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An Antidote To Corporate Media


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2015 Feb 9, 7:43am   688,812 views  600 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  




Patrick.net is an online forum, a bit like Twitter or Reddit, but with much more freedom of speech than either of those. Almost anything goes, but a few things don't, such as deliberately personally insulting another user, or deliberately misrepresenting what another user said.

I got the patrick.net domain name back in 1995 when I was one day too late for patrick.com. Missing the .com name turned out to be fine. I prefer the .net name now because life is all about human networks. This site was just my personal blog from 1995 to 2004.

In 2004 I started writing about the housing bubble, which catapulted the site to national fame for a while. I was interviewed on NPR, on Nightline on TV, and in other corporate media that I have since learned to recognize as poison. Here are my original the articles about the housing bubble (the dates on them are much later because I updated them):

https://patrick.net/post/1282720/2015-07-11-ten-reasons-it-s-a-terrible-time-to
https://patrick.net/post/1282721/2015-07-11-eight-groups-who-lie-about-the-housing
https://patrick.net/post/1282722/2015-07-11-37-bogus-arguments-about-housing

The big housing bubble popped in 2008, and traffic fell, since it was no longer controversial to assert that we really had had a housing bubble.

About then, I decided to just let the public discuss other topics with each other and wrote my own forum software. I'm a programmer, so that was fun. At first I was kind of disturbed at the number of conservatives on the site, but as I discussed things with them and saw San Francisco literally turn to shit under far-left Democrats, I changed my thinking.

And yet I didn't change my thinking all that much, because once again, I'm opposing corruption of government by the oligarchy. Before, my enemy was the NAR (National Association of Realtors) and I still think the NAR is nothing but institutionalized crime, but there are bigger fish to fry now, especially since the worldwide campaign to inject every human with a dangerous and ineffective genetic experiment, which was never approved by the FDA. (They approved "Comirnaty", which is not available, to deceive the public.)

https://tobyrogers.substack.com/p/thinking-points-september-21-2022


It’s like Pharma just backed a truck up to the Progressive Values Factory; stole everything; modified core values in order to maim people, make money, and implement global totalitarianism; and the left is just out there smoking a cigarette on the loading dock saying, “Sounds good to me.” What!? What the heck happened to the left? Is there no one remaining in that tribe who is capable of logic and reason!? Quite literally the worst industry in the world stole the left’s most cherished values and no one on the left is the slightest bit offended by this (even though they are offended by everything else)!? We live in the bizarro upside down world.




I could go on, but you'll get the idea by reading the site.



I have a platform of ideas for improving America: https://patrick.net/post/1303173/2017-02-19-patrick-s-platform

Site Rules

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If you're suspicious that comments are flagged for political reasons, note that you can actually see any flagged comment in the html source of that page. Use "View Source" in your browser. Yes, it's inconvenient, but that's deliberate, to keep those comments out of the conversation stream.

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1. State your opponent's position so that he agrees with it 100%. This is so that you argue against what your opponent is really saying.
2. State points of agreement, and anything you learned from your opponent.
3. Give your reasoning for why your opponent is mistaken.
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If you ignore another user, you will not see that user's threads or comments. To see whom you're ignoring and to unignore, look on your edit profile page.

To get another user's attention, mention that user in a comment with an @ character prepended to his username ( for example @Patrick ) and then he will get an email of that comment, unless he has emails turned off.

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Searching

Prepend + to require a word or - to exclude it: +Tunnel -Sky
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There is a thread for each zip code in the US. You can have local discussions there about anything, or you can post things for sale, etc. To find the thread for a zip code, just do a search for the town name or zip code.

I also have a list of all US Congressmen as separate threads, where you are encouraged to comment on how good of a job you think they're doing:

https://patrick.net/post/1377838/2022-11-29-us-congressmen-lists


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101   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 1:45pm  

WookieMan says
The location thing could be a little creepy to new visitors in all honesty.


You're right. It's a bit creepy. My wife suggested I just animals or something like that instead. So instead of anon_1234 someone would be anon_antelope. Just have to find a way to hash IPs to animals then. But there are limited number of animals.

WookieMan says
Miss the days when you had the alias feature based on IP address.


Well, for anons you do have that, since the numbers are just part of a hash of the IP address. So every anon comment from the same IP will show up under the same name. But not for registered users. I do want people to have an out, so they can disconnect a registered name from an anon comment.
102   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 2:43pm  

Patrick says
I do want people to have an out, so they can disconnect a registered name from an anon comment.


I understand the sentiment, but they can always just delete everything if they don't want it tied to their anonymous username, on anonymous site. It happened recently or so I thought without mentioning users. Might take some time, but it's not very difficult to wipe out your patnet history.

The personal attacks are way down for sure. So the direction things are going is good in my opinion. I just think there are registered users that go anon to dig and post comments close to the edge. Some of us might approve them and others might not. Not sure why they can't just post under their regular usernames. I'll be honest here. To me it seems a little cowardly. If you could link anon's to their previous registered user accounts, I think it would be a good thing. They obviously want to be here, so not sure why they're hiding.

I dig the animal route as well. Even if all the animals get used up can't you just add a single numerical digit? Deer1 through Deer9. That should cover a shitload of users I would think. Not real sure how many anons are being created everyday, so I could be off in this assessment.
103   Onvacation   2018 Feb 28, 4:31pm  

Patrick says
But there are limited number of animals.

How about randomly generated genus species like bombus soroeensis or homo erectus?

There are more species in nature than posters on patnet.
104   anonymous   2018 Feb 28, 4:36pm  

Goran_K says
Patrick says
OK, it's on the list. Anyone know a quick way to discover cities from IP addresses? I know there are commercial services, but I don't need very high accuracy.

There is a free service at ipinfo.io, but it's not at all accurate:

curl ipinfo.io/$(curl icanhazip.com)

"city": "Petaluma",
"region": "California",

I'm about 100 miles from Petaluma at the moment.


I don't think it can be 100% accurate. For instance some people use proxy servers (I use one through the California Department of Education). But I think just having something more identifying than anon1234 would be even incrementally better.


What is so important about identifying the messenger?

Anons get the message out, without any need for discrimination against the messenger. Isn’t that the point?

Or is there value in being able to single out certain messengers, in order to assault their character as a last ditch effort to devalue the message, if it hurts someone’s feelings to hear the truth?

Patrick always said, it’s always important to tell the truth
105   anonymous   2018 Feb 28, 4:41pm  

Patrick says
Onvacation says
How about randomly generated genus species like bombus soroeensis or homo erectus?

There are more species in nature than posters on patnet.


I like it!

Do you know where I can get a large list of genus+species?


Borrow a list of Cannabis strains from leafly, and every anon can be

Sour Diesel
Blue dream
Chem dog
Gods gift
Cinderella
Blue cheese
Etc.

STFU Gorilla_Glue!! I hate Liberals and their stupid science and pesky facts. I hate how you try to trick me into thinking about stuff!!
Damn jive Obama and crooked hillary Communist Socialist ruined everything, give me my bible and my gun so i can ram my gun up my ass and clench my teeth in intense painful pleasure as i sodomize myself in the name of REPUBLICAN JESUS!! FUCK GORILLA_GLUE I HATE YOU!!
106   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 4:42pm  

errc says
What is so important about identifying the messenger?

Anons get the message out, without any need for discrimination against the messenger.


I think @errc has a good point. People should be able to remain as obscure as they want to (as long as their comments go through some kind of moderation to cut down on the flamey stuff).

But it does also help the conversation if you can tell that you're talking to the same person as you did one minute ago. When all anon's were just "anon" it was really confusing.
107   anonymous   2018 Feb 28, 4:47pm  

Patrick says
errc says
What is so important about identifying the messenger?

Anons get the message out, without any need for discrimination against the messenger.


I think @errc has a good point. People should be able to remain as obscure as they want to (as long as their comments go through some kind of moderation to cut down on the flamey stuff).

But it does also help the conversation if you can tell that you're talking to the same person as you did one minute ago. When all anon's were just "anon" it was really confusing.


We each have our own sets of values

Some simply seek out ideas, from wherever dark corners they may spawn

Some lack the capacity a/o desire for expanding their own collection of knowledge, so they get off on fucking with people they are jealous of. This is an Internet phenomenon, as those people get put in their place really fucking quick in the real world
108   anonymous   2018 Feb 28, 4:49pm  

Patrick says
errc says
What is so important about identifying the messenger?

Anons get the message out, without any need for discrimination against the messenger.


I think @errc has a good point. People should be able to remain as obscure as they want to (as long as their comments go through some kind of moderation to cut down on the flamey stuff).

But it does also help the conversation if you can tell that you're talking to the same person as you did one minute ago. When all anon's were just "anon" it was really confusing.


The quote feature should clear all confusion.

Maybe put quotations in a slightly different color if you find it hard to distinguish one persons quoted words from another in a post
109   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 4:51pm  

errc says
put quotations in a slightly different color


Another good idea. Doesn't seem too hard.
110   Goran_K   2018 Feb 28, 4:53pm  

errc says
Maybe put quotations in a slightly different color if you find it hard to distinguish one persons quoted words from another in a post


I like this suggestion.
111   Goran_K   2018 Feb 28, 4:54pm  

anon_961a0 says
The question was, how much time do you spend on approving anon posts? Still no answer. I stipulation that it is what you spend most of your time on as moderator so doing away with anons would make for little work for Patrick and no more use for moderators. This would take your job away so I see why you don't want to answer. I guess no answer is agreement then, fair enough.


I don't know. Couple minutes here and there?

Patrick pays me the same no matter how much time I work. He's generous like that.
112   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 4:56pm  

Goran_K says
Patrick pays me the same no matter how much time I work. He's generous like that.


I'm glad you like the pay! I'll double it, starting right now. :-)
113   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 6:54pm  

Patrick says
I think @errc has a good point. People should be able to remain as obscure as they want to (as long as their comments go through some kind of moderation to cut down on the flamey stuff).

But it does also help the conversation if you can tell that you're talking to the same person as you did one minute ago. When all anon's were just "anon" it was really confusing.


I get people will fight the messenger and not the actual message. I'm on the same page and understand it's an issue. My whole point is every here can be as anonymous as they want. Hell, it takes all of two seconds to create an email account on many services and change your username every day here if you wanted to register. If you think a messenger is a cock sucker, the ignore feature works wonders. In combination with moderation, there's really not a reason everyone can get along here with identifiable tags/usernames. Sure shit will get testy at times, but are we all not adults here? Just don't register as TimDuggins1234palmsplazaFL. Is this concept really that hard? I don't get it.

I also have zero idea why people posted hundreds, if not thousands of comments under a username here and then hide under an anonymous name now. You like it here apparently even though you complain about it as an anonymous user. If this crosses a line let me know Patrick, but you all need to stop being little bitches. If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. If some of the people on this site bother you, you likely have some other issues that might need to be addressed. I apologize to our women anon's, but grow a fucking pair or just go away.
114   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 7:12pm  

WookieMan says
create an email account on many services and change your username every day


I think registration is a big speedbump to participating. Lots of people just won't do register, but will post an anonymous comment without registering. Maybe I need to bug the anons with popups that let them convert to a registered account so that they can change their user name and edit/delete their comments.

WookieMan says
If this crosses a line let me know Patrick, but you all need to stop being little bitches. If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen. If some of the people on this site bother you, you likely have some other issues that might need to be addressed. I apologize to our women anon's, but grow a fucking pair or just go away.


@WookieManDoesn't cross any line for me, because I think you're right.

No need to apologize to the women either. It's absolutely fine to say "grow a pair" to a general audience imho. This is the kind of phrase that keeps me motivated to work on the site, and to try to create more sites like this.

Example: the banning of Doug Crockford from a node conference because of offhand comments he made. See https://atom-morgan.github.io/in-defense-of-douglas-crockford

That would never have happened in a sane world.
115   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 7:17pm  

As this has kind of evolved into a Patnet improvement thread in a way, one quick suggestion/request. Any chance we can merge similar threads? It's not a massive issue, but there are sometimes 3-4 different threads on the exact same topic. This happens around major events. School shootings, mass shooting, etc.

For some reason it seems like some form or another of climate change thread is started almost daily. Then there's the occasional duplicate post of someone getting info at the same time.

Again, not a big deal. To be honest, the climate change threads are really becoming obnoxious. Ultimately that's my beef. Can we just ban it, like talking about other users?
116   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 7:39pm  

Patrick says
I think registration is a big speedbump to participating. Lots of people just won't do register, but will post an anonymous comment without registering. Maybe I need to bug the anons with popups that let them convert to a registered account so that they can change their user name and edit/delete their comments.


I know. I've bitched about this a lot here. I figure if I bitch enough maybe I'll win. Your point is absolutely valid about getting new participation. I registered back in 2011 I think and didn't post a damn thing until 2 years ago or so. I was lurking before then as well I think since 2009. Although I'm not certain registering to the site was my hurdle, but maybe it is for some.

I could also post my full name here with middle initial, and unless there are anon's or registered users here working for the gov, good luck finding me. Not sure if there's a ranking for it, but my first and last name have to be in the top 30-50 of common names. There are over 100 of me around Chicago. So maybe I don't have to take the anonymous thing as seriously as others do.
117   anonymous   2018 Feb 28, 7:57pm  

Goran_K says

I don't know. Couple minutes here and there?

Patrick pays me the same no matter how much time I work. He's generous like that.


So you agree approving anon posts is about 95-99% of time spent moderating. Glad we agree on this.
118   MrMagic   2018 Feb 28, 7:57pm  

WookieMan says
but are we all not adults here?


Sadly, no. There are a few sensitive, special snowflakes here that like to complain when their feelings are hurt.


WookieMan says
In combination with moderation,


The problem I see with moderation is that it's totally subjective, and a moderator can be swayed by a single poster's complaints, depending what "tribe" the complainer is on. Then, this singular complainer causes restrictive moderation. That's not a formula for "free speech".

IMO, subjective moderation or restrictions is what's caused the majority of past posters to leave.

WookieMan says
but you all need to stop being little bitches.


Good idea, but these squeaky, minority bitches are the ones who got the "grease", and the majority of posters paid for it.
119   anonymous   2018 Feb 28, 7:57pm  

WookieMan says
I apologize to our women anon's, but grow a fucking pair or just go away.


It's funny people get so heated over anons. Either it bothers some one or it doesn't. What's it matter if I post as anon_1234 or Bob dabalina.
120   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 8:00pm  

WookieMan says
one quick suggestion/request. Any chance we can merge similar threads?


Yes, that sounds useful and not too hard.

What would happen to the original post from the thread that got merged into another? Just concatenate the two original posts?
121   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 8:56pm  

anon_961a0 says
It's funny people get so heated over anons. Either it bothers some one or it doesn't. What's it matter if I post as anon_1234 or Bob dabalina.


I get heated, but admittedly you have a valid point. I simply don't have the time to record all the anon_xxxx digits in my mind or on paper. AssBag42 or ChickenSlime10 are a whole hell of a lot easier to remember. I love the concept of anonymity. It really is a solid thing. There's a problem though when people post anonymous garbage time after time and you're left trying to figure out which anon user it was. Then they get a new IP and they're a new number. You kind of think you know who it is, but you're not certain. So the ignore function isn't an option for these people.

I guess that's my issue. There are people I'd like to ignore, but they just keep coming back in different forms. I can hit the ignore button 100 times and it doesn't matter. The same ass bag will keep coming back.
122   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 9:07pm  

WookieMan says
There are people I'd like to ignore, but they just keep coming back in different forms. I can hit the ignore button 100 times and it doesn't matter. The same ass bag will keep coming back.


Yes, you have a point there. Maybe I really should disallow anons.
123   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 9:22pm  

Sniper says
Sadly, no. There are a few sensitive, special snowflakes here that like to complain when their feelings are hurt.


I'm technically complaining. Hopefully you consider me a chunk of hail and not a snowflake though. Because I'm a hard ass M F'er.

Sniper says
IMO, subjective moderation or restrictions is what's caused the majority of past posters to leave.


I miss some of the past posters to be honest. Even though most have still been around. Refresh the site enough and you'll see many that haven't been heard from under their original usernames show up at the top. I have my flurry of posts, but I refresh the page frequently without posting and I've see a lot of past users logged in. Good feature addition Patrick ;)

Patrick says

Yes, you have a point there. Maybe I really should disallow anons.


I actually wouldn't go that far. Maybe just restrict them outside of instant moderation. Maybe number of posts/comments. I assume you've seen the recent dumpster fire in moderation right now? Someone must have gotten triggered. My apologies, as I feel like it may have been my finger on the trigger for this individual.
124   Patrick   2018 Feb 28, 9:23pm  

Yes, maybe the answer is that you get 3 comments as anon, but after that, you have to register to continue commenting from that IP.
125   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 9:49pm  

Ladies and gentleman. This is the trash we get to take out.

On a different note, I have it on good authority that anonymous users wife's snatch smells of rotting Kimchi.


I took out the users name. I really don't get this. This is entering the pure hatred and creeper level. It's a fucking anonymous internet forum guys! Grow the fuck up. I have fun here, get some good laughs, good info/news, some bad news, etc. but this type of shit is just disturbing.

I don't want to give this anon attention as they know who they are, so feel free to delete this comment Patrick if you want. Just feel like it may help people realize what is being "censored." Type shit like this I'll censor your ass all day. Regardless of who the anonymous user is in a comment like this.
126   WookieMan   2018 Feb 28, 9:59pm  

Patrick says
Yes, maybe the answer is that you get 3 comments as anon, but after that, you have to register to continue commenting from that IP.


I was more thinking a daily limit. As I mentioned, I bitch and whine about this topic a lot. But I do understand trying to be as anonymous as possible.

3 per day sounds reasonable to me. Only 3 posts in total as anon before a registration prompt and you're not going to have much retention for new users, or at least that's my guess. There's a balancing act here, but unfettered anon access to the forum I don't think has been a net positive to your whole operation. And there are flaws with registered users as well, but it's probably best to go after the low hanging fruit first..
127   Malcolm   2018 Mar 1, 7:49am  

It is funny, to me, that a rule saying be civil to each other is controversial and actually generated a debate.
128   Patrick   2018 Mar 1, 10:12am  

Malcolm says
It is funny, to me, that a rule saying be civil to each other is controversial and actually generated a debate.


Funny to me too.
129   WookieMan   2018 Mar 2, 10:19am  

@Patrick - Are anons back? Or did someone get clever with a new username on the thread with the teacher wanting to fuck that poor young boy?
130   Patrick   2018 Mar 2, 10:47am  

I'm changing things today and it was allowed again for a while. But the current plan is to just add username and email fields below the comment box when you are not logged in, so you can comment and register at the same time. That's how it used to be long ago, and I think it was the best way. It's still a speedbump, but not as much as a totally different registration step.

Sorry for all the experimentation. You'd think I'd have this down by now.
131   Patrick   2018 Mar 2, 10:50am  

Going to delete a lot of shit now.

Don't want to hear about other users or moderation policies. They are what they are.
132   anonymous   2018 Mar 2, 12:55pm  

Patrick says
Going to delete a lot of shit now.

Don't want to hear about other users or moderation policies. They are what they are.


Moving forward, should i continue to mark comments as personal when people call a user by a different, or old, user name?
133   Patrick   2018 Mar 2, 1:04pm  

Yes, please.
134   MisdemeanorRebel   2018 Mar 3, 5:05pm  

Getting an error message:

"Cannot read property 'name' of undefined"

Malcolm says
It is funny, to me, that a rule saying be civil to each other is controversial and actually generated a debate.


We're seeing a drive to censorship and "un-personing" "frowned upon speech" all over the internet. It's fine to have free speech without wallowing in ad hom insult slinging.

US Navy Pilot and Pediatrician Dr. Ari Friedman was suspended from Twitter, reasons unknown.
Sargon was suspended from Google and Youtube, despite having no red flags or warnings on any of his content. He's back on Youtube but not Google.
It's pretty clear that Social Media is "Experimenting" with algos. They had a mini-purge of the Liberal Centrists and Center-Right, although they didn't knock off the Actual Nazis, Muslim Extremist Accounts, or the Kill Yakub's White Devils accounts.
135   Patrick   2018 Mar 3, 5:15pm  

TwoScoopsPlissken says
Getting an error message:

"Cannot read property 'name' of undefined"


Oh shit, that looks like a major bug.

@TwoScoopsPlissken How did you get it? Can you reproduce it?
136   MisdemeanorRebel   2018 Mar 3, 5:30pm  

Let me try.

I also got "Are you connected to the internet?" over and over again when I tried to respond on the recent Soc Sec/Immigrant thread.

What fixed it was eliminating the quoted passage from the post, which took no problem, and then editing it back in.

I had thought the site was under Chicom attack again.
137   MisdemeanorRebel   2018 Mar 3, 5:39pm  



results in...

138   MisdemeanorRebel   2018 Mar 3, 9:16pm  

Hi @Patrick, the problem is related to quotes. Again in the Soc Sec thread, I tried quoting Bob so he could see exactly what I was responding to, and it said "Failed to Connect. Are you sure you're online?" or words to that effect.

Removing the quote, and it posted just fine.
139   Patrick   2018 Mar 4, 9:31am  

@TwoScoopsPlissken I have not been able to reproduce it. Does it still happen for you?

Which one of Bob's comments were you quoting? Thanks!
140   mell   2018 Mar 4, 9:34am  

Patrick says
@TwoScoopsPlissken I have not been able to reproduce it. Does it still happen for you?

Which one of Bob's comments were you quoting? Thanks!


Encountered that too, but didn't have a quote in it. Was thinking maybe it got a disconnect earlier on the first attempt and somehow the contents are hashed and it simply returns a cached response. Changing the post in any way resolved it.

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