Journal FortKnox's Journal: I'm Older (on Slashdot) 9
I've gotten older in the "slashdot sense."
I've read other peoples complaints about the moderation system and now the whole 'plums' for subscribers issues, and giggled.
You can't do anything about it.
Think about it. Taco always claims to listen to his audience. Who has said, "You know what? The moderation system kicks ass, and I like the grammar and spelling mistakes! All you naysayers can kiss my rear!"
Never heard it, right? Well, that's simple proof as to why I've given up my fight. Taco will make a change, he'll hear the whines, and he won't do anything.
The reason people subscribe is the same reason people play nethack. You've been doing it for so long, that you don't want it to go away (that, and because this is where you find everyone).
So, yes, I'll probably moan and bitch from time to time; but keep in mind: I know it won't make for any progress.
Update: BTW - The "I'm not going to change my site because I have a responsibility to my original creation" line is being read (by me) like "We will not change, regardless of opinion" that has been said by many-a CEOs of failed companies.
I've read other peoples complaints about the moderation system and now the whole 'plums' for subscribers issues, and giggled.
You can't do anything about it.
Think about it. Taco always claims to listen to his audience. Who has said, "You know what? The moderation system kicks ass, and I like the grammar and spelling mistakes! All you naysayers can kiss my rear!"
Never heard it, right? Well, that's simple proof as to why I've given up my fight. Taco will make a change, he'll hear the whines, and he won't do anything.
The reason people subscribe is the same reason people play nethack. You've been doing it for so long, that you don't want it to go away (that, and because this is where you find everyone).
So, yes, I'll probably moan and bitch from time to time; but keep in mind: I know it won't make for any progress.
Update: BTW - The "I'm not going to change my site because I have a responsibility to my original creation" line is being read (by me) like "We will not change, regardless of opinion" that has been said by many-a CEOs of failed companies.
Any in particular? (Score:1)
Still, he says in his latest JE that plenty of people have just bought their new
Probably the people who finally stopped donating to Mandrake. Jeez, at least M$ is honest about it: Give us your damned money!
Need to hook up those RSS feeds...
Re:Any in particular? (Score:2)
If you are older (Score:2)
Sure, bitching does nothing... (Score:1)
By the way, I enjoyed this little gem from his journal:
"My general thoughts has always been that Slashdot was designed and built to be an informal dirty gritty news site. Where mistakes happen. Where grammar and typos are normal. My emails contain typos. My webblog contains grammar errors. This is just how I communicate. I wanted Slashdot to be informal. Not spitshined and corporate like CNN or something."
I find it amusing that anyone would prefer grammar errors and spelling mistakes because, in their mind, that equals dirty/gritty which also equals "cool", I guess. The funniest thing though, to me at least, is that he doesn't want the site to be all corporate, and that proper grammar and spelling is apparently the only thing that differentiates CNN from this place. Funny stuff. Oh well. Back to playing Tenchu 3.
Re:Sure, bitching does nothing... (Score:2)
I wonder if there will ever come a time that
Re:Sure, bitching does nothing... (Score:1)
Yeah.
(IOW, me too!! Pile on CT!!)
but, (Score:2)
Taco is a simpleton (Score:1)
Priceless gems.
Correct spelling and grammar = spitshined, polished, CNN.
Keep Slashdot consistent from being an amateurish site run by college students to an amateurish site run by older, mature, salaried workers.
Taco had an inability to see that gritty and informal != sloppy and lazy.
Professionalism (Score:2)
The true difference between CNN.com and Slashdot is that CNN.com produces hundreds of full-length articles per day, while Slashdot produces a few dozen "articles" of about a paragraph each.
CNN.com requires a team of editors to ensure that spelling and grammar are up to par. Slashdot would require but one or two.
My amateur websites, my postings, and even my instant messages are of a higher level of "professionalism" than many of the articles on Slashdot. This isn't because I spend an excessive amount of time double-checking everything I write. It is because I am reasonably competent in this area. If Taco is paying an editor a full-time wage, and the editor's duties include finding, correcting, and submitting articles to the site, I would think he should also be at least as competent! It's his job. A mini-article like those on Slashdot would probably take a competent editor thirty seconds to fix up.
In my opinion, Slashdot needed to be able to correct 99.9% of spelling and grammar errors from the moment Taco asked for money.