# I made a SDMB-improving Greasemonkey script. Looking for feedback/beta testers **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 14, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973 "2009-09-14T00:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/41 "2009-09-14T17:53:38Z")
I’d like to get some feedback on this: Regarding the “flag this user’s posts” feature, I plan to add a color selector so that you can flag several people with different colors to track the back-and-forth within a tread. I was thinking, though, that people might like to flag people on a semi-permanent basis, rather than just on a single-page basis. Like make it so a few people’s posts are always flagged red, a few always green, so you can spot some friends/enemies’ posts wherever they may be. The problem is, I can’t think of a clear way to differentiate between “flag only on this page” and “flag always”, so the easiest would be to just make the flag button always be “always.” Would you want this, or would you prefer for it to be on a page-by-page basis? (I’ll be adding an “unflag” button as well, naturally) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/42 "2009-09-14T18:03:09Z")
@ wierdaaron Thanks for explaining that. The implication of familiarity was a bit… well, disturbing. Regarding the atheist atom symbol, I can see where your concern about the unnecessary (and frankly stupid) rivalry between faith and science comes in. But the reasoning behind the officlal symbol is simply that atheists are, by definition, materialists. And the atom symbol is a pretty good representation of a materialist philosophy. Maybe for scientists like physicists, you could use a beaker. For pseudo-sciences, like biology, you could use a mortar board. For lawyers, the scales of justice. For musicians, an eighth note. Etc. Hope those ideas help. Oh, and for philosophers: a raving lunatic. “All are lunatics, but he who can analyze his delusion is called a philosopher.” Ambrose Bierce ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/43 "2009-09-14T18:05:18Z")
This is a fantastic idea. I would say the flag posts function you asked about should be on an everything basis by default if you can always unflag quickly. Sending a PM to help test this. The flagging posts thing would be great for mafia games. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/44 "2009-09-14T18:28:29Z")
I love it!! It’s fantastic. Sign me up! (I will send you a PM) ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/45 "2009-09-14T18:52:14Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > @ wierdaaron > > Maybe for scientists like physicists, you could use a beaker. For pseudo-sciences, like biology, you could use a mortar board. I’m really hoping this a joke I don’t get… ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/46 "2009-09-14T19:10:03Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I’m really hoping this a joke I don’t get… I chose to just glide right past it. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/47 "2009-09-14T20:12:11Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I’m really hoping this a joke I don’t get… I’m sorry, but you have me at a disadvantage. Was it the beaker? The mortar board? Wait, wait, wait… no. It’s the “pseudo-science”, isn’t it. Please let me plead my case. (I reckon that’s what wierdaaron chose to “glide right past” as well.) First, let me state that I have no disrespect for biology or biologists. Neither do I disrespect economists, nor psychologists. I simply use rigorous Popperian criteria for distinguishing between science and pseudo-science — like economics and psychology. (If you’re willing to read a brief, excellent exerpt from an essay by Popper, please see [Science as Falsification](http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/popper_falsification.html). You will be edified, I promise.) Meanwhile, biology specifically, as “the study of life”, is unable even to define that which it studies, and especially moreso when it concerns life that might be extra-terrestrial. See SETI’s [The Meaning of Life](http://www.space.com/searchforlife/seti_shostak_020829.html). Even defining life on earth itself is problematic, and you can get almost as many definitions as you can sources. That is not to say that each and every aspect of biology is nonpredictive or undefined, but by its very nature, natural selection and the process of evolution actually _preclude_ the ability to make certain predictions. (One cannot, for example, predict how the evolution of homo sapiens will proceed.) That is not a ding against evolutionary theory (which I embrace). It’s just a fact. Apologies for any unintended offense. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/48 "2009-09-14T20:45:08Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > I PM’d you to sign up. > [@Chronos](#): > > [snip] Guys! Guys! I just found out that **Chronos** is “religious”! ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/49 "2009-09-14T20:57:47Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > Guys! Guys! I just found out that **Chronos** is “religious”! Hate to burst your bubble, but that’s pretty common knowledge. Many physicists (especially cosmologists) are “religious”. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/50 "2009-09-14T21:00:24Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Yeah. Only potential problem is that the process for adding an image is kind of arduous as it is now. To maintain a level of ease where anybody could be expected to maintain their own database, they’d probably have to continue to draw from the “centralized” database of images. > > Perhaps it’d be better if people could maintain their own database of _notes_ about people, like “he’s the one who thinks tomatoes are vegetables” or “met the president” or “Battlestar Galactica fan.” Since that’d be simply a more advanced form of keeping a notebook, compared to the badge thing which instantly strikes some people as being “branded”, it would go over better. > > This would be in addition to the central database of badges. Everybody sees the same badges, but you only see your own notes. Or a few people could share the same notes db if they wanted. Then come the cliques. This is, in my opinion, the perfect compromise. Go with this. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/51 "2009-09-14T21:36:17Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > Yeah, the pink unicorn is sort of the same as FSM, except I think FSM might be less insulting than FSM, since… I don’t even know. I’ve been on both sides of the religious/atheist debate, and I still don’t fully appreciate or understand it. This is why I went with the pre-existing atheist symbol, even though I don’t like it, so I wouldn’t have to take the rap for editorializing with the icon choice. > > And re: your name, I think when I first showed up here I found you agreeing with me a lot, or vice versa, so I was kind of following your adventures, and then somebody linked to an old pit about you from a few years back where you were referred to as “Libertarian” and I eventually realized you must have gone through a butterfly-esq metamorphasis at some unspecific point. What about a picture of Zeus in a slashed out circle? Seems like it wouldn’t be offensive to anyone, and seems like it’d be indicative of their beliefs. With Zeus being the token god. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/52 "2009-09-14T21:42:28Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > What about a picture of Zeus in a slashed out circle? Seems like it wouldn’t be offensive to anyone, and seems like it’d be indicative of their beliefs. With Zeus being the token god. That could be read as “Doesn’t like greco-roman mythology” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/53 "2009-09-14T22:09:58Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > That could be read as “Doesn’t like greco-roman mythology” Okay so the word god (in generic lowercase which shouldn’t be offensive to anyone) instead of Zeus. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/54 "2009-09-14T22:19:50Z")
Since atheists typically describe themselves as lacking belief in God (as opposed to having a belief in NoGod), perhaps something that is empty. Just a square black icon. No color. No belief. And voila! ETA: Agnostics could be gray. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/55 "2009-09-14T22:24:29Z")
> [@wierdaaron](#): > > That could be read as “Doesn’t like greco-roman mythology” First, well done with all the work you did! I think it’s great. I do think you need a better Atheist symbol as well. The Zeus thing is okay, but wouldn’t it be better to have maybe just blue sky and clouds, trying to show the _absence of belief_ in anything, as opposed the the belief being opposed to god(s)? Also, “lawyer” is another good category. Perhaps the scales of justice. Some suggestions for the doctors: a syringe, a prescription bottle, the caduceus (already mentioned). On the other hand, maybe professions is too much info. If you have too many of those icons it could start to turn into a mess. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/56 "2009-09-14T22:25:29Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Since atheists typically describe themselves as lacking belief in God (as opposed to having a belief in NoGod), perhaps something that is empty. Just a square black icon. No color. No belief. And voila! > > ETA: Agnostics could be gray. We were on the same wavelength. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/57 "2009-09-14T23:26:11Z")
What about all of us Jewish atheists??? It’s so odd yo me to need a symbol for the things I \* don’t \* believe in… ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/58 "2009-09-15T00:01:54Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > We were on the same wavelength. Yeah. See, that’s part of the greatness of the Dope. People like me learn things about people like you. (If you’re a theist, forgive me, but please allow the point notwithstanding.) I learned a lot about atheism that even reading atheist philosophers never revealed. ETA: The problem is that there has been a lack of great modern essentialists. Alvin Plantinga. Maybe Hartshorne. Godel, if we stretch it. And that’s all of them, I think. Even though I’m vehemently anti-existentialist, I feel like existentialism is fading away, and the world is not the better for it. The problem never was that there was a deficit of extremely high quality existentialist philosophers (like Daniel Dennett), for example. But unfortunately, there are also some materialist nutjobs out there, (like Richard Dawkins), about whom I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he’s the inspiration for Dennett’s famous, “There is nothing I like less than bad arguments for views that I hold dear.” I do sometimes wish we (the Dope) could return to our Golden Age. ---
**Author:** ![wierdaaron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eada6e/32.png) [@wierdaaron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wierdaaron)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/59 "2009-09-15T00:18:09Z")
I can’t even count how many new -ist and -ism words I’ve learned since I came here. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973/60 "2009-09-15T00:26:08Z")
Can you make the word “atheist” itself? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-made-a-sdmb-improving-greasemonkey-script-looking-for-feedback-beta-testers/509973.md?page=4)