# Re: Regards, Shodan **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 27, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699 "2008-11-27T14:00:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/1 "2008-11-27T14:00:29Z")
Not sure if this should go in ATMB (or maybe the Pit), but I will kick it off since it is a solicitation of opinion. There was a recent discussion (I can dig up a link if anyone needs it) about my usual way of signing my posts. It apparently annoys some people to see those extra lines of text. I was a little surprised by this. It seems like a small thing. It was suggested, and I agreed, that I should include the text in a signature, and then those who did not want to see those extra lines of text could turn signatures off. Well and good. However, I am informed by a mod that one is expected to use sigs only once per thread. Apparently there is extra overhead involved in looking it up and adding it each time. Heaven knows I don’t want to burden the server. But I like using the sign off. And I would like to include it in my posts. I sign all my correspondence that way, I have been doing it for a long time, and I like it. I am not doing it to piss anyone off. OTOH, it seems rather petty to hear complaints about two lines of text, especially (in some cases) from people who I suspect aren’t reading the whole post anyway. So, if anyone would like to offer any opinion Yea or Nay, please have at it. I am not necessarily committing to being bound by the results, but if anyone has good reasons I am open to being convinced. ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/2 "2008-11-27T14:05:04Z")
It is petty. I say go ahead with the small signature. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/3 "2008-11-27T14:06:08Z")
Self-indulgent, insincere bullcrap. You have about much regards for most people here as they do for their dingleberries. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/4 "2008-11-27T14:06:43Z")
I like your sig. I don’t understand the uproar against your individuality (as far as sigs go - your opinions on the other hand…) Thumb up. Or yes. or yup. Or Yea. (I’m down with the sig) ---
**Author:** ![mshar253](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@mshar253](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mshar253)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/5 "2008-11-27T14:13:48Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It apparently annoys some people to see those extra lines of text. I was a little surprised by this. It seems like a small thing. I’m surprised that you claim to have been surprised by this. Wasn’t a big stink made about this a month ago? That being said, I think it’s _lame,_ but certainly within your rights. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/6 "2008-11-27T14:18:16Z")
I’m supposed to be turning my sig on and off? I had no idea. As for people who have a standard sign off, it feels kind’a weird to see something like “Love, Posterwhoalwayssignslove.” in a deadly argument in GD (where “don’t hurl insults” doesn’t necessarily mean knifes won’t fly) or in a four-letter-fest in the Pit. But a “Regards”? That’s about as neutral as a signature can get. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/7 "2008-11-27T14:19:49Z")
I think it’s a little annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/8 "2008-11-27T14:21:32Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Self-indulgent, insincere bullcrap. You have about much regards for most people here as they do for their dingleberries. [Moderator finger-wagging]This is IMHO, not The BBQ Pit-you know better.[/Moderator finger-wagging] ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/9 "2008-11-27T14:28:17Z")
One should change a habit that is unnecessarily annoying to others, for example snapping one’s chewing gum in an office environment. Short of that, one has the right to be an individual with one’s own preferences, habits, and even eccentricities. Cut out the snarky one-liners and speak your mind instead; they’re genuinely annoying, and you may convince someone to agree with you (you and **Bricker** have changed my mind on minor issues at least twice). Keep the signature; it’s a part of who you are. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/10 "2008-11-27T14:29:05Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I sign all my correspondence that way, I have been doing it for a long time, and I like it. But this isn’t correspondence-this is ongoing conversation. If I were talking with someone, and I added “…Yours Truely, Czarcasm” at the end of my turn, _every single time_, others would find it off-putting. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/11 "2008-11-27T14:45:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Moderator finger-wagging]This is IMHO, not The BBQ Pit-you know better.[/Moderator finger-wagging] Admonishment cheerfully accepted. Apologies all around. Next round’s on me. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/12 "2008-11-27T14:53:55Z")
Maybe I can elaborate in an IMHO tone, though: I might not mind it if came from someone else, someone who was not as consistently aggressive, as bent on stirring up heated emotions, as the OP is. I would probably concede that it was unacceptable coming from, for example, me, in that I sometimes engage people in angry discussions on hot-button topics, where I couldn’t promise to treat people consistently with the best regards or even to try to. But a sweet, good-natured, civil, unargumentative poster–\*\*Polycarp \*\*is a handy example–could get away with it. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/13 "2008-11-27T14:59:38Z")
> [@mshar253](#): > > I’m surprised that you claim to have been surprised by this. Wasn’t a big stink made about this a month ago? That’s the thread I referred to in the OP. But yes, I was surprised by it. Two lines of text? > [@Czarcasm](#): > > But this isn’t correspondence-this is ongoing conversation. No, it’s correspondence, or closer to it than conversation. This is far more like sending e-mails back and forth than talking on the phone. > [@Polycarp](#): > > Cut out the snarky one-liners and speak your mind instead I already do the second part. I suspect you are falling for the silliness that some push, that I never do anything but drive-bys. This isn’t the case. I do snarky one-liners, I do extended riffs, I do detailed analysis, I do posts that are practically term papers. But I’m speaking my mind in all of it. The sign off is part of it. Sometimes it means exactly what it says, Sometimes it means “Fuck you”. Sometimes it is a reminder to myself that it is just a message board. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/14 "2008-11-27T15:01:04Z")
I understand some people like to use an amusing quotation as their signature, but, for the most part, I have never understood the need for signatures on a message board. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but **your username name is prefixed to every post**. The signature adds nothing to the discussion. That being said, I have no deep hatred for them. I just can’t fathom a good reason why anybody should use them. For that reason, I appreciate any message board that lets me turn them off. Computer-related message boards are the worst. The signatures are always huge lists of the user’s 7 computers’ specifications right down to the minutiae. As if anybody gave a rat’s patoot. In my mind, the same can be said for most any signature. Even the funny ones are only funny the first time you see them, after that it is just the same joke told on every post. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/15 "2008-11-27T15:04:56Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The sign off is part of it. Sometimes it means exactly what it says, Sometimes it means “Fuck you”. > Regards, > Shodan So. in this instance, as in so many others, we can hold you to your word and wait for the mod warning? Regards, don’t ask ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/16 "2008-11-27T15:15:35Z")
Eh, I’m indifferent on the issue. Yours could use some ironic quote. I highly recommend either Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill, or Mark Twain. (I jest; Franklin is overdone since everyone uses the same quote to death.) For the most part, I notice signatures and then move on. They don’t really bother me until they involve oversized pictures (especially pictures that make my page start scrolling sideways, forcing me to look for the right-aligned forum buttons on the bottom of the page). It can also be problematic if the sig is bloated and larger than most of the user’s posts. Yours doesn’t really meet any of those criteria. It’s a bit odd, especially on this board where few use sigs, but it doesn’t really bug me at least. And since the world can be proven to revolve around me (for a large enough margin of error), I think that should suffice _duck&run_ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/17 "2008-11-27T15:16:14Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The sign off is part of it. Sometimes it means exactly what it says, Sometimes it means “Fuck you”. First of all I don’t care about your silly little affectation. I think it is stupid and will continue to take pot shots but if you want to look silly that is on you. But the quoted part is what is offensive. We all know you sometimes mean “Fuck You” but when you do it out of the Pit you hide behind the stupid disingenuous claim that it is just an affectation. If you can’t say “Fuck You” in the forum and that is clearly what it means in a given post, a Mod should warn you. Regards, askeptic ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/18 "2008-11-27T15:19:05Z")
“Mod Warning: You have been asked not to say “Good Day” before leaving a heated discussion. You will not be warned again. Further acts of forced politeness will result in a ban.” As they say in China: 真的吗？:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/19 "2008-11-27T15:24:07Z")
> [@seodoa](#): > > Computer-related message boards are the worst. The signatures are always huge lists of the user’s 7 computers’ specifications right down to the minutiae. As if anybody gave a rat’s patoot. Debatable! I’ve recently seen a bodybuilder’s board and they tell you how many sit-ups they’ve done and what their food intake is. ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699/20 "2008-11-27T15:32:12Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > Debatable! I’ve recently seen a bodybuilder’s board and they tell you how many sit-ups they’ve done and what their food intake is. Nerds come in all flavors, I suppose. * * * Some calories A couple fats Bunches o’ carbs Probably not enough protein Maybe 3 sit ups in the past month? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-regards-shodan/474699.md?page=2)