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Xah's Edu Corner: Criticism vs Constructive Criticism

Criticism versus Constructive Criticism

Xah Lee, 2003-01

A lot intelligent people are rather confused about criticism,
especially in our “free-speech” free-for-all internet age. When
they say “constructive criticisms are welcome” they mostly mean
“bitching and complaints not welcome”. Rarely do people actually
mean that “criticism without suggestion of possible solutions are not
welcome” or “impolite criticism not welcome”.

Such discernment is important. Wanton bitching as internet-using geeks
are used to is not criticism is any form.

People can be respected and make a living out of criticisms, called
critics, but not bitching. And when one really value opinions, you
often want criticism without qualifications. Just be happy that
valuable criticisms may come to you free from the experts in the
public. The instant you qualify what kind of feedback are welcome, your
feedback is compromised. (this is particularly so for political or
controversial subjects)

One easy way for many of the unix geeks to understand this is the
cryptology industry.

If one really desires valuable criticisms that is polite or with
solutions or “constructive” (whatever that means), one usually have
to pay.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/writ/criticism.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/

Apr 25 '06 #1
62 3805
"Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> writes:

A large amount of free, constructive criticism follows.

1. Learn where to post things.
Criticism versus Constructive Criticism
2. Learn when to capitalize words in a title.
Xah Lee, 2003-01
3. Learn when to post things.
A lot intelligent people are rather confused about criticism,
especially in our “free-speech” free-for-all internet age. When
they say “constructive criticisms are welcome” they mostly mean
“bitching and complaints not welcome”. Rarely do people actually
mean that “criticism without suggestion of possible solutions are not
welcome” or “impolite criticism not welcome”.
4. Try "many."

5. Learn how to use commas.

6. Nobody says "constructive criticisms are welcome." They use the
singular, as should you.

7. Learn how to use commas.

8. Learn how to use parallel structure.
Such discernment is important. Wanton bitching as internet-using geeks
are used to is not criticism is any form.
9. Generally, the use of sentence forms like "such <noun> is
<adjective>" is even frowned upon in legal writing anymore; but it
is almost never appropriate to use the word "bitching" in the next
sentence.
People can be respected and make a living out of criticisms, called
critics, but not bitching. And when one really value opinions, you
often want criticism without qualifications. Just be happy that
valuable criticisms may come to you free from the experts in the
public. The instant you qualify what kind of feedback are welcome, your
feedback is compromised. (this is particularly so for political or
controversial subjects)
10. You're still insisting that criticism in the general sense is a
plural thing. It is not. Also, these "criticisms" are not what we
call "critics." We call the people making them critics. I'd let this
one slide but you bounce back and forth too many times in one sentence
to get away with it.

11. Learn how to match a verb to its noun.

12. You still haven't figured out when to use "criticisms." I'll give
you another hint: nowhere within your writing.

13. Learn when your "expert" criticism is apropos and when it is not.

14. If you can't figure out when not to pluralize the word criticism,
I don't know why I expect you to know when to use "is" instead of
"are." However, I still recommend you learn this not-so-subtle
point of English grammar.

15. Sentences in parentheses are still sentences - capitalize and
punctuate appropriately.

16. When you make a sweeping, general statement, it helps to support
it with some kind of logically-related evidence.
One easy way for many of the unix geeks to understand this is the
cryptology industry.
17. Learn when to capitalize proper nouns.

18. The cryptology industry is not a "way." It is an industry. Learn
how to write clear sentences that use words in meaningful ways. One
way to do this is to utilize verbs.
If one really desires valuable criticisms that is polite or with
solutions or “constructive” (whatever that means), one usually have
to pay.
19. The rule is that third-person singular subjects take "is" and
third-person plural subjects take "are." You seem to have this
backwards.

20. If you are offering a dissertation on constructive criticism, you
ought to define the term rather than using a parenthetical
shoulder-shrug like this.

21. Third-person singular subjects take "has," not "have."

22. When you write something, even when it is not welcome or not
relevant to the place you post it, it is helpful to actually make
a point rather than just making several statements of things which
alternate between obvious and nonsensical.
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/writ/criticism.html
23. If something from three years ago is on the web, it is indexed by
Google. If someone wants to read it, they will find it via
Google. There is no need to post it on inappropriate newsgroups.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/


(This isn't constructive criticism, but just a question:) Are you the
sum of your web page?

Apr 25 '06 #2
Ari Johnson <ia*******@gmail.com> wrote:

24. Learn when not to reply to a troll (and bother several groups while
doing so).

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 25 '06 #3

<mf*****@aep.com> wrote in message
news:OF******************************************* ************@aep.com...
Would these contestants please GET OFF THE LIST with their
non-Python-related contentiousness?

[snip long repost of the very stuff complained about]

Apr 26 '06 #4
> "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> writes:

A large amount of free, constructive criticism follows.


Just the usual repetitive content free stream-of-consciousness
material that Xah Lee is notorious for.
Apr 26 '06 #5
On 25 Apr 2006 12:21:43 -0700, "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> wrote,
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
Criticism versus Constructive Criticism


I think you would do better to put this sort of thing on a website
rather than post it in a newsgroup. It is too pretentious for a
newsgroup. Newsgroups are about question and answer.
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Java custom programming, consulting and coaching.
Apr 26 '06 #6
Xah Lee wrote:
Criticism versus Constructive Criticism

Xah Lee, 2003-01

A lot intelligent people are rather confused about criticism,
especially in our “free-speech” free-for-all internet age. When
they say “constructive criticisms are welcome” they mostly mean
“bitching and complaints not welcome”. Rarely do people actually
mean that “criticism without suggestion of possible solutions are not
welcome” or “impolite criticism not welcome”.

Such discernment is important. Wanton bitching as internet-using geeks
are used to is not criticism is any form.

People can be respected and make a living out of criticisms, called
critics, but not bitching. And when one really value opinions, you
often want criticism without qualifications. Just be happy that
valuable criticisms may come to you free from the experts in the
public. The instant you qualify what kind of feedback are welcome, your
feedback is compromised. (this is particularly so for political or
controversial subjects)

One easy way for many of the unix geeks to understand this is the
cryptology industry.

If one really desires valuable criticisms that is polite or with
solutions or “constructive” (whatever that means), one usually have
to pay.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/writ/criticism.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/

Oh, God, not another one.

--
The science of economics is the cleverest proof of free will yet
constructed.
Apr 26 '06 #7
Eli Gottlieb <el*********@gmail.com> wrote:
Oh, God, not another one.


Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site
If enough people complain with both, it might stop one day.

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 26 '06 #8
Dear John Bokma,

This is a public notice that what you are trying to do is getting close
to harrassment from the law's perspective.

Thanks.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/
John Bokma wrote:
Eli Gottlieb <el*********@gmail.com> wrote:
Oh, God, not another one.


Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site


If enough people complain with both, it might stop one day.


Apr 26 '06 #9
Xah Lee wrote:
Dear John Bokma,

This is a public notice that what you are trying to do is getting close
to harrassment from the law's perspective.

Thanks.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/
John Bokma wrote:
Eli Gottlieb <el*********@gmail.com> wrote:
Oh, God, not another one.

Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site
If enough people complain with both, it might stop one day.

Ooooh! (Waggles fingers beneath chin)

Mark
Apr 26 '06 #10


John Bokma wrote:
Eli Gottlieb <el*********@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, God, not another one.

Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site
If enough people complain with both, it might stop one day.


What might stop? I see one technical post every one or few weeks from
Xah, followed by a dozen posts from self-appointed library-sushers such
as Eli and library-shusher-shushers such as you and me, none of which
are technical.

The one technical post, whatever one thinks of it, creates no problem;
what part of "if you find the content worthless, just ignore it" is not
understood? Nothing, actually. The respondents just like shushing people.

Back on topic for just a moment, Tilton's Law of Programming applies:
"Solve the real problem." So kudos for your shusher-shushing but...

....reporting Xah to spamcop would be an abuse of spamcop. Reporting Eli,
yourself, and me, however, would be perfectly reasonable. :)

love, peace, and quiet,

kenny

--
Cells: http://common-lisp.net/project/cells/

"Have you ever been in a relationship?"
Attorney for Mary Winkler, confessed killer of her
minister husband, when asked if the couple had
marital problems.
Apr 26 '06 #11

Mark Thomas <anon> writes:
Xah Lee wrote:
Dear John Bokma,
This is a public notice that what you are trying to do is getting close
to harrassment from the law's perspective.
Thanks.
Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/
John Bokma wrote:
Eli Gottlieb <el*********@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, God, not another one.
Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site
If enough people complain with both, it might stop one day.

Ooooh! (Waggles fingers beneath chin)

Mark

So now Xah is an expert on law in addition to emacs. What a guy.

Gregm

Apr 26 '06 #12
On 26 Apr 2006 12:29:33 -0700, "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> wrote,
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
This is a public notice that what you are trying to do is getting close
to harrassment from the law's perspective.


and what you do Xah, is very close to spam, another form of
harassment.
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Java custom programming, consulting and coaching.
Apr 26 '06 #13
Ken Tilton <ke*******@gmail.com> wrote:

[ reported ]
What might stop?
The excessive cross posting.
I see one technical post every one or few weeks from
Xah, followed by a dozen posts from self-appointed library-sushers
such as Eli and library-shusher-shushers such as you and me, none of
which are technical.

The one technical post, whatever one thinks of it, creates no problem;
It does, it's cross posted in too many groups that have no direct relation
with each other, other then they are programming languages. Xah is
trolling, you know it, I know it.
what part of "if you find the content worthless, just ignore it" is
not understood? Nothing, actually.
If I see someone throwing garbage on the street, should I ignore it? It
will blow away, or the street cleaners will pick it up.

I do not ignore it.

...reporting Xah to spamcop would be an abuse of spamcop.


You're mistaken. I don't report Xah to spamcop. Spamcop has nothing to do
with Xah. I *do* report Xah to his ISP / USP and hosting provider though.

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 26 '06 #14
"Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> wrote:
Dear John Bokma,

This is a public notice that what you are trying to do is getting
close to harrassment from the law's perspective.


Which law?

You have been harrassing severl groups for too long with your drivel and
extremely badly written rants. I guess what you do comes way closer to
harrassment then me trying to kick your ass.

Lets hope some others join in and see who is going to win. Most trolls
give up after they lose a handful of accounts, since it gets more and more
expensive.

Find a new hobby if CS is too hard.

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 26 '06 #15
Roedy Green <my******************************@munged.invalid > wrote:
On 26 Apr 2006 12:29:33 -0700, "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> wrote,
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
This is a public notice that what you are trying to do is getting close
to harrassment from the law's perspective.


and what you do Xah, is very close to spam, another form of
harassment.


I leave that up to Xah's ISP/USP and hosting provider to decide :-D

But I am sure that if a few people email, that Xah's harassment is going
to stop soon.

Unless he wants to burn some cash.

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 26 '06 #16
On 25 Apr 2006 12:21:43 -0700 "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> waved a wand
and this message magically appeared:
Criticism versus Constructive Criticism


GO AWAY.

Noone wants to see this drivel. Put it on a website if you must.
Otherwise shut the fuck up and leave us alone!

--
http://www.munted.org.uk

Take a nap, it saves lives.
Apr 27 '06 #17
Ken Tilton wrote:
What might stop?


Nauseating misuse of English. Annoying cross-posts. Newsgroup clutter.
Shusher-Shusher-Shushers like me.

--
James Stroud
UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics
Box 951570
Los Angeles, CA 90095

http://www.jamesstroud.com/
Apr 27 '06 #18


John Bokma wrote:
Ken Tilton <ke*******@gmail.com> wrote:

[ reported ]
What might stop?

The excessive cross posting.

I see one technical post every one or few weeks from
Xah, followed by a dozen posts from self-appointed library-sushers
such as Eli and library-shusher-shushers such as you and me, none of
which are technical.

The one technical post, whatever one thinks of it, creates no problem;

It does, it's cross posted in too many groups that have no direct relation
with each other, other then they are programming languages. Xah is
trolling, you know it, I know it.


No, I do not know it. I have checked out his web site, and have been
involved in threads with him on comp.lang.lisp. He takes seriously what
he writes. whatever you think of it.

and if he were a troll, he would respond to each and every shusher to
increase the flames. in this case he just responded to someone who
threatened him.

meanwhile, some other genius has just shushed him. I think we are all
aprt of an experiemnt in Usenet addiction.

:)

peace and quiet,

ken
Apr 27 '06 #19
Alex Buell <al********@munted.org.uk> wrote:
GO AWAY.
Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site
If enough people complain with both, it might stop one day, maybe very
very soon.

FYI: dreamhost (hosts xahlee.org) takes complaints very seriously, and has
warned Xah Lee already :-D

So please stop replying to his drivel, just complain. It will stop.
Put it on a website if you must.


Good point, I am sure Xah Lee is able to set up some blogging software. If
he does it smart enough he might even attract more readers compared to
harassing Usenet. (Did I just wrote smart?!)
--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 27 '06 #20
Ken Tilton <ke*******@gmail.com> wrote:
and if he were a troll, he would respond to each and every shusher to
increase the flames.
There are several ways to troll. He writes up a rant, and let others do
the flaming. He probably saves up his energy for the next rant.

Like someone else wrote: put it on a website (he already does). Turn it
into a blog, make people comment. But stop cross posting rants.
in this case he just responded to someone who
threatened him.


Maybe because he got a not so nice email from his hosting provider ;-)

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 27 '06 #21
Eli Gottlieb wrote:
Xah Lee wrote:
Criticism versus Constructive Criticism

Xah Lee, 2003-01

+-------------------+ .:\:\:/:/:.
| PLEASE DO NOT | :.:\:\:/:/:.:
| FEED THE TROLLS | :=.' - - '.=:
| | '=(\ 9 9 /)='
| Thank you, | ( (_) )
| Management | /`-vvv-'\
+-------------------+ / \
| | @@@ / /|,,,,,|\ \
| | @@@ /_// /^\ \\_\
@x@@x@ | | |/ WW( ( ) )WW
\||||/ | | \| __\,,\ /,,/__
\||/ | | | jgs (______Y______)
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\//\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
================================================== ============
And worse: don't ever full quote them.

jue
Apr 27 '06 #22

John Bokma wrote:
Roedy Green <my******************************@munged.invalid > wrote:

I leave that up to Xah's ISP/USP and hosting provider to decide :-D


he's solidified position as top troll of 2003-2006

Apr 27 '06 #23
Ari Johnson wrote:
"Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> writes:


<snip/>

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
? http://xahlee.org/


(This isn't constructive criticism, but just a question:) Are you the
sum of your web page?


Yes he is, the total value is zero.

--
Nigel Rowe
A pox upon the spammers that make me write my address like..
rho (snail) swiftdsl (stop) com (stop) au
Apr 27 '06 #24
John Bokma wrote:
harassing Usenet. (Did I just wrote smart?!)


Tell me about bad English :)
Apr 27 '06 #25
"gene tani" <ge*******@gmail.com> wrote:

John Bokma wrote:
Roedy Green <my******************************@munged.invalid > wrote:

I leave that up to Xah's ISP/USP and hosting provider to decide :-D


he's solidified position as top troll of 2003-2006


Maybe because people rather post a reply instead of sending an abuse
report.

Got this from Dreamhost (hosting provider):

"I have warned this user that excessive offtopic cross-posting is not
allowed, and explained that if he doesn't quit he risks losing his
account. If you (or anyone else) notice this in the future, please do not
hesitate to submit another report."

Since Xah was also yesterday complaining to me about harassment I guess
something happened.

In the past some others and I managed to have 10 out of 20 sites shut down
from a "solidified top troll". (Each rant had 20+ links to his sites)

You know, just some sunlight is was really solidifies a troll :-D.

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 27 '06 #26
What Languages to Hate

Xah Lee, 20020718

Dear lisp comrades and other concerned parties,

First, all languages have equal rights. Do not belittle other languages
just because YOUR favorite language is a bit better in this aspect or
that. Different people have different ideas and manners of perception.
Ideas compete and thrive in all unexpected fashions. Societies improve,
inventions progress. Lisp may be a first in this or that, or faster or
flexibler, or higher level than other languages old and new, but then
there are other languages the like of Mathematica & Haskell & Dylan et
al which ridicule lisps in the same way lisp ridicule other languages.

Just because YOU are used to more functional programing or love lots of
parenthesis doesn't mean they are the only and best concepts. The
so-called Object Oriented programing of Java fame, or the visual
programing of Visual Basic fame, or the logic programing of Prolog
fame, or the format-stable syntax of Python fame, or the “one line of
Mathematica equals ten to one thousand lines of lisp” of _A New Kind
Of Science_ fame... all are parts of healthy competing concepts,
paradigms, or directions of growth.

The way some of you deride other languages is like sneering
heterogeneousness. If unchecked, soon you'll only have your sister to
marry to. Cute, but you do not want incest to become the only sex. Next
time your superiority complex makes you sneer at non-lisp or other
non-popular languages, remember this. It is diversity of ideas, that
drives the welfare of progress.

Now, there is one judgmental criterion, that if a language or computer
technology fits it, then we not only should castigate at their
missionaries, but persecute and harass the language to the harshest
death. That is: utter sloppiness, irresponsibility, and lies. These
things are often borne out of some student's homework or moron's
dirty-work, harbored by “free” and wanton lies and personalfame,
amassed thru ignorance.

Of my short but diligent industrial unix computing experience since
1998, i have identified the following targets:

* C (and consequences like csh, C++)
* vi
* Perl
* MySQL
* unix, unixism, and things grown out of unix. (languages,
protocols, philosophies, expectations, movements)

In our software industry, i like to define criminals as those who cause
inordinate harm to society, not necessarily directly. Of the above
things, some of their authors are not such criminals or are forgivable.
While others, are hypocritical fantastic liers selfish to the core.
When dealing with these self-promoting jolly lying humble humorous
priests and their insidious superficially-harmless speeches, there
should be no benefit of doubt. Tell them directly to stop their vicious
lies. Do a face-off.

As to their brain-washed followers for example the not-yet-hard-core
unix, C, or Perl coders rampant in industry, try to snap them out of
it. This you do by loudly snapping fingers in front of their face,
making it sound like a ear piercing bang. Explain to them the utter
stupidity of the things they are using, and the harm to their brain.
IMPORTANT: _teach_, not _debate_ or _discuss_ or falling back into your
philosophical deliberating indecisiveness. I've seen enough criticisms
among learned programers or academics on these, so i know you know what
i'm talking about. When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving,
kick him out of the door. He has became a zombie who cannot be helped.

There are other languages or technology, by itself technically are
perhaps mediocre but at least is not a egregious irresponsible hack,
therefore does not deserve scorn, but sometimes it comes with
overwhelming popular outrageous lies (euphemized as hype). Java is a
example. For this reason, it is equally deserving the harshest
treatment. Any loud proponents of such should be immediately slapped in
the mouth and kicked in the ass in no ambiguous ways.

Summary: all languages have equal rights. However, those utterly SLOPPY
and IRRESPONSIBLE HACKS with promoter's LIES should be severely
punished. It is these, that cause computing industry inordinate harm.
Meanwhile, it is wrong to haughtily criticize other languages just
because they are not your cup of tea. Now, please remember this and go
do society good.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/w...e_to_hate.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/

Apr 27 '06 #27
Addendum:

Recently I ran into this egregious propaganda:
http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/multimedi...cingPython.mpg

folks, take a look. This is a significant part how things move in the
computing community.

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/

Xah Lee wrote:
What Languages to Hate

Xah Lee, 20020718

Dear lisp comrades and other concerned parties,

First, all languages have equal rights. Do not belittle other languages
just because YOUR favorite language is a bit better in this aspect or
that. Different people have different ideas and manners of perception.
Ideas compete and thrive in all unexpected fashions. Societies improve,
inventions progress. Lisp may be a first in this or that, or faster or
flexibler, or higher level than other languages old and new, but then
there are other languages the like of Mathematica & Haskell & Dylan et
al which ridicule lisps in the same way lisp ridicule other languages.

Just because YOU are used to more functional programing or love lots of
parenthesis doesn't mean they are the only and best concepts. The
so-called Object Oriented programing of Java fame, or the visual
programing of Visual Basic fame, or the logic programing of Prolog
fame, or the format-stable syntax of Python fame, or the “one line of
Mathematica equals ten to one thousand lines of lisp” of _A New Kind
Of Science_ fame... all are parts of healthy competing concepts,
paradigms, or directions of growth.

The way some of you deride other languages is like sneering
heterogeneousness. If unchecked, soon you'll only have your sister to
marry to. Cute, but you do not want incest to become the only sex. Next
time your superiority complex makes you sneer at non-lisp or other
non-popular languages, remember this. It is diversity of ideas, that
drives the welfare of progress.

Now, there is one judgmental criterion, that if a language or computer
technology fits it, then we not only should castigate at their
missionaries, but persecute and harass the language to the harshest
death. That is: utter sloppiness, irresponsibility, and lies. These
things are often borne out of some student's homework or moron's
dirty-work, harbored by “free” and wanton lies and personal fame,
amassed thru ignorance.

Of my short but diligent industrial unix computing experience since
1998, i have identified the following targets:

* C (and consequences like csh, C++)
* vi
* Perl
* MySQL
* unix, unixism, and things grown out of unix. (languages,
protocols, philosophies, expectations, movements)

In our software industry, i like to define criminals as those who cause
inordinate harm to society, not necessarily directly. Of the above
things, some of their authors are not such criminals or are forgivable.
While others, are hypocritical fantastic liers selfish to the core.
When dealing with these self-promoting jolly lying humble humorous
priests and their insidious superficially-harmless speeches, there
should be no benefit of doubt. Tell them directly to stop their vicious
lies. Do a face-off.

As to their brain-washed followers for example the not-yet-hard-core
unix, C, or Perl coders rampant in industry, try to snap them out of
it. This you do by loudly snapping fingers in front of their face,
making it sound like a ear piercing bang. Explain to them the utter
stupidity of the things they are using, and the harm to their brain.
IMPORTANT: _teach_, not _debate_ or _discuss_ or falling back into your
philosophical deliberating indecisiveness. I've seen enough criticisms
among learned programers or academics on these, so i know you know what
i'm talking about. When you see a unixer brainwashed beyond saving,
kick him out of the door. He has became a zombie who cannot be helped.

There are other languages or technology, by itself technically are
perhaps mediocre but at least is not a egregious irresponsible hack,
therefore does not deserve scorn, but sometimes it comes with
overwhelming popular outrageous lies (euphemized as hype). Java is a
example. For this reason, it is equally deserving the harshest
treatment. Any loud proponents of such should be immediately slapped in
the mouth and kicked in the ass in no ambiguous ways.

Summary: all languages have equal rights. However, those utterly SLOPPY
and IRRESPONSIBLE HACKS with promoter's LIES should be severely
punished. It is these, that cause computing industry inordinate harm.
Meanwhile, it is wrong to haughtily criticize other languages just
because they are not your cup of tea. Now, please remember this and go
do society good.
----
This post is archived at:
http://xahlee.org/UnixResource_dir/w...e_to_hate.html

Xah
xa*@xahlee.org
http://xahlee.org/


Apr 27 '06 #28
On 27 Apr 2006 14:22:03 -0700 "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> waved a wand
and this message magically appeared:
What Languages to Hate


Folks, this guy has moved to pacbell.net (and probably relocated his
website as well).

Send your complaints to:
ab***@sbcglobal.net
ab***@dreamhost.com

--
http://www.munted.org.uk

Take a nap, it saves lives.
Apr 27 '06 #29
On 27 Apr 2006 14:22:03 -0700, "Xah Lee" <xa*@xahlee.org> wrote,
quoted or indirectly quoted someone who said :
What Languages to Hate


Come, if you are as experienced as you claim you know that
comp.lang.java.advocacy is the home of language wars and commentary on
them, not comp.lang.java.programmer.

It is one thing for a topic to drift but quite another to deliberately
post your initial message in the wrong place.
--
Canadian Mind Products, Roedy Green.
http://mindprod.com Java custom programming, consulting and coaching.
Apr 27 '06 #30
Alex Buell <al********@munted.org.uk> wrote:
Send your complaints to:
abuse at sbcglobal dott net
abuse at dreamhost dott com


Yup, done. If he's still with dreamhost he probably is in trouble now. If
not, next.

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 27 '06 #31

John Bokma wrote:
Eli Gottlieb <el*********@gmail.com> wrote:
Oh, God, not another one.


Instead of cross posting more garbage, do as follows:

Email a complaint to the email addresses you can look up yourself and
include the entire message of Xah:

http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=72.231.179.135 posting host
http://www.spamcop.net/sc?track=xahlee.org spamvertized site


Xah Lee has been around for a long time. I don't claim to understand
him, but I don't think he is a troll- I think he is sincere in his
postings, even if they are gibberish to everyone else. The only thing
he is doing that should be considered abuse is crossposting to several
groups (and he should certainly stop doing that). But he is only
crossposting to about eight or so groups- hardly a Dave Rhodes
incident.

The great thing about Usenet is that it gives everyone a soapbox, even
the slightly warped. Xah Lee should stop crossposting, but the fact
that he is incoherent should not bar him from posting messages. He is
actually a pretty interesting fellow when it comes to certain aspects
of mathematics- I don't know if he still maintains his site about knot
theory, but it was quite interesting, last time I looked.

It's much easier to use a killfile than to complain to an ISP, and I
think that that should be the preferred response to messages you don't
like. Complaints to ISPs should be reserved for egregious abuse of the
Usenet infrastructure.

Apr 28 '06 #32
Tagore Smith wrote:
It's much easier to use a killfile than to complain to an ISP, and I
think that that should be the preferred response to messages you don't
like.


I'm inclined to agree. The problem is not Xah Lee (whom I have killfiled), but
the people who insist on making my killfile useless by posting loads of
follow-ups saying things amounting to "stop this insane gibberish". Every
bloody time.

Wake up, people ! You are not the victims, you are the problem. Shut up,
/please/.

(And yes, I do realise that I'm adding to the problem here, and indeed that I'm
not following my own advice, nor heeding my own request.).

-- chris
Apr 28 '06 #33

Chris Uppal wrote:
I'm inclined to agree. The problem is not Xah Lee (whom I have killfiled), but
the people who insist on making my killfile useless by posting loads of
follow-ups saying things amounting to "stop this insane gibberish".


.... well, this is the problem with killfiles. Some clients do allow you
to kill all threads and subthreads that are started by anyone in your
killfile.

Apr 28 '06 #34
> > > > Wake up, people ! You are not the victims, you are the problem.
Shut up,
> /please/.

Cannot agree more!

Wake up, people ! You are not the victims, you are the problem. Shut up,
/please/.


Wholeheartedly agree!

Wake up, people ! You are not the victims, you are the problem. Shut up,
/please/.


So true!

Wake up, people ! You are not the victims, you are the problem. Shut up,
/please/.


Me too!

Wake up, people ! You are not the victims, you are the problem. Shut up,
/please/.
Apr 28 '06 #35
"Tagore Smith" <ta****@tagoresmith.com> wrote:
It's much easier to use a killfile than to complain to an ISP, and I
think that that should be the preferred response to messages you don't
like.
No, since even if you kill file Xah Lee, he keeps wasting resources of
people who have dedicated equipment to support Usenet.
Complaints to ISPs should be reserved for egregious abuse of the
Usenet infrastructure.


I consider this abuse, and since the reports are taken serious atm, it
looks like the ISP / USP / hosting provider *agree* with my POV.

It's their call anyway.

Maybe you like to look away when someone throws garbage on the street,
thinking: who cares, it will be cleaned away by the end of the week. I
don't like the sight of it, and also know that some garbage ends up in the
sewer system, causing all kinds of problems.

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 28 '06 #36
"Chris Uppal" <ch*********@metagnostic.REMOVE-THIS.org> wrote:
I'm inclined to agree. The problem is not Xah Lee (whom I have
killfiled), but the people who insist on making my killfile useless by
posting loads of follow-ups saying things amounting to "stop this
insane gibberish". Every bloody time.


Yup, and since that never stops, I make sure the source is going to dry
up.

--
John Bokma Freelance software developer
&
Experienced Perl programmer: http://castleamber.com/
Apr 28 '06 #37
"Tagore Smith" <ta****@tagoresmith.com> wrote:

Chris Uppal wrote:
I'm inclined to agree. The problem is not Xah Lee (whom I have
killfiled), but the people who insist on making my killfile useless
by posting loads of follow-ups saying things amounting to "stop this
insane gibberish".


... well, this is the problem with killfiles. Some clients do allow
you to kill all threads and subthreads that are started by anyone in
your killfile.


Yup, in short: stop Xah, and many people don't have to keep their kill
files up to date, or switch to a different usenet client.

Isn't it crazy that one person is allowed to create such a huge mess
everytime he posts?

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 28 '06 #38
John Bokma <jo**@castleamber.com> writes:

Isn't it crazy that one person is allowed to create such a huge mess
everytime he posts?


Isn't it crazy that one person willfully creates such a mess every
time Xah posts? Shush!

--
This is a song that took me ten years to live and two years to write.
- Bob Dylan
Apr 28 '06 #39
Bill Atkins <NO**********@rpi.edu> wrote:
John Bokma <jo**@castleamber.com> writes:

Isn't it crazy that one person is allowed to create such a huge mess
everytime he posts?


Isn't it crazy that one person willfully creates such a mess every
time Xah posts? Shush!


Since you're posting from an edu tld, why are you wasting time and money
instead of getting educated? It might stop you from acting like an idiot
like you did just now.

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 28 '06 #40


John Bokma wrote:
Bill Atkins <NO**********@rpi.edu> wrote:

John Bokma <jo**@castleamber.com> writes:
Isn't it crazy that one person is allowed to create such a huge mess
everytime he posts?


Isn't it crazy that one person willfully creates such a mess every
time Xah posts? Shush!

Since you're posting from an edu tld, why are you wasting time and money
instead of getting educated? It might stop you from acting like an idiot
like you did just now.


We have seen the enemy, and he is us. -- Pogo

I love this entire thread. Thank you, Xah!

ken

--
Cells: http://common-lisp.net/project/cells/

"Have you ever been in a relationship?"
Attorney for Mary Winkler, confessed killer of her
minister husband, when asked if the couple had
marital problems.
Apr 28 '06 #41
Ken Tilton <ke*******@gmail.com> wrote:
I love this entire thread. Thank you, Xah!


Me too. I hope he posts again soon :-p

And good luck with the reporting business ;-)

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 28 '06 #42
John Bokma wrote:
Alex Buell <al********@munted.org.uk> wrote:
Send your complaints to:
abuse at sbcglobal dott net
abuse at dreamhost dott com


Yup, done. If he's still with dreamhost he probably is in trouble now. If
not, next.


Hahaha, right. Your complaints probably go straight do /dev/null. Do
you think any ISP out there cares about someone cross-posting a little
troll on Usenet, cross-posted to a handful of groups? They have bigger
abuse issues to worry about.

Xah Lee is an intelligent guy, just a bit nutty.

He has an interesting and funny website.

He pisses some of you people off because a lot of his ranting is
approximately on the mark. In my home country of Slovakia people say
"Trafena' hus zaga'ga!", which means "It is the goose that is hit which
will honk up".

Apr 28 '06 #43

Chris Uppal wrote:
Tagore Smith wrote:
It's much easier to use a killfile than to complain to an ISP, and I
think that that should be the preferred response to messages you don't
like.
I'm inclined to agree. The problem is not Xah Lee (whom I have killfiled), but


What is the point of killfiling Xah Lee? Xah Lee does not enter into
random debates.

He always starts a new thread, which you can clearly identify by its
subject line and who it is from. Xah Lee does not use sock puppets, nor
does he otherwise conceal himself. He almost goes out of his way to be
clearly identifiable.

If you don't want to read Xah Lee, it is extremely easy to do so
without killfile support.

Intelligent people have learned that Xah Lee threads are extremely well
identified and easy to avoid. So that leaves behind only complete
idiots, and Xah Lee fans. :)
the people who insist on making my killfile useless by posting loads of
follow-ups saying things amounting to "stop this insane gibberish". Every
bloody time.


This means that you are going into that thread anyway! Maybe if you
un-killfiled Xah Lee, you would see the root article of the thread and
then avoid stepping into it. Maybe you are stepping into these threads
because you want to.

If you truly don't like this stuff, maybe you should killfile by
thread: kill the root article by Xah Lee, and, recursively, anything
else which refers to it directly or transitively by parent references.

But then, even that is superfluous if you have a threaded reader, since
the thread is condensed to a single line on the screen which you have
to explicitly open.

Apr 28 '06 #44
"Kaz Kylheku" <kk******@gmail.com> wrote:
John Bokma wrote:
Alex Buell <al********@munted.org.uk> wrote:
> Send your complaints to:
> abuse at sbcglobal dott net
> abuse at dreamhost dott com
Yup, done. If he's still with dreamhost he probably is in trouble
now. If not, next.


Hahaha, right. Your complaints probably go straight do /dev/null. Do
you think any ISP out there cares about someone cross-posting a little
troll on Usenet, cross-posted to a handful of groups? They have bigger
abuse issues to worry about.

<quote>
I have warned this user that excessive offtopic cross-posting is not
allowed, and explained that if he doesn't quit he risks losing his
account. If you (or anyone else) notice this in the future, please do not
hesitate to submit another report.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

- Jeff C.
- Abuse Coordinator, DreamHost Web Hosting - http://www.dreamhost.com/
</quote>

He pisses some of you people off because a lot of his ranting is
approximately on the mark.
You have no clue, so much is clear, and guessing doesn't help.
In my home country of Slovakia people say
"Trafena' hus zaga'ga!", which means "It is the goose that is hit
which will honk up".


Expect some honking from Xah soon then.

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 28 '06 #45
"Kaz Kylheku" <kk******@gmail.com> wrote:
What is the point of killfiling Xah Lee? Xah Lee does not enter into
random debates.
My point.

Xah Lee doesn't follow netiquette, which is nowadays with quite some ISPs
a ToS violation.
[ ... ]
If you truly don't like this stuff, maybe you should killfile by
thread: kill the root article by Xah Lee, and, recursively, anything
else which refers to it directly or transitively by parent references.


I rather account kill by ISP :-D.

Most trolls get the point after they have paid quite some money for
several accounts. Saves me of maintaining kill files.

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 28 '06 #46

Kaz Kylheku wrote:
Chris Uppal wrote:
Tagore Smith wrote:
It's much easier to use a killfile than to complain to an ISP, and I
think that that should be the preferred response to messages you don't
like.


I'm inclined to agree. The problem is not Xah Lee (whom I have killfiled), but


What is the point of killfiling Xah Lee? Xah Lee does not enter into
random debates.


The point is that Xah's posts seem to make some people angry. _I_
haven't killfiled him, as I generally enjoy his posts. It would be
better, for all concerned, if the people who hate Xah either killfiled
him or followed your advice about not opening his threads.

Apr 29 '06 #47

John Bokma wrote:
"Tagore Smith" <ta****@tagoresmith.com> wrote:
It's much easier to use a killfile than to complain to an ISP, and I
think that that should be the preferred response to messages you don't
like.
No, since even if you kill file Xah Lee, he keeps wasting resources of
people who have dedicated equipment to support Usenet.


Your responses are at least as wasteful (as are my responses to you,
and as are most of the posts made to Usenet). Your emails to his ISP
are far more wasteful- you are using up very scarce resources dedicated
to dealing with real abuse. Those resources are in much shorter supply
than the resources dedicated to propagating Usenet posts.

The only thing really wrong with Xah's post is that it was crossposted
to several groups. But your objection seems to be less about the
crossposting, and more about the content. Usenet is not, for the most
part, moderated. If you want to control the content of what you read, I
suggest that you start a blog, where you can ban comments you don't
like, to your heart's content.
Complaints to ISPs should be reserved for egregious abuse of the
Usenet infrastructure.


I consider this abuse, and since the reports are taken serious atm, it
looks like the ISP / USP / hosting provider *agree* with my POV.


Again, the only thing abusive about Xah's post is that he crossposted
it. That you don't like/understand it does not make it abuse. If you
were only complaining about the crossposting I would be on your side.
It's their call anyway.

Maybe you like to look away when someone throws garbage on the street,
thinking: who cares, it will be cleaned away by the end of the week.
No, if I liked to look away from that I wouldn't bother responding to
you.
don't like the sight of it, and also know that some garbage ends up in the
sewer system, causing all kinds of problems.


Your response is far more damaging than anything Xah has done. Usenet
has, traditionally, been a "not very friendly zone". All kinds of
things get posted. Some of them piss me off. I don't go crying to
people's ISPs when they post messages I disagree with. Again, if you
want to control what gets posted, start a blog.

Apr 29 '06 #48
"Tagore Smith" <ta****@tagoresmith.com> wrote:
Your emails to his ISP
are far more wasteful- you are using up very scarce resources
dedicated to dealing with real abuse.
According to his hosting provider dreamhost:
<quote>
I have warned this user that excessive offtopic cross-posting is not
allowed, and explained that if he doesn't quit he risks losing his
account. If you (or anyone else) notice this in the future, please do not
hesitate to submit another report.
</quote>

Reread it a few times, it might educate you (note the *cross-posting* and
the *submit another report*)
The only thing really wrong with Xah's post is that it was crossposted
to several groups. But your objection seems to be less about the
crossposting, and more about the content.


Your mistaken. I have reported it as excessive crossposting.

(Rest of your misinterpretation snipped).

--
John MexIT: http://johnbokma.com/mexit/
personal page: http://johnbokma.com/
Experienced programmer available: http://castleamber.com/
Happy Customers: http://castleamber.com/testimonials.html
Apr 29 '06 #49
Tagore Smith wrote:
I generally enjoy his posts.


You should be happy then that they have all been archived on his website
for quite some time. I'm thinking of cross-posting Soren Keirkegaards
_Either/Or_. Its been archived for a while now and is full of
nonsensical ramblings, but I feel the need to post it for some attention
starved reason. You might enjoy it when I put it up on your favorite
newsgroup (and several other groups to boot).

James

--
James Stroud
UCLA-DOE Institute for Genomics and Proteomics
Box 951570
Los Angeles, CA 90095

http://www.jamesstroud.com/
Apr 29 '06 #50

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