Ask Ubuntu General Room

@Josh It's fine - thanks for all your help!

Don't go easy on him @MarcoCeppi. If beatings are deserved, beatings should be given!

@RebeccaChernoff In that case, let me call upon the Unicorns...

ROFLOL

@MarcoCeppi The unicorns like me. I have more rep on Meta than any other site ;-)

8:13 PM

gives @MarcoCeppi a gold star for paying attention during the THC. (;

I wonder how many votes a gold star is worth...

Ok, links should be correct now, sorry everyone!

@ajmitch About the same as the total US Deficit :)

@RebeccaChernoff We do a bunch of live Q+A sessions on Ubuntu, this was my first SE one though, mind if I send you an email with a bunch o feedback?

Please do! I know it isn't perfect - the first ones were totally last minute after the trilogy elections had started and I've pretty much stuck with the same format and let the community drive - it is the easy road. q: rebecca@so

8:20 PM

Did we lose a candidate in the middle of the town hall?

@MarcoCeppi, I am looking at you ;-)

@Josh Hum?

I am missing a couple answers from you, could be I just missed them

@MarcoCeppi I pinged you in the Town Hall room

@Josh the one you pinged in the THC I actually missed

I think there was one other, I'll ping you again if I find it

Okay, thanks!

8:25 PM

Sure. so much easier with three candidates in the Town hall than, oh, ten like in some of the others :-)

Sigh @ packet loss to our hosting provider

websites go a bit slower with 25% packets going missing :)

Hey @fluteflute just saw your comment

@Josh do you mind? if not I understand completly :)

I have no problem with you editing in your own answers to the questions, as long as you don't edit anyone else's answers (obviously) :-)

But, does anyone else mind?

@Josh haha I never thought of that

8:30 PM

@RebeccaChernoff, thoughts?

The digest is for everyone else, so I'd like everyone else's opinion :-)

hm?

Answer in the THC room and copy them in to the Digest. That way they're in the full transcript, albeit all at the bottom.

I'd add "fluteflute answered (after the event): blah blah blah"

@RebeccaChernoff @fluteflute missed the town hall chat, do you think it's appropriate for him to edit the digest and add his own answers?

@RebeccaChernoff This is what I suggested

@RebeccaChernoff that sounds like a good plan

@fluteflute That way they'll also follow the same format

This is also what was done in the Programmer's Town hall chat

8:33 PM

Timezones can make it rather hard for everyone to be in a chat at once

@ajmitch Gaming.SE's chat was the worst as far as this is concerned

You AskUbuntu folks are getting your digest before Gaming even though their THC happened yesterday, because theirs is such a mess I am overwhelmed by it ;-)

Theirs was split into two chats!

When we do chats on IRC we normally split ours into 2 rooms so a moderator (or bot) can vet the questions

Yeah, I strongly considered doing that.

@JorgeCastro This was where my idea of Town Hall Chat Digests came from

nods

8:36 PM

but, it didn't fit in with the "town hall" free-flowing format

That's why the first digests I did were as separate chat rooms

yeah, so like, people like the realtime aspect

proved to be... difficult

Some of the THCs are very low on activity, so all the questions end up being from me in the first place hehe.

but also people want to see logs and records

and idea i was bouncing around in my head was to have people have a "question mode"

so when I click it whatever I typed in gets classified as a question

and then something posts the question in the room

@JorgeCastro I am trying very hard to keep the accountability with the digests, by using permalinks when I can and using the excerpts from chat. The idea if the digest is, "Here was a question, use the links to jump to the discussion at that point"

8:38 PM

then after all the participants answer they all click a "I'm ready for the next one"

and then the system pastes the next question from a user in the queue

Sounds almost like #ubuntu-classroom

right, except awesomer

ha

A: Is there a proof that $\pi$ is an irrational number?

also it could be cool after the fact that each question is transformed into a meta-question and the answers are put on the site, so candidates can go back and elaborate, etc.

that way people get the "realtime" factor of chatting

but over time the answers would get better and more detailed from the candidates

George Edison

4

There are quite a number of proofs on Wikipedia. Not sure how accessible you will find them, though -- feel free to ask about one of them that you might be able to understand.

8:42 PM

Mmm, pie

The complete spontaneity of the THC idea and the format is very much "chat is setup the way it is so if you've got a square peg, you're just gonna have to fit it into the round hole."

I think encouraging the questioner to bold or differentiate the question was useful, I came in half way and didn't realize it until I read the back scroll

@jorge et al. I've seen some talk (area51, e.g.) of having language-specific versions of sites -- I'm not sure where that idea stands with regard to either stackexchange in general or with ubuntu specifically. Do you know what SE or AU's take on that is?

@jgbelacqua I asked Marco to ask

@jgbelacqua lemme guess you saw the Spanish askubuntu proposal?

yep

Q: How can we improve the Town Hall Digests?

8:44 PM

@JorgeCastro If you have suggestions for how the digest can accomplish any of this...

12

TL;DR version: If you saw my Town Hall Digests, what can be done to improve them, given Michael Mrozek's format and Yi Jiang's GM script? Should these even exist, and if so, what format should they take? Even though I've said it before, I can't emphasize it enough, so I would like to start b...

discussion chat moderator-election

George Edison

@ajmitch: Proofs on Wikipedia...

@Josh yeah I'll just add on there actually instead of chat/email

It also feels a little weird since I'm a native english speaker proposing edits for some many (presumably) non-native speakers, and I don't want to step on toes.

George Edison

I can't believe someone would think I could understand all of that...

@JorgeCastro totally up to you!

You make some very good points

Which I can't address right now :-)

8:45 PM

@JorgeCastro the bold was good. I was too disoriented stumbling into the THChat 3/4 of the way through to use it.

it's ok I only just thought of them, heh

(thought I shouldn't use THC and 'disoriented' and 'stumbling' int the same sentence)

@jgbelacqua LOL

hey does anyone remember if the townhall chat room was visible on the front page?

Hrm. I went looking for it, but that doesn't answer the question.

I popped into meta, and saw THC happening (now!)

8:47 PM

@JorgeCastro It was. It was on the banner, and in the chat sidebar

@jgbelacqua the meta question?

cool

Of chat or the actual q&a site? There was a system message up 30 minutes prior until 30 minutes into the event.

the chat

ah ok, I wasn't paying attention on the site itself to see if we were highlighting the chat

Reminds me, I meant to ask what time zones our moderator candidates were in . You know, we want 24/7 moderator coverage. ;)

8:49 PM

Events created by a moderator on the site (I'm a mod everywhere) will automatically generate a system message 30 minutes before the event that lasts an hour. (Though if there's already a system message up it won't overwrite it)

ah, handy

odd, I don't see a THC feedback on MSO, surely I can't be the only one ...

@Josh ok so I like the format, the only thing is the bold can get brutal when the question is long, for example: meta.askubuntu.com/questions/948/…

@Josh Was this answered? I was distracted.

@jorge need to have the text get smaller as it goes, like a static 'star wars' crawl

@jgbelacqua were you saying you are seeing a meta question about the town hall being updated now?

though the question could have been better. I think what TheX wanted to ask was "Can I keep posting pictures of lolcats?"

just removing a bit of bad language left the daughter bit askubuntu.com/questions/25327/…

8:54 PM

@josh no, I meant at the proper time (that is, when it was happening)

@jgbelacqua ah OK

Wanted to make sure I wasn't confusing you :-)

@josh -- no, I'm good. :)

good at confusing myself.

@Allan I think the daughter part should probably be removed too...

@marco yeah, that's a little creepy.

@Allan I agree that the daughter bit is just about okay...

8:56 PM

(...brb)

askubuntu.com/posts/25327/revisions

I do have one and there isn't enough money in the world :)

> There's no need to offer anyone's hand in marriage. A simple upvote and accepted answer is enough for us.

LOL. Great! Nice @Marco

That is good :)

@fluteflute @Allan Remember: Emphasis on High Quality :)

8:59 PM

@MarcoCeppi thanks marco still a bit of a nubie at this editing thing but that was a bit obvious.

@Allan Well if you're always unsure asking won't hurt

its in the name

Its only the answer that hurts

again and again

There is a balance between high quality and a human touch to people's questions... (not that I feel strongly about that should have been left in)

what about the "hanging over me like a sword of Damocles" bit?

lolcats ok family not ok got it

@fluteflute I think that's better than the hand of marriage thing

9:04 PM

@fluteflute if you want high quality Greek literature is the way to go!

I need to read more

Mind you some might say its no better than a Brazilian soap opera just because its old doesn't make it good.

Hmm... strange use of sword of damocles reference, too.

9:18 PM

Sorry guys, a flurry of work stuff just came up, Town Hall Digest is momentarily delayed :-)

9:29 PM

@fluteflute lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-desktop/2011-January/…

that's a better link to that answer than the forum thread

9:54 PM

@JorgeCastro Thanks Jorge

Okay, whew, only the closing statements remain

@Josh s/arguments/statements

Q: 2011 Moderator Election - Town Hall Chat Digest

And any answers from candidates who were unable to attend. If you were a candidate who was unable to attend the town hall, answer the questions in the Town Hall Chat and I will edit them into the digest!

@MarcoCeppi 1 ROWS UPDATED

And the digest is complete

5

The following is a (still in progress) "digest" version of the 2011 Moderator Election Town Hall Chat . The format, as described on Meta Stack Overflow, is one answer to this question for every question asked in the Town Hall, containing all the candidate's answers to that question. To view the ...

discussion featured chat election

I will add @fluteflute's answers... after I get them :-)

Also, I am confused:

> You've earned the "Mortarboard" badge. See your profile.

I thought meta had no rep, LOL

10:15 PM

@Josh Has no rep - but has badges though!

@MarcoCeppi Has a "fake rep" cap then? :-)

just got the tumbleweed badge on area51's meta/discuss site. whee.

@Josh Since there is no rep on meta - there is no rep cap

@MarcoCeppi Right

So how can I hit it? :-)

I mean I understand it's theoretical...

@josh that's ... strange

10:29 PM

I am debating a mother meta question, but I know I'll just get a [status-bydesign]

@Josh Which question?

I mean I would have hit the rep cap if meta did have rep, so, it's not broken...

@MarcoCeppi sorry, I see. I am debating asking a question on MSO about the "rep cap" on meta sites like meta.AU

@Josh It's theoretically impossible

right :-)

So I don't get what you're question is about Haven't eaten dinner yet - could be why I'm really dense right now

10:33 PM

Oh, sorry, I thought you were understanding :-)

@MarcoCeppi I just earned the Mortarboard badge on meta.askubuntu.com for the Town hall Digest. The badge is for "Hit the daily reputation cap for the first time". But, there is no reputation and ths, no cap

Oh! Goodness. I see now

Ah, I am also the only one with that badge on meta.AU

I missed that point

I know why I have it

That sounds like a worthwhile M.SO post then!

10:35 PM

@MarcoCeppi okie dokie :-)

Oh, because of all the mega upvotes from the one question

another [status-bydesign] here I come :-)

@MarcoCeppi exactly

meta.askubuntu.com/reputation

technically that badge shouldn't exist

htorque

[flaw-bydesign] :P

@htorque Shhh We don't talk about the flaws the creators

3 day old pizza is so good!

Q: Should I really have been awarded mortarboard on AskUbuntu's meta site?

10:39 PM

0

The Ask Ubuntu Town hall digest caused me to win the Mortarboard badge, yey! But wait. [Mortarboard] Hit the daily reputation cap for the first time Per-site metas don't have any reputation... I am confused :-) I know why I got the badge. Should I have?

bug per-site-meta reputation-cap-badges

@htorque Same thing :-)

Many bugs are tagged [status-bydesign]

it very often means "Meh, not worth fixing"

Or, "That's not a bug - it's a feature"

@KaustubhP I have something for you.

zachwoomer.com

@MarcoCeppi who is Zach?

No idea

I just happened upon his site

10:49 PM

oh... I like :-D

11:11 PM

@MarcoCeppi you ever hear of this?

pinguy-os.sourceforge.net

Yeah, I tried it for a bit a while back

and by a while back I mean 3-4 months ago

how was it?

Eh, just another fork with pre loaded eye candy

i see

Nothing special or that I could/would want to do to stock Ubuntu in an hour

11:17 PM

hmm

i was just using stumbleupon, and stumbled upon it... was wondering if you had an opinion that is all

I always have an opinion :)

woah...

mrdoob.com/lab/actionscript/pv3d/dof/05

that is the most incredible thing I have ever seen done on a webpage

aww... less impressive, it was done with flash

i was hoping html5....

You want to see something cool in HTML5/CSS3?

9elements.com/io/projects/html5/canvas

@marco does it involve water de-salination? That would be cool.

and it would save the world.

(I've finally had coffee. )

And this

google.com/events/io/2011/index.html

11:25 PM

I'm still waiting for it to load, so I assume it's de-salinating some seawater.

The google one works. Pretty cool.

The other one loads a lot of tweets

so may take a few seconds to completely start

it also uses audio

hrm. it seems borked on my system.

threadless.com/submission/309681/you_smell_like_ass

you said seconds, and didn't mean minutes, right?

yeah, it's not proceeding past loading.

@jgbelacqua you are using a browser that supports HTML5 right?

11:30 PM

firefox 'namoroka' but the google page worked.

but both use different rendering engines

was that html5?

HTML5 canvas and audio

use google chrome, I don't think Firefox Namoroka fully supports HTML5 just parts

hrm. Yeah, I forgot I was not using a stable release until you mentioned it @thex. :P

my bad.

11:32 PM

your other option is Safari...

pffffhhthfp.

lol

I use safari on my ipad, it isn't that bad

oh, now you said 'ipad' . I'm covering my ears right now.

:)

lol

they did invent webkit (the backend for all the opensource browsers) you know...

@TheX Uh, no. Nice try - but nope

11:36 PM

they didn't?

they stole it from xerox?

From KDE Project

WebKit

WebKit is a layout engine designed to allow web browsers to render web pages. WebKit powers Google Chrome and Apple's Safari, respectively 10% and 6% use in December 2010 used web browsers . The WebKit engine provides a set of classes to display web content in windows, and implements browser features such as following links when clicked by the user, managing a back-forward list, and managing a history of pages recently visited. WebKit was originally created as a fork of KHTML as the layout engine for Apple's Safari; it is portable to many other computing platforms. Mac OS X and Window...

really?

I'll be gosh-darned. as they say.

well, they forked it, I guess.

Yeah - if no one smarted up to it when they forked it it would probably be closed source to this day

11:38 PM

and they got a cult leader to run their company, and that idea was stolen from... many cults. But give them credit for seeing a good thing.

@jgbelacqua see a good thing, why re-invent the wheel? just steal it....

yay, open source.

ha

for real though.... you can accuse any company of stealing from other companies... I mean even Canonical stole the color orange from... well you know oranges...

I'm just saying - Apple did not make Webkit - they just contribute to the source like many other compaines

they were probably the largest contributer though...

besides maybe KDE project...

11:41 PM

Would be an interesting research

@thex yeah, f* canonical man. Orange belongs to everyone!

I like orange.

Apple may not have 'made' webkit, but they have developed an awful lot of the code

Oh, lord. Another apologist for the new evil empire.

:)

grumps I don't like to give them too much credit

@jgbelacqua What, canonical?

11:43 PM

@MarcoCeppi whatever the case is, they certainly where the driving force behind webkit

Oh, no, they're not there yet. I meant apple.

I like canonical. actually.

You know what company you REALLY got to keep your eye on... StackExchange! They ripped off Yahoo Answers.

I'm keeping my eye on them, all right....

hard not too when I'm logged in 3/4 of every day

Yeah, yahoo answers... boy that brings back strange bad memories. from a few months ago.

someone better call amnesty international on StackExchange...

they try to appear all innocent and helpful... but I know there motives...

11:57 PM

@jgbelacqua I wondered why all of their products were either white or black all they need now is to pay John Williams for a theme tune and their turn to the dark side will be complete

@Allan we are talking about SE, not Evil Empire(Apple)