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Why We Need Ability to Flag Questions and Answers

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Discussions in this forum have alluded to need for being able to flag inappropriate questions and responses. Check answer 6 in Q&A below for a prime example. It’s possible that TR could get in hot water with such a post. Symantec likely would not be thrilled.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5208-6239-0.html?forumID=49&threadID=163207&start0

Although this is really directed toward TR staff, ideas and suggestions from peers probably would be helpful.

Some group of responsible users (if not all users) needs to have ability to flag inappropriate posts so that TR staff could review and take any action needed.

Dalton

Topic

Poor Ethics

In reply to Why We Need Ability to Flag Questions and Answers

I suspect that the anonymity of the web emboldens people with weak ethics.

Aside from people offering illegal copies of software, I have noticed other questionable posts here at TR.

Lately there have been a rash of posts offering a G-Mail invitation in exchange for money.

On an ongoing basis, people post asking for links to download movies, music and even software.

Not to mention the people looking for Microsoft Product Codes.

Since we have a peer moderated forum, I recommend that you use the help button, and send TR a note with a link to any inappropriate content you find on the site.

Chas

Glad To, But….

In reply to Poor Ethics

Chas,

Would be glad to follow your recommendation, but have not seen any links to TR staff. Guess I need educating.

Looked under Help and still didn’t see where to contact staff.

If you have a backdoor method, let me know what it is.

However, that still doesn’t take the place of flagging what one deems an inappropriate post so that TR staff can review and resolve. If I didn’t know how to contact TR staff other than this forum, have to assume a great many others are in same boat.

Thanks,

Dalton

Reading The Whole Page Helps

When dummy here scrolled ALL the way down to bottom of page, he found contact link that Chas referred to.

Re: gmail posts

In reply to Poor Ethics

I actually responded to one of those “gmail” threads, insulting the post, and offering some for free to hamper his corrupt effort. I am not impressed at all with the exploitation of these invites. They are being sold on Ebay too.

PS – I have a few to “give” away if any of my peers here at TR don’t already have one. I keep getting them as fast as I can get rid of them. It’s like a plague.

same here

In reply to Re: gmail posts

Let me know if any of you Insiders want/need a GMail invite. I’ve got a few.

I haven’t seen those threads. I’m glad: I would likely have gotten into another argument, like I did with MrMiami when he started glamorizing electronic privacy violation.

Renamed: RPG Thread. LOL

In reply to same here

…You’ve mentioned a few times that we should look you up. We can’t interact with you. I don’t know if you are past your monthly limit, or if you just didn’t sign up for the contact ability.

I even went to your site to see if you had some sort of communication methods.

PS – RPG’s rock. I have never been into the original pen and paper games, but I’ve been playing them in video game style since the 80’s. Have you played Morrowind or Divine Divinity? Divine is one of the greatest RPG’s I’ve ever played. When it was released, it was drowned by the success of Morrowind, Neverwinter Nights, and Gothic 2. If you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

whoops

In reply to Renamed: RPG Thread. LOL

I seem to have overlooked the fact that I needed to specify a number of messages I’d allow in a month, or whatever that was. I set it to “unlimited” now, but for some reason the PM option on my signature block thingie still doesn’t appear to be active.

In any case, I’ve now inserted ICQ number and email information into my profile.

I’ve never been too keen on computer “RPGs”. I’m a long-time pencil-and-paper style RPG lover, and have enjoyed the Internet-enhanced variations on that approach, but haven’t been too big on actual computer games that pretend to be RPGs. They tend to get dull very quickly for me. I’ve been thinking about giving Neverwinter Nights a try, especially since it runs natively on Linux, but haven’t felt the expense to be justified yet.

Contact is working now

In reply to whoops

What about MMORPGs? These can be quite similar to pen and paper.

I think that it would be safe to say that any chat methods and numbers would be secure enough here at TRI. I wouldn’t put them up on the profile page though.

Chris

typo

In reply to Contact is working now

I accidentally typed “not” in referring to email and ICQ number in my last post here, when it should have been “now”. I got your message(s), anyway.

Tabletop RPGs all the way

In reply to whoops

I’m a latecomer to the RPG phenomenon, not picking it up until about ten years ago, but I’m a regular in a d20 Star Wars campaign and have run a number of tabletop adventures myself (highly recommend the BtVS game from Eden Studios). Tabletop is defintely the way to go.

And no, I won’t bore you with details of my characters.

–Jay

meheheh

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

Yeah, no matter how interesting a character is to a gamer geek like you or me, it usually isn’t interesting to anyone else (even other gamer geeks, sometimes).

I think I need to find a good gaming group in my area, and get back into the habit of playing RPGs.

I’ll put you both in contact with my son

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

He’s a mad gamer who seems to believe that computers where only built to play games and for no other reason.

Of course he doesn’t fix up what he breaks and brings it over to me or more likely insists that I go over there to fix up his mistakes.

Col 😀

GARBAGE

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

You guys can keep that crap. My girlfriend has been into Whitewolf crap like VTM, Werewolf, and some kind of Faerie garbage. Sure the folklore is cool, but it consumed her for about a year straight. She used to play online. A lot of wicked writers, but not enough fun for me – I need the eye candy.

Now she plays video style EQ… big difference. LOL.

Also – apotheon… you can do table top online if you squeeze into a good room.

I can’t beleive that you guys aren’t into single player story mode RPG’s. What kind of tech’s are you? Maybe it is because I am only 25 – I grew up with Zelda, Ultima, etc. The one that really got me hooked was a game for the C<64 called "Battletech". It was probably the first mech game ever made.

to: house, re: GARBAGE

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

“you can do table top online if you squeeze into a good room.”

I know. I’ve done it. In fact, I’m hosting a website/chatsite or six (or somewhere between) for just that sort of thing on a couple of my domains hosting accounts. I haven’t been playing online much lately, though. In fact, I haven’t even looked into the somewhat comprehensive city-setting I created for a month or two, let alone used it. I’ve just been busy with other things, and it’s not quite the same as playing tabletop style (TT, as opposed to OL).

I’m not a fan of EQ, Ultima, Zelda, and so on. I grew up with Zork. Ooooh, Zork. Zork rules.

It’s still cool, even after all these years. It’s also available (free!) on Linux.

To: apotheon

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

What about games like Wizardry, the Wizards of the Coast D&D releases for the PC, etc.

Do you read fantasy novels?

If so, then I would STRONGLY suggest trying either Morrowind, Divine Divinity, or Beyond Divinity. Just grab em’ and try them out. Personally, I bought them all. There is also a flurry of total makeover mods for Elder Scrolls 3 that have been released… an infinite amount of independent quests that have been spawned by the release of the construction kit with the original game.

Chris

to: house

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

I saw Wizardry, and didn’t like it much at all, actually. With the others, I haven’t any experience.

I do read swords and sorcery fantasy novels now and then, but not too often. The standards of quality in the genre are, generally speaking, in the toilet. The number of fantasy novels I’ve read (mostly from years ago, when I was still sorta starry-eyed and naive, at least compared to now) numbers in the hundreds, but I could probably count the number of good authors that wrote the stuff on one hand.

It’s a shame, really. There’s so much great potential in the genre, but it’s all wasted so badly by people rehashing the same old crappy ideas.

Sorry to butt in here but

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

Have either of you guys read any Stephen Donaldson?

I found the Thomas Covenant series quite believable a lot like the Lord of the Ring set.

Col.

Colin, The best Fantasy author

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

…is without a doubt, Robert Jordan. The Wheel of Time series is the best stuff I’ve ever read in my life. Salvatore is good too, but I’ve only read one of his books.

Jordan is THE BEST FANTASY AUTHOR.
Sorry – had to say it twice. 🙂

I also have to suggest the Otherland Series by Tad Williams on behalf of my girlfriend.

Chris

books, authors

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

I’ve read only the first Thomas Covenant book. It was excellent. It’s been about fifteen years or so since I read it, though, and I’d really need to read it again before starting the second book.

Robert Jordan and R.A. Salvatore drive me up the friggin’ wall. They are a thin veneer of ultra-marketable gimmick painted over a hefty dose of mediocrity. Thanks, but no.

By far, the best swords and sorcery fantasy I’ve ever read is the stuff by Michael Moorcock (of Elric Saga fame).

Another very good swords and sorcery fantasy author (at least in the three books of his that I’ve read) is David Gemmel. He manages somehow to make his characters seem incredibly realistic and understandable, fallible and human, while at the same time instilling them with a strong sense of the epic. Good stuff. I recommend it, just as soon as you’re done with the Elric Saga.

I’ve read [u]Wizard’s First Rule[/u], by Terry Goodkind, and it’s good. It’s not truly excellent, but it’s good, which makes it head-and-shoulders above most of the rest of the scions of mediocrity that have gravitated to the fantasy fiction genre, and made a fast buck there.

I’m in the middle of the Otherland series right now (a third of the way into the third book, [u]Mountain of Black Glass[/u], by Tad Williams. His writing is absorbing, engaging, and generally interesting. He explores a lot of intriguing ideas, mostly with a very distinct perspective on them. He’s not afraid to write long books, which is a Very Good Thing in this case. I have some niggling issues with some of his underlying assumptions about things (an author’s philosophy always bleeds through into his writing), but that’s negligible. I recommend the Otherland series, so far, too.

Read any Ciencin?

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

Do you know anything about Scott Ciencin? Is he any good. I’m going out to buy “Rogue’s Hour” as a stocking stuffer for my girlfriend. I have just checked Chapters to see if it is available, and I noticed that he has written many books from the Silent Hill saga. I didn’t even know that there were Silent Hill novels available. I think that I will pick up one of those as well when I go out on Monday.

Ps – I’m not all that big on Salvatore – as I mentioned, I’ve only read one of his books. You can’t knock the Wheel of Time series though. I don’t understand what it is that you don’t like about Jordan. Of course it will have some similarities with other fantasy lore. I actually felt that the first book Eye of the World was just a little bit of a Tolkien robbery. Since that though, it has been unbelievable. If you’ve only read the first novel, then you are forgiven.

I’ve actually read halfway through the first Otherland book. I loved it. I hate when I get busy with other things and lose track of a good book. I will pick it up again in the near future. For now, I’ve been mysteriously drawn towards this Silent Hill thing. I hope that it’s not a piece of crap.

Chris 🙂

so sorry

In reply to Tabletop RPGs all the way

I’ve never heard of Ciencin, actually. I guess you’re on your own with that one.

Almost guilty of same

In reply to Why We Need Ability to Flag Questions and Answers

I am almost guilty as charged. I’ve responded to certain questions and given reference to the notorious Hiren’s boot cd. I’ve also had to explain in plain english how to retrieve this compilation cd after previously failed attempts at dropping hints on the tech’s post; hints like, “You won’t find a download link on the traditional web.”

I finally gave in and submitted the links and said “I do not promote and/or own any pirate software. I am simply aware of these sites/utilities”

I would never in any way, shape, or form, offer the distribution of such titles. That kind of activity is reserved for careless newsgroups and has no place here in my book.

Sorry folks, maybe I should keep my mouth shut regarding such issues. Sometimes I’m a little too nice. Although, I came nowhere near the severity of that Symantec post.

Don’t Lose Any Sleep Over It

In reply to Almost guilty of same

Sometimes even those of us who try to ply the straight and narrow path have to take extraordinary measures to take care of our customers.

For a repair shop, it is essential to make the darn thing work like it’s supposed to. A small (mom and pop) business without their PC is almost dead in the water and needs it fixed yesterday.

Dalton

I wouldn’t worry too much over this

In reply to Almost guilty of same

On any Mission Critical Server I always install two boot drives so that if one becomes corrupted it just requires the corrupted drive pulled and rebooted with the other drive present. In practice the whole thing can be up and running in a few minutes if even that long.

Does it fall int to MS EULA well I suspose Technically yes although I’ve never actually bothered to ask any one from the Licensing side but the tech side seem to think it’s a good idea and I’ve been asked could they use it themselves.

On any critical computer weather it be in a big business or a small one man band the business just can not proceed without these units so the fastest way to get them back up and running is always the best even if a few Licensing agreement are a bit bent around the edges. From my prospective provided you are not actually using something illegally all is fair in Computer Repairs.

Col

ethics of use vs. ethics of advice

In reply to I wouldn’t worry too much over this

I actually don’t see anything ethically wrong with using “pirate” copies of software, in and of itself. Software is nothing but translations of desire into machine code. It’s language, not product. Then again, I find the very concept of intellectual “property” to be unethical.

On the other hand, I don’t use “pirated” software, and I absolutely do NOT recommend it for others. I don’t use it myself because it’s not worth the risk to legal status or reputation, particularly when most closed source software can easily be replaced by an open source alternative that will probably work better anyway. I don’t recommend it because I find it to be unethical to recommend something that could get a client (or friend, for that matter) into legal trouble.

So, basically: I don’t find it to be unethical to use “pirated” software, but I do find it to be unethical to advise its use.

[Author]

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