Topic drift in annotations

I’ve noticed recently that annotations seem to be drifting “off-topic” quite frequently. This can be interesting and enlightening but please do be aware that annotations should enhance the particular diary entry, not just now but also in many years time. The annotations about pasties and MAs have tended to stray rather off the beaten track, as have some of the parallels between diary events and today’s politics.

Comments

• N chip on Wed 23 Jul 2003, 02:57am

  I am afraid I am guilty of this on occasion. But I have tried several times to e mail another annotator, and the message bounces back. Perhaps it is worth mentioning that it is important that the addresses given are accurate and encourage people to respond to one another with more personal observations that do not pertain to the daily entry. This is an extraordinary social experiment, one I think Pepys would highly admire. Many of us are communicating that would never have done so, all beacause of his diary.

• N chip on Wed 23 Jul 2003, 03:13am

  It might also be helpful to have a spell-check option, BEcause…..

• N Laura Brown on Wed 23 Jul 2003, 07:14pm

  I believe e-mail addresses have been discussed before. As I recall, Phil allows people to falsify their addresses to deter spammers.

  I have to say that I wouldn’t be too happy to get loads of personal e-mail as a result of posting on this site. That’s not really what I come here for.

• N vincent on Wed 23 Jul 2003, 07:39pm

  May be in the future, one may register ones Email address with the Blog ( then use a another moniker) so that the master of ceremonies can contact said moniker if needed, to send the necessary corrections to acceptable blogging for a given site. Lets face it “SPAM” (Stupid Professional Advertisements for the Majority) is a pain in the r**** D*******.

• N Grahamt on Wed 23 Jul 2003, 10:10pm

  Spam is a problem:
  This is the only forum I use my main home email address, and I have only started receiving spam on this address since I started posting here. It is probably too late to falsify now.

• N Laura Brown on Wed 23 Jul 2003, 11:33pm

  Have just checked, and Phil (um, I’m not sure why I’m talking about him like he’s not here — sorry, Phil) actually recommended that we disguise our addresses rather than falsify them outright.

  We seem to have drifted off the topic again! :-) To get back to the point, I would like to say a word about annotators using events in the diary purely as an excuse to broadcast their own views. Language Hat said that he/she would prefer it if people didn’t get into present-day politics, and I agree. Another thing that bothers me is annotators sneering at particular — or all — religious beliefs or practices (or the lack thereof).

  It’s not that these aren’t important subjects or that you’re not entitled to your opinion — it’s just that IT’S NOT WHAT THIS SITE IS FOR. It’s a surefire way to drag the discussion off-topic, and it strikes me as a bit rude too. I come here to read about Pepys and his world, not to be told what I should think of the monarchy or be jeered at for resting on Sunday!

• N chip on Thu 24 Jul 2003, 03:59am

  Yes, you are some of the people I have tried to e-mail, to you Vincent when I made the url of the earl pun a few days ago; I knew you would appreciate that. What I do not understand is why don’t you invent some unfictitious yahoo or hotmail address that you might check from time to time. They are absolutely free, thank you Mister Gates, and now they give you 4 to 6 megs. You can store crap there that you may one day need. But not a diary!

• N chip on Thu 24 Jul 2003, 04:01am

  And thank god it is Spam, and not Sam that is the problem!

• N chip on Thu 24 Jul 2003, 04:23am

  Not to belabour the point, but you can set your filters to high and that way most spam ends up in a junk mail folder that is easy to delete, en masse (therapeutic really). Everyone should put something like Pepys Diary in the subject line and those people can be added to the ‘Safe List’ which is delivered to the inbox. Quickly you will manage Spam from Sam. (Vincent, you could be henribeyle@hotmail.com, and Laura Brown, montaigne@yahoo.com, just a thougt!).

• N Laura Brown on Thu 24 Jul 2003, 10:28pm

  Chip, I would imagine that when the discussion forum is started it should meet at least some of your needs. With luck it will keep irrelevant stuff out of the annotations too.

• N henri beyle stendhal on Fri 25 Jul 2003, 03:47am

  To (mis)quote a famous US Senator “I be no riter’ but thanks for the thort.

• N Henry on Sat 26 Jul 2003, 03:32am

  While I have been hessitant to do annotations, I must say that this has been a great learning experience. You have all contributed to my understanding of this time period. EVEN when you “drift ” off subject. And , Laura, I hope that a discussin forum starts soon. I do have things I’d like to bring up. Thanks all.

• N chip on Sat 26 Jul 2003, 05:36am

  Merci a Monsieur Beyle. And Laura Brown, although you are not one I tried to e mail, thank you for mentioning the forum as I, too, knew nothing of it. What I think our dear overseer, Phil, is trying to point out is that we can e mail one another with more personal observations (or barbs). I begin to feel like the audience in Philip Glass’ piece, where the pianist comes out and just sits in silence at the keyboard, allowing the audience to become the event. If only Pepys could witness these guffaws!

• N Laura K on Sat 26 Jul 2003, 06:23pm

  Thanks, Phil. I do think it’s worth putting a potential annotation to the test before posting - asking oneself if it’s relevant, and simply not posting if it is not. I’m sure I’ve made some irrelevant posts, and I will certainly hold myself to the same standard.

  I also agree with Language Hat and Laura Brown, re current world events and our personal worldviews and politics. Visitors to this site probably span the gamut of political and religious beliefs, but that’s not why we’re here. What one annotator thinks is an innocuous statement may well offend another. Why not omit them all?

  As a general rule, it’s good to remember that we don’t have to give voice to our every thought.

• N Phil on Sun 27 Jul 2003, 11:41pm

  Re: a discussion forum.

  As the next Recent News post (http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/archive/2003/07/27/1137.php ) explains, I have indeed just started one here: http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/pepysdiary

• N Nigel Pond on Fri 1 Aug 2003, 07:09pm

  Phil

  As a participant in both of the “pasties” and “MA” off-topic annotations, I apologize!!

• N language hat on Fri 1 Aug 2003, 11:45pm

  Language Hat agrees with himself
  and with Lauras B and K! I do think most people are good at keeping off-topic annotations to a reasonable level; they haven’t actually taken over any threads that I recall.