Survey posted 1999-11-08 00:00 by Andy.

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Hide the results!? Cancel my vote for 1! I'm now voting for 2, ANARCHY!

I think that everyone that posts something like "First Comment" or "Second Comment" or even "400th Comment" should have there post deleted and they should not be allowed to post for a month. Then they should also be forced to give their home phone number which should be posted on the site so everyone can call them and scream "j00 l4m4h".

"j00 l4m4h" what the phlegm does that mean?

i beleive the proper translation is:
"You lamah!"
which can be further interpreted as:
"You lamer!" or "You llama!" or perhaps both.

these previous 2 posts are just proving the point of those who want to have innapropriate/off topic threads/posts removed.

What? "inappropriate" post rule. This is the best way to voice your opinion in my opinion. I hope everyone votes for TOTAL ANARCHY.

Exactly!

Take a look at your name! A professor by occupation is someone who is respectable and diginified. Anarchy is for from dignified or respectable. Pick a name that suits your I.Q./age/etc. and use your brain when such matters come up. :)

Opinion? Fact!
Matt H.

Actually, a professor by occupation is someone who teaches college. I got the nickname "The Professor" in 8th grade becase I knew more than everone else in my school. (Right now, in 10th grade, I know how to do some things that my Algebra 2 teacher doesn't know, like how to calculate 2^i using a scientific calculator - ask me how if you don't belive me)

Also, I wasn't saying exactly to voting for "TOTAL ANARCHY," I want the 'semi-anarchy' for the messageboards (where they still delete some things like 5 pages of one letter or something). I was mostly saying that messageboard postings are (usualy) people's opinions, and if someone has an opinion that does not pertain to the article at hand, then their only option, if they want to voice their opinion, is to make an off-topic post. Besides that, sometimes off-topic posts can be interesting. There is also the question of "How Off-Topic can something be before it is deleted?" If a comment is something like "Which is better, the TI-92+ or the TI-89?" (something about calculators) then that wouldn't be as off-topic as a post about PCs vs. MACs (the problem is in the software).

I think that the anarchy option is best choice for the messageboards, but I think that a Democracy is the best type of real-world government (just so you don't think that I am a big anarchy person)

I beg to differ on the "professor" deal. I too am only in 10th grade, but have attended many summer camps led by college professor--all of which fit my previous description ("all" being 50+). A "professor" is also considered in all *good* colleges to fit that description, as well--based upon those lovely scouts from colleges at school.

But, if you know so much, you most likely have a little more common sense than "total anarchy"--as you stated yourself. But, a few words of advice, choose what you say the !first! time to mean what you mean. :)

Matt H.

That is something that I have trouble doing which is (I think) because I have ADHD. At least half the time I end up having to restate/rephrase/rethink what I was trying to say or what I was thinking.

[Side note about ADHD: As far as I've seen, many people who have ADHD are either Smarter than average or mentally challenged, but not in between - At least where I go to school]

These boards get quite funny after a while. There are so many messages, they're starting to get a bit squished on the side.

By the way, what was 2^i again? That's my choice for a good example of how some things in math really have no real-world application. Some of the word problems in Analysis are funny b/c they try to make complex concepts seem relevent. Like when Bill finds that the natural log of the side of his house is 2^i, what is the sin of his pet duck's feet webbing?

Winners don't lose frogs

In Radian mode on a calculator:
2^i = cos (ln 2) +i*sin(ln 2)
2^i =~ .76923... +i* .63896...

<joking tone>
So, you had to use the calculator? Anyone cold have done that!
</joking tone>

Matt H.

Hey, I wonder how many "RE"s it takde to make the comments one charactar wide?

I have yet to see a long message board without that exact comment.

Yes, you're right. Someone is always trying to get a really thin message. However, I've yet to see someone achive a width of 1 character.

democracy is about as impossible to implement as communism. the only government that works as it is supposed to is an absolute dictatorship/monarchy, and they only work when the dictator/monarch cares. yeah yeah, i know, off topic. sorry.

hey, you're 100% right! I thought that I was the only one who recognized this fact. Democracy can only work if the people voting are well educated and smart enough to make the right decisions. About one in four people could rule the world better than a democracy where they allow texans and those hicks in tennesee to vote. (If there is someone here from texas or tenesee who doesn't fit the inbred hick steriotype, then I apologize) Anyone want to help me take over the world?

tempting as it may be, no. there are much more important things to do, like learn, inovate, and create. I like Ayn Rand's idea, let government control law enforcement (laws against physical harm and theft) and let a lasse faire (sp?) economy run everyting else. In that case, each person contributes as much as he/she can/wants to the control of this planet, which is really only temporary housing anyway.

I'm afraid you've got it wrong. Liazze faire didn't work, remember? people starved to death... Or didn't you learn that in your tenth grade government class? The only thing that can truly work for everyones benefit Is a singular dictatorship where the governor is actually willing to work for the people and not just his/her own personal gain. Truly, about 1/4th of us could make the right decisions when faced with this power, but many people would abuse it also. That's why past monarchies didn't work. We need a true heirarchy.

laissez-faire, I believe, is the correct spelling. :)

~ferich

I'm afraid you've got it wrong. Liazze faire didn't work, remember? people starved to death... Or didn't you learn that in your tenth grade government class? The only thing that can truly work for everyones benefit Is a singular dictatorship where the governor is actually willing to work for the people and not just his/her own personal gain. Truly, about 1/4th of us could make the right decisions when faced with this power, but many people would abuse it also. That's why past monarchies didn't work. We need a true heirarchy with me or some other philosopher as ruler.

there never was any lasse fair, the government wouldn't let anything alone long enough to see if it worked. And I bet your 10th grade history teacher never even thought about drawing the obvious relation between the governments extreme anti-business, pro-union stance of the teens and twentys and the great depression.
I did not learn history by listening to the states standard curriculum, I learned by reading and thinking for myself. The various governments in this counrty (USA) are very set against young people thinking for themselves. Everytime, we do, it results in some sort of movement that involves the abandon of obsolete people and ideas. That scares to many people.

how do you pronounce 'Ayn Rand'?

ayn=same as anne
rand=ryhmes with hand

I'm not sure Ayn Rand is, but everything he said was probably said fist by Adam Smith. Smith's idea of letting bussiness run the world is, unfortunately, extremely stupid. People would still be payed 25 cents an hour and work 14 hour shifts, if the government didn't step into the workplace.

It was extremely misleading for ticalc.org to use the term "TOTAL ANARCHY" for the 3rd option. It's not really total anarchy. It's really more along the lines of "limited free speech".

That is why I voted for it (not because I was misleaded, but I knew what they really meant).

Good, however not everyone is as smart as you and will realize that.

awww, Anarchy lost, thats what I voted for

What is so terrible about the above posts?

repeat after me: Off Topic

But how do off-topic posts hurt anybody? If you don't want to read them, don't.

I don't know much about message boards, but isn't there a way to limit how long a thread can be? Just cut off commenting after about six or so sub comments. People will be less likely to comment on something if they can't put it directly under the previous thread. And users should be PERMANENTLY

I don't know much about message boards, but isn't there a way to limit how long a thread can be? Just cut off commenting after about six or so sub comments. People will be less likely to comment on something if they can't put it directly under the previous thread. And users should be PERMANENTLY kicked off the message board for abuse. This is a much bigger threat and they would be less likely to break it. I have studied humans for many years and these assumptions are valid. (sorry for my previous post - I hit Tab-space instead of caps-space)

What if there is a really good discussion going on after the sixth post? Also, the 6-post rule wouldn't solve anything because they could just start a whole new thread.

Discussions taken up between a small groug (2-5) people should be continued via either e-mail or an newsgroup. If two people want to banter back and forth, there is no need to do it on message board where everyone is going to read it. It all leads back to the age old tradition of needing to get the last word in. Also, I screwed up my previous thread and accidentaly posted it before I was finished typing it. It's been two days and (as of now) it still has not been deleted. There is no need for it to be there. This is a good example of priorities. The maintainers of this message board are so eager to delete innappropriate and irrelevant material that they overlook the obvious.

godammit i like to hear other peoples thought and read the whole conversation.

Same here.

me 3

They take up space, make the page load slower (i am on a t1 and notice a difference between 10 and 100 posts), and insult my intelligence.

You are complaining about the page loading slower when there are a lot of Off-Topic comments and you have a T1 connection!! Try a shared 56k connection. (I still like off-Topic posts and don't care if they make the page load slower)

No kidding! And what about those with a (shudder) 33.6? You have nothing to complain about.

Except that my 56k connects at 21.6 AND it is shared between 2 computers (although it doens't affect me much because I am usually the only one on)

Pshh! You think that's crappy? I've got a swear-to-God friggin 28.88 speed modem. I'm not kidding. No word yet on when a new one's coming...

Same situation here. My parents won't get a cable modem, so I'm stuck with a 28.8 connected a 26.4.

heh.. you're obviously not getting the full speed of the T1..

it's a huge network, so depending on activity, i get anywhere from 3kb/sec to 1Mb/sec, usually about 30-60kb/sec

I'm on a T3. Download speeds usually depend on the server I'm downloading from. For example, this page usually downloads at only 30 kb/sec, where as I can go to another site at the same time and download at over 250 kb/sec. Download speed isn't effected a lot by other people on the network.

Yes it is. There's more bandwidth taken up when more computers are logged onto the network. It also depends on the site you are logged onto. Notice this site doesn't have a T1 or a T3, just a 10Mbit connection. That's what I have on my computer connected to the college network. Other sites have multiple T1's, so you'll be able to get faster rates accessing the content on those sites. I was downloading something last night for 20 minutes -- 138MB -- at speeds of 104 kb/s. When all the computers on campus are logged on at the same time, I *might* get 2kb/s. There's a difference.

~ferich

a little off-topic, eh?

I'd like to have your phone number so I can call you a stupid loser that uses numbers and symbols when typing.

How many times do you need to post THAT! This is one thread I wouldn't mind being deleted (my post and all, too), just as long as stupid stuff is kept out of the boards.

Give me three good reasons.

{|some # comment|}

I'm still waiting....
If you can't think of three good reasons (or at least one or two good reasons, I want to hear them) for why 'first comment' or 'whatever comment' posts should be deleted, then I guess there is no reason for deleting them. Also, you should specify whether the post should be deleted if someone writes 'first (or whatever) comment' at the end of their comment or just say it anywhere in the comment.

simple..it's pointless if it's by itself and wastes space.
If it is with something useful, then its ok..

That's only one reason. Anyway, I'm starting to think message boards are just a bad idea; I have to wait 3 minutes for the page to load just so that I can read the whole news story. (I know, I'm a hypocrite because I'm posting and thereby making the page longer and harder to load.)