I’ll just chime in again now and say that, although I consider myself a fairly experienced user of Google, there have been times when DDG has managed to trawl up relevant links that I simply couldn’t find, although I tried very hard indeed.
There’s a bit more to it than simply typing words into a search engine; credit where credit is due.
Actually, the only threat of physical harm I see in this thread is all of those rolling eyes. Falling hazard, you know?
Think for one minute, will you?
Do you honestly believe that I would have even posted about the lack of helpfulness of some of your posts in ATMB if it were my sole opinion?
I’ve been a moderator here for over two years now. There’s plenty of posters who I would gladly tear a new one because I personally think they’re idiots, or they’re disruptive, or they’re impairing the work of the staff to some degree. But you wouldn’t hear me say a word about it on the boards if my fellow moderators and administrators didn’t at least agree with me to some extent. We run this board on concencus, not on personal preferences.
But sure, it’s “my” problem. Whatever.
DDG, that full quote from APB reads:
Not to put words in his mouth, but I interpret this as making a case, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that the testimony has validity. I’m saddened to see you go back there and only snip the portion that makes it look like he acquiesced. At best, he compromised. You make wonderful contributions, but you have let a little trouble accepting criticism snowball into a spectacle of the first magnitude. If you will take some well intentioned advice, step back and cool off until you can look the criticism more objectively.
No, feel perfectly free to use whatever you wish to. I don’t give a damn.
Unfortunatly Squink, that wasn’t researched. That bit of information was told to me by the tour guide I was with at the time. Which I then repeated. Something I do believe I made quite clear in what I said.
Anyway, the fossils in question ARE different. The one I was shown has a much more elongated body. And maybe 2cm of leg join extending from the body.
God forbid that I waste some of DDG’s precious time sharing my STORY with the rest of the class.
As for the rest of your comments 
I happened to have written a rather acceptable paper (at least to my thesis committe for my BA) on deregulation of DNA repair mechanism and somatic hyper mutation. I’ve contributed to one currently published paper in a highly respectable journal, and will most likely have 2 to 4 more comming up this year–hopefully at least one will have my listed as first of second author.
Not even Poly is excepted.
Quick note in re: the last cite about the British Museum. It is obvious that proving or disproving possible urban legends is very difficult. DDG answered authoritatively, yet evidence (whose veracity is actually irrelevant) arose that could dispute such authority. A crude example:
OP: Does gravity exist?
DDG: No, it’s an urban legend.
Poster: Well, if you drop this apple…
DDG: I’m skeptical, I wasn’t there when the universe was created.
Poster: Well, um, I guess the apple doesn’t really prove anything then.
I’m sorry if you feel that I quoted passages out of context. I admit, I skimmed the thread, as time is short and the thread was fairly convoluted. Though I never entered it into “evidence” in the first place, I would be happy to retract it without prejudice.
minty, I have never claimed that DDG was a knuckledragging moron, even if her personal attacks against me are rather baroque. I don’t think she has left in the bowels of GQ some smoking gun, some torrid post in which she prescribes advice that resulted in a doper maiming himself. Consequently when she messes up something here or there, she does not get pitted for it. I’ve only lost my temper with her in GD, not GQ.
What I object to, like I have said several times, is the “no expertise, just google” school of answering questions. If it’s for a trivial factoid, great. She’s willing to do the work, she often gets it right, congratulations. But for more difficult questions, it’s a gamble. If a poster follows her advice, he assumes the risk, not she. If it’s right, wonderful. If not, moral hazard alert.
I suppose it comes down to preference after all. Evidently you don’t think the cites I found in just a few minutes of searching are worth anything. That’s your prerogative. To me, they are a very vaguely disturbing trend. If I found a few dubious cites on the first page of every combination of search terms, who knows what I would find if I had more time to review?
And I guess I just instinctively draw the line when it comes to medical advice in all forms posted on a public message board, even if it’s “take asprin for a light headache.” You think it’s “weak,” I think it’s irresponsible. I’ll be damned if I would give anyone legal advice, even if I had ironclad “proof” from google. It’s a little dangerous and professionally insulting.
I’m a little sorry DDG thinks I am pathetic. She can insult “who I am” or my “wanking” habits until the cows come home, really. The truth is, I almost feel guilty that I can live with myself pretty easily despite it all, and that she, if her posts are evidence of anything, is having a tougher time of it. Fight the good fight, DDG. But please don’t answer any of my queries, if you ever would after this exchange, if your only ally is google.
Please take me at my word, I am not being sarcastic or patronizing. It’s time for me to go home. I would be happy to respond in further detail tomorrow, if this thread is still open. I don’t think I will be able to get back to it tonight.
Maeglin, I’m still seeing no “advice” that is any more inappropriate than “You can get hurt if you take a walk in the middle of the highway.” Her response to the salt/water inquiry was perfectly accurate.
Nevertheless, I think I’m going to bow out of this thing. I have no desire to be an asshole to people on the other side of this issue who I generally like and respect, including you. I think we’ve both made our points here, eh? 
Plus, I’m kind of disturbed by a number of her other comments here. Take a couple deep breaths here, Ducky. Like you say, it’s not worth it.
And Coldfire, do emails from secret supporters count if they’re from moderators? 
Seriously, unless you mean to come down with the weight of the whole administration on the ATMB/FAQ thing, can we just let the other mods you’ve discussed it with speak for themselves? Chilling effect, bro. Especially since (a) more than a few non-mods answer rules questions when they arise, apparently without warning, and (b) once or twice, I’ve seen mods (I recall Gaudere in particular) say that the staff generally apprectiate it when the Dopers help police themselves.
(And that is not to say that DDG still didn’t go overboard in response to your comments. Like I said, deep breaths.)
jarbabyj, thank you for validating my own feelings about Duck Duck Goose’s behavior, I think you were spot on with your criticisms of her.
Google has a wealth of information, but all of the information is not on Google, and I think DDG has a tendency to think that if the info isn’t on Google, it doesn’t exist, which is a very near sighted way of thinking to say the least.
Duck Duck Goose, for the last time, You’re not a moderator!
Other mods may or may not chime in here, I don’t know. I mentioned that I am not the only staff member who’s occasionally annoyed by DDG’s posts in ATMB not to scare her off or give credence to my words, but to diffuse DDG’s persistant idea that this was “my” problem with her. If it was, I would not have posted in this thread - that’s all I’m trying to bring across.
Nowhere in this thread have I warned DDG, restricted her, punished her. I was honestly hoping that some subtle advice might prevent a potential nasty situation further down the line. Now, just how good I am at subtle advice, I’ll leave for you to decide. Evidently, I suck at it.
Furthermore, YES, non-moderators can answer questions in ATMB and we DO appreciate the Dopers policing themselves when it comes to straightforward matters. My advice strictly refers to situations where the answers aren’t so clear-cut.
Bah you don’t need to apologize.
I think this has been addressed. Wake the fuck up.
Imagine there’s no flaming
It’s easy if you try
No overreactions
And everyone has pie
Imagine all the posters
Living for today…
Imagine there’s no snarkiness
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to insult or bitch for
And no FOTH too
Imagine all the poster
Living life in peace…
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the SDMB will be as one
[sub]So lets all just knock this off and have a group hug. I’ve got a decade plus of peace songs to go through, and nobody wants me to continue. Make nice or else[/sub]
While it is true that the impending blindness will eventually shorten the career of the pitcher, the blindness does prepare him for his next vocation, as a Major League Umpire.
But… but… I want my FOTH damn it!
Of course people post here for validation. BUT, saying that greater than 99% of pit threads are nothing more than popularity contests is a blatant falsehood.
Granted, I don’t post on a regular basis but I defy you to find something newer than, oh say, whn I posted about my daughters in MPSIMS ages ago about their hair dying experiences that was a popularity contest.
Also, I absolutely know that you weren’t talking about me per se that was doing so but take a look at the page of pit threads and explain to me how even 75% were and/or are popularity contests.
I, for one, could be considered an easy target with no problem. I happen to agree with quite a few of the more militant posters here no matter if they’re on the left or the right. Does that mean yer gonna pit me?
I, for one, do not post here for validation. Even though I agree with you that a lot of people do so, my life is already validated.
I don’t need validation from a fucking message board. I get it every single day of my life from my wife and kids. The people that actually need validation from posting here seriously should consider getting some mental help as they are not in touch with the real world.
There are those, Xploder, who view this as the real world.
Yep, gotta say that Coldfire’s advice is solid. We really DON’T like people trying to be junior mods in threads. If you see a thread or post that is out of line, the “report” button is available and free to use. And I’d like to note that I really appreciated all the folks who reported trolls, instead of feeding them, in recent threads.
Lynn
Cecil’s own Angel of Death
And to add to and expand upon that, I think of her as almost a research librarian: she may Google, but she knows what keywords to use (not hard, true) but she also sorts and summarizes the data.
Compare her posts Handy’s who often doesn’t even read the actual thread before popping in with the first hit Google gives, relevant or not.
I appreciate the time and energy she puts into her summaries and links and I’m quite happy when DDG posts in my (fairly rare) GQ threads.
Fenris
Dang it Lynn and Coldie, it’s not Junior Mod.
It’s Junior Mod Camper.