Amiga.org

Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: Tension on October 23, 2009, 01:20:47 AM

Title: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on October 23, 2009, 01:20:47 AM
I sometimes go through the old forum threads on Amiga.org when i`m bored.  Sometimes they make for very interesting reading.  Reading posts from people who have since disappeared from Amiga.org etc.  Then I had an idea...

We have the random image feature, now showing more random images than ever.

What about a random thread feature??
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: coldfish on October 23, 2009, 02:13:54 AM
"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

ahem, +1 vote.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on October 23, 2009, 06:34:54 PM
Any Amiga.org Mods out there think it can be done??
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on November 01, 2009, 01:06:04 AM
Wayne???   Karlos???  Anyone there???
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Methuselas on November 01, 2009, 02:16:44 AM
Quote from: Tension;528016
Wayne???   Karlos???  Anyone there???



The Gods require gifts or sacrifice to be summoned!
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: skurk on November 01, 2009, 08:25:55 AM
I can do it, if no one else wants to.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: amyren on November 01, 2009, 10:15:44 AM
Quote from: skurk;528031
I can do it, if no one else wants to.


YOU'RE HIRED:)
(not  my call though)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Methuselas on November 01, 2009, 12:33:17 PM
Pssh.....


I'm going to assume that none of you are virgins, nor do you have any to ante up to the Amiga.org Gods, 'cos they ain't coming!  ;P

Don't look at me. I haven't been a virgin for a *LONG* time. :P
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Karlos on November 01, 2009, 01:35:38 PM
Quote from: Tension;528016
Wayne???   Karlos???  Anyone there???

Theoretically, it's easy enough to do. Making a vbulletin compliant module for the front page might not be so easy without the requisite documentation. Having said that, there might already be one available :)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on November 01, 2009, 02:20:10 PM
Quote from: Karlos;528059
Theoretically, it's easy enough to do. Making a vbulletin compliant module for the front page might not be so easy without the requisite documentation. Having said that, there might already be one available :)


I`ve never seen or heard of it being done before...  Could it be an Amiga.org exclusive?!?!?
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Methuselas on November 01, 2009, 07:52:25 PM
Quote from: Karlos;528059
Theoretically, it's easy enough to do. Making a vbulletin compliant module for the front page might not be so easy without the requisite documentation. Having said that, there might already be one available :)





Hmmmm..........


Okay, ONE of us here is a virgin.......... :laughing:


Tension has appeased the mighty Amiga.org Gods. Let us rejoice!
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: coldfish on November 03, 2009, 09:04:09 AM
LOL! @ Methuselas.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: AmigaHeretic on November 03, 2009, 09:10:59 AM
When I read the title "Random thread" I thought this was going to be a thread where we just post random stuff...

Like,

If a duck farts while swimming, does it's speed increase?
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on January 11, 2010, 02:22:57 PM
:bump:

ahem...
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Wayne on January 11, 2010, 02:28:40 PM
Quote from: Tension;528016
Wayne???   Karlos???  Anyone there???
This is one of those pivotal moments when I point out that you really need to talk to Bill P to see what he'd like to do.  As easy, or as hard as it may be (dunno, haven't looked), I'm specifically not touching anything to do with the administration of the site any more out of respect for the new owner(s).

Karlos could probably check vbulletin.org and have one installed in a few minutes if it existed and/or Bill agreed.

Wayne
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Cammy on January 11, 2010, 09:15:56 PM
What if people start replying to these old threads, simply to go "LOL, funny" and then all the Recent Topics area is full of ancient threads that have been bumped but aren't really relevant anymore?

Do people get so bored that they have nothing else to do? Why not start a new thread, try thinking up some ideas to contribute to the Amiga community, or read someone's post asking for help, do some research online then come back and reply to that person, helping them out.

I'm sure there's heaps of valuable information lost in those older posts, but the best way to get to it isn't to start pulling them out of the box randomly. If there's something specific we need to find out, there's the search function. Searching for something specific, finding it, reading through the thread and replying to it because it's the topic you were looking for in the first place seems more productive.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Karlos on January 11, 2010, 09:29:08 PM
LOL, funny!
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Cammy on January 11, 2010, 10:02:56 PM
:(
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Karlos on January 11, 2010, 10:06:40 PM
Quote from: Cammy;537707
:(

:lol:

It's a fair point, actually but to be honest, I only really see that sort of thing happening on threads that were supposed to be funny anyway.

You'd have to be pretty bored to stick a "lol" post on the end of a deep technical thread just for the sake of it, and if you were going to be that sad in the first place, you'd probably already be doing it on every thread anyway.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on January 12, 2010, 01:19:02 AM
Quote from: Cammy;537702
What if people start replying to these old threads, simply to go "LOL, funny" and then all the Recent Topics area is full of ancient threads that have been bumped but aren't really relevant anymore?

Do people get so bored that they have nothing else to do? Why not start a new thread, try thinking up some ideas to contribute to the Amiga community, or read someone's post asking for help, do some research online then come back and reply to that person, helping them out.

I'm sure there's heaps of valuable information lost in those older posts, but the best way to get to it isn't to start pulling them out of the box randomly. If there's something specific we need to find out, there's the search function. Searching for something specific, finding it, reading through the thread and replying to it because it's the topic you were looking for in the first place seems more productive.


What?
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: J-Golden on January 12, 2010, 05:13:40 AM
Quote from: Tension;537747
What?


I think what Cammy is trying to say is that there is a potential of new posts with active threads getting burried/pushed off of the "Top 10" list by people responding to the old, random threads.  

I to can see how this may kill a post that is not being added to rapidly, or hinder help asked for or given.  This would force ppl. to look into the individual forums to find what they need.

Maybe if there was a way for A.ORG to know the difference between a reply added through normal means and a comment in answer to the "Random Thread" of the day...
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on January 12, 2010, 10:45:49 AM
Quote from: J-Golden;537774
I think what Cammy is trying to say is that there is a potential of new posts with active threads getting burried/pushed off of the "Top 10" list by people responding to the old, random threads.  

I to can see how this may kill a post that is not being added to rapidly, or hinder help asked for or given.  This would force ppl. to look into the individual forums to find what they need.

Maybe if there was a way for A.ORG to know the difference between a reply added through normal means and a regurgitation spewed in answer to the "Random Thread" of the day...

- edited by mikeymike - language - dude, that's a bit strong!
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: fishy_fiz on January 12, 2010, 12:05:01 PM
Pull up a bit there fellow, show some respect. Agree/disagree/whatever, I dont give a hoot, but at best that response was a very poor choice of words.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Marcb on January 12, 2010, 12:08:04 PM
Quote from: AmigaHeretic;528252
When I read the title "Random thread" I thought this was going to be a thread where we just post random stuff...

Like,

If a duck farts while swimming, does it's speed increase?


Me too, and I think the duck's speed would decrease because the release of gas will make it less buoyant.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: arnljot on January 12, 2010, 12:25:09 PM
When it's going deeper in the water wouldn't that make it harder for the duck to paddle forward, in other words: reducing it's speed?

Hm, that was perhaps off topic.

But I don't think that the site would be flooded with old threads coming to the surface as duck farts. Only those who still bear intrest to the community would survive, and mods could kick users in the n*ts who post "LOL funny" on all the random threads. In Cammys case it wouldn't be the problem, as she wouldn't post it, and there are no **** to kick either.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: gertsy on January 12, 2010, 12:32:59 PM
What I'm still trying to figure out is if both Karlos and Wayne replied then there must be 2 Virgins in this thread.  

Maybe the duck ?  It floats like a Virgin... Or is that a Witch ?

And who's to be sacrificed.

"Ohh the humanity"

PS: Search works fine. I think.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Marcb on January 12, 2010, 12:35:37 PM
I personally like the idea, why not turn this thread into a poll?

Rather than have it show up with the other threads it could pop up in its own section like the random pic...

(I see yr point about the buoyancy of the duck working against it.. I will have to re-think my position)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Argo on January 12, 2010, 12:38:44 PM
Just go hunting in the depths of the various sub-forums, if you are so inclined. I agree with Cammy. Not a good idea for the Top 10 active topics. Would have to be a side box and even then, there are some forum topics I'd rather not see dredged to the surface. Random or not.
For your own amusement, go nuts. Put whatever weird keyword(s) in the search box and see what you get. Just don't be bumping them to the top, please.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Marcb on January 12, 2010, 01:04:17 PM
But...

If I type keywords into the search engine then the found topics wont be a random selection, one would hope they would be in some way related to my keywords.



That's the whole point of a random thread... It is random. :)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Argo on January 12, 2010, 01:10:38 PM
Use Random keywords.

Use that brain, AO users are smarter than the average bear.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Marcb on January 12, 2010, 01:15:49 PM
What we'll need then is random keyword generator and some way to seed it...
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Argo on January 12, 2010, 01:33:07 PM
Apparently, I failed in my message.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: xeron on January 12, 2010, 01:34:34 PM
Theres really no need to do it that way. The posts are in a database, picking a random thread is a simple modification to the SQL statement that selects a specific one.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: xeron on January 12, 2010, 01:39:16 PM
Click here for a random Amiga.org thread (http://www.petergordon.org.uk/aorgrand/)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Argo on January 12, 2010, 01:46:37 PM
using random keywords I though of, I was just tooling around reading a few old posts. One of which being from way back in 2002 when we went to Xoops!
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on January 12, 2010, 01:47:19 PM
Excellent!!!  :)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Karlos on January 12, 2010, 02:01:08 PM
Quote from: xeron;537827
Click here for a random Amiga.org thread (http://www.petergordon.org.uk/aorgrand/)


Do you scrape the latest posts page to get the id of the latest thread (for your random upper bound)?
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: xeron on January 12, 2010, 02:06:38 PM
No. I just did it manually. If a "proper" random thread feature doesn't materialise on a.org, i'll just update it whenever i remember to :-)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: J-Golden on January 12, 2010, 02:56:31 PM
Quote from: xeron;537827
Click here for a random Amiga.org thread (http://www.petergordon.org.uk/aorgrand/)


Works like a charm!  But both posts that came up were strated by Karlos... Hmmm... ;)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Karlos on January 12, 2010, 10:43:57 PM
On a different note, you can just put an arbitrary thread id into the URL manually. I just took a look at thread #1 (which is not necessarily the first thread on the site however, considering the import process from xoops changed a lot).

You'll never guess what it was...

http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1 (http://www.amiga.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Tension on January 12, 2010, 10:56:10 PM
Just read that thread and it is a bit spooky.

Some of the points raised are still being discussed on the forums today.  Literally.
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Trev on January 12, 2010, 11:07:26 PM
It's a religious war. A century from now, when the rest of us are using idle neurons for personal computing, there'll be a post-Amiga boinghead arguing for the return of the PowerPC. (Assuming there are still Amiga nuts a century from now. No living audiophile is arguing for the return of the wax cylinder.)
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Karlos on January 12, 2010, 11:10:28 PM
I once considered writing a simple strategy game based on platform wars, where there were factions for each major architecture. I amused myself with the basic design for quite a while, figuring out which units each faction would have, what capabilities etc.

Man, I used to have way more free time than I do now, eh?
Title: Re: IDEA: Random thread
Post by: Trev on January 12, 2010, 11:17:34 PM
Quite! I think an abstract game of Risk would suffice. ;-) Still, I'd play a Civilization-style game with whacked out Amiga units and crazy leaders. Or, I could fire up Nuclear War in UAE. Sounds like a plan.