h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>> sorry jwf. I didn't see the irony <<

No great prob m'dear. You're right of course, the web is
a tangley beach full of crabby things with claws. I know
how seriously h2g2 devotees can be in defending their
cyber-homeland from Krusty monsters.

My humour often seems inappropriate to such passion -
but I must remain detached enough to retain an objective
appreciation so I can try to lighten and enlighten the
lode (sic).

And don't worry, you're still my first choice as layout
artist when I finally find a way to publish my strange
and vague portfolio of misunderstoodings. The orderly
and organised balance of your visualisations will be the
ironic icing on my fruitcake of seeming madness. No one
will ever judge my book by its cover.

~jwf~

I cut you a lot of slack, jwf, because you were in show business . That milieu can do things to a person's mind . But I enjoy your posts. Please stay the way you are!

God bless ya paul.
Have they finished plowing out the road to Damascus yet.

Stay warm and dry my Yankee frend.

~jwf~

Warm and dry for now, notwithstanding an extra inch of snow that arrived this morning. Now they predict a three-day storm starting late Sunday.

I really need to pull that snow off the roof now. Would you like any of it, or would you rather just wait for the same storm to get to you

I bet the resident trolls are loving this, allowing them to have a "second/110th chance) of staying in hootoo

If they have a strong desire to stay in Hootoo, I presume that this will give them motivation to watch their step, Prof. I always get a frisson when I hear people talking about the rules that the mods follow, because I helped write those rules, at Mrs. Zen's request [at least that's how I remember it. Or maybe I asked her if she would let me...]. It wasn't a lot of fun to write them, but I wanted to be of help, and that was the only thing I felt much competence at. I didn't check the rules after they became official. It's possible that other people made changes to them. Whatever. I believe that a site like this needs some kind of rules, and I tri4d to summarize a lot of points that were made by other researchers in a thread devoted to the subject. I look at it as a group effort in which a lot of people had input.

you've my respect my friend

I learn from the wiseand benefit in many ways

If the rules have remained stable for three or four years, that probably means that there were no glaring problems...that anyone has yet discovered.

Or that there is a problem but we don't know how to deal with it.
h2g2 is not the only site with issues. Twitter have plenty.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31146659

"How bad can it be", I hear you ask

Well, Dmitri just showed us in another thread where he linked to this:

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/feb/02/what-happened-confronted-cruellest-troll-lindy-west

Do yourself a favour an read all of it. There's a positive surprise in it, I can tell you!

Interesting thread this is.

And what an extraordinary story, Pierce. Extremely moving, in fact, and inspiring.



I think often about the role of Moderator, on this website and any website.

Not having been brought up with the internet, because I'm quite old, , the idea of trolls and faceless abusers, who can appear at any time, posting from anywhere on the planet, hurts me a lot.



Of course, there have always been bullies who take it out on others, in every walk of life.

Reading stories like this, though, really helps.

Anyway, the point is, I am really, really, really grateful to those who take on the role of Moderator here on h2g2, whatever the website format.

Otherwise I couldn't be here, I wouldn't feel secure enough to even post a hullo.



I am currently thinking a lot about this. Every time I post here on h2g2, I think about all the volunteers on this site, who are making it possible, and I don't know how to repay you.

So what can I do? Just express my appreciation, for now, I guess.

Thankyou.

If it weren't for problems that remain unsolved, we would have very little to look forward to.

I read somewhere that everyone needs three things:

1. Something to do.
2. Someone to love.
3. Something to look forward to.

Are problems a blessing in disguise?

4. a large newspaper...... to hide behind

I am still waiting for a courtesy message regarding my activities as Guru for the last few years... Once again I am just an after thought!

"Access to personal data will continue to be held by NPL. From now on, any requests related to passwords, email addresses, or user accounts should be referred to the Moderation Team."

This is not the first time I have been treated this way, you won't get a third chance.


Milla, please remove ALL of my badges (including former ones). Please remove me from any Skype windows. I am not there to be ignored.


lil
Ex Guru/ACE/Scout/Mod/Community Editor.

Oh gawd, that really hurts to hear Lil.
Lately I`ve been calling this the Malabrista syndrome...
And before that it was...
Actually it`s been going on since 2000. But it gets worse
because it never gets acknowledged or cured and trying
to take sides or generate sympathy results in hateful
silently gagged Moderation. Meanwhile, the reel whirled
around us has become much less sympathetic generally
(unless extreme media focus is concentrated on an issue
like the plight of 3-legged dogs).

It is too easy for us to ignore real people in cyberspace;
easier than ignoring the trolls. But same cure: just turn
off your emojis.

How about from now on we`ll call it the Lillaputdown;
at least until the next valued researcher decides not
to go quietly into the cyber abyss of thanklessness.
Thanks for telling us about the Emperors`naked BOD.

-jwf-

Good post, jwf.

I've been following this and biting my tongue so far.

And you are right, Malabarista wasn't the first. I left about three years ago. Back then, moderation was way ott, and I see that nothing has changed for better.

A good friend told me, that censoring is what moderation is all about these days (and even that started years ago).

Each time I have a look here because one or the other of my friends brings something to my attention, I close the page again, counting myself lucky that I left when I did. This way, I'm still a happy, healthy being.

Thanks for your comments.
The secret to successful democratic revolution is in the numbers.
Censorship policies can`t Moderate us all into silence if we all
keep speaking up with carefully chosen non-offensive words.

-jwf-

I'm so sorry, lil. If we lose the ACE's, who will greet new researchers and try to make them feel welcome?

If you sink one part of a ship, doesn't the rest of the ship go down sooner or later?