Anyone else here addicted?

[Mikebits]

School is free for everyone up until 18-19 years of age.

But if you're over 18, and unemployed, you can take free courses at local colleges - the idea been that more qualifications will help you get a job. Unfortunately some lazy, work shy, people do nothing but continually take courses.

Sounds like a nice deal, I guess no system is perfect. Someone will always manage to stain the paper the plan was written on. Unfortunate fact of life I suppose.

 

[tcmtech]

Maybe it is me but I feel that the number of post that require a reply has dropped. Also, there seems to be more people replying to threads who have little knowledge. When you try to correct this you end up getting flamed and if you retaliate you get banned or a infraction (who came up with that word). I posted a thread about this but it just got deleted.

Overall, I think the quality of this forum is dropping. Privately, I think a lot of knowledgeable posters agree with me.

I am getting the same feeling as well.
Lately I have been just floating in and out and not replying to as many threads either.
The village idiots are getting more opinionated about stuff they clearly dont understand and it seems that nit picking the basic and common sense non relevant safety issues is becoming the latest fad.

Why reply when the retards just go after you and leave bad rep instead of really learning about why you have no concern about an issue??

 

[Ghosty_Ghoul]

Are you addicted Nigel? I notice you have >13 posts per day?

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Are you addicted Nigel? I notice you have >13 posts per day?

No, but I have the chance to get on the net throughout the day at work - usually

 

[Ghosty_Ghoul]

Good for you I hope the boss doesn't catch you.

I've been told off at work for using the forum rather than working before.

 

[Bob Scott]

Maybe it is me but I feel that the number of post that require a reply has dropped. Also, there seems to be more people replying to threads who have little knowledge. When you try to correct this you end up getting flamed and if you retaliate you get banned or a infraction (who came up with that word). I posted a thread about this but it just got deleted.

Overall, I think the quality of this forum is dropping. Privately, I think a lot of knowledgeable posters agree with me.

Mike.

I have not been visiting here for a while and just read a few posts today. I am amazed at the number of stupid and technically incorrect answers people are getting. Really! Experienced techs who can't correctly wire rectifiers to a multi-tap transformer. The change is quite dramatic from a couple of months ago. It's like some posters are taking stupidity pills.

Bob

 

[tcmtech]

I have not been visiting here for a while and just read a few posts today. I am amazed at the number of stupid and technically incorrect answers people are getting. Really! Experienced techs who can't correctly wire rectifiers to a multi-tap transformer. The change is quite dramatic from a couple of months ago. It's like some posters are taking stupidity pills.

Bob

I think many of the good guys may have left and I am starting to care less and less about responding to any serious degree lately for the earlier reasons I mentioned in my last post and in this quote.

Be very careful as to how you respond. 'Stupid pills' could get you a reprimand as well being your suggesting people dont know something which in turn would cause them hurt feelings.
I got a minor reprimand for my last post about what I referred to the bad posters replies making them look like. You could be next for suggesting they are acting stupid.

Political correctness and the open ended possibility for your information to be used in a unsafe or illegal fashion may very well get you in trouble as well. Plus expecting people to actually learn about something they dont properly understand could be considered crossing the line apparently.

If this nonsense keeps growing and getting worse I will pack up and leave being its not what I came to respect this forum for.

 

[Pommie]

The ironic thing is that many people came here from another board because of an over zealous moderator. I now learn that Hero has been banned for a month because he called a moderator a nazi. A knowledgable and the most prolific poster here gets a 1 month ban for name calling.

Mike.

 

[tcmtech]

The village idiots are getting more opinionated about stuff they clearly dont understand and it seems that nit picking the basic and common sense non relevant safety issues is becoming the latest fad. **broken link removed**

Why reply when the retards just go after you and leave bad rep instead of really learning about why you have no concern about an issue?? **broken link removed**

To clarify this heres whats been happening to me lately.

I have done a number of general posts to help people or just to let them know that there are different ways to do something without ever implying that they should do unsafe or illegal actions. Ultimately thats their responsibility not mine.

What I, and many others, have been getting are incredibly stupid responses from low post members that just by their response clearly show they dont have a solid understanding of what was referred to let alone the reality of what they are so furiously upset about. Many of you have full well seen as of lately the 'what if' safety and legality trolls are getting more and more aggressive.
They are the ones I was referring to as the village idiots who are getting overly opinionated. I named no one. If you felt I was referring to you, well then why do you think of yourself as what or who I made reference too?

If someone gave bad advice that was poorly thought out I dont care. Just stay off my and other peoples backs about non relevant 'what if' troll issues.

As far as the 'Retards' comment, I was referring to the..
Ah forget it. You all well know what I was referring too. Some have been acting like one so there.

Ive done it and so has everyone else at one point in time. If someone didn't jump on our butts and tell us to grow up most of us never would. I know because I have needed it to and did have it happen to me many times.
I didn't like it either but it just needs to be done sometimes. I just dont go running to mommy when it happens to me.

Many of us like coming here just to learn of different ways others do things. If thats an addiction I dont mind having it.
If I and everyone else has to follow a list of what topics and what rules and regulations are world wide in regards to that subject just so someone some place wont get offended by it I will prove that I am not addicted to this place and leave.

 

[tcmtech]

The ironic thing is that many people came here from another board because of an over zealous moderator. I now learn that Hero has been banned for a month because he called a moderator a nazi. A knowledgable and the most prolific poster here gets a 1 month ban for name calling.

Mike.

I feel bad about it too.
He got it for defending me on the 120 VDC solar panel thread and its resulting fallout from Bryan1. This thread is in a way part of that fallout.

Yea I named a name this time too! Anyone who reads the thread will see its a fair and honest naming.

However for the record I still have no bad will towards Bryan1 or his work here in general.

What each person gets from this is their take and opinion.

Hero999 got banned for his though and has brought up some issues I think we all need to take a closer look at and soon.

 

[ericgibbs]

I feel bad about it too.
He got it for defending me on the 120 VDC solar panel thread and its resulting fallout from Bryan1. This thread is in a way part of that fallout.

Yea I named a name this time too! Anyone who reads the thread will see its a fair and honest naming.

However for the record I still have no bad will towards Bryan1 or his work here in general.

What each person gets from this is their take and opinion.

Hero999 got banned for his though and has brought up some issues I think we all need to take a closer look at and soon.

The Moderators are chosen by Electomaster to ensure that order is kept on the Forums.
In my opinion the way they do that job is fair and impartial.

I dont want this Forum to degenerate into a bear pit, as some other forums have on the web.

If you called someone a nazi in the UK, you would end up in court charged as a racist.

If you feel there are some issues that need sorting out, contact ElectroMaster, the man who owns and operates this forum and stop being a barrack room lawyer.

If you want to ****-chat you could always sign up with 'twitter'...

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

The ironic thing is that many people came here from another board because of an over zealous moderator. I now learn that Hero has been banned for a month because he called a moderator a nazi. A knowledgable and the most prolific poster here gets a 1 month ban for name calling.

I wasn't involved, but you need to clarify your statement - a repeat offender, despite multiple warnings, gets a longer ban than his previous offences. He seems to have serious self control issues.

 

[Pommie]

I don't see what isn't clear about my statement. I just checked and the word nazi appears in 22 threads and is generally used to mean over the top (EG spelling nazi, safety nazi etc.). A ban of 1 month seems excessive for the use of a word that is freely used elsewhere on the board.

Mike.

 

[Mikebits]

The term Nazi as defined by Webster online:

1. a member of the National Socialist German Workers' party of Germany, which in 1933, under Adolf Hitler, seized political control of the country, suppressing all opposition and establishing a dictatorship over all cultural, economic, and political activities of the people, and promulgated belief in the supremacy of Hitler as Führer, aggressive anti-Semitism, the natural supremacy of the German people, and the establishment of Germany by superior force as a dominant world power. The party was officially abolished in 1945 at the conclusion of World War II.

2. a person elsewhere who holds similar views.

3. Sometimes Offensive. (often lowercase**broken link removed**) a person who is fanatically dedicated to or seeks to control a specified activity, practice, etc.: a jazz nazi who disdains other forms of music; tobacco nazis trying to ban smoking

I suspect you are referring to item 3 of the definition list, but one must remember that many of the UK members such as Eric lived through the period of WWII and may find the Nazi term quite offensive as this was a very distasteful period for this planet.

Perhaps a little discretion is needed when using this term as some forum members still remember the bombings of London.

 

[Ghosty_Ghoul]

Ghosty_Ghoul = Hero999

Time to be honest, I am Hero999.

So I was banned for calling Bryan a safety Nazi? I feel that the ban was unfair because my use of the word, Nazi in this context, means someone who unnecessary restricts freedom of speech and nothing to do with racism. I could have just as easily used the words such as Stalinist or thought police. The fact that I also used quotation marks implies that the words "Nazi moderator" aren't mine.

If my post was such a grave violation of the forum rules then it should have been edited or removed. The fact that it still remains, only reinforces my point that my ban is unfair.

That theory would make sense ignoring the fact that the "Nazi moderator" who as good as threatened to delete your "inverter crap" if you posted it outside your thread is Australian.

In my opinion, there have been two offences for which I have been justly banned: swearing on the forum and sending an abusive private message. Even though I was provoked on both occasions it's no excuse: I should not have done it.

I removed the swearing from my post as soon as I had pressed the reply button but it was too late, I had received an infraction which the administrator later saw and banned me.

I have apologised to the administrator for the above offences.

Self control issues?

I have been a member here for three years and have not been banned or received an infraction until September 2008, thereafter I have had four infractions.

From 2003 to 2007 I was going through a spell of severe depression. I was more irritable and had much less self control than I do now, yet I had not been banned.

This leads me to believe that something has changed in the way that this forum is moderated. I think the change is that ElectroMaster has started to become more involved with moderation of the site.

Impartial? If Brian was impartial, then he would have reported my post and allowed another moderator to deal with it and hand out the infraction. Heck I didn't even mention his name in the offending post, for all he knew I could have been talking about another moderator or even a moderator on another site.

Anyway I'm, ranting so I'll give some suggestions on how the moderating and disciplinary system could be improved.

• This might seem controversial, but perhaps very minor insults could be allowed. I'm not saying downright hate, flame or slander should be allowed, but most of us here are adults and are able to handle someone genitally implying that we're foolish, silly, arrogant, ignorant etc.
• If someone is the victim of trolling or abuse from another member, go easy on them if they retaliate. I know they shouldn't but you should understand that people get frustrated and may make rude posts.
• For the first offence, don't give an infraction, a polite private message is better. The word infraction sounds far too severe and will only put the receiving party on the defensive.
• Do something about the silly anonymous negative reputation, consider:
  • Only allowing people people with over 500 reputation points to negative.
  • Allowing people to see who gave them reputation.
  • Doing away with negative reputation altogether.
  I don't think it's right that even mild insults are pounced on where severe and cowardly flaming via negative reputation is allowed.

Most of the long standing members with high reputations have at least one infraction. Many of them also agree with me, that if things carry on the way they are the more knowledgeable people will all leave.

Anyway none of the above is aimed at Nigel or 3v0, you seem to follow the above list anyway.

EDIT:
No offence intended ElectroMaster and Brian I just disagree with the way this place is run, it isn't personal.

I'm sure this account will be now banned, not that'll make any difference, I could easily sign up again using a different proxy server.

Don't worry, I'm leaving anyway, I won't be back, this site takes up too much of my time.

You can contact me on the email below and of course there's the other forums I post at.
**broken link removed**

 

[3v0]

Please

As a moderator I should act on Hero's post because using another ID after being banned is surely an infraction.

Instead I will ask everyone to keep their cool and remain silent for a while. I think that EM and Bryan should have a chance to respond to this first.

3v0

 

[giftiger_wunsch]

I for one am sorry to see Hero go. He has been enormously helpful on a number of my threads, not to mention the large box of goodies he gave me . I think the fact that he was banned for a month for calling a moderator a 'safety nazi', clearly taking the term totally out of context, just demonstrates that at least one of the moderators are more interested in retaliating to a personal slight than in keeping the forums a helpful and pleasant environment. I called myself a 'grammar nazi' in another thread; if so many people find the term nazi offensive even when used in a completely unassociated context, why did no one mention it then?

Any number of statements can be taken any number of ways, and I feel that a ban is completely the wrong way to respond, especially as I think I can safely say that the result wouldn't have been a ban if the comment hadn't been directed at a moderator. I find it particularly annoying that my report was completely disregarded when another user had posted a response to one of my posts which was very clearly aimed to be provoke me. I chose to ignore the childishness and as a result I lost reputation and nothing was done about the posts.

 

[bryan1]

Ok I will respond,
When I first saw tcmtech call me that name in the RE forum I was extremely upset as I might live in Australia but I was born in England and never got to see my grandparents or most other relatives as they died in WW2. To be called a nazi after all these years I've tried to forget as I've said was upsetting. Now to see the same quote directly pointed at me in another forum section I consider was outright if not dis-tasteful but bordering on a personal attack. Now hero dont go saying it wasnt pointed at me as I am the only moderator here that lives in Australia and for you to spread the fact it was said just goes to show what little respect you have for other members.

I am and have worked hard on the RE forum and will keep doing so, personal attacks isn't tolerated on this forum and members only need to read the announcement above each forum.

Regards Bryan

 

[AllVol]

...personal attacks isn't tolerated on this forum and members only need to read the announcement above each forum.

Regards Bryan

I wouldn't take the use of the phrase personally, Bryan. That word has long since lost its original meaning, and has become a tool of the liberal community by which they disparage anyone they do not agree with. When one cannot argue with facts and truth, it is always convenient to use labels that place their opponent in a less than pristine light.

Unfortunately, the practice has sort of spread to any debate. When it happens, we ought to just recognize it for what it is.

I saw what happened to another forum of this genre when the clique piled on a moderator. I would hate for that to happen here.

Also, knowing full well I will be ostricized for these comments, I feel it is totally blatent disregard for the entire program for a banned individual to return immediately under another screen name and continue to forward his argument. It's not the screen name that is banned, but the individual.

My two cents worth.

 

[Pommie]

Having been the recipient of a reprimand for doing what I thought was the right thing to do, I am still of the opinion that the moderation has become extreme and unjust. I have been a member here for many years and I hope my contributions are seen as an asset to the forum. My reprimand was for calling a bully an idiot, he (the bully) told a newbie that it was against forum rules to post a thank you. The poster was being a bully and I told him that he was pathetic and an idiot. Maybe I should have said small minded instead of idiot but in my mind they are the same. Anyway, I still believe what I did was the right thing to do and would do the same thing again in the same situation (without the idiot word as I now know how to circumvent the rules!!!). BTW, the rule I got reprimanded for was changed (or at least the announcement was made) after I posted the remark and so the rule was applied retrospectively and so I broke a rule that I didn't know existed.

Anyway, enough of my ramblings. I would just like to add that I do think Hero was a valuable poster and he will be a loss to this forum. The owner and moderators appear to think that the forum is more important that individuals. I think that there are only a dozen or so posters that add most of the value to this forum. Loose those key posters and you will end up with a forum full of drivel.

Mike.
Footnote, I posted a thread along these same lines a while ago. It was deleted. The posts in question were also deleted.
Note to 3v0, I saw this wreck coming a long time before you and it wasn't the posters that could prevent it.
Note to anyone who cares, yes, I'm still upset about the reprimand and it has caused more arguments (involving me) on this forum (and chat) than anything else.
Note to Bryan, you need to thicken up your skin mate.