The Soapbox - an option [modified]

[Anna Jayne Metcalfe]

I kinda gathered that. Presumably it's one of the usual troublemakers up to new tricks.

Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

[Ilion]

Chris Maunder wrote[^]:

The Soapbox degenerated into a forum more or less dedicated to US politics and personal bandwagons. It was absolutely pointless to my goal of providing free resources to Software Developers. However, removing it means that I no longer have a place to move inappropriate posts (I always prefer to move than delete) which means I'm going to be spending all my monitoring the lounge. I want to read and enjoy the lounge, not clean up everyone's mess. So how about: 1. I create a new forum 'After 8 Lounge' or something. Anything not PG rated goes there. I do miss bad, politically incorrect jokes. Anything totally inappropriate in either of the lounges gets nuked, zero tolerance. And... 2. I reopen the Soapbox and remove votes and remove the ability for casual members to vote messages off the island. There will be no exposure for the forum (no links from the homepage or menus). The current Soapbox crowd has a private place to vent their spleens. However since many of the members in there are in the US they understand more than anyone the issues of libel laws. We, as a site, cannot promote or implicitely allow anything that violates any of the hate-crime or libel laws. I simply will not allow the site to be legally exposed simply for the sake of a few. So, in order to participate in the Soapbox you will have to agree, with each post, that you are not violating our Terms of Use. Go nuts, but stay within the ropes. Further, I'll ask the Soapbox crowd to nominate a few members who will have the right to delete posts. You guys will have your own self-policed protected corner in which to continue your fun and will yourselves be responsible for ensuring this behaviour is within reason, and that it doesn't spill out on to the rest of the site.

What is different about the so-called Soapbox between Friday and Saturday? What is different about the so-called Soapbox between Saturday and some suitable resurrection of it being sought? What is different about the so-called Soapbox between Friday and Saturday is that on Friday any post I made vanished, sometimes within minutes, because a few (hell, for all I know, one or two) "community" members wished it so, and on Saturday, for a few hours, some of these same "comm

[Luc Pattyn]

is that GMT time? it always is after 8, 18 or 20 somewhere. :confused:

Luc Pattyn [Forum Guidelines] [My Articles]

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[Ilion]

Why not just take your fist off the scale? Why not just let it be what you claim it is, a forum open to any member of CP?

[Henry Minute]

I think that this should be moved to the SoapBox!

Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”

[Ilion]

Henry Minute wrote:

I think that this should be moved to the SoapBox!

Thank you for your well thought-out opinion ... which, oddly enough, seems to have thoroughly avoided the questions I had been wondering about.

[Henry Minute]

Ilíon wrote:

Thank you for your well thought-out opinion

Firstly, I try not to think about anything. Secondly, I might have replied to your questions had they been in the soapbox, but probably not because I rarely visit it. I have an aversion to posts with an entrenched attitude. Thirdly, I fail to see the point of playing Devils Advocate, that's JSOPs job.

Henry Minute Do not read medical books! You could die of a misprint. - Mark Twain Girl: (staring) "Why do you need an icy cucumber?" “I want to report a fraud. The government is lying to us all.”

[0x3c0]

Ilíon wrote:

What is different about the so-called Soapbox between Friday and Saturday?

The difference lies in the way the votes were cast. While it is still debatable whether the message removed link should have been active, they were done by multiple people who went through the proper channels. In contrast to this, what happened on Saturday was a wiping out of posts in a seemingly random fashion. One of my posts was nuked with no vote being cast, and this happened to many people. Now as you know, this is impossible by normal means, so something must have been subverting the normal operation of the message removal mechanism

[Rob Graham]

After reading ilion's post[^] below, I fear no solution short of permanent closure can work. With thanks to all who showed unwarranted confidence in me by suggesting I might be a suitable monito to a vote free soapbox, the anger that Ilion's two self serving posts below stirred in me persuades me that I would not be able to resist the temptation to abuse such power, and so I must decline. Let Ilion have his precious victory.

[Sava Savanovic]

Dalek Dave wrote:

I too like non PC humour

So you prefer Linux humor ... Or is it MAC?

Ko seje so, nicu mu skakavci.

[Dalek Dave]

If Ilion, or any other user, feels his/her rights are being abused, or he unhappy with others abusing him, there is an option. They could always go to another developer website. No-one is forced to become a member, it is a matter of choice. If you don't like the club, you leave. You do not stay and annoy/abuse others and then complain to mummy when the big bad men say nasty things. I am not upset when someone disagrees with me, and do not feel the urge to abuse because of a difference of opinion, but when I am insulted and abused because my views are different from someone elses, I will stand up and be counted.

------------------------------------ "May I introduce Blon Fel-Fotch Pasermeer-Day Slitheen from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, known by her friends as Margaret" The Doctor

[0x3c0]

You wouldn't be human if you didn't get angry; all that matters is whether you could count to ten, take a deep breath and judge his post as a mature member of society

[Oakman]

Rob Graham wrote:

Let Ilion have his precious victory.

You are right. I feel reasonably sure his posts in this thread were designed to destroy any version of Soapbox, especially one in which he would be required to play by the rules. Basically, the problem is, as I see it, if there is no Soapbox for him to use as an attack platform, he'll head for After 8; and if that's not there, he'll go after the Lounge. He's really out to show Chris that he, Ilion, is in charge here, not the founder.

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Algoraphobia: An exaggerated fear of the outside world rooted in the belief that one might spontaneously combust due to global warming.

[Ilion]

Henry Minute wrote:

Firstly, I try not to think about anything.

You're kidding, surely!

Henry Minute wrote:

Secondly, I might have replied to your questions had they been in the soapbox,

Dewd! Someone closed the so-called Soapbox, and someone says that he's discussing options about how to reopen it here.

Henry Minute wrote:

I have an aversion to posts with an entrenched attitude.

Do you now?

[Oakman]

Dalek Dave wrote:

Before 8

Are "before" and "under" synonymous in Jolly Olde, then?

Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Algoraphobia: An exaggerated fear of the outside world rooted in the belief that one might spontaneously combust due to global warming.

[Ilion]

Computafreak wrote:

The difference lies in the way the votes were cast. While it is still debatable whether the message removed link should have been active, they were done by multiple people who went through the proper channels. In contrast to this, what happened on Saturday was a wiping out of posts in a seemingly random fashion. One of my posts was nuked with no vote being cast, and this happened to many people. Now as you know, this is impossible by normal means, so something must have been subverting the normal operation of the message removal mechanism

Whether you realize it or not, almost nothing you said here is true. For months, *my* posts have been vanished in much the same way that "the community's" were vanished yesterday. Once again: Just what, exactly, was the point of the so-called Soapbox, after all, if that point can be so easily obviated by a few hours of the more obnoxious posters getting a taste of their own medicine?

[Maximilien]

Chris Maunder wrote:

I create a new forum 'After 8 Lounge'

Cool, a new forum with a nice minty-chocolate after-taste to wash away all the filth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_Eight[^]

This signature was proudly tested on animals.

[Ilion]

Rob Graham wrote:

Let Ilion have his precious victory.

If you simply must look at it in those terms, then Ilíon "wins" no matter what: 1) If Mr Maunder does the right thing, then we all win ... except, of course, that you "community" boys will have to stop acting like school-yard bullies who know that teacher has your back. 2) If Mr Maunder does what he clearly wants to do, then the truth of the matter is out in the open ... and Ilíon "wins." Ilíon wants Mr Maunder to do the right thing.

[Dalek Dave]

Antonyms! Before / After. Doesn't quite work with under!

------------------------------------ "May I introduce Blon Fel-Fotch Pasermeer-Day Slitheen from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorious, known by her friends as Margaret" The Doctor

[0x3c0]

The difference lies in the way the votes were cast - true It is still debatable whether the message removed link should have been active - true They were done by multiple people - true Went through the proper channels - true What happened on Saturday was a wiping out of posts in a seemingly random fashion - probably true, I'm rubbish at spotting patterns One of my posts was nuked with no vote being cast - true (check my profile if you want proof) This is impossible by normal means - true (marking a message for removal also univotes; thirteen hides the message)

Ilíon wrote:

For months, *my* posts have been vanished in much the same way that "the community's" were vanished yesterday.

False. Yours were done in a more democratic way. Multiple people voted. Not always thirteen, but sufficient enough to ensure that it wasn't just one person making the decisions

Ilíon wrote:

Just what, exactly, was the point of the so-called Soapbox, after all, if that point can be so easily obviated by a few hours of the more obnoxious posters getting a taste of their own medicine?

I'll be honest; I wasn't around to see its creation. However, I always thought of it as a non-kid sister safe alternative to the Lounge, where you (plural) would have the more inane posts shouted down and/or univoted