MetaTalk

Hi y'all!

With the major holidays reaching their peak this week, how are you spending them this year, what are you up to? Any special travel plans, or particular dishes you’re making this time around? What are you most looking forward to doing?
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:45 PM - 4 comments

And what should happen with Winter Wishes? For those who don't know, Winter Wishes is a program by New York Cares where kids, teens, and elders write letters with their gift hopes during the holiday season. For 11 years, MetaFilter, as "MeFi Cares," gave to those in less fortunate circumstances. And not just monetarily. And eventually, we expanded our reach to other giving. Please see my MetaTalk post history for complete info on the last several years we participated, including photos, though I'll summarize below. I'm writing this right now because we seem to have more engagement on MeTa given new, hopeful developments, and because... well, 'tis the season. Please pardon me for the length of this, but I want to be as detailed and informative and honest as possible. [more inside]
posted by houseofdanie at 9:01 PM - 7 comments

Well, we're doing it again. Starting early morning on Dec 23 and going through to the end of Dec 25, in our video share room, MST Club presents our 11th annual Christmas Marathon. Look inside for details! [more inside]
posted by JHarris at 10:19 PM - 9 comments

A number of people have called for volunteer moderation at MeFi. The No. 1 question about that is, how many people are willing to be a volunteer moderator, and for how many hours a week? [more inside]
posted by NotLost at 6:20 AM - 94 comments

Hello and welcome to this month’s Site Update! We your things are going your way as the year winds down.

You can find the last update here.
[more inside]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 5:15 AM - 231 comments

I think a lot of the community doesn't understand how busy Mods are in their day to day shifts. It would probably be good for mod/community relationships to give a few users a chance to shadow a mod for a shift or two, so that we can get a better idea of the workload that mods are under, which would probably allow the community to take a step back and give the mods some breathing room. Is there any chance of that?
posted by bowbeacon at 3:44 PM - 79 comments

Let's talk about the MetaTalk queue. [more inside]
posted by Why Is The World In Love Again? at 6:19 AM - 117 comments

I didn't participate in the Holiday Gift Swap but I enjoy reading about all of the Gift Swap Arrivals - each posting is happy little burst of joy. However, I'm baffled by the constant references to beans and beansters. I'm familiar with things that aren't worth a hill of beans and with bean counting and even the more MetaFilter specific beanplating but this one has me baffled. [more inside]
posted by metahawk at 7:01 AM - 11 comments

Got any good news to share? Got new accomplishments, new dog, new kid, new positive outlook? New shirt, new group, new friend? Fixed your toilet, fixed your screen door, fixed your outlook? I found a few silly but hilarious items for Christmas this year [items that will not appeal to all and also contain some rude words] and I thought it would be neat to see the excellent finds others have found. Also, the aforementioned good news and all that. Kindly kindly, leave the grar elsewhere. [more inside]
posted by Glinn at 4:35 PM - 92 comments

In the last year, I read an article (maybe on Metafilter) detailing recent changes in Chinese attitudes toward death, from a public, community event, to something to be hidden and feared. Now I can’t find the article anywhere. Can you please help? Thank you.
posted by Atrahasis at 9:42 PM - 5 comments