Off topic forum The sequel!

[Viv]

Hi Kenneth

the new forum is certainly a big step forward, with that in mind is it posible to reintroduce the off topic forum?

Apart from a certain forum members input I always injoyed the lively debate and free an frank discussions that it led too:-)

Can we have it back now that it is possible to track and delete unpalatable or inapropriet posings?

And can we also have a spelling checker for the dislexics? as I are one

Viv

[kenneth]

Hi Kenneth

the new forum is certainly a big step forward, with that in mind is it posible to reintroduce the off topic forum?

Apart from a certain forum members input I always injoyed the lively debate and free an frank discussions that it led too:-)

Can we have it back now that it is possible to track and delete unpalatable or inapropriet posings?

And can we also have a spelling checker for the dislexics? as I are one

Viv

I
I have the option of banning word and users ( this forum system keep track of all the ip adresses a users uses)

Give me 1-2 weeks i have learn all the function in the admin pages , and i will give the off topic a test!

kenneth

[Viv]

Hey Kenneth Just an idea but can you wright a script?

" if name = offender then trash "

Or maybe

" if IP = offender then trash "

Viv:-)

[Nicodemuz]

Viv,

why not both? :-)

[larry cottrill]

I for one vote against any heavy-handed banning. Why should something valuable or even interesting that someone might contribute be gone forever just because some post a week ago was offensive?

Censoring should be done on content, not personality. Yes, of course it's more difficult and time-consuming that way. Banning an individual should be done only in cases where derision, defamation, obscenity, etc are the only thing the individual comes up with, and absolutely nothing valuable to offer.

If you have a forum where supposedly "anything can be discussed", banning an individual comes awfully close to book-burning. Freedom is not absolute, but nevertheless should not be easily overruled. What sort of "freedom" is it that only permits ideas that I happen to be comfortable with?

L Cottrill
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[Mike Kirney]

Banning users is harsh, and I doubt it would work very well. Dynamic IP means that you would need to accumulate a huge databank of one person's IPs to effectively ban them. 'Anonymizers' would also make banning somebody extremely difficult. I think a word filter and live human moderators is the way to go. There are only a very few seriously offensive words that crop up on these forums, and none of them are necessary to use in discussing pulsejets/physics/machinery, so a word filter would probably take care of 99% of the offensive posts, and moderating would be very easy. Most people have similar ideas on what is tasteful and appropriate so I don't have a problem trusting a stranger to edit content on these forums, or on an off-topic one, if it gets created.

[paul skinner]

If the site is for the exchange of pulse-jet and other hobby ideas, wouldn't this just be opening the site up to more spam, trolls, flamers and general buttheads who want to talk about whatever psychiatric anti-social tic might be bugging them that day. I'm on a couple dozen forums of various topics, and I have yet to go to a forum that doesn't have an area with an "off-topic" link that invaribably polarizes people on topics of religion, politics, social order and the like. Really, who cares if you hate christ, buddha, mohammed, Americans, Germans, the French, your favourite soccer team, Bush, Schroder, Hitler etc etc etc....It really matters only to you. The minueta of everyones life only seems to serve as gasoline to what should be topics on subjects which we should all agree on. That's why we're here. To talk about pulse-jets, ramjets, rockets, and things that fly right?
We should keep it on topic without getting sidetracked, and hopefully that'll cut down on the hard feelings, and the in-fighting that invariably crops up on these forums...Ask yourself. If you were at a social gathering of like minded science fanatics, would you suddenly tell everyone in the room that you hate all (fill in the blank) and spill your innermost prejudices to a group of strangers? Not likely right?

/get's off his soapbox.

[Mike Kirney]

Principal Skinner is right on the money. I use anywhere from three to six forums regularly, all for different topics, and for many different reasons. Generally, I will come here to discuss things mechanical/thermodynamic and then I will head over to The British Empire.com to make fun of other cultures and to express my deeply Anglocentric-libertarian-individualist identity, because thats what everybody does over there and they all seem to enjoy what I have to say.

[Stephen H]

hey all!
kenneth i no i have asked for this befor but can we have the old off topic forum up for reading purposes only? if hosting is a problim i might be able to helpn there!

thanks
Stephen

[Mark]

hey all!
kenneth i no i have asked for this befor but can we have the old off topic forum up for reading purposes only? if hosting is a problim i might be able to helpn there!

thanks
Stephen

I suspect a few good ideas were contained in the old off topic forum, I kind of agree with Stephen, and I suppose since we are catagory inclined, we might as well have a pulse-detonation forum, I was thinking since there is that contraption with all the bells and whistles and 4 horn exhaust, one could strive to gain forward air speed and obtain the same end results without all the weighted engine power creating in effect, forward air speed to drive the pulse-detonation tubes.
Mark