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In lugnet.off-topic.fun, lar@voyager.net (Larry Pieniazek) writes:
> > lugnet.off-topic.fun.puns
>
> I like this name of the choices. Not everything that is in off-topic.fun
> is necessarily funny. It's the intent that matters, people posting there
> are TRYING to be funny. Some of us are just better at it than others. So
> puns belong with fun.
If wonder if that doesn't set an uncomfortable precedent though. It would
be confusing if .pun(s) went under .fun but .geek didn't. A lot of geeking
is fun and a lot of puns aren't. So the cleanest thing (in my mind) would
be either
Forced structure
=============================
lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands
lugnet.off-topic.debate
lugnet.off-topic.fun
lugnet.off-topic.fun.geek
lugnet.off-topic.fun.puns
lugnet.off-topic.fun.qotd
lugnet.off-topic.test
or
Flat layout
=============================
lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands
lugnet.off-topic.debate
lugnet.off-topic.fun
lugnet.off-topic.geek
lugnet.off-topic.pun
lugnet.off-topic.qotd
lugnet.off-topic.test
but not mixing the two.
I think it's important to keep in mind the long-term possibilities for the
.off-topic hierarchy. Let me see if I can dig up the original newsgroup
list from last August (the rilly rilly big one that never saw the light of
day)... <dig, dig, dig> OK, got it. Here is a list of all the off-topic
groups that were once under consideration (name prefixes modified to fit
current hierarchy):
Once upon a time under consideration
====================================
lugnet.off-topic.arts
lugnet.off-topic.books
lugnet.off-topic.computers
lugnet.off-topic.economics
lugnet.off-topic.education
lugnet.off-topic.food
lugnet.off-topic.general
lugnet.off-topic.hobbies
lugnet.off-topic.home
lugnet.off-topic.jobs
lugnet.off-topic.movies+tv
lugnet.off-topic.music
lugnet.off-topic.news
lugnet.off-topic.religion
lugnet.off-topic.pets
lugnet.off-topic.philosophy
lugnet.off-topic.politics
lugnet.off-topic.school
lugnet.off-topic.science
lugnet.off-topic.www
Quite the frighteningly large list, eh?!
This list (and the rest of it, not shown) was constructed primarily from
studying and categorizing the subject matter (on-topic as well as off-topic)
of about 100,000 posts over a three-year sample from RTL.
In the interest of curbing off-topic discussions as much as possible, this
giant list above was collapsed into just two groups -- .off-topic.debate and
.off-topic.fun. But this was mainly out of fear/concern that NLFs might
find the newsserver and use it for gabbling; this was before the news-
posting setup/registration process, and with this in place I really can't
imagine too many NLFs doing any drive-by postings.
Anyway, the point of digging up the list above is to help explain why I'm
hesitant to put .puns inside of .fun -- it sets a precedent that could lead
to this somewhat contrived-looking list:
Bad group name One reason name is bad
================================== ==============================
lugnet.off-topic.debate.religion Religion not always debated
lugnet.off-topic.debate.philosophy Philosophy not always debated
lugnet.off-topic.debate.politics Politics not always debated
lugnet.off-topic.serious.computers Computers often fun
lugnet.off-topic.serious.economics Economics sometimes debated
lugnet.off-topic.serious.education Education sometimes fun
lugnet.off-topic.serious.home Home stuff often fun
lugnet.off-topic.serious.jobs Job-seeking sometimes fun
lugnet.off-topic.serious.news News often debated or fun
lugnet.off-topic.serious.school School not always serious
lugnet.off-topic.serious.science Science often fun or debated
lugnet.off-topic.serious.www WWW not always serious
lugnet.off-topic.fun.arts Arts often serious or debated
lugnet.off-topic.fun.books Books often serious
lugnet.off-topic.fun.food Food sometimes serious
lugnet.off-topic.fun.hobbies Hobbies sometimes serious
lugnet.off-topic.fun.movies+tv Movies & TV not always fun
lugnet.off-topic.fun.music Music not always fun
lugnet.off-topic.fun.pets Pets sometimes debated
An alternative possibility to that might be a different set of general sub-
categories, for example .arts, .comp, .econ, .edu, .fun, .gov, .news, .rec.,
.sci, and .soc -- or something like that. If something like this were done,
then things might end up something like this:
Newsgroup name Webpage label
==================================== =================================
lugnet.off-topic.arts Arts
lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands Clone Brands
lugnet.off-topic.comp Computers
lugnet.off-topic.comp.games Computers / Games
lugnet.off-topic.comp.www Computers / WWW
lugnet.off-topic.debate Debate
lugnet.off-topic.econ Business & Economics
lugnet.off-topic.econ.jobs Business & Economics / Jobs
lugnet.off-topic.edu Education
lugnet.off-topic.fun Fun
lugnet.off-topic.fun.puns Fun / Puns
lugnet.off-topic.fun.qotd Fun / Quote-of-the-Day
lugnet.off-topic.news.current-events News / Current Events
lugnet.off-topic.rec.books Recreation / Books
lugnet.off-topic.rec.cars Recreation / Cars
lugnet.off-topic.rec.food Recreation / Food
lugnet.off-topic.rec.hobbies Recreation / Hobbies
lugnet.off-topic.rec.home Recreation / Home
lugnet.off-topic.rec.movies+tv Recreation / Movies & TV
lugnet.off-topic.rec.music Recreation / Music
lugnet.off-topic.rec.pets Recreation / Pets
lugnet.off-topic.rec.sports Recreation / Sports
lugnet.off-topic.sci Science
lugnet.off-topic.soc.religion Sociology & Culture / Religion
lugnet.off-topic.soc.philosophy Sociology & Culture / Philosophy
lugnet.off-topic.soc.politics Sociology & Culture / Politics
lugnet.off-topic.test Testing
But probably, the only real use of an extra layer like this is if there is
going to be dozens or hundreds more off-topic groups, which is unlikely.
I think a flat layout would work just fine for .off-topic if it doesn't grow
too much. And anyway, names like .clone-brands, .debate, and .test ruin
some of the benefits that the nice structure of a layered naming system
would provide.
OTOH, while it's probably no big deal whether something like .movies+tv sits
in the same subcategory as something like .food, it may be quite useful if
something like [computer] .games were in the same subcategory as something
like .www -- for searching and other organizational purposes.
In summary, among all of the groups from the lists above, here's (just off
the top of my head; feel free to disagree) a ranking from 1 (least) to 5
(most) of how useful/used they might be anytime soon:
Alphabetically
================================
lugnet.off-topic.arts 2
lugnet.off-topic.books 1
lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands *
lugnet.off-topic.computers 5
lugnet.off-topic.debate *
lugnet.off-topic.economics 1
lugnet.off-topic.education 1
lugnet.off-topic.food 3
lugnet.off-topic.fun *
lugnet.off-topic.geek 5 (alternate name for .comp[uters])
lugnet.off-topic.hobbies 2
lugnet.off-topic.home 2
lugnet.off-topic.jobs 1
lugnet.off-topic.movies+tv 4
lugnet.off-topic.music 3
lugnet.off-topic.news 2
lugnet.off-topic.religion 1
lugnet.off-topic.pets 2
lugnet.off-topic.philosophy 1
lugnet.off-topic.politics 1
lugnet.off-topic.pun 4
lugnet.off-topic.qotd 3
lugnet.off-topic.school 1
lugnet.off-topic.science 1
lugnet.off-topic.test *
lugnet.off-topic.www 2
By score
================================
lugnet.off-topic.clone-brands *
lugnet.off-topic.debate *
lugnet.off-topic.fun *
lugnet.off-topic.test *
lugnet.off-topic.geek 5 (alternate name for .comp[uters])
lugnet.off-topic.computers 5
lugnet.off-topic.movies+tv 4
lugnet.off-topic.pun 4
lugnet.off-topic.food 3
lugnet.off-topic.music 3
lugnet.off-topic.qotd 3
lugnet.off-topic.arts 2
lugnet.off-topic.hobbies 2
lugnet.off-topic.home 2
lugnet.off-topic.news 2
lugnet.off-topic.pets 2
lugnet.off-topic.www 2
lugnet.off-topic.books 1
lugnet.off-topic.economics 1
lugnet.off-topic.education 1
lugnet.off-topic.jobs 1
lugnet.off-topic.religion 1
lugnet.off-topic.philosophy 1
lugnet.off-topic.politics 1
lugnet.off-topic.school 1
lugnet.off-topic.science 1
* of course means that the group already exists.
I suppose I'd be pretty content with anything ranking at a 3 or higher.
What d'y'all think?
> > In the same spirit of a new puns group and alt.flame.spelling, one
> > other thing I always thought would be fun here is a "quote of the
> > day" group.
>
> I used to not think all that much of QOTDs but now that I'm on a list,
> I'm really starting to appreciate them.
When done right, sharing QOTD's can be quite darn funny. Of course the ng
could end up being a flop too, if no one is in the habit.
> If we must propagate a bazillion groups, I'm for this one too, I guess.
(LOL)
> BTW, if you want to be on it, go here: http://quotes-r-us.org/ It's run
> by a LegoManiac, and the quotes are pretty funny. Somewhat collegiate,
> but hey, I was young once too.
That's MattM's site. Been there -- love it! BTW, when you were in town
last summer and we visited TCS, it's Matt that Crispin said we'd just missed
by a couple hours.
> > Some examples for here -- not perfect matches with the idea behind the
> > group, but close enough for government work:
>
> Why this is being discussed in MY thread, and why two of these examples
> are mine? I'm just an instigator, I guess.
I dunno.
See ya later, instigator. ;-)
--Todd
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: .off-topic groups
|
| (...) I have to say I'm not for it... yet. IMO, there isn't enough traffic yet. And it really isn't that lego specific. But if you're looking to someday have LUGnet be an ISP :) then it might be warranted for future growth. (Also, it's difficult to (...) (25 years ago, 28-Apr-99, to lugnet.admin.general, lugnet.off-topic.fun)
| | | Re: .off-topic groups
|
| (...) I don't think we need a pun group. I don't think, but I could be wrong, that the original requestors were serious. Puns are going to occur all over the groups anyway. You'd be forced (by some disgruntled posters) to "police" puns in other (...) (25 years ago, 28-Apr-99, to lugnet.admin.general, lugnet.off-topic.fun)
| | | Re: .off-topic groups
|
| Todd Lehman <lehman@javanet.com> wrote in message news:MPG.1191017bd9e...net.com... (...) You're missing a few, like .grammar, .jingoism, and .rant (with rant.random, also known as the "dear lego" of off-topic posts). Jesse -- ___...___ Jesse The (...) (25 years ago, 1-May-99, to lugnet.admin.general, lugnet.off-topic.fun)
|
Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Lar's hoppers
|
| (...) I like this name of the choices. Not everything that is in off-topic.fun is necessarily funny. It's the intent that matters, people posting there are TRYING to be funny. Some of us are just better at it than others. So puns belong with fun. If (...) (25 years ago, 28-Apr-99, to lugnet.admin.general, lugnet.off-topic.fun)
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