Whats the deal about newbies?

Mmmm…boxed wine. When it gets close to the end of the box, and you pull the bag out by the spout to squeeze the last drop out, you notice it’s in a giant metallic bag. This always makes me feel like I am drinking a giant alcoholic CapriSun.
FaerieBeth
-who is also new, but did not advertise it.

What is “Quack Echo”? I’ve been here a while, and have yet to deal with it.

(Note: If it is some bad joke, please don’t post the joke, and just confirm that it is that.)

From what I’ve understood there is a silly frequently asked question, why a duck’s quack doesn’t echo. Since it does, it is a silly question.

All members of the SDMB agree to the “Don’t be a Jerk” rule as a condition of continued posting privlieges. My observation is that most newbies violating rule #1 catch flak and most that don’t, don’t.

Based on my observation, the general demographic of this board (we may have some exceptions) self-selects and skews more toward the “elite:” better educated, older, better critical thinking skills and less tolerant of ignorance, racism, sexism and the like than your typical Internet Message Board. Many folks who don’t “fit in” or feel comfortable here self-select out while a few more egregious examples are “banned.”

Like any good organisation, we have a few unofficial gatekeepers who try to help keep things in line when necessary.

In my opinion, too often do people confuse intolerance of ignorance with intolerance of the ignorant. (whistles innocently)

Very well said!

I didn’t lurk very long because I was so excited to find a board that actually sought the truth and had no qualms about calling people out when they were posting erroneous information. On another newsgroup I am probably going to be banned because I attempted to demonstrate to an Indianan that “for the schoolkids” is not written into the Indiana DST code.

I was pitted on my very first post. The thing was, the idiots that pitted me clearly didn’t even read my post. They read the first few words and then came on with their knee-jerk reactions. And it was quite noticed, too, as the thread got up to several pages. But if anyone had bothered to read my post instead of jerking those knees they would have seen that we, in fact, concurred.

I tried to point this out and was completely ignored. So my last post was to the effect of gee, I thought this board was for intelligent people and I took it out of my favorites list. Then a mod emailed me and said she though my post was intelligent, well-thought-out and various and sundry other nice things and to please give it another chance.

But I didn’t for a long time. Then, once again getting tired of the endless drivel on all other boards and newsgroups, I started lurking. I was still afraid to post so many times, though, becuase of that first experience. And when I did post, I was clearly ignored. The only time I ever got a response (except for the pit one) was when I started a thread. People were generally quite nice and understanding, even the ones that disagreed with me. That gave me a little more confidence. Then the hamsters ate the board in the winter of 2001 and I drifted away because I have a cheap puter and the alternative board was too difficult to use.

Anyway, as you can see, I reregistered in March 2002 (or did I actually have to reregister? I don’t remember what we had to do, but I still have my original s/n but a different post count and join date). So it’s been a year and I still only have 200-something posts. Still afraid of that pit…

So, I have to agree, this board is not always kind to its newbies. Some people seem to forget we are all “newbies” to start with.

While we’re on the subject of newbie’s in general and especially Rhino’sHoney, I thought that I might as well ask this:

, one thing I’ve been wondering is if you are, in fact, Rhinostylee’s honey…it just seems like you joined the boards shortly after he did, and what with the name and all, it seemed like it might be a reasonable guess.

Noooooooooooooooo, though I have read the name. Nope my bf’s nickname is also Rhino - just happens to be coincidence.