Thoughtless for the Day

OK, last time I showed what happens to readers' comments once they're submitted to RATYHTL. But how the seven thousand-year-old Earth do those comments get submitted in the first place? In order to follow that process from start to finish, we'll a typical RATYHTL reader.

Meet Brian "Chuck" Whitman. Chuck is about as typical a RATYHTL reader as a typical reader can get. He's a White heterosexual male between 28 and 47 years old, has spent at least two years in college, earns between $45,000 and $180,000 a year, and has jerked off to the Vincent Gallo masterpiece Brown Bunny at least six times. His hobbies include making fun of Fundies and…well that's pretty much it. Chuck also firmly believes that the Simpson's started to suck lemur balls once they began singing in every episode.

Chuck has recently read something on RATYHTL that he'd like to comment about. But how? When he clicks on the comments link below the piece, he's told that he needs to sign in.

Why doesn't the comments software recognize him from the forum? Why do bad things keep happening to good people?

First, the main body of the blog uses different software than the forum. So, even if you have an account in the forum, you'll need to set up a separate one in order to leave comments (don't blame me, blame the spammers).

After Chuck clicks "sign in" he'll be taken to the TypeKey authentication site where he'll next click "Create a Free Account"

Next he'll need to choose a "member name" (no, not a nickname for his schlong), a "display name", and a password. Check has chosen "J_Alfred_Sheetrock" because there's nothing that the ladies love more than a TS Eliot in-joke.

Now Chuck just needs to enter his first and last name as well as his email address and then type some letters and numbers in a box before agreeing to the terms of service and proving, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that he is over 13 years old, by checking a box. A click of a button and Chuck is on his way!

Chuck just has to retrieve his activation code from his email (he should open another window in his browser - maybe two if he's looking at porn), and enter that code in the area provided

Now he's ready to leave that comment:

Come to think of it, that does seem like a shitload of work to go through just to tell me that I suck. Maybe you people are better off keeping your goddamn opinions to yourselves? Either way, I promise that this will be the last non-archaeological/literary/historical/anthropological/linguistic/hickey-related post for a long. Long time.

Still having trouble posting a comment? You can always try leaving one here