Honest question, can you explain what getting ratio'd means? I've looked this up on Urban Dictionary, but I'm still not clear. Are we talking about retweet to like ratio? Or are we talking about followed to following ratio? How are trolls and/or bots being used to change either of these ratios, and why would an average user care about those ratios anyway?
I'm not trolling, I'm really trying to understand. Thanks.
Immediately thought of this scene from one of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books:
"A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wave bands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program. Zaphod waved a hand and the channel switched again."
The story, set in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe universe, includes reference to a radio that is tuned by waving your fingers it. And it drove Zaphod nuts because any accidental movement would tune it to another station. He would often just throw things at it.
I heard this question raised on the (excellent) podcast Deep State Radio. Several of the guests ticked through the various secretaries and how awful they all were - except for Nikki Haley. She seems to have not embarrassed herself too bad yet.
"the current administration has ignored everything thrown at them with regards to net neutrality."
I agree that lobbying either the Trump administration or the FCC may be a waste of time. But isn't that why the effort is aimed at senators? You know, someone who could/might actually make a difference?
The question I have: even if you got a senator, wouldn't you still be facing an uphill battle in the House?
"1. Johnny has an AK-47 with an 80-round clip....."
That takes me right back to 1992 when I first saw it in a editing room in Los Angeles.
But I have a question: The photocopy-of-a-photocopy I saw only had the first 7 questions on it (albeit word-for-word with your version). Did you make up 8, 9 and 10? Or was the version I saw incomplete?
I've been lurking on slashdot for around 18 years now, so I have some perspective....
I know it's de rigueur these days to bitch and moan about how awful slashdot is. But to the skeptics I say: parent's comment is exactly why I keep coming back. Thank you for that neat bit of sleuthing ortholattice!/meta
"ResearchGate" Now that even the slightest scandal gets the suffix "-gate" in the press, it's hard to take an actual company with that for a name seriously.
I know it's all the fashion to bitch about how Slashdot has declined from its glory days, but it's posts like this that make it worthwhile to keep reading.
The book that has by far influenced me the most is George Orwell's 1984. I read it when I was a teenager (~15'ish), though I don't think I would have appreciated it more if I had read it earlier. It's pretty dark, and its adult themes would have been harder to grok.
I'm in my mid-forties now, and it has influenced and informed my opposition to a surveillance state ever since. I remember thinking how awful it was that Winston would go out into the forest with his lover, thinking he was alone -- but they were STILL able to record him out there. As others have said, 1984 was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual.
"With most, I'll swell up and have some throat constriction. With a few, I'll have a reasonable amount of time to seek treatment. With a very small number, a single sting is enough to mean I need immediate treatment, or I will die. Most of the time, I won't need any treatment at all."
Good lord, how many times have you been stung by bees?
"...frequently by the same people who then whine about poor people having babies."
Oh, wait, I'm embarrassed that I let someone think I'm a conservative. The threat of Planned Parenthood losing funding under a Trump administration makes my blood boil.
I'm opposed to large families more from an environmental angle. There are already too damn many people all up in my grill wherever I go, and I live in a rural community. Eugenics? Please. Rich white people having large families is just as annoying to me as poor brown people having large families.
3 kids, 5 kids... JFC! Stop cranking out babies! Sorry, but it's not like you need them to help with the farming, and it's not like you don't have birth control options.
I guess it's fashionable to complain about Slashdot, but a lot of other sites are hardly any better. The comments sections in Washington Post & USA Today come to mind.
And of course YouTube famously has low quality comments as noted by xkcd.
I swear, the first presidential candidate to jump on this issue, publicize the hell out of it, and then propose meaningful legislation and/or tax policy designed to discourage it will win the friggin' 2016 election. I'm just afraid one of the dimwit Republican will discover this secret first.
Bernie Sanders, isn't this right up your alley? Why aren't you talking about this more?
I hate to break it to you conservatives & libertarians, free markets are NOT solving this problem. This is one area where government needs to step in.
"That said, I'm surprised that a useless social networking company that caters to narcissists..."
Wait, wait, wait a minute. I see this characterization all the time and it's getting tiresome. Yes, there are plenty of narcissists on Twitter. Fine. But there are also plenty of us who like to curate feeds of interesting people and organizations we like to follow. Twitter fills that niche for me, and it's pretty easy to skim past their minimal advertising.
i.e., people making these pointless observations about Twitter are adding nothing of value to the conversation.
I might also add in response to the comment above about no managers being targeted for firing... That may be, but the way I read it, the summary mentions whole departments and I would assume managers would be included in the layoffs.
Slashdot Mirror
"are being ratio'd into oblivion."
Honest question, can you explain what getting ratio'd means? I've looked this up on Urban Dictionary, but I'm still not clear. Are we talking about retweet to like ratio? Or are we talking about followed to following ratio? How are trolls and/or bots being used to change either of these ratios, and why would an average user care about those ratios anyway?
I'm not trolling, I'm really trying to understand. Thanks.
Immediately thought of this scene from one of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books:
"A loud clatter of gunk music flooded through the Heart of Gold cabin as Zaphod searched the sub-etha radio wave bands for news of himself. The machine was rather difficult to operate. For years radios had been operated by means of pressing buttons and turning dials; then as the technology became more sophisticated the controls were made touch-sensitive--you merely had to brush the panels with your fingers; now all you had to do was wave your hand in the general direction of the components and hope. It saved a lot of muscular expenditure, of course, but meant that you had to sit infuriatingly still if you wanted to keep listening to the same program.
Zaphod waved a hand and the channel switched again."
"...even though herbal abortion was commonplace at the time)"
Wait, what??
How do I learn more about this?
Isn't 12,000 --3,000,000 years a pretty big window?? Or is that par for the course?
Anyone else here remember Douglas Adams' short story Young Zaphod Plays it Safe?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
The story, set in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe universe, includes reference to a radio that is tuned by waving your fingers it. And it drove Zaphod nuts because any accidental movement would tune it to another station. He would often just throw things at it.
Adams was ahead of his time.
"Guccifer 2.0, Cambridge Anal. and Species Jumping......"
Off topic I know, but.....
I just want to say: Mr. Ratzo I love love love your posts so much. Thank you. Please keep on writing.
(Oh, and welcome to California.)
I heard this question raised on the (excellent) podcast Deep State Radio. Several of the guests ticked through the various secretaries and how awful they all were - except for Nikki Haley. She seems to have not embarrassed herself too bad yet.
"the current administration has ignored everything thrown at them with regards to net neutrality."
I agree that lobbying either the Trump administration or the FCC may be a waste of time. But isn't that why the effort is aimed at senators? You know, someone who could/might actually make a difference?
The question I have: even if you got a senator, wouldn't you still be facing an uphill battle in the House?
"1. Johnny has an AK-47 with an 80-round clip....."
That takes me right back to 1992 when I first saw it in a editing room in Los Angeles.
But I have a question: The photocopy-of-a-photocopy I saw only had the first 7 questions on it (albeit word-for-word with your version). Did you make up 8, 9 and 10? Or was the version I saw incomplete?
Thanks for that walk down memory lane.
My first thought was - why wasn't there a tsunami from this?
*meta*
I've been lurking on slashdot for around 18 years now, so I have some perspective....
I know it's de rigueur these days to bitch and moan about how awful slashdot is. But to the skeptics I say: parent's comment is exactly why I keep coming back. Thank you for that neat bit of sleuthing ortholattice! /meta
"ResearchGate"
Now that even the slightest scandal gets the suffix "-gate" in the press, it's hard to take an actual company with that for a name seriously.
Hold on, I understood it to mean that if you clicked on the "news" section it was a top news story -- without searching for anything.
I know it's all the fashion to bitch about how Slashdot has declined from its glory days, but it's posts like this that make it worthwhile to keep reading.
Thanks, Solandri, for that informative post.
The book that has by far influenced me the most is George Orwell's 1984. I read it when I was a teenager (~15'ish), though I don't think I would have appreciated it more if I had read it earlier. It's pretty dark, and its adult themes would have been harder to grok.
I'm in my mid-forties now, and it has influenced and informed my opposition to a surveillance state ever since. I remember thinking how awful it was that Winston would go out into the forest with his lover, thinking he was alone -- but they were STILL able to record him out there. As others have said, 1984 was supposed to be a cautionary tale, not an instruction manual.
"With most, I'll swell up and have some throat constriction. With a few, I'll have a reasonable amount of time to seek treatment. With a very small number, a single sting is enough to mean I need immediate treatment, or I will die. Most of the time, I won't need any treatment at all."
Good lord, how many times have you been stung by bees?
"...replaced with another (solar and wind) that actually kills many more people"
Wait, what?
[grabs popcorn]
How do you figure?
"...failed to mention one thrilling detail"
"...according to Tesla's exciting handout"
Is this what reporting has devolved to these days?
"...frequently by the same people who then whine about poor people having babies."
Oh, wait, I'm embarrassed that I let someone think I'm a conservative. The threat of Planned Parenthood losing funding under a Trump administration makes my blood boil.
I'm opposed to large families more from an environmental angle. There are already too damn many people all up in my grill wherever I go, and I live in a rural community. Eugenics? Please. Rich white people having large families is just as annoying to me as poor brown people having large families.
3 kids, 5 kids... JFC! Stop cranking out babies!
Sorry, but it's not like you need them to help with the farming, and it's not like you don't have birth control options.
Stop. Having. Fucking. Babies.
honest question because I don't know:
Is Autopilot different from normal cruise control?
I guess it's fashionable to complain about Slashdot, but a lot of other sites are hardly any better. The comments sections in Washington Post & USA Today come to mind.
And of course YouTube famously has low quality comments as noted by xkcd.
I swear, the first presidential candidate to jump on this issue, publicize the hell out of it, and then propose meaningful legislation and/or tax policy designed to discourage it will win the friggin' 2016 election. I'm just afraid one of the dimwit Republican will discover this secret first.
Bernie Sanders, isn't this right up your alley? Why aren't you talking about this more?
I hate to break it to you conservatives & libertarians, free markets are NOT solving this problem. This is one area where government needs to step in.
"That said, I'm surprised that a useless social networking company that caters to narcissists..."
Wait, wait, wait a minute. I see this characterization all the time and it's getting tiresome. Yes, there are plenty of narcissists on Twitter. Fine. But there are also plenty of us who like to curate feeds of interesting people and organizations we like to follow. Twitter fills that niche for me, and it's pretty easy to skim past their minimal advertising.
i.e., people making these pointless observations about Twitter are adding nothing of value to the conversation.
I might also add in response to the comment above about no managers being targeted for firing... That may be, but the way I read it, the summary mentions whole departments and I would assume managers would be included in the layoffs.
640 miles ought to be enough for anyone.