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[QUOTE=&quot;catachresis, post: 64211, member: 20798&quot;]Okay, this might sound a little whacky, so let me preface it by saying that these forums have been the most fun I've had on the internet in over a year.&nbsp; People are informed, friendly, courteous and funny.&nbsp; There's a real sense of playful experimentation in discussion of programs.&nbsp; Even the mods are fine folks, every-one.What got me thinking about the virtues of CDRSOFT was my recent visits back to a few of the American forums I used to haunt.&nbsp; I spent a lot of time over the last two years at anandtech's forums, but I found that they've gotten increasingly unpleasant: people are often rude, posturing pr!cks who slag each other off with abandon.&nbsp;&nbsp; A quick review of the infamous &quot;general hardware&quot; forum quickly turns up scads of irritating, conformist braggarts.&nbsp; Another, even worse example would be to view the average comment thread at firingsquad.com and watch the vicious p!ssing match between anonymous posters.It might just be me, but I sense that things started getting bad in American-based forums around the time of the Lewinsky-impeachment fiasco, and then they got worse with the advent of the new Administration.&nbsp; There was a very brief period of solidarity and civility immediately after 9/11, but things have degenerated to a new naidir with the Market's collapse and the ongoing propaganda war against terrorism (which seems to be linked symbiotically with the economic decay).&nbsp; What I mean is that if you look at a lot of those posters, it's not uncommon to find somebody who'd walk over their mothers for a fifty dollar Amazon gift certificate as easily as they'd frag you in Counterstrike.So my new hypothesis is that it's the governing presence of educated Europeans that keep the discursive tone up so high in these forums.&nbsp; I'm not saying that all Americans are raging idiots (I'm 'merican and I'm not raging at least -- and, anyway, RastaBT is from Wisconsin, right?), but this board seems to attract a better, saner class of U.S.'ers.&nbsp; That's what I think.Then again, I haven't been keeping up with my medication.&nbsp; Lithium is a very fickle friend.<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick out tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p" data-shortname=":p" />[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE="catachresis, post: 64211, member: 20798"] Okay, this might sound a little whacky, so let me preface it by saying that these forums have been the most fun I've had on the internet in over a year. People are informed, friendly, courteous and funny. There's a real sense of playful experimentation in discussion of programs. Even the mods are fine folks, every-one. What got me thinking about the virtues of CDRSOFT was my recent visits back to a few of the American forums I used to haunt. I spent a lot of time over the last two years at anandtech's forums, but I found that they've gotten increasingly unpleasant: people are often rude, posturing pr!cks who slag each other off with abandon. A quick review of the infamous "general hardware" forum quickly turns up scads of irritating, conformist braggarts. Another, even worse example would be to view the average comment thread at firingsquad.com and watch the vicious p!ssing match between anonymous posters. It might just be me, but I sense that things started getting bad in American-based forums around the time of the Lewinsky-impeachment fiasco, and then they got worse with the advent of the new Administration. There was a very brief period of solidarity and civility immediately after 9/11, but things have degenerated to a new naidir with the Market's collapse and the ongoing propaganda war against terrorism (which seems to be linked symbiotically with the economic decay). What I mean is that if you look at a lot of those posters, it's not uncommon to find somebody who'd walk over their mothers for a fifty dollar Amazon gift certificate as easily as they'd frag you in Counterstrike. So my new hypothesis is that it's the governing presence of educated Europeans that keep the discursive tone up so high in these forums. I'm not saying that all Americans are raging idiots (I'm 'merican and I'm not raging at least -- and, anyway, RastaBT is from Wisconsin, right?), but this board seems to attract a better, saner class of U.S.'ers. That's what I think. Then again, I haven't been keeping up with my medication. Lithium is a very fickle friend.:p [/QUOTE]

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