It's official...Texas worst place to live in the US.. (Webster: best towns, living in)

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by Kibby

Interesting thread on several levels.

I've noticed all over the net that there seems to be a decided animosity toward Texas. Part of it is probably because of George Bush, most all of it is from Liberal posters so to a certain extent - it's politically motivated, just as the article about "worst state" is politically motivated. It's also that Texas is growing, Texas produced nearly 80% of ALL new jobs in the USA last year and that Texas has a strong economy. People are losing their jobs all over the country and that's not really happening here. Understandable that others would feel some animosity toward us. They know we are different, they just don't understand why.

So ... we get stuff like this.

and after the explaination that it's an anti-litter campaign (surely a laudable thing to any Californian ) we get this ..
Pretty much explains it all.

As to the population growth - we've always had that. It's gets a bit heavier in times of stress to the other states, but companies come to Texas because of the tax structure and business friendly attitude, the business brings jobs and people. The last big jump we had was when Carter was President and unemployment was high around the country - it wasn't as noticeable then because we didn't have the internet to discuss all this stuff but they sure came. We bought a home in a new neighborhood and we were the only native Texans on our street in 1980.

They didn't change us then, and they won't change us this time either. Texas has been mostly Democratic with 39 Dem Governors and only 6 Republican Governors. We did quite a "flip flop" based mostly on the corruption of the savings and loan scandals - that experience is really why the Texas banks and real estate are in better shape that a lot of the country.
Some lessons take better than others - we've been down this banking crisis road before and used stronger criteria on loans. To be fair - we don't have a large ACORN presence in Texas, or at least we didn't before this last election.

I think most Texans welcome anyone who wants to come here for better opportunities for themselves and their family. We've always welcomed those people, few of them every go back to where they came from.

Texas is a state of mind - we can't blame those who have never experienced it, we should just ignore the ignorance, they can't help themselves.

K

This is the best post I've ever seen on city-data.....well done...

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by car957

I read another survey on the airplane that said inthecut was a troll. Thanks for survey results. I could care less about your survey or lack of intellect. Now go outside and play - stay clear of the traffic.

Laughing...yes, I suppose I could be a troll.....but I'm just trying to jump start a good chat about Texas, and we sure have some great posts on here....think of me more as a gadfly than a troll...that word seems to have become a meme to describe certain folks on discussion boards.......indeed,
you can define anyone as a troll if they get a good chat going.....I really think there are many personality types that manifest themselves on boards.......Sure, you could call anyone that gadfly's a chat a troll, but we just don't have a very large descriptive vocab for folks that populate chat boards...so strange that we just have one word, troll, with the diversity of personalities on posts.......gadflys would be a good one as well.......we need more definitions of folks on posts.....troll or non-troll is a bit simplistic, don't you think?

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by inthecut

Laughing...yes, I suppose I could be a troll.....but I'm just trying to jump start a good chat about Texas, and we sure have some great posts on here....think of me more as a gadfly than a troll...that word seems to have become a meme to describe certain folks on discussion boards.......indeed,
you can define anyone as a troll if they get a good chat going.....I really think there are many personality types that manifest themselves on boards.......Sure, you could call anyone that gadfly's a chat a troll, but we just don't have a very large descriptive vocab for folks that populate chat boards...so strange that we just have one word, troll, with the diversity of personalities on posts.......gadflys would be a good one as well.......we need more definitions of folks on posts.....troll or non-troll is a bit simplistic, don't you think?

Well, from what you posted elsewhere, your single criterion appears to be how soon you can start collecting benefits in Texas.

[TexasHorseLady]

The definition of troll (from wikipedia):

An Internet troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion group or chat room, with the intention of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.




So, if someone posts not because of a real interest in the topic, but because they know it will get things "stirred up", they would fall into that definition, I'd think. Don't need another word for it, as this one's been around for quite some time and is accepted in online terminology.

[Canine*Castle]

Who cares who is a troll and who is not? Most of us at one time or another have posted improperly. If people don't like it or think one is a troll, just ignore the thread. Actually, some of it can be quite entertaining if one sets his or her mind to get a big chuckle from it rather than be on the defensive and appear to be a bit neurotic. Yes, I'm guilty of such.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

The definition of troll (from wikipedia):

An Internet troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion group or chat room, with the intention of provoking other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal on-topic discussion.




So, if someone posts not because of a real interest in the topic, but because they know it will get things "stirred up", they would fall into that definition, I'd think. Don't need another word for it, as this one's been around for quite some time and is accepted in online terminology.

I meant that, after 15 plus years of posting on the web, we only have one vocabulary term for posters.......troll or non-troll.....is that a reflection on how unlike real conversation internet chat is, or just a lack of imagination in defining people?
In real life, you have a plethora of different personality types, and they are what makes group contact what it is.........can't we variegate the type of chatters/posters on here a bit more than one word....irregardless of Websters definition?

For example, in texas horse lady's case, she does look for real estate business on city-data, so is she not trolling for contacts on here, in a different sense? What name would you give someone who comes on here for enjoyment AND business like her, and several other RE agents who regularly frequent these posts?

Networkers? ChatMarketers? Business Trolls? Real estate trolls?

So let's get creative, and see how many other definitions of posters we can place on here. If these posts have negligible connection to the dynamics of real conversation, we prob can come up with nothing...except the old troll/non-troll old reliable.....however, if this DOES approach the complexity of real world conversation, we should be overwhelmed with possible definitions....

My hunch is that this does not approach real life, and troll/non-troll will be the only differentiation ever on the web.....

Sort of like robot or no robot......very sci-fi, when you think of it.....



Note that I don't think any of these things are wrong at all.....looking for business on the internet is what social networking is all about in a way......LinkedIn,
facebook, etc.......anythink that keeps the chat/talk flowing, even with a little business being made inadvertently, is totally fine.......I just mean we have to broaden our way of looking at ourselves in internet conversation........can you imagine if we only used the troll/non-troll moniker to describe people in real life?
That sure would make things a lot simpler........but would only make sense in a population of drones, which is why I thought it had sci-fi resonances....tagged/not tagged....stamped/not stamped.....etc............also, who is to judge "whose" interest in a topic is bonafide? Must one be completely
free of possible business inferences to prove an unalloyed interest in a topic? What about the use of "Moderators" ? Who are THEY to judge what is off/on topic? I can't even post anything at all discussing them without being deleted, yet someone can hang on here for years "trolling" for business, and be considered "on-topic"............
fact....real-life has no moderators........when you see people enjoying a great outside chat at Shady Grove, you don't see referees wandering the tables making sure the talk stays on topic.....mostly, why WOULD anyone who wants the internet to approximate real life chat WANT to stay on-topic? Isn't that what makes real life talk so much fun...never knowing where it can go?............
http://k53.pbase.com/g4/61/572661/2/59172470.MS150ShadyGroveAustin.jpg (broken link)

Honestly, I can get more out of a good three hour group chat at Shady Grove(above), than 3 years of internet postings.........nothing....ever...will replace person to person conversation...........

[bamba_boy]

Honestly, I can get more out of a good three hour group chat at Shady Grove(above), than 3 years of internet postings.........nothing....ever...will replace person to person conversation...........[/quote]

So where is this Shady Grove outdoor watering hole? Looks fun.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by bamba_boy

Honestly, I can get more out of a good three hour group chat at Shady Grove(above), than 3 years of internet postings.........nothing....ever...will replace person to person conversation...........

So where is this Shady Grove outdoor watering hole? Looks fun.[/quote]

On riverside dr. just west of downtown Austin......and its more fun than you can imagine.....isn't that cool how they have giant trees fenced in on the field? And they have trailers outside for washrooms........

If anything, BETTER in person...

That post looking thing in the background is an outdoor menu........and lots of Shiner brew coming out of that side door......

The folks in the pic are drinking iced tea...but you can bet its spiked with something..knowing Austin....and the looks on the people...I do see some Dos Equis and lite beer bottles though...

"Stay thirsty, my friends!"

[love roses]

Mmmm! I love Shady Grove

[Kibby]

Originally Posted by love roses

Mmmm! I love Shady Grove

What's not to love??