Less is More
 

The lighting inside the secret control bunker is subdued. Shades of red and amber flash malevolently in the semidarkness. Another shift, another hundred or so breakdowns. He pauses on his way into the room and looks forlornly at the the lights on the warning panel. So many. He reads the names with dumb amazement. Home Base. Current Events. Politics. IOTD. Comments and Suggestions. Food and Drink.

"Food and Drink?!? How the fuck can you troll Food and Drink?"

Hubris Boy staggers to his chair and collapses into it with a groan. He cradles his head in his hands. The incessant shrieking of the Mk.IV Troll Detector^™ causes his head to throb and his ears to ring like church bells. With bleary eyes he stares at the reset button across the room.

"Fuck it," he thinks to himself. "It'll just go off again in another 30 seconds."

He sips from his filthy coffee cup and wonders how it happened. It used to be so quiet here. He remembers a gentler time- a time without flashing lights and shrill alarms. A time of reasonable, sequenced arguments and lively debate. A troll-free time. Well, a troll-lite time, anyway.

He remembers, and is filled with indignation. Reaches for his for his keyboard and blows away the dust. He grins. "This oughta piss 'em off," he mutters.

Some time later, a new thread appears in Home Base; thread starter... Hubris Boy?? A handful of ancients blink with astonishment. "Hubris Boy? We thought he was dead."

The majority don't even notice. Why should they? "Who the heck is this Hubris Boy character? Never heard of him."



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Hubris Boy notes with dismay a change that has crept not so stealthily into the character of the Cellar in the past... oh... year or so.

Once upon a time, the Cellar was a witty, well-informed but not-stuck-up-about-it forum where people with widely varied backgrounds could discuss a wide variety of topics. Most posts were reasonable and reasonably well written- good grammar and spelling were the rule. (Okay... with the exception of Jaguar v0.9 beta. But they seem to have included a spellchecker in the release version.) It was a genuine pleasure to stop by and read what folks had to say about the topics of the day. GIANTS walked among us in those days, my friends. I used to live for new posts by tw. I rarely agreed with the man, but he was fun to read and even more fun to debate. People used to gather 'round to watch the sparks fly. [Yes, I know he's still here. I'm just making a point.]

Sadly, this is no longer possible.

Because the Cellar has been transmogrified into a chat room.

In place of well considered posts, we find ourselves inundated with a flood of messages that are semantically equivalent to "Heh. Me too." Or, "Oh yeah? Your mother." We're buried to our navels in drivel that looks like it was cut-and-pasted from the AOL "Tourettes Syndrome Singles #7432" chatroom. The sheer volume is such that it is no longer possible to separate the wheat from the chaff. We're drowning in chaff.

Some of this increased volume in posts can be attributed to the growth of the Cellar population- a phenomenon as pleasant as the Cellar is bound to expand by virtue of its own excellence. That's great. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is an exponential increase in the volume of posts made by people who have absolutely nothing to say. Don't believe me? Check out the stats. They're right under our user names for all the world to see.

&lt;OldGeezer&gt;
I remember waaaay back to the day when Sycamore's post count rolled over into four digits. That was fucking amazing. A thousand posts?!? I couldn't believe he'd done it. It took forever to reach a thousand posts. What an impressive achievement.
&lt;/OldGeezer&gt;

Fast forward to 2004 and prepare your senses for the assault. Waves of babble and blather break over our heads. There are new members who seem to make a thousand posts a day. There are old members who emulate them. Holy crap. Nobody is that interesting. Fer Chrissake, muzzle yourself. Anybody who breaks the thousand post mark in less than two years really needs to go outside more.

We're all guilty of it. And the occasional one line bon mot is okay... it adds zest to the soup. Every post doesn't have to be a "Summa Theolgica." But they don't all have to be "Beavis and Butthead," either.

Some people will be offended by this thread. I don't give a fuck. I'm just making a shoe. If you want to put it on and loudly announce to the world that it fits, that's your decision.

If you're smart enough to find your way here, you must have at least some capacity for critical thinking. Use it. Put your super-ego in the driver's seat and think before you post. Before you click the 'submit' button, stop and ask yourself: "Am I contributing anything to this discussion?" If that's too much for you at first, try: "Does it least have a noun and a verb?"

There are a lot of us crowded into this small forum. Practice a little self-conscious self censorship, won't you? And let the Great Unwashed stay in the chat rooms. Where they belong.

lol

I was going to agree with you, but alone, that would be a tad..problematic. Thus a sentence discussing the problems associated with that, which in itself is mindless drivel.
On the upside, it's spelt correctly.

Syc's could do with a larger following to hit that sweet spot.

None of the really good member seem to stick around. I am aware of the implications of this statement.

aw, c'mon. that was funny


i hear you h_b. and the shoe fits.

i think each of our perceptions of what the cellar 'is' is going to be different. there are those who only post well thought out, clearly stated positions on serious topics. there are those who enjoy the community that exists. for the latter, when the boards are slow, it's lonely. funny, the timing of your thread and dagney's. you both appear to miss the quieter slower paced days. i can see what you're both saying, but there's not much to be done about it. as I see it, there are maybe 30 or so active posters, and lots of readers. the well thought out posts have not gone away, they just have company now. if you don't have the time or inclination to sift through the chaff, then don't. msg boards constantly change and morph into different trends. it's just the way it is. all this tshirt hawking glitz obviously doesn't jibe with your ideal. i wish people would post more. I'd like to see the cellar grow enough that UT could charge admission and not lose anyone. a network of friends that can talk to each other all day, trade skills and knowledge, support each other emotionally, and refine their beliefs through argument and debate.

so what's the point of this thread? you want us all to shut up? why have a message board at all then?

i think i know where one more of the 'yes' votes on that poll came from, now, at least.

Ah that's where you're wrong. The quality of discussion here now is frankly, by comparison to what it was, shithouse. At best. Problem is I still can't find anywhere better. Gated forums are the only ones that can keep a good size and quality posters.

Well, HB, you're entitled to your opinion. You're also perfectly welcome to surf off somewhere else to find nobler boards with better spelling and grandma. No one is pointing a gun at your head, forcing you to read everyone's posts. I agree with LJ, how do you enhance the quality of a discussion by telling everyone to shut up? Are we all supposed to read only YOUR posts and be so dumbstruck with awe that we never reply?:p






(edited for "grandma")

Wow I'm about to agree with Jim. :p

As someone who has moderated mailing lists and currently co-administer my own board and chatroom, I understand the different ebbs and flows that a message board goes through. A certain "vibe" is established in the beginning, and as more and more people come on board, the tone and vibe tends to change. IMO, that's natural. Change is good (well, in most cases). Some people just take longer to adapt to change (not necessarily YOU HubrisBoy, but I am just saying in general).

But it's my understanding that their isn't a specific "way" for people to post here...unless I missed that memo. Ah well. Life goes on.

[prince] Peace and B wild! [/prince] ;)

*not a "Summa Theolgica" type of person anyway* *shrugs*

Re: Less is More
 

I seem to have figured this shit out years ago WITHOUT going outside more.

We've been treading water waiting for you to lead us to the promise land, HB.:haha:

I think one answer is removing the post count, which I think I will do when we go to vBulletin 3 (any weekend now).

Yes, do it UT.:beer:

WHY WAIT?

I don't see how that is possibly the answer to anything HB addressed.

Then every post can be taken at face value rather then weighted against a percieved standing based on post counts, for or against.

Just taking a wild guess, but I think that it's been mentioned that people are probably posting comments merely to up their count (and at one point, I thought that too, but then I realized that some people just have a lot to say. oh well).

Of course, that's only a guess, a theory...no one knows for sure if some post short and supposedly "AOL-type chat" comments just to brag about their numbers. I figured some people are just to the point, or that's all they had to say about the post they were commenting on. *shrugs*

Too bad...I was looking forward to seeing myself hit 1,000 posts ( I wasn't paying much attention to my stats until about 2 weeks ago anyway).

Carry on.

Now people will just look at registration dates. While I see the point it still seems not overall very constrctive.
ah fuckit I think i'll follow dagney and become more of a lurker.

You can still see the number of posts in the profile.

I just want to say 'LOL! Me Too!' :rolleyes:

Who gives a shit really?

Now where are the forks pictures?! Anybody do something they regret? I went to my nephews boring grad party, but holy crap did things get out of hand....was happily talking with the old folks 'til the young girls showed up with the wop.

Glad I don't do that every weekend.

Sometimes brevity is the soul of wit. A one sentence reply or even one word or even a single emoiticon can convey more than a 1,000 words of drivel. I never cared much one way or the other for my post count, so its all the same to me (does this mean we get to have the word association thread back, now? ;) )

HB, you are still one of the greatest posters ever. These newer folks only wish they could create posts like you...hell, I wish I could create posts like you.

You still owe me dinner, btw.

I dig what you're saying as a whole. I think that the quality has definitely gone downhill since late last year. And I freely admit that I spend too much time on here posting...though not to boost my post count.

(UT has mentioned boosting post count as a possible issue twice now in the past month. I don't know why anyone would do that. The fact that I am #1 in total posts just means that I like to babble a lot, though all my posts are incredibly sexy...owww!)

I remember a couple of years ago that one Dwellar in particular was lamenting about the good ol' days, and she seemed to enjoy directing her ire at jag and I. *shrugs* Whatever...the Cellar has been around for 14 years now. How could it not change?

And it will probably continue to change. Who ever thought we'd get an influx of liberals in here? I sure as hell didn't...jag and I have been the token liberals forever.

Bottom line...if you want the "good ol' days" back, then work to make it more like that. This past week had some of the best political discussion we've had in a long time. We definitely need more good thoughtful discussion to raise the collective IQ around here.

Having said that, I think that some of the newer peeps, though they are rather chatty, have brought a lot of good things to the table...even Jim. :) And I don't think there's anything wrong with being silly here and there.

Jag, as far your comment about the Bosque...I wouldn't mind more folks hanging out, and I'm open to changes, but I'm rather pleased with its current direction. I'm not trying to compete against Cellar.

HB, my man, you have more than a few excellent points there ... I don't, though think that anybody really relies on how long they've been here, or how many posts they have as a real measure of anything ... it's been amusing as a "lack o' life meter" to see folks total number of posts and/or daily post ratios, but it doesn't mean a damn thing.

Yes, there are some days and some threads for which the content level just really wanes ... but you spend too much time being serious and something's going to go *snap*.

The Cellar is one of those things that for some helps keep that day "somewhere out in the future."

:shrug: Sometimes it's just your turn to be silly.

Re: Less is More
 

Damn.

Now everyone will know where I'm from...........

Well, I suppose I could do that. But then I wouldn't be Hubris Boy. I'd be... mmmm... something unspeakable. Like Nic Name. Or something like that.

So no, I won't be going anywhere. I prefer to stand on the wall- and try to keep the barbarians from destroying the city.


No doubt that's true, Syc. One of the best things about the Cellar is that there's room at the table for everyone.

But after they've been seated, I'd appreciate it if they'd refrain from pissing in the fingerbowls.

this thread sucks

you, hb, do not have the right to dictate how people should post, what they should post, how often they should post. you DO have the right to read as much or as little of what is posted as you like.

talking down to anyone who cares to respond to this trap of a thread is lame. it's hubris, in fact.

He has as much right as you to express his opinions and I know I'm not alone in saying he's dead on. You haven't been here long enough to know the difference between the quality of postings. Most of the people who could really nail and point to the wall have left, I'm yet to see a thread here recently that doesn't dissolve quickly into random crap. I don't blame anyone specific but it's a simple fact. God knows I've done it enough myself, I'm posted some right crap on here on times, particularly back, as HB so kindly put it in .9beta but it has got worse and the signal/noise ratio is nothing like it was. Sheer numbers or quality? I'm not quite sure, I think a combination of the above.

That said, some of the new people have contributed a lot as well, *shrugs*, there isn't a solution, every online community over a certain size suffers this.

I suggest a Test Debate. This involves someone setting up a debate on an Important Topic and seeing how people respond. Those that contribute something worthwhile get to stay, the others have to leave. That would be really funny. Heh heh. ASL. LOL. Etc.

I don't get it. All the "giants" leave then one comes back to bitch about the condition of the place. Well, if the Cellar was indeed Raphael's School of Athens http://www.newbanner.com/AboutPic/at...hael/soa48.JPG
then why did all the "giants" take off and where did they go?

Each of us regulars (non-Giants) decide on a daily or so basis (on average) to stay and make the most of our Cellar experience. We don't leave when we get chastised nor do we treat people like shit then run away squeeling the first time someone bloodies our nose. We stay and we work it out. You and the rest of the Giants need to come to grips with the reality that maintaining the integrity of this place requires work - sometimes even hard work. Some of the people who you are indirectly critical of have done one hell of a lot to make this place fun, interesting and, above all, worthwhile. Why don't you check out the compliment thread and other threads and see who's getting shout outs over a long period of time.

But, I realize that its easier to just shut down, mourn for the glory days and complain about they way things are.

If you want to take the easy way out and abandon ship then don't complain about how the ship is run. You want to stay and slug it out with those who are pissing on the temple then I'll have a lot more respect for your complaint.

Internet forums are temporal venues - a poster is only as good as his/her last post. Same applies to the forum itself. If you think the Cellar is heading off in the wrong direction then do your part to reverse the brain drain you perceive.

Do **I** think the Cellar could be better? Sure. I just think the Cellar is best off when good posts and good posters drown out the poor posts and poor posters - self policing at its finest. So put the gloves back on and get with it.

huh huh huh. hb doesn't like that not all posts are thought provoking. huh huh

here's why it bothers me, jag. not because he voiced his opinion. he has, as you say, just as much right as i do to say whatever he wants. but to attempt to chastise people on a public forum for not conforming to his admittedly outdated perceptions is like telling someone in the grocery store that they're doing their shopping wrong. the cellar ( and any message board) is what you take from it, or what you put in. to you. talk about pissing in finger bowls. this is counterproductive. HIS good old days. maybe you remember them fondly, too. great. whatever.

it wouldnt even bother me if he had pointed to a particular instance of ;chaffing; and said, " hey, put some freaking thought into a post before you post it" or even saying to one person in particular that they are chatting too much. but to comment on the general malaise he feels and in a way that creates apprehension in some users to post at all for fear of being talked down to.....?

why bother?

sorry - i had to leave that last one. i'm too much of a smart ass to have passed up the opportunity.

I have to agree with jim - i like the fact that you can count on reading ridiculous statements and stupid one liners in with the serious stuff. i like the community of it all. most of you all are in the east and i am in AZ, but we can exchange ideas and ridicule each other at will. i, for one, truly enjoy it. i'm a stock broker, so i work by myself except when i have an appt come in. i keep the cellar on my screen and post when i feel like it. it is a way to still touch the outside world while getting my job done. i won't go to a chat room because i have no interest in discussing what i look like with someone named "tinytits69" or "bigone1983". on the worst day the cellar still has adult conversation - so here i will stay.

i've been gone for most of the last 3 weeks for work. since i've been back i've been a little disappointed because the cellar has been pretty quiet. maybe it is because it is summer; hopefully people haven't become silent because of this thread.

i'll also add that i found this through another board that was growing stagnant because there were a couple of "old timers" that would gang up and shred anyone who disagreed. not in an "i disagree with you" way, but a "get the hell off our board, you are ruining our way of life" type of way. i have been here since the beginning of the year because it is an open forum for whatever discussion may come up.

and on that note - can we have a new word association thread?

edit - added last 2 paragraphs.

I'm with Jim and Beestie on this one, but then I would be wouldn't I, being new here!

I came here following an ad placed on another bulletin board, so I assumed newcomers were being actively sought. If you want to maintain a certain style to a board I suppose you should make it private, by invitation only, and perhaps with a test to pass before admission?

Otherwise you get what you get ... i.e. me:eek: (LOL)

that's right- we don't want our opinion pool polluted anymore. let's put a big lock on the front screen with a big sign that says
Go Away! New People Suck

or maybe we new guys should sign a disclosure committing ourselves to scrape and grovel at the feet of those who have gone before...

but seriously, what is the big deal. it doesn't take that long to either read or skip over goofy posts. for that matter, you can be like Radar and just put a bunch of people on ignore.

*shrugs*
Outdated is a funny word to use, I assume it means political discussion above the level of fark.com. I fail to see how stating, point blank that there is hell of a lot of crap being posted and putting a little bit of thought it to it, or possibly refraining from pinky and the brain style 'NARF' posts when you have nothing to say is unreasonable. It's not some kind of arcane idea he's made up, it's just general decency. In another era it was called etiquette.

Why bother? It's called a signal to noise ratio for a reason. Look at any major public forum, look at the forums of slashdot, or fark, or any other major site you happen to name, you'll see the same thing, hundreds of oh-so-fucking hilarious one liners drowning out anything worthwhile, after a certain point moderation often makes it worse to boot. Cellar used to have a remarkably high one, it doesn't anymore. People left over time for various reasons, a few in silly spats of one kind or another but most simply flitted off into the ether as the ratio slowly dropped, I assume for greener pastures or simply found better ways to spend their time. Some of us have different tolerances than others and while today there's not tinytits69, the ways things are going it would not shock me before long. If and when there is, dig this out, you might see what I mean after all.


As for ads, I noticed UT has stayed out of this, I assume he follows a policy that new blood will always replenish the forums with new ideas and perspectives, I'm not so sure that works so well but that's his choice, it's his board.

Make of it what you will, I really don't give a fuck anymore.

the things that are worthwhile and important are easy to see and read. the rest is just friendship (as much as can happen online). it sounds to me like it is just another way to make it clear that you feel intellectually superior to the common folk who like to treat this as a conversation instead of a place to post carefully edited theses.

there is a time and a place for everything.

Why not? :)

Seriously, the advertising has certainly been good to a degree. But I think we've finally hit critical mass, and maybe it's time to be more exclusive. I'm not saying new people shouldn't be welcomed...I just don't think we should be actively looking for them right now.

To me, etiquette is about realizing that people have differences, but making an effort to respect their dignity as a person regardless. It is not about who is superior to whom. It is not about behaving one way towards people you want to impress and another towards people you feel are unworthy of your greatness. Any decent etiquette guide will tell you drink from (or piss in) your finger bowl if that's what your guest has done - as it's the pinnacle of rudeness to chastise them instead.

Where the fuck did superiority come into this? Talk about a goddamn straw man. I must have been sleeptyping when I said we should all have gold stars next to our names in order of rank. Etiquette is about behaving in an appropriate manner.

Your post has a strange structure. First you accuse me of claiming to be some kind of superior. Then you imply that by not, as HB so wonderfully put it, pissing the finger bowl, I'm some kind of outsider and should well, I assume start posing crap all over the place in a better effort to fit in. Make your mind up.

Christ, all I, HB, Syc (speak out if I've got your angle wrong) and no doubt a few silent others want to do is raise the tone of the conversation a bit, at least in some forums and encourage intelligent, articulate discussion over inane babble. Who would have thought that would have raised such indignation. How that can be construed as haute dictation from up on high is beyond me.

Soooo.... what's stopping you?
No indignation here, really. And if this thread causes you to proof read more of your posts, then I'm all for it.

well, then let's also lose the registration date.

this is why i say this thread sucks. there was nothing wrong with the forum, and i personally dont give a shit about post count ( i know that sounds like a bunch of shit given the comments i've made about it, but if anything, i worry about posting TOO much, so my post count not displaying bothers me not) but if the reason for losing the post count IS so that each post stands on it's value, and not percieved wieght based on the author, why have his start date...or his name for that matter?

I think LJ's point is that it is infinitely more productive to specifically address posters and posts than to drop in for your 8th post of 2004 and proclaim with the angst of a soul cast into Gehenna that the Giants have abandoned the Great City and left us, the pissants, to defile its once great carcass.

And LJ is correct.

If hubris boy decided to dust off his keyboard and take to task the 3 most eggregious violators of his unwritten law then you can easily imagine that things would tighten up around here. After that, he can take on the new three most egregious posters. Clean up from the ground up if that is what he thinks needs to be done. But, that takes work. One must become engaged. Much easier to fuss about it from a sterile distance.

While the Cellar might not be as great as it once was neither is Rome. Wanna burn it down too? Of course not.

And quit saying you don't give a fuck when you clearly do. And its good that you do. We should all take pride in the Cellar and we should all do our part to protect it - from the bottom and from the top.

Well no, the thing is I don't. Chances are this'll be my last post, at least for a while. I have enough uphill battles right now without one with so little reward and such obvious animosity. Cellar used to be a good outlet, it no longer is.

--- I know for certain that once a place gets to a certain size, encouraging post count becomes extremely counter-productive. Let's see what happens with this change and also the vBulletin 3 switchover. I think people will step back and take a new tack to how they treat the place, and it will have to absorb the shock and take time to adjust.

--- Point taken on the ads, and I will stop running them.

--- It may be that we finally need an inner circle where members can keep up with other members without having to read the entire system.

By the way, here's the detail for the last six months on Google adwords.

Campaign #4 Paused [ $2.00 / day ] 2,259 1,561,983 0.1% $0.05 $111.05

Campaign #3 Paused [ $1.00 / day ] 773 1,194,188 0.0% $0.12 $96.19

First column 2259 is number of actual clickthroughs
Second 1561983 is number of impressions
0.1% is clickthrough rate
$.05 is price per clickthrough
$111.05 is cost of campaign

I think campaign #3 was buying Google words "intelligent people" "interesting people"

And that is exactly what I'm going to go by. I have always been more partial to what the owner of the board says is appropriate. And since it's my understanding that there are no "written-in-stone" rules on how to post and what to post, then I would think that new members (hell, and old ones too) would take the board in various directions, even one that some posters do not like.

Like Syc said, this board has been around for 14 years (!!!), and changes are bound to happen. We have "only" been here for 3 of those 14 years, so I can imagine was this board was like 5, 10 years ago.

lookout123 wrote:
Good point. When I first came here, I thought that I wasn't "good enough" to be here. Everyone seemed so well read and highly educated and quite honestly, I felt a bit intimidated. I felt that I had to "step up my game" here. I don't have a college degree, but most of what I know came from various experiences and living life, pure and simple. And what I've found is that people can have all the degrees, education and smarts in the world but that they can still sound like the dumbest person alive.

Basically, I have an average IQ (120's) and I take that to mean that I am an average person, and for the most part, my responses to things are probably going to be...average. It has worked in pretty much every other avenue in my life, and it should be good enough here.

jaguar wrote:
Well, sometimes it's about perceived intent rather than the actual words. The "tone" came across to some as somewhat...well, superior. Plus, I've noticed over the last 5 years that I've been on the net that "etiquette" has taken on various meanings to some people. Some thing that top posting in a newsgroup is "understood" to be "improper", but some people will do it anyway, for whatever reason. Since newsgroups as a whole are NOT moderated by anyone, I say all bets are off as far as how someone is "supposed" to post, but many will still chastise that poster for doing something so "heinous".

In addition, sometimes a conversation just.can't.stay.focused. It may indeed veer off into some kind of dribble, and then that's a sign that the coversation may bloody well be over with. Oh well, it happens. *shrugs*

You also said that there is a time and a place for everything. What exactly do you mean? That anything considered "chatty" should be banished? If so, then who is to determine what is "chatty"? That anyone who is "average" or below average should not post? Just some questions.

I see by your replys that you seem angry by the responses. Did you really think that some would just accept what you were saying without *some* debate and maybe even some attitude? And now I see that you are going to just poof go away and not try to turn the ship 'round. Well ok then. Your choice.

I leave this with a comment that Beestie said so well:
"One must become engaged. Much easier to fuss about it from a sterile distance."

OK, now i'm upset. i lurked here for so long because there were some good discussions due to 'giants' calling out for proof of facts, reasons behind opinions etc. it taught me to think before i post as well as check my facts before i open my big mouth. it also taught me that it would be painfully obvious if i didn't. now i feel confident enough that i decide to start posting, and some of those that i would have enjoyed intellegent debates/discussions with are jumping ship. i agree the aprils out there are annoying and bring this place down a bit but like in 'real life' if you just ignore them they go away on their own. every open sandbox gets a little catshit in it once-in-awhile.

I kinda torn on this, the cellar is only a reflection of what we each put into it. I was real close to bagging it, maybe six months ago. We haven't had a really powerful thread here in a long time, no lightbulb moments just the usual left /right rhetoric. I know, I have not brought anything to the table lately, that is certain. When we come back around in the fall, I suspect we won't recognize the joint. But that's probably ok.

don't worry. at most, jag will be gone for a couple of days. pretty quickly some event will occur that will cause jag to make a few more jabs at america and everything will be back to normal.
this has been kind of fun. i haven't seen any real go-arounds in the cellar for awhile.

another thing you will figure out is that there are 1 or 2 (dozen) people that enjoy trying to push buttons.

Don't be so modest, LadyS. 120 is well above average. See this page.

Well you're the second person (at least) to mention the "giants". And I'll tell you, as far as I'm concerned, the "giants" don't exist. You could have called out for verification or held somebody's feet to the fire about elucidating their opinions just as much as anybody else could. Any newcomer who walks in off the street (so to speak) has just as much of a chance of posting something interesting or entertaining as any of the rest of us. And as we have seen, anybody who is considered an old-timer or a fixture can just as easily get the hell out of dodge, for reasons the rest of us may or may not consider warranted, and be gone overnight. So, my advice is to get over any feeling you may have that there is some uber-class of Cellar Dwellars, and just say what you've got to say.

*sniff* Ok, I feel better now:

*120-129 Superior 6.7% of the population.
*120: School Teachers; Pharmacists; Accountants; Nurses; Stenographers; Managers.

Heh, well I *do* "manage" a website and chatroom. :p

"An IQ of 120 therefore implies that the testee is brighter than about 91% of the population, while 130 puts a person ahead of 98% of people. A person with an IQ of 80 is brighter than only 9% of people, and only a few score less than 60."

Thanks dar12. :D

*still smarter than the average bear...*

God damn, these johnny-come-lately-shit-stirrer-uppers, got nothing on you, Hubris Boy.:haha:

Nobodies going anywhere, 'cause I locked the door.
Now everybody take your clothes off and let's get right to the make up sex.:angel:

Don't tell me you guys didnt have the big orgy Saturday?!

i left at 11:30, and there had been zero nudity, and very little lesbian activity. bummer

Less is More
 

Jeez lets just all relax our Sphincter Muscles a little, take a deep breath and chill a minute.

W T F.all these so called Giants of the board having Hissy Fits Hubris Boy, Dagney Jag all throwing the toy's out the pram stomping off in a fit of pique.

Whats wrong with a bit of levity? now and again even in a serious post a smart or funny comment can enhance the argument or position you are trying to put across.
I don't post much but I read and follow most posts to their natural conclusion and a few of the so called "Great Weights" of this board have their heads so far up their own arses and the posts are so predictable you can guess the reply to the question.
But thats what great of being in this community everyone's opinion is different but equally valid
I think that this board is one of the best I've come across.I should know Ive lurked on a few,Ive been around this board about a year and its opened my eyes to differing opinions,some I agree with,some i don't but hey, thats life.
Nothing stays the same its called evolution, we all get teary eyed for the good old days.But take a good look and then think back just how good were them good old days???? If you think the Board is not what is was contribute,Show us young un's whats what but dont just bitch :D

FWIW I don't think (but maybe I'm wrong) Hubris Boy was complaining about humorous things as much as he was complaining about the abundance of posts that don't add anything at all, including humor--posts which say things like "right on!" or "yeah, what he said!" or "OMG that was so funny!"

guys, the phrase "Giants" is getting a little old.

You can just use my name, I won't be offended.

-sm

Hey, I represent that.:)
BeBop, well said, except Dagney's absence is for personal reasons. Life intrudes.:(