
Jerry Springer For Programmers: Only A Matter Of Time - raju
http://gilesbowkett.blogspot.com/2008/04/jerry-springer-for-programmers-only.html
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yawn
That guy can sure hold a grudge. "I was only able to stop these idiots from
commenting on my blog by stopping everyone from commenting on my blog, which
is regrettable, but it's worth the sacrifice, because some of these people
really were complete fucking idiots. I know, because they disagreed with me."

I remember that blog post. Instead of responding to the comments in his blog
post (a la PG), he removed comments from his blog and started calling the
posters names. The people posting on the site were trying to point out that
his arguments were specious, and not very well thought out.

Several people argued with him on Reddit, including Avi Bryant (creator of
Seaside), Slava Pestov (creator of the Factor programming language). He called
them names and then deleted his comments later.

There's lot of irony in his latest post.

~~~
KirinDave
True, but sometimes I think people forget that not every conversation has to
be a formal debate. One of the huge hassles of running a blog is that when
someone thinks you're wrong, they think it's their _right_ to enter into a
formalized duel of wits. And if the poster refuses to participate? The
harasser declares victory of the most complete kind. But what people seem to
forget is that the burden of proof is not the obligation to argue.

I don't like blogs with comments either. Usually I want to say what I want to
say, and if you disagree you can email me. I may or may not entertain further
discussion, but I certainly don't feel compelled to give my site over as a
venue to people who then organize specious an mean-spirited conversation. They
can do that on their blogs, out of my tunnel vision.

~~~
nostrademons
<http://xkcd.com/386/>

~~~
jcl
Is it sad that I knew which xkcd strip it was before clicking on it?

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jrnewton
> All this ridiculous programmer-celebrity blogging echo-chamber bullshit
> results in very little software being built

or how about, "blogging results in very little software being built".. i never
understand how anyone has time to actually code when all they do is write blog
entries about writing code...

~~~
jrockway
It's easy. Do you really have 18 hours a day of time when you're focused on
programming? I don't, but I can write in the downtime.

I enjoy educating people, so I try to blog about what I'm working on, and
other projects that my readers might be interested in.

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edw519
Stuff like this reminds me how nice it is to be a hacker.

I'd much rather wrestle with complex algorithms, hunt down nasty memory leaks,
and normalize unwieldy data than engage in catfights.

~~~
kirubakaran
"Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss
people." --Eleanor Roosevelt.

~~~
giles_bowkett
What kind of mind discusses people discussing people? A small meta-mind?

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kirubakaran
If I answered that, I'd be guilty of having a meta small-meta-mind ;-)

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giles_bowkett
Yeah. OK. So, I'm bringing this whole irony thing. It's kind of ironic to say
somebody else is small-minded because they have opinions about other people.

Honestly, don't you fuckers have startups to build? I'm not interested in your
opinions. Just die.

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dejb
1/11,429th of a burrito per visitor.I bet the TechCrunch makes a lot more than
that.

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kschrader
Anyone else think that we should Valleywag ban this guy's site?

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giles_bowkett
Here is my comment. If you don't dig it, don't read it! Fucking DUH. It's your
life. It's your time. Choose it how you spend to choose it, that reflects on
YOU, not me.

Muppets.

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someperson
Sorry to say, but thats why most of your comments are down-modded into hell...

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giles_bowkett
Yes, very good point there. Because I came here to win a popularity contest.
So it matters to me when people downmod me. It matters a great deal.

~~~
someperson
I understand your argument - news.ycombinator, and all crowd sources /
aggregated news sites don't up-mod independent thinking by definition.

But from another users POV, even your posts can be seen as trolling and flame
bait; you voice your opinion harshly without contributing to the overall
discussion.

I mean, if you included the comments that led up to your outburst, you were
just as much trolling as I was when I commented about you being down-modded.

Let me make it clear that, aggregated news sites - like you said - encourage
trolls, and keep independent new ideas low on the upcoming/new stories. But
this is not because trolls down-mod independent thinking, it's just that there
is too many trolls UP-modding noise. The trolls themselves don't actively
down-mod good/independent ideas.

So we are all left with what you call the "Cory Doctorow Problem".

But any comment (and I stress comment) thats down-modded below a certain point
is usually spam, trolling or flamebait anyway, and I can usually rest assured
skimming or skipping entirely that post because the crowd have deemed that
post not worth my time.

Each individual has their own "Cory Doctorow Problem", as in your case; (many)
other comments which you have made have interesting opinion and/or contain
food for thought - that contribute to the discussion - are not down-modded
(albeit, not up-modded either as if an opinion is genuinely independent not
many people agree with it at that point).

As you said, Aggregated news sites get worse over time.

In my opinion, the easiest way to fix them is to create a private, invite only
aggregated news site, with respected members of a community. If you keep the
community the right size, the members will filter out trolls, and completely
(as humanly possible), eradicate most noise.

I've detracted from my main point though, so I'll stop typing now.

