I guess I'm nightshift now, or something. I feel the potential for abuse of sockpuppets was well covered by existing board etiquette rules and procedures, but given there are people who do get upset by them, I think Wolfram's proposal that their original ID appear in the profile is a fine idea. Plus, on a personal note, while they don't offend me, I am frequently curious as to who is behind the joke.

Plus, I think roast lamb is yummy, and Nando's is the One True Fast Food Chain. I have other thoughts too, but space and modesty prevents.

modesty prevents.

That's a crying shame.

I have found the sockpuppets to be amusing. I just assume "The Universe" does not mean to be taken seriously. At least I've never taken the Universe seriously. (I do wonder sometimes why it hates me.) I would not put it past the ferrets or Clovis to take up typing.

I have no strong opinions about this, but I am a bit uneasy with the larger concept of banning something because it has the "potential for harm." Almost everything does.

I'm with the not-particularly-bothered-by-sockpuppet crowd, but I did occasionally get the sense that I was Out of the Loop. Which I hate. But I can live with.

I think the consensus is quite reasonable; and given that most of the time they're played for laughs I don't personally feel that the mere presence of a secondary identity is cause for challenge. But that's just my opinion. And I'm not often in the threads where the SPs live these days: they don't hang out in Box Set. Heh.

It was indeed nice to get to the end of the thread and see that we weren't going to vote.

I am a bit uneasy with the larger concept of banning something because it has the "potential for harm." Almost everything does.

Sock puppets don't piss people off, people piss people off, you're saying?

Okay, maybe you aren't, but it was too much like a straight line for me to let it go.

Now I'm typing cock puppets instead. This is not helping things.

cock puppets

I want this to be the next subject of discussion. Some of the men I've met, it's hard to tell who's holding the strings between the cock and the puppeteer.

Sorry, off topic natter. (I've got to stop saying I'm sorry when I'm not, though I apologize for the divergence)

Maybe this can hold you over?

Obviously unlikely to be work safe.

t /natter

cock puppets

now I'm all 'cockie monster' and 'penises are not a sometimes food...'

I would love to see their thoughts.

Really? OK. Let's see...

A. I am down to activity in precisely one thread. It's one that actually relates to who I am and what I do, and since I got bored long ago with being told to suck up what I didn't like on the one hand, while at the same time I was being scolded for not being responsible enough to take part in the consensing and the voting and the rest of it on the other hands, I figure I've pretty much tossed in the towel here, handed off whatever social capital I ever might have had, and ceded my right to vote, metaphorically speaking.

B. The one thread is mercifully usually free of people feeling some sort of inexplicable need to swoop in for no useful purpose to break in on discussions about the craft and inspiration that defines creative writing by pretending to be someone else. Good thing, too. That really would be irritating beyond belief.

C. I don't count Clovis as a sockpuppet. I've met Clovis.

D. I have no opinion on whether people who find they need other identities should ID themselves.

E. I see a huge difference between what Allyson and Kristen are talking about, and someone signing him or herself Big Giant Whatever for the purpose of doing - what, exactly? Never mind, I genuinely don't care.

Then again, I'm pretty big on signing my own name to things. Your mileage may vary, or it may not.

I have a tangential question. Can sockpuppets vote?