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Friday, April 15th, 2011
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8:57 am - VegNews pisses off vegans everywhere
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braisinhussy
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Thanks to a mouse at ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/community.gif) wank_report for this!
VegNews is "an award-winning vegan magazine and website packed with recipes, travel, news, food, reviews, and so much more."
"So much more" apparently means stock photos of meat used to illustrate vegan recipes. Comments are posted, comments are deleted, and users are banned when they point out that using photos of meat (some of them poorly photoshopped to remove bones) seems contrary to the tenets of the magazine.“Thank you for your interest in VegNews. However, your inappropriate and mean-spirited commenting has violated the policy of VegNews, and we have and will continue to remove any future comments. Please know that we welcome constructive criticism from all viewpoints, and rarely unpublish comments from readers. Should you have any constructive feedback, feel free to email me directly. I’d love to hear from you.” People are extremely not happy. (But their wanking is done in the most non-violent, humane way possible.)
VegNews posts a non-apology. Surprise, surprise, it doesn't go over well.
(Gothamist's closing line about this debacle is priceless: "Should VegNews change its name to CarnNews, was their apology enough, or is this all just much tofu about nothing?")
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(93 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, April 2nd, 2011
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1:42 pm - I don't know how, but this wank is definitely LJ's fault.
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| Monday, March 28th, 2011
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9:19 pm - "You are a big rat and a snake with poisenous venom."
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| Saturday, March 26th, 2011
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3:09 pm - Cheezeburgers, Contessas, and Cancer
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monkeyarcher
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reading the comments and seeing the reaction of my roommate (while he said that he understood where I was coming from on this, he also gave me that look that tells me that he wonders why anyone ever lets me out in public, I realized that this was an error in judgement on my part.
I have moved this to http://www.journalfen.net/community/unfunny_fandom/profile as was suggested. Honestly, I don't know why it didn't pop into my head to post it there to begin with.
I sincerely apologize for my lack of cluefulness (I accept this as a word...it fits).
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(21 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
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2:46 pm - Happy Mardi Gras
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| Saturday, March 5th, 2011
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2:33 pm - "Kitty does WHAT?!"
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| Saturday, February 26th, 2011
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6:43 pm - Chivalry bookshelf; well, that's an ironic name!
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solelyfictional
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I came across this first on AbsoluteWrite, but its the Armour Archive Forums that really provide the wank. I'm afraid I know nothing about the Society for Creative Anachronism, though after reading the thread I find I quite like them! Feel free to correct me on any specifics. It's worth noting that while I'll use screennames where possible, the vast majority of people commenting in the Armour Archive forum include their real names in their signatures.
It starts innocently enough, with a request for book and DVD rec's on a certain kind of arms/armour. Specifically, a book by one Brian Price. And as a secondary query:
On a side note: I was told today that there is some controversy about Brian Price of the 'John Clements' level of infamy. What is that all about?
There's some vague rumblings about Price, but no one seems to know anything specific (or anything up to date). Various books are recced, including Christian H Tobler's books on the Liechtenauer tradition.
All's going swimmingly until Tobler himself drops by with a request people don't buy his books. Specifically, his books published by Price.
( From here, it gets long. Doesn't it always with publisher wank? )
TLDR:
Long ago, in days of yore,
a poster asked a rec for.
Many a book was suggested
but the authors asked purchases be arrested.
The publisher was such a knave
their royalties he'd never paid.
Not only this, a poster cried
his workmanship must be decried!
His gauntlets break,
his pins are stolen;
no man of honour,
would buy from this golem.
The publisher deigned to appear.
The accusations he tried to clear.
Royalties were owed since 2006
because he was in a financial fix.
Lady Charlotte, maid of the hour,
Came forth from her library bower
And offered proof of money owed
and plagiarism! by the cartload.
Worse than that, a business near
to their hearts had disappeared.
What of the insurance bought?
These were the answers posters now sought.
His reknown tattered
His reputation black
Brian Price
Would not be back.
( and the ETAs begin )
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(39 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, January 27th, 2011
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12:00 pm - Its the multiple community, sockpuppets are like, the point
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xelloss
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Do you know about multiples/plurals? They are a group of people, or perhaps a group of groups of people who believe that they have many minds or souls sharing one body. But don't say they have DID, or mention alters, this is "healthy" ![[info]](http://www.journalfen.net/img/userinfo.gif) multiplicity! The kind that basically comes from spending too much time role-playing.
Now days, the multiple community keeps most of its drama behind closed doors. Drama that usually has to with the people who don't have Sephiroth in their system looking down on those who do, or incessant bitching about who is just pretending, and who actually needs to get some psych help because they really aren't pretending, while the rest of the community is probably only pretending to not be pretending. Its a big old pretend-fest.
But yesterday, some wanker decided to air their wank in public for all to see! They created a journal where all multiples could post anonymously and bitch about the other multiples they hated.
And thus, Pluralanon was born! 100+ comments of bitching, backstabbing and circlejerk.
Its especially funny when the uninivated rest of the community shows up.
And its entirely possible that there were only 2 real live participants, with the rest of them being imaginary!
ETA: Original thread is now deleted, but they are back in a new one in Glorious Technicolor.
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(155 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, January 17th, 2011
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3:41 pm - Who gets the Final Word? Wankers do.
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solelyfictional
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I actually wrote this up for my writing blog, but there's too much wank here not to share it further. I've expanded it a bit, especially this there's already new info from when I posted it there this morning.
Publishing is outdoing itself this year. First One was just a warm up. Enjoy!
So, on new year's day, a company called Decadent Publishing release a book by debut author Graylin Fox. Later that day, Graylin receives an email to her private account alerting her to a negative review on blog The End is Not the Final Word. She tweets about it.
Graylin claims she was then contacted privately on twitter by someone who seemed very interested in the review, to get her opinion of it. Decadent also see the review. They're confused, because this isn't a site they sent a review copy too, and they're a little suspicious. They describe it as 'not a legitimate review site'.
(at this point, I suggest you go take a look at The End is Not the Final Word. It set off some red flags for me, after so many years watching fandom_wank, but not enough to say anything.)
Shortly afterwards, this post appears on the review blog, accusing Decadent of going through their purchase records to provide the author with private information about the review blog owners, and of accusing them of piracy. Decadent reply to this post offering to let one of the reviewers out of his/her contract with Decadent, if s/he thinks so poorly of the company.
At this point the rest of the web gets hold of the story and start sharing their opinions. Decadent look pretty bad. It doesn't help their case that as word spreads they start posting passive aggressive music videos on their twitter and facebook. They do respond to some of the accusation over at Dear Author (contacting Jane directly) but don't answer all of the questions. They give us their word they never shared purchase information with anyone, nor were any real names swapped. The Enders don't reply to DA's request for their side of the story.
Graylin, however, decides it's about time to give her side of the story, supporting Decadent's claims, but very vague about how she knew who the anonymous Enders were. People are already wondering about an older post on the Enders blog, namechecking Graylin for 'Worst Author Behaving badly moment". Do I smell grudgewank? Oh yes, I do.
Back over at Dear Author, someone else decides to name names, and outs two of the Enders as Belladonna Bordeaux/TJ Killian/Lee Morris and Sandra Sookoo, a claim which is backed up by Graylin. Belladonna, at least, is/was an author with Decadent. Under the name Lee Moriss she used to own Eirelander publishing. Someone else over at DA points out Graylin isn't the only author previously associated with Eirelander who's received a negative review from them: Aasiyah Qamar/Zaynah Mondee was one of Eirelander's editors, but had to quite for personal reasons. It's nothing like as vitriolic as Graylin's but it is a little odd consdering one of the reviewers actually worked on preparing the book for publication.
Oh, and icing on the cake? If you glance back at the Best and Worst of 2010 post on the Enders blog, you'll notice the Best books of 2010 go to Belladonna Bordeaux, Sandra Sookoo, and TJ Killian.
As yet, the Enders haven't commented on the new revelations. Decadent seem to be sitting on their hands now (too little too late, IMO, but I suppose it's an improvement on linking videos), and Graylin seems to be trying to keen to put it behind her, but other authors and interested parties are invested in keeping the wank alive. And, well. It's better than working myself into a tiz about my upcoming holiday, so I've brought popcorn to share.
ETA: The Enders forward Decadent's emails to Dear Author though the Ender's side of the conversation hasn't been made public yet (there's also still debate about whether Decadent shared purchase information or not and whether they accused the Ender's of piracy). Sandra Sookoo is denying any involvement with the Enders.
Also, AbsoluteWrite's thread, which is desperately trying to stay on topic.
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(51 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, January 15th, 2011
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9:58 am - First One Digital Publishing--Sign Away All Your Rights and PAY Us For It!
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duraniedrama
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So a new ebook publisher called First One Digital Publishing and they're holding a contest called Who Wants to be an Author? Sounds nifty, right? Then you have a look at the rules.
Okay, must be original, must be in English, Microsoft Word format, yadda, yadda, yadda . . .
( Waaaaait a minute . . . )
Laura Anne Gilman is not impressed.
Neither is Janet Reid.
Nor John Scalzi.
Okay, so a budding self publisher does something stupid and writers warn them about it. Where's the wank, exactly?
That would be where Karen Hunter herself shows up in the comments of Janet Reid's blog and also in the comments in this thread at the Absolute Write forums.
Could I, a 20-year veteran in publishing as a writer and publisher, afford to put out a contest that rips people off? I'm not desperate. The goal is to truly find the next great author, something not too many people are actually looking for. What's been your success track record?
Note she asks for the 'success track record' of Janet Reid.
On Absolute Write, she drops such gems as:
And regarding the term "major publisher," which seems to be a point of conversation, First One will be releasing 5-10 titles a month. I think that's pretty major. Don't you?
LOL...to most of the responses. Here's the deal: If you want to be a part of something bigger than what you're currently doing, join us. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the naysaying and the problem. It's very easy to sit on the sidelines and poke holes at everything. It is far more difficult to get out there and do something different. That's what we're doing.
Again, we're grateful for the feedback because it certainly forces us to do a better job, which we will. But it seems as if the comments and the criticisms are not edifying. If your goal is to be a boo-bird. Good job. If you're goal is to help change publishing, get in the game and let's play.
And play they do. Two pages so far and it may yet blossom into greater things if she comes back to bawwwww some more.
ETA: Smart Bitches, Trashy Books weighs in. (Thanks to midnight_hawk for the tip.) The comments also link to a "contest" by Evil Reads, with additional suggested clauses in the comments. (khym_chanur finds quite possibly the best one here.)
It's also hit sf_drama. (Thanks to seiberwing.)
ETA Part Deax: aaaaaand, the rules now lead to a 404 page. (Per John Scalzi via sistercoyote.)
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(166 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
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7:35 pm - No, really? Really.
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| Thursday, December 9th, 2010
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11:20 am - If Not For The Wank
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ghostmaster
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Query Shark is a blog where aspiring writers can send their query letters to be looked over by professional agent Janet Reid, and then promptly chewed up, spit out, and glared at it by an angry lamniformes*. Oh, and there's something about insightful critique or some nonsense about helping authors or something silly like that. Anyway...
Query 189 (scroll down for the original version) is a Gilligan's Island/Hawaii 5-0 crossover fanfic in which the Gilligan's Island cast is all suspected of murder and also there is something about magical bat guano and I don't know what this guy was smoking, but I want some. Cue about...ohh, 60 comments of "well, it's an okay idea, I guess, but you should really just post it on FF.Net". A few enterprising web sleuths dig up the author's website, but don't post it for the sake of anonymity.
Cut to a few days later. The comment count has gone up to 73, and the author submits his revised query (which you already noticed in my above link). Now...well, let's let the author explain it, shall we?
"IF NOT FOR THE COURAGE adheres strictly to the legal definition of parody, and thus uses derivative characters under the fair use doctrine. Nevertheless, parodying our beloved seven stranded castaways might very possibly cause a stir. Are you afraid of a bit of controversy? If not, then read on…"
Apparently, a handful of people telling you that you can't publish fanfic and you fail at parody is "controversy" now.
"But where is the wank?" you ask. "This is just a dogpile on a clueless author. It's not like he came back to argue!"
Meet Jason Bloomberg. Jason has C/P'ed selected lines from all his detractors and turned them into praise for his fanfic. It's okay because he admits that they've been edited at the top of his sidebar. Also, bad press is still good press, I know what I'm talking about because I didn't just read Wikipedia, no one has ever written a fanfic where none of the characters were unrecognizable, this book isn't for fans of the show except when it is, and it's an irrefutable parody because Gilligan is gay.
Back at the query, everyone just boggles at the author's giant balls, but it seems to be winding down. I don't expect any future revisions to get much attention, so let me conclude with this delightful quote:
"But questions still remain: will agents and/or publishers steer clear? Would the copyright owner still sue? Will this book create a stir because it uses characters without permission?
My response: bring it on."
*probably used this incorrectly, but thinks it made the sentence sound nice anyway
**It occurs to me in retrospect that this could totally have gone in FW. Somehow, my brain just saw "Query Shark wank!" and ignored the whole "fanfic about Gilligan's Island" part.
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(81 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
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2:21 pm - That's not frosting on the cinnamon buns!
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platedlizard
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Since tetradecimal took the bullet for me, AND my finals are over, I bring you beautiful, wonderful, lovely Cinnabon wank.
Over on Bad Service unbrokenwings posts a recent story about running into a debit card minimum at Cinnabon while purchasing a drink. She works under hot lights and gets thirsty, and Cinnabon has the biggest, cheapest drinks. unbrokenwings usually only purchases drinks there because she has a wheat allergy and cinnamon buns make her want to hurl. Fair enough, right?
Well, sjaustin is not going to let that stand! How dare unbrokenwings go into a place that sells products she finds nauseating to buy other products she likes! Even after unbrokenwings says she finds most other places that sell food to have the same effect on her, sjaustin is still unrepentant!
I'm arguing with you because you're contradicting yourself all over the place. Slow day? No, it's called "lunch." Most people who work those cushy office jobs get a whole hour in the middle of the day to do with as we please.
Gosh, you would think the food at every place being nauseating would be more motivation for you to bring your own drinks. Maybe you're exaggerating just a bit?
darsynia tries to use logic, but it is of no use!
Dear God this is so beautiful, I think I might cry.
And then, to add a beautiful wank topping to the wank-cake, the wank is posted to SF_Drama and sjaustin shows up in the comments!
And then I dance around in circles because I know a wank like this mean CINNAMON BUN RECIPES IN THE COMMENTS AND ALSO I GOT 20 OUT OF 19 ON MY ENGLISH FINAL YAY!!!!
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(166 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, December 4th, 2010
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3:54 pm - #AAAFail
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| Wednesday, November 24th, 2010
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2:05 pm - I'm so angry I'm gonna do my job! Maybe.
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sepiamagpie
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This is pretty contained, because the person doing it (wisely?) cut off all modes of response from anyone. I'm not a community member, I had enough of French back when I was in immersion school.
The community: Learn_French@Livejournal
The posts featured: Post #1 and Post #2
The Person: Danaseilhan, full of Daffy Duck rage.
This is kind of a what not to do if you fuck up modding so much people decide to report you delinquent.
( Zer first post )
Kind of reasonable. I mean, she was just gone two weeks! That's no reason to report someone to lj abus--- hey, why is her community full of spam posts that are still up? Here's one. Everytime you see that icon, do not click any of the links.
So, I go to look at her journal like she suggested. I'm obedient like that.
( Second post! Ooh, she even ends it with a sassy 'Ta'. )
Okay. So. Let's review her modding.
1. Spam-filled community. Date checking reveals that spam pre-dates her vacation.
2. Angry screed about spiting the haters, along with rule reminder that amounts to: "I was unreachable. WHY DIDN'T YOU CONTACT ME?"
3. Cuts off all modes of communication (do not comment to her journal if you can, she will report you for spam, emails sent are deleted without reading)
4. This is just a rumour, but apparently she feasts on the flesh of newly born infant boys? Take what you will from that.
What confuses me about all this is, isn't French the language of love? Why all this anger? All this... hurt?
EDIT: Breaking news from our reporter julian_black. Apparently she has a history, featuring such accomplishments as a Ginmar/Atanielle defending anti-fandom_wank community, as well as an intriguing theory as to why learn_french is full of spam:
She does not, in fact, speak French and has not realized the truth of those posts. Quelle surprise. Sorry, it was a bit of a surprise, I just wanted to toss some French in there. Spirit of things.
Plus, the origins of Rule Number 4, to whit: What happens in Learn_French, stays in Learn_French/Don't you mention our fuckups anywhere.
EDIT THE SECOND: She's been on otf_wank before, it turns out. I thought I'd found a new one :(
THIRD ETA: Comm's deleted. Read about her last post in here, courtesy of Dreamworld. Her words on the subject after deletion:
Don't bother contacting me to ask why [info]learn_french is gone. I'll offer a brief explanation and that's all you're getting:
1. Assholes running crying to LJ Abuse about me not being a good maintainer because after six years of 90 percent good community experience on your part and 9 percent troll-stomping on my part, I didn't respond quickly enough for your tastes for the 1 percent trolling I missed.
The sad part is, I believe I am overestimating the amount of troll-stomping I had to do.
2. My email acting up when I tried to notify LJ Abuse that I wanted to keep LF. I feared that if my email continued to be delayed that they'd just hand it over to one of the aforementioned assholes. I am a strong believer in NOT rewarding assholery. I don't know what Multiple Whoevers' problems were with me and I don't want to know.
They didn't get what they wanted.
Unfortunately over 1000 other people got punished along with them.
And you know what? It is not like I was getting paid for the job. I wonder how many of you have a 90 percent success rate, or better, at your jobs where you do get paid.
Something to think about as you're submitting me to the latest popular mock-the-drama community. Then again, likely most of you aren't employed after all, which is why you're there to begin with.
'Nuff said. Or as they say in the South, from whence I hail, "Fuck all y'all."
Note: If it starts in the other communities I maintain, they will go away too. I won't even wait to hear from LJ Abuse. Guess what? Life's not fair. At least you're not Haitian.
( For posterity, where she blames her email not working on lj abuse )
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(79 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
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11:59 pm - PTC clutches pearls; news at 11
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galateus
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Bleeped swear words: Threat or menace? Now with hilarious statistics!
Fish, barrel, I know, but it's the article comments that explode in wank proper, once bbbaldie opens the floodgates by siding with the PTC:
Not sure how many of you have actually raised children, but in my house in the 80's and 90's, I appreciated not having the foulest expletives on the TV shows my kids (and their parents) watched during primetime.
Ooh, sorry, you liberals, I know that our youngest kids shouldn't be shielded from the f-word, my apologies for offending you.
It's the typical "Exponential increase in swearing = DOWNFALL OF CIVILIZATION" wankery, mixed with the old chestnut "I don't want my kids to watch this, pervert" vs. "then change the channel, dumbass". But quite possibly the most concentrated source of WTF-ery in the whole thread is on page two from Harpua420:
This country will strangle itself on their "freedoms."
(This begs for some kind of '"scare quotes" make you more persuasive' tag.)
There's also some ouroboros-like reoccurring wank with atari030 when he refers back to his comments on last month's Ars article about the Parents Television Council (apparently this is His Thing - if you have an Ars account you can see through his profile that all but one of his posts are on the PTC articles); and an incredibly uncreative self-Godwinizing pro-PTC troll-sock created just for the occasion rears its ugly head at the end of page 4: selfrighteousliberalasshole (Joined: 16 Nov 2010 11:05 | Last visited: 16 Nov 2010 16:36 | Total posts: 1)
ETA: Finally reading atari030's older comments. My god, it's a lulz sundae with point-missing sprinkles smothered in NostalgiaVision sauce topped with a classic passive-aggressive flounce (which he immediately went back on as soon as another PTC article was posted, apparently):
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*Honestly, when one looks back in time in terms of overall generational 'well being' one tends to pick the 50's and possibly the 80's as very idealistic points in American life. Hmmmm, it also just so happens that those time periods were ones of very (50's) and fairly (80's) prudish standards compared to today. Outside of the knowledge-base gained and technological advancements, I can't say there have been any marked strides in our cultural development since then. In fact, I think we've taken a great many steps backwards and regressed.
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"Also, your fear of the youth of today showing a lack of discipline and morals is almost identical to the writings of Plato. Yes, we've been going to hell in a handbasket since 400 BC! "
If you want to compare my writings to that of Plato, I'll gladly accept that. Thanks, I appreciate the compliment.
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*in relative terms 80's MTV was like Howdy Doody. I think your parents will readily confirm my assertion.
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"And parents in the 80's were complaining about the exact same thing. Their parents did the same. And their parents before them, and so on. Somehow society has managed not to implode upon itself. Do you not see the same pattern? "
Sure I see the same pattern, but all that pattern tells me now that I'm older and that I have some perspective is that it's true. We're slowly getting worse and worse
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*If you lived through the 80's you'd see that there's no real comarison between what was on in the 80s and what is on now. It's foolish to even try and argue that they're somehow comparable. It's like night and day different.
I suspect that you didn't experience the 80's directly otherwise you wouldn't even question what I'm saying.
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*Well, I'm out folks. There's only so much negativity one can take. Enjoy further discussions on these forums as I won't be.
(....'Yay, the only guy that didn't agree with the rest of us left'....)
suggested tags: think of the children, sockpuppets, godwin's, censorship, language, parents taking shit too seriously
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(131 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, November 15th, 2010
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1:06 pm - AnNaNoWaRe (Annual NaNo Wank Report)
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ladylauren
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It's been a relatively quiet month. Alan Holman has made his triumphant and frequently suppressed return as the user TrutherWriter, whose novel synopsis includes such gems as:
Tim is real, but Israel is a CIA/MOSSAD creation. Black helecoptors, paranoid dreams ... 9/11 was an inside job -- you know it, you feel it, you pump your fist, you're a champion of the truth! Vaccines cause autism whether Tim's teacher thinks different. Why the hell do the girls that chase Tim so violently get a couch in their bathrooms while non-violent Tim gets a not-chocolate surprise that takes some time to wash out the stink!
His regular posts don't make much more sense either, but sadly I cannot link to any of them as they've all been suppressed for being abusive towards others or using profanity.
But I know what you really want, OTFers; news on the infamous marienbadmylove. What's this? you ask. Surely he was banned last year for plagiarism? Well, apparently being banned twice didn't stop Alan Holman, and being banned a mere once hasn't stopped Mark Leach, whose surname is (almost) quite apropos. Thus far his one and only post is in the Extreme Accomplishments Shoutout thread, as follows:
Success! I just crossed the 500,000-word mark with “A Canadian Marienbad,” my Nano entry and literary tribute to the people of Canada. I created the manuscript over a couple of hours by using a do-it-yourself novel kit I read about in the letters section of the infamous Laura Miller story on Salon.com. Starting with the basic 50,000-word template, I repeatedly pressed the copy and paste button in order to push the manuscript past one million words. Then I used my computer’s find and replace editing functions to customize the text with Canadian concepts and themes, turning it into my own story. By the end of the month I expect to expand my manuscript to five million words. Shouldn’t be too hard. After all, it’s just a matter of repeatedly pressing CTRL-V, then adding in my own ideas. But I will need to be careful not to strain my index finger!
Well, at least we assume it's the same author. He's posting under the name bccomox, also on LiveJournal, and so far this is his only post. Time will tell if there is more wank yet to be mined from this source.
The prize for NaNoWanker of the Year, however, undoubtedly goes to Laura Miller, whose article on Salon.com, Better yet, DON'T write that novel drew the ire of a multitude of NaNo participants, who didn't appreciate being told their work was a waste of time, nor the implication that because they were writers, not readers, they were doing the publishing world a disservice. Word of advice to Ms. Miller: writers fairly often also happen to be readers. They also happen to be capable of reading your ill-informed article and taking umbrage.
It just makes this wanka wonder where Miller thinks professional writers come from. Here's a hint: they do not spring fully formed from the forehead of some fantastic literary deity. They start out small and end up big. And for some of them, that start is NaNoWriMo.
current mood: busy
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(200 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, November 4th, 2010
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11:13 am - Public domain... I don't think those words mean what you think they mean.
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thoms
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I came across this on twitter, thanks to John Scalzi.
Back in 2005, Monica Gaudio wrote an Ice Dragon (? I don't know what this is.) entry called A Tale of Two Tarts that appeared on the Godecookery website. It is copyrighted and on a web-domain that Monica herself owns.
Last week, a friend contacted her, asking her how she had gotten published! Monica's answer "I... didn't?"
Turns out, she had. The magazine Cooks Source (Facebook here, they are also a paper publication.) had lifted her article from the Godecookery site and put it in their magazine.
She contacts the magazine via phone and then through the "Contact Us" link on the website, and exchanges emails with them. Finally, they ask her "what she wants." She replies that she wants an apology on Facebook, a printed apology in the magazine, and $130 donated to the Columbia School of Journalism.
What she got in response was this (quoted from her post):
Yes Monica, I have been doing this for 3 decades, having been an editor at The Voice, Housitonic Home and Connecticut Woman Magazine. I do know about copyright laws. It was "my bad" indeed, and, as the magazine is put together in long sessions, tired eyes and minds somethings forget to do these things.
But honestly Monica, the web is considered "public domain" and you should be happy we just didn't "lift" your whole article and put someone else's name on it! It happens a lot, clearly more than you are aware of, especially on college campuses, and the workplace. If you took offence and are unhappy, I am sorry, but you as a professional should know that the article we used written by you was in very bad need of editing, and is much better now than was originally. Now it will work well for your portfolio. For that reason, I have a bit of a difficult time with your requests for monetary gain, albeit for such a fine (and very wealthy!) institution. We put some time into rewrites, you should compensate me! I never charge young writers for advice or rewriting poorly written pieces, and have many who write for me... ALWAYS for free!
Monica is rightfully mad.
nihilistic_kid on LJ has a post about it here as well. And Scalzi posted on his blog as well.
And John Scalzi linked to his recipe for Schadenfreude Pie on the Cooks Resource Facebook wall here, with a plea that they "don't steal it." Bwah!
EDIT: The Smart Bitches have picked it up.
Also, people are looking. And unshockingly, this isn't the first time this has happened. This Pancetta and Green Onion Tart? Is copyright to Giada deLaurentiis, and appears on the Food Network website under her name.
EDIT of "Oh Fuck, The Internet is Here" - The cookssource.com website is down. Dear Author and Gawker have both picked it up.
EDIT the Heidipology: This is the last one from me, anything else will have to go into the comments, cause I'm going out and having me a drink from a non-plagiarized source. Judith Griggs has "apologised" via the wall of the Facebook account. Facebook is linked up above. Marvel, will you? (Screencap here in case she takes it down.)
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(312 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010
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5:45 pm - Wikia changes layout; becomes the next LJ in userbase trust
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sarracenia
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Wikia, for those of you who don't know, is a wiki site that lets you start a wiki on any subject. It's used a lot for things like Wookieepedia, the biggest Star Wars wiki or WoWWiki, which'll play a starring role in the wank, down to wikis for individual RPs.
Recently, they've been working on a new skin, that will be used by all the wikis on their site. Since before, Wikia let people modify the format extensively, they weren't real happy about this. Especially since it apparently looked terrible for the most complicated pages, used, of course, mostly by the most popular wikis with boatloads of information to organize. People really don't like it.
In fact, they don't like it enough that some of them, especially the big ones who'll have their formatting jerked to hell, start moving their content to a new site. After all, it's their content to do with as they please, right? Wikia views this as vandalism, and stops people from deleting their content, and a whole bunch of people suddenly realize that Creative Commons licenses mean that the hosting site can continue to use your material even after you hate them. Whoops! Note: WoWWiki hates the new layout so much that they abandoned their old domain name as well as everything Wikia-specific. Now that's hating a layout. Wikia also stops wikis from sending messages to people about where all the editors went.
Today was the day they ceased to support the old layout. Unsurprisingly, people continue to wank.
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(51 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, October 22nd, 2010
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9:30 pm - KnitCamp 2010
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kookaburra
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I'd say something about how who would have expected that such a genteel and respectable pastime as knitting could generate drama, but I think everyone knows what a crock that is by now.
Recently, there was a large event called "Knit Camp" that was held on Stirling Campus in Scotland. It failed hard. We're talking 6.5 on the TwiCon Fail Scale here. In the interest of full disclosure, I have only the vaguest idea of what went on because I joined Ravelry a week or so after the debacle, and the Cult of Nice is strong on there, so I'm sure I've only accumulated a very small amount of the information that's out there.
Much of the drama happened on the Ravelry.com forums, and you need to be a member to read them, but it has open membership. Links that go to Ravelry.com threads will be denoted by an asterisk. (*)
Anyone with more information/links/screenshots, please let me know, and I'll add it to the post.
( Who cares about my outstanding debts! I have BUNNIES to watch! )
current mood: In Denial
current music: Little Bunny Foo Foo
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(115 comments | comment on this)
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