Please note all comment trolls: The only one with power here is me.
I control the vertical.
I control the horizontal.
I can twist your words into a goo of syrupy adulation for me. Or I can simply add a tiny phrase to make you sound like a raving lunatic (bemuzikt).
Then I can ban your IP, so you can’t comment further.
BITE ME.
One thing we must do when faced with Internet goons (or government goons) is to always make sure to notify the proper authorities. It doesn’t always work. In fact, it usually doesn’t work. But that’s part of having civilized interactions.
In regard to the Fark goons, I wrote an e-mail to Drew Curtis. After describing the situation and my normal admiration for Fark, I said:
Again, I realize that not all Farkers are like this. There has been a small group of people protesting this immature behavior. But the overall tone has been one of “he got what he deserved and screw you for calling us on it.” (In a bit more graphic terms)
I just thought you’d like to know that these people are ruining your reputation as a cool place to find funny links and photos on the web. If the name of Fark doesn’t mean more than this, then be prepared for your support to slowly trickle away or become the first place people think of when they mention unabashed idiots on the Web. I like Fark, and I don’t want to see that happen. But I won’t promote the site with any of my meager power until something is done about its goon squads.
To which, I received this reply:
We ban people constantly on Fark, up to 10 a day, for behavior like this. We get rid of them as soon as they show themselves. The good news is these people are truly in the minority, Fark has 1.4 million readers.
Drew Curtis
I thanked him for his response, and told him that the owner of the blog in question might have a lengthy list of IP’s for him to investigate. He said he would contact them and find out.
Hopefully, things will get better, not worse, because of my meddling. We shall see.
On a side note that Statia is just gonna love, one of the main wKen defenders in the Fark forums was Wil Wheaton…
Ever hear THIS before? Oh, yes, you have. The Wilhelm death scream might sound ridiculous when heard by itself, but blended into the soundtrack of a movie, it somehow works. And, boy, has it ever been blended.
Steve Lee at Hollywood Lost and Found has an extensive list of its movie appearances, including Them!, A Star is Born, and Willow. It’s a favorite of George Lucas’ sound designer, Ben Burtt, appearing in just about every Star Wars and Indiana Jones film.
NPR’s On the Media has a nice feature story about the origins and continued use of this strange little sound clip.
[ Culled from the choice linkage at Shattered Buddha ]
So, I went into Pepperkat’s room to tell her we were going out to supper. As I approached, I could hear the hoppin’ rhythms of something called Shakkazombie.
I couldn’t help it. I just started boppin’ to the music.
As I was leaving, I heard her say: “I need a gun.”
Public de-linking ceremonies are an immature response to something that offends you. Here’s mine.
Fark started out as a nice little project by a geek with a penchant for strange links. Cool enough. That’s not unlike many bloggers (myself included). What it has turned into, however, is a hangout for every junior high schooler with an Internet connection and a giggly response to pictures of breasts. They tried to ruin Robyn’s party, and now they’ve taken their ignorant stupidity to wPhotoBlog.
Nothing against Drew Curtis. Never talked to the guy. But anyone with uncontrollable minions like that doesn’t get a link from my corner cave in the web. Buh-bye, Fark.
UPDATE: Drew Curtis very kindly answered my e-mail regarding this incident and promised that the perpetrators would be investigated. A copy of his reply is in this post. I thanked him and Fark is back on my links list.
Joel is testing a theory. I don’t know why he’s bothering. It’s verified daily by the number of comments Wil Wheaton gets.
As an antidote to the stupid Two Towers protests, I give you The Return of the King Protest!
[ via Sgt. Grump ]
I give up. There’s too much cool stuff on this thing we call Da Web.
Exhibit A: wPhotoBlog.
This is not your typical pile o’ pics. These are answers to the question “I Love _____” in photo form. But it’s not just a repository for cute kids and mmmm….Guinness. It’s a contest! The pic with the most comments gets a prize. (Bribery. Another reason wKen and Suzie are so gonna win.)
Check ’em out, and leave lots of comments. And will some kind, rich person, please, buy me a frickin’ camera!
Update: OK, I don’t have a camera anymore, but I have a SCANNER. My kids are gonna hate me before I get off this blog kick…
OK, this MP3 a day series is going to be wicked cool. The first three days were pleasant oddities (an old 78rpm record of a couple of women, a woman named The Space Lady, and a toe-tappin’ organ grinder record), but today’s offering is The Dondero High School Symphony Band and A Capella Choir doing Sweet’s Fox On The Run and Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love.
Oh. My. God. This is so cool. It’s exactly what it says–a high school symphony band and accompanying choir (not a capella, of course) from Royal Oak, Michigan, on a casette someone found in a thrift store, entitled “Pop Concert 1996.” I love the way they do the “echo” at the beginning of the verses on Fox On The Run.
Even cooler, it lead me to The Langley Schools Music Project. I realize that some of you already knew about this gem, but it’s the first time I had heard of it. It’s a 60-voice chorus of kids from western Canada in 1976-77, singing the Beach Boys, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, The Bay City Rollers and others. It’s just a 2-track tape deck in a school gymnasium and wasn’t “…staged to achieve money or fame, to sell albums or land a record contract.”
Amazing stuff. Simple. Free-spirited. Unpretentious.
Now, I need to find Mr. Bangs and see why we only ever sang stuff like Kenny Rogers’ You Decorated My Life. *shudder*
[ Also on Blogcritics ]
Here’s someone else’s insane project that proposes to present one mp3 file every day of 2003 to download. They will be focused on musical pieces, but will also include spoken word. Only the most recent four will be available at any one time.
[ via Brian Kane ]
