Des-Lab
02-15-2009, 02:35 PM
I apologize to Broonsbane. I just got back from this weeks run to the grocery store. I walked right past the pizza kit boxes and didn't get any. Oops. Maybe next time.
Anyway, this weeks update will be short and sweet since there really isn't anything to report. Especially since I did so much last week. I am toying with a few possible further revisions to the front page to give it a little more flair. But I haven't decided on anything yet.
I am happy to announce that I appear to have finally gotten the spam and ficticious registrations under control. Since I implemented the Q+A part of the registration process, not a single one has gotten in. And I will be changing the question at least once a week to keep it fresh.
Going along with that, we've had several new names find us this week. So I'd like to welcome each and every one of them to our little community. We always have some interesting conversations going and as more people find us, the more variety we get.
Up until now, all of the members here have been great. You all understand what we are about. So while we have three moderators, I take pride when I see them sitting like the Maytag repair man with little or nothing to do. It means I have tapped into a formula that works.
However, anytime you have a group of people together-especially from a disparate range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, some tensions, misunderstandings, and friction are an inevitable eventuality. More to the point, we had to place one member on suspension for 5 days because of a comment he made. It was, in essence a veiled threat of bodily harm. Now it may or may not have been meant as a joke, misunderstanding, or something lost in translation.
But in todays litigious society coupled with a sour economy that has left many with hair trigger fuses, such antics can carry the possibility of devastating legal implications for me as owner of this site.
So to that end, I will say it again: Under no circumstances will threats or anything that can be possibly be interpretated as one will be tolerated. Because of the potential for liability, I will not accept excuses of "misunderstanding", "just a joke", "I'm not a native English speaker", etcetera. I'm sorry. But I just can't. We are all adults here. I treat everyone as adults. And I expect everyone to act like a [responsible] adult. I know that sometimes emotions can fly and that things can be taken out of context, but when in doubt, check your language thesaurus and context. Indeed the software program that TapeHeads runs on has a built in "infraction" system that can be used to award or demerit users. I have it disabled on purpose. I don't believe in that crap for a site such as this. TapeHeads isn't a bunch of 2nd graders competing for little gold and silver stars, and at the end of the week, whoever gets the most gets an extra 5 minutes of reccess. Not gonna play that game. I have allowed plenty of liberties here with the rules. And if you find that (to quote another discussion) that "democracy and openness is the problem" because you happen to subscribe to a minority viewpoint, well I'm sorry. But I'm not going to make life easier for the few at the expense of the many. I'd love everyone who has taken the trouble to find us STAY with us. But if you don't like us, you don't like us. But as I've oft repeated, I have the suggestion box. If there is something about TapeHeads you don't like, ask the question. I can't stress it enough. You WILL be heard. I may or may not agree with or implement your suggestion, at least you can have the satisfaction of knowing that any one of you can feel free to approach myself or the Moderators (Scorpion8, Broonsbane, Rex Everything) at any time for any reason.
I think that's enough on that.
Now with another bout of rain expected to hit tonight, it's time to relax, crank out some tunes, and drool over the stash!
See ya out in the forums!
-Matt
"Des-Lab"
Sunday, February 15 2009
Anyway, this weeks update will be short and sweet since there really isn't anything to report. Especially since I did so much last week. I am toying with a few possible further revisions to the front page to give it a little more flair. But I haven't decided on anything yet.
I am happy to announce that I appear to have finally gotten the spam and ficticious registrations under control. Since I implemented the Q+A part of the registration process, not a single one has gotten in. And I will be changing the question at least once a week to keep it fresh.
Going along with that, we've had several new names find us this week. So I'd like to welcome each and every one of them to our little community. We always have some interesting conversations going and as more people find us, the more variety we get.
Up until now, all of the members here have been great. You all understand what we are about. So while we have three moderators, I take pride when I see them sitting like the Maytag repair man with little or nothing to do. It means I have tapped into a formula that works.
However, anytime you have a group of people together-especially from a disparate range of cultural and linguistic backgrounds, some tensions, misunderstandings, and friction are an inevitable eventuality. More to the point, we had to place one member on suspension for 5 days because of a comment he made. It was, in essence a veiled threat of bodily harm. Now it may or may not have been meant as a joke, misunderstanding, or something lost in translation.
But in todays litigious society coupled with a sour economy that has left many with hair trigger fuses, such antics can carry the possibility of devastating legal implications for me as owner of this site.
So to that end, I will say it again: Under no circumstances will threats or anything that can be possibly be interpretated as one will be tolerated. Because of the potential for liability, I will not accept excuses of "misunderstanding", "just a joke", "I'm not a native English speaker", etcetera. I'm sorry. But I just can't. We are all adults here. I treat everyone as adults. And I expect everyone to act like a [responsible] adult. I know that sometimes emotions can fly and that things can be taken out of context, but when in doubt, check your language thesaurus and context. Indeed the software program that TapeHeads runs on has a built in "infraction" system that can be used to award or demerit users. I have it disabled on purpose. I don't believe in that crap for a site such as this. TapeHeads isn't a bunch of 2nd graders competing for little gold and silver stars, and at the end of the week, whoever gets the most gets an extra 5 minutes of reccess. Not gonna play that game. I have allowed plenty of liberties here with the rules. And if you find that (to quote another discussion) that "democracy and openness is the problem" because you happen to subscribe to a minority viewpoint, well I'm sorry. But I'm not going to make life easier for the few at the expense of the many. I'd love everyone who has taken the trouble to find us STAY with us. But if you don't like us, you don't like us. But as I've oft repeated, I have the suggestion box. If there is something about TapeHeads you don't like, ask the question. I can't stress it enough. You WILL be heard. I may or may not agree with or implement your suggestion, at least you can have the satisfaction of knowing that any one of you can feel free to approach myself or the Moderators (Scorpion8, Broonsbane, Rex Everything) at any time for any reason.
I think that's enough on that.
Now with another bout of rain expected to hit tonight, it's time to relax, crank out some tunes, and drool over the stash!
See ya out in the forums!
-Matt
"Des-Lab"
Sunday, February 15 2009