Comments on: ITCS’2012 in Cambridge, MA

By: Nilima

Nilima — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:04:06 +0000

Yup, please don’t stop blogging. If not to your field, you owe it to a pair of sleep-deprived mathematicians whose entertainment options are currently seriously constrained. Please. Don’t abandon us to a world of Diego the bloody, irritatingly perky, ‘animal-rescuer’.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:17:58 +0000

Thanks so much, everyone!

By: anon

anon — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 12:35:08 +0000

Scott,

Apologies if I crossed the line of respectful commenting and expressing disagreement within acceptable norms. Like others I hope that you will continue to blog.

By: Luke G

Luke G — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 07:18:43 +0000

Let me join in supporting Scott for all the efforts he’s gone through to provide the public with an entertaining, educational, and insightful blog.

Scott, I’ve never found you controversial. You’re more lively than some others–and that’s one reason why people love this blog!–but you’re not controversial. The critical comments directed towards you on this blog are exasperating, even for me as a reader. Some of the hypersensitivity expressed boggles my mind. And some are just trolls (intentional or not), but seem to be taken seriously, even by you on occasion. IMHO, even apparently good-natured stuff like #12 is off-topic and dilutes the value of the blog to readers. (FWIW, I disagree with the commenter.)

If I were running the blog, all these comments would be insta-delete. If someone has serious concerns, send a private email. It’s not like you should rely on blog commenters to correct any career limiting moves you might make, so why let the poo-pooers dominate the comment section?

Anyway, please consider comment moderation, or even turning off comments, before turning off the blog. I would find it a real loss.

By: Huck Bennett

Huck Bennett — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 06:37:51 +0000

Hi Scott,

As with many important blogs, I think that there are ten appreciative SO readers for every anonymous troll. Of course, the latter take up most of the comments. I cast my vote strongly in the “please keep blogging” category.

By: Joe Fitzsimons

Joe Fitzsimons — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:52:32 +0000

The CS theory blogosphere seems to have a serious issue with anonymous commenters, and anonymous ad hominem attacks in comment threads seem to be becoming the norm rather than the exception (not just here, but also on Lance and Bill’s blog, etc.). I have no idea what drives this, but it certainly makes me question whether anonymous comments are really worth the hassle. I strongly feel that in situations like this you shouldn’t say anything you are not willing to have your name attached to.

Scott, with the decoherence of the original quantum pontiff, this blog is now the only one I check regularly. It is both entertaining and informative, and would be sorely missed should you choose to stop blogging. That said, I would absolutely understand if you chose to stop. No one should have to put up which such a constant and incessant stream of crap.

By: kodlu

kodlu — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 11:06:36 +0000

@Cindy: I think you’re deluded.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:31:12 +0000

We should boycott conferences held in communist China. If ITCS is returning to China, then we should boycott it in the US, too. What do you think?

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:58:15 +0000

Scott,

This is one of the best blogs on the internet for TCS along with Dick and Ken’s. I have loved your poignant insights and your willingness to voice strong opinions on everything from D-Wave to the Vinay Deolalikar affair, along with the informative posts related to quantum computation. Not many leading researchers are as generous in this respect and I, for one, would be saddened if you stopped blogging.

One alternative, although, I am not terribly fond of it, would be to disable the anonymous comments.

By: L. Thayer

L. Thayer — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:36:38 +0000

I do wonder what is in alphabetical order- the University, the presentation titles, or the presenters