Violation of "Retarded Post" sticky in AO by new sticky in AO - Page 2

Now that I'm a bit less pissed off than I was this morning...Fellows I'm afraid that I can't agree that AO represents the international millieu of AI in general (oh fsck off Safari I don't care if it's spelt wrong). In fact, I think it's the least multi-cultural part of AI despite Apple's own US-centricity.

Let's face it, these dramas are arising in the political and religious threads but I do not see any great level of intellectual debate going on there. All the links and quotes in the world don't add up to intelligent discourse if you're just saying the same thing over and over again. My mental image of those threads is everybody crammed in a room together, yelling at each other with their hands over their ears.

While I think anonomity (ahhhh!!!!) is a big cause of the problem, I also think that one of the inherent problems with AO is that any real or perceived unity that exists in AI proper does not in AO because the Apple factor isn't there. And the political and religious threads are perfectly designed to reveal the lack of commonality in all its gory detail. The "Peeing Thread" works because everybody does it so everybody can relate to it in some way.

What bothers me is what is going on here that some of these people can't roll over and play dead? I mean it's not like by not winning they have to give up their opinions. So what are they masochists? Is it Alpha male shit? Are they just another form of troll? Have they got something going on in their personal lives that makes them bitter and twisted? Because Splinemodel (if you're still listening) anyone who believes it is just an internet forum will roll over and play dead when things are getting rude, crude and unattractive. Simple as that.

I liked Fellowship better when he wore his staunch conservative, Christian beliefs and principles on his sleeve.

I've noticed that all the AO Brain Trust members suddenly "accepted" Fellowship (and deemed him "cool") once he started sounding a little more like them.



Been meaning to talk to you about that, Dale...



A "thoughtful moderate"? Ugh...no, anything but THAT! You play in the middle of the road and you eventually get squashed by oncoming traffic.

But I still dig Fellowship...easily the most mature, down-to-earth guy at AppleInsider, and the one person I'd turn to if I was ever in need. It's no accident that there's a connection between that and what/who he is...

Something to chew on for all you wise-ass heathens and brickthrowing nimrods.

I just don't want to wake up one day and find that you've become the Dallas headquarters of ShawnPatrick Inc. Keep it real, brother man. Keep it real.

Thanks pscates, You have the best way of saying things of all the folks I have seen here at AI. I have always loved to read your clever posts written in great style. The whole "A "thoughtful moderate"? Ugh...no, anything but THAT! You play in the middle of the road and you eventually get squashed by oncoming traffic." I tend to believe I have found great balance by not being tied to a party. I know what I stand for and why I stand for it.

You stay out of trouble pscates. It is always great to see you around.

fellows

Believe me, I've tried.

There's at least one thread laying around here gathering dust in the Suggestions Forum where I suggested that we consider running a special "Election Year" forum to pull the partisan threads away from AO. This was, of course, simply a ploy on my part to bring AO back to its simpler, less-political roots.

I have made a conscious effort in the new year to make less "from the gut" posts in AO, to contribute to discussions in a more level manner and to a degree I think that I have succeeded despite the continuing spew of vitriol from the Usual Suspects.

It was the recent aforementioned stickies that surprised ME last week. I made a passing reference about the English having bad teeth, a joke that is perhaps BIGGEST amongst the English themselves and found that Fellowship had edited out my "offensive" post and gave me a (very) friendly rebuke to let everyone know this kind of behavior can't be tolerated. I counted myself as the baby-in-the-bathwater and kept moving along....but it was troubling. I don't have ANY problem with Fellowship, he's just enforcing the current policy that you guys have hashed out.

I respect that. I wouldn't want to be a moderator of AO if the backstage is as pissy as Lo Cash describes it.

One solution would be to make a "special access" area for these political debates and stand ready to revoke access to THAT area. But it's really just the same as AO with more admin headaches to manage...and the end it's really just another incarnation of Fireside Chat.

If Fireside Chat can't return then so be it.

Just don't close AO.

We were just going to recreate Fireside Chat, and then whoever participates in it we were going to ban. Brad thought too many innocent bystanders would get baited, but I say, "Things gotta get worse before they can get better".

Cuppula things to add

If anyone has a particular problem with the moderating or a particular mod, tell other mods or the admins in a PM or e-mail. They're the ones who have the final say on this.

Also, consider yourselves lucky that I can't revoke privileges unilaterally. It would be like that episode of Gilligan's Island when Gilligan is elected sheriff and he and the Skipper lock everyone up and then Gilligan locks up the Skipper and then

Why can't you create a separate forum for the political stuff and NOT moderate it? Just let them do their worst to each other but out of everybody else's way. Whack up a sticky saying something like:

"Abandon all hope ye who enter here"

Mods have less work, AO can get on with other business and the political animals are happy.

Because people would still complain. I remember one day when we were building the set for the regional Emmy Awards, my boss was about to flash the "Lightning Strikes" (Lights that use a ton of power to simulate lightning.), but before he did, he shouted, "Attention everybody! Do NOT turn around!"

Of course two seconds later everyone except our boss is holding their eyes in pain. There would still be mod work for us. Furthermore, it isn't only our intention to lessen our work. We're trying to clean up AI as a whole. You know how cats look all cute, then one climbs up on your chest, turns around, and graces you with a point blank view of its asshole? It's the cat's only shortcoming. That's what a new Fireside Chat would be like, and currently, that is what AO is like.

As I said before, the crap we're trying to get rid of is embarrassing to all of us. It's just disappointing that the main offenders cannot exhibit enough self discipline to have prevented this in the first place.

So if they complain -> automated reply "Please see sticky at top of forum".

To take your cat analogy one step further. How do you stop a cat sticking its arse in your face? Shoot it. Hey you know what cats are like (and humans).

I just don't see how this is going to work. Even if you start placing permanent bans on people there will be new members joining that will potentially undermine any controls already in place. If this is what it's like now, I think you're going to have your job cut out for you given the US election isn't until November.

But good luck! You're a braver man than me, Gunga Din!

Maybe the "Election 2004" forum outside of AO is an idea worth pondering. Sure would make things a little less vicious for people who aren't down with the bloodletting, "Fight Club" atmosphere. I have decided that it is really not worth getting deep into political discussions in AO. No minds are being changed either way. It is an exercise in futility.

I, for one, appreciate the lock-down of all the BS in AO. At some point, a forum becomes almost unusuable... for all but the politicos. And that just sucks for the other 11,000 people on this board. It is sad where the state of discourse is in the world right now, and AO was no different.

I think the Mods do an excellent job of keeping things sane, with all the "Crazy Ones" that tarry here.

Maybe you should come up with a list of names that might be safe to allow people to call each other? Make them up like Pokemon names so they're cute and powerless in comparison to existing English/Yiddish/etc words. The shame of using these words would certainly give these folks pause...
Here's a starter set:


Glumfarper - a person who just doesn't "get it"

Murboddity - morbid consumption of beer

Phlibaknievel - person who performs reckless stunts with logic

Pa-shisker - truth bender

Pingg - person with whom I disagree

Rumtiddler - person who wears tinfoil on their head

Wow, I thought I disliked AO. LoCash seems to be completely sick of it!

He's referenced everything from Fox News to a kitten's butthole to help illustrate his disdain. You don't get that kind of passion anywhere else, folks.

Good show, my man!



Hell, I can't wait to read his next post...

no comment.

Then why bother posting anything? Do you go around in real life saying "I'm not talking...listen how quiet I am"?



"No comment" usually means anything but...

read between the lines.

if you dont understand, then dont reply. thanks.

Well I understand and I'd suggest if all you want to do is play games with people to try to prove a point, don't post at all.

I still don't get it. I don't even know.

Maybe it snuck? A mystery thing or something. Or a point prover? For someone I don't even know, quite the smart-ass, in any case.

Hmm.

why edit?

and why you starting stupid bickering over nothing? sounds like AO...

a) because I thought better of it (and it WAS like AO) and b) just wondering why the beef out of nowhere and the snide angle, that's all.

I didn't say anything to you.

Past life, I guess.

no biggie. i'm still a bit upset at the mods. however, i cannot make straight accusations, or even be honest, or else i'll be banned yet again. so...i'm forced to make allusions and skirt around the issue. comprende?

Ah. I didn't know you got banned. Wow. Is that happening a lot to people lately then? You get caught in the wires? Must be something bad going on. Did you talk about someone's nationality?

Well, it happens I guess. Public forum and all.

Still, no need to take it out on me. Be a man and go yell at a mod.



That was all unedited, BTW.

heh, yeah banned twice in the last week and half. all because i was complaining about my car getting totalled...
fellows appologized for the initial misunderstanding (i believe he alluded to it in this thread even), but the other mods have been quite difficult to deal with. namely brad, who completely ignored me, and the issue--handled it quite badly overall. murbot told me to take my bitching here (instead of AO, which is how i got banned the second time yesterday), so i guess this is a safer place to let it out.

all i know is that, being on this forum since the beginning, it has never been this bad. and trying to voice this opinion only leads to being thrown out. reminds me of many dictatorships throughout history...
at least these mods dont know where i live.

and i didnt think i was taking anything out on you--appologies if that is what you believed.

Alliance got banned for a thread he started in AO that became directly critical f the mods and admins in such an inappropriate manner that everyone else that has ever done that before received the exact same discipline that alliance did. It was inappropriate and out of line. No surprise there.

He is also doing the exact same thing again. Now, I didn't ban him the first time, but, and now I'm speaking directly to you alliance, if you keep it up in this thread, I'll ban you again. You know better. You're trying to prove a point in the wrong way. Sadly, it will be all for naught.

I don't know who you have contacted before about issues on the boards, but it sure as hell wasn't me. I guarantee if you talked to Amorph he would not turn a deaf ear. Finally, if you're not happy with the way we're trying to clean up our playground, please, just go away. If you're going to stay, learn to like it and follow the posting guidelines, or don't be surprised when you are motivated to do so. The Suggestions forum is not a place for discussing moderator and administrator conduct. You have a problem with that, you PM someone directly. You know better.

This is your first and last warning. Keep it up and I'll ban you, again, myself.

And this, ladies and gentleman, is why AO is the disgusting slimy puke piece of infested anteater shit that it is.

addendum: The suggestions forum is for suggestions, not the bullshit you dragged in, If you want to call AI a dictatorship, fine, but it isn't really in any true dictionary definition of the word, if you want to be a drama queen, go somewhere else, and finally, you contribute to the problem of AI being a worse place than it was when you first arrived here. If you don't believe that, I'm sure the mods and admins that have tried to motivate you could put together some wonderful examples.

Oh, and we don't care where the hell you live. You're not that important.

haha. the reason i started that thread yesterday was because of the terrible treatment shown to me by the AO mods. i knew that i was inciting trouble, and admit that i deserved that banning. however, it was all a direct result of the initial banning. in the end, none of this would have happened if the initial situation was handled properly.

oh, and btw, murbot told me to take this here, so i am just listening to his advice. dont threaten me, please. he told me that this is where i can take my concerns, and that is exactly what i am doing. quoted: "If you feel you should make a point, do so in the Suggestions forum. In fact, there is a thread there right now that you could join in on." this was in direct reference to this issue.

and i would have gladly contacted amorph if i was able. unfortunately, the banning didnt allow me to access this site at all, and thus i was unable to make any means of contact except a straight email to AI, which was ignored over and over again. oh well...
c'est la vis...


and just curious, but...why are you so bitter?

please dont take all this as an attack. i am no longer upset. merely concerned. AI was a great place to carry on a conversation in the past, and i just want it to remain that way.

For future reference, none of us ever see any e-mails sent to AppleInsider. Kasper and our invisible overlords are the only ones who do and, well, it's not too hard to figure out how frequently Kasper deals with the forums.

if you're really concerned, PM amorph. he's by far the most level headed person around here.

although from what i've seen, you're really not doing much of a job presenting your "case".

ok, well then, for future reference, how can i contact an admin or moderator otherwise? if i cant access the page, then i guess there's nothing to be done, even though i kept being told to "talk to a mod." i gladly would have done that if my posting privileges hadnt been ripped away w/in 2 minutes of posting. no PMs are allowed...

While usually the advice of mods like Murbot telling you to take it to Suggestions is correct, rely on your own knowledge of the posting guidelines to make informed decisions about your actions. Furthermore, you could not have possibly thought it appropriate and tolerable to post what you have here under the posting guidelines. It is admirable to try and prove a point, but...

We're just trying to reinstate some order around here. AO has become intolerable, and this recent crackdown has been brewing for a long time. Unfortunately, now in an effort to obtain order and control over AO again, we have to come down harder than we would have if we had attended to the problem at its initial onset.

Ever since we moved FSC back into AO, I've always thought the forum had become a cesspool of filth and disgust. I certainly rarely go in there, but I'm aware of the crap mods and admins that do have to deal with. You know it is bad when it has caused over a half a dozen people to quit moderating it. And I'm not bitter, I'm just a broken hearted idealist. 8)

that's my line.

i guess i chose a bad time to come back to the forums from an extended time away. things had obviously changed. two casual posts about absolutely nothing and i found myself banned. way to crack down...

and i understand that you are trying to make changes and get rid of all the shit going on in AO. i applaud that and actually support that. however, i just think matters are just getting a bit too extreme of late...

This makes AppleInsider sound like it is run by those 'things' from Area 51. Or perhaps from deep inside a cave in Mexico....

I like it.

Alliance: I have no idea what's been going on with your particular situation. All I knew walking into your posts on this thread was that you were banned, and now you're looking to make trouble in a thread I already pissed on to mark it as my territory... you know, like a wolf.

I've got nothing against you; could have been anyone in the situation. I would recommend you PM or email Brad directly. Or Amorph, Or someone. If you don't have their email addresses, they can be arranged for you. They can deal with whatever problem you have, I'm sure.

problem's over. i'm tired of fighting back (which i guess was the initial goal here). i'll continue to post the way i always have. i have never insulted any race, country, individual truck, or whatever it was that led to my banning, and i will continue to not do so. however, that doesnt mean that i wont get into trouble again. and i really dont care. go about your business. i'm done here...

Can I have his post count?

Seriously, here's a suggestion since this is the place for them. How about those who just CAN'T handle AO be banned only from that forum? pscates voluntarily did it to himself, why not force it upon those who have been warned and still can't get the idea? This allows them to PM the mods but not go off the deep end in their posts. There's really never been a problem on the Mac side of these forums, so it doesn't seem all that right to block the offenders out of the rest of AI.

Mods and Admins, your thoughts?

Strike 1: Temporary ban from AO
Strike 2: Permanent ban from AO
Strike 3: Permanent ban from AI

Eh...I think that if you are too stupid to conduct yourself like a responsible and mature adult in one forum than you don't deserve the chance in the others. Just don't act like an idiot and we wont have these problems.

So I say no to the AO bans, if you can't not be an idiot in there than it speaks volumes about the way you really are. Just kick them out of AI entirely.

Unless it's voluntary, of course.

I'm really a swell guy...I just can't get sucked into those circular, obnoxious political/cultural debates anymore. Especially in an election year. Ugh, no thanks.

I know where I stand, and why...don't have to explain or defend it to anyone.

I mean, having to constantly explain to assorted chuckleheads, biscuit-flappers and quibbledicks why I'm right and they're wrong...it just drains a fella.

Does not.