View Full Version : How many forum members does it take to change a lightbulb?


Heather Louise
11-06-2007, 08:31 AM
I saw this on another site that a guy posted and siad has been ciculating so i thought i'd pass it along here too. :)
Heather



1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light
bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs

53 to flame the spell checkers

41 to correct spelling/grammar flames

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb" ...

another 6 to condemn those 6 as anal-retentive

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"

15 know-it-alls who claim *they* were in the industry, and that "light bulb"
is perfectly correct

156 to email the participant's ISPs complaining that they are in violation
of their "acceptable use policy"

109 to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this
discussion to a lightbulb group

203 to demand that cross posting to hardware forum, off-topic forum, and
lightbulb group about changing light bulbs be stopped

111 to defend the posting to this group saying that we all use light bulbs
and therefore the posts *are* relevant to this group

1 to accuse the others of holding viewpoints similar to Adolf Hitler

306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy
the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique
and what brands are faulty

27 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs

14 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the
corrected URL's

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this
group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group

33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all
headers and signatures, and add "Me too"

12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot
handle the light bulb controversy

3 to blame George W Bush for not having an exit strategy when going in to
put the new bulb into place

19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three"

4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ

44 to ask what is a "FAQ"

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

143 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about
light bulbs"

1 forum lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start
it all over again....

Cogito
11-06-2007, 08:42 AM
Heh - absolutely NO truth to that.

Really.



Honest...

Heather Louise
11-06-2007, 08:44 AM
Haha, i read through it and was surprised at just how often that does actually happen. :p

wordwizard
11-06-2007, 09:14 AM
haha love it!

adamant
11-06-2007, 09:40 AM
I'll be the spell checker!

...damn Nazis

Banzai
11-06-2007, 10:08 AM
And I will accordingly acuse you of having opinions similar to Adolf Hitler, chocolate bear ;)

Heather Louise
11-06-2007, 10:12 AM
I don't see anything wrong with having opinions similar to Hitler. Everyone at school had a nice little game of calling me "Hitler lover" because i said i would like to but him a cup of tea and i said he wasn't eveil (mainly 'cos evil don't exist). it was fun :( :p

Banzai
11-06-2007, 10:16 AM
"Hitler lover"? Wow, kids today have no imagination...

adamant
11-06-2007, 10:17 AM
but wasn't it also you that said you'd shoot him while having said tea?

Heather Louise
11-06-2007, 10:18 AM
Hahaa,, i know. :p
but wasn't it also you that said you'd shoot him while having said tea? nope, i just want to talk to him really

Cogito
11-06-2007, 10:34 AM
He who invokes a label based on Hitler or Nazi has run out of constructive arguments.

Heather Louise
11-06-2007, 10:37 AM
He who invokes a label based on Hitler or Nazi has run out of constructive arguments.
ermm, what?? lol

Banzai
11-06-2007, 11:06 AM
Godwin's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law)

Heather Louise
11-06-2007, 11:09 AM
I don't get it, what exactly is Godwins law??

Cogito
11-06-2007, 11:34 AM
Well, you could click on Banzai's link :)

Basically, Goodwin's Law says that the longer an Internet discussion continues, the more likely it becomes that someone will bring in something about Hitler or Nazis, and that probability approaches a near certainty as the discussion grows.

What I said was similar, in that when Nazis or Hitler get dragged into an argument, particularly when someone is labelled as one or the other, it usually means that person has run out of pertinent thoughts.

It's sort of like an argument degenerating to, "Well - SO'S YOUR MOTHER!"

Not so long ago someone on the forum objected to a senior member pointing out a grammar or punctuation error, and labelled that senior member with a name of someone associated with Hitler.

Banzai
11-06-2007, 12:31 PM
Godwin's law (as the link says) is:

As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.

With a probabilty of 1 meaning something is certain.

Basically, as Cog said, the rule has been adapted to:

The mention of Hitler or the Nazis in an arguments results in the immediate loss of the argument by the person who did the mentioning.

Etan Isar
11-06-2007, 06:02 PM
Nazis! All of you!



Borrowing from Mike C? How lowbrow.lol

Torana
11-06-2007, 06:49 PM
lol not bad Heather. Good for a laugh that is for sure. And all that about Hilter and Nazi's.....fair enough.

Heather Louise
11-07-2007, 09:39 AM
Well, you could click on Banzai's link yea, i did and it was all sonfusing. i hate Wikipeidia. But thanks for explaining Cog and Banzai ;)Borrowing from Mike C? How lowbrow.lol aye, i thought it was a laugh and since he said he has passed it on from another forum i didn't see a problem. :)
Heather

Kit
11-07-2007, 10:54 AM
Lol fantastic heather :D

And most certainly not true of this forum!! *cough* erm... honest? :D

Etan Isar
11-07-2007, 04:28 PM
yea, i did and it was all sonfusing. i hate Wikipeidia. But thanks for explaining Cog and Banzai ;) aye, i thought it was a laugh and since he said he has passed it on from another forum i didn't see a problem. :)
Heather

It's not a problem, and it is pretty funny, but honestly, it's Mike C.lol