b introduced: A hello; and announcement

[wesleycase_b]

Hi, Baltimore Sun Talk Forum users. My name is Wes and, along with fellow b staffer Marissa Gallo, I'll be one of the administrators of this forum.

First things first: I saw some wondering what "b the paper" is. b free daily is the name of the free tabloid newspaper published Monday through Friday by the Baltimore Sun Media Group since April 2008. Our previous Web site is/was bthesite.com.

Which brings us to why we're now in the Baltimore Sun Talk Forums: Later this month, our Web presence is migrating to baltimoresun.com, and will be featured in the "Entertainment" section. We're excited about it.

We'll be using the Talk Forum as a place of general discussion, along with threads that will ask readers questions and give them a space to rant. We print answers and rants daily in b, so please, let your voices be heard! It's awesome you've already taken notice of it. Our staff will begin to contribute more to the Forum as we make the switch from our old site to the new one.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to speak up on the Talk Forum or e-mail me or Marissa, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

MARCH 1 UPDATE: As part of b's daily conversation, we publish rants, answers to questions of the day, reader photos and other interesting tidbits whether they come to us through text, Twitter, Facebook, e-mail, blog comments or, yes, the talk forums. So, yes, forum comments may be republished. RE: Rants -- they're published anonymously, so your TalkForum name would not be published with the rant. And for future reference, anything posted on baltimoresun.com falls under the "user content license" across Tribune papers (i.e. anything posted or uploaded by its users grants Tribune's newspapers and entities permission to publish it).

[mgallo_b]

What is this new fangled "b"? I don't like it one bit

[lostmyway]

May I take it to mean that anything we post on this particular forum can then be printed and distributed in paper form to the general public who does or does not visit BS Talk Forums?

Ditto for me on that question - and it is an important one.

[Norman]

May I take it to mean that anything we post on this particular forum can then be printed and distributed in paper form to the general public who does or does not visit BS Talk Forums?

Along with your picture

[MsTaken]

Now that bthesite is being absorbed by baltimoresun.com, how long before b the tabloid becomes just another version of the "LiVE" section of The Sun?

Also, I'm guessing that the language that was acceptable with the intended edgier "b" crowd won't fly on this site, yes?

[East_of_Here]

You can't do a good rant without bad language.

btw: the OP has been edited to add info.

[wesleycase_b]

You'll notice I just updated the original post to reflect the question regarding publishing comments. Also, the language rules that apply to the Talk Forums remain the same in the b threads.

[Norman]

Also, I'm guessing that the language that was acceptable with the intended edgier "b" crowd won't fly on this site, yes?

You can't do a good rant without bad language.

Language? Bad language? Ugh....it's gotta be French...tell me it's not French?

[zenwalk]

Love the smell of a new forum. Smells like new cars. Try not to spill anything on the carpet.

[mgallo_b]

Love the smell of a new forum. Smells like new cars. Try not to spill anything on the carpet.

We'll try. I promise.

[Wizard777]

"Super Moderator" Do they make you wear a mask and cape while you are Super Moderatoring? I think it should be mandatory.

I also think Baltimatt and Mom49of4 should get the title Awesome Moderator.

[Wizard777]

Whoever designed that website did a very poor job. You have to scroll down past numorous ads to find any content on every page.

Kinda like Sun Plus? An advertising circular with a few strategically placed stories.

[WKDWZD]

"Super Moderator" Do they make you wear a mask and cape while you are Super Moderatoring? I think it should be mandatory.

I also think Baltimatt and Mom49of4 should get the title Awesome Moderator.

Surely they should be Boy (and Girl) Wonder Moderator...

[Emotional Friend]

Verbtomy sucks. those sex q&a suck

[mgallo_b]

"Super Moderator" Do they make you wear a mask and cape while you are Super Moderatoring? I think it should be mandatory.

i wish! but my request for a lasso was denied when i was given the title "UGC Wrangler," so i doubt i'll get a cape.

One can dream ...

[Wizard777]

i wish! but my request for a lasso was denied when i was given the title "UGC Wrangler," so i doubt i'll get a cape.

One can dream ...

All of fantasy is rooted reality and all of reality is rooted in fantasy. There is a very real ying & yang relationship between them. One cannot exist without the other.

Now with that said. Of course they are not going to give you a cape. You have to find an old woman that you trust with the secret that you are a Super Moderator. You get her to make the cape for you. That's how Superman and even Spiderman got their super costumes. Unless you're exceedingly wealthy like Batman. Then you can have your Butler make it for you. But nobody will give you a cape. You must declare and exhibit your own superdom. Face facts, without a cape you're just another nut with a computer.

[mgallo_b]

Unless you're exceedingly wealthy like Batman. Then you can have your Butler make it for you.

If I was Bruce Wayne rich, I wouldn't be a journalist

[zenwalk]

Wiz, I can picture you zzzing around in your Prius with the cape flopping out the window. All I can say is remember the last time Isadora Duncan tried that.

Duncan's fondness for flowing scarves was the cause of her death in a freak automobile accident in Nice, France, on the night of September 14, 1927, at the age of 50. The scarf was hand-painted silk from the Russian-born artist Roman Chatov. The accident gave rise to Gertrude Stein's mordant remark that "affectations can be dangerous."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan

[Wizard777]

If I was Bruce Wayne rich, I wouldn't be a journalist

Okay so you're on a Clark Kent/Superman or Peter Parker/Spiderman budget. That's why you get your Mom or an Aunt to sew it for you. Don't think for a second being a journalist is a valid excuse for not having a cape.

[mgallo_b]

Okay so you're on a Clark Kent/Superman or Peter Parker/Spiderman budget. That's why you get you Mom or an Aunt to sew it for you. Don't think for a second being a journalist is a valid excuse for not having a cape.

man. you're totally right.
i have a new project for my husband