[username] posts a single link to a Kos diary...

April 13, 2006 9:04 AM

Troutfishing posts a single link to a Kos diary, acknowledges that it will be deleted, and taunts other members. Seems like a vacation might be in order.
posted by monju_bosatsu to etiquette/policy at 9:04 AM (146 comments total)

Either for him or me, I'm not sure which.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:04 AM on April 13, 2006

Well, it could have been worse -- it could have been his own diary on Kos.
posted by trey at 9:05 AM on April 13, 2006

{fron the one of his comments} - "Also, I'm interested to see what dios writes about this."

Baiting other members, also bad... and discussed many many times.
posted by Witty at 9:07 AM on April 13, 2006

ack
posted by Witty at 9:07 AM on April 13, 2006

I just don't understand troutfishing. Kos is perfect for him. It is everything that he wants Metafilter to be. Why can't he just play over there and revel in all of his partisan glory? Why does he need to force that crap over here? We surely don't want someone from Freepland or LGF giving us updates on what the users there think about everything. I'm pretty sure that anyone who wanted to know what batshitcrazy partisans think about things, they know where to find it.

And trout knows this stuff and just doesn't care. It's like he thinks proselytizing "teh Truth!" is the only thing that matters.
posted by dios at 9:08 AM on April 13, 2006

Trainwreck, aisle nine.
posted by allen.spaulding at 9:09 AM on April 13, 2006

{fron the one of his comments} - "Also, I'm interested to see what dios writes about this."
posted by Witty at 11:07 AM CST on April 13

Oh crap. I didn't even see that. I skipped right over his drivel.

Yeah, screw him. I'm awfully tired of people bringing me into threads when I haven't even participated in them.
posted by dios at 9:10 AM on April 13, 2006

Yeah, flagged.
posted by onalark at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2006

The flagrant and deliberate disregard for ANYthing is pretty amazing.
posted by Witty at 9:12 AM on April 13, 2006

"And trout knows this stuff and just doesn't care. It's like he thinks proselytizing "teh Truth!" is the only thing that matters." -

dios, your enthusiasm belies your claims.

Now, what - exactly - was I supposed to be proselytizing ?
posted by troutfishing at 9:13 AM on April 13, 2006

I don't understand why troutfishing decided to make a scene on the blue. What happened to troutfishing? Does he have the brain fever?
posted by jenovus at 9:13 AM on April 13, 2006

Oh wait, you're right there. Do you have the brain fever, troutfishing?
posted by jenovus at 9:14 AM on April 13, 2006

"The flagrant and deliberate disregard for ANYthing....."

Hmmm, that sure is a lot is disregard.
posted by troutfishing at 9:15 AM on April 13, 2006

Deleted (lame)

Do not taunt happy fun admins.
posted by mathowie at 9:15 AM on April 13, 2006

Right.
posted by Witty at 9:15 AM on April 13, 2006

Seems like a vacation might be in order.

I'll take one! I suggest Hawaii.

This is one of the worst posts I've ever seen. That it's by troutfishing makes it all the more surprising. I think he thought that the post had significance because he disagreed with some of the more histrionic responses at kos*. In other words, it was significant because troutfishing isn't 100% in line with the dailykos membership. But that ain't the criteria.

*although he didn't do a particularly good job of making even that point clear -- only the inclusion of "annoying" tips his hand
posted by pardonyou? at 9:17 AM on April 13, 2006

Aaaaaaand it's gone. That was quick. And deserved.
posted by The Bellman at 9:17 AM on April 13, 2006

troutfishing was one of the reasons I fell in love with Metafilter, many years ago
posted by ZippityBuddha at 9:18 AM on April 13, 2006

Looks like the honeymoon's over, then.
posted by jenovus at 9:18 AM on April 13, 2006

So, any consequences, other than deletion of the post? I'd hate to think that a member could make a post that intentionally bad and get away with it.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:19 AM on April 13, 2006

What does the democratic underground think? How about LGF? What about the Freepers?

coming soon - dawn of the dead 2 reinacted by hordes of online zombie armies
posted by pyramid termite at 9:23 AM on April 13, 2006

I'd hate to think that a member could make a post that intentionally bad and get away with it.

It was a crap post and should've been deleted, but come on! You don't arbitrate bannation.
posted by sohcahtoa at 9:23 AM on April 13, 2006

(as opposed to other posts, which have the same , MO, but are just better disguised?)
posted by ParisParamus at 9:24 AM on April 13, 2006

It's not that the post was just horribly bad (it was). It's not that he has been asked to not post things from Kos (and he doesn't care). It's not that he stated up front that he knew the post would be deleted (it was). It's not that he stated one of his purposes of posting it was to troll another user (that is just wrong). It's that troutfishing did all of that and still doesn't give a crap what anyone thinks.

But hey. At least he didn't use blink in the comments.
posted by dios at 9:24 AM on April 13, 2006

jenovus - no, I don't have brain fever. Maybe I should get some.

I actually thought it interesting that members of the biggest activist website on the left bothered to enrthusiastically agree - by about a 2-1 margin ( in a fairly large poll although self-selecting ) - with a rather fearful assesment of the direction of politics in the US which proposed no action plan whatosever to counter the alleged bad trajectory.

Odd, no ?

Meanwhile, it's actually an issue of etiquette here - links to other community sites ( regardless of scale or relative importance ) are frowned on. Metafilter has many lines of etiquette, and sometimes I cross them. That's fine - Matt can delete my link if he wants.

I'm actually struck that many people here seem to be saying that I'm somehow pushing - I guess - a left agenda when, in fact, my link was critical of a behavior of the US left.

I guess I could be criticized for editorializing. Is Metafilter journalism ? I thought it wasn't journalism ? Hmmm.....
posted by troutfishing at 9:25 AM on April 13, 2006

Now it's dead can we tie up this MeTa thread too?
posted by longbaugh at 9:27 AM on April 13, 2006

anyway, the post's gone now - so that's the end of the hullabaloo.
posted by troutfishing at 9:28 AM on April 13, 2006

"Two trolling fuckwits walk into a bar. And the bartender says......"
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:30 AM on April 13, 2006

yeah, this thread is now useless.
posted by sic at 9:30 AM on April 13, 2006

Now it's dead can we tie up this MeTa thread too?
posted by longbaugh at 11:27 AM CST on April 13

Why? Are we running low on disk space? Has every member of Metafilter had the opportunity to state their opinions in the 20 minutes this has been open?
posted by dios at 9:31 AM on April 13, 2006

Meanwhile, it's actually an issue of etiquette here - links to other community sites ( regardless of scale or relative importance ) are frowned on. Metafilter has many lines of etiquette, and sometimes I cross them. That's fine - Matt can delete my link if he wants.

I think what you mean to say is that you cross them sometimes on purpose and this is why people get huffy about axe grinding. It wastes everyone's time to not only remove posts, but follow up on MetaTalk threads and email and generally smooth over the ill-will created when a site member flouts the rules repeatedly and intentionally. The "Who me?" attitude doesn't help much, people know you're smart enough to know what you're doing which is why it rankles so.
posted by jessamyn at 9:35 AM on April 13, 2006

I actually thought it interesting that members of the biggest activist website on the left bothered to enrthusiastically agree - by about a 2-1 margin ( in a fairly large poll although self-selecting ) - with a rather fearful assesment of the direction of politics in the US which proposed no action plan whatosever to counter the alleged bad trajectory.

Odd, no ?

not really ... the odds are 50/50 that the clampdown on freedom will come from the left
posted by pyramid termite at 9:38 AM on April 13, 2006

Has every member of Metafilter had the opportunity to state their opinions in the 20 minutes this has been open?

dios, I agree with your opinion of the post, and I know that you are an unfair lightning rod on this page. But I don't think MeTa threads should exist solely to give everyone an "opportunity to state their opnions." The question is whether the issue has been raised and addressed. It has, and a pretty clear message has been sent. Anything more is just an unnecessary invitation to pile-on. It's wrong when you're the target, and it's wrong when troutfishing's the target. I think this thread should be closed.
posted by pardonyou? at 9:40 AM on April 13, 2006

The question is whether the issue has been raised and addressed. It has, and a pretty clear message has been sent.

It's a question of ettiquette, and I thought we were attempting to maintain at least the pretense that Metafilter members have a say in the direction of the site. That Matt deleted the thread is a solution to the immediate issue of the propriety of the post. But I don't think it is right that it is the last word on the subject of etiquette. Nor is it right for you to deem that the issue has been resolved.

I don't understand the mentality of wanting to close the thread. I never participate in or ask for the never-ending threads about me to close. I just skip them. And I acknowledge the importance of the voice of members to be heard on the subject.

It just really is annoying as hell for threads to be prematurely closed. It serves no purpose. It leaves no avenue for people to state their opinion on the issue of etiquette.
posted by dios at 9:46 AM on April 13, 2006

That's pretty disappointing, TF.

>:(
posted by Optimus Chyme at 9:48 AM on April 13, 2006

Metafilter has many lines of etiquette, and sometimes I cross them. That's fine...

No, it's not fine. I think that's the point.

I must say, I'm surprised he gets to just walk away from this.
posted by Witty at 9:57 AM on April 13, 2006

pyramid termite - well, you're on good historical ground there, but in the immediate moment not so much. We'll see - I certainly could envision that sort of scenario if the Democrats retake the White House in '08. But I'm not sure they'll ever get there if the Democratic grassroots ( or netroots ) is so tremulous.

Optimus Chyme - I sure thought so. I reject communist ideologies but there was certainly more of a fighting spirit on the left in the earlier 20th century.
posted by troutfishing at 9:59 AM on April 13, 2006

I don't understand the mentality of wanting to close the thread.

Me neither, and don't like it.
posted by sonofsamiam at 9:59 AM on April 13, 2006

Witty - Off with 'is head ! Off with 'is head !
posted by troutfishing at 10:00 AM on April 13, 2006

Well, apparently troutfishing isn't going anywhere. I find that a little surprising, given the complete lack of respect for the MetaFilter community he has shown both in his original post and here in the MetaTalk thead. This is not a case where a relatively new user posted a mediocre political thread. troutfishing has been around this site for a long time, and is well aware of site policies and informal norms.

Matt has specifically asked troutfishing not to post material from Kos, especially mediocre diary entries. troutfishing posted the link anyway. He admitted that the post would likely be deleted, and offered as some form of justification bait for another member, who had not yet participated in the thread, another act from which Matt has asked all members to refrain. As this thread demonstrates, troutfishing is obviously unapologetic, and concedes that he intentionally flouts what he calls "lines of etiquette." He has crossed those lines in the past, and implicitly concedes that he will continue to do so in the future."That's fine," he writes, "Matt can delete my link if he wants."

While Matt did delete the post, I'm frankly surprised and disappointed that troutfishing hasn't been given a timeout. If that pattern of behavior—continuing in this thread, I might add—merits only post deletion and no other consequences, maybe, as I noted above, I'm the one that needs a vacation.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 10:03 AM on April 13, 2006

Why? Are we running low on disk space? Has every member of Metafilter had the opportunity to state their opinions in the 20 minutes this has been open?

Because the only reason to carry on would be to castigate the poster of the FPP and he has already stated for the record that he doesn't care. There have been at least a couple of thousand "User A is being a dickhead" threads in MeTa that prove that even though most people understand basic etiquette, someone always thinks they are beyond the rules. As to closing the thread, do you honestly believe someone will arrive shortly to make a profound statement that means we will never have to have one of these again? I doubt it personally, so I say let the admins decide if their will be any punishment meted out and the rest of us can go back to doing whatever the hell it was before the temptation of being a spectator at a flame out reared it's ugly head.

On preview - now he's just taking the piss.
posted by longbaugh at 10:05 AM on April 13, 2006

monju_bosatsu, "him or me" threats may indeed warrant a time out... mathowie obviously can't cave to ultimatums, otherwise the terrorists would win!
posted by Chuckles at 10:08 AM on April 13, 2006

... sometimes I cross them. That's fine - Matt can delete my link if he wants.

That's awful big of you.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:08 AM on April 13, 2006

MATT PELASE CLOSE THREAD!

To use one of MeFi's favorite words, leaving this thread open allows troutfishing to be used as a strawman for whatever type of "crap post" particular users don't like. He was dumb, thread deleted, move along.
posted by rxrfrx at 10:08 AM on April 13, 2006

longbaugh, that sounds great.... and I will remember those thoughts next time there's a dios-callout thread that runs 200+ comments long.
posted by Witty at 10:08 AM on April 13, 2006

perhaps if people wheren't so fired up to tell him his job #1 would react differently.
posted by edgeways at 10:09 AM on April 13, 2006

You'll often times see me defend dios to the hilt in those self same threads Witty. I'd do it for you as well as any other person on MeFi. I won't side against someone just because everyone else does, I just believe there is nothing more to be gained from any of this.
posted by longbaugh at 10:13 AM on April 13, 2006

"Meanwhile, it's actually an issue of etiquette here - links to other community sites ( regardless of scale or relative importance ) are frowned on. Metafilter has many lines of etiquette, and sometimes I cross them. That's fine - Matt can delete my link if he wants."

BUT HE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO, ASSHOLE! HE'S GOT ENOUGH BULLSHIT TO DEAL WITH SANS YOUR INTENTIONAL FLOUTING OF COMMUNITY NORMS IN ORDER TO MAKE A RETARDED POINT!
posted by klangklangston at 10:17 AM on April 13, 2006

(While my political beliefs seem to be much, much closer to Trout's than Monju's, I'd much, much prefer the latter's presence than the former's).
posted by klangklangston at 10:18 AM on April 13, 2006

klangklangston: careful. That is the kind of comment that will get you a timeout.
posted by dios at 10:19 AM on April 13, 2006

Well this sucks.

Guess he was serious.

monju_bosatsu: though we frequently disagree on things, you are a valuable poster. I hope that your break isn't too long lived. Catch your fish and get back here. You are one of the valuable posters. Quality ebbs and flows, and I understand your sentiment of being tired of it. But not having you around only makes it worse.
posted by dios at 10:22 AM on April 13, 2006

Only if it flashes dios, only if it flashes...
posted by longbaugh at 10:22 AM on April 13, 2006

I actually thought it interesting that members of the biggest activist website on the left bothered to enrthusiastically agree - by about a 2-1 margin ( in a fairly large poll although self-selecting )

Echo chamber produced echo. Definitely worth a post.
posted by yerfatma at 10:22 AM on April 13, 2006

I'm surprised he gets to just walk away from this.

Except he isn't walking anywhere. He dances about at the scene of his transgressions, waving his genitals at passers by, and loudly proclaiming his intention to do it again at the first opportunity.

We need more and longer bannings.
posted by LarryC at 10:23 AM on April 13, 2006

Well this sucks.

Yes, that's probably the most unfortunate outcome of troutfishing's decision to act out today. Come back, m_b -- the fishing's not good, I hear.
posted by pardonyou? at 10:27 AM on April 13, 2006

Total shit post, troutfishing, followed by a shit attitude in this thread.


But hey. At least he didn't use blink in the comments.

You can stop whining about your 48 timeout now.

(A vote for not closing the thread.)
posted by If I Had An Anus at 10:30 AM on April 13, 2006

Baby Jesus isn't just crying, he is howling with rage.
posted by Ryvar at 10:33 AM on April 13, 2006

damn....48 hour timeout
posted by If I Had An Anus at 10:35 AM on April 13, 2006

I am always surprised by people calling for other people's banning or time-outing. How much did that post annoy you? How much harm did it do you? Enough that you want to take away someone's ability to contribute to a website that they and you enjoy? That is quite a bit. I understand wishing someone would go away if they were constantly shitting all over the community standards, but the recent banninations (other than spammers) and time-outs were of members that I recognized their names, but had not noticed more than that, and I spend a good bit of time reading stuff here Mon-Fri. How much can another member of a community weblog really bother you?

I guess a separate issue is a trend of some members to want to halt all discussion that they don't agree with on Metafilter. Skipping it be-damned, it must be stopped! This strikes me as a little unhealthy, but you know, different strokes for different folks. The post has been deleted, the member can take a lesson from this (or not), and we should all go out for ice-cream.
posted by ND¢ at 10:37 AM on April 13, 2006

pyramid termite - well, you're on good historical ground there, but in the immediate moment not so much.

true ... let's just keep our eyes open ...
posted by pyramid termite at 10:45 AM on April 13, 2006

Enough that you want to take away someone's ability to contribute to a website that they and you enjoy? That is quite a bit.

Agreed.

BURN HIM!
posted by jenovus at 10:46 AM on April 13, 2006

ND¢ says,"Enough that you want to take away someone's ability to contribute to a website that they and you enjoy?"

I don't think troutfishing enjoys it here any more, though. His behavior says as much. As monju points out:

Matt has specifically asked troutfishing not to post material from Kos, especially mediocre diary entries. troutfishing posted the link anyway. He admitted that the post would likely be deleted, and offered as some form of justification bait for another member, who had not yet participated in the thread, another act from which Matt has asked all members to refrain. As this thread demonstrates, troutfishing is obviously unapologetic, and concedes that he intentionally flouts what he calls "lines of etiquette." He has crossed those lines in the past, and implicitly concedes that he will continue to do so in the future."That's fine," he writes, "Matt can delete my link if he wants."

People who want to be a part of a community don't go out of their way to irritate the same needlessly.
posted by boo_radley at 10:47 AM on April 13, 2006

How much can another member of a community weblog really bother you?

I don't think that is what was motivating him. I could be wrong, but my guess is that his frustration had very little to do with troutfishing and that post in and of itself. My guess is that this was "the straw" in an ever-growing frustration with the direction of the site. Of course, I could be projecting my own views on to him, but that is my guess based on things he has said in the past. I don't get the idea that he is leaving because he can't stand troutfishing. I think it is more about where the site is at and where it is headed.
posted by dios at 10:48 AM on April 13, 2006

He doesn't seem to be taking a lesson. I'm not huge on bannings and such, but I think troutfishing should be banned for intentionally fucking with the community and unrepentantly saying, essentially, that he'll do it again. We don't tolerate fake AskMe's, why should we have to put up with this shit?

(monju-you know where you're always welcome.)
posted by OmieWise at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2006

Time out? For that? Pshaw.
posted by caddis at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2006

I am always surprised by people calling for other people's banning or time-outing.

it's time to get out the glowsticks and plastic sporks and drive this monster from our village!!
posted by pyramid termite at 10:49 AM on April 13, 2006

If this was enough for a timeout...
posted by klangklangston at 11:02 AM on April 13, 2006

Assertion that mathowie admins inconsistently, followed by assertion that conservatives are coddled.

Oh, wait. This isn't 11666.
posted by ereshkigal45 at 11:09 AM on April 13, 2006

monju. Dude. Fish quickly.
posted by cortex at 11:10 AM on April 13, 2006

If dios did what troutfishing did he'd be banned for a week or 2. What's up with that?
posted by puke & cry at 11:11 AM on April 13, 2006

Oh, he would, would he?

Folks sure love to trash the admins.
posted by sonofsamiam at 11:13 AM on April 13, 2006

oh crap, here comes the deluge.
posted by boo_radley at 11:13 AM on April 13, 2006

troutfishing is in fact taking a vacation. I had to run off and do some errands and should have done it when I removed the post.
posted by mathowie at 11:17 AM on April 13, 2006

If dios did what troutfishing did he'd be banned for a week or 2.

I thought the complaint was that dios doesn't get banned for breaking the rules here?
posted by Gamblor at 11:24 AM on April 13, 2006

"troutfishing is in fact taking a vacation."

Now we see the violence inherent in the system!
posted by mr_crash_davis at 11:26 AM on April 13, 2006

posted by Otis at 11:27 AM on April 13, 2006

I am always surprised by people calling for other people's banning or time-outing. How much did that post annoy you? How much harm did it do you? Enough that you want to take away someone's ability to contribute to a website that they and you enjoy? That is quite a bit.

It bothers me too. And its one thing to say "This person should get a timeout" then you get people saying, "I'm appalled that this person isn't getting a timeout!!!!"

99% of the time it's when a perceived 'enemy' makes a transgression.
posted by delmoi at 11:28 AM on April 13, 2006

Just a quick clarification: I didn't decide to take a break solely because of troutfishing's latest escapades, and I didn't intend to give Matt any sort of ultimatum. dios is correct that it was the proverbial straw, and is just one example of why I'm enjoying the site less than I used to. troutfishing and I are not mortal enemies, and probably share similar political views more than you would expect. In any case, I'm still going to take some time off from the site to focus on other things. You know where to find me.

Posted via blackberry from the fishin' hole.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 11:31 AM on April 13, 2006

Do not taunt happy fun admins.

If happy fun admin begins to smoke or sputter, run away and seek shelter immediately.
posted by loquacious at 11:38 AM on April 13, 2006

Just a quick clarification: I didn't decide to take a break solely because of troutfishing's latest escapades, and I didn't intend to give Matt any sort of ultimatum. dios is correct that it was the proverbial straw, and is just one example of why I'm enjoying the site less than I used to. troutfishing and I are not mortal enemies, and probably share similar political views more than you would expect. In any case, I'm still going to take some time off from the site to focus on other things. You know where to find me.

Uh, monju read the thread. Trout did get a timeout.

troutfishing is in fact taking a vacation. I had to run off and do some errands and should have done it when I removed the post.
posted by mathowie at 11:17 AM PST on April 13 [!]
posted by delmoi at 11:39 AM on April 13, 2006

That about wraps it up for this thread. Where's the afterparty?
posted by Ryvar at 11:40 AM on April 13, 2006

*starts shakin' it to the music in my head*
posted by raedyn at 12:10 PM on April 13, 2006

* Distributes flyers
$5 donation at the door!
posted by boo_radley at 12:10 PM on April 13, 2006

There. That's Otis' sad face. See what you people did?
posted by Gamblor at 12:10 PM on April 13, 2006

The afterparty is back in 11666, of course.
posted by keswick at 12:33 PM on April 13, 2006

Totally high.
posted by scarabic at 12:39 PM on April 13, 2006

"I thought this was significant"

You thought wrong. Maybe in your own little world of cowboys and injuns.

"Also, I'm interested to see what dios writes about this."

That should be an automatic time-out. He wrote it nicely enough; it wasn't mean to be incendiary, but it's not what MeFi is for.
posted by Eideteker at 12:40 PM on April 13, 2006

He didn't write it nicely; he simply didn't use any dirty words.
posted by cortex at 12:50 PM on April 13, 2006

Posted via blackberry from the fishin' hole.

If I promise to take a break and then come back 5 minutes later can I get something too daddy?
posted by bardic at 1:08 PM on April 13, 2006

ICE BURNED BY BARDIC
posted by boo_radley at 1:15 PM on April 13, 2006

Come back, monju!

*runs after galloping horse whose rider is brandishing a fishing pole*
posted by languagehat at 1:17 PM on April 13, 2006

At the tender age of 19707, I remember when flame-outs and "I take my leave forever, good DAY SIR!" were the norm. Now it's just this namby-pamby stuff. My high school drama teacher wouldn't be pleased.
posted by bardic at 1:28 PM on April 13, 2006

I just don't understand dios. LGF and FreeRepublic and the John Birch Society website are perfect for him. They are everything that he wants Metafilter to be. Why can't he just play over there and revel in all of his partisan glory? Why does he need to force that crap over here?
And dios knows this stuff and just doesn't care. It's like he thinks proselytizing "teh Truth!" is the only thing that matters.

anyway, the only thing that's funnier than monju's childish, insincere outrage ("Matt didn't ban my enemy why o why wahwahwahwah") is that at this point dios doesn't even bother to drag to MetaTalk the people on his shitlist, but he uses his flunky to do it instead.

he subcontracts his political MetaTalk hits. not that anybody cares about that anyway.
posted by matteo at 2:02 PM on April 13, 2006

*guffaws*
posted by matteo at 2:02 PM on April 13, 2006

Do you think anybody buys that? Do you really buy that? Seems like you're so in love with your enmity for dios that you're willing to say very stupid things just to maintain your position.

monju_botatsu has the distinction of having frequently disagreed with dios without acting like an idiot. That you see this as subservient flunky-ism just underscores your weird dios fetishism.
posted by cortex at 2:05 PM on April 13, 2006

Actually what's funny is that people have enemies here.
posted by freebird at 2:08 PM on April 13, 2006

Well, yeah, that too.
posted by cortex at 2:11 PM on April 13, 2006

And Samwise Gamgees.
posted by bardic at 2:14 PM on April 13, 2006

Well, yeah, that too.

But, indeed, given the latter, the former is funny. Which of course raises interesting questions about the transitory property of funniness given a dependence relation. For instance, since the former is possible only given the latter, and the latter is agreed to be funny, is the former actually funny in its own right? Or is it merely funniness transferred from the former? A sort of humor moon for the blazing Funny Sun that is MeFi enmity? I tend to think not, since one can imagine a world where the latter existed without the former, so the former is in fact adding funniness of its own. A synergy - nay, a binary system of hilarity spinning an endless dance through the cold emtpy void of MeFi sociological space.
posted by freebird at 2:20 PM on April 13, 2006

I support keeping MeTa threads open unless the subject is timeoutted, in which case further comments are 90% piling-on and super lame.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 2:26 PM on April 13, 2006

Optimus, you must be in the wrong thread. We are discussing humor dynamics in the nature of MeFi social structures viewed as a solar system. And what the metaphorical equivalent of the Oort Cloud is.

That, I think, is clearly the relevant topic. I have no idea why the above 95 comments are trying so hard to derail this fascinating discussion.
posted by freebird at 2:31 PM on April 13, 2006

And what the metaphorical equivalent of the Oort Cloud is.

Scatalogical/fart humor.

Unless you'd prefer to view this from a perspective of the Oort cloud as a possible source of earth-orbit crossing comets that may have caused any number of the great extinctions throughout the history of life on earth. This would imply that humor emanating from the Oort cloud would essentially destroy Metafilter as we know it, or at the very least, cause a mass bannination that leaves only a relatively small amount of survivors to carry on into the next era.
posted by LionIndex at 3:06 PM on April 13, 2006

Yes! Punctuated equilibrium caused by decaying orbits of jokes! So comets are like the repeated in-joke memes that get less and less funny but keep coming around - each time coming closer and closer to smashing into the Blue and Green jewel and causing untold destructifying!

Until one day, blazing across the sky in a fiery trail of glory and doom, a vibrating-pancake-camera-having-tagline SMASHES into the Blue - sending a wave of catastophe over the Green landmasses and leaving nothing but a Grey wasteland. All the filters turned MetaTalk by self-referential selection pressure!

And what strange organisms survive this catastrophe? What cockroaches and small mammals rise up to take the place of the Old Ones who once ruled the World, but have been unable to live out this Trial by Meme-Fire?
posted by freebird at 3:17 PM on April 13, 2006

Matteo just hasn't been as good since Dhoyt left. Now it's just random spurts and ejaculations of bad humor. Bring back Dhoyt! Bring back Jenleigh! And that otherone!
posted by klangklangston at 3:33 PM on April 13, 2006

Two. Those other two.
posted by cortex at 3:43 PM on April 13, 2006

I don't understand the mentality of wanting to close the thread.

I agree with dios. Why close anything except for reasons of spam (i.e. the 30-day limit)?

I am always surprised by people calling for other people's banning or time-outing.

I am not surprised by the lust for vengeance, but I do agree with ND¢. What's the big deal.

I actually haven't seen his name much lately, but I know that troutfishing's star has lost luster here over the past 3 years. I have been a superfrequent visitor for a while, so I don't know if he's been fucking around all over the place, but this seems a fairly minor transgression.

And yeah, bring back otherone!
posted by mrgrimm at 3:46 PM on April 13, 2006

Stop derailing - back to Evolutionary Theory and Solar Systemic Humor Dynamics!

With all this discussion of how to build and shape this process, you've all revealed yourselves as Intelligent Design fans. What's next - "If mathowie wanted to, he could make the fossil record in the DB *look* like callouts used to be better and troutfishing made good posts!"
posted by freebird at 3:52 PM on April 13, 2006

I missed you, freebird. However:

Your analysis utterly fails to take into account the strange attraction of jokes instantiated by the threads with 'round' numbers, but subject to a curiously sensitive dependence on initial conditions with respect to the content of the original Front Page FPP. Until you can explain this Lorenzian phenomenon without recourse to external theories, um, talk to the hand.
posted by gleuschk at 4:06 PM on April 13, 2006

"Those other two."

Man, I need some crib notes... Bring 'em all back! They were entertaining!
posted by klangklangston at 4:20 PM on April 13, 2006

the strange attraction of jokes instantiated by the threads with 'round' numbers

Well, according one set of the theories, the Thread Numbers are actually hexidecimal, and it's pure coincidence that we see only decimals - yet unsurprising to see structure related to powers of 2. Another holds that the Time Dilation you mention renders each threads number entirely subjective - thus we'd expect to see the Heavier threads moving Faster. Indeed, according to mathowie:

This thread numbering system adjusts for shifts in relative time which occur due to the website's speed and space warp capability. It has little relationship to Earth's time as we know it. One hour aboard the Grey or Blue at different times may equal as little as three Earth hours. The thread numbers specified in the comment entry must be computed against the speed of the thread, the number of taglines, and its position within the interwebs, in order to give a meaningful reading.

The problem with this is indeed the odd statistical distribution you mention:

Digit Occurrences Proportion
0 8 2.34%
2 73 71.34%
3 58 16.96%
7 28 8.19%
9 16 4.68%
Total 342 100.00%

Thus I am left to postulate a hitherto undetected Celestial Body in the Solar System of Metafilter humor - undetected out beyond the Oort Cloud, but subtly effecting the orbits and gravitational wells of all that transpires within it's vast and lonely orbit. I propose it shall be called the Rasnouq Object, and declared a Galactic Heritage Site.
posted by freebird at 4:27 PM on April 13, 2006

Freebird--there's funny and there's trying to be funny. You are trying.
posted by y2karl at 4:28 PM on April 13, 2006

Way too hard.
posted by y2karl at 4:28 PM on April 13, 2006

At the tender age of 19707, I remember when flame-outs and "I take my leave forever, good DAY SIR!" were the norm. Now it's just this namby-pamby stuff. My high school drama teacher wouldn't be pleased.

Hear, hear! Back in the day, man, it wasn't a flame-out until the SomethingAwful goons started posting pictures of your living room window. Good times, I tell you, and now? More bread and circuses, dammit!

Also:

MetaFilter: Weird Dios Fetishism.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 4:38 PM on April 13, 2006

Well I guess there's being a grumphead and trying to be a grumphead - I won't venture a classification for you Y2Karl, but I don't think I'm in the way of the in-jokes and pissing about who is enemies with which troll. I find overextended metaphors and derails into wierd tropes much more fun, and I am sorry my necrophiliac self-pleasuring in long-dead threads such as this doesn't meet your requirements, but I think there's room for all of us down here.
posted by freebird at 4:47 PM on April 13, 2006

Thus, my reference above to content from a Front Page Post is indeed the last dying flash of an overplayed joke, burning up in the atmosphere of MeFi humor, and proving LionIndex's view. Even as the denizens of Ancient Swamps shade their eyes and curse its feeble light - its "trying-ness" - it's impacting in far off forestlands and throwing a blanket of dust and debris up and blocking the far off Sun of Funny and the Moon of Reference.

As the Eternal Night of Thread Closure falls, which species can adapt and which fall by the wayside - to be slowly covered in the strata of Threadfall, and preserved thereby to puzzle future researchers?
posted by freebird at 5:06 PM on April 13, 2006

gleuschk, have you tried analyzing joke thread numbers for an occurence of Benford's law?

Have you tried out writing all the digits of joke thread numbers in a fibonacci spiral and then circling the entries that lie close to relatively prime pairs on the integer lattice?

I hear you can see the face of god if you do that.
posted by Wolfdog at 5:32 PM on April 13, 2006

This is turning out very similar to the last time troutfishing flamed out.
posted by LionIndex at 5:40 PM on April 13, 2006

Can anyone possibly take matteo seriously anymore? troutfishing admittedly made a thread that he knew would be deleted, was unrepentant about it and this is dios's fault!?

You're fucking delusional, man! Get a grip!
posted by trey at 5:48 PM on April 13, 2006

After being the target of a three way [jenleigh, highsignal & hall_of_robots] dhoyt sockpuppet pile on, matteo comes to his suspicions honestly.
posted by y2karl at 6:15 PM on April 13, 2006

Or he's sensitive, and needs to get over it.
People can agree on something without being bestest pals, apologists, suck-ups, or the same friggin' person.

If I had the misfortune to share matteo's outlook, I'd probably suspect you of being his sock puppet, y2karl. Heh.
But we all know that's just silly, right?
Uh, right?

Dun - DUN -DUNNNNNNN!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 6:31 PM on April 13, 2006

more like cock puppet am i rite
posted by keswick at 6:34 PM on April 13, 2006

The problem is that the three body problem has no closed form solution, so suspicions derived therefrom are subject to wild error and divergence under perturbation.
posted by freebird at 6:35 PM on April 13, 2006

sure this was a lame post. and sure, invoking names of notorious members is bad form.

but why, exactly, was a timeout issued? would you have issued one if monju hadn't posted this thread to MeTa, matt?

this seems to be much kerfluffle about nothing. is it because he should know better, or something like that? does everyone who posts something that gets deleted get a timeout? was his attitude poor and that's the problem?

what is the reason for the timeout, specifically?
posted by Hat Maui at 6:35 PM on April 13, 2006

Majin Buu plz come back. tia



me, dios, and the other z-fighters need your help to combat the evil alien leader lord froutt shing...
posted by Dreamghost at 6:52 PM on April 13, 2006

Uh, right?

If that were true, I (11820) would be matteo's (3920) sockpuppet and dios (17809) would be monju's (8420). Which would make matteo and monju evil genii.

Dhoyt, on the other hand, by using his sister's name in one incarnation, then giving another avatar the same zip code as his own and then self-indulgently linking to a picture of himself in a comment by said avatar, wrote The Idiot's Guide to Sockpuppetry.
posted by y2karl at 7:31 PM on April 13, 2006

> If I had the misfortune to share matteo's outlook, I'd probably suspect you of
> being his sock puppet, y2karl.

No no, matteo is my sockpuppet. I have a worse case of Jeckyll/Hyde bipolar than Prince of Persia 2.
posted by jfuller at 4:43 AM on April 14, 2006

Going to the beginning. I didn't realise that empirical truth was partisan.

And while we're at it, I'm a ban hammer advocate for anybody who uses the word truthines. It's so bloody tired.
posted by gsb at 5:39 AM on April 14, 2006

Can anyone possibly take matteo seriously anymore?

All I hear anymore is the noise of Eddie Izzard's moped. And freebird, you're never trying to hard, esp. given y2karl neglected to define the boundaries of "trying" for the purpose of discussion. Very clever.
posted by yerfatma at 5:43 AM on April 14, 2006

"I'm a ban hammer advocate for anybody who uses the word truthines."

What is that - some kind of hybrid fruit?




freebird, thanks for justifying this thread's existence.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:56 AM on April 14, 2006

And freebird, you're never trying to hard...

Opinions differ--in mine, he has been far better in other threads and his schtick is far better in smaller doses. At any rate, my comments were made in a moment's reaction. Let us not from molehills mountains make.
posted by y2karl at 8:57 AM on April 14, 2006

what's funny is that y2karl is completely wrong.

freebird's comments here are all the argument needed to justify leaving metatalk threads open.
posted by shmegegge at 9:02 AM on April 14, 2006

This is turning out very similar to the last time troutfishing flamed out.

People don't stop being batshit insane, they just go into remission.
posted by darukaru at 9:25 AM on April 14, 2006

You say shemgegge, I say shmendrik
--shmegegge, shmendrik,
shlemiel, schmo.
posted by y2karl at 10:17 AM on April 14, 2006

See, that's trying too hard.
posted by yerfatma at 10:38 AM on April 14, 2006

I get in this wierd tilting at windmills thing in threads like this, and would agree this wasn't my best. I was mostly bummed because I have a lot of respect for y2karl, and there *were* some parts I quite liked (not the part pasted from the Front Page Post admittedly). I'm generally much happier with the mini-stories tucked occasionally into the blue, and have a whole different set of goals in these pile-on/MetaMetaMeta threads. In general I don't like to discuss this stuff, but since I already did above it's too late.
posted by freebird at 10:56 AM on April 14, 2006

Don't make too much of it. I made that comment without reflection. It was meant as a mild admonition at most. I quite like your baroque bijouteries and meant no critique. I just got miffed in the moment and gave voice without any consideration of how these things snowball. Sin in haste, repent at leisure.
posted by y2karl at 12:07 PM on April 14, 2006

This is like a high school poetry workshop.
posted by bardic at 12:17 PM on April 14, 2006

I am
a drinker of souls
a singer of death

I am
a soul in torment
a life unliving

I am
beyond knowing
beyond feeling

I am
vampyre
posted by cortex at 12:20 PM on April 14, 2006

Oh, man. cortex is so goth, he shits bats!
posted by antifreez_ at 12:30 PM on April 14, 2006

u can see more on my lj
:[
posted by cortex at 12:32 PM on April 14, 2006

Just go with the Alanis Generator.
posted by Gator at 2:37 PM on April 14, 2006

boy, you'd think some people would have been happy with a post about how many liberals want to get out of this country, and feel there's no one representing them or millions of other Americans.

*shrugs shoulders, walks away after having missed the whole thing, wants trout back*
posted by amberglow at 3:57 PM on April 14, 2006

wants trout back


posted by hangashore at 9:53 PM on April 14, 2006

FREE TROUTFISHING!
bass fishing 10¢
posted by caddis at 5:18 AM on April 15, 2006

"some people would have been happy with a post about how many liberals want to get out of this country"

Not the right people for you, I think. A lot of conservatives would like to see liberals leave. Myself, I don't belong to either 'side', but I think that one of the reasons conservatives seem to predominate is this ideal in liberals that they'd rather leave than stay and stand up for themselves. Gee, if I'd lost an election by about 2% (?) with less than 50% of people voting, I'd think that giving up was about the stupidest idea in the world.
posted by Eideteker at 5:36 AM on April 15, 2006

Agreed. Furthermore I think that people who urge that someone be vacationed/banned should have it done to them instead (or maybe 'also'). It's enough to point out somebody's 'abuse' (if one must); the admins are capable of deciding for themselves what should be done (or not). Not that I'll agree in any particular case, just that witchhunts and pitchfork-wavings are so annoying.

Note that I don't see anything so horrible about trouty's faux pas, and believe he got booted for taunting mathowie rather than breaking any content 'guidelines'. I mean, I'll bet the Mefite who posted about doggie dildos would've gotten the same if he'd done the same. Who thinks anybody'd become "ghod" of any website purely d'un souhait pour servir le peuple?

And for what it's worth, I agree with troutfishing's condemnation of the cowardice of America's 'Left'.

With that, I would ask that this thread be closed except that I have so much fun watching y'all have less of a life than me. Babble on, O my Mefites!
posted by davy at 11:07 AM on April 15, 2006