So the better alternative to Slashdot and possibly Groklaw (Technocrat.net) all comes down to a single decision by your wife? Man. I've heard of wives influencing the guy's good times, but that's next level ;)

Well Slashdot has gone to major suckage lately. I've had a terribly hard time just coming back to posts and finding comments that I wrote, let alone finding a comment that I was looking at right before I closed the tab accidentally. That was after the last great "improvements" in the comment system. It's become *less* functional and enjoyable to me since I joined, and that's not a good thing for any website.

There are reasons that I think Technocrat.net can work:

1) While I disagree that javascript is terrible, it's good at what it does do. Primarily ajax calls to post without leaving the page. That's nice. I'm sure there really are only a few things that benefit that much from javascript and you could cut the rest out to considerably slim down the pages. That should appease the people that are determined to disable javascript on everything, while preserving major site functionality without it which leads to the most important thing I think everybody agrees with....

2) Clean and simple. Another poster here said it very well. The Beta is all about cashing in on new pseudo-touch design fads that waste space and have no real purpose other than being shiny. I'm sure you and others you work with are more than capable of creating an information dense site designed to service the core business of Slashdot. That core business is just articles, posts, and comments. Most Slashdot readers could not care less about the shiny. We love function over form.

3) I'm guessing that you won't have corporate wastes of human skin breathing down your neck with advice from fancy marketing firms demanding you "fix" something that is not broken just to play buzzword bingo. Maybe that's a bit harsh, but I have my own experience with PHB's making inane/insane demands that are straight out of a Dilbert strip.

4) As another poster said, Slashdot has been pulling this crap for awhile and been going downhill in overall quality across the board. Perhaps, this time if you build it they really will come. I don't see Slashdot with its corporate masters allowing us to go back to clean and simple ever again. ( I really do think you can do clean and simple with minimum javascript too, so flame away guys)

5) Technocrat.net could start right off the bat with a few policies that could stop spammers and trolls right in their tracks instead of just allowing a Wild West mentality. I support freedom as much as anybody, but there have been instances in which Slashdot has outright refused to even protect itself in ways that everyone would find reasonable. Not an easy thing to do, but you don't also have all the restrictions that Slashdot has, and your not mired down in it's viewpoints, processes, and methods. You could start from scratch, which is something Slashdot is not capable of clearly.

6) If you're involved I'm sure that many, such as myself, would give our patronage (I've subscribed to Slashdot a few times) to a site that would mostly likely support the concepts and ideas of Open Source.

If you make another site I promise that I would join and at least submit a couple of articles a month that I find elsewhere. I don't have many approved submissions here, but I do have a few. I also comment prolifically and I'm only slightly trollish.

I came here to read news for nerds that matters and post comments. Let's face it, Slashdot hasn't been getting it done, and the last few days people have revolted and we don't even discuss the news anymore. Maybe this is the time to make a change?

3-digit is impressive, but I've single double digits around here once or twice ;)

I don't see a reason for the change for one.

I'm on classic at the moment and I can't see just what is so great about the new one at all, other than a site layout change and aesthetics. Mostly aesthetics, which is not a reason to change something that works.

As someone who has subscribed a few times to support Slashdot, I would be sad to leave. All things change though and I'm sure I could live without Slashdot and find other competitors that deliver tech news I want to hear.

So if they really are listening, clean up all the *crap* code and fire whoever is doing it. May sound harsh, but seriously, how can a development team release a Beta that was pre-Alpha at best with quality? Were they drunk? "Feature Parity" should have been something 100% resolved before the Beta.

Information density is interesting as a concept and I understand what others are saying, but you never even made it to the point where you could have the luxury of such decisions.

Just make it work. That's it. Have all the same features and the *exact* same ability to write comments, especially the line spacing and markups. The beta was absolutely horrible to get anything done that classic did without a problem. It's an unmitigated disaster.

While I know that you are probably joking, you can make the number 9 and include me.

For a half a day I suffered their new interface and noticed nothing but problems. I come here to read comments, and possibly write them. The new interface is much more difficult for me to read. It's not about it being different and jarring, it's about it being the worst coded piece of shit ever.

It's simple. If the interface makes it difficult, and they don't have the bugs fixed, and the layout isn't conducive to easy reading.... I'm just going to stop.

Slashdot won't provide me with what I come here to enjoy, so whatever, I move on and go someplace else. Stuff happens, stuff changes, and all sites die eventually I guess when the owners tank it.

I would love to see the list of problems and feature requests that made them create that abomination of code in the first place. ..AND... as far as the low amount goes.... you notice whole articles now like this where we are talking about this shit instead of about the article. That can't be a good sign.

What about monitoring the border like that violates the Constitution?

I'm very adamant about the 4th and privacy, but monitoring the stretch of the border with at most 100ft resolution does not seem to create mass violations of privacy.

We should be protecting our border.

Aside from this particular piece of tech, there are the Constitution Free Zones. That is a much bigger problem than some Kinect's looking for human shapes along side the border. I would choose the Kinect's at the border or over the Totalitarianism Zones in the US.

At least the border is small and doesn't directly affect over 70% of the population of the US.

McDonald's is atrocious. I'll give you that. Miley.... just looks weird to me. Seriously. Her body is just not shaped right or something.

But... if you're *gonna* nuke the Amerkins, do it for a damn good reason. We gots plenty.

I'll start:

Bush

If you're referring to Shatner's music, then yes, nuke Canada.

LOL.

I just saw the lines and remembered the tune. Didn't even see such a horrible pun in there at all.

Thought it was one of those constant crazy comments we get around here, and I do remember seeing it at least a few dozen times at this point.

I pretty much see politics as a single proposal to the working man.

Suck a dick, or take a dick. Either way, we're giving you Dick. It's whats for Dinner, and I'll give you a hint: Dick.

Shots Fired :)

I haven't heard someone bash MS and LA that hard in awhile...

Which is a very damn good point. It's called the Graft.

Same reason why you get more bang for your buck building your own computer. You get more bang for your buck by removing those very expensive middle men and old corrupt men (Senators) from the equation.

If only government was about efficiency and getting stuff done instead of creating complex projects, endless red tape, government contracts awarded through cronyism and nepotism.

I see the GP's point though. It's not a bad idea, but to do it for something that doesn't even have scientific value anymore is insane. Just reallocate the money towards building a bridge, or redoing an entire length of interstate. Literally, anything else.

That's the saddest part. We are so mired in our cronyism and paralyzed by our process that we can't just use the money for something else. Too many corrupt men upset that their unjust enrichment was put on hold. We can't have unjust enrichment stop can we?

I wouldn't mind the idea so much if it worked

Those rich greedy fucks caused this economic disaster. In part by allowing mortgaged securities in the first place, and then progressively playing with it like it was the Wild West. This is 100% the fault of Wall Street, and they need to be brought to justice. Even if it's in the form of the guillotines and French mobs.

It's a myth that the "job creators" are the rich people, and that money "trickles" down in this economy.

Where are all the jobs being created? They got bailed out. The uber-rich 1% have all the money.

Where are all the jobs? Where are the investments into small businesses?

The rich are hoarding right now and corporations are even worse with creating a race towards 25 hour per week part time jobs to bypass the requirements for job benefits. It's all about cutting jobs, cutting salaries, employees have to do with less and less. From removing the water in break rooms to save a paltry couple hundred bucks to eliminating group health care and putting everyone on 25 hours, or 1099's.

I'll believe the bullshit of trickle down economics the moment I actually see it happening. We need it more than ever right now.

Why do people get so mad about this?

It reminds me of the Golden Girls, a simpler time about geriatric women and their troubles.

Who doesn't wanted to be constantly reminded about that?

This has always confused me. If you know they are a moron, why would you let them near an ostensibly important piece of non-serviceable equipment?

You're a fucking moron. Stay away from my cock.

Now that makes more sense.

While I'm all for nuking England as the food is terrible and the prime export is nanny state totalitarianism, we would need to find a substitute for the art it produces. Canada gave us Beiber. England gave us the Beatles and Heavy Metal.