5 - Answer(s)

Q: Brad Pettengill - What is the real reason why Ayers wants to get rid of the Random Thread?
A: Let's start this with a little bit of history. The random thread was started back in 2004 by Brett Gobe. His inaugural post explains its purpose:

Brett Random Thread 9/25/04 at 6:07 pm
This a product of boredom and being stuck working saturday nights in a library. Anyone who is around is free to add to the disscusion. Basically this is the sienfeld of threads, its about nothing. It is also to see how long a thread can go until the Jolt is forced to close it. The over under is 1000 posts.

It has been a running conversation ever since, as I'm sure you all know. Everything was going along smoothly until last week, when Ron posted the following:

Ron Random Thread 8/29/06 at 3:50 pm
Hey everyone. Just a heads up. I may have to destroy the random thread soon. I noticed the server load starting to rise up again with the school year starting, and as you can imagine, the query that pulls down this monstrosity is not very good. So I might have to kill it. I know I know. What can I say. There's always the LOST thread.

This set off what can best be described as a shitstorm within the Jolinko community. People created Avatars advocating the salvation of the Random Thread, and Ron was raked over the coals for this post.

So that's where we are. Now, as to the question of why Random Thread is being threatened with destruction. I have three answers:
1. (Serious, most likely) - Ron wants to shut it down for his stated reason. With nearly 25,000 posts, I can see how a query on it would be a strain on the servers.
2. (Conspiratorial) - Ron has entered into a contract with a book company and wishes to publish the contents of Random Thread as a novel. He will then use the profits from that novel to further his empire of destruction, and thus be one step closer to his ultimate goal: the domination of the known universe.
3. (Possible?) - Ron hates all of us. I don't think this is the case, but it's possible.

Q: Bill Jeffers - What year will Clarkson Hovkey finally win an NCAA crown?
A: Clarkson will win an NCAA crown in the year that they beat every team that they face in the NCAA tournament.

Q: Jennifer Walden - What part of the US will be most affected by this year's hurricane season?
A: In terms of geographic region of the US, I would say that the states of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina will be the most affected. They have been spared somewhat in recent years, and they're due for some damage. Not that I'm advocating this damage, mind you, I'm just predicting. And no, I have no basis for this prediction. I'm just guessing.

Upon further thinking about your question, I decided that the "part" of the US that will be most affected by this year's hurricane season will be the US media. 2004 and 2005 were very busy hurricane seasons. 2004 saw three storms cross the Florida penninsula, and 2005 saw not only a direct strike on New Orleans, but a record number of named storms. Because of this, the media spent the past winter stirring up hysteria regarding this upcoming hurricane season. Now that it's proving to be milder than last year, and their predictions of disaster shown to be wrong, they are made to look like fools. I think that their credibility on these matters will suffer as a result. Is this a good thing? I don't know. But I think that's the ultimate result.