Talk:Main Page

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noliro chielelt I propose having a discussion on this page's discussion page about what features you'd like to see kept, ditched, or modified in any hypothetical "new" site--Ace

+1 Helpful

Have we identified people capable of coding, and someone capable of hosting?--Renny0

I'm a big fan of all of the items. I would probably just take the current Slashcode and use that as the basis, with minor format changes. As to hosting, it's cheap now (check out dreamhost.com, and that's not the best rate you can get). Also, does anyone have a point of contact for carl, by the way? carl@plastic.com does not work anymore. ~Thalia

I can code and provide hosting. I'm currently installing slashcode on a server just for that purpose. I don't have much time to volunteer so coding should fall to someone else. ~Shane

I'm available for coding as well, and installed scoop (the k5 engine) last night to see if it'd work out any better than slashcode. - Dan

I'd rather we ditch the option of posting anonymously. Let's face it, the signal to noise ratio of helpful, informative AI commentary -vs- mean-spirited, personality-based sniping from those AI's hiding behind the black curtains of anonymity is strongly skewed toward the latter. Way back when, I didn't use to mind the Idiots, but as of late they've done nothing but post turd after turd after turd. If Beavis and Butthead taught us only one thing, it would be this: "You can't polish a turd, Beavis" - Butthead. - - 1fastdog

Another note: plasticverse.com is a pretty reasonable place to park the plastic replacement too.

I have two inputs: The first is that it is likely that whether or not carl sells the code to plastic, that the graphics won't be part of the package. If we want to have icons and graphics, we may need to recruit a crack team of artists. The second is regarding the AI: I propose a double AI system, where AI comments start at a 0 rating under the moniker Anonymous Visitor, or AV. It would only take one point to downmod the obnoxious comments, and any AV comment that rated -.5 or lower would be changed to Anonymous Idiot. Then folks who want to avoid most of the riffraff can block the AI, while keeping the ability to view modded up AV comments. This may or may not be a bitch to code. ---AC.

Seems like a great idea to me, but I also have no idea what it would entail code-wise. --Shotgun

I'm not sure we should bring back QuickLinks (at least not right away). I never liked them and I'm sure I'm not alone. I'm in favor of bringing back anonymous posting, however, and the idea in the previous comment is a good one. I would also like to see the "new Plastic" carry on the tradition of never removing comments, no matter how vile or irrelevant, and letting the moderation system take care of them. I think Carl's refusal to do this worked to the site's advantage, in that he seemed to simply let the community be, warts and all (well, at least until he pulled the plug). The last thing anyone wants is a Plastic run by an invisible dictator. Madryantist 22:55, 10 June 2006 (PDT)

Why don't you like QuickLinks? Is it because of the Quicklinks voting system, or because the brevity of the articles, or what? QLs tend to be in that niche of "the story is enough to bring to the attention of others but not enough to comment on". It's also easier to submit a good QL than to submit a good writeup. --WhoAreWe

I spawned hyperlinks for each of the areas that define "The Plastic Experience" so we have a place to put discussion on each subject and "the final verdict" on how we're going to handle each. That, and a one-page wiki is kind of, y'know, //missing the point//. As for Madryantist's comment, I disagree. As the saying goes, "an elephant is a mouse designed by a committee." Any good project has a despot, someone who is capable of comprehending the group's collected vision and pushing the project forward to reach it. Plus, ownership of the project by //someone// is almost impossible; someone's going to own the domain name, someone's going to own the server space that the thing is posted on, someone's going to program it, etc. And with all of these people owning chunks of the project, someone has to make sure that they're on the same page. Say, are we even going to call this "Plastic" any more? Assuming the original doesn't resurface... Territan 6/11/06 6:26 AM EDT

To me, the essence of Plastic is the high signal-to-noise ratio. It's easy to get a quick handle on all the active discussions, the stories are at the right level of detail, and the thread lengths are manageable. The user interface is clear and simple (even with QLs, which I like, but don't feel strongly about). Reasoned discussions were possible and encouraged. Since others mentioned it, I checked out Newsvine, and the UI is hopelessly cluttered. That's a major disincentive to new members. MeFi is basically just a list of quicklinks; there is no persistence to the stories, so there is little opportunity for meaningful discussion. Plastic is the only web site which frequently changed my opinions and informed my worldview, due to a serendipitous combination of good design and an engaged, interesting community. This appears to be unique on the present-day Web. So, I would suggest that an initial attempt keep the essential elements w.r.t. story density, persistence, and uncluttered design. --Coelacanth 06:12, 12 June 2006 (PDT)

I agree with all eight of the proposed items save the Anonymous Idiot, the purpose of which has been largely made irrelevant by its use as a method for flaming users. Do away with it, and let the chips fall where they may. And in regards to folks using multiple accounts to accomplish the same purpose, might I suggest the following to the coders of any "new" Plastic: restrict commenting based on karma-- if someone passes beyond a certain threshhold for negative mods to their comments within a certain time period, restrict their posting ability to one or two comments a day for a "probationary period." Folks who create spoof accounts for the purpose of trolling will quickly find the usefulness of those accounts severely limited. Folks who are just having a bad day/week/month will still be able to post, and will regain full privileges automatically once they've calmed down a bit and cease needlessly attacking folks. When you paint yourself into a corner and have your ability to comment severely restricted, I think this would have the effect of making you really consider whether you want to stay on point or call someone an asshat. Just a thought.

As far as contributing something, I'm willing to help with graphics if that's necessary/needed. Although I'm still of the opinion that we may be racing to build something that might prove unnecessary, unless we're all of the opinion that Plastic itself is a lost cause, even if Carl gets it back online(?). -- iarnuocon.

Not a bad idea, iarnuocon. The problem is that such a system would inadvertantly punish folks with unpopular opinions, and members could even silence others by creating a posse of downmodders in order to kick in the post limitations. -- tomc

How about averaging individuals' "karma" scores off a rolling (x) months of data? Regular posters could remain above the threshhold regardless. Folks that aren't trolling don't usually have their positive mods outweighed by their negative ones... not even folks who are relatively unpopular on the site: e.g. daniel_duffy or rombuu (note, this is not a value judgment on my part-- they genuinely believed they were "suppressed"). The only sure handles that would be suppressed would be those used only for stalking. Just typing "aloud", here.-- iarnuocon

I think the editors played a valuable role in the daily function of plastic. What are we doing about them? -- brulee

I added an Editor link to the main page, and I created a Technology page to describe in layman's terms some of that long-head stuff that made many Plasticians' eyes cross. That latter one could probably spawn some good discussion. --Territan 6/14/06 2:28

I'd like to make a plug for keeping the AI. I know it's abused by trollers, but they'll find someway to seep through the walls as long as the place isn't completely moderated. The benefit is that it allows someone to post very personal stuff without having the information acrue to their nick. And not everyone is going to want to create a new ID when they want privacy. -- profpeach

I'd also like to vote for keeping the AI. But instead of being available to anyone who comes to the site, maybe it could be set up so that only registered users have the option to "post as AI". It would provide an addition hurdle for random trolls to cross, but it would still allow regular contributors to the site the option to post with some anonymity. -- indiaink (6/20/06)