# Anyone recall this classified ad from the Times? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 8, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729 "2009-03-08T12:59:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/61 "2009-03-18T16:24:24Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > By artificially I meant that the motive for posting for some of us may, possibly, have been more for sustaining this thread than for discussing a classified ad. 😉 Guilty! I do find **Chez Guevara** ’s > [@](#): > > Allow me to link to this thread which touches upon the views/replies phenomenon in a wider context. Post #6 in turn links to a thread started by Earthling some time back. Earthling, who is surely from another planet, goes into so much detail about thread dynamics that your mind may be irrevocably boggled upon reading it all. to be a fascinating piece of work by **Earthling** and I’m pleased not to be mentioned in any of the lists. It wasn’t from not trying that I failed to do so. But you guys need to step up the pace of your posting here! I’m still way ahead. And the Views count keeps rising with just a few willing to add to the noise. Dada on the half-shell. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/62 "2009-03-29T14:53:36Z")
Just a kick in the horse’s ribs to test it for early stages of death: ========================================== > [@](#): > > #53 03-13-2009, 02:42 PM Zeldar > > Just spotted this and had to post it: > > Anyone recall this classified ad from the Times? ( 1 2) > NineToTheSky Today 10:08 AM > by Zeldar 51 1,000 > Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) > > It happened! ============================================ Just now: Anyone recall this classified ad from the Times? ( 1 2) NineToTheSky 03-18-2009 11:24 AM by Zeldar 60 1,320 Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) ============================================ Also to announce to the casual viewer of this exercise, **Chez Guevara** has made good on the threat upthread: > [@](#): > > I wouldn’t mind seeing a response or two concerning Bulwer Lytton’s play The Lady of Lyons. This is the thread I touted as 0/25 but which has now reached the dizzy heights of 0/27. I choose this topic for two reasons. I had intended to bump this thread on 28 March. This will be the anniversary of its debut in Cafe Society and I wanted to see if anybody would notice it was a year old. > > Also, it would seem there was about as much audience interest in the play as there is in my questionable contributions to these forums. For more amusement, investigate [Edward Bulwer Lytton’s ‘The Lady of Lyons’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=461567&highlight=bulwer+lytton) started by **Chez Guevara**. Most recent post: Today 09:12 AM by Zeldar – with 4 replies and 153 views in Cafe Society at the time of this post. Some things will never die! ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/63 "2009-03-29T14:58:11Z")
As the OP, I do feel an obligation to keep prodding this for any signs of life. I have an uneasy feeling that, in ten years time, \*\*Zeldar \*\*and I will still be playing geriatric tennis with this. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/64 "2009-03-29T15:29:02Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > As the OP, I do feel an obligation to keep prodding this for any signs of life. I have an uneasy feeling that, in ten years time, \*\*Zeldar \*\*and I will still be playing geriatric tennis with this. What would be the pinnacle of irony would be if it were you, **Chez Guevara** and I who were continuing to view the thread (running up the view count) to the exclusion of all others. Face it: there’s no evidence beyond the mounting Views number that anybody else has even seen the goddamn thing! How ridiculous does that make us look? [Wynken, Blynken and Nod!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynken,_Blynken,_and_Nod) ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/65 "2009-03-29T17:01:47Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > I want to put these zero response/low view threads described above into some kind of perspective. I found an OP in ATMB entitled _This is only a Test_. The contents of this OP are exactly ‘testy, test, test.’ No more, no less. A mouseover reveals all. The OP has 0 responses and 45 views at the time of this posting. > > And so, whereas only 26 posters showed any interest in _Looking For US News Video_, 11 checked out _Music credits for TV movie: Jesse Stone: Sea Change_, and 10 were curious about Guadeloupe, a massive 45 posters decided to open [_This is only a Test_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=509415), just in case there was anything else in the OP apart from ‘testy, test, test.’ > > I’ll come back to this subject later. Just in case my two partners in crime thought I’d forgotten about this, I haven’t. The _This is only a Test_ thread is now up to 54 views, a massive 20 percent increase since I last checked. It is highly likely that the last 9 views were accessed via my link above, just to see if I was telling the truth. I resent this slur on my character, and I would like the 9 viewers to come in and explain themselves without further delay. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/66 "2009-03-29T17:37:46Z")
If you’d like some cheap thrills, select the SDMB forum of your choice and go down to the bottom and find/select \*\*\*Display Options Sorted By Number of Views Sort Order Ascending From The Beginning \*\*\* I just did it to this forum with the full intention to copy/paste the first batch with 0 Replies and 1 Views, thinking you have to get charged with 1 View by posting the thread’s OP. But there are _pages_ of threads from the old days that defy logical description! Check it out. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/67 "2009-03-29T17:57:05Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > If you’d like some cheap thrills, select the SDMB forum of your choice and go down to the bottom and find/select > > \*\*\*Display Options > > Sorted By > Number of Views > > Sort Order > Ascending > > From The > Beginning \*\*\* > > I just did it to this forum with the full intention to copy/paste the first batch with 0 Replies and 1 Views, thinking you have to get charged with 1 View by posting the thread’s OP. > > But there are _pages_ of threads from the old days that defy logical description! > > Check it out. I just have. How do they do it? I am \*seething \*with jealousy. (OT: what is the difference between jealousy and envy?) ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/68 "2009-03-29T18:03:49Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > I just have. How do they do it? I am \*seething \*with jealousy. > > (OT: what is the difference between jealousy and envy?) Just my take: _Envy_ is more like covetousness and more often applies to things that others have in the material world. _Jealousy_ is more an emotional reaction to another person’s non-material attributes. In the case of wishing you could have acquired the renown that posters with 0 replies and 1 views have achieved, I’d say it’s a mixed bag of envy and jealousy with a sprinkle of awe and amazement tossed in for good measure. Did you notice almost a full page of the same thread started at least ten times, like a minute apart, by the same poster? Cojones like pool balls! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/69 "2010-02-23T16:24:27Z")
It is with a tear that I select this zombie’s last gasp to be a report that I now have a perfectly innocent thread that has accumulated over 250 views and not the first reply. RIP, thread! A fond farewell to **NineToTheSky** and **Chez Guevara** and the exciting venture into absurdity a year or so ago. Bring on the stake. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/70 "2010-02-23T16:45:27Z")
Ah, this takes me back. Happy days! Bring on the steak. And pie. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/71 "2010-02-23T16:46:57Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Ah, this takes me back. Happy days! > > Bring on the steak. And pie. Great to see you again! Farewell! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2010, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/72 "2010-02-27T14:04:05Z")
Anyone recall this classified ad from the Times? ( 1 2) NineToTheSky 02-23-2010 10:46 AM by Zeldar 70 1,800 Mundane Pointless Stuff I Must Share (MPSIMS) Yo, **Chez Guevara** and **mhendo**! There may still be time! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/73 "2010-03-17T05:16:20Z")
Hope I’m not breaking anything by posting in this thread. I wonder if the reason people didn’t respond was because it looked like a conversation between you three. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/74 "2010-03-17T09:01:35Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Hope I’m not breaking anything by posting in this thread. I wonder if the reason people didn’t respond was because it looked like a conversation between you three. Anyone is more than welcome. As long as you agree to join The Brotherhood Of Zero Views And Posts, and to flagellate yourself with hamster tails when you realise that the goal of The Brotherhood is, by its very nature, unobtainable. Being a masochist helps. You don’t, by any chance, have anything to say about the front page of the Times of May 2nd 1966 (as amended by **mhendo** ), do you? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/75 "2010-03-17T10:56:28Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Hope I’m not breaking anything by posting in this thread. I wonder if the reason people didn’t respond was because it looked like a conversation between you three. That’s only part of the mystery, as I see it. There’s definitely a comversational geekfest about it, but the nature of the conversation itself just may not fascinate that many people to begin with. Obviously we three found it more than simply amusing but an issue of some importance. Cut to its bone it’s all about how so many threads get started that never even approach liftoff. Thousands! Why? Welcome to La-La-Land, **BigT**. Share you thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/76 "2010-03-18T12:22:59Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Anyone is more than welcome. As long as you agree to join The Brotherhood Of Zero Views And Posts, and to flagellate yourself with hamster tails when you realise that the goal of The Brotherhood is, by its very nature, unobtainable. Being a masochist helps. > > You don’t, by any chance, have anything to say about the front page of the Times of May 2nd 1966 (as amended by **mhendo** ), do you? Oh, yeah, there was an original topic, wasn’t there. I forgot. 😛 I’m so young that the idea of a paper with Classified ads on the front page sounds very strange. Even stranger to me is the idea of trying so scrounge up movie sets from any ads. In fact, my first instinct was to assume he was advertising the movie. Oh, and silly me doesn’t really like to even start threads. I was so happy when I got a three-page thread when I asked people about their first computer. But that was a rarity. I tend to wind up trying for the most posts where nobody\* notices me. Most of the people who post as much as I do tend to get talked about. I mean, surely I’ve at least annoyed someone by now. \*Present company excluded, of course. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/77 "2010-03-18T12:25:51Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > That’s only part of the mystery, as I see it. There’s definitely a comversational geekfest about it, but the nature of the conversation itself just may not fascinate that many people to begin with. Obviously we three found it more than simply amusing but an issue of some importance. > > Cut to its bone it’s all about how so many threads get started that never even approach liftoff. Thousands! Why? > > Welcome to La-La-Land, **BigT**. Share you thoughts. I think the geekiness tends a bit younger, actually. I think the average age of this board is at least in the 40s, but this stuff seems closer to stuff I’d see on TVTropes, which has an average around 18 or so. The existential nature of message boards sounds like something I would’ve discussed in college. BTW, I’m the straight forward guy who would just say that it’s inevitable that this sort of thing would happen. We have a pretty large lurker population. And we have a lot of people that tend to think about what they say before they post. And we get a lot of posts. It’s quite easy for a slightly less exciting thread to fall off the radar quickly. Plus, wasn’t this particular thread started about the time of the whole board fiasco that I completely missed? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/78 "2010-03-18T12:52:07Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Plus, wasn’t this particular thread started about the time of the whole board fiasco that I completely missed? Which fiasco? It could be, but I don’t recall. I’d have to check the start date against other things I was doing at the time even to have a clue. As for the teeny-bopper mentality of discussions like this, I’m 68! I try for the Peter Pan/Michael Jackson approach to life, except I like older girls. I’ll let **NineToTheSky** speak for himself, but he’s long since lost his zits, I suspect. Same with **Chez Guevara** and **mhendo**. What’s so cool about this thread is that **Chez Guevara** brought in some fascinating data that addresses some of the issues in **NineToTheSky** ’s thread in ATMB. It starts upthread (can’t see post number at the moment) at 03-17-2009 12:28 PM where **Earthling** ’s work is mentioned, with a link to some bodacious work. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/79 "2010-03-18T13:51:14Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I think the geekiness tends a bit younger, actually. I think the average age of this board is at least in the 40s, but this stuff seems closer to stuff I’d see on TVTropes, which has an average around 18 or so. The existential nature of message boards sounds like something I would’ve discussed in college. > > BTW, I’m the straight forward guy who would just say that it’s inevitable that this sort of thing would happen. We have a pretty large lurker population. And we have a lot of people that tend to think about what they say before they post. And we get a lot of posts. It’s quite easy for a slightly less exciting thread to fall off the radar quickly. > > Plus, wasn’t this particular thread started about the time of the whole board fiasco that I completely missed? It was. You think my timing was accidental? You want zero responses - you gotta have the timing. (Except it didn’t work.) Yes, I lost my zits a long time ago (I’m 58), but the inner geek stills hangs on in there, somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2011, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729/80 "2011-11-27T12:15:56Z")
Dunno if this counts as being ‘in the running’ or not, but I’ve got a thread in MPSIMS with 307 views and 0 replies. 😃 Oops! It seems I may have ‘woke the dead’, so to speak. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-recall-this-classified-ad-from-the-times/488729.md?page=5)