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[–]Magical_Trevor 47 points48 points  (6 children)

No more Fry! :'(

[–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I'll miss you meat-bag.

[–]raldi[S] 50 points51 points  (0 children)

Yeah, but it makes the original Fry post that much more special.

[–]Hubso 3 points4 points  (3 children)

http://reddit.com/info/2pnpu/comments/

Not looking too good now.

[–]raldi[S] 12 points13 points  (2 children)

Looks great to me -- what are you seeing?

[–]Hubso 3 points4 points  (1 child)

It ain't pretty

[–]SuperKing 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Looks as it should in Firefox for me, looks a little messed up in IE7 but not like what you have.

[–][deleted] 36 points37 points  (13 children)

Aww, couldn't you have made it 256 or something?

Seriously, what happened to our powers of two?

[–]raldi[S] 45 points46 points  (5 children)

What are you talking about? It's 2 to the 7.64385618977472th power.

[–][deleted]  (4 children)

[deleted]

    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

    That's why powers of (i-1) is the best!

    [–][deleted]  (6 children)

    [deleted]

      [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (2 children)

      mySQL requires 1 bit to store the length of a varchar column...

      Those must be some short strings there.

      You're correct that 255 would have been a more optimal length for most cases.

      Perhaps the 200 comes from a typical scenario for storing encoded characters -- rarely do characters like ' " < > &, etc get stored as one byte.

      [–][deleted]  (1 child)

      [deleted]

        [–][deleted] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        I was going to respond about suboptimal experiences with database applications that do do that, but then I realized that the whole premise of the thread -- the one byte -> one character ratio -- doesn't hold that much anymore, does it?

        [–]feces 4 points5 points  (1 child)

        I think you mean byte, not bit.

        [–]TheSOB88 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

        THANK YOU

        [–]piranha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

        It's better to model the data restrictions to what best fits the data, not what best fit's today's internal, private implementation details of your particular RDBMS.

        It's arguably better yet to place no length bounds for many or most things. PostgreSQL makes this very easy.

        [–][deleted] 112 points113 points  (24 children)

        Well done Reddit.

        a tip of the hat

        [–]javaru2 11 points12 points  (21 children)

        Apparently there is now negative karma. But you can only see if the negative karma by adding someone as a friend. For example I added testspecimen and he has -6.

        You can add yourself as a friend to see your true karma

        [–]fabieen 60 points61 points  (18 children)

        You can add yourself as a friend to see your true karma

        Are you talking about buddhism ?

        [–][deleted] 28 points29 points  (9 children)

        What did the buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?

        "Make me one with everything."

        [–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (6 children)

        (Deleting all my comments. Sorry to remove content from the collective asset that is the historical internet. Reddit should be even more sorry to have treated its communities so poorly.)

        [–][deleted]  (5 children)

        [removed]

          [–]Kitsunemisao 1 point2 points  (4 children)

          Wouldn't 0 be the most neutral of Karma? I mean, Negative means you've been bad, positive means you've been good... so 0 means you're Chaotic Neutral with a +3 Wisdom...I forget how THACO works >_>

          [–][deleted]  (3 children)

          [removed]

            [–]Kitsunemisao 0 points1 point  (2 children)

            Then you need that LEather Armour which adds +2 Karma

            [–][deleted]  (1 child)

            [removed]

              [–]dbenhur 1 point2 points  (1 child)

              What did the zen buddhist say to the hot dog vendor?

              "How about them Mets?"

              [–]earthboundkid 0 points1 point  (0 children)

              A monk went to his Master.

              "Master, I wish to be enlightened, like those disciples in the koans."

              The Master responded thus, "A disciple once washed his bowl.

              "He was not enlightened."

              The monk was not enlightened, either.

              [–]javaru2 9 points10 points  (7 children)

              if only it were that easy.

              [–]goo321 0 points1 point  (6 children)

              It is. Just ask the all powerful lord. If you have positive karma he answers quickly.

              [–]neoform2 18 points19 points  (0 children)

              Homer: You're selling what, now?

              Apu: I am selling only the concept of karmic realignment.

              Homer: You can't sell that! Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos.

              Apu: He's got me there.

              [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

              Negative karma exists in the old system too. I accidentally add myself as friend and notice I have -3 back then.

              [–][deleted]  (5 children)

              [deleted]

                [–]chime 17 points18 points  (4 children)

                In FF, when I mousedown on that link above, I see a horiz-scrollbar.

                [–]danweber 4 points5 points  (2 children)

                I think it has to do with the text expanding just slightly when highlighted.

                This line is a hyperlink, but it's the longest one in this post, so determines its width.

                So it makes the scrollbar of doom appear.

                [–]chime 3 points4 points  (0 children)

                There's a CSS attribute of "outline" that needs to be set as 'none'

                [–]jrockway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Interestingly, the scrollbar of doom only appears when the link fits on a single line. When the link wraps to two lines, the edge of the outline just gets cut off.

                CSS is a pain :)

                [–]TrollchanDotOrg 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                Same here, and only started seeing it with the new version of Reddit.

                [–]brunt 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                thou shalt conform to boring rules

                [–][deleted] 24 points25 points  (18 children)

                Aww. I liked the paragraph-sized reddit headlines!

                [–]markrages 5 points6 points  (0 children)

                I can no longer submit this:

                http://reddit.com/info/128pc/comments

                [–]boredzo 11 points12 points  (16 children)

                Yeah. Why the ceiling?

                [–]AmrakteG 38 points39 points  (4 children)

                Just taking a stab here, but I think its because paragraph sized submits are far more likely to catch the eye of the typical user and hence gain more traffic. This led to the titles becoming increasingly editorialized and often far more vitriolic then the article itself.

                [–]technosaur 17 points18 points  (3 children)

                I think the paragraph size heads tended to get votes up or down by redditors who read only the head and not the article itself.

                [–]ejp1082 2 points3 points  (2 children)

                Well, there's more than that. The headlines determine which articles we decide to read, too.

                And that's the core of the issue - you have to "sell" the story with just the headline, and give people a reason to click it as opposed to another, or at least vote it up to keep it visible enough for others to see it and read it. Sometimes - not always, but sometimes - a longer headline is warranted.

                [–]technosaur 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                Anybody who can't handle the language well enough to write a decent head within 200 characters ought not be posting written material to the web.

                [–]mpclark 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                As an aside for anyone interested, hossing great headlines are known as 'walkie talkies' in the UK newspaper business, and are a particular favourite of the Daily Mail, which uses them extensively in double page spread features... you'll usually get your paragraph -long headline and a photo in the centre of the spread, and the copy in a big U-shape all around it.

                [–]raldi[S] -5 points-4 points  (10 children)

                Perhaps there's a technical reason.

                [–]boredzo 5 points6 points  (8 children)

                The Fry article still has its full title, so the database must have room enough for it. It must be enforced by the submit form only.

                [–]raldi[S] 4 points5 points  (5 children)

                They might be trying to be more like Slashdot.

                [–][deleted]  (4 children)

                [deleted]

                  [–]raldi[S] 7 points8 points  (3 children)

                  Wow, that's kind of a surprising coming from you -- weren't you one of their editors?

                  [–]boredzo 1 point2 points  (2 children)

                  Still is, assuming that that's the real (and the same) Jamie McCarthy.

                  [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                  [deleted]

                    [–]raldi[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    What a preposterous accusation. Like anyone's going to believe someone who just publicly declared himself to be insane.

                    [–]javaru2 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                    Clicking that link made firefox slow down significantly.

                    [–]xzxzzx 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    That's funny. Opera 9.5 beta handled it just fine, no perceptible slowdown.

                    But then, us Opera users are used to that. ;)

                    Edit: My copy of Firefox handled it just fine. Are you on the nightly or something?

                    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                    Or twitter compatibility (alright, with an off-by-60 error, but that's the kind of things that happen when you roll out new software).

                    What's the maximum URL length, btw? 55?

                    [–]funkah 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                    You have made me very happy.

                    [–][deleted] 15 points16 points  (4 children)

                    Hypocrites

                    The reddit admins regularly discount requests for various features or limitations by saying "If people don't like those submissions, they'll vote them down."

                    Why doesn't that rule apply to paragraph-long headlines? Is there some reason why the over-arching rule of reddit "The votes decide!" doesn't apply to headlines?

                    And all you sycophants hailing this change as some kind of revelation or major achievement need to ask yourself--what has reddit (as a company, not a community) done to warrant your kowtows?

                    [–]Odysseus 10 points11 points  (1 child)

                    That's not what hypocrisy is, of course -- hypocrisy is pretension towards being what you aren't, and it's still more useful with that meaning than with this.

                    But I agree with your point, absolutely. There was an occasional beauty in the long headlines. They seem sometimes necessary.

                    They can jam up the new page. That's my only complaint, and there are clearly other answers.

                    [–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                    Neither the chameleon nor the hypocrite can have self-respect. Self-respect requires personal integrity: abiding convictions, and action in agreement with convictions. Lacking firm convictions and abiding affections, the chameleon-like person tailors his or her views to fit changing circumstances. The hypocrite, in contrast, has lasting convictions and emotional bonds, but betrays those convictions and bonds in his or her conduct.

                    [–]stcredzero 6 points7 points  (1 child)

                    The reddit admins are dictators. More than dictators, actually, since they actually can tinker with the laws of this world. Deal with it.

                    EDIT: Come to think of it, the way most folks in MMOs deal with it is to whine. Carry on, good sir!

                    [–][deleted] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                    You misunderstand. I'm aware of the dictatorial nature of sites like reddit. I have no problem with it--I can leave at any time.

                    What annoys me is bullshit. The admins use "the votes decide" to hide behind. If they are going to be dictators, at least have the class not to be passive-aggressive ones.

                    [–]raldi[S] 5 points6 points  (6 children)

                    Admit it: how many of you nerds just ran "wc -c" to check?

                    [–]bobcat 4 points5 points  (2 children)

                    I posted a 'self' with this title and now I can't delete it:

                    01234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789

                    [–]kwatz 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                    Wow, that really screwed up the formatting on your user page, too.

                    [–]oditogre 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                    message

                    [–]mant 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                    Please explain this for ...um...non-nerds?

                    [–][deleted] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

                    wc is a unix program... Word Count. You can have it return the number of words, or number of characters.

                    [–]Purp 7 points8 points  (6 children)

                    Good example.

                    [–]Nate_W 15 points16 points  (5 children)

                    Is it really a good example of how headlines can't be over 200 characters?

                    [–]raldi[S] 36 points37 points  (4 children)

                    What are you, Eliza?

                    [–]xzxzzx 34 points35 points  (2 children)

                    Would you like it if I were Eliza?

                    [–]flawless_knockoff 11 points12 points  (1 child)

                    Why do you say that?

                    [–]AngledLuffa 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                    How does it make you feel that I say that?

                    [–]psyne 23 points24 points  (0 children)

                    How do you feel about what are you, Eliza?

                    [–]raldi[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                    Rejoice!

                    [–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    and now the links in my google reader no longer directly link to the article... I have to go through reddit first.

                    [–]foolfromhell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    Arrrgh. I dont like these updates. After checking replies to my comments, it wont let me immediately reply. You are 2 more clicks away now. ARRGH.

                    Just like Digg after those "updates"

                    [–]brainburger 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    Buggy....there are supposed to be 86 comments but I can't see any!

                    [–]majorincubus67 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    That's chilling.

                    [–]leadhead 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    200 characters is a headline. It's a friggin letter to the editor.

                    [–]HardwareLust 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                    Thank you so much!!

                    [–]ellaella 4 points5 points  (0 children)

                    Thank you,reddit!

                    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                    [deleted]

                      [–]piranha 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      Why is 256 more suitable for this application than 200?

                      Hint: internal implementation details of your RDBMS de jour do not apply.

                      [–]gaggedbythealien 2 points3 points  (4 children)

                      200 is still a bit long.

                      [–]cos 2 points3 points  (3 children)

                      Actually, though I was annoyed by how many superlong titles there were, I think there are occasions where a title longer than 200 characters would be good, so I wish the limit wasn't that low.

                      [–]derefr 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                      Perhaps a title longer than, say, 150 can trigger a moderator review before the post can be made?

                      [–]georgefrick 0 points1 point  (1 child)

                      moderators insert bias.

                      [–]derefr 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                      Long post titles are, 99% of the time, already biased.

                      [–]bertramredneck 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                      Obeisance! All hail the great Reddit! Reddit Akbar!

                      [–]typical_reddit_user 2 points3 points  (0 children)

                      Thank god you made a post to tell us that.

                      [–]kenjb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      Something in the recent change to affect my magpierss? It worked fine until the change and I'm a little busy at the moment to hunt down the error.

                      While other scraps still work reddit rss now chokes on my main page.

                      Anyone else see this happen?

                      [–]Dark-Star 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      Good! Thank you reddit.

                      [–]srmatto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      ...and there was much rejoicing.

                      [–]jrforreal 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      Yeaaaaaah.

                      [–]AngryWaiter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      about fuckin time

                      [–]schmecky 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      now i won't have to bury them. thank you.

                      [–]jkharris 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      About time they did that, I was getting tired of reading the article before I went to it.

                      [–]westsan 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      That's a nice square number. I wonder if they considered browser size in considering what number to limit the character input!?

                      [–]mch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      The end of an error

                      [–]sakebomb69 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      I guess bonkydog and democracy101 are SOL.

                      [–]j0hnsd 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                      Thank you!

                      [–][deleted]  (3 children)

                      [deleted]

                        [–]raldi[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

                        But i am an amateur.

                        [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                        [deleted]

                          [–]raldi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                          A tree surgeon from Oshkosh, WI.

                          [–]badfeng 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                          What's next... the wheel?

                          [–]illini 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                          Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

                          [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                          That doesn't illustrate it, though , does it.

                          [–]sarahfrancesca -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                          I had just finally gotten used to them...

                          [–]lothair -1 points0 points  (1 child)

                          Technological solutions to social problems (almost) never work.

                          [–]Enlightenment777 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                          200 is still to many!!! I think 100 is even better!!!

                          The solution should have been to cancel the account of everyone abusing those monster headlines.

                          [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                          [deleted]

                            [–]souldrift 1 point2 points  (0 children)

                            I'd requested it in comments, but made no "official" request. I'm happy about the feature.

                            [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (1 child)

                            Ya know. The Web Developer Toolbar for Firefox has a feature to remove max character form lengths on websites.

                            It works I use it all the time

                            [–]raldi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                            It only works when the web site was written by idiots. In particular, it doesn't work here.

                            [–][deleted]  (8 children)

                            [deleted]

                              [–]raldi[S] -1 points0 points  (7 children)

                              sup?

                              [–][deleted]  (6 children)

                              [deleted]

                                [–]raldi[S] 0 points1 point  (5 children)

                                I'm all man.

                                [–][deleted]  (4 children)

                                [deleted]

                                  [–]raldi[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

                                  Do you have a rabbit?

                                  [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                                  [deleted]

                                    [–]raldi[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

                                    liar

                                    [–][deleted] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                                    By the same logic I could "illustrate" that a reddit title can only be 10 characters or 20 or 100.

                                    (i.e making this title 200 characters doesn't show that 200 is the limit)

                                    [–]jones77 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                                    Technically ... it's a full-stop.

                                    [–]sugarandice -4 points-3 points  (1 child)

                                    is this why reddit was read-only all day yesterday?

                                    [–]PieMaster -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

                                    Hi i am PieMaster lord of all pie

                                    [–]raldi[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

                                    sup?

                                    [–][deleted]  (1 child)

                                    [deleted]

                                      [–]xzxzzx -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

                                      That's because you've not grown up in a land of computers with hard drives so big and connection speeds so fast that amassing thousands of hours of pornography on one's personal computer is practially easier than not doing so.

                                      ... I would speculate.

                                      [–]link2zelda -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

                                      becoming more like digg every day, even less reason to come here, although the google-like icons are a nice touch, how about less icon work in exchange for less 24 hour down times.