27th May 2012, 3:27 pm | #181 |
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Re: This forum
Co-incidentally, whilst searching the Net for something yesterday, I staggered across a deleted thread which I was a contributor to. It was on Boardreader, and related to a piece of test equipment I bought from another member. It held no interest to anyone except us, and we know what it said.
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27th May 2012, 3:33 pm | #182 |
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Re: This forum
I don't think anyone is worried about stuff like that going (it is more or less just good housekeeping) but that is not what we have been told has been deleted here.
I think we should have a quarantine area, that holds posts before deletion in case anyone wants to copy any info over. |
27th May 2012, 3:35 pm | #183 | ||
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Re: This forum
Quote:
In the AUP it says: Quote:
This makes interesting reading too... https://www.facebook.com/servage?filter=2 Lots of issues with sites being hacked, poor customer service etc. I would be looking for something more serious, professional and honest/upfront about their service etc. |
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27th May 2012, 3:56 pm | #184 | ||
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Re: This forum
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27th May 2012, 4:24 pm | #185 | |
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Re: This forum
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A lot of the public stuff that has been languishing in the skip for ages and has now gone were things like birthday greeting posts, new member introductions where neither the new member or respondents said anything of note, equipment transport requests and arrangements, requests for service data that were given a link to "up top there", requests for parts that were given links to the same suppliers as dozens of other similar requests, off-topic and contentions stuff about DAB, operating system comparisons etc, and some of the previous protracted threads about how the site is run. There was also some of the old eBay section threads still in there which those who were around when all that blew up will know had to vanish from view quickly. These were moved to "the skip" in the course of normal moderating. Generally when a section such as the sales and wanted ones are cleared out prior to a certain date we post to that effect, and these posts end up in the skip too. Invariably a small percentage of the stuff that was in there and has now gone may, in hindsight, have been worth retaining. But nobody has the time to sift through that lot. We took the view that the contents of the skip had been put in there for good reasons, hadn't been missed despite in some cases being in there for several years, and it was worth getting rid of it to reduce the size of the database tables to see if it would help database performance. |
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27th May 2012, 4:28 pm | #186 |
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Re: This forum
I have to say, and I think i am probably in the minority of posters here in this thread. I couldnt care less what I have posted in the past, nothing I have said here makes an ounce of difference to life in general, nothing I have posted is in my mind worthy of saving for future generations.
Should this forum cease to exist, I would hope it would be allowed to rest in peace, and not have the library of posts handed over to another group to paw over. Given the general whining the last two or three pages have generated, I would not blame Paul, or the moderators if they decided to call it a day, sure it would be a great loss, but think of the spare time they would have again. Would the BVWS want to take this forum on, considering the bickering that appears to be so rife these days.... I think possibly not. Instead of arguing the toss about a load of posts that were not on public view (and that most of you knew nothing about) how about helping the mainstream in keeping this place open?
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27th May 2012, 4:30 pm | #187 |
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Re: This forum
Regarding the other (main) issues, that of how the forum will keep running in the future, hosting, funding etc, we are following the thread and noting opinions but deliberately not posting very much as we want to get an overall feel without trying to steer or influence the outcome.
There is also a similar (but much briefer!) discussion taking place in the staff room where members of the mod team are giving their thoughts. It is likely that the forum will survive some way or another. The exact method is not yet decided. Clearly there is plenty of support here for it to survive. |
27th May 2012, 4:35 pm | #188 |
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Re: This forum
Robert Your earlier comment about the Forum already being lost is important. We must remember that Paul and the Moderators had to do this before there were any indications that there might be enough members willing to provide financial cover. To be blunt it was essential to ensure it did not compromise Paul's livelihood. Fortunately the financial aspect of this seems soluble.
These items are now lost so they are in the past. If amongst them there was knowledge not available anywhere else -then sad-. Going back to another aspect of this debate, unfortunately to keep the Forum as useful as it is, some form of screening posts is needed. The Moderators in my view do this very successfully. They understand the subject so are unlikely to make many mistakes. Also from things said, they do not destroy posts immediately but put them in a skip. I can understand the desire to keep everything, in case it might be useful but there is a cost. This may not be very much financially but at some stage it may be large in terms of time. Historically there has always been the equivalent of our notional skip. It was usually emptied into what archaeologists now see as middens. To me it illustrates that with modern technology things that have been thrown away as opposed to re-cycled or deliberately destroyed are not necessarily lost for ever. As I am not an archaeologist or historian I can't assess the value of this activity but I am often amazed and dubious, about what is reconstructed from bits found. Some of it may be completely wrong and misleading. For instance a few resistors broken valves and corroded wire from my bin could have come from almost anything. When I think about what is lost by ejecting items in the skip I can see three aspects. One is the loss of breakthrough technical insights, not available anywhere else in the world, inadvertently thrown away. I don't see anything I have contributed in this category. The second is information related to a problem someone may encounter in the near future. It may not be junk but if the items have not been catalogued then retrieving it is tedious and time consuming. The alternative in this case, of searching a general catalogued library elsewhere, might be more effective. The third for the distant future is the fact that there was a group of people like us, all interested in the same sort of thing. When forced to make a decision about what to keep some items were rejected. No one will know what they were. On this aspect the loss would be not knowing what these people (us) considered offensive, libelous, incomprehensible or irrelevant. On a more serious aspect, there is a good reason for destroying some things. Technically, making a libelous statement available to the public is publishing a libel. It can have nasty consequences.The publisher is as liable as the person making the statement. There are very few places where potentially libelous statements can be made with impunity and this is not one of them. The only place I know of for certain is the House of Commons. |
27th May 2012, 4:54 pm | #189 | |
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Re: This forum
Quote:
As far as I'm concerned if I post a question as soon as I have read the answer it has served its purpose. If I answer one this has been fulfilled as soon as the questioner has seen it. For instance, how many copies of the fact that you can replace a capacitor with one of higher voltage rating do we need to keep? I can certainly see complaints being made were the database to be handed over to another person or organisation, a view with which I would have some sympathy. - Joe |
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27th May 2012, 5:10 pm | #190 |
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Re: This forum
I should be very sorry to see this Forum close. I've gained greatly from the help and advice received, including that in archives, since I stumbled across the Forum over 9 years ago. I visit daily, although I don't usually sign in unless I'm active in a post or feel the need to make comments, or for PM's etc.
I would be more than happy to contribute a few quid periodically not only to safeguard this resource but also to maintain it as a happy meeting place where we like minded anoraks can help each other out. Greg
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27th May 2012, 5:11 pm | #191 |
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Re: This forum
I have tried to outline the situation as I see it for debate but, to make things clear, Personally I don't care what happens to my posts either.
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27th May 2012, 5:37 pm | #192 |
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Re: This forum
To those members who have stated they don't care what happens to their posts after they have received help or got an answer to their question.
Well if that should prove to be the view of the 'silent majority' then lets delete all threads after one month of being on view. It would certainly solve all the issues of bandwidth and server load for sure! But in my opinion a very short-sighted and frankly selfish attitude to have with regards to other members facing similar problems and requiring the same information in the future. Regards |
27th May 2012, 5:41 pm | #193 | |
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Re: This forum
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It's my impression so far that, if posts thought not worthy of a place in an open archive can be shunted off into a limbo where they can sit indefinitely without costing anyone further time or putting strain on reliable hosting at a level we the members are collectively happy to support, then most folks may be fairly contented with the outcome. Paul Last edited by Paul_RK; 27th May 2012 at 5:53 pm. |
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27th May 2012, 5:56 pm | #194 |
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Re: This forum
I think the same Paul, if someone thinks any of my posts worth saving, fine, if they think they are not, fine also. For instance my last post is probably not worth saving because the meaning was not clear.
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27th May 2012, 6:04 pm | #195 |
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Re: This forum
Maybe members who are worried about losing "valuable" threads should start making more use of the "Rate this thread" voting system. I doubt the mods would even consider deleting a thread if it has picked up a star or two?
David
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27th May 2012, 6:06 pm | #196 | |
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Re: This forum
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Thanks, Rob.
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27th May 2012, 6:23 pm | #197 | |
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Re: This forum
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Regards |
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27th May 2012, 6:34 pm | #198 | ||
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Re: This forum
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I for one am pleased that I spent more time playing with old electronics, otherwise the only Forum that I could join would be a word perfect typing one. What a dull world that would be! |
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27th May 2012, 6:57 pm | #199 |
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Re: This forum
I've been reading this thread with interest, so I thought I'd stick my opinion into the hat. I'm certainly not the biggest poster on her, but I visit every day and have found that the wealth of information, helpfulness of members and genuine enthusiasm for vintage technology have both re-invigorated and sustained my interest in the hobby.
I have always been impressed with the high standard of moderation, which I can understand some might find to be overly strict, but I’m afraid I don’t. I'm a member of several other forums too, none of which are as pleasant to post in and visit as this one - due in part to the high quality moderation (as well as a great bunch of people who post, of course!) I've been saddened by the recent negative postings which have occurred in this section. Whilst there’s nothing wrong with a good old moan from time to time, there seems to have been almost an orchestrated attempt to whip up discontent and pick arguments with the owner and moderating team, who give their time, skills (and server space) voluntarily for the good of our hobby. Relatively minor issues have been blown out of proportion and certain members seem to think that their voices should be heard above everybody else’s because they can argue more eloquently (or loudly) than others. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of members of this site are perfectly happy with the way it's being run, and would (like me) be very upset if it were to be closed or changed to any great degree. Those who are unhappy know there are alternative forums, which they may find more to their liking. Perhaps they are already members – there’s a thought . . . Enough rambling! My opinion on future funding would be: A quotation for professional hosting of the site is acquired and published on here together with a click-on "Donate" button (the payment taken in the same way as buying service information from Paul). Once the required total is reached, this button would disappear until the following year (or six months, or whatever!). I'm sure there would be sufficient donations very quickly. I could see major complications with a subscription approach, e.g. what would happen to any surplus funds? How would it affect the number of members? Would the sense of entitlement of members who have paid lead to an outbreak of arguments such as,” I’ve paid my subscription for this – I want it done this way!”? Sorry for rambling on. Please feel free to send this post to “The Skip” when it’s time has come – or before, if you see fit – this whole thread is of no long term relevance to our hobby. to the ever patient mods and Paul Stenning from me. Neil. |
27th May 2012, 7:00 pm | #200 | |
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Re: This forum
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Surely the idea of having all of the info that we have is that we can search and retrieve old info using our search tool. |
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