56k Warning

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

There are lj comm moderators that are in a mindset where "But there's STILL 56k users out there!!! PITY THEM!!!"

I got banned from art comm on lj for basically saying fuck it to a mod's post when she prompted everyone to only post 1 pic, 100x100 of their artwork, under a cut.... and so on... because 56k users still exist.

I'm not talking about people that live in the country and their ISPs are too lazy to upgrade. They know they're fucked, but they deal with it. Seriously, DSL is just as cheap, if not cheaper in some instances. Fuck it. Yeah, I know some people who use dailup, but for really stupid reasons:

"Hackers can't hack over analogue signals." - A hospital's data-center's lead technician who incorporated 56k throughout the building for means of a 'sercured' network.

"Faster internet means I get viruses faster." - A client who never installed SP1, and had no drivers. I spent 5 hours on site.

"But I like AOL." - no comment.

Comments

[wibbble]

You're a cock. :op

I enforce lj-cutting images on communities I run, since as well as those few freaks on dialup, there's also people using mobile phones and 'mobile broadband' where connection speeds can be as bad or worse than a 56kbps dialup modem and if you're especially unlucky you might still be charged based on data transfer. (Or have gone over your transfer limit and hit charges.)

Insisting that you're a special snowflake who doesn't need to bother about such things is just being a dick. You're acting like an end-user, man!

[rooftopaccess.livejournal.com]

well, there is the option on lj to display a placeholder image instead of the actual image. if people with mobile internet are stupid enough to not turn that feature on, they should learn to live with their additional data charges!

[ravenofdreams.livejournal.com]

Can you swap that automatically based on device? IE, I'd like placeholders on my phone and full images on my laptop?

[wibbble]

Nope - it's a per-account setting.

I have it turned on for video, but off for images. It's a reasonable compromise.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

100x100 image UNDER THE CUT.

[wibbble]

Meh, I'd want to see if that's actually the rule since it seems unlikely. In any case, whining about rules you don't like/understand is the total hallmark of an end-user and fuck all to do with tech support, although the anecdotal modem justifications were amusing.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

I've seen weirder things happen.

Curiosity: What's your response to a bad rule?

[wibbble]

If it's worth the effort, challenge it in the appropriate place (in this case, the community), but being a dick while doing it is counterproductive. If it's not worth the effort, maybe whine on twitter and my LJ where only sickos who like reading my whining will read it.

The other problem is that a 'bad rule' made sense to someone. Especially for places like LJ communities, if you think it has 'bad rules' it probably just means that you're not a good match for that community and should quietly leave. Being a drama llama and getting yourself banned is weak.

And I have protested 'bad rules' in online communities (mailing lists, in this case) before, and when the rule was upheld I just quietly left with no extra drama.

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

fair 'nuff.

[wibbble]

In fairness, I should also say that I've engaged in shit-stirring and drama on LJ in the past too - but frankly I just don't have the time or energy for it any more. One of the many things I miss about being a student!

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

Thing is, I did challenge it appropriately. I stated that we live in era that everyone should have better-than-dailup speeds and the absurdity of having an ART community that can't post any art.

instead of debating, the mod just deleted the thread and barred me from the comm. INFIDEL!!!

To me it's an idiotic rule to bar art from the art comm you mod because you still pity the rare 56k user. Little known that when that user loads his friend's page, he'll be bombarded with youtube windows and high resolution pictures of lolcats. But at least he'll find comfort in knowing the lone art comm will have the "100x100 image UNDER THE CUT" rule in effect.

[jimbojones.livejournal.com]

Agree, 100%.

But then, this particular "special snowflake" posted a link to a "funny video" in this community a while back... a funny video that just happened to be in a post on a furry forum, surrounded by large full-video ads for hardcore porn. No NSFW tag, of course. So I'd say this is probably par for the course.

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

Um, no? I posted a picture who's source was lulz, that someone traced it too. There aren't videos there, nor was the pic nsfw.

[darkmattr.livejournal.com]

What's so hard about using LJ cut?

[wxgeek.livejournal.com]

100x100 image UNDER THE CUT.

[darkmattr.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's an AND not an OR..

Got it.

[azurelunatic]

Wait, 1 pic, 100x100, and that 100x100 pic must be under a cut? (And without specifying the file size of the 100x100 pic?)

1 pic, 100x100 (and within a reasonable file size) OUTSIDE the cut, to pity dial-up and mobile users, yes, and whatever under the cut. wibbble said it better than me.

But if the moderator is really saying that one 100x100 pic must be under a cut, then the moderator really fails at the internet.

[bamatone.livejournal.com]

To detractors: I think the point of this is that this was an art community. It should be assumed to be an image heavy community. Cuts are one thing, but limiting dimensions of images underneath a cut, as well as the number of images that can be posted is kind of absurd. It's downright absurd if the sole reason for it is zomg dialup users.

[trayce.livejournal.com]

100x100 seems fine by me as it could also nbe a thumbnail to a larger version of their art offsite. I'd prefer an image-heavy comm or site of any stripe to be something like that to be honest!

And maybe where you come from dialup is only for "lazy" or rural people but some countries like Aus still have very poor infrastructure in many places and cant get anything - sometimes not even dialup.

[bekscilla.livejournal.com]

And have download limits enforced by the ISP, which means that images can cause a big problem.

But that's where that community which the OP mentioned should have only 1 100x100 image OUTSIDE the cut, or everything under the cut so it's the readers choice. restrictions under the cut are a bit weird

[taiki.livejournal.com]

While you are being kind of a dick for this, you're also incredibly right. Broadband is *cheap* Considering too that you're going to have to pay for a POTS line IN ADDITION to your dialup? Just get cable!

[wibbble]

There's no cable provider in my town, and most people with broadband in the UK have ADSL over a BT-supplied phone line. Not everywhere is America. :op

[chaobell]

Not even America has cheap cable everywhere. Up until very recently (like, within the last year) my options were:

1. Dialup ($10/month)
2. Comcast ($whatever-the-hell-they-want-to-charge-because-where-
else-were-you-going-to-go a month)

And I don't live in the middle of nowhere.

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

Comcast has rock-bottom prices if you google and just complain to them that you are broke.

My DSL packages are usually $10-15/mo.

Sometimes they ride off offers such as $30/mo and 6/mo free = $15/mo.

[chaobell]

Which doesn't change the fact that it's Comcast.

I've heard enough customer service horror stories about Comcast, many from my immediate family, that I would not buy a bottle of water from them if my ass was on fire.

[falnfenix]

it's not cheap everywhere in the world. US network standard is not equal to the rest of the world by any stretch. the OP is wrong...though that community's standards are also a tad OVERLY stringent. posting pics under a cut should suffice...limiting the size of those pictures, as well as the amount, once it's under a cut is silly.

[reynardo.livejournal.com]

In Australia, cable internet is only available in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, and only in areas that allowed the cabling to be installed 12 years ago. New developments, historical areas and part-rural areas within those cities do not have cable. Cities outside those three (including Canberra, the nation's capital) must rely on ADSL. Some are lucky enough to have ADSL2, most country towns only have the old stuff, and anything outside a centre of 20,000 people is lucky to have dial-up.

HTH HAND

[penguin-attie.livejournal.com]

You're talking like ADSL is something from the dark ages. ADSL is just fine for images. We don't need no stinking rules about no images :P

[jamoche]

And anything that's hosted outside AU is *sloooow* - I was in Melbourne giving training sessions back in 2000 and picked a US feed for a download out of habit. Realised my mistake pretty quick when what should've been a minute max said it was going to take 20.

[trayce.livejournal.com]

Assuming you're from the US, it might be cheap there but in Aus we pay for data on a lot of our plans - and the capped plans are usually only in the 20gb a month area.

[hotclaws.livejournal.com]

you come across as a pompus dick.

[davesmith42.livejournal.com]

Since there are still large swaths of the US (just to pick a country I'm familiar with) where the only broadband option is satellite, I still think it's (at least) considerate to make really simple basic concessions for users on slower connections. If you're on a fast connection, you can click that lj-cut link really fast, so no harm done.

*gets the popcorn*

[celyste.livejournal.com]

wow... you ARE an idiot. Thanks for letting us see that up front.

You are living in a 'speshul snoflaque' bubble. By no means is DSL or Cable available everywhere. Not to mention as someone else said that there are always mobile connections that would likely be very happy with the mod in the art comm.

So you post as a 100x100 and set it to link to the full piccie, and everyone gets the enjoyment. Oooooo... so hard to do!

Re: *gets the popcorn*

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

I did mention this, no? "I'm not talking about people that live in the country and their ISPs are too lazy to upgrade. They know they're fucked, but they deal with it."

http://community.livejournal.com/techsupport/1992566.html?thread=22845814#t22845814

What kind of oxymoronic thing is it to make an art comm, if you can't even post fucking art to?

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Fine - I'll bite.

Which community is it that wants LJ-ICONS under the cut?

[jecook]

The only reason why LJ-CUT is (loosely) enforced here is largely the NSFW, or for overly large pics that will screwup people's friends pages.

Otherwise, I don't care. I do surf LJ from my crackberry and the page threading suffers as a result. Meh.

[boogara.livejournal.com]

How is this even related to tech support?

in Agreement.

[josh-bot.livejournal.com]

Well I have to say I agree with you and I have also heard many dumb and ridiculous reasons for why they still use it.
mind you I have never heard the I like AOL one before, and well maybe we should just hit them over the head until they get it through there skulls?
or not lol just a simple suggestion.

But you do make a good point.

[captpackrat.livejournal.com]

I live in rural Nebraska and am damn lucky to have "broadband", long-range wireless that ranges from 1.5 Mbit to 384K. It's more often towards the latter.

[adamjaskie.livejournal.com]

I like LJ-cut rules for images because I'm using a netbook and don't want some 1600px wide image making me scroll horizontally to read my friends page.

But yeah, one 100x100 under the cut is pretty ridiculous.

[amynnah.livejournal.com]

::blinks:: I don't see what prompted some of the responses in your post, but...

I'm in a few art comms... 100x100 pixels(?) is the size of an LJ icon. I know some art comms can be image intensive, but that's what LJ cut is for. There are still 56k modems floating around out there... I still have one collecting dust (never use it though), but images don't take a lot to load. Even some of the larger images (file size and/or pixel size) don't take too much modem power to load. Mine never gave me hell. ::shrugs::

Still...it is her community, and I'm guessing she had those rules in place... :( If you're upset about getting banned for yelling at the mod, put it to good use and create your own comm. :) That's what I did when I got angry with a non-existent mod of another community who let her members run roughshod over each other. Best thing I ever did. :)

[kirylyn.livejournal.com]

not for an LJ community but I hear the same whine from those in charge of a science-fiction club.

"we can't publish the newsletter online, we have members who don't even have a *computer*!! it would be unfair to them!"

um, guys? the SCA.org is more tech-saavy than a sf club?? there is something wrong with this pic.

but yeah, we ARE spoiled in the US. :(

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

oh wow... that is horrid

[mix-hyenataur.livejournal.com]

"We can't go into space yet, there are some countries that don't even have a spaceship yet. It would be unfair to them!"