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Yeah, very sad.... (Reply to this comment)
by WorkingMomof2
Coulda, woulda, shoulda.... sad to say. And nice title by the way...
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Sep 10 '11
1:32 pm PDT
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Re: I don't know why (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Well, thanks, though I do hate to be part of any diminution in the use of "douchebag" in open court.
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Feb 24 '11
6:14 pm PST
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I don't know why (Reply to this comment)
by Mr.Eyore
I'm back on this review, but I'm glad I am, if only because of this:
"Tales turn twisty and tortured down the great river of time"
That sentence is going into heavy rotation on my list of stuff to say during opening statements at trial. Do you suppose it'll play if I don't have some kind of southern accent?
Well, anyway, it's got to play better than my usual, "The evidence will show that the Defendant in this case is a douchebag."
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Feb 24 '11
1:43 pm PST
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nostalgia, indeed... (Reply to this comment)
by jkkelley
...at least your football team is doing better than mine. Then again, so are all other football teams.
This is probably restating your piece and subsequent comments in different words, but maybe that's just because we agree. The magic of Eps used to be that it had room for all kinds. There were straight-up reviewers who were informative and helpful. There were practical jokers and clowns. There were people who just made other people feel good. And at one time, it seemed like there was room for all of us.
Sure, the boat rocked. As, Herbert reminds us, real boats do. The management, and its more sewing-circley loyalists, seemed not to understand that every little rebellion or protest was a positive sign: it meant people cared. It doesn't seem to happen any more (though I could just be so sporadic and apathetic in my participation that it happens and I don't notice). It was something lost.
Well, what the hell. We did have some good times and a lot of laughs.
jk
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Nov 06 '08
10:39 am PST
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Re: Farmer Brown, (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
The real tragedy here is that most of the current-day users probably have no idea just how much talent has been lost to the ages already. Brotherman is but one perfect example, but I could launch into a long rambling list of names of folks whose stuff I would have been glad to swapped my misrable earnings here to read. In other words, for the lousy almost-50 bucks I've ever made on this site, I would have been happier to forego the "earnings" if there had been a system in place to retain such folks as MShawPyle and Grouch and Sloucho and and even that cat-raping navel-sucker Sordid-1.
Instead, we get "reviews" of FedEx and Jif Peanut Butter and Snuggle Springtime Fresh Fabric Softner in the 128-sheet Atomo-Pack.
It makes me laugh, but not for the good reasons.
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May 22 '08
9:00 pm PDT
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Re: This (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Hey-- not all results are so easily foreseen.
Still...
B
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May 22 '08
8:55 pm PDT
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This (Reply to this comment)
by Mr.Eyore
was not helpful at all, in that it dragged kellydeal out of the woodwork in order to comment.
Also, what's a facebook?
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May 22 '08
3:47 pm PDT
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Farmer Brown, (Reply to this comment)
by Stephen_Murray
the stand-in for Epinions management (which has become very faceless in the last month) certainly does not seem a very good businessman.
Or I am missing something in failing to understand how it profits epinions to make the content (for which little and often nothing is paid) difficult to find or (now with "temporary product unavailable" labels) competely invisible even to those with the epinions URL, including the authors of the content.
'And why wouldn't the farmer value his cows enough to at least seriously look into the basis for the grumpiness rather than just saying "it's my way or the highway, you worthless providers of free content!"'
is indeed the question (though the sentence is a challenge for punctuating).
Being ever susceptible to picayune side-issues, I think that Lou Diamond-Phillip coulda/shoulda had a more spectacular career. (And that Epinions coulda/shoulda have developed better--a lot better!)
And back into the central issue, Brotherman is a prime example of what the antics of some of the cows who think they are watchdogs has lost the epinions enterprise.
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May 16 '08
1:09 pm PDT
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sounds like... (Reply to this comment)
by CurtisEdmonds
The critical reception to this bleat is something on the order of what you'd think Mark Twain would get returning to Hannibal twenty years later, except that you ain't Twain and this sure as fudge isn't Hannibal.
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May 15 '08
11:31 am PDT
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Re: Re: Re: hey there ab... (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
"Or perhaps Farmer Brown left the barn door open and the grumpy ones all left."
I wonder... what might ever have made the cows grumpy enough to leave in the first place? And why wouldn't the farmer value his cows enough to at least seriously look into the basis for the grumpiness rather than just saying "it's my way or the highway, you worthless providers of free content!"
Farmer Brown sounds like a real putz and a poor businessman, to boot.
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May 14 '08
9:06 pm PDT
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Re: Re: hey there ab... (Reply to this comment)
by sleeper54
...
'Extra nothings' deserve a redouble...
you said...
"Further, I see no reason to suggest (much less believe) that it was incumbent upon the content donors to drive this for-profit enterprise in **any** direction."
'For-profit' being the key word there. I suppose you are right, how could the user base expect to have any real impact.
Makes all the hair-pulling and gnashing of teeth today seem a bit pointless...
you said...
"That seems analogous to complaining how the milk cows failed to come up with a better marketing plan for the dairy."
I suppose the dissatisfied cows were 'repackaged' into summer sausage. Worse ways to go I suppose...
Or perhaps Farmer Brown left the barn door open and the grumpy ones all left.
...tom...
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May 14 '08
4:21 pm PDT
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Re: It just ain't worth it. (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
You're right-- it isn't.
Unless, of course, that's your only chance for any sort of perceived relevance and magnitude in this world, in which case, baybee, you fight over it tooth and claw.
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B
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May 13 '08
10:16 pm PDT
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It just ain't worth it. (Reply to this comment)
by brotherman
Braindead, obsessive stalkers threatening over a site. Over pennies. Over someone's personal opinion. Over a period of years. In thousands of comments.
It just aint worth it, man.
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May 13 '08
10:06 pm PDT
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Re: hey there ab... (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Did Epinions (corporate or users) run you out or did you all choose to leave..??
I dunno about the "all" -- I don't pretend to speak for anyone else beyond myself -- but I do know that the site made it abundantly clear that they gave not one tinker's damn about rampant abuse and asocial behavior from many of their so-called "community leaders." There were numerous documented cases where badged longtimers were engaging in organized semi-covert efforts to rate down specific users, where they conspired to have specific contributors banned and harassed. I know this as I saw the "secret" off-site planning conversations with my own eyes, and saw the total lack of response Epinions gave when repeatedly handed this info.
This all happened around the time the money totally dried up and the site went to the "revenue sharing" model (where everyone just had to take it on faith that the 17 cents dumped into their account was somehow accurate or fair return on the labor). The two situations together were enough to convince me that this was not a place worth hanging about, so I pretty much picked up my gear and headed off to find good times elsewhere (and have done quite nicely, thanks for asking).
I have no freaking idea why it evolved as it did. I do know that those who 'dropped out' certainly did nothing to help drive the site in any particular direction.
Given that you've already confessed ignorance of a great deal which happened before your arrival, your soft-shelled accusations really lose a lot of their minimal impact.
Further, I see no reason to suggest (much less believe) that it was incumbent upon the content donors to drive this for-profit enterprise in **any** direction. That seems analogous to complaining how the milk cows failed to come up with a better marketing plan for the dairy.
Anyway . . .it is what it is. Not sure mourning the loss of what once was is good for anything other than lazy summer day reflecting while rocking on the front porch.
Maybe so. Meanwhile, your comments in response to this pointless lazy day mourning are good for... what? Extra nothing?
Thanks for the read.
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May 13 '08
10:20 am PDT
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hey there ab... (Reply to this comment)
by sleeper54
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Did Epinions (corporate or users) run you out or did you all choose to leave..??
I joined after EBD, after the passing of Hard_To_Please, after the fake band reviews, after the "JOANIE LOVES CHACHI" episode and all its ilk. That site does indeed sound like 'facebook', a place where users (no ...people) interacted and shared their human side.
But can you really fault the corporate side for desiring the 'shopping' side of the site to not be neglected while the 'social' side mushroomed..??
I have no freaking idea why it evolved as it did. I do know that those who 'dropped out' certainly did nothing to help drive the site in any particular direction.
Anyway . . .it is what it is. Not sure mourning the loss of what once was is good for anything other than lazy summer day reflecting while rocking on the front porch.
...tom...
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May 13 '08
9:17 am PDT
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Re: ! (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Hey, no ill wished upon Chad (wherever he is).
Sometimes irony can be so ironic.
And hey there.
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May 12 '08
7:34 pm PDT
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! (Reply to this comment)
by kellydeal
Hiya! I still get those Epinions reminders in my mailbox and everyonceinawhile there's something fun to click on like this.
And...haha, I don't think Chad even realizes just how hilarious his "somewhat helpful" comment is and just how much he reinforces your whole post. Too funny.
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May 12 '08
5:40 pm PDT
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Re: Re: huh? (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Oh, be nice to Chad. It's not his fault he has trouble with all those squiggly shapes and the scary spooky confusing spaces in between. He's perfectly entitled to his opinion, just as others are entitled to snigger, giggle, mock and ridicule when he chooses to share it publicly.
Meanwhile, i was very careful not to trod upon the gladioli, and besides, I was in Montreal the whole time. That nun lied.
Contact me on secure channels. "The Chinese watch sets sail at 13pm."
This comment will self-destruct in ten... nine...
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IMF LMNOP B
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May 12 '08
11:06 am PDT
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Re: huh? (Reply to this comment)
by sweeper
Chad,
I remember when I first started drinking. I misread, and I mean, everything. Of course, I was seven and had more access to beer than books.
Comments about the Internet? Did I read the same post?
Brett,
While you were lurking on the periphery, you stepped all over my flowerbed and left the gate open. Now I gotta buy flowers and the dog is still missing. Ya bastard.
The timing of your post is, well, timely. I'll fill you in. In the meantime, you owe me some gladiolus.
Dave
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May 12 '08
11:00 am PDT
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Re: Could have been ... (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
I hear they're working on that.
Yup. Aaaaaaany day now....
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May 12 '08
8:42 am PDT
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Could have been ... (Reply to this comment)
by MiDoyle
Brett:
And, just think what the site would be with a database and search engine that works. Oh wait... Well said. Happy trails.
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May 12 '08
8:19 am PDT
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Re: Hey Brett (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Hey, Leslie--
I still linger around the fringe of the periphery of the edge of suburban Epinions. There just so seldom seems any point to posting here anymore-- no money, no fun, and (as proven in comments already) as much wit and intelligence as ever.
I recall back in the early days when a small minority of us argued that there was value in community itself -- that having a large pool of engaged and active members was commercially valuable asset worth potentially far more than the resell value of the 312th review of TITANIC ("It's AWESOME, man!"... zzz,,,,), but rather than encourage that sense of community, Epinions early on set about the task of arming its most moronic citizens with sticks and clubs to better drive away anyone with (gasp!) some actual personality.
I look back at the time spent here and just wonder what the hell we were ever thinking.
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May 12 '08
8:02 am PDT
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Re: huh? (Reply to this comment)
by AggieBrett
Read it again, and pay attention to the words-- they matter.
Thanks!
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May 12 '08
7:11 am PDT
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Hey Brett (Reply to this comment)
by jsaunt
Good to read you again.
What a great description of the beginnings of this site! We really were a community...we supported friends who were ill, celebrated marriages that started here, laughed together at the silliness around us (like a zillion reivews on cat-food), got together in real life, and mourned the deaths of loved ones met here. But those who are hanging out here today probably don't realize where we started. Some of us still hang around here, and some stop in once in a while, wondering if it would be worth our time or actually fun to review that latest indie CD or write about the plasma TV we just lugged home. (Did they even have plasma TV in 2000....or affordable plasma TVs?)
Thanks for the laughs when you were around in the beginning, and thanks for the memories of those fun times.
Leslie (jsaunt...aka Agent Uvula)
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May 12 '08
7:10 am PDT
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huh? (Reply to this comment)
by Chad9976
This is supposed to be a section for comments on epinions.com.... all you're doing is rambling about the internet at large. I'd say this is a fine essay, just not appropriate here. It'd be better off in the general non-fiction category.
-chad
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May 12 '08
5:17 am PDT
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