# astro, a request: stop copying links from FARK **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 25, 2004, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789 "2004-07-25T12:34:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/21 "2004-07-25T16:09:38Z")
> [@yosemite](#): > > Uh, no. > > That’s bizarre, to think that a collection of _links_ can be plagarism. > > Is it a bit odd to copy so many and then trot over here and post them here? Well, yeah, a _little_ odd, especially so many. And, sure, perhaps it would be better if he said, "I saw this on FARK and . . . " But other than that, I mean, get a grip. They’re _links._ It’s kind of like making a list of your favorite books or something, and then bitching because someone else liked your list of favorite books and used it themselves. Come on. It’s a freakin’ _list_ of _other people’s stuff_?that’s all it is. I _didn’t say it was plagiarism_, for christ’s sake. Did you even read what you quoted? ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/22 "2004-07-25T16:18:46Z")
It isn’t even freakin’ skirting the skirt of the skirt of plagarism. I cannot believe you even tried to associate the word “plagarism” (in even a tenuous way) with someone collecting freakin’ _links_. Is that clearer now? ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/23 "2004-07-25T16:35:19Z")
Isn’t it quite likely that some of the links submitted to FARK have been swiped from other sites and messageboards in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/24 "2004-07-25T16:40:18Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > So if you post a link without attribution, many times, when someone else has done all the work in finding it, submitting it to FARK, FARK mods review it and greenlight it, and it makes it to the front page, where advertisers pay FARK for putting up ads because of that work that goes into finding links, do you not think that’s skirting the skirts of plagiarism? When you have posted similar links many times with attribution? No, not at all. You say “someone else has done all the work in finding it” as if they didn’t just stumble across it, like **astro** did on FARK. What “work” is it that you think the folks who submit the links to FARK do that is so much more that what **astro** did? Do you think they spend hours hand-crafting the URL to FARK’s specifications? No, they just had it emailed to them by a buddy, or saw it on another site, or stumbled over it in a search. They ain’t doing anything that is more work than **astro** seeing it on FARK. It’s nothing that should be mentioned even in the same paragraph as plagiarism. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/25 "2004-07-25T18:18:36Z")
> [@Hamadryad](#): > > Fark discussions are, on the whole, just as intelligent as the ones here […] when it comes to actual discussions. :eek: Are you serious? By “here,” do you just mean the BBQ Pit? Even then, not by a long shot. The Fark demographic is fairly thick with subnormals. Who wants to wade through all that ungrammatical, misspelled, randomly-capitalized, AOLspeek-riddled wank in search of the odd intelligent remark? Myself, I don’t post a lot of “look at this link” threads, but when I do, the links usually come from a blog or news-aggregate site-- usually Obscurestore, b3ta, memepool, The Register, metafilter, and yes, sometimes Fark. If I see something that is worth sharing, and nobody’s talking about here yet, damn straight I’ll start a thread, and feel no guilt. Because I like the folks here better, and would rather relate to them most of the time than the LCD folks you tend to get in most other online forums. I dinna see a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/26 "2004-07-25T18:24:44Z")
> [@yosemite](#): > > It isn’t even freakin’ skirting the skirt of the skirt of plagarism. I cannot believe you even tried to associate the word “plagarism” (in even a tenuous way) with someone collecting freakin’ _links_. Is that clearer now? It’s clear that you latched on to the word plagiarism and neglected everything else I wrote. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/27 "2004-07-25T18:28:02Z")
Wow! I didn’t even realize this was here! Anyway. I post on lots of different things in lots of different forums. I do get a kick out of plucking stuff off of Fark, MSNBC, Drudge, Obscure Store and a host of other sites. I do like Fark because a lot of amusing material gets pushed through it and (like the other sites) I cherry pick this or that item that might be of interest to the teeming millions. I suppose that, as others have noted, I don’t attribute Fark or Drudge or Obscure Store (unless it’s a direct product of the website) as the source, because it’s essentially just a paste up board for amusing and interesting links that often came from other paste up sites. I’m not trying to pass any of this stuff off as my own “work”. Most of the time I’m just essentially saying this might be an amusing or interesting link, or making a comment on the item and the source attribution is obviously identified in the link. As to the “lack of creativity” in these link postings I’m guilty as charged. I’m generally not trying to be “creative” in posting these links. It’s really more of selection of infotainment morsels that might be of interest, and I think they are generally well received, although there might be some degree of deja-vu for people who skim the same post up sites I do. As to “profiting”, I am still waiting for that check from Cecil. However, since this does seem to be a nettlesome burr under your heavily loaded saddle of things to be concerned about, I will make a neighborly effort to ease your concern and attribute a Fark link with “via Fark” in future posts that involve a url via Fark. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/28 "2004-07-25T18:32:52Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > No, not at all. You say “someone else has done all the work in finding it” as if they didn’t just stumble across it, like **astro** did on FARK. What “work” is it that you think the folks who submit the links to FARK do that is so much more that what **astro** did? Do you think they spend hours hand-crafting the URL to FARK’s specifications? No, they just had it emailed to them by a buddy, or saw it on another site, or stumbled over it in a search. They ain’t doing anything that is more work than **astro** seeing it on FARK. It’s nothing that should be mentioned even in the same paragraph as plagiarism. It’s one thing to find an obscure neat site that nearly no one has heard about, submitting it to FARK, and then having it accepted and posted on the main page. It’s another thing to read a nationally recognized site listing a conglomeration of links and then post a link (or many links) to another site as if YOU had found that obscure site in the first place WITHOUT mentioning that you found it on the recognized site. If **astro** was submitting sites that his friend had sent him in an email I wouldn’t have a problem with it! He is taking information from a site and reprinting it without mentioning where he got it! Does it matter that it’s a URL? I don’t really think so! And he’s done it over and over again! ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/29 "2004-07-25T18:34:33Z")
> [@astro](#): > > However, since this does seem to be a nettlesome burr under your heavily loaded saddle of things to be concerned about, I will make a neighborly effort to ease your concern and attribute a Fark link with “via Fark” in future posts that involve a url via Fark. Thanks, **astro** , that’s all I was asking. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/30 "2004-07-25T18:36:17Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > :eek: Are you serious? By “here,” do you just mean the BBQ Pit? Even then, not by a long shot. The Fark demographic is fairly thick with subnormals. Who wants to wade through all that ungrammatical, misspelled, randomly-capitalized, AOLspeek-riddled wank in search of the odd intelligent remark? No kidding. The average BBQ Pit thread is the freaking Algonquin Round Table compared to the average FARK thread. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/31 "2004-07-25T18:39:52Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > No, not at all. You say “someone else has done all the work in finding it” as if they didn’t just stumble across it, like **astro** did on FARK. What “work” is it that you think the folks who submit the links to FARK do that is so much more that what **astro** did? Do you think they spend hours hand-crafting the URL to FARK’s specifications? No, they just had it emailed to them by a buddy, or saw it on another site, or stumbled over it in a search. They ain’t doing anything that is more work than **astro** seeing it on FARK. It’s nothing that should be mentioned even in the same paragraph as plagiarism. Respectfully, I think that this is skirting the issue but missing the point. My sense is that the SDMB becoming a repeater station for Fark simply reflects poorly on us as a community. Sure, I go there and enjoy many of the links that are submitted. If one catches my eye, and raises a topic for debate or ranting I may even bring it up here. The problem, as I see it, is that it is a little sad that _this_ community is relying on that once for source material and not vibrant enough to come up with it on our own. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/32 "2004-07-25T18:51:38Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > The problem, as I see it, is that it is a little sad that _this_ community is relying on that once for source material and not vibrant enough to come up with it on our own. What would constitute the SDMB coming up with material on its own? If I find an interesting news report on [cnn.com](http://cnn.com), vs finding that same report on FARK, is that somehow different? How does that somehow reflect better on me or this board? What’s the difference? How is it not the exact same thing? ---
**Author:** ![Anonymous\_Coward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@Anonymous\_Coward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anonymous_Coward)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/33 "2004-07-25T19:00:09Z")
What I want to know is why **astro** isn’t posting any good “Boobies” links 😕 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/34 "2004-07-25T19:00:39Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > What would constitute the SDMB coming up with material on its own? If I find an interesting news report on [cnn.com](http://cnn.com), vs finding that same report on FARK, is that somehow different? How does that somehow reflect better on me or this board? What’s the difference? How is it not the exact same thing? Granted, it is a subtle thing. In your example, it would seem that you are actively cruising around the web and looking for news that either excites you or in some way you find interesting. You may visit CNN or the BBC or even Fox. The Fark example is a little different. There you have people who have submitted things from sources that interest them to a central repository. I guess that it just seems lazy or something. I am not saying that it in worthy of a pitting, but I can appreciate how it rubs one the wrong way. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/35 "2004-07-25T19:01:00Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > It’s one thing to find an obscure neat site that nearly no one has heard about, submitting it to FARK, and then having it accepted and posted on the main page. It’s another thing to read a nationally recognized site listing a conglomeration of links and then post a link (or many links) to another site as if YOU had found that obscure site in the first place WITHOUT mentioning that you found it on the recognized site. If **astro** was submitting sites that his friend had sent him in an email I wouldn’t have a problem with it! So, you feel there is some kind of skill in finding an obscure site, and you think that **astro** is being deceptive because he/she’s giving the impression that somehow it was found via some kind of internet searching skill that he/she does not have? Is this an accurate understanding of how you feel? ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/36 "2004-07-25T19:05:47Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Granted, it is a subtle thing. In your example, it would seem that you are actively cruising around the web and looking for news that either excites you or in some way you find interesting. You may visit CNN or the BBC or even Fox. > > The Fark example is a little different. There you have people who have submitted things from sources that interest them to a central repository. I guess that it just seems lazy or something. I am not saying that it in worthy of a pitting, but I can appreciate how it rubs one the wrong way. Unless it somehow takes more work to read [cnn.com](http://cnn.com) than [FARK.com](http://FARK.com), I do not understand at all how one can be seen as lazier than the other. It neither worthy of a pitting nor even mentioning, because its EXACTLY the same thing. It’s reading a web page, finding a link one finds interesting, and sharing it with others for their entertainment/edification. It’s doing people a favor, and somehow the OP has twisted that into looking for undeserved recognition. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/37 "2004-07-25T19:06:56Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > I _didn’t say it was plagiarism_, for christ’s sake. Did you even read what you quoted? Nah… the bug that crawled up her ass and died put a stranglehold on her frontal lobe before it expired and thus she just had her medulla to jump to a conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![Binarydrone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Binarydrone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Binarydrone)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/38 "2004-07-25T19:19:37Z")
Revtim, I think that I may be expressing myself poorly. What bothers me a little bit about it has to do with the comparison of the two communities, not the sharing of links in and of itself. It saddens me a bit that our forums are not filled with links that our members have discovered as they surf the web, full of curiosity and wonder. Theirs, as far as I can tell, is. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/39 "2004-07-25T19:29:43Z")
> [@Binarydrone](#): > > Revtim, I think that I may be expressing myself poorly. What bothers me a little bit about it has to do with the comparison of the two communities, not the sharing of links in and of itself. It saddens me a bit that our forums are not filled with links that our members have discovered as they surf the web, full of curiosity and wonder. Theirs, as far as I can tell, is. Wait a sec… no that won’t do… she’d get pissed again… Ah…Here we go! LINKS OF WONDER!!! Behold the [GIANT CLAM - !!](http://www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/Countries/CookIslands/MMR2/Giant-clams.htm) Did you know > [@](#): > > Clams are the largest bivalves in the world. The species Tridacna gigas can weigh up to 250 kilograms and grow as long as one and a half metres. Some species are thought to live for over 100 years. > > In the juvenile stage, giant clams start out as males. At about eight years of age some will mature into females. A few become sequential hermaphrodites, that is they may function as both males and females each spawning season. Hundreds of millions of eggs may be produced by large clams. > > After the eggs hatch, the larvae develop through several stages while drifting in the water column until they settle on the substrate, normally within ten days of being released. The clams attach themselves to the sea floor by sticky strings called byssal threads. Larger species lose this attachment as they grow to adults but remain in place by virtue of the weight of their massive shells and their surroundings. The native rugose clam grows into the coral reef and retains its byssal attachment. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/astro-a-request-stop-copying-links-from-fark/256789/40 "2004-07-25T19:31:42Z")
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