Pipedot USB Drive

in pipedot on 2014-05-02 08:35 (#3JQ)

As a promotion and a small thank you to the contributers, I am pleased to announce... a free USB drive sporting the Pipedot logo! Although this site is still pretty small, a dedicated few of you have really stepped up and helped submit stories, post comments, and moderate. If you have received an email from me about a drive, simply respond with your shipping info and I'll send you one!

The drive is a modern all metal design with a convenient ring handle. The capacity is four gigabytes and comes preformatted as FAT32 - but otherwise blank. The drive is bootable; and I've used one this week to load Ubuntu 14.04 on a few computers. With a 14.3 MB/s average read and 2.6 MB/s average write speed, it's not going to win any speed competitions, but it sure looks sexy.

11 comments

Nice. (Score: 2, Insightful)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-02 12:18 (#1AN)

This is a very nice move on your part, Bryan. I have an account, but post (and even submitted a story that was accepted) as an AC because I'm at work. Absolutely no resentment that I'm not getting a USB drive, just wanted to let you know that you are a class act.

Keep up the great work. I'll keep contributing.

Re: Nice. (Score: 3, Interesting)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org on 2014-05-02 13:22 (#1AR)

Wow - even the ACs are cooler here than on Slashdot :) When is the last time you ever saw an anonymous cow-herd say thanks anywhere? Nice one, AC.

Proof, I suppose, of the other side of the argument about anonymity. There are so many different ways to run forums out there and there is a prevalent train of thought that anonymity leads to abuse and anti-social behavior. That may be true - hell, I've been on Usenet long enough to see it happen there - but some forums that allow anonymity also permit people to contribute who would otherwise be reluctant to do so. That's an interesting observation.

Likewise, forced use of real name (Facebook, G+) was supposed to make people more civil and stand behind their comments on the Internet. But in practice that hasn't happened either. Look at the comments on Youtube these days: even though accounts are tied to G+ accounts now there is still a surprisingly high number of asshat posts out there, despite usage of real name. I conclude that asshats will be asshats, and even anonymous cowards can be forthright and decent contributors.

Does this mean the debate on anonymity in forums has just been rendered null and void?

Re: Nice. (Score: 1, Insightful)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-02 14:05 (#1AS)

No, there are still plenty of points to be debated about anonymity. But it's existence in certain places is certainly important.

I think posting with a name actually opens up more opportunity for abuse. As an AC someone can attack your post, but as a user they can attack you. There's a lot less pressure to fit in to the popular opinions when you won't make any lasting enemies.

Re: Nice. (Score: 1, Insightful)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-02 15:34 (#1AW)

Parent AC here. I'm pretty sure that if this site had a much larger user base, you'd see a garbage posts a lot more, posted anonymously or signed-in. It's the signal to noise ratio, which is very high here because we have nothing but people who want this site to succeed. Give it time to grow and this will change.

Re: Nice. (Score: 1, Insightful)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-02 16:21 (#1B1)

Hmm, good point. Let's invite only people who want the site to succeed, or ???? Kidding. Nice posts on this site though - hope it lasts. To be fair though, Soylent is full of people that want that site to succeed too, and there is a lot of posting of little value. I'm a user there too, so this isn't 'ha ha, your site sucks.' Rather, just pointing out a high number of people in favor of a site doesn't necessarily translate into high quality conversation and a good crap-filter. Just sayin.'

Support (Score: 1)

by dotdotdot@pipedot.org on 2014-05-02 15:35 (#1AX)

I wish I could support the site more. I've submitted a couple of stories, but lately I've been too busy to even comment. Stupid job.

Re: Support (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-02 16:19 (#1B0)

Yeah, unfortunate when work gets in the way of life. Unfortunately, life isn't free, so work is a must. PS - I'm really liking this captcha service. Very user-friendly; a first!

Cool (Score: 1, Insightful)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-02 19:39 (#1BA)

Hey this is nice. Good work here, Bryan!

I think the work you're doing on the pipedot backend is great. I just wish I could contribute to it. I checked your git repository but it's basically empty.

I would really like to see the different groups formed out of Slashdot come together some day, however. I think each group would benefit from it.

Regardless, keep up the good work. Really attractive looking USB stick. Have you thought of making it available for purchase as a form of donation? Food for thought :P

Re: Cool (Score: 1)

by fatphil@pipedot.org on 2014-05-03 11:23 (#1BM)

Agree with all the above.

I've been offered one, but I certainly don't want pipedot to undergo any unnecessary expense in these early days, so shall gracefully decline. If Bryan sends me his postal address, I'll happily send him a postcard of where I live as a thank-you!

Re: Cool (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward on 2014-05-04 22:40 (#1C8)

I've been offered one but have instead decided to have it donated to an orphanage. Poor orphan kids with crappy bandwidth and not enough flash storage. It's a pity, really.

Hey, Dice/Slashdot never offered me anything except a kick in the head and a steadily declining interface. Actually, they didn't even offer - load the page and their craptastic GUI just boots you in the face.

Thanks for the thought (Score: 1)

by hyper@pipedot.org on 2014-05-03 02:10 (#1BJ)

I'm just happy to be here