Every time I see a story about Microsoft, the same thing seems to happen on here. People make complaints about the evilness of Microsoft (and the clever ones put a dollar sign in place of the 'S' - you're so smart!) and then others seem to realize for the first time that Slashdot is full of people who hate Microsoft.

To this second camp, I have to ask - why are you just now realizing this? I see people with rather low usernumbers complaining about how anti-Microsoft this site is, and it baffles me. Who are you talking to? Do you expect a whole crowd of MS-bashers to read your post, see the error of their ways, and suddenly start approaching every MS-related story without bias? Do you expect to get modded up for being "insightful?"

The MS-bashing does get a little boring sometimes, but that's when you should go to another site, or even get away from the computer. Pointing out that Slashdot is anti-MS is just too obvious to be worth the http traffic. People go to this site knowing what the bias will be, so pointing out the bias does nothing for the discussion, and it just makes the poster look stupid.

But the best is when somebody tries to point out the hypocrisy of a whole population, which doesn't make any sense. Let's say the site posts a story about something interesting that MS did, and which may actually be a good thing. Some idiot is bound to make a post along the lines of, "How come you guys always bash MS but you like this? You're hypocrites!" Well, the problem is you can't treat a population like a single entity. If one story is full of anti-MS posts, and the next story praises MS, that doesn't mean the population has contradicted itself. It means that the individuals in the population have different opinions.

So in conclusion, the people who complain about Slashdot's bias against Microsoft should take a look at this site for the past seven years (or however old this site is, I don't remember). It's always bashed MS. It's never made a secret of that. Pointing it out does not serve any purpose. Go find a site that has a more favorable opinion of the company if you don't like MS bashing.

And if you live in central NJ, go see my band on Saturday (July 26th). I'll buy a beer for the first person who tells me that slashdot made him/her see my band. I know it's not much of a prize, but NJ is far away and I can't fit the giant checks in my car, what with all the musical instruments and such.

So if you've noticed my url, you might think that's my nickname, or I run a web site all about smoking pot. Well, you're wrong. That's my name. That's the name I was born with, and I'll probably die with it.

When people need to see my ID (for beer, for example), they sometimes notice the last name and give me a funny look. Then they always say, "You must get a lot of jokes about that name." No, actually I don't. I just get a lot of people telling me that I must get a lot of jokes about my name.

But I have to admit, I do enjoy a little bit more fame than most people. Many times I have walked into a ... um ... establishment, and somebody I vaguely recognize will greet me and tell everybody else at the bar^H^H^Hestablishment that this guy's name is Joe Stoner! And then they all have a laugh, somebody says the inevitable "You must get a lot of jokes about that name," and then somebody else will say, "So do you live up to your name?"

I really have nothing to say... or any desire to say it. I just wanted to waste your time by making you think I had something worthwhile written here. BUT, I do have a blog running on my web site. And if I can get your attention here, I figured I'd use the opportunity to pimp out my site.