by zarq at 1:53 PM on January 21, 2011
*rocks back and forth in the corner for an hour*
posted by loquacious at 2:48 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by loquacious at 2:48 PM on January 21, 2011
I'm in the corner whispering "backwards on a pig, baby monkey" and trembling.
posted by catlet at 3:00 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
posted by catlet at 3:00 PM on January 21, 2011 [5 favorites]
THERE IS NO DELETION TOWN IN ALASKA!
Of COURSE there is. They just don't list it on any maps.
Can you see Russia from there?
posted by never used baby shoes at 3:35 PM on January 21, 2011
Of COURSE there is. They just don't list it on any maps.
Can you see Russia from there?
posted by never used baby shoes at 3:35 PM on January 21, 2011
...figured out that if I wanted to find a post that got deleted I'd have to keep the "Your post has been added" MeMails which I otherwise have no use for, and which don't mention in their subject lines which post they are about.
I've found those emails less than helpful also. If auto-MeMails from the submission system could provide more context, posters would be more likely to keep them around.
posted by morganw at 3:38 PM on January 21, 2011
I've found those emails less than helpful also. If auto-MeMails from the submission system could provide more context, posters would be more likely to keep them around.
posted by morganw at 3:38 PM on January 21, 2011
I think that's a good idea about the auto-Memails. Can the subject be "Success! Your MeFi post, '$postTitle' is live!"?
posted by Gator at 3:48 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Gator at 3:48 PM on January 21, 2011
That's a good idea, let me send it up the flagpole, see who salutes.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:49 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:49 PM on January 21, 2011
It's a Chimpanzee (which is not a monkey, it's an ape) and it might well be a toad rather than a frog. If you're going to post nasty 'amusing' videos, at least try to hit some damn accuracy so you can hold your head a little bit high.
I've got excellent lip-reading skills, and I'm absolutely certain that toad gave his consent before the chimpanzee had his way with him.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:07 PM on January 21, 2011
I've got excellent lip-reading skills, and I'm absolutely certain that toad gave his consent before the chimpanzee had his way with him.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:07 PM on January 21, 2011
...are links in deleted threads included in the general search that happens as part of making a new FPP?
Yes, they are. Sometimes we change spam links to
posted by pb (staff) at 4:20 PM on January 21, 2011
Yes, they are. Sometimes we change spam links to
example.com so we don't send any extra traffic their way. But something like a YouTube video is usually left and will show up in the double-post checker.posted by pb (staff) at 4:20 PM on January 21, 2011
No one wants to know where my hand has been.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:20 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 5:20 PM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]
Shh y'all, cjorgensen is gonna tell us a story!
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:37 PM on January 21, 2011
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:37 PM on January 21, 2011
Can the subject be "Success! Your MeFi post, '$postTitle' is live!"?
I think we'll be changing it to some variant of that, pb's messing with some options.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:21 PM on January 21, 2011
I think we'll be changing it to some variant of that, pb's messing with some options.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 7:21 PM on January 21, 2011
Come to think of it, if there's any crafty needlepoint types out there looking for something to kill time with, I would totally hang an "It's not a Can't thing, it's a Won't thing" on the wall behind my desk in my office. If such a thing were to mysteriously appear in the mail or something.
consider it done...
because of this:
Note that a video of a monkey rapping with a frog might be worth posting.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 7:26 PM on January 21, 2011
Huh?
posted by cjorgensen at 7:15 AM on January 22, 2011
posted by cjorgensen at 7:15 AM on January 22, 2011
Well apparently, while you all were getting this sorted out, 20 things happened on the internet.
posted by Sailormom at 7:35 AM on January 22, 2011
posted by Sailormom at 7:35 AM on January 22, 2011
I get Angry Birds, Android and double rainbow guy. I was gonna retweet until I saw this: Digital communications agency specialising in digital strategy, mobile and social media. London-based, part of the Syzygy Group.
posted by fixedgear at 9:16 AM on January 22, 2011
posted by fixedgear at 9:16 AM on January 22, 2011
Deleted posts, including reasons, show up on deletedthread.blogspot.com, which is not the exact solution you want, but probably good enough.
Just curious -- is the deleted threads blog automatically updated, or is someone putting these entries there by hand?
posted by jayder at 9:45 AM on January 22, 2011
Just curious -- is the deleted threads blog automatically updated, or is someone putting these entries there by hand?
posted by jayder at 9:45 AM on January 22, 2011
It's done manually (or at least semi-manually) as far as I know.
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:56 AM on January 22, 2011
posted by cortex (staff) at 9:56 AM on January 22, 2011
That's me, I usually update it a couple times a day, usually in the evening.
posted by dead cousin ted at 2:10 PM on January 22, 2011
posted by dead cousin ted at 2:10 PM on January 22, 2011
Usually.
posted by dead cousin ted at 2:12 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by dead cousin ted at 2:12 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
It actually originally started as a project by someone else with the intent to make it an automated thing. It kinda died and eventually got brought up in metatalk and I decided to take over the reins. This was probably 3 or 4 years ago, I think. Actually, cortex provided me with a list of every deleted thread from the beginning so I could backlog them, but I kinda petered out on that :)
posted by dead cousin ted at 3:06 PM on January 22, 2011
posted by dead cousin ted at 3:06 PM on January 22, 2011
If such a thing were to mysteriously appear in the mail or something.
Oh, man, piratebowling. You kick ass. So much ass has been kicked.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:36 AM on February 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
Oh, man, piratebowling. You kick ass. So much ass has been kicked.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:36 AM on February 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
YAY! It arrived! I heard needle point and an implied internet dare and I couldn't resist.
posted by piratebowling at 1:05 PM on February 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by piratebowling at 1:05 PM on February 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's a wagon fording a river.
posted by piratebowling at 1:08 PM on February 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by piratebowling at 1:08 PM on February 18, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by Gator at 6:38 AM on January 21, 2011 [1 favorite]