OT: Time out and/or Duke it out thread

[wm_hess]

Guest, on the other hand can't be ignored or foe'd. Even if I wanted to ignore them, I can't.

Certainly the must be a place you can go where their rules will protect you from such a stressful life?
Like Pugsy said:

Remember Johnny gets to decide...not any of you.

Thanks 99 for helping me make a point.

See how 99 contributed to the conversation? I stated if I wanted to do something, I could not. I did not say that I desired to ignore (foe) someone, just that it was not possible for me to do so. Good ole 99 let me know that there must be a place where their rules would protect me from such a stressful life, and that Johnny gets to decide...not any of us.

Check out what other named individuals (Pugsy, RobySue, PR etc) post. Every one of them has a reputation/history. They can have a lot of helpful posts, some or many snarky posts etc. Then think about anonymous posters, and their lack of posting history. They tend to be either a brand new, inexperienced user who may or may not be knowledgeable about CPAP/computer/medical issues, or they're gas throwing individuals who don't really contribute to the conversations, but love to instigate strife and flame fests (AKA as trolls).

Choose whose advice you feel has more value.

-Bill

[Goofproof]

I'm sorry; my bad.
It was my turn to drive the Welcome wagon.
I parked it outside Wal Mart to run in for some cheese;
and the neighborhood kids thought it was Christmas.

Last time I went there to get Cheese, it was all moldy, I had to settle for Whine! Jim

[palerider]

It might be nice if PR could possibly have a civil conversation,
but we will never know. Some things must be left to the imagination.

I often have civil conversations with civil people.

you have never shown any tendency towards civility.

Johnny lets me be an asshole"

are you a reporter, or politician, either way you're excellent at taking things out of context, given that the original quote was:

Have someone read this to you then explain what it means...

all I hear from you is "THPPPT Johnny lets me be an asshole"

[robysue]

IP and Guest question?

In a recent post, RobbySue mentioned that her husband is a "papper" and I think
ChicagoGranny has also mentioned that her husband is on cpap?

If two people living in the same house but who each made a different official
registered account sign in to cpaptalk, are their names listed together underneath
each other?

The answer is NO if both people always log in under their own user name before posting.

If you are properly logged in, no (names) will ever be attached to your post. If you post without logging in AND your current IP has been recently used by a registered member, that registered member's name may appear in the parentheses on your post. If you post without logging in AND your IP has recently been used by someone who posted without logging in, but who created a screen name, then that screen name may appear in parentheses on your post.

To make it clearer (and to beat a dead horse):

If I make a post while logged in as robysue using IP address A.B.C.D and then that IP is later assigned to Poster X who makes a post while NOT logged in and Poster X uses the temporary screen name Poster X, then (robysue) may be added under the name Poster X in the "also posted as" list in Poster X's "guest post".

If IP A.B.C.D is later assigned to Poster Y who makes a post while NOT logged in and Poster Y does not choose to use a temporary screen name to make a post, then both (robysue) and (Poster X) may be added under the name Guest in the "also posted as" list in Poster Y's "guest" post.

However, as long as I only post when I am logged in, nobody's name will appear in parentheses under the link to my login name of robysue regardless of whether another person has recently used the same IP that is currently assigned to me.

[Guest]

Either way it says

palerider wrote:
Johnny lets me be an asshole"

To PR, wm_hess, grayghost4, Goofproof, chunkyfrog, et al:

Sniping at me (or anyone else) will NOT fix your problem. The only way you can find peace is to discuss your anger and hatred with Johnny or find a place that has rules that you like. It really is that simple. I wish I could help you but I can't.

You all make me believe that after one registers you feel it is a license to snipe, bully, insult, and otherwise disrupt.

Trying to reason with you all is like trying to tell someone they have had too much to drink, there is no way to make you understand.

[palerider]

To make it clearer (and to beat a dead horse):

If I make a post while logged in as robysue using IP address A.B.C.D and then that IP is later assigned to Poster X who makes a post while NOT logged in and Poster X uses the temporary screen name Poster X, then (robysue) may be added under the name Poster X in the "also posted as" list in Poster X's "guest post".

If IP A.B.C.D is later assigned to Poster Y who makes a post while NOT logged in and Poster Y does not choose to use a temporary screen name to make a post, then both (robysue) and (Poster X) may be added under the name Guest in the "also posted as" list in Poster Y's "guest" post.

However, as long as I only post when I am logged in, nobody's name will appear in parentheses under the link to my login name of robysue regardless of whether another person has recently used the same IP that is currently assigned to me.

+1 what she said.

[palerider]

Either way it says

palerider wrote:
[all I hear from you is "]Johnny lets me be an asshole"

I wonder if you're the only one that's so bloody stupid as to believe that your partial quoting hides the truth....

[chunkyfrog]

Dear guest, are you aware that the forum's software identifies you as "ruinednose"?
Many regular posters remember this person well; as there is baggage,
but unless you are a member, and logged in, you will not be able to see what reputation follows the name.

[robysue]

Edit: Deleted posts are a no-no. But, can a nasty post by a "Guest" be deleted, or is it there forever? I understand the post can't be foed.

In my humble opinion the only use for the Spam button is to remove honest-to-God Spam. In other words, a post by an anonymous user trying to SELL something (particularly something NOT related to CPAP) or a post advertising a clear SCAM. Others may differ with my opinion.

In my humble opinion, a nasty post by a "Guest" is not necessarily Spam and hence should not be deleted. If the post is response to something a registered user said in response to an earlier anonymous post by the same person, in my opinion, it is best to just stay out of the whole mess.

Here's the thing about deleting a nasty anonymous post that is part of an on-going thread: If registered users have choosen to respond to a troll who is trolling as an anonymous poster and the nasty post is deleted, then the registered users can wind up looking like they're the ones who started the nastiness.

Finally I'll add this: If registered users repeatedly respond to nasty anonymous posts by obvious trolls with nasty posts of their own, then the registered users are fanning the flames of a flame war and keeping the nastiness going. They have the right to do that under the rules of the forum. Pugsy is trying to encourage that IF that thing STARTS inside of a helping thread, that people move the heated OT flamewar nastiness to this thread. Only time will tell whether Pugsy manages to encourage enough people to do that to change some of the unwritten cpaptalk "group norms" about how to handle trolls and flame wars.

[SleepyEyes21]

SleepyEyes21,

If you don't mind my doing so, I would like to suggest that you just may have missed the larger point.

The norm of 'don't feed trolls or engage bullies' is not unique to this forum. (And, hey, I violate that norm on a regular basis, myself, since I generally don't mind personal attacks being directed at me and, for personal reasons, even pride myself in learning to try to respond to attackers with helpful, useful info whenever possible.) But if you read the OP carefully, she is actually suggesting a slight modification of that norm to 'IF you choose to engage them, please do so in a location away from the helpful thread.' (My words, not hers.) She is therefore not dictating others' behavior so much as she is making a kind appeal regarding location and informing the board of her future response--linking to this thread--which will be her exemplary way of moving HER response to the disrupter out of that thread. (BRILLIANT, in my view!) I see that as exceedingly kind and not judgmental in the least. To my ears/eyes, it is not so much an expression of disdain for the trolls/bullies/wounded-creatures-lashing-out-at-the-world, or those responding to them, as it is an expression of how much she cares about the people she is trying to help in constructive threads. So I see it as a kindness on our part not to get in her way when our social agenda differs from her CPAP help in a particular thread. And personally I will consider it a kindness on her part if she ever links me to this thread if I'm ever, perhaps inadvertently, disrupting some good she is trying to do in another thread. I'll just move my tomfoolery, or troll-response-experiment, to this thread and out of that one. I will consider her link to be just as kind and as considerate as when she suggests to newbies jumping into a thread that they start their own thread in order to get more nuanced and specifically customized help--it is best for the newbie AND best for the thread. A win-win response to/for all.

-jeff

Hi Jeff, first let me commend you on an excellent example of how to 'question (attack) the message and not the messenger!'

No, I don't mind you commenting at all to any of my posts, and thank you for your suggestion/ idea. I don't believe I have 'missed the larger point' that you are speaking of- namely, that "The norm of 'don't feed trolls or engage bullies' is not unique to this forum." I will be posting information later today that demonstrates this.

As to the rest of your post, I do not believe I actually said that 'Pugsy was dictating others' behavior,' if that is your understanding. You may have that confused with Grace posting to me that she believes I am somehow 'dictating the rules.'

And I know there are already a ton of posts in this thread alone, however I have posted four (4) times now my opinion on Pugsy's starting of this thread, and it is a positive view. I do agree with you that it certainly can be " a win-win response to/for all." Thanks for sharing!

[Julie]

So as long as someone is registered, their gratuitously nasty reply to a valid comment is OK, as long as they don't delete it, as long as the person attacked ignores it (don't want to fan the flames after all) and leaves the personal attack (untruthful as it may be) stand in perpetuity? How would you have responded, what [i]would[/i] you have actually said in the circumstances - please just give an actual alternative answer I could have written to respond to what was left - generalities don't cut it or I wouldn't ask.

[Gasper62]

So much for the dramatic-indignant exit.............

[Pugsy]

Another question: If I see the beginning of a belittling, bully like, uncalled for post(s) from a member (or non member), my intent is to copy and paste all posts involved in this thread, immediately, in the hopes of stopping the poster in his/her tracks, so as not to derail a helping thread. That's what I think is the intent here. Am I correct?

That part of the experiment is still a work in progress.
I don't think copying the fight and posting it here will necessarily cause the parties involved to move the spat. They already know what they have said to each other or want to say to each other and I would think that they could do the copying and pasting themselves.

I haven't decided how to word a gentle "suggestion" to the parties involved to take the fight elsewhere.
I have to word it in a manner that doesn't make it sound like I am picking on them which would only fan the flame war and at the same time convey to the OP in the helping thread that we really like to stay on topic and avoid the ugliness.

This thread/experiment is a work in progress. I still don't have my own personal guidelines for when I should mention "take the fight elsewhere"...It won't likely be with the first or even second snarky attitude response but more likely when it's obvious the thread is headed to the toilet. I think a lot of it depends on just how snarky/bullying/being a jerk someone is looking like they are becoming.
And probably a lot depends on my own personal day...if I have had a bad day then I am apt to be a bit short on patience.

I know I won't be able to prevent or stop or even get everyone to quit hijacking helping threads...but if we reduce the ugliness in the helping threads...that's a positive start. Nothing is ever perfect and I know my idea hear isn't perfect but hey...at least I am trying. We are all going to argue...never for one minute thought we wouldn't but we can argue respectfully without resorting to public stoning.


Oh...I pretty much agree with Robysue's thoughts on whether a guest who has been ugly should have his ugliness spam removed. Unless it is real spam...I won't do it.
The only exception I might make is when the post is nothing but pure profanity in the worst sense of the term.
And with my potty mouth it takes a lot to offend me...and if it offends me that means it is really, really bad profanity.
I have done it maybe 3 or 4 times in the past 7 plus years I have been here...and I think it has always been a logged in member who did it. When I did it I also sent Carolyn a note explaining what I did and why and she of course can decide what she wants to do with it. Sometimes she put most of it back but with the profanity edited out...sometimes she has said simply "I agree, nothing remotely useful and we will leave it removed".
And I am not talking about a few 4 letter words...or even the F bomb...I am talking pure unadulterated sickening profanity and I think most of us know what I mean.

[jnk...]

Thanks for the clarifications, SleepyEyes21.

[palerider]

Ars just posted an article about D.H.:

http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/ ... e-awesome/