I am Blakeyrat, ask me anything. (no longer answering questions)
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This may probably explode into a whole thread in its own right, but since I was not here during the Early Discodays: What's so wrong with gamification?
The idea is to encourage behavior X by giving people Internetpointzzz for doing behavior X. The problem is, in reality, behavior Y is easier to do and gives more Internetpointzzz.
So X on Wikipedia might be, "write good articles", and Y turns out to be, "make a ton of small edits", and you can get promoted a lot quicker if you do Y instead of X. (Partly because the first people who were promoted turned Y into one of the factors they consider while promoting! Number of edits! No one bothers looking at the quality of the edits.)
X on StackOverflow is providing answers to technical questions. Y is skipping difficult questions and only answering easy ones. They tried to fix this by adding in "bounty scores" you can give to questions, but the only way to add a bounty is to have tons of Internetpointzzz and the only way to get Internetpointzzz is to play the "answer only easy questions" game, so people who actually need the help have no way of getting the help. Only obsessives who care about making their Internetpointzzz score has high as possible.
That post I quoted from Slashdot yesterday actually has a pretty succinct statement of the problem. Something like: "StackOverflow isn't a site for programmers like me, it's a site for programmers who want to spend all their free time getting more points on StackOverflow." StackOverflow is actually worse in other ways too, for example, the early users gobbled up all the Interpointzzz and continue to earn them for doing nothing while constantly adding more and more limitations to what new users can do, making it impossible for new users to ever catch up to the same Internetpointzzz level.
Anyway, the real point is I don't want to interact with people on a forum who are only on that forum to collect Internetpointzzz. Apart from being really boring people, they have absolutely no interest in actual conversation and are usually spammy motherfuckers. Think about that British rice professional who recently rage-quit-- that's the kind of user gamification produces.
EDIT: since I'm re-reading this, I'll also say the tacit assumption all these sites have that people who produce good content are good at moderating Internet communities is a complete fantasy. I'm not sure where that idea came from.
Back when I admined a RP MUD, the most creative players were the ones you wanted to keep FURTHEST AWAY from the admin positions. And the best admins were generally less innovative players. (We solved the problem by making a rule that you had to log out of your admin account before you could RP. That worked most of the time.)
Atwood's rules for "Trust Levels" only guarantee that the user spends a lot of time on the forum. And that they exercise some of its features. They don't guarantee the person promoted won't change the title of every thread to "super shit fart #4". I don't think they even implement an automated way to demote someone who does. (Can you open a flag on a thread title change?)
What's even more tragic for a site like Wikipedia is that I could be the best moderator in the world, but suck at writing encyclopedic content or copy-edits, and I'd never be able to obtain admin on their site. Never in a million years. But being a great moderator has nothing to do with being able to copy-edit an encyclopedia article. Nothing remotely to do with it. (I mean, Wikipedia is beyond hope in a hundred ways, but that's just an example of how gamification can hurt a site.)
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Software Development. 9-5 job or cornerstone of your identity?
Job.
I'm curious about this because when I've gone looking for jobs you see advertisements that say you must eat, breath and shit code or something to that effect.
I'd never hire a person like that. The software they'd produce would be atrocious. (Think: Git.)
Actually if more people want to weight in on this I'd love to read your opinions.
Start your own thread.
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I still love to play the first Settlers/Serf City. Did you ever play that?
Nope. Not sure I've ever heard of it.
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Is there a Swedish idiom that compares to our "You just kicked a hornet's nest"?
I don't know.
Maybe something like, "You just angered the cow by sticking a salmon up its ass along with an onion"?
Probably not.
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I'd play the game 10 minutes for free, I can't guarantee I'd post the video if it didn't turn out well. Plus given how Dwarf Fortress "works", it's probably pretty shitty content to do-- no graphics, no sound effects, no background music, probably a PITA to record
What about Gnomoria, which is the basic functionality of DF, with graphics?
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What is your favorite Starbucks drink?
The drink I order most often is vanilla lattes. I don't know if I have a favorite. Most Starbucks drinks (including the one I order) are way too sweet for me. I can't stand the pumpkin spice ones.
Are you married/involved with someone?
Just your mom.
Are you currently insolvent?
No.
What's your opinion on Hawaiian pizza?
I like it.
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Why type of tires are on your car?
Rubber.
Bosco or Nestle Qwik?
1920s cartoon character, or chocolate drink? The fuck?
I guess... Bosco?
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What do you - as a person and as a persona - like about this community?
It's not Slashdot.
Have you ever regretted playing the asshole jerk role?
I regret everything I do at all times forever.
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There are GUIs for dwarf fortress.
Ok well I'm definitely not going to spend time modding a game I already know I'll hate.
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@Spanky587 said:
Why type of tires are on your car?
Rubber.
Bosco or Nestle Qwik?
1920s cartoon character, or chocolate drink? The fuck?
I guess... Bosco?
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If you liked the old Civ games and if you like strategy games whose mechanics are easy to understand (but which are still challenging), you may like it. Unlike Civ, it's real-time, but not too fast-paced. Only downside: It's from the early 90s.
It has a pretty nice manual, which you should definitely read before playing.
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I haven't read any of the thread yet. What questions have you already answered?
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This thread should be submitted to Slahdot as an example of the proper way to interview someone.
Filed under: Not that they would listen
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What about Gnomoria, which is the basic functionality of DF, with graphics?
I don't own it.
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DC or Marvel?
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DC or Marvel?
Probably DC. I kind of grew up on Rogue's boobies in the X-Men animated series, but Bruce Timm's DC animated universe was the shit, both when Batman: The Animated Series was new, and all the way to Justice League's last season.
Guardians of the Galaxy is a good example of a Marvel property that plays like a DC property. You could easily imagine it being a Bruce Timm Green Lantern story, for example.
As for the comics, I might phrase it like:
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DC has better characters
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Marvel tells better stories
Being a DC comics fan is basically just saying, "wow, Wonder Woman is a great character." Followed by, "just ignore that every story featuring her in the last 15 years has been utter shit."
BTW one thing I hate from both companies is the characters who look perfectly normal and also have superpowers who mope around feeling sorry for themselves. Fuck off. DC did that with Superman in that dumb Smallville show, Marvel does it all the time. Fuck you, Cyclops. You have to wear sunglasses everywhere. Ooooo. Such a tragedy. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE CANCER YOU MOPING FUCKER!
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Do you have a favorite TDWTF-frontpage article? And if yes, which one?
Filed Under: I am asking boring questions, I know...
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Would you be interested in buying the town of Swett, South Dakota? It is currently on sale for $250,000.
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Probably DC. I kind of grew up on Rogue's boobies in the X-Men animated series, but Bruce Timm's DC animated universe was the shit, both when Batman: The Animated Series was new, and all the way to Justice League's last season.
Interesting. Favorite Batman movie?
Guardians of the Galaxy is a good example of a Marvel property that plays like a DC property. You could easily imagine it being a Bruce Timm Green Lantern story, for example.
I never made the comparison to Green Lantern, but my cousin and I had an hours long drunken conversation once about how Guardians of the Galaxy seemed like a story line that Marvel stole from DC. A raccoon wth a bazooka, a walking tree, etc., it all seems DC.
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Do you have a favorite TDWTF-frontpage article? And if yes, which one?
Not really fair of me to answer, since I haven't read hardly any of them in the last few years.
The two I remember best are:
"Secure multi-mediation is the future of all webbing!"
And the one where the group decided to write a learning AI to do a simple file format translation task and, when the AI invariably failed to work, used it to make stupid children's stories. That one kind of got memed to death on the old forums.
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And the one where the group decided to write a learning AI to do a simple file format translation task and, when the AI invariably failed to work, used it to make stupid children's stories. That one kind of got memed to death on the old forums.
I need a link to this, oh lord...
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Interesting. Favorite Batman movie?
I haven't seen them all, and Batman's not my favorite character anyway.
Probably the 1966 one. Because it was funny as shit. Even that trailer is hilarious. It looks like Adam West is doing it at gunpoint.
I never made the comparison to Green Lantern, but my cousin and I had an hours long drunken conversation once about how Guardians of the Galaxy seemed like a story line that Marvel stole from DC.
Not just DC-in-general, but Bruce Timm specifically-- he wrote a bunch of stories structured exactly like that. I mean hell, you can just see Green Lantern John Stewart and Justice League's Hawkwomen in the leading roles.
Knowing DC, it was pitched to them first, and some moron in their executive suites said no.
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I need a link to this, oh lord...
I'm guessing he's talking about "No Quack." First google result was its appearance as a classic in 2007.
Classic WTF: No Quack
Although I've taken the rest of the year off, I wanted to share a few fun classics this week. No Quack was originally published on 2006-12-01, and has become one of my all time favorites... M.A. is one of the world's foremost experts on neural networks. His undergraduate specialty was artificial...
EDIT: "No quack" is all over the CS forums.
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That's funny, I could remember the line "the duck go" but I couldn't remember the line "no quack" which I guess is what most people remember it as.
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Actual source.
M.A. is one of the world's foremost experts on neural networks. His undergraduate specialty was artificial intelligence, his master's thesis was about genetic algorithms, and his doctoral dissertation covered evolutionary programming. Such an extensive computer science education opened up a wide...
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You can't work in Microsoft ecosystem anymore. Which technology stack / area do you pick as alternative?
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Pick one thing @blakeyrat did you would remove from Internet and human memory, if you could.
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What was the point of this thread and would you say it succeeded in achieving that?
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10 posts were split to a new topic: I am blakeyrat, troll me with anything
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1) You can't work in Microsoft ecosystem anymore. Which technology stack / area do you pick as alternative?
MonoDevelop and quietly weeping at what we've lost.
2) Pick one thing @blakeyrat did you would remove from Internet and human memory, if you could.
The thing I did that I most regret is stop posting here. Because then when I resumed posting, I had to deal with months and months and months of taunting about "rage quits".
Right. Because it's such a stupid thing to quit an activity when it's no longer fun. Better make fun of someone for that.
3) What was the point of this thread and would you say it succeeded in achieving that?
Wasting time, and yes it has because I'm late for work as I type.
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1) You can't work in Microsoft ecosystem anymore. Which technology stack / area do you pick as alternative?
I will field this one.
http://stream1.gifsoup.com/webroot/animatedgifs2/4254467_o.gif
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- Do you hate leading questions?
- Why is Office Space the greatest movie of all time?
- OK, enough trolling questions... time for a serious one.
Continuing on from a previous question from @DogsB: Why do you only do programming as a job now and not also as a hobby?
Filed under: When did Discourse and/or Chrome change it so hitting Ctrl+F twice no longer brings up the browser's Find box?
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Question: is there a story behind the name "blakeyrat", or did it simply pop into your mind?
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What's your favorite music genre and/or artist?
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The two I remember best are:
"Secure multi-mediation is the future of all webbing!"
And the one where the group decided to write a learning AI to do a simple file format translation task and, when the AI invariably failed to work, used it to make stupid children's stories. That one kind of got memed to death on the old forums.
Neither are mine.
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Q1: Have you answered this question yet?
Q2: Will you retweet this?
Q3: When did Americans lose their British accent?
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I played the crap out of SimAnt when I was wee, even long after I realized that there wasn't much of a game in there. The whole notion that "Hey, these are really ants!" carried it for me.
Getting a nest in the kitchen was always my favourite part, and having ants run into the electrical outlet by accident.
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@Lorne_Kates said:
When did Americans lose their British accent?
The modern American accent is probably closer to what English was when they diverged than modern English is. Basically, we're still moving on and you're stuck in the past.
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The modern American accent is probably closer to what English was when they diverged than modern English is. Basically, we're still moving on and you're stuck in the past.
Then why is it whenever there's a movie done set in (nebulous whenever) "the past", everyone talks with British accepts (for some raisin). Even if it's in, like, 1910 America.
I think at around 1920 movie accents suddenly change.
1920-late 30s - Everyone talks like a gangsta or flappa, y'see?
1940s-1950s - Everyone talks in uptight warhero toughguy, or breathless heronie diva
1960s-1970s - Everyone talks all mellow, you dig?
1980s - Everyone is on cocaine and IS INTENSE!
1990s-now - "modern"
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Software Development. 9-5 job or cornerstone of your identity?
I'm curious about this because when I've gone looking for jobs you see advertisements that say you must eat, breath and shit code or something to that effect. Most of the people I've worked with just see it as a way to pay the bills.
Actually if more people want to weight in on this I'd love to read your opinions.
When I was first starting, I LOVED programming. Every now and then, when I am working on my own side projects, I still love it. But, for the most part, having it be my JOB, and being told how and where and with what to do it, sucked most of the joy out of it. I am still good at it, and doing it 9-5 5 days a week is no problem, but it isn't my identity. I frankly don't trust people who claim they live and breathe code. They are either selling something, drank the cool-aid, or are still too new into it to know better. o_O And also, people who are THAT into it, tend to have no lives. I have a family and hobbies, thankyouverymuch. I have other things to do besides code.
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I haven't seen them all, and Batman's not my favorite character anyway.
Probably the 1966 one. Because it was funny as shit. Even that trailer is hilarious. It looks like Adam West is doing it at gunpoint.
Agreed!
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Blakey,
Which language would you recommend to someone trying to learn to program? I have struggled with that one.
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Do you have any alt account on this forum? What is it?
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I am @boomzilla's sock puppet.
