Wednesday Morning Rant [Joe Mannix]

Contemptuous Experts

I had a computer problem this weekend and I needed help. It was an esoteric problem in Linux and so off to the forums I went for assistance. I found what I needed and got the problem solved. The solution was extremely convoluted and non-obvious, requiring a lot of steps and arcane commands. I am familiar with the system and was able to follow along fine and understand what I was doing. This was not the case for everyone.

One new user hitting the same problem I did commented that he found it to be incomprehensible and that anyone coming from a traditional desktop system would be baffled. Why was it so hard? Why was everything surprising? The response of a few other participants was precisely the thing that gives the Linux community a reputation for nastiness - things like "I can type faster than I can click and if you knew what you were doing, you'd find it easier, too, noob!" (not a direct quote)

Some of the forum experts (a small but loud minority) were, in short, openly contemptuous of the unsophisticated new users and were utterly unwilling to listen to any feedback, recommendation or objection. Sound familiar? The holier-than-thou attitude, arrogance, closed ranks, inscrutable influence hierarchy and hostility to outsiders who dare to question them - it is exactly what we've been living through for years from our expert class - except that the forum experts usually know what they're doing. Our expert class doesn't even have that going for it.

When normal people have to interact with our expert class - usually not by choice, but because circumstances demand it - they find themselves confronted with rude, arrogant, contemptuous attitudes that make it clear that the experts hold them in very low regard. Any suggestion or objection from an outsider is rejected without consideration because an outsider could not possibly know anything. The outsider has no value and needs to just comply. They're not experts, so their role is to obey and face humiliation and aggression if they don't.

This is not what breeds trust or confidence. Even if the experts were actually right - which they rarely have been in recent memory, considering their always incorrect assessments of climate change, the economy, COVID, etc. - it does them no good at all. Being right is not enough if people believe - rightly - that you look down on and dismiss them. Being correct does you little good if you're so abrasive and contemptuous that nobody cares to listen to you, but if you have that attitude while also being wrong, it makes people actually actively hate you.

The public experts need to actually be right on occasion, but that's not enough. Their cloistered and insulated mutual admiration society - not to mention their appalling corruption - reinforces the bad and destroys the good. Their ivory towers need to be destroyed. They need to live in the world.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 11:06 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Top 3

Posted by: Florida Peasant at August 24, 2022 11:06 AM (dr4Q1)

2 Feist!

Posted by: Lizzy at August 24, 2022 11:07 AM (I/doM)

3 The public experts need to actually be right on occasion, but that's not enough. Their cloistered and insulated mutual admiration society - not to mention their appalling corruption - reinforces the bad and destroys the good. Their ivory towers need to be destroyed. They need to live in the world.

=========

Rule by experts is awesome!

Now everyone can be an expert! Especially midwits!

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (LvTSG)

4 Sound familiar? The holier-than-thou attitude, arrogance, closed ranks, inscrutable influence hierarchy and hostility to outsiders who dare to question them - it is exactly what we've been living through for years from our expert class - except that the forum experts usually know what they're doing.

This is about us, isn't it?

Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (DRSnL)

5 Hola

Posted by: Thanatopsis at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (Kqk59)

6 Top 10?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 24, 2022 11:09 AM (J2vNu)

7 Good morning.

Posted by: Tonypete at August 24, 2022 11:09 AM (LsEU/)

8 Rule by experts is awesome!

Now everyone can be an expert! Especially midwits!
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (LvTSG)
++++
When I was a kid, someone once told me the requirements to be an "expert:"
1. Carry a briefcase
2. Work at least 50 miles from home

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:09 AM (WWh8n)

9 Diversity os our strength(tm) -- except among the "expert" class.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 24, 2022 11:09 AM (I/doM)

10 8 When I was a kid, someone once told me the requirements to be an "expert:"
1. Carry a briefcase
2. Work at least 50 miles from home
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:09 AM (WWh8n)

===========

Now all you need is a Twitter handle.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (LvTSG)

11 One new user hitting the same problem I did commented that he found it to be incomprehensible and that anyone coming from a traditional desktop system would be baffled. Why was it so hard?

I would suggest that the negative responses came from "Linux midwits".

Because a real expert could say WHY it's hard, rather than attacking the newbie for asking the question.

Or could say, "gee, you're right, that is overly complex. I'm going to think about ways to make it better."

Because that's what you do when you're actually good at what you're doing

Posted by: Greg the Class Traitor at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (zgZhw)

12 My opinion matters more than your opinion.

Oh, and my 12 sentence dissertation on why that's so makes me the smartest commenter on the blog.

* things you see on the interwebs *

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (BFigT)

13 Our founders never intended for the FED to be this big and overweening. Remember, when you sally forth to slay a dragon, make sure you don't become the dragon you sought to slay.

Posted by: Puddinhead at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (ppL7t)

14 This is about us, isn't it?
Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (DRSnL)
++++
Heh. No. We're a rough-and-tumble bunch usually only get really nasty to trolls. New users are usually welcomed from what I've seen and we tend to actually ~~argue~~ debate with each other. It was certainly the case with me.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (WWh8n)

15 "off to the forums I went for assistance. I found what I needed and got the problem solved."

We underestimate how miraculous this is.

"Some of the forum experts (a small but loud minority) were, in short, openly contemptuous of the unsophisticated new users"

RTFM. That's what we always said in 1970. Then came Nick Burns, Your Company Computer Guy.

But most importantly, Linux Rules! Thank you, thank you for Linux, open-sourcers!!

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (qpX6U)

16

and Wikipedia for "solid" research.

Posted by: Lizzy at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (I/doM)

17 12 My opinion matters more than your opinion.

Oh, and my 12 sentence dissertation on why that's so makes me the smartest commenter on the blog.

* things you see on the interwebs *
Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (BFigT)

==========

You dissertation only has 3 citations, and they're all from you, though.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (LvTSG)

18 The Expert Class.

Without us they would be shitting in a hat and throwing out a broken window.

Posted by: garrett at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (LUyXH)

19 Is this about Mayor Pete? Dr. Fauci?

Posted by: Dr. Bone at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (KD5bY)

20 Because a real expert could say WHY it's hard, rather than attacking the newbie for asking the question.

Or could say, "gee, you're right, that is overly complex. I'm going to think about ways to make it better."

Because that's what you do when you're actually good at what you're doing
Posted by: Greg the Class Traitor at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (zgZhw)
++++
Yup, and the good guys in that space do exactly that. They want *more* users, not fewer. But then there's no dark mysteries of wizardry that set you apart...

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (WWh8n)

21
I think the forum nastiness is just a function of online forums. The nastiest replies usually come from the users who have gained just a little experience and want to assert their superiority over the 'noobs.' Ego thing.

Actually have experienced that a time or two here. Now I'll stand by and wait for the F.U.s. . . .

Posted by: Sphynx at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (P6qMv)

22 Their ivory towers need to be destroyed. They need to live in the world.

One reason I admire Bret Weinstein and his wife is that after their red-pilling they are doing their part in exposing the corrupt "expert" class.

Posted by: kallisto at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (dCxaZ)

23 The Expert Class.

Without us they would be shitting in a hat and throwing out a broken window.
Posted by: garrett at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (LUyXH)
++++
Where'd they get the hat and the window?

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (WWh8n)

24 The public experts need to actually be right on occasion, but that's not enough.

Not from their perspective. They've trained the American people to be tribal. A significant portion of the public would vote Democrat if the candidate promised to have them beaten with a stick daily.

These "experts" believe that, whatever happens, they will be just fine. Everything after that is gravy.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic, Ashli Babbitt/Rosanne Boyland at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (GYIa4)

25 So the exact opposite of the Sunday Gun Threads here?

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (yikp0)

26 Eh. Computer LEETs have been a thing for as long as I've been alive and I'm not young anymore.

But for that matter, any subject matter expert looks down on non-specialists.

I'm sure plumbers roll their eyes at home-owners trying to roll their own. And electricians can be as vocal as a pissed off drill instructor seeing home wiring setups. I'm talking the electrician equivalent of knife hands everywhere.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (V6f9+)

27 slashdot neck-beards are special kind of asshole.

Posted by: Halfhand at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (R7SNh)

28 These "experts" believe that, whatever happens, they will be just fine. Everything after that is gravy.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic, Ashli Babbitt/Rosanne Boyland at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (GYIa4)
++++
And they're right about that, to a point. That continues right up until it very suddenly doesn't.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (WWh8n)

29 The experts on climate are worst of all. The temperature of the earth has been cycling for millions of years. But now they are going to designate a setpoint. And we are gonna spend a limitless amount of money trying to maintain it there.

Posted by: Florida Peasant at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (dr4Q1)

30 Because a real expert could say WHY it's hard, rather than attacking the newbie for asking the question.

Which is why we appreciate Kris.

Posted by: t-bird at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (Jg92y)

31 re: 22

Jordan Peterson too

Posted by: kallisto at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (dCxaZ)

32 People are assholes: thing the Greeks told us and still holds true.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (LvTSG)

33 Humility is something that has to be learned. It can also be beaten into you, but that has fallen out of fashion for a couple generations now.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (V6f9+)

34 That attitude is what keeps me from even attempting to learn Linux. Somehow it's just "better" than Windows. Sure, it probably is in some way. But I don't want or need to spend hours upon hours tweaking the ins and outs of my operating system just to get a few milliseconds of improved performance. Nor do I want to spend that time installing a bunch of drivers and such that will basically do what I need.

I use my computer for browsing the web, running a few apps (like Office 365) for work, watching YouTube, surfing AoSHQ, and sometimes even playing games. That's plenty for my needs.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (YIVH2)

35 33 Humility is something that has to be learned. It can also be beaten into you, but that has fallen out of fashion for a couple generations now.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (V6f9+)

=========

Think you're really righteous? Think you're pure in heart?
Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (LvTSG)

36 You dissertation only has 3 citations, and they're all from you, though.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (LvTSG)

One of my good friends in college failed a term paper for citing himself in his footnotes. He also cited 'common knowledge' as a source. It was hilarious. He didn't think so, though.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (V6f9+)

37 >>Is this about Mayor Pete?

He's the Consultant class. MccKinsey.

And isn't that how he seems to be running the DoT?
He's not big on execution or managing, he's just there to assess what's "wrong" and then come up with a fancypants presentation on how others are to "fix" it,

Posted by: Lizzy at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (I/doM)

38 Their ivory towers need to be destroyed. They need to live in the world.

Close it up

Under would be better.

Posted by: Buddy at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (MFphb)

39 Think you're really righteous? Think you're pure in heart?
Well, I know I'm a million times as humble as thou art
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (LvTSG)

Are you quoting 'Rage Against the Machine' again?

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (V6f9+)

40 But for that matter, any subject matter expert looks down on non-specialists.

I'm sure plumbers roll their eyes at home-owners trying to roll their own. And electricians can be as vocal as a pissed off drill instructor seeing home wiring setups. I'm talking the electrician equivalent of knife hands everywhere.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (V6f9+)
++++
Sure. The difference between a good electrician or plumber or whatever is that, when they get done with the invective (voiced or not), they get to work and fix it. They also keep learning and adjust as they learn or are taught better ways. They also recognize good work when it came before they got there.

None of this applies to public experts.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (WWh8n)

41 >>People are assholes: thing the Greeks told us and still holds true.

A guy could do worse than attend a Greek Kindergarten.

Posted by: garrett at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (LUyXH)

42 36 One of my good friends in college failed a term paper for citing himself in his footnotes. He also cited 'common knowledge' as a source. It was hilarious. He didn't think so, though.
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (V6f9+)

==========

Heh.

My only real experience with dissertations is my dad's. It's apparently still cited.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (LvTSG)

43 This is why I quit playing online games. Everybody was an expert and an asshole, but mostly they cheated.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (KD5bY)

44 "I think the forum nastiness is just a function of online forums."

I'll gladly endure any online abuse, if it gets my problem solved quickly. This age of instant, correct answers to any tech question is heavenly and greatly underappreciated.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (qpX6U)

45 you are going to have bad actors. We evolved into a technocracy, but don't really have any checks and balances on the techocrats. The IT dept rules the world.

Bit of an exaggeration. But the concept that the media pushes the system is so complex it can't be run as a democracy it needs to be run by expert committees, works because it is somewhat true. However, it is true that while not all people can access the reasons, explanations, many non experts can. So we need to have better ways to force them to explain. Transparency is a popular buzzword, but it should be required.

Twitter should have to publish its findings on it bot issues. Should disclose its level of spam penetration, and security issues. If they can't or won't do that it should not be a publicly traded company at minimum. Either way, it should also be regulated as it is subject to fraudulent use, manipulation and cyber crime. It is a threat to the public. See also Tik Toc.

Posted by: human nature being what it is at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (kGwZm)

46 Now everyone can be an expert! Especially midwits!
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (LvTSG

So you're say I still have a chance?

Posted by: Buddy at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (MFphb)

47 30 Because a real expert could say WHY it's hard, rather than attacking the newbie for asking the question.

Which is why we appreciate Kris.
Posted by: t-bird at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (Jg92y)

+1 Kris is Quality

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (V6f9+)

48 I use my computer for browsing the web, running a few apps (like Office 365) for work, watching YouTube, surfing AoSHQ, and sometimes even playing games. That's plenty for my needs.

That's what Linux proponents fail to grasp. Computers are appliances now and people wish to use them as such.

Posted by: Halfhand at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (R7SNh)

49 Windows 10 just automatically downloaded an update on my comp. They screwed everything up. I will have to re-learn Windows 10.

Posted by: vic /S at August 24, 2022 11:17 AM (mZwKe)

50 Government: Mayor Pete

People: Leeroy Jenkins

Posted by: MJ at August 24, 2022 11:17 AM (zwDuR)

51 An expert is someone who knows more and more about less and less until they know absolutely everything about nothing.

Posted by: stu-mick-o-sucks at August 24, 2022 11:18 AM (w9Wax)

52 That's what Linux proponents fail to grasp. Computers are appliances now and people wish to use them as such.
Posted by: Halfhand at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (R7SNh)

Linux users hate appliances

For them, computers are a tool by which they impose their will on chaos and create order.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:18 AM (V6f9+)

53 https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-06-24

Posted by: Oddbob at August 24, 2022 11:18 AM (nfrXX)

54 Commenting present

Posted by: Skip's phone at August 24, 2022 11:18 AM (f4iLQ)

55 Mac can be so easy it is hard.

Just plug it in and it works!

It doesn't work.

Well, plug it in again!

Still doesn't work. Is there a way to manually initiate?

You must be doing it wrong. Plug it in again.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at August 24, 2022 11:18 AM (R8uWY)

56 And they're right about that, to a point. That continues right up until it very suddenly doesn't.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (WWh8n)

Well, if they had sufficient foresight to recognize that then they wouldn't be in the class of "experts" some cop named Joe mentioned in the rant.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic, Ashli Babbitt/Rosanne Boyland at August 24, 2022 11:19 AM (GYIa4)

57 Linux users hate appliances For them, computers are a tool by which they impose their will on chaos and create order.

I tend to do the opposite.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com - Email for morons. at August 24, 2022 11:19 AM (Bd6X8)

58 Go to any of the "scientific" forums and you'll see some real nastiness. I periodically hit a couple weather forecast sites that have to do with personal weather stations (I have one) and holy shit are some of the commenters off the hook.

You ask a question or point out a discrepancy and it's off to the races. And it goes on and on and on...

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 24, 2022 11:19 AM (BFigT)

59 One of the funnier skits on SNL . The IT guy.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:19 AM (zB5jo)

60 However, it is true that while not all people can access the reasons, explanations, many non experts can. So we need to have better ways to force them to explain. Transparency is a popular buzzword, but it should be required.

Twitter should have to publish its findings on it bot issues. Should disclose its level of spam penetration, and security issues. If they can't or won't do that it should not be a publicly traded company at minimum. Either way, it should also be regulated as it is subject to fraudulent use, manipulation and cyber crime. It is a threat to the public. See also Tik Toc.
Posted by: human nature being what it is at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (kGwZm)
++++
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. And the premise that it's too hard for representative, open systems and thus we need a technocracy is contradictory on its face. If something is that complicated, centralized control is much more dangerous than the pseudo-chaos of an open system because it concentrates highly-complex risks into one group and mistakes are extremely dangerous. Technocracy is one of the worse choices for a complex environment.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (WWh8n)

61 Read The Political Manual!

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (63Dwl)

62 I think the forum nastiness is just a function of online forums. The nastiest replies usually come from the users who have gained just a little experience and want to assert their superiority over the 'noobs.' Ego thing.

Actually have experienced that a time or two here. Now I'll stand by and wait for the F.U.s. . . .
Posted by: Sphynx at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (P6qM

It was extremely amusing to me watching my 9 year old grandson play Roblox on the computer, and tell me how much better he was now than all the stupid Noobs who were like first graders.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (trdmm)

63 best thing about the internets is that schlubs will say things to you that they would never say to your face

a lil bonus in life

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (us2H3)

64 Humility is something that has to be learned. It can also be beaten into you, but that has fallen out of fashion for a couple generations now.

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:14 AM (V6f9+)

--------

True, and there seems to be a dearth of empathy these days -- although not sure if that is nature, nurture, or both ... but which I'm glad I've always possessed.

Posted by: ShainS -- VDH-Endorsed-by-Proxy Connoisseur of Cruelty at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (t7I2G)

65 As LOT of experts have shitty interpersonal skills, and don't or can't empathize with noobs that have issues.

I worked as an engineer that had to design operator interfaces, so it was important for me to understand how the process worked, and what the person on the line experienced. This involved dealing with people with less technical expertise. Pissing them off would be incredibly stupid, because I needed information from them to make both our jobs and lives easier.

On another note, some of the most useless gibberish I have ever read comes from Microsoft's 'help'. The previous Art Thread painting is more comprehensible to me.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (ufFY8)

66 People are assholes: thing the Greeks told us and still holds true.

A guy could do worse than attend a Greek Kindergarten.
Posted by: garrett at August 24, 2022

***
When the fox gnaws -- smile!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (J2vNu)

67 Actually have experienced that a time or two here. Now I'll stand by and wait for the F.U.s. . . .

Posted by: Sphynx at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (P6qMv)

I've seen it too.

Posted by: Sticky Wicket at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (CCf67)

68 I personally dislike having non-readable config files. Give me an .ini over a non-humanreadable database any day.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (yQpMk)

69 I hope I'm remembering this correctly:
remember when Fauci c March 2020 told us that, no matter how many times you'd had a corona virus infection in the past, you would not have any immunity to this version? I wonder if anyone asked him to justify that claim.

(answer: he's the World's Leading Authority!)

Posted by: mallfly the Peach of Hoboken at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (Ynyl9)

70 The difference between a good electrician or plumber or whatever is that, when they get done with the invective (voiced or not), they get to work and fix it. They also keep learning and adjust as they learn or are taught better ways. They also recognize good work when it came before they got there.

None of this applies to public experts.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (WWh8n)

Agreed. That's the difference between a skilled trade and politics, finance, economics. Those aren't concrete skills. You really CAN'T be an expert on any of those (maybe finance. Maybe) as there's too much ambiguity or friction or human perversity (in every sense of the word).

Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (V6f9+)

71 So Lucy Van Pelt’s little brother is a software entrepreneur? Guess it makes sense, he always did give off kind of an Asperger’s vibe.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (0cjkI)

72 That attitude is what keeps me from even attempting to learn Linux. Somehow it's just "better" than Windows. Sure, it probably is in some way. But I don't want or need to spend hours upon hours tweaking the ins and outs of my operating system just to get a few milliseconds of improved performance. Nor do I want to spend that time installing a bunch of drivers and such that will basically do what I need.

I use my computer for browsing the web, running a few apps (like Office 365) for work, watching YouTube, surfing AoSHQ, and sometimes even playing games. That's plenty for my needs.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel

I can pretty much do all my non-work computing needs on my iPhone.

Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (CbzHy)

73
No. Not that "They need to live in the world. "

They need to be ignored.

Point is that no dose of reality can change an expert opinion.

Posted by: Oh look! Squirrel. ThumpThump at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (64PZ4)

74 53 https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-06-24
Posted by: Oddbob at August 24, 2022 11:18 AM (nfrXX)

Scott Adams was really funny 30 years ago.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 24, 2022 11:22 AM (trdmm)

75 Self righteous pricks have always been with us. Emotionally they are still in middle school, where they have to run down everyone else, unless that person is higher in their pecking order. Some people just have a personality where they like to bully others. It ain't just in computers.

Posted by: George V at August 24, 2022 11:22 AM (ugbqN)

76 Looking at their destruction of country, and extraction of trillions into private oligarch hands ... they must genuinely have expertise. But they are experts at grand theft and propaganda, not at "climate change" or "pandemic response".

They've (nearly?) overthrown this country without a shot being fired (except for at Ashli types). They have turned the Traditional American into the "greatest domestic terror threat" ... in the minds of much of the population, but more importantly, in the courts and the police response.

People are waking up a little, and there is a ground swell, but we need an earthquake.

Posted by: illiniwek at August 24, 2022 11:22 AM (Cus5s)

77 I built a few Linux systems in my day, but they were a novelty. I was never that much of a code monkey, but I learned a lot about networking and fudged around with them until I broke them on the internet.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at August 24, 2022 11:22 AM (KD5bY)

78 71 So Lucy Van Pelt’s little brother is a software entrepreneur? Guess it makes sense, he always did give off kind of an Asperger’s vibe.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 24, 2022 11:21 AM (0cjkI)

yeah but now he's transgender, hence the "X".

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 24, 2022 11:22 AM (trdmm)

79 Why do I love Linux? It's free, it's easier to develop for, it's slightly less a target for cyberattacks than Windows is, it's just as easy to use as any other damn OS is, it runs some apps I can't get on Win, it runs on old hardware that Win 10 can't, it runs on non-desktop platforms like Raspberry Pi which I use. That's just off the top of my head.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:23 AM (qpX6U)

80 This is why I quit playing online games. Everybody was an expert and an asshole, but mostly they cheated.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (KD5bY)

I sometimes play World of Warships. I've found that my enjoyment increased several magnitudes once I turned my account private.

Once other players could not look up my stats, I was not targeted by the entire enemy team at the start of the game and, while people could still be assholes, it was usually over something I actually did in that match rather than just not being "good enough" to suit their fancy.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic, Ashli Babbitt/Rosanne Boyland at August 24, 2022 11:23 AM (GYIa4)

81 It won't happen. Look at malevolent gnome Fauci. He's blatantly lying about what he said and did IN RECENT MEMORY and not being called out on it.

I could almost, ALMOST accept the contempt from the "experts" if they had an established track record of accuracy, but they don't. They're arrogant AND demonstrably wrong.

I don't just ignore them, I DESPISE them. I hope for bad things to happen to them. You can be arrogant or you can be wrong, but not (IMHO) both.

Posted by: acethepug at August 24, 2022 11:24 AM (pgqW6)

82 Surely you don't expect me to impart my wisdom to you and elevate you to my level, do you noob?

Posted by: Darth Randall at August 24, 2022 11:24 AM (ozF3W)

83 On another note, some of the most useless gibberish I have ever read comes from Microsoft's 'help'. The previous Art Thread painting is more comprehensible to me.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 24, 2022

At one tech company where I worked, I was writing requirements for the actual programmers to use, describing how the buttons and check boxes on the forms worked. Then a new supervisor transferred me to writing help files for the application. I found that the core of the requirements docs worked well as a basis for the help text. But I had to translate from "programmer-ese" to user language. It was kind of fun.

Then I got laid off.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius at August 24, 2022 11:24 AM (J2vNu)

84 You can make a lot of money fixing peoples homes after some genius decided to just do it himself, how hard could it be if those idiots can do it they ask themselves. you charge way more for fixing crap like that, than if you just did it from the start of course.

Posted by: Tinfoilbaby at August 24, 2022 11:24 AM (BOmIL)

85 The people I admire most are the experts who can speak to anyone across the spectrum with the same respect -- from noob to fellow expert.

My sister is like this. Brilliant, thoughtful, wise person, with that enviable ability to engage with anyone at any time about many subjects and instantly find that level of conversation that engages both speakers at a level that's satisfying -- even though she is far better versed in the matter at hand.

Likewise, my aunt. Taught fine arts at a university for decades, world traveler, well read and hobnobbed with the elite, but she's not the least bit elitist. She's genuinely curious about everyone and wants to see everyone raised up because it will benefit *them*.

But far too many experts are, as you say, enamored of their own expertise that it becomes their distinction, so knowledge becomes a game of King of the Hill -- and there can only be one King. All others are to be crushed. That mentality really seems to derive from deeply insecure people who see betterment as a zero-sum game. Pity.

Posted by: red speck at August 24, 2022 11:25 AM (gS3OW)

86 "Linux users hate appliances For them, computers are a tool by which they impose their will on chaos and create order."

I think that's meant to be a joke, but if not, then it's nonsense.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:25 AM (qpX6U)

87 76 Looking at their destruction of country, and extraction of trillions into private oligarch hands ... they must genuinely have expertise. But they are experts at grand theft and propaganda, not at "climate change" or "pandemic response".

it's the ancient and honestly, satanic lie - but destruction is always much, much easier than creation. As the Pitch Guy says, barely an inconvenience.

Posted by: Tom Servo at August 24, 2022 11:25 AM (trdmm)

88 Posted by: Tom Servo at August 24, 2022 11:20 AM (tr

There was a good scene in The Internship where Vince Vaughn has an internship at Google and trying to learn troubleshooting. He comes upon a long time employee who tries to help him. Vaughn says to him this must be like teaching a kid the alphabet. The employee says 'no it's more like teaching the letter A. '

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:25 AM (zB5jo)

89 The Linux forum experience is unfortunately the norm. I'm not sure if a sizable percentage of experienced "experts" were always smug pricks, and only now is it more noticeable in social media, or if social media has increased their ranks. But either way in almost any field you'll find an awful lot of sneering pricks. I instruct race driving and that's a sport notorious for sneerers. You will probably not be surprised that the biggest sneerers are also the ones most insecure about their skills.

Posted by: Elric Blade at August 24, 2022 11:25 AM (iFTx/)

90 >>Agreed. That's the difference between a skilled trade and politics, finance, economics. Those aren't concrete skills. You really CAN'T be an expert on any of those (maybe finance. Maybe) as there's too much ambiguity or friction or human perversity (in every sense of the word).

I think people can be experts in economics. Milton Friedman certainly was. The problem is that unlike fixing a plumbing leak or a wiring problem an economist rarely has control over the issue, they are just predicting outcomes of complex systems.

And unlike a skilled tradesman there seems to be little price to be paid for being wrong as an economist. That would be Krugman.

Posted by: JackStraw at August 24, 2022 11:25 AM (ZLI7S)

91 Honestly, most of what goes on inside of a computer is magic to me. Or witchcraft. Although sometimes my computer’s witchcraft is more like Aunt Clara’s than Samantha’s.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 24, 2022 11:27 AM (0cjkI)

92 If you can't explain it in simple language, you don't understand it.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 24, 2022 11:27 AM (/NCI4)

93 I could almost, ALMOST accept the contempt from the "experts" if they had an established track record of accuracy, but they don't.

Their job, as I see it, is to separate you from your money, freedom, family, or dignity.

When they tell me something, I KNOW it's a lie or deception. It's an important data point and wipes out a bunch of possibilities as you search for the truth.

Posted by: t-bird at August 24, 2022 11:27 AM (Jg92y)

94 80 This is why I quit playing online games. Everybody was an expert and an asshole, but mostly they cheated.
Posted by: Dr. Bone at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (KD5bY)

I was playng Ultimate Golf for a little bit but when I got the the top division , everyone was using an overlay, which basically played the game for them.

I could beat the top tournament players when we played head to head cuz there's a short time limit and they couldn't get their overlay in place in the short time

but there's no time limit in tournaments, so they just cheat their way thru

and when I complained, I was told "shut up, you fucking crybaby" by the management. Kinda like the AOS

so I quit playing

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:28 AM (us2H3)

95 So the exact opposite of the Sunday Gun Threads here?
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (yikp0)

“It’s a MAGAZINE, not a CLIP, noobie!”

j/k. M-1 Garand exception, too.

Posted by: RI Red at August 24, 2022 11:28 AM (ZVQcg)

96 That mentality really seems to derive from deeply insecure people who see betterment as a zero-sum game. Pity.

You just profiled the AWFLs.

All their posturing and signalling stems from a deep sense of insecurity. That's why they're always so quick to adopt The Current Thing.

Posted by: kallisto at August 24, 2022 11:29 AM (dCxaZ)

97 "I'm not sure if a sizable percentage of experienced "experts" were always smug pricks"

My mild defense of smug pricks: There really is such a thing as a "stupid question." There really is such a thing as a bad customer, especially when you're working for him for free.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:29 AM (qpX6U)

98 computer’s witchcraft is more like Aunt Clara’s than Samantha’s.

A grown up Sabrina would be much better, gives Samantha a run for her money.

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at August 24, 2022 11:29 AM (ufFY8)

99 I'm reminded of an old instructor i used to teach with. he always described himself as experienced but learning still.

he broke down "expert" in the phonetical:

ex - former
spurt - sudden forcible gush

meaning an ex-spurt is simply a former gush of...

Posted by: SturmToddler (WhsXQ) at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (KdUK5)

100 On another note, some of the most useless gibberish I have ever read comes from Microsoft's 'help'.
-----------
Screw you, noob!

Posted by: Clippy at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (yikp0)

101 This is about us, isn't it?
Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:08 AM (DRSnL)
++++
Heh. No. We're a rough-and-tumble bunch usually only get really nasty to trolls. New users are usually welcomed from what I've seen and we tend to actually argue debate with each other. It was certainly the case with me.
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!)

Come to a MoMe. I think there is something about the remoteness and relative anonymity of forums where so much communication is lost because of poor phrasing/vocabulary, lack of visible communication and tone of voice. We size up people according to how they dress and handle themselves and it influences how we adjust our interaction.

A forum doesn't have any of this metadata that is so important when introducing people to new concepts and methods.

I'm guessing that some of this makes remote learning during Lockdown so horrible and why managers generally are not keen on remote workers.

Posted by: Reuben Hick at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (3hSHB)

102 Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:28 AM (us2H3)

What's an overlay ?

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (zB5jo)

103 This was one of Trump's greatest assets. Consider how he turned a hawkish voting demographic (the one that elected W twice) and turned it into one that is now almost unanimously opposed to bullshit "foreign intervention."

If you're in the right but can't convince people to follow and/or support your vision, you're just a shepherd without a flock, which makes you...not a shepherd.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (KbCG3)

104 But I don't want or need to spend hours upon hours tweaking the ins and outs of my operating system just to get a few milliseconds of improved performance.

You don't need to. The defaults are great on any recent distribution. If you *want* to chase the extra performance you can, but perf is great by default.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (ZGrMX)

105 hiya

Posted by: JT at August 24, 2022 11:31 AM (T4tVD)

106 If you can't explain it in simple language, you don't understand it.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 24, 2022 11:27 AM (/NCI4)
---
Where I work, we have a quote from Albert Einstein embedded in stone pavement that says basically the same thing.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 24, 2022 11:31 AM (YIVH2)

107 So the exact opposite of the Sunday Gun Threads here?
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 11:13 AM (yikp0)

“It’s a MAGAZINE, not a CLIP, noobie!”

j/k. M-1 Garand exception, too.
Posted by: RI Red

Pansy assed 9mm fans.

j/k.

Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:31 AM (CbzHy)

108 Azkadellia wasn't too bad either.

Https://images.app.goo.gl/6LPMeAwq9tV3Kmwh8

Posted by: anchorbabe fashion cop at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (ufFY8)

109 This involved dealing with people with less technical expertise. Pissing them off would be incredibly stupid

Most engineers have never worked in a coffee shop. They describe other people as workers in coffee shops. This does not get really special until you figure out why they're so pissed about coffee shops: they don't know how to make their own coffee.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (x61Im)

110 103 This was one of Trump's greatest assets. Consider how he turned a hawkish voting demographic (the one that elected W twice) and turned it into one that is now almost unanimously opposed to bullshit "foreign intervention."

If you're in the right but can't convince people to follow and/or support your vision, you're just a shepherd without a flock, which makes you...not a shepherd.
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (KbCG3)

=========

I think it's more like, the conservative base, which had defended W through everything and gotten nothing but contempt from the GOPe in return, was already ambivalent about the use of American power to spread democracy abroad by 2016, especially after 8 years of partisan criticism of Obama for pushing it even more poorly than W had in places like Libya.

Trump essentially was a release valve for the base to vent their frustration and anger with both the failures of the uniparty's adventurism but also the GOPe's disdain for the base's previous support.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (LvTSG)

111 I cut my Unix teeth installing SCO Unix, way back when. I was doing web design at the time and used Front Page for the simple stuff. I discovered binaries existed for SCO Unix which would install the Front Page server extensions on my home server, which I proceeded to do. I learned a lot in the process of setting things up. There were no boards available for what I was trying to do, I might add. Probably because no one else was crazy enough to try.

Posted by: Ricky Nelson at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (5pTK/)

112 100 On another note, some of the most useless gibberish I have ever read comes from Microsoft's 'help'.
-----------
Screw you, noob!
Posted by: Clippy at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (yikp0)

Worse than a Kamala speech?

Posted by: Xipe Totec at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (QSjkU)

113 What's an overlay ?
Posted by: polynikes

$20. Same as in town.

Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (CbzHy)

114 11...

Because that's what you do when you're actually good at what you're doing
Posted by: Greg the Class Traitor at August 24, 2022 11:10 AM (zgZhw)
--------------------------------
When researching an issue, some of the best responses I come across are along these lines:

1) Here's why you're having this problem
2) Here is the list of convoluted and obscure steps you need to follow to resolve it
3) Here's a batch file that does all those steps for you.

These are people (like me) who love solving the problem, and love sharing the solution.

Posted by: No One of Consequence at August 24, 2022 11:33 AM (RFKzk)

115 This was one of Trump's greatest assets. Consider how he turned a hawkish voting demographic (the one that elected W twice) and turned it into one that is now almost unanimously opposed to bullshit "foreign intervention." -------

I think the foreign intervention made people opposed to foreign intervention. Only IMHO of course.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:33 AM (zB5jo)

116
I belonged to a Perl newsgroup back in the day and the abuse heaped upon newbie heads was unending. But it was done with 'love.' Like how a girl's boyfriend smacks the daylights out of her because he 'loves her.'

Posted by: Sphynx at August 24, 2022 11:33 AM (P6qMv)

117 What's an overlay ?
Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (zB5jo)

it's another program that overlays the game and figures the wind and distance and other varibles

the management knows people are doing it but don't care

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (us2H3)

118 I'm reminded of an old instructor i used to teach with. he always described himself as experienced but learning still.
he broke down "expert" in the phonetical:
ex - former
spurt - sudden forcible gush
meaning an ex-spurt is simply a former gush of...

I once saw "expert" described as:

X - unknown

spurt - drip under pressure

expert - unknown drip under pressure

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com - Email for morons. at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (Bd6X8)

119 This has nothing to do with anything but it's cute:

https://tinyurl.com/2dnxmd8h

Posted by: kallisto at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (dCxaZ)

120 /crud, off free basing drug addiction sock

Posted by: Blake - semi lurker at large at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (5pTK/)

121 In my own job, I get to translate a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo I don't really understand myself to a level that is comprehensible to your average engineering faculty member.

It's surprising how often a computer scientist professor needs help using modern technology.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (YIVH2)

122 "But I don't want or need to spend hours upon hours tweaking the ins and outs of my operating system just to get a few milliseconds of improved performance."

Among the reasons to use Linux (see my 79,) seeking 'improved performance' is not in the list. I don't detect any difference in performance between Linux and Win for ordinary tasks. Hardware considerations are 1000X more important for that, than choice of OS is.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (qpX6U)

123 On another note, some of the most useless gibberish I have ever read comes from Microsoft's 'help'.

"Dees ez Ralph. I am so happy I am standing here beside myself. How can I help you today?"

Yeah. Ralph. From Bangalore.

Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (CbzHy)

124 I always picture Linux people as the comic book guy from The Simpsons.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:35 AM (3vQN0)

125 $20. Same as in town.
Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (CbzHy)

not in Thailand

out of town, it's an ear

in town, an arm and a leg

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:35 AM (us2H3)

126 On another note, some of the most useless gibberish I have ever read comes from Microsoft's 'help'.
-----------
Worse than a Kamala speech?

He said "some of the most useless". Kamala is the Platonic Ideal.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 24, 2022 11:35 AM (/NCI4)

127 “It’s a MAGAZINE, not a CLIP, noobie!”
j/k. M-1 Garand exception, too.
Posted by: RI Red

Pansy assed 9mm fans.
j/k.
Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace
--------------
No, that's Insty's gun threads.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 11:36 AM (yikp0)

128 /crud, off free basing drug addiction sock
Posted by: Blake - semi lurker at large at August 24, 2022 11:34 AM (5pTK/)

Those socks can get sticky. How are you doing today? Recovering well?

Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:36 AM (DRSnL)

129 The experts tell me that today is National Waffle Day, but I'm still on the fence about actually celebrating.

Posted by: Morning Mika at August 24, 2022 11:36 AM (PIlQh)

130 I know some of you have had experiences with inept engineers. So have I. But my definition of an engineer is someone who builds shit and solves problems. If you can't do these things you aren't an engineer, you hold a position rather than a job.
I design stuff. I build stuff, and I sure as hell can make my own damn coffee.

Posted by: Xipe Totec at August 24, 2022 11:36 AM (QSjkU)

131 Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (LvTSG)

People have short memories. I will continue to believe Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary and a mission success. It was thrown away by the Left just like they have alway done. They go against American interests intentionally or not.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:36 AM (zB5jo)

132 Tech Customer support is generally useless no matter the company. Support is staffed by entry level, inexperienced people. It’s like asking hard medial questions of someone in their first week of medical school. You can only expect so much.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:37 AM (3vQN0)

133 In my experience UNIX geeks are the worst of the lot, think knowledge is a zero-sum game and only share when forced into it.

That said, there are some nice people in the computing world, some (a few) of them being UNIX geeks.

Posted by: Naked, sitting in a sensory deprivation room, smoking crack. at August 24, 2022 11:37 AM (QY+6a)

134 What's an overlay ?
Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:30 AM (zB5jo)

it's another program that overlays the game and figures the wind and distance and other varibles

the management knows people are doing it but don't care
Posted by: REDACTED

Tiger Woods Golf from the early 2000's. No one could play a cart path like me. Extra 50 to 100 yards by bouncing the golf ball off the cart path on certain holes.

Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:37 AM (CbzHy)

135 I always picture Linux people as the comic book guy from The Simpsons.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:35 AM (3vQN0)

Our beards are longer.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:37 AM (yQpMk)

136 >>>You can make a lot of money fixing peoples homes after some genius decided to just do it himself, how hard could it be if those idiots can do it they ask themselves. you charge way more for fixing crap like that, than if you just did it from the start of course.

>I can't do that. That's why I don't do residential jobs. I can't count on both hands the number of times a homeowner will wish to install a new light and switch and then wire the neutral to one side of the switch and the hot to the other side. I just hope they don't kill themselves.

Posted by: Dr. Bone at August 24, 2022 11:37 AM (KD5bY)

137 Worse than a Kamala speech?
--------------------
It looks like you're in over your head.

Would you like some help?

Posted by: Clippy at August 24, 2022 11:37 AM (yikp0)

138 Tech Customer support is generally useless no matter the company. Support is staffed by entry level, inexperienced people. It’s like asking hard medial questions of someone in their first week of medical school. You can only expect so much.

True, but when "is it plugged in?" and "Did you try rebooting it" solves most problems, that's all you need.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 24, 2022 11:38 AM (/NCI4)

139 I could almost, ALMOST accept the contempt from the "experts" if they had an established track record of accuracy, but they don't.

Their job, as I see it, is to separate you from your money, freedom, family, or dignity.

When they tell me something, I KNOW it's a lie or deception. It's an important data point and wipes out a bunch of possibilities as you search for the truth.

Posted by: t-bird at August 24, 2022 11:27 AM (Jg92y)
===

Putting the "expert" label on someone greatly speeds up my process of figuring out what is fact and truth. The best reverse barometers ever conceived.

In my design and engineering career I made it point to prove that most experts are not.

Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable and Totally Unserious at August 24, 2022 11:38 AM (u4CEu)

140 It's surprising how often a computer scientist professor needs help using modern technology.

When I was taking CS in college in the early 90s, there was an entire course on optimizing databases for tape storage (live, not backup), which was obsolete by the late 70s.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:38 AM (ZGrMX)

141 Typically the 4chan forums (I'm generalizing, each one is different) will heap abuse until someone takes pity and helps with the reasonable question. Balance the karma.

I had a particular question about a new pistol and someone told me that I would surely accidently kill myself (there is no external safety on it).

Twitter is populated by people who argue with strangers as if they are their bitter ex. They move away from the point being made, and toward "...and this is why we should split up". Staying on topic, or defining the topic, is entirely impossible. If you got an email from someone who behaved this way, you would block them immediately.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 24, 2022 11:38 AM (44ww/)

142 This has nothing to do with anything but it's cute:

https://tinyurl.com/2dnxmd8h

That's a good representation of how it feels when you work through a difficult technical issue and everything finally works.

Posted by: Blanco Basura - moronhorde.com - Email for morons. at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (Bd6X8)

143 Those socks can get sticky. How are you doing today? Recovering well?
Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:36 AM (DRSnL)
___

So far, ice and aspirin are getting the job done. If I can avoid stronger pain meds, I'll be happy.

Shorter answer: yes and thanks for asking!

Posted by: Blake - semi lurker at large at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (5pTK/)

144 Level 1 support is always just flappers. You have to get to at least Level 2 to get an answer. I've had to actually get through to the actual developers for some questions.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (yQpMk)

145 Good news. Tik Tok has set up an election misinformation task force. I’m sure they will be very non partisan on what they ban and what they allow.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (3vQN0)

146
People are assholes: thing the Greeks told us and still holds true.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang

Wait'll they get a load of us...

Posted by: The Greek Gods at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (n+4am)

147 I could almost, ALMOST accept the contempt from the "experts" if they had an established track record of accuracy, but they don't.

That's the root of the problem. We're intended to defer to openly incompetent people.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (ZGrMX)

148 145 Good news. Tik Tok has set up an election misinformation task force. I’m sure they will be very non partisan on what they ban and what they allow.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (3vQN0)

=======

"Joe Biden did not promise that the Inflation Reduction Act would reduce inflation, according to experts."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:40 AM (LvTSG)

149 People have short memories. I will continue to believe Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary and a mission success. It was thrown away by the Left just like they have alway done. They go against American interests intentionally or not.

At least regarding Iraq, Tommy Franks disagreed. In American Soldier, as well as a few interviews after the book release, he told how the Republican Guard was to be captured intact. The plan was to use them to occupy Iraq and keep the peace while American troops go the Hell out of there.

Upon pacifying Iraq, the money previously approved to pay the Republican Guard was denied. And thus, the Republican Guard became the insurgency. All under "W". And I suspect, under Dick "Haliburton" Cheney.

Posted by: Rinse and Repeat at August 24, 2022 11:40 AM (7BReP)

150 Twitter is populated by people who argue with strangers as if they are their bitter ex.

Yeah ... hmm ... quite ...

I hate those guys.

*shiftyeyes*

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:40 AM (yQpMk)

151 Good news. Tik Tok has set up an election misinformation task force. I’m sure they will be very non partisan on what they ban and what they allow.
Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:39 AM (3vQN0)

I have great faith that this Chinese app, most noted recently for videos of people slapping each other with tortillas, will do a bang up job on politics and election information.

Posted by: Wally at August 24, 2022 11:41 AM (FJYfm)

152 I think The Internship is a really good Vaughn/Wilson buddy movie. I liked it better than Wedding Crashers.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (zB5jo)

153 The response of a few other participants was precisely the thing that gives the Linux community a reputation for nastiness.

I am continually amazed at how useful Linux has become and how much of a showcase it is for community development.

I am also continually amazed at how little day-to-day usage Linux experts must be using their computers for. It’s like they have no idea what people who aren’t running servers do on computers. Even documentation sites tend toward a format that require the reader to already know the answer in order to understand the answer.

And if there is a clear answer, it’s almost always server-related rather than client related. Trying to figure out how to AirPrint from a Raspberry Pi, for example—tons of detailed instructions about how to set up an AirPrint server on Linux. Nothing about how to actually use AirPrint with Linux as a client.

I have the same problem with Python: so much of the documentation assumes you already know the answer. Python solves enough problems that I’m willing to work through it for daily use. Linux, not so much.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (U+Oxn)

154 Member when Trump tried to ban Tik Tok for being what everyone knows it is: Chinese spyware?

I 'member...

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (LvTSG)

155 Jargon is the ultimate refuge for the insecure expert.

Posted by: Muldoon at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (kXYt5)

156 Wait'll they get a load of us...
Posted by: The Greek Gods

Capricious jerks. We tell everyone up front what to expect and they still don't believe us.

Posted by: Gods of the Copybook Headings at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (nfrXX)

157 By the way, the real problem with a lot of MS generated help stuff is that it's geared toward support people and not laymen.

Posted by: Blake - semi lurker at large at August 24, 2022 11:43 AM (5pTK/)

158 I'll say this again. In the late 1970s astrophysics all knew the greenhouse gases effect was false.

Then the grant funds rolled in.

Posted by: Regular joe at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (nnp+f)

159
The skill that most differentiated me as a software systems analyst, designer, & developer (and subsequently, post-burn out, customer technical support) was the ability to clearly document all manner of communications, from emails to design specifications to user manuals. It always takes a tremendous effort, but the resulting satisfaction (and compliments) -- when nobody has any questions about anything -- makes the sacrifice worthwhile.

I was fortunate to have had a lot of (liberal arts) writing assignments in college, and the best class I took was one on technical writing. The inability of many to write & communicate effectively & clearly these days, especially among younger folks, is distressing.

BTW, I'm blown away by the writing ability of Ace, the COBs, and the horde in general ... probably since most are very well-read and no longer 29.

Posted by: ShainS -- VDH-Endorsed-by-Proxy Connoisseur of Cruelty at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (t7I2G)

160 Jargon is the ultimate refuge for the insecure expert.
Posted by: Muldoon at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (kXYt5)

Spoken like a true cishet binary patriarchal oppressor.

Posted by: Wally at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (FJYfm)

161 The internet kinda neutralize a lot my advantages in the antique biz

and it took a lot of the mystery out of the business

I could basically get around any city in the Northeast without a map and I could go into a 4-500 lot auction, look at it for 30 minutes and could tell every thing that was in it

and I would schmooze lot of the auction girls into telling me all kinds of things, like how much had been left on something, reserves, calling me for a phone bid on something insignificant, etc

that is all gone and it became not much fun, so I quit

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (us2H3)

162 True, but when "is it plugged in?" and "Did you try rebooting it" solves most problems, that's all you need.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 24, 2022 11:38 AM (/NCI4)
++++
Yup. I don't resent having to go through Level I support. It exists for a reason and will solve - in a healthy support organization - at least 60% of all calls (85+% in some fields like mobile phone support for telcos).

What sets a good support organization apart is escalation flow. If you tap out L1's abilities, they should move it up without you having to ask. If you do have to ask, they should do it without fighting you on it. Good organizations promote incidents quickly after clearing the obvious stuff. Bad ones make you keep fighting through it with them and no hope of resolution at that level.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (WWh8n)

163 "I don't want or need to spend hours upon hours tweaking the ins and outs of my operating system"

For Linux noobs, I say use Linux Mint Cinnamon. If you are intimidated by downloading it and burning it to a USB drive yourself, you can prolly cheaply purchase a USB with it ready to install. If, like many, you have some dead or trashed or ransomwared PCs laying around, use Linux to resurrect them for free. I have about 20 computers here, a couple Win boxes, and the rest are dead boxes revived with Linux, or Linux-native SBC's like RPi.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (qpX6U)

164 I will continue to believe Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary and a mission success. It was thrown away by the Left just like they have alway done. They go against American interests intentionally or not.

There's at least an argument to be made regarding Iraq, but there was never any real success in Afghanistan to throw away. The "wins" were all bullshit DC things like "more women than men in the college" and "now there's a gay pride parade with rainbow goats".

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (ZGrMX)

165 I'll say this again. In the late 1970s astrophysics all knew the greenhouse gases effect was false.

Then the grant funds rolled in.
Posted by: Regular joe at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (nnp+f)

Carl Sagan's Earth becomes Venus bullshit.

Posted by: Napoleon XIV at August 24, 2022 11:45 AM (AiZBA)

166 160 Jargon is the ultimate refuge for the insecure expert.
Posted by: Muldoon at August 24, 2022 11:42 AM (kXYt5)

Spoken like a true cishet binary patriarchal oppressor.
Posted by: Wally at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (FJYfm)

========

"Your use of the outmoded jargon is indicative of your mishendrist finalizing mode of conceptualization."
-Tomorrow's Thing

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:45 AM (LvTSG)

167 Funny story along those lines. I used to work with a guy that now that I think about it isn't that funny of a story after all. Never mind.

Posted by: Muldoon at August 24, 2022 11:45 AM (kXYt5)

168 This does not get really special until you figure out why they're so pissed about coffee shops: they don't know how to make their own coffee.

Posted by: Way, Way Downriver at August 24, 2022 11:32 AM (x61Im)

I'm sitting in one right now, watching the extremely competent worker make excellent coffee and espresso, cleaning as she goes (vital for espresso) and being pleasant with the customers.

She is better than Fauci and his ilk, because she learns!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 11:45 AM (L3/vU)

169 The Java Script code embedded by TikTok allows the company to monitor all keystrokes -- the equivalent of a keylogger -- as well as every tap on the screen, and text inputs including passwords and credit card information.

"Installing a keylogger is obviously a huge thing... according to TikTok it's disabled at the moment," Mr Krause said.

"The problem is they do have the infrastructure and the systems in place to be able to track all these keystrokes... that on its own is a huge problem.
https://tinyurl.com/249jmzxc

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 11:45 AM (yikp0)

170 I have a Ph.D. in political science!

Don't question my expertise, peasant!

Posted by: Typical Academic Expert! at August 24, 2022 11:46 AM (I2/tG)

171 All Level 1 staff does is use an internal google search on your symptoms looking for a matching APAR. I can do that and probably already have before I called Lvl1.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:46 AM (yQpMk)

172 170 I have a Ph.D. in political science!

Don't question my expertise, peasant!
Posted by: Typical Academic Expert! at August 24, 2022 11:46 AM (I2/tG)

=========

My grandfather had a Ph.D. in political science. His dissertation was about the intricacies of federal regulation. He wrote at least three books about it.

He didn't get it by citing public polling 137 times in 14 chapters to explain why Democrats are the hero of the story of America.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:47 AM (LvTSG)

173 The Java Script code embedded by TikTok allows the company to monitor all keystrokes -- the equivalent of a keylogger -- as well as every tap on the screen, and text inputs including passwords and credit card information.

Now do Zoom.

Both Chinese programs. Both designed to capture information. Hundreds of millions of idiots sign up and use both without the slightest thought.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 11:49 AM (Ivdso)

174 All Level 1 staff does is use an internal google search on your symptoms looking for a matching APAR. I can do that and probably already have before I called Lvl1.
Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:46 AM (yQpMk)
++++
Yup, as do I. But they don't know that, and they don't know you (or me). Most people are not going to do that. Getting through the L1 funnel is an inconvenience for those who do, but since it can't be counted on, it's necessary. The good organizations recognize that and will move you up relatively quickly once they learn that you did your homework.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:49 AM (WWh8n)

175 I doubt many other places have *actual* expertise, such as AOP, Publius, Weasel, Rhomboid, Jay Guevera, Anna Puma and a good many others as abound here.

And they're pretty much all eager to help, to pass along knowledge so as to edify the reader. They often advise, in hopes that the inquirer will gain knowledge, learn skill(s) and be able to then produce a solution to whatever problem is set before them.

These are rare enough traits in the real world, and nigh unto impossible to find in such concentration on one single website. You might not realize nor quite appreciate that you're in a very special place here. But you are. Enjoy it while we last, sooner or later the ~~feds~~ Eye of Sauron will focus here, and we'll be officially labeled "HATE-ISTS", and *poof*, puff of smoke R us.

Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX

Posted by: Jim at August 24, 2022 11:49 AM (tkOps)

176 The biggest leftist dicks I read on Canadian-related twatter threads all seem to have "writer" or similar in their bios.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 11:49 AM (yikp0)

177 Posted by: ShainS -- VDH-Endorsed-by-Proxy Connoisseur of Cruelty at August 24, 2022 11:44 AM (t7I2G)

Technical writing is immensely difficult to do well, but when it is done well it is a joy.

Hell, just writing a recipe that makes sense is difficult.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (L3/vU)

178 Someone above said the climate "experts" are the worse. Now every reporter/commentator/teacher/doctor/lawyer/Indian chief...Never fails to mention that Climate Change is the cause of my tooth ache/ hemorrhoids, etc are being caused by it and the world will end in 8 years or so. (or when ever AOC says it will be)

Posted by: Colin at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (61DMD)

179 All Level 1 staff does is use an internal google search on your symptoms looking for a matching APAR. I can do that and probably already have before I called Lvl1.
Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:46 AM (yQpMk)
---
I tend to do a lot of "Let me Google that For You" in my own job...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (YIVH2)

180 Jargon is the ultimate refuge for the insecure expert.

While I agree, there is a certain level of unique language that always develops in any community or area of expertise that is inevitable.

But as CS Lewis noted: the truly intelligent man is the one who can convey complex concepts in a manner that even the simplest can understand them.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (Ivdso)

181 Did you install the latest OS?
No. It worked fine yesterday. No reason to not work today.
Uh, yeah. Upgrade to the latest version of the os and call us back if it doesn't work.

Posted by: Cat Ass Trophy at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (R8uWY)

182 "the ability to clearly document all manner of communications"

I'd spend hours typing precisely detailed lists of instructions, with every keystroke carefully underlined, and every contingency covered. But approximately half the population is functionally illiterate and innumerate, and a quarter have no attention span. Most people don't even remember account passwords they set up more than a month ago. I am so fricking glad I'm retired from the damn crunch, and I don't do PC help for friends anymore either. It's futile.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:51 AM (qpX6U)

183 Technical writing is immensely difficult to do well, but when it is done well it is a joy.

Hell, just writing a recipe that makes sense is difficult.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (L3/vU)
++++
Good tech writers are worth their weight. Sadly, they're often among the first folks fired when budget cuts come - and then things are still okay for a while so they pat themselves on the back for cutting out the "dead weight" because they coast on the good work that *used* to be done for a while.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:51 AM (WWh8n)

184 Technical writing is immensely difficult to do well, but when it is done well it is a joy.

Hell, just writing a recipe that makes sense is difficult.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 11:50 AM (L3/vU)
---
I found my niche as a technical writer a long time ago. I get many, many compliments from faculty about the directions I provide on how to solve their technical issues. And I don't even work for IT. It's a good feeling.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 24, 2022 11:51 AM (YIVH2)

185 welp here we go:

https://twitter.com/ politico/ status/ 1562462330230751232

Posted by: BlackOrchid at August 24, 2022 11:51 AM (w0NJk)

186
The response of a few other participants was precisely the thing that gives the Linux community a reputation for nastiness - things like "I can type faster than I can click and if you knew what you were doing, you'd find it easier, too, noob!" (not a direct quote)

In published papers, the equivalent sentiment is a statement that begins, "It should be obvious to the reader that ..."

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (pNxlR)

187 I use a chromebook

so I'm pretty much on the bottom of the heap

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (us2H3)

188 we tend to actually argue debate with each other. It was certainly the case with me.
Posted by: Joe Mannix
-----

No it wasn't.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (J+KYX)

189 If someone told you in 2003 that we'd be there for 20 years and have not a goddam thing to show for it, you would be against.

This has nothing in common with the absolute horses**t anti-war left-wing spergs who talked endlessly about kurans being flushed down the toilet and other stuff a sensible person would roll their eyes at.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (44ww/)

190 188 No it wasn't.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (J+KYX)

==========

I understood this reference.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (LvTSG)

191 No it wasn't.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (J+KYX)
++++
Yes it was!

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (WWh8n)

192 I recall being told (mostly in public school) to always trust the experts on everything. I never did, and it has made my life much more free and enjoyable. Experts rarely earn their rating, and often stray far from their actual wheelhouse.

Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (lTGtQ)

193 The biggest leftist dicks I read on Canadian-related twatter threads all seem to have "writer" or similar in their bios.

Publishing a book can really turn someone into an ahole because they believe that means they are superior and accomplished something amazing. Hint: its not amazing, any jackwagon can publish a book today. Just look at me, I published 3.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (Ivdso)

194 Speaking of computer experts, it's ridiculous that they won't allow Djokovic into the country for the US Open because he won't get jabbed. He's had Covid twice , both strains, and has natural immunity. Meanwhile, we think Biden has been vaxxed and boosted many times and still got the coof.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (zB5jo)

195 I have a Ph.D. in political science!

Don't question my expertise, peasant!
Posted by: Typical Academic Expert!

I Pile it higher and Deeper too!

Posted by: rickb223 Cruel ace is the best ace at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (CbzHy)

196 I worked level 1 support for Choice Hotels International, way back in the day. We were actually expected to help people. To be fair, though, CHI has their own in house proprietary software, the front end of which connected to a SQL database.

But, we weren't just technical computer support, we were also software support. I'll never forget the frantic calls from clerks when things didn't balance when they ran the print out at the end of their shift. Yeah, we helped people balance their books at the end of the day.

Posted by: blake - semi lurker in marginal standing(5pTK/) at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (5pTK/)

197
Jargon is the ultimate refuge for the insecure expert.
Posted by: Muldoon

Jargon cloaked in acronyms is the ultimate thumbing of their nose at rubes.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (pNxlR)

198 192 I recall being told (mostly in public school) to always trust the experts on everything. I never did, and it has made my life much more free and enjoyable. Experts rarely earn their rating, and often stray far from their actual wheelhouse.
Posted by: Thomas Paine at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (lTGtQ)

=========

I was talking to one of my dad's Ph.D. students back when I lived in his house during college, and she said that she often met this expectation that she knew a lot about a lot of stuff.

"No! I know a lot about this little sliver of statistics. Outside of that, I don't know nothing."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (LvTSG)

199 "except that the forum experts usually know what they're doing. Our expert class doesn't even have that going for it."

Yep, exactly this. And the problem is only going to get worse as the "this answer must be right because it got more upvotes" generations get into more positions of power. The prior set of experts were just blowhards, or commies that don't necessarily believe there is such a thing as truth; but these people - they have a skewed notion of what reality is , driven by social media and map/territory confusion.

Posted by: monday at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (IN1nj)

200 welp here we go:

https://twitter.com/ politico/ status/ 1562462330230751232

They're actually doing it! The Dems are going to run *against* the vaxx! No wonder Fauci had to go.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (ZGrMX)

201 "In the late 1970s astrophysics all knew the greenhouse gases effect was false."

You would not ask an astrophysicist about that question. Maybe an atmospheric chemist. I don't have a firm opinion about AGW, but I do know that Tyndall demonstrated GG phenomena around 1850; GG is real. Tyndall was a great empiricist who did wonderful lab demos.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (qpX6U)

202 I can type faster than I can click

I can't do it an longer, because I don't remember all the commands but I used to do this to people all the time as a race. They'd use windows to do something and I'd use DOS and be reading a book before they finished doing it. DOS was much, much faster, but took skill and learning to pull off. Windows was (and is) slower, but takes very little skill which is its benefit.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (Ivdso)

203 @149 Upon pacifying Iraq, the money previously approved to pay the Republican Guard was denied. And thus, the Republican Guard became the insurgency. All under "W". And I suspect, under Dick "Haliburton" Cheney.

----

I don't think it would have mattered, unfortunately. If we'd gotten Saddam during or shortly after the initial invasion, I think leaving immediately might have been feasible. But we didn't. And because of that, we had to stay. Otherwise the risk was that he'd reappear, and rally enough supporters to retake control of Iraq from whoever we'd left in charge.

Posted by: junior at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (kKlCv)

204 I learned as young kid that if somebody didn't want to buy something, talking them into it was a mistake

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:55 AM (us2H3)

205 And now, a word from Charlie Crist . . .

Miles G. Cohen@MilesGCohen
Charlie Crist says he doesn't want any DeSantis supporters' votes in November, in first presser as Dem. Gov. Nominee. "Those who support the governor should stay with him. I don't want your vote. If you have that hate in your heart, keep it there," he said

-
Well, he's got my number. I hate him with the heat of a thousand suns and I wouldn't vote for him even if I could. Not sure that's brilliant election tactics, though.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at August 24, 2022 11:55 AM (ZYZaj)

206 One can be right in an argument and not be condescending. All it takes is manners.

Posted by: Archer at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (gmo/4)

207 I can type faster than I can dick

yep, she's a 8

she's a 7.5

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (us2H3)

208 No it wasn't.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (J+KYX)
++++
Yes it was!
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:53 AM (WWh8n)

Abuse is down the hall.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (yQpMk)

209 36 -- I've seen lots of authors cite one or more of their previous works in their footnotes. And I was taught that if I found that something was mentioned in three or more sources, that fact was general knowledge. But, then, that was more than fifty years ago.

Posted by: Captain Josepha Sabin -- I wasn't particularly fond of the '70s the first time around at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (9SjWf)

210 I do know that Tyndall demonstrated GG phenomena around 1850; GG is real.

Sure, its a real phenomenon, it actually exists not just in the lab but in the real world. The problem is that its just one aspect of a GIGANTIC and incredibly complex system, and AGW fanatics act like its the only part of that system. They oversimplify and ignore complications as being in the way of their beautiful conclusion. When you mix politics and a certain sort of agenda into the mix, things become completely messed up.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (Ivdso)

211 I believe Doctor Jill is an expert in everything. That's why her advice to Uncle Joe is right up there with Hunter's advice. Smartest man who ever lived.

Posted by: Colin at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (61DMD)

212 This busty, leggy blonde is an expert at being charming, but finds that experts are usually not charming:
https://is.gd/QYAY0M

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (WWh8n)

213 Orange Vax Bad.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (7FozI)

214 You would not ask an astrophysicist about that question. Maybe an atmospheric chemist. I don't have a firm opinion about AGW, but I do know that Tyndall demonstrated GG phenomena around 1850; GG is real. Tyndall was a great empiricist who did wonderful lab demos.

GG is real, but the climate scientologists stopped using the models where it has a realistic effect and actually generates the weather we're actually seeing. There's no phat DNC/WEF money in that.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (ZGrMX)

215 I am looking at an American phenomena that is akin to the duality of light.

Spandex can be both a blessing and a curse.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (L3/vU)

216 "In the late 1970s astrophysics all knew the greenhouse gases effect was false."

-
Yeah, but the asshole physicists won anyway.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (ZYZaj)

217 205 Well, he's got my number. I hate him with the heat of a thousand suns and I wouldn't vote for him even if I could. Not sure that's brilliant election tactics, though.

Posted by: Anonosaurus Wrecks at August 24, 2022 11:55 AM (ZYZaj)

========

How hard is this message?

"I want to attract all Floridian votes in my run for governor. I have the right ideas to take FL into a tolerant future that respects all people. I think that is in everyone's hearts to accomplish."

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (LvTSG)

218 206 One can be right in an argument and not be condescending. All it takes is manners.

Posted by: Archer at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (gmo/4)

Oh, is that all ??

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (us2H3)

219 They're actually doing it! The Dems are going to run *against* the vaxx! No wonder Fauci had to go.
Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (ZGrMX)

I don't know how well that is going to go over with their base, many of whom are vaccine worshipers.

Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (DRSnL)

220 "189 If someone told you in 2003 that we'd be there for 20 years and have not a goddam thing to show for it, you would be against.

This has nothing in common with the absolute horses**t anti-war left-wing spergs who talked endlessly about kurans being flushed down the toilet and other stuff a sensible person would roll their eyes at.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 24, 2022 11:52 AM (44ww/)"

In 2003 it was clear they were aiming for a Vietnam replay, and by the 2006 election it was clear they had succeeded and were going to take the plan to completion. Much of the non-left spent 15 years living in denial.

Those anti-war spergs were part of a plan and ultimately were the victors along with the Taliban; the same way the same anti-war spergs collaborated with the commies in Vietnam.

Posted by: monday at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (IN1nj)

221 I believe Doctor Jill is an expert in everything. That's why her advice to Uncle Joe is right up there with Hunter's advice. Smartest man who ever lived.
Posted by: Colin at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (61DMD)
++++
Doctor Jill is such a tremendous expert that we should make her Surgeon General!

Posted by: The View at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (WWh8n)

222 206 One can be right in an argument and not be condescending. All it takes is manners.

Posted by: Archer at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (gmo/4)

=========

Manners maketh man.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (LvTSG)

223
There's at least an argument to be made regarding Iraq, but there was never any real success in Afghanistan to throw away. The "wins" were all bullshit DC things like "more women than men in the college" and "now there's a gay pride parade with rainbow goats".
Posted by: Ian S.

A complete win in A-stan was squandered at Tora Bora, where Dubya didn't flatten the whole mountain into a pile of glowing glass slag. Instead, he opted to have US troops set up a few mountain trail ambushes while expecting the Northern Alliance to get slaughtered in frontal assaults.

When I didn't see video of US troops blasting the caves with flamethrowers and grenades, I knew it was going to be a fiasco. And then I quickly got caught up in the patriotism thing and forgot about that fuckup for years afterwards.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (n+4am)

224 One can be right in an argument and not be condescending. All it takes is manners.

And humility. The first thing to think of in a discussion is "maybe I'm wrong". That's very hard to do, as I can attest to. But its a good goal.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (Ivdso)

225 140 It's surprising how often a computer scientist professor needs help using modern technology.

When I was taking CS in college in the early 90s, there was an entire course on optimizing databases for tape storage (live, not backup), which was obsolete by the late 70s.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:38 AM (ZGrMX)
----
That's because the prof has not touched up his notes since he prepared them 35 years earlier.

Posted by: Ciampino - we don't need no stinking updates at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (qfLjt)

226 Politico: "The Trump administration pressured the FDA to authorize unproven treatments for Covid-19 and the first Covid-19 vaccines on an accelerated timeline, according to a House report released Wednesday."

Extremist Covid lockdown wackadoo Dr Leana Wen: "It became clear that the goal I'd hoped for - containment of covid-19 - was not reachable. This coronavirus is here to stay."

Fauci announces retirement.

The winds, they have shifted.

Posted by: bonhomme at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (i0wNm)

227 One can be right in an argument and not be condescending. All it takes is manners.

Posted by: Archer at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (gmo/4)

Indeed. You can act like you recognize what they are thinking, such as it is, and then try to point out how they are wrong with better arguments.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (yQpMk)

228 Without us they would be shitting in a hat and throwing out a broken window.
Posted by: garrett at August 24, 2022 11:11 AM (LUyXH)

Garrett, you still on the thread? There's a local guy who has a mess of guitars and amps for sale. I put the list on the ONT last night at #331. Berserker says its mostly entry-level stuff, but the Harmony Rocket might be interesting.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (BIdpN)

229 But they don't know that,

Sometimes they do, though. I had to call a phone service, I think it was either Verizon or T-Mobile, several months ago; they’d had a security breach and had reset a bunch of PINs, mine among them.

The support person acknowledged what had happened—they literally read a long statement about the data breach and how they were doing their best to handle it.

And then they kept trying to use my old PIN to access the account.

Oddly, there was a rooster crowing in the background.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (U+Oxn)

230 Morn' all...Forget the red wave I'm told by the media....A Rep. lost a special election in NY for a Dem seat in a Dem district !... Oh no

Posted by: It's me donna at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (bs+z0)

231 Crist likes grift money.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (7FozI)

232 One can be right in an argument and not be condescending. All it takes is manners.
Posted by: Archer at August 24, 2022 11:56 AM (gmo/4)
++++
Courtesy costs nothing.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (WWh8n)

233 Well, he's got my number. I hate him with the heat of a thousand suns and I wouldn't vote for him even if I could. Not sure that's brilliant election tactics, though.

Crist is teed up to now lose a statewide election as an (R), a (D), and an (I). The trifecta of losing.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (ZGrMX)

234 I will continue to believe Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary and a mission success. It was thrown away by the Left just like they have alway done. They go against American interests intentionally or not.

—

Come on man!!!!

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (OalnH)

235
Folks who write negative reviews of products or services sold online are far more valuable to other possible buyers because they usually have experienced the flaws and shortcomings of the offering(s). And they are not afraid to state their reasoning.

Many, many glowing positive reviews are too often created by jackholes full of themselves who love to run their mouths without communicating anything of value.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (pNxlR)

236 Posted by: junior at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (kKlCv)

Capturing the Republican Guard intact is laughable. Those were 30k volunteers loyal to the death for Saddam for the most part. They couldn't be allowed to exist in my opinion. They would have just created another problem but as you indicated, likely the same problem.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 12:00 PM (zB5jo)

237 Are you quoting 'Rage Against the Machine' again?
Posted by: Mark Andrew Edwards, Buy ammo, food, water at August 24, 2022 11:16 AM (V6f9+)

Amish Paradise by Weird Al.

Posted by: Fox2! at August 24, 2022 12:00 PM (c5CZx)

238 212 This busty, leggy blonde is an expert at being charming, but finds that experts are usually not charming:
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (WWh8n)

blondes have always be able to charm the pants off me

Posted by: REDACTED at August 24, 2022 12:00 PM (us2H3)

239 Joe Biden is out bragging about how a part of the Inflation Reduction Act's increase in government spending includes a cap on Insulin costs for diabetics.

The same cap which President Trump put into place and Biden reversed with an executive order when he got into office.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 12:00 PM (Ivdso)

240 Crist is teed up to now lose a statewide election as an (R), a (D), and an (I). The trifecta of losing.
Posted by: Ian S

—

However I bet his net worth has more than quadrupled during this “losing” streak.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 12:00 PM (OalnH)

241 Black Orchid's link...

||POLITICO @politico · 29m
The Trump administration pressured the FDA to authorize unproven treatments for Covid-19 and the first Covid-19 vaccines on an accelerated timeline, according to a House report released Wednesday.||

Despite it being Politico almost all of the replies are shitting on them for the spin.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 12:01 PM (yikp0)

242 Joe Biden is out bragging about how a part of the Inflation Reduction Act's increase in government spending includes a cap on Insulin costs for diabetics.

The same cap which President Trump put into place and Biden reversed with an executive order when he got into office.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 12:00 PM (Ivdso)
++++
Ugh. Trump's original idea on that front was the superior one and if he ends up in office again, I hope he goes for it again. Transparent pricing is much more important than price controls.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 12:01 PM (WWh8n)

243 However I bet his net worth has more than quadrupled during this “losing” streak.

As with Matt Damon and the bear, he's not really there for the winning.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 12:01 PM (ZGrMX)

244 You can act like you recognize what they are thinking, such as it is, and then try to point out how they are wrong with better arguments.

Another important thing to do is to recognize when someone is right, to state that, and give them credit. And, if you are wrong or don't know something, to admit that.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (Ivdso)

245 Honestly, most of what goes on inside of a computer is magic to me. Or witchcraft. Although sometimes my computer’s witchcraft is more like Aunt Clara’s than Samantha’s.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 24, 2022 11:27 AM (0cjkI)

Marion Lorn was absolutely fabulous in that role. Her befuddled demeanor was her trademark, going back the Mister Peepers with Wally Cox. Great comic actress.

Posted by: Zombie Chuck Heston at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (Zvtjl)

246 239 Joe Biden is out bragging about how a part of the Inflation Reduction Act's increase in government spending includes a cap on Insulin costs for diabetics.

Has he ended his vacation?

Posted by: NLurker at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (eGTCV)

247 A couple decades ago I was looking at trying Linux, but it seemed complicated and/or burdensome. I think I looked at RedHat software to implement it ... any, got on some forums and RTFM was a response (read the fluckin manual). ha ... But it seemed like it would always be a lot of extra work ... maybe it has changed, idk.

Posted by: illiniwek at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (Cus5s)

248
Oddly, there was a rooster crowing in the background.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair

I have experienced that ... its pretty funny to picture Consuela providing tech support while sitting on the back porch of her adobe and barnyard.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (pNxlR)

249 226 Politico: "The Trump administration pressured the FDA to authorize unproven treatments for Covid-19 and the first Covid-19 vaccines on an accelerated timeline, according to a House report released Wednesday."

So here's comes the "Blame Trump" for covid vax we were expecting.. He should get in front of this now.

Posted by: It's me donna at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (bs+z0)

250 219 They're actually doing it! The Dems are going to run *against* the vaxx! No wonder Fauci had to go.
Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (ZGrMX)

I don't know how well that is going to go over with their base, many of whom are vaccine worshipers.
Posted by: Jordan61 at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (DRSnL)

Simple math:

Hatred of Trump > Love of vax.

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (KbCG3)

251 240 Crist is teed up to now lose a statewide election as an (R), a (D), and an (I). The trifecta of losing.
Posted by: Ian S
-------------
The guy has a marveluous sun tan, though. He is a people of color white guy.

Posted by: Puddinhead at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (bA3Ln)

252 I believe Doctor Jill is an expert in everything.

--

She is an expert at dressing sh*tty and trying to look like a 25-year old tart.

Posted by: Lady in Black at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (sVtYq)

253 All Linux problems can be solved by simply running, sudo shutdown now.

Then go have a glass of Scotch and dwell on the problem for a couple of days.

Posted by: Thomas Bender at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (VrF9T)

254 Isn't Crist of the tribe of orange men?

Posted by: NLurker at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (eGTCV)

255 The Trump administration pressured the FDA to authorize unproven treatments for Covid-19 and the first Covid-19 vaccines on an accelerated timeline, according to a House report released Wednesday.

I mean, he did. He pushed for the shot to be released, without possibility of lawsuit, long before it was ready and millions have paid the price.

But hey, big Pharma got super rich off it.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (Ivdso)

256 Thinking the Iraq war was a complete clusterfuck does not mean you hate soldiers. But that is what the right framed the debate as. Or used to anyway until recently.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (OalnH)

257 OFF Zombie Chuck Heston sock. Damn.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (Zvtjl)

258 Manners maketh man.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 11:58 AM (LvTSG)

Dude...do you even Shakespeare?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (L3/vU)

259 Linux users with a bit of knowledge tend to be toxic bastards. I remember trying to get a question answered only to be met with a snotty "We don't do work with that distro."

Pointing out that attitudes like theirs were why people stayed with Windows didn't go over very well. But I didn't care at that point.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (4olE8)

260 Yup, and the good guys in that space do exactly that. They want *more* users, not fewer. But then there's no dark mysteries of wizardry that set you apart...
Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (WWh8n)

***
I think the forum nastiness is just a function of online forums. The nastiest replies usually come from the users who have gained just a little experience and want to assert their superiority over the 'noobs.' Ego thing.

Posted by: Sphynx at August 24, 2022 11:12 AM (P6qMv)
******

This. That's why I claim the ones doing the attacking are mainly midwits. Attacking "newbies" is something mostly done by people who have just a little bit of status, and dont' believe they can get any more other than by attacking those weaker than themselves

Posted by: Greg the Class Traitor at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (zgZhw)

261 A couple decades ago I was looking at trying Linux, but it seemed complicated and/or burdensome. I think I looked at RedHat software to implement it ... any, got on some forums and RTFM was a response (read the fluckin manual). ha ... But it seemed like it would always be a lot of extra work ... maybe it has changed, idk.
Posted by: illiniwek at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (Cus5s)
++++
It has largely changed. If you're not a gamer, you can roll out any number of versions and it will all be fine for day-to-day use. If you have any kind of exotic or unusual hardware (which was my problem - it involved a WiFi interface), things can get more sporty. If you're running non-bleeding-edge hardware and aren't a big gamer, it's usually fine at this point.

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (WWh8n)

262 "The problem is that its just one aspect of a GIGANTIC and incredibly complex system, and AGW fanatics act like its the only part of that system"

I understand that. I don't have a firm opinion about AGW, but I gotta think that artificially increasing GG levels has to perturb the system somehow. Maybe good, maybe bad. Maybe significant, maybe not. But I would never argue that it has no effect at all. I also kinda think that petroleum and natgas are so valuable as chemical feedstocks that I feel kinda guilty about burning them. We'll miss them sorely when they are gone.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (qpX6U)

263 The left uses "expertise" as a conspiracy against the laity.

As we've seen with COVID, the foremost experts said to NOT go down the clot shot/lockdown route.

But Fauci and co used their positions and claimed expertise, which is bullshit, to silence those people and do what they wanted to do.

Posted by: 18-1 at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (ESjRY)

264 252 I believe Doctor Jill is an expert in everything.
-------------------
Dr. Jill is Science!

Posted by: Puddinhead at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (bA3Ln)

265 So here's comes the "Blame Trump" for covid vax we were expecting.. He should get in front of this now.

Yeah but he really, REALLY teed this up on himself. He's been running around for 2 years patting himself on the back for the program and praising the clot shot. I mean talk about walking into a rake.

Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (Ivdso)

266 The experts haven't only not been right, they have been the dead opposite of right. They haven't merely been wrong, they have been catastrophically wrong.

We have no experts anymore. None that we hear from anyway. Experts are regular people that have done something long enough that they know all there is to know, and more importantly they know what they don't know.

Experts are not relatives of politicians, or people who have stayed under the cloister of academia so long they can't distinguish a book from a bowling ball, or a fact from something they were told.

Posted by: ... at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (t6WSm)

267 I don't know how well that is going to go over with their base, many of whom are vaccine worshipers.

A very few might say "wait, wut?" but the huge majority will spin on their heels so fast their shoes will catch fire.

(I remembered to unsock for once. Yay me!)

Posted by: Oddbob at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (nfrXX)

268 So $10k off student loans for those working and $20k off for those not working.

America, what a country.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (OalnH)

269 Re: Rep loss in special election

And Carolyn Maloney lost after Trump "endorsed" her! Walls closing, wheels falling off, Trump is losing his influence! Help us Lizzie Cheney, you're our only hope!

Posted by: Fox2! at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (c5CZx)

270 241 Black Orchid's link...

||POLITICO @politico · 29m
The Trump administration pressured the FDA to authorize unproven treatments for Covid-19 and the first Covid-19 vaccines on an accelerated timeline, according to a House report released Wednesday.||

Despite it being Politico almost all of the replies are shitting on them for the spin.
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 12:01 PM (yikp0)

=========

Biden wanted you to get fired for not taking it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (LvTSG)

271
Extremist Covid lockdown wackadoo Dr Leana Wen: "It became clear that the goal I'd hoped for - containment of covid-19 - was not reachable. This coronavirus is here to stay."

Her grasp of "science" is, shall we say, suspect.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (pNxlR)

272 Yeah but he really, REALLY teed this up on himself. He's been running around for 2 years patting himself on the back for the program and praising the clot shot. I mean talk about walking into a rake.
Posted by: Christopher R Taylor at August 24, 2022 12:04 PM (Ivdso)

I agree.. But he wasn't alone.. The panic was world wide

Posted by: It's me donna at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (bs+z0)

273 All Linux problems can be solved by simply running, sudo shutdown now.

Then go have a glass of Scotch and dwell on the problem for a couple of days.
Posted by: Thomas Bender at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (VrF9T)
++++
Feh. Stupid n00b. *Real* neckbeards use "sudo init 0"

Posted by: Joe Mannix (Not a cop!) at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (WWh8n)

274 Jargon cloaked in acronyms is the ultimate thumbing of their nose at rubes.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (pNxlR)

Used to work w/one of those...one day I asked what T.I.M.E. it was.

Posted by: BignJames at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (AwYPR)

275 Despite it being Politico almost all of the replies are shitting on them for the spin.
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 12:01 PM (yikp0)

I assume the unproven treatment was HCQ and Ivermectin. That they would not allow and continue to block is criminal. Hulk Smash angry.

Posted by: polynikes at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (zB5jo)

276 258 Dude...do you even Shakespeare?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (L3/vU)

=========

In the original Klingon, yes.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (LvTSG)

277 Within a year anyone saying the Covid vax works will be deemed a misformation peddler and banned from all social media.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (OalnH)

278 nood GOPe strikes again

Posted by: SturmToddler (WhsXQ) at August 24, 2022 12:06 PM (KdUK5)

279 This. That's why I claim the ones doing the attacking are mainly midwits. Attacking "newbies" is something mostly done by people who have just a little bit of status, and dont' believe they can get any more other than by attacking those weaker than themselves
Posted by: Greg the Class Traitor at August 24, 2022 12:03 PM (zgZhw)

Worked with a guy who hated it when people didn't do things correctly but also hated explaining to people how to do things correctly. Maybe he just liked being irritated?

Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 24, 2022 12:06 PM (KbCG3)

280 213 Orange Vax Bad.

in the good ol' days, the wall of vax manuals was blue, just like the pdp-11 manuals.

Posted by: kulak anachronda at August 24, 2022 12:06 PM (sGtp+)

281
And Carolyn Maloney lost after Trump "endorsed" her!

Jerry "Nads" Nadler will continue to start himself from behind the podium of public service?

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:06 PM (pNxlR)

282
Oddly, there was a rooster crowing in the background.
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair

I have experienced that ... its pretty funny to picture Consuela providing tech support while sitting on the back porch of her adobe and barnyard.
Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:02 PM (pNxlR)

This happened to me booking a hotel room. I should have placed a bet for the evening's cock fight.

Posted by: Mr Aspirin Factory at August 24, 2022 12:06 PM (7FozI)

283 Jargon is the ultimate refuge for the insecure expert.
Posted by: Muldoon

Jargon cloaked in acronyms is the ultimate thumbing of their nose at rubes.
Posted by: Krebs
----------------
I always refer to the Sokal Affair.

"Sokal said he was inspired to submit the bogus article after reading Higher Superstition (1994), in which authors Paul R. Gross and Norman Levitt claim that some humanities journals will publish anything as long as it has "the proper leftist thought" and quoted (or was written by) well-known leftist thinkers."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair

Title of Sokol's paper: "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity"

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 24, 2022 12:07 PM (/cR1m)

284 Biden wanted you to get fired for not taking it.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, navigating the destiny machine with Fritz Lang at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (LvTSG)

Bingo

Posted by: ... at August 24, 2022 12:07 PM (t6WSm)

285
in the good ol' days, the wall of vax manuals was blue, just like the pdp-11 manuals.
Posted by: kulak anachronda

The paper tape puncher is against the wall
The paper tape puncher is against the wall

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:07 PM (pNxlR)

286 ...one day I asked what T.I.M.E. it was.

Whoa, oh, oh
So I asked them if I could stay a while

Posted by: G'rump928(c) at August 24, 2022 12:07 PM (yQpMk)

287 espite it being Politico almost all of the replies are shitting on them for the spin.
Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 12:01 PM (yikp0

—-

Was it a Drudge link? Because if it was, the boomer Fox News watching drudge readers will be out in force. These peeps still go to drudge as a “conservative” news source along with Fox.

Posted by: Joe XiDen at August 24, 2022 12:08 PM (OalnH)

288 Crist is teed up to now lose a statewide election as an (R), a (D), and an (I). The trifecta of losing.
Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:59 AM (ZGrMX)

Everybody Hates Crist!
It's comedy gold, Jerry!

Posted by: Buddy at August 24, 2022 12:08 PM (MFphb)

289 I use my computer for browsing the web, running a few apps (like Office 365) for work, watching YouTube, surfing AoSHQ, and sometimes even playing games. That's plenty for my needs.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at August 24, 2022 11:15 AM (YIVH2)

That is exactly what the Linux Mint Distro is for. I use it on several machines. Comes with nearly all the drivers you will need pre-loaded. Comes with an office suite, browser, video player. all the bells and whistles. Only time you need to use the command line is to get new software loaded. And it's free, no subscription bullshit.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at August 24, 2022 12:08 PM (BIdpN)

290 Her grasp of "science" is, shall we say, suspect.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:05 PM (pNxlR)

It is impressive. Did she really believe that we could contain a virus?

She is just lime Fauci...so detached from real scientific inquiry that she is simply an administrator processing widgets.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 24, 2022 12:08 PM (L3/vU)

291 .
Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:54 AM (ZGrMX)

If you read the article, the gist of it is he did so to sway election voters. Also it describes how he pushed for the authorization of HCQ, like that is a bad thing.

No, they're not running away from the mRna jabs.

Posted by: kallisto at August 24, 2022 12:08 PM (dCxaZ)

292 Biden wanted you to get fired for not taking it.
-----------------
A bunch of the replies are, rightly, along those lines.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 12:09 PM (yikp0)

293 214 You would not ask an astrophysicist about that question. Maybe an atmospheric chemist. I don't have a firm opinion about AGW, but I do know that Tyndall demonstrated GG phenomena around 1850; GG is real. Tyndall was a great empiricist who did wonderful lab demos.

GG is real, but the climate scientologists stopped using the models where it has a realistic effect and actually generates the weather we're actually seeing. There's no phat DNC/WEF money in that.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 24, 2022 11:57 AM (ZGrMX)
----
Unfortunately the lure of grants and the stick of no-grants meant that the American Chemical Society jumped on the AGW wagon and other 'learned' societies around the world followed suit. I resigned.

Posted by: Ciampino - the rot started with DDT at August 24, 2022 12:10 PM (qfLjt)

294 in the good ol' days, the wall of vax manuals was blue, just like the pdp-11 manuals.
Posted by: kulak anachronda
------

I miss front-panel switches, and address/data indicators.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at August 24, 2022 12:10 PM (/cR1m)

295 Dude...do you even Shakespeare?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

First came Shakespeare....

then Rattlespeare....

then Rollspeare !

Posted by: JT at August 24, 2022 12:10 PM (T4tVD)

296 It's a Politico story at Politico.

Posted by: andycanuck (yikp0) at August 24, 2022 12:11 PM (yikp0)

297 We have no experts anymore. None that we hear from anyway.

This, I think, is the big problem. Our “experts” are chosen by very partisan media hacks. If any particular expert doesn’t give the answer the hack wants, they don’t get aired, and they don’t get called back.

For most, I suspect (perhaps naively), that this means that experts who were once in vogue fade into obscurity when the Current Thing changes. But of course this also trains those who enjoy the limelight to parrot back what the producer wants to hear.

In either case, we end up with, for example, masks going from silly to impregnable over a period of a few days, with no acknowledgement that every media expert for forty years had ridiculed mask-wearers.

And it’s a vicious cycle: the more we reward weathervane experts, the more weathervane experts we get.

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 24, 2022 12:12 PM (U+Oxn)

298 "Only time you need to use the command line is to get new software loaded."

Not even then. Use the Synaptic Package Manager GUI. Yes, Mint is the way to go, for pretty much everybody I'd say.

Posted by: Throw gp That Whammy at August 24, 2022 12:12 PM (qpX6U)

299 What is this hate to which Charlie Crist refers? Is it parents wanting to protect their children from malevolent groomers?

Posted by: NLurker at August 24, 2022 12:12 PM (eGTCV)

300 279
Worked with a guy who hated it when people didn't do things correctly but also hated explaining to people how to do things correctly. Maybe he just liked being irritated?
Posted by: The Central Scrutinizer at August 24, 2022 12:06 PM (KbCG3)

I come across as irritable at work on occasion but I look at it this way:

1. The solutions aren't always obvious if you don't work on something ever day.

2. If you teach them how to do something and why to something, they go away.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 24, 2022 12:14 PM (4olE8)

301 So how did Trump force Joey shits his pants into mandating the jab... and the second jab... and the third jab... and the fifth jab?

Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable and Totally Unserious at August 24, 2022 12:14 PM (u4CEu)

302 Years ago, IBM OS2 Warp was supposed to be the Windows killer. They had commercials with former MASH actors of how easy it was.

I had a problem and went to a general OS2 newsgroup forum for assistance. The "help" included updating my computer BIOS, (not the computer I had), to RTFM to insults that I wasn't smart enough to get their assistance.

At this point, I informed the forum that if this was the kind of support the public was to get from the experts, Warp would go nowhere. I was right.

Many times, expertise becomes arrogance. Others are not worthy in their eyes to benefit from their knowledge.

Posted by: eeyore mood at August 24, 2022 12:16 PM (QQMWC)

303
So how did Trump force Joey shits his pants into mandating the jab... and the second jab... and the third jab... and the fifth jab?
Posted by: Jukin the Deplorable and Totally Unserious

I refer you to Bugs Bunny daring Yosemite Sam to step over the line, repeatedly.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 24, 2022 12:21 PM (pNxlR)

304 145 >>>Good news. Tik Tok has set up an election misinformation task force. I’m sure they will be very non partisan on what they ban and what they allow.

I imagine the people who would rely on such a service are the same ones in those "man on the street" interviews who don't know what the capitol of the US is or what country the Queen of England is from.

Also, being a cully owned subsidiary of the CCP, I'm sure tiktok will be doing its best to steer people to make the best of their vote. /s

Posted by: red speck at August 24, 2022 12:33 PM (gS3OW)

305 I have been an expert in a number of esoteric fields of computing. From time to time you stop and say to yourself ... "Anybody could do this" .. then after a short pause .. "Naaaaa"

Posted by: SMOD at August 24, 2022 12:51 PM (RHGPo)

306 Experts are elite.
Rude experts are elitist.

Posted by: Java Joe at August 24, 2022 12:57 PM (VsPm9)

307 Excellent thoughtful rant. Much appreciated.

Posted by: Just a dummy at August 24, 2022 01:53 PM (U2W4Y)

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