Listen, folks, I do understand the proprietary urge. This is our place because we make it that way. But also, it's not. It's their place. Slate's. And they can do whatever they want with it. And getting mad about that is foolish. It's like telling your landlord how to run his business when he's letting you crash there for free.

Blaming the guy who comes in to clean up the mutual mess for free is foolish too. Do you treat all staff like that? It doesn't speak well of one's character. But worse, the ingratitude. You get away with murder here, on someone else's dime, and act like you're doing them a favor by showing up at all.

We're just not this special.

Do you always have to be the sensible voice of reason ?

says who?

You know me better!

You're special, alright.

:( <link>

c'mon. Act surprised that I went there.

that I scarcely know where to begin. We are Slate's dimes. And if we count for so little, and it's foolish to get upset about it, why did you bother posting that? Geoff cleaned something up, did he? How come I didn't see it? He did it for free? Why? Obviously wasn't out of concern, was it? That would be foolish, wouldn't it?

I am doing them a favor by being here. It's a symbiotic relationship. We're not that special? Gosh, what a lovely sentiment!

since that seems to be the only rational question: because I like coming here and posting and I'd like the place to stay here, rather than become too much trouble to maintain. And because it tires me to read so many people making themselves to be victims over something as simple as how they run the place. Especially people who spend a great deal of time posting about how terrible it is to make yourself out to be a victim, to whine about how businesses are run, and so on.

I used to love those!

because they do exactly that kind of whining and bitching constantly. Only the one rational Q, eh? I couldn't even call that a response. That was pure nonsense. If the Fray wasn't worth the bother to maintain it would have been gone long ago. And it surely isn't much bother--I didn't notice any great problems during the editor's "absence".

Of course we are not that special .......

The same way that Starbucks' customers are not that special.

Just like Starbucks can decide to change their product line however they want, eliminate WiFi, and start playing Paul Anka music in their stores, etc, Slate and/or WaPo can do whatever the fuck they want with this place. They just cannot expect that they won't lose many of their best customers by doing so.

This response may appear to be off-topic, but it's not.

It's a reprise of something I posted to Ryerson, which was roundly ignored although it shouldn't have been.

What folks are forgetting is that Cisco is partnering with Slate on the Fray.

The reason why is that they're using the venue to test out the efficiency (load-time) of new types of techniques for pop-up ads.

There are a lot of sites on the web that exist for this reason, not the reason they ostentatiously exist for.

So the reason WaPo doesn't care is precisely that - the reason it hosts the reader contribution portion of Slate has nothing to do with readers nor their contributions.

We're not really reading or responding to the articles -- that's been a major complaint of Slate toward this fray for years now. We're the people who sit at the chairs in Starbucks and use their WiFi and their john, and never buy anything.

when I waited tables in college, I didn't bother to dump the ashtrays on the campers' tables.

Not only are we 'not this special', we're just a bunch of lowly rats in their evil experiments. Oh well, pass the cheese.