Ask a Super User Moderator

meed96

00:57

@random is this where I can get some mod help?

DragonLord

@meed96 Yes—if you need to talk to a mod, just bring up your concern here.

meed96

Yeah

My question got flagged as opinion based and I beg to differ...

DragonLord

I'm not a mod, although I'm always in this room.

meed96

Ah...right...

DragonLord

Can you post a link to the question?

meed96

00:59

4

Q: Why is 1366x768 resolution a thing?

I know that there's a previous question about this (here: What's with the 1366x768 resolution for laptops/notebooks?) But it doesn't have any real answers despite having been viewed 12,400 times, and the fact that it's been closed. With that in mind... Why in the world is 1366x768 resolution a r...

DragonLord

Voted to reopen; it's a technical question asking for technical answers.

meed96

Thanks :D

DragonLord

It may be a good idea if you reworded it to specifically ask for technical explanations, so that it's not as open-ended.

meed96

Well I did sort of ask some specifics in the question itself

DragonLord

> Why don't laptops use 1280x720 or something else as a standard?

meed96

01:01

Why is it a standard in laptops while being such a break from the normal 16:9, etc.

Yeah

DragonLord

...can appear to be opinion-based.

Better wording can help here.

meed96

Well

When most laptops ship with this resolution

And this resolution happens to be so weird (odd aspect ratio, not normal 16:9)

I ask why aren't laptops made standard to 16:9?

There must be a technical reason the standard was broken, not an opinionated reason.

And if you read the answers, they are very technical answers, no opinions among them.

Journeyman Geek

02:53

@meed96 Its a thing cause its a semi standard resolution found in shitty TVs ;p

Its also in between 720p and 1080p

and ugh. We FINALLY HAVE DECENT RESOLUTIONS AVAILABLE

random

13:45

@meed96 Because it's asking why in the face of industry norms would there be a want for something else

A non-cited Wikipedia quote dump as the accepted answer makes the whole question premise less favourable

meed96

14:02

@random But the question has a lot of interest around it, even if the answer is a bit vague, closing it down seems counter to the goal of SE.

DragonLord

@random I would leave it open, someone can post a better answer.

I generally try not to close in borderline cases.

The question has a valid answer, it just needs to be worded better.

meed96

I like the idea of erring on the side of caution in edge cases.

random

Interest doesn't mean it's in scope, just that it's hit the Hot Network Questions list. A lot of questions that end up there usually need to be closed

meed96

That very fact makes me wonder if SE has the right goal :P

Shutting down all the popular questions

DragonLord

@JourneymanGeek, what are your thoughts here?

random

14:05

Doesn't matter if someone could post a better answer if the question itself isn't right for the site

Journeyman Geek

@DragonLord I tend to agree with him there tho

DragonLord

Yes, it's broad and a bit opinion-based. No, it can be worded better.

random

A moderator always makes hard line decisions, it's the nature of binding actions

DragonLord

There are good technical reasons for 1366x768.

meed96

Which would take it out of opinion based entirely.

DragonLord

14:07

I try to leave things like this to the community to decide.

Journeyman Geek

@DragonLord besides, if I disagreed with him (which I'm not), it would be in private

@DragonLord: then someone would ask the same question about 1080, 720, 4K, 8K, 16K....

meed96

And the answer would be that those are all a continuation of the 16:9 standard, or etc.

I guess they just don't have enough interest to prompt a question.

DragonLord

Well, this might need a discussion on Meta.

random

Moderators don't always have to come in and vote, it's fine. We just leave it up to the community then

Didn't see a borderline issue, so just voted normally

DragonLord

Out of curiosity: I've noticed whimsical text in your edit summaries for a very long time. What's the idea behind this?

Journeyman Geek

14:10

@DragonLord @meed96: this is a perfect example of there being a fine line between a popular and an off topic question BTW

DragonLord

Does it make the moderation process more fun (and less prone to causing burnout)?

Journeyman Geek

(and the fact it was user reopened, after a mod closes it)

meed96

Yeah I know there's a lot of stuff off topic, but to be realistic there's no good place to ask a question like this and actually get a good answer.

If there was another website that took all of our off-topic questions and answered them in the professional way that SE does, I'd go there.

Journeyman Geek

lol

meed96

But I'm forced to ask really really interesting questions here and hope I can get an answer instead of it being flagged as opinion based or off topic or something.

DragonLord

14:12

I try to base decisions involving questions like this based on whether it's "good subjective" or "bad subjective":

Good Subjective, Bad Subjective

Robert Cartaino on September 29, 2010

Stack Exchange is about questions with objective, factual answers. We've been crystal clear about this for as long as I can remember, even back to the earliest, pre-beta days of Stack Overflow. It's right there in the standard Stack Exchange FAQ:

Journeyman Geek

@meed96: But they can get reopened

(also, this is my second most popular question superuser.com/questions/699278/… )

meed96

@JourneymanGeek It turns into a battle for "Should we even answer this question?" instead of a battle to find the best answer.

Journeyman Geek

closures happen

meed96

Which is really. really. Annoying.

Journeyman Geek

@meed96: I answer stuff anyway

meed96

14:14

Yeah see your question is a good point of this Journeyman

Journeyman Geek

If it interests me

meed96

Closed as too broad while at the same time having a perfectly acceptable answer.

Journeyman Geek

Well, there's a clear logic there

there's many ways to do it

meed96

It seems to be very contradicting

Journeyman Geek

and the story behind it is ludicious

meed96

14:16

"Answers would be too long for our format" accepted answer written immediately below in SE format

Journeyman Geek

great questions are focused, have a single best/correct answer yet entertaining

DragonLord

9 mins ago, by DragonLord

Yes, it's broad and a bit opinion-based. No, it can be worded better.

meed96

Yes but not all questions are great

Some aren't great, and still need answers.

SE is a site for celebrity questions.

Journeyman Geek

Well, that's an example of a populist question, that wasn't quite up to people bothering to reopen it

DragonLord

Stack Exchanges likes clickbait, that's for sure.

meed96

14:18

@DragonLord Interesting way to put it, but makes sense.

Journeyman Geek

(heh, meed's question was tweeted so... someone liked it)

meed96

Through the official account?

Journeyman Geek

erm

lettmecheck

DragonLord

49

Q: Why do computers count from zero?

Computers traditionally tally numerical values starting from zero. For example, arrays in C-based programming languages start from index zero. What historical reasons exist for this, and what practical advantages does counting from zero have over counting from one? Note: This question asks for...

computer-architecture computer-science

meed96

@JourneymanGeek Found it

Journeyman Geek

14:19

Why does 1366x768 resolution exist? http://superuser.com/q/946086?atw=1 #laptop

Tweeted by super_user on July 28, 2015 at 11:55 AM

(had a long day at work ;p)

meed96

It just seems so silly to my mind to have really popular questions that provide good information any oh why not slap a "your question isn't acceptable here" sticker on it at the same time.

If we started deleting those flagged questions instead I think people would complain a lot.

Tl:dr, I'm still trying to understand the SE philosophy

Journeyman Geek

@meed96 that's tricky

At the end of the day the community sets the rules

Mods have the ability to close (and other things) but we're primarily human exception handlers

2

meed96

So should I expect to see SE evolve over time if people's opinions change?

DragonLord

@JourneymanGeek Precisely.

meed96

But doesn't SE have some rules set in place by the company itself? Rules that don't just fade off easily?

Journeyman Geek

14:25

rarely

DragonLord

Closures are an extension of the work moderators are expected to do. The main task is to handle conditions that the community cannot handle on its own. Stack Exchange is designed to be community-moderated to the extent possible.

To this end, the moderator's primary task is to evaluate and resolve flags.

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