Is this forum too moderated?

[corco]

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

[roadman65]

:words:

I'm not sure which is larger, your Internet naivete, your persecution complex or your staggering lack of comprehension.

Keep my username out of your mouth.  And stop obsessing about something some jagoff on the internet said in a reply 6+ months ago.

Like I said, I am human I make mistakes and I learn from them.  I do not need someone else's  mistakes to make me feel superior.   

[Brandon]

It's about as funny as Charlie Brown falling on his ass.

Admit it, you never tire of Lucy pulling the football.
Post Merge: December 02, 2012, 10:15:02 PM - only because this is the "forum too moderated" thread so it's funny

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

Hence it should be saved (as other DOT derisive names) for those cases where it truly applies.  better impact that way.

[Beltway]

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

It wasn't funny the first time.  It was lame.

[bugo]

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

It wasn't funny the first time.  It was lame.

You wouldn't know humor if it hit you in your fat ass.

Now THAT was funny.

</me> awaits for this post to be deleted because I said "ass."

[Scott5114]

If it were to be deleted, it would be because you're being intentionally insulting and confrontational, not because you said ass.

[mukade]

If it were to be deleted, it would be because you're being intentionally insulting and confrontational, not because you said ass.

Many posts in this thread seem to fit that definition. For example:

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

It wasn't funny the first time.  It was lame.

[realjd]

Building off of this, we generally as a rule try to avoid outright deleting posts unless there is obviously no redeemable value to them (something like "pfpfpfpfpfpfpfpfpf" would be deleted outright).

<obligatory>
pfpfpfpfpfpfpfpfpf
</obligatory>

[kphoger]

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

FWIW, I thought it was mildly funny the first time.  The second time made me cringe.  Every time it's been posted since then has made me want to stop reading the thread.

[deathtopumpkins]

Just save "IDiOT" for times when IDOT actually does something idiotic. That's how you keep something like that fresh - you only use it when it's actually relevant.

[Scott5114]

If it were to be deleted, it would be because you're being intentionally insulting and confrontational, not because you said ass.

Many posts in this thread seem to fit that definition. For example:

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

It wasn't funny the first time.  It was lame.

There's a rather important difference between "that joke is not funny; it is lame" and "You wouldn't know humor if it hit you in your fat ass."

[KEK Inc.]

There's definitely conflict in moderating between the staff.  I've asked certain moderators some things, and I get different answers. 

If it's not stated in the posting guidelines, please do not edit posts just because of a personal formatting pet peeves. 



I only go to 3 forums, but this is definitely one of the more tighter-bounded communities.  I feel like this community isn't really prone to too much spam, so certain moderators here are like cops in small safe towns -- camp out and get the speeders going 5 over. 

[Scott5114]

I have a feeling the reason you're posting loudly is because I asked you a dozen times to stop specifying odd fonts and colors in your posts. The only reason none of the other mods/admins had a problem with it is because they are all running Windows. I am not, and I don't have the fonts your posts were specifying, so that was making your posts show up in a 7-point serif font, which is not exactly helpful for me to be able to read them. Especially when they're also set to display in light gray on a light green background.

If we all stick to the default fonts the forum CSS can let the browser determine what the appropriate font and color combination is that will work for the reader. If you override that, the CSS can't do that. There are cases when using color is appropriate, like when it has some semantic meaning (example: listing a bunch of routes you have clinched, and having the ones you drove personally in green and the rest in red). "I want my posts to be in gray because I think that makes my posts special" is not an appropriate use of color.

Edited to add–To illustrate the above point, I took a screenshot of the post before editing:


You can see the what the default formatting looks like at the top of the page. You can see what KEK's marked-up posts looked like before moderation underneath that. Presumably it looked better on Windows, with whatever the specified font was installed (I want to say Corbel?), but not everyone on this forum is using Windows or has all of the fonts from Windows 7 installed. As a moderator, I felt it made more sense in a case like this to trade off the ability to specify font and color choice in favor of ensuring that posts are legible across all platforms. Keep in mind I did not change any content at all, only removed font and color tags.

[Beltway]

If it were to be deleted, it would be because you're being intentionally insulting and confrontational, not because you said ass.

Many posts in this thread seem to fit that definition. For example:

IDiOT is funny and cool the first 30 times you see it. By the 500th time it's just stupid. We're all smart- let's come up with some fresh humor

It wasn't funny the first time.  It was lame.

There's a rather important difference between "that joke is not funny; it is lame" and "You wouldn't know humor if it hit you in your fat ass."

There is also "You wouldn't know lameness if it hit you in your fat ass."

[Roadsguy]

it's just IDiOTic.

FIFY.

[agentsteel53]

FWIW, I thought it was mildly funny the first time.  The second time made me cringe.  Every time it's been posted since then has made me want to stop reading the thread.

what gets me about the whole "IDiOT" thing is how a seemingly independent set of Illinois-based posters all seem to use it, while no other state DOT inspires an unhappy caricature of its acronym.  I have never seen Iowa, Idaho, or Indiana DOTs referred to as such - not even in the Indiana I-69 discussions which have been known to generate some strong discussions.

[DaBigE]

FWIW, I thought it was mildly funny the first time.  The second time made me cringe.  Every time it's been posted since then has made me want to stop reading the thread.

what gets me about the whole "IDiOT" thing is how a seemingly independent set of Illinois-based posters all seem to use it, while no other state DOT inspires an unhappy caricature of its acronym.  I have never seen Iowa, Idaho, or Indiana DOTs referred to as such - not even in the Indiana I-69 discussions which have been known to generate some strong discussions.

Illinois DOT has just developed a certain reputation, especially with its surrounding neighbors, that the other 'I' states have not. It's just like the term 'FIB' is only used for Illinoisans as well (at least by those in Wisconsin).

[agentsteel53]

Illinois DOT has just developed a certain reputation, especially with its surrounding neighbors, that the other 'I' states have not. It's just like the term 'FIB' is only used for Illinoisans as well (at least by those in Wisconsin).

well, there's plenty of other states which receive needling from their neighbors.  here in SoCal, we have "zonies" from the state to our immediate east.

I maintain that the use of "IDiOT" is quite the aberration.

[J N Winkler]

My thoughts:

*  Unusual fonts for body text in posts, besides "breaking" the formatting for people who don't have those particular fonts on their boxes, tend to attract this catty, not-very-nice reaction:  "Who is this person?  Why does he think he is too good to use the CSS default formatting?"  Freedom of expression is all well and good, but in this particular case I think the moderator's intervention has the effect--whether intended or not--of saving the poster from himself.

*  When I see "IDiOT" used as an acronym for "Illinois DOT," my reaction is not "Oh, how funny" or "Oh, how lame," but more like this:  "This poster really, really resents Illinois DOT.  In fact, he hates this DOT so much he doesn't care if repeated, ad nauseam use of 'IDiOT' puts other posters off what he is saying.  Do I want to get caught up in this emotional whirlpool?"  Since the answer is usually No, "IDiOT" tends to function as a cue to ignore not just that post but frequently the replies it attracts--why try to reason with someone in the grip of an idée fixe?  (For the same reason I try to limit the frequency of my own axe-grinding.)  Again, this is a case where I believe the moderators' intervention to discourage "IDiOT" amounts to saving a poster from himself.

[US71]

FWIW, I thought it was mildly funny the first time.  The second time made me cringe.  Every time it's been posted since then has made me want to stop reading the thread.

what gets me about the whole "IDiOT" thing is how a seemingly independent set of Illinois-based posters all seem to use it, while no other state DOT inspires an unhappy caricature of its acronym.  I have never seen Iowa, Idaho, or Indiana DOTs referred to as such - not even in the Indiana I-69 discussions which have been known to generate some strong discussions.

Well, Illinois has a bad rep for building roads cheaply than having to go back and fix them later. Or at least they did when I lived there.

[cpzilliacus]

Well, Illinois has a bad rep for building roads cheaply than having to go back and fix them later. Or at least they did when I lived there.

I recall driving on the (then-fairly-new) Illinois Route 5 (East-West Tollway) (I-88 today) in the early 1980's between Aurora and Dekalb. It was like driving on a body of water with plenty of wave action, up and down.  I asked someone in Dekalb (not associated with ISTHA or IDOT) why the pavement was so "wavy," and was told that the subgrade was inadequate, and that the "wavy" pavement was going to have to be torn-up and the subgrade removed and reinstalled, and the the entire toll road repaved.

That same person also asserted that some (unknown) person or persons involved in the design and construction of Ill. 5 "ought to go to jail" for the condition of the road, but I don't know if there was ever an investigation or if anyone ended up behind bars as a result.

[corco]

If it's not stated in the posting guidelines, please do not edit posts just because of a personal formatting pet peeves. 

What needs to happen to get "please use default formatting unless you have a really, really good reason not to" into the forum guidelines? Because that really should be a rule. I've yet to see an instance where custom formatting makes things more readable or more useful- it's just annoying even if I do have the correct fonts installed.

what gets me about the whole "IDiOT" thing is how a seemingly independent set of Illinois-based posters all seem to use it, while no other state DOT inspires an unhappy caricature of its acronym.  I have never seen Iowa, Idaho, or Indiana DOTs referred to as such - not even in the Indiana I-69 discussions which have been known to generate some strong discussions.

Idaho is ITD, not IDOT. Indiana is INDOT. Iowa's roads are amazing.

here in SoCal, we have "zonies" from the state to our immediate east

Stupid utards

[Special K]

My only objection to "IDiOT" is that it's obvious and lacks creativity.

[US71]

Well, Illinois has a bad rep for building roads cheaply than having to go back and fix them later. Or at least they did when I lived there.

I recall driving on the (then-fairly-new) Illinois Route 5 (East-West Tollway) (I-88 today) in the early 1980's between Aurora and Dekalb. It was like driving on a body of water with plenty of wave action, up and down.  I asked someone in Dekalb (not associated with ISTHA or IDOT) why the pavement was so "wavy," and was told that the subgrade was inadequate, and that the "wavy" pavement was going to have to be torn-up and the subgrade removed and reinstalled, and the the entire toll road repaved.

That would about the right time. I-57 north of Effingham had a similar problem.

[Alps]

If it's not stated in the posting guidelines, please do not edit posts just because of a personal formatting pet peeves. 

What needs to happen to get "please use default formatting unless you have a really, really good reason not to" into the forum guidelines? Because that really should be a rule. I've yet to see an instance where custom formatting makes things more readable or more useful- it's just annoying even if I do have the correct fonts installed.

Seconded.