new thread
Victor spends his own money to provide this web board for us without advertising. He also, with some volunteers, does maintenance on it. Old posts have to be moved to the archives and inappropriate posts have to be dealt with. This web board and the work to maintain it is all stuff we are getting for free.
Over 90% of the people who come here see what the community is about or get that from the FAQ and they seldom cause us any problems at all. The remaining few percent who cause problems almost all do it "not on purpose". The reason for this post is to ask we all think a little about what we are about and why Victor has recommeded some things we should think about before posting. They are in his FAQ.
Victor asks that we only use one name or handle. Aliases are okay, and sometimes there's a reason you "need to be someone else". (Hey, I'm doing it now - the reason is "we volunteer in the background".) If you take on new identities when others see no worthwhile need, this misleads others and it is not fair. Others only wish to give you one vote when things are talked about, and if you weigh in on several different topics, it is only polite to others to let people know you're the same guy. The way to do that is use the same name all the time.
This is a public place. There are men and women here, so find a clean way to say something if you can - sometimes you need a questionable word to get a point across, but not often. There are adults here so don't be too juvenile, there are children here so don't be too racy. There are straight and gay people, native and non-native speakers of English, all races, and many nationalities here. We're all here to make life better for longhaired men. Let's not forget that includes all longhaired men. Before you set off to diss someone, think for a minute. He is probably just another longhaired man like you.
Make your English teacher proud. None of us care about your English teacher, but good English is POWER. If you go to the trouble to write a post, you want it to go its farthest distance. Well-written posts get read and remembered most, and that's why you wrote yours. In the same vein, if someone who has less English skills than you comes along, and you got what he means, his English did its job so leave it at that.
And finally, most longhaired men have been subjected to unpleasant comments about having long hair, and some have been subjected to violence. This is serious stuff for many here, and it's not an area for joking around about or posting untrue stories about, just like we don't joke about bombs at the airport. Fake stories cause the community to expend its limited energy for no reason, and they can jade us, causing us to not be there for a guy who comes along when his need for us is real. If haircuts turn you on, there are other places on the web to go with that to. We don't want to hear about it here.
When we feel posts don't comply with this stuff, we have to remove them. When posts contain questionable words or come from people who've been problems, someone has to review them. This takes time, and when 90%+ of the people who come here cause few problems, we just are not driven to devote much time to this. So please, those of you who mean well, think before you post. To sum it up, please use one name, use clean language, and don't post anything that shows a disrespect for others. This is one way you can show you appreciate what Victor is providing here. For those who cannot do this, we may just exclude you altogether. We just don't have the time to devote to high maintenance people.
One more note. Be safe. We see a lot at the web site head end that you don't see. People are not always who they seem to be. Also, only a few identify themselves enough that you can tell who they are anyway. Never send photos to someone you don't know unless you'd be comfortable posting them for the world to see. You don't know who they are or what they will do with them. For all you know, your "before I started growing out my hair" photo may show up on a haircutting fetish site with it labeled "what he looked like after I cut it off". You are wise to think carefully before sending or posting any photos when they are asked for by others. And of course, never send a stranger photos of children.
Be well....
Right on!
I fully agree with what "One of Victor's helpers" just wrote. I have been coming to this board for several years now and I really appreciate the tone that is generally maintained here.
I also make use of the online clubs over on the Yahoo system. Over there it is a much more "hit or miss" afair when it comes to civility and "adult" postings. In the clubs that are closely monitored by their founders most junk and attack posts get cut fairly quickly. In the clubs that are not so well maintained things get out of hand badly.
Especially when some few individuals decide to start attacking others by using multiple aliases and having no sense of community or decency.
We should all be grateful for what we have going on here and not let it come undone.
Thanks Victor & crew for running this board the way it has been for so long!
Madoc
Yes, I noticed that, too!
There are more discussions about this in the Beard & Moustache Oasis. Victor has been debating whether it should be open or closed.
As you can see, I usually don't change aliases. How are things going on at Beard & Moustache?
But Victor doesn't seem to Archive the old messages anymore. Besides, the Search Index hasn't been updated since last June!
Welcome back, Madoc!
Thanks, Victor. I appreciate your effort in upkeeping this board. The points you made are duly noted, and we hope to adhere to them.
Please give me some evidence to back up this claim, and I will investigate. Some time ago I made an attempt to automate the index rebuild process. I thought it was working smoothly.
Well, it turns out that the script still runs, but it's being killed now. I've put in a service request to find out more information about what is going on.
I suspect that there is something on the server that monitors the system looking for perpetually running scripts and killing ones that last too long. The indexer script takes a few minutes to run, so it may be triggering such a monitor.
This is unsatisfactory. I will post an update when I get feedback on my trouble ticket call.
There's currently no Search Index!
i am sorry, and i cringe as i write this, because i do not want to upset or offend anyone, and i realize my own writing errors. mainly, i am referring to my lack of capitalization (which happens to be intentional).
however--i noticed you wrote "if someone who has less English skills than you" which i found really ironic because it should say fewer insted of less.
that is it. i just thought it was funny, and wanted to let you know, in a friendly manner. i am not trying to offend you, and i probably make many more mistakes than you in my own writing. and thank you very much for the post. it was well written and appreciated. but this was just too good to pass up. :)
once again, sorry.
cheers
by the way, i hope i am not wrong or i will look like a complete fool.
I know post under a different name. I used to post under my
real name, a few unwanted e-mails cured me of that. Sometimes there
is a reason for changing the name you post under.
How do you know weather it is fake?
Also never ever give your phone number, address, ss#, etc.
If I had a dime for every person who posted their phone #, address,
ss#, etc. on the net I would be richer than Bill Gates.
It's called "difference of opinion." What one doesn't consider objectionable, another one does! For example, I could be at ANA while Madoc could be at KATA (or am I at KATA while Madoc is at ANA)? Anyhow, people perceive things differently, and people have different standards about each other. It's called politics!