Remember, it’s not condescending when she does it. Foolish children, tut-tut!
If anybody is looking for the shark, it passed by underneath us a few years ago. We made a somewhat leaping motion over it.
t.
I don’t like it when he does it either; however, sometimes when y’all mix it up some stoppage seems to be in order. Again, I don’t agree with that method but ymmv.
I’m more concerned about the idea that every conversation involving a staffer must be ugly “because this is the only Pit we have.” The assumption that staffers are not worthy of basic civility and must be beaten like rented mules in the course of everyday business is greatly disturbing. It was wrong in the Pit and it’s even more so here.
First, being “condescending” is not, to my knowledge, a violation of the rules. If it were, we’d be closing down Cafe Society and Great Debates pronto. Being PERCEIVED as condescending, well, that can happen to someone saying “good morning.”
Second, the original post said it was greasemonkey script, and contained links. Just because he SAID it was a greasemonkey script doesn’t mean that it was – not from a new poster we don’t know who hasn’t asked in advance. Heck, I get emails almost every day from people who say that if I click on their link, I’ll get a zillion dollars from Nigeria. A post that appears like that, out of the blue, we don’t know if it’s spam, viral, or what.
And, not every mod is a computer expert. I certainly do not pretend to have a clue what a greasemonkey script is.
One of our guiding principles is: all mod actions are reversible. It therefore seemed prudent to the mod who first saw this to move it away from public viewing, until it could be studied by those who DO know. Are the links legit and safe? Is it really what it says to be? Does it affect the boards in any other way?
I fail to understand the uproar. I’m not sure what the time frame was, but we’re talking, what, about two hours (from the time it was moved out of sight until the time it was returned to visibility) for us to check it out?
Oh, it’s back? Groovy.
I was kidding earlier, but just to clarify, are you guys saying that posters that have been around here for awhile can post scripts, but newbies can’t? Because that’s what I’m getting from Tuba’s “from people we don’t know” and CK Dexter Haven’s “not from a new poster we don’t know.”
We want to see everything unusual in advance from everyone.
Compare it to another situation where we want to see it in advance of posting – where someone wants to publicize something they’re doing to raise money for some charitable cause. Whether it’s someone who has been with the board a long time or someone brand new, we want to know about it before it’s posted to the board – we vet all such situations. You send us an email, we size up the situation and allow a thread on the subject or not. (Mostly we say yes.) We do this with everyone.
We want to see everything unusual in advance from everyone.
Compare it to another situation where we want to see it in advance of posting – where someone wants to publicize something they’re doing to raise money for some charitable cause. Whether it’s someone who has been with the board a long time or someone brand new, we want to know about it before it’s posted to the board – we vet all such situations. You send us an email, we size up the situation and allow a thread on the subject or not. (Mostly we say yes.) We do this with everyone.
OK. Well, if you want to see it in advance from everyone – which I agree is a reasonable stance – then I don’t understand the commentary above about how this was a script from “someone we don’t know.” If it doesn’t matter, then why make a point of mentioning it?
I might not have disappeared the thread if it was someone I had knowledge of on the board – though, now that I think about it, if it was someone I knew they probably would have known to ask us first so what we said sounds nonsensical.
OP Request
Well, it’s back now. Everybody has vented, from all the way down to me to all the way up to Dex. So please feel free to close this thread, that it might sink away into oblivion and not clutter up page 1 of ATMB.
Thanks,
Lib
Does that mean we can go back to suggesting people use Firefox now?
Now that the thread is back. Could I get a link here please?
I think the suggestion is moronic. I hope the thread is deleted. I get tired of self-appointed Gotcha Police who never let you forget anything you said. Grow up! Let the current comment be the one you respond to, not all prior items taken out of time and context. That stuff is for the nastiest political hacks.
…wrong thread?
Brainiac, it’s not useful to post the same message in two threads. Please do not do this again.
The thread was described as “vanished”, so I posted here. Then it unvanished so that seemed a better place. Now threads are combined, so I think the “problem” is shifting threads.
I think it’s quite right to be cautious. Greasemonkey scripts do have potential for misuse.
I remember reading the above page when I was playing about with Greasemonkey a couple of years ago. You have to be careful with this stuff, and even with plain old JS. The mods were right to close the thread until the pros and cons have been weighed thoroughly.
You fail jurisprudence forever.
What you say is absolutely true. We do have to be careful. We, the membership, I mean. What wierdaaron has done is offer to have his code tested and examined by members with the expertise to see whether his code has security holes. That’s the beauty of it. It’s not just a great idea; it’s something he’s letting us look at from under the hood.
The same kind of caveat emptor advice applies to everyday life, I think. Get a mechanic to look at any used car you want to buy. Hire a plumber to fix the leaky pipe before you flood the kitchen. Let the septic tank guy have a look at whether you’re getting close to the top. We’re doing that here — having a look at whether it’s okay. By open invitation.
Yes, and it’s no worse than my posts I’ve mentioned where I wrote little scripts to solve some particular problem someone was asking about – they have just as much opportunity to be malicious and should be treated with the same amount of caution. No admins or mods have answered my question as to whether I was violating any kind of rule or should have asked permission first. Here is an example. It would be nice to know if I’m expected to stop answering questions in this way.