Anyone elses private topics just disappear? Yes. The category is gone. AnandTech Moderator

[Hammer]

never even got to try it

 

[Kev]

so it wasn't the babe thread that did it in?

i wanted some f@p material dammit!

 

[VirginiaDonkey]

I am all for getting rid of the porn/warez, just seems rather harsh to just dump the whole thing.

Shinerburke makes some very interesting points about the mods...future of ATOT

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: gotey
I am all for getting rid of the porn/warez, just seems rather harsh to just dump the whole thing.

Shinerburke makes some very interesting points about the mods...future of ATOT

How are they supposed to only see porn/warez threads if they're invite-only?

Rob

 

[Kaervak]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: gotey
I am all for getting rid of the porn/warez, just seems rather harsh to just dump the whole thing.

Shinerburke makes some very interesting points about the mods...future of ATOT

How are they supposed to only see porn/warez threads if they're invite-only?

Rob

Not sure if this is even possible, but have someone code an addon for fusetalk that auto-invites moderators to private threads. If there's a thread that is against forum rules, it gets deleted. Everything else is left alone.

 

[Entity]

Originally posted by: Kaervak

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: gotey
I am all for getting rid of the porn/warez, just seems rather harsh to just dump the whole thing.

Shinerburke makes some very interesting points about the mods...future of ATOT

How are they supposed to only see porn/warez threads if they're invite-only?

Rob

Not sure if this is even possible, but have someone code an addon for fusetalk that auto-invites moderators to private threads. If there's a thread that is against forum rules, it gets deleted. Everything else is left alone.

That's actually a really good idea. I'm pissed that my threads (fitness & business) are gone now, but as I've learned in the last few years here, that's just the way it goes.

Rob

 

[Wingznut]

Originally posted by: RossMAN
It would have been nice to have some warning but I understand their reasoning behind it.

I agree on both points.

My Low Carb thread was nearing 450 posts... And unlike ATOT, they were all useful.

 

[bolinger]

Are you going to replace this with another subsciber-only benefit?

 

[kranky]

Personally I don't know which is worse, the influx of disrespectful punks who have nothing to offer or the lack of fairness by the mods.

For me, that's an easy call. The punks are far, far worse.

 

[Hubris]

What the hell? I was involved (or at least signed up for) one of those evil evil pr0n threads. In it people were ASKING if it was all right to post in stuff in them. So, rather than saying no, it isn't all right and nipping it in the bud, they decide to crash and delete everything? WTF is that? OBVIOUSLY they can monitor them, so why not do in there what they do everywhere else?

Evidently a cluster bomb instead of a single bullet was used here.

 

[Yossarian]

A day or two of warning would not have exposed Anandtech to any more liability than it already had. This was a foolish way to handle the situation.

 

[Bryan]

Originally posted by: Entity

Originally posted by: gotey
I am all for getting rid of the porn/warez, just seems rather harsh to just dump the whole thing.

Shinerburke makes some very interesting points about the mods...future of ATOT

How are they supposed to only see porn/warez threads if they're invite-only?

Rob

Simple. Mods are regular users too, right? So, under their normal nick, they ask for an invite. That's how I would have handled it.

 

[kranky]

A day or two of warning would not have exposed Anandtech to any more liability than it already had. This was a foolish way to handle the situation.

It doesn't work that way. As soon as they knew about the pr0n/warez, it had to go. The legal liability is too great in today's society. And I don't understand all the hostility towards the mods. They didn't post the things that everyone knew was not allowed, it was the people in the threads.

 

[skace]

If moderators couldn't moderate the threads in private topics, then that was a giant flaw. You always need a method to moderate what you are hosting. I'm not going to criticize it though, last time I criticized something, Zuni sent me a bunch of PMs telling to basically think before I post. In other words, criticism isn't greatly accepted. I had recieved a PM today to join a private thread for dieting which sounded like a cool idea. I didn't get a chance to check out the thread and never will now. I would rather those that were using the site for warez got their information sent to the authorities because they were stupid enough to use an unsecure form of communication in an age when there are tools like WASTE. Retards.

 

[Koing]

DAM

Didn't know until today that the Private Topic was gone until I tried to find it in the Naviation bar .

Then I did a search for Private and found this

Man I liked the Workout/ Fitness thread.

I think I'm going to start one on the Off Topic and get people to post there again and bump it up every day or so.

Koing

 

[etech]

Originally posted by: Syringer
I would imagine that in a forum setting they're able to view all our actions.

I'm sure our PM's can be monitored too if need be.

PM's are NOT private. Mods can read and even delete them.

 

[Yossarian]

Originally posted by: kranky

A day or two of warning would not have exposed Anandtech to any more liability than it already had. This was a foolish way to handle the situation.

It doesn't work that way. As soon as they knew about the pr0n/warez, it had to go. The legal liability is too great in today's society. And I don't understand all the hostility towards the mods. They didn't post the things that everyone knew was not allowed, it was the people in the threads.

That bittorrent thread has been around for weeks. You're telling me they just figured out there might be warez involved?

 

[Zim Hosein]

Originally posted by: etech

Originally posted by: Syringer
I would imagine that in a forum setting they're able to view all our actions.

I'm sure our PM's can be monitored too if need be.

PM's are NOT private. Mods can read and even delete them.

:Q

 

[aphex]

Booooooo!

 

[shiner]

Originally posted by: gotey
I am all for getting rid of the porn/warez, just seems rather harsh to just dump the whole thing.

Shinerburke makes some very interesting points about the mods...future of ATOT

I honestly hope that I am wrong about the future of ATOT. These forums have been a great benefit to many, MANY people since their beginning. Think for a minute about all the threads we have seen where people were depressed and contemplating suicide. For some of them the anonymity the forums provide made them the only place they could discuss their problems. How many of us have seen those threads and how helpful they are to those in need? How many of us have posted in a thread to lend support to someone over the loss of a loved one? Where would those people turn if ATOT were not around? Losing this gathering place would be a huge loss.

 

[VirginiaDonkey]

Yes ATOT has helped tons of people from everything from cars to cheeseburgers and depression, etc. But if you scroll thru the first 2 pages right now, I would guesstimate that over 50% of the threads are either spammed with "id hit it", "STFU", "pics", etc. or are about which way do you wipe, front to back or back to front......total garbage.

I realize it is Off-Topic, but that does not make it a free-for-all

 

[imported_Papi]

isn't that what vacations are for and banning?

 

[Skyclad1uhm1]

Just post the names of the offenders here!

 

[DurocShark]

Originally posted by: gotey
Yes ATOT has helped tons of people from everything from cars to cheeseburgers and depression, etc. But if you scroll thru the first 2 pages right now, I would guesstimate that over 50% of the threads are either spammed with "id hit it", "STFU", "pics", etc. or are about which way do you wipe, front to back or back to front......total garbage.

I realize it is Off-Topic, but that does not make it a free-for-all

I actually think those junk threads are a great way to vent. Would you rather have the thread about your Dell going down spammed with "pics?"? It lets us get a little goofy in a place that is less restricted. As long as there are still limits of behavior, the "Do you wipe standing up?" threads don't bother me, and some are just downright entertaining!

As for the future of AT (or more specifically, ATOT)? I don't know. I remember the threads-locked-but-with-explanations not so very long ago... It helped us recognize what was inappropriate so as to prevent more such posts. Kinda on the job training! But I'm seeing things here where a guy is a butthead in OT and so gets spanked for slights in other forums too.. I'm not condoning buttheadedness Q) but there does seem to be less consistancy in the moderating.

Just my 2c worth.

 

[iamme]

Originally posted by: AnandTech Moderator
We found one thread with over 300 posts discussing and linking to warez. Once we knew about it, the fact that these threads existed on our forums put Anand, and us, in legal jeopardy.

That really sucks that a few people had to ruin it for everyone else.

Just out of curiosity, where the users linking to warez given vacations or banned?