Why crap on good threads?

March 28, 2004 12:43 PM

Why crap on good threads?
posted by SpecialK to etiquette/policy at 12:43 PM (49 comments total)

I mean, this is the last few posts on the blue. Signal to noise in the blue gets degraded enough without antics like this.

(And yeah, Biscotti was nice enough to call him on it with out dragging it into the gray. I'm not that nice. And I'm annoyed.)
posted by SpecialK at 12:45 PM on March 28, 2004

Indeed, I thought that comment in the movie post was out of place, but had no idea he's been crapping all over threads...all in one day...someone's a little bored, drunk, high, or a combo of the three.
posted by jmd82 at 12:48 PM on March 28, 2004

All those comments were stupid and pointless. I deleted them all and put a one-week block on the account. Enjoy your time off slagman, try getting out and getting some sunshine. Maybe all that sighing will finally go away.
posted by mathowie at 1:14 PM on March 28, 2004

Ahhh, I was confused about what was being referred to, but, as usual, I'm just late.
*returns to nursing hangover*
posted by elwoodwiles at 1:22 PM on March 28, 2004

I saw the one in the BTK thread. Were the other comments all along the same lines?
posted by Captain_Tenille at 1:22 PM on March 28, 2004

two were $variable_filter comments, two were "sigh, do we have to have a thread about $variable every time?"
posted by mathowie at 1:24 PM on March 28, 2004

two were $variable_filter comments, two were "sigh, do we have to have a thread about $variable every time?"

Thanks for telling us what it was about matt - I was playing Where's Wally for a while.
posted by SpaceCadet at 1:31 PM on March 28, 2004

OK, sinse this site is supposed to be self-policing, question for Matt: If slagman had not been called out in public via MeTa, I can imagine you still would have deleted the comments, but would his account still be banned for a week? Just curious.
posted by jmd82 at 1:53 PM on March 28, 2004

If slagman had not been called out in public via MeTa, I can imagine you still would have deleted the comments, but would his account still be banned for a week? Just curious.

If I found all four pointless comments myself, yes, the result would be the same.
posted by mathowie at 2:08 PM on March 28, 2004

ShotFullOfHolesFilter
posted by quonsar at 6:22 PM on March 28, 2004

Quonsar, I wouldn't talk. Looking at your posts over the past two days, there's a similar pattern of shitting on things and offering zero content to threads.

*aims hairy eyeball in Quonsar's direction*
posted by SpecialK at 6:49 PM on March 28, 2004

Guess who's back... back again?
posted by cedar at 7:33 PM on March 28, 2004

There's a new Share'f in town boys, they call him the Cereal Kid.


...Sorry, just watched Deadwood.
posted by Mick at 8:48 PM on March 28, 2004

Normally I don't do this, but Slagman sent me an eloquent response to this thread:

I'm sorry some of you found my three comments within threads to be stupid. Lousy FPP's are one thing, but it seems like a slippery slope to start going after stupid comments in threads. The line is never as obvious as some people seem to think. But, whatever. I can't really defend the posts. I'm sure everybody has clicked the "post" button and thought, eh, maybe I shouldn't have done that. Oh, well.

It was an impulsive bit of theater, over a short period of time. I had just seen posters derail yet another thread on a political issue with comments more appropriate for Metatalk like "what a crap post" and "it's going to be a long eight months if people post crap like this every day" etc. I modeled my posts after those in some non-political threads. There was really no danger, though, that my off the wall comments would derail the threads. The same cannot be said for the posts in the political threads that set me off. They succeeded in nuking any serious discussion. So I got frozen out and censored for a couple of stupid non sequiturs, while a few people with a partisan bent have succeeded in something more sinister over a series of days, using "what crap" posts in the blue to destroy political discussions they didn't like. They know who they are.

On reflection, sure, I should have taken this gripe to MetaTalk, and explained it clearly, not disrupted other threads with cryptic remarks. But others had already made the complaint, with no apparent results. Still, my actions today were a-hole behavior, and inexcusable. We should all be trying to elevate the political debate, and I failed at that, and apparently caused some annoyance. Sorry for that.

I do wish there were some consistency, though: If you don't think a FPP is worthy, take it to Metatalk. Don't derail the thread because you happen to have an opinion. Maybe you're off base this one time. I'd also like to see the people who routinely ignore this simple courtesy to face the same sanctions meted out to me today. Delete the comments of those who cry "crap post" in the blue whenever an FPP is critical of Bush. Don't let posters turn threads into whining debates about whether a link should have been posted in the first place, just because the subject is politics and hey everyone knows MetaFilter "can't do" politics very well.

It would be sad to see MetaFilter start ignoring politics completely. A lot of the best of the Web right now is politics, which is to be expected in an election year. If the rules were consistently followed and enforced on political threads, we'd see some interesting engaged threads, with a diversity of viewpoints, that are as every bit as good as the ones about movies.

Anyway, that's my take, but a lack of courtesy on my part was not the proper way to address this concern, and again, sorry to annoy. See you around.

posted by mathowie at 10:09 PM on March 28, 2004

I'd also like to see the people who routinely ignore this simple courtesy to face the same sanctions meted out to me today. Delete the comments of those who cry "crap post" in the blue whenever an FPP is critical of Bush.

I certainly agree with this (within reason). A content-free crap comment once in a while is probably something we've all been guilty of now and then, but repeated offenses likely warrant some kind of sanction.

slagman, my comments in the BTK thread weren't intended personally, I just happened to have read four different threads all in one session in which you'd made that kind of comment, and I hate to see those sort of off-handed "this is crap" posts, they're just so mean to the poster and contribute nothing to the site. I was glad Matt posted your explanation, it was very fair of him and it's a very well-written response, and we'll see you around soon I hope.
posted by biscotti at 10:40 PM on March 28, 2004

Quonsar, I wouldn't talk. Looking at your posts over the past two days, there's a similar pattern of shitting on things and offering zero content to threads.

*aims hairy eyeball in Quonsar's direction*< .i>

bite me, cereal boy.
posted by quonsar at 10:46 PM on March 28, 2004

and shave that disgusting eyeball. i rarely quiver when threatened by the towering paragon of blogoshperic back patting who singlehandedly "invented" this mess, so what makes you think i go limp at the prospect of some soggy morning flakes floating in the bottom of the bowl? scrutinize away, oh superior kellogg boy, because when the snap, crackle and pop finally fades and the last geriatric hip shatters like so much WTC glass, who'se gonna pay any attention to a single, hardened, glued on flake on the side of the bowl?
MetaFlake.
posted by quonsar at 11:02 PM on March 28, 2004

Nothing like a bit of SmartAss® to wake ya up in the morning.
posted by jmd82 at 11:24 PM on March 28, 2004

/bites quonsar
posted by namespan at 11:59 PM on March 28, 2004

to wake ya up in the morning.
posted by quonsar at 12:23 AM on March 29, 2004

ok. thats the absolute END of firefox for me. now, using IE to fill in the portions it ate:

to wake ya up in the morning.

oh, gimme a break! you and shepd motormouth have been ensuring for hours that there are no unsightly gaps in the #mefilog.
posted by quonsar at 12:28 AM on March 29, 2004

what is #mefilog? Yes, I am stoopid.
posted by taz at 1:59 AM on March 29, 2004

$variable_Filter?

Something tells me that one's going to stick...
posted by twine42 at 4:10 AM on March 29, 2004

Weird. I've never had Firefox eat a comment on me. Maybe it's some blank.aspx pages that got compiled on your machine.
posted by yerfatma at 4:32 AM on March 29, 2004

Matt has kindly lifted the ban, so I can apologize directly to those who started those particular threads. Sorry to drag you into something that had nothing to do with what you posted. It was inappropriate.
posted by Slagman at 5:22 AM on March 29, 2004

*pats slagman on the back*

right thought, wrong execution. welcome back.
posted by dabitch at 5:34 AM on March 29, 2004

yup--welcome back, and I second what you said in the email.
posted by amberglow at 5:40 AM on March 29, 2004

firefox ate every stinking bookmark, toolbar and custom setting i had. it's a piece of shit that 4 out of five times does nothing when you click a button, the fifth time the button actually depresses without any associated action. it takes longer to load than 4 instances of IE and apparently writes out the entire king james bible in olde englishe before pulling its own plug. i've screwed with it perpetually for 4 months, done evey possible fanboy suggestion short of ramming old profile dirs up your ass, and i'm tired of it. fuck the nightlies, fuck the stables, fuck firefox. i'm sure the "hello world" geniuses behind it will let the world know when it's a real browser, and then i'll wait for version 5.
posted by quonsar at 6:01 AM on March 29, 2004

wah-wah
posted by clavdivs at 7:05 AM on March 29, 2004

Well, chewing the scenery is one way to get more fiber.
posted by FunkyHelix at 8:23 AM on March 29, 2004

Group hug!
posted by Blue Stone at 11:22 AM on March 29, 2004

Metafilter: Fuck Firefox or Quonsar. They're both chewable.
posted by ed at 3:45 PM on March 29, 2004

Use MyIE2, quonsar. If you don't like it, I'll cheerfully refund your money†.



† No, I won't. 'cause it's freeeeee, by golly.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 3:59 PM on March 29, 2004

(I must mention it has the single greatest doo-dad ever in web-browsing, by the way, which is the reason I can't ever go back to another browser that doesn't do it - "super drag'n'drop". Grab a link, a pic, even a bit of highlighted text, drag in a millimeter or two, and drop it. It'll open in a new tab - the URL if it's a link, the pic if it's a pic, or a googlesearch of the phrase if it's that. Totally unliveable-withoutable, once you get used to it. There's a plethora of other goodies, too, too many to list.)

I do go on, and have before, I know, but once you get used to some of the stuff this puppy does, you'll never go back to FireGoat. Sure the IE renderer chews up css and stuff, but you can also switch MyIE2 to use the Gecko renderer! What more do you want, already? Quit yer bitchin' and go download the damn thing.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 8:59 PM on March 29, 2004

Looks like Quonsar is running out of A material.
posted by Keyser Soze at 9:41 PM on March 29, 2004

Stav, I'm getting it. But if isn't everything you say it is, be it on your head!
posted by Salmonberry at 9:43 PM on March 29, 2004

stav - Opera 7 does that too - at least with pics and links. Text is searchable (with various engines which are user-configurable and include dictionary, thesaurus, multi-language translation) with a right click.
posted by TimeFactor at 9:55 PM on March 29, 2004

Bastards. This thread is supposed to be about me.
posted by Slagman at 10:33 PM on March 29, 2004

Whoops.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:36 PM on March 29, 2004

Maybe John Brunner was right? I myself have been guilty.
posted by interrobang at 12:29 AM on March 30, 2004

bout time for keyser to post another empty, alky driven thread, isn't it? hic?
posted by quonsar at 6:01 AM on March 30, 2004

Since I don't know what this thread is about anymore (Hi slagman! nice recovery!), I'm going to inappropriately use this forum to tell salmonberry that I opened a spam the other day because, following the new fashion of using nonsensical subject lines, it was titled "salmonberry."
You're famous!
posted by CunningLinguist at 6:04 AM on March 30, 2004

I got salmonberry spam too! Hey now...what are you up to oh pink and delicious one?

;)

And nicely recovered slagman. good on ya.
posted by dejah420 at 10:01 AM on March 30, 2004

Some spammer has stolen *my* name?!?! MY NAME?!?!?

I'll sue. For part of the profits. So buy whatever it is, lest I get nothing.

And stav: so far, me likes what me sees in myIE2.

(Oh, and to stay on thread. Nice job slagman, for, uh, what they said.)
posted by Salmonberry at 1:47 PM on March 30, 2004

Like I said, Quonsar is running out of A-List material. He (or she?) is down to the same comments ad verbatim from two weeks ago. Quonsar, you are turning into a week old bread. Hic.
posted by Keyser Soze at 3:57 PM on March 30, 2004

wow stav, i've been using myie2 for a few weeks now and had never noticed the super drag n' drop feature. thanks for pointing that out.
posted by joedan at 6:37 PM on March 30, 2004

I like quonsar a lot, but his making fun of Keyser Soze constantly is pretty lame, by his standards.
posted by interrobang at 9:23 PM on March 30, 2004

The quonsar backlash is back!
posted by inpHilltr8r at 10:36 PM on March 31, 2004

Appendix 1 : This tool may be useful if you're dead-set on carrying on with LavaWeasel, q.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:58 PM on April 1, 2004