Thumbs down and Comments

This topic was created by Khaptain .

  1. Khaptain Silver badge

    Thumbs down and Comments

    As a frequent receiver of "Thumbs Downs", and yes I admit to the fact that I push things in that direction, I would like people to be forced to give a comment as to why they have given the negative feedback.

    Also I often get the impression that there are some commentards who go on "Thumbs Down" missions whereby they will actively search out any of your posts in order to click that famous red thumb.

    What the fuck people, if you don't agree with someone at least have the courage to say why or give a counter arguement. It is extremely frustrating to see twats pushing the red thumbs but never being able to understand why.

    If people do not want to become actively involved, then don't become involved and that means leaving the red thumbs alone.

    Just clicking a red thumb adds no weight it just proves that they are from the same sheep mould as all the other sheep. Maybe we should call them DollyTards.

    Thinking out of the box is one of the luxuries that we still retain, don't lose it....

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: Thumbs down and Comments

      I pretty much ignore thumbs, up or down. Litmus test on/off one/zero thingies are completely meaningless in the great scheme of human events ... although sometimes the "thumbs down" crowd can be fairly amusing, in a sad kind of way. See replies to my posts in this thread as an example :-)

      YMMV, carry on.

      1. Khaptain Silver badge
        Thumb Up

        Re: Thumbs down and Comments

        Wow, an 80% chocolate remark = multitude of downvotes. It didn't even look like you were trying ;-) ;-) ;-)

        I usually have to make some remark about religion or mankind in order to achieve that level....

        I definately agree with your remark about comprehension, there appears to be a major failure relating to the understanding of any given article and then very quickly a complete mis-understanding relating to many of the comments, even the 80% chocoloate ones, lol...

        I don't always agree with what everyone says, but I will usually try and make a for a discussion , albeit it can get heated, rather than simply push the red button.

        Here is the updated link to the forum about Creme Eggs.

        Creme Eggs

        ( it was moved out of the latest group)

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: Thumbs down and Comments

          I wasn't trying anything. It's an honest opinion :-) Later in the thread, I felt like I was tilting at windmills ... Some people just don't want to comprehend the intent of the original poster. But that's fine. I feel sorry for 'em, more than anything else.

          As an long term (over thirty years) email list and Usenet moderator, I was most amused by the "flaming" comment ...

          n.b. Ta for the backup, Drew. It's hardly necessary, but ta anyway. Likewise, ta for not including the "I work here" icon on your posts. I don't want anyone to think I "speak" for ElReg, or anyone but myself, for that matter ... I can get into enough trouble on my own ;-)

    2. TeeCee Gold badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Thumbs down and Comments

      Thumbs Down Missions.

      I've noticed that. It invariably occurs when I've wound up the raving freetards[1] by pointing out something that pisses on their picnic.

      Try having a look back through your comments and see if you can spot a similar pattern. Look for a rash of one or two downvotes on trivia and then look for the controversial post that sent the wingnuts off into a frenzy around the same time.

      [1] I.e. the ones whose argument is basically; "I can get this for free, therefore any rules saying it shouldn't be free are wrong."

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: Thumbs down and Comments

        TeeCee suggests "Try having a look back through your comments"

        No. I can't be arsed. J. Random Lusers up (or down) voting my commentardery are pretty much meaningless in the great scheme of things.

        I'd like to think what I type(o) stands alone.

    3. John Smith 19 Gold badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: Thumbs down and Comments

      "As a frequent receiver of "Thumbs Downs", and yes I admit to the fact that I push things in that direction, I would like people to be forced to give a comment as to why they have given the negative feedback."

      An admirable and instructive idea.

      Sadly this is a British website and that, and the somewhat low social skills of IT staff can make getting such coherent feedback difficult.

      "Also I often get the impression that there are some commentards who go on "Thumbs Down" missions whereby they will actively search out any of your posts in order to click that famous red thumb."

      Had that experience. I've even wondered if some of these trolls have automated the process.

      "What the fuck people, if you don't agree with someone at least have the courage to say why or give a counter arguement. "

      True. Of course the question is could they provide a counter argument? Or has tweaking their (metaphorical) tail caused a "pacifier ejection event?" :-)

      "Thinking out of the box is one of the luxuries that we still retain, don't lose it...."

      Agreed.

  2. Blofeld's Cat
    Headmaster

    A suggestion...

    Perhaps El Reg could extend the up/down votes mechanism to allow the commenter (or everyone) to see who has up/down voted a particular comment.

    Presumably there is already some mechanism that knows who has up/down voted, so that the same person cannot vote more than once.

    I too have noticed that my posts on certain subjects seem to attract down votes when other practically identical posts do not. Mind you that's probably just my paranoia...

    "Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate" - Thomas Jones

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: A suggestion...

      "Perhaps El Reg could extend the up/down votes mechanism to allow the commenter (or everyone) to see who has up/down voted a particular comment."

      No. Speaking as a long-term moderator, that's asking for trouble.

      "I too have noticed that my posts on certain subjects seem to attract down votes when other practically identical posts do not. Mind you that's probably just my paranoia... "

      It's not paranoia. Rather, it's not understanding that occasionally you'll shit in somebody's pool because you don't fully understand their mind-set.

      Read and comprehend your own colophon.

  3. LinkOfHyrule

    up/downvotes are the experience points!

    I like to pretend that the comments section is an RPG game* - up/downvotes are the experience points!

    If you're getting downvoted to much then need to level up by posting a few obvious comments and jokes, it's what I do.

    *I don't really pretend that, I effing hate RPGs I'd rather be forced to watch Piers Morgan's god awful US chatshow whist being waterboarded with Buckfast! I guess I'm just good at talking shit and the majority of people who bother to vote like it, I worry about the Register readership demographic at times frankly!

  4. Mr Young
    Pint

    Well,

    I can't remember downvoting anybody - I'm only here for the laughs! if I snigger and/or cry laughing it gets an upvote and maybe sometimes I can't resist a gentle troll for the deliberately offensive comments that get posted. Anyway - I do often find many of the downvotes puzzling?

    1. LinkOfHyrule
      Paris Hilton

      Re: Well,

      I'm upvoting you to save you from any further puzzlement. I bet some less gentle troll will downvote you now for that!

  5. jake Silver badge

    ACs are funny :-)

    Last night, I was at xx73 "thumbs up" and xx37 "thumbs down"[1].

    Tonight, I'm at xx77 "up" and xx71 "down"[2].

    In twenty four hours (or so), a time period that I didn't actually post anything new in, I had four "up" and thirty four "down", for reasons which I don't understand. Apparently, I picked up another AC fanboi/grrl who is afraid to actually comment on whatever I wrote that irritated it. I feel sorry for the poor sap.

    Speak up if you have an opinion, kids! It's just ASCII :-)

    [1] I noticed the inverted 73/37 in the tens & ones columns as a passing curiosity[3]

    [2] No, I'm not going to tell anyone the actual numbers. They are meaningless.

    [3] I'm a computer geek, I see patterns, so shoot me.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge

      Re: ACs are funny :-)

      So what's that as a ratio then?

      I'm running around 8:1 ups to downs at the moment. Personally I'd expect the ups to be generally higher as I'll happily upvote to something I approve of, but issuing a down is something I do rarely and only[1] when I reckon the comment really deserves to have raspberries blown at it.

      [1] Well, that and when I push the wrong bloody button of course.

      1. jake Silver badge

        @TeeCee (was: Re: ACs are funny :-))

        The numbers, up or down, aren't important to me. What I was commenting on was that I had obviously pushed somebody's buttons ... but they didn't have the courtesy of telling my where I goofed, so I could clean up my act.

        Or not clean up my act, depending ;-)

        I rarely up or down vote anything. Seems pointless. Exceptions include up voting "insiders" from companies ElReg writes about posting as themselves (which I really do approve of!) ... and down voting the occasional clumsy troll. Clumsier than myself, of course!

        1. Fibbles

          Re: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))

          The thing is jake, I've seen quite a few of your posts (I'm thinking specifically the one about sustainable farming here) where you've been caught talking out of your arse and gotten a large amount of downvotes that were (imo at least) deserved. If people really are going through your history and downvoting unrelated posts though I'll agree that that's pretty sad.

          I'll also agree that they're fairly meaningless. I've currently got a ratio of about 4:1 and the vast majority of those downvotes were received for upsetting wrist-watch owners. Am I to assume I'm right about most things but am completely clueless about the future of wrist-ware?

          1. jake Silver badge

            @Fibbles: (was: Re: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-)))

            The thing is that I was simply pointing out that the author of the original piece probably had no concept of what was involved in farming as a lifestyle. I never said what I was doing was "sustainable", what I was doing was "self sufficient", for all of three+ years.

            Again, I invite you to learn to read for content, you idiot.

            1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
              Happy

              Re: @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-)))

              jake,*

              You do have a certain... robustness on the comments sections - if you were a bit fluffier and more mild-mannered you'd get a few less downvotes. But then I get the feeling that you enjoy the occasional light-trollery. And as you say, you don't care.

              I'd be interested to know with your comment above about getting 50 odd downvotes in a day, you put xx73 and xx37 - so are you already into the thousands of votes?

              I don't really care about the votes either, but I do watch them. If I post on politics, and haven't got some downvotes, then I've probably failed to get my point across clearly. If there's lots of voting on a thread, then its worth going back, as there might be interesting discussion. If not interesting, we can at least shoot for lively.

              Finally it's good for jokes. It's nice to see a good gag get some love. And useful for the one joke I withdrew. My 30 downvoters thought it was unkind when I'd just meant to be mildly amusing.

              *I typed Jake automatically, perhaps I should have left it in for my own bit of troll-foolery.

              1. jake Silver badge

                Re: @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-)))

                Robustness? I prefer "tactical syntax".

                No one ever accused me of being fluffy or mild-mannered, not even in RealLife[tm] ... (the wife & daughter & nieces & nephews might dispute that claim ... ).Yes on trolling occasionally. Not always where you might think, though ;-)

                "so are you already into the thousands of votes?"

                Yes. Several thousands, actually, up and down. Somewhat closer to 5K than 10K. More up than down. I won't go into it past that.

                My handle here is `jake` ... My name is `Jake`. The only reason I chastise folks who call me `Jake` in this forum is that we're (supposedly!) computer nerds here. cASE matters in our nerdy-world ... And there is another person with the `Jake` handle here on ElReg, who isn't me, so it only stands to reason.

                1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

                  Re: @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-)))

                  "And there is another person with the `Jake` handle here on ElReg, who isn't me"

                  The Bastard! Stealing your 'J'. I should go through all his posts and downvote them, if I were you. ;o)

                  I'm sure I saw an 'I am Spartacus' handle last week. He's obviously my less cowardly alter ego.

                  Me, I'd be pointing that nasty Spartacus out to the nice Roman soldiers - and hoping to have a lovely sit down with a jug of wine and some slave-girls as my reward. Although the Romans weren't always terribly forgiving, so there's a decent chance of crucifixions all round. Probably best to hide...

                  1. jake Silver badge
                    Pint

                    @I ain't Spartacus (was Re: @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                    I think my "j" predates the "J" ... Perhaps I stole it's handle in advance?

                    Oh, gawd/ess ... there's that time travel paradox thingie all over again ...

                    Never mind the jug of wine, I'll pull you a proper pint :-)

                    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
                      Pint

                      Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                      Mmm beer. Was drinking very nice stuff from a local brewery at a friend's last night, while upgrading the RAM in his PC, and trying to make iTunes and his iPhone talk to each other.

                      Perhaps you wouldn't mind making me a recommendation then. Got a nice local pub that do bottles from around the world. I mainly drink the Belgian stuff, nostalgia from when I lived there. But they've got some US ones too, The Bootlegger.

                      Any steers to the good stuff, and away from the mediocre, would be appreciated.

                      1. TeeCee Gold badge
                        Pint

                        Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                        "I mainly drink the Belgian stuff......"

                        Sitting in Belgium right now. This makes it all the more odd that the last time I partook of a selection of Belgian beers was the weekend before last, in the Belgian Beer Cafe. That's in the mall next to the Sunway Resort Hotel. In Kuala Lumpur.

                        The irony of flying halfway around the planet to drink something I can get anywhere within walking distance just struck me. BTW: Anyone know why the default beer is Heineken[1] in an ex-British imperial possession on the other side of the world?

                        It may be a small world, but I still wouldn't like to be the one who has to paint it.

                        [1] Posher places. Default is Tiger in less salubrious establishments.

                        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

                          Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                          "BTW: Anyone know why the default beer is Heineken in an ex-British imperial possession on the other side of the world?"

                          Because it refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach...

                          Are you living in lovely Belgium then? Or just visiting? I do miss sitting outside a bar in the sunshine, with a paper, an interesting beer and a cigarette. I've since given up... Living in Belgium. Oh, and smoking.

                          It's nice to see it's not just the Irish that have bars in every city in the world though. Oddly enough, there's a bar in Brussels called the Bok & Dragon. It's South African/Welsh, and shows lots of rugby.

                          1. jake Silver badge

                            Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                            I'll drink water before I drink Heineken ...

                            1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

                              Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                              "I'll drink water before I drink Heineken ..."

                              It is quite nasty. I was in Dublin last year, and your choices seemed to be Guinness or Heineken, and I never saw anyone order Heineken. I don't think Guinness is anything special either. It's nice, as long as it's so cold you can't taste it properly. They say that it should be served at 6°C.

                              Interesting choices of beer. Sadly not available at my local bar. I've got:

                              Anchor

                              Brooklyn

                              Goose Island

                              Sierra Nevada

                              and a couple of others to choose from, list here. Any opinions?

                              1. jake Silver badge
                                Pint

                                Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                                I actually like Stout at my wine cellar's temp (43F), IaS :-)

                                My suggestions not available in your area? Ask ... Squeaky wheel & all that. I can get Dogfish Head brews here in California now, because me (and quite a few other people) kept asking about it at Whole Foods ... Dogfish is another brewing company to try to find. Their IPAs are awesome. They add the hops bill at regular intervals during brewing. Normally, I'm not fond of "fruit ales", but their "Raison d'etra" and "Aprihop" are worth hunting for. I like their "Indian Brown" so much that I have managed to clone it in my home brewery ... but at near twice their alcohol level (oops! was an accident, I swear!). I hope to have it in production for sale this year. dogfishhead.com

                                Anchor is good, I always have a selection of their various brews in my beer cooler ... They use Lager yeast in their so-called "Steam" beer, but brew at ale temperatures. Strangely, the fusels & esters don't give me a hangover. Gut feeling is there are few aldehydes in their products.[1] The company started during the Goldrush era, in San Francisco. It was saved from oblivion by one of the Maytags (of washer/dryer and Blue Cheese fame). I like having their Liberty Ale available when grilling informally outdoors.

                                I have never tried Brooklyn or Goose Island, will keep an eye open. Ta.

                                Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is my goto beer when East of the Sierra Nevada range. It's mass-produced and available throughout the US, but quite drinkable. The wife & I split a 12oz bottle of their "Bigfoot" barleywine during the main course when I cook duck or goose for dinner.

                                Of the rest of yours, I'm not fond of Flying Dog. It's pedestrian, at best, with the label art being the gimmick that sells the product, not the brew. I'm not fond of chilies in my beer ... if you have to hide the yeast, malt & hops with chilies, you probably have problems in your brewing process (likewise for the idiots who think that putting lime wedges in their clear-glass bottles will mask the UV generated methyl mercaptin when out in the sun ... I'm squinting at YOU Corona!). Likewise Blue Moon's orange slice. Skunk just doesn't belong as a flavo(u)ring agent in beer.

                                Just my opinions, mind ... but I HTH :-)

                                [1] Sam Adams, on the other hand, always gives me a headache the next morning, even after one, single, solitary 12oz beer.

                                1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
                                  Pint

                                  Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                                  jake,

                                  Thanks for the tips. As I walked through the office door today, I was accosted and it was demanded that I join them in the pub this evening. Well, who am I to argue... So I shall have a little taste of American beers. I've read somewhere that a lot of US places do IPAs differently, so it'll be interesting to have a taste and see what they mean.

                                  As to your suggestion about asking, I might do. So far in that pub, I've been too busy trying new stuff to get round to asking for anything in particular. I even liked the Swedish cider, something I didn't know the Swedes made. I'm just about to move house, so I'm not buying anything I don't have to at the moment. But once done, I'll see what interesting beers I can get in. Always nice to have a large choice of drinks on hand.

                                  On your recommendation I'll try some Anchor tonight.

                                  "I actually like Stout at my wine cellar's temp (43F), IaS :-)"

                                  Is that an American aversion to 'warm beer'? Something you always seem to accuse the English of perpetrating... I'm not a huge stout and porter fan, but I've noticed when drinking them warmer you get a lot more of the 'coffee' and 'chocolate' flavours. I'll have to try Guinness warm. It may well be nice, but I suspect it wouldn't have the same mass market appeal tasting like that.

                                  Cheers for the Beers! All Hail to the Ale!

                                  1. jake Silver badge

                                    So, IaS ... Is Yank beer the piss-water it's rumored to be?

                                    Please report back so the huddled masses in Blighty who think t'Broon, Kronenbourg, Carling, Bass, Stella & Heineken are actually drinkable might become enlightened ;-)

                                    No aversion to warm beer here ... as a brewer and chef, I'll often nurse a microbrew pint (22oz bottle here in the US, decanted into a glass) from cold & fizzy thru' warm & flat over two or more hours, just to note the flavor and aroma and mouth feel changes with temperature and lack of fizz.

                                    Yes, you get more flavo(u)r and nose out of Guinness when it's closer to room temperature than fridge temperature. If you reduce it on the hob, to about 1/3, it's *wonderful* as a drizzle over homemade vanilla ice cream (keep stirring, or you'll burn it). Oh, and 43F is as close as never mind to your 6C for Guinness ;-)

                                    I'm a Yank, but I'm a paid-up card carrying supporter of CamRA (the wife & I share a "Full Joint Life Membership (overseas)"). It's important to us that real brewing is continued. No, I don't drink a lot. One or two beers a night or a glass and a half of wine is pretty much my limit, these days.

                            2. TeeCee Gold badge
                              Pint

                              Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                              Sometimes you have to take the lesser of two weevils.

                              This is best illustrated by the time I was sat in Pepper's Bar of the Pan Pac and an Aussie chap came in. He'd been flying home standby from Athens and got bounced. Fair do's, he'd been put up in a decent hotel, but.....

                              Anyhow, after the usual pleasantries the conversation turned to this:

                              "What's the beer like mate?"

                              "Well, you have two choices. The local Tiger, which tastes like drain cleaner, or the imported Heineken, which is OK but a bit bloody expensive here."

                              "Damn. I'm on a budget so it'll have to be the Tiger for me."

                              "No need, I'm on expenses. I'll get us a jug......."

                              Tiger's OK in its export incarnation, but the local issue Singaporean stuff is vile.

                          2. TeeCee Gold badge

                            Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                            I was just there for that day unfortunately. Tuesday is Brussels for me at the moment.

                            I'm living just outside Maastricht right now. This is one of the best places in the world for beer as, not only is the local stuff good, but you also have the best that BE, DE and the rest of NL have to offer available somewhere locally.

                            Oh and Guinness of course. I don't think a place qualifies as a city without having at least one bar selling draught Guinness.

                      2. jake Silver badge
                        Pint

                        Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                        For steers, I recommend Belted Galloway. Cheaper and easier keepers than Wagyu (sometimes mistakenly called "Kobe"), and just as tasty ... I raise a few every year.

                        Twenty four years ago, my sister's Yorkshire Dales born & bred father-in-law proclaimed Red Tail Ale "The best pint I ever 'ad" ... In no particular order, see:

                        http://www.mendobrew.com/home.html

                        http://www.lagunitas.com/

                        http://www.avbc.com/

                        http://www.northcoastbrewing.com/

                        http://www.stonebrew.com/

                        There are many more. Most people come to the North Bay to go wine tasting. When they visit me, we go beer tasting. (I know, Stone is in Southern CA).

                        I'm not fond of Belgian brews, nor Wheet beers ... but the world would be an incredibly boring place if we all supped one single brew ;-)

                        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

                          Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                          It's funny to see Kingfisher on the Mendocino Brewery site. I guess they went for it, as they seem to like the bird naming theme. For me, it's always associated with going for a curry - as that and Cobra are the beers of choice in most Indian restaurants in the UK. It's also definitely not a handcrafted micro-brewery beer either.

                          1. Fibbles

                            Re: @I ain't Spartacus (was @Fibbles: (was: @TeeCee (was: ACs are funny :-))))

                            I disagree with you and instead of accepting that I have a different opinion you tell me I'm incapable of understanding your post? Don't kid yourself, you're not some intellectual heavy weight. Claiming people only disagree with you because they can't understand your point is just a lazy way of brushing aside criticism. Anyway, if it were true perhaps you should work on your communication skills? Pontificating clearly isn't working out for you.

                            1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

                              Fibbles,

                              "I disagree with you and instead of accepting that I have a different opinion you tell me I'm incapable of understanding your post?"

                              Where? I haven't said that anywhere.

                              I haven't said anything to you. I've not addressed you in this thread.

                              That's twice now you've posted aggressively on this thread, having a big strop at someone. Both times against the mood of what's been a non-controversial thread. One that was happily descending into thoughts of beer...

                              I've no idea whether your comments to jake were fair, I haven't read the thread you mention. Perhaps you need to calm down, then read things a second time to see if they say what you think they do. Then post. What I said was:

                              "If I post on politics, and haven't got some downvotes, then I've probably failed to get my point across clearly."

                              Which, as happens, you do seem to be incapable of understanding. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt (that you failed to give me), and assume you were posting in a hurry.

                              I'm on the centre-right politically. Generally a Conservative voter. I don't believe in bashing the bankers (more than necessary), or soaking the rich, I believe globalisation broadly works, and I'm somewhat sceptical of global warming. So when I post on politics, I'm expecting to get downvoted, by people who disagree with me. If they don't, then either I've been so fair-minded and reasonable that everyone loves me (despite disagreeing), or I've failed to convey my meaning. Either because I've gone on too long, not been clear. Or both.

                              1. Fibbles

                                Re: Fibbles,

                                I was replying to jake, it's not my fault you lot created half a dozen posts about beer in an unrelated thread.

                                1. jake Silver badge

                                  @ Fibbles,

                                  You really can't read for content, can you? Do you know the difference between "sustainable" and "self sufficient for 3+ years"? Why do you think that you know more about the portion of my life that I was talking about than I do? Are you hard of thinking? The mind absolutely boggles ...

                                  Note that this is an IT forum. Beer is always related. Perhaps this isn't the forum for you?

                                2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
                                  Pint

                                  Re: Fibbles,

                                  "I was replying to jake"

                                  Fair enough. I take back my last post then. However, you have the option to either quote, or name people. Then everyone knows what you're talking about, even when the thread has been somewhat hijacked.

                                  "it's not my fault you lot created half a dozen posts about beer in an unrelated thread."

                                  I think I'm going to have to agree with jake here. How can beer not be on topic? Just as I walked into the office this morning, someone asked me if I was free to come to the pub this evening. Clearly everyone thinks about beer, all the time...

                                  1. TeeCee Gold badge
                                    Pint

                                    Re: Fibbles,

                                    Today is Friday. Beer is most definately on topic.......any topic......

  6. jake Silver badge

    xx28 & xx82 as I type(o) ...

    I might make this a 0130hours user-generated "feature" ;-)

    Probably not, though. "Thumbs" still seem kinda pointless to me.

  7. Anode

    Comments link at article top too?

    Any chance of El Reg following the lead set by Reg Hardware in placing the Comments link in the top grey bar as well as the bottom one on all articles?

    When using the excellent "Reader" option on the iPad, two taps gets me rapidly to the comentards' opinions on a Hardware article but elsewhere I'm forced to scroll to the bottom between the taps to get to these nuggets.  Tiresome on the longer items.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge

      Re: Comments link at article top too?

      There is a possible downside to that.

      It's not like we don't already have enough commentards shooting their mouths off without having read the whole article. Why ask for trouble?

  8. stuartnz
    Happy

    I was just taken to task by another commenter in a thread about the HTC X giveaway. I mentioned that it might have been nice to have its geographical restriction mentioned in the article, and not just buried in the T&Cs, to which an AC replied

    "what bit of .co.uk don't you understand?

    El-Reg has always been a UK tech site, and upto recently devoid of all your crappy US tech reporting."

    but sadly, when I tried to reply asking why the AC thought I was from the US, the topic was close for posts, so I didn't get to ask "what bit of 'nz' don't you understand?" - there should be a thumbs down icon for zingers wasted!

  9. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
    Happy

    I've recently entered the world of the downvote. You always get some of course. I'm usually nice and fluffy, but sometimes I take potshots at the trolls. Techies seem to generally be a bit lefty, politically, and I'm more centre-right, so I get the odd one or tow there.

    Interesting to see TeeCee is a paragon of niceness, with his shiny 8:1 up-downvote ratio. I was coasting along at a steady 6.5:1 until 2 weeks ago. I've commented on a few Windows Mobile stories recently, having just bought one, and I hit the hundredth downvote today. My ratio is down to 5:1 now.

    It's odd, because most of my posts are pretty even-handed. But it seems the techies don't seem to like WinMob. Admittedly I do occasionally blow raspberries at Android, which I think has a couple of glaring problems. That seems to be a source of many of my downvotes.

    If I cared, it would be interesting to see what gets me the thumb's down most. Liking the iPad, disliking Android or voting Conservative. Or my newfound liking for WinMob7.

    I even got 8 downvotes for being mildly grumpy to Barry Shitpeas! There's got to be something wrong with a universe that allows that...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I was going to suggest that you protest too much, then I realised that the bod who is currently at 94-0 on the Facebook Hack Story was I Am Spartacus. First-timer, too.

      I don't think your experience is too odd because there are plenty of people who don't like views contrary to their pet 'like', and who are willing to downvote even-handed posts.

      I find that I'm more unhappy at having no votes at all. Even a downvote means that you've at least got someone to think about what you've written (well, usually).

    2. TeeCee Gold badge

      Yup. Dissing Android or saying anything pleasant about an MS product always gets me hosed too. Likewise, suggesting that anything wearing an open-source badge is less than perfection always attracts a few. Top for attracting venom though is anything crticising the freetards or backing an Orlowski point. That often results in everything posted around the same time getting caught in the crossfire (ad hominem downvoting, if you will).

      Cheesy gags and digs at Apple always go down well though. Try posting a few to boost your numbers ;-)

      1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

        TeeCee,

        Surely you don't ever get 'hosed'? You are Mr Loveable, as is proved by your impressive record of 8:1 up:down. I guess that makes you the anti-Shitpeas. I wonder what his down:up ratio is...

        I've been quite rude about Android, ever since I got a phone with it. So that, and the move to WinMob has got me a lot of thumbs-down-action. I don't ever seem to find myself fighting the freetards, so it's not a problem I have. The obvious points always seem to get made before I arrive.

        The anti-Orlowski brigade do seem to be a motivated bunch. I'm not sure if it's the freetards or the climate-change zealots who hate him most. But I don't tend to get involved in that too much, so it's rare for me to notice someone hiting my posts page, and downvoting the top ones. I think I've only seen that once.

        I have noticed that the first vote often brings more. People might not upvote you, even though they agree with you, in a forum bunfight. But once you've had a few downvotes, they hit the up button in solidarity. I tend to only downvote the worst idiocy, upvote anything witty/funny, but I'll only usually bother to upvote opinions I agree with if they've been hit by the thumbs down brigade, or if they're answering someone I wanted to, and make my point for me.

        I reckon you could get a nice anthropological study out of the Reg comments boards.

        My only problem is I can't get the easy upvotes from being rude about Apple. Since I bought the iPad, Steve is my master... I'm scared they might take it away from me if my thoughts stray from the righteous path. I suppose I'll have to stick to being rude about Facebook. Easy targets and cheap-shots all the way for me...

        Although not Google+. It has a small, but fanatical, fanbase. You get certain downvotes, though usually not too many of them... [/bitch]

  10. jake Silver badge

    Here's a really fun one ...

    http://forums.reghardware.com/forum/1/2012/06/04/ten_bits_of_jubilee_tat_tech/

    Seems anything lese-majesty really riles up the sheeple in Blighty.

    Even when you tell 'em in advance that you're trolling for down votes, they actually give 'em to you. The mind absolutely boggles.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Here's a really fun one ...

      I think the problem there was that you didn't tell 'em upfront you were trolling, not so much as an icon on that first post. If that genuinely was posted as a troll, you should congratulate yourself for it going so well!

      After that I reckon everyone just assumed you were backpeddalling to the "troll" position after being hung out to dry and went in with the flamethrowers on "reheat". I made the mistake of attempting to justify myself once when one of my trolls touched a nerve. Never again. Better to just shake your head knowingly, take it on the chin and slink away.

      I note that my cheesy snipe at the septics (Low-hanging fruit, you have to really.) in that thread did quite well......

      1. jake Silver badge
        Pint

        @TeeCee (was: Re: Here's a really fun one ...)

        Gut feeling is that over 80% of the "voters" in that thread have been around long enough to know my posting history ... and know that I've spent over a fifth of my life in Blighty. I dunno if ElReg can confirm or deny the numbers.

        Call me a Septic to my face ... and I'll buy you a beer :-)

  11. Thing
    Devil

    @Jake (sic)

    Tee hee

  12. jake Silver badge

    Apparently ...

    ... I've irritated somebody enough to down-vote each and every post on the first page of my posting history. But, near as I can tell, the person hasn't actually expressed the reason they are irritated anywhere.

    The mind boggles. How much time would that burn, anyway? And what's the point?

  13. jake Silver badge

    Aw, how cute :-)

    Apparently, my fanboi is awake.

    I'll betcha a nickle I'll have a downvote in less than ten minutes :-)

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Aw, how cute :-)

      They've even followed you here to downvote you. Hehe. I do like to see dedication.

      I've noticed a few of your more inoffensive posts lately have been attracting downvotes. In threads where you've not been a naughty troll... I guess you've got a fan club.

      I'm sure if you offer signed photos you should be able to tempt them out of the woodwork.

      1. jake Silver badge

        @IaS (was: Re: Aw, how cute :-) )

        Strangely, I actually hope they don't come out of the woodwork & explain themselves ... it would drop the amusement value in my mind!

        Think about it ... Outside of ElReg internal folks, only I can easily see how many "up" or "down" votes I have. These people[1], for whatever reason, are burning time down voting me ... and nobody with a life will ever know my up/down vote ratio. So what is the point? Seriously, the mind boggles.

        [1] Person, actually. I'm fairly certain I know who it is (he says, just to needle it).

        1. jake Silver badge
          Pint

          ::hehehe::

          Overnight, and on a Friday night/Saturday morning no less, I'm +1 and -55 ... still without comment from the fanboi(s). Shirley it's not doing it manually, one by one, and has at least automated the process ... Either way, one wonders just exactly how miserable the sorry sack's pointless life is. Poor bastard.

          Ah, well. Beer, because I'm bottling an "Indian Brown" today ;-)

  14. jake Silver badge

    And down another twenty since my last post, 75 minutes ago :-)

    Methinks it thinks it's a thorn in my side ... but honestly, I find it quite amusing. I wonder how long I'll be able to keep it on the hook?

    1. jake Silver badge

      Re: And down another twenty since my last post, 75 minutes ago :-)

      This is getting funnier ... it has started downvoting my posts from 2007. Keep in mind that those were posted before ElReg had the "voting" option. I think the fanboi is obsessed, poor thing :-)

  15. Jeebus

    You've got nothing on me mate. I pissed off Matt Bryant and he follows me everywhere voting me down. Must think that downvoting will somehow turn me from a human into an unfeeling gun crazy lunatic like him.

    1. jake Silver badge

      @Jeebus ...

      Just laugh it off. "thumbs" are meaningless in this context.

      One wonders why ElReg implemented the concept in the first place, considering the obvious "gaming"[1] aspect ... not that ElReg's "voting" system makes any sense, given that nobody outside ElRegEmployees can see the "up" vs "down" ratio, without a good deal of work.

      [1] For small minded values of "gaming", of course ... Speaking as a long-term Usenet & email-LIST moderator, I'm here to tell you that an anonymous "thumbs down" (or five hundred anonymous thumbs down) is hardly likely to change the way I post. Trying to change my habits[2] with a single bit, up or down/one or zero, isn't going to happen. Discussion has been known to work. I am educable, if the argument is rational.

      [2] On the other hand, the down-voters may or may not realize that one definition of insanity is "doing the same thing, over and over, and getting the same result ... whilst expecting a different result each time".

      1. Jeebus

        Re: @Jeebus ...

        If I piss off ultra conservatives then I'm doing something right. In the context of writing comments on a place I have no stake in it ranks quite high on the needless righteous'o'meter. Generally if you speak out against Page and Orlowski and the Daily Heil you get downvoted by those who are too ashamed to ever speak up, but not from posting anonymously.

  16. jake Silver badge

    02:30 Pacific time.

    xx51 up and xx17 down. That's another 25 down since yesterday morning. With no explanation. The mind boggles.

    1. jake Silver badge

      03:35 Pacific time.

      xx51 up, xx48 down. That's another 31 down. Still without an explanation for the negative flood.

      (Before anyone comments ... I click the tab, and then hit F5. It's not exactly a vital part of my life ... but we do have kittens on the ground this morning, which is always a good thing.)

      1. jake Silver badge

        10:30 Pacific tiime (was: Re: 03:35 Pacific time.)

        xx51 up, x(x+1)31 down. Still no explanation. One wonders what the point is. Intimidation? Doesn't seem to be working ...

  17. jake Silver badge

    03:00 Pacific time ...

    xx59 up, x(x+1)66 down.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: 03:00 Pacific time ...

      jake,

      I am impressed. All your recent posts on this thread have 2 downvotes, except this one with only 1. So it's either 2 people, or 1 person on 2 computers. I believe El Reg said that the system used cookies, rather than your log-in to remember votes, so if you switch computers you get another go. I wonder if that means you could write a script that flushes cookies, and allows infinite downvotes from one computer?

      I really hope this person(s) has(have) written a script. Because going back through all your posts manually would be a long, long job. Just think how many times the El Reg crap log-in system would force you to re-type your email and password otherwise?

      I do see a purpose for the votes though. Admittedly it can be gamed, but as long as people don't take things too seriously it can be interesting to see what people think. People willing to post are less frequent than those willing to vote. Particularly on topics where the received wisdom of the techies has supposedly been spoken, i.e. MIcrosoft = evil, Julian Assange = saint (although that's less clear-cut now). When you look at discussions of UK politics, the left often look to be in a majority. I guess it's easier to make the argument for spending more on hospitals than the one for cutting taxes. But the votes often go the other way.

      Plus it's nice to give a digital round of applause for a good joke. The alternative is posting mindless +1 comments, or I agree ones, so there's another use for the vote.

    2. jake Silver badge

      07:30 Pacific (was: Re: 03:00 Pacific time ... )

      xx59 up, x(x+1)84 down.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Replying to myself, sorry ... (was: Re: 07:30 Pacific (was: 03:00 Pacific time ... ))

        07:32 Pacific, xx59 up, x(x+1)85 down.

        Apparently, my fanboi is hanging on my every word. Seriously, dude, a downvote within two minutes of my post? Seek help.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Noon Pacific. (was: Re: Replying to myself, sorry ... (was: 07:30 Pacific (was: 03:00 ... )))

          xx60 up, x(x+2)05 down.

  18. jake Silver badge

    I just posted elsewhere ...

    ... I'm currently xx60 up, and x(x+2)21 down. The 16 extra down votes happened 10+ hours ago, nothing since.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      This is a new one for us.

      We make it fairly easy to find your posts http://forums.theregister.co.uk/user/4800/

      Login, load that page, run down it clicking.

      So - activity is not robotic. every day or so, someone spends ~5 minutes downvoting 10-30 posts, then goes away and comes back a few hours/days later and does the same thing.

      As this is a new one for us, we have no traffic lights in place.

      We could perhaps set up a daily/weekly report on voting activity and then we deal with it via humans, not tech.

      What do you guys think?

      1. jake Silver badge

        Re: This is a new one for us.

        Don't spend too much time on this, Drew. I don't really mind; if I did, I'd email ElReg out of band ... as I've said^W typed before, I don't really care about thumbs, up or down. I just find the behavior amusing, in a sad kind of way.

      2. jake Silver badge

        On the other hand, Drew ... (was: Re: This is a new one for us.)

        http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1485672

        The mind boggles ... Who on Earth would downvote that? Is it actually contributing, in the great scheme of things? Or just making noise?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: On the other hand, Drew ... (was: Re: This is a new one for us.)

          That is messed up.

          1. jake Silver badge

            Re: On the other hand, Drew ... (was: This is a new one for us.)

            I just noticed yet another "thumbs down" on an obituary, along with several dozen random down votes, spread out throughout my posting history (it seems to be working around page 50 at the moment):

            http://forums.theregister.co.uk/post/1511804

            I didn't want to suggest it before (I honestly don't give a shit ... others might; especially industry insiders, who need coddling in fora like this ...), but removing the "voting" option from the commentards "/user" posting history is probably the easiest way of minimizing this kind of silliness.

            1. Tim Parker

              Re: On the other hand, Drew ... (was: This is a new one for us.)

              Alas this sort of thing is not un-common - I don't mind people seeing if I up-vote or down-vote them, or El Reg looking for strange voting history as we have in these cases. Disabling the voting from the user history would add a little more effort to the practice, so might be helpful, but in reality only adds a single click in most cases. Having the voting history, even the last person, might help us notice down-voting sprees ourselves.

              Frankly i'm sick of the amount of ACs on here, and the stupid behaviour such as this - the shear vehemence and quantity of editorial trolling is also un-like i've ever seen on any IT site with any pretense of objectiveness; a real pity as there are a number of excellent writers on El Reg.

              Anything that could be done to curb some of the nonsense would be good - quite what would work, i'm really not sure, but i'd welcome any suggestions - there is a real vindictive feel to much of this site IMO.

      3. TeeCee Gold badge
        Meh

        Re: This is a new one for us.

        We make it fairly easy to find your posts http://forums.theregister.co.uk/user/4800/

        Login, load that page, run down it clicking.

        You might want to keep that quiet. I just had someone run through my "recents" awarding a down to each. I did puzzle over what dictated the selection, but then I realised that it was the first one on any article still on the main page or "recent stories".

        So some poor prune made a point of going through every current comment section over the weekend and adding a down to each of mine they found. I'll take feedback from axe-grinding arsehats if they have to work at it, but let's not make things too easy for them.

        Still trying to figure out which it was that had given the hump to someone petty-minded enough to do that.

        1. jake Silver badge
          Pint

          @TeeCee (was: Re: This is a new one for us.)

          Just feel sorry for the poor dude/tte. Maybe it'll grow up & get a life, eventually.

          During the meanwhile, relax and have a homebrew on me :-)

          1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

            Re: @TeeCee (was: This is a new one for us.)

            jake,

            I've noticed a lack of downvotes on some of your recent posts. Has your stalker finally abandoned you? Do you not feel all lonesome and sad, now that some nerd-in-a-basement no longer feels a compulsion to anonymously disapprove your every post?

            I really hope they had a script to do that. It would be truly tragic if they were doing it by hand.

            1. jake Silver badge

              Re: @TeeCee (was: This is a new one for us.)

              Lasted just under 5 months, probably averaged 25-30 down votes a day during that time-frame, with days off on most weekends and major holidays for a country I'm not mentioning. A certain poster's posting history matched (exactly!) the same "quiet" days as my lack of down-votes over the last couple months. (I'm a systems integrator, I notice patterns by osmosis ... I wasn't actually looking to match a commentard to the down votes, life's too short for that kind of time-sink, but my brain works funny sometimes.)

              Taking the lower bound of 25/day, it probably clicked the "down" button 3750 times. Gut feeling is no script, or there would have been more.

              Miss it? I'm ambivalent, couldn't say it affects me one way or the other. I don't even consider it a successful troll on my part, because the perp remains "officially" anonymous. Besides, thumbs are meaningless, at least in my mind. That's been my position on thumbs right from their introduction. I'm the only one (outside ElReg, of course) who can easily discover my total, so when you think about it, it really doesn't make much difference one way or the other.

        2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Happy

          Re: This is a new one for us.

          That's impressive TeeCee. I think El Reg ought to have a special badge for it. The vomit-green vulture of 'I've managed to wind some loser up to such a frenzy of frustrated nerd-rage that they've felt the need to laboriously manually downvote all my posts' badge. You'd need quite broad shoulders if you wanted to sew it onto your shirt though...

          I thought you were the lovely, fluffy one with an 8:1 upvote to downvote ratio as well. I keep being realistic about Julian Assange and Android, so the commentardiat have a lower opinion of me. Not helped by being nice about Windows Phone 7 and Margaret Thatcher either... The Fandroids really seem to take it personally when you're nice about WinPho.

  19. jake Silver badge

    Astonishingly, as I post at random times ... xx60 up, x(x+2)28 already.

    After only 5 minutes? The mind boggles ...

    1. MJI Silver badge

      Re: Astonishingly, as I post at random times ... xx60 up, x(x+2)28 already.

      Someone has a lot of time on their hands!!!!

  20. DrZymurgy
    Unhappy

    Android "App of the Week"

    What has happend to the Android "App of the Week"? The last one was Tuesday 26 Jun 2012 11:00

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Android "App of the Week"

      Not enough reader activity to justify time, effort and money spent on this strand.

      So we are discontinuing app of the week, certainly for time being.

  21. jake Silver badge
    Pint

    Oh. There you are, annonytwat thumbs-downer.

    I hadn't noticed you for a week or so. I was beginning to feel lonely.

    Hopefully I've made your day. Beer? :-)

    1. MJI Silver badge

      Re: Oh. There you are, annonytwat thumbs-downer.

      I noticed, 2 down

      Don't worry I upvoted it!

  22. Bill Fresher

    Whenever I get a thumbs down I huddle up on the floor sobbing. It's the worst injustice I can think of.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Votes != comprehension

    A vote, up or down, is an opinion.

    There is no requirement for comprehension, bravery or eloquence, just a single click.

    If I strenuously agree or disagree but feel I have nothing more to add then a vote is ideal.

    Downvoted you because:

    A) don't think it matters unless you give it credence.

    B) voting down is a wonderful thing completely lacking from some other forums

    C) you post all but invited me to down vote and made it fun to do so.

    If it makes you feel any better you are welcome to trawl my posts and down vote them all. :-)

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ jake

    Continuously posting about how many down votes you are getting and then repeatedly saying how much you don't care about your vote count, what do you expect?

    1. jake Silver badge
      Pint

      @AC 13:34 (was: Re: @ jake)

      That was, like, so last year, AC. Do try to keep up.

      My point (at the time) was pointing out to ElReg how bloody useless the concept of "thumbs" is in a forum like this one. It's still bloody useless. In fact, I'll give you a "thumbs up" :-)

      Have a homebrew on me?

      1. diodesign Silver badge

        Re: @AC 13:34 (was: @ jake)

        "how bloody useless the concept of "thumbs" is in a forum like this one"

        Just ignore it? It doesn't affect your comments - this isn't Reddit where comments can get down-voted into oblivion.

        C.

        1. jake Silver badge
          Pint

          Re: @AC 13:34 (was: @ jake)

          "Just ignore it?"

          For the most part, I do ... But this is a meta discussion about ElReg's commentards in the over-all scheme of things. "Thumbs" have no useful purpose. It ain't all black & white.

          Whatever. Have a homebrew?

          1. diodesign Silver badge

            Re: @AC 13:34 (was: @ jake)

            "Have a homebrew?"

            Training for London's half marathon in three weeks. No beer until after that :(

            C.

            1. jake Silver badge
              Pint

              Re: @AC 13:34 (was: @ jake)

              No carb-packing?

              Works for me. I think I'll have another ;-)

              (Totally balanced diet, I know what I'm doing, empty track & a stunt team in attendance, yadda yadda yadda ... )

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