Forum fauna: The Carpetbagger (1 Viewer)

[mjp]

Ever have a houseguest who overstayed their welcome? Meet The Carpetbagger: a forum user with little or no interest in the subject of the forum, who nonetheless sets up housekeeping and proceeds to dirty every dish in the place, drop their dirty laundry in your hamper and sleep on your couch until noon every day.

The Carpetbagger usually make themselves known in their first post; "I have never heard a Nick Cave album, but my friend Giggles really loves him!!! What should I listen to first??? :):):)"

Or; "I saw a movie based on a Mark Twain book and I really loved it!!! It reminded me of a song by The Sacred Heart of Fluffy!!! <YouTube link> :eek: :) ;)"

The Carpetbagger will seek out threads on general topics, unrelated to the forum's focus, and amass a sometimes astounding numbers of posts while actually saying absolutely nothing. Very early on they will take forum regulars to task, scolding them for being "mean," or "unfriendly." Of course The Carpetbagger elicits these sentiments themselves with their own vapid monopolization of discussions and cheerful empty-headedness.

Very often when The Carpetbagger meets resistance they enlist the aid of one or more friends who join the forum and echo The Carpetbagger's sentiments at every opportunity. If left untreated, these pests can take over and reduce your forum to a Hello Kitty brand cesspool of idiocy and smilies.

The very insidiousness of The Carpetbagger makes them dangerous. If left to roam about freely for too long they will ingratiate themselves to older forum members who will then be resistant to the inevitable talk of dumping The Carpetbagger; "Oh, I don't know, SunshineFace isn't so bad. He's harmless. Let him be." Or, "I'm interested in PoohBear's take on the latest season of Survivor - why was she banned?" Similarly, The Carpetbagger will lobby vigorously to elicit sympathy for any administrative actions taken against them, which makes them next to impossible to eradicate.

The Carpetbagger must be dealt with swiftly, or the damage they cause could be significant. In the worst case scenario, you will be stuck with The Carpetbagger forever. May god have mercy on your soul if that happens.

 

[bospress.net]

wow. Another interesting study in forum fauna.

Someone should collect these and publish them.

Bill

 

[marina del rey]

In the worst case scenario, you will be stuck with The Carpetbagger forever.

Oh, my. I hope that's merely an exaggeration.

 

[Bukfan]

This Forum Fauna case study is spot on!

The Carpetbagger must be dealt with swiftly, or the damage they cause could be significant.

Absolutely. The sooner the better.

In the worst case scenario, you will be stuck with The Carpetbagger forever.

Perish the thought!

 

[d gray]

wow - sounds worse than bedbugs...

 

[Gerard K H Love]

wow. Another interesting study in forum fauna.
Someone should collect these and publish them.

I agree, these are accurate descriptions of people who have joined us and still exist here. Publish these studies and and they will become a valuable tool to identify the beasts that surf through forums the world over. Possibly a book to be required reading in sociology courses.

I think I see the existence of a separate sub species of user who uses excessive emoticons and other flowery displays to trash up threads or to be just plain irritating.

 

[bospress.net]

The book would look cool with the cover being made of that photo sensitive paper that you place leaves on and the sun exposes the image.

I have some of that here. I need to mess with it a bit.
Bill

 

[justin grimbol]

have you ever actually banned someone? thats really funny.

 

[mjp]

No, never.

 

[Bukfan]

Possibly a book to be required reading in sociology courses.

Certainly a book to be required reading for webmasters!

 

[Gerard K H Love]

have you ever actually banned someone? thats really funny.

No, never.

Translation: No one is really funny.

 

[nervas]

These just keep getting better and better.

 

[Erik]

"PoohBear's take on the latest season of Survivor"

Damn! How could I have overlooked that thread!
Does anyone have a link to it?:):o:D:rolleyes:

 

[Billville]

Someone should collect these and publish them.

Don't forget the illustrations. These are very vivid.

 

[Rekrab]

The book would look cool with the cover being made of that photo sensitive paper that you place leaves on and the sun exposes the image.
I have some of that here. I need to mess with it a bit.

Cyanotype paper?

 

[bospress.net]

Hi,
That is it! I have done a bit of research and apparently the paper MUST be acidic or the print will easily fade. That would explain why they are not used for book covers. I could use one and protect it with an acetate DJ, but not sure what will happen to the plastic and am also a bit worried that someone would remove the jacket and that the acid in the paper would damage the book sitting next to this one...

Bill

 

[Purple Stickpin]

It may seem a bit odd, but you could mount the paper on the cover and then slather it with some conversion varnish or something similar. I can't see acidity extering itself through a sealed organic coating (as long as the coating remains un-weathered and intact). And by organic, I mean organic chemistry, not pesticide-free apples.

You might also try a small experiment: create an image on a small sample of the acidic paper, let it "take" and set for a bit, then immerse it in a baking soda solution for a while to neutralize it, and see if the image is affected. You could always check the pH by obtaining some pH test strips at your local medical store (range of about 6-8 would constitute "neutral," but depending on how acidic the paper is and how much baking soda you used, the pH could run from about 2 - 3 (quite acidic) to 9 - 10 (leaning toward moderately basic). Keep in mind that you can only test for pH on a water-wet sample.

This site: http://www.alternativephotography.com/process_cyanotype.html
explains how you do it, and it indicates that the final print is washed in water; so the apparent "water vs. paper" conundrum is not an issue here. The only concern I have with baking soda is that it would remove the image. But truthfully, none of the chemicals listed there seem too terribly acidic, although they are more toxic that your garden variety household chemicals, so be advised; so a water wash may be enough to wash away any potentially-damaging properties of the print.

Just my chemical opinion. Proceed with caution.

 

[bospress.net]

well you are a chemist, so I appreciate the expert advice!

Bill

 

[number6horse]

I fell asleep halfway through Purple Stickpin's lecture. When I awoke I stared at Donna's legs until I got a raging hard-on. Then I pondered who kicked more ass: The Runaways or Suzi Quattro...man...I could imagine those legs.... What - this isn't high school chemistry class ?!?!

EDIT: Just realized my post has a touch of carpetbagger to it itself.