Is it time to take a different approach to dealing with Dribble.
What I have in mind is an agreement between as many of the regulars as possible *never* to respond directly to any of Dribbles drivel. If anything he says needs to be called into question it can be done indirectly by responding to the op rather than Dribble.
Anyone up to composing a faq on Dribble to warn the unwary newbie what to expect or is that going too far?
I have had him in the KF for a year and all is quiet, except when regulars talk to him.
In a post a few days ago I said that regulars seem to keep him to unwind after a bad customer day. This is the only reason I can find for so many, apparently enjoying long conversations with him. :))
As a relative newbie I can't see what the problem is with Dr Dribble.
He obviously has a lot of enemies on this group who slag him off regardless of the contents of his posts. Granted he gives back what he gets, but he rarely instigates the rows.
It seems to me that whatever he posts, no matter how sensible, will automatically be attacked by certain others.
From what I've seen he has posted some sensible opinions on this group.
I do think it is time to take a different approach - treat him like everyone else, grow up and possibly learn something.
Dave
Oh gawd! the start of another long winded post.
-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite
The message from "david lang" contains these words:
Not been following the thread Steam powered cars then?
Not very observant are you. On the rare occasions Dribble does preach sense he is not slagged off and others will even agree with him. He instigates the exchanges by posting bunkum.
The problem with Dribble is that you need to know the subject in order to sort the little wheat from the tons of chaff. Those who need the advice aren't in a position to do that.
He can't be treated like everyone else because he isn't open to reason. No matter how insane his ideas are he will not shift one iota. He has fixed views on everything.
The gospel according to Dribble Central heating - fit a combi or fit two if you must have a reasonable volume of hot water. Inadequate mains pressure of flow no problem. Do not *ever* stick with a conventional system. Have you got a normal sized bath in you house. Oh no you haven't. Dribble has decreed that an average bath is exceedingly small. No mountains in the UK but Dribble is unable or unwilling to share his definition of a mountain. Two thirds of the cost of a house is the cost of the land it sits on. You can't have too much insulation in a house. (He has repealed the law of diminishing returns).
He has in the past asked for an explanation of latent heat (something a heating engineer should know all about), thought metres cubed was a measure of velocity and is absolutely clueless about much of what should be basic knowledge were he really a heating engineer. The long screeds we sometimes see that do make sense are usually cut and pasted from elsewhere.
He claims to have a University Degree but declines to say what in or where from.
He claims to own a Prius and a DB6 in addition to a Cooper but is remarkable vague about certain aspects of the first 2 and the Cooper has only been mentioned in the last week.
He claims to have both a town flat and a country property but rails against the land owners who have more than their fair share and thinks the planning laws are the ruination of us all.
His real name is probably John Burns Curtis but on this ng he has gone under various pseudonyms including Adam, IMM, Dr Evil and his current incarnation Drivel. He has a brother who posts as timegoesby who is equally clueless in most matters.
He is too young to have retired but from the volume of his postings and the speed of his responses he must spend the majority of his waking hours glued to the Internet.
Seems most learned regular posters do this already Perhaps you should first try and practice what you preach. as in
Nope, cant say I have time for tittle tattle.
-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite
You missed:
Don't use push-on plastic plumbing connectors as they fly off and embed themselves in the opposite wall.
Colin Bignell
The message from "Mark" contains these words:
proposing a change of approach by those of us who have tried to counter Dribbles drivel from the start.
Dribble has been a PITA ever since he started posting here and while you might possibly have been around then I don't recognise your name as someone with a history on this ng. I actually gave up reading the group regularly some time ago due the the amount of noise Dribbles presence generated.
The absence of my individual contribution is not going to make a significant difference if everyone else carries on as normal.
I agree. He has offered some good advice in the past.
sponix
He isn't the problem, it's the instant yah boo replies and cascades of same that are. You've the right idea if you refrain from partaking.
I wouldn't be part of this. I like him - I'd miss him if he wasn't here.
How about this for a proposition: better subject lines for posts. I mean really...
You are either part of the problem or part of the solution, Dimm has just as much right to post here as anyone else and is not the problem. its people like you that seem to get a kick from Dimm baiting that is responsible for so many threads degenerating into the Steam Powered nonsense. Do you know what a Kill-file is, would you like instructions on how to use it.
Oh so you're another one who claims to have been posting since before the internet was even invented so we must all bow to your leadership.
Everyone else ? make a list of all the contributors to that thread on the left, on the right make a list of all the regular posters who manage to refrain from the childish Willie-waving. Notice anything interesting between the two lists, in the useful to DIY knowledge-base type poster.
-|Do you know what a Kill-file is, would you like instructions on how to = use |it.
Couldn't resist that ?invitation? see sig.
--=20 Dave Fawthrop =20 Killfile and Anti Troll FAQs at=20
There is a major flaw in your approach. Adam, News, DIMM, Drivel or one of his sock puppets produces a torrent of nonsense, interspaced with only a very few useful pointers. Since the ethos of this group is to share knowledge (correct not cut and paste adverts or falsehoods) then it becomes a neccessity to correct the alternative reality outpourings. I have no patience with those who will not listen, so he lives in my killfiles along with his morphing IDs. I admire those with the patience to demolish his falsehoods but just wish the threads would not stretch so far. Perhaps an exotic, terminal disease would cure the newsgroup pollution?
How about a new group going "moderated" ?
Mungo
This comes up every so often, usu. with a concensus reached (no). If the blabbermouths would button their lips, there wouldn't be a problem. Two more have recently joined in, which doesn't help at all.
The message from "Mark" contains these words:
You really do come across as a patronising arse. Dribble is the problem because of his closed mind and the rubbish he spouts. If he didn't post nonsense he wouldn't get challenged so often and if he had the sense to see when he gets things wrong the threads wouldn't go on and on.
No you thick pillock I just wasn't sure that you were aware of Dribbles antecedents. Should you so wish you can use Google to find that I have only been posting to this ng since 1996 so I am a relative newbie myself.
There are some 500 unexpired postings of that thread on my computer. As it was a cross posted thread some contributors probably don't take this ng but as I am not sure which to leave out I have listed all the authors in order of output. I don't think any of them would be enamoured by your gratuitous insults.
Drivel 191 Adrian 62 Clive 60 John Wright 30 Steve Firth 28 Dave Plowman 27 The Natural Philosopher 20 Roger 15 Alistair J Murray 13 Phil Bradshaw 12 Andy Hall 11 Steve Walker 8 Capitol 6 Tony Bryer 5 Huge 5 Simon Hobson 2 John Cartmell 1 Rob Morley 1 G Harman 1 Paul Herber 1 Grant 1 Brian Sharrock 1 Killa 1 Brimstone 1
If it were to be moderated, I'd rather have D. as a moderator than some of the idiots who jump in and complain about everything he says without reference to the truth or relevance of what he says.
I did say "new group", not "replacement group". As with many things in life you aren't compelled to read the new group.
I'm not that certain, but I think that it can't be that difficult to setup a new group dedicated to the opinions of certain vociferous individuals. Then encourage said individuals to migrate over to the new home (and at the same time establish a moderated DIY group for the UK). So everyone's happy.
Mungo
P.S. Any plot similarities to the "B Ark" from HHGTTG is purely unintentional :-)
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