Moderator

The BBQ Pit
81

Okay xan. You’re right, to a point. As a new person, perhaps you deserve a lot more slack than you’ve been given.

Here is why (I think) people jumped on you.

First: You were a new person criticizing moderator actions. As a new person, I don’t think you probably grasp all the nuances of why moderators make certain decisions. There are plenty of old-timers who gripe about the mods, but that’s based on being here a long time and seeing patterns or shifts that they don’t like or think are fair. I’m not one of them, but those folk do exist. It’s not that moderator-related griping is taboo, but it’s certainly the case that we feel protective and offended when someone new starts criticizing them. They put in mucho hours with little thanks, making this place work for us.

Second: You came off–perhaps inadvertently-- a little extreme in your use of terms such as “stalinist” and “free speech.” This is clearly not a free speech issue, and context or not this doesn’t rise to the level of anything Stalinist. You weren’t banned–you simply had a thread closed. I would also wager that those terms push some buttons around here because they’ve been used recently in regard to other board events. As the thread continued, it did seem a little martyrish, even if that wasn’t what you intended.

Third: In the pit, people take off the white gloves. People here are habitually ruder and more sarcastic here than anywhere else. I’d never call Ender a mammalian-centric bastard in any other forum, for example. Heck, I like the guy!

I think a lot of people, when learning the ropes and mores or the board, hang back and try to learn. Maybe they misstep and use the wrong word or the wrong forum or even have a thread closed. It’s best to just grumble quietly to oneself, file it away as a lesson learned, and post a little more cautiously for a while. Heck, I’m still learning. I’m not saying you should grovel. I’m just saying as a newer poster you were probably a little quick to cry “foul.”

You made a little mistake, you compounded it by griping in the pit, and made it worse by lashing back when insulted. It’s an understandable sequence of events, but perhaps a little impolitic.

Does that make sense?

82

One more point, while Im here.

If I use capitals it is because I wish to emphasise certain portions of my paragraph.

Emphasis is a perfectly valid part of the English language.

IF I were writing this as a letter I would use italics or underlining to emphasise those sentences I felt required emphasis.

Unfortunately, unlike many other people here, I have no real IT skills therefore I do not know how to make my writing small or a different colour or whatever. But I refuse to be discriminated against because of my state of knowledge regarding IT.

The only way I know how to express emphasis on this forum is by using capitals. Therefore if I wish to express emphasis I will use capitals.

Why should I be at a disadvantage compared to someone who knows how to do fancy internet writing.

Thank you for the link to Jester’s post but when I need advice from a teenager on how to use English (and an American one at that), I’ll let you know.

83

The vB codes used on this board are explained here. There’s also a link to that page at the bottom of your screen.

84

I shall now refer to you as MOTO. That stands for Master of the Obvious. Your pathetic behavior and even lamer posts here have shown you to be quite new. Now, for the many other newcomers here, please don’t think I consider MOTO’s actions to be at all representative of y’all as a group. There are those who are new (the many other newcomers) and then there are those who are new and stupid (MOTO).

First: Had you taken the general net advice of lurking before posting, you would no doubt have noticed a thread in the pit concerning placing words in quotes when that’s not needed.

Second: The general mob did not deem you to be troll-like. By your own admission. You did. Above. See? (Sorry folks, I really had to pare the number of syllables for MOTO’s benefit.)

No mistake at all. Apparently, you headed here by the cattle chute working properly.

Ever hear of e-mail, MOTO?

Then this should be a lesson to you to not post on a (semi-)public board that which should’ve been discussed in e-mail.

“One” does not constitute “a lot.” (Notice that this is a correct usage of the quotation marks.) You are the only one evident in this thread who misunderstood the remark. Sadly, you are also the only one in the thread to have made the remark.

{BITCH SLAP[sup]5000[/sup][sub]Dang, my arm’s tired![/sub]} It was not. This has been explained to you already.

That is equivlant, you moron, MOTO. If you’re not suggesting it, don’t make the suggestion. Simple, hey?

Then quit bitching about them rules. If you don’t want to abide by same, leave.

Apparently not. After all, had you lurked prior to blathering, er, posting, you would have noticed that pissing off the mods is quite conducive to getting banned.

Get back to us after you quit contradicting yourself, okay.

See my last comment just above.

Hint to MOTO: The probability of kissing up after pissing off failing is approximately 100%, give or take 0%.

We’re not supposed to be; we are. You on the other hand aren’t really that much of a master of the obvious.

I could’ve sworn school had already started up. Why the dickens aren’t you paying attention to your 3rd grade teacher? Or is it 2nd?

p.s. The mere fact that you do not have to pay to use this site does not, in any way whatsoever, imply that the site is not private property. The site rules are the constitution of the site. Your only two options are to abide by the rules or leave.

85

Alrighty…the backhanded insult about me being a kid is really helping me like you. Really.

Look, assfuck, this is what I got from your post:

“Wah wah. I don’t want to take the time to learn what could possibly one of the simplest methods of emphasis ever invented, because you are all not my time. Therefore I will just MAKE IT LOOK LIKE I’M YELLING, SINCE CAPITALIZATION IS USUALLY USED TO IMPLY SUCH AN ACT.”

Here’s a free lesson, on the house, if you aren’t intimidated that a lowly American teenager knows code better than you.

To italicize, simply write: {i}Word{/i} (Except replace the {}'s with 's). It’s just that simple. At the bottom of your page, there should be a link that says “vB” code, which will provide a handy-dandy lesson for how to do other more advanced coding. For the time being, however, don’t use all caps. It makes you come across as hostile (imagine that), and implies that you don’t feel like wasting the time to make your posts come across correctly.

86

Interesting typo. What I meant, of course, was “you are all not WORTH my time.”

Though I guess it still made about as much sense as the rest of our little friend’s posts.

87

You really can’t be bothered to learn about the board you’re posting to, can you? Click the reply button. When the screen comes up, look at the top of the screen where there is some fine print. The last fine print topic at the top says Posts and there is a link to how to use vB code. It’s also at the bottom of your screen.
**

Ah, more martyr speak. This shit never gets old.

**

As I have already pointed out, you aren’t as a disadvantage, as the ability to learn it is at your fingertips and has been with each post.

**

Says the guy who until recently couldn’t find the apostrophe on his keyboard if it was shaped like a vagina and screamed “touch me, touch me” every time it was needed.

First, Jester’s thread wasn’t an English lesson, it was how to get along on these boards, regardless of one’s age. Go back and try reading the thread.
Second, I don’t see the connection between being American and knowing or not knowing how to speak proper English. I suggest you don’t start making sweeping generalizations about an entire country, even something as mundane as that. You don’t want to give people another reason to jump on you.

88

“proper english” should be “speak english properly” sorry couldn’t resist.

And Jester, thanks for the advice, I checked it out but it would appear to be a lot of hassle typing all that shit in dont you think? Capitals are so much easier and, when alls said and done, they have the same effect in the end, wouldn’t you agree?

Until they put a button on my keyboard that says “italics”, I think its easier (ie it involves pressing fewer keys) to just go with capitals.

And to Hell with convention.

89

xanakis,

You’re only 23 posts into this board. You made one mistake, really. You started a thread that the moderators didn’t like. Starting this thread wasn’t a mistake as long as you can learn from it. You’re not doing a good job so far, but I have faith.

So you made one mistake. And you’ve spent nearly all of your remaining posts trying to defend your actions. Instead of taking the time to read anything that anybody has written, you’re still trying to defend yourself.

It won’t work. You cannot defend yourself. In a fight against the moderators, the moderators will win every time.

Read that again. Now, read those three sentences again. Now, read them again. Ingrain them within your memory.

Here’s why you cannot win. It has nothing to do with how we feel about you. None. We can yell and bitch about what a troll you’re being or what a saint you are and it won’t make a lick of difference. The moderators are the law. THE LAW. They decide what goes. And if you keep on pissing them off, you’ll be what goes. There’s no appellate court. There’s no Governor to pardon you. There is no Bill of Rights. They kick you out and you’re out.

They don’t give a shit about semantics. They don’t give a shit about rationalizations. They can kick people out for any reason they see fit, even if YOU don’t think it’s fair. This isn’t a free country. You aren’t in America. You’re in the land of the SDMB and only certain members get to wear the badge.

I don’t know how many ways I can explain it to you or in how many different ways I must phrase it. But I hope you’ve read and understood.

So I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. Welcome to the SDMB. Enjoy your stay. Have fun. Don’t experiment on us. I’m still afraid of rabbits from the last experiment.

Cranky, if I don’t support mammals it’ll just be mass hysteria, anarchy, and Land of the Lost around here. I only have your safety in mind here.

90

No, it doesn’t accomplish the same thing. italics for emphasis, CAPS for YELLING. They have two fairly distinct meanings. Therefore, it is quite “worth the hassle”.

And that, grasshopper, is why you fail…

91

What do you expect: I’m American.

92

No, it is not a hassle, you cock-a-mamy [sub]so-and-so[/sub].

(In other words… a little effort goes a long way towards making your words clear.)

93

Yes, xanakis, but by properly using vB codes, you can precisely control how much emphasis you place on particular words, as in:

See? And then, if you really need to yell at somebody, you can call in the big guns:

LEARN TO FORMAT YOUR MESSAGES PROPERLY AND LEARN WHAT SORTS OF POSTS GO IN WHAT FORUMS OR GO AWAY!!!

You know, you don’t have to punch any keys on your keyboard at all.

:wally
P.S. And learn what a “Stalinist” is. Since you’re so fond of the dictionary definitions of words:

To which I would add that Stalinists are right up there with Nazis in the categories of oppression and mass murder. Unless they actually have you taken out and shot, or at the very least sent to the gulag for a few years, there’s practically no circumstance under which the moderators of a message board can properly be called “Stalinist”.

94

You’re boring, xanakis.

No wonder people hate newbies. Jackass.

95

I have a few words of advice for xanakis. Don’t come back to this thread. No good can come of it.

Run, run new guy xanakis, run!

I’m not kidding.

96

I read the boards frequently. If you take a look at my registration date and my post count, you’ll notice that I am not a very active poster. The reasons for that are multiple. I have, however, had some very positive interaction on this message board. I asked a related question in the middle of a GQ thread, and quickly got a thorough answer. I started a thread in IMHO when I needed some help, and got some very thoughtful input. I have provided some information and had some fun in other threads. This positive interaction came from following the cardinal SDMB rule:

Don’t be a jerk!

What constitutes being a jerk may seem like an elusive concept, but it really isn’t that hard to grasp. “Experimenting” like you tried to is being a jerk; asking for opinions or starting a debate on the topic is not being a jerk. Saying “It’s too much trouble to learn, I’ll keep doing it my way” is being a jerk; saying “thanks for the information/link, I’ll give it a try” and then actually giving it a try is not being a jerk.

Honestly, try the Don’t be a jerk thing for a couple of days and see what kind of response you get. Go to IMHO and give an opinion. See if there’s any knowledge you can share in GQ. Give the vB coding a shot (it’s not that bad – if I can do it, so can you. Trust me.) I think you’ll get a much friendlier reception.

97

Hi xanakis, welcome to the boards.

No, the SDMB, doesn’t have a troll section or forum, trolls just seem to pop up everywhere.

However, if acts like a duck, walks like a duck, talks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.

Maybe if you didn’t quack so loud, or do quack experiments on the teeming millions, people might not think you’re a duck.

[sub]the preceding message was brought to you by newbierulz, because when you’re a newbie, you shouldn’t act like a jerk[/sub]

[sub]we now return you to your regularly scheduled program, already in progress[/sub]

98

All I know is, I took the time to post nicely in the midst of flameage (albeit fairly mild flameage, for the pit) and I didn’t get my ass kissed.

I’m only nice for the glory that comes with it. Damnit, I want my ass kissed! My hairy, pimpled, cellulite-ridden ass deserves a big smooch!

99

Here is some friendly advice. If you don’t like it here…GO AWAY. Find another message board that actually enjoys trolls and your little “experiments”. OR what you could do, is actually listen to what everyone here has been telling you and change. I know its hard but it is possible.

So try it, shut up or get out…its gotten old.:slight_smile:

100

ok, ok can we all consider this thread closed, please?

I called the moderator Stalinist, I accept I was probably wrong (although Ive yet to see any hard evidence one way or the other).

I in no way wish to come across as a jerk, I like to ask questions in order to search for truth.

Sometimes these questions are whacky, sometimes they are sensible. But when I pose the question they are ALWAYS from an “educated guess” standpoint rather than a “troll” standpoint.

I am not a troll. The difference between me and a troll is that I am not here to cause trouble, I am here to discuss, what seem to me, valid topics of conversation.

Agree with me or not, fine - I dont care.

But argue with what I actually say rather than attempt some half-ass amateur psychological assessment of my personality.

If it will please you, I apologise for my original post “porn”, on the grounds that I breached the rules in posting the title as one thing and then posting about a different subject altogether.

But hey, I think I may have been a bit drunk that night, we all make mistakes.

Anyway I promise I wont criticise your stalini… ooops sorry, your Board Rules again.

OK already.
Thank you.