Why shout at each other? A lot of threads her seems to turn out a shouting match.

Why not hire the dude with the cat pictures?

Well, many of us no longer have any family left to shout at because we spend all out time with Poser. So,......

Yeah! That makes total sence. I'd laugh at it but it's really only SAD! As a norwegian I often have problems finding the right words. But I dont resolve to shouting at people.With enemies like this who needs friends?

I recon most people here are very civil to each other.
I DON'T SEE MUCH SHOUTING.!
Very little flaming and even fewer trolls.
Count your blessings, I recon.

Hmm, I think you're a bit off base with this to be honest!!

I've spent a lot of time in the forums here and for the most part peeps are ok with each other, sure there are sometimes disagreements but IMO it's very rare and even rarer for that disagreement to descend into something worse.

IMO there are a lot of friendly and helpful peeps here!!

Well, the main problem is, some people are assholes.

pjz99....

Thank you for all your kind replys.

So... People can be assholes? don't see the point in name calling and such.

I guess I should have included something along the lines of "ta dump dump."

Hehe. Don't get me quoting songs here!

   ok....... as an old fart, I am, IMHO, entitled to quote old saws and sayings until everybody gives in out of self-defence...... and if you believe that, I have this gold brick........ this one was ancient when I was a kid, and is still true.... "If you have to descend to name-calling, you have already lost the argument"
   I love debating things, it's an exchange of differing opinions and ideas........ Argument... I have no time for it.... it's two closed minds that are in a shouting match.
   Hey, dyret, why not? Some of them have pretty good lines. Lou.

The reason that some people resort to attacking each other is because of a lack of social communication skills to make their point. So they resort to personal attacks and name calling instead. Though pjz99's post above was meant in humour and made me laugh out loud,  LOL

I know there is an ongoing "feud" with a few people, over what I have no idea, all I know is that it occasionally spills over into the odd thread and gives me a headache!

I am a firm believer in debating the written word. As they say "attack the words, not the poster". 

To me every thread is a new day/chapter. Life is far too short to carry grudges around, especially for people on the internet whom you don't know and will probably never ever meet. I mean what is the point? Personally I don't see one. So while I may not like what someone said or their stance on something in one thread, that doesn't mean that I feel the same about them in another. I believe in chances and I also believe that mean spirited people on the net are probably not at all like that in their "real lives" and that the internet brings out the worse in some people because of the perceived "annonymity" factor. I say perceived because it's not so annonymous anymore and with the right tools you can track a person right to their door step.

Some people just need to learn to let things go and move on and to not take things so serious, especially things on the internet.

"Well, the main problem is, some people are assholes."

HEY!!!

I resemble that remark, ya blankety blankblank!!!

OK....so I ent in here near as much as I used to was, but if things haven't changed too drastically, I'm tinkin' that a lot of the percieved rude behavior could well be members of various cliques (yes, they do exist) razzin' each others asses.  As far as outright truly rude behavior, generally the Mods keep tings well in hand & nip anythin' truly mean spirited or hostile in the bud.

....or sumpin'

<< Dude with a cat picture....:o)

NO U!!!

I've never tried harder to be polite and considerate as I am now, on the forum.  In real life I can see the other person and judge if they realy deserve me being rude or aggressive, and what's more, wheather they can take it or not.  I have this feeling many people around here use poser (and the forum) to get  away from daily problems and nasties, so I dont want to ruin the escape, and I dont want  to offend/hurt  anyone. So if I did, or will - sorry.
(However, watch out if you actually meet me..)

Quote - Some people just need to learn to let things go and move on and to not take things so serious, especially things on the internet.

Exactly. :) Debate - I love debate... gives me a perfect chance to see multiple sides of a given object... be it a problem, proposed solution, or what-have-you. Funny thing is, I have been known to cajole on occasion; mostly as tough love, but sometimes to provoke thought, reactions that lead to thought, and otherwise to get people to stop and think w/o being drowned out in mediocrity. Most of the time, it works like a charm. /P

Flaming and fighting is considered by many to be a great and honorable forum tradition.  It's an ancient rite which dates all of the way back to primal times.  People even used to do it on local BBS's at 9600 baud transfer rates -- if you can believe it !

People can't 'get along' in the forums for the same reason that people can't get along in real life.  It's because they are human.  And humans are what humans are.  And humans do what humans do.  Read some history books.

Humans don't 'get along' too well in traffic situations on the road, either.  So why should the forums be any exception to this general rule?  Frankly, the question is akin to asking why the wind blows, or why the world is round (Note: I did not say "how" the wind blows, as in a technical explanation of atmospheric mechanics: but WHY the wind blows.).

When you come right down to it, we can only answer for the behavior of one (1) person: ourselves.  Not for what others may or may not choose to do in their spare time.  So being a 'nice person' in large measure involves a choice -- a choice to not allow the bad behavior of others to control you internally.  Because doing so gives them far too much power over you.

However: there is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out bad behavior when it happens.  Even if doing so leads to an argument.  Not all arguments are bad.  We have to acknowledge the possibility that one person is right and that someone else is wrong about something.  Although in many cases: if you really dig into the matter -- you'll discover (surprise! surprise!) that the genesis of the entire argument is simply a matter of pride.  Not a matter of factual debate.

Shake your fist at the wind if you want to.  It'll still blow just as hard as it ever did regardless.

Words in cyber space are meaningless. Well, they used to be. ;)

Usually it's the dead horse that gets posted, on here it's cat's & a gross one at that.

Nothing like vulgar humor to get a thread derailed in ten seconds flat.

I remember having a modem that was slower than 9600, but that was so long ago I forgot.. I also remember having a friend with a BBS who, when you entered your username, asked "Is that really YOU?" Those were the days.......

Actually, I think, instead of a cat picture, I will share a very old joke with you:

A  man was on a train with his three young children who were fighting, screaming, and running up and down the train aisle wrecking havoc. An older woman turned around and angrily said to the man,"If you don't shut those kids up and make them behave, I'm going to make YOU trouble."

The man sighed and said, "Lady, My wife is dead in the baggage car behind, my oldest daughter is pregnant by a rapist, my other two kids shit their pants, tore up the tickets, and I'm on the wrong train - and YOU are going to make me trouble?"

Oh lawd is dat sum B tard?

This is not impolite.
the OT forum was impolite (especially by '04..;)
the C&D forum was impolite

they're both gone because they were impolite. (Along with the Tavern, which was closed because of fear the rowdies would barge in, take the place over, and get drunk and be even more impolite..;)

So this is nothin'. I've seen real impoliteness...and... the horror, the horror..;)

Pakled, the Tavern sounds like fun! I would love to have a few virtual drinks, get virtually drunk, and make a virtual - or would it be digital - ass of myself dancing on a virtual table with a lampshade from freestuff on my head. Check out Jiff3d's recent render with the drunken Squeak the mice laying around with beer bottles. LOL!

Quote - << Dude with a cat picture....:o)

I think someone has a cat confused with a dog.  I've had male cats and none of them ever
peed on something in that position. 

Yep, all kitties "squat" :)

yeah..to be honest, near the end, I'd come in once a week and dust off the patrons..;) got real quiet by the end...sigh..;)

yep i get impolite when in yank land when tryng to explain to a serving wench how to make a cupa tea properly, and how to cook the bacon right, as i find it far easier pop in kitchen and show em how the civilized countrie's do it.
That dont include france in the civilized countrie's.

I know this is a gross over-simplification of many of the flame wars that occur here (and anywhere online), but a great deal of arguments are no doubt born out of misunderstanding.

That is the true downside of the written word. Humourous banter becomes aggressive argumentativeness when read in the unintentioned tone.

Agreed. Also coupled with that is the usual parcel of human failings: ego, compulsiveness, a tendency to think the worst, a refusal to bear criticism... things like that. /P

O...M...G ~ROTFL!~

OK! I'm actually quite glad that I started this tread. Seems people have a need for expressing themselves in this forum without saying something about an actual forum-subject.

And why not?

Personally, I like "threads about nothing".  Oftentimes, those types of threads make more sense than the threads which stay rigidly on topic.

Of course, there are forums around which are heavily moderated to the point of being sterile.  shrug  That type of approach serves a useful purpose in purely technical forums.  But around here such an approach would spike a large part of what makes this forum what it is.

I enjoy OT posts.  They help to make things........interesting.

If a forum thread is a type of conversation -- then just like conversations in person: someone might change the subject midway through the discussion.  Someone might even tell a joke.

Jokes are FINE. But sometimes they make things get out of hand. Humor is not something onesided. My opinion on what is funny might be different than anybody else on this whole site. And I have to say that sometimes it seems to me that jokes are beeing used to insult people with different opinions. Humor is such a strong way of expression. In the end it might be seen as it all comes down to ethitcs. Sometimes it might help to think throug if one has had enough empathy with other people and their opinions. Excuse me for beeing serious. That's the way MY mind works. But PLEASE do tell jokes. 

Here's a SONG for ya':
"The world is full of Kings and Queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams. It's HEAVEN and HELL. Oh well. Fool, Fool! Look for the Answer!" Ronnie James Dio(Black Sabbath) Heaven And Hell(1980)

Sometimes humor comes in the form of satire.  And satire can be very, very funny.

However, in order for satire to truly have a bite: there must be a grain of truth centered at the core of the joke.

Seriousness is a good thing.  But so is freedom of expression.  And as I've heard others say before: threads don't come with steering wheels.  At least not around here, they don't.  There are places like that.  I don't go there.

In this forum they've got a balance of sorts.  You can't do what they do at the so-called "free" sites.....where you can commit verbal murder on the other members.  But neither do they execute you for expressing perfectly legitimate opinions -- within the bounds of the TOS.

And so it should be. I'm actually allowed to express my opinon on emphaty and politeness. I'm allowed to be serous. Then again... My SATIRE might be so different to yours that you just did not understand it. And vice versa. I have a schizotypal personality dissorder and so words means A LOT to me. I love to play with words. Sometimes i missunderstand words in a big way. That can be funny too. I'm not a big fan of cruelity thoug.

Quote - I'm not a big fan of cruelity thoug.

That I agree with.

good. GOOD! hehe....

On the other hand: it's easy to be reasonable when you are among reasonable people.  But when someone comes in and starts throwing their weight around -- then they shouldn't be surprised when someone else starts throwing it around, too...........

Even when humor is used as a device to do so.

Signing off for the night.  Enjoyed the free discussion.

Sometimes people might feel that noe family members should not express themselves

hehe. okidoki

  Best example?..... try reading a technical manual, cover-to-cover..... or, would you rather read a really funny story? I like it here, mostly because of the "laid-back" atmosphere... I'd MUCH rather be here, than a tech briefing, any day of the week. Lou.
  BTW "Laid-back", for those who haven't heard the expression yet, means "very relaxed and non-formal"

Quote - yep i get impolite when in yank land when tryng to explain to a serving wench how to make a cupa tea properly, and how to cook the bacon right, as i find it far easier pop in kitchen and show em how the civilized countrie's do it.
That dont include france in the civilized countrie's.

So how do you cook the bacon right? Not that we even agree on bacon. (I think you chaps call it "streaky bacon", and usually neither cure nor smoke it.

For my part, we cook it in an oven on a raised wire rack in a half-sheet cookie pan. The grease runs off and collects in the pan, where it can be poured into a Jam jar and saved for later use.

Bacon isn't Kosher!  Try roasted lamb instead.
DPH

ok. now I'm hungry while I wait for my render to finish !!

I'm not Jewish, but I have always hated ham and pork. especially my grandmother's nasty pork roasts they made me eat as a child. I am sure they were good if you liked pork - she was a good cook - but all I remember was nasty bubbling fat in that pot, GROSS.

*I know this is a gross over-simplification of many of the flame wars that occur here (and anywhere online), but a great deal of arguments are no doubt born out of misunderstanding.

That is the true downside of the written word. Humourous banter becomes aggressive argumentativeness when read in the unintentioned tone.

*Those are very good points, but there is another side of the coin:  people whose posts are phrased in terms that are, by any understanding, excessively abrasive, but who litter the same posts with smilies.   They seem to think that they can give any amount of offence, but deflect all blame by inserting a few insincere smilies.

Sorry, Drifterlee, but that pig looks yummy, if a bit on the unfattened side.   A Hindu friend of mine, totally vegetarian, confessed that she loved the smell of frying bacon.   It's quite common around here for butchers' shops to have curious images on display that involve grinning pigs.   I've always found those a bit peculiar;  I like eating pig-based products, but I don't really imagine that the pigs are quite so taken with the idea.   I think that that sort of thing is even more common in France than here.   I don't remember seeing smug-looking sheep or cattle used in the same way (apart from on that frightful "La vache qui rit" so-called cheese that gets inflicted on you at 35000 feet, halfway across the Atlantic).    Pigs are certainly far more intelligent than cattle or sheep.  Perhaps, that makes a grinning pig more plausible than a smiling Friesian, although a philosophical pig would make at least as much sense.