Russ Arcuri
20% more jawbone...15% less fat...
- Joined
- Oct 28, 2001
- Posts
- 1,126
- Likes
- 10
Warning: This post is pretty darn long. I mean, REALLY long. I only ask that if you want to read any of it, you take the time to read it all. If your attention span is limited, feel free to move on to some other shorter topic. Thanks.
Explanation
Somebody asked me (offline) what I meant in another thread when I said that Head-Fi sucked. I thought I made it fairly obvious what I was angry about on that thread, but upon further consideration (and a half-day away from Head-Fi), I figure a more articulate and less emotional explanation is in order.
I'm the kind of person that often gets hung up on little things. Those that have been here a while know that I put a lot of thought and considerable time and effort into certain topics when there's disagreement, especially when I think (or, in some cases, when I know) I'm right about it. To put it more succinctly: I've never backed away from a good debate, and sometimes the best debates are about things that many people consider minor points or trivial matters.
One such example is the splitting of the Members' Lounge, which many people here consider a trivial matter. And in the grand scheme of things, on a world-wide scale, it certainly is trivial. But on a smaller scale that's much more pertinent to Head-Fi members, I think it matters a whole lot. Let me explain.
As I mentioned previously, Head-Fi is a community. More than that, it is a community with a common interest in headphones and audio reproduction. Most of the discussion categories directly or indirectly relate to headphones and audio reproduction. When I discovered Head-Fi a couple years ago, there was only one forum category that didn't relate specifically to headphones or audio -- the Members' Lounge. Its stated purpose was simple: a place for the Head-Fi community members to chat. Here's the important part: unlike any of the other categories, there was no obligation for topics in the Members' Lounge to relate to anything specific, and according to the Head-Fi Posting Rules and Terms of Use, that's still the case.
Now, whether Jude and the forum moderators want to admit it or not, it's the Members' Lounge that did most of the work of building a sense of community. One glance at the number of threads and posts there should be convincing enough evidence -- it's second only to the Headphones forum in post counts, by a remarkably thin margin, despite having over 30% fewer threads. People are discussing things there -- not just asking questions and getting answers, but having free-form conversations unbound by rules about which topics they can discuss and which they can't.
The Members' Lounge is the place people return to even if their interest in headphones has waned or if the questions they had about portable headphone amplifiers were already answered.
"But wait!" I can hear you saying. "The Members' Lounge does have rules about what can be posted. We can't post commercial advertisements or SPAM. We can't discuss politics or religion there." Well, I have two things to say about that. First, the prohibitions against commercial advertisements and SPAM should be beyond question -- a commercial advertisement or SPAM has nothing to do with chatting or having a conversation. Second, the prohibition against politics and religion wasn't always there. "Take It Outside" is a relatively recent addition, and was only created because people have a hard time remaining civil when discussing such matters -- they're always emotionally and intellectually charged. So I can understand why "Take It Outside" was created, and I remain neutral on the question of whether it was a positive or negative change.
"Certifiably Inane" is different. It lacks an easy-to-define purpose. It's REALLY REALLY easy to determine which posts belong in "Take It Outside" -- if the discussion is about politics or religion, that's where it goes. But it's REALLY REALLY hard to determine what goes in "Certifiably Inane," despite claims to the contrary. For one, it's obvious Jude and the moderators had a hard time delineating what belongs there -- they resorted to a series of examples, without saying specifically why some examples belonged there and others didn't. Furthermore, they suddenly changed the definition of what the Members' Lounge is for to something which totally contradicts the Posting Rules and Terms of Use, saying that the Members' Lounge topics must be kinda sorta related to headphones, audio reproduction, Head-Fi, or consumer electronics. One wonders how they'd classify a poll that asked what setting people put their toasters on when they made toast, with answers ranging from "white but slightly drier than untoasted bread up to "coal black all the way through." After all, toasters are a kind of consumer electronics device, especially the newer ones with complex control panels.
The explanation we've gotten is that the moderators were receiving frequent complaints about certain posts. More accurately, they probably got complaints not about certain posts, but about certain posters -- the infamous "Team Useless Poster" members. Frankly, I'd love to know what the complainers' motivations were. I can't think of a single reason for complaining about "Team Useless Poster" that wouldn't make the complainer look self-centered or immature.
Post counts? Please. A pointless dick-waving contest if I ever saw one. Who cares if one guy has 10, 100, or 1000 more posts than you? That had to be a big percentage of the complaints, though. Why else would posts to "Certifiably Inane" not count towards post count? Somebody on another thread said that posts to "Take It Outside" don't count either, but unless I'm mistaken that wasn't always true -- I think they did count before, and were only removed recently.
Yes, I know HeadRoom has a promotion whereby people with post counts over certain numbers qualify to audition certain headphone amplifiers in their homes. So the only valid complaint about post counts would have to come from HeadRoom, and if complaints did come from them, I have a different opinion of them than I once did. Why should they care how such posts were made or what topics were discussed? Everyone here is here because they have an interest in headphones. People have been using nonsense threads to increase their post counts since long before USC Goose signed on here. Furthermore, if someone is willing to post incessantly just to increase their post counts in an effort to earn an audition of one of HeadRoom's fine products, then Tyll should be jumping for joy -- clearly there are people who value his products. I'd think a business would want to get as much product into as many people's hands as possible. So for now I'm going to assume that the complaints didn't come from HeadRoom.
Inane content? Hypocritical, and contrary to the original stated guidelines for the Members' Lounge. Hypocritical because there's nobody, and I mean NOBODY, that has posted something on Head-Fi that wouldn't be considered inane by somebody else. It's totally subjective. Some people would consider endless debate about the subtle vagaries of midrange reproduction quality on this year's newest hot headphone model "inane," and they'd be right, from their perspective. Plus, as I mentioned more than once, there was never a value requirement for what was posted to the Members' Lounge. It was a place for informal chat.
Cluttered forum? I can't help how I feel, so I'll just state it outright. This is a stupid complaint. "Clutter" in the forum is totally subjective as well -- defined as "topics I'm not interested in that are pushing the topics I am interested in onto the second page." Sorry, but if you're too lazy to click over to the second page to find what you're interested in, you're probably too lazy to have read this far. To you I say, "Pbltthh."
At this point I can't think of another category for complaints, so I'm going to move on to the crux of the matter, which is this: The "Certifiably Inane" forum, by its very existence, damages the sense of community the Members' Lounge once held. It's unavoidable, and there are obvious reasons why:
1. It tells people that not all pleasant chatter is equal. Some of it is valuable. Some of it is not -- in fact, it's SO not valuable that they're not even going to bump up the silly post count meter for it. They're relegating you to a second-class forum.
2. It asks people to attempt to evaluate what they're discussing on some magical, mystical scale of value that's quite arbitrarily defined and contradicts the original stated intent of the Members' Lounge. Sorry, but pleasant conversation doesn't work that way. Chat is freeform and arbitrary by its nature -- when I'm chatting with friends in person, I don't stop and consider whether what I'm about to say might have pedagogical value or a higher purpose. If I am, then it's not chat and it's not fun. This one REALLY hurts the easygoing mood of a chat forum.
3. There was a #3, but it's late, I'm tired, and I forgot it. Damn.
This concludes the "explanation" portion of this post. The next part ("apology") is for a few people; most of you can skip ahead to the third part, "so long." williamgoody and anybody else whom I've managed to piss off at any time in the past two years should stick around for a moment.
An apology
I have to apologize to williamgoody because I didn't give him a fair shake on the "Hillary Clinton/Blackout" thread from a week or two ago. I normally give people the benefit of the doubt and let them define who they are, but in his case I stereotyped him as a petty right-wing political sniper and refused to consider alternatives. I'm not saying I suddenly believe that he's perfectly neutral, mind you; I do believe he falls somewhat right of center on the political spectrum. But being right of center isn't a sin -- after all, I'm right of center on certain issues and everyone knows I'm a saint.
But it was totally out of line for me to infer he was a liar. William, I'm sorry for doing so.
(Of course, if you really are a petty right-wing political sniper it will become apparent through multiple threads and multiple debates over the course of time -- not by one angry post made in "Take It Outside."
)
To anybody else I've pissed off over the years, I apologize. I can't think of anybody specifically at this moment, but I know there are both conservatives and liberals, men and women, dogs and AIs that I've offended. My only defense is to say that I'm sure it wouldn't have been that way if we were speaking in person. The relative anonymity of the internet makes people more reckless with their words and I'm no exception. I'm sorry for that.
So long
So despite the fact that I've had some time to cool down and the fact that I returned to post this message, I am still leaving Head-Fi on what I believe will be a permanent basis. There is a small reason for this and a big reason. I'll start with the small reason.
The small reason is that I really honestly truly believe that Head-Fi isn't as fun a place as it used to be. I know most of you don't think the existence of the "Certifiably Inane" forum hurts the community, and you're certainly welcome to your opinion. But the damage is both subtle and real. You'll see what I mean if you post a topic in the Members' Lounge and it gets moved to "Certifiably Inane" for arbitrary and unstated reasons.
Enough on that.
The big reason I'm leaving Head-Fi is because it's an unbelievably effective time-suck when I'm procrastinating on doing something important. I've mentioned once or twice here that I'm an aspirant writer of genre fiction (primarily science fiction but occasionally mystery/suspense/horror). I have literally dozens of short story ideas in my notes that require time and attention if I'm ever going to get them written. I have several short stories written, that require final-pass editing and formatting before I sent them out to market. And I have a novel I began writing last fall that I believe is quite good. The problem? It's 20% complete, but it should have been done by now.
"I'll work on the novel right after I check my e-mail; it'll only take a minute." Two hours later I've gotten nothing done in the novel but I've contributed to a dozen threads on three different internet fora, including Head-Fi.
Between a full time job and responsibilities to my wife and children, I have little time in which to write. Unfortunately many of those precious hours have been spent on the net rather than in the word processor. The thing is, I can't just cut back on Head-Fi; if I'm involved in a conversation, discussion, or debate here, I know for a fact I can't limit myself to just a few minutes. As I said at the top of this message, I'm the kind of person that often gets hung up on little things. Even though they may not be important. Even though it means I'm getting nowhere in my book.
So I doubt I'll be returning much if at all -- as interesting as Head-Fi can be sometimes, it's nowhere near as important as my writing. And that's a much easier perspective to maintain from outside than from within. So long for now -- or at least until I accomplish something real with my writing.
Explanation
Somebody asked me (offline) what I meant in another thread when I said that Head-Fi sucked. I thought I made it fairly obvious what I was angry about on that thread, but upon further consideration (and a half-day away from Head-Fi), I figure a more articulate and less emotional explanation is in order.
I'm the kind of person that often gets hung up on little things. Those that have been here a while know that I put a lot of thought and considerable time and effort into certain topics when there's disagreement, especially when I think (or, in some cases, when I know) I'm right about it. To put it more succinctly: I've never backed away from a good debate, and sometimes the best debates are about things that many people consider minor points or trivial matters.
One such example is the splitting of the Members' Lounge, which many people here consider a trivial matter. And in the grand scheme of things, on a world-wide scale, it certainly is trivial. But on a smaller scale that's much more pertinent to Head-Fi members, I think it matters a whole lot. Let me explain.
As I mentioned previously, Head-Fi is a community. More than that, it is a community with a common interest in headphones and audio reproduction. Most of the discussion categories directly or indirectly relate to headphones and audio reproduction. When I discovered Head-Fi a couple years ago, there was only one forum category that didn't relate specifically to headphones or audio -- the Members' Lounge. Its stated purpose was simple: a place for the Head-Fi community members to chat. Here's the important part: unlike any of the other categories, there was no obligation for topics in the Members' Lounge to relate to anything specific, and according to the Head-Fi Posting Rules and Terms of Use, that's still the case.
Now, whether Jude and the forum moderators want to admit it or not, it's the Members' Lounge that did most of the work of building a sense of community. One glance at the number of threads and posts there should be convincing enough evidence -- it's second only to the Headphones forum in post counts, by a remarkably thin margin, despite having over 30% fewer threads. People are discussing things there -- not just asking questions and getting answers, but having free-form conversations unbound by rules about which topics they can discuss and which they can't.
The Members' Lounge is the place people return to even if their interest in headphones has waned or if the questions they had about portable headphone amplifiers were already answered.
"But wait!" I can hear you saying. "The Members' Lounge does have rules about what can be posted. We can't post commercial advertisements or SPAM. We can't discuss politics or religion there." Well, I have two things to say about that. First, the prohibitions against commercial advertisements and SPAM should be beyond question -- a commercial advertisement or SPAM has nothing to do with chatting or having a conversation. Second, the prohibition against politics and religion wasn't always there. "Take It Outside" is a relatively recent addition, and was only created because people have a hard time remaining civil when discussing such matters -- they're always emotionally and intellectually charged. So I can understand why "Take It Outside" was created, and I remain neutral on the question of whether it was a positive or negative change.
"Certifiably Inane" is different. It lacks an easy-to-define purpose. It's REALLY REALLY easy to determine which posts belong in "Take It Outside" -- if the discussion is about politics or religion, that's where it goes. But it's REALLY REALLY hard to determine what goes in "Certifiably Inane," despite claims to the contrary. For one, it's obvious Jude and the moderators had a hard time delineating what belongs there -- they resorted to a series of examples, without saying specifically why some examples belonged there and others didn't. Furthermore, they suddenly changed the definition of what the Members' Lounge is for to something which totally contradicts the Posting Rules and Terms of Use, saying that the Members' Lounge topics must be kinda sorta related to headphones, audio reproduction, Head-Fi, or consumer electronics. One wonders how they'd classify a poll that asked what setting people put their toasters on when they made toast, with answers ranging from "white but slightly drier than untoasted bread up to "coal black all the way through." After all, toasters are a kind of consumer electronics device, especially the newer ones with complex control panels.
The explanation we've gotten is that the moderators were receiving frequent complaints about certain posts. More accurately, they probably got complaints not about certain posts, but about certain posters -- the infamous "Team Useless Poster" members. Frankly, I'd love to know what the complainers' motivations were. I can't think of a single reason for complaining about "Team Useless Poster" that wouldn't make the complainer look self-centered or immature.
Post counts? Please. A pointless dick-waving contest if I ever saw one. Who cares if one guy has 10, 100, or 1000 more posts than you? That had to be a big percentage of the complaints, though. Why else would posts to "Certifiably Inane" not count towards post count? Somebody on another thread said that posts to "Take It Outside" don't count either, but unless I'm mistaken that wasn't always true -- I think they did count before, and were only removed recently.
Yes, I know HeadRoom has a promotion whereby people with post counts over certain numbers qualify to audition certain headphone amplifiers in their homes. So the only valid complaint about post counts would have to come from HeadRoom, and if complaints did come from them, I have a different opinion of them than I once did. Why should they care how such posts were made or what topics were discussed? Everyone here is here because they have an interest in headphones. People have been using nonsense threads to increase their post counts since long before USC Goose signed on here. Furthermore, if someone is willing to post incessantly just to increase their post counts in an effort to earn an audition of one of HeadRoom's fine products, then Tyll should be jumping for joy -- clearly there are people who value his products. I'd think a business would want to get as much product into as many people's hands as possible. So for now I'm going to assume that the complaints didn't come from HeadRoom.
Inane content? Hypocritical, and contrary to the original stated guidelines for the Members' Lounge. Hypocritical because there's nobody, and I mean NOBODY, that has posted something on Head-Fi that wouldn't be considered inane by somebody else. It's totally subjective. Some people would consider endless debate about the subtle vagaries of midrange reproduction quality on this year's newest hot headphone model "inane," and they'd be right, from their perspective. Plus, as I mentioned more than once, there was never a value requirement for what was posted to the Members' Lounge. It was a place for informal chat.
Cluttered forum? I can't help how I feel, so I'll just state it outright. This is a stupid complaint. "Clutter" in the forum is totally subjective as well -- defined as "topics I'm not interested in that are pushing the topics I am interested in onto the second page." Sorry, but if you're too lazy to click over to the second page to find what you're interested in, you're probably too lazy to have read this far. To you I say, "Pbltthh."
At this point I can't think of another category for complaints, so I'm going to move on to the crux of the matter, which is this: The "Certifiably Inane" forum, by its very existence, damages the sense of community the Members' Lounge once held. It's unavoidable, and there are obvious reasons why:
1. It tells people that not all pleasant chatter is equal. Some of it is valuable. Some of it is not -- in fact, it's SO not valuable that they're not even going to bump up the silly post count meter for it. They're relegating you to a second-class forum.
2. It asks people to attempt to evaluate what they're discussing on some magical, mystical scale of value that's quite arbitrarily defined and contradicts the original stated intent of the Members' Lounge. Sorry, but pleasant conversation doesn't work that way. Chat is freeform and arbitrary by its nature -- when I'm chatting with friends in person, I don't stop and consider whether what I'm about to say might have pedagogical value or a higher purpose. If I am, then it's not chat and it's not fun. This one REALLY hurts the easygoing mood of a chat forum.
3. There was a #3, but it's late, I'm tired, and I forgot it. Damn.
This concludes the "explanation" portion of this post. The next part ("apology") is for a few people; most of you can skip ahead to the third part, "so long." williamgoody and anybody else whom I've managed to piss off at any time in the past two years should stick around for a moment.
An apology
I have to apologize to williamgoody because I didn't give him a fair shake on the "Hillary Clinton/Blackout" thread from a week or two ago. I normally give people the benefit of the doubt and let them define who they are, but in his case I stereotyped him as a petty right-wing political sniper and refused to consider alternatives. I'm not saying I suddenly believe that he's perfectly neutral, mind you; I do believe he falls somewhat right of center on the political spectrum. But being right of center isn't a sin -- after all, I'm right of center on certain issues and everyone knows I'm a saint.
(Of course, if you really are a petty right-wing political sniper it will become apparent through multiple threads and multiple debates over the course of time -- not by one angry post made in "Take It Outside."
To anybody else I've pissed off over the years, I apologize. I can't think of anybody specifically at this moment, but I know there are both conservatives and liberals, men and women, dogs and AIs that I've offended. My only defense is to say that I'm sure it wouldn't have been that way if we were speaking in person. The relative anonymity of the internet makes people more reckless with their words and I'm no exception. I'm sorry for that.
So long
So despite the fact that I've had some time to cool down and the fact that I returned to post this message, I am still leaving Head-Fi on what I believe will be a permanent basis. There is a small reason for this and a big reason. I'll start with the small reason.
The small reason is that I really honestly truly believe that Head-Fi isn't as fun a place as it used to be. I know most of you don't think the existence of the "Certifiably Inane" forum hurts the community, and you're certainly welcome to your opinion. But the damage is both subtle and real. You'll see what I mean if you post a topic in the Members' Lounge and it gets moved to "Certifiably Inane" for arbitrary and unstated reasons.
Enough on that.
The big reason I'm leaving Head-Fi is because it's an unbelievably effective time-suck when I'm procrastinating on doing something important. I've mentioned once or twice here that I'm an aspirant writer of genre fiction (primarily science fiction but occasionally mystery/suspense/horror). I have literally dozens of short story ideas in my notes that require time and attention if I'm ever going to get them written. I have several short stories written, that require final-pass editing and formatting before I sent them out to market. And I have a novel I began writing last fall that I believe is quite good. The problem? It's 20% complete, but it should have been done by now.
"I'll work on the novel right after I check my e-mail; it'll only take a minute." Two hours later I've gotten nothing done in the novel but I've contributed to a dozen threads on three different internet fora, including Head-Fi.
Between a full time job and responsibilities to my wife and children, I have little time in which to write. Unfortunately many of those precious hours have been spent on the net rather than in the word processor. The thing is, I can't just cut back on Head-Fi; if I'm involved in a conversation, discussion, or debate here, I know for a fact I can't limit myself to just a few minutes. As I said at the top of this message, I'm the kind of person that often gets hung up on little things. Even though they may not be important. Even though it means I'm getting nowhere in my book.
So I doubt I'll be returning much if at all -- as interesting as Head-Fi can be sometimes, it's nowhere near as important as my writing. And that's a much easier perspective to maintain from outside than from within. So long for now -- or at least until I accomplish something real with my writing.
