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NCommander is publishing a Meta story today: https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=22/11/20/0342250 It will be published on the front page with all of the restrictions that apply to such stories and discussions.
In it NCommander explains how he sees the future of the site developing with regards to software, hardware and administration. Some of those views are different now from the views that many of us held in 2014. The requirement for some of our servers is no longer justified, and there are better technologies available for achieving what we are trying to do thus also reducing our running costs. The administration of the site is placing an increasing burden on the relatively few administrators that remain in the support team. Society has also changed. Some discussion has been replaced by intimidation and threats. It is much more polarised than it was in 2014. In many ways this is the same as for numerous other web sites. However, the abuse and toxic atmosphere created by a small number of Anonymous Cowards is unacceptable and must be reversed if the site is to survive. The responsibility for some of the problems that we are experiencing, and the resulting actions that we have had to take, is placed entirely at their feet.
A few months ago the majority of the community opted - albeit very reluctantly - to remove AC posts from the front pages of the site. This action has successfully removed the vast majority of the abuse from our discussions. We are seeing a slow increase in the number of comments week-on-week and the signal-to-noise ratio is now much higher. It is only right that we also reconsider the implications of that change.
This journal entry is to enable anyone who wishes to remain anonymous to express their views. I promise that I will read it and will ensure that genuine views are considered when the community decides which path it wishes to follow. I cannot make any assurances that other members of the site's administration will read it - although I expect that at least some will. If you have an account then I strongly encourage you to leave your views under NCommander's Meta story and not here.
I further my promise that I will try to represent your views as honestly and fairly as I can.
If you abuse this journal then you are simply giving more support to the alternative options that might be considered than you are to the status quo. I encourage you to expresses sensible, logical and considered views but should you decide that abuse is what you prefer then this journal entry can simply be removed. You are being given an opportunity - do not throw it away.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @02:29PM (9 children)
As you predictably push to attach real-world names to all opinions you store in your database, I say your database is not deserving of putting any new words in there, going forward. Let you have your coveted echo chamber fully to yourselves, and you can eat it too if you figure out how.
Any normal thing we say today, can be declared wrongthink some day in the future, and retroactively prosecuted to the full extent of new laws and beyond. Thousands of Russians going to jail this year, some for the things they said on the Internet a full decade before, are just one lot of sad examples among a number of similar withchhunt campaigns worldwide.
Note the "we" above includes you too, dear management; do not imagine your todays affiliations make you untouchable forever. A lot of people already had their rude awakenings a few, or many, years down the road; your luck can happen to be no better than theirs, and then your heads will make a nice step for someone to go up in their career.
(Score: 3, Touché) by janrinok on Monday November 21 2022, @03:12PM (1 child)
If 'they' want your head - they will have it. Whether SN exists or not will not change the outcome.
You enjoy your paranoia.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @03:41PM
Your talking of "paranoia" in 2022 A.D. is disingenuous in the extreme. The "paranoid" are proven to be damn OPTIMISTS by what *already* happened.
Do either wake up and look outside, or update the script, please.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Monday November 21 2022, @03:34PM (6 children)
How does using an email address give us anything personal about you? It doesn't necessarily tell us who you are, it doesn't tell us where you are, it doesn't tell us anything about you at all.
I have an email address janrinok[at]rambler.ru, here, try another "tf99gsr[at]yahoo.com" , or how about " minecraft73489[at]gmail.com".
Now, what does that tell you about any of them? Are they the same person? Do they know each other?
You go cower in the shadows, like the 'wee timorous beastie' that you are. Other people have lives to live.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @04:08PM (3 children)
The "you" is absolutely not who anyone has a care about. The problem as you well know, is your bosses.
These days, "not-throwaway" emails want your phone number, and most governments made their mobile operators have your ID on file, tied to that number. Nice and easy isn't it?
Am I the one who need remind you of the big data and correlating, or do you believe the remaining readers of your site so dumb as to not know that?
A number of such ex-bold spirits are now about to end their lives in the reinstated GULAG. Those who remembered the history and did not flaunt their identities, are free.
Working as a stool pigeon for a living is despicable, even in todays economy.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @04:27PM (2 children)
*yawn*
You can use a VPN tunnel out of your home/personal/work network, to some location halfway around the world. Connect to an open proxy from there, to another location thousands of miles from that first location. Create your throwaway email account, that can't possibly be traced back to you by less than state actors. Register your new account on SN. Wait for the confirmation email. Verify your email account. Close the proxy/VPN tunnels. Never use them again. Enjoy your account. Adjust your settings to get notifications here on the site, instead of via email. You have a fully working account, and no one has any idea who you are. If you don't feel safe using two hops to create your throwaway email account, just multiply that a few times. Do one hop through every nation in the world. I don't know if the NSA monitors pluton mail well enough to trace all of that.
And, you can turn in your nerd card at the door. FFS, children can figure out how to do anonymous proxies these days.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @04:31PM
Much easier to never post here.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @07:12PM
Runaway explains his methods for gaming SN for his white supremacy propaganda #shocking
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 21 2022, @04:13PM (1 child)
The surveilling ones will surely be able to answer your questions.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by janrinok on Monday November 21 2022, @05:57PM
Fine. They already have your address, workplace, income, health data, vehicle data and the same for all of your friends. If somebody is concerned that what they say on SN might incriminate them they shouldn't even be on the internet. The ISP has everything that they post anyway and I'll bet it is easier to get than monitoring this site. SSL won't slow the big boys down, nor I would bet will TOR. But if they are that keen to get information on you - it is already too late.