Spock...get your own damn.......blog

March 12, 2005 7:40 AM

Spock...get your own damn.......blog
posted by briank to Etiquette/Policy at 7:40 AM (40 comments total)

Your concern for everyone's wellbeing is admirable, but the link-dump is not really all that worthwhile in this context.

(Yes, I know, if I don't like it, I should just skip it.)
posted by briank at 7:43 AM on March 12, 2005

I don't understand this callout. What are you saying he did wrong?
posted by bingo at 7:47 AM on March 12, 2005

Fear mongering isn't against the rules.
posted by smackfu at 7:56 AM on March 12, 2005

The only possible thing that someone might be able to complain about is the fact that he was commenting a lot in the post; some people have an issue with moderating one's own post, and think one should post and watch from afar.

In this case, I don't think that complaint is valid, because he kept adding more and more evidence from different sources. (what briank refers to as a "link-dump".)

I think it was a very good post, myself.

/me lays in stock of supplies.
posted by exlotuseater at 8:16 AM on March 12, 2005

Why are you calling this out weeks later? Did spock post another pandemic post today or what? Did you miss spocks cinema therapy post and eCommerce shopping cart posts?
posted by dabitch at 8:16 AM on March 12, 2005

briank...get your own damn.......blog.

And a well-read copy of The Elements of Style and a working, active comprehension of grammar and punctuation before you ever post to MetaTalk again.

Seriously. If you can't even be bothered to refrain from abusing the ever-loving crap out of the ignoble ellipsis in such a manner, I'm not even going to be bothered to take you very seriously.

Besides, William Shatner is alive and well. You can't just go and non-meta-ironically rip... that fascinating... delivery... timing and... style off without pissing off the gods that be.

Which is to say, there is only room for one Shatner in this universe. Any more and the universe would implode. Where do you think all that missing mass is in the universe? Shatner's ego. Don't be a Shatner.
posted by loquacious at 8:41 AM on March 12, 2005

Heh, you do have your own damn blog, and it's well formatted and grammatically precise. Apologies. But this post is bad, regardless.
posted by loquacious at 8:56 AM on March 12, 2005

Of all the garbage fpp's in the world, this one? C'mon...
posted by drpynchon at 9:24 AM on March 12, 2005

[this is dumb]
posted by mischief at 10:43 AM on March 12, 2005

So, answer the question: why the hell did you want almost a month before posting about this?
posted by graventy at 10:45 AM on March 12, 2005

Larget question: Is there an ettiquette about continually posting FPPs that have fallen off the front page for the next 30 days. Recently, the Gannon thread and how a group of users (10 or so) continually posted items in the thread for the full month after it was made. Are they breaking some type of unwritten rule through their continual discussion on a topic in an open thread and is it different that the Gannon thread had a core set of users and spock was the only ones that went back to the above-listed H5 thread.

If the thread is open for 30 days, then by all means, people should be able to post to it. At the most it provides information to someone, at the worst it's a waste of time for the poster.
posted by Arch Stanton at 11:07 AM on March 12, 2005

loquacious -- get over yourself

I thought spock's post was fear-mongering and self-serving when it was made, but opted not to get into it when it first appeared. His decision to bring it back with an onslaught of additional information whiich mostly boils down to assorted news articles covering the situation is not (in my opnion) worth the space here, hence my suggestion that he take it to his own site.

I don't think this is a particularly huge issue, and those of you who feel the need to come after me with torches and pitchforks in response really might want to step away from the keyboard just a bit. This is a minor thing, get on with it.
posted by briank at 11:31 AM on March 12, 2005

This is a minor thing, get on with it.

I believe briank answered his own callout.
posted by deborah at 12:26 PM on March 12, 2005

briank : "This is a minor thing"

Yup.
posted by Bugbread at 12:51 PM on March 12, 2005

Briank - I never even got up on myself. I don't take myself seriously. I talk like this not because of any sense of high-falutin' superiority but because I have to. I'm an aspie, it just comes out like that.

Yeah, I was originally attracted to this thread because it looked like it was written in AIM-speak. It's a bad callout, but I'm not carrying any torches or pitchforks. It's ok.

It's ok that you made the bad callout. But it's even more ok that we're calling it a bad callout, 'cause you're wrong. But it's ok to be wrong.
posted by loquacious at 12:59 PM on March 12, 2005

I'm an aspie, it just comes out like that.

I know what this is meant to mean, I think, but I must ask -- are you freakin' serious here? Asperger's made me do it? Holy... smokes.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:02 PM on March 12, 2005

Isn't it better to have a one-track-minded MeFite add extra links in comments to an old thread rather than make more Front Page Posts? Of course, MeFi's bastard monkey-child actually encourages that practice with the "recent comments" sidebar and no thread expirations. Consider this my callout call-in.
posted by wendell at 5:06 PM on March 12, 2005

I guess Asperger's is the new Asshat.
posted by wendell at 5:10 PM on March 12, 2005

You sound like an ass, briank. Apologize for the bad callout and all the pitchforks and torches will disappear. You made a mistake; following that with spatula-waving defensiveness, while in form for the venue, will only make you look worse and worse. A little humility goes a long way around here. Everyone does impulsive things from time to time; just say you're sorry.
posted by squirrel at 8:16 PM on March 12, 2005

Gee, squirrel, I'm ever so sorry.

There, is that better?
posted by briank at 8:19 PM on March 12, 2005

Sarcasm is the voice of the trapped.
posted by squirrel at 8:32 PM on March 12, 2005

Briank: What, exactly, is your issue with the post? The initial post was not GYOBloggy, the following discussion was fine, and in the end, when there were no people left discussing, he didn't start a new thread about the issue, or go off-topic, but instead posted additional material. It was not a waste of front page space, it was not a discussion killer, it was not off-topic.

I understand that you're upset with Spock for something about the thread, but I can't figure out what it is.
posted by Bugbread at 8:33 PM on March 12, 2005

Gee, squirrel, I'm ever so sorry.

It's always entertaining to pinpoint that exact moment when the poster of a bad Meta callout drops any hope of winning the majority over to his side and just wallows in the bad-boy act instead. And make no mistake, this is a bad Meta callout.
posted by soyjoy at 10:30 PM on March 12, 2005

On the upside, I hadn't seen the thread, and now I'm getting a chance to read it...so that's nice.

And yes, before I get called on it, I know I abuse the ellipsis with wild and passionate abandon. I'm evil that way.
posted by dejah420 at 1:11 AM on March 13, 2005

bugbear -- it was a reaction to a post I didn't like much in the first place rearing it's head late in its life in what I though was just more self-moderating. That's it. No big deal, and, yes, I did not do a good job explicating that in the first place.

It's the rest of the assholes here who seem to really need to work out their deeper personal issues by pretending they're bulldogs with a chew toy that's the only reason this thread has gone on beyond the first person saying "bad callout, dude".

Those of you who seem intent on pushing me toward some sort of flame-out bashfest are going to be sadly disappointed. I have spent the better part of five years here and don't take this very seriously anymore.
posted by briank at 4:32 AM on March 13, 2005

If you're talking about me, I'm not pushing you toward anything but the door, pal. Every time you swing that spatula, you get pie on the curtains. This is a family establishment; please, this way.

it was a reaction to a post I didn't like much in the first place rearing it's head late in its life in what I though was just more self-moderating. That's it.

See, the problem is that most of us just don't care a whit about your dislike of a month-old thread, and resent your use of MetaTalk as your own blog. And we have said as much in an actually rather polite and respectful way, despite your behavior.
posted by squirrel at 5:22 AM on March 13, 2005

I ust reread the thread to see if you had really taken it on the chin in this thread. You haven't.

[spock's] decision to bring it back with an onslaught of additional information whiich mostly boils down to assorted news articles covering the situation is not (in my opnion) worth the space here

This is what's really wierd: this post wasn't even on the front page anymore. You must have folled this thread, that you claimed to hate, for almost a month, and then complained when the poster followed up with comments that were completely on-topic and within the guidelines of the site. Doesn't that strike you as strange, briank? You can't see any reason to balk at this callout?
posted by squirrel at 5:31 AM on March 13, 2005

callout on a month old thread followed by a grammar nazi, happy clappy psychology excuses, bad grace, and a rabid squirrel.

hot dippity shit cakes.

poo poo poo. i poo on this thread. on all of you.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:39 AM on March 13, 2005

This is what's really wierd: this post wasn't even on the front page anymore.

The thread reappeared yesterday with late comments. It has since gone back into the ether. I did not "follow this thread I claim to hate for almost a month." It was this last-minute posting that made me react in a "GYOB" way.

Keep playing with your chew toy, squirrel.
posted by briank at 5:51 AM on March 13, 2005

Threads with 'late comments' do not 'reappear' unless you sort the front page by most recent comments. Since by doing so, it is possible to essentially define 'the front page' as 'any thread that has not been closed,' it's reasonable to suppose that when someone says that a post 'wasn't even on the front page anymore,' by 'the front page' they mean the posts on the page that you get when you type www.metafilter.com into your URL window.

Anyway, you made a bad callout, and everyone will now say whatever they want about you, and you deserve it.
posted by bingo at 6:20 AM on March 13, 2005

So now I'm a bastard because I sort the front page by recent comments? Wow, I am evil.

Here, let's all say it together, ready...1...2...3...

briank made a bad callout and is a poopyhead

Now I need to go and eat some kittens. See you tomorrow.
posted by briank at 6:30 AM on March 13, 2005

dejah420, have you seen this AskMe thread? Also interesting.

So now I'm a bastard because I sort the front page by recent comments?

No, you're a bastard because you don't have the decency to admit that you're hilariously wrong here. Were you not aware what sorting by most recent comments does? If you have an issue with Matt's decision to leave threads open for 30 days, then raise it, but this callout is just dumb.
posted by mediareport at 1:59 PM on March 13, 2005

I'm a bastard because I reacted badly to this post. My Asperger's comment was mainly in defense of why I reacted to it - as this FPP just looks bad - not the grammatical snobbery that followed.

I really need to refrain from posting to MeTa before I fully wake up and have had my coffee.

Anyways, apologies for the crappy response, briank.
posted by loquacious at 3:38 PM on March 13, 2005

I would like to encourage the fear-mongering, if possible. It give good entertainment value, after all.
posted by mwhybark at 6:20 PM on March 13, 2005

As, I hope, do my incessant typos and the immense personal frustration I experience as a result of said typos.
posted by mwhybark at 6:21 PM on March 13, 2005

/me casts fireball at mwhybark.
posted by loquacious at 6:59 PM on March 13, 2005

I feel nawschus and have a slight fever.
posted by Witty at 7:04 AM on March 14, 2005

Been playing around any bird poop recently, Witty?
; )

Spock's my name; Fear-mongering's my game.
</sheesh>
posted by spock at 8:09 AM on March 14, 2005

Wow. Haven't been looking at the grey much lately. Surprised to see myself "called out" here on this one. Appreciate what most have said and have just a couple of points to add:

I thought spock's post was fear-mongering and self-serving when it was made .

"Fear-mongering". Hmmm. Yes, a pandemic and the thought of potentially millions of people dying worldwide as a result is scary. Not as scary (to me) as people putting their heads in the sand and thinking that the very watchdog organization set up to protect the public from this sort of thing is being "alarmist" - but that's just me.

"Self-serving"? That one I don't get at all.

His decision to bring it back. . .

There was no "decision to bring it back" as anyone who views the thread can plainly see. It has been continually updated as developments have warranted.

As to why I have continued to post in the open thread ("link dump"):
1) I believe that this could be one of the most significant news stories of 2005. It isn't going away. The only question is how it is going to develop.
2) If others were considering posting on the subject, I'm hoping that they will do a search and find the previous threads (including this one). I intend to keep it updated until it is closed.
3) For a story such as this, I think that authoritative sources (links) are more educational than uneducated opinion. I've simply been posting to stories that shed more light on the developing subject (including those that might ease concerns - such as that non-symptomatic cases are probably not a danger to spread the disease.
posted by spock at 10:38 AM on March 14, 2005

You did nothing wrong, spock; thanks for the thread. As an American living in Vietnam, I really appreciated your continued contribution to the thread. The information is very important to me. No one here seems to be able to make heads or tails out of this briank character. He's mad about something; who knows what.
posted by squirrel at 9:24 PM on March 14, 2005