YES, YOU GOT IT! I WANT IT ALL! NOW!

I thought people were ignoring me when maybe they just didn't understand what I said.

First, to restore the posts from the old board. I wasn't talking to those who already said they don't care, but at least answered, but to those who do care and haven't spoken up. I'll start by posting step-by-step instructions of actions to take as best my feeble powers will allow, in separate posts, which for now may as well be in this thread as there isn't any other special place for them.

Okay, NOW FIRST.

To get ANY ACTION AT ALL, we have to contact the people in charge, that is, the Forum Host/Message Board Provider (as opposed to the website host, which is Ray's publisher HarperCollins. Of course, presumably those in charge at HarperCollins are in touch with the Forum Host/Message Board Provider, but since they don't answer either, let's just go straight for the Forum Host/Message Board Provider) which is in this case

INFOPOP.COM, (or so they would have us believe)

We have to contact the good folks at Infopop.com, assuming there *are* any good folks there, or indeed any folks at all, as they have set up the very clever premise that there are. Supposedly there is a CEO with a wife who has a small child and is expecting twins. Of course, these seemingly nice, normal humans could all be a FRONT for the nameless faceless soulless cyborg really in charge, IT, or, as I prefer, HAL.

We have to get past IT/HAL and appeal to the one flickering spark of humanity which may exist in the vastness of the system, to verily convince that one living breathing quivering pulsing soul that we are HUMAN BEINGS who have formed an INTEREST and ATTACHMENT to this message forum and demand certain things regarding it!

(Hang on, I feel a Captain Kirk moment coming on.) "WE'RE HUMANS, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" (Okay, it's passed.)

Their website can be found at www.infopop.com, where they have created the illusion of a support system, which can be viewed here: http://infopop.com/docs/

Anyone who wants can try to post a Support Form, or try the supposed Support Community. JUST TRY IT, EARTHLING! IF YOU DARE!

(Booming sepulchral cyber-laughter.)

Every time I try to fill out a support form, I get the message "Security failure. Data decryption error." But maybe it just doesn't like me. Maybe it has something against Mac users, or any one of a number of other things about my system. It might like you just fine.

Should you fail in this part of your mission, there are message boards, which can be found here: http://community.infopop.net/eve/ubb.x

I can't post there because my first post contained supposedly abusive language. Therefore, all my posts go into an alledged approval cue, where they are jettisoned forthwith into a black hole never to be seen in original form again.

BUT THE REST OF YOU CAN POST YOUR LITTLE HEADS OFF! AS MEMBERS OF THIS FORUM, YOU ARE ALREADY SIGNED IN AT THAT ONE, UNDER YOUR SAME IDENTITIES! ALL YOU DO IS SHOW UP AT THE FORUMS, AND POST! I GUARANTEE IT WON'T HURT A BIT!

Obviously, in any sensible (ha) system, a support form ought to draw more notice than a message board post, but it seems not only impossible to do, but the message board posts will be seen by people *outside* the system. YES, PERHAPS EVEN OTHER HUMAN BEINGS LIKE US! I SAY, LET'S PLASTER THEIR MESSAGE BOARDS! REPLY AND KEEP REPLYING TO KEEP THOSE TOPICS ON TOP UNTIL THEY LISTEN!

Should that fail (if you find your posts disappearing), the "real world" contact information is here:

Mailing Address
Infopop Corporation
2401 4th Avenue, Suite 500
Seattle, WA 98121 USA
Phone: (206) 283-5999
Fax: (206) 283-6616

Now, IF I HAVE TO, I can either print out everything I've TRIED IN VAIN TO SAY SO FAR and mail it to them (major pain), or I can mail them a postcard saying "Please contact me at," give them my email address, and then copy and paste all the information into an email if and when they do reply (moderate pain.)

If one of you can GET THROUGH TO THEM FIRST, it will SAVE me all this pain to concentrate on other things!

As to "what" to say, that is, "what" our demands are, that will follow in the next post.

QUESTIONS, CATEGORY #1

About Infopop, How They Do Things There, and Why

(OPTIONAL. As this does not relate directly to the Ray Bradbury Forums. Messages do not, of course, have to be these exact questions in these exact words, especially if someone actually *does* get the Support Form to work! This is just to let them know we are on to them and wise to their wily wicked ways!)

1. Why doesn't the Support Form on the Infopop Website work? It pretends it's there to help, then does nothing but bring up the message "Security failure. Data decryption error."

2. Does it do this to everyone, or only certain ones? Is it even a real Support Form or a devious, diabolical sham?

3. If it is a devious, diabolical sham, why bother to provide it at all? Is it so that by the time a person seeking help even tries the Message Boards they'll be so frustrated and upset they'll post something the Powers that Be can then deem abusive, delete all their posts, and ignore any and all legitimate concerns they may have?

4. Is there really an "Approval Cue" for people whose posts have been judged questionable? If so, how long does the approval process take? If not, is the "Approval Cue" really just a way of banning people after one supposed infraction with no means of recourse?

5. What does it take to gain Personal Messaging privileges? Is that fair for a person to be able to receive Personal Messages, but not respond or reply to them at all, or even be able to appeal to anyone who has been on the forums longer?

6. Why can't your website post a regular email people can contact instead of a non-working form? Why are replies to emails sent from Infopop directed to a machine which then hurls peals of fiendish laughter in the respondent's face?

7. Is this all because you don't WANT input from your victims--excuse me, customers?

(P. S. If Infopop ran 911 Services, we'd all be dead!)

CONCERNS AND DEMANDS, CATEGORY 1

Specifically about the missing posts from the "Ruled Paper" thread only, which we KNOW TO BE MISSING, not about any unconfirmed missing posts.

(Required, as this DOES have to do with the Ray Bradbury Forum Boards.)

For this, I would essentially say, almost word-for-word, what I said in the "Ruled Paper" thread. I'm not sure what exactly is unclear about what I wrote before, but if anyone doesn't understand it, let me know what part you don't understand and I'll try to explain it.

1. On the original Ray Bradbury board, the "Ruled Paper" thread had over 600 posts!

2. The original thread can be viewed here: http://www.raybradbury.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000087.html

3. Sometime around August 26, 2004, the thread went missing, then turned back up, missing around 300 posts!

4. The missing posts dated to March 29, 2004. The thread resumes on August 26, 2004.

5. By way of Google, the moderator, Dandelion, was able to find an old version of the thread, including all the posts prior to March 29, all the missing posts, and possibly a few posts from after when the missing ones disappeared. That thread can be viewed here. http://www.raybradbury.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/000087-3.html

6. After failing to find any way to return the missing posts, Dandelion tried contacting both Infopop and the publisher maintaining the Bradbury site, HarperCollins, regarding enlisting a computer whiz to reinstate the missing posts. (Since at that time Dandelion had moderating capabilities, she didn't mind if they put the whole earlier thread into the later one, duplicating some posts, as she could delete any duplicates.)

7. After months of non-response from any quarter, Dandelion figured the only way for each of our posts to appear under our own identities was for members to go in turn to the archived thread and copy and paste their own posts into the current thread.

8. We were all set to do this when the old board disappeared. When it reappeared, we were too busy adjusting to think about pasting from the archived board to the old board.

9. On viewing the new board, TO OUR HORROR, we found that the 380 remaining posts in the "Ruled Paper" thread were reduced to only 80!

WE ARE NOW MISSING OVER 600 POSTS FROM THIS THREAD! WE REFUSE TO STICK THEM ALL BACK IN OURSELVES THROUGH CUT-AND-PASTE! PLEASE FIX THIS BY ENLISTING AN INFOPOP COMPUTER WHIZ TO REINSTATE ALL THE MISSING POSTS INTO THE CURRENT THREAD! IF THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE, CREATE AS MANY AS NECESSARY NEW THREADS FOR THEM, I. E. "RULED PAPER II," "RULED PAPER III," ASAP!!!

Now, have ye all got that much?

dandelion,

I think I now understand what you want us all to do, but are you SURE that Infopop is who we should be targeting? Unless you can assure me otherwise, I would assume that HarperCollins have installed Infopop software on their (HarperCollins's) server - i.e. the problem is HarperCollins's, not Infopop's.

I hope you are correct, but I for one would be reluctant to risk ranting at an innocent party!

So you think just the software, and its application by whoever at HarperCollins applied it, is the cause of everything? I assumed HarperCollins enlisted someone from Infopop to actually "do" this "to" the board. Anyhow, the problems need to be corrected, but how can we find who to approach to fix them when neither party will answer or acknowledge when asked?

I know this is a dumb question, but I have to ask: have you used the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of the screen? (It emails to someone called Julia Bannon.)

Didn't want to drag her name into it (at least just yet) but the most charitable thing I can say is she may have an overzealous spam filter. One of my email addresses is Hotmail, the other is MSN. Someone using an account from other than those can try if they like.

dandelion,

I have just sent a missive to Ms Bannon. I will let you know if any reply is forthcoming.

BULLETIN ALERT: Julia Bannon IS alive and HAS been contacted by a source who is not only reputable, reliable, and utterly above and beyond all shade or suggestion of reproach, but shines in its superior abilities and accomplishments, a veritable MIRACLE WORKER! I BOW TO ITS SUPERIORITY! I SALUTE IT! (No, it isn't me, and it isn't Ray Bradbury himself either.)

IF she will contact me and discuss the issues in question, it may not be necessary to continue to write out in detail the Questions, Concerns, Issues, and Demands begun above, which include, but may not be limited to:

--OTHER MISSING POSTS. If we lost 300 from just one thread in the move, how many others may be gone? Is there a way to count them without manually going back to count the old board's total BEFORE both boards' return and subtract the new board's total SINCE the boards' return?

--THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE BOARD. Do they plan to do anything about it? I'd like to see the old board stay online as a backup in case some devoted soul wants to restore, or at least detail, any missing posts, or in case (God Forbid!) something happens to this board. If they do plan to remove it, WHEN? So we'll know how LONG we have to work with the old board!

PET PEEVES--The color scheme. The stroke/shortout thing the graphics do when the page comes up. "HAL's" cold and patronizing approach to new posts. Plastering everyone's location right on their posts so Big Brother can watch. Others?

Cancel all Infopop attacks! It turns out philnic is 100% correct. The forums were imported by a HarperCollins employee, using software from Infopop. The powers that be were APPALLED that posts were missing, made assurances that nothing was meant to be lost and that they will attempt to restore those known to be lost, and check to make sure no others were lost. So we don't have to deal with Infopop at all, great relief, as what little contact I had with them showed them to be of no help whatsoever.

quote:

Originally posted by dandelion:
...It turns out philnic is 100% correct...

Well, there's a first time for everything! I'm glad to hear something is happening at HarperCollins. The mysterious Ms Bannon certainly doesn't reply to her emails, but I'm glad she (or her colleagues) is finally spurred into action.

Now, if only we could find a way to stop the board being over-run by schoolkids every spring...

HA. She doesn't even GET a lot of her emails. She was contacted via phone at a number known to a priviledged few.