The History Eraser Button

[FairyInTheFlowers]

Look, I'll take the fall for this. Because most of the negativity surrounding that thread was caused/directed by/at me, I wanted to see it disappear. I do not fully think Silken intended to delete and deny you all your free speech. I find that claim absurd. This has nothing to do with any of you and everything to do with me wishing my stupidity be covered up. Unfortunately that resulted in a seemingly accidental deletion in an attempt to lock the thread. I didn't want it to be deleted, as I know locking it would preserve it and let it be buried. And before you get all up in her business for censorship, in the multiple years I have been here I have NEVER been aware or seen a thread or comment be deleted by anyone besides the original poster. And I have seen some ugly threads where multiple infractions were given.

---------- Post added at 01:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:45 PM ----------

Or let me put it like this. The thread was ultimately deleted because I was being a dick, not for its content.

[jkofferdahl]

The OP submits.

[Whimgrinder]

.

[FairyInTheFlowers]

I did not speak for deletion. I spoke on locking it, which had already been suggested by others.

[Dollythehun]

Originally Posted by Ray

I think that there's one fact that participants in forums forget: this is a privately owned forum in which the owner is willing to allow folks to participate. Therefore, one's right of free speech does not apply.

If the owner, or his proxies, the administrators, decide that a post or thread needs to go, that's their decision, and no-one else's.

I do not agree with censorship, however, at a participant' request.

Ray and All:
I have been following this thread with interest and little comment. I have learned a lot! I did not see any comment that indicated the thread would end. However, Ray brings up an interesting point: How does the Board work?

As a fairly new member, I had no idea the OB was privately "owned." I was researching on the web and kept running into the OB and finally 'someone?' said "you're lurking, join." I did...but, I and other newbies might be interested in just how this thing works. Who owns it? What exactly is a moderator? Who is a senior member and how etc.etc.

I too, hated to see this end, although I can understand. And, August, your "warts" are refreshing in a world where we all (except John) care too much about what everyone thinks

If we don't like it, we don't have to read. If I could make one comment, August, I do find your language a little salty...that, in my opinion, was worse than your "rant." But, then again, I'm an old lady.

[jkofferdahl]

The OP submits.

[fishmom]

Count me as another person who checks in here daily and who also missed the end of the thread and any suggestion that it would be pulled.

Silken, you say that you are a fairly recent moderator; does that mean that you have had any contact with the owner, Marty? Were you recruited by an administrator? For what it is worth, being a moderator is a pretty thankless job in my opinion. I appreciate the time you spend on it, even if I question the propriety of this one decision.

[estación seca]

What's done is done. In my line of work we don't look back while in the thick of it. We go forward dealing with the current state of affairs and trying to prevent the next problem. Later on we discuss what happened and see what we might do better next time.

I might suggest interested members create two new threads:

One prospective new thread belongs in the Vendor Feedback forum, devoted to the vendor mentioned before who steals photos. In this thread could be a list of the photos stolen. Also mention all the times this vendor was notified about using stolen photos, and detail eBay's ineffective response. I don't remember this vendor's name, and I would like to be able to find out the information in the future.

The other prospective new thread belongs in the About this Board forum, and I think it should be a sticky thread. Here should be explained how intellectual property works, and what is acceptable and not acceptable, with images, PDFs and other text. Whimgrinder, Ron Hanko and - ¿was it ubada who contributed also? - wrote well on this topic. It would be nice if you could reconstruct what you wrote. Blaze could write the objections of people unfamiliar with the issue, and then the calm correction could be written. I have a fair idea how intellectual property is protected in the US, and I have been told the situation is similar in Canada and the EU. I don't know how similar it is, and I don't know about the rest of the world. We have lots of readers from around the globe.

Volunteers do their best. Volunteering is like urinating in ones' own dark trousers - a nice warm feeling, but nobody notices. Dealing with a lot of unpleasantness while not being paid is the main reason volunteers stop working for volunteer organizations. Volunteers generally don't want to spend much time defending their actions, either. Sports figures are not allowed much leeway questioning officials' calls. I agree with this situation even when I think the officials did things I might not have. I was taught not to question the officials.

Somebody posted about how dangerous the Internet mob is, and how things posted are there to be seen forever. Amazingly, some unfortunate posts were deleted before archive.org found them. People who wrote in the deleted thread escaped future consequences of their writings. I hope that doesn't strengthen the idea that people can get away with doing stupid things.

We need to think about what we are writing before hitting the Post button.

[Whimgrinder]

.

[jkofferdahl]

The OP submits.