Mat is doing a Good Job

[El Barto]

I hear a lot of people complaining about trolls, spammers etc. They seem to think this forum is going unmoderated or undermoderated. This is not true.

If you are watching closely, Mat is killing the obvious spam (direct links to affiliates) while not strangling the discussion of sites.

He is taking care of truly offensive material. He has kept Ryan21's racism off the boards through his effective control. gabyyyy posted an offensive poll on William one day, it was deleted an hour later. Someone posted an offensive poll on ChristinaB, it was deleted an hour later. Obviously the timing depends on when he is online to do it.

On the other hand he doesn't overreact to every name calling incident, which would be awfully oppressive IMO. Nor did he ban the folks who created the deleted threads, which would have been going too far.

We have the ability to pass over threads that are obvious troll fests or spam. We can focus on what matters to us if we choose to (bonus alerts, site problems, etc.). We have to decide what we will and will not read. Mat should not be deciding for us.

I bet a lot of people who oppose the Patriot Act are the same people who are calling for Mat to impose his own Patriot Act type control over these forums.

Mat is doing it just right, controlling spam and truly wicked attacks, while allowing the mild attacks that are part of a free and open discussion board.

I say, Good Job Mat!

[thomastem]

Good post and I agree.

Matt has said at least 5 times to report problems to him yet spammers continue this "The Mod sucks" spam.

I've seen all of the advertising for rakefree, been attacked by a couple of posters, and am aggrevated that Lorinda and Granny have left (hopefully temp.).

I haven't complained to the mod, nor is that my way. I also would never start 10+ posts bitching and moaning about the Mod. Specially if I haven't followed his instructions first.

I believe if someone counted the rakefree posts and "the mod sucks" spam the score would be like 15 to 12.

The last thing I will say, I will never report to the mod but I wouldn't mind seeing those that are principled differently (Reporting doesn't bother them) to report the inane "the mod sucks" spam.

[Ice Man]

Over-moderation is DANGEROUS, and you are DANGEROUS if you you want to mod by the seat of your pants. We need protocol and teamwork, not some hotshot looking to buzz the tower (you know who you are Maverick).

I salute Mat and the job he does, because everyone knows its DANGEROUS, and that Mat loves to oil himself up and play beach volleyball with us flyboys.

[Jurollo]

SUCK UPS! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] I think the mods job is a lot larger than many think, but they are more than adequate in their roles, I won't say 1 or 2 extra mods would hurt, but it is fine now too.

[smudgex68]

I'm on your tail Iceman [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Sponger15SB]

1 question:

Why would mat ever want to let more mods on that will be volunteers when he gets paid for being a mod himself?

duh.

[riverflush]

OK...gonna come off as a newbie here - and I am. What is a troll?

[ChristinaB]

[ QUOTE ]
OK...gonna come off as a newbie here - and I am. What is a troll?

[/ QUOTE ]

troll v.,n. 1. [From the Usenet group alt.folklore.urban] To utter a posting on Usenet designed to attract predictable responses or flames; or, the post itself. Derives from the phrase "trolling for newbies" which in turn comes from mainstream "trolling", a style of fishing in which one trails bait through a likely spot hoping for a bite. The well-constructed troll is a post that induces lots of newbies and flamers to make themselves look even more clueless than they already do, while subtly conveying to the more savvy and experienced that it is in fact a deliberate troll. If you don't fall for the joke, you get to be in on it. See also YHBT. 2. An individual who chronically trolls in sense 1; regularly posts specious arguments, flames or personal attacks to a newsgroup, discussion list, or in email for no other purpose than to annoy someone or disrupt a discussion. Trolls are recognizable by the fact that the have no real interest in learning about the topic at hand - they simply want to utter flame bait. Like the ugly creatures they are named after, they exhibit no redeeming characteristics, and as such, they are recognized as a lower form of life on the net, as in, "Oh, ignore him, he's just a troll." 3. [Berkeley] Computer lab monitor. A popular campus job for CS students. Duties include helping newbies and ensuring that lab policies are followed. Probably so-called because it involves lurking in dark cavelike corners.
Some people claim that the troll (sense 1) is properly a narrower category than flame bait, that a troll is categorized by containing some assertion that is wrong but not overtly controversial. See also Troll-O-Meter.

The use of `troll' in either sense is a live metaphor that readily produces elaborations and combining forms. For example, one not infrequently sees the warning "Do not feed the troll" as part of a followup to troll postings.

[riverflush]

Thank you.

I've been warned! I'll keep my eyes open.

[Steven_Monk]

[ QUOTE ]
Over-moderation is DANGEROUS, and you are DANGEROUS if you you want to mod by the seat of your pants. We need protocol and teamwork, not some hotshot looking to buzz the tower (you know who you are Maverick).

I salute Mat and the job he does, because everyone knows its DANGEROUS, and that Mat loves to oil himself up and play beach volleyball with us flyboys.

[/ QUOTE ]

I am dangerous, Ice. Man.

[ QUOTE ]
As Quentin Tarantino's character first pointed out in "Sleep With Me," gay undertones permeate many aspects of "Top Gun," to the point that you almost wonder if the script was written by the five guys from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." There's the ultra-close friendship between Mav and Goose. There's the charged, uncomfortable tension between Cruise and Kilmer (when do you ever see guys talking with their faces two inches apart?). There's the surreal volleyball scene, which plays like a "Schmitt's Gay" beer commercial on SNL.

There are lines during the action scenes like "I've got your tail" and "Watch your rear." There's the bald commander yelping, "I want butts!" There's the fact that Kelly McGillis' character went by "Charlie," or that she dressed up in the manliest way possible to win Cruise's affection (in the elevator). And of course, there's the memorable "Tail" exchange between Cruise and Kilmer at the end. It's funny to watch "Top Gun" again and look for these things. Believe me, they're everywhere.


Not that there's anything wrong with that.
--Bill Simmons


[/ QUOTE ]