Ding, Threads are Done May 20, 2013 2:59 PM   Subscribe

Is there a way to be alerted whenever a thread on the blue closes? Some sort of alert system? A site somebody else has already set up? I'm just wondering if there's some preexisting way someone's already done this.
posted by KChasm to MetaFilter-Related at 2:59 PM (26 comments total)

We don't have any sort of alert system like that built into the site. I don't know of any services that do this. Just curious, why do you want to be alerted?
posted by pb (staff) at 3:10 PM on May 20, 2013


Someone just made a Project that did this. This isn't quite what you were looking for but something you might like.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:11 PM on May 20, 2013


It's that Project jessamyn linked that made me curious in the first place, actually. I just got to wondering if there was something out there that was sort of the opposite of that. I guess there isn't, though.
posted by KChasm at 3:59 PM on May 20, 2013


Uh.... you could do what I do and just refresh every open thread continuously until you pass out.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:50 PM on May 20, 2013 [9 favorites]


I'm curious as to why, too. I mean, if the thread closes, there's nothing you can really do upon receiving the notification, other than to put another tiny doll personifying the thread onto the shrine in your closet that seems perfectly normal to you, but no, oh no, you can't show it to others because they'd never understand.

Unless, of course, you're wondering about this in terms of "how will I know when that thread closes so I don't get my related post deleted with a 'try posting this in the existing thread'" reason.

That makes much more sense than the shrine of thread dolls.
posted by Ghidorah at 5:11 PM on May 20, 2013 [4 favorites]


Whew, so glad other people have a thread doll shrine. And here I was thinking I was the only one.
posted by phunniemee at 5:15 PM on May 20, 2013 [10 favorites]


Wow, y'all are weird. Everyone knows you honor the passing of a thread by burning candid photos of everybody who posted in them in a bronze urn in the attic.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:22 PM on May 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


Piffle. You can't animate the ashes of candid photos. Those thread dolls? Minions. Tiny, fluffy minions brought to life by arcane rites. What does your bronze urn do, huh?
posted by Ghidorah at 5:26 PM on May 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


It disposes of the evidence.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:27 PM on May 20, 2013 [1 favorite]


The thread dolls seem like a good idea until you reach a dozen and then suddenly your dog goes missing and there are haunting, spooky groaning noises coming from the basement and your refrigerator starts glowing in a scary way and you just know that's not normal behavior for a kitchen appliance and then cortex shows up at your front door and says COME WITH ME AND BRING DONUTS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE and all you can think is perhaps that angry meta you started defending the value of your now-deleted post about the new Ninja Chihuahuas reality show wasn't your best life choice.
posted by zarq at 6:14 PM on May 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


People commenting on this thread are eating too much cheese in the evening before going to sleep.
posted by Wordshore at 6:22 PM on May 20, 2013


Head cheese, maybe. It's an old Lector family recipe.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:24 PM on May 20, 2013


Someone please gently awaken zarq.
posted by Michele in California at 6:26 PM on May 20, 2013 [2 favorites]


He'll wake up when the water gets warm enough (yes, Lisa).
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:27 PM on May 20, 2013 [3 favorites]


You guys are giving me flashbacks to Trilogy Of Terror.


'Amelia' aka That One With the Doll
posted by Brody's chum at 7:58 PM on May 20, 2013


I like it. It's got the same adrenaline-burst effect as hovering in the "search auctions ending in the next 3 hours" feature of eBay, waiting to pounce.
posted by Miko at 8:09 PM on May 20, 2013


IN BEFOAR LOCK
posted by GuyZero at 8:37 PM on May 20, 2013


Can't you just read the archives 30 days ago?
posted by Mitheral at 8:42 PM on May 20, 2013


Bookmark it prominently, change the name to its end date. Then you know how long until the doll and accompanying rites (SO Much hamster saliva to procure!) must be completed.

Isn't this common knowledge? I thought it was in the wiki.
posted by From Bklyn at 9:01 PM on May 20, 2013


Nah, hamster saliva is a regional thing. Over here, it's all about the woodchuck tears. Incredibly difficult to get. Most woodchucks are very upbeat and overwhelmingly positive.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:53 PM on May 20, 2013 [5 favorites]


This would be pretty easy using the data I already collect for Secret Mefi. Are you picturing a page that shows the post and a big animated countdown timer? An email an hour before a thread closes? (You don't want that.) An RSS feed that always links to the next post that will be closed?
posted by jjwiseman at 11:35 PM on May 20, 2013


then cortex shows up at your front door and says COME WITH ME AND BRING DONUTS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE

I'll be straight with you on this, I'd also be okay if you wanted to just give me the donuts and stay where you are. However works best for you.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:28 AM on May 21, 2013 [4 favorites]


and then suddenly your dog goes missing and there are haunting, spooky groaning noises coming from the basement and your refrigerator starts glowing in a scary way

Yeah, so I've been working on this... project, and I'll be honest, it's gotten a little out of hand. You know how they say that the point of the pentagram is to trap the shadow creature from the dungeon dimensons inside, unless, of course you stand in it when you recite the words, in which case, it summons the unholy ancient one outside of it?

Rookie mistake, right? I mean, everyone has done this at least once. But now you've got yourself a hungry wraith eating everything in sight, so you fall back on your failsafe which is that one incantation that can put everything back into balance, just so long as you make sure that the cheese on hand is at least 15 years old?

Well, let me tell you, keeping your 15 year old cheese in your fridge seems like a good idea until you get a case of the late night munchies and then you realize that you've got a demonic banshee wraith eating a neighbor, you are trapped in a pentagram, and you are completely out of the one and only dairy product that could have saved you.

It's a bad scene man.

Anyhow, sorry about your basement. If I ever get all this sorted out I promise to get it cleaned up. (also, I need to figure out what to summon to do some cleaning. There's got to be something right? Ooh, look this one is called The Cleansing Plague. That's probably a cleaning spirit, don't you think?)
posted by quin at 8:31 AM on May 21, 2013 [5 favorites]


Why did I read that as "Is there a way to be alerted whenever there's a thread on blue cheese?"

Actually, that's something I'd go for.
posted by pipeski at 11:36 AM on May 21, 2013 [1 favorite]


Most woodchucks are very upbeat and overwhelmingly positive.

Woodchucks are LITERALLY the Chris Traeger of birds.
posted by NoraReed at 7:44 AM on May 22, 2013


Traegers are literally the Chris Traeger of grills Chris Traeger would use to cook red meat if Chris Traeger ate red meat.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:09 AM on May 22, 2013


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