I used to meta-mod every day, now the metamods and user pages have become so bloated and unwieldy I've lost all motivation to participate
I wasn't meta-moderating quite that frequently, but I did try to make time to do it at least once a week. Since the new system was put in place I hardly bother any more.
As far as the moderation system, I abandoned that a couple of years ago. There is so much abuse that goes unchecked that I just browse at -1 and skip past the comments that I think are trolls or flame bait or whatever. I've also unchecked the "willing to moderate" box in my preferences, although that has more to do with just not having the time most days to skim the summaries and comments, let alone read the articles and make an honest attempt to do a good job of moderating.
The user page changes are just bizarre, and the page is different every time I visit it (which isn't very often lately). They seem to be trying to get to the point where your comments appear with the summary of the article they were attached to (leading to the 'bloat' you noted). The last time I visited there were summaries from article that I never commented on, so they had no relevance to me. They seem to be still developing this new user page, but rather than wait until it is finished, they have essentially made us all beta testers.
Why am I given the choice to rate my own comments '+' or '-'? Am I really going to rate my own comment '-'? Also, the style sheet seems to be messed up, at least in Firefox. Rather than the white text on a green background they were using when they first made the change (ala Idle), it is now white text on a two-tone background that fades from grey to white, making the text unreadable. In IE, it's white text on a green background. I don't know, maybe I've done something to Firefox, but it wasn't like this the other day.
Maybe I'm just resistant to change, but I can't see anything positive about these changes.
I cannot see why ISP should (or would) not limit high users more than low users.
Well, see, that's a different thing than traffic shaping. If you are arguing in favour of caps, I am in agreement with you. I have no problem with an ISP - or a restaurant owner - saying you get this much for that amount. I just don't want my ISP saying you can't use a certain protocol or you're getting throttled.
They can even say only so much during certain hours if they like. As long as they spell it out clearly in their contract exactly what you are paying for that's fine, and fair.
You talk about VOIP, and how that should be looked upon favourably because it uses little bandwidth. Well, suppose your ISP (who may also be a Telco in a lot of cases) offers a VOIP service as a value add? And they decide to "shape" your Skype traffic, so the QOS is lousy compared to their competing service, to make it more attractive. Is that also "up to the ISP?"
If we allow them to throttle our traffic based on content or protocol, we've traded our free and open Internet for AOL.
What's an "emergency call?" Are 911 calls routed through the Internet in your area?
Actually any call, if your data is ftp, http, torrent, or similar bulk data.
Sorry, why? Your voice call takes priority over my file transfer or http traffic because... you say so? What's so special about your voice call that it should take priority over the updates I need to run on a machine I am deploying? Why is your kids telling Grandma what they did at school today more important than me getting useful work done?
Or if I pay more - this is capitalism
Excellent point. If you require guaranteed levels of service, it is you who should pay extra for it. My bandwidth should not be throttled to reduce the amount of time Youtube needs to buffer your streaming videos because someone at the ISP makes an arbitrary decision that your traffic should take priority over mine.
And, perhaps, because I use less (average) bandwidth (i.e. am a better customer).
So you and I go to an "All You Can Eat" buffet and you eat less than I do so that makes you a "better customer."
And yes, I want the utility company to limit it, as it is obvious you will not (use QoS).
I've already responded to this little straw man of yours, but I will add that limiting all customers equally would be acceptable. That's what those of us who are not in favour of "traffic shaping" are saying: sell us bandwidth, not services, and if the level of service degrades because everyone is trying to use it at the same time, we all suffer equally.
It's not up to IPS - or you - to decide my traffic is less important than yours.
You know what I'd like to see happen? Anyone who is caught using uTorrent with this setting gets their broadband internet access contract torn up.
You know what I'd like to see happen? Deliver the throughput that I pay for. If I exceed that throughput, charge me for whatever I use in excess of my allotment, or cut off my service. Whatever the terms of my contract state.
My ISP charges me a fixed rate for a fixed amount of throughput (100 GB per month). If I and everyone one else try to download large files during peak times, our transfer rates will suck. Just like everyone getting on the freeway at the same time to drive to work causes traffic congestion, or those same people all firing up the air conditioner at the same time when they get home from work may cause brown outs.
Do you want the utility company to decide how you can use the electricity that comes in to your house?
Don't even pretend that most bit torrent traffic is legitimate and legal.
My traffic is just as "legitimate" as yours. We're both just moving bits of data. Why should your bits take priority over mine?
Thanks for letting me know I wasn't losing my mind. I spend a good chunk of time yesterday trying to figure out what I had done to bugger up my user page and how to fix it. I thought it was because - in what I can only assume was a moment of temporary insanity - I had posted a comment to the Idle section. A Google search turned up your comment in this thread.
I agree with your take on the recent changes to the site. Here is a comment I posted to Taco's journal about the new metamod system. I'm still not sure how it is supposed to work, and as a result I haven't done it much since the new system went in to effect.
I appreciated the fact that Taco and Jamie both took the time to respond to my questions, but I'm still not 100 percent clear on how it works and what I am supposed to do. And it drives me crazy that they don't post a story to the front page, or update the FAQ, to let us know what changes they're making and why.
I guess they can make whatever changes they like to their site, but I think they are running the risk of alienating long time users for no good reason that I can see. Why put random summaries of stories from last month on my user page? I didn't even post comments to those stories; why are they on my user page? Same with the "Tags" block that now takes up space on the right-hand column. I never use tags, and the ones they're showing me have no relevance that I can see. They just seem to have been randomly selected and displayed. Clicking one of them brings up the headline of a summary from a months-old story that I did not post a comment to.
As you said, I wish they would stop messing with the site. Put the effort in to copy editing the summaries before posting them to the front page instead.
I think there is a class action suit taking place against Bell and Telus over the text messaging on those very grounds.
If you were referring to Telus changing their billing practices from "we bill you for what you used last month" to "we're billing you in advance for next month's service," I didn't have a contract to break. And that's a good point to raise. We signed for two years, which expired last year. I really should have looked at my options then. Any incentives you get in these deals are usually at the front end. Bell gave us the first two months free, then six months at 29.00. After that we pay 50.00, unless we subscribe to one of their cable packages. If we do that, we get the service for $42.00/month, which is $3.00 more than Telus was charging us for far inferior service. And we can cancel at any time.
Like I said, Telus did us a real favour by pissing me off enough to check out the competition.
Does it really have to be "all or nothing?" Do I have to turn my back completely on popular culture or roll over and accept anything the big players in the content industry tell me I must accept? Conversely, is the only meaningful response to their outrageous grab for power to simply take as I please, self-righteously proclaiming that they are evil so I may do as I please?
Keep in mind, too, it's not just "big labels" you would need to boycott if you want to take a principled stand; it is any art that gets to patrons via commercial channels. And that's a lot of art.
Also, as has been said elsewhere, many of us are copyright holders. I'm not just talking about "you own your slashdot comments," I mean many of us produce work that falls under copyright. Do I have to give up my own ability to have a say in the distribution of my work just because some dorks in LA could'nt figure out a new business model that doesn't depend on distribution of little plastic discs?
Sorry, I've got to go or I would have more to say on this. Maybe I'll write more later.
I think there is a middle ground, and as soon as these dinosaurs who run the entertainment industry in the US die off, I think we'll all find we can achieve a compromise.
He is not our ally in ensuring we can get whatever media we want whenever we want for no cost.
I hope you are joking. If not, who is this "we" who think they should get whatever media they want whenever they want for no cost?
What I want is copyright laws that serves the needs of copyright holders and the public equally. Shorter copyright terms, allowances for fair use and penalties for infringement that are more in line with the actual damages would be a good start.
If you just want to be a freeloader, you deserve what you get.
If you're selling something to someone, and you change what you're selling them, then you've just broken your contract.
They don't seem to have a problem doing that, either. They (and Telus) changed the rules for text messages back in August when they started charging 15 cents for every message received unless you went on a plan.
Telus also informed us back in August that their new billing policy was to charge for the following month's Internet service in advance, effective immediately. So our bill for that month was double. Nice little cash-grab for them.
My response was to investigate other providers. We informed them a couple of weeks later that our new policy was to cancel our service with them.
Interesting. Are the multi-touch touchpads only on the more recent machines, or would that work on a 5-6 year-old iBook? I have to admit I haven't really taken the time to get familiar with the machine. I picked it up cheap from a buddy who had bought his wife a new Mac, and I'm planning on replacing it with one of those Asus eee machines this Christmas.
Apple does make beautiful machines, it's just like anything else, if it's not what you're used to the simplest tasks can trip you up. At least we have the ability to open a terminal and get back to familiar territory.
Agreed, but my "happy place" is KDE. I can't figure out how to do anything on my gf's Mac without opening the terminal. WTF is the damn right mouse button? (Kidding, I *know.* There isn't one, and that's the way Steve likes it).
Every time you sit through a commercial you have "paid".
No. You're just not the customer... it is the advertiser who is the customer.
The fact that advertiser is the customer does not mean that the listener is getting the music "free." I don't use the local transit system much, so I'm not really its customer, but my taxes subsidize it, so I am paying for it. You don't have to be the "customer" to get stuck with the bill.
As the gpp said, the listener pays for it every time (s)he listens to a commercial.
So basically nobody can own one without owning another machine.
It seems to me they would make a great non-geek spouse machine, especially if you can't justify the cost of a Mac. I'm looking at picking one up myself, just for something I can carry around for reading slashdot in coffee shops and running VNC, Penguinet etc. to access the machines on my home network remotely.
That was my thought. 20 - 30 seconds is far too long to hold a stretch before exercise. A warm up should be just that - moderate activity to get the muscles ready for your workout.
When I run, I start with a brisk five minute walk, followed by some easy stretching before I begin my run, but I won't hold a stretch for more than ten seconds. You can also just stretch as you do your warm up, by walking on your toes, kicking your butt, and basically walking like you're applying for a government grant.
The 30 second stretches are for after your workout, during the "cooling off" period.
Slashdot Mirror
I wasn't meta-moderating quite that frequently, but I did try to make time to do it at least once a week. Since the new system was put in place I hardly bother any more.
As far as the moderation system, I abandoned that a couple of years ago. There is so much abuse that goes unchecked that I just browse at -1 and skip past the comments that I think are trolls or flame bait or whatever. I've also unchecked the "willing to moderate" box in my preferences, although that has more to do with just not having the time most days to skim the summaries and comments, let alone read the articles and make an honest attempt to do a good job of moderating.
The user page changes are just bizarre, and the page is different every time I visit it (which isn't very often lately). They seem to be trying to get to the point where your comments appear with the summary of the article they were attached to (leading to the 'bloat' you noted). The last time I visited there were summaries from article that I never commented on, so they had no relevance to me. They seem to be still developing this new user page, but rather than wait until it is finished, they have essentially made us all beta testers.
Why am I given the choice to rate my own comments '+' or '-'? Am I really going to rate my own comment '-'? Also, the style sheet seems to be messed up, at least in Firefox. Rather than the white text on a green background they were using when they first made the change (ala Idle), it is now white text on a two-tone background that fades from grey to white, making the text unreadable. In IE, it's white text on a green background. I don't know, maybe I've done something to Firefox, but it wasn't like this the other day.
Maybe I'm just resistant to change, but I can't see anything positive about these changes.
Well, see, that's a different thing than traffic shaping. If you are arguing in favour of caps, I am in agreement with you. I have no problem with an ISP - or a restaurant owner - saying you get this much for that amount. I just don't want my ISP saying you can't use a certain protocol or you're getting throttled.
They can even say only so much during certain hours if they like. As long as they spell it out clearly in their contract exactly what you are paying for that's fine, and fair.
You talk about VOIP, and how that should be looked upon favourably because it uses little bandwidth. Well, suppose your ISP (who may also be a Telco in a lot of cases) offers a VOIP service as a value add? And they decide to "shape" your Skype traffic, so the QOS is lousy compared to their competing service, to make it more attractive. Is that also "up to the ISP?"
If we allow them to throttle our traffic based on content or protocol, we've traded our free and open Internet for AOL.
What's an "emergency call?" Are 911 calls routed through the Internet in your area?
Sorry, why? Your voice call takes priority over my file transfer or http traffic because ... you say so? What's so special about your voice call that it should take priority over the updates I need to run on a machine I am deploying? Why is your kids telling Grandma what they did at school today more important than me getting useful work done?
Excellent point. If you require guaranteed levels of service, it is you who should pay extra for it. My bandwidth should not be throttled to reduce the amount of time Youtube needs to buffer your streaming videos because someone at the ISP makes an arbitrary decision that your traffic should take priority over mine.
So you and I go to an "All You Can Eat" buffet and you eat less than I do so that makes you a "better customer."
I've already responded to this little straw man of yours, but I will add that limiting all customers equally would be acceptable. That's what those of us who are not in favour of "traffic shaping" are saying: sell us bandwidth, not services, and if the level of service degrades because everyone is trying to use it at the same time, we all suffer equally.
It's not up to IPS - or you - to decide my traffic is less important than yours.
I didn't say "limit it," I said "decide how you use it."
You know what I'd like to see happen? Deliver the throughput that I pay for. If I exceed that throughput, charge me for whatever I use in excess of my allotment, or cut off my service. Whatever the terms of my contract state.
My ISP charges me a fixed rate for a fixed amount of throughput (100 GB per month). If I and everyone one else try to download large files during peak times, our transfer rates will suck. Just like everyone getting on the freeway at the same time to drive to work causes traffic congestion, or those same people all firing up the air conditioner at the same time when they get home from work may cause brown outs.
Do you want the utility company to decide how you can use the electricity that comes in to your house?
My traffic is just as "legitimate" as yours. We're both just moving bits of data. Why should your bits take priority over mine?
Thanks for letting me know I wasn't losing my mind. I spend a good chunk of time yesterday trying to figure out what I had done to bugger up my user page and how to fix it. I thought it was because - in what I can only assume was a moment of temporary insanity - I had posted a comment to the Idle section. A Google search turned up your comment in this thread.
I agree with your take on the recent changes to the site. Here is a comment I posted to Taco's journal about the new metamod system. I'm still not sure how it is supposed to work, and as a result I haven't done it much since the new system went in to effect.
I appreciated the fact that Taco and Jamie both took the time to respond to my questions, but I'm still not 100 percent clear on how it works and what I am supposed to do. And it drives me crazy that they don't post a story to the front page, or update the FAQ, to let us know what changes they're making and why.
I guess they can make whatever changes they like to their site, but I think they are running the risk of alienating long time users for no good reason that I can see. Why put random summaries of stories from last month on my user page? I didn't even post comments to those stories; why are they on my user page? Same with the "Tags" block that now takes up space on the right-hand column. I never use tags, and the ones they're showing me have no relevance that I can see. They just seem to have been randomly selected and displayed. Clicking one of them brings up the headline of a summary from a months-old story that I did not post a comment to.
As you said, I wish they would stop messing with the site. Put the effort in to copy editing the summaries before posting them to the front page instead.
I think you put far more effort in to that post than the content of your message warranted.
Posting a comment to see if this gets rid of the changes posting to idle made to my user page
The fact that the negative publicity has motivated them to back-peddle in no way excuses the original decision.
But thanks for the update.
I think there is a class action suit taking place against Bell and Telus over the text messaging on those very grounds.
If you were referring to Telus changing their billing practices from "we bill you for what you used last month" to "we're billing you in advance for next month's service," I didn't have a contract to break. And that's a good point to raise. We signed for two years, which expired last year. I really should have looked at my options then. Any incentives you get in these deals are usually at the front end. Bell gave us the first two months free, then six months at 29.00. After that we pay 50.00, unless we subscribe to one of their cable packages. If we do that, we get the service for $42.00/month, which is $3.00 more than Telus was charging us for far inferior service. And we can cancel at any time.
Like I said, Telus did us a real favour by pissing me off enough to check out the competition.
Does it really have to be "all or nothing?" Do I have to turn my back completely on popular culture or roll over and accept anything the big players in the content industry tell me I must accept? Conversely, is the only meaningful response to their outrageous grab for power to simply take as I please, self-righteously proclaiming that they are evil so I may do as I please?
Keep in mind, too, it's not just "big labels" you would need to boycott if you want to take a principled stand; it is any art that gets to patrons via commercial channels. And that's a lot of art.
Also, as has been said elsewhere, many of us are copyright holders. I'm not just talking about "you own your slashdot comments," I mean many of us produce work that falls under copyright. Do I have to give up my own ability to have a say in the distribution of my work just because some dorks in LA could'nt figure out a new business model that doesn't depend on distribution of little plastic discs?
Sorry, I've got to go or I would have more to say on this. Maybe I'll write more later.
I think there is a middle ground, and as soon as these dinosaurs who run the entertainment industry in the US die off, I think we'll all find we can achieve a compromise.
I hope you are joking. If not, who is this "we" who think they should get whatever media they want whenever they want for no cost?
What I want is copyright laws that serves the needs of copyright holders and the public equally. Shorter copyright terms, allowances for fair use and penalties for infringement that are more in line with the actual damages would be a good start.
If you just want to be a freeloader, you deserve what you get.
Excellent. Thanks for the info. I'll have to check out what version of the OS she is running and see if I can get it working.
They don't seem to have a problem doing that, either. They (and Telus) changed the rules for text messages back in August when they started charging 15 cents for every message received unless you went on a plan.
Telus also informed us back in August that their new billing policy was to charge for the following month's Internet service in advance, effective immediately. So our bill for that month was double. Nice little cash-grab for them.
My response was to investigate other providers. We informed them a couple of weeks later that our new policy was to cancel our service with them.
Considering this comment, maybe we should be calling the Google "sir."
Interesting. Are the multi-touch touchpads only on the more recent machines, or would that work on a 5-6 year-old iBook? I have to admit I haven't really taken the time to get familiar with the machine. I picked it up cheap from a buddy who had bought his wife a new Mac, and I'm planning on replacing it with one of those Asus eee machines this Christmas.
Apple does make beautiful machines, it's just like anything else, if it's not what you're used to the simplest tasks can trip you up. At least we have the ability to open a terminal and get back to familiar territory.
If Google did that, their homepage would look like a MySpace page and nobody would want to use it anymore.
Google wants to prioritize his resources?
Well, good for "him."
The track pad on my girlfriend's Mac has one button.
No joke.
Agreed, but my "happy place" is KDE. I can't figure out how to do anything on my gf's Mac without opening the terminal. WTF is the damn right mouse button? (Kidding, I *know.* There isn't one, and that's the way Steve likes it).
The fact that advertiser is the customer does not mean that the listener is getting the music "free." I don't use the local transit system much, so I'm not really its customer, but my taxes subsidize it, so I am paying for it. You don't have to be the "customer" to get stuck with the bill.
As the gpp said, the listener pays for it every time (s)he listens to a commercial.
Yup. Most computer keyboards have more fecal coliform on them than most toilet seats.
It seems to me they would make a great non-geek spouse machine, especially if you can't justify the cost of a Mac. I'm looking at picking one up myself, just for something I can carry around for reading slashdot in coffee shops and running VNC, Penguinet etc. to access the machines on my home network remotely.
That was my thought. 20 - 30 seconds is far too long to hold a stretch before exercise. A warm up should be just that - moderate activity to get the muscles ready for your workout.
When I run, I start with a brisk five minute walk, followed by some easy stretching before I begin my run, but I won't hold a stretch for more than ten seconds. You can also just stretch as you do your warm up, by walking on your toes, kicking your butt, and basically walking like you're applying for a government grant.
The 30 second stretches are for after your workout, during the "cooling off" period.
belch