Hello! Hello?

[Toolie]

Hello everyone (those still here)! I hope things are going well in your lives and that the years that may have passed since we last talked have been well for you.

I came back here to see how everyone was and crossed my fingers to see that perhaps there would be a rennasaince of sorts. I was a bit disheartened to find myself a bit dissapointed, reminiscing about the past and hoping that perhaps something might change in the future and make this place great again.

The society of this message board, like any other community of individuals, has to balance itself between social liberalism and conservatism. It can be open to different ideas and lax on norms, conventions, and rules, more and more free at the expense of common understanding, and perhaps taken to the verge of diffuse and incomprehensible chaos... and it can also be more rigid and more uniform, bound by regulations, appealing to those of only a certain walk and turning those radically different away, and perhaps driven to the point of uniform, isotropic thought.

I'm sort of sad to see there be a fascination with rules and regulations here recently. I think most would agree that the last thing a nearly dead social network needs is to further implode on itself by pruning more of its fringe members. Unless someone is destroying the very technological fabric of this network - like say, hacking the databases or what not - I don't understand why you would rid someone for disagreeing with your social norms? Does this message board really need a little red book of rules and regulations to keep itself to itself for itself?

I like to drop by once in a while in my spare time, and each time it seems to be getting smaller, colder, more uniform. Perhaps relax on the exclusions, and let those outliers spice things up a bit?

Anyway, enough hand-waving and complaining from me. How has everyone been?

Best wishes.

[bigjoe]

I like to drop by once in a while in my spare time, and each time it seems to be getting smaller, colder, more uniform. Perhaps relax on the exclusions, and let those outliers spice things up a bit?

"I have at least 1000 more posts than you, so in my primitive mind, I am better than you."

15 year old BigJoe would have said that without flinching or caring.

22 year old BigJoe scoffs at the thought, knowing his ass has gotten a ban-dildo so many times, that it actually hurts his soul.:shakeno:

Maybe you're right, dude. Maybe its the constant and mindless obedience that is causing the downward spiral. I am by no means suggesting a revolution, but if people were allowed to BE THEMSELVES more, no matter how snotty or retarded that might be, they might actually enjoy posting more than they do.

[vegeta1215]

Hey Toolie. I've been good. Not much going on really. Moved to the beach, got a job at my old college. Enjoying life. How about you?

[DarkDragon]

Either you have explicit rules and apply them uniformly, or you have implicit rules and lean on case-by-case staff judgment. In the former people complain that the board is too bureaucratic and regimented, in the latter too cabalistic, inconsistent, and prone to staff abuse. Both have about equal strengths and weaknesses, though I'm sorry to hear that the current atmosphere doesn't suit your style :shrug:

[Daarkseid]

:words:

If you could see me as I read all that, you would've noticed me making those jerking off motions with my right hand while smirking.

[Toolie]

DarkDragon, don't you think that applying rules (or even writing them) for a small group of people with similar interests, online or otherwise, is a little strange? I mean, for example, when you go to Denny's with some friends and someone orders an appetizer, do you reference a rule book or Terms of Service to see if what they are doing is acceptable? If they do something outlandish like refuse to leave tip or slip and become insensitive to others once or twice, do you not even allow them to speak for the next three days, weeks, or permanantly?

I think people would rather just be friends and hang out and let what is "in" and what is "out" be dynamic and talk things through rather than going through a process of defining what is right and wrong. It's not like this is a nation or city or institution of thousands of people. How do these draconian rules benefit this small, tight-knit community? Is there really such a serious problem affecting the socializing here that they need to be implemented? Or do they just serve as tools in a online sandbox so that some may play with a digital power they normally would not have?

...

Vegeta, how is the beach life? Where did you go to college and what are you doing for them now? And tell me, why should I use Opera over Firefox? (I'm interested).

I'm finishing my last year at Penn State and really not sure what I'm doing next. I've just started getting pretty busy researching and teaching test prep, but this summer was fantastic.

Oh, you all probably know, but StarCraft II ? Oh my. How do you think it will compare to Supreme Commander?

[moocow]

Hello, cutie!

Hmm... that's all, really.

[Lilith]

Toolie are you rich and/or famous yet? You will prob be both because you are ~* cute *~ and fantastically smart/have a massive tool.

I am paralegalling now and probably getting ABA'd because medical malpractice is so awesome/crazy. Also writting a novel/novella about Russian things and it is good. Also waiting for it to snow so I can go out and enjoy the city/walk around being noir again.

[phattonez]

Well, how can you complain? When has AGN been more lenient than it is now?

[Toolie]

Similarly noted regarding snow. I feel far more 'hipster' - in the non-pejorative sense of the word - in my winter wardrobe than I do sweating my face off in thriftstore plaid in the midst of August heat.

And sorry, I'm not rich. I spend my money on overpriced dinners with overrated dates and hold too many parties for too little reasons. Nor am I famous; I'm afraid dirt will be dug from this very website by some university newspaper columnist if my old nickname starts getting around to many more people.

Besides the novel, which I hope is going well, are you doing any other writing these days? And wait... paralegalling? Jesus, the last time we talked I think we were still going through puberty. Are you in Chicago? I'm teaching some prospective law students how to ace the LSAT and would love to pass on some of the low-down on the test, if you're interested.

[vegeta1215]

Vegeta, how is the beach life? Where did you go to college and what are you doing for them now? And tell me, why should I use Opera over Firefox? (I'm interested).

I'm finishing my last year at Penn State and really not sure what I'm doing next. I've just started getting pretty busy researching and teaching test prep, but this summer was fantastic.

Oh, you all probably know, but StarCraft II ? Oh my. How do you think it will compare to Supreme Commander?

I wish I could say I've actually been on the beach a lot this summer, but I haven't. Working full time (5 days a week) puts a damper in that, but it's okay. I went to Salisbury University, which is about a 30 minute drive from Ocean City MD. I'm working in the financial aid office doing computer stuff. It's not bad, but I work with really great people, so I am happy about that.

Hmmm... why Firefox over Opera? I was going to link you a good site that showcases all the neat things in Opera, but I think it's no longer up. For me though, speed was what attracted me to Opera, and it's continuing speed and unique features are what keep me using it. I have an old computer (Pentium 3), and Firefox is just too slow on it, and has only gotten slower over time. Opera continues to stay fast, and gets better each release. Most of all, there's all these small features I am so used to that I could not live without. You can add some of them with Firefox extensions, but it's too much hassle. All I can say is to try Opera and play around with all the options and features. It's a little overwhelming at first because you have so many options (not to mention total control over the GUI), but I like having control and being able to customize my browser since I use my computer mostly for surfing the web.

I haven't read or seen much about Starcraft II, but if I had a modern computer (and ran Windows), I'd definitely check it out. Come to think of it, I never finished the original Starcraft - I finished the Terran campaign, got to the last level of the Zerg campaign, and got halfway through the Protoss campaign. And I haven't touched Brood War, despite owning it.

[Glenn the Great]

Either you have explicit rules and apply them uniformly, or you have implicit rules and lean on case-by-case staff judgment. In the former people complain that the board is too bureaucratic and regimented, in the latter too cabalistic, inconsistent, and prone to staff abuse. Both have about equal strengths and weaknesses, though I'm sorry to hear that the current atmosphere doesn't suit your style :shrug:

I think that we need the explicit rules and uniform application, but in combination with a short rule list.

The rule list would basically prohibit hacking the server or posting federally illegal content.

Staff abuse trumps all other complaints such as bureaucratic, regimented, cabalistic, etc. Staff abuse needs to be minimized by getting rid of these rules that are FORCED to take case-by-case basis by their mere nature (such as flames.)

[Rainman]

Heh, I keep on dropping in at just about the same time you do. I'm just busy trying to fix everything in my life at once. Spent last summer working for minimum wage at the Dandy Mini Mart. Now I'm trying to make that money stretch so I can eat reasonably well. I'm living in Apartment style housing now where there are parties every weekend. Went to one last Friday night.

[MottZilla]

Oh, you all probably know, but StarCraft II ? Oh my. How do you think it will compare to Supreme Commander?

I can't wait for StarCraft II to come out. I'm sure I'll have to upgrade my system again. From what I heard Supreme Commander sucked but I have never seen it so I don't know. But from what I've seen StarCraft 2 should be fun as long as you don't play some lifeless Korean or something.

If you want to talk about gaming, the General Gaming forum still works.

[Lilith]

Similarly noted regarding snow. I feel far more 'hipster' - in the non-pejorative sense of the word - in my winter wardrobe than I do sweating my face off in thriftstore plaid in the midst of August heat.

And sorry, I'm not rich. I spend my money on overpriced dinners with overrated dates and hold too many parties for too little reasons. Nor am I famous; I'm afraid dirt will be dug from this very website by some university newspaper columnist if my old nickname starts getting around to many more people.

Besides the novel, which I hope is going well, are you doing any other writing these days? And wait... paralegalling? Jesus, the last time we talked I think we were still going through puberty. Are you in Chicago? I'm teaching some prospective law students how to ace the LSAT and would love to pass on some of the low-down on the test, if you're interested.

- Actually sweating through winter-fabrics is almost as disgusting as sweating in the summer...but augh I am sunsick for real. Also, scarves and boot weather is awesome, I am going to wear like 4 scarves at once while different Oscar Wilde plays-on-tape run in each ear. I am in Chicago which also means you can own only sandals and boots without a prob.

- awww. Earn like a yuppie but live like a ~* bohemian *~ it serves me well.
Glad to know you are Batemanning though.

- Not really writing anything else, I took 150 unrelated pieces and I'm editing them so they'll make up the novel. It is kind of nuts and also has no audience. And nein, I'm not going to law school...it's intellectually stimulating and your coworkers have to be intelligent or they'll get fired, but I'm not passionate to be lawyering. I just like looking at pictures of pressure sores and being able to write without broke. I am basically racking up exp and getting a certificate sometime later.

[ZTC]

oh noes its a toolie

Glad to hear that you're still alive.
From my end, college is boring. :shrug: