Cyclone Taylor November 29, 2011 4:47 PM Subscribe
I'm curious as to when/why the 'I was a backtagging superstar!' was removed from profiles.
We removed them a few months ago when we made some changes to the speed of user pages (made them more iPhone friendly, added javascript widgets instead of data we stored on our end for 3rd party sites, etc).
By the time we removed it, it had been up for 2-3 years, so it was about time to move on.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:51 PM on November 29, 2011
By the time we removed it, it had been up for 2-3 years, so it was about time to move on.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 4:51 PM on November 29, 2011
I also notice that on the posting page it says "please boil your question", shouldn't that be "please boil down your question?
posted by unliteral at 4:54 PM on November 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by unliteral at 4:54 PM on November 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Typos can be so creative
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 4:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 4:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I boiled my question, but then I left it on the bench overnight.
Should I eat it?
posted by pompomtom at 5:00 PM on November 29, 2011 [56 favorites]
Should I eat it?
posted by pompomtom at 5:00 PM on November 29, 2011 [56 favorites]
I was so going to ask the same question...I've been wondering this for a while. Thanks for the question/answer!
posted by Hypnotic Chick at 5:01 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by Hypnotic Chick at 5:01 PM on November 29, 2011
Should I eat it?
posted by pompomtom
Depends. Did you boil it up, or boil it down?
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:02 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by pompomtom
Depends. Did you boil it up, or boil it down?
posted by StickyCarpet at 5:02 PM on November 29, 2011
Your 15 minutes are up, dude.
posted by jonmc at 5:10 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by jonmc at 5:10 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Not true box, there's the thing you did in the summer if 2010.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:12 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:12 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I boiled my question, but then I left it on the bench overnight.
Should I eat it?
You should bring your question to a boil, then lower the temperature and let the question simmer until it is tender. If you boil it for too long, the question is likely to separate, and that will leave you with an oily mess on the page. And who wants to answer an oily mess?
Boiling down your question may lead to eating less crow, now that I think of it....
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:13 PM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Should I eat it?
You should bring your question to a boil, then lower the temperature and let the question simmer until it is tender. If you boil it for too long, the question is likely to separate, and that will leave you with an oily mess on the page. And who wants to answer an oily mess?
Boiling down your question may lead to eating less crow, now that I think of it....
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:13 PM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Whew. I always felt guilty about not helping with that.
posted by roll truck roll at 5:14 PM on November 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
posted by roll truck roll at 5:14 PM on November 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
I'm curious as to when/why the 'I was a backtagging superstar!' was removed from profiles.
The last Tuesday of every month is street cleaning day for Mefi profiles. You probably forgot to move your backtagging superstar and they just towed it.
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 5:14 PM on November 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
The last Tuesday of every month is street cleaning day for Mefi profiles. You probably forgot to move your backtagging superstar and they just towed it.
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 5:14 PM on November 29, 2011 [8 favorites]
Also: are these changes the reason why we no longer have the "recent tweets/photos/scrobbles by all Mefites" pages?
posted by roll truck roll at 5:15 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by roll truck roll at 5:15 PM on November 29, 2011
Pro tip: Add some salt to help speed up question boiling.
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 5:16 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by babbyʼ); Drop table users; -- at 5:16 PM on November 29, 2011
Yeah, I noticed the "I helped put the first 10,000 posts back into chronological order after the great server crash of '04" thing was gone too.
I think that was kind of insensitive to those Mefites who were injured in the process.
posted by bondcliff at 5:24 PM on November 29, 2011
I think that was kind of insensitive to those Mefites who were injured in the process.
posted by bondcliff at 5:24 PM on November 29, 2011
Well, you know, anything is on the table if it improves the smartphone experience.
posted by Edogy at 5:35 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by Edogy at 5:35 PM on November 29, 2011
the mods are just beta testing a new badges system.
posted by The Whelk at 5:38 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by The Whelk at 5:38 PM on November 29, 2011
Every time I see Edogy's name, I think of Ed O.G.
posted by box at 5:41 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 5:41 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
That's funny, 'cause everytime I see your name I think of Orbital! :D
posted by Edogy at 5:44 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Edogy at 5:44 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
No one cares that you helped with the Shake 'n Bake. It wasn't difficult, and it didn't improve the chicken much at all. Now eat your sprouts.
posted by Sys Rq at 5:45 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by Sys Rq at 5:45 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
are these changes the reason why we no longer have the "recent tweets/photos/scrobbles by all Mefites" pages?
We had a longer discussion about those things, but basically having our server parse a bunch of RSS to basically recreate the wheel that was badges available from other sites wasn't the best idea. So yeah this is about the time we stopped doing that as well. Looks like we axed the backtagging thing back in march when we first started talking about getting little "staff" icons, back when my star was removed because cortex was jealous.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:47 PM on November 29, 2011 [13 favorites]
We had a longer discussion about those things, but basically having our server parse a bunch of RSS to basically recreate the wheel that was badges available from other sites wasn't the best idea. So yeah this is about the time we stopped doing that as well. Looks like we axed the backtagging thing back in march when we first started talking about getting little "staff" icons, back when my star was removed because cortex was jealous.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 5:47 PM on November 29, 2011 [13 favorites]
You'll always be a luminous sphere of plasma that will destroy the Earth, in my eyes.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
the mods are just beta testing a new badges system.
Will they stink? Because my guess is that we don't really need that kind.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [12 favorites]
Will they stink? Because my guess is that we don't really need that kind.
posted by shakespeherian at 5:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [12 favorites]
"back when my star was removed because cortex was jealous"
SNAP
posted by MadamM at 6:02 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
SNAP
posted by MadamM at 6:02 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I am, of course, joking. It was removed because cortex said "I think we're well approaching a Stan Chin whiplash threshold at this point" and he was right.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:06 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:06 PM on November 29, 2011
Phew. I now feel much less guilty about not having been a backtagging superstar.
posted by 7segment at 6:09 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by 7segment at 6:09 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
I think the staff tags look really nice, but I always thought that the stars would have been a really cool staff designation. It would have carried the necessary weight, I think, as people would have figured out what was going on.
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:23 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by SpacemanStix at 6:23 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
They might be gone mow, but I expect the back-taggers to reform at some point in the future when the cash and coke runs out for a cynical tour of stadium web venues.
posted by Abiezer at 6:35 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by Abiezer at 6:35 PM on November 29, 2011
I think the staff tags look really nice, but I always thought that the stars would have been a really cool staff designation. It would have carried the necessary weight, I think, as people would have figured out what was going on.
Yeah but they shouldn't all be stars though. It should be like a star, a heart, a spade, an eight ball and then they get together and form Voltron.
posted by Diablevert at 6:38 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah but they shouldn't all be stars though. It should be like a star, a heart, a spade, an eight ball and then they get together and form Voltron.
posted by Diablevert at 6:38 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I picked alembic: ⚗ And then we all forgot about it, somehow.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:42 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 6:42 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
If anyone wants to mutually contact me then go back and add tags to each others' old posts, we could still be backtagging superstars, you and I!
posted by carsonb at 6:44 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by carsonb at 6:44 PM on November 29, 2011
Aw man, I loved being a backtagging superstar.. But has it been that long? I still have nightmares...
posted by nkknkk at 6:55 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by nkknkk at 6:55 PM on November 29, 2011
Yeah but they shouldn't all be stars though. It should be like a star, a heart, a spade, an eight ball and then they get together and form Voltron.
I'll quote myself from a little while back because goddam if that wasn't my best idea all day,
jessamyn: star
cortex: eighth note
mathowie: bike wheel
pb: floppy disk
vacapinta: cocktail glass
restless_nomad: ninja star
Maybe Taz could have a lyre. Or a broken plate.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 6:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
I'll quote myself from a little while back because goddam if that wasn't my best idea all day,
jessamyn: star
cortex: eighth note
mathowie: bike wheel
pb: floppy disk
vacapinta: cocktail glass
restless_nomad: ninja star
Maybe Taz could have a lyre. Or a broken plate.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 6:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [4 favorites]
Maybe Taz could have a lyre. Or a broken plate.
Ionic column top.
posted by Diablevert at 7:04 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Ionic column top.
posted by Diablevert at 7:04 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Capital idea.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:07 PM on November 29, 2011 [16 favorites]
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:07 PM on November 29, 2011 [16 favorites]
sorry
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:07 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by villanelles at dawn at 7:07 PM on November 29, 2011
I was never a backtagging superstar, but I have a loyal underground following and Pitchfork will basically never shut up about me.
posted by Hoopo at 7:16 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Hoopo at 7:16 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I like your earlier work better, Hoopo.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:20 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 7:20 PM on November 29, 2011
Well, now that's all cleared up - a gold star for anyone that can identify my obscure hockey reference.
posted by unliteral at 7:22 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by unliteral at 7:22 PM on November 29, 2011
Maybe we should have some sort of Backtagging Superstar memorial page that just lists those superstars for posterity.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:11 PM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:11 PM on November 29, 2011 [3 favorites]
Man, if I had participated in the backtagging project, I'd be pissed that I lost my Backtagging Superstar star.
But I didn't so I'm not.
posted by slogger at 8:22 PM on November 29, 2011
But I didn't so I'm not.
posted by slogger at 8:22 PM on November 29, 2011
I suggest a Tomb of the Unknown Backtagger.
posted by griphus at 8:26 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by griphus at 8:26 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
Y'know, if you eat a Nutter Butter and a Sunkist Fruit Gem together, it's really tasty approximation of a PB&J sandwich.
posted by jonmc at 8:36 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by jonmc at 8:36 PM on November 29, 2011
back when my star was removed because cortex was jealous.
Cortex, are you finally happy now, you bastard? Taking away her star, have you know shame? Were there no babies whose candy you couldn't steal instead?
BEWARE LADIES OF MEFI, CORTEX WANTS YOUR STAR!
posted by doctor_negative at 8:46 PM on November 29, 2011
Cortex, are you finally happy now, you bastard? Taking away her star, have you know shame? Were there no babies whose candy you couldn't steal instead?
BEWARE LADIES OF MEFI, CORTEX WANTS YOUR STAR!
posted by doctor_negative at 8:46 PM on November 29, 2011
Maybe we should have some sort of Backtagging Superstar memorial page that just lists those superstars for posterity.
This would be nice.
posted by grouse at 9:07 PM on November 29, 2011
This would be nice.
posted by grouse at 9:07 PM on November 29, 2011
If they earned it it only seems fair to leave it in place.
posted by jayder at 9:32 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by jayder at 9:32 PM on November 29, 2011
We could have a mod gold star memorial page too that lists all those mods who have ever earned a gold star (i.e. not cortex).
posted by grouse at 9:35 PM on November 29, 2011 [11 favorites]
posted by grouse at 9:35 PM on November 29, 2011 [11 favorites]
The Stan Chin Whiplash Threshold is a pretty good band name.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
back when my star was removed because cortex was jealous
Learn to let go, brother, it is all ephemeral. The final step is death, for each and every one, gold star or no gold star.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:36 PM on November 29, 2011
Learn to let go, brother, it is all ephemeral. The final step is death, for each and every one, gold star or no gold star.
posted by Meatbomb at 10:36 PM on November 29, 2011
I'm glad it's gone because I didn't know what it meant. I always assumed it was a reference to some sort of dubious sexual predilection.
posted by Decani at 11:19 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by Decani at 11:19 PM on November 29, 2011
I'm sure somewhere out there "pretty good band name" is an actual band name.
posted by edgeways at 11:35 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by edgeways at 11:35 PM on November 29, 2011
Hey! What happened to Stan Chin's star?
posted by timeistight at 12:07 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by timeistight at 12:07 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm STILL a back tagging superstar dammit! You can never take that away from me!
posted by The Deej at 12:40 AM on November 30, 2011
posted by The Deej at 12:40 AM on November 30, 2011
They might be gone mow, but I expect the back-taggers to reform at some point
All right meow. Hand over your license and registration.
posted by P.o.B. at 5:21 AM on November 30, 2011
All right meow. Hand over your license and registration.
posted by P.o.B. at 5:21 AM on November 30, 2011
I picked alembic: ⚗
I know a dude in Skyrim looking for one of those.
posted by exogenous at 5:28 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I know a dude in Skyrim looking for one of those.
posted by exogenous at 5:28 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
The Deej: "I'm STILL a back tagging superstar dammit! You can never take that away from me"
I was never a backtagging superstar, but now you have NO PROOF! hahaha. I'm totally going to take credit for all the work you guys did!
posted by graventy at 5:48 AM on November 30, 2011
I was never a backtagging superstar, but now you have NO PROOF! hahaha. I'm totally going to take credit for all the work you guys did!
posted by graventy at 5:48 AM on November 30, 2011
Learn to let go, brother, it is all ephemeral. The final step is death, for each and every one, gold star or no gold star.
Actually, medical science has proven that Star-Bellied Mods live approximately 13.2% longer than Mods with no Stars Upon Thars.* The data on Staff-Icon-Bellied Mods is incomplete at this moment, but collection efforts are underway and the first reports keenly anticipated by the Academy.
*There is speculation that some Star-Bellied Mods may have their lives cut tragically short by assassination attempts by the jealous Starless, but this has generally been dismissed as pure star-oriented propaganda.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:54 AM on November 30, 2011
Actually, medical science has proven that Star-Bellied Mods live approximately 13.2% longer than Mods with no Stars Upon Thars.* The data on Staff-Icon-Bellied Mods is incomplete at this moment, but collection efforts are underway and the first reports keenly anticipated by the Academy.
*There is speculation that some Star-Bellied Mods may have their lives cut tragically short by assassination attempts by the jealous Starless, but this has generally been dismissed as pure star-oriented propaganda.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:54 AM on November 30, 2011
The Jealous Starless sounds like an electroclash band ca. 2002.
posted by griphus at 6:13 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by griphus at 6:13 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
a gold star for anyone that can identify my obscure hockey reference.
posted by unliteral at 7:22 PM on November 29 [+] [!]
Obviously, too hard for everyone. No one can suss out the relationship.
posted by unliteral at 6:14 AM on November 30, 2011
posted by unliteral at 7:22 PM on November 29 [+] [!]
Obviously, too hard for everyone. No one can suss out the relationship.
posted by unliteral at 6:14 AM on November 30, 2011
what's a Stan Chin in context and how does it do backlashes?
posted by mephron at 6:44 AM on November 30, 2011
posted by mephron at 6:44 AM on November 30, 2011
It's a trick question, all hockey references are obscure.
posted by villanelles at dawn at 6:47 AM on November 30, 2011
posted by villanelles at dawn at 6:47 AM on November 30, 2011
villanelles at dawn: "
jessamyn: star
cortex: eighth note
mathowie: bike wheel
pb: floppy disk
vacapinta: cocktail glass
restless_nomad: ninja star"
I don't care who gets the car, top hat, or thimble, but I call dibs on the little scotty dog.
posted by I am the Walrus at 8:37 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
jessamyn: star
cortex: eighth note
mathowie: bike wheel
pb: floppy disk
vacapinta: cocktail glass
restless_nomad: ninja star"
I don't care who gets the car, top hat, or thimble, but I call dibs on the little scotty dog.
posted by I am the Walrus at 8:37 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I am still mad I didn't get a ninja star.
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 8:56 AM on November 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad (staff) at 8:56 AM on November 30, 2011 [2 favorites]
I am still mad I didn't get a ninja star.
You did! It's there, but, because it is a ninja, no one ever notices. Until it was too late....
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:11 AM on November 30, 2011
You did! It's there, but, because it is a ninja, no one ever notices. Until it was too late....
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:11 AM on November 30, 2011
...or, you know, is too late.
All I can say in my grammatical defense is that that ninja star is so badass, it kills people through time!
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:24 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
All I can say in my grammatical defense is that that ninja star is so badass, it kills people through time!
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:24 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
It was great to get this individual award, but I'm really looking to win a backtagging championship before my career is over.
posted by cashman at 12:12 PM on November 30, 2011
posted by cashman at 12:12 PM on November 30, 2011
I put "I was a backtagging noshow" on my profile. Um, actually it's still there so I had better get it off since it makes little sense, now if it ever did.
posted by Danf at 1:05 PM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Danf at 1:05 PM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
The mods noticed that your backtag was showing, so they just tucked it in your collar for you.
posted by maryr at 8:17 AM on December 1, 2011
posted by maryr at 8:17 AM on December 1, 2011
unliteral: ... obscure hockey reference.Is there another kind?
posted by Doofus Magoo at 6:31 AM on December 3, 2011
Well you have the title of this post, the subject of this post and I'll throw in the name Frank Patrick.
posted by unliteral at 4:18 PM on December 3, 2011
posted by unliteral at 4:18 PM on December 3, 2011
Okay, plain and simple - first use of the term 'superstar'. Who would have thunk it?. Canadian hockey, you never cease to surprise me.
posted by unliteral at 4:34 AM on December 5, 2011
posted by unliteral at 4:34 AM on December 5, 2011
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posted by StickyCarpet at 4:50 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]