Just curious regarding a solution to the spam/porn proliferating the board lately. Being that most of the people who take this board seriously (lightly said, of course)and post have been doing so for years, and it being evident that this is the "old R.B. website" (of which, we could make even more evident by postings on all topic areas), I propose shutting it off from all "new" posters. Is this possible to do by the mediator, Dandelion? Nard? It may not be feasable, I know. My main concern is the deplorable porn/drug spam, of which youngsters may access, also the hard work it takes for the dailey cleansing. Come to think of it, it probably would have been done by now if it were possible. I've seen it done on other sites to temporarily remedy the situation, but then some expense was made for filters. Pay no attention to that man grumbling behind the curtain.....tis only I...

Robot Lincoln:

I share your concerns on this problem. Dandelion has been deleting things. She gave me the key words in order to delete the undesired topics as well. But "they" post at all times of the day, some early, some late, some in mid-day. So you have to go online frequently to keep things off the board.

Personally, I wonder if the publisher Harper- Collins even knows about this site. The personel changes having taken place at Harper-Collins may have caused this site to be forgotten or of very little concern.

Could call them and find out what can be done...but the person that finally was of any help there has left...

But that doesn't mean don't put in another few calls and track down the person(s) who can help. In fact...what a great idea!

Now who is going to do it?

Well, blow me down! Some man Jack of ye should shiver their timbers!

Been off to the Pirate Store in San Francisco, have ye?
http://www.826valencia.org/store/flags_main.html

[This message has been edited by patrask (edited 09-19-2006).]

And...
here's
the
story, Maties... (that spelling don't look right...maybe it's Mayties.. naw, that looks like May Ties. They used to wear those at one time...)

So I telephoned 'Harper-Collins' (the ones responsible for this and the new Ray Bradbury website) and spoke with a young fellow by the name of Fitzpatrick, who said he is going to look into this foreign spamming problem from the heartland of Russia. He told me that he thought the site (that's this one) had been phased out. Surprise! But I said that all the postings from here were to be moved-over to the new site but that was only partially completed. So I said, if you are to close this site, make sure ALL the postings have been transferred.

So, he said he'd look into the matter (since he was the one responsible for renewing the domain name for the Bradbury site)... and would get back as soon as psossible.

So, Maties (or however you spell it)...we shall drop anchor here and wait a spell...

I didn't want it to disappear. Part of the charm of the place was its secret magic. It's twilight zone feel, like how is this happening? I for one will really miss it if it goes away..........I'm meeeeeeeelting.

I know. But there is genuine garbage hitting the wall here. And that's a shame for this to be happening to a Bradbury site. Dandelion is away for a few days and I let it go for about 6 hours recently and there was, yep...6 (SIX) spams.

Well, only 7 sturdy souls signed in above, telling that they still come by this place. But we're spread around the country. That in itself is interesting.

We be small, but we be potent!

Well... (tries to swallow tennis ballish lump in throat) ... I guess this is it. Think of the astronauts floating away from eachother in "Kaleidescope". I don't hate you. So long.

Robo, here's my email -
FRMN451@sbcglobal.net
We'll need to stay in touch. You can always page me at www.asimovs.com also.

Nard, God bless you (as if he hasn't already) and thank you for the kind, understanding, and very insightful words of support you once offered me in regards to my mother's slipping into senility. I just found out we have an ORIGINAL PANCAKE HOUSE right here in Roseville. I'll think of you as I stare with wild-eyed wonder at one of those monstrosities they have the nerve to call a pancake.

Oh, my hand was just sliced clean off by some space junk, must... seal... suit... ahh... much better. People really oughtta stop throwing their beer cans out their portholes. Stuff could really hurt someone. Somebody could lose an eye. Probably those darn Russkies. Up your porthole, pal! Ha! I used to complain about being stuck in a tin can. Now that I'm not, I'll probably die by being "STRUCK" by a tin can!

I'm not leaving! I refuse to do so, there must be another way! I fully agree about the spam though, Nard. I will start my own Old Bradbury Website....you'll see, all of you, TOP OF THE WORLD, MA!!! Don't anyone leave yet, Grass I'm reeling in your emergency teather that you didn't know was attached, otherwise known as your Lifeline! Nard, also remember that not all those who frequent this site come everyday, like The Magnificent Obsessant Seven that we are.

Okay, I'm back. Well, this is progress! What you told the HarperCollins guy, Nard, was only half the story.

1. The transfer WAS only partially completed. I hadn't a prayer of counting old board posts and new board posts and comparing totals between them before people plastered BOTH boards with new posts. I was in touch with some techs from the web service provider who said they'd help with the impartial transfer situation, but in the months since then I still hadn't time to make the count. If you want to give me this guy's contact info, I can pass this on to him. I do know the "Ruled Paper" thread is missing about 600 posts (300 from the old board floating in cyberspace, plus another 300 which didn't make it from the old to the new board) and can point out where to find them, but there are probably some beyond that. Given this circumstance, we are very lucky the old board DIDN'T just disappear despite all the complications created by having two.

2. Once the split was made, ALL posts to the old board were SEPARATE AND DISTINCT from those to the new board! Thus, we have TWO VERSIONS of many old threads, plus new threads on the old board which the new board has never seen! Awhile ago we took a vote as to what should be done with these, and it was voted to move them ALL to the new board to try to assure their preservation in the sad event that the old board ever goes bye-bye. I assume this is still the concensus, although naturally some of the "old board" posts won't make sense in the "new board" context.

The only person I talked to at HarperCollins since the split, whom I believe was the one who very briefly replaced the real expert who was such a big help, was definitely against the continued existence of the old board.

If this guy really has any control over the new board, maybe he can correct the misspellings and update the contact info, which is an address to a person who left HarperCollins a year or two ago.

dandelion:

I've deleted probably 50 + spam posts, roughly 30% were porn. Very unfortunate that there is no hotshot there at Harper-Collins ready to press a magical button to remedy this situation. The fellow I talked with, a Fitzpatrick fellow, said he wasn't going to do anything until he got back from vacation ...next week! Tomorrow I'll call Harper-Collins and see who else is there that can do something.

dandelion:

...also...I'll email you the email I got from Harper-Collins, so you know his name, email address etc...later today (Sunday, Oct. 1st)

[This message has been edited by Nard Kordell (edited 10-01-2006).]

Thanks to both of you, I salute ya.

Saaaaluuute!

(inference taken from Hee Haw, used without permission)

Thanks for the salute. It's already evident Nard has left the building.

dandelion:

email this guy. I'll try Harper-Collins again today (Wednesday)!

alex.garber@harpercollins.com