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XKCD Improving the Internet ... Yet Again

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the oh-oh-monroe dept.

netbuzz writes "Comic creator Randall Monroe suggested in a recent xkcd strip that YouTube comments would be better — or, more precisely, less idiotic — if only those posting them were forced to hear their words read aloud first. Well, YouTube has gone and made this "audio preview" a reality, albeit an optional one. And, it's not the first time that xkcd has contributed to the betterment of the Internet, as those who are familiar with last year's "Internet census" and its use of a Hilbert curve may remember."

43 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting concept... by Phydeaux314 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Although I think that the people who need this feature most are the kind least likely to actually use it.

    --
    Never underestimate the stupidity inherent in all human beings.
    1. Re:Interesting concept... by tool462 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Correction. The people who need this feature are likely to use it to get the computer to say naughty things to them. Especially if there is an option to have the voice be the woman with a British accent used on some GPS systems.

    2. Re:Interesting concept... by PCMX · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I would go further on your prediction by claiming that no one will use it altogether other than to just try it out. Albeit innovative for an online service, it is a feature that serves no real purpose when not imposed on the user.

    3. Re:Interesting concept... by caluml · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I suspect you mean an English accent. Scottish or Welsh are very different. In fact, I'd go so far to say that you probably mean a "Posh" Received Pronunciation English accent.

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      Get your own free personal location tracker
    4. Re:Interesting concept... by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Funny

      That would be the Factory Standard GPS Voice (Female).

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    5. Re:Interesting concept... by WDot · · Score: 4, Funny

      You are absolutely spot on. I just signed up for a youtube account JUST to have the computer read me some colorful comments. =p

      It's done in a Microsoft Sam-like voice. Poking around the site doesn't seem to reveal any options for changing the voice, but on the bright side the system is really easy to use. When posting a comment you have the text field and three buttons under it: First "Audio preview," then "Post Comment," and "Discard." Hopefully they'll change "Post Comment" to "Post" so that Audio preview will be the largest button, causing the quick and the lazy to sometimes accidentally hear their comment. (=

    6. Re:Interesting concept... by tool462 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Correction accepted. But, I'm more inclined to believe that it's actually an American actress (from Iowa or something) doing her imitation of what she thinks an English accent is--a grotesque hybrid of Received Pronunciation and Cockney.

    7. Re:Interesting concept... by Legion_SB · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This American is becoming partial to the Welsh accent. Thanks mostly to the girl from Torchwood.

      --
      'a';DROP TABLE users; SELECT * FROM DATA WHERE name LIKE '%'... if you're reading this, it didn't work.
    8. Re:Interesting concept... by Mr_Magick · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hey, I am from Iowa you insensitive clod...

      I really am from Iowa, and according to Wikipedia so are these people:
      Tom Arnold
      Lara Flynn Boyle
      Terry Farrell
      John Getz
      David Anthony Higgins
      Mary Beth Hurt
      Ashton Kutcher
      Cloris Leachman
      Ron Livingston
      Kate Mulgrew
      Donna Reed
      Brandon Routh
      John Wayne
      Elijah Wood

    9. Re:Interesting concept... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I really am from Iowa, and according to Wikipedia ...

      I just added God and Steve Forbes, too.

    10. Re:Interesting concept... by Roxton · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's encouraging to see that people can and do escape Iowa, but that probably doesn't help your point.

    11. Re:Interesting concept... by KevinKnSC · · Score: 5, Funny

      Pro-tip: When listing famous people from your state, don't lead with Tom Arnold.

    12. Re:Interesting concept... by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 3, Funny

      I was going to say the mandatory voice would be a pre-pubescent boy, shrieking loudly. If you can stand what you're saying with that coming over the speakers, it's probably exceptionally intelligent and informed.

    13. Re:Interesting concept... by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 3, Funny

      And James T. Kirk. He only works in outer space.

      --
      ... I'm addicted to placebos
    14. Re:Interesting concept... by Firehed · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think Slashdot's approach with the quick-reply AJAXified version is fine: preview and cancel, with two useless buttons that nobody uses. And after you preview, you still usually have to wait about 15 minutes to post the comment because you type at a rate of more than two words per hour.

      Audio previews should really wipe out all but the true extremes - only the most determined idiots and geniuses will actually submit their comments. Whether that's a good thing or not remains to be seen.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
  2. I'm so torn... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I love xkcd, but hate idle. Should I start loving idle or start hating xkcd???

    1. Re:I'm so torn... by Ihmhi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I believe most of us would agree that nothing from idle belongs on the front page.

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
    2. Re:I'm so torn... by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 4, Funny

      To be fair, I believe most of those would agree that nothing on Slashdot belongs on the front page.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
  3. I'm impressed! by Verdatum · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First non-pants story I've seen on idle! Huzzah!

    1. Re:I'm impressed! by denis-The-menace · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I figured it out.

      click the triangle and the front of the tags.

      PS: I apologies for my previous post since it is not true since we can still tag this story: idleispants

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
    2. Re:I'm impressed! by twistedsymphony · · Score: 4, Informative

      "pants" is a British adjective synonymous with "rubbish".

      --
      Collector's Edition
    3. Re:I'm impressed! by commodoresloat · · Score: 5, Funny

      As an American, I always had a problem with this expression because I thought, what's a Brit to do when someone is wearing pants that are rubbish? Are they to say, "my good fellow, those pants are completely pants!" But then someone corrected me and noted that they would say "those trousers are completely pants." I felt much better after that conversation.

    4. Re:I'm impressed! by Dogtanian · · Score: 2, Informative

      ""pants" is a British adjective synonymous with "rubbish"."

      This comes from the British "pants" which is short for "underpants". Which I guess is kind of weird etymologically, but since we didn't call trousers "pants" in the first place it doesn't matter to us :-P

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    5. Re:I'm impressed! by Whiteox · · Score: 2, Informative

      Trousers=Pants in the UK. And yes, you can mod me informative.

      --
      Don't be apathetic. Procrastinate!
  4. No good by kamikazearun · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Will stupid people realise how stupid their posts are when they're read out aloud?

    1. Re:No good by EchaniDrgn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I stand corrected, suxzorz does in fact get parsed and spoken.... That's sad...

  5. Of course... by evanbd · · Score: 5, Funny

    The best example would have to be this strip and the resultant web site (NSWF).

    1. Re:Of course... by Andr+T. · · Score: 4, Funny

      Nah. It means Nova Scotia Wildlife Federation.

      --

      Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

    2. Re:Of course... by Free+the+Cowards · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's a pretty bad example if you ask me, given that both sites were created by the same person.

      --
      If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
    3. Re:Of course... by invisiblerhino · · Score: 3, Informative

      Don't forget 'died in a blogging accident' and 'x girls, y cups'.

      --
      xterm -n 8
    4. Re:Of course... by trippcook · · Score: 2, Funny

      You guys are obviously forgetting to check the most useful site on the internet. http://www.isxkcdshittytoday.com/ The RSS feed is very, very handy.

    5. Re:Of course... by Free+the+Cowards · · Score: 4, Funny

      How pointless. It would be more accurate to simply have a text file which reads "no".

      --
      If you mod me Overrated, you are admitting that you have no penis.
  6. Life imitates XKCD by Andr+T. · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think the greatest improvement of our lifes from xkcd was when Stallman got a katana. Now I can sleep better, knowing he will be protected from the he-who-cannot-be-named, aka Bill.

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

    1. Re:Life imitates XKCD by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Funny

      While the comic that inspired that is an excellent one, the idea of pulling that prank on Eric S. Raymond is seriously foolish.

  7. Now if they could just get the order right by johanatan · · Score: 2

    It also be nice if they would order the comments oldest to newest from top to bottom for English readers (instead of bottom to top).

  8. I have to ask... by ThisIsAnonymous · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So when is /. getting this?

    1. Re:I have to ask... by Instine · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If you want it we'll make it. I'm CTO at TEXTIC we make Talklets

      --
      Because you can - or because you should?
  9. if only... by kellyb9 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Now, if only, we implemented this on slashdot, then we'd be in business!

    1. Re:if only... by WK2 · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, then people, would realize, how their comment wheezes, when it is full, of unnecessary commas.

      --
      Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
    2. Re:if only... by AioKits · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, the program recognizes this and just switches to William Shatner's voice to read aloud instead.

      --
      "Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
  10. Re:Would my geek liscence be revoked... by Andr+T. · · Score: 2, Funny

    Your licence will be banned when the other geeks realize you can't spell licence.

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.

  11. Wait a minute... by loocas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Those comments on YouTube come from people? I thought it was a virus or something.

  12. Re:Would my geek liscence be revoked... by Andr+T. · · Score: 2, Funny

    Damn, it appears my LICENSE will be banned as well.

    --

    Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.