Disemvowelling, a.k.a. X-Ry Spcs

Posted By: Glenn HaumanPosted On:

(Just to make it clear before we start, This Is From Glenn. I’d use the blink tag to say so, but that’s just so Mosaic 1.0.)

Having come to the conclusion that no one here is paying any attention to a certain individual’s commentary because of his abusive and abrasive style, and noting that it’s a real pain scrolling past all of his frequent posts, they’d best be shortened a bit.

So I yanked all the vowels. This makes his comments significantly shorter while making them only slightly less incomprehensible.

Does this mean it’s now forbidden to have arguments in PeterDavid.net’s comment threads? Not at all. Arguments are fine, including vigorous ones, as long as you maintain a civil tone. Does that mean you can get away with saying anything here, as long as you say it well enough? Pretty much.

If a case can be made by X-Ray that his posts should be restored, I’ll consider it. In the meantime, he can post anything except the letters a, e, i, o, and u.

Special thanks to Teresa Nielsen Hayden for the inspiration.

171 comments on “Disemvowelling, a.k.a. X-Ry Spcs”

  1. You know, I thought it was funny. But, really, I reconsidered, it’s not.

    You want him out of here, Glenn/PAD? Set forth rules (that are applied to one and all) about being civil towards each other and what the exact consequences are if a poster does not follow those rules. That way X-Ray’s right/privledge of posting here is in his own hands (or fingers, I guess.)

    And, hey, PAD Community if PAD/Glenn lets him speak his mind, ignore him if you don’t like what he’s saying. Be mature.

  2. Glenn: I just got the Internal Server Error message, but the error message is in error. My post actually got sent to the DB, so I’m not sure what the deal is.

  4. K-nuck: We had our fun. It was funny when I first read Glenn’s solution, but X-Ray’s humiliation is not the answer.

    Don’t make me make comparisions between Glenn’s actions and those of Hilter! 😉

  5. As much fun as humiliating X-Ray is to watch, I think that I’d like to request that he either be completely allowed to post or completely banned. This half-measure seems…petty.

    Given X-Ray’s rude behavior in the past, I’d lean toward the latter, since X-Ray doesn’t seem to understand that posting here is a privilege, not a right.

    On the other hand, if he were allowed to do full posts again, zipping past him doesn’t take THAT much effort.

    PAD’s board, PAD’s rules. I realize that it’s PAD’s decision, but if our opinions in this matter, then you’ve had mine.

    Thanks.

  6. Man. and I thought he was entertaining before….. I jsut shot pepsi out my nose laughing at him.

  7. Thanks, Mark. “Petty” is exactly the word I couldn’t quite come up with. Petty is what this is and I expect more from Glenn and PAD.

  8. This “solution” is silly. Either ban the guy, or ignore him. But this “removing letters” thing is dumb, and stoops to his level.

  9. Michael: okay, I was seeing some of that last night, but am having trouble reproducing the bug reliably. Sigh.

    Jason (or was it John?): We have a number of ways of making sure the right person gts dsmvlld.

  10. Honestly, I don’t think the action is directed at X-Ray so much as it is directed at morons like me who don’t possess the discipline to ignore him. That said, I still think it’s funny as hëll (and, of course, apologize for my non-Karate Kid-esque discipline).

    There’s a reason I actually engage trolls, by the by. I fully realize that I will never, ever change the mind of a troll (or even get them to consider an opposing opinion). However, it is entirely possible that I will be able to do that for someone who is either actively engaged in the conversation, or just lurking. I know that he will never change my mind (or get me to consider an opposing opinion), but someone (say James Carter, Warlord of Mars, for instance) might be able to do the same for me.

  11. “Petty” is exactly the word I couldn’t quite come up with.”

    dang it BB. You’re like Jiminy Cricket. Yes I guess it is petty. And to tell you the truth, If he keeps on desperately trying to post, A) it is gonna make Glenn look like a censor, and B) it is going to give him an air of nobility to the Newbies, who won’t be able to read his old posts anyway. I thought it was funny at first, but now, it is just starting to feel like teasing the fat kid in fourth grade. It is funny at first, but even if he was rude to you, there is only so long you can tease him before you feel like a schmuck. I am agreeing with BB and Luigi on this one.

  13. >Honestly, I don’t think the action is directed at X-Ray so much as it is directed at morons like me who don’t possess the discipline to ignore him. That said, I still think it’s funny as hëll (and, of course, apologize for my non-Karate Kid-esque discipline).

    K-nuck: I hadn’t considered that point. Thanks.

    James: I didn’t come up with “petty” so I can’t take the, uh, ummm.. credit? That’d be Mark Patterson that used it first. But I agree with everything you said.

  14. It would have been amusing as a one time thing but put me down in the category of those who agree that this is petty and way more effort than the guy deserves.

    He wants attention. You gave it too him. He wants to be seen as a victim of liberal bullying. Now he can claim it. He wants to believe that his words are driving you all to distraction. And here we are in yet another thread either started explicitly over him or hijacked by him. Hey, when do I get MY thread? BILL MULLIGAN-HANDSOME GUY, something like that.

    IGNORE HIM! It’s easy! If you can’t help but rise to his bait, like a sunfish that not 2 minutes ago just got thrown back in, well, who’s fault it that.

    Barring the ability to do that, then ban him. If the guy is driving anyone that crazy, ban him. It’s your blog. Otherwise he will continue to post the occasional missive, sans vowels, which will mean that some folks with obsessive compulsive tendencies will be obligated to decipher them or at the very least we will have a few dozen people comment about it and it will never ever end. Which is no big deal, thanks to Mr Scroll Button, but if you can do that you can probably just, and I can’t emphasize this enough, ignore him.

  15. This is just another reason why PAD should not let Glenn post new threads without PAD’s permission. This is just lame.

  16. But you know what WOULD be funny? making it so that all of his stuff is translated into redneck:

    “Yall liss’n here. Since Pener David himself is far too haughty ta reply, let me splain it ta YOU!”

    “Sayin one ain’t “a fan of flag-burnin as a means of protest” is disgraceful. If I wuz ta burn urine trailer down, would urine comment be “I am not a fan of burnin my trailer down”? Of course not. You’d be did-set aguenst it. So yall see, “not bein a fan” is simply a way of grantin tacit approval.”

    “An’ why do yall suppose that Pener David gets so worked up ’bout THIS subject? ’cause it feeds his world-view: Pener David knows all, an’ BUSH SUCKS.”

    “If I wasn’t policin this site, an’ makin a mockery out of the BUSH SUCKS folks, I ain’t got doubt Pener David would have tied BUSH SUCKS inta this thrid.”

    “Afner all, it’s the only political thought he knows!”

    “Classic. An’ gut splittin’. Ya reckon?”

  17. But you know what WOULD be funny? Having his stuff so that it automatically gets translated into Redneck:

    Yall liss’n here. Since Pener David himself is far too haughty ta reply, let me splain it ta YOU!

    Sayin one ain’t “a fan of flag-burnin as a means of protest” is disgraceful. If I wuz ta burn urine trailer down, would urine comment be “I am not a fan of burnin my trailer down”? Of course not. You’d be did-set aguenst it. So yall see, “not bein a fan” is simply a way of grantin tacit approval.

    An’ why do yall suppose that Pener David gets so worked up ’bout THIS subject? ’cause it feeds his world-view: Pener David knows all, an’ BUSH SUCKS.

    If I wasn’t policin this site, an’ makin a mockery out of the BUSH SUCKS folks, I ain’t got doubt Pener David would have tied BUSH SUCKS inta this thrid.

    Afner all, it’s the only political thought he knows!

    Classic. An’ gut splittin’. Ya reckon?

  18. Sorry for the double post–I’m getting that error that’s an error message. Here’s X-Ray as a sweedish chef to recompense:

    Seence-a Peter Defeed heemselff is fer tuu hooghty tu reply, let me-a ixpleeen it tu YOOo! Seyeeng oone-a isn’t “a fun ooff fleg-boorneeng es a meuns ooff prutest” is deesgreceffool. Iff I vere-a tu boorn yuoor huoose-a doon, vuoold yuoor cumment be-a “I em nut a fun ooff boorneeng my huoose-a doon”? Ooff cuoorse-a nut. Um de hur de hur de hur. Yuoo’d be-a deed-set egeeenst it. Um de hur de hur de hur. Su yuoo see-a, “nut beeeng a fun” is seemply a vey ooff grunteeng teceet epprufel. Und vhy du yuoo sooppuse-a thet Peter Defeed gets su vurked up ebuoot THIS soobject? Becoose-a it feeds hees vurld-feeoo: Peter Defeed knoos ell, und BOoSH SOoCKS. Iff I vesn’t puleecing thees seete-a, und mekeeng a muckery oooot ooff zee BOoSH SOoCKS peuple-a, I hefe-a nu duoobt Peter Defeed vuoold hefe-a teeed BOoSH SOoCKS intu thees threed. Bork bork bork! Effter ell, it’s zee oonly puleeticel thuooght he-a knoos! Clesseec. Und foonny. Bork bork bork!

  19. Well, I finally have a reason to begin paying attention to these posts again. Thanks for the smile, Glenn.

  20. There’s a reason I don’t read the comments any more. Well, I did this time because I wanted to see the results of the vowel-less posts, and wow, that is dámņ amusing.

    But the reason I don’t read the comments on here is because I can’t stand to read the insukting, abrasive comments left by the folks who seem to show up just to object when ever PAD makes a politcal post or comment and they just have to try to show thier displeasure with it the most obnoxious ways. After a while I just wiped my hands and was like “I’m out.”

    I respect PAD’s stand on the first amendment/freedom of speech, mainly because I feel like this is his space and he is free to run it as he pleases, I just wish that the folks that get all obnoxious and loud and rude they just get cut off, yanked, pulled out of the pool, whatever. It just makes the whole experience unpleasant. Would that muzzle some of the dialogue that goes on here? Well, yeah, I guess, but I guess that’s why I removed myself from it.

    Well, until now. But then again, reading that whole long pot without vowels (well, skimming it) is dámņ funny. To those that say “Hey, this is childish, you should stop,” I simply say it’s thier playground and thier rules. If you don’t like it, take your toys and go home. Or not. Whatever.

    Too late for the “long story short,” but I just feel like it’s thier site, they can do what they want. If you don’t like it, take yourself out of the mix. I find complaining about how they handle the situation akin to going over to someone’s house and complaining loudly about how ugly the living room is and how you’d do it better. Yeah, I may wish they’d banninate more people, but they don’t want to do that, so I change what I do, not expect or complaing that they aren’t doing what I want them to do.

    In any case, vowel-less posts are funny. Bravo, Glenn. 🙂

  21. Geez…sooo many ways to say it now:

    BUSH SUCKS!!

    BSH SCKS!!!

    THE CHILD-PRESIDENT SUCKS!!!

    and my new all timey favorite….

    BOoSH SOoCKS!!!

    you are a genius, Bill.

  22. It might be fun to run it through Snoop Dogg’s Shizzolator as well. But then again, I’m easily amused (as this thread shows quite handily).

  23. It’s a good start. Now we just need to get rid of the consonants and we’ll be rolling!

  25. Glen, is there a way to create a by-pass that would be the equivilent to a “Block Sender” command that visitors could choose to not to receive posts from whomever they elect to not read. I am reminded of the line McCoy spoke in the old series, “What the Klingon says is unimportant. We do not hear his words.”

  26. “BUSCH (Kyle and Kurt) Sucks!”

    I’ll agree with you if we limit the Busch to the crappy adjunct lager that AB puts out. Oh wait, that’s ALL they put out.

  28. I may end every sentence today with “Bork bork bork!” at least until my family makes me stop.

  29. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
    Creative and priceless.This works for me its not a total ban. As far as being picked on cause he is not a liberal,there are several posters who while I completely disagree with them are at least civil.Besides they have the Balls to use their own names and not a pseudonym to hide behind.

  31. Alright, I know I’ve said this before, but you rock, Bill!

    Thanks for giving a fever-ridden guy a chuckle!

    Don’t know about the handsome part, though… 😉

  33. pìššëš on the living room rug
    Not to nitpick, but it’s “pìššëš on the sofa”…
    it’s just a funnier sounding phrase…say it with me…”Soooooo-Fa”

  35. Kelly:

    >Disem-voweled.

    >The pun alone is worth it!

    In this case, vowel movement seems much more appropriate.

  36. It isn’t hard to maintain a decent discourse with people of opposing political viewpoints, even if you’ll never find common ground (hëll, James and I are just shooting right past each other on the Bad Misdirection thread). But it’s loads of fun, and a great mental exercise.

  37. From his behavior in this thread, as well as in the past, it’s pretty obvious that X-Ray can’t be humiliated, shamed, embarrassed or otherwise made to feel bad about his rectal haberdashery. He’s also already proven himself persistent enough that no amount of server-side measures can stop him…go to registration-only and he’ll just keep creating false accounts from multiple domains as you ban him, trolls have been doing that on Usenet for ages. The more you try to shut him up, the happier he is.

  38. “rectal haberdashery”

    Dammit, Dave. That’s now the highlight of my day. Somebody has got a high bar to jump over if they are going to improve on that.

  39. I can’t improve on Dave’s line, but I wil echo it. Shrouding is really the only way to deal with trolls. Hopefully, he’ll get bored once he realizes that the rest us want to have serious discussions instead of flame wars.

  40. whoa! Den, let’s not limit ourselves or overstate the legitimacy of much of the discussions that go on here….. but I thoroughly agree with you re: flaming.

  43. This solution is silly.
    Brilliant.
    Just.
    Wonderful.
    Funny.
    But silly.

  45. Glenn: lol… it was John. If you think people who post on here shoot down some of my ideas, you should hear how much grief he gives me from five feet away in the office we share.

  46. Oh, and thanks for answering the question about how you’re targeting X-Ray 😉

  47. It might be fun to run it through Snoop Dogg’s Shizzolator as well. But then again, I’m easily amused (as this thread shows quite handily).

    Or the Pornolator.

    Man, that one is always a riot, although not for use while surfing the ‘net at work. 🙂

  48. After giving it much thought, I’ve decided Glenn’s move isn’t petty, but merely this: Poetic justice. Poetic justice and a celebration of free speech.

    Why? Because free speech, while it is a right in this country, is a right that much continually be fought for. Every single day.

    The idiots who, for instance, support the flag burning amendment don’t understand that. They don’t comprehend that people like myself who oppose that notion do so not out of hatred for this country, but out of love for what it represents–the right to express yourself.

    The subject of this…experiment, if you will…doesn’t get that. So now if he wants to express himself here, it’s no longer a simple privilege. Now he has to fight for it, just like any true advocate of free speech (which he is not.)

    And again, for all those who kept claiming they wanted to ignore him but couldn’t help himself…now they get to ask themselves, how much do they REALLY want it?

    PAD

  50. “And again, for all those who kept claiming they wanted to ignore him but couldn’t help himself…now they get to ask themselves, how much do they REALLY want it?”

    I don’t know about anyone else, but it’s worked for me. Welsh is not my native tongue, so I’m completely lost when I see his posts now.

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