Can Eliezer edit his posts without leaving an asterisk?
Yes. Yes he can. Must be an administrator thing.
Do you mean he both can and has done so at least once in the past? That is in poor taste if he has. (And I think I recall the comment in question having the wrong name order the first time I read it.)
Note to self (and others): Assume all Eliezer comments have an asterisk.
(If it is the case that Eliezer can’t leave an asterisk even if he chooses to then the fault is of course not his and it should be filed as a bug and change request.)
Can Eliezer edit his posts without leaving an asterisk?
Yes. Yes he can. Must be an administrator thing.
Do you mean he both can and has done so at least once in the past?
Yes. I am positive that I pasted that line and did not rearrange it.
Note to self (and others): Assume all Eliezer comments have an asterisk.
Either he or someone he strongly influences has administrator access to the site and can change any comment at any time. You either have to trust him or assume that all comments have an asterisk.
Is there supposed to be something especially secure about this place?
Either he or someone he strongly influences has administrator access to the site and can change any comment at any time. You either have to trust him or assume that all comments have an asterisk.
No, I don’t—there is no such dichotomy. I really could (and do) expect Eliezer to not edit other people’s comments without it being apparent to anyone but at the same time to edit his own comments without leaving an asterisk—because he just did. So instead of taking a small amount of information from the convenience of an asterisk on a given comment I take zero information.
Is there supposed to be something especially secure about this place?
No. If I really (really) wanted to I could hack it myself I expect. I already live in Melbourne (where the Trike developers who work on lesswrong reside). Even discounting my actual computer security knowledge all I’d need is a gun and a ninja outfit. But the expected cost/expected benefit ratio suggests I’m not likely to do that. I similarly don’t expect Eliezer to go around editing other people’s comments behind our backs. Not because he couldn’t if he really wanted to—just because it doesn’t seem likely that he’d bother. (He has done so at least once—changed a post title while he was promoting it. He did it without thinking and with good intentions but realized later that it was a total brain fart. A lapse into naivety, not a corruption of power.)
I don’t understand all the interest in this. Is there a section of the site where unedited comments carry special weight?
I saw your comment in the recent comments page and thought the technical question was mildly curious. It’s more fun than arguing with people who spam “You’re a cult, I’m right!” or “Science doesn’t make any sense unless I say it does!” which were the only other things that were going on at the time.
Wait. Wait just one minute.
Can Eliezer edit his posts without leaving an asterisk?
Yes. Yes he can. Must be an administrator thing.
I expect he could edit mine, too, if he wanted.
Do you mean he both can and has done so at least once in the past? That is in poor taste if he has. (And I think I recall the comment in question having the wrong name order the first time I read it.)
Note to self (and others): Assume all Eliezer comments have an asterisk.
(If it is the case that Eliezer can’t leave an asterisk even if he chooses to then the fault is of course not his and it should be filed as a bug and change request.)
Yes. I am positive that I pasted that line and did not rearrange it.
Either he or someone he strongly influences has administrator access to the site and can change any comment at any time. You either have to trust him or assume that all comments have an asterisk.
Is there supposed to be something especially secure about this place?
No, I don’t—there is no such dichotomy. I really could (and do) expect Eliezer to not edit other people’s comments without it being apparent to anyone but at the same time to edit his own comments without leaving an asterisk—because he just did. So instead of taking a small amount of information from the convenience of an asterisk on a given comment I take zero information.
No. If I really (really) wanted to I could hack it myself I expect. I already live in Melbourne (where the Trike developers who work on lesswrong reside). Even discounting my actual computer security knowledge all I’d need is a gun and a ninja outfit. But the expected cost/expected benefit ratio suggests I’m not likely to do that. I similarly don’t expect Eliezer to go around editing other people’s comments behind our backs. Not because he couldn’t if he really wanted to—just because it doesn’t seem likely that he’d bother. (He has done so at least once—changed a post title while he was promoting it. He did it without thinking and with good intentions but realized later that it was a total brain fart. A lapse into naivety, not a corruption of power.)
Right, sorry. You either have to trust him to some degree or assume that any content may be compromised.
I don’t understand all the interest in this. Is there a section of the site where unedited comments carry special weight?
I saw your comment in the recent comments page and thought the technical question was mildly curious. It’s more fun than arguing with people who spam “You’re a cult, I’m right!” or “Science doesn’t make any sense unless I say it does!” which were the only other things that were going on at the time.