MetaFilter

Another thing Metafilter doesn't do well

The other thing that really dissapointed me was the reaction to Netanyahu and Israel. All of the Jews killed in the specifically anti-Semitic attack on the kosher grocer were buried in Israel. The only comment addressing my link to the story about the funeral in Israel came from VikingSword:

But let us not kid ourselves that Netanyahu is above trading in the worst kind of anti-Semitic tropes.
posted by VikingSword

Heaven… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:35 AM on January 14, 2015

Yes, there certainly are problems in the way discussions can go on Metafilter, and some are inherent in the format itself - nobody has the time, and the medium is not suited to lengthy nuanced discussions. But what makes this whole thing function much worse than it has to, is when there is no assuming of good faith on the part of the participants. Instead, sometimes an atmosphere is created, where with the best will in the world, there is simply no possible discussion to be had.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:26 AM on January 14, 2015

A new theme for MeFi: Modern

For some reason, yesterday my iPod Touch 6G collapsed and I had to reset it. When resetting, it updated the software from iOS 8.0 to the new 8.0.2 (12A405). When it came back, metafilter was back to the classic mode and I had to set it back to Modern. Unfortunately, the collapse of the iPod must have taken some brain cells with it, because I can no longer find the Dark Mode option and I'm stuck being blinded. I apologize unreservedly, but I have not read the entire thread as I'm only human, and… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:13 AM on October 20, 2014

Oh, thank you, pb, that took care of it. Believe it or not, in my desperate flailing, I did once click on 'Skip', but by then I was so frazzled I didn't even notice that it's where that option was hiding.

I still think this should be available in the preference panel *in addition*, because dunces like me - and folk who don't enjoy detective work - should be able to find it easily in the place most likely to be "preferences". The way it could work, is that when… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:46 AM on October 20, 2014

MeFi Horror Film Club, #5: Martyrs

A lone dissenting voice (there's always one!). I watched Martyrs with a bunch of people (8 or so) on a large projection screen, because nobody had seen it at that point, and it had something of a rep. Plus there were quite a few Francofiles among the generally film-related crowd. It was a disaster. We ended up laughing through it, it was so bad. Clumsy, moronic, zero scares, just bad. Without going into spoilers, yeah, the main 'twist' was something you saw a mile away and it was just marking… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:12 AM on July 11, 2014

Yes, tastes will differ. I don't think it was the case of 'not suited for communal viewing', because I have very concrete technical objections to the design of that movie and the effects calculus, but that's a post for the discussion itself, so I'll wait for that. Incidentally, my wife ordered it through netflix a few months ago, upon recommendation by someone at her work, and she had no idea I'd already seen it... fwiw, she found it very poor too, but that may be because our taste in film and… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:55 PM on July 11, 2014

overturn the scientific consensus the MeFi way

Spinning out theories about who cranks are and what motivates them is all well and good, but I wonder when such speculation would turn the speculators into cranks themselves - after all, they'd be doing social science as outsiders. Crankery is a social phenomenon - are the speculators social scientists who are submitting their theories to peer-reviewed journals? No? Oh, so they're just pulling stuff out their ass in a bunch of idle speculation based on anecdata? Much less interesting than actual… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:45 AM on January 6, 2013

Well, you're not crazy for having a theory; you're crazy if you maintain that your theory is true despite all evidence to the contrary. Step one of science is speculation! (Or you can call it a hypothesis or whatever.)

Certainly. But what's happening here is hardly scientific hypothesis generation or theory. The bar is slightly higher for that, usually accompanied by some criteria by which it can be disproved. What we have here is not scientific… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 2:50 PM on January 6, 2013

Meatbomb does an AMA on Reddit

What if you never belonged anywhere in the way people feel "this is where I came from"? My dad was an exec for a big export company, and his job would be to open markets in foreign countries. As a result, he moved our family from country to country living in each 2-5 years. And our vacations - extensive, 3 month long ones - every year were spent traveling the world. When I finally got back to Sweden I spent a handful of years there, just long enough to get an… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:18 PM on March 18, 2012

Bad advice is bad.

I get up in the morning and go into the bathroom - and it starts with my opening my eyes. But wait - doesn't that prove that I'm now awake, and conscious, and that my legal position is different than if I were asleep? Whenever legal issues can be involved, please consult a lawyer, it's the only responsible thing to do. That's why I keep a lawyer on retainer - he grabs ahold of my hand the moment I wake up in the morning and open my eyes. And, even if I don't feel any aches or pains at the moment,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:19 PM on July 15, 2011

Ironmouth, I hear you, no problem, my lawyer is on it this very moment, looking to see what the legal implications are of what I wrote, because I wrote that in a thread that involves serious legal issues as you've explained, and I quote: "all issues covered extensively by law", therefore the importance of what I wrote from a legal point of view should not be underestimated and it is a SERIOUS, SERIOUS matter a LEGAL matter, and only a qualified LAWYER can say what… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:39 PM on July 15, 2011

closed for rapture

Right around 6 PM PST, I thought it had started - but it transpired I just let out a giant fart. It startled the cat. I've been eating beans the past couple of days, in preparation, to provide a little assist with the rapture. Didn't work. I am a sinner.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 7:52 PM on May 21, 2011

What are the chances that Camping will come out now and say: "I've seen the light! There is no god! Atheists were right all along!" I mean, if he is absolutely certain that the "bible guarantees" rapture on this date, then logically, isn't he going to proclaim what reason compels him to conclude? I am awaiting his proclamation.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 7:59 PM on May 21, 2011

F*&king google it.

Who here - or anywhere - can claim to be au courant on all possible music one can link to in an FPP? It's absurd. I'm in LA, so I've known about Tyler, the Creator for quite some time - I've even youtube linked him in the blue awhile back (and anyone who frequents Low End Theory can see most cutting edge LA musicians live), but I can not be expected to have the same kind of familiarity with, f.ex. the Detroit scene. There are musicians linked to in FPPs here all the time, whom I am completely… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:33 PM on May 17, 2011

What are some of AskMe's fastest, most amazing success stories?

Well, it took some five hours, but considering that I've been searching for this video for years, and my query was pretty imprecise, I regard prenominal's answer to this question as quite remarkable!
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 9:41 PM on May 13, 2011

? is a Latin phrase traditionally attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal from his Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–8), which is literally translated as "Who will

Odd. It didn't seem there was any fightiness from LYB, but maybe I missed it. On preview, it seems I didn't see some posts, so I can't comment on that. Threadshitting is to be avoided and that's where mods come in. But I can't help but agree with ortho - this seems a case of over-moderation. Naturally, all mods are going to stick together, and that's to be expected regardless of merit, but the users too have opinions, right or wrong. The danger of over-moderation is that it chills participation,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:02 AM on April 30, 2011

So while I still feel pretty good about the original deletion and mod note

And there you have it. If you were thinking, "well maybe it's an occasion for self-reflection, being a new mod and in a new role" rest assured, no such thing. Oy vey. Not very optimistic about this going forward. I guess:

.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:24 AM on April 30, 2011

But I don't think it "shut down discussion" at all.

Indeed, LYB's comment did not shut down the discussion at all. It was fine. The deletion sure shut down his further contributions though - indisputably. Oh well, as long as we are all in fact learning. And that's why, even if we are extremely reluctant, it's worth speaking up when mod-deletion abuse happens - because you're not going to hear it from other mods... it's awkward for them. But… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:36 AM on April 30, 2011

Just speaking for myself - and nobody else, obviously - at this point, I think it's worth stepping back a bit. RN may say things that are not meant to be taken literally at this particular point... image and feelings and all that. So, let's see how this plays out from here on in rn's moderating, instead of making up our minds based on this thread. I sincerely hope rn pulls back a bit and realizes that no thread is ever going to be to anyone's perfect satisfaction, so there is no sense in jumping… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:59 AM on April 30, 2011

Ugh, reading the above, I think I was too oblique. I meant, rn is a new mod, and however we feel - rightly or wrongly - we should cut some slack at this point. With a new mod there's hope, learning etc.; so missteps (in our judgment) are to be expected; it's when someone's been a mod for a long time, but still does egregious things, that it's time to give up in disgust. This is not it - from my point of view.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 12:05 PM on April 30, 2011

Another reason to just show the feedback (flags or otherwise) directly to the poster.

OK, though I'm pretty uneasy about using flags as the all-purpose moderation explanation. The mod should own up to their responsibilities, and not simply shift things to "oh well, they don't like it, sorry, so I had to delete it". This promotes the worst kind of tendencies of some flaggers. Just because a bunch of philistines or crybabies don't like… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 12:21 PM on April 30, 2011

The thing is, though that I may not like the lazy bits of right-wing comment shit, but I'd rather it not be deleted. These are people's opinions, real ones. If we want more Republicans here, or even right-wingers (and I most certainly do), we'll have to accept what to us seems like lazy idiocy. I guess there's a line to be drawn somewhere at trolling (both right and left-wing), because that's no longer a sincere opinion, but how to tell when it's a troll and when not and always give the benefit… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 12:35 PM on April 30, 2011

Is this where the recipes come in?
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 12:41 PM on April 30, 2011

Wow on the Mutant deletion from me too. Hmm. I don't know. I'm trying to stay optimistic, a fixed smile on my face, as the flames are licking outside the window.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:09 PM on April 30, 2011

If I offered to personally send you your $5 out of my own pocket, would you leave and never come back?

And who are you exactly? What $5? I didn't pay to join, it was comped by mathowie. Or is the $5 some kind of bribe? You bore me. Now run along.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:28 PM on April 30, 2011

Three cheers for scody!

!*!*!*!
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 5:42 PM on April 23, 2011

A MeFi by any other URL...

Same here, intermittent DNS issues on Time-Warner Cable, Los Angeles CA.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:06 PM on March 24, 2011

It was a dark and stormy night, full of pull quotes.

Hmm. I assumed that the purpose of posting FPPs is to have the links read. Therefore there would be no reason to encourage people to NOT read. Of course, many people don't read as we well know, but there's a thin line between quoting an article in order to inform without being accused of trying to inflame. The reason to resort to quotes and try NOT to put in stuff from yourself is precisely in order to avoid the other danger "you're editorializing!". This way, it comes from the FPP… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 2:21 PM on March 9, 2011

In other words, the post wasn't deleted because of massive pullquotes, the post was deleted because it looks like you're using MeFi as your own blog, as evidenced by X, Y, and Z. Y is the massive pullquotes.

Well again, I'm not talking about the reasons for the deletion. I'm strictly talking about the use of pull quotes which strike me as non-standard and therefore unclear.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 2:24 PM on March 9, 2011

You probably already know this, but you can also contact the mods via the Contact form. The link is at the bottom right of every page.

Yes, but this was one specific mod who uses the phrase "pull quotes", and the Contact form is generic and addresses all mods. I didn't want to puzzle all mods, I wanted to know how to understand how one mod uses that term. Alternatively, I thought maybe everyone knows what this means, but me, so maybe I… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 2:27 PM on March 9, 2011

Oh, OK, thanks for that. I'm satisfied.

Just so it's not left hanging, or it doesn't seem like I'm avoiding anything: the reason I don't want to discuss the reasons for the deletion is that it makes absolutely no sense to discuss such things and might simply result in random grar. Mods - rightly - have the final word, so whatever I say is not going to make a difference.

As far as I'm concerned, we have the answer to my question, and this thread can be locked. Up to the mods.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 2:38 PM on March 9, 2011

Wow. I really thought the issue was resolved, and the thread could die, but no, some people feel they need to get their digs in.

To quickly address the few last ones, because they are just so bizarre:

Me: "Mods - rightly - have the final word, so whatever I say is not going to make a difference."

dg: "Yet you went ahead and said it anyway."

Holy insanity - said… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 7:00 PM on March 9, 2011

toppermost of the poppermost

If someone finds joy in this song, what's the harm? None that I can see.

If someone finds the sentiment behind the posting of this song trite in the extreme, what's the harm?

After all, the value in this song is not musical - it's entirely extra-musical. It's the perfect illustration of what Ben Johnson was getting at:

"53. Dog walking on his hind legs; Expectations; Pioneers; Women preaching
I told him I… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 9:32 PM on January 29, 2011

Haha! You realize, of course, that this is an entirely subjective personal opinion of yours, right? And that whatever music you've 'gone back to on your iTunes' may well be considered "shit" (as you put it) by any number of other people, right? And that those people would not be correct in classifying it as "shit" simply because they, personally, don't find any "musical value" in it, right?

Right?… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 12:38 AM on January 30, 2011

it's ironic that you mention Bach, of all people, in support of your argument for the scientific & neurological objectivity of musical value.

Because what Bach did in his Well-tempered Klavier was to screw with the natural, scientific system of harmonies that had been known & used at least since Pythagoras had discovered the formal, physical relationship between the notes, in his project to allow the piano to be played in any key.… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 2:52 PM on January 30, 2011

So, those studies could potentially support a point that lil umbu's version of loud magic song may have been 'better' if more expressively performed by Sade (or whatever else you have in your iTunes), but they don't 'prove' that it's a bad song, or even a bad performance.

I'm afraid you you are missing an important point as to *why* they used the same piece of music in these studies - and that reason strengthens my point, not weakens, it. Take the… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 3:47 PM on January 30, 2011

[...]Once you introduce various pieces of music, you introduce the element of personal or cultural subjectivity (eg Chopin v Hariprasad Chaurasia), so unless you control for those elements, your conclusions would be worse than meaningless[...]

But the "element of personal subjectivity" is controlled for - that is why you do a n-subject study, a group of people, rather than an individual. If large groups of people find… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 5:20 PM on January 30, 2011

I missed the part where VikingSword actually enumerates the specific musical elements that are aesthetically "shit" and describes how they would be made aesthetically correct or universal or whatever.

Nor did I enumerate "the specific musical elements that are aesthetically "shit" in the work of K-FED. No doubt there's a flood of petitions for me to justify my calling K-FED's music shit.

I have also… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 5:36 PM on January 30, 2011

Well, UbuRoivas, since you appear to have very poor understanding of how studies work, the returns on discussing this with you are equally poor.

So your version of controlling for a variable in a scientific study is not to try to isolate that variable & its possible effects, but simply to throw more subjects into the mix & tally up the results? Good luck with that research grant.

It's not my… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 7:41 PM on January 30, 2011

Jessamyn Day!

May you have many, many more yet.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 3:43 PM on September 5, 2010

Sports- WTF

Remember, even if you hate sports, it may make sense to fake an interest in them. I am bored by sports (and so never comment in any sports-related threads here), but when I worked at the talent agency, everyone was discussing sports. A talent agency is the quintessential networking business, so you must, must, must do everything you can to find common ground with others in the industry. And sports - unlike religion - is a safe bonding ground.

So, I'd fake enthusiasm… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 1:14 PM on July 9, 2010

Because fighting about Catholics has gotten old

To the degree that it matters, I plead guilty to contributing to the thread getting derailed. I particularly regret allowing myself to be provoked into a few responses, that with a cooler head, I'd see was not necessary at all. In responding to derails, I contributed to the derail. Unconditional apology, and immediate self-sanction. I'm taking a short break from posting.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 4:31 PM on April 14, 2010

Klang went Boom!

Holy shit I just discovered this! That'll teach me to pay attention to the sidebar! Klang, get well - and hang in there... I spent six months in a hospital after my motorcycle accident, so I know it can be tough sometimes. When you get out we can compare scars :) And don't think about the $ & any bills at the moment, concentrate on getting well (yeah, had to deal with that too). One piece of advice - do the physical therapy as soon as possible and don't slack off on it, even when it's… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:49 PM on March 20, 2010

Catholic threads on Metafilter

He was eviscerated by VikingSword's sword! Once again, the heathens triumph over the Xtians.

Please don't do this. Gloating that you ran someone off the site is petty and immature.

zarq, I think it's obvious he was joking. And he certainly did not run empath off the site, nor has anyone. Empath has been behaving erratically for quite some time - he's already disabled his account once, then come back shortly thereafter with… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:10 AM on March 15, 2010

Empath has been behaving erratically for quite some time - he's already disabled his account once, then come back shortly thereafter with more of the same.

No really, when was this?

Read the thread - there are several references to this. When he came back, it was with this:

Oh hey guys, i'm back.

He then carried on just as erratically, and finally flamed out.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 10:59 AM on March 15, 2010

Yes, it's obvious that he was joking, but the joke is still not helpful to the tone of the site. People have the right to come and go as they please, making a "HAHA!" kind of joke when someone decides to take a break is in poor taste - especially as they are (presumably) not around to answer to it.

True, and that's why I avoid joking about that. In the case of empath, the "not around to answer" part however is not that relevant,… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:07 AM on March 15, 2010

Emapth didn't make an announcement that he was taking a break. Bringing it up as you guys have done is pretty classless.

Yes he did. Please refer to a link by Optimus Chyme just a few posts above yours. Not only that, but he also announced his return with a bright "Oh hey guys, I'm back."

So you are wrong on the facts. Pretty classless to accuse others of classlessness based on this.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:18 AM on March 15, 2010

You know, I've already answered that, and whether or not he announced it isn't relevant to my point, which is that the back and forth here has been abominable, and you've been a big part of that.

I've been a big part of it? Where is the "big" part? I assume you can quote entire paragraphs, not merely some sentence wrenched out of context after I have been repeatedly attacked and called names and I did not even respond… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:29 AM on March 15, 2010

VikingSword, can you please lower your temper? Regardless of whether you are right or wrong right now, you are coming across as shouty and confrontational at a point when this thread would be best served by measured discourse.

And measured discourse is calm, as I think my posts here have been - if there is some place where my temper runs hot, please point it out, so I may be aware of it, specific examples, not general characterizations devoid of… [more]
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:38 AM on March 15, 2010

I believe people should have a second chance, and holding grudges is pointless.

I'll start by saying: I am not offended by empath's name-calling.

Let a new page be turned.

And with this, I'll take a break from this particular thread, new pages and all.
posted to MetaTalk by VikingSword at 11:52 AM on March 15, 2010