Wil Cali start again as a newbie under new RDF forums?

[Fred Hsu]

Will Cali start again as a newbie under the new RDF forums system?

I ask, because I have a feeling that perhaps I have misunderstood the nature of the new system. I have always thought the new system will wipe out all past posts in 30 days, so that everyone now starts off again as a newbie, even though your user account and perhaps your profile image (if you haven't replaced it with the perceived "attack vectors" pointing to rationalia) will be preserved.

But judging by posts made by both people against and for the new forums, it appears that no one is talking about this problem. Mods complain that they will no longer be mods despite past sacrifices. Those whose entire post history were wiped out immediately after the initial complaints after receiving the notification rightfully complained about deletion. These are both incredibly valid points.

But why do I not see people talking about the fact that everyone's posts will be wiped out? I for one do not want to start out as a newbie again, despite my meager post history. At least I was a proud "RDF Volunteer". Now I will be a newbie. But suppose they do preserve my "rank" and my "post count". What do I point people to to show them evidences that I was once a "volunteer"?

Imagine having your memories from childhood until yesterday wiped clean. Are you still the same person?

[klr]

Fred,

Cali has precisely 62 comments on the front page (I checked), only a handful of which have come in the last 18 months. Assuming the new system is built on the front page, then that at most is all he'll keep. And maybe not even that.

But to talk of ranks such as "newbies", etc., might be to miss the point. The new system will have nothing in common with the forum other than user names, passwords and avatars (I assume ). Who knows if any ranking system will be used, let alone anything comparable with that of the forum?

EDIT: And yes, I remembered as well that you had a volunteer rank. Whether or not this will appear in any shape or form in the future - who knows? And wasn't there a discussion area on the forum just for RDFRS volunteers, something which I assume will also be lost.

[95Theses]

in 27 days the forum gets wiped, and all your posts with it.

Any posts made in the forums are lost for ever, fortunately through the efforts of a few dedicated members an off site archive has been made, it would have of course been easier for RDF to do, but frankly it appears they think there was no content of worth on the forums.

[virphen]

Forgive my ignorance, I never actually bothered to find out but... what did "RDF Volunteer" actually mean? And what did Richard/kiore do as Coordinators?

[Fred Hsu]

Forgive my ignorance, I never actually bothered to find out but... what did "RDF Volunteer" actually mean? And what did Richard/kiore do as Coordinators?

Ahem, I volunteered to transcribe some videos at one time. Also translated pieces of it to Chinese. But really, that's all. It was a quick path out of newbiedom, I know. Sorry I cheated.

[virphen]

Forgive my ignorance, I never actually bothered to find out but... what did "RDF Volunteer" actually mean? And what did Richard/kiore do as Coordinators?

Ahem, I volunteered to transcribe some videos at one time. Also translated pieces of it to Chinese. But really, that's all. It was a quick path out of newbiedom, I know. Sorry I cheated.

And obviously it meant nothing when it came to being totally shafted like everyone else.

[klr]

Forgive my ignorance, I never actually bothered to find out but... what did "RDF Volunteer" actually mean? And what did Richard/kiore do as Coordinators?

Ahem, I volunteered to transcribe some videos at one time. Also translated pieces of it to Chinese. But really, that's all. It was a quick path out of newbiedom, I know. Sorry I cheated.

You are forgiven for your sneaky creativity.

...
And obviously it meant nothing when it came to being totally shafted like everyone else.

Yup. The ones with 10,000 post were shafted as those with 10 posts [/Biblical mode]

[owtth]

Forgive my ignorance, I never actually bothered to find out but... what did "RDF Volunteer" actually mean? And what did Richard/kiore do as Coordinators?

Ahem, I volunteered to transcribe some videos at one time. Also translated pieces of it to Chinese. But really, that's all. It was a quick path out of newbiedom, I know. Sorry I cheated.

Yup, you just got shafted like any other poor fucker that was stupid enough to offer your valuable efforts. I was not a very active member over there but the more stories I hear the angrier I get at the way all this free, learned, incalculably valuable manpower was just thrown to the wind like so much chaff. I used to respect 'the good professor', I now think the man may well be a complete fucking moron, or at least surrounded by morons.

Here's Fred who's self description as a newbie, belies the fact that the service he (or possibly she, sorry Fred!) would probably cost thousands of Euro in the commercial market, but was provided without thought of reward and was rewarded with disdain by the Prof. and his lapdog. Someone with more knowledge than I should try and do a rough calculation of the value of the free service that was provided to RDF by volunteers who have been shafted and treated like unwanted chattel.

[klr]

Forgive my ignorance, I never actually bothered to find out but... what did "RDF Volunteer" actually mean? And what did Richard/kiore do as Coordinators?

Ahem, I volunteered to transcribe some videos at one time. Also translated pieces of it to Chinese. But really, that's all. It was a quick path out of newbiedom, I know. Sorry I cheated.

Yup, you just got shafted like any other poor fucker that was stupid enough to offer your valuable efforts. I was not a very active member over there but the more stories I hear the angrier I get at the way all this free, learned, incalculably valuable manpower was just thrown to the wind like so much chaff. I used to respect 'the good professor', I now think the man may well be a complete fucking moron, or at least surrounded by morons.

Here's Fred who's self description as a newbie, belies the fact that the service he (or possibly she, sorry Fred!) would probably cost thousands of Euro in the commercial market, but was provided without thought of reward and was rewarded with disdain by the Prof. and his lapdog. Someone with more knowledge than I should try and do a rough calculation of the value of the free service that was provided to RDF by volunteers who have been shafted and treated like unwanted chattel.

Answer: A lot. And it wasn't always easy. There were times when I found the day-job far less stressful than the forum moderation/admin job.

[owtth]

Answer: A lot. And it wasn't always easy. There were times when I found the day-job far less stressful than the forum moderation/admin job.

The more generous part of my personality would like to think that Prof Dawkins is just being your typically dotty professor when he forgets about this aspect of the whole debacle and any minute now he'll turn around an think "hang these folks did how much? for nothing and Josh does how much? for how much? I've been such a bounder!!!", Josh get in here you cad, you've been ribbing me!
However I am not holding my breath.
cunt(aimed at whoever)

[klr]

Answer: A lot. And it wasn't always easy. There were times when I found the day-job far less stressful than the forum moderation/admin job.

The more generous part of my personality would like to think that Prof Dawkins is just being your typically dotty professor when he forgets about this aspect of the whole debacle and any minute now he'll turn around an think "hang these folks did how much? for nothing and Josh does how much? for how much? I've been such a bounder!!!", Josh get in here you cad, you've been ribbing me!
However I am not holding my breath.
cunt(aimed at whoever)

Exactly. Just because there's a much wider pool of people available to do forum moderation than web programming doesn't mean that you should automatically value the former any less. I applied myself to the forum in the same way I would to the day-job, and I know most of the other staff, past and present, also took the job very seriously.

[Fred Hsu]

Here's Fred who's self description as a newbie, belies the fact that the service he (or possibly she, sorry Fred!) would probably cost thousands of Euro in the commercial market, but was provided without thought of reward and was rewarded with disdain by the Prof. and his lapdog. Someone with more knowledge than I should try and do a rough calculation of the value of the free service that was provided to RDF by volunteers who have been shafted and treated like unwanted chattel.

Last time I checked I had some 550 posts under my belt. I know that is not a lot. But I spent a lot of time working on a large subset of these 550-some posts, far far more than the number of hours I spent with those transcriptions. If an unlearned person such as myself spent that much time and effort researching and writing, I dread to think how much time (and yes you can translate that to money) RDF is squandering when you think how many posts those far more knowledgeable members have posted.

And yes I am a male. I am as I claim to be... in case that profile picture to the right isn't clear enough for you. Perhaps I need to sharpen my amateurish painting skills a bit

[Skylarking]

Alas, it seems your hard work will fade into the neon lights, passing cars, and other things Richard has so shut his window blinds to ignore. It is such a shame really, to think of all the hard work done by volunteering, which Richard, directly or indirectly, came to be of great benefit.


I wonder just how much of the Great Man's fame has been promoted by the fact that he had a loyal staff, willing to jump hurdles and manage both virtual and professional careers, whom carried his words much farther then He knew how to do. Come to think of it, aren't these people generally personal managers, etc. and aren't they usually paid a lot of money?

[Calilasseia]

Just to let you all know.

After the manner in which the people who decided that they are the only ones who matter over at RDF acted as they did, they will have to offer a lot of incentives to entice me back. Indeed, as a measure of my displeasure at the manner in which Timonen and his recycled yuppie lapdog engaged in egregious duplicity, and also to counter the misinformation in the press, I have just challenged Ruth Gledhill at The Times, and Heidi Blake at The Daily Telegraph, to publish my letter to Dawkins in their newspapers, along with admonitions to the effect that I prefer to see facts in newspapers, not fiction. If that challenge is accepted by either or both of these persons, I cannot see any way in which the Richard Dawkins Foundation would ever want to invite me back, once I exposed their mendacity in the national press. I think it's safe to say that Dawkins has, as a result of supporting his incompetent and mendacious protegé over and above people who worked tirelessly on his behalf, shot himself regally in the foot, and this will become apparent on an epic scale, once the disparity between the level of discourse over there in future, and the level of discourse maintained by people here and elsewhere, becomes visibly manifest.

Dawkins has, in my view, condemned his website irreparably, courtesy of this supernova detonation, and the feeble pulses of the remaining neutron star will be less and less important in the world of secular affairs. Bright new stars are in the wings to replace it.

[RoaringAtheist]

-sigh- I love it when you talk awesome.