Idols and Twisted Gnostic Secrets

[aggienaut]

   Most recent LJ Idol poll is up. With 28 people remaining, its easy to read them all. I encourage doing so. And voting! (=

[Poll #1348977]

   I stared deep into the dark coils of lj, to understand its arcane inner magic, and lo, I was rewarded with gnostic secrets. Anyone can post any poll. I'm not a hacker, there is no secret. I simply questioned what I couldn't do and was rewarded.
   And I found this pleasing -- that specifically the kind of behaviour I thought most commendable (questioning your surroundings) yielded a reward of some usefulness. Personally I think the advantage gained by being able to post the poll in your entry was more deserved to those who found it and more proportional to the merits of earning it than nearly all the random "rewards" and "Special powers" that have been purposefully bandied about in this competition. In short, it made me feel like at least something was right in the world.
   However, all good things must come to an end. All too often good technology is eventually twisted, and this has happened.
   Gary became concerned and asked how it is done, and the knowledge was passed on to him. I hoped he would have the good sense to keep it under wraps, or at least would tell everyone about it all at once. Unfortunately however, he simply told two idolists, spydielives and kittenboo.
   It is no longer a slight advantage to those who have thought to question and investigate their surroundings on their own, it is now an advantage to those who asked Gary how to get advantages. That literally makes me feel sick, and I'll feel filthy until I rectify it.
   From here I'm quite clear that it will continue to spread, and until someone posts about it publicly the people who have gained the knowledge by asking others will do it under the table. Already today I'm seeing strange vote spikes NOT accompanied by a visible entry, that ARE accompanied by "last post: four hours ago," a spot I can't see an entry anywhere near.

   And so, I am levelling the playing field. I am telling each and every one of you that yes, you can post the poll. The method is shockingly, mind-blowingly simple, all you have to do is try. That or ask Gary.


PS: I thought I'd brighten your days with a visual representation of the poll standings. Please stand by, hopefully I'll have some charts converted to a postable size and form within an hour or two.

Comments

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your careful consideration and understanding.

As to the edit remark, well you already saw what I said to spydie but I'll try to elaborate on that. My personal background is strongly influenced by that until recently I was the Chief Justice of the student government at my University. What this meant is when people had impassioned conflicts with one another, they came to me. I learned the hard way that ANY assumptions would tend to make things worse. So I don't make them. I state facts simply as I know them. What I knew in this situation was only this: that I'd been informed Gary had informed the two mentioned people. I state that. I do not agree that what I wrote was badly worded. It was worded exactly as I intended it and I wouldn't rewrite it. The problem, however, arose when Spydie felt sensitive to being mentioned. While it is true that she gained the information, and it is true that I stated alarm and concern over anyone being told the information, it is an unwarranted jump to say that I was concerned about her specifically; or to say I thought she specifically had done something with the information. That is not true and not stated. However, as mentioned, I don't know her motives either way, and I don't know that they were entirely good either, which is why I don't speculate on her motives. And despite her assurances and your assurances and she could bring me fifty signed affadavits I'm still not going to make a judgement on the goodness of her motives because that is simply unknowable to me (and I don't want to get involved in judging her).

And so, I think that addresses everything. In conclusion, I can understand her wish to be specifically cleared, but that would be an assumption for me and I simply am not in the habit and do not as a policy make assumptions.

[brightflashes.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Yes, it does make sense. I appreciate what you said. : )