American Lung Association Vs. Electronic Cigarettes

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kristin

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Congratulations, your article made it on Slashdot:

Slashdot Your Rights Online Story | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

For those who don't know, Slashdot is the biggest technology/science news site on the net.

There's actually a term, "slashdotted", which refers to sites which end up crashing under the weight of traffic directed to them after being mentioned on Slashdot:

Urban Dictionary: slashdotted

Wow! That is awesome! Thanks for letting us know!! Hopefully it'll increase visibility. So far only about 740 views total.
 
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kristin

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Interesting comments at that site. i tried to post rebuttels to two comments - one accusing me of being a paid shill and the other claiming she called the ALA and they told her they WEREN'T trying for an overall ban.Posted two great responses and they looked posted, but I can't find them now. now I'm too tired to post them all over - so if anyone wants to defend me...lol!
 
Interesting comments at that site. i tried to post rebuttels to two comments - one accusing me of being a paid shill and the other claiming she called the ALA and they told her they WEREN'T trying for an overall ban.Posted two great responses and they looked posted, but I can't find them now. now I'm too tired to post them all over - so if anyone wants to defend me...lol!

No joke, Kristin, I literally did the EXACT same thing! I was even trying to reply to those same 2 posts. LOL.
 

JustJulie

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No joke, Kristin, I literally did the EXACT same thing! I was even trying to reply to those same 2 posts. LOL.

Me, too. I figured part of the problem was that I didn't sign up for an account, so it was an anonymous. When I finished, it showed the author of the comment as "Anonymous Coward." ROFL! If I had known they labeled anonymous comments like that, I would have gotten an account. :oops:

Anyway, I couldn't find my comment again. :(
 

Heed

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It might be because you didn't sign up for an account. Account holders can choose to post anonymously by checking a box next to the post box, but non account holders are always seen as "anonymous coward". Comments are also displayed based on the rating score and anonymous posters (non account holders or account holders posting anon) are ranked lower by default, so it may be that the comments are there but filtered out due to low rating.

I have seen weird issues before with posts I've made not showing on the page but showing up if I check my account listing which shows all my posts.

If you want to comment I think your best bet is to create an account.
 

Heed

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Wow! That is awesome! Thanks for letting us know!! Hopefully it'll increase visibility. So far only about 740 views total.

No prob. You might not get that many direct hits to the article itself. It depends on the story if people actually go to the original source page or just base the discussion around the summary. Things that have video or other media on the original source page that isn't given in the summary tend to generate a lot more traffic back to the originating source. Things like your article where just reading the summary gives a basis for discussion usually don't lead to as much traffic back -- there's an acronym that's used quite often on Slashdot -- RTFA -- read the "frigging" article. It's common for discussion to occur without a lot of posters reading the originating article -- thus the chiding nature of the acronym.

600+ comments is a very good number for a Slashdot discussion.
 

kristin

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No prob. You might not get that many direct hits to the article itself. It depends on the story if people actually go to the original source page or just base the discussion around the summary. Things that have video or other media on the original source page that isn't given in the summary tend to generate a lot more traffic back to the originating source. Things like your article where just reading the summary gives a basis for discussion usually don't lead to as much traffic back -- there's an acronym that's used quite often on Slashdot -- RTFA -- read the "frigging" article. It's common for discussion to occur without a lot of posters reading the originating article -- thus the chiding nature of the acronym.

600+ comments is a very good number for a Slashdot discussion.
Good to know. Strangely, I can only access the first 20 or 30 comments. You can tell a lot of people don't RTFA!! LOL
 

kristin

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No joke, Kristin, I literally did the EXACT same thing! I was even trying to reply to those same 2 posts. LOL.

Me, too. I figured part of the problem was that I didn't sign up for an account, so it was an anonymous. When I finished, it showed the author of the comment as "Anonymous Coward." ROFL! If I had known they labeled anonymous comments like that, I would have gotten an account. :oops:

Anyway, I couldn't find my comment again. :(
We can't win, hey guys? We have to look "official" or the legislators and antis won't take us seriously and because we look so official, the rest of the population thinks we're paid shills and doesn't trust us. :rolleyes:

I think it's time CASAA has a History of CASAA page and board member bios. I'm going to start writing today. Even if the legislators read it, they'll know where we are coming from - especially since Webby did such a nice job on the web site, even the legislators & antis think we're just a front for ecig companies. :mad:
 

Heed

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Here are some of your posts:

Kristin:

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

Others:

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

If you look on the left hand side of the article page there should be a display saying how many posts have been made and how many are hidden/abbreviated. You should be able to load more (click the word "more") comments into the page and see them show up. There's a threshold where they drop out posts from the default view so as to keep the page from getting bogged down. Usually posts made later and anonymously. Discussion/moderation tends to be done after a day or so on most articles.

I wouldn't worry too much about the question of being funded by the e-cig industry. Only one person made that point and was rebuffed. The overall discussion was decidedly in favour of the e-cig and there were many good points brought up.
 
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Shortstuff116

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It's so unfortunate to read threads and posts like these and realize just how much money I have donated to the American Lung Association over the years. Not any more.

At a minimum, the next time they call asking for donations I'll simply tell them I'll not give them one more penny as long as I live if they continue their campaign against electronic cigarettes. If enough people start making such comments to those looking for donations perhaps the higher-ups in the ALA may think about what they are doing.

The last thing they want to do is start losing donations!

:thumb:
 

Shortstuff116

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Oh, and I'm a firm believer in "going to the source" and just contacted the ALA via email:

"Over the years (I'm 54 now) I have donated money to the ALA. Now I find out that you are involved in a campaign against electronic cigarettes. Are you kidding me? Can you provide me with any evidence, credible evidence that vaping an electronic cigarette is harmful and I would be more than happy to tell you otherwise. I quit smoking after 36+ years of 2 packs a day INSTANTLY with my electronic cigarette. I have been smoke-free for almost 6 months now and haven't felt or been this healthy in YEARS. As long as the ALA continues the fight against e-cigs, the less donations you'll get - starting with me. I'm so disgusted to see how the ALA can allow politics and money to dominate such an organization. Please respond."

I'll post any response I get from them.

:thumb:
 

curiousJan

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No joke, Kristin, I literally did the EXACT same thing! I was even trying to reply to those same 2 posts. LOL.

Slashdot does not show all posts by default. There is a Get More Comments button at the bottom that will display the rest of the comments.

Jan (* who's a geek and reads slashdot quite regularly *)
 

kristin

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Here are some of your posts:

Kristin:

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

Others:

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

Slashdot Comments | American Lung Association Pushes For Ban On Electronic Cigarettes

If you look on the left hand side of the article page there should be a display saying how many posts have been made and how many are hidden/abbreviated. You should be able to load more (click the word "more") comments into the page and see them show up. There's a threshold where they drop out posts from the default view so as to keep the page from getting bogged down. Usually posts made later and anonymously. Discussion/moderation tends to be done after a day or so on most articles.

I wouldn't worry too much about the question of being funded by the e-cig industry. Only one person made that point and was rebuffed. The overall discussion was decidedly in favour of the e-cig and there were many good points brought up.
Thanks for finding those! I feel better now, lol! It must have a delay to posting.
 

kristin

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Slashdot does not show all posts by default. There is a Get More Comments button at the bottom that will display the rest of the comments.

Jan (* who's a geek and reads slashdot quite regularly *)
I kept clicking thaty and it just seemed to flicker and nothing happened, lol!

Kristin (*who is obviously not geeky enough!)
 

curiousJan

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I kept clicking thaty and it just seemed to flicker and nothing happened, lol!

Kristin (*who is obviously not geeky enough!)

It adds more posts to what you're viewing ... yes, it is a bit confusing because they will be interspersed with what you were already viewing.

Jan
 

kristin

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It adds more posts to what you're viewing ... yes, it is a bit confusing because they will be interspersed with what you were already viewing.

Jan
Ah...that's what I thought, but when I scrolled back up, they all looked like the same posts, lol. It was getting late...
 

kristin

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If you look on the left hand side of the article page there should be a display saying how many posts have been made and how many are hidden/abbreviated. You should be able to load more (click the word "more") comments into the page and see them show up. There's a threshold where they drop out posts from the default view so as to keep the page from getting bogged down. Usually posts made later and anonymously. Discussion/moderation tends to be done after a day or so on most articles.
I just joined and it looks completely different when you are a member! :p
 
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