Introduction
Hello fellow players, as we know, we have seen many deadends spring up over the last week, much of it leading to some headaches at the forums and multiple explanations. Therefore, in an effort to stop this constant stream of useless information, we created this page to list everything discussed then thrown out. Whether it be OOG a meta problem or whatnot, it will be on here, including to the reasoning behing it.
TROUT: origin and meaning
Q: What is this 'trout' and why do people keep saying it.
A: Trout is a polite way to say "HEY YOU! this has laready been said before, make sure you read all the posts".
The creation of TROUT was on unfiction forums. I have provided a brief history and explanation below:
So, I've been meditating on what we can do to make our newbies feel more at home, and I've decided to use a strategy that's tried and true: we'll make up something new.
In particular, we're going to use a new word from now on: "trout".
Of course, "trout" is an old word, but it's an old word with a new meaning. When I say "trout" to you, I don't simply mean the fish, I mean to say to you: "Listen. I respect you. It's great that you're here and posting and that we're working together for a common goal. Nonetheless, I have some polite criticisms."
You may use the word trout as its own sentence, as in: "Trout. This is in the Trail, section 2.05."
Or, you may use it to refer to your polite constructive criticism: "Pardon my trout, but we've been talking about this most of the day… Read about it here."
You may use it as a verb: "I trout you. I think you've gotten confused about this."
Alternatively, you may use it as a pseudo- HTML tag: "<trout>You must mean metacortechs.com, not metacortex.com.</trout>"
You may use it as a post label, but try to use it in combo with other labels: "Subject: SPEC/TROUT Re: Evan is still alive!"
Finally, of course, you may decide not to use it at all. If so, please use some form of polite disclaimer whenever you offer constructive criticism, ESPECIALLY if that criticism is a correction of some factual mistake. It's very hard to communicate a polite attitude over e-mail. "Trout" will be one way to do it.
How will this help the newbies, you ask? Well, those newbies who know and understand "trout" will understand
that we're not mocking or disrespectful to those with whom we disagree or to those who post redundant information.
Those newbies who DON'T know what "trout" means will at least avoid confusing polite criticism with mockery. Why? Because there's something in the post, "trout," that they don't understand. It's hard to assume that a post you don't understand is being unduly harsh. It also leads the newbie to do exactly the right thing: to ask polite
questions.
Maybe this will work… maybe it won't. Either way, I hope that this place will become a little bit friendlier on account of it.
Use "trout." Make this list a better place to be.
Thank you.
- From "ANNOUNCE/META: Trout, and Newbies"
oo8-oo8-oo8.com/Nosey
While searching for Ian stalker you may come upon this website, which is much like TDS with the addition of a new character, Alex Nosey.
SotM has come out from behind the curtain to tell us this:
PS The oo8_oo8_oo8 site was a test site, and will be used for a future production, not WITG…now we go back where we belong.
Also, the writers of The Daily Stalker have said in one of the editorials that:
Allen Nosey was a reporter who worked for us over a year ago. Those who subscribed to our snail mail Publication may remember him. He was fired when he was caught snooping into Alex's business. Last we heard, he was living in a one bedroom apartment in downtown San Diego and was badly addicted to drugs. We no longer have contact with him.
He was most likely a beta character but apparently he has nothing to do with this game.
Ads by Google
I am going to quote mouse on this one:
I'm not certain google's exact algorithm, BUT: I believe it scan the page, picks out keywords and does a search on its top sites/sponsored/whatever and props them to the ads. Ads from google OFTEN change in the side boxes of many sites, as the rankings of individual sites change , the sites run out of money in their account for the pay per click, etc, etc, etc.
Site targeted advertisements
In 2003 Google introduced site-targeted advertising. Using the AdWords control panel, advertisers can enter keywords of interest, and Google offers to place ads on what they claim are relevant sites within their content network. Advertisers then bid on a cost per impression (CPM) basis for placement. Advertisers can also enter domains directly. Google will provide a list of related sites that you can select along with your entered site.
Once again, the search will vary on keywords - if they're vastly different, it's going to rotate the ads per refresh.
This is absolutly correct. The ads just scan the page for keywords.
Celebritas.com
This is absolutly not an IG site. After a small talk with the manager, I was informed that she had no clue about ARGs (besides a past phone call from another player) and it is 100% OOG
<meta name="revisit-after">
This time I am quoting djrbk:
Normally, cracking open the source code of a web page reveals a multitude of gems, Some gems however are fools gold. In the case of revisit-after, it's purpose is (supposedly) to indicate to search engines how often to refresh their cache of the page. It is not intended to indicate when the PM's are going to update the site.
