Thursday, February 28, 2019

Housekeeping

A few things:

  • I turned off commenting on a thread that seems to have gotten out of control. I've never done this before, but it seemed appropriate. I have not deleted any of the comments, although I always reserve the right to blow away comments that don't meet our minimal standards.
  • What are the minimal standards? Don't be racist, don't be ad hominem, and don't threaten anyone.
  • Remember, everyone who is a listed contributor to this blog is a member of my immediate family. We're nice people, we really are, but don't crap in our cornflakes.
  • I also made this blog secure (no more http, it's https). I should have done that a long time ago. The change should not change the functionality of the blog and if you have a blog of your own (and many of you do) and link to this feature, those links should still work.
  • As far as I can tell, there's not easy way to block abusive commenters on the Blogger platform, although I have a question in to tech support about it. The good news is that, although this blog began over 13 years ago, it's not been necessary to do it. I do have pretty good spam filters, so that's rarely an issue. I will find out how to do it, however.
I appreciate your support and loyalty to this enterprise, and your friendship.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

I never been called a guito before. Couldn't stop laughing.

Mr. D said...

I never been called a guito before. Couldn't stop laughing.

An Italian dude who plays guitar, perhaps.

Brad Carlson said...

I guess I never paid much attention to Jason's commentary before, so I was quite taken aback how deranged he appeared in that thread.

I don't say this to be condescending, but I honestly feel for the guy. Somethin' obviously ain't right.

Gino said...

Brad: i suspect meth. i been around more than my fair share. that was a typical meth rant. i hope he can kick it.

Mr. D said...

I don’t know what’s going on. It was out of character. He’s been a family friend for many, many years.

Gino said...

he's in my fb feed for a reason. i enjoy him, and his sometimes off the wall humor.

Petercorp said...

Being a quarter Italian myself I've been called a lot worse. I've never done meth. I don't have any good reasons for my behavior. I will submit an explanation for said actions.

I've been a contract employee for a printing firm working QC for them since July. I planned on taking a vacation for the long Thanksgiving Holiday. But I wrecked my car a couple of weeks before that. I was also going to seek another position through the contractor about the same time. I had also planned on at least getting out of town during Xmas, and NYE.

Instead I spent from 12/10-01/06 where I was only off Xmas Day, My Bday, and only three of those shifts were less than twelve hours. On the 14th of Jan, the company announced that they were closing the location. They asked me to stay on until they shut their doors this summer. I mistakenly agreed.

It all has me a little depressed and feeling a little all work and no play. Not great reasoning for going scorched earth like I did, but there's more to it than just a bad day, or a long winter. The last three months have gotten to me a lot more so than I realized. When this is all over I wont be a Trump supporter, or calling for abortion to become legal, but after several days in the gulf coast sun I'll be a lot more amiable. But until then I wont treat this like a message board where I've typed things to and about people that can't be taken back during a heated exchange. This is a lot less anonymous as I have met Mr. D in person, even though it was brief and many years ago. It's a basic extension of other social media.

Mr. D said...

Thanks, Jason. You and my brother go way, way back, and that counts for a lot. We may be old (although generally most of us are probably more Gen X than Boomer), but we're generally not that angry. At least I'm not. If I'm conservative, it's because the things I value in my own life are worth conserving. Peace to you, good sir.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

I'm very happy to be peaceful and I wish you well.

Unknown said...

All is forgiven, Jason. Everybody deserves a do over at times.

3john2 said...

Gadzooks, I go away for a few days of sunshine and to take in a conference of futurists, and I miss all the excitement. Or not. I did get a lot to think about while there, and there’s a lot that I’ll be unpacking for some time, but one thing really stood out: what companies are looking for. What does that have to do with this (and the infamous) thread? The greatest identified gap that companies such as Google and Amazon have identified is in human skills, and more precisely, empathy. Everything that can be automated, will be automated, and it’s happening faster than we even realize. What can’t be automated is empathy - the ability to relate to others and understand them - and ultimately work together and innovate.

Researchers have been measuring empathy levels in incoming college students since 2000, and the “scores” are dropping year by year. There is also scientific measurement of the subliminal ways our bodies and brains react and communicate in close proximity to each other that we don’t realize. Personally, I don’t think there’s any less natural “empathy” in the younger generation; everyone has a certain portion - but it needs training, and the ways of training that have been disappearing through our little screens.

I’m going to add the closed thread to my notes from the conference, Not as fodder, but as yeast.