HP releasing $799 Slate 500 to take on iPad in tablet market - Page 10

It started off with gentle egging but devolved into the usual habits fairly quickly.

A lot seems to have happened overnight! (Well, my *overnight* as per my time zone).

Well, time to restock on supplies and rebuild the barricades while we can.
It's like fighting zombies. Relish the silence and prepare for the next wave of attacks.

This has become a pretty long thread. and some people wonder why articles of other companies products are here. We can see why.

Yeah 'cause AI forum users are very reactionary.

Some definitely are. I haven't been following this thread.

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Mmmm...

The message above this one is number 294.

The page summary at the top and bottom of each page (in the forum thread) shows 10 pages.

At 40 posts per page there should be 400 posts prior to mine.

???

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It varies depending on the lengths of the posts. Often, there are only 30 posts per page, sometimes less. And I'm only seeing that we're on page 8.

That would be the maximum for 10 pages. 10 x40 = 400, which mean my post would push it the 11th page, which I doubt it will as that would be a 1:37 odds. I say 37 because it was 3 posts ago I noticed the 10 pages.

the reason for this is appl is now gone from the site with an admin service in vBulletin called Tacky Goes To Coventry. It makes him invisible but it doesnt block or delete his account, in and of itself. The admins can see him and its possible he is still posting without realizing that his posts are no longer showing up to any normal users or those not logged in at all.

Based on the time I noticed the 10 pages, Melgross posted number 292 which means at least 69 posts were from aapl (assuming hes the only person on this thread sent to Coventry). 40 (posts) x 8 (pages) = 320 (posts) − 292 (posts) = 28 + 40 (for page 9) = 68 + 1 (to make page 10 appear) = at least 69 missing posts.

You're right about that too. I forgot, but since that's how I got here today, that is, seeing a complaint in my e-mail, I should have thought about it. I see his posts, but they are no longer numbered. But I'm still only seeing 8 pages.

No. Appl's posts have been removed.

If you didn't see it, his last post told another member to F off!

I can't understand the troll mentality anyway, but it's really curious how some of them hit their most annoying heights, and then... out of the blue... commit hari kari.

Takes all sorts I guess.

Wow! You're good at this forum stuff!

Now, do you know anything about computers?

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That all depends on how you define computer.

Well, once you peak there's only one way left to go. Trolling is like a drug. You start off with a few hits, chatting with your mates. Then you need more, you need more attention and deeper highs... In the end you don't know your head from your butt and the drug is the one doing the talking.

appl was clearly a previous highly incendiary poster of one of several names, and though he started of lightly it looks like it spiralled out of control fairly rapidly. I didn't see the F Off post, like I said, probably by that time it was purely the "drugs" aka trolling addiction doing the posting.

Douché... Er, ah, Touché -- I mean a "proper" computer running a "proper" OS. Say, something like my TiVo.

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Remember how I tinkered with parsing forums for iPhone? I'm still curious about optimising forum interfaces for mobile devices, tablets and subnotebooks. In the land of Twitter and Facebook and Chat dominance it really is fascinating how some of us still enjoy the ol' Forums.

Been spending the past two years building up my savings and in a fairly stable (thus far) flexible job. Being broke twice before, it's hard to consider jumping to a new venture with your own capital...!

Are you on Safari? On both the iPad and a Mac I see 10 pages. Or maybe because you are logged on as a mod.

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Your Tivo runs a cellphone OS like the iPad, didn't you know? You can make calls on your Tivo... True story.

Our thread is ruined, ruined I tells ya! It freaks me out seeing Page 9 and 10 but not being able to go there. I'm worried there's a really awesome discussion I'm not part of.

It's just that you look so silly when you're walking around.

Yes. A couple of things I'd like to see on mobile:
-- register a forum thread for push notifications
-- aggregation of these on the mobile device *
-- see aggregate indicator on lock screen
-- reflow of text, when zoomed, to stay within screen [frame] width (the frame containing this text, for example)
-- per Sol: the ability to start a post, leave for a search, another web page, another app, etc, copy some stuff, and return to the original post -- without reloading the page (losing the partially-created post)
-- on a touch device it would be nice if a textarea always forced a top, bottom, right, left margin so you could more easlly select characters close to the borders (rather than the border)

* aggergation is possible on iOS if notifications are setup properly (beginning to dislike that word)

Some of these things are doable with. third-party app and web server. Others would require OS and browser changes.

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Yeah, all the juicy bits are on pages 9 and 10.

FWIW, I did try to JailBreak my TiVo ... I just forgot why

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Ha! Mas o menos... Actually, I look silly when seated at a computer, too

Only a few more posts like this, and we'll pass through the portal into the promised land of page 9.

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Here's a thought.

In order to bring the page summary back into line with the pages -- why don't we reinstate @appl's posts. They could be displayed in large, bold, red (or yellow) type on a gray background -- alerting readers to avoid reading them.

That would show that troll a thing or too...

Oops... I think I'm coming down with something...

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Because I'm a mod, I see all his posts. As I said, while they're still there, though collapsed, the numbers have been removed. I'm still on page 8, no matter what is being said.

Mac Pro, 27" monitor. It's what I've been using for a couple of months.

Just looked at my iPad. 313 posts (before this one), and on page 8.

I don't know if being a mod changes the page number. I never thought about it before. Maybe we should look at another long thread to see if the same thing is happening, just out of curiosity.

It's having the power company truck following you around wherever you go that makes it difficult.

Also for some reason, and only on this thread, when I click on the link in Mail, it takes me to the top of the page, not to the current post. Odd!

Hmm! It seems to be doing it with my posts, taking me to the top of the page. Never had that before.

Yes! It doesn't refresh to the current post either -- the server must be losing state!

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Obviously, someone is accessing this thread with a WP7 prototype and it's screwing up everything...

... Probably it even affected @appl ... The Devil made him do it!

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Well, something weird is happening.

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While we're at it -- the spell checker acts weird some times. It changes a correctly-spelled word to a different, more common, word.

It is particulary tricky if you are typing on a mobile device and watching the kb more than what you are typing.

Edit: Ohhhh... Page 9, at last!

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On OS X you can just tell the spell checker to learn the spelling of the word you want to keep. I believe the next version of iOS includes editable dictionaries? Or has that already happened?

So, the trolls get to screw up threads even after they have gone!

Seriously, how long does it take before action is taken? Letting these guys post 300+ posts in just a couple of weeks (and derailing numerous threads in the process) just encourages them to re-join and... do it all again.

I just wish for a universal spellcheck the way we have it in OS X. I make more typos on my iPad than on my Mac Pro, and sometimes, I miss them. When you post somewhere that doesn't allow editing, it's a problem.

It really isn't easy. I've had people accuse me of being a troll when I didn't like something Apple did. People have to be allowed their opinions even when they're far out. As long as they don't abuse people in some way, or make derogatory statements that are inflammatory, it's hard to do much, and be fair. And honestly, some of the "refutations" are worse than the original trolling.

It seems like it's more than just the OS X spell checker. On this site, It will, at times, not let me type the word I want with the spelling I want -- when originally entering a post. I must first post the post, then go back and edit it -- then, all is fine!

FWIW, the same thing sometimes happens with acronyms, such as the FWIW to start this sentence -- these are converted to lower case>

I think both happen when you preview a post, before posting it.

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FWIW, I'm not seeing that behavior.

I agree. I act as a mod on a friend's LiveCast -- often, it is a fine line between a spammer/troller and one who contributes to the dialog.

The "great" spammers/trolls (like the legendary Eric Schmidt* ) go right up to the line, but do not cross.

* One of the greatest trolls of all time

I am sure that many of us come across as a troll when the discussion is on a topic in which we specialize -- and others are making blatant, false claims. I know I do!

Here's a recent example of someone who appeared to be a troll, but was not.

It was Antennaegate. A professional (a dentist, I think) bought a new iP4. It worked fine in the Apple store and the nearby AT&T store. But 200 yards from either, he could not hold any bars and would drop calls. He did not want to use a case. Three replacements later (and as many trips to the Apple and AT&T stores)... he was pissed and frustrated AIR he had sold his 3GS -- which he really liked.

He logged into an AI forum and posted questions about what others were seeing. It was a pretty mild post, considering his recent experience.

There were a lot of trolls on that thread -- and some (me included) thought he was just another paid hack.

But, his posts, while negative, were well reasoned. Several members drew him out -- he had a valid gripe!

He returned the iP4, but looks forward to a fix or the 1P5 when it comes out.

I have, since, seen him contribute to other threads -- he is definitely not a troll!

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So far, page 9 is a big disappointment...

...Maybe page 10

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I've said this before, but I think troll behavior is best discerned over a number of posts.

There are lots of people here who have some pet gripes about Apple, or at times bitch about what Apple does or doesn't do-- just as you'd expect.

But there are more than a few that never, ever, ever say a single thing about Apple or Apple's customers that isn't couched in the bitterest, most negative terms possible. Often this takes the form of peppering a thread with endless sarcastic little jibes, and sometimes it takes the form of longer rants about Apple's greed, or hatred of freedom, or plans to kill us all, or just the generally distasteful nature of anyone likes or uses their kit.

Myself, I don't see why it's necessary to indulge these types. They never bring anything but discord to any thread they participate in, they're not making legitimate criticisms, or if they are it's incidental to what they're about. I guess the concern is that we don't want a forum of fan boys and a certain population of cranky contrarians keeps us honest, but it really doesn't seem to do anything more than derail a lot of threads into bickering.

Honestly, is anyone expecting, say, Blackintosh to bring on point criticism to bear? I can't see anything but relentless negativity. How is someone who posts nothing but complaints and bile in a platform specific user forum anything but a troll? And how is not possible to make that distinction when you have a pretty lengthy posting history to go on?