Hell, I couldn’t have told you whether Rick Astley was a pop singer or a Soweto rocker from apartheid South Africa or anything else about him before it became such a big deal in the last year or so. I still have no concrete idea of his music’s genre, and I don’t think I’ve heard it.
Of course, I know I’m just asking to be rickrolled here, but it’s not that big a deal to me. I think I’d see it coming from a mile away (like the other time someone tried to rickroll me), but even if I didn’t, so what? It wouldn’t be the first time in my life that i had a browser crash on me. It’s pretty stupid to post that kind of link if it’s as bad as people claim, but that shit just ain’t that serious.
One surely wonders. OTOH:
I’ve been wondering that myself, and I mean that in all seriousness. I mean, really.
BTW: Oh, please. I typed the link into my browser and went there to see what all the fuss was about, and it was the weakest excuse for a shock site trick that I’d seen in a long time. Seems like some people need an education in computer terminology. “Popups”? “Malware”? Good grief, you guys have issues.
Sorry or not, what part of “keep off-board stuff off board” is confusing to you? I know you’re just trying to make a joke, but please don’t. Official warning.
Yeah control+alt+delete and end task are super fucking advanced computer techniques.
Here’s a hint: it’s not the Rick Astley video that’s the funny part. It’s watching a crybaby go bananas because of a harmless prank.
It’s even funnier when said crybaby starts a hyperbolic rage about billions of popups and malware - neither of which exist. How the fuck is it that a forum devoted to ‘fighting ignorance’ has such drooling morons run the place?
We had a poster (now banned) who’s name was allowed to be changed to a conglomeration of “TLDR” etc most of which was often on “the other place” and a prominent feature of same That was allowed. (when I first saw the new screen name, I thought it was an ‘obvious’ link from the other place, and was rather surprised that it was allowed)
Said poster, when pitted (and he was, often if I recall) had his screen name mangled to a substantial degree pretty much every time. That was allowed.
We have a poster, who when pitted, is sometimes referred to by an obvious bastardization of his screen name, which is also used “over there”. This is currently being issued warnings.
When does use “over there” become an issue for official warnings? And while I acknowledge that certain posters who got warnings deserved same, doesn’t this actually empower the folks over there, giving them some level of control over here?
When is bastardization of a screen name ok in the pit? (assuming, of course, that it’s childish etc). And if disallowing all changing of screen names is being considered, I’d beg that it not be (For example, I often will refer to folks by much shorter names, mostly 'cause of reasons like stupid sticky keyboard or arthitic fingers - and frankly some user names are so frigging long that it’s absurd).
I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone warned for shortening a screen name. I take it that warnings are issued when they changed into something offensive or childish.
I agree that we don’t want to end up in a situation where anything discussed on another site automatically becomes forbidden on this one, as that would give other sites far too much ability to restrict discussion here. In the case of bbs2k, however, it’s pretty cut and dried – his post was nothing more than in inside joke from an off-site blog in a thread where a poster had already been asked to avoid making references to that exact site.
By itself, there’s nothing wrong with changing people’s screen names in the Pit. The only reason CarnalK originally got a warning for saying G.E.D. instead of Q.E.D. was that fluiddruid felt he was referencing the snark blog as a means to dig at Q.E.D., who has been an active target there as of late. It’s a tough line to try to maintain – if people want to gather off-site and make up derogatory nicknames for people, that’s fine (if a little junior high school) but once they start seeding them back onto here, it does cross the line of keeping off-board stuff off the boards. At the same time, once a fairly simple permutation of someone’s name has been used, it may catch on among other posters and we’re in the difficult position of creating a list of forbidden nicknames in the name of consistency or at some point giving up and letting it go.
The rule of keeping off-site drama off the boards predates both the snark blogs and my tenure as a moderator by several years. It’s never been easy to enforce. My own preference is to ignore it unless it’s blatant, but targeted posters are likely to feel an overly hands-off approach is unfair to them, as people are able to hide the nastiest part of their jabs on another board and then reference them here.
You know, in writing this, I realize that I’d really like to hear people’s thoughts about the best way to handle off-board material – I think I’ll start a separate thread.
