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Author Topic:   Post your short questions here. No need to start a thread everytime.
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Message 43 of 198 (244380)
09-17-2005 12:25 PM
Reply to: Message 42 by nwr
09-17-2005 9:57 AM


Re: still having probs/cant respond to cal
Problem should be fixed, please report further problems here.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

This message is a reply to:
 Message 42 by nwr, posted 09-17-2005 9:57 AM nwr has seen this message but not replied

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Admin
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Posts: 12995
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Message 49 of 198 (255966)
11-01-2005 8:59 AM
Reply to: Message 48 by macaroniandcheese
10-31-2005 11:28 AM


It isn't just you, see Bug Reporting Thread. Only some people are experiencing slow page delivery, so it seems possible that one of the sort-of common Internet routes to EvC Forum is overloaded. Someone mentioned Cogentco as a possibility, so you might want to check if it's in your path to here.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

This message is a reply to:
 Message 48 by macaroniandcheese, posted 10-31-2005 11:28 AM macaroniandcheese has replied

Replies to this message:
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Admin
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Posts: 12995
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Message 72 of 198 (268753)
12-13-2005 10:46 AM
Reply to: Message 71 by nwr
12-12-2005 11:00 PM


Google now has a spellchecker that works with IE and FF.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

This message is a reply to:
 Message 71 by nwr, posted 12-12-2005 11:00 PM nwr has seen this message but not replied

Admin
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Posts: 12995
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
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Message 98 of 198 (306277)
04-24-2006 10:18 AM
Reply to: Message 97 by Malachi-II
04-24-2006 9:35 AM


Re: Copyright protection
Because EvC Forum is the "publisher" and asserts full copyright protection, from a technical standpoint even a message's author must obtain permission to publish their own messages. However, the chances of a situation arising where EvC Forum would feel the need to assert its copyright seems very tiny, and the legal lines can sometimes be very blurry anyway. For example, what does copyright say about identical material that the same author posts to multiple copyrighted forums? Got me!
One thing I can say for sure: anyone who makes a lot of money (it would have to be millions to make it worthwhile) drawing in some way upon material published by EvC Forum will be hearing from my lawyers. I hope John Clancy has something in the works.
More realistically, if in your own published creative effort you draw upon material published by EvC Forum, even your own, a note that it originally appeared at EvC Forum would be appreciated.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

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 Message 97 by Malachi-II, posted 04-24-2006 9:35 AM Malachi-II has replied

Replies to this message:
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Admin
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Posts: 12995
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Message 123 of 198 (322512)
06-17-2006 8:11 AM
Reply to: Message 122 by Brian
06-16-2006 3:18 PM


Any sense of place or propriety, Brian?
I'd use email.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

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 Message 122 by Brian, posted 06-16-2006 3:18 PM Brian has not replied

Replies to this message:
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Admin
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Posts: 12995
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Message 140 of 198 (322747)
06-17-2006 10:05 PM


Setting Minds at Rest
I guess I should say something, because the speculation doesn't seem fair to Brian.
Brian hasn't done anything wrong in the public forums. There's a private issue under discussion in the admin forum on which Brian has some very strong feelings, and sometimes moderation is necessary even in the admin forum. Brian shouldn't have posted about a private matter to a public thread. I hope Brian's permissions can be restored soon.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

Admin
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Posts: 12995
From: EvC Forum
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Message 166 of 198 (328730)
07-04-2006 11:22 AM


General Reply
A couple miscellaneous points.
A thread in Coffee House about what's wrong with special education might be pretty interesting.
Concerning creationist moderators, I think the motivation for having creationist moderators is pretty clear - we want balance. I'm a staunch evolutionist and advocate of science, yet even I cringe at some of the more arrogant expressions in these areas. Even those who advocate clearly incorrect positions do not deserve ridicule or casual dismissal.
To say this another way, clearly some creationists have not thought through or studied the issues to any extent whatsoever, but that doesn't mean that all creationists have shallow views. Science is often thought of as a tightly woven fabric of mostly consistent evidence and theories, but the weave is tighter in some places than others. Many of the weaknesses that creationists think they perceive in science are a result of their own misunderstandings or mischaracterizations, but not all of them.
Evolutionist moderators tend to err too much on the side of evolutionary views. It is expected that creationist moderators will err too much on the side of creatinist views.
But while that addresses the perceived need for creationist moderators, it doesn't address the issue of why these particular creationist moderators: Buzsaw, Randman and Faith. (I don't count Phat because he has come over too far to the dark side. )
Like most things, there is no single answer, though I think all the answers are simple. First and foremost a creationist moderator must have sufficient interest. Evolutionists more often show a strong tendency to come here and stay here, while creationists much more often come for a while and then move on. Buzsaw, Randman and Faith have all demonstrated a strong resolve to stay here.
But the very excellent point that has been indirectly raised is that that alone should not qualify someone for admin status. There is such a thing as moderator temperament, and candidates for admin status should have moderator temperament. Though Buzsaw is often "out to sea" on some technical topics that he likes to participate in, I believe he does have the necessary moderator temperament, and I think he has already demonstrated that quality. He's neither the best nor the worst, but he also seems, in my judgment, to be steadily improving.
So why Randman and Faith? I think some of the speculation is accurate. Randman and Faith require significant amounts of moderator attention, and their persistent charges of unfairness when considered amidst their equally persistent name calling (idiots, liars, frauds, etc.) are nothing short of perplexing, and that understates how confusing their position is to everyone else by quite a bit. I find that in most cases of a difference of opinion that I can understand the other side's point, even if I don't agree with it, but that is rarely the case with Randman or Faith when they raise issues concerning moderation.
So part of the equation does include an element of hope that the moderator role will provide them insights that could affect their behavior for the better. This hope turned out to have been in vain in the case of Randman. I believe he gave it a very hard and sincere try, and I thank him for that. The blame for it not working out should be laid much more at my door than his, and I think most people do see it that way.
I see the moderator role as a journey and a challenge and a two-way road to learning. Speaking just for myself, and those who have been here a while know this is true, the moderator role has taught me much, both about myself and about other people. I feel and I hope that I am a better moderator now than I have ever been before , but this is a journey, and I hope I'm better next year than this year.
As with all moderators, my approach to moderation is a reflection of myself, and I am at heart a conciliator. I am not giving myself a compliment by saying this. Conciliation is not the answer to every dispute, and many is the time that I have been asked to get out of the way so that things could get settled, by Moose most recently (I forget which thread, could have been in the private forum, though).
But this implies that EvC Forum itself is also a reflection of who I am, and there are some aspects of EvC Forum for which this is true. I think the moderators would agree that I don't usually run this place like a dictator, but there are a few things about which I'm inflexible. Encouraging constructive discussion is one of the most important, and this means asking people to forsake any feelings of mistreatment or perceived animosities, even to the extent of sometimes asking for some significant turning-of-the-other-cheek.
Will Faith make a good moderator? I'm going to challenge Faith by saying that I agree with her that she will not make a good moderator, and I hope she proves us both wrong. Faith has energy only for what she is passionate about, so the risk is much more that she will be a relatively inactive moderator rather than a highly biased one. I believe she will only be successful if she can develop a passion for keeping evolutionists (and creationists, too) in line with regards to the Forum Guidelines. For that to happen she has to come to believe and accept that the better path to understanding is the calm exchange of ideas.
There's already been too much actual discussion in this "short query" thread. If someone wants to discuss this more then discussion should resume in the General discussion of moderation procedures - Part 7 thread.
Edited by Admin, : Fix word bumble.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

Admin
Director
Posts: 12995
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 179 of 198 (364704)
11-19-2006 9:54 AM


It might help if I mentioned that one of the reasons that access to [forum=-37] is by request only is to prevent pile-ons.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

Admin
Director
Posts: 12995
From: EvC Forum
Joined: 06-14-2002
Member Rating: 2.3


Message 183 of 198 (367504)
12-02-2006 6:08 PM
Reply to: Message 182 by Brad McFall
12-02-2006 5:52 PM


Re: short question.
Problem fixed.

--Percy
EvC Forum Director

This message is a reply to:
 Message 182 by Brad McFall, posted 12-02-2006 5:52 PM Brad McFall has not replied

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