Not sure if this is the right place...
This morning the forum (recent unread posts (http://masm32.com/board/index.php?action=unread)) greeted me with seven posts from a new member. All of them in Soap Box or Colosseum, none had anything to do with programming, let alone assembler.
There is a tendency in recent months to open many small threads that would better fit in a general housewives chat room than in a Masm32 Forum. A look at Forum stats (http://masm32.com/board/index.php?action=stats) is interesting in this respect: Top 10 Topics, for example, shows 9 out of 10 (by replies) and 8 out of 10 (by views) are programming-related. Fine, it clearly demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of forum members want to discuss assembler programming.
However, Soap Box and Colosseum have almost as many threads as The Campus, and the top thread starter is neither Hutch nor DednDave nor hyperactive jj.
In short: THERE IS AN AWFUL LOT OF CRAP IN THIS FORUM.
Now it is nice to have a lot of activity, that's good for stats and Google hits, BUT...
Of course, it is useless to ask for discipline, but maybe there is a technical fix? It would be extremely helpful, for example, if the "most recent" link could filter out all the Soap Box and Colosseum crap and just show the programming-related threads. Is that feasible?
Any other views on this?
IMO this forum has a TROLL-problem and hutch seems to ignore it...
I don't miss the amount of noise but its the reason why there is a Soap box and Collesseum so it does not end up in the programming sub forums. I do keep deleting and banning spam joins which is a lot of work with a few persistent pests but most of the noise we have been hearing in the non-programming area has been from a few members, not spammers and the like so I have left it alone so far.
there are two sides to it, i suppose
sometimes, it's nice to have a distraction from pure code
other times, i wonder what these guys are thinking - lol
there are a couple that start off-the-wall threads
noone replies or seems interested
you'd think they'd take that as a hint
i might mention....
you can't really judge much by how many views a thread has
i view all of them - if it's not interesting, i view the next one
I think your post would probably belong in the Collesseum since it is a gripe.
I think the Collesseum functions as a Lounge of sorts where a wide variety is acceptable as long as there are no curse words,
personal attacks, or malware coding requests. :-)
Some forums are very strict about posting non assembly questions in any forum other than a "lounge" or accidentally forgetting to use code tags and can result in a month long of non-posting privileges.
Andy
Quote from: qWord on September 08, 2013, 08:57:35 PM
IMO this forum has a TROLL-problem and hutch seems to ignore it...
I don't think so. A short look into the forum statistics (http://masm32.com/board/index.php?action=stats) shows that we heve approximately 1000 members (sometimes more, sometimes less). On the other hand, we had over 2000 new registrations during the last 2 years. This shows that Hutch and the other moderators are working in the background to keep us spam bots at bay. This is a difficult task, but it's done well.
Jochen,
Quote from: jj2007 on September 08, 2013, 08:34:30 PM
However, Soap Box and Colosseum have almost as many threads as The Campus, and the top thread starter is neither Hutch nor DednDave nor hyperactive jj.
right. But this is only one side of the coin. I've started a few programming related threads, with a lot of views, a lot of downloads, but not a single response. What does that mean? If other posts about death and the devil have more answers, I am already thinking. Such material seems to be more interesting.
Anyway, under no circumstances do I want to be the censor.
Gunther
Quote from: Gunther on September 08, 2013, 11:43:26 PM
Anyway, under no circumstances do I want to be the censor.
good point
deciding where to draw the line would be as hard as drawing it
Quote from: dedndave on September 09, 2013, 01:12:43 AM
Quote from: Gunther on September 08, 2013, 11:43:26 PM
Anyway, under no circumstances do I want to be the censor.
good point
deciding where to draw the line would be as hard as drawing it
You are both right, of course - censoring is tricky and should only be a last resort. That's why I thought of a filter, such as
"recent posts outside the troll corners"
"recent posts except if coming from members A, B, C"
"recent posts except if they contain the word 'MasmBasic'"
Don't know what is possible with SMF, though...
well, you can go into your account preferences and ignore posts from specific users
that could help, a little
Quote from: dedndave on September 09, 2013, 02:24:15 AM
well, you can go into your account preferences and ignore posts from specific users
that could help, a little
Where exactly is that setting? Can't find it... ::)
The best option would be a trainable spam filter. Soap Box & Colosseum are not always crap; if, example, somebody posts to remember Mersenne's birthday, I'd like to see it.
i don't see it, now
maybe it was the old forum
Jochen,
Quote from: jj2007 on September 09, 2013, 02:04:40 AM
You are both right, of course - censoring is tricky and should only be a last resort. That's why I thought of a filter, such as
"recent posts outside the troll corners"
"recent posts except if coming from members A, B, C"
"recent posts except if they contain the word 'MasmBasic'"
Don't know what is possible with SMF, though...
is it so tricky to filter the unwanted posts by hand? Mark them as read and the job is done.
Gunther
On the old forum, if you collapsed the headers (sections? Welcome etc.) then going to 'http://masm32.com/board/index.php?action=unread' wouldn't show those new posts.
Are these posts smellbad or the posters :P
Quote from: JOCHEN...THERE IS AN AWFUL LOT OF CRAP IN THIS FORUM,...
Hey, buddy,...I know what you mean,...and, really,...I think about 98% of it is my fault,... :icon_cool:
...In my opinion,...we should adopt a Bill Maher, New Rules (http://www.billmaher.com/) kind of attitude towards these malcontents,...:icon_eek:
OK, I have just swept the floors, put the trash out and re-arranged the furniture, lets see if that does the job. :biggrin:
If there is a forum that I feel is not educational or humorous, I just don't read that forum.
Just my opinion.
Andy
Andy,
Quote from: Magnum on September 15, 2013, 04:42:41 AM
If there is a forum that I feel is not educational or humorous, I just don't read that forum.
Just my opinion.
Andy
for that purpose we've the the Soapbox and the Colosseum. I think these contain a lot of humor and jokes.
Gunther
Mein Freund.
You are "Singing to the choir."
Du hast einen schönen Tag.
(http://digitaldeconstruction.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Axe_Body_Spray-1.jpg)
i think Hutch went with...
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3KbGMO95NSg/ThaZPOwCSBI/AAAAAAAAD0U/o515fWbnaPA/s400/07_07_11_Thur_A.png)
which would make a nice macro, "kills bugs on contact"
That product is environmentally unfriendly.
Ends up in our food along with the animal hormones, pharmaceuticals, etc.
http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-make-a-homemade-roach-killer#.UjikeB9L01I
Hi Andy,
Quote from: Magnum on September 17, 2013, 11:44:07 PM
Mein Freund.
You are "Singing to the choir."
Du hast einen schönen Tag.
nobody did say that the chorus is wrong. Right?
Gunther
Have you listened to many grade school choirs ?
:biggrin:
Andy
In keeping a forum going, there is a correlation, "Administrator = Janitor". :P
sometimes, i bet it's like being principal at a jr high school - lol
Andy,
Quote from: Magnum on September 18, 2013, 07:38:57 AM
Have you listened to many grade school choirs ?
:biggrin:
Andy
no. My favorite chorus is that one. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbpwlqp5Qw) And it's not so bad.
Gunther
This is what I still enjoy.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?n=10&ei=UTF-8&va_vt=any&vo_vt=any&ve_vt=any&vp_vt=any&vst=0&vf=all&vm=p&fl=0&fr=altavista&p=you+tube+bee+gees&vs=
Andy,
Quote from: Magnum on September 19, 2013, 03:09:30 PM
This is what I still enjoy.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?n=10&ei=UTF-8&va_vt=any&vo_vt=any&ve_vt=any&vp_vt=any&vst=0&vf=all&vm=p&fl=0&fr=altavista&p=you+tube+bee+gees&vs=
A little too much disco for me.
Gunther
i never cared for disco
well - let me qualify that...
i never cared for dancing disco, myself
i enjoyed watching the ladies dance, though (while i sit at a table and drink my beer)
some of the music was ok - some, not so much
some of it actually brings back good memories - lol
Brick House comes to mind :P
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBx6mAWYPU (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrBx6mAWYPU)
I also enjoy many country and western songs and those humorous songs
by artists like {forgot} who wrote "Don't go rollerskating in a buffalo herd."
Folks, please don't forget that's not a music thread. It's about forum hygiene.
Gunther
I thought Bill was the moderator ? :t
Andy
Quote from: Magnum on September 20, 2013, 07:49:44 AM
I thought Bill was the moderator ? :t
Andy
According to Forum stats (http://masm32.com/board/index.php?action=stats), Magnum alias Andy has started 257 threads, more than twice as many as Hutch (#2 at 123 threads) :greenclp:
In recognition of your overwhelming success, and if you ask nicely, you will probably be granted a special sub-forum "Andy's corner". In the meantime, please keep a distance from my threads. Thank you.
:biggrin:
Do we need to apply the forum "hygiene" rule to this topic as well ? :P
Jochen,
Quote from: jj2007 on September 20, 2013, 09:48:10 AM
In recognition of your overwhelming success, and if you ask nicely, you will probably be granted a special sub-forum "Andy's corner". In the meantime, please keep a distance from my threads. Thank you.
it seems to me that you're a little bit upset, aren't you?
Gunther
:-)