What happened to USMB?

[Windparadox]

`
Freedom of speech only pertains to the government. Private sites like this are free to limit speech as they see fit.
`

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

I fail to see how either of what you suggest would solve the 502 Bad Gateway situation that this forum frequently has.

Also on point II what constitutes a personal attack? Some are THAT thin skinned that if for eg. they are called an IDIOT they would go Full On Drama Queen and go screaming they have been PERSONALLY ATTACKED. If someone wants a forum where IDIOT constitutes a personal attack then there are some other forums out there who have that Nannying approach to cater to the thin skinned.

So on point II no thanks, that is not the type of Nannying this forum needs and that would not in ANY form solve the 502 Bad Gateway situation.

I have no idea what caused the 502 Bad Gateway. I'm just going by the comments by flacaltenn.

I have found by years of experience leading and participating in discussion groups, civility toward other posters or speakers leads to more informative discussion. Some people have little interest in the ideas of the opposition but simple want tell the opposition to STFU, you lying SOB. That's ok with me except that it typically ends intelligence discussion. If you've noticed, there are a number of users who simply issue nothing but personal attacks without every adding anything of interest to the thread. It's not a matter of being thin skinned but simply wanting to participate in an intelligent discussion rather read post after post of personal attacks against other members. I really don't give damn what member A thinks about member B. It's almost always off topic and adds nothing to the thread. Possibly more civility might reduce membership but it might also improve the quality of the discussions.

"I have found by years of experience leading and participating in discussion groups, civility toward other posters or speakers leads to more informative discussion. Some people have little interest in the ideas of the opposition but simple want tell the opposition to STFU, you lying SOB. That's ok with me except that it typically ends intelligence discussion. If you've noticed, there are a number of users who simply issue nothing but personal attacks without every adding anything of interest to the thread. It's not a matter of being thin skinned but simply wanting to participate in an intelligent discussion rather read post after post of personal attacks against other members. I really don't give damn what member A thinks about member B. It's almost always off topic and adds nothing to the thread. Possibly more civility might reduce membership but it might also improve the quality of the discussions."

In general I agree, the problem though is it would reduce the forum to being less entertaining and pretty boring, I have no problem with if someone posts:

"WTF you idiot (and then posts On Topic with regard to whatever the OP topic is about)"

or "STFU moron (and then posts On Topic with regard to whatever the OP topic is about)"

I certainly do not want to read endless Novella type posts after posts where there is not some friction between members, also I add a few members of staff are prone to name calling in their responses.

"Possibly more civility might reduce membership"

Which is the last thing that Forum Foundry want, if membership was reduced then why would Forum Foundry even think USMB was worth continuing? So IF you want to destroy the forum then make it boring, reducing the membership equals end of the forum.

You have a good point. Never thought of it in that light. I have to admit some of our more colorful members do keep it interesting.

Well yes and also I am 100% in support of Freedom of Speech, I do not go along with this hysterical thing of those who Offend Someones Feelings need to be silenced.

I do not advocate deliberately hurting someone by commenting deliberately nasty things that you KNOW are going to hurt them.

What I do advocate STRONGLY is the Right to Freedom of Expression both in a political and social sense, that EVERYONE should be at least mature enough to TOLERATE opposing opinions on politics and social issues.

I am 100% Anti-Censorship because Censorship INFRINGES on a persons right to Freedom of Expression.

This:

View attachment 216613

This:

View attachment 216614

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

 

[OldLady]

I have no idea what caused the 502 Bad Gateway. I'm just going by the comments by flacaltenn.

I have found by years of experience leading and participating in discussion groups, civility toward other posters or speakers leads to more informative discussion. Some people have little interest in the ideas of the opposition but simple want tell the opposition to STFU, you lying SOB. That's ok with me except that it typically ends intelligence discussion. If you've noticed, there are a number of users who simply issue nothing but personal attacks without every adding anything of interest to the thread. It's not a matter of being thin skinned but simply wanting to participate in an intelligent discussion rather read post after post of personal attacks against other members. I really don't give damn what member A thinks about member B. It's almost always off topic and adds nothing to the thread. Possibly more civility might reduce membership but it might also improve the quality of the discussions.

"I have found by years of experience leading and participating in discussion groups, civility toward other posters or speakers leads to more informative discussion. Some people have little interest in the ideas of the opposition but simple want tell the opposition to STFU, you lying SOB. That's ok with me except that it typically ends intelligence discussion. If you've noticed, there are a number of users who simply issue nothing but personal attacks without every adding anything of interest to the thread. It's not a matter of being thin skinned but simply wanting to participate in an intelligent discussion rather read post after post of personal attacks against other members. I really don't give damn what member A thinks about member B. It's almost always off topic and adds nothing to the thread. Possibly more civility might reduce membership but it might also improve the quality of the discussions."

In general I agree, the problem though is it would reduce the forum to being less entertaining and pretty boring, I have no problem with if someone posts:

"WTF you idiot (and then posts On Topic with regard to whatever the OP topic is about)"

or "STFU moron (and then posts On Topic with regard to whatever the OP topic is about)"

I certainly do not want to read endless Novella type posts after posts where there is not some friction between members, also I add a few members of staff are prone to name calling in their responses.

"Possibly more civility might reduce membership"

Which is the last thing that Forum Foundry want, if membership was reduced then why would Forum Foundry even think USMB was worth continuing? So IF you want to destroy the forum then make it boring, reducing the membership equals end of the forum.

You have a good point. Never thought of it in that light. I have to admit some of our more colorful members do keep it interesting.

Well yes and also I am 100% in support of Freedom of Speech, I do not go along with this hysterical thing of those who Offend Someones Feelings need to be silenced.

I do not advocate deliberately hurting someone by commenting deliberately nasty things that you KNOW are going to hurt them.

What I do advocate STRONGLY is the Right to Freedom of Expression both in a political and social sense, that EVERYONE should be at least mature enough to TOLERATE opposing opinions on politics and social issues.

I am 100% Anti-Censorship because Censorship INFRINGES on a persons right to Freedom of Expression.

This:

View attachment 216613

This:

View attachment 216614

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

 

[Bruce_T_Laney]

"I have found by years of experience leading and participating in discussion groups, civility toward other posters or speakers leads to more informative discussion. Some people have little interest in the ideas of the opposition but simple want tell the opposition to STFU, you lying SOB. That's ok with me except that it typically ends intelligence discussion. If you've noticed, there are a number of users who simply issue nothing but personal attacks without every adding anything of interest to the thread. It's not a matter of being thin skinned but simply wanting to participate in an intelligent discussion rather read post after post of personal attacks against other members. I really don't give damn what member A thinks about member B. It's almost always off topic and adds nothing to the thread. Possibly more civility might reduce membership but it might also improve the quality of the discussions."

In general I agree, the problem though is it would reduce the forum to being less entertaining and pretty boring, I have no problem with if someone posts:

"WTF you idiot (and then posts On Topic with regard to whatever the OP topic is about)"

or "STFU moron (and then posts On Topic with regard to whatever the OP topic is about)"

I certainly do not want to read endless Novella type posts after posts where there is not some friction between members, also I add a few members of staff are prone to name calling in their responses.

"Possibly more civility might reduce membership"

Which is the last thing that Forum Foundry want, if membership was reduced then why would Forum Foundry even think USMB was worth continuing? So IF you want to destroy the forum then make it boring, reducing the membership equals end of the forum.

You have a good point. Never thought of it in that light. I have to admit some of our more colorful members do keep it interesting.

Well yes and also I am 100% in support of Freedom of Speech, I do not go along with this hysterical thing of those who Offend Someones Feelings need to be silenced.

I do not advocate deliberately hurting someone by commenting deliberately nasty things that you KNOW are going to hurt them.

What I do advocate STRONGLY is the Right to Freedom of Expression both in a political and social sense, that EVERYONE should be at least mature enough to TOLERATE opposing opinions on politics and social issues.

I am 100% Anti-Censorship because Censorship INFRINGES on a persons right to Freedom of Expression.

This:

View attachment 216613

This:

View attachment 216614

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

 

[OldLady]

You have a good point. Never thought of it in that light. I have to admit some of our more colorful members do keep it interesting.

Well yes and also I am 100% in support of Freedom of Speech, I do not go along with this hysterical thing of those who Offend Someones Feelings need to be silenced.

I do not advocate deliberately hurting someone by commenting deliberately nasty things that you KNOW are going to hurt them.

What I do advocate STRONGLY is the Right to Freedom of Expression both in a political and social sense, that EVERYONE should be at least mature enough to TOLERATE opposing opinions on politics and social issues.

I am 100% Anti-Censorship because Censorship INFRINGES on a persons right to Freedom of Expression.

This:

View attachment 216613

This:

View attachment 216614

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

 

[Foxfyre]

Well yes and also I am 100% in support of Freedom of Speech, I do not go along with this hysterical thing of those who Offend Someones Feelings need to be silenced.

I do not advocate deliberately hurting someone by commenting deliberately nasty things that you KNOW are going to hurt them.

What I do advocate STRONGLY is the Right to Freedom of Expression both in a political and social sense, that EVERYONE should be at least mature enough to TOLERATE opposing opinions on politics and social issues.

I am 100% Anti-Censorship because Censorship INFRINGES on a persons right to Freedom of Expression.

This:

View attachment 216613

This:

View attachment 216614

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

 

[Lewdog]

Well yes and also I am 100% in support of Freedom of Speech, I do not go along with this hysterical thing of those who Offend Someones Feelings need to be silenced.

I do not advocate deliberately hurting someone by commenting deliberately nasty things that you KNOW are going to hurt them.

What I do advocate STRONGLY is the Right to Freedom of Expression both in a political and social sense, that EVERYONE should be at least mature enough to TOLERATE opposing opinions on politics and social issues.

I am 100% Anti-Censorship because Censorship INFRINGES on a persons right to Freedom of Expression.

This:

View attachment 216613

This:

View attachment 216614

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

No I think Bruce likes it inside....

 

[OldLady]

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

No, Foxfyre, you're not the only one. There are two of us.

 

[Foxfyre]

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

No, Foxfyre, you're not the only one. There are two of us.

The one thing I cannot understand about USMB and a lot of other message boards is the mentality that the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil. We see it in our society that those who disagree with a person declare him/her unfit and unacceptable and try to destroy him/her by banning from campus, aggressive, even violent protests, barring from ability to enjoy a meal at a restaurant or an evening at the theater, threaten or attack his/her employers, customers, suppliers, advertisers, etc.

This is played out throughout our society these days including these message boards. And to me who was raised and educated to understand and consider all points of view, and use logic and reason to separate the bullshit or wrong headedness from the good stuff, as the only way to truly be educated, this is a dangerous and even evil thing.

 

[OldLady]

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

No, Foxfyre, you're not the only one. There are two of us.

The one thing I cannot understand about USMB and a lot of other message boards is the mentality that the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil. We see it in our society that those who disagree with a person declare him/her unfit and unacceptable and try to destroy him/her by banning from campus, aggressive, even violent protests, barring from ability to enjoy a meal at a restaurant or an evening at the theater, threaten or attack his/her employers, customers, suppliers, advertisers, etc.

This is played out throughout our society these days including these message boards. And to me who was raised and educated to understand and consider all points of view, and use logic and reason to separate the bullshit or wrong headedness from the good stuff, as the only way to truly be educated, this is a dangerous and even evil thing.

the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil.
Please don't kid yourself that it is any different on my side of things. The speeches by highly controversial speakers and shock jocks like Milo are security concerns, not censorship.
The horrible things I hear about "kneelers" and even that kid Hogg are just as nasty, perhaps moreso, than asking someone to leave a restaurant. Which happened how many times?
Just don't play a victim with that stuff. It is equally vicious on "your" side, although I don't really like to put it that way. I don't see you as the opposition; we just have different ideas.

 

[candycorn]

Server down for six hours

It was hilarious last night. I’m usually at my desk looking at the message board and doing my hourlies. Without this message board, I left the office and went down to the patient floors. ER was busy but only one critical. I went over to the cafeteria and one of the stewards we had there actually made me a lunch gratis! We have great food! The temperature seemed really cold so I sent a memo to our management team about it. On the 2nd half of the evening I was so bored I went outside to the heli-pad and took part in a pick up soccer game. Sprinklers came on and we were forced to go inside. I got some Pledge and cleaned my office furniture.

I can picture what my office will look like Sunday night when I go into work; puzzles, games, snacks—all placed there by the staff to keep me in my office and not annoy them. I hear the campus affairs staff has blocked my e-mail address. LOL

 

[candycorn]

There's no possibility this is a technical problem with the server, and not a vicious attack?

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

That is why I say that until we are told, we can never know for sure.

There's no possibility this is a technical problem with the server, and not a vicious attack?

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

If the number of connected users is causing the problem, you could do the unthinkable, a small yearly membership fee to cover the cost of better equipment. Or you could have a strict civility policy, no personal attacks on other users. Either one would probably solve the problem.

If they don't know what the problem is yet, then trying to solve it would be stupid.

If it is a too much traffic problem, then either of those choices would be a radical change to the business model that made them as popular as they are, and just might kill the business all together.

Good thing you aren't in charge.

I don’t start too many threads myself but there are people who start too many threads in my opinion. One poster has started 62 threads so far this month and we’re on the 15th. Many with zero replies; most with fewer than ten replies. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to start threads or have a limit but placing the limit around 60 per month (average of 2 a day) would be advisable it would seem if the issue is traffic. I doubt it would cause much of an exodus since this poster who has started 62 threads this month alone is not having too much of a splash anyway.

The membership fee would be the end of this.

 

[Lewdog]

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

That is why I say that until we are told, we can never know for sure.

There's no possibility this is a technical problem with the server, and not a vicious attack?

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

If the number of connected users is causing the problem, you could do the unthinkable, a small yearly membership fee to cover the cost of better equipment. Or you could have a strict civility policy, no personal attacks on other users. Either one would probably solve the problem.

If they don't know what the problem is yet, then trying to solve it would be stupid.

If it is a too much traffic problem, then either of those choices would be a radical change to the business model that made them as popular as they are, and just might kill the business all together.

Good thing you aren't in charge.

I don’t start too many threads myself but there are people who start too many threads in my opinion. One poster has started 62 threads so far this month and we’re on the 15th. Many with zero replies; most with fewer than ten replies. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to start threads or have a limit but placing the limit around 60 per month (average of 2 a day) would be advisable it would seem if the issue is traffic. I doubt it would cause much of an exodus since this poster who has started 62 threads this month alone is not having too much of a splash anyway.

The membership fee would be the end of this.

Longknife? He starts like 5+ threads within 5 minutes a couple times a day.

 

[Foxfyre]

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

No, Foxfyre, you're not the only one. There are two of us.

The one thing I cannot understand about USMB and a lot of other message boards is the mentality that the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil. We see it in our society that those who disagree with a person declare him/her unfit and unacceptable and try to destroy him/her by banning from campus, aggressive, even violent protests, barring from ability to enjoy a meal at a restaurant or an evening at the theater, threaten or attack his/her employers, customers, suppliers, advertisers, etc.

This is played out throughout our society these days including these message boards. And to me who was raised and educated to understand and consider all points of view, and use logic and reason to separate the bullshit or wrong headedness from the good stuff, as the only way to truly be educated, this is a dangerous and even evil thing.

the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil.
Please don't kid yourself that it is any different on my side of things. The speeches by highly controversial speakers and shock jocks like Milo are security concerns, not censorship.
The horrible things I hear about "kneelers" and even that kid Hogg are just as nasty, perhaps moreso, than asking someone to leave a restaurant. Which happened how many times?
Just don't play a victim with that stuff. It is equally vicious on "your" side, although I don't really like to put it that way. I don't see you as the opposition; we just have different ideas.

I have good reason to express my opinion of 'kneelers' and such because when I pay a lot of money to attend a football game, I want to be able to enjoy the game including the presentation of the flag and the singing of the National Anthem and what that stands for and not be subjected to anybody's disrespect of those because of their political views.

The only 'security concerns' related to anybody's expressed opinion are when somebody of authority promotes or urges civil disobedience, violence, denial of rights, or malicious attacks on the 'politically incorrect.'

Milo or Hogg or anybody else should never be blocked from accepting an invitation to speak. When I was in college we had every sort of person from extreme right to extreme left and everything controversial in between speaking on campus from time to time. And our professors often assigned some of those speeches for 'homework' and then we would discuss the content--not the person but the content--of the speech in class though the professor was very careful to facilitate the discussion and did not take a personal position on it. It was a terrific education experience and taught us how to do critical analysis/thinking and consider all pros and cons as nothing else could.

I enjoy a good give and take in an interesting topic whether that be AGW/climate change or abortion rights or any socioeconomic policy etc. I might do some push back on somebody attacking me personally or misrepresenting or mischaracterizing my argument, but I like to think I am not guilty of trying to keep somebody from expressing their opinion or attacking anybody personally if I disagree with him/her.

And I like to think it is possible to demonstrate that philosophy on a message board.

Which is really off topic re what happened to USMB recently. But I see those who are determined to see that no civil give and take happens to be far more dangerous to USMB's health than I see a very occasional bad gateway situation.

 

[candycorn]

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

That is why I say that until we are told, we can never know for sure.

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

If the number of connected users is causing the problem, you could do the unthinkable, a small yearly membership fee to cover the cost of better equipment. Or you could have a strict civility policy, no personal attacks on other users. Either one would probably solve the problem.

If they don't know what the problem is yet, then trying to solve it would be stupid.

If it is a too much traffic problem, then either of those choices would be a radical change to the business model that made them as popular as they are, and just might kill the business all together.

Good thing you aren't in charge.

I don’t start too many threads myself but there are people who start too many threads in my opinion. One poster has started 62 threads so far this month and we’re on the 15th. Many with zero replies; most with fewer than ten replies. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to start threads or have a limit but placing the limit around 60 per month (average of 2 a day) would be advisable it would seem if the issue is traffic. I doubt it would cause much of an exodus since this poster who has started 62 threads this month alone is not having too much of a splash anyway.

The membership fee would be the end of this.

Longknife? He starts like 5+ threads within 5 minutes a couple times a day.

I was trying not to name names. LOL The poster you mentioned is an offender but so are many others.

I don’t know what the issue is. I know it’s not the number of users on at any one time because the slow-downs are over night and presumably, most people are doing something other than posting on message boards at 0300. This is, of course, outside of any cyber attacks that have a denial-of-service component. So if it is the number of threads, this would seem like a remedy to that end.

If the mods were smart about it; they would put the limit in place (if placing a limit is even possible) and not announce it. Then…sometime around October 15, the offenders come here and complain that they only were able to start 60 threads; they’ll sound moronic.

Anyway; their sandbox, their sand.

 

[Lewdog]

That is why I say that until we are told, we can never know for sure.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

If the number of connected users is causing the problem, you could do the unthinkable, a small yearly membership fee to cover the cost of better equipment. Or you could have a strict civility policy, no personal attacks on other users. Either one would probably solve the problem.

If they don't know what the problem is yet, then trying to solve it would be stupid.

If it is a too much traffic problem, then either of those choices would be a radical change to the business model that made them as popular as they are, and just might kill the business all together.

Good thing you aren't in charge.

I don’t start too many threads myself but there are people who start too many threads in my opinion. One poster has started 62 threads so far this month and we’re on the 15th. Many with zero replies; most with fewer than ten replies. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to start threads or have a limit but placing the limit around 60 per month (average of 2 a day) would be advisable it would seem if the issue is traffic. I doubt it would cause much of an exodus since this poster who has started 62 threads this month alone is not having too much of a splash anyway.

The membership fee would be the end of this.

Longknife? He starts like 5+ threads within 5 minutes a couple times a day.

I was trying not to name names. LOL The poster you mentioned is an offender but so are many others.

I don’t know what the issue is. I know it’s not the number of users on at any one time because the slow-downs are over night and presumably, most people are doing something other than posting on message boards at 0300. This is, of course, outside of any cyber attacks that have a denial-of-service component. So if it is the number of threads, this would seem like a remedy to that end.

If the mods were smart about it; they would put the limit in place (if placing a limit is even possible) and not announce it. Then…sometime around October 15, the offenders come here and complain that they only were able to start 60 threads; they’ll sound moronic.

Anyway; their sandbox, their sand.

Well if I had to bet, I'd say the top 3 thread starters are Longknife, Basqueromance, and MindWars.

 

[candycorn]

If the number of connected users is causing the problem, you could do the unthinkable, a small yearly membership fee to cover the cost of better equipment. Or you could have a strict civility policy, no personal attacks on other users. Either one would probably solve the problem.

If they don't know what the problem is yet, then trying to solve it would be stupid.

If it is a too much traffic problem, then either of those choices would be a radical change to the business model that made them as popular as they are, and just might kill the business all together.

Good thing you aren't in charge.

I don’t start too many threads myself but there are people who start too many threads in my opinion. One poster has started 62 threads so far this month and we’re on the 15th. Many with zero replies; most with fewer than ten replies. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to start threads or have a limit but placing the limit around 60 per month (average of 2 a day) would be advisable it would seem if the issue is traffic. I doubt it would cause much of an exodus since this poster who has started 62 threads this month alone is not having too much of a splash anyway.

The membership fee would be the end of this.

Longknife? He starts like 5+ threads within 5 minutes a couple times a day.

I was trying not to name names. LOL The poster you mentioned is an offender but so are many others.

I don’t know what the issue is. I know it’s not the number of users on at any one time because the slow-downs are over night and presumably, most people are doing something other than posting on message boards at 0300. This is, of course, outside of any cyber attacks that have a denial-of-service component. So if it is the number of threads, this would seem like a remedy to that end.

If the mods were smart about it; they would put the limit in place (if placing a limit is even possible) and not announce it. Then…sometime around October 15, the offenders come here and complain that they only were able to start 60 threads; they’ll sound moronic.

Anyway; their sandbox, their sand.

Well if I had to bet, I'd say the top 3 thread starters are Longknife, Basqueromance, and MindWars.

I never did an analysis but I think you’re probably right.

 

[OldLady]

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

No, Foxfyre, you're not the only one. There are two of us.

The one thing I cannot understand about USMB and a lot of other message boards is the mentality that the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil. We see it in our society that those who disagree with a person declare him/her unfit and unacceptable and try to destroy him/her by banning from campus, aggressive, even violent protests, barring from ability to enjoy a meal at a restaurant or an evening at the theater, threaten or attack his/her employers, customers, suppliers, advertisers, etc.

This is played out throughout our society these days including these message boards. And to me who was raised and educated to understand and consider all points of view, and use logic and reason to separate the bullshit or wrong headedness from the good stuff, as the only way to truly be educated, this is a dangerous and even evil thing.

the person who doesn't agree with MY point of view is stupid, ignorant, brainwashed, indoctrinated, even evil.
Please don't kid yourself that it is any different on my side of things. The speeches by highly controversial speakers and shock jocks like Milo are security concerns, not censorship.
The horrible things I hear about "kneelers" and even that kid Hogg are just as nasty, perhaps moreso, than asking someone to leave a restaurant. Which happened how many times?
Just don't play a victim with that stuff. It is equally vicious on "your" side, although I don't really like to put it that way. I don't see you as the opposition; we just have different ideas.

I have good reason to express my opinion of 'kneelers' and such because when I pay a lot of money to attend a football game, I want to be able to enjoy the game including the presentation of the flag and the singing of the National Anthem and what that stands for and not be subjected to anybody's disrespect of those because of their political views.

The only 'security concerns' related to anybody's expressed opinion are when somebody of authority promotes or urges civil disobedience, violence, denial of rights, or malicious attacks on the 'politically incorrect.'

Milo or Hogg or anybody else should never be blocked from accepting an invitation to speak. When I was in college we had every sort of person from extreme right to extreme left and everything controversial in between speaking on campus from time to time. And our professors often assigned some of those speeches for 'homework' and then we would discuss the content--not the person but the content--of the speech in class though the professor was very careful to facilitate the discussion and did not take a personal position on it. It was a terrific education experience and taught us how to do critical analysis/thinking and consider all pros and cons as nothing else could.

I enjoy a good give and take in an interesting topic whether that be AGW/climate change or abortion rights or any socioeconomic policy etc. I might do some push back on somebody attacking me personally or misrepresenting or mischaracterizing my argument, but I like to think I am not guilty of trying to keep somebody from expressing their opinion or attacking anybody personally if I disagree with him/her.

And I like to think it is possible to demonstrate that philosophy on a message board.

Which is really off topic re what happened to USMB recently. But I see those who are determined to see that no civil give and take happens to be far more dangerous to USMB's health than I see a very occasional bad gateway situation.

Yes, we've gone way off the topic rails here. I'll save any further replies for another thread, another day. I don't see you around much; I suppose you've got your hands full with the lounge.

 

[Flopper]

Go to hell, Lucy.

Old Lady,

Be Nice!

no

YES!!!

Shall we take this outside?

I enjoy some friendly banter as much as the next person.

But sometimes I wonder if I am the only member at USMB who doesn't enjoy insulting people as sport on this forum? And who doesn't find intelligent, civil, and non-juvenile give and take on interesting topics to be boring? I have trouble respecting those who deliberately try to derail or shut down threads by piling en masse into an otherwise good thread with personal insults, sound bites, assigned short one liners, to make sure no reasonable discussion occurs.

At the same time I have had some good discussions here at USMB but they are pretty rare. Evenso, I have made some seriously good friends here so it can't be all bad.

Often people get very frustrated when they can't effectively counter your claim so they reply with a personal attack along the lines of "STFU you lying.....". IMHO, the reply to that should be nothing because you just won your argument or made your point. However, most people want to have the last word, so we get a chain of off topic insults that often ends the thread.

 

[caddo kid]

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

That is why I say that until we are told, we can never know for sure.

There's no possibility this is a technical problem with the server, and not a vicious attack?

IMHO no because we are getting these situations too frequently, that either elchlorizo or one of the others gets here and then fixes the technical problem that is causing the general slow down or the 502 Bad Gateway and then we get it all happening again, to me this is something other than the server and that the frequency of it does suggest some type of DDoS happening.

If you check the number of members on-line -- it's increased DRAMATICALLY since May. I'd say by 30%.. There were more than 6 pages of members online last night before I gave up trying to be here. It just could be volume. Or the 100s of "bots" that scan and collate info from USMB. Any one of these could be a malignant form of DDOService type device.

Maybe Facebook is jealous of our growth.

If the number of connected users is causing the problem, you could do the unthinkable, a small yearly membership fee to cover the cost of better equipment. Or you could have a strict civility policy, no personal attacks on other users. Either one would probably solve the problem.

If they don't know what the problem is yet, then trying to solve it would be stupid.

If it is a too much traffic problem, then either of those choices would be a radical change to the business model that made them as popular as they are, and just might kill the business all together.

Good thing you aren't in charge.

I don’t start too many threads myself but there are people who start too many threads in my opinion. One poster has started 62 threads so far this month and we’re on the 15th. Many with zero replies; most with fewer than ten replies. I’m not saying you shouldn’t be able to start threads or have a limit but placing the limit around 60 per month (average of 2 a day) would be advisable it would seem if the issue is traffic. I doubt it would cause much of an exodus since this poster who has started 62 threads this month alone is not having too much of a splash anyway.

The membership fee would be the end of this.

a membership fee will turn most everyone away from any forum, period. = end of forum