Friday Q&A

Questionable Infraction

Greetings, crickets and trolls. Welcome to another edition of the Friday Q&A. I'm glad you chose to join me again. If this is your first visit to the Clinic, I like using this weekly soapbox to examine issues of interest to the Fark Photoshop community. Or just talk about some random weird bullshit. It's all in good fun.

Q: Does Fark need rules?

A: Rules seem to be all the rage on the Internet nowadays, but we at Fark have lived with them for many years. So much so that I think we sometimes forget to marvel at the absurdity of it all. A particular set of rules have been set up on Fark, mostly to protect the site's SFW status, so that people can continue to waste time while at work. And this is a wonderful, if not an antiquated notion. Though I think that by 2012, most sentient IT directors will be aware of a site that has existed for over a decade almost exclusively to give people a distraction at work.

Q: Do the rules go too far?

A: Rules can't go anywhere on their own. It's up to the people enforcing them. At Fark that enforcement is pretty haphazard. It leads to someone getting away with something, which in turn leads others to believe that action is permitted. There's really not much to be done about it. Mods are volunteers who have other things going on besides Fark. This should send a clear message to people who want more rules that a system for total enforcement of even the current set is just not there.

Q: What is happening with the Misfit Squirrel forums?

A: Like a few of you, I received a message recently inquiring about the future of the Misfit Squirrel forums. Participation has fallen off there, and the possibility is being discussed of shutting the forum area down. I can say I will definitely be sad to see it go. The contests there were a wonderful test of skill, and I always enjoyed lurking the various discussions when the site was in its prime. I'm hoping there's a way to preserve it in case future PSers need the resource for discussion outside of Fark.

That's all for this time, gentle reader. Thanks again for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed this brief examination of the rules at Fark. I'll see you next time. Remember, there's just a few spooky days left until the Presidential election. Also, I think Halloween is in there too.

Stay tuned for more holiday announcements from the Doctor!