Censorship etc... have at it

I guess I'm the one who started Scotsman on his rant with my boy scout like chastising of z-bo for his "punter" put down. Just to clairfy, I don't hate TGR or its users, and do find some good info there on occasion, but it's often too much trouble to sift through the choss (which to my old fart mind often reads like juvenile name calling) so I don't visit regularly. As to z-bos rant, I too groan when incompetent skiers ruin a nice powder shot, but I just think back to my early days in Utah when my mentors took me out and I did the same thing to their beautiful fall line turns. We all gotta start somewhere, it's just low class to put someone down for their lack of skill, especially in a public forum. It is also patently ridiculous to expect others to preserve our beautiful tracks. If that's important to you (and again I agree that it can be a beautiful thing) get further out there away from the crowds.

Obviously I like the tone TAY has managed over the years, in no small part thanks to the mods. I have noticed though that the number, and quality (IMHO), of posts has declined recently. I read and contribute to TAY for three reasons: current conditions beta, new ideas (routes, gear, technique), and my favorite - psyche up reading of quality stories about skiing (often better than the mags). The last is the area that seems to be lacking. Speaking for myself, the strict limits on pictures may be a reason for this. After being asked to delete most of the pictures from a post a couple years ago (all thumbnails so bandwidth overload on TAY not the issue) I decided to quit posting that type of story here and switched to NWH, I now put a brief conditions post here with a cross link to the full story. The one change I'd ask Marcus to address this would be unlimited thumbnails (please don't go with TGR unlimited any size pictures like the examples Scotsman posted - too long to load and trouble to scroll - I like to choose which pics to look at full size, and then I want em BIG).

Thoughtful comments, Jim. And I must say I would love to see more of your amazing photos any time. But...

That was not the correct response!!! Answer follows:

Q: WHAT DO YOU WANT?
M: Well, I was told outside that...
Q: Don't give me that, you snotty-faced heap of parrot droppings!
M: What?
Q: Shut your festering gob, you tit! Your type really makes me puke, you vacuous, coffee-nosed, maloderous, pervert!!!
M: Look, I CAME HERE FOR AN ARGUMENT, I'm not going to just stand...!!
Q: OH, oh I'm sorry, but this is abuse.
M: Oh, I see, well, that explains it.
Q: Ah yes, you want room 12A, Just along the corridor.
M: Oh, Thank you very much. Sorry.
Q: Not at all.
M: Thank You.
(Under his breath) Stupid git!!

Bruce

Simply contradicting everything I say is not an argument!





































































Yes it is.











































No it's not!













































Yes it is...

Any progress at getting extra crackers from the Crystal Stew Nazi? (tongue-in cheek....)

...  An arrow through the chest, perhaps?   Ha Ha ha

Message for you sir!

The one change I'd ask Marcus to address this would be unlimited thumbnails (please don't go with TGR unlimited any size pictures like the examples Scotsman posted - too long to load and trouble to scroll - I like to choose which pics to look at full size, and then I want em BIG).

I think that's a good proposal. Maybe raise this topic again after Marcus gets settled in ...

Ding, ding, ding! Thank yeeeeew!

(btw... Yes it is.)

Bruce

I think that's a good proposal. Maybe raise this topic again after Marcus gets settled in ...

I've come around to that way of thinking about pics as well. Maybe even a homegrown video section.  I'm sure there will be lots of ideas and suggestions forthcoming.

However, as it has been mentioned here a few times as well,  I think an unmoderated section (aka spat zone) is not a good idea.  That said, amongst the rubble of the last few days, I'm thinking there might be a bit of validity to the notion of a geezers heart beat here - not because we often see posters using the word about themselves, but because there is an insulation from the broader social experience out there - but there can be vibrancy and relevance within a moderated environment.

If I understand correctly, Marcus gets to decide whether this place is a 'simple' public service (and for whom) as I suspect it probably started out being in Charles' livingroom, or whether it's a business enterprise with different goals.  How TAY evolves will be shaped by those goals - it's an exciting time.   I've only been around here for a couple of years, but I appreciate very much what it is and how it got here, so I'll say my thanks to Charles here.   I have the sense that there are some interesting chapters ahead just waiting to be written..

I also commend Marcus for his courage and foresight to let this thread air out. At the end of the day, I think it's been a good thing.

Okay, I'm closing this little experiment up.

I appreciate the fact that, though it got dragged down into the ugly in the middle, the discussion finally came around to how folks feel about the site's tone and what it takes to maintain it.  My goal, as I've said, is to moderate as lightly as possible in the future, but TAY is what it is in large part because of the respect and tone that the discussions typically have.

With the intent of educating myself in the past week, I've been reading over the moderation logs and going through the lists of deleted posts.  It surprised me to find that there's really not that much there.  With the exception of my (admittedly overzealous) work on the Skyline post that started this, there are perhaps 5 or 6 posts in the last year that have been deleted for "incivility".

This tells me that, as I guessed, it's the community that we have here that really sets the mood.  The "norms" for the site and the behavior of the users do most of the moderation before it gets out of hand.  In my eyes, this is ideal -- it means that the majority of the users want things to remain that way here.  With few exceptions, that's what I'm reading in this thread and in private correspondence.

With regard to the other big concern brought up here -- the picture limits -- I'll be thinking about some changes there, but I'm going to let things settle down for a little while and get to know the site better before making any changes. 

So thank you all for discussing this and thanks for spending time here.  It will be a long time before I can think of this place as anything but "Charles' site", but my first week on the job has certainly been a fun trial by fire.