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Subject: Great straw man idea

Author: Stephen A. Boak

Date: 17:21:20 07/01/00

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On July 01, 2000 at 13:06:05, Dann Corbit wrote:

>Troll posts typically have very high read counts.
>
>I know you're tongue-in-cheek on this one, so I will propose an alternative.
>
>We will create a checksum function which consumes the letters of a post and
>emits a hash value.  We will calibrate it with 100 true posts, and one hundred
>false ones.  Then we will reject all false posts that arrive.
>
>We will also write a topicality hash function and calibrate it.  Then any
>arriving posts that do not emit a "topical" checksum can be automatically
>rejected.
>
>How's that for a staw man?

Hi Dan,
  That's the greatest idea since popcorn!
  Then, if Chris W. or anyone else doesn't like the way it works, instead of
posting a lot of 'critiques' or suggestions that are devoid of content, he can
simply spend an hour or so (a fairly simple thing, per his comments and
expertise) to review the hashing/topicality index coding and publish suggested
programming changes.
  This would remove the rising influx of complaints and trolls and cause an
emphasis on looking at programming, something that surely is more on topic for a
computer chess bulletin board, no matter who started it!
  We could do a count on postings with suggested coding changes and incorporate
only the ones that have the most readcount hits.  Or the opposite--only
incorporate the ones that have the least readcount hits--less controversial that
way, don't you think?
  To implement this the most politically acceptable way, we could take a vote in
our liberally democratic way, or simply solicit 'interpretations' from founding
fathers, other experts and the like, or even the courts (where are you,
Michael...?)
  What is a 'staw man'?  Can you modify the hashing and checksum idea to spell
check, and perhaps provide a key definition when a word of art is used for the
first time?  That would be a great improvement also, thanks.  I'm sure the draft
coding of this feature would draw many additional suggestions for improvement.
  If the readcounts are high enough (subject only to 'expert' interpretation),
maybe we could attract sponsors who would contribute some big dollars to add
more of the bulletin board features we like.  Of course, we couldn't accept ads
from competitors since that wouldn't do right by our kind host, Steve S.
  Keep up the great postings!
  --Steve




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