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[Thomas Pain]

hi erreyone maybe this has been discussed before if it has then i'm verry sorry

don't you think the "Today I'm gonna... " thread is a little out of control?  it's not really a thread, is it?  It's a chat session, with a log.  a thread by definition is a group of related stuff. 

The idea with the topics is there should be one thread per topic, ideally.  give or take a few.  not give or take a few thousand...

I guess it's just more convenient to post in an existing topic, than it is to start a new one

also, it forces everyone who is already participating in threads in that topic to look at your thread.  This forges a sense of community, in the same way that you would be forced to nod hello to someone as you walk down the sidewalk if that person is sitting on their porch dropping some acid, like they used to do in the 600's.  I don't think that there is any selgiraffe intent to force people to pay attention to one's threads, it's just kinda a sense that people get on an subconscious level, that this topic is a place of community, and people play fair in the topic accordingly.  They post stuff that generally fits, with a frequency and rhythm that generally fits that "Today I'm gonna... " topic.

you crazy sons a guns.  you're using the software in a way it was not intended to accomplish something the software could not otherwise accomplish.  you're all hackers.

[Choop]

we don't recognize your "rules" man we do what we want how we want

[lprkn]

I read topics in which I haven't posted. I'm crazy like that.

[AugustWest]

... post in this thread.


Oooh, it's a paradox!

[Bobby Isosceles]

I think the fundamental difference of opinion here has to do with the way information is treated.

The concept of a long "Today I'm gonna" thread treats information in a manner analogous to a stream of flowing water. Since, by default, a lot of "Today, I'm gonna" information becomes obsolete after 24 hours or so, it's more like a stream of water that you can periodically dip a cup into to refill and drink from. It is not expected to digest the entirety or even the majority of this information. It is a moving flow of information that is too vast to digest and is only meant to be drawn from.

As a programmer/engineer(*) our friend TP is viewing information as a commodity to be stored and warehoused. Instead of the rushing river into which we can dip our cup anytime, he is thinking of a water tower which stores water. As such, the information has to be collated, organized, and efficiently dispensed. If the only way you got water was from a big faucet outside the water tower, you'd be overwhelmed (and likely dead). So it is with information, if you view Today I'm Gonna as a giant information warehouse. Doubly, nay, trebly so if you are a programmer/geek with a touch of the ol' Irish Aspie, and thus a compulsive need to digest all information presented. The one giant faucet that is a single thread is overwhelming and even dangerous.

(It is here that I digress and point out to any who have not yet seen it: http://randsinrepose.com is a fine blog from a product manager at Apple and one of the demented minds behind JerkCity (www.jerkcity.com - NSFW NSFW NSFW). Rands in Repose is a great "How to care for your aspie nerd" blog and is a great insight into understanding their minds and making everyone happy.)

However, not all information is valid forever, and the cost of archival is often not worth the value once retrieved. Water can be stored in towers because, well, it doesn't rot. But Today I'm Gonna? information is for the most part useless because of its inherent aging and decay. The stream analogy makes it more worthwhile because then you can randomly step in and read the last page, maybe two, and step out. You can skip reading Today I'm Gonna for months on end -- Lord knows I do, because very few people are interesting and even interesting people aren't interesting all the time -- and you will lose nothing by skipping out. Today I'm gonna is an inherently renewing, inherently decaying, inexhaustible but unstorable resource.(**) It is the dharma of existence, consumed at once in the act of its own creation, only understandable by not understanding it. You must drink from Today I'm Gonna as if it were a fountain; coming like an avalanche, pouring down a mountain.

I DON'T MIND THE SUN SOMETIMES blah blah i dont know the rest of the wooooooooooords
something something something and i smell you with my noooooose



(*)(what the fuck IS a virtual tape deck anyway? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the advantages of tape, that it is slow but durable and info-dense?)
(**) like /b/

[Toaster]

We are a rogue message board.

[Arachno-capitalist]

http://www.ketv.com/mostpopular/22311916/detail.html
Train Derailment Injures 3 In Columbus
Accident Included 2 Locomotives, 23 Rail Cars
COLUMBUS, Neb. --
The Union Pacific Railroad is investigating the cause of a train derailment in Columbus that sent three people to the hospital Thursday night.

The railroad said two crew members and a contract worker were treated for injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Two of the workers have been released from the hospital.

UP crews spent the night clearing intersections in the city. Two locomotives and 23 rail cars jumped the tracks.

The train was bound for California from Chicago.

The railroad is trying to determine how much damage was caused by the derailment.

[CortJstr]

We once had FedEx call us to say some of our packages were lost because of a plane crash. They were just letters we could print and send again but nobody knew quite how to react.

[greenkoolayd]

I DON'T MIND THE SUN SOMETIMES blah blah i dont know the rest of the wooooooooooords
something something something and i smell you with my noooooose

I don't mind the sun sometimes
The images it shows
I can taste you on my lips
And smell you in my clothes
Cinnamon and sugary
And softly spoken lies
You never know just how you look
Through other people's eyes

[smick]

We once had FedEx call us to say some of our packages were lost because of a plane crash. They were just letters we could print and send again but nobody knew quite how to react.

I bet you Tom Hanks opened them and read them.