TR Forums

Xolore wrote:

I'd appreciate a bit more communication as well, but it might be a lot to ask until the last of the torches and pitchforks are put firmly away. I'm don't blame Renee if it seems like she's hiding under her desk a bit. Once bitten, twice shy and all that.

Not an option you get when you take on a leadership role. I don't get just hide under my desk when someone on my team gets into an argument with someone else in the org and it has progressed beyond lively debate. If you are the leader and public face of a publication, this is doubly true. Triply so when you lead an organization that is "... controversial and sometimes combative, but always driving towards a conclusion." This is what you signed up for.

There will always be torches and pitchforks, that's the internet. If there aren't, nobody is visiting your site.

--SS

Concupiscence wrote:

sweatshopking wrote:

tanker27 wrote:

I agree with SS and drfish. Shame on me. Curious point though, Where did Conlusio's post go? >.>

not sure, i'm not a mod and idk what post you're referring to. That being said if it did break the rules then i'm sure our capable mods have rectified it.

He said he was scrubbing himself and his post history away as best he could. Maybe he went full tilt.

Nope. That was nuked from Moderator or Admin orbit without a reason given. Didn’t think I broke a rule but the mods have recently been augmented here. See above the forum.

SSK: You are not an employee but you can post front page through the review of the EIC so in the absence of ownership or EIC communication you’re the voice we have to listen to. So I’ll listen - and what I heard was either get with the program and lay off the criticism or leave. That seems to be the message Ben got too. Completely understand the forums and site are not a public commons so I’ll grab my coat and hat. Although as was said above - if people aren’t occasionally waving the pitch forks and torches there isn’t anyone reading. Especially in the technology world.

This thread while unfortunately occasionally diving into ad hominem attacks was nothing compared to an old school TR front page comment thread on a Intel or AMD review let alone an NVIDIA review with accusations of shilling were where things started.

Thanks for all the (dr)Fish. Have fun at the BBQ.

Boot note - It’s irony that for years I couldn’t stand Meadows posts but now at the end I find myself nodding in agreement with them.

Meadows wrote:

Now I don't presume to know why Jeff opted to have his byline erased, but if it were me, I wouldn't want this site on my resume anymore either.

Thank you, this made me physically lol and somewhat relieved my tinfoil hat. I couldn't help wondering about the person who now controls all the buttons and why Jeff would not want to claim a very very good body of work.

Chrispy_ wrote:

Whilst the front page and forum index are scrubbed from my bookmarks, this thread still gets checked because it hasn't rolled off my recent list and I'm still occasionally checking it in the hope that things might start moving in a positive direction.

Dude, don't throw out the baby with the bathwater! The forums are still rolling along like any other day, so far, and I have generally enjoyed (and often learned from) your contributions.

tanker27 wrote:

sweatshopking wrote:

This is nonsense, tanker

Sure. Ok. Also while you are at it; why are some front page articles have commenting closed? Scared of something?

All front page comments have always been closed after a given period of time. Now, closed from the git go is whole different kettle of fish.
Ninja edit - Then again, nobody likes being hit in a sore spot.

conlusio wrote:

Boot note - It’s irony that for years I couldn’t stand Meadows posts but now at the end I find myself nodding in agreement with them.

I would like to think that, like cheese, I simply got better with age. Failing that, you could say that even an opinionated, sarcastic clock is right twice a day.

I find it interesting that TR's actively looking for guest writers; I may look for some time to write something myself. I never considered it before but having followed TR almost since its inception I want to give the new ownership another chance at making things right and accepting guest articles is not a bad thing per se (though I expect the site to produce the majority of its content by paid employees, you don't live off free contributions).

I was putting together a post for my blog about using ECC memory on Ryzen - including choosing the right motherboard, checking for the functionality and monitoring the errors (e.g. system event log on Windows, rasdaemon on Linux). I wouldn't mind contributing it here if there's interest in something like that.

[edit: typo]

Jeff Kampman's article by line should be changed to a 'Gerbil Contributor' by line. I think it would strike the general site population as appropriate.

Checked back in for the first time in weeks, frontpage still ****, checking out.

I wish all talented editors good luck in finding a place to contribute elsewhere.


[the forums have been dead to me for some time]

Meadows wrote:

his byline has reverted to, er, sweatshopking after previously having shown his full name.

Thats my fault. I made the change back as I'm trying to figure out if I can use sweatshopking when I comment and Josh as my authorship name but I don't think i can. Been farting around with it and don't think I can do what I want.

conlusio wrote:

Concupiscence wrote:

sweatshopking wrote:

what I heard was either get with the program and lay off the criticism or leave. That seems to be the message Ben got too.

Constructive Criticism is one thing. Feel free. That's not what a lot of this is.
I ADORE Ben. He's wonderful and an excellent writer.

sweatshopking wrote:

Meadows wrote:

his byline has reverted to, er, sweatshopking after previously having shown his full name.

Thats my fault. I made the change back as I'm trying to figure out if I can use sweatshopking when I comment and Josh as my authorship name but I don't think i can. Been farting around with it and don't think I can do what I want.

Maybe it was, but the like/dislike counters also reset under that particular post, which probably wasn't you but reeks of being intentional since my comment had the most upthumbs.

Yeah, that doesn't sound like a very likely cause for the votes to be wiggy, but clearly there's still a lot left to do before things start behaving properly again, so who knows.

The funny thing about the votes is: yes, of course, they're useless. We know they're useless, and that's ok, but if they're useless and wrong, then that's just all bad.

Meadows wrote:

Maybe it was, but the like/dislike counters also reset under that particular post, which probably wasn't you but reeks of being intentional since my comment had the most upthumbs.

I don't even know if it's possible to reset the comment thumbs. If it is, I have no idea how to do it, and I highly doubt anyone else has the time or energy.

sweatshopking wrote:

I don't even know if it's possible to reset the comment thumbs. If it is, I have no idea how to do it, and I highly doubt anyone else has the time or energy.

A couple possible explanations:
1. The website is bad (this is known)
2. Malicious astroturfing
3. Someone was spamming votes and so they developed some kind of filter to check and erase duplicates

I'm willing to believe either #1 or #2.

You're positioning this facet of the comment system as if it didn't matter. On the one hand, sure, it's made as if it didn't matter, since one can't sort comments by popularity, and many of the votes themselves have been lost multiple times since the overhaul. On the other hand, it's there and so it does matter, since it gives people their favourite kind of internet feedback ("did anyone agree with me?") as well as helping staff and writers skim the most significant opinions or contributions. It follows that, if the system is buggy or unreliable, it's going to definitely leave an impression. Best case scenario, people will think the site is lame; worst case scenario, they'll feel disenfranchised and quite simply go elsewhere.

Just how do you think it looks to a visitor when the numbers keep getting scrubbed twice a week and the comments with the most votes generally show just "2" or "3"? It looks like someone's personal MySpace, or a hobby project. The developer(s) have to make sure that the counters are kept and updated properly since it's a direct reflection of how many people interact with the site in general.

conlusio wrote:

SSK: You are not an employee but you can post front page through the review of the EIC so in the absence of ownership or EIC communication you’re the voice we have to listen to. So I’ll listen - and what I heard was either get with the program and lay off the criticism or leave. That seems to be the message Ben got too.

I should not have waited, and should have answered this long ago, but I just now saw it.

1. I find quick-hit writing (news posts) to be a chore. Meanwhile there's a steady stream of stuff for me to write about in long form elsewhere.
2. I left of my own volition. I was not given a "message"; the new ownership was actually quite lenient with me for whatever reason. I choose my own path in this case.

Edit: it's not like I asked, either. I made a choice without consulting anyone other than my wife, who supported both my writing and my decision 100%

Meadows wrote:

3. Someone was spamming votes and so they developed some kind of filter to check and erase duplicates

With no account association, can you really check for duplicates?

meerkt wrote:

Meadows wrote:

3. Someone was spamming votes and so they developed some kind of filter to check and erase duplicates

With no account association, can you really check for duplicates?

If the IP address is recorded you can make a best guess. If not, then definitely not.

I know early on there was a comment form Waco that got 300+ upvotes just to prove that it could be done.

Meadows wrote:

You're positioning this facet of the comment system as if it didn't matter.

No I'm not. You know me meadows. I CRAVE attention like a 3 year old. I love getting a top comment. I just wanted to be clear that it wasn't done on purpose if it occurred.

sweatshopking wrote:

subscriber applet is supposed to be back in the nearish future.

I mean, it's only been a month. The continued absence made it easy to walk away. It's unconscionable and it'd take five minutes in Stripe for them to just cancel all of them, and hope people would come back when they finally deal with it. Doing the very wrongest thing by forcing people to contact them, and then doubling down in it is just so not cool.

It's not only "not so cool," it could put them in legal jeopardy. That suggests the overall level of business acumen driving the site redesign is...not so much as would be hoped.

sweatshopking wrote:

No I'm not. You know me meadows. I CRAVE attention like a 3 year old. I love getting a top comment. I just wanted to be clear that it wasn't done on purpose if it occurred.

After a few more rounds of thought, I had an epiphany.

What if the site is so bad that your author handle was somehow linked to the votes your posts had produced? So that when you changed it back to "sweatshopking", that's what basically wiped the counters under your own post?

derFunkenstein wrote:

If the IP address is recorded you can make a best guess. If not, then definitely not.

People susceptible to multivoting would change IPs, and possibly hide browser fingerprints.

Meadows wrote:

What if the site is so bad that your author handle was somehow linked to the votes your posts had produced? So that when you changed it back to "sweatshopking", that's what basically wiped the counters under your own post?

That would take some work to make happen since there would have to be logic tied to the specific username instead of the associated user ID. I guess anything is possible though, and like many developers I've seen worse.

There may not even be a way of adjusting the votes from within the CMS. That would also take some work. It's not the sort of thing that you could do in wordpress without a few admin pages built by some plugin.

The BBQ was pretty revitalizing and a great source of perspective. It made for a perfectly timed reminder of why I personally do what I do around here.

I still think there's a lot left to be desired, and the pace of community-centric improvements is contemptible. However, TR is a strange beast, and I'm willing to give things more time. It's been a rough month, but it's only been about a month. I think it's a good idea to have a backup plan / life boat but maybe it isn't quite time to activate it yet.

meerkt wrote:

derFunkenstein wrote:

If the IP address is recorded you can make a best guess. If not, then definitely not.

People susceptible to multivoting would change IPs, and possibly hide browser fingerprints.

I did neither since it wasn't required.

drfish wrote:

The BBQ was pretty revitalizing and a great source of perspective. It made for a perfectly timed reminder of why I personally do what I do around here.

I still think there's a lot left to be desired, and the pace of community-centric improvements is contemptible. However, TR is a strange beast, and I'm willing to give things more time. It's been a rough month, but it's only been about a month. I think it's a good idea to have a backup plan / life boat but maybe it isn't quite time to activate it yet.

I wish I could have been there to hear the conversations. I feel like there is so much info that a guy like me, a dedicated TR gerbil for 12-13 years, but not exactly plugged in to the regulars, is missing out on.

Tr is still unique, and it's not because of the news stories. It's the community, and the community is still mostly here.

I'm glad you're more optimistic!

Chrispy_ wrote:

Whilst the front page and forum index are scrubbed from my bookmarks, this thread still gets checked because it hasn't rolled off my recent list and I'm still occasionally checking it in the hope that things might start moving in a positive direction.

Same here. Today out of curiosity I also checked front page, and disregarding awful new design I see a random fluff articles about "4 essentials when looking for a job", "random cloud solutions which are supposed to be best but without any reason why they are considered the best" and an amusing offer for contributors with text like "We are provocative, but backed by data and rigor.We are controversial and sometimes combative, but always driving towards a conclusion" and something about "verticals" I mean, I get it, the person who wrote that stuff is just doing a job, but this all looks just like a filler fluff done to simulate activity for SEO purposes by the people who bought a toy website to play around with and who do not understand or care about what this site was about in first place. No offense to anyone who is still contributing to the site but I still see absolutely 0 movement in a positive direction (I am judging this by a publically available information and not what is going on behind the scenes so I can be wrong about that).

sweatshopking wrote:

Tr is still unique, and it's not because of the news stories. It's the community, and the community is still mostly here.
I'm glad you're more optimistic!

You're a good person, Josh, but your optimism sometimes goes way overboard and way past the "amusing" levels. What "community"? A "Google [Bot] and 2 guests"?


Yes, occasionally there are more bots appearing and sometimes even 2-3 registered users but you get the point

sweatshopking wrote:

Tr is still unique, and it's not because of the news stories. It's the community, and the community is still mostly here.

I'm glad you're more optimistic!

How can you of all people miss a capital letter!?!?