Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

People are weird.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Republicans don’t lie to be believed, they lie to be repeated.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

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Open Thread

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Still feel like I am dying. Had another conference call today with Tommy and Alain and Mistermix and I don’t all know what was settled because I bowed out early (I sound like TOm Waits with a sore throat and it hurts when I talk more than a couple sentences), but I’m happy with the progress that is being made so far. I’m already used to the new page.

Watching Legends on Netflix. Fun show. Not sure what I am going to do when Season 1 is over. If I felt just a little bit better I’d feel well enough to play video games but not enough to do much more, so I feel like sitting in front of the tv when not sleeping and guzzling fluids is the best option.

Reader Interactions

268Comments

  4. 4.

    Davebo

    The site looks great to me. Performance has certainly improved.

    And seriously, did you need to be on that call? I don’t know you John but based on what I’ve seen over the years it seems like when it comes to technology you could fuck up a steel ball so maybe just let them work out any kinks.

  11. 11.

    Schlemazel

    Get better!

    BTW – I have come to agree with your opinion of us as a group over the last few days. A lot of redundant whining and bitching on every thread even when OT and usually snotty. The worst is I think some of the whiniest bitching came from the same people who bitched like mad at the last change & said they hated it too when it was new.

  14. 14.

    Major Major Major Major

    On iOS, I’ve found that scrolling takes one scroll to initialize it for about a millimeter and then a second one to actually scroll. Very frustrating.

    I also miss the comments link being at the bottom.

  15. 15.

    TaMara (BHF)

    I discovered Salvage Dogs on Netflix and sad there was only one season*. I love that stuff. I did my best not to binge…

    There is a local salvage yard that I’ve visited a couple of times and the owner is all excited to help me renovate whatever home I end up buying.

    John – seriously, I know I’ve told you before, but a steam of rosemary and basil (dried works best) will help. This is often why chicken soup is recommended because those ingredients are what help clear and heal the sinuses (they did a study, really).

    ETA: *Love it, but not enough to pay extra to see the other seasons. At least not today. Tomorrow may be a different story.

  18. 18.

    Ked

    The only thing that really needs changing is getting the comments link to the bottom of the articles. They can be at the top too – for short articles (like this one!) that’s convenient – but when you read through three pages of text (and I like wall-of-text posting, thank you), then have to go hunting back up the page for the comments link it’s both annoying and discourages clicking through to read/make comments.

    Everything else is basically good. Except the buttons on the comment entry field. White text/label on white? I’m using current firefox w/adblock.

  19. 19.

    MomSense

    @trollhattan:

    I’m in denial about the approaching snows. It has been so warm and lovely lately.

    I’m thinking that the frostbite risk would make one remember to wear some pants!

  20. 20.

    Schlemazel

    @efgoldman:
    Apparently every damn thread is open to repeat the same complaints over and over, often in as snarky a way possible.

    I don’t particularly like several things about this new layout, some are things that have been mentioned & a couple I have not seen but Given that this is a work of pleasure not a profitable business I’m going to be patient and hope for the best.

  21. 21.

    RSA

    Get better soon, John. I think the site is being gradually whipped into shape. A few things for Tommy:

    When I load BJ, my browser at full screen, I see about 50 words of content: the titles of most recent five posts and a fragment of the body of the most recent. That’s very, very sparse. I can click or scroll, but I think the general assumption among Web designers is that people want to read first.

    The identical pencil icons on the front page, in the OUR MOST RECENT POSTS section, are not informative. They make the page look broken, with default icons where meaningful images should be.

    Clicking on one of those pencil icons brings you to the page of a post. On a given post’s page, a differently colored version of the pencil icon does one of two things: it might pop up an image, or it might reload the page. You can’t tell which from the information on the page. A couple of general design rules are “Things that look the same should do the same thing,” or “Things that look the same shouldn’t behave differently based on context that’s not obvious to the user.”

    Tags below a post title need not be bold; bold is typically used for emphasis.

    Links at the bottom of a post on the front page would ideally include one to the page for the post. Also, this is where the tags should go (currently they’re repeated, in a different color for no obvious reason).

  22. 22.

    lhradford

    I know this will sound strange but, if you have a bottle of cider vinegar, take the cap off, hold the bottle under your nose and inhale all the vinegar fumes you can stand. If you are watching Netflix, keep the bottle handy and inhale fumes off and on for 30 minutes or so. If you are going to bed, pour some vinegar on a wash cloth, nuke it for a few seconds until it’s warm (not hot), and put it on your neck. Your sore throat should be gone by morning.

  24. 24.

    Felonius Monk

    @efgoldman:

    Isn’t this the whining and bitching department? Or is that down the hall across from arguments?

    No, it’s one door up from the Troll Detention Center and across from the Fuck You Lounge.

  27. 27.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Get well soon, John. I usually suck on Halls cough drops when I have nose and throat issues, but the recommendations above sound much better.

    Good luck.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  28. 28.

    Gin & Tonic

    @RSA: The tags/categories are at the top, on the line with the author’s name, because Tommy insists that’s where they should go. They are at the bottom of the post because a bunch of people said they belong there, and Tommy said he was listening to those people, but somehow assumed that they were not saying they belong *only* at the end of the post. So we have the worst of both worlds.

    IMO, all of the people (which include me) who were saying that the categories belong at the bottom were saying they belong *solely* at the bottom. But Tommy says we are wrong.

  29. 29.

    srv

    During an appearance on “The Kelly File” on Thursday night, Ben Carson told Megyn Kelly that the person he tried to stab when he was younger was a “close relative.” He also alleged that he spoke to the person today and that individual did not want their name to be publicized. This is a deviation from his previous retellings of the event in which a classmate was mentioned as the individual involved. Carson also pushed back against investigations into his past saying “I would say to the people of America, do you think I’m a pathological liar like CNN does? Or do you think I’m an honest person?”

    I’m going with the Rev. Mr. Green, with the knife, in the grain pyramid.

  33. 33.

    shomi

    So how is the plan going to make the entire innertubez install f.lux so that your contrasty looking sheit website looks better?

  35. 35.

    JCJ

    @dmsilev:

    A physics article with the title “X-Ray physics: Straight outta Compton”

    Love it, but doesn’t that show a lack of respect for the photoelectric effect and pair production?

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    @MomSense:
    As a data point I relented and cleaned the filter and turned on the furnace today. Last used in either April or May, can’t quite remember. Onliest things we shovel here are flooded gutters and the fog but come to think of it, the raingutters need a going over this weekend. Except for the one 17′ off the ground–that bastard can just keep overflowing.

  46. 46.

    Just One More Canuck

    John, after reading some of the comments in this thread and others about the changes, all I can say is that when you call us all assholes, it’s the most truthful thing you’ll ever say

  48. 48.

    NotMax

    @efgoldman

    There is an elevator, but unlike traditional ones it doesn’t go up and down, only moves to the left.

    And it is only accessible on the top floor, because that’s where it belongs.

    :)

  51. 51.

    22over7

    Last time I felt as badly as John does, it was the flu with a secondary sinus infection. Never been that sick in my life, before or since. The only things I could tolerate were Popsicles (got the good all-fruit kind) and Lipton tea. Hoping John feels better soon.

  54. 54.

    seaboogie

    @Major Major Major Major:

    On iOS, I’ve found that scrolling takes one scroll to initialize it for about a millimeter and then a second one to actually scroll. Very frustrating.

    In other first world problems:

    This Beluga Caviar tin is soooo fiddly to open…

    The cover on my hot tub is kind of awkward to maneuver…

    My local artisan butter is too hard to spread when I first take it out of the fridge, and the microwave makes it too melty….

    My massage therapist was fully booked today and couldn’t fit me in at the last minute….

    My neighbor just got the lastest Maserati, so mine feels so last year….

    My purebred Persian cat coughed up a hairball in my favorite Manolos….

    True, I do have a full head of hair – with a cowlick – UGH!

    I have perfect hearing, but my ears are not entirely symetrical…..

    Feel free to add to the list…..

  55. 55.

    Sibelius

    Can anyone tell me how, once I click a link referring to a prior comment, I can get back to the comment which contains the link? Used to be just by using the browser (chrome) back button, but that takes me back to the front page now. Sorry if this is a stupid question.

    Generally I like the format, a little too much white, but it’s clean and that’s what I like, easy to read and not cluttered with junk, er, I mean…distractions, yea, that’s it.

  58. 58.

    BruceFromOhio

    Oooh. I have hearts now. Allow me to commence bitching about this mild change to a totally free thing I use.

    OK, however crummy you are feeling, clearly you are not *that* sick.

  65. 65.

    seaboogie

    @trollhattan:

    This Beluga Caviar tin is soooo fiddly to open…
    Press then turn, Sheesh, you people.

    Thanks t, that seems easier. Up until now I just usually smash it on the counter and get one of SP&T’s scantily clad manservants to pick out the glass for me. This is going to really cut down on my overhead – first class airfare from Australia, for one….

  66. 66.

    BruceFromOhio

    Dear GOP, if teachers were actually successfully brainwashing your kids, more of them would have read the fucking syllabus.

    OK, the twit feed is also amusing, *and* you are on the upswing. Time to call it a night.

  68. 68.

    Mike J

    @efgoldman:

    He needs a poultice made with the lost mustard.

    Oh! While we’re burning money, why don’t we give him a Curative Galvanic Belt too.

  69. 69.

    Steeplejack

    @efgoldman:

    [. . .] the TAB key doing what the BACKSPACE key used to do.

    Except that it doesn’t, exactly. The tab key will take you back to the vicinity of where you were, one time. The “back” function would take you back precisely to your last anchored position.

    Further, it worked in a chain, so you could click on
       Person D’s reply link to person C
       C’s reply link to B
       B’s reply link to comment by A
    and then, at the top of that chain, use the back function to retrace downward from A to B to C to D. It was a very useful way to review subconversations in an almost “threaded” way.

  70. 70.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Gin & Tonic: Dude, we’re wrong. We don’t understand how wonderful WP is or all that it can do. The users here are irrelevant to how the redesign affects our use. Because we don’t understand how we’re supposed to use the redesign. We’re wrong.

    It isn’t even up for discussion. Do try to keep up.

  75. 75.

    Germy Shoemangler

    Question:

    I often see Nancy Pelosi referred to as Nancy Smash. Can someone please explain the nickname to me?

  76. 76.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @Omnes Omnibus: Carson thinks the pyramids are hollow:

    It’s odd that Carson, a critic of big government, would assume that the only way to manage the storage job was with a giant four-faced bubble—but since the pyramids are not actually hollow, and don’t have all that much storage space relative to their size, perhaps they would be an example of statist inefficiency. (Putting aside the question of whether those chambers were ever “hermetically” sealed, the dry climate of Egypt did mean that such sealing would not have been necessary.) A pyramid also takes longer than seven years to build. Also, the pyramid-building dynasties—the Third Dynasty (c. 2700–2600 B.C.), with its step-pyramids, and the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2600–2500 B.C.), with the great pyramids at Giza—do not match many of the guesses for when a historical Joseph might have lived, which range to the Eighteenth Dynasty.
    http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/ben-carson-among-the-pyramids

  79. 79.

    seaboogie

    @Steeplejack: I see a real future in late night tutorials for commenters in your future. You’ve been so helpful to me. Maybe we could get a Steeplejack Tutorials button, or…nevermind. You are doing just fine.

  81. 81.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    It has an amazing cast, including two of my all-time favorites, Oliver Reed and Christopher Lee. Greg Proops (tonight’s guest programmer) said that the stuntmen hated fighting Reed because he was a brawler who wouldn’t pull his punches or stick to the choreography.

  87. 87.

    Germy Shoemangler

    If I go back to edit a comment, I can make something bold (manually) but I can’t make it italic.

    I also can’t make it drink.

  89. 89.

    Germy Shoemangler

    @dmsilev: Oh yes! I remember the big gavel now.

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Have you seen any clips of Oliver Reed on talk shows, drunk? He loved provoking people. You don’t see that sort of stuff nowadays on talk shows.

  91. 91.

    RSA

    @Just One More Canuck:

    John, after reading some of the comments in this thread and others about the changes, all I can say is that when you call us all assholes, it’s the most truthful thing you’ll ever say

    This isn’t wrong, but…

    The relationship between people who write software and people who use that software has been dysfunctional for a few decades now. On one side you have the almost incredible arrogance of software developers/programmers, a group of people who just happen to have useful specialized knowledge. Consider the prevalence of “stupid user” stories–you won’t find a fraction of the contempt in stories told by doctors or lawyers or other professionals about the people who pay their salaries. Or consider that only two categories of people, roughly speaking, are described as “users”… (That’s an observation due to Don Norman, I think in his book The Psychology of Everyday Things.) Lots of programmers, software developers, and software engineers are great people, but in large numbers they can be problematic.

    On the other side you have users who expect that software should be of high quality, delivered very quickly, and free. (As a business owner once told me, “Pick any two.”) Building good software is very, very hard: expensive in human expertise and time. A friend of mine who worked at the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University once told me, if I remember correctly, that writing software for the space shuttle (this was some years ago) cost about ten times as much as commercial software, because of the procedures they followed. And of course they took that care because lives were at stake. I think a lot of us have become spoiled by good software that we don’t have to pay for, but there are often huge hidden costs.

    Any incremental roll-out of a new version of software is going to see (a) resistance to change, (b) identification of errors in the redesign, and (c) suggestions for new improvements. Most of what I see is in the middle category, which is actually pretty good. Of course, the phrasing is sometimes snarky, but consider the audience…

    (In case anyone cares, I worked in industry for six years as a software engineer, then made a transition into academia, where I work in the area of human-computer interaction. So I tend to see both sides. And yeah, I’m arrogant as a software person and I expect too much as a user.)

  92. 92.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    And there are entire sites devoted to showing how you can radically alter the appearance of a single page/site with cascading style sheets (CSS). It shouldn’t be hard to have a handful of “themes” from which readers could choose, each with its own color scheme, font, font size, etc.

    I wonder to what extent the site’s problems relate to (a) how straitjacket-y WordPress is in what it allows and (b) how well (or badly) the site was set up originally—and ossified over time—so that Tommy and the other developer(s) are constrained in what they can do.

    My Web experience is almost all on the database side, but I worked on a couple of projects where we were basically trying to throw up a skyscraper around a log cabin with a dirt floor (the original site/app). Sometimes all you can do is blend it into the landscaping of the lobby atrium and try to make it look like it’s supposed to be there. Good times.

  93. 93.

    MattF

    @Germy Shoemangler: You might think Carson is just pulling our collective leg, but the evidence is that he means what he says. in this article, Glenn Kessler faces the unenviable task of trying to figure out what an entirely wrong Carson Facebook post (where, hilariously, Carson asserts he’s just like the signers of the Declaration of Indepencec) might actually mean. And decides, WTF?

  95. 95.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @NotMax: Meh.

    I personally don’t think the placement of the Tags / Categories line (is there a difference between those terms in the context here?) is that big a deal. Compare a April 13, 2015 version of B-J with the current one.

    1) I like the number of replies being shown early (rather than after a couple of screens of text).
    2) The Tags / Categories in the previous version were in a light-gray text that was almost invisble. Did anyone really pay any attention to them?
    3) I like that the FB / Twitter / G+ / etc. buttons are moved out of the way (so that we don’t have to wait for them to be put in the page as we sometimes did in the past (and as BooMan’s place still does)).

    Hey, Tommy got the copyright notice right – unlike the previous iteration. Isn’t that worth something? ;-)

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  98. 98.

    Steeplejack

    @Sibelius:

    I’m late reading the thread, and someone may have already answered this, but the tab key will sort of do it. It doesn’t take you exactly back, like the back function did, but it gets you in the vicinity. It’s supposed to be high on the list of things the developers are working on fixing.

  99. 99.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    Pho, Thai chicken coconut soup, or miso always work for me.

    Increase spiciness at your own risk, I find that capsaicin is more a nasal helper than a throat aid.

  100. 100.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thank you. I was hoping that might be the case.

    I wonder if the elevator key is mixed in with others in that bowl by the door that SP&T mentioned.

  101. 101.

    seaboogie

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    I often see Nancy Pelosi referred to as Nancy Smash. Can someone please explain the nickname to me?

    I love the nickname and suspect the origins might harken back to Tom “The Hammer” Delay. She is incredibly competent at counting votes and letting her members vote against if she has the necessary votes and they need to play politics in their district. Plus she’s kind of manically focused, intense, and a little scary in her effectiveness. I am sure that Obama was deeply grateful to her and for her efforts when the ACA was getting passed.

    Also – and this came after she was given that sobriquet – she gave Orange Julius that GIANT gavel when she transferred the power of Speaker of the House, which was an awesomely funny gesture. She is likely as aware of “Nancy Smash” as Ruth Bader Ginsberg is of her “Notorious RBG” handle.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    For no reason, a nice musical video.

    Of course it was rehearsed (duh!) yet has enough spontaneity in parts (including things that would probably be reason for a second take on today’s TV) to make it extra enjoyable.

    Lurves me some Pearlie Mae.

  103. 103.

    gwangung

    @MattF: Carson’s definitely not pulling our legs. He’s a true believer. AND he’s a white conservative’s idea of what a black man should be (at least, he is before all his craziness gets around). That’s why he polls so well.

  104. 104.

    M. Bouffant

    Hope you get better soon.

    I feel like sitting in front of the tv when not sleeping and guzzling fluids is the best option.

    That’s the best option at all times under any conditions. Well, after sleeping.

  105. 105.

    Steeplejack

    @John Cole:

    Saw your tweet over on the side about Bluetooth gizmos. I got this Kinivo dongle back in April and find that it works well. I use it just for a Bluetooth speaker (the awesome Oontz Angle Plus).

  106. 106.

    NotMax

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    Happen to notice that Tom L. had to go back and edit his tags (as in remove some) in order to make his post legible earlier today?

    Did anyone really pay any attention to them?

    Anecdotal evidence says very, very few. They served the purpose of being snarky in-joke footnotes, mostly.

  107. 107.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q): I am going nowhere near that bowl.

    @Steeplejack: Whatever complaints people have about functionality in the comments really should be stowed until the new system is introduced. Issues that people have with where the categories are, with the concept of Recent Posts (I though want people were asking for was a revival of the recent comments feature so that one could tell which threads had an active discussion), and with redundant and/or unnecessary labeling are, I think, worth bringing up. My thinking is that raising any issues or concerns now while the upgrade is in process so that they may possibly be addressed makes more sense than bitching about features after the project has been finalized.

    I will also not that the blog seems to be performing better and the arrows that move from post to post are quite nice.

  109. 109.

    Steeplejack

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    I believe it arose at a time when she was really rolling, kicking ass and taking (Repub) names, and someone likened her to the Hulk, as in his cry “Hulk smash!”

  111. 111.

    Steeplejack

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Shorter: If you’re an engineer smart enough to build a pyramid, chances are you’re smart enough to realize that a pyramid is not an optimal shape for storing anything.

    ETA: I read somewhere in the last day or two that the empty volume in the Egyptian pyramids is an incredibly small percentage of the whole, but I can’t find a link now.

  112. 112.

    PJ

    @seaboogie: So things which work poorly should remain in that condition, when they can be readily fixed? The notion that because we live in a “first world”, we should be content with poorly designed or implemented tools is one of the more obnoxious attitudes of this decade. That kind of thinking quickly leads to the erosion of whatever “first” there may be in our world.

  115. 115.

    FlyingToaster

    @efgoldman: Unfortunately, the tab just sends me to the Reply fields. Sigh.

    [Mac 10.9, Firefox 42, don’t have any idea which thing — setting or extension — is probably interfering with it. Bleah.]

  120. 120.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    @Omnes Omnibus: You thought people were asking for

    a revival of the recent comments feature so that one could tell which threads had an active discussion

    because they were.

    @Omnes Omnibus: The new F-Type is fucking gorgeous.

  122. 122.

    seaboogie

    @Germy Shoemangler: I’ll also add, WRT Nancy Smash, that she has a way of cutting idiots off at the knees verbally, with just a few words; she sticks the shiv in quickly and then whistles on by…

  123. 123.

    delk

    @RSA: Are you familiar with any of Colin Ware’s books?

    I learned a lot from “Information Visualization Perception for Design”

  124. 124.

    FlyingToaster

    @Steeplejack: Actually, the W3C deprecated i and b and several other old standards (super and subscript, for instance) a while back. So FYWP just caught up.

  130. 130.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Steeplejack:

    Not Reed — he would have clocked them back, and harder. According to IMDb, they did manage to almost kill him during this film during the fight at the waterwheel. He gets stabbed in the throat and he actually got cut badly.

  136. 136.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: The ones where reiteration seem necessary if one cares about the particular thing are the ones that Tommy seems to have dismissed out of hand – for technical reasons or because that don’t fit his vision a proper website.

    Weirdly, I seem to be more focused on the process here than what actually comes out at the end – to which I will happily or unhappily adapt.*

    *Except for threaded comments.

  137. 137.

    Steeplejack

    @FlyingToaster:

    For the tab thing to (sort of) work, you first have to “anchor” your position in the page by, say, clicking on the time stamp under a commenter’s name. That will move that comment to the top of your screen. Then, after you click the link to go up to the comment being replied to, pressing the tab key will bring you back down to (sort of) where you were.

  140. 140.

    seaboogie

    @PJ:

    So things which work poorly should remain in that condition, when they can be readily fixed? The notion that because we live in a “first world”, we should be content with poorly designed or implemented tools is one of the more obnoxious attitudes of this decade. That kind of thinking quickly leads to the erosion of whatever “first” there may be in our world.

    So I read Major Major Major Major’s comment, checked it on my iphone, and he is indeed correct. And then I thought “how big of a problem is this for me?”. Really not much of one at all, as it turns out.

    I could sit and whine about my how HARD it is to tap twice on my amazing little device, and whine to the powers that be to make my experience perfect in every way so that I don’t have to burn a quarter of a calorie in further effort to participate in this wonderful free forum.

    Or, perhaps, I could think about the things that are more important that really don’t work, like our crumbling infrastructure, climate change, the creeping oligarchy and attendant mass dumbing down of our populace, and maybe think that that is a greater issue, and turn my efforts to that – or at least (if I’m feeling lazy) – whine about that. I think that there are bigger fish to fry in addressing our supposed “first world” issues. I have enough energy to tap twice. When black students – hell, all black folk in this country – and Syrian refugees are bitching about scrolling and tapping, I will be a very happy camper.

  142. 142.

    seaboogie

    @Mike J:

    Well, the Jag works and looks like sex on wheels.
    You’ve never tried changing the oil on one.

    So…lube is the theme here?

  143. 143.

    RSA

    @delk:

    Are you familiar with any of Colin Ware’s books?

    Yes, I like his work. In fact, in a class I teach I use one of his articles as assigned reading, a partial summary of his infovis book.

  146. 146.

    Anne Laurie

    @seaboogie:

    Also – and this came after she was given that sobriquet – she gave Orange Julius that GIANT gavel when she transferred the power of Speaker of the House, which was an awesomely funny gesture.

    Yeah, it was clear at the time that she was in on the joke — Speaker Pelosi didn’t need a YUUUUGE hammer, because she knew how to get results without a big public display, and also she didn’t have inadequacy issues. Sad thing was, I think Boehner was also in on the joke; he knew that the recognition he’d always craved was going to be poisoned by the influx of screaming Teahadis that had just put him into the Speakership.

  151. 151.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Whatever complaints people have about functionality in the comments really should be stowed until the new system is introduced. [. . .] My thinking is that raising any issues or concerns now while the upgrade is in process so that they may possibly be addressed makes more sense than bitching about features after the project has been finalized.

    Maybe I’m misunderstanding, but these two sentences seem to be at odds.

    My intent is not just to vent or complain about the “back” function. I am raising the issue so that it can be addressed while the upgrade—and the search for a new commenting system—is in progress. The back function is, IMHO, a very useful navigation tool, and I fear that it’s in danger of being lost because (a) Tommy is oblivious to it (sorry to go “personal” there) and (b) even now a lot of commenters don’t seem to understand it except in a vague way. And, because we’re now using an interim version of the commenting system, there’s no way for someone to go back and check out how useful it was.

    If the back function goes away, I see two possibilities going forward: (a) people blockquoting entire comments that they want to reply to, so others can see the context (which has been pissing me off on websites for at least 10 years), and/or (b) threaded conversations, which no right-thinking reader wants and which Cole himself has said is of the Devil.

    ETA: The next/last post arrows are very useful and cool.

  152. 152.

    Original Lee

    @NotMax: Just my opinion, of course, but I like the categories at the top. Also because I’m kind of sneaking reading this site at work, I click on the post title if I think I want to read the whole thing after reading the first few sentences, and then the comments are all right there. That’s just how I roll, though. I agree that adding the comment button at the bottom of the post would help a lot if I were reading the blog on my phone.

  157. 157.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: I see what you are saying. Mentioning that the new comment system would benefit from a back function is one thing. Worrying about not having it now is something else.

  161. 161.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @BillinGlendaleCA: Sure, Cole is the client, but last night I asked Tommy what his mandate from Cole was: keeping current commenters or seeking new readers. Tommy said that Cole emphatically stated that keeping people was the goal. Given that, the opinions of commenters may have some value. OTOH, as commenters, we should phrase our views as requests or opinions, not demands.

    ETA: I think that there have been communication failures on the management/development side. I aired them before in detail and am not going to bore everyone by doing it again here.

  165. 165.

    agorabum

    Site looks the same on mobile.
    But did @johncole consider that this change is the cause of your illness?

  166. 166.

    seaboogie

    @Anne Laurie: I agree with your assessment of Boehner being in on the joke – and I’m also sure he had NO idea of how cray and unmanageable they would be – made the Blue Dogs seem semi-sane in comparison. And also, he never had her mettle. <a href="”>Witness her recent response to a question from a reported about the Planned Parenthood edited and false vid.

    (Hope this works – I am still figuring out all the buttons, bells and whistles)

  170. 170.

    Anne Laurie

    @PJ:

    Did anyone ever use or care about the tags/categories?

    Some of us (and not just the front-pagers) really enjoyed the in-jokes. Which are completely spoiled when the t/categories are at the top of the post.

    If this blog were intended to sell us services or goods, the new design would be very much an improvement. For a personal/political diary about many things, written by several different people, it’s… not optimal, IMO.

    People come here to read a “magazine”, not to find a solution to their one immediate need. There’s a reason Gawker doesn’t look like Amazon, or vice versa.

  171. 171.

    Brachiator

    Holey Moley. GOP Debate shakeup (various news sites):

    Chris Christie and Mike Huckabee have been bumped from the main stage at next week’s GOP presidential debate, while George Pataki and Lindsey Graham have been cut from the lineup altogether.

    Debate sponsor Fox Business Network announced the moves Thursday evening, dealing a major blow to all four candidates, particularly Christie, the New Jersey governor, and Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, as they struggled to stand out in the crowded Republican field amid signs of momentum in states where the first primary contests will be held.

    Jeb!? must be getting a little nervous. He could easily have been bumped to the kiddie debate table.

  172. 172.

    FlyingToaster

    @Steeplejack: Nope, still sends me right to the box holding my handle.

    I’m sure this is something I set in Firefox back around version 3.

    Tab works fine in Chrome, so I’ll add this to my “Wow is Firefox borked or what?” file.

  174. 174.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie: Well stated. Can you take that to Tommy? Very reasonable people like Bella Q have tried. If you scroll up, you’ll see her comments about the response she received.

  175. 175.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Two things:

    1. I think that, after my initial statement of the problem, I have discussed the back function pretty much only in the context of answering people’s questions about why they can’t get back to where they were before and making the point that the tab key is not a one-for-one substitute for the back function.

    2. I haven’t seen anything from the redesign overlords mentioning the back function. “We’re looking for a new commenting system” is doing a lot of work lately.

  177. 177.

    sharl

    With all the talk about the “Nancy SMASH!” meme, I figured I might quickly find a direct discussion of its origin. My cursory/quick-&-dirty search didn’t turn that up, but for the first time I actually looked into B-J Categories, and there’s a category for this meme! If you go back to the earliest post in the category, this December 2010 post has a narrative and accompanying photo that certainly demonstrate how she deserved the nickname, even though it may not be the “origin story”.

    And I’d forgotten all about this thing from April 2011; awesome and hilarious. Nancy SMASH!

  179. 179.

    amk

    @Steeplejack:

    I haven’t seen anything from the redesign overlords mentioning the back function.

    yup. with a non-nested comments system, the back button is prolly the most used cursor button. but *crickets*.

  180. 180.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: That’s fair. Also, after reading your comment, I clicked back to mine to read it and make sure my response to you was on point. I then habitually hit the back button to go back to your comment.

  182. 182.

    NotMax

    Haven’t mentioned it, but clicking the forward button takes me … back. At least the first time.

  183. 183.

    Petorado

    Please ask the folks working on the site rebuild to fix the anchor links in the site lexicon, one of this site’s true treasures. When clicking on any of the alphabetical links, the browser defaults to the top of the list.

    This is low on the priority chain, but its also one of the web’s best repositories of political memes past and present. Thanks!

  184. 184.

    amk

    @Anne Laurie:

    yup, clutter is non-attractive both in real life and in blogosphere. the only issue I had with bj 2.0 (?) was the comment box would vanish for a few seconds when I type a long comment that exceeded the box size and then would reappear magically. not.fun.at.all

  187. 187.

    srv

    Only Trump can bring this country together:

    Rutledge, Ga. — There is a question that has puzzled some sociologists for years: If America’s poverty is concentrated in the South, as data clearly show, why is it that those states are the most reliably Republican voters – essentially voting against the government assistance they would seem to need?

    This week, there emerged a new and seemingly unrelated question, though similarly perplexing: Why has the mortality rate for middle age white Americans gone up dramatically since 1999 – even as it has gone down for other groups of Americans and whites in other countries?

    On some level, it would seem that the answer to both of these questions might be Donald Trump.

    Unless you give up this partisanship, you abet the division of America.

  189. 189.

    Steeplejack

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    Cool. This is probably out there, but I fantasize about having a water-cooled box where you can see the water—preferably bubbling like in a fish tank—through some sort of bong-like window. Please tell me this machine has that.

  192. 192.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @NotMax: My current machine is also a water cooled HP, they’re very quiet.

    @Steeplejack: My current machine doesn’t do that, the radiator is in the back. This does have lights that can change color, I think based on load.

  193. 193.

    redshirt

    Can someone explain to me the value of the META categories? Other than subtle joke?

    Tommy? You’re a big fan. What is it about them that makes a new post interesting?

    I suppose I could see clicking one and then going back in to the archives and reading similar posts on a subject. But that’s a time intensive effort and not one I’d do very often.

  195. 195.

    Steeplejack

    @srv:

    On some level, it would seem that the answer to both of these questions might be Donald Trump.

    So Donald Trump is killing middle-aged white people? I get that.

  201. 201.

    redshirt

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    We are being assholes though.

    Yes and no. This was all managed so poorly that they deserve grief; that said, it’s a free blog that we all clearly enjoy, so…. go team!

    But I’m not upset or outraged or anything even remotely approaching such levels of emotion. Cole doing something half-assed is par for the course and no one should be surprised. I just hope he’s not getting ripped off, as he’s a nice guy. Denser than a neutron star, but nice.

  206. 206.

    PJ

    @seaboogie: Well, I’m sure you are very busy repairing our infrastructure and stopping climate change and ending racism, so of course these kinds of suggestions for making a website usable are far beneath your consideration, but for those of us for whom the life and death problems might require magnitudes more time and thought and effort, suggestions as to how to fix or improve small things in one’s life might actually make a smidgen of difference. Please accept my apologies for distracting you from your important work.

  211. 211.

    Steeplejack

    @efgoldman:

    I remember overclocking. Never did it myself, but I had a few friends/colleagues who went down that rabbit hole. The current water-cooled machines are sort of the “legitimized” descendants of that.

    ETA: If you’re doing it in your basement, you’re a nut. If Alienware is doing it wholesale and advertising it in magazines, it’s cutting-edge technology.

  212. 212.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @efgoldman:

    I suddenly started getting the “there was a problem with this page so it was reloaded” message in Safari for iPad again, so I too suspect that they’re doing some fiddling under the hood in the late night hours. It may be a hint from the universe that I should head off to bed.

  213. 213.

    redshirt

    FYI, I’m sincerely asking about the META categories/tags.

    I can also see how a web developer would be interested in them in order to quantify content and responses to that content – it’s a nifty database variable that seems to reveal a lot when used for searches.

    But does a search of “C.R.E.A.M.” actually do anything for the “user”?

  214. 214.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: I have two. A nearly 100 y/o 12 ga side by side I inherited from my grandfather which damn near a work of art and a single barrel 20 ga I got for my 12th birthday from an uncle. I haven’t fired either in over 15 years.

  216. 216.

    Ajabu

    Just because I started this shit I feel compelled to finish but it went so off the rails that I haven’t been able to give updates (no internet access either.) So here’s the rest of it in one overlong blast. I MADE IT! Enjoy.
    Update: Wednesday —
    I should have known that the trip couldn’t be completely uneventful.
    When I went to bed last night (Tuesday) there was a cold rain outside.
    Evidently it got colder.
    When I got up today there was 8” of snow on the ground and it was still snowing.
    I wiped the truck with motel towels and got on the road. I rode through a snowstorm for about an hour, then it turned to rain for another hour and eventually cleared. (Incidentally, I don’t do snow. I’m from the Caribbean. Hell, I don’t do under 70º!)
    Once it cleared I figured it was smooth sailing. Nope. In Needles, CA (still in the Mojave Desert) a trucker blew frantically at me and I pulled over. One of the tires on the car carrier had blown up. So I pissed away two hours of travel time waiting for a truck to change it out. Finally back on the road. I’ve gone 2000 miles since Saturday and the last 500 is determined to fuck me up. Ain’t gonna happpen. My wife awaits.
    More later…
    ETA: It’s later. This has just about been the worst day ever. I was on the road for nearly 13 hours and the last two were night driving – through winding mountain roads – in a big-ass truck. I don’t drive at night in my own car if I can avoid it.
    I’m done for today. Tomorrow we finish this trip from hell.
    And finally: Thursday — Got up at 5am, on the road at 6am and arrived at 10am with nothing else fucked up other than my physical being and state of mind. I’m zombified and will need a couple of days rest to approach my personal impression of human again. But I did what I set out to do in spite of myself!
    Thanks for listening to my rant, BJers…

  218. 218.

    redshirt

    @Steeplejack:

    I remember overclocking. Never did it myself, but I had a few friends/colleagues who went down that rabbit hole. The current water-cooled machines are sort of the “legitimized” descendants of that.

    I never have and never will do anything of the sort, but I still love it. It’s hot-rodding computers, the exact same impulse dudes used to super-charge their cars.

    Like if someone made a Mad Max Fury Road movie, except all about overclocked and supercooled computers.

  219. 219.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @redshirt: Ask Tommy. I thought I was interneting correctly for what I wanted from it. I was surprised to find out that I was doing it incorrectly today.

  222. 222.

    Anne Laurie

    @Omnes Omnibus: I have, and was given the Standard Response.

    If you read the comment thread to Sarah P&T’s post last night, I have a long statement of why I think this place works and why the redesign is going as it is. I’d post it on the front page, but it would offend a great many commentors — some of whom I quite like! — without having any impact on the process. Be interested in your opinion, though.

  224. 224.

    seaboogie

    @Steeplejack: I think I remember Tommy mentioning earlier today that there was going to be a download/update – some sort of prepositional refreshing to plug in some new stuff and make some fixes – during the wee hours of the late night/early am.

  226. 226.

    Steeplejack

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I admit I occasionally get shotgun lust, but unfortunately it’s always for an action-movie sawed-off, so that’s right out.

    I was actually a card-carrying member of the NRA at about age 10. Went through their gun-safety course and did a lot of target shooting with a .22. Never got into hunting.

  227. 227.

    Amir Khalid

    @Ajabu:
    I read this with a great deal of relief, but nowhere near as much as you must feel. Rest up them old bones, friend. Celebrate that you’re in your new home and with your own again. Peace.

  228. 228.

    NotMax

    @Anne Laurie

    I have, and was given the Standard Response.

    Hm. Wondering now what the reviews and ratings might be for the company on whatever is the Angie’s List equivalent for design firms.

  230. 230.

    Steeplejack

    @Ajabu:

    Congratulations! My advice, play up your travails for all they’re worth and let your family and friends wait on you hand and foot for a while.

  234. 234.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    @Steeplejack:

    I also did an NRA hunter safety course, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned ad nauseum at this point. I bet my card from it is in a box somewhere.

    In Illinois, it was probably best described as a course in how not to die in the woods thanks to your own stupidity. Lots of information about hypothermia.

  235. 235.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    Tangentially, I must say that she was excellent in Law and Order: Criminal Intent as Detective Goren’s aging (and ailing) mother. I discovered that series in reruns this year and really like it.

  236. 236.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie: I must have gone to bed before I saw your long comment, unless it was the we’re all broken thing. With that I would disagree. Some of us just like weirdos better than we like conventional people. It doesn’t require abuse in our or an addiction. We might just be weird. My family is wonderfully supportive and all that. It’s also full of weirdos; although as WASPs, we use the phrase eccentric.

  239. 239.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Steeplejack: I think I may still be a member of the NRA, my dad’s best friend gave me a life membership when I was a teen. He thought it a better gift for a teen than a man in his mid-50’s after heart surgery so my dad could get their magazine.

  240. 240.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne (tablet):

    Useful knowledge to have in your quiver. I am regularly amazed to see guys on hunter/outdoorsy TV shows doing stupid, unsafe stuff with guns that should get them spanked, if they don’t succumb to Darwinian selection first. It’s almost like they have a “You’re not the boss of me!” attitude about everything.

  241. 241.

    Anne Laurie

    @redshirt:

    Can someone explain to me the value of the META categories?

    On this blog, they’re basically footnotes. Apart from the jokes, anyone curious about a topic can read to see all the other things by all the other front-pagers.

    It’s an artifact from when Balloon-Juice was the way John G. Cole, sole proprietor, stayed in touch with his family and a few close friends. As more readers found it, and more front-pagers were added (I was #5, IIRC, starting in early 2009), there probably should have been a re-design where most of the “categories” were shifted to “tabs” (or ‘footnotes’, if you can do that in WordPress) but it’s always been such a high-cost low-reward issue that it’s turned into the current richness (bloat) of choices.

    And, of course, every single one of us front-pagers will ardently defend our particular favorite in-joke categories. DougJ’s never completely forgiven me for suggesting, during the last redesign, that “TWOC” was both impenetrable and underused. (It stands for The War on Christmas, but I didn’t know that when I made the suggestion, either.)

  243. 243.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Steeplejack: “All guns are loaded. Point the muzzle down range. The fucker is loaded. I know you checked several times but be paranoid as fuck. Someone might have sneaked a shell in there. Just in case, let’s check.”

    A decent thought process.

  245. 245.

    seaboogie

    @Anne Laurie: I appreciate your insight into FPers in-jokes, and also understanding the in-jokes of the commentariat, per you post late last night.

  248. 248.

    redshirt

    @Anne Laurie:

    And, of course, every single one of us front-pagers will ardently defend our particular favorite in-joke categories. DougJ’s never completely forgiven me for suggesting, during the last redesign, that “TWOC” was both impenetrable and underused. (It stands for The War on Christmas, but I didn’t know that when I made the suggestion, either.)

    I LOL’d.

    META categories at the end of the post, I get. You’ve read the entire post, and here’s some themes that link to similar posts.

    But at the beginning? Literally in bold on the first line with author name and date – it’s that freaking important!

    I really don’t get it and would love for someone to explain it to me.

  249. 249.

    Anne Laurie

    @Ajabu: I, for one, am glad to know you made it to your destination, however tattered & roadworn.

    Hope things continue to improve from here on in!

  252. 252.

    Anne Laurie

    @seaboogie: Thank you! I did actually think hard before hitting the ‘post’ button.

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Some of us just like weirdos better than we like conventional people.

    Well, yes, but some of us actually are weirdos. It’s not required, but being comfortable around those of us politely labelled “non-neurotypical” will certainly make it easier for a new commentor to adjust.

    Tommy Young and John Cole have a lot in common. They sympathize with each other when people just don’t understand.

    I grew up with a high-functioning alcoholic father and a bipolar mother, so I’m extremely experienced at coping. It hasn’t always served me well as a life strategy, but it’s one reason I’m still front-paging here when so many others have come and gone…

  254. 254.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie:

    being comfortable around those of us politely labelled “non-neurotypical” will certainly make it easier for a new commentor to adjust.

    I am perfectly okay with that. I have trouble with people who don’t communicate. Cole, because not doing so is a trolling exercise, and Tommy, because he communicates, or tries to, differently. The dude thinks he said things that he didn’t.

  255. 255.

    Anne Laurie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Did Tommy ask about any of those blog history things?

    Without going into granular detail, he thought I should be the leader at introducing a bunch of IMPROVEMENTS to this crappy site. ( I suspect he wrote the same letter, with names swapped out, to several of the other regular front-pagers.) I wrote back that there were some things I wouldn’t even do if I were paid for this gig — which I’m not — and have yet to hear back on those issues.

    I don’t want to dump on Mr. Young, he’s taken on a huge job for what I suspect is well under his professional rate, but… there is a difference between a “magazine” blog and a “sales” blog. It’s the sales blogs that pay for professional web designers, though, so that’s where a professional designer’s expertise is liable to have been honed.

  257. 257.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Anne Laurie: I think Tommy is doing his very best, and I think that he has a lot of technical expertise. I also think that he is not flexible and that he has probably not done a lot of non-commercial websites before. Insulting commenters like Bella Q is not a good way to make his vision be accepted. People are people.

  258. 258.

    Steeplejack

    @Anne Laurie:

    I grew up with a high-functioning alcoholic father and a bipolar mother, so I’m extremely experienced at coping.

    Holy shit, that’s exactly my background. I became almost telepathic in my ability to read people and adjust to the unseen dynamics of a situation, and—still an issue for me—my primary coping skill became: “Don’t act until you absolutely have to, because you’re likely to be doing it wrong.” I became an expert (in many areas) at handling deadlines and being the go-to fixer guy. But, “Hey, Steep, what do you want to do? Take your time”? Oof, not so much.

    ETA: Extremely reactive vs. proactive. (Hate that lingo, but whatever.)

  260. 260.

    Anne Laurie

    @redshirt:

    Literally in bold on the first line with author name and date – it’s that freaking important!

    I really don’t get it and would love for someone to explain it to me.

    If you were a new customer looking to buy / looking for reviews on “Cat Blogging” or “TWOC” or “OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS”, having the categories right at the top of the post would be very useful.

    That’s not how we use the “categories” here, but that’s because we’re non-standard. Advertisers want new customers to have immediate access to exactly what they’re looking for, and since advertisers are where 90+ percent of a professional web designer’s fees come from, arranging things to the greatest satisfaction of advertisers will be where said designers are in their comfort zone.

    We want Tommy to lower the river; he thinks we should stop being WATBs and get used to the bridge he’s trying to raise. It’s a fine bridge, historical, we’re comfortable with it… but Tommy believes, quite possibly correctly, that the river could carry a lot more water if we’d all stop being obstructive.

  261. 261.

    seaboogie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I have trouble with people who don’t communicate. Cole, because not doing so is a trolling exercise, and Tommy, because he communicates, or tries to, differently. The dude thinks he said things that he didn’t.

    First sentence is a factual statement. Second sentence might be projecting. Cole communicates plenty, also via fb and twitter. I think that he dials in when he is of a mind to, and also probably avoids the monster that he created, because there is a lot of noise here that is best avoided when you are really trying to manage your own shit – and Cole – like many of us, has some shit to manage. Not gonna go down the Tommy rabbit hole, because no matter what, the dude is likely beyond exhausted and has been a punching bag for too many days while working on our behalf.

  263. 263.

    Anne Laurie

    @Steeplejack: Yeah, I soldier through stuff — sometimes long after I should’ve quit.

    My last job for money, I lasted fifteen years and six months, during which I had thirteen different “direct reports”. I might very well still be at that job, except the company was sold to another company, and they shut down our entire division.

    In retrospect, our little appendix of a division was started specifically because TPTB needed to hive off a brilliant SVP who happened to be… extremely difficult to deal with, or if you weren’t in HR, borderline certifiable. When the company was sold, he was close enough to retirement age that they gave him a golden parachute and the rest of us a week’s extra severance compensation for every six months we’d served.

  264. 264.

    seaboogie

    @BillinGlendaleCA: It’s so hard to tell, with those curmudgeons – they often communicate best through their affection for the silent four-leggers who don’t trouble them so hard.

  265. 265.

    seaboogie

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I have trouble with people who don’t communicate. Cole, because not doing so is a trolling exercise, and Tommy, because he communicates, or tries to, differently. The dude thinks he said things that he didn’t.

    First sentence is a factual statement. Second sentence might be projecting. Cole communicates plenty, also via fb and twitter. I think that he dials in when he is of a mind to, and also probably avoids the monster that he created, because there is a lot of noise here that is best avoided when you are really trying to manage your own shit – and Cole – like many of us, has some shit to manage. Not gonna go down the Tommy rabbit hole, because no matter what, the dude is likely beyond exhausted and has been a punching bag for too many days while working on our behalf.

    ETA: “Projecting” was the wrong word – that’s more of a Repub thing. I meant “infering”. Different meaning altogether.

  266. 266.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    @Anne Laurie:

    If you were a new customer looking to buy / looking for reviews on “Cat Blogging” or “TWOC” or “OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS”, having the categories right at the top of the post would be very useful.

    Dead thread but…

    Looking at the top of the Front Page, I see there’s a drop-down for “Categories”. The spacing is such that the grid more than fills the visible screen on this laptop, so it’s kinda broken, but I think (and IIRC Tommy has said as much) he wants to find a way to sort old and new posts into those few-dozen areas.

    The “Tags” the FPers have used don’t fit in those boxes easily, and if all of them are used, then the “Categories” grid is going to be 20 screens long. So some mapping is going to be required, or the design here is going to have to change to fit the existing “Tags”.

    If the Search function works well enough, then “Tags” and “Categories” wouldn’t be needed for the occasional read of the history. If, though, a reader is only coming here to read about Pets or Gardening or see JeffryW’s photos (which seems to be what Tommy is hoping to facilitate), then Categories would in principle be a boon for him/her. (But given the way the Replies quickly move off-topic, no matter what the topic is, that seems to be a very tiny subset of B-J readers/posters. I dunno.)

    It seems to me that if Tommy and Alain simply change the “Categories” box from a grid to a more suitable widget, map the existing Tags there, and tweak the presentation a bit, then everyone who matters (like smart readers who want to see threads displayed as threads /snark), will be happy.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

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