Good try Rumples! - Page 2

stinky · #21 26-01-2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu

It is icemans site though.. .

His site (at least the forum part) is dependent on contributors and posters. Lose them and you have a linear site.

Stu · #22 26-01-2006, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mick pinner

does anyone else find all this big brother carry on as pathetic as l do, no members, no site, no moderators, careful.

There will always be I site for astronomers in Australia now. I saw a break-away forum set up in less than an hour once. Amazing (but easier than you think, forum templates like this one are available free). It's now a lot more popular than the original too.

Same circumstances. Private site originally, now it's on yahoo and public, no one owns it. The moderators come and go and it lives by itself. This is the most common and most successful forum model.

Having said that I still think iceinspace is great if I love it for what it is and not for what it isn't.

rumples riot · #23 26-01-2006, 09:32 PM

Why is it that everytime we have a little fun, it gets canned. Is it a problem if a thread runs into 10 pages long, what does it matter what the content is? So long as it is not offensive. I guess it seems that being silly is offensive.

Robby might be hard to fit the pastry all the way round the tin for the Pie.

stinky · #24 26-01-2006, 09:35 PM

Hey I'm a newbie here - is General Chat here different than other forums? What are the rules I'm missing?

mickoking · #25 26-01-2006, 09:44 PM

G,day cobbers,

I reckon IIS is the best forum on the net period. Mike and the moderators do a great job even though I don't always agree with their rulings my self. If the rules are too loose the community will turn into a parody of it's self, lose relevence and dissapear. Too strict and the site will become boring and conservative 'astronerd' site. There is always a balance to be struck, by and large the balance is right.

Chill

astrogeek (Leon) · #26 26-01-2006, 09:48 PM

May I just say,

astrogeek (Leon) · #27 26-01-2006, 09:48 PM

Spam

astrogeek (Leon) · #28 26-01-2006, 09:48 PM

Is

astrogeek (Leon) · #29 26-01-2006, 09:49 PM

Fun!

rumples riot · #30 26-01-2006, 09:54 PM

To my way of thinking and the rules as originally expounded by the moderating team (I was the first moderator, since resigned) that spam could not be eliminated from the site all together. To try and do so would kill the site. It needed to be vented somewhere and it was agreed that it should be allowed to be exhibited in the General Chat section. Now that there are over 700 members it seems that Mike is no longer scared of loosing members, he has decreed that spam will not be tolerated. What sort of prat thinks they are in control of this site. Sure we are appreciative of Mikes momentum and foresight; and to the moderators that keep this site working and running effectively, but lets not fool ourselves, you can't control this. To do so will only make things worse.

As I see it, anything is general chat is by and large spam. Now something that is unwanted is spam. So if someone starts a thread and someone comes along and hijacks that thread with inane gibberish; this is spam. However, if I start a thread and encourage people to spam, it is my thread and I do not consider it to be unwanted rubbish. It is not the call of the moderating team to close my thread which calls for others inane rubbish.

So that is where we stand. Only way to stop this is to Ban people, and they won't do this cos they know that it will create a reaction and backlash. That being people will leave the site. So even though it is MIkes creation, the site does not strictly belong to him. We all create the site and maintain it by our very imput. How many threads are going to get started and contributed to if 3/4 of the active members leave the site. Ergo the site belongs to all of us. Not some egomaniacs.

Make the choice, make a stand. Start as many threads in the General chat you want on any subject you like, so long as you don't think it is spam.

Mick (Michael) · #31 26-01-2006, 10:17 PM

Spam was here from the beginning.
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ght=IceInSpace

Starkler (Geoff) · #32 26-01-2006, 10:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rumples riot

We all create the site and maintain it by our very imput. How many threads are going to get started and contributed to if 3/4 of the active members leave the site. Ergo the site belongs to all of us. Not some egomaniacs.

Paul I think you overestimate the number of the number who think nonsense spam is good for this site. Yes the ones who spam a lot are the vocal minority and are few in number.
What cannot be measured is the number of people who could make valuable contributions to this site who just shake their head and leave, never to return.

This site DOES belong to Mike. He does not make money from it and for him and us moderators its a labour of love. Consider IIS to be Mikeland and you are his guest here. Mikeland is not a democracy but is a benevolent dictatorship and he has appointed deputies who are called moderators.

Just consider this. If it gets all too hard Mike could just consider all the pain of running this site to be not worth the trouble and pull the pin. Now wouldnt that make you feel all warm and fuzzy ?

The views expressed above are my personal views only

stinky · #33 26-01-2006, 10:35 PM

A few threads, or different views are to cause so much pain - enough to give up the site? Come on....

rumples riot · #34 26-01-2006, 10:43 PM

Vocal minority, I think not. Every person here has spammed at one point in time. Some more frequently than others. We are not suggesting that spam should be tolerated in the serious forums, just that as you know it was agreed not to interfere with it in the general chat section. If people shake their heads and walk away they need to get a life. Their is more to life than astronomy and being serous about it. I think you underestimate the number of people who email each other on a regular basis about the draconian rules that are applied indifferently to this site and to which thread. This site has created a huge email network and many people have made complaints.

The site cannot exist without both the users and the imput of the moderators and the Admin. I am a owner of company and employ currently 12 men. I for one know that things like this are a co-operative. So while mike does own the rights of the site, the site is nothing without us.

If Mike were to close the site, another one would pop up. Besides people donate to the upkeep of this site. They are the shareholders in its future.

This more than ever confirms what many of us think.

davidpretorius · #35 26-01-2006, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starkler

the ones who spam a lot are the vocal minority and are few in number.

I would have said that there is not much spam nowadays. I know that ken & asimov and I were main offenders, but gone are the days of serious threads being crushed.

The general thread section is pretty much where it stays. The odd funny comment about someones posted image etc where you know the guy like a bit of banter is about as bad as it gets.

For me this is not an astronomy only forum, this is a forum where i share my passion for this hobby with my astronomy mates from around the world. There is a difference.

I see it as an extension of what i would do in person with a fellow member face to face.

When i catch up with rumples in march for the first time, 90% of the chat will be about his scope and my scope and other astronomy stuff. The other 10% will be banter about anything that we find funny. We may chat about the ducks on the lake, or the antics of paris hilton.

I can't see why the site can't reflect this face to face scenario????

It seems like the call has gone out "while mike is away", lock it down, don't let what happened last time to happen. Ken's official spam thread last time was the normal banter that occurs everyday. Just because it has "SPAM" in the title, it was frowned upon. It had nothing to do with astronomy, but 90% of kens and mine and asimovs and rumples do. We post images, we help newbies, we have a joke with them. (I know i appreciated the easy going atmosphere when i joined).

I say it again, the balance has been great for months and months and with the big influx of new guys lately who seem to have that same 90% astro / 10% aussie larrikan, then i can't see what is wrong and why this issue has reared its head unneccessarily? The future look bright!

mick pinner · #36 26-01-2006, 10:54 PM

This site DOES belong to Mike. He does not make money from it and for him and us moderators its a labour of love. Consider IIS to be Mikeland and you are his guest here. Mikeland is not a democracy but is a benevolent dictatorship and he has appointed deputies who are called moderators.

l say this with the greatest respect Geoff but for gods sake settle down, figures of 700 may be spouted by people to show the popularity of this site but lets be realistic it is frequented by a relatively small percentage of these people on a regular basis.

Check the people who have posted each day, same old same old.

At the end of the day it may be a great site but it is only an astronomy site, we are not solving the problems of the world, as for benevolence even god would cease to exist if we all stopped believing.

stinky · #37 26-01-2006, 10:58 PM

Tried Guest - but was frowned upon.

rumples riot · #38 26-01-2006, 11:05 PM

Thanks guys, this is the show of support I hoped for. Well thought out responses to the issues at hand. As per normal with a sense of humour.

stinky · #39 26-01-2006, 11:08 PM

Looks like threads are being removed now, not just closed. I heard you mention Nazi's - I see the brown shirts a'comin'.....

Site has been hacked?

lost_in_space · #40 26-01-2006, 11:09 PM

It seems to me that there been a distinct change in atmosphere on this site in the short time I have been a member, and I think it is for the worse. It seems that the light hearted fun and humour that was so appealing when I discovered this site is not longer allowed.
From my observations posters generally (but not always) adhere to the posting guidlines, with specialised forums being treated as such. Those who breach the guidlines for these forums with spam and general chit chat deserve to be bounced by the moderators, but the header for General Chat specifically says "Talk about anything and everything in here!" and I think it should be hands off for the moderators unless there is a breach of the very sensible general forum guidelines.