Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot:Mark 2
I, like all of you, am really sad to see the closing of
several of my favorite sites today. User Friendly
was a regular place for me, and Bedope often provided me
with a good laugh. So
I've decided to convert Slashdot to a pure humor site in
their abscense.
This is firstly because so many readers wrote in to flame me
about the lack of integrity in several of the stories
we've posted today. But mostly its just because Segfault
always stunk. Wesley Crusher. Bah. Rest in Peace.
Please have a sense of humor people. I can't
believe I'm actually getting flame over April Fools Day!
Some people just have no sense of humor.
Those who haven't done it yet, please take a look at the slashdot entries in your cookies file.
:)
I don't think news sites should celebrate April fools day, because it makes even real news suspect for a day. Though I've really gotten a kick out of some of today's articles, I'm seriously concerned about User Friendly (who was (supposedly?) experiencing the leading edge of legal troubles before today happened to hit, and now this). I hope the UF stuff is just an incredibly well perpetrated coordinated joke, but there's really been no indication to me that it is. I hope you guys enjoy your AFD stunts, because those of us who are legitimately interested in unbruised information are certainly already displeased with how this news site is handling the holiday. Think about what would happen if CNN suddenly announced that they had a source that reported that we had started dropping nuclear missiles on Serbia in response to the three missing Americans.
Lest you all think I'm just a spoil sport, be assured that I'm celebrating AFD like crazy, but not with respect to news. There's a difference between practical jokes, and practicing improper journalism.
If all these site "shutdowns" are an April Fool's Day joke, it's in poor taste. I've got as much of a sense of humor as the next guy, but, come on! Some people don't take matters like freedom of speech as a joking matter. I'm all for freedom of speech on the internet as well as our day-to-day lives. But this kind of thing is _almost_ like the radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds." I nearly freaked when I hit my Daily Static bookmark, and there was nothing there but a legal statement. I was angry as hell. A good practical joke does not make people angry or scared about their own freedom! Granted, free speech allows really bad practical jokes, but if this is what Illiad and the other webmasters find funny.... Well, I'd be very disappointed. And /. is now a portal/news/communtiy/HUMOR site? heheh Methinks not. Rob's idea of funny is "Duckpins."
--- --- --- Don't just do something! Sit there!
Come on people, I can't believe there are this many tight-asses around... There were enough hints today (and in the last week) that this UF thing was a hoax. A joke is a joke, and this was a rather well-organized one. I think you guys are just mad because you couldn't see though this one.
And comparing a silly little cartoon disappearing with dropping nuclear bombs on a country is a little harsh don't you think. UF disappearing wouldn't be the end of the world you know (pun intended)
And anyway, it is up to Rob (and the other 'post'ers) to decide what appears on SlashDot. If I get sufficiently annoyed with what I see here, I will probably start up my own site (and anyone else here can do the same thing)
...is that it allows us to calibrate our bogometers.
A well-calibrated bogometer helps us get through life. People throw bogons at you day-in and day-out, and you have to separate the wheat from the chaff. Can you trust the news today? Can you even take Slashdot for gospel? IMHO, anyone who takes an uncorroborated report from a hacker bboard gets exactly what they deserve.
Then, one day a year, many of us take an opportunity to crank up their own personal bogosity, all for the sake of fun. Some think it's fun, others don't.
But we all come out of it wiser.
If you don't like AFD as a big set of jokes, think of it as a one-day challenge to your ability to separate fact from fiction. It'll help you out when the talking head on the 6:00 News is jawing off about our latest military endeavour or somesuch...
--The basis of all love is respect
Gang,
/. is even nice enough to let you filter out the topics you don't like. Web sites are like the people behind them, and you choose who (or where) you hang out with (at). Personally, I think it's one of the best info sites on the web.
Any source of information is filtered by the people that run it. CNN doesn't care about InstallFests, and CmdrTaco doesn't care about how much money went into 401(k)s nationwide last month. You, the reader, get to pick which sources you like, or make up your own if you wish. If you don't like how someone does their thing, don't read it. And
-- Spring: Forces, coiled again!