Dynamo Theft in San Francisco*

On Tue, 05 Nov 2013 05:09:10 -0800, sms
wrote:

From now
on I will post a disclaimer on posts that employ deadpan humor.

That won't help. The problem is that there are different degrees of
humor as well as different types. It's common for a 90% serious
article, report, or government program, to include some humor, usually
in the form of a pun or cheap shot at some political or administrative
personality. Therefore, I suggest that instead of a blanket
disclaimer, you include a numeric metric that describes the degree of
seriousness or humor.

Something like[1]:
SMS+0 Dead serious. No humor intended.
SMS+2 Mostly serious. Some humor to break up the monotony.
SMS+4 More serious than humorous.
SMS+5 Half humor, half serious. Toss a coin.
SMS+7 Mostly humor with some concessions to reality.
SMS+9 Totally humorous. Do not take seriously.

I'm not certain if the scale should be linear or exponential. Negative
numbers can also be used to describe the lack of humor, bad jokes,
sick humor, or failed attempts at humor. For example, this message
would be labeled SMS+5. The original posting would be SMS+9.


[1] Note that programmers count starting with zero, while real people
start with one.


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558

On 11/5/2013 7:57 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Tue, 05 Nov 2013 05:09:10 -0800, sms
wrote:

From now
on I will post a disclaimer on posts that employ deadpan humor.

That won't help. The problem is that there are different degrees of
humor as well as different types. It's common for a 90% serious
article, report, or government program, to include some humor, usually
in the form of a pun or cheap shot at some political or administrative
personality. Therefore, I suggest that instead of a blanket
disclaimer, you include a numeric metric that describes the degree of
seriousness or humor.

Something like[1]:
SMS+0 Dead serious. No humor intended.
SMS+2 Mostly serious. Some humor to break up the monotony.
SMS+4 More serious than humorous.
SMS+5 Half humor, half serious. Toss a coin.
SMS+7 Mostly humor with some concessions to reality.
SMS+9 Totally humorous. Do not take seriously.

I'm not certain if the scale should be linear or exponential. Negative
numbers can also be used to describe the lack of humor, bad jokes,
sick humor, or failed attempts at humor. For example, this message
would be labeled SMS+5. The original posting would be SMS+9.

It's a good concept but it's too complicated. Those that can't discern
between humor and seriousness are not going to be capable of
understanding your system.

On 11/5/2013 10:50 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

snip

In effect, you're
insulting the collective intelligence of the readers in both their
alleged inability to comprehend my system, and their failure to
distinguish between fact and fiction.

No, not the collective intelligence.

On Tuesday, November 5, 2013 10:57:53 AM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
... I suggest that instead of a blanket
disclaimer, you include a numeric metric that describes the degree of
seriousness or humor.

Something like[1]:
SMS+0 Dead serious. No humor intended.
SMS+2 Mostly serious. Some humor to break up the monotony.
SMS+4 More serious than humorous.
SMS+5 Half humor, half serious. Toss a coin.
SMS+7 Mostly humor with some concessions to reality.
SMS+9 Totally humorous. Do not take seriously.

I'm not certain if the scale should be linear or exponential. Negative
numbers can also be used to describe the lack of humor, bad jokes,
sick humor, or failed attempts at humor.

With Mr. Scharf, I was assuming the negative numbers would refer to technical accuracy.

- Frank Krygowski

On Tue, 05 Nov 2013 08:35:17 -0800, sms
wrote:

On 11/5/2013 7:57 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Tue, 05 Nov 2013 05:09:10 -0800, sms
wrote:

From now
on I will post a disclaimer on posts that employ deadpan humor.

That won't help. The problem is that there are different degrees of
humor as well as different types. It's common for a 90% serious
article, report, or government program, to include some humor, usually
in the form of a pun or cheap shot at some political or administrative
personality. Therefore, I suggest that instead of a blanket
disclaimer, you include a numeric metric that describes the degree of
seriousness or humor.

Something like[1]:
SMS+0 Dead serious. No humor intended.
SMS+2 Mostly serious. Some humor to break up the monotony.
SMS+4 More serious than humorous.
SMS+5 Half humor, half serious. Toss a coin.
SMS+7 Mostly humor with some concessions to reality.
SMS+9 Totally humorous. Do not take seriously.

I'm not certain if the scale should be linear or exponential. Negative
numbers can also be used to describe the lack of humor, bad jokes,
sick humor, or failed attempts at humor. For example, this message
would be labeled SMS+5. The original posting would be SMS+9.

It's a good concept but it's too complicated. Those that can't discern
between humor and seriousness are not going to be capable of
understanding your system.

Fortunately your readers here CAN differentiate between truth and
lies.
--
Cheers,

John B.