(not strictly motoring related, but I own a car and you own cars.... feel free to move or delete)
I've had to do some research over the past few days which involved reading some newsgroups. The newsgroups were related to walking, gardening and diy, and as such, have, one assumes, a fairly 'mature' readership
Ha !
someone asks a question about fixing 'a water metre' (his spelling) and is immediately told 'if you can't spell it you've no hope of ....ing fixing it' and this generates 40+ replies !
a question about killing slugs is the cue (honestly) for a multi-post tirade from what I can only assume are thinly disguised animal activists, who also plague the walking group
all three areas are full of 'you didn't read my post, you moron' and 'who are you calling a moron' conversations.
I don't know if we don't see, this sort of posting in the BR because it gets cut before we see it, or it doesn't get posted in the first place because it can be seen to be a moderated environment, but I am very glad we don't.
I don't know how much time Alan, Dave and Mark put into modding, but I'd like to say Thanks, chaps !
you have to get out of the car sometime
so visit www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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You're a brown-nosing little groveller, aren't you.
Please note the above is totally t-i-c and I agree with your comments really!
Andy
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i`ve commented on this and echo your sentiments exactly, you only have to read some of the (many) aol boards, good grief, language, spelling(mine is excluded!), and just the general amount of obscene pratability, that is loose out there is almost beyond belief, if they spoke to each other like that in a pub on a friday night, they would probably be bashing each others brains?? out.
billy.
and i have nothing against any religious group, catholic, protestant,or moron. :-)
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As one who is guilty of (very) occasionally losing patience with some of the posts I would like to be associated with the remarks of the last speaker!
--
Terry
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>>I don't know if we don't see, this sort of posting in the BR because it gets cut before we see it,
In the early days we had a lot, and we clamped down very hard. These days we get very little - essentially three types;
The occasional nudge because things are wandering. No big deal, virtually never any trouble, and usually absorbed by the occupants effortlessly.
The nwbies who didn't quite get it, but who calm down and sort themselves out pretty quickly.
Every now and again we get an idiot. They rush around like fools, posting stupid stuff all over the place and arguing with everybody, usually with a bunch of insults and rude words. These sub-divide; Many of those, after a gentle slap, sort themselves out and become valued regulars. The rest get thrown out, frequently repeatedly, and then wander off to darken someone else's doorway. A curiosity is that the second group almost always use rude words as their passwords. I am advised of all registrations and see the e-mail address, forum id and password - it is extremely rare for someone who uses a rude word as their password to ever become a reasonable contributor.
But generally it is a pretty easy ride because we do seem to attract teh "higher quality" participant.
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I have sometimes thought in the past that the moderators here are just a bit too severe with their restrictions/censorship but it's true that if you go to other poorly run forums you realise that the backroom has got it right.
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You haven't seen anything until you get yourself on a site which debates the age old argument 'rugby union is better than rugby league'. My local rugby union club were so fed up with trolls who turned every thread in to such a debate they set up a seperate forum just for union v league discussion!
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Another very good example of a properly regulated forum is that operated by PC Advisor (www.pcadvisor.co.uk).
Usually there's only one moderator who also works full-time earning a crust with the magazine and other outlets, yet he knows exactly how far to let anything go and stamps down firmly if necessary.
Often, it seems, a quiet word via e-mail after he's deleted an unsuitable posting is enough to put an individual on the right lines. Very occasionally an entire thread gets a red line through it.
Incidentally there are nearly 150,000 members authorised to use/contribute to the PC Advisor forums - you have to register to use it just as with honestjohn.co.uk
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I'll just add my pennyworth to say 'thank you' to ND, DD and Mark. Fascinating bit of information about people using rude words as passwords!
I think another thing that keeps the quality up on this site is the absence of smilies. When people *t (sic) to put sensible postings that are stuffed full of emoticons it becomes very hard work reading. The standard of English & writing on this site is very high too - which inter alia reduces the opportunity for misunderstanding & incomprehension.
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>>PC Advisor
And when the title of the magazine includes a mis-spelling... That should of course be Adviser. Advisor is a corruption that has arisen out of advisory.
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>>And when the title of the magazine includes a mis-spelling...>>
It's not unusual. My local newspaper, on which I worked for the first 10 years of employment, is called the Visiter.
The reason is because when it was founded in 1844, a list of all the visiters to the resort that week was published in the paper, a tradition maintained for quite a period of time.
Despite the fact that the feature has long since disappeared, the paper's masthead has been preserved.
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{Quote=Mark}But generally it is a pretty easy ride because we do seem to attract teh "higher quality" participant.
Well, thank you very much.
To a large extent, the quality of the moderation is reflected in the quality of the long term backroomer!
Keep on the good work (same for the rest of the mods here)
--
Lee
MINI adventure in progress
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Mapmaker: now you've got me in full Pedantic Old f*** mode (if that word's allowed, and since the moderators are nodding off under the all the praise ...)
If you go back far enough -- and that's difficult -- the -er ending in such words is of British origin, the -or is American, although the two have now become prety well interchangeable. I loved one corridor in the university where I worked, which had door plates in a random mix of both spellings. The important thing is to keep to one or the other.
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The word was to do with intestinal wind, not the reproductive act.
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Thanks, Stuartli, that makes it sooooooooooo much better! :)
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Advisor is a corruption that has arisen out of laziness from advisory.
Need I say more!!
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I am a Chartered Tax Adviser.
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And clearly proud of it, there always has to be one :-)
Ironic how this coversation is going given the title!
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Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor
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I suppose you lot know most of the words on 'Call My Bluff'.
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I suppose you lot know most of the words on 'Call My Bluff'.
Who do you think sets the quiz?
I also participate in a couple of other forums which remain remarkably friendly. I won't even post the names of the sites in case any minors read this. There'd moderated by volunteers who do an excellent job of (mostly) keeping things friendly, although the politics forum in one of them can get very out of hand at times.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
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I once logged onto the forum on a professional driving instructors association website. I would say it was like a bunch of 14 year olds in the playground, except I don't know any 14 year olds that badly behaved who are not in detention centres.
Good moderators make a site, once the standards slip it
just becomes an insult trading cattle market.
I would liken them to efficient traffic wardens. (That should stop them getting big headed)
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Interesting point, mapmaker, but I stand corrected anyway. I have just checked Fowler's Modern Usage (1999, which says
"A decade or two ago one's impression was that 'adviser' was the more usual spelling in British English and 'advisor' in American English, but impressions are one thing and hard evidence another."
Sorry -- no hard evidence, just my impression. Back to motoring before I get moderated orf.
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While we are on topic of moderation - wasn't it exactly that kind of 20 post long "shall we spell provocateur with -eur or -or" off topic bash the original post was treating about?
It's definitely one of the cleanest and best forums I've been to but as great and fantastic as it is, I think it could do with few features, like edit button for example and fixing that awful timeout on reply. In heat of discussion it's human to make mistakes, easy to omit something important and since editing is standard feature of all discussion board software nowadays I think it would be of benefit to everyone, to be able to correct the post before spelling and grammar police jumps on them. Fixing that reply timout would be also less nerve wrecking and cheaper than current £££ MS Office Word with spellchecker add-on currently suggested as alternative. :)
Edit button would also make moderators less trigger happy. It's not uncommon to see a thread, with up to 20 responses, emptied and closed as "repetitive" for example. With all due respect - if it generated long posts in vast numbers then it clearly is of interest to someone. They might have clearly missed similar tirade last month, but when you wipe it out you've just wasted someone's time and maybe even research done before posting. In the name of, what, database space? Moderators lack of interest in matter? :(
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Since it's a 'loan word' from French, v0n, there's no argument. It can only be 'provocateur' (or, strictly but rarely, 'provocatrice' in the case of a female one, but that's taking pedantry a bit too far).
As for the edit button, hallelujah brother! It's one thing I miss, after php forums (sorry, fora -- there I go again). I didn't even know there was a time-out. Just wondered why I kept losing my text. Can anyone explain the purpose of this?
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I didn't even know there was a time-out. Just wondered why I kept losing my text.
Tips on prevention of this here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=14993
and here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=7895
Can anyone explain the purpose of this?
I was hoping to find the explanation either Mark or Martyn (ex moderator) gave, but the Forum Search has failed me.
After approx 20 mins of inactivity on this site you will automatically be logged out. ::Why I hear you ask:: shrugs shoulders Er, I dunno.
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With an edit button, I wouldn't have had to post this afterthought. I never, ever, presume to correct anyone's English. Right or wrong, it's a discourtesy and my remarks above are the merest jest in (I hope) the spirit of the discussion.
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>>to be able to correct the post before spelling>>
Why not write your posting in Word or similar, spell check and then cut and paste into one of these panels if you are doing a long posting?
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Creeping Americanization. Just like driving 4x4s (or SUVs if you prefer)*.
______________________________________
* motoring link
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I thought all threads on moderating policy were liable to deletion? All comments to be via email?
:-D
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I thought all threads on moderating policy were liable to deletion?
Only the negative ones ;o)
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Actually all of them including the positive ones. But let us bask in a little glory for 24 hours; it makes a change from the slagging we normally take.
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How long have we got left?
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until tomorrow morning sometime.
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Anyone who thinks the moderating can be a little harsh at times (and we all do at some point or other) should think back to when this site was in it's early days. It only took one or two malcontents to generate every other thread into a boring slanging match which had nothing to do with motoring, and had not the moderating tightened up then I have no doubt it would have gone the way of other most forums ie down the pan.
I seem to remember a certain poster from Brazil having his knuckles rapped once or twice. Can't remember his name, though. ;-)
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roses are red
violets are blue
without our moderators
this forum would be pooh
thanks you guys
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> I seem to remember...
Sed quis...
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> I seem to remember... Sed quis...
Guardian readers?
Vercin
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>>I seem to remember a certain poster from Brazil having his knuckles rapped once or twice. Can't remember his name, though. ;-)
Oh he's still here. Nice chap, very good looking, but I can't quite remember his name either.
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You all great. keep up the good work.Hope I`m still here tomorrow. Steve
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Was mech1
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Thank you all for your comments. I'm not sure if Alan has seen the thread, but if someone could say something rude about Alfas then no doubt he'll turn up immmediately.
Since its Friday then I shall leave this thread going for the rest of the day. If you could confine your normal Friday antics into this thread I'd be grateful
Mark.
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Alfas
Useless. Absolutely useless. Why can't people buy proper cars. Honestly. Anyone would think they were short of the folding stuff.
There you go, Mark. Tick, tick, tick.....
;-)
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>>Alfas
>proper cars
Oh. Didn't realise they were cars at all...
Anyway, we had Friday on Tuesday...
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Hey! The Two Friday Week - at last!
Remember - you saw it in the BR first....
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[ ]
[ ]
_________ [ ]
| | [ ]
|_ | [ ]
| | [ ]
| ___ [ ]
| \' ` |_[_]____
| / ALFA |
| | | MASSEY_ |
|_| |_____/ __|
/ /
___/ _/
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Hey, what's happened to the spaces? It looked brilliant before I posted it!
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[ ]
[ ]
_________ [ ]
| | \ [ ]
|_ | \ [ ]
| | \ [ ]
| ___ \ [ ]
| ' ` \_[_]____
| / \ ALFA |
| | | MASSEY_ |
|_| |_____/ \___|
\___/ \___/
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sorry,
what is it? something to do with an alpha an` a tractor?
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Beware the alpha tractor! Lord of all he surveys, the other mlae tractors of the pack dream that one day they will overcome him in hand to hand* combat, that one day they shall become the alpha...
*Oh... sorry, should be "tyre to tyre".
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>>the other mlae tractors
Not the mlae tractors. Be very wary...
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Not the mlae tractors. Be very wary...
Yes, tehy always wree the worst. Vrey cheeky, the lot of tehm. Always saty wlel clear.
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ahhh!! got it now!!
looking from this direction ------------>
it`s a chieftan tank!!!!! aka "alpha".
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Still no sign of him. Must have broken down somewhere.
Any breakdown patrols on-line at the moment? If so, do pass the message on....
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[yawn]
:: stretches ::
:: raises eyebrow ::
:: nods off again ::
ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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Guess he is stuck at the roadside then.
Best chance for a kip he's had for ages.
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See, someone mentions Alphers and beer, and ND makes a brief appearance.
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(Creepy mode) Yep, thanks to all three of you, I certainly wouldn't be here if this place was allowed to degenerate into the sorts of things I have seen elsewhere. (That is not an invitation to allow it to degenerate simply to get rid of me).
(Non-creepy mode) Just to test things out - Alphas are rubbish and I'll buy you a beer.
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Hmmmmmm? Did someone say beer?
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Blimmin' 'eck it worked. ;)
Yup, beers are a-flowing chez HF. What was that about a Dorset (or was it Devon?) meetup? Won't Pikey Orpington do?
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