[META] The signal/noise ratio - a plea for a sense of proportion

[Default User]

Default User wrote:

Are you sure you ought to be so offended? One can disagree, of
course, but I see nothing here to be disgusted about.

Yesterday I was, today not so much.

I think we've come to a satisfactory conclusion for the time being.




Brian

 

[Default User]

Default User wrote:

When they post from Outlook Express.

There are some, sure. Some even from real newsreaders.




Brian

 

[Clever Monkey]

Default User said:

[I tried composing a point-by-point response to Brian's article, but
no matter how I worded it, it always came out as "fitin' woids",
which won't help anyone, so...]

Feel free to drop me a note off-line if you prefer.

I don't think that would help, to be honest. Suffice to say that I didn't
agree with everything you said, but I don't want to turn this into a
bar-room brawl.

I'm not in a fitin' mood today,

Likewise. Perhaps we both just need a beer. And maybe a beer or two.

And a beer. And peanuts.

With beer.

You beer count beers the beer way I beer count beers.

There are few problems between reasonable people that cannot be settled
over a few pints. Sadly, USENET lacks such ability.

 

[Richard Heathfield]

Clever Monkey said:

There are few problems between reasonable people that cannot be settled
over a few pints. Sadly, USENET lacks such ability.

See <[email protected]>

 

[Ian Malone]

Old Wolf wrote:


Nonsense. The posts clue in the offender AND others.

The number of new people that do it (and 99% of new people
doing it is a better, but still inaccurate, generalization
I think than 99% of top posters being from Google[1]) suggests
that they generally don't read the group before posting.
This is something difficult to fix.

[1] Or AOL, or set top internet or whatever it was called, or
deja etc. It's generally either new people or stubborn
people that ignore group conventions.

 

[Charlton Wilbur]

Oh well. I tried. I guess I'll have to think of some other solution.

Might I suggest a set of posting guidelines? Call it "Improve Your
Odds Of Getting A Better Response," or something, and include all the
usual problems:

* Don't top-post

* Include enough context from the thread

* Copy & paste the minimum amount of code necessary to demonstrate
the problem; don't retype

* Make sure you're using C; c.l.c++ is down the hall

* Make sure your problem is a C problem; operating system newsgroups
are down the hall

Then the newbie chastising can take the form of a pointer to the
posting guidelines, and the regulars can appropriately killfile or
score down anyone who flouts them too often.

Charlton

 

[Charlton Wilbur]

Do you doubt it? Seriously? How often do you see top-posting from
someone not posting via Google?

This may be why I don't see it much; some time ago I plonked Google as
a news host, on the theory that anyone with enough wit to be worth
reading would not use it. In a year, I've found two people who
disprove the theory.

Charlton

 

[Richard Heathfield]

Charlton Wilbur said:

Might I suggest a set of posting guidelines? Call it "Improve Your
Odds Of Getting A Better Response," or something, and include all the
usual problems:

Not a bad idea.

* Don't top-post

You may find http://www.cpax.org.uk/prg/writings/topposting.php to be an
entertaining explanation of why not to top-post.

<other important points snipped - maybe I'll address them in a Web page at
some point>

 

[Default User]

This may be why I don't see it much; some time ago I plonked Google as
a news host, on the theory that anyone with enough wit to be worth
reading would not use it. In a year, I've found two people who
disprove the theory.

I used Google for several months at the start of 2005, due to serious
problems with the news feed at work. I also realize that many people
from other countries would struggle to pay even the relatively nominal
fee for news.individual.net, which is 10 euro/year (currently about $13
US).

As such, I have sympathy for the Google users, and would prefer to help
them become good netizens rather than ignoring them.




Brian

 

[Zach]

Clog up the newsgroup? Are you back on dial-up?!?

Some of us never left dialup! ;-)

Zach

 

[mensanator]

Some of us never left dialup! ;-)

Wow, 5 days to reply! That's a helluva slow connection you got there.