• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Future of the Forum

temporalillusion said:
I guess that's two other questions that maybe can be at least considered... is there an existing forum with similar enough goals that could be the new home for this forum's members? Does make the whole transition easier, though I expect that's not what most people who care would want.
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Personally, the lag issues are making me question my frequent visits, here. The forum has been a major part of my internet life in the past 9 years, but because of the members, not the actual foundation/forum. I do miss many of the old familiar faces who either left or were banned. If we were to find a new place and the regulars here switched, I would be inclined to follow.

The question, however, and no matter what happens (change of forum or just change of owners), is how the new rules affect the community and its dynamics. Some members may not have been banned under those rules.

Spindrift said:
A forum is an inefficient means of communication
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You'll have to explain that one to me. You can't debate with Twitter on 140 characters. Youtube is... not very good for discussions, etc. I get that Facebook could do the trick but it's not as well-structured as a forum, so the thread of a conversation gets lost very very quickly.

People are scared.
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I'm not scared. Just dissapointed.
 
Belz... said:
You'll have to explain that one to me. You can't debate with Twitter on 140 characters. Youtube is... not very good for discussions, etc. I get that Facebook could do the trick but it's not as well-structured as a forum, so the thread of a conversation gets lost very very quickly.
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I am speaking of JREF itself, not the members of this forum. JREF itself does not participate in on-line debate. They are looking for marketing and PR, not scoring debate points on a relatively small forum.
 
platonov said:
I dont wish to piss off our new overlord(s) :) but ...
Really ?

If the current admin/mod* team aren't on board many of the members may not see it that way.
[If I may state the bleedin' obvious].
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Well, some are still on board, some are understandably p***ed at what I think has been poor treatment by JREF, who hasn't communicated with and treated them with the respect they deserve. It's sad that they in effect are taking that out on the forum community (by withdrawing their services to the community), but I can also understand the reaction - heck, I did much the same in a similar situation once.

The forum just needs a new home. That's it.

It's an opportunity to make it better than before, with lessons learned from the mistakes. Myself and other members have all put up our hands and said we'll keep it running. If the forum dies it's because the members choose that path, not because JREF decided they didn't want to support it any more.
 
abaddon said:
You are making the assumption that incumbent members will abandon ship in droves. Why do you think that?
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"I'm a'stayin'!"

(Bong...bong...bong...bong...)

♪♫♪"Dew nawt fersake me owe mah fo-o-o-rhum..."♪♫♪

(Bong...bong...bong...bong...)

"This is crazy! I don't even have any guns! But I'm a'stayin'!"

(Bong...bong...bong...bongggg...)
 
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abaddon said:
That is a feeling of rejection. And, to be fair, I feel that sense too.

But take a moment to consider who is rejecting, and who is being rejected.

It is JREF rejecting the forum community, not the Forum rejecting you.

And at base, JREF does not participate in this community in any meaningful way.

So what is important? The preservation of a pointless link to a neglectful JREF? Or the preservation of your link to a community?
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nommed
 
NoahFence said:
If a member is banned does that mean in the new forum they'll be able to come back?

Please don't tell Clayton.... :D
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But please do tell Dr. Adequate and GeeMack and Marduk and Articulett and triforcharity and stankape and quarky and pardalis and thunder and zep and plumjam and uncayimmy and many others...

Spindrift said:
I am speaking of JREF itself, not the members of this forum. JREF itself does not participate in on-line debate. They are looking for marketing and PR, not scoring debate points on a relatively small forum.
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Ah, ok. Thanks for clearing that up.
 
icerat said:
Well, some are still on board, some are understandably p***ed at what I think has been poor treatment by JREF, who hasn't communicated with and treated them with the respect they deserve. It's sad that they in effect are taking that out on the forum community (by withdrawing their services to the community), but I can also understand the reaction - heck, I did much the same in a similar situation once.

The forum just needs a new home. That's it.

It's an opportunity to make it better than before, with lessons learned from the mistakes. Myself and other members have all put up our hands and said we'll keep it running. If the forum dies it's because the members choose that path, not because JREF decided they didn't want to support it any more.
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Not a very 'politic' response methinks.

This way or the highway ? Someone mentioned RDF upthread ?
FWIW I dont have a dog in this fight & Nor am I trying to stir the pot.

I doubt most posters would recognize my username in any case but - the bleedin' obvious is just that. Given the recent login issues would a period of consultation not be appropriate.

Although if one wishes to be cynical some RDF type netdrama would be a source of gaiety to many.
 
Well, I have finally managed to get logged in and the only way I could do it was by downloading and using Safari

Firefox, Opera and Chrome all tell me

"Wrong username or password. You have used up your failed login quota! Please wait 15 minutes before trying again."

and IE tells me I'm a Fake BOT

Block details
Your IP: 111.69.92.168
URL: forums.randi.org/login.php?do=login
Your Browser: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; SV1; BTRS127583; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.0.04506.648; .NET CLR 3.5.
Block ID: FBP006
Block reason: Fake bot access.
Time: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 17:14:11 -0400
Server ID: cp413



On topic, I'll follow this forum wherever it goes, JREF or no JREF

IMO, first order of business once the hardware is sorted out (and if the new owners want to stick with vBulletin) is to upgrade to version that is supported ... at least 4.2.0
 
I have no qualms about keeping my user account and continuing to participate on the forum.

The forum is the way it is because of it's members, not because of what entity paid the bills.
 
platonov said:
Not a very 'politic' response methinks.

This way or the highway ? Someone mentioned RDF upthread ?
FWIW I dont have a dog in this fight & Nor am I trying to stir the pot.

I doubt most posters would recognize my username in any case but - the bleedin' obvious is just that. Given the recent login issues would a period of consultation not be appropriate.

Although if one wishes to be cynical some RDF type netdrama would be a source of gaiety to many.
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Don't shoot the messenger.

Consultation? JREF doesn't want to spend one more dime on the forum. They have an out (icerat) and they are taking it, as quickly as possible.
 
Belz... said:
But please do tell Dr. Adequate and GeeMack and Marduk and Articulett and triforcharity and stankape and quarky and pardalis and thunder and zep and plumjam and uncayimmy and many others...
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Heck, one Clayton to get back all of them might be the better part of the bargain (again "might").
 
Did I mention the loathing

Spindrift said:
Don't shoot the messenger.

Consultation? JREF doesn't want to spend one more dime on the forum. They have an out (icerat) and they are taking it, as quickly as possible.
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I probably didn't get my point across with sufficient clarity (for once)

If it's going to happen & it is - Fine.
The point I was raising was - who will run the show.
The current admin/mod team [ who I loathe BTW :) ] or ??
 
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As usual, I have nothing worthwhile to contribute; but I do want to say that I strongly appreciate the efforts of those who have stepped up to keep things running. I've been here for the better part of a decade; and this place is very important to me. It's almost my sole daily dose of sanity in a world of nonsense; particularly with so many of my other friends and acquaintances going down the woo rabbit-hole and drinking the SJW kool-aid lately. It's nice to have a place that values skepticism and rational, reasoned debate free (mostly) of personal attacks and demonization.

Not much good for the technical stuff, but I'm happy to help in any way I can.
 
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