Bitcoin Forum

Hello,

By now I am sure many of you are familiar with my protest over the decision OldEngineer made in his game.  And, while, I do not regret my general approach to justifying my position, I realize that certain aspects of my approach have had, and may have, unintended consequences that I do not wish for.

I would like to apologize, first, to OldEngineer, for originally giving my protest thread the title of "OldEngineer Screwed Me out of 5 BTC."  I am not exactly sure how long the title was kept like this before I changed it to "I think OldEngineer screwed me out of 5 BTC" and finally to "I think Someone screwed me out of 5 BTC."  While I made the initial change quickly after I realized placing "I think" before it would be more accurate, I did not consider that it would be searchable through Google.  It is still searchable through Google, and if anyone has any idea how to remove that thread title from the Google search index, please let me know.  In any case, I am sorry, OldEngineer, if my thread caused you any unintended harm.

I would also like to apologize to the community if anyone was personally offended by the entire ordeal.  Again, it was not my intent as I felt and continue to feel as though I am justified in my defense.  But, still, I am sorry for any unintended hurt and for any intentional snappy comebacks cast towards those that I had believed to be antagonizing me.    Apology to the community retracted.



I have sent a message to Theymos requesting that he remove my protest thread in its entirety.

+1

christ... all this for $20

It's sad what some people are willing to ruin their reputation over.

The joint, I un-ignored you to give you another chance when I saw this apology thread. I guess I shouldn't have bothered. That's the most half-assed apology ever. You basically said "I'm not sorry for what I've done, I'm just sorry there were consequences." You sound like a sociopath.

I don't think I was offended, it's just, obviously you are realizing how silly you looked to everyone else the whole time, just a little too late.

it reminds me of the time Matthew N. Wright got into some dispute over 1 BTC he refused to pay an artist who completed the job he asked for, simply because the artist had made his demand for payment public because it wasn't getting anywhere.  I have always viewed him as being in junior high ever since, though maybe he really is.

Your biggest mistake had nothing to do with UTC, it was that you felt (and probably still feel) that "the law" or "morals" or "ethics" entitled you to receive a gift from somebody who didn't choose to give it to you.  The fact that you added "I think" makes no difference - we understand it's what "you think" - it's just, well, you paint yourself precisely as the moochers (Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, 1957) that many of us abhor.  All moochers think that people have an obligation to give them things in exchange for nothing.  (I bet if you go read the book and convince us you actually read it, you'll gain back much of the respect you lost in that thread! lol...google for the cliff's notes if the length is a problem)

Personally I think your thread should not be removed.  It gives good insight into how you think for anyone who may be dealing with you in the future.

If you do not wish to remove it, then don't.  You are the moderator.  

I wanted it removed for OldEngineer.

As does this thread.

Recognizing one's mistakes and trying to correct them is a wonderful quality to see in someone.

I'll +1 this.

but still people needs to know who they are dealing with. i like to see both posts, and making my opinion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg3m8wRVXWg

I only read the first paragraph in the OP and, personally, there's no ill feels stemming from this direction. Whatever that whole episode was about, I'm sure this thread will have us moving forward, the joint.

~Bruno~

Thank you, apology accepted.  It's time to move on.

You are welcome. 

I went ahead and removed the two moved topic redirects, so that should reduce the Google exposure. I also renamed the subject of every post to "I Think I Got Screwed out of 5 BTC".

That being said, it is against policy to remove any thread that has a meaningful reply by the request of the original poster. As tysat explained, there is a very good reason for this policy.

Fair enough. 

No.

OldEngineer had threatened to sue me for libel since the title of the thread was indexed under Google search.  I wanted the thread removed in hopes that it would remove the original title, the one stating that "OldEngineer screwed me out of 5 BTC."  The only libelous comment I may have made regarded the thread's title, not the content inside it.  It was his request that I remove the title from Google index search.

Don't make the same mistake I did (see censor) or you could find yourself backtracking too.

Well, hopefully it is removed.  OldEngineer was kind enough to offer his own BTC in the game.  If not, I feel assured knowing the legal advice I sought laughed at the situation and told me any prosecuting attorney would get laughed out of court if he tried presenting it to a judge.  Interestingly, he knew what Bitcoin is.

The joint is a jerk who went into a hissy fit because some total stranger didn't give him some free stuff. End of discussion.

Suck it.  This is why I retracted my apology to the community.  It's completely undeserved.

Mr. The Joint. I don't suppose you caught the Fight Club reference (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg3m8wRVXWg)? In this forum you've been given an opportunity to face the pain, release your ego, and humbly and honestly apologize. On your road to adulthood you will have other, but not likely as easy, opportunities, but why not take responsibility now rather than waiting to somehow grow up?

Netrin, you've been cool.

That was the problem.  I couldn't honestly apologize to the community. 

There's a problem when you apologize and then you feel guilty for apologizing.  I felt more happy and comfortable with myself before the apology.  I have regret for doing it in the first place.  It is, as I said,  undeserved.

I think it's more adult to stand up for what you think and know is right than to preach social graces while being subtly -- or, as in the case of most responses, not-so-subtly --  graceless.

[ cut... sent by PM ]

+1 on all counts...

Dear Mr. Joint,

You're an idiot.

Sincerely,
Everyone

Dear dude,

Don't care.

Sincerely,
The 'me' in team and the 'I' in win.

I think this tells us a lot about how you think:

Fuck you, i do not agree! please edit your post! IDIOT!

is that better?

little, but it was the "everyone" part i did not like. please do not include me.

Because when someone says "everyone" they truly mean every last person on earth... right?

sure they do! ALWAYS!

joking aside... i don't think individuals should say talk for the community, without at least a great majority agrees.
it was just to say that i disagree with his statement, and i do not wish to get included in his "everyone".

Then why not just say so?

"Fuck you, i do not agree! please edit your post! IDIOT!"

Just makes you look irrational and childish. 

Merry Christmas, Goat! I hope you and yours have a wonderful celebration.

e: That goes for everyone, too. Even the_joint.

Merry Christmas :D

The smartest student is the one who learns the most.

School is about the acquisition of knowledge, not passing exams or having a high GPA.

This times a million.

Grades show nothing but how well you comply (which in itself is a valuable measure for gaining employment). An A+ while working your ass off in my mind is no different than a C without trying.

i get 12(the highest) in math, without even trying to do be best. the lessons bores me, and all the stuff we learn i learn in about 10 min, while the other students are struggling... im not working my ass off to get a A+.

Schoolwork has been dumbed down a lot these days, if you want to be challenged public school isn't where you need to be looking. 

Ok...you are good at math. Cool story. Pretty much everyone has something they are good at. That would be the exception, not the rule.

Merry Christmas, everyone!  :)



That quote about smart students that cheat was applied within a particular context.

Namely, studies show that students and children that lie pathologically or cheat in school tend to score higher in terms of 'g' than their peers.  In other words, a problem is defined by the child (i.e. "if I do 'x' then 'y' may result, where 'y' is undesirable and the problem), so naturally the child does whatever it takes to avoid the consequences and thus avoid or solve the problem.

If a child does poorly on a test (x) then he might get a bad grade (y).  So, he cheats to avoid 'y' and the problem.

This is based upon the idea that intelligence simply means "problem solving ability" where the problem is defined by the subject.  So, the child solves the problem he has defined (i.e. he does not receive a bad grade).  Thus, he is intelligent.

But cheating is wrong.

Unless: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs0J2F3ErMc

Probably why China is kicking our (America's) ass...  We are busy cheating in school, and they are busy studying.

is that better?

no its not. its a part of the game :P

much! thank you. but i still don't think that he should speak for the whole community, and should instead speak as an individual:

it was to tell that you can get A+, without even trying.

I think everyone is aware of that. Unfortunately, that is not the case across the board. Maybe you destroyed math, but biology kicks your ass. Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe English is your crux. No one is a master of all trades.

On a level field, what I said before stands. Listening, understanding, and getting a C is superior to regurgitating for an A, IMHO.

i did not say that i was perfect... i suck in all human languages Danish, French, English.
a C instead of an A, IMHO, does also indicate lazyness, and lack of interest.

How can you regurgitate for an A if you don't listen and understand what is expected to be regurgitated?  If you got a C, apparently you didn't listen or understand what you were being taught.  Although, there is the possibility that you are far more intelligent than those who designed the curriculum and you get a C for giving answers that are actually correct but are deemed by others to be wrong.

In this world, A's help you get into good graduate and post-graduate institutions which helps to determine how much money you will make, how able you will be to support a family, and how much extra time you will have either for intrinsically beneficial activities or for activities that help the community.

In the end, very few people use even 5% of what they learned in school at their jobs (though this percentage typically increases the higher up the education ladder you go).  Inevitably, classroom tests and especially standardized tests end up testing things other than a person's aptitude.  If a person cheats their way through school because they want to spend more time on the things that are really important in life (and getting that fine looking 'A' to boot), then I'd call that smart.

In my opinion, the best way to learn is from your own experience  -- actually, your experience is the only thing you can learn from.  It's all you have.  Nothing of which you could ever be aware exists outside of your experience.   My senses alone make me intuitively aware of things (i.e. they give me direct knowledge of certain things) that people have been arguing over for thousands of years.  For example, I don't need anybody to tell me that I emit a spiritual aura -- I already know that I do, it's self-evident.  Going to school has really only served to impede my acquisition of knowledge, except that I'll at least have a pretty paycheck to show for my time.

School is a breeding house for parrots, and the peer-review process has arguably been one of the largest obstacles to our species' progress.

I'm glad you're smart.  Though, it sure seemed difficult to get you to understand what's wrong with your opinion that someone who didn't choose to give you something is somehow obligated to do so anyway.

You need to read Atlas Shrugged.  Buy it in paper, buy it online (e.g. Kindle for PC), or if you feel inclined to receive it in exchange for nothing, it looks like you can actually steal it via The Pirate Bay.  You've clearly got the brainpower to process it, so you really should read it.

Being familiar with this book will put you a little notch higher of emitting actual knowledge, and will allow you to not just limit yourself to intoxicating those around you with the product of your brilliant intuition (referring, of course, to everything you say and do that leaves us awestruck other than making a fool of yourself on that thread you're hoping gets swept under the rug by the mods).

I will look into Atlas Shrugged.  Regarding everything else, it's Christmas and I'd prefer not to get bogged down with all that today.  It's been an absolutely fabulous day with friends and loved ones.

Merry Christmas!  :)