Avatar discussion

[Shecky]

Actually, you're probably lucky they didn't call the police and have them digging up your yard looking for buried corpses.  ...that would have been kinda cool too, as long as they didn't find any.

And then you can bring suit against all those kids' families for false accusation / slander or some such. Let the good times roll.

[Chiroptera]

FM's avatar kinda gives me that whole metaphor loss of innocence kinda thing.

That's what I saw too.  I was going to say it, but I felt I should be swirling a wine glass if I did. 

[Paynesgrey]

Acorn, thanks for coming up with some solutions, Tallgrrl, thanks for field testing them.  I'll talk to the Gr'Up Mods about getting a sticky to let people know. 

In the meantime, can we get some links to the software you've tried?  Just to be sure we don't grab the wrong thing and post a link to something similar named that's infested with adware or somesuch.

[Ms Duck]

along Piotr idea, but not so creative i fear...get a pair of outdoor 'concelaed rock speakers' , then connect them to your computer sound system.

then browse for some Mp3s  (orangatan's mating is an old favorite)

enjoy.

 

[snowbank]

Whatever our avatars, someone somewhere will be creeped out by it.  

I disagree. I wasn't fond of the HP & Draco avatar, but that's because they looked so incredibly young. I quite like Blaze's tapestry, and mourn the passage of THE DUCK. Puppy avatars FTW, but many other avatars are fine.

but we're really not in the business of stomping out everything someone somewhere will find creepy, icky, ookey, or offensive.  

I agree. But when I got involved in this, one other (much more) tech savvy computer user had resorted to blocking it, and another poster spoke of nightmares. Just like art and pornography are something Supreme Court Justices know when they see it, so are distressing images. And I've looked at the full doll head, that is actually less creepy, imo. But why are those of us creeped out required to make the extra effort? With all the images in the world and on the web, what greater purpose/ideal is being served by this partial head? Just to creep people out? (I totally reject any Halloween connection.)

Certain verbal speech is not allowed on here. I see no reason the same does not apply to avatars.

[Mickey Finn]

SB,  while you are technically "someone, somewhere," he meant that with the proper baggage, any avatar used could theoretically be found creepy by at least one person.

Case in point...my old picture of myself I used here was just as harmless (if younger and thinner) as my current...and  apparently looked like someone's ex.

[Paynesgrey]

Short answer?  Because creepy is not one of the issues that The Owner and The Author have decided is verbotten.  We have certain standards of conduct, we have certain standards regarding acceptable topics.  But we prefer to take a minimalist approach on matters that don't cross those lines.  

Beyond that, we feel that the many should not be required to go through the extra effort to ensure their avatars are not creepy to the few who are unwilling to take the simple steps necessary to avoid seeing them.

[Paynesgrey]

Er, what he said.

[snowbank]

Beyond that, we feel that the many should not be required to go through the extra effort to ensure their avatars are not creepy to the few who are unwilling to take the simple steps necessary to avoid seeing them.

There is a big difference here. You are taking the macro view of 18,000 plus members possibly being creepy. I'm taking the micro view of one poster actually having an offensive avatar.

Since mods do see more, how many other avatars have there been complaints about?

And what was the resolution in those cases?

[Paynesgrey]

Only a handful of complaints that I can think of.  Perhaps One or two maybe have been asked to change, others have been left alone as they did not violate policy on the rough PG-13 standard for sexual content and language, or the Touchy Topics ban on sociopolitical commentary.

[Mickey Finn]

Only two in memory, both were sexual in nature. One changed before we said anything to him because he saw it squicked out some people and didn't think it was worth doing that, and the other changed when asked by a mod.

[Mickey Finn]

"There is a big difference here. You are taking the macro view of 18,000 plus members possibly being creepy. I'm taking the micro view of one poster actually having an offensive avatar. "

Offensive to you, because you associate it with child murder and torture. Others don't. Some find it creepy for other reasons. There isn't anything there that states the user is pro-murder/torture of anyone of any age.

You are perfectly welcome to ask the user...politely, as you did...to change it. However, the avatar is not violating any policies.

[AcornArmy]

In the meantime, can we get some links to the software you've tried?  Just to be sure we don't grab the wrong thing and post a link to something similar named that's infested with adware or somesuch.

Sure. I use Mozilla Firefox, with an add-on called Adblock Plus, which lets you block annoying spam images and such, preventing them from being displayed on your screen.

If you use Firefox, you can download the Add-on from the official Mozilla site here. That link goes directly to the Adblock Plus page at the official Mozilla Corporation website, so there should be no need to worry about adware or other viruses.

[Mickey Finn]

Some context to this post: it was in response to a deleted question from snowbank  asking why the mods aren't making him change the avatar since 3 people have stated it creeps them out. -Mickey

They said it was creepy. They're not calling for the mods to tell him to change it. They've come up with alternate ways of dealing with it if it bothers them, like ad-blocking.

If you're going to start using numbers, there are more than 3 who took the time to voice that they don't find it offensive at all. One even said his own avatar is creepier, and you said it was ok because it was cartoonish and couldn't move fast.

It's subjective.

"I personally would be more creeped out by an intact doll."

"I find it creepy; however, whatever thoughts I have about it, is on me.
I do not expect him to take it down "

"FM's avatar kinda gives me that whole metaphor loss of innocence kinda thing."

"On another note, AcornArmy's solution of using Adblock Plus and Pop-up Addons works like a champ, you can totally select specific adds or individual sources!  Frustration level (not to mention creepy level) went down exponentially.  Gotta love firefox."

"and as was mentioned earlier even Toy Story had a creepier one."

"So, is the avatar creepy? Kinda/sorta.
Is it over the line somehow? I don't think so at all.
At base, it is a picture of a child's toy with some missing bits.
Judging from some of the stuff that I've seen at the movies and in video games, it is not in any way improper for a PG-13 audience.
It would seem to me that those disturbed/offended should be the ones blocking the image as the most proper solution.
But if (FM) chose to change it because of being asked nicely, that would be very cool too...
And FWIW, I find clowns to be *much* creepier and waaay more disturbing.."

"I like the avatar and find it more funny then creepy imo."

"Man.. I totally dig your avatar."

"Eh? My avatar is more disturbing than that."

[tallgrrl]

I went and got the firefox add-on that AcornArmy speaks of, (you need *Adblock Plus* as well as *Adblock Plus Pop-up Addon* BTW.  Neither was a problem at all, anyone who has firefox should be at least a little familiar with their Add-ons.  I've gotta say it's GREAT!!!

I personally also use NoScript, which helps protect from 'clickjack' attempts by only allowing active java scripts to run on sites you approve.  It does take some active decision making though, I happen to think it's well worth the trouble though.  Here's the link to that.  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722/  Especially good if you or someone in your house tends to click on things first then think maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

Both work fine with at least my anti-virus software BTW, I suspect it's ok with most any of it,  in case that's worrying you.  Both also WAY reduce the adverts.