What is it about certain internet places that make people so awful? Anonymity? Or are there people actually that bad all around me, in real life, and I simply don't notice?
I think this is why HN tends to be more civil and worthwhile -- you have active editors, and most people use their real names as their usernames or in their bios.
ps - her crack about compressed air cars must have really hurt...
Not going to let it keep me down, though. We just sent out a bunch of letters to investors. Low and behold, we now have a pitch.
You know the phrase 'six degrees of separation?' I feel like it must be at least three or four. I have little to no contact with these people, even though they're all around me. I felt similarly when I went to a baseball game, once. Wow.
Even though I have never been to a sports game (excepting a Harlem Globetrotters show, but that wasn't really a game), I kind of feel the same way walking around my hometown of Fairbanks. The population is small enough that I likely have no more than two or three degrees between myself and any random stranger. It's a very odd feeling, and one that I've never gotten used to.
Some of the reasons that I find Slashdot a bit better are the labeled moderation system and the karma system. They help keep some of the worst trolling off the site at the cost of encouraging a sort of groupthink.
Instead, I'm stuck reading headlines like "Compressed Air Cars Coming To New Zealand" and "New maskless lithography trick may keep Moore's Law on track."