Morse Code forbidden at the SDMB??

The BBQ Pit
#1

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=58551

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=58552

Quite frankly I don’t get it. It took me about 5 seconds to pull up a site (using Google) that let me paste in the morse code and hit a button and have it translated into text. (the text turned out to include the url of the very site I was at to translate it, btw!)

So what the heck? I just don’t understand. Eutychus said he spent “a half an hour” on it… well… how is that anyone’s fault but Euty’s? It took me 5 seconds. There was nothing objectionable in the post, and it was sort of fun to find a way to decode it.

Did it just not occur to Euty to look for an automatic translator utility? And how is that the fault of the OP if so?

#2
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#3

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#4

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#5
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#6

While we’re asking questions, one might also ask “Why would one make a post on the SDMB in morse code?”

First of all, as you can see, it’s a profound abuse of bandwith. You’re using three to four times the post size you’d normally need to post. I don’t feel that the transient thrill of decoding morse code is worth allowing post after post of dots and dashes.

Second, we’ve closed threads with frustratingly arcane OPs before. Euty was kind. I probably would have closed it without even attempting to decode it. There is a point where “pointless” becomes “annoyingly insular”.

Third, people constantly try to slip posts in that we don’t allow into this MB. Some people try to spam us by posting things that on a first glance seem legitimate (Immortality by way of bracelets, anyone?). So you’ll pardon us if we get defensive when we see a post written in code.

Maybe I’m just speaking as someone who doesn’t post to the SDMB (or log on the internet at all) to bask in a “community”, but I really don’t see how closing that thread is a big deal. Besides, Bawdy seems to have accepted Euty’s decision.

I would ask that out of respect for the moderators that you not make further posts in morse code. I don’t wanna get an email from a member complaining how she got called a "-.-. …- -. - " because I wasn’t wasting my time decoding every damn post.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

[Edited by Alphagene on 02-04-2001 at 03:52 PM]

#7

Aside from the fact that admins and mods are the law around here - I do agree with Alphagene. The boards are slow enough at times, and it can be a pain flicking from posts to translation screens.

Maybe we should keep it to e-mails?

#8

Sure, we can’t post in Morse Code, but what about runes? Or smoke signals? Or sign language? Oh! Oh! Let’s all start speaking in Klingon!

#9

Aw Alpha, whyja haveta spoil all the fun?

#10

We should also refrain from posting telepathically. Skeptical moderators find it to be a burden to moderate these.

#11

Perhaps this complaint would have more merit if the offended party(s) themselves had decided to complain.

There are a million ways to cause trouble and headaches for the Mods here at the SDMB - this is but one of them. Maybe if the first thread had had a detailed explanation in the OP as to what was going on, it would have been much more acceptable, yes?

#12

I can’t say much more than what has already been said here except to say that as readers, you have the luxury of picking and choosing which threads and which posts you choose to read. If you see something written in morse code, greek, or ubba-dubba, you can just say “Screw it.” We don’t have that luxury. We have to inspect each and every post and if it’s written in a different language, we have to translate it. And as has been shown in this thread alone, give people an inch and they’ll take a mile. Now, the moderators of this forum have to take the time to translate different posts in order to validate them.

As I said in the previous thread, we just don’t have the time for it. I can’t spend the time going through hundreds of threads each day with a translator. And with some of the clowns we have here, don’t think for a minute that it won’t happen.

#13

Alphagene:

How is this worse than people who quote entire posts to respond to one line?

Or people who attach a 25 line sig to every single post even if its only a few words?? Sometimes many times in a single thread! Isnt this a “profound abuse of bandwith”?

I dont get it.

I can see Euty’s point, he doesnt want to be bothered translating. Makes sense. But what if we wanted to do a french thread, or spanish or whatever… is that not allowed now? I think it was done a long time ago…

#14

Kelli, it’s not like the issues you raise are new. There was an entire thread two weeks ago about long sigs, how many times per thread to use them, et cetera. Also, the quoting issue has been discussed numerous times.

Short answer: it’s all a waste of bandwith.

Long one: as long as there are no official guideluines for this, moderators make decicions per instance, and the board administration relies on the common sense of the posting members.

When there’s no precedent (like an MPSIMS thread in morse code :rolleyes: ), it’s an individual judgement call.

I didn’t understand the thread at hand, but I have even more trouble understanding why a Pit thread should be devoted to the fact that Euty closed it. Talk about wasting bandwith.

#15

Maybe I just wanted to know the answer to my question, which was IMO a legitimate one. :rolleyes:

Maybe since it didn’t concern you at all, your post in this thread has no merit. No? What? You mean we can post about things that don’t directly concern us? Gee I had no idea.

#16

Because this is the only place we’re allowed to ask questions about why moderators did something. I didn’t understand the reason the thread was closed. I wanted clarification. Complaining about my curiosity is just as much (if not more) a waste of bandwidth. Actually most of what most of the people on this site post is a waste of bandwidth, if you really want to get down to it. If saving bandwidth was such an issue, perhaps they should just close the message board part of this site.

#17

Yes, your question was perfectly legitimate. And stop rolling your eyes at me. What about my point? Please tell me what is factually incorrect about the following:

Well? What is factually incorrect about that point? Please, educate me.

Who said “no merit”? You did. Kindly re-read.

What about my second point? Must every thread OP be an obfuscated mess for the Mods to figure out on their own time?

Please, for the sake of the Goddess - get out of your martyr complex. Stop assuming that each post I make has some hidden attack against you. I don’t believe I’ve made a single one attacking you - the worst I did was chide you for not answering people sometimes. Big deal.

Read what I wrote, or ask. It’s simple. Believe me, when I attack you, by the Goddess you will know it.

But I have no reason to have anything but courteous respect for you. Until now. Your next post will either change that forever, or reinforce it. Read what I’m saying here, and think about it.

#18

I don’t usually get into this kind of discussion, but can’t we give the phrase “waste of bandwidth” a rest already? Especially in MSPIMS, every damn thread is a “waste of bandwidth.” Besides, it’s an outdated phrase–back when UseNet was popular and modems were really slow, bandwidth was a real issue. Nowadays, it’s only going to take a few milliseconds to download any thread, and, with old threads being deleted, it’s not even a database issue. Even with the posts in the Morse Code thread being “four times as large” as posts in English, that thread would never use up as much bandwidth as the squillions of various “Which SDMB’er is the cutest?” threads that run to hundreds of replies.

I was on UseNet long enough to know that the attack “waste of bandwidth” really means “I don’t like your post.” Let’s not beat around the bush here.

#19

Don’t be dramatic. We’re not completely anal about bandwith, Opal. If we were MPSIMS and the Pit wouldn’t exist. But the fact that we’re not terribly strict doesn’t give someone the license to chew up bandwith just for the hell of it. There is a middle ground, and I think most posters here are intelligent and respectful enough to find it.

If mind-numbingly mundane posts really mean a lot to you, perhaps you’d be served finding an internet message board that is designed for that sort of thing. I can probably think of a half a dozen of the top of my pretty little head. The SDMB shouldn’t be considered one of them. The mundane aspect of it is really just an afterthought. Or call up your real-life friends and start speaking only in dots and dashes. I’m sure they’ll love it.

Honestly, I fail to even see why we should allow threads written in morse code, much less get worked up over its closure. Are some of you that bored with your life?

[Edited by Alphagene on 02-04-2001 at 10:51 PM]

#20

That’s not terribly accurate in this case, Duke. We do have a lot of traffic on this MB. And contrary to what a handful of disgruntled posters might tell you, we don’t close threads merely because we “don’t like them”.

Look people, MPSIMS is overflowing with mundane posts, so much so that three mods can barely keep up. So you’ll pardon me if I find it ridiculous that the closing of one thread is followed by accusations that we are too strict. 405235 posts in 19809 threads strongly suggest the opposite.

We’re not burning the library at Alexandria, we’re closing a thread written in dots and dashes. Crack a window and take a breath.

Sheesh.