I remember a very contentious discussion about Ohm's Law. Seems they don't understand basic electronic laws at ETO. I wonder if that was your entry????

Yep. At that time I was signed up under my dogs name...bychon.

I notified the moderators over and over as the trolls circled the drain with Ohm's Law for Noobies in their desperate clutches. Eventually, I gave up on that, but it was too late. There was blood in the water and the trolls followed me around, contradicting my posts. and trying to argue with me. When one of them wrote about 700 words on why I can't choose neutral to be common in my schematic about a 120 VAC circuit, I scrambled my password.

Edit: If you find it, that was a first draft of the article and it had errors in fact. The members could have helped me with that, but they were too busy arguing about whether Gregor Ohm had anything to do with Ohm's Law.

Edit again. I just checked the Ohm's Law article at ETO. Most of the mud has been scraped off it but the errors in fact are still there. Last time I checked, it had over 70 replies, most of them absurd. Now it only has 20...unless I can't see the other 50+ posts because I am not a member there.

 

Perhaps an aspiring one, but he's nowhere near that point yet.

Your too kind Matt. He was banned at 4:09 pm Central Time and the thread was closed.

His latest round of inquiries is in the general electronics chat ... http://www.electro-tech-online.com/...volts-lrc-meter-with-ext-power-supply.139618/

 

Yep. At that time I was signed up under my dogs name...bychon.

I notified the moderators over and over as the trolls circled the drain with Ohm's Law for Noobies in their desperate clutches. Eventually, I gave up on that, but it was too late. There was blood in the water and the trolls followed me around, contradicting my posts. and trying to argue with me. When one of them wrote about 700 words on why I can't choose neutral to be common in my schematic about a 120 VAC circuit, I scrambled my password.

Edit: If you find it, that was a first draft of the article and it had errors in fact.

That's the one. I got to the party late and defended your position. Those guys were weird AND stupid. It was the most absurd opinions I ever read concerning electronics. One of the trolls wrote a long harangue in the off-topic section about me and how I messed up the discussion by showing how wrong he was. Well, that's the kind of talent at ETO. Oddly, I was there last night after clicking a link left over here by one of our members. Looks like nothing has changed after all these years.

 

Your too kind Matt. He was banned at 4:09 pm Central Time and the thread was closed.

His latest round of inquiries is in the general electronics chat ... http://www.electro-tech-online.com/...volts-lrc-meter-with-ext-power-supply.139618/

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but honestly I'm glad he was finally banned. I'm pretty sure he was just trolling.

Looks like nothing has changed after all these years.

We (I have rejoined to try to help work things out) are in the process of making some changes to the rules and moderating methods so that the site becomes much stricter towards trolls. Unfortunately there has been a lot of fallout, I've seen a lot of good people go, but I'm hoping once things settle down they might migrate back and make ETO a better place.

I've been trying to figure out what sets AAC apart from ETO in the sense of the trolls. I know the rules here are much more specific (something we're trying to fix at ETO as well), but there's something more. I have a feeling it has to do with the moderators themselves, but I'd like to know the specifics. Anything ETO can do to be as efficient as AAC at banning trolls would be very helpful. I welcome the input of the mods here.

Matt

 

I think I'm repeating a post I already made in this thread, but 2 of the trolls that dogged my footsteps have been permanently banned from ETO, and that is a change I can be happy about. The fact that it took years t ban them is not in my happy place.

 

I think I'm repeating a post I already made in this thread, but 2 of the trolls that dogged my footsteps have been permanently banned from ETO, and that is a change I can be happy about. The fact that it took years t ban them is not in my happy place.

That's perfectly understandable. It did take way too long. Take Sceadwian for example. He was there for years, often trolling others' posts. Yet he never got banned until just recently. When he was banned there he showed up here, and was banned almost instantly. So what is it about the AAC moderators that allows them to see and ban trolls in a miniscule fraction of the time it takes the moderators at ETO to do it? That's what we're trying to figure out over there. The unclear rules were part of it. Now that that is being fixed, we need to explore further reasons. That's the process that's taking place at ETO at the moment.

 

I've been trying to figure out what sets AAC apart from ETO in the sense of the trolls.

First, the AAC moderators are very good.
Second, We don't have several part-time trolls keeping the background noise up so it's hard to tell who's provoking whom.
Third, I try to avoid cross posting with people that find my style grating, and they seem to be giving me the same courtesy.
Forth, sometimes a very slick troll moves in at AAC. I have watched as the "community" objected to them in various ways, some subtle, some not subtle. Then I watched as the community learned not to feed them. Very interesting to watch a group consciousness mature like that. I think it was a once in a lifetime experience.

 

Matt,

Beenthere was a no nonsense moderator when it came to overunity type topics. His discussion on that topic remains a sticky and is referenced when the new crop of believers arrive.

The moderators are one of the reasons your seeking. The other is the membership. It took awhile for the homework forum rules to take hold. Even today, some, who I assume have not read the "rules of the homework forum", slip in and give out the answers. However, the membership is quick to point out that is unacceptable as the OP isn't learning if the answers are given up without some effort on their part. Yes, that too a little bit of time to take hold and now it's firmly entrenched into the culture of the forum and those that frequent the homework help area.

Members and moderators are a team. Members who suspect things, like improperly placed discussions, report such to the moderators. The moderator decides the appropriate course of action and the improperly placed discussion is typically moved to the appropriate area.

Therein lies the major difference between AAC and ETO. When the collaboration on the rules demonstrated what could be accomplished without too much bickering, the membership will take an active role in improving the ETO forum.

People always makeup the culture of the forum. Change the culture and you will change the forum. Don't expect overnight results, but you should see improvements in the upcoming months.

I decided to help over there because of my observations of discussion groups, even the NNTP was like a discussion group, and the participants behavior. I know I contributed to the rules in a minor way, just like I contributed here in a minor way, but I did based on long observations over time.

We will see over time, the fruits of the labors. If no fruit, I suspect I'll leave. One good thing was EM banning Billy. I don't know if his review of what was written as the rules influenced that or he just finally got fed up.

Throwing up a forum and hope for people to visit is not a plan. Nurturing the forum to achieve the owner's intent is ultimately required. I'm certain EM didn't want his forum to end up where #12 skipped out for his reasons. Same with why you left. Same with me. ETO will be on my reading list for awhile. We'll see how things shake out.

Membership make the forum. It's always been that way.

 

I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but honestly I'm glad he was finally banned.

Billy's previous post demonstrated enough to me. I almost hit the overhead when I saw him posting schematic diagrams with proprietary information. His questions about simple circuits indicated he had zero training and knowledge. His latest posting demonstrated he had zero knowledge with practical applications of using test equipment. It saddens me to think he is working on avionics, which is why I asked him for his work number and boss' name.

I once explained one of 56 identical circuits to someone. When another called me and suggested that I didn't explain all the parts that were needed to make all 56 circuits work, I explained to her that if the person didn't know that circuit was replicated 55 more times, then they should not be in the position they were. I will not explain the same circuit 56 times when someone was suppose to know there were 56 identical circuits.

I saw about a half dozen identical circuits on Billy's schematics ... and I'd bet he would want each explained.

 

Was Biilly the one asking how you could have 5 amps on a short but 0 volts?

 

Defining trolls can be hard, but we do it regularly here.

As humorous as this sounds, when I was banned there it said for "trolling" and I had to look the term up because I wasn't sure what it meant.

Based on context at the time, I concluded it meant someone who posts things that one of their moderators disagrees with.

I guess the troll is in the eye of the beholder......

 

I recall a similar discussion (maybe the same one). This was back a couple of years ago, I think. I remember the primary troll in that argument, and he's now residing here under a different name.

One of the most humorous times of my life was when I as incorrectly identified as the re incarnation (re register under a new name) of somebody who had irked the local pitchfork carrying villagers at a given forum..... clearly, their loathing had to be vented and they refused to believe I was not he. There was an old saying about something that was so important that if it did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it immediately. Apparently, the target that they used to attack was such a thing.

 

Was Biilly the one asking how you could have 5 amps on a short but 0 volts?

I don't know, but that sounds like his style.

He didn't understand what a lamp test button did ... with respect to the circuits.

He wanted to know why he measured 2.94 volts out of his Fluke 87 when in the continuity position. I told him the answer was in the fluke manual. He spent more time repeating that question then downloading the manual and finding out why.

What flipped my switch was his questions and his employment as an avionics repair technician. Makes me wonder if he has the appropriate license to work on such equipment.

 

As humorous as this sounds, when I was banned there it said for "trolling" and I had to look the term up because I wasn't sure what it meant.

Based on context at the time, I concluded it meant someone who posts things that one of their moderators disagrees with.

I guess the troll is in the eye of the beholder......

Here it is Civility. You have probably noticed a lack of flame wars, it is the same reason we don't allow politics or religion.

When you stick to your core reason for a site like electronics defining trolls isn't hard at all.

 

[...]

I've been trying to figure out what sets AAC apart from ETO in the sense of the trolls. I know the rules here are much more specific (something we're trying to fix at ETO as well), but there's something more. I have a feeling it has to do with the moderators themselves, but I'd like to know the specifics. Anything ETO can do to be as efficient as AAC at banning trolls would be very helpful. I welcome the input of the mods here.

Matt

There is no golden rule when dealing with people. You have to get the feeling of the situation.

Having defined rules help, user reports also help tremendously.

Another thing that keeps things calm is the notion of an "offtopic" subject, I think. When people start digressing in an existing thread, confusion ensues. And where confusion exists, anger soon settles. It's neither easy nor pleasant, trying to pass emotions and side-jokes in a thread. So, yes, dragging a conversation offtopic is a misdemeanor, in my terms.

Another criterion I use when moderating is trying to think about how each post will be read from other, multiple users. Someone may write one thing, mean another and pass a completely different message. Trying to interpret a post can break the coherence of a group; it involves judging one's intentions and this cannot be done only via short, unprocessed writings.
When I find such ambiguous posts I try to follow up with a direction for the conversation or a question to the poster for clarification.

Finally, when possible, I also try to arbitrate fights-in-the-making, maybe shake a finger or two, but that's very rare. My no1 warning is that we can never know enough about our interlocutor to judge his decisions. We can only speak our mind, not another person's mind.

 

Hi Guys

Anything interesting/unusual happen here at AAC today?

tvtech

 

Hi Guys

Anything interesting/unusual happen here at AAC today?

tvtech

May want to start a new thread for that tvtech

 

May want to start a new thread for that tvtech

Hi Matt

I just got used to XenForo over there. Now back to V Bulletin here.

Got to retrain my mind again. Don't want to make an ass of myself.
I am starting from scratch here.

I love it.Thanks for the guidance.

tvtech

 

Hi Matt

I just got used to XenForo over there. Now back to V Bulletin here.

Got to retrain my mind again. Don't want to make an ass of myself.
I am starting from scratch here.

I love it.Thanks for the guidance.

tvtech

Any time tvtech. Enjoy the site!

 

I should warn you I am here but oddly enough I have yet to get a single moderator uptight about anything.

It's not as much fun when you have to try and do it on purpose.