Rubbernecking online

I have a total love-hate relationship with online commenting. Mostly hate.

I read them, but I despise them. Sometimes I actually curse myself for letting my eyes travel to the bottom of a story online. Often I curse myself for continuing to read them long after they’ve pissed me off.

I’m sure somewhere there’s a scientific study about the inverse relationship between a person’s intelligence and his or her tendency to make nasty, rude and coldly unsympathetic remarks about an article, its subject matter or writer (if there isn’t a study, someone get on that, please).

It’s a disease I tell you, this inability to look away.

Now, however, Firefox has come with a solution: CommentBlocker, a browser add-on that automatically hides user comments on any or all sites that you visit.

Have you ever found yourself frustrated while reading some stupid comments written on a website? We’ve all been there. This add-on, CommentBlocker, is the perfect solution for us who get annoyed daily on comment posts.

This handy widget is a Firefox-only add-on to your browser, and you can adjust its settings to exclude certain sites. Here’s the thing: The comments are still there, and CommentBlocker will allow you to “make an active choice” to read comments on any page. I love the therapist speak; it’s apropos considering my inability to look away without a technological intervention.

Compiled from Popsmart.

More bats

Thanks to alert reader Tim Jordan for more info on Midtown bat sightings (see “Bat crazy,” SN&R Frontlines, August 19). According to Jordan, one can also see the bats on L Street.

“The biggest colony I’ve ever witnessed has thrived for years in between the Old Soul Co. building and the Bows & Arrows building in the ‘Old Soul Alley,’” he writes.

The bats usually head out for the evening at dusk. The alley is located between L Street and Capitol Avenue and 17th and 18th streets.

Compiled from Cull-de-Sac.

Gay-marriage update

Finally, I went up to the state Capitol last Wednesday night, August 18, where about a hundred people were gathered to rally, mostly because they weren’t having their weddings. Several couples had intended to marry today, given Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. Instead, they’re still waiting.

In fact, Nicola Simmersbach and Diana Luiz put on white for their wedding as soon as they heard the news about the decision last week. Really, though, it’s rather difficult to plan for a wedding with a judicial stay hanging over your head.

I can understand the frustration. Justice delayed is justice denied.

Compiled from Kel’s Hot Flash