Let's node

One of the best and most lucid documents written about what we do or should do as editors is Jet-Poop's writeup called The Everything Editor's Job. I visit it occasionally to remind myself what I'm doing here. At the top of the list, item number one, is a suggestion that should, perhaps, be obvious but still needs saying: Node.

I compiled some statistics last month, after being induced to reflect upon my paltry noding activity of the preceding months. Being an editor takes up a lot of time and, as an editor, I contribute something to the effort, but I still often feel like I'm losing perspective and not fulfilling what is, ostensibly, everyone's mission here: writing, adding content. I know that other editors sometimes feel the same. It can be hard to drag oneself away from a mess that needs tidying up. Almost everyone's output declines after taking an editorial position but I think it's part of our editorial duty to try not to let it drop to zero.

I repeated the stats run for February. The crude statistics I compiled were not pretty (no, my own numbers weren't impressive either, this is not meant to be a holier-than-thou piece but a wake up call to all, myself included). I don't want to go into too much detail (anyone wanting the painful details can compile their own) but five-six people accounting for over half of the writeups produced by an editorial staff of over sixty is not an encouraging figure--were I using sounder statistical methods, such as an interquartile mean, and not counting editor logs, root logs and the likes, it would be downright depressing. About 30% of us had no activity at all in January and February, the figure being roughly the same for both the CE and e2gods groups. While some of them can be excused for having Real Life interfere or spending their time performing vital work such as coding, overall speaking, we're taking some really long breaks here.

In a month during which I add more writeups than I usually do, I feel like I've made a greater contribution to the database. Yes, it's very important that we support and encourage everyone else to do well and undoubtedly a lot of our time goes towards that effort. We are, however, also in a position where setting a visible example is a vital part of our mission. An example doesn't have to be fifty-ching noding brilliance that's better than everyone else's--these days the standard (yes, that damned bar) is pretty much the same for all experienced users. Being active noders sets an example for everyone--the new people we help, those who lounge in the catbox instead of writing, hell, even for each other. I think that, as editors, we are de facto (and whether we like it or not) in a position that entails leading by example and there's no better example than producing quality work.

We're all here because we enjoy writing. If we didn't enjoy writing, and were we not halfways decent at it, we'd probably not be noders, let alone editors. Let's do just that. Get out those half-finished, mothballed pieces and wrap them up. I'm not suggesting quotas or specific target numbers but, this month, let's all spend more time writing and have fun doing so. Let's node--it's what we're good at.

Afterburn full thrust monks react trackless
Come to confront funk slugs with salt tactics
Turn the farrah faucet on and burn 'em in their mattress
Then ashes float to heaven quicker than the souls of children
Murdered by a strange man in a basement of a building
Time to build, time to be brazen with cane raising
The same faded disdain with a grain of insane patience


Vision of Art, DJ Krush feat. Company Flow

Murdered by a strange man.

Brazen with cane raising.

Ashes float to heaven.

In my previous logs, I have discussed topics such as:


A note from the Where-is-all-the-blood-and-gore Dept.: This past month has been among the busiest in my life, what with moving, preparing to have our third child (any day now), and working on academic and literary obligations (new book contract, yay). All of these, coupled with the fact that I have yet to get DSL access in our new apartment, has made March one of my least productive months as Content Editor, ever. If I forgot to nuke your node, I'm sorry. But don't worry, your time will come.


Nose to the grindstone:

  • Edited
    Owners of edited WUs get a /msg informing them of the edit. Very minor stuff isn't listed here - this is for more extensive edits. Also, if I thought a WU was good enough to merit the effort involved in an extensive edit, it probably is worth a visit - so this list is a good guide to miscellaneous interesting WUs.
    • (...)
  • Killed
    The following are writeups I've nuked. Comments in quote marks are actual excerpts from the Klaproth messages I have sent - but they are not the whole story. I always sign my Klaproth messages, and I generally try to follow up on them, elaborating my reasoning. If you feel slighted, let me know - and we'll talk about it.
  • Editor cooled
    As is my self-imposed rule, I shall try to restrict myself to 3 ed-cools a month
    • (...)
  • Firmlinked
    • (...)
  • Softlocked
    • (...)

Writeup does not mean Reply

Once upon a time on E2, there was a node with the above title. It hasn't been around for awhile, so I can't reliably report on the discussion formerly contained therein --- but I can tell y'all what that phrase means to me.

Simply stated, it's my opinion that an E2 writeup should stand on its own. Writeups that exist only in response to other writeups (hereafter abbreviated as "reply writeups") are one of my personal pet peeves on E2. At their worst, they're nasty personal attacks about politics or other controversial topics, rendered cryptic, if not outright meaningless by vague references to other writeups that no longer exist. At best, they're one of the reasons that "getting to know you" nodes get softlocked. Either way, I like to think we can do better.

So, what does this mean in practical terms? Well, if I do anything for you by noding as I do, here's some things you can do for me.

  1. If at all possible, don't create writeups that reply to other writeups. If you read something that inspires this urge, write a ranting reply on your Scratch Pad and let it sit there for a few days. Chances are it won't look so good after you cool off a little, but if nothing else you may be glad you got the rant out of your system.

  2. If you absolutely must create a writeup that replies to another, please make it stand on its own. Namely, summarize whatever point it is you're responding to in the other writeup, so that if that first writeup gets deleted, yours isn't rendered completely meaningless.

  3. If you absolutely must create a writeup that replies to another, please also try to include some new information in there. Don't waste our time with nothing more than "No, you're wrong."

  4. Don't create a writeup that begins "Username:" and proceeds to address another user's writeup. Even if you don't mean it as a personal attack, it's likely to be read as such --- which is to say you'll look like a jerk. It also looks really dumb when the writeup you're replying to disappears (as writeups inflammatory enough to inspire replies are oft wont to do).

  5. For the love of whatever you love, don't ever create one of those godforsaken writeups that quotes another writeup in its entirety and refutes it point by point. It's possibly the only thing uglier than the "Username:" writeup format (with which it is sometimes combined) and looks even worse when the writeup you're replying to disappears.

  6. Check back on your reply writeups every so often to make sure the writeup you're addressing is still around. Although in general it's good noding for the ages to review your old writeups from time to time, it's especially important with reply writeups, since they're in some ways more time-sensitive than other, less context-dependent writings on E2.

Now, these are just my personal recommendations. Not everybody on this site agrees with me on this topic; as I mentioned earlier, useless reply writeups are a pet peeve of mine, so I feel strongly about them --- hence this editor log. I don't like writeups that reply to writeups that no longer exist, especially when they get personal or don't bother to make it clear exactly what it is they're replying to. If reply writeups contribute something new to the database, I try to encourage their authors to rewrite them to stand on their own, but usually I downvote them, and they make up a high percentage of the writeups I delete. Consider yourselves warned, I guess. Other discussions of this topic can be found at Everything is NOT a BBS, Everything as a discussion forum, GTKY, and the ever-popular Node for the Ages. Thank you for your attention.

I now return you to your regularly-scheduled usual boring edlog stuff:

Deleted

As always, if you don't like seeing your ex-writeups in my editor logs, please drop me a /msg and I'll remove the deletion record.

  • Why neither the French nor the Italians are the worst military nation (idea) by ilteroi because a writeup should stand on its own, like I wrote above, and this one had already attracted more than its fair share of downvotes.
  • Navy SEALs (thing) by pec06 because it was superseded by another writeup. User has not ever been seen on E2, so it may be that time again.
  • Navy SEALs (idea) by mcSey because pec06's writeup was superseded, and this made no sense without its predecessor.
  • Navy SEALs (idea) by NPC because pec06's writeup was superseded and this made no sense without its predecessor. User has not been on E2 in over a year.
  • Why people dont stay christian (idea) by Fearing Sanity because it was misspelled, cited a definition without a source, and more. (I sent the author a long private /msg with suggestions and advice). Filed nodeshell deletion request as well. Sigh. Your first writeup will be nuked: Don't give up leaps to mind.
  • Garden (thing) by Girlface because the correct title of the song is Garden of Simple and there's already a writeup about it there.
  • What's the difference between an oboe and a bassoon? (idea) by emil greer because a writeup should contain more information than a restatement of the node title.
  • seeing the world in your own backyard (thing) by Hunnybee because it was unformattted and often misspelled and incorrectly punctuated, and the author hasn't been around in years so I couldn't ask for corrections.
  • Dating in High School (idea) by King Francis because it was unformatted, unlinked, and frequently misspelled. I /msged the author to suggest a reading of E2 Quick Start, if not Everything University.
  • Worm Dancing (idea) by Sporus because there was something weird going on with the text and formatting. The author has not been seen in 8 months, but Klaproth said it would be okay to resubmit an edited version.
  • Deutsch Bahn (thing) by mhwang because it was superseded by mawa's writeup. Author has never been seen on e2.

Editor Cooled

Yeah, I know, I haven't editor cooled anything in about a million years. For awhile, it felt like all the really good nodes were taken, or maybe I wasn't reading in any of the right places, or.... I don't know! Anyway, that feeling's gone this month, I tell you what. Here's what I think's the cream of the crop.

Edited

Like it says on my homenode, if I write you with a suggestion about your writeup, it's a compliment. I don't bother trying to edit writeups unless I think they're worth improving. That said, I prefer to /msg users with correction requests rather than alter anyone's text myself, because I think fixing your own mistakes can be a valuable learning experience. It also improves your chances of finding typos I overlooked. I will make cosmetic edits (spelling, punctuation, formatting) in writeups by users who haven't been on E2 in 3 or more months, since they're not likely to reply to my /msg requests in a timely way. Finally, there are a few lucky kids who have given me explicit permission to fix mistakes in their writeups AND whose writeups are so consistently worth improving that I'll fix their little slips without asking. Everybody I edit gets a /msg from me, and I try to record the stuff I fix here as well.

  • Some very minor formatting and one typo I should have spotted in Lysisatra Project by Tlachtga before C!ing it. My bad, so I went ahead and fixed them.
  • Typos and formatting in transform's masculine generic. I /msged the user about them in October 2002, did not receive a reply, and now they haven't been around in 3 months, so it's fixed.

Update, 6 March 2003: The anal-retentive English teacher who lives in my forebrain has joined forces with Typo Death Squad. Be afraid.

Other

  • Updated and reformatted The Content Rescue Team : Roster. We've lost and gained a lot of members since the last big update. Any editors reading this who want to earn my undying love (and lose a lot of free time) should consider volunteering for crtleads, if factual noding and organization are your thing.

  • Straight out of my Message Inbox for all you voyeurs out there:

    2003.03.08 at 18:40 Scribe says Maybe in a past life you were a misplaced apostrophe. Your need to correct them stems from your knowledge that hundreds of apostrophes are wasted every day in misplacements and your mission is to save their punctuation lives!! ;)

  • And on that note, I C!ed it's vs. its by stupot because this is the typo that most often sends my forehead English teacher into conniptions. I hereby promise to link to this writeup often in my blab!s.

  • Because I am firmlink-shy, I put a hardlink to Acceptable Use Policy in the text of AUP. That and the existing softlinks ought to take care of connecting the two. (Thanks to Siobhan for pointing out a typo in this entry to me. Typo Death Squad forever!)

Research Your Writeup!

Good writing demands research. Even if you write pure fiction, research helps.

I've been making a living off my research for many years. I'm a lawyer. My specialty is doing research and writing for other lawyers. Everything I write gets torn apart by someone with an axe to grind. I have a lot of practice doing bullet-proof research. (Stop me before I mix more metaphors!)

Know your standards

You have to know the criterion for "truth" in your field. In science, something is "true" if it can be demonstrated empirically by a repeatable, verifiable experiment. Thus, if someone is reporting a scientific breakthrough, the first question is whether it has been independently verified. If not, it's just a research announcement.

Similarly, good journalism requires corroboration of sources. If you have only one source, it's at best an "allegation".

Know your sources:

In law, we have a very strict hierarchy of sources. Depending on where you live, some laws are relevant, some are not. Law is constantly changing, so you have to have up-to-date sources. Law books I used in law school, thirteen years ago, are now almost entirely useless.

When it comes to other fields, the sources may not be so easy to rank, but you can often rate them. The New York Times is probably more reliable than The Weekly World News. Tax advice from the IRS is notoriously unreliable. Tax advice from your CPA, on the other hand, is likely to be close to 100% correct. Why? You can sue a CPA.

Sometimes unreliable or biased sources are useful as a starting point. You can find out a lot of useful medical information from drug company advertisements, for example. Just don't accept it as the last word. Which leads me to the process of research:

Follow the cite trail or corroborate

Some sources cite other sources. In formal legal writing, for example, every sentence must be followed with a citation supporting the assertion. Academic papers, likewise, have lots of footnotes. To do complete research in these fields, you must check all the relevant cites, then check relevant citations in those sources, and so forth. Eventually, if you have narrowed your research topic sufficiently, you start going in circles. New sources start citing sources you have already read. If that doesn't happen, either (1) your research topic is too broad, or (2) your research is not complete. With sources that cite sources, the trick is framing your research question narrowly enough.

Some material doesn't cite sources. For example, print journalism may "attribute" or refer a quote to a "source", but not give a cite. You get "the OMB reports that ..." not "See OMB Report, at page 5". Without cites you can't follow a cite trial. What you do instead is corroborate: you get as many sources on the same facts as possible and see what matches.

The trick with corroboration is knowing the difference between corroborating and merely duplicating the same story over and over. Matching facts stated in different ways from different viewpoints is ideal. It is not necessarily a good thing if all your sources are saying the exact same thing in the exact same words. For example, you can frequently get articles from a dozen newspapers all saying exactly the same thing, because they all copied and pasted the same wire service article. This is not corroboration, this is duplication. True corroboration requires primary sources with a useful or credible viewpoint: an eyewitness, a document, etc.

Either method --looking up cites or getting corroboration-- gives you multiple sources. Using multiple sources forces your writing into your voice and your point of view, which is what we want here.


NB: Once you *have* sources you should cite them: E2 FAQ: How to cite your sources. This has summary of the MLA cite forms for several different kinds of sources.

Our brother editor Cletus the Foetus observes, pedantically albeit correctly, that "'Cite' is a verb -- the noun is 'citation.'" I've been using "cite" as a noun since my law school days. It doesn't grate on my ears, but I work for lawyers, socialize with lawyers ... heck I'm even married to a lawyer. Perhaps you should avoid this cant if you are not surrounded by lawyers.


True Confessions of a Content Editor

I'm not naming names anymore. You know who you are.

Cooled

Nada.

Nuked

Other Tasks

After whining to bones about how I was too busy and it was too much work I updated the Iraq debate metanode collection by creating War on Iraq 2003. I then firmlinked it to War on Iraq 2002 and vice versa, which firmlinks were promptly stripped out by bones (firmlinks, with few exceptions, are supposed to point from an empty nodeshell to the node with content.

Proving once again that editors can be n00bies, too.

Actually, I broke the land speed record.
    Node, I entreat you!
    This is a short list of persons/places/things/ideas that I have noticed are in need of a good writeup. If you take one of these on, drop me a /msg and let me know.
  • the guitarist Mick Rippon
  • a review of Richard Rhodes' book Dark Sun, on the H-bomb
  • the quintessential Kevin Bacon film, Footloose has no writeup! NODED! by isogolem
    With Klaproth as my envoy
  • Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific by SpunkyMunky this was replaced by arcanamundi's excellent WU Gee, Your Hair Smells Terrific
  • Hobbit-huggers by gjm "Am I a fool in Tolkiens brilliantly conceived plot to obtain world domination through capturing his readers' minds?" not an idea that adds to our discourse on Middle Earth, Hobbits, or even masturbation
  • Level 3 by JohnnyGoodyear pursuit of the muse is more like a war, this is a casualty
  • Absolute Terror Field by a new noder referred to read me first: getting started on e2 and fab's Editor Log above
  • Tao Te Ching by some1else4now cut and paste from Stephen Mitchell's forward to his translation of the Tao Te Ching
  • Chupacabras by Voodoo Chile at the noder's request
  • Ear candling by bonnet superseded by later WU
  • crack whore by Orgasmatron a one-line and SNL reference
  • Pitch-black by SmokeyBarnable the movie was titled Pitch Black and there are better reviews of it there
  • Chupacabras by Voodoo Chile again. something of an accident, as the noder informed me that there were superficial edits made. however my suggestion to him was to repost (if necessary) under El Chupacabra
  • There are some things money can't buy, for everything else there's Mastercard by macado dumb joke
  • Picasso at the Lapin Agile by Lord Bear poor orphaned WU, promises a more substantial review of the play but the noder never came back to it
  • Raffi by wh00t superseded by a later WU
     wh00t says You bastard! That was my first WU ever. Ah well. I'll make it through this, maybe...
     ouro replied Your first writeup will be nuked, although it might take us awhile to get to it.
  • knish by eric+ superseded by later WU with description and recipe
  • March 1, 2003 by thyme at the noder's request
  • Dogs of War by Leto Atreides 2 the lyrics are noded in full at The Dogs of War
  • Flute by Qzukk an old E1 WU superseded by Webster 1913
  • Flute by Stargazer an old E1 WU superseded by later WU
  • yellow border by Stargazer a very minor point of a forgotten game
  • likeness by Stargazer an old E1 WU superseded by Webster 1913
  • Dorm room safety tips by Kit Lo this WU began a long node of perhaps useful safety tips, but it, itself, is no longer necessary
  • Scamming BART Transbay by sten the "enter and leave from the same station" was once a reasonable method of scamming the card-based subway, they are more sophisticated now
  • Scamming BART Transbay by fo0bar a response WU
  • Scamming the D.C. Metro System by vbrtrmn I bet you?re the kind of person who scams movie theaters too
  • Hash browns by sydnius describes a potato dish made from fried leftover mashed potatoes, a fine breakfast food known as potato latkes or potato pancakes
  • Controlled Substances Act by ameoba "One of my long-time pipedream ideas ..."
  • frigging by fondue at the noder's request
  • orchid by fondue at the noder's request
  • The Inn at the Deep End by fondue at the noder's request
  • Aero the Acrobat by fondue at the noder's request
  • Kenneth Scott by fondue at the noder's request
  • Daria! the Musical by fondue at the noder's request
  • Palm Island by fondue at the noder's request
  • sketch comedy by fondue at the noder's request
  • guitar smashing by CmdrTaco that's the last on this topic
  • Dark Sun by plonk plonk added little information to a node about the AD&D campaign setting
  • the source files for minix were noded without any sort of explication by viterbiSearcher: 3c503.h, assert.h, const.h, dp8390.h, driver.h, drvlib.h, glo.h, kernel.h, ne2000.h, proc.h, protect.h, proto.h, sb16.h, sconst.h, tty.h, type.h, wdeth.h, 3c503.c, aha1540.c, at_wini.c, bios_wini.c, clock.c, console.c, dmp.c, dosfat.c, dp8390.c, driver.c, drvlib.c, esdi_wini.c, exception.c, floppy.c, i8259.c, keyboard.c, main.c, mcd.c, memory.c, misc.c, ne2000.c, printer.c, proc.c, protect.c, pty.c, rs232.c, sb16_dsp.c, sb16_mixer.c, start.c, system.c, table.c, tty.c, wdeth.c, xt_wini.c, klib.s, klib386.s, klib88.s, mpx.s, mpx386.s, mpx88.s
  • March 8, 2003 by Disco Jesus at the noder's request
  • Tarrasque by Maniacal cut and paste from the Monster Manual without any commentary
  • Tarrasque by Bacon the Rambler information assimilated into a previous WU
  • Earth 2025 by shornibr superseded by a later WU
  • Earth 2025 by Shanoyu superseded by a later WU
  • Earth 2025 by sk1tch superseded by a later WU
  • Outsider by Pyro "Monks also become outsiders upon reaching 20th levels"
  • cut & pasted from the Monster Manual by Maniacal: Outsider, ooze, Monstrous Humanoid, Magical Beast, humanoid, giant, fey, dragon, construct, beast, animal, aberration
  • Hidden Valley Salad Dressing by shaynetonio superseded by another WU
  • selling out by factgirl at the noder's request
  • Stock, Hausen, and Walkman by factgirl at the noder's request
  • Virtual Attack Kangaroos by Dialogue an australian military legend
  • Virtual Attack Kangaroos by factgirl the debunkment of the above
  • Virtual Attack Kangaroos by m_turner "No shit, there I was, flying the Apache in the left lane o' the Matilda Highway an' all a sudden these kangaroos breakout over a hill and throw cans of Fosters at me bird!"
  • Bitonic Solutions Inc. by dr "Bitonic's office is only a block from the Rose and Crown and two blocks from the Ship and Anchor"
  • speed of sound by Zorin at the noder's request, a clean-up of old E1 WUs
  • 27 by Zorin at the noder's request
  • stupid patrol by Zorin "A group of people who go around enforcing the life rule thou shalt not be stupid" at the noder's request
  • mare by Zorin at the noder's request
  • decrease by Zorin at the noder's request
  • equipment by Zorin at the noder's request
  • It's a knick-knack, Paddywhack, give the frog a loan by ekiMish "writeup" does not mean "reply"
  • It's a knick-knack, Paddywhack, give the frog a loan by squeezie "writeup" does not mean "reply"
  • Common chatroom abbreviations as locations by Amateur gave a handful of three-letter abbreviations and their corresponding international airport code
  • SDEF by a new noder who thought that noding acronyms was the One True Path
  • FGF by the same new noder who was referred to the E2 Mentoring Sign-up
    UPDATE: this new noder is currently being mentored by Devon Hart
  • Narn Bat Squad by J. Random Software "five Narn packing Louisville Sluggers" I guess you would've had to be a part of the Babylon 5 baseball team
  • Niels Bohr by Em a tall tale concerning the great physicist, debunked by www.snopes.com
    Ouroboros elaborates The writeup in question has been nuked for cut and paste without attribution and duplication within the database at how to measure the height of a tower using a barometer. I asked Spuunbenda to provide us with an attribution of the source of this story.
  • Verisimilitude by MikeyK at the noder's request
  • Heart container by Nanosecond superseded by a later WU
  • Heart container by funtownarcade superseded by a later WU
  • (Don't Go Back to) Rockville by neil superseded by a later WU
  • Juche by Dman an informational and highly opinionated WU superseded by an informational and historical WU with references
  • One Eyed Jacks by Muerte superseded by WU at one-eyed jack
  • Dr. Kevorkian has just unstrapped me from the gurney by nakedants unexplicated cut & paste from an essay by Kurt Vonnegut
  • How to have sex with a dolphin by getzburg was a reply to a now-deleted WU
  • Wondering who the fuck you are on a Sunday morning by Kung the "choose life" soliloquy from Trainspotting is represented in several other places in the database
  • the Everything2 study guide by Tmaq this index repeated much of what is linked in the FAQs and the homenodes of various Editors
  • James Brown sound effects by emil greer Soul Brother Number One never got around to covering "Getting to Know You"
  • Let's put the Koresh back in Koreshmas by VT_hawkeye at the noder's request
  • The smallest number that can be expressed two different ways as the sum of two cubes by Seqram superseded by a later WU
  • pornolize by tftv256 for all the redundancy of the interweb, it is not eternal as good humor, Pornolize (the online gateway service) is no more
  • Palm format E2 Mailing Registry by chinoodle eleven months out of date and not a project I should like to see ever again
  • ninjas hate robots by Hate Robot "I meen [sic] look at this website!"
  • at LaggedyAnne’s request, her WUs in September 29, 2002, August 26, 2002, August 19, 2002
  • This heart that lives in winter by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • The recipe left a few things out by LaggedyAnne at the ndoer's request
  • All of today, all of yesterday by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • Eat to live, don't live to eat by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • A newly transformed goddess by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • Katy by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • you have the face of an angel and the soul of a farmer (person) by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • Where's Casey? by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • A hollow longing in her that will last by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • Funeral Laughter by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • Tales from an ex fat chick by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • If you're feeling disillusioned, find a 9-year-old by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • That's when I'll know I'm home by LaggedyAnne at the noder's request
  • Bellini by moJoe superseded by a WU with historical context of the drink
  • When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall by Whywait? this was a beautiful nodeshell, not improved by the few Morrissey lyrics that constituted this WU
  • Interpol by factgirl superseded by a later WU
  • GameDicas by fondue at his request
  • Didgeridoo by taschenrechner at the noder's request
  • Where does the money come from? by 1010011010 at the noder's request
  • green by Lucien superseded by a more comprehensive WU
  • No. 4 by Jabooty superseded by a more comprehensive WU
  • shub internet by Eythian duplicated an entry of The Jargon File, Shub-Internet
  • cha by antivoid a one-liner informing us that “cha” is an abbreviation for charisma
  • several WU s on dexterity-based skills and throws from D&D 3rd Edition (or d20) by antivoid dexterity, AC, initiative, reflex, dodge bonus, balance, escape artist, hide, move silently, pick pockets, ride, tumble E2 is does not participate in the OGL and these were cut & paste without any explication
  • People do creepy things to each other by dolphinboy an index of torture means and devices exists under torture
  • The Coming of the Ship by Agthorr superseded by a better formatted and hardlinked edition of The Prophet with commentary by isogolem
  • Human Combustion by Zanth a factoid is not sufficient basis for a WU; opinion on that factoid does not serve to fill out that WU
  • WUs in the Stupidest thing you've coded just to see if you could. by Art Tatum, everyone, no comply, Baron_Saturday, pokey, powercntrl, Adalgeirr, derobert, The Cow, brutha, inciteful, mE123 this whole node is hopelessly GTKY, with a sprinkling of juvenile acts of malice, and I strongly suggest that anyone else with a WU here consider deletion
  • Concerning cruelty and clemency, and whether it is better to be loved than feared by hackthemainframe excepts from The Prince : Chapter 17, now fully noded, with improved spelling
  • Concerning New Principalities Which Are Acquired Either By the Arms of Others or By Good Fortune by Lao-Tzu while it was a fine trick to run the words "good fortune" and "Lao-Tzu" so closely together before the work of Niccolo Machiavelli, this edition of The Prince : Chapter 6 had no links

past * * * future

On Noding Current Events

Anytime there is a major development or crisis in world events, there is much to be said. There are more than two sides to every story and every opinion has the right to be heard.

That said, here on Everything2 there has been a flood of sentiment about the current "War on Iraq" and everything related to that war. There are many philosophies on noding this. After all, this is history happening in front of our eyes, so it is certainly no less worthy of being noded than past events of historical importance. Are your sentiments and your opinion of current events worthy of their own node? That depends on how subjective they are and how that opinion is being expressed. Think of it in the same way you think of noding events and people that are not "current events." The node must stand the test of time. It must be relevant a year from now and ten years from now as part of the history of things.

I also like to advise that you consider what you are writing. If you are writing purely out of anger, even if you feel fully justified in what you are saying, leave what you have written on your scratch pad and sleep on it. Realize that what you are saying is being read by many people and that you do yourself a disservice by letting your voice be one of anger. Sometimes you'll take a look at what you've written and realize you are just releasing tension in a stream of consciousness. This is good to do, it helps you focus, but writing it doesn't mean you have to post it.

Consider what you are writing, how you are writing it, and node for the ages or share your thoughts on the days events in a daylog. I use the daylogs and I'm completely full of myself and brimming with arrogance and have absolutely no faults.*

Political Asylum

I have taken up temporary residence in Political Asylum in an attempt to promote its use for ongoing dialogue about current events. There are sometimes valid and interesting things said there and sometimes there are those just blowing off steam. It is not a prison camp run by diseased yaks. The system of "rooms" on e2 is an underused element of the website. For those who fear they will miss something important being said "outside," there is now something called "squawkbox." I can't figure out how it works, but I'm something of a technological twit, so you will probably have no problem with it.

The E2 administration has a desire to see these "rooms" made use of, especially Political Asylum. These "rooms" can be used for individual discussion and group discussions, or even talking to yourself. Make use of them. Join me in Political Asylum sometime. I try to listen but sometimes the voices in my head distract me. That can't be helped. It would be nice to keep an ongoing group of people with varied opinions in Political Asylum. Provided, of course, we can keep it to dialogue and not shouting at each other. Screaming at people who aren't listening achieves nothing.


*This is sarcasm, in case you hadn't guessed.

Now that I'm back with some free time, started poking about and killed:

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