I just discovered your blog and am reading through the archieves. [...]Someone had already proposed this, I think. So, OK, perhaps (though who knows). So? Besides, I have a hard time believing in Amazon's intolerance toward cheating: just look at what Our Friends Top Reviewers do -- like, for example, 'reviewing' piles of books daily, all rated five stars. Robert Morris seems especially active lately, check him out -- this man reads (and highlights!) way too many books too quickly it seems to me. Likes them all! Of course.
On your post talking about the delete/repost feature wiping out all comments [probably this?] [...]:
The delete/repost issue you are discussing was instigated when a top 100 reviewer was found to be deleting and reposting the same 5 or 6 reviews over and over again to gain more votes and climb the ladder.
So, while it now helps people bury comments, it was started to keep people from cheating.
Actually, W.Boudville picked up some speed too. Soon he'll be at his previous level, reading a dozen books a day.
16 comments:
I must have missed that topic the first time around in July. I think I've mentioned before that I had a review that got removed after a top 500 reviewer left a snotty comment about it (I had something in the review that I noticed the only glowing reviews for this awful book were from the "professional" reviewers).
Anyway, I reposted the review (edited my professional reviewer comment) and it's still standing. However, when looking at my reviews by most recent comment that first review is still there with the comment.
So in theory the casual customer looking at the book page will not see those now removed comments, those of us who go to HK reviews and look at it by most recent comment we will still see those comments. Make sense?
BTW, Kelly -- check this site out, http://bookswap.com/bookswap/index.cfm?
I haven't used it, but have seen it recommended by a commenter on a reader's board I participate in. I am lucky to have a well funded county library system, and could never in a million years read through their catalog. Best part, no matter what branch in the county (and it's a big county) has the book I want, I place my hold on line, it comes to MY local library for pick up. I take the book off the hold shelf, scan my card, scan the book and I'm out the door. Life is good :-)
Amazon's "intolerance toward cheating" is rivaled perfectly by Claude Rains' outrage over gambling at Rick's Cafe at the very moment he's pocketing his winnings from same.
Cathy, maybe if the review gets removed by Amz the comments are preserved (I'm not sure, I never noticed how it works in this case). But try to delete a review yourself and then post it again. The comments will be gone.
Malleus, I just did that with one of my old reviews. It shows up on my reviews/profile with the original date and no comment. However, when I look at my reviews with most recent comments that one is there with a comment. I can email a link for you if you like.
No, they've changed something. When you look at the review it shows there's a comment, but if you click on it to see the comment you now get an Amazon error page. That is the same case in both of the reviews, the one I deleted and the one Amazon deleted.
What does that mean, "when I look at my reviews with most recent comments"? Is there a page where your reviews are ordered by how recent the comments for them are?
When you look at your reviews, up at the top is a drop down option to look at most recent comments.
Indeed! I've never noticed it, thanks.
Off topic but Amazon has decided to sell the O.J. Simpson book. It already has over forty reviews. It was helpful of O.J. to break into a hotel room in Las Vegas with some hoodlum friends waving guns around last night, it should help book sales. What ever happened to that slogan "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas"?
I've been perusing the "reviews" for the OJ book and the reviewer comments. It's quite lively over there. Interestingly enough having just come off of jury duty (mistrial, damn it!), it's amazing how much stuff the jury isn't allowed to see/hear. In "my case" you could tell there was quite a lot of info the sheriff's detectives had to say about the matter that the defending attorney did not want the jury to hear. Much more time was spent in the jury room than the court room. Sigh. 4 days out of work and not even a good deliberation!
Thanks Cathy,
I have checked out several of the book swaps but I am in a really small town outside of Dallas & most of the swaps are in the larger cities. I will check this out.
Off topic - What did I miss with MM?
Kelly
Boudville may have temporarily abandoned his medical studies but he has now achieved expert status in the fields of education, social work, and architecture. Take a look at his reviews of Frameworks for Thinking: A Handbook for Teaching and Learning, L.A. Lofts, and Cultural Compentency in Health, Social and Human Services: Directions for the 21st Century.
It is abundantly clear that he did not read any of these books. His review of the teaching handbook is particularly laughable.
He's also very strong in history. I enjoy his streamlined reviews of everything on earth. He's a Renaissance man, clearly; how fortunate we are to have him as one of the Amazon Top Reviewers!
From the department of Old Dogs Can't Be Taught New Tricks comes this item: Last September 12 2006 Lonnie, that twinkie-lovin', Nehi-swillin' blast from the past, reviewed a Stephen King book "From a Buick 8" in his usual pompous style. This September 16 2007 the exact same word-for-word review appeared again. A little bit of sleight of hand or memory loss? Will this review appear on or about this date every year?
It is breathtaking what these people will do to climb that mountain. Was it Lily Tomlin who once said the problem with winning the rat race is that at the end you're still a rat?
I think Boudville has been browsing the garage sales in his area. He's reviewed several forty year old unavailable paperback books recently. He'll review anything to keep those numbers rising. When will he realize that snack food could be his secret weapon? Talk about a world of untapped possibilities....
On September 20 2007 Boudville has finally achieved the pinnacle of speed reading. Harriet, you've been dethroned. Please pack your satchel and leave the competition. Boudville read on one day, (and do not say he's been reading these books all month because he's had book reviews every day of other books he's devoured), on a single day, he's read: a book on superconductivity research, a book on the geology of Mars, and a twenty volume science encyclopedia! You want more, you say? There's more, in addition to those twenty-two volumes he read two more books on advanced scientific research. A total of twenty-four books, an entire science encyclopedia, all on one single day. A book an hour, no time out for sleeping, I think we can safely say he's left Harriet in the dust.
Post a Comment