The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[NotWise]

I have a program that checks for me at rates that vary with the amount of traffic, but I still refresh my works page more than I should.

 

[NotWise]

I cut two gladiolas this morning, and one was something I've never seen before. It was a rust red with variegations. I marked the plant so maybe that corm wouldn't get tossed as extra next spring.

In addition to the glads, I brought in the first melon plus tomatoes and jalapenos. There weren't any cucumbers about ready. Unless something changes my mind pretty soon, I'm going to get rid of those vines. The problem will be to unsnarl them from the melon vines without damaging the melon vines.

 

[MrPixel]

Sooo, do y'all also check your works page every five minutes after your latest story/chapter is published? XD I imagine that eventually dulls, lol

I've managed to get to the point where I only check it about 1-3 times a day.

I was doing the former at first, then "matured" into the latter, and now I'm checking frequently again.

Why? I'm keeping a table of votes on new stories. It's not precise, but through frequent checks and a slight bit of spreadsheet magic I can interpolate the individual votes, though obviously not the "who." It was suggested I do this after discerning scores were being hammered with malicious down-votes.

It has become worse since participating in the Nude Day contest last month. So, yes, entering contests increases your visibility, but, yes, entering contests increases your visibility. I now have "followers" who are there for the sole purpose of knocking scores down. Very frustrating, but it's definitely a long-understood fact-o'-life that LitE scores are not honest. That moneyed awards and "top lists" are determined by scores and the scoring system is easily corrupted... well... you figure it out.

 

[iwatchus]

I also try to keep track of the different votes tallied. I really wish the site would give us a simple histogram on the author page, maybe a pop up if we clicked on it? If I wake up to see four votes and a 4 rating, I feel very different about getting four 4s rather than three 5s and a 1.

The Nude Day contest actually helped contain my habit. I was really bad for about the first week and a half and then one evening I was getting 1 after 1 after 1 and I just couldn't;t watch any more. I think several of us withstood massive bombardment that evening. I only checked sporadically after that.

 

[NotWise]

Half of that melon I picked this morning became breakfast. It was a charentais-type melon. A charentais is a small, French variety of cantaloupe. I grew a similar melon last year and liked their productivity and small size.

I read that they should have a strong floral scent (in addition to the musk) and a honey-like flavor. The ones I grew last year smelled and tasted more like a normal cantaloupe. I had to imagine the difference. This year, not so much. The scent and flavor were both very strong and distinct.

I've read that charentais melon seeds sold in the US are always from hybrids. Not sure why. Could be to prevent seed-savers from propagating them, could be for size or disease resistence. Apparently some varieties preserve the original character better than others. This variety (named Alvaro) did very well.

Last year I wondered what it would cost to buy a ripe charentais. The only source I found wanted $21 each for the small melons.

 

[NotWise]

I also try to keep track of the different votes tallied. I really wish the site would give us a simple histogram on the author page, maybe a pop up if we clicked on it? If I wake up to see four votes and a 4 rating, I feel very different about getting four 4s rather than three 5s and a 1.

The Nude Day contest actually helped contain my habit. I was really bad for about the first week and a half and then one evening I was getting 1 after 1 after 1 and I just couldn't;t watch any more. I think several of us withstood massive bombardment that evening. I only checked sporadically after that.

If it helps, the probability of getting four consecutive 4* votes isn't usually very good.

It seems like a simple histogram would be within reach, but other features may have higher priority. Swept votes could cause some complications.

It's something I wanted, and getting the distribution was the main reasons I started closely monitoring voting. The normal vote distribution isn't surprising. You often see the same pattern on product ratings at sites where they do give a histogram. Votes follow a finite geometric distribution, but you need quite a few votes before you get the clear pattern. It showed up very well in category-by-category vote totals that 8letters compiled a couple years ago.

1* votes are an unusual feature. The way I estimate the "norm" for 1* votes is to calculate the distribution for the infinite geometric distribution, but compile all the probabilities below 2* into the total for 1*. It works well in most cases, but there are categories (Romance being the most obvious) with a pattern of punitive voting, where some readers will vote 1* to teach the author a lesson. In the specific case of Romance, the punishment is for posting something that isn't a Romance.

Based (again) on 8letters compilation, punitive voting isn't very common. It isn't even common in Loving Wives. Voting in Loving Wives differs from voting in other categories only because the average score is lower.

I'd like to know the readers' thought process that produces a geometric distribution. I have a theory, but it isn't very useful.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I can see a hummingbird on a wire 40-50 feet away, but I have trouble getting a screwdriver into a screw head three feet in front of me.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I'm not obsessive about score, but I got a kick out of watching the Follower count jump after a couple of stories. Seems like there were almost 200 after one story.

 

[GrantBricksly]

Ok....so editing is taking up more time than I anticipated...lol

Ch 8 is done for what it's worth...but then I decided to go back and make a pass through everything else to make sure I fixed some things. I introduced something in Ch 8 that I thought MIGHT have cause a continuity issue with earlier chapters...so I'm going through everything piece by piece for edits...continuity..making sure I've kept my tense correct...spelling/grammar checks again, etc...But hey..I'm up to Ch 7 now...so..thats something

 

[NuclearFairy]

Perhaps I spoke too soon about my orcs being too calm. Now I've got an orc in a murderous rage, murdering another orc. And the chapter's not done yet. There might be another slaying on the horizon. Bloody orcs.

 

[TheRedLantern]

Perhaps I spoke too soon about my orcs being too calm. Now I've got an orc in a murderous rage, murdering another orc. And the chapter's not done yet. There might be another slaying on the horizon. Bloody orcs.

Even when you're the author, you can't leave orcs alone for too long before they start wildin' and gettin' rowdy.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Even when you're the author, you can't leave orcs alone for too long before they start wildin' and gettin' rowdy.

And yet they claim that they're simple creatures with simple needs...

I guess one of those needs just so happens to be murderin'.

 

[Bomberaw]

I was doing the former at first, then "matured" into the latter, and now I'm checking frequently again.

Why? I'm keeping a table of votes on new stories. It's not precise, but through frequent checks and a slight bit of spreadsheet magic I can interpolate the individual votes, though obviously not the "who." It was suggested I do this after discerning scores were being hammered with malicious down-votes.

It has become worse since participating in the Nude Day contest last month. So, yes, entering contests increases your visibility, but, yes, entering contests increases your visibility. I now have "followers" who are there for the sole purpose of knocking scores down. Very frustrating, but it's definitely a long-understood fact-o'-life that LitE scores are not honest. That moneyed awards and "top lists" are determined by scores and the scoring system is easily corrupted... well... you figure it out.

Yeahhh, I'm SUPER sure my new chapter is getting maliciously downvoted too. Find out in this chapter that the MC is trans, so, go figure I guess.

I expected it, but I'm still disappointed as hell.

 

[Bomberaw]

Also; is there some secret to the series feature? I have both chapters in a series together, but they don't show as a series on my account. And the series has been published.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Titled the way you have them, they should be picked up as a series automatically, but it may take a few days.

If not, you can do it manually.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Also; is there some secret to the series feature? I have both chapters in a series together, but they don't show as a series on my account. And the series has been published.

Even when you add them manually it can sometimes take a few days for it them to show up in it in your story listing.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

This is gonna suck SOOOOO hard!!!!

Saturday Sunny, with a high near 96. Calm wind.
Saturday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 73. Calm wind.
Sunday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind.
Sunday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 74. Calm wind.
Monday Sunny and hot, with a high near 97. Calm wind.
Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 73. Calm wind

 

[Bomberaw]

Even when you add them manually it can sometimes take a few days for it them to show up in it in your story listing.

Ahhh, okay. That makes sense, thanks!

 

[iwatchus]

@MillieDynamite I have to say. I liked your old eye much better. Too bad they had to screw it up.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

So did I. Maybe it was the hair.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Yeah, they f*ed me in the ass, didn't they.

@MillieDynamite I have to say. I liked your old eye much better. Too bad they had to screw it up.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

This one's got a good arched brow though.

 

[iwatchus]

At least I don't get you confused with Lobster any more. I seem to process the avatar only with my peripheral vision or something. So your red show and his lobster were interchangeable.I would regularly start reading one or your posts (or his) and say this doesn't feel right for you (or him) and look more closely. I have the same problem with @SimonDoom and @THBGato.

The white circle is anonymous enough that I am forced to read the user name. I think it was @NuclearFairy who said she had the opposite problem, where she mostly used the avatar and can't keep the names straight. So this must be driving her crazy.

 

[NuclearFairy]

At least I don't get you confused with Lobster any more. I seem to process the avatar only with my peripheral vision or something. So your red show and his lobster were interchangeable.I would regularly start reading one or your posts (or his) and say this doesn't feel right for you (or him) and look more closely. I have the same problem with @SimonDoom and @THBGato.

The white circle is anonymous enough that I am forced to read the user name. I think it was @NuclearFairy who said she had the opposite problem, where she mostly used the avatar and can't keep the names straight. So this must be driving her crazy.

It very much is. But I'm learning to recognize people by how they speak.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I have images of green, yellow and pink shoes I could load, but I'm still a little miffed at this whole thing and how it was(n't) discussed.




Annnnd there was someone who made a crappy comment in relation, sooooo....