Take this hobby and shove it.....

[mechBgon]

cautery, I will miss you. : ( I was actually kicking around the idea of a "People I haven't seen enough of lately" thread in Distributed Computing to see where you and some of our other notable-but-absent teammates have disappeaded to. Best wishes to you, Clay.

 

[arthurb1]

Never really crossed your path, except for buying some stuff from you, but it is sad to see you go. Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[Russ]

<< when the truth is they live in a police state where they every four years get to choose one of two men to be their dictator, and where more money is spent on building jails to lock people up than there is spent to keep them away from crime >>



There's always got to be one in every crowd. &quot;AstrayAndLost&quot; sure picked a suitable handle.

Russ, NCNE

 

[chiwawa626]

enjoy the fourm, but dont let the fourm become your life guys who cautery is talking about!
eh, (people with more then 20 posts a day, u are just weird)

 

[4824guy]

I personally have to rate that first post by cautery as a all time class one that I have read at any BBS or forum.

It should be one that we all should read a few times to comprehend and feel. It was extremely well written, serious, and for the most part true.

There seems to be more and more of a flock growing all the time here in these hardware forums. I am also starting to feel disgused and sadden by the constant questions by beginners like, 'what HD should I buy, what cdrw should I buy, what mobo should I buy,,,, maybe these people should do alittle research before asking, and maybe they will learn alittle more that just trusting what some person says they should buy.

That said, everybody knows that so-called 'experts' or expert hardware sites are not 100% accurate or unbiased.

 

[Madcowz]

I don't know Cautery and I've never seen him here on the forums, but from the response I already respect the guy. He seems very intelligent, but I personally believe it is a bit irrationale of him to quit on us like that just b/c of some pompous know-it-all's. It makes no sense. With that kind of logic you might as well quit on life b/c just look around you... these people act all the same in real life; we are surrounded by ignorant stubborn fools and sheep that are constantly following the flock. They have no direction, but they don't care as long as they stay in line. It gives us comfort and makes us feel safe and secure. But this is society and if you don't like it than might as well live as a hermit in some isolated woods.

If you don't like or agree with someone's opinion or post then just move on and skip it. Don't even bother trying correcting some of the people with major ego's in here b/c when they say something they are absolutely 100% correct no matter what in their own eyes. Just let it be, and don't let these kind of things bother you. Why must you get so upset over things/people you cannot control or change? I'm sorry about your disappointment of the human race and it's integrity, and I share your understanding, but you have to just live and let live.

 

[superbaby]

I completely agree with Clay. Although I find myself being harassed everyday by family and friends to help them with their computers, and they regard me as the &quot;God of Computers&quot;, I just know a lot about this stuff because I read web forums like this one, I read hardware reviews like the ones at FiringSquad and I download all the latest ware... *cough* never mind. Sometimes I just wonder what it would be like for all those idiots who ask me computer stuff - to simply look it up themselves, then they would find the answers I find. It's a question that bugs me everytime some guy goes &quot;How do I install a network card? Is it hard?&quot;.

In any case, I agree that most people on the web forums are zealots and they think they know it all. Recently I accidentally posted some flamebait in the MURC forums and there I ran into some of the biggest d1cks in the world. They thought they knew everything, they assumed they were better than me simply because they *thought* they could fix my computer when I couldn't - the reason for all this hostility? I replaced my buggy G400 with a Nvidia GF2 MX and that was a no-no in their holy bibles.

The whole thread can be found here (my nick there is &quot;pchoi&quot:
http://forums.matroxusers.com/ubb/Forum5/HTML/009534.html

I've never seen so much stubborness in the entire time I've been on the web. They simply would not accept that my solution with replacing the G400 with a GF2 MX was a good solution, although it solved every single problem I had with the G400 (no busmastering, forcing AGP1x, random crashes, nothing OpenGL worked). However it wasn't a viable solution in their books, preferring to trust in their own so-called skills and belief they could fix anything G400. They called me a Nvidia zealot, even though I only bought the MX based on research I had done on web reviews and web forums. If 3dfx had something better with the list of requirements I had, then I would have bought 3dfx and they would have called me a 3dfx freak or something.

Clay, again I completely agree with your post. There are too many people on forums like these, that think they know everything. No one has an open mind and there are always the 14 year old experts (mentally and physically!) who will make you want to tear out all your hair at their stupidity.

Sorry to see you go, you really have guts for speaking your mind these days!

 

[Rankor]

Cautery,

I hear you...

That was to the point and worth the read. But how about an Executive Summary next time?

I get that feeling sometimes. I've read tons of reviews from a lot of sites. Some have mistakes in specs, part history, you name it.

I've e-mailed some these reviewers with corrections and proper references to the manufacturer's sites.

All for naught.

Replies were always, &quot;I'm right (b/c I'm the one reviewing this) and YOU'RE wrong.&quot;

I then decided, &quot;Why bother?&quot;

You're right, though. A lot of people have their heads up somethin' and they must enjoy being there.

I don't know you personally, but it's a good thing sum1 posted something like this.

If you're in the neighborhood of LA, CA, look me up.

I'll buy the drinks.

 

[Sohcan]

Wow, this brought back a lot of memories of the early days of TA and The Warpcore Project, back when we were still fighting against Team Sysopt/Tweakit.

Great post, Clay. You will be missed.

 

[gregulator]

I am homeless since the end of AGN3D, now that was a real community... and that is all.

 

[Chris A]

Cautery, Enjoy yourself and thanks for all the great posts in the past.....

 

[Blackhawk2]

Hey someone to afirm what I've always beleived, thankyou Cautery. Most if not all peoples attitudes and beleifs are pre-programed into them by their parents. Maybe thats what you mean't by the following: <<...They are already well-integrated into the &quot;flock&quot;...>> Woah! Matrix flashback

The sad fact of life is we have no influence on pre-programming, the only way around is to erase peoples minds and re-program them. No easy task.

 

[hungrypete]

i almost feel like crying.........

 

[Modus]

Cautery,

The fact is, hardware reviewers do an excellent job of providing accurate, unbiased information to those who know how to interpret the data. The great thing about computer hardware is that the Internet community can immediately confirm or rebut any benchmark or stability report posted by a major web site. This makes most reviewers cautious, deliberate and judicial. Where they allow their own informed opinions to leak out and overshadow plain facts, it's not difficult to seperate the two and make our own decisions. (Anand is very reserved in this aspect, and Tom might do well to imitate him)

And as for these forums, I'd like to believe people still have the intelligence to think for themselves. The great thing about our dicussions in our field is that truth and falsehood are nearly absolute: Product A is, or is not, a better value than Product B, and with the performance and price data so readily available to everyone, there can be no serious dispute. If some one says otherwise, they are simply wrong, and I think people will see that.

Your mention of heatsinks is appropriate, because it is a somewhat more qualitative and variable class of product, but I still don't think we have such a lemming mentality here that a lone, sensible voice would be drown out by a chrous of &quot;get heatsink C, it's the best!&quot;

Without specific examples, your rant is more sizzle than steak.

Modus

 

[mindless]

Never really conversed with you but from all your posts you seemed to be one of the more knowledgeable people in these forums. I for one am definately going to miss you. I wish you well wherever you go, Im sure you will be welcomed wherever you go.

 

[Cybordolphin]

He had me at hello.

 

[xrayman]

Clay,

You really hit a good stride on that one! I gained a LOT of respect for you over in DC and it's now even stronger.
Your post and all of the replies, so far, reaffirm my conviction that there are only two basic types of people in our world.

(1) Those that are so stupid that they believe they are smart, and (2) Those that are smart enough to know how stupid they really are.

The few times I have conversed with you certainly indicate that you easily fit within the later. I hope you will reconsider your decision to leave, we need people like you to help offset the idiots.

 

[Pocatello]

This is like the first time this forum becomes interesting, then the guy decided he has had enough . It seems to me that most people who post here just want to get attention. Just look at the title of most threads here!

 

[pRick]

Good point, but hardly worth the lengthy essay and steamy passion put forth.

In my world (It's a small, lonely one), I make it a point to recheck sources and data. If Hardware Site A recieved the same scores as Hardware Site B, Ba, B2 and Z½, then I would have to say it's fairly reliable, if not credible information despite the reputability of the sites combined.

In the event of a great scandal where All Powerful Company A starts paying off other web-resources to promote thier product (PCmagazine anyone?) - It's actually the little guy who is left undaunted becuase All-Powerful Company A doesn't give a shizzit about Hardware Site Z½ and it's little brother Z²¼+3a.

Most of the independant reviewers do a great job. Even Anand started out on Geocities. The little guy does a great job for the most part. Look at Tom. God knows he didn't make that site as big as it is when he started out. Nor did many of the other reputable hardware sites.

I do agree with the L33T HaX0r bit though. Everyone thinks they are The Great Computer God because they put a system together or benchmarked something - It is kind of redculous. Ha. Even MCSE certified people think they know what they are doing because they have the title.. ha! But honestly, even a litte kid can report somewhat accurate benchmarks for a product and provide some* useful insight as to how it stacks up against others. I have had 12 year-olds describe to me the thermodynamic laws and principles of efficient fan cooling - It's not necessarily age that bothers me. Some of those &quot;little kids&quot;, are infact, geniuses in that sense.

Just avoid sites with nVidia of 3Dfx banners posted everywhere and you'll do fine.. I have yet to find a completely bias review (beside one, thank zdnet for that) and I read close to 30 reviews daily.

 

[LeBlatt]

Clay, are you oing to kill yourself or live in a cave when you realize earth is mainly populated by dumbasses ? Or do you intend to change the world ?

I hate to see one more valuable member of the Team leaving, and the worst part is, I dont think it is justified.

Once again, do what you think is right.

 

[NicColt]

BOOOOORRRRIIIINNNGGGG ZZZZZzzzzzzzz

 

[JonB]

Some people like big cities, some don't. Big cities have more a-holes and can get on your nerves. It probably is the same percentage of a-holes as a small city, but there ARE still more of them.

Some people like big universities and colleges, some don't. There are more professors with Doctorates and above; the level of education is higher, but there are also more morons to deal with, so it may seem worse overall.

Some people like big forums, some like smaller ones. AnandTech forums have gotten big and draw from all over the world.

Clay, I wish you well, but I hope you aren't just chasing a dream of that perfect forum where there are no trolls, no unqualified opinions and no flames.

 

[jzodda]

You know he has put into words some of what I have been feeling for a long time now.


The cold hard truth is that many reviewers do not know that much about this industry, this hobby and the products they are reviewing. Even worse, there are many reviews these days that will withhold data that puts the product in question in a negative light. They do this so they can continue to receive products to review from the manufacturer. Many reviews these days just seem to be little more than a cut and paste of the specs from the manufacturers own product info.

As for the forums, well what goes on here does not bother me nor surprise me. I am glad the kids come here to learn and contribute. Its what I did back in the early 90s when AOL was new and I was a teenager. In any event I do not come here looking for hard science. I can go elsewhere for that.

 

[Oyeve]

I think everyone needs to get over this and continue your normal activities. Its a forum for Christs sake! (am I allowed to say Christ? Doh! Did it again)You CANT take anything here seriously and/or personally. Its for entertainment and occasionally someone somewhere may learn something new and may fix a problem or two but to put any emotion to it is just plain ridiculous.

 

[Electric Amish]

All Hail CAUTERY! Creator of the &quot;Round Cables to order&quot; and TWP!!

We'll miss ya', dude.

amish