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Since I got a job as a PHP developer, my perl usage has basically stopped and I haven't posted anything on Perl Monks for quite a while (my last post before this was on 20th December 2001). However, I still come back every now and then to read some random nodes and blather away on the chatterbox. My contributions to the CB are mostly nonsense that I'm sure some people won't want to read, but I amuse myself at least and there are sufficient measures in place to filter out unwanted noise so I've never worried about annoying anyone too much.

Now, about 20 minutes ago I was happily typing away to myself in the CB, and up comes a message from tye:

<tye> Nope, it doesn't appear to be working.

"Very mysterious", I thought to myself. "What can he mean by that?" Nobody except me had said anything for a while, so it wasn't replying to anyone else. What wasn't working?

Well, apparently he was working on a new feature for Perl Monks: the ability to take away a user's ability to say anything in the chatterbox. Becasue soon after the above comment, my CB form disappeared.

Here's the next few comments that came up:

<mischief> fix it!
<tye> Won't be an "it" until after we fix him
<mischief> who?
<mischief> stop being all mysterious tye

I then started to talk about how he should be cryptic because it doesnt suit him, especially on fridays, in fact nobody should be cryptic on fridays, fridays should be open and happy days, etc. (There's a few more comments after this which I'll happily post if asked.) Not exactly a valuable contribution to the world of Perl really, but like I say I amuse myself.

So, anyway, then my CB form disappears. (Ironically just as I'd submitted an apology to theorbtwo for a couple of previous comments made solely so I could use a weak pun.) No private message beforehand to warn me, no official email to my account saying that I'm A Bad Monk and please stop wasting people's time, no explanation in any way at all. Just no way to talk on the chatterbox anymore.

There's an /ignore feature built in to the chatterbox (see the 3rd Answer in the Chatterbox FAQ). People don't have to read anything anyone else writes. And there are, as far as I know, no rules, guidelines, hints, or precedents about what's allowed and not allowed on the chatterbox. So I think this kind of sucks.

The thing that gets me most is the lack of any kind of warning or attempt to communicate with me. Perl Monks is a place where people discuss ideas and share opinions, right? It's an open, friendly forum used by all all types of people, from all around the world, right? Not somewhere people get told to sit in the corner until they can behave like everyone else.

Well, whatever. I suppose I'm taking it all a bit too seriously and am being naive to expect anyone to sympathise with this post. It's a shame though; there's not many things like Perl Monks that can be taken seriously.

I just previewed this post, and it looks like I can talk on the CB again. But I'm a good boy; I only have to get my wrist slapped once to learn whatever valuable lesson is being taught. People get punished for a reason, after all. No more CB for me.

In reply to On Being Silenced by mischief

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