You'll notice a new box on the topic pages that shows you "popular topics." These topics are shown in order on a weekly basis. This is a minor thing but I think it will make the site a lot more usable for people who don't have accounts and may have trouble finding the content by drilling around in the topic higharchy...

More to come...

Small New Feature

Decius wrote:
You may have noticed that I haven't been posting much. I don't plan to post for a while. I am hereby turning over all reponsibility for administration of this site to Nick Levay (Rattle). I am not managing MemeStreams or Industrial Memetics for the time being. All queries should be sent to Nick.

I think its appropriate for this community to be able to express its views without implicating any conflicts of interest that I may have, so I am stepping back for now. The perspective of this community belongs to the community and not to me or Nick or anyone else.

Furthermore, to avoid any rumors, there has been absolutely nothing from any of the parties involved in this dispute that has prompted this action, nor to I really believe that any of the parties involved in this dispute would have a problem with what this site consists of, presuming they understood what it is. This is simply a precautionary measure that I am taking to avoid any potential problems and to ensure the freedom of the people in this comunity to express their views.

It is my sincere hope that all of this drama dies down as quickly as it began.

I officially acknowledge receipt of this message, and assume control of The Industrial Memetics Institute as the Acting CEO. In light of the situation, and full recognition of your importance to Industrial Memetics and The MemeStreams Community, your status will be classified as "on sabbatical".

Industrial Memetics will make a formal press announcement sometime within the next 24-hours.

We fully expect that your sabbatical will be short yet fruitful. It should be noted that in your entire service since our great company's founding in September of 2001, you have not taken a vacation.

I look forward to seeing if what happens in Vegas, truly stays in Vegas.

Nick Levay, Acting CEO, Industrial Memetics Institute

I assume the helm. Stay the course..

Frustrated by MemeStreams? Sick of our bad UI design? Tired of all these stupid people and their insipid political ideas and boring personal interests? Why start a flame war when you can take out your frustrations like a man... with firearms! Send an email to tom@memestreams.net with your mailing address and I'll mail you some MemeStreams sitckers! Stick them to your car. Stick them to your laptop. Stick them to your little sister. Or better yet, take them down to the range..

Disclaimer: "Industrial Memetics testing indicates that its new sticker product will not protect against 45 cal, 9mm, 7.62x39, .223, or 12 guage slug. However, other tests indicate it may survive for a short time on the bottom of a skateboard."

MemeStreams Stickers!

The answer a web search engine delivers is what it believes is the correct answer for the majority of users – often referred to as "the tyranny of the majority". For example, when you search for 'apple', the first result on most search engines is Apple Computer. But you may have been searching for information about the fruit or Apple Records.

Decius Wrote:
We don't have the resources that Yahoo has, but we've been at this a hell of a lot longer and I'll bet we get it a hell of a lot better. So, if you've got a million dollars burning a hole in your pocket and chip on your shoulder about Yahoo, I'll bet I can turn it into 10 million while beating the pants off of them in the process. Until such time as someone like that arrives this project will remain a weekend hobby with slow code and design updates.

Industrial Memetics, leading the way since 2001.

Yahoo! Search blog: Search, with a little help from your friends

I've updated the bookmarklets for Internet Explorer. The new IE bookmarklets do not pop up a window, thereby avoiding the annoying problem with IE's pop up blocker. As always, let me know if you have any trouble.

MemeStreams Update for Internet Explorer users

Do you think the Recommend and Discuss Bookmarklets should pop up a new window?

IE's pop up blocker can't tell the difference between a pop up ad and a bookmarklet, so I've had to make new bookmarklets for IE that don't pop up a new window. In truth, the IE bookmarklets work in Firefox, and the Firefox bookmarklets work in IE (assuming you disable pop up blocking) so its possible for users of each browser to use the kind of bookmarklets they prefer.

I prefer to have a new window pop up because I like to refer to the original article while I'm editing. However, I'm wondering what the rest of the site thinks. One might reasonably ask why I don't just let users choose which bookmarklets they want to install. The reason is that MemeStreams is intimidating enough to new users without having to ask them to make a decision about that when first joining the site.

So what are your thoughts? Pop ups good or bad?

Survey Question for MemeStreams Users

1. There will be a site update in 24 to 72 hours that will change the way MemeStreams handles cookies. The end result of this will be that everyone will be logged out of the site and will have to log back in. Your old cookie will be bunk. We apologize for the inconvenience but we think its a minor hassle versus the amout of trouble associated with having to handle the old cookies in the code.

2. There will be a second site update some number of days after the first in which the little recommend bookmarklet will be disabled. We have decided that the little bookmarklet is inefficient and does not have enough room to display the user interface elements we want to display properly. Furthermore, it is much easier to edit a significant amount of text in a bigger window. We suggest that if you are using the little bookmarklet, you ough to upgrade to the big bookmarklet. You'll find it much nicer.

Thank you for your kind attention. We will now return to your regularly scheduled memes....

Important notes about upcoming MemeStreams updates

ATLANTA, Georgia (June 17th, 2005) - The Board of Directors of the Industrial Memetics Institute strongly condemns allegations made earlier this month by Amnesty International that its software development operations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are "the gulag of our times."

Industrial Memetics President and Chief Executive Officer, Tom Cross, said "The comparison is completely unreasonable. Russian Gulags were places in which thousands were worked to death in the oppressive Siberian winter. Our people in Cuba are well fed, gainfully employed, and air conditioned! A job at Industrial Memetics is a fine and valuable life endeavor. If circumstances where different these people might have wasted away in shanty towns in Rio de Janeiro or been forced to sell themselves in the AIDS infested sex markets of South Africa." He added that "people who think critically about Industrial Memetics hate America."

Industrial Memetics Chief Technology Officer, Nick Levay, said "The recent claims that one of our managers flushed a Koran down the toilet are completely unsubstantiated. Why would there be a Koran in an Industrial Memetics office?! We don't allow any religious artifacts to enter the building. Acknowledgment of religion is completely forbidden at the Industrial Memetics Institute."

Industrial Memetics Secretary of Defense Billy Hoffman said, "Our competitors are trained to make outrageous claims about our workplace practices. These claims should be ignored. They are obviously part of their overall strategy to slow the pace of innovation and flood the market with inferior products."

The Industrial Memetics Institute is committed to its goal of producing the finest technology and services money can buy. Industrial Memetics stands by its work place environment as being "a hell of a lot better then a Russian Gulag." (TM)

ABOUT THE INDUSTRIAL MEMETICS INSTITUTE

The Industrial Memetics Institute is a leading distributor of adult entertainment via electronic platforms. The Company delivers the most extensive lineup of quality programming over the broadest range of electronic means, including cable, satellite, Broadband and video-on-demand.

This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections made by management. The Company intends for the forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements. Words such as "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", or variations of such words are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Mr. Cross's ability to create even more value for our shareholders, and the outcome of any contingencies. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements included in this news release whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. The forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements.

For more information please visit our website at www.industrialmemetics.com.

Industrial Memetics offices are not 'the gulag of our times.'

The system of bracket quotations has been killed. Decius has cut the site over to using blockquote tags, and the italics that were popular early in the history of the site.

Text enclosed in "blockquote" tags, or "bq" for short, look like this!

We have not, and won't convert all of the old posts in the system. Such a process is fraught with peril. Going forward, things will look nicer. In a few weeks you won't even recall the old quoting system.

As always, let us know if there are any problems.

MemeStreams Update: Death to bracket quotes!

Several annoyances with the threads have been repaired:

1. Previously the URL was displayed at the top of a thread. This made the thread hard to read in browsers that will not wrap long lines of unbroken text. The URL has been replaced with its title.

2. The redundant post cleaner is now smarter, and it lists the names of the people whose posts were cleaned at the bottom of the thread.

3. A small UI change was made to make the thread look more like a thread. This change was applied to the memebox as well. In particular, the sender's name was moved to the top. In a discussion you want to see the person's name first.

Another MemeStreams Update