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I used to be a very good /. poster. I'd read the comments, try to keep up with an existing thread before starting a new one, etc.

Then I discovered something: If I said *anything* that was *slightly sympathetic* to Microsoft, I'd get modded down!

So now I don't give a shit. I changed my username, told a buddy of mine that I'd help promote his Oracle and I say anything and everything. It hasn't hurt my Karma one bit, either, it's still hovering around 100.

There used to be a nifty metamoderator, but I don't think the /. cabal, now worth mere pennies instead of millions, really care anymore. These self-regulated bulletin boards were an idea that has utterly and completely failed.

The trouble is that it doesn't reward expertise. You have to say something that will please the 17-19 year old anti-establishment punk crowd that dominates this system.

I had good luck for a while with a "Markov Chain" generator that took all existing posts and generated gibberish that looked and sounded coherent on first glance. Since long posts tend to get modded up no matter what they say, it worked well. I just got too lazy to maintain it.

Oh about Austrailian Censorship! I'm with you--I want to know about some sites that are blocked so we can figure out the technology they're using to stop them. That's no troll.

This is a very unusual site, with crude animated gif graphics and a bizarre interface.

But, you can ask it ANY QUESTION in ENGLISH and get an answer (by email) in a few minutes.

I once asked it how it works, and it told me it was a giant parallel neural network consisting of 100s of Linux boxes distributed around the country.

It has some weird training mode where you have to answer a question it asks. I don't know what that's all about either, but I comply.

That Yahoot thing really works! Bitchin'

I tried tracking down the guy who runs the site, but he's a recluse and never answers my mail. Someone told me he was the original "CMU Oracle" from the early 80s.

They never bothered Yahoot!. Though maybe that's because Yahoot has been around since before Yahoo.

It's also a much better source of information than Yahoo is.

If you want to know about what the future holds for your "son" you may want to ask The Oracle of Ya-Hoot who knows everything!

However, the best site on the web for getting a good answer to any query is the Oracle of Ya-Hoot

I am simply amazed every time I ask "the Oracle" a question and I get a good answer. You have to be patient...sometimes it takes days to get an answer, but I always get one and it's always goo.

I have no idea how it works. It's probably some AI thing or a neural network on a linux cluster.

It's interesting, though, that according to whois, the same guy who runs that web site, also owns this curious site . I wonder if David W. Packard has anything to do with the Mighty Oracle of Ya-hoot?