MeTa post: Overmoderation.

Asketh bugbread: "Honestly, who would you miss on MeFi if they vanished without a word today?"

Honestly? You, for one. You heartless bastard you.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 8:06 AM on September 12, 2007

jessamyn: 'a user who can't even be bothered to put an email address in his profile who just posts "I'm leaving" and doesn't say why, I don't know what to do with that.'

quonsar: 'i find it interesting that you think you have to do *anything* with that.'

But Q, doing things with things is the function of the Safety Patrol.

(Do youse Mods get nifty badges like we did?)... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 9:48 AM on September 12, 2007

AOL or Salon.com would want a nice, safe, tidy subsidiary.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 9:49 AM on September 12, 2007

"If this were a country, I'd certainly leave for somewhere less moderated. But I would miss so many intelligent individuals' comments. Not so easy to come by on the web."

Welcome to Metafilter. I'm glad for the company.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:15 PM on September 12, 2007

"you know what I hate about the "Goodbye I'm leaving!" threads? It's never the people I want to see leave that post them."

What's it worth to ya?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:17 PM on September 12, 2007

Said jennydiski: "They always said I had an authority problem. They were right."

Yes! Now I'm VERY glad you're here!
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:25 PM on September 12, 2007

"our nice automated timeout system"

Will somebody please explain that to me?

And I recall that after my last timeout a few weeks ago I had to email a mod (I picked cortex at random) to ask to get back in. When did that change?

And jessamyn, thanks telling tkchrist he's not permabanned. Like Stasi that was not.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:39 PM on September 12, 2007

That Jenny Diski. I'm impressed. But you do realize you're slumming here in this asylum with us, don't you?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:46 PM on September 12, 2007

Me: "Like Stasi that was not."

jessamyn "The only person who says that anymore is you."

And I only say it in jest, because it stuck me as laughably wide of the mark. Even I could do better than that.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:50 PM on September 12, 2007

One good hing about Metafilter, besides that it ain't Fark, is that it ain't kuro5hin.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:25 PM on September 12, 2007

Hey davejay, you should leave them boxed and sell them on eBay like that fictional 40 year old virgin. And send the money to me so I can buy a decent video card, so I can spend more time watching pr0n and less curmudgeoning here. That way we'd all win, as Ethereal Bligh will attest.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:29 PM on September 12, 2007

I agree that some moderation of the kind y'all do is necessary for this site to function as well as it does (it beats kuro5hin, IMHO). Some rebelliousness is also necessary, because it is the nature of power to corrupt all its bearers, not just evil fiends we don't like.

In federations we have "instant recall of delegates"; on Metafilter, as the former is impractical and even nonsensical given the nature of the medium, we have the kind of oversight we subject... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:12 PM on September 12, 2007

"whatever you may have intended when you wrote them, come off plainly as obsessive passive-aggressive attacks"

There's the problem, cortex: you're just not reading my mind correctly! (Yes, I'm joking.) I'll try to communicate more effectively.

And if I bring things up in more than one running thread that's because the same issues and topics are being addressed in those threads. E.g., talking about Pants Fish in... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:30 AM on September 13, 2007

Alvy characterized "anti-authoritarians" thusly: "It's sort of like the disgruntled laid-off worker who, rather than go after the CEO who decided that quarter's profits needed a boost, goes back to the warehouse and shoots the place up."

Now that's an even better example of "demonizing 'the Enemy'" than Rush Limbaugh calling Hillary Clinton a Comminist Lesbian. Just one or two more babysteps of "logic" and it'd... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:37 AM on September 13, 2007

"aplicable"

ARGH. Pony request: retroactive typo/spelling correction? Kinda like Supersede on some Usenet servers? One could get good markovs from our typos & "argh-goings" alone.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:51 AM on September 13, 2007

"Of course I see why it can never be. People would try to write sure-fire delete-me comments so as to be the king of the undead."

I did not have sex with that woman.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:12 AM on September 13, 2007

Pronoiac, please explain. In email if you'd rather; my addy's in the Profile.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:16 AM on September 13, 2007

"Metatalk was originally designed to be a shit-catch that would keep the Blue tidier. Focusing great effort to moderate *it* seems silly (etc.)."

Huh. This is not how I remember scarabic. Maybe I was wrong then, or maybe my memory is mistaken. In either case, 'What scarabic just said!' (Herein please find an implied apology, scarabic.)

By the way, so as a "shit-catch" this is the... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:24 AM on September 13, 2007

So Alvy, Y0U tHiNk I sHoUlD gUn DoWn MaTh0wIe?!?1!?

/self-parody

P.S. Oh, okay Mr. Ampersand, sometimes I read things wrong. (You know who else had occasional Reading Comprehension problems?) And anyway, like I said elsewhere, one thing I intend is for myself and others to practice here some anti-authoritarian skills and techniques that can then be generalized out there in the Real World, though my hunch is that I'm not the only... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:50 AM on September 13, 2007

So cortex, you're saying I'm coming off kind of like these guys?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:55 AM on September 13, 2007

Or maybe like some of those guys would if they got on Mefi?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:57 AM on September 13, 2007

MeTa post: Any chance of explaining this: "This post was deleted for the following reason: clearly my filter for these isn't working properly. But wait, Hitchens AND Dawkins you say...? * taps pager * Damn this thing is broken. -- jessamyn"

I think it's sad that a lot of newer users missed out on the golden days when Quonsar was entertaining. (Sometimes doing what's best for yourself deprives the community of chortles and bubble-poppings, but we have no obligatory martyrs on the Intartubes.)

And the best way to not get an FPP deleted is to not make it at all. It's easier that way. "Those who can't, comment."

And there's no chance membership will be... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:45 AM on September 12, 2007

Hush, n00b.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:57 AM on September 12, 2007

"To be clear, I meant 14,000 even." That's you & me both, flashboy.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:58 AM on September 12, 2007

I'm not even in the top 100 of the comment contribution index. And languagehat is.

I'll work on that later. Today I've got to wank into a cup so the Nurse Practicioner can see if my vasectomy took. (Who wants to fail to have my baby? Not you, languagehat.)

And about "Maybe we should have a set list of deletion reasons just as we have a set list of flags" -- but that's too simple and it deprives the Mod Squad of a... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 8:32 AM on September 12, 2007

About flogging, I'd also ignore people who repeatedly flag certain users, e.g., I don't think amberglow and I should be able to drive Bligh off. Let's not involve the Mod Squad in our "battles for justice."

Oh, and NOW mousing over or clicking on a username gets "/username.mefi/[username]" instead of an orderly number. As Artie used to ay on "Laugh In," veddy intelestink.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 9:17 AM on September 12, 2007

Oh wait, that only happens during comment preview. Never mind. How long have I been failing to notice that?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 9:19 AM on September 12, 2007

"Goodbye everyone," said shmegegge.

'Oh no! Don't go! You were just getting to be FUN!' says davy.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 4:43 PM on September 12, 2007

jason, wait, you're really in northern Myanmar?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:11 PM on September 12, 2007

MeTa post: If we let this go past the fifth anniversary, it'll never go away.

GET OVER IT, AMERICA.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 9:51 AM on September 11, 2007

I'm glad Sept. 11 is over. Till next year, when the rubes will start bawling again. Only 606 more years till we've caught up. But then again, we've already started massacring random Muslims. YEW ESS AY! YEW ESS AY!
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 8:17 AM on September 12, 2007

MeTa post: How many flags do I have?

In many cases flagging is just inviting the Mods to a lynching.

But anyway, has anybody noticed that "soft taco" sized flour tortillas just ain't big enough and "burrito" sized is too big? I think we need an intermediate size; let's call it "penis."
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:05 AM on September 11, 2007

MeTa post: item for your attention

"The last thing the gray needs is more drama."

I disagree. I've got to have something to do with my life-threatening microwave popcorn.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:09 PM on September 10, 2007

Mr. Faris, if this is "manic" I demand a recall: all day long I've been barely able to keep my bloodshot eyes open.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:16 PM on September 10, 2007

"...Yes, I'm an asshole too and yes, I know it."

Who are you and what have you done with the REAL scarabic?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 7:19 PM on September 10, 2007

"davy, quit stealing my thunder."

Stealing whose what? What do you per se have to do with it? It's the principle, man; nothing personal either way. (This is why I don't feel all hurt that you came back and "thanked" me by calling me an asshole; I'd have defended Bligh's Freedom Of Speech too.)

Speaking of which Mr. Item, what do you say about this? Personally I think OC has reason: Bligh's cited attack was... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 8:31 PM on September 10, 2007

It's too bad there really ARE lots of enemies on both sides then, Quonsar.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 8:33 PM on September 10, 2007

"davy, I don't think you're an asshole."

Oh, okay. I think I'm sometimes a idiot.

"You stood up for me when only 75% of the other commenters did"

You counted and kept track? I go by the latest and/or "loudest" comments; it never occurred to me to be "scientific" about it. Like, math is HARD.

"and you're... [more]
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:17 PM on September 10, 2007

"not only are you all fucks, a lot of you are BAD fucks"

Was it your wife who snitched me out or your sister?

Gratuitously,
davy
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:21 PM on September 10, 2007

"but i suppose that it's easier to demonize people"

...Especially other people who demonize people...

"rather than have to evaluate them as they are in all their complexity"

Huh? Most people aren't even simple.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:23 PM on September 10, 2007

Me: "Was it your wife who snitched me out or your sister?"

pyramid termite: "your dog"

That ingrate. Anyway, what's he got to compare it to? The neighbor's cat doesn't count.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:25 PM on September 10, 2007

"you know, you're not contractually obligated to disagree with everything anyone says, right?"

Yes, I know, and I'm damn glad of it too. Like, it'd be hell if I had to disagree with your statement I just quoted; I'm busy enough already.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:18 PM on September 10, 2007

Ethereal Bligh is a bullshit artist who'd fail the Turing test, but I feel sorry for him because he's in worse pain than I am.

I have no idea what makes him so long-winded though. I mean, I thought I babbled. Maybe I need more enjoyable drugs?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:22 PM on September 10, 2007

"YOU'RE FIRST UP AGAINST THE WALL WHEN THE REVOLUTION COMES, CADDIS!"

No, he's second; you're on first.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:22 PM on September 10, 2007

Hey Bligh, I know I'm a near-total ignoramus; does that mean I have no enemies?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:24 PM on September 10, 2007

"amberglow has a passion to bring peace, love and understanding to the world"

I think pacifists, like opponents of the death penalty, should be taken out and shot. But then I have a very long list, and they're nowhere close to the top.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:27 PM on September 10, 2007

No dershins, I don't babble, I rave. There's a difference, which I'm sure Ethereal Bligh could explain somewhat clearly in 15,000 words or more.

That quip didn't come to me till after I'd shut my computer down for the night, so I scribbled it down on a grocery receipt to post it here today. It's probaly nowhere near as clever as it seemed at 3 A.M., but this is only Metatalk.
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 9:59 AM on September 11, 2007

"Hey guys, this thread is about me, remember?"

No it's not item, it's about FREE SPEECH!1!!! You cluck!
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:05 AM on September 11, 2007

Somebody tell yerfatma what Englishman used "can't write for toffee" in which novel, hmm?
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 10:07 AM on September 11, 2007

Thank you D_W. And languagehat, when I'm Stalin you'll swing from a lamppost for that, you Trotskyite wrecker you!
posted to MetaTalk by davy at 11:01 AM on September 11, 2007

« Older