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A while back similar thing happened to Segfault. People abused their polls (you were able to add your own choices) and comments (yea, Natalie Portman etc).
Segfault, instead of shutting everything down, shut their comment system and poll system down.

Rather unfortunate that script kiddies and other 31337 h2x0rz can pull a whole site down with their stupidity...

id Software Releases IDEYES

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Huh!? I thought i was dead? Letter i Found Dead ;-)

id Software Releases IDEYES

Keep up the good work, Malda & Co.

You really think that. So it's so much worse to take fair and reasonable precautions to try improving the signal-to-noise ratio than to turn over Slashdot to a bunch of prepubescent morons who have nothing better to do with their pathetic little lives than spam a technical discussion site with puerile humor, attempts to change the subject, and just plain meaningless crap? Note, by the way, that not only are all of my examples from this discussion, but they are three of the first four posts to this discussion. And you say Slashdot isn't declining.

It seems the moderation has gotten way too politically correct.

Not that I've seen. I have yet to see an truly insightful, well-thought-out post that hasn't been modersted up quite high in the end. And no, I haven't agreed with all of them. No, they haven't all been politically correct (hell, many of the posts I do couldn't be called politically correct).

The quality of posts that get moderated up to +5 (in particular +5 funny) is really getting more and more lame.

You mean they haven't all been tasteless crap. Boo hoo hoo.

It's not the trolls' fault, it's the moderation system.

Oh, yeah. The moderators force the trolls to troll. Like we tie the trolls up, guard then with NINJAS and torture them with pr0n of Natalie Portman naked and petrified, and threaten to pour steaming hot grits down their pants if they don't troll. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

the "1984 version" of Slashdot that you get at high thresholds is truly bland. Personally, I would rather read some truly amusing posts and take my chances with being offended or whatever you think the post is going to do to me.

What do you want, a humor site? Go here if you want that. Or better yet, go here.

Some of those posts obviously took some effort and creativity too... they deserve some recognition.

I know of only one troll that could possibly have taken any effort or creativity: the original naked and petrified post. The rest are just idiotic drivel, badly-written porn (I could write better stories than that, about the same subject matter, without any pr0n elements, in ten minutes), or slander (libel?) against JonKatz.

And even with that troll, it wasn't in the appropriate place. There is a time and a place for everything, even for trolls. Slashdot ain't it.

I think everyone should be able to vote on a post... let the score reflect the total of all votes applied to it. people can judge it by that and choose to ignore it or not, as they see fit.

We've got that already. It's called moderation. It picks people at random, yes, and it doesn't let known troublemakers mod, but it's quite fair.

I think free-speech has all but vanished on this site.

Free speech vanishing? Hardly. You can still say whatever you want. And we can also tell you to go fuck yourself. You have the fundamental rights to speak, to hear, and to not hear, but you have no fundamental right to be heard. You are given that right when someone listens to you. And if no one wants to listen, you can still prattle on all you want, while we simply build and move around you. But don't scream censorship when no one wants to hear you. That's just because we all think it's bullshit. And if we all think it's bullshit, there's a very large probability that it is.

"Bitchslapping," and "lameness filtering" ARE interfering with the communications of Slashdot's users.

Never heard these terms mentioned in connection with this site before. What is this "bitch-slapping" and "lameness filtering," as defined by Slashdot?

I've certainly never seen my communications interrupted or interfered with. Nor anyone else's.

Rob Malda almost seems like he's in a panic. He will do anything to eliminate the "trolling"... no matter how it may interfere with the operations of the site.

But does it interfere with this site's operations? Absolutely not. I have yet to see any moderation-related change which has interfered with actual technical discussion on Slashdot. Flamers, trolls, and spammers get filtered down (and I, like you, browse at -1 just to make certain of this), yes. But actual intelligent discussion? Hardly.

Is this Malda's site? Sure is. Will it generate any income when people no longer read it? Nope.

And you think Slashdot's readership is declining? Not that I've seen. And the people I do see leaving are all blaming it on trolls, not moderation.

Rob, you'd better wake up and smell the coffee... take an objective look at what moderation is doing. It's not good.

Maybe, maybe not. But regardless, it's better than the alternative: a site on which technical discussion can no lnger take place because it's been overrun by assholes.

Unfortunately it's ROT26.

Here is the Actual Time Article by Gates

http://www.time.com /time/magazine/articles/0,3266,44557,00.html

It's in Time But it belongs on Segfault

Honestly, get thee to Segfault.org and submit the story! This is great!

the dot shortage may quickly become unbearable...

What were the postive results of your meeting with the Pope? Did he let you wear his hat?

Heise have also dropped the ball on their April's Fools joke this year when they recycled a story that ran on Segfault about a month ago (ROT-26 encryption)...

Seems like it's a sad year for April's Fools... *sigh*

Then again, the day's still young over here, so there's still hope... >:)

(Oh, and of course said "article" is in German, so remember to use the fish... ;)

np: Jeswa - Poema Singled (Lily Of The Valley comp.)

As always under permanent deconstruction.

Heise have also dropped the ball on their April's Fools joke this year when they recycled a story that ran on Segfault about a month ago (ROT-26 encryption)...

Seems like it's a sad year for April's Fools... *sigh*

Then again, the day's still young over here, so there's still hope... >:)

(Oh, and of course said "article" is in German, so remember to use the fish... ;)

np: Jeswa - Poema Singled (Lily Of The Valley comp.)

As always under permanent deconstruction.

> You mean languages like C? :-)

C isn't dead but apparently helloworld.c died recently.

Seriously, I just got back from long checkout lines at the grocery store, staring at the Star and the Enquirer, and Weekly World News. And here's this headline, right on the front page of /. How tragically similar...

Personally, I think the satire's better at segfault.

--

One thing hanging outside an Office developer's office was the following SegFault.org article:

Microsoft Considers Playtime, Naptime for Redmond, WA Campus

I guess a little hopeful thinking, eh? :)

that this falls under the "Stuff That Matters" dept. If you are looking for straight news, you might want to check out segfault

This actually brings Slashdot closer to its worst enemy, Segfault.org. (Just kidding Rob, we love you really! :)

Segfault has been assisted by VA for quite some time now. When I left my last company Segfault nearly went homeless, and VA came to the rescue, securing us a machine to use, paying for it to be hosted in the states etc.

Hell, they even payed the cost of a transatlantic plane ticket to bring me to LinuxWorld Expo last year.

Even Slashdot received help from VA in the early days.

VA has a long history of helping the Open Source community and working with it the best they can. Their own portal site, linux.com is pretty unbiased and SourceForge is a huge benefit to the community.

I really don't think VA are stupid enough to mess about with Slashdot, they are well aware of the value it has to the Open Source community if its left as it is.

Just my two cents, I'm gonna go and hide now and hope nobody caught me reading Slashdot :)

What classic lit reminds us of Slashdot?
Of course, thanks to suggestions, I now must add Beowulf, The Great CmdrTaco, and Chicken Soup for the Geek's Soul.

To get the essay to which the article refers, email me.

If my favorite search engine can gain consciousness, then I think there's hope for all of us.

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"You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

I can see it now... An AOL/TW/EMI merger with the United States Government.

Hrmmm...Segfault is actually useful nowadays...

Look here.

Here's my copy of DeCSS. Where's yours?

Not to slight the hard work of Scott James Remnant (the other main segfault guy), but Scott is often recognized in press interviews and in friends and family stock offerings of Linux IPOs. And Leonard is chained to his Internet connection fixing things while Scott is off having a life or something. I say $2,000 is a small price to pay to keep a sense of humor about things. After all, laughter is the best medicine and who can put a price tag on your health? :)

Not to slight the hard work of Scott James Remnant (the other main segfault guy), but Scott is often recognized in press interviews and in friends and family stock offerings of Linux IPOs. And Leonard is chained to his Internet connection fixing things while Scott is off having a life or something. I say $2,000 is a small price to pay to keep a sense of humor about things. After all, laughter is the best medicine and who can put a price tag on your health? :)

It's not the funniest thing I've ever seen, but it ain't bad.

Greg

It's not the funniest thing I've ever seen, but it ain't bad.

Greg

1. The annoying bastards continue until the signal-to-noise ratio here is unbearable (we only have a finite number of moderator points)
2. People turn up their thresholds to the point that if you're not Linus Torvalds, Bruce Perens, or RMS, your post won't even get read.
3. We continue to bitch about the idiots

I've been a reader of /. for about 6 months. Normally everyone is honest, direct, and polite. What is up with this "Natalie Portman" thing?

It's been explained in a few other threads, but just in case you missed them, here's what happened:

Humour site Segfault recently had to disable user comments because the system was being abused; a number of people were posting obscene comments about Natalie Portman and Mae Ling Mak. Every story on Segfault ended up with obscene comments attached to it.

Because Segfault no longer allows commenting, the idiots who posted such comments appear to have migrated en masse to this site. At least we have moderators who can do something about this abuse.

-Stephen (who had never even heard of Mae Ling Mak before the Segfault fiasco, and still hasn't got a clue who she is)

Yea, it's true. Every story had someone talking about Natalie Portmans um, thing? and so they just stopped them. The story is here.

I thought these cretins all committed seppuku when Segfault stopped accepting comments and write-in votes. Don't let it happen here!

Maybe it's not such a bad idea (please, don't flame yet). Wouldn't it be the (relative) end of spam? If you can't send an email without someone knowing EXACTLY who you are, it makes it easier for people to relieve that aggravation. Really, can you go to the library and get all the books you want without them knowing who you are? No...

The difference, is that you can go to a bookstore, purchase the books with cash, and retain (for the most part) anonymity.

The only reason that this notion is being entertained, is because of cracking attempts, and website defacements, in which they can't track down the perpetrators.

Does somebody really need to be able to identify me individually, with my certificate, in order for me to view the latest sports scores? Or check and see what's funny on Segfault? I don't think so.

And exactly how is this going to be prevented from being used in some marketing scheme. Surely it has to be, otherwise, what's the point? It can't be that easy.

Regardless of what system they come up with, short of quantum crypto it's going to be forgeable. Just depends on how much time is invested.

Is this a good idea? probably. Is it a bad idea, yes... It's not often I take two sides of an issue, but each side has its merits. Just wish I didn't have to give up my anonymity to receive them.

Anyone who doesn't know the story should check the BeDope story, the User Friendly story, the segfault story, or one of the stories at /.

Anyone who doesn't know the story should check the BeDope story, the User Friendly story, the segfault story, or one of the stories at /.

• Creators admit C, Unix a hoax

Segfault had a story like this recently...except it had no associated game. :)

What's the problem, too much free beer at Comdex?

Bravery, Kindness, Clarity, Honesty, Compassion, Generosity

What's the problem, too much free beer at Comdex?

Bravery, Kindness, Clarity, Honesty, Compassion, Generosity

Following standards is good; improving speed & reliability is good. Quickly creating one's own "standards" (like the first HTML imagemaps, and tables, and whatnot) just to get to implement some nice feature before anybody else, now that's BAD. BAD BAD BAD.

If the only thing to develop in a web browser is adding more bells & whistles, then there's no point in developing them at all.

Related: A Segfault story

- hautis

The Federation spaceships computers will not be running Linux anytime soon. Lt. Coronel John Francwitz, the officer in charge of all in-board systems explains that "while Linux is pretty much stable and clean, the lack of a clear (and suable) corporate sponsorship makes it impossible for us to even suggest its use". Francwitz also points that the cost to port the thousands of apps present even in a mid-range spaceship would make it economically impratical.

But that may not be the end of the story. Some Earth government officials are now saying that with the recent acquisition of the last remaining Microsoft by The Borg, the use of Windows SE (Space Editon) 4000 as the Federation's main spaceship OS is probably going to be questioned. But the same officials are fast to say that even if the Federation decides to stop using Windows, the logical choice for its sucessor would be Mac OS 5977.3 (that powers the Fleet's planetside Virtual Reality Servers).

Inspired by:This fine Segfault piece by Rob " The Hitman " Cormick

Very popular future view, world ruled by meag-tradercompanies, will drop because very important element in future, software (yes, I think computers are here to stay), will be free? If Windows ruled the world for some more time, it could start taking over the world with hidden spying, remote control and stuff. No, don't laugh, instead tell me why it wouldn't be possible. Who could detect it? Nobody sees the code and as for workings of OS/apps... who understands them anyways. If best shot for detecting microsoft spying is seeings letters 'RSA' in file, we're in shit. Thank god the messiah foretold saved us.

I guess we can see where the overspill of Segfault is now residing...
How's about a /.poll, Rob; "Best ways to rid yourself of immature, useless posters on an interactive website"...

Segfault is only reliable source of news these days. Again, they have published the truth while others give you government fabricated lies. In reality, Jam Echelon Day was a huge success, see this Quote: "We couldn't even telnet in to kill the process," wrote an anonymous NSA sysadmin. "We unplugged it from the network but it's got a lot of mail buffered, and it's going through it all."

More response would only indicate we take the article seriously, and anyone who does that I've got a bridge to sell. :-)

Maybe segfault's License Codes story might become ha-ha only serious. I doubt it though, as there is a strong tendency to reinvent the wheel when it comes to licenses. But who knows. Try proposing it on the license-discuss list (preferably with a concrete template).

Maybe segfault's License Codes story might become ha-ha only serious. I doubt it though, as there is a strong tendency to reinvent the wheel when it comes to licenses. But who knows. Try proposing it on the license-discuss list (preferably with a concrete template).

Dear ESR:

(No GIFs due to patent problems)

I'm sure everyone at Slashdot is familiar with the internal strife and conflict that can currently be found in the Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified movement, a primary cause of which is YOU and your cronies and your watered-down version of the ideals of Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified, which you laughably refer to as Mae Ling Mak Immobilized and Not Fully Clothed. You've taken what was good and pure about Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified and watered it down so it would be more tolerable and acceptable to conservative blowhards who are afraid to think outside the terms of society's established notions and conditions. This is detailed on our web page (no GIFs due to patent problems!!!) in our founder's document "Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified vs. Mae Ling Mak Immobilized and Not Fully Clothed," so I won't repeat what's already been said.

You state that by changing "Petrified" to "Immobilzied" you placate those who are afraid of the idea of petrification, and by replacing "Naked" with "Not Fully Clothed" you placate those who fear nudity. I SAY THAT THIS IS WRONG!!! The entire HEART of Mae Ling (No GIFs due to patent problems) Mak naked and petrified is MAE LING MAK.... NAKED.... AND PETRIFIED. The nudity and the petrification are the essential elements!

This bastardized philosophy you preach flies in the face of the Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified movement, which you ONCE claimed to support! (No GIFs due to patent problems) Now you've stomped on our heads on your rise to glory with your own hacked-up version of our philosphy. "Immobilized and not fully clothed" indeed! Why, that could be referring to a paralyzed Polish cowboy wearing a bikini for all we know! (No GIFs due to patent problems)

We know what's GOOD for the people, even if the people don't know what's good for themselves. What's good for the people is Mae Ling Mak, naked, and petrified. The people (No GIFs due to patent problems) NEED a naked Mae Ling Mak statue. You can't dispute this. You believe this yourself. And yet you refuse to stand up for what you believe! You say, "Well, maybe it's okay if she's not petrified, as long as she can't move," or (No GIFs due to patent problems) "Well, maybe she doesn't have to be naked, but she could at least take her shirt off or something." You BELIEVE she should be naked and petrified, but you ALLOW other lesser variations on this perfect theme into what could otherwise be a strong, world-dominating paradigm! (No GIFs due to patent problems)

You've sold out to the court of popular opinion. You're a blight on the face of the Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified movement. I hope you enjoy your Mae Ling Mak Immobilzed and Not Fully Clothed movement while it lasts, because guess what, we're going to run you (No GIFs due to patent problems) out of town!

FURTHER (No GIFs due to patent problems) NOTE: Please see THIS COMMENT in which several misconceptions of a person referencing Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified incorrectly were addressed.

Anyway, my QUESTION, is in your official response to (no GIFs due to patent problems) our founder's attack on the Mae Ling Mak Immobilized and Not Fully Clothed movement, you left SEVERAL major points unaddressed.

1. How you expect EITHER of the two Mae Ling Mak immobilization movements to compete with its competitors, the FreeMLM, OpenMLM, and NetMLM movements, with all this silly infighting that's going on.

2. The accusation that you simply watered-down Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified not for any real moral reason, or even to make it more acceptable to the general public, but simply to make it more acceptable to big business and help to increase profit potential? (No GIFs due to patent problems) Do I smell the rancid stench of Capitalism on your breath, ESR??

3. Ain't Mae Ling Mak really cute?

4. (No GIFs due to patent problems)

5. Just what's the big idea, anyway???

Those are all the questions.

FURTHER READING:

THOUGHTS FROM MAE LING MAK ABOUT THIS

MORE THOUGHTS FROM MAE LING MAK ABOUT THIS

A MISINFORMED SOUL GETS CORRECTED

A GOOD STATUEPHILE WEBSITE but it contains a GIF so it's bad!!!!!

ANOTHER GOOD STATUEPHILE WEBSITE but it contains GIFs so it has to DIE!!!!

I hope you'll be able to clear this up. Thank you for your time.

Dear ESR:

(No GIFs due to patent problems)

I'm sure everyone at Slashdot is familiar with the internal strife and conflict that can currently be found in the Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified movement, a primary cause of which is YOU and your cronies and your watered-down version of the ideals of Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified, which you laughably refer to as Mae Ling Mak Immobilized and Not Fully Clothed. You've taken what was good and pure about Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified and watered it down so it would be more tolerable and acceptable to conservative blowhards who are afraid to think outside the terms of society's established notions and conditions. This is detailed on our web page (no GIFs due to patent problems!!!) in our founder's document "Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified vs. Mae Ling Mak Immobilized and Not Fully Clothed," so I won't repeat what's already been said.

You state that by changing "Petrified" to "Immobilzied" you placate those who are afraid of the idea of petrification, and by replacing "Naked" with "Not Fully Clothed" you placate those who fear nudity. I SAY THAT THIS IS WRONG!!! The entire HEART of Mae Ling (No GIFs due to patent problems) Mak naked and petrified is MAE LING MAK.... NAKED.... AND PETRIFIED. The nudity and the petrification are the essential elements!

This bastardized philosophy you preach flies in the face of the Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified movement, which you ONCE claimed to support! (No GIFs due to patent problems) Now you've stomped on our heads on your rise to glory with your own hacked-up version of our philosphy. "Immobilized and not fully clothed" indeed! Why, that could be referring to a paralyzed Polish cowboy wearing a bikini for all we know! (No GIFs due to patent problems)

We know what's GOOD for the people, even if the people don't know what's good for themselves. What's good for the people is Mae Ling Mak, naked, and petrified. The people (No GIFs due to patent problems) NEED a naked Mae Ling Mak statue. You can't dispute this. You believe this yourself. And yet you refuse to stand up for what you believe! You say, "Well, maybe it's okay if she's not petrified, as long as she can't move," or (No GIFs due to patent problems) "Well, maybe she doesn't have to be naked, but she could at least take her shirt off or something." You BELIEVE she should be naked and petrified, but you ALLOW other lesser variations on this perfect theme into what could otherwise be a strong, world-dominating paradigm! (No GIFs due to patent problems)

You've sold out to the court of popular opinion. You're a blight on the face of the Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified movement. I hope you enjoy your Mae Ling Mak Immobilzed and Not Fully Clothed movement while it lasts, because guess what, we're going to run you (No GIFs due to patent problems) out of town!

FURTHER (No GIFs due to patent problems) NOTE: Please see THIS COMMENT in which several misconceptions of a person referencing Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified incorrectly were addressed.

Anyway, my QUESTION, is in your official response to (no GIFs due to patent problems) our founder's attack on the Mae Ling Mak Immobilized and Not Fully Clothed movement, you left SEVERAL major points unaddressed.

1. How you expect EITHER of the two Mae Ling Mak immobilization movements to compete with its competitors, the FreeMLM, OpenMLM, and NetMLM movements, with all this silly infighting that's going on.

2. The accusation that you simply watered-down Mae Ling Mak Naked and Petrified not for any real moral reason, or even to make it more acceptable to the general public, but simply to make it more acceptable to big business and help to increase profit potential? (No GIFs due to patent problems) Do I smell the rancid stench of Capitalism on your breath, ESR??

3. Ain't Mae Ling Mak really cute?

4. (No GIFs due to patent problems)

5. Just what's the big idea, anyway???

Those are all the questions.

FURTHER READING:

THOUGHTS FROM MAE LING MAK ABOUT THIS

MORE THOUGHTS FROM MAE LING MAK ABOUT THIS

A MISINFORMED SOUL GETS CORRECTED

A GOOD STATUEPHILE WEBSITE but it contains a GIF so it's bad!!!!!

ANOTHER GOOD STATUEPHILE WEBSITE but it contains GIFs so it has to DIE!!!!

I hope you'll be able to clear this up. Thank you for your time.

http://segfault.org/sto ry.phtml?mode=2&id=37da29ae-06cf9da0

So obviously it's important for Slashdot to have a good moderation system, otherwise we might end up with a SNR equal to that of newsgroups.

The good thing about Slashdot is that we can add and take away as many features as we want, because there's no protocol involved here, only code. So we can try one thing, see how it works, and if it doesn't work out, try something else. I think though, that we have to try not to make the moderation system *too* fancy. If we make moderation too difficult and subject to review after review after review, then I think moderators will begin to ask themselves "what is the point?". I would hate to see something like this, for example, become reality.

On another topic, I think that meta-moderation in the comments list itself is a bad idea. Let's say I'm person A, or a friend of person A. Person A gets their post moderated down. I might choose to meta-moderate that post. Even if we ban the poster themselves from meta-moderating where their own posts are involved, we can't stop them from telling all of their friend to go there and do it for them.

Segfault is over here. You seem to have gotten lost.