Solving the problem - way OT threads with abusive behavior

[Chris Smith]

I dont have one, and I generally dont search or look for the old.

As I said, I keep it much closer.

If you cant find it, ask the web person.

I dont work there.

[positronicle]

--Edited by Positronicle--

[Chris Smith]

The tears of a clown, didnt they make a song about that?

[jollyrgr]

And back when everybody's profile still showed the order in which they became a member,...........Weren't you like number 2 or 3?

No more games for me, I'm out.

Hopefully I am recalling this correctly as it was way back many years ago; around Thanksgiving 2001. The server hosting this board crashed and there was no backup. (Again, I could be recalling this wrong as I was on several boards that crashed and did not have backups.) In any case everyone had to sign up again. It took quite some time for this board to get noticed again. As you stated Chris signed up early on and was number three. Bodgy was number four and Dean number 11. I was member 110 of the renewal of this board. And it took over a month to get to 110 members again.

The list is here:
http://forum.servomagazine.com/memberlist.php

As far as moderating a board....
For the SPAM and possibly foul language I can see a need for a moderator. Thank you MrAl and bodgy for your time. Having to moderate a board can be time consuming. Thus far I do not see any problems in how this board has been handled. But the same cannot be said for other boards. I am NOT referring to either MrAl or bodgy by this next comment. The power of being a moderator can turn otherwise reasonable human beings into power hungry |\|@z!$. I would hate to see this happen here. Below is my take on this subject.

{RANT MODE ON}

A very popular ham radio web site has a board and many forums. I used to frequent those forums quite often and post numerous messages and engage in discussions. The owner of the board noticed my posts and liked the way I participated on the system. I did not ask for the honor but he invited me to become a moderator. I accepted and took the duties seriously. If someone used off color language I would replace the offending word(s) with the comic equivalent *#(@! so the message remained but the offending word was gone. Based on context I would say 95% of most English reading adults would figure out the original words. In some cases I would correct broken web links and correct serious spelling errors. SPAM was not a problem on that board at the time.

While some people would post obviously trolling messages, I left those in place and let each visitor decide for themselves how to respond or not to the message. Things went well until that board crashed. Again, there was not a backup of the board and all information was lost and everyone had to sign up again. When the board was recreated I was not remembered as a moderator nor did I request the rights to be one. But others did; and some were absolute @*#&/":!

One moderator must have really gone to town unchecked for some time as I'd see complete messages and sometime complete threads disappear. I figured it was the posters themselves removing the messages but was to learn it was a rogue moderator when he focused his wrath on me. My offense? I posted a semi colorful mnemonic to help remember the resistor color code. I'm going to guess that most of you know the one I write of in one form or another (it involves a girl named Violet). A friend told me this phrase standing in my garage when I was in seventh grade. He said it once; I was like WHAT WAS THAT? and he said it again. Over a quarter century later I still know the resistor color code based on this mnemonic.

Apparently this one moderator put his grand daughter on his computer and more specifically on the ham radio site. She apparently did not understand the meaning of the phrase and asked him to explain. He deleted my post, put a WARNING check on my account, and flamed me for several paragraphs about how he had to explain this to his seven year old (if I remember correctly) grand daughter. First I expect that a seven year old girl would likely be more interested in a Barbie or perhaps Bratz web site and not a technical discussion about resistor color codes and ham radio. (READ THIS TO MEAN: There was no seven year old girl reading my post and this was an old f@r7 with a stick so far up somewhere that he could see it when he brushed his teeth.) Considering what a valuable tool it was for me (the mnemonic) I never considered it to be a problem and figured it would help others. I went from posting or commenting on an almost daily basis to maybe once or twice a month at this site.

I continued to notice altered and missing posts and numerous people with the dreaded indications on their screen names that they were on probation. To this day the board is not one of my more frequently visited sites as it once was. The check was eventually removed from my name (and that of many others). My guess is the person causing the grief is no longer a moderator but the entire experience left a bad taste to the board.

There have been other sites that I have been a member of that have power hungry moderators. I can get a feel for these sites and I soon leave them. Again, read this carefully: Bodgy and MrAl have done an excellent job as moderators and I hope they can continue to do so. But please; DO NOT censor post because you do not agree with them. Do not invite everyone to become a moderator. If you see a posting that explains how to do something illegal (steal satellite services) or make dangerous substances, those should be pulled. But don't start pulling messages because they do not fall in line with your own thinking. If you don't like what someone posts, scroll past the message.

{RANT MODE OFF}

Thank you for those that have read this far.
Positronicle, don't go away mad. Stick around.

[jollyrgr]

The tears of a clown, didnt they make a song about that?

I hate clowns. They bother me. I don't know why; I just hate them. There are entire web sites dedicated to the distrust of clowns so I'm glad it is not just me. I would not rate it as a phobia but I do not want to even see them.

There is a song from 1967 called "Tears Of A Clown" by Smokey Robinson. Here are the lyrics (at least from one web site):

• Now if there's a smile on my face
  It's only there trying to fool the public
  But when it comes down to fooling you
  Now honey that's quite a different subject
  
  But don't let my glad expression
  Give you the wrong impression
  Cos really I'm sad, Oh I'm sadder than sad
  Well I'm hurt and I want you so bad
  Like a clown I appear to be glad ooh yeah
  
  CHORUS:
  
  Well they're some sad things known to man
  But ain't too much sadder than
  The tears of a clown when there's noone around
  Oh yeah, baby baby, oh yeah baby baby
  
  Now if I appear to be carefree
  It's only to camouflage my sadness
  And honey to shield my pride I try
  To cover this hurt with a show of gladness
  But don't let my show convince you
  That I've been happy since you
  Cos I need to go, oh I need you so
  Look I'm hurt and I want you to know
  For others I put on a show ...CHORUS
  
  Just like Pagliacci did
  I try to keep my surface hid
  Smiling in the crowd I try
  But in a lonely room I cry
  The tears of a clown
  When there's noone around, oh yeah, baby baby
  Now if there's a smile on my face
  Don't let my glad expression
  Give you the wrong impression
  Don't let this smile I wear
  Make you think that I don't care
  Cos really I'm sad...

You can read more about this song here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tears_of_a_Clown

There was this commercial, I think it was for beer, that talked about what men understand and what women understand. Supposedly women understand this poem or play about the Tears Of A Clown.

But could you possibly be thining of Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" that goes like this:

• A candy colored clown they call the Sandman
  Tiptoes to my room every night
  Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
  Go to sleep everything is all right.
  I close my eyes. Then I drift away.
  Into the magic night. I softly say
  A silent prayer. Like dreams do.
  Then I fall asleep
  To dream my dreams of you.
  In dreams, I walk with you.
  In dreams, I talk to you.
  In dreams, you're mine, all the time.
  We're together...

This was in the strange movie "BLUE VELVET" and was mimed by Dean Stockwell.



Now I've gone and done it.
CAN'T SLEEP! CLOWNS WILL EAT ME!

[Chris Smith]

Well written......!

[Coulrophobia?]

I hate clowns as well, Id rather just teach, but there is one clown in every class room.

The rest, well Im sure they learned, and they didn’t even have to agree.

OPEN the MIND, you aren’t even close to thinking you have the answers.

The world is soo much bigger than you could possibly imagine.

[MrAl]

Hi,

Whenever people start talking about clowns i just cant help thinking
about that old joke which im sure everyone has heard:

Two cannibals were sitting down eating a clown, and one said
to the other, "Does this taste funny to you?".

There's the adult version too which involves a clown and a woman,
but i wont post that here.

On the more serious topic, i try not to judge anyone about anything
they say on here or in actual life either. It's way too hard to do that.
You'd have to have PhD's in 2,000,000 subjects to be able to have the
last word on every single subject under the sun. I also realize that
in real life people sometimes mock each other a bit, but i also noticed
that that mostly happens in grammer school and on the news (chuckle)
and it is possible to conduct onself more intelligently than that.

Objectional stuff only includes gross mocking (according to the rules
that were made long before i came to this forum) and bad four
letter words and yes i guess the making of weapons wouldnt be good
either.
I like the idea about replacing objectional content with characters
like #|?>*& and such. That leaves the post intact but waters down
the slanderous effect a bit.

Also note that i would never ban anybody, and im not even sure if
that is one of the things that a simple moderator like myself could
do anyway. If you think that strongly about something you really
have to contact Mike. Also note that banning is not as easy as it
sounds even if someone with really bad taste comes about. Many
ISP addresses change as the individuals log on so recording the
ISP address isnt going to help. The way some sites deal with this
is to ban a whole set of addresses for a short time like a few hours.
This way when the offender tries to log in it wont let them and they
get the hint, but the down side to that is that nice people with
similar addresses (same ISP company) get banned too, and that
just isnt fair at all, no way, and that just pushes nice people away.
It might be possible to contact the ISP company and ask for their
assistance, but i've never done that so i dont know what is involved.

[philba]

I hear you Al and really didn't think that you were able to ban some one. I also think that within the scope of your responsibilities, you are doing a fine job. Though, I have to admit, I think you bend too far backwards to accommodate the people that clearly are just pushing people's buttons (i.e. trolling).

The sad reality is that the current board dynamic chases off the very people that have formed the backbone of other electronics boards. Frankly, I would never start a topic here simply because it would deteriorate into an abusive diatribe about my (and others') education, experience and expertise. Eventually, it will wind up a very small club. This forum could be as good as electro-tech but that isn't going to happen.

On banning working. Yeah, there are holes but the idea is to make a strong statement about acceptable behavior. Breaking the rules has consequences. And while you can change your login name, you can't really change your personality. It really works, even with it's flaws.

Why do I come back? well, I guess hope springs eternal and sometimes I just get out some popcorn and watch the show...