Anyone else feel like partially disemvoweling a comment (leaving only the praising parts) crosses a line?

I agreed with you in principle and then I read the comment, or as much of it as I could. It looked to me like the commenter led with a (clumsily obvious) bit of praise in hope that the moderator would let the rest of the comment, a rote snark about how much Cory promotes his books, which, however deserved, I'm sure they've seen enough of and now disemvowel... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:41 PM on July 1, 2008

It should not, of course, prevent you from recognising when they've done something wrong, and acknowledging that pubicly as well.

I'm not sure I think they have done something wrong so much as done something diametrically opposed to their oft and loudly repeated standards. Standard which they have made clear they believe others should be held to, and attempted to do so on repeated occasions. I think everyone disappointed in this... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 6:01 AM on July 3, 2008

but there are just too many nanny types who insist on reading everything you say with a censorious gaze, draw the worst possible implications, and wag their finger at you telling you to choose your words more carefully because people might get their widdle feelings hurt.

Given the ham-handedness that kicked off this whole kerfuffle, that's outright funny.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 7:39 AM on July 3, 2008

I say this completely seriously and without guile: lunit, you think of 'shrieking like a banshee' as a gendered insult? Maybe I played too much D&D and think more about a banshee as a mythical monster than in a m/f way.

I shall have to be careful about this simile if this is a common perception and I'm off the norm here.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 6:54 PM on July 5, 2008

I spoon fed the information in the post to Boing Boing editor Xeni Jardin. I sent her the link to my post. I sent her the links to the ADT post she quoted, I sent her the link the the Luke Ford post she quote. I gave her the Forbes links. And I put them all in context so it would be easy for her to turn it into a news item. This is how the modern world of media works.

It's always cute when people think that modern life is somehow so much different... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 9:03 PM on July 13, 2008

Vaguely on topic - I made the mistake of actually opening a BB comment thread earlier and was amazed - they've now expanded even to dsmvwlng single phrases within a message. It's creepy, and was enough to discourage me from my small inclination to post a message.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 7:31 PM on July 29, 2008

I just read this url on the bathroom wall and it said "for a good time, go here and post LAST!"
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:04 AM on July 30, 2008

Gungho's right on the mark. The thing that makes it extra-special obnoxious is that when Jeff asked them point-blank for something with espresso and ice they had a drink and suggestion. Why didn't obnoxious barista just suggest that in the first place rather than just refusing?

Well, he didn't because he works at Murky and they specialize in this kind of attitude, but the point is he should have.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:03 PM on July 14, 2008

"Maybe condescending service from a patronizing millenial..."

Seriously? You got your coffee from a six-year-old? Did he have a stand with a sign that read "STARBUCKS" but with a backwards R? Because if you're buying from kids who were just born this millennium, you deserve the service you get.

Generation Y (sometimes referred to as "Millennials" or "Echo Boomers") refers to a... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:06 PM on July 14, 2008

"The customer is always right" was coined because it's a less gauche way to say "The customer is the person with the money and we'd like to get it from them." Obsessing about the word "right" in there is a diversion from the real purpose - doing what's necessary to separate the rube from his cash.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:51 PM on July 15, 2008

Where does "I'm a customer and the business MUST do as I say!!" come into it? If a customer doesn't like something, he or she is welcome to leave. The business owners made their decision, why should they have to change it? Everyone in this situation knows their options, no use for the customer to whine about it: he can spend his money elsewhere.

The problem with this reaction to the original situation is that they went ahead and took Jeff's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:48 PM on July 16, 2008

I can't find where someone upstream talked about using this as advertising for their own competitive shop, but it seems some other business has had the same idea.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 3:19 PM on July 17, 2008

That's not the barista, David, that's owner Nick Cho again. It would be a lot easier to take it seriously if it was David rather than Nick, who here wants to back off and claim that his "punch you in the dick" was always meant as metaphorically as Jeff's "kerosene and matches" statement. Maybe it was, but he comes off disingenuous when he claims to have been shocked that anyone ever took it any other way.

As far as a "ding ding ding" over... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:30 PM on July 21, 2008

I really don't think when people catalogue the main failures of the Bush administration, they're going to say: "How horrible, he appointed judges who believe the 2nd Amendment says people have a right to bear arms!"

Not to interrupt all the hand-wringing, but the opinion actually is pretty good if you want to write gun control laws that stop short of outright bans. Particularly pertinent to DC's situation is that the decision doesn't in any... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:34 AM on June 26, 2008

Wow, who added those extra 400 states when I wasn't looking?
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:35 AM on June 26, 2008

So why the ruling? As always, money.

That. Or, you know, the 2nd Amendment.

I would have been more accepting of this explanation before the embarrassing court decision about medicinal marijuana in California. Scalia has his moments and can be a funny guy, but any chance he had of my believing his positions are purely constitutional interpretation uncolored by personal ideology completely evaporated with that one. That... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:41 PM on June 26, 2008

You do realize that those evil "conservative justices" were in the dissent in that case and it was the "liberal"(?) justices that were in the majority? The "conservative justices" were the ones who held that if it is grown and sold in California, then it cannot be regulated by the federal government. The "liberal justices" were the ones who said that the sweet, sweet pot might effect interstate commerce so the feds could regulate it under the CSA.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 4:55 PM on June 26, 2008

we have a lot of guns which aren't being used irresponsibly; I simply don't see how we can get the cat back in the bag, at this point

Unfortunately our society seems uninterested in addressing the practicality of solutions, only the Rightness of them. Teens shouldn't have sex, so we're not going to provide them useful information on how to have sex safely. Society would be better if nobody had guns, so we'll ban them across the board. It's been fun... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 5:07 PM on June 26, 2008

Used bikes should be presumed unsafe unless

Oh please. You're from that tribe that also thinks there's something magic about new cars too, right?
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:38 PM on May 25, 2008

No, but I do think you'd be an absolute idiot if you didn't have a used car checked out by a mechanic, if you didn't have the skill to check it yourself.

I'm not saying used bikes = bad, just that you never know what it's been through and someone competent needs to look at it before you trust it. Nothing like finding out that the front wheel is slightly out of true and the brake pulses when you're going downhill at 25mph.

The... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:11 AM on May 27, 2008

In retrospect the books are pretty shitty

Depends on your metric, I think. They're certainly not Great Literature, but they are exactly what they set out to be: sf/f versions of classic pulp tropes. Judged that way - which I would contend is how they should be judged - they're gems.

.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:01 AM on May 23, 2008

Blah blah blah. I'm voting Rosslyn in 08. So say we all!
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:27 PM on February 28, 2008

Insults + citations > Insults + NUH-UH!

I'd personally prefer we balance the equation by subtracting insults from both sides, but if we're going to award trophies I don't think you'll like the shape yours is cast in, oaf.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 9:25 AM on February 29, 2008

Valleywag reports the FCC was peeved enough they're thinking of re-holding the hearing elsewhere.

They like the corporations to be appropriately compliant and agreeable while they're waiting for their inevitable handout regardless of impact to the public.

I don't understand how this P2P ratfuckery doesn't run afoul (wait - am I mixing my animal metaphors?) of simple breach of contract, particularly with most ISP agreements... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:50 PM on February 28, 2008

Teller's recent project is kinda interesting too. I'm very sorry that a prior engagement kept me from seeing him speak (!) last night.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 12:40 PM on February 28, 2008

Must be a biker thing. Either his retelling is a bit abbreviated or there's a camaraderie I just don't get - my reaction to "I need your wheel" would involve a little more "WTF" and "who do you think you are" than his story involves...
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:57 AM on February 28, 2008

I'd have trouble resisting the urge to stab Stallman in the face at the best of times. If he stormed up to me and demanded an expensive piece of property - particularly given his usual impeccable grooming - I think my version of this story would go a lot differently. And involve more bail money. For someone.

Besides, Stallman having a coding emergency would mean he was actually doing something other than flapping his gums, which also challenges credibility.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 12:28 PM on February 28, 2008

The Pew Center isn't exactly a home for ultra-left ideologues. They're pretty centrist.

While I am not disagreeing with your basic position, this paper is a product of the Pew Center on the States, which is organized under the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Pew Research Center does not share even one board member with PCT and they have different executives.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 12:06 PM on February 28, 2008

Man, I am embarrassed by the comments here about this guy. When I came over here from JD's blog post and interview I thought "wow, I must have really read that wrong, or the CSM article must really revel this guy to be a naive jerk. So when I got down here to the bottom I went back up and read the article. Then the first chapter.

I'll confess that I didn't bother to watch the youtube video, but am still ready to conclude that some of you are really jerks.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:59 PM on February 19, 2008

I don't necessarily begrudge him his success here, but I'm annoyed at the repeated implication that anyone could do it, or that he'd succeeded to the level of stability where he wouldn't have to worry about ending up at the homeless shelter again.

I have seen that nowhere in the published comments from him, only from people here.

But the conclusion that seems thrust out of his book is just as odious, and more... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:38 AM on February 20, 2008

The implication there

*GONG* You can keep reading whatever you want into it, but nowhere does he say that anyone can do it. Given that his reaction is to Ehrenreich and what he perceives as her position that -nobody- can do it, there isn't much reason to assume he's doing anything other than refuting that.

First off, I can't take responsibility for the other comments here.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 10:14 AM on February 20, 2008

If JD's interpretation of that essay is an intentional misrepresentation then yours is, at least, an intentional over-estimation. Ehrenreich doesn't simply rail against counter-productive or excessive reliance on hope, she condemns it in all cases except those in which is is - in her estimation - based on objective reality.

The problem with this, particularly in the context of so many areas and subjects she's discussing there, including her own cancer, is that she 100%... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 10:28 AM on February 23, 2008

Well it didn't work for me either so kwitchyerbitchinaboutmahbitchin'
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:51 PM on February 15, 2008

I dont understand by geeks with money get treated like shit by everyone. When a rich guy buys a mansion or a fast car its suddenly a sexy investment and theyre on the cover all the magazines. People applaud his business smarts and style.

You and I are reading very different magazines.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:30 AM on February 14, 2008

But the husband needs Metafilter's approval to spend 6M?
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:47 PM on February 15, 2008

Obama is not Jesus. Obama was already around D.C. campaigning for the upcoming primaries, which Clinton has basically forfeited, deciding to move on to Texas.

Let's be clear - you can refuse to give Obama credit because he happened to be in the area anyway, but I wouldn't call that a good reason to give Clinton a waiver.

Realistically, you're probably right that Obama doesn't deserve credit for going out of his way to be... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:06 PM on February 12, 2008

Oh, McCain voted against the amendment? Because the Washington Post's photo editor apparently didn't think so. Nice pull-quote, considering.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:26 AM on February 14, 2008

Back in the day before youtube and skater kids with cheap video cameras everywhere - the cop wouldn't get fired.

He's still not fired, only transfered - with pay - to an administrative position. Though they keep saying 'suspended' the B'more Sun article indicated otherwise (after opening with a 'suspended' statement)


Sterling Clifford, a spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department and the mayor's... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 7:04 PM on February 12, 2008

I dunno Elmer, is a sense of self-preservation a 'law?'
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:10 PM on February 12, 2008

The entire video is peppered with threats of physical harm and he pretty much assaults the kid to get his skateboard.

I wouldn't say 'pretty much' to describe grabbing someone in a choke-hold and throwing them to the ground, and I'm not sure you can even say it's "to get his skateboard" - there's nothing in any of the behavior or body language of that kid to imply he tried to run or would have even resisted having it taken from him, except... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:13 AM on February 13, 2008

Also, I can't help thinking there's some good Baltimore cops somewhere

Naw, Pembleton had to retire, Giardello got killed and Munch left Fells Point for New York.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:16 PM on February 13, 2008

Too make my comment more clear, the Jess Lee blog does this well but the thousands and thousands of photos and videos don't.

I agree, but I think this is an interesting coda to this phenomena. Some random person puts together an online screed and it captures people's interest. As an eventual result, at least hundreds if not a few thousand people world-wide make a public spectacle. Within 48 hours of its conclusion there's thousands of easily findable... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:33 AM on February 11, 2008

The problem is that if anonymous or the associated groups don't place these protests into some context ("They are different than previous protests because of X"), the Church of Scientology will be happy to do it for them. That why the Church's official response brands them as "terrorists" and highlights the DDOS activities. Furthermore, unless Anonymous or another group describes what happened and what is or is not sanctioned activity, some jackass acting in... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:15 PM on February 11, 2008

Pope Guilty If any other church behaved as the CoS behaves, we'd be after them, too.

Ha! Now that's an unimpressive and foolish promise if ever I saw one. I don't believe you. I'm calling you boastful, PG.

The Saudi Arabian religion, Wahhabism, or Salafism, is a belief system so much morally worse than Scientology that the comparison is absurd.[snip]

Care to take them on?... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 8:48 AM on February 12, 2008

Last things first - whether it be Scientology or any other cult, I don't think we can fairly question people who stick around after the moronic reveal, whether it be volcanos and DC-10s or hey go marry this dude who's 30 years older than you. Cults indoctrinate and brainwash, and expecting cogent thought from people who are already soaking in it isn't a realistic assessment of most people's mental strength.

As far as the ability to key things into search engines, sure,... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 9:51 AM on February 12, 2008

The nonsense preached by the CoS is absurd, laughable, and utterly without value. But the nonsense preached by every other religion on the planet is absurd, laughable, and utterly without value.

Right off the bat we disagree. I'm not a religious person but I think most of the commandments and much of the new testament are commendable and Good Ideas. Certainly there's been shitty behavior on the part of many or most (hell, maybe even all) religious... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:40 PM on February 12, 2008

phearlez I think you're misunderstanding my point.

You point seems to be that religion is all a sham and fucking sucks. I get it, I just said I don't happen to agree. There's no reason for you and I to bother to try to give porcine voice lessons since neither of us is going to budge on the matter. I simply have a belief that largely pivots on Joseph Campbell's writings and a belief in the power of myth to instruct.... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 2:30 PM on February 12, 2008

I started to respond to this but decided against it. I think a number of us have perspective, and have tried to reasonably address what you've said. However your point keeps to keep shifting around from the CoS being easy to attack, to people patting themselves on the back more than they deserve to, to whether CoS is better or worse than any other religion, to whether any religion has any value and continuing on to CoS is just like all the others which are awful too. I'm done following the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 3:51 PM on February 12, 2008

In the context of stavros' comment I thought it clear his complaint was not if or if not it was scripted, but the fact that it was -obviously- scripted.
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 11:46 AM on February 10, 2008

And I guess none of you ever look at your wireless router logs?

Yes. I masturbate to mine.

"oh yeah baby...."
-09:40:49 Unexpected access from 216.238.112.7 to 198.32.1.116 (prot=11)
-09:30:46 Unexpected access from 216.238.112.7 to 216.238.98.41 (prot=11)
[misc wankery deleted]
"OH YEAHHHH!!!!"
-01:23:34 Unrecognized access from 63.119.26.75:2457 to TCP... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by phearlez at 1:37 PM on February 8, 2008