I propose: Auto-banning ATOT liars.

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StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: Descartes
Eh, it seemed to me that RaiseUp was mostly referring to what his family had, not him; certainly a possibility. I didn't even see him say all those cars were his, so maybe he was asking for a friend.

In my dealings with professional people of all backgrounds, my eyes have laid witness to teenagers with unbelievable privilege. It's hard to fathom a 16 year old driving around in a Porsche, Corvette, or any car of such magnitude, but it happens all the damn time. It seems a lot of ATOTers think that no one of privilege ever graces these forums, but that's clearly not the case.

That being said, I couldn't care less what others have or claim to have. I was not born into monetary privilege, but I was born into intellectual privilege that allows me to at least appreciation what I worked hard to acquire. To each their own.
It's possible...just not bloody likely :p
 

"what about here, though? Clearly there have been reprecussions when people have lied about their identity - I can think of at least one person who faked their death and was banned for life. Are we to be like people on the sims online, who create whoever they want to create and have their fake identities, or are we to be more like a real pub where people have to be who they are? Both have problems. On the one side, if we can't trust anyone, everything becomes a big game and no one can trust anyone. On the other hand, it is hard to verify who is who, and we can run into problems of creating a community of trust when so many seem hell bent on ruining the honesty that we have.
I love the idea of banning liars, but we all like to lie to some extent, and outside of some internal governing body, I don't see how we can effectively judge who is lying enough to be banned and who isn't."


You do have a point. It's usually easy to root out liars in the field of technology or expert fields. And even if they are lying about their qualifications, their information could prove helpful if they obtained it from a qualified authority. The only problem would be that it was plagiarised. Naturally, where relevant, the moderators take care of lies told that lead to financial rip offs, or lies that have a potential to cause distrust in a relevant forum. This is usually in the FT/FS forum, where credibility is relevant.

However, many of the fictional stories people complain about are in the OT threads . . . where the description itself reads "anything goes". I don't think it requires a measure of trust to post opinions. Opinions could be that of a sceptic giving it as a condition (if true, then. . .). Even in cases of fictional stories, they usually mimic true life stories . . . rather than science fiction, which advices given in response may prove useful to people actually facing those situations. In the case of Dennilfloss, which you referenced, I thought the ban was uncalled for. However, there's a possible reason the mods may have done it: Dennilfloss assumed a high position at the time. It seemed everyone, including the mods, were involved in a relationship with him. He was in somewhat, if not definitely, a position of power at this forum. Being in such position assumes authority under the auspices of AT as a business. So not punishing him may have seemed like a slap in the face to the members and an injury to the business reputation. I guess that's my perception of a possible explanation for the [permanent] ban.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: Descartes
Eh, it seemed to me that RaiseUp was mostly referring to what his family had, not him; certainly a possibility. I didn't even see him say all those cars were his, so maybe he was asking for a friend.

In my dealings with professional people of all backgrounds, my eyes have laid witness to teenagers with unbelievable privilege. It's hard to fathom a 16 year old driving around in a Porsche, Corvette, or any car of such magnitude, but it happens all the damn time. It seems a lot of ATOTers think that no one of privilege ever graces these forums, but that's clearly not the case.

That being said, I couldn't care less what others have or claim to have. I was not born into monetary privilege, but I was born into intellectual privilege that allows me to at least appreciation what I worked hard to acquire. To each their own.
It's possible...just not bloody likely :p

There's one way to settle it... :camera: ... with himself holding a sign saying "I pwn fausto"
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: Freejack2
Hi my name is Bob the Necromancer. I live in Beverly Hills, California and I own a big 20 bedroom house, 5 Ferraris, and a 747 with a swimming pool in it.
I also enjoy raising the dead to do my bidding.

Ok, I've totally lied about who I am. It's an obviously blatant lie, so does this mean I should be banned?
Get real, I agree with the sentiment that it should only occur when the lies cause financial loss, physical harm, or similar.
You were obviously kidding. The mods ban anti-social people all the time BTW.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
In the case of Dennilfloss, which you referenced, I thought the ban was uncalled for.
Of course he should have been banned. He made up a person and then had her die. People made fan sites dedicated to her life. Some people even professed to care so much about her death that they cried when he told them. As a person spends time with somebody else (in real life or on the net), bonds will be made. When they are broken by death it's human nature to feel upset. He formed these bonds with people and then broke them, which naturally made people upset. To not get upset to a degree would be to not care (if you knew her - personally I had little interaction with "her", so affected me little).

Essentially he fvcked with a lot of people's emotions and he knew it, and he was rightfully banned for it.
 

thomsbrain

Lifer
Dec 4, 2001
18,148
1
0
honestly, who cares? does it really make a difference to you if someone is really who they say they are? the vast majority of these people might as well be figments of your imagination because you'll never interact with them in real life.

sometimes i converse with online people in dreams and i've come to realize that my dream conversations with them are no less real or meaningful than my real ones. which is to say that neither of them are real or meaningful. no online relationship is "real" anyway, so what difference does it make?

obviously this doesn't hold true to people you already know or people you will eventually meet, but if mr. pizza boy wants to make an ass of himself, let him. it's just more fun for us when we get to expose him.

personally, i've never misrepresented myself online because i never felt the urge, but i can understand the appeal of playing "dress-up." let them have their fun.
 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
While I think it's kinda dumb to have an ATOT life that you created in your head, is it detrimental to the boards?
 

lowtech1

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2000
4,644
1
0
Originally posted by: Skoorb
I know I'm not the only one getting fed up with the lying on ATOT, frequently in the form of such things as making up one's cars. Really though some of the children here feel compelled to make up entire lives or aspects of their lives which are later found out to be totally ficticious. I won't point out the names, because we all know who you are, but I think that after a member does an Uber-owning of some other member for lying, including supporting links (thanks for Fausto for the most recent Uber-ownage), they should be banned permanently. It's very anti-social and dilutes the quality of ATOT as a whole.

Silly threads, debates, even neffing - those are what ATOT should be. But when you can't even take a damn thing you read seriously without keeping a tally of the morons who lie here and there it becomes difficult to believe a freaking thing.
Don't take ATOT too seriously.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
Originally posted by: lowtech
Originally posted by: Skoorb
I know I'm not the only one getting fed up with the lying on ATOT, frequently in the form of such things as making up one's cars. Really though some of the children here feel compelled to make up entire lives or aspects of their lives which are later found out to be totally ficticious. I won't point out the names, because we all know who you are, but I think that after a member does an Uber-owning of some other member for lying, including supporting links (thanks for Fausto for the most recent Uber-ownage), they should be banned permanently. It's very anti-social and dilutes the quality of ATOT as a whole.

Silly threads, debates, even neffing - those are what ATOT should be. But when you can't even take a damn thing you read seriously without keeping a tally of the morons who lie here and there it becomes difficult to believe a freaking thing.
Don't take ATOT too seriously.
Believe me, I don't. The morons are to thank for that :)
 

Jzero

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
18,834
1
0
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
While I think it's kinda dumb to have an ATOT life that you created in your head, is it detrimental to the boards?

I say if you can't keep your story straight, then your "character" at least should be banned.
 

bigben

Senior member
Jan 8, 2000
655
0
0
Originally posted by: luvly
"what about here, though? Clearly there have been reprecussions when people have lied about their identity - I can think of at least one person who faked their death and was banned for life. Are we to be like people on the sims online, who create whoever they want to create and have their fake identities, or are we to be more like a real pub where people have to be who they are? Both have problems. On the one side, if we can't trust anyone, everything becomes a big game and no one can trust anyone. On the other hand, it is hard to verify who is who, and we can run into problems of creating a community of trust when so many seem hell bent on ruining the honesty that we have.
I love the idea of banning liars, but we all like to lie to some extent, and outside of some internal governing body, I don't see how we can effectively judge who is lying enough to be banned and who isn't."


You do have a point. It's usually easy to root out liars in the field of technology or expert fields. And even if they are lying about their qualifications, their information could prove helpful if they obtained it from a qualified authority. The only problem would be that it was plagiarised. Naturally, where relevant, the moderators take care of lies told that lead to financial rip offs, or lies that have a potential to cause distrust in a relevant forum. This is usually in the FT/FS forum, where credibility is relevant.

However, many of the fictional stories people complain about are in the OT threads . . . where the description itself reads "anything goes". I don't think it requires a measure of trust to post opinions. Opinions could be that of a sceptic giving it as a condition (if true, then. . .). Even in cases of fictional stories, they usually mimic true life stories . . . rather than science fiction, which advices given in response may prove useful to people actually facing those situations. In the case of Dennilfloss, which you referenced, I thought the ban was uncalled for. However, there's a possible reason the mods may have done it: Dennilfloss assumed a high position at the time. It seemed everyone, including the mods, were involved in a relationship with him. He was in somewhat, if not definitely, a position of power at this forum. Being in such position assumes authority under the auspices of AT as a business. So not punishing him may have seemed like a slap in the face to the members and an injury to the business reputation. I guess that's my perception of a possible explanation for the [permanent] ban.

Dennifloss's situation is tough. At the time, I thin ATOT was a lot closer of a community (I think some of the older guys can vouch for that). Also, the event did attract negative media attention, which can be very dangerous to a young company like anand's. I think for Anand this forum is more a labor of love than a labor of money - the ads here barely cover the cost of operation (remember membership?). I think part of the problem is the we now have an apparent overabundence of people who consistently lie - most of whom are younger and view this whole community as more of a joke than a place where some come (or used to come) for relation, comfort, and good advice. At one point, ATOT was really a good respite for techies after work or late at night. I am afraid that because of the ease of access to the internet for youth and the great deals found on the hot deals forum, many join and view everything here as mere fun and ignore the power of the internet (and of these forums) as a tool for helping and hurting others.

some people here would like to honestly bond with other nerds like them - this place can be very fun and very interesting. I fear there are too many, however, who simply want to pretend to be someone else just for thier own pleasure. Its self-gratification - masturbatory posting if you will.

 

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
How bout if the mods just create a custom sig for these people? "I like to make stuff up, so don't take me seriously." :D
 

Descartes

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
13,968
2
0
Originally posted by: Jeff7181
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: Descartes
Eh, it seemed to me that RaiseUp was mostly referring to what his family had, not him; certainly a possibility. I didn't even see him say all those cars were his, so maybe he was asking for a friend.

In my dealings with professional people of all backgrounds, my eyes have laid witness to teenagers with unbelievable privilege. It's hard to fathom a 16 year old driving around in a Porsche, Corvette, or any car of such magnitude, but it happens all the damn time. It seems a lot of ATOTers think that no one of privilege ever graces these forums, but that's clearly not the case.

That being said, I couldn't care less what others have or claim to have. I was not born into monetary privilege, but I was born into intellectual privilege that allows me to at least appreciation what I worked hard to acquire. To each their own.
It's possible...just not bloody likely :p

There's one way to settle it... :camera: ... with himself holding a sign saying "I pwn fausto"

Who bloody cares though? Let's say he IS lying about having a few Corvettes in his family; who cares? Is a Corvette some unattainable level of monetary success these days, especially when they are almost vintage? If he said he had a Ferrari Enzo that would be a different story; indeed, I'd demand pictures simply because I'd want to see the car!

I can drive around my rather modest city and find countless homes with countless expensive vehicles outside of their already insanely expensive home. Driving around cities like Dallas is sometimes like a Mercedes dealership on a larger scale. Driving around Las Colinas, for example, was to see more million+ dollar homes than people to occupy them. It's conceivable that a lot of these people have children, and it's also conceivable that the privilege percolates throughout the family. I would imagine this manifestation of what some perceive as gluttony to be a microcosm of privilege elsewhere.

Go browse some of the more popular sports car forums, and you'll see COUNTLESS 16 year olds getting brand new cars for their birthdays. It's not at all uncommon, and no one cares. I certainly wouldn't have turned away a Porsche for my 16th birthday, and I didn't turn away the POS I got either.
 

Originally posted by: luvly
"I know I'm not the only one getting fed up with the lying on ATOT, frequently in the form of such things as making up one's cars. Really though some of the children here feel compelled to make up entire lives or aspects of their lives which are later found out to be totally ficticious. I won't point out the names, because we all know who you are, but I think that after a member does an Uber-owning of some other member for lying, including supporting links (thanks for Fausto for the most recent Uber-ownage), they should be banned permanently. It's very anti-social and dilutes the quality of ATOT as a whole."

Skoorb, I respectfully beg to differ if you're serious about your proposal.

If AT becomes such forum, then they would be compromising the rules of privacy signed in the contract. For in order to know whether a member was lying, they have to either use circumstantial evidence or use empirical evidence. The former would not be reliable. The latter would be a blatant and outright intrusion of one?s privacy. The only exceptions are when a member intentionally and willfully lies in order to dupe other members financially, harm anyone, or violate the laws of the state. I think banning members would discourage free thoughts and expressions. Take things on the 'net with a grain of salt. So long as someone does not harm or threaten another member, or financially rip people, then they should be allowed to be fictitious if they wish.

I understand that some people think of the 'net as a reality, but it is a matter of choice. If you choose to make it a source of personal relationship or trust, then try doing the usual investigation of the party you are interested in.

It seems we often think of AT as a little group without profit to be made. It may seem that way but, in reality, it's a business. Catering to personal matters and relationships would be diversion from that which is to be obtained financially.

Accually luvly, they could ban anyone they wanted for any reason they wanted so long as it wasnt based on sex, religion, age, or race. You are on a PRIVATE forum that is open to the public. Much like Best buy is open to the public, but owns the land they are on. If you bash the computers at best buy openly outside their store, they cant do a thing about it. If you do it inside their store, they are will within their rights to ask you to leave. So your rules of evidence dont really apply here. circumstantial evidence or empirical evidence matters not. They could use ANY reason to ban you, so long as it does not discriminate.
 

StageLeft

No Lifer
Sep 29, 2000
70,150
5
0
And, Luvly, you can't tell me it wouldn't bother you if that big thread about Fritzo and his money situation was found out to be a big hoax after spending all that time posting, can you? When people come in asking for advice/help and receive hours of advice and help from people and then it was just a big joke one can definitely conclude that ATOT is the worse for it.
 

DT4K

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2002
6,944
3
81
I have to agree with Descartes and Kev on this one.
I don't think Fausto owned anybody.
Yeah, RaiseUp is a snotty rich kid who likes to brag about all the cars his daddy has.
Maybe he's making it up, but I highly doubt it.

I don't see anything at all in the links Fausto provided that convince me this guy is lying.
I've seen plenty of 16 year olds who thought they were really cool because their rich parents had a bunch of cool cars that they got to drive around. I went to high school with lots of these kind of kids.

If he was making this stuff up, doesn't it seem odd that he would admit in all his posts that they are "our" cars(referring to his family)?
I would think if he wanted to make up a fantasy life, it would be much better than that.
Seems like he would want to claim these cars as his own, which he really hasn't done.
 

lowtech1

Diamond Member
Mar 9, 2000
4,644
1
0
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Originally posted by: lowtech
Originally posted by: Skoorb
I know I'm not the only one getting fed up with the lying on ATOT, frequently in the form of such things as making up one's cars. Really though some of the children here feel compelled to make up entire lives or aspects of their lives which are later found out to be totally ficticious. I won't point out the names, because we all know who you are, but I think that after a member does an Uber-owning of some other member for lying, including supporting links (thanks for Fausto for the most recent Uber-ownage), they should be banned permanently. It's very anti-social and dilutes the quality of ATOT as a whole.

Silly threads, debates, even neffing - those are what ATOT should be. But when you can't even take a damn thing you read seriously without keeping a tally of the morons who lie here and there it becomes difficult to believe a freaking thing.
Don't take ATOT too seriously.
Believe me, I don't. The morons are to thank for that :)
Just to let you know that I use to like AT a lot during the old BBS day when you can come and exchange ideas with out multitude of forums & rules. During 1997~1999 AT was a great place to come for computer knowledge & serious discussions, but now it has became what Anand didn?t want it to be when he was a member of TheBrotherHoodOfTheCPU/Tweakit (AT has became the an online soap opera, ebay, and dating service). With the change many members has moved on to other forums such as AceHardware.com where honest IT discussion is the norm, and some frequently changes their handle to remain anonymity and a protest against snobbish/elitist rating.

I feel that some people are taking ATOT too seriously and about to bust a blood vessel if ATOT don?t behave like ATOS or ATnetworking.

Sorry for my rant!
I now will change my nick to protest against the elitist member rating & to remain somewhat anonymous.
 

Izzo

Senior member
May 30, 2003
714
0
0
On topic: Liars should not be banned. That is a lame idea. However, the suggestion about having the mods make their sigs say "I like to make things up" is awesome.

Off topic: anyone care to tell a noob the Dennilfloss story?
 

yellowperil

Diamond Member
Jan 17, 2000
4,598
0
0
Originally posted by: luvlyFor in order to know whether a member was lying, they have to either use circumstantial evidence or use empirical evidence. The former would not be reliable.
Not that the rules of evidence apply here, but circumstantial evidence is used all the time in civil and criminal trials. Sometimes it's used to convict in the absence of any direct evidence.