this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2025
747 points (99.0% liked)
196
1812 readers
2378 users here now
Community Rules
You must post before you leave
Be nice. Assume others have good intent (within reason).
Block or ignore posts, comments, and users that irritate you in some way rather than engaging. Report if they are actually breaking community rules.
Use content warnings and/or mark as NSFW when appropriate. Most posts with content warnings likely need to be marked NSFW.
Most 196 posts are memes, shitposts, cute images, or even just recent things that happened, etc. There is no real theme, but try to avoid posts that are very inflammatory, offensive, very low quality, or very "off topic".
Bigotry is not allowed, this includes (but is not limited to): Homophobia, Transphobia, Racism, Sexism, Abelism, Classism, or discrimination based on things like Ethnicity, Nationality, Language, or Religion.
Avoid shilling for corporations, posting advertisements, or promoting exploitation of workers.
Proselytization, support, or defense of authoritarianism is not welcome. This includes but is not limited to: imperialism, nationalism, genocide denial, ethnic or racial supremacy, fascism, Nazism, Marxism-Leninism, Maoism, etc.
Avoid AI generated content.
Avoid misinformation.
Avoid incomprehensible posts.
No threats or personal attacks.
No spam.
Moderator Guidelines
Moderator Guidelines
- Don’t be mean to users. Be gentle or neutral.
- Most moderator actions which have a modlog message should include your username.
- When in doubt about whether or not a user is problematic, send them a DM.
- Don’t waste time debating/arguing with problematic users.
- Assume the best, but don’t tolerate sealioning/just asking questions/concern trolling.
- Ask another mod to take over cases you struggle with, if you get tired, or when things get personal.
- Ask the other mods for advice when things get complicated.
- Share everything you do in the mod matrix, both so several mods aren't unknowingly handling the same issues, but also so you can receive feedback on what you intend to do.
- Don't rush mod actions. If a case doesn't need to be handled right away, consider taking a short break before getting to it. This is to say, cool down and make room for feedback.
- Don’t perform too much moderation in the comments, except if you want a verdict to be public or to ask people to dial a convo down/stop. Single comment warnings are okay.
- Send users concise DMs about verdicts about them, such as bans etc, except in cases where it is clear we don’t want them at all, such as obvious transphobes. No need to notify someone they haven’t been banned of course.
- Explain to a user why their behavior is problematic and how it is distressing others rather than engage with whatever they are saying. Ask them to avoid this in the future and send them packing if they do not comply.
- First warn users, then temp ban them, then finally perma ban them when they break the rules or act inappropriately. Skip steps if necessary.
- Use neutral statements like “this statement can be considered transphobic” rather than “you are being transphobic”.
- No large decisions or actions without community input (polls or meta posts f.ex.).
- Large internal decisions (such as ousting a mod) might require a vote, needing more than 50% of the votes to pass. Also consider asking the community for feedback.
- Remember you are a voluntary moderator. You don’t get paid. Take a break when you need one. Perhaps ask another moderator to step in if necessary.
founded 1 week ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Ah, the extremely shitty pen that scratches so bad you might as well carve your message into the paper. Lasts maybe 3 lines before it starts skipping but who cares. It exists to be as cheap as possible so your customer you don't respect can pocket it after initialing twice and signing something.
I hate bad cheap pens so much. I never would have gotten into fountain pens if there wasn't the counter example of how bad a writing experience can get.
American bics may be made in a different way because here in Spain they are so reliable they are a de facto standard for people taking an exam.
Same in Brazil. The closest competitor, Compactor, will either smudge everything or fail twice as much as Bics.
Smudging inks mean they tend not to dry as fast. The downside of less-smudgy inks is that they dry out faster in the pen, gunk it up, and make ballpoints useless.
For filling in circles? Yeah, they're fine. The circular movement tends to keep the ball moving and picking up new ink.
For writing? Hot garbage. When I switched to nicer pens (fountain pens and OHTO graphic liners), I had to unlearn pressing down so hard and cramping up my hand. A good pen can glide across the surface with little effort, and you don't feel like you need to stretch your fingers and wrist afterward.
1-School and college exams in Europe are most usually in "write everything you know" mode.
2-You are clearly talking about some non-bic branded pens.
Yeah, no. People who like pens don't touch Bic.
Fountain pens are the best. I got a Hero 616 off AliExpress for $0.36 on sale one time, and even that is better than a BIC. And my gold nib pens make BICs feel like I'm chiseling cuniform into stone tablets.
As a child I was labeled a bad writer because my writing was so sloppy it made a doctor's prescription look like typed text. I'd always choose a pencil over a pen. Then in college a friend let me use their nice pen and I could write so much better. Turns out I was just always using the cheapest pens possible, and that sometimes quality does come at a cost worth paying.
I had a similar experience. And my hand always cramped up because I was putting a death grip on those cheap, skinny pens. Now, my wife has me fill out all the cards and gift tags at the holidays because I have "nice, fancy handwriting." What a difference comfort, control, and fluidity make. I really enjoy slightly fatter pens, like a vintage Sheaffer's oversized. Or a Platinum 3776. Not as big as a Montblanc 149, or a Wing Sung 630. Just a little on the chubby side. Way less cramping.
I think actual Bic-from-the-Bic-Company biros tend to be pretty good (especially the orange ones with black lids).
For a truly scratchy experience, you need a cheap, unbranded biro.
Biro is a brand
Its like googling something, i use the term even when i'm not on google. Biro is used as a generic term for pens a lot of the time.
In English, "biro" is the generic name for what is known elsewhere as a "ball-point" or "ball pen". There may of course still be a "Biro" company somewhere, separate to that.
[Edit] I mean English as in "language spoken in England" - I'm sure some of the other "Englishes" use a different word.
This is why I got into fountain pens too! These days I find myself using a good rollerball or mechanical pencil for day to day, since they're a little more practical, but man oh man I do love a fountain pen...
It's extra nice when you have to sign something and pull it out. Did it at the dentist and it's almost always a conversation starter.