Alembic Guitars Club
Connecting => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: 90k6259 on July 14, 2006, 08:59:38 PM
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Dear Alembic forum members,
You folks were unknowing participants in an experiment on Human behavior as it applies to internet forums.
We were having a discusion in class the other day, about the behavior of participants on interenet forums, and their affect on the consiousness of the forum as a whole. Thus my little experiment.
Dave I especially would like to apologies for having to attack you. Being as the moderator had to be singled out for the value of the experiment. I couldnt upset the apple cart without kicking the moderator now could I.
I also would like to apologies to all the participants, as well as the forum as a whole.
Roy
P.S. The cart stood proud and strong,and I am truely sorry and hope you can find it in you hearts to forgive my behavior.
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If this were a true experiment, take the same premise to Harmony Central, Talk Bass, or other forum and do the same. Attack their moderators or whatever else you did for your experiment and see what you get. Report back to us please.
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Well, Roy, this just keeps getting stranger and stranger...
I've been following your remarks over the last few days, and was often tempted to respond, but thought better of it because I couldn't figure out what to say. I felt your attitude was at odds with the forum members in general, and your attack on Dave in particular was quite puzzling.
The hard part was that, while I was somewhat annoyed by the disruption to my own personal reading pleasure, I was less concerned with defending Dave (he doesn't really need that) and more concerned with what I might constructively say to you. Several others seemed pretty much on target, suggesting paranoia or hyperactive disorder, and I kept wondering if you'd dropped off your meds or been taking coffee intravenously for a couple of days straight.
At one point you said something like fun only slows things down and I thought about suggesting it might actually be healthy for you to slow down (a lot); someone pointed out that the group was largely self-moderating, and I wanted to suggest that you might try practicing that yourself. But I couldn't quite figure out how to suggest that in a constructive and positive way, and thought maybe you'd just give up after a while - especially given the lack of support (or even much interest) for your position by others in the group.
One of the things that I personally value about this particular group is that we tend to care about each other, can generally listen with sensitivity and acceptance despite our amazing diversity, and perhaps find a bit of emotional support when we need it. Despite your rather unusual behavior - bordering on abusive - people were almost (but not really) surprisingly gentle with you.
Having said all that, I personally find your experiment to be inexcusable.
You apologize to Dave for having to attack him - well tell us why, exactly, you really *had* to do that? For the sake of some class, or perhaps a better grade for yourself? Why is the universe now a better place overall, or theoretically will be at some point in the future, because of what you put us through?
You describe us as unknowing particpants in an experiment on Human behavior... Are you familiar with the experiments using hallucinogenic drugs by the CIA on unknowing participants? Or if you substitute unwilling for unknowing, we could come up with some particularly disturbing examples from the early-1940's, which to this day are sometimes discussed in terms of scientific experimentation.
I'm deliberately overstating things to make a point, and your little experiment is not by any means in the same class. But you had no right to use and abuse us in this fashion, and the fact that you did (and most likely intended to) apologize afterward is not enough to make it okay.
These are only my personal thoughts and reactions. I am not a moderator, and even if we had a mechanism in place, I would not actually vote to have you banned from this forum - unless you pulled something like this a second time.
We are not a bunch of amoebae on a microscope slide for you to study. Why didn't Dave respond? Because he's been struggling, even more than I have, with how to do so in a skillful way. I also suspect he's a bit more likely to accept your apology than I am.
In my opinion, the problem here is that your assumption that you could use us in this way was fundamentally flawed. The fact that it was allegedly intended (or shall we say premeditated?) as an experiment does not change that.
It's hard enough to get through life in constructive and healthy way; much harder to find an online forum with a set of participants that can work on that together, to some extent. If you want to understand more about why that works, ask us - don't use us as a pincushion.
Please, do not try this elsewhere.
-Bob
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Thank you Bob.
Mike
(Message edited by groovelines on July 14, 2006)
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Thank you for your eloquence Bob. I am in agreement.
T
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I'd share my Pizza with Bob anytime!
Thanx for the wise words,
F.C.
(Message edited by fc_spoiler on July 14, 2006)
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Well stated Bob. Last time I checked Alembic wasn't in the guinea pig business.
Bill, tgo
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Yes Yes Thank You Bob. You get it. What a polish on the apple cart! Bravo for you Bob. If we could only convey such a message to the rest of the world about America.
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Somebody want to tell me what this is all about? Am I missing something here?
Alan
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WTF!!
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I think the best thing is to just ignore and get back on track, that means Hijack!
Alan: GREAT spyder!
and bassfingers I think you forgot a few !!!!'s
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Alan, if you really want to follow this, you have to read Bike Week under Alembic Basses and Guitars, then Off Post under Misc. Get a big cup of coffee first. It's a lot of reading.
Rich
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roy
i think you suck
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Roy, I think calling this an experiment is an insult to the scientific community. Did your professor (I assume you are in a college level class) say the experiment was okay to conduct? Did you and your classmates just have a discussion and you thought it would be fun to mess with us and see what would happen? The psych community has rules it follows, or did you not know that?
I suppose I could be more concise and just ditto what Flax said. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Ditto, Flax.
Rich
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Roy, you say We were having a discusion in class the other day, about the behavior of participants on interenet forums, and their affect on the consiousness of the forum as a whole. Thus my little experiment. Did you perhaps run your little experiment by your instructor? What did he or she tell you about informed consent? Did your instructor tell you about the applicable regulations (http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/irb/irb_introduction.htm), promulgated by the DHHS?
Ah, perhaps you're not posting from the USA, in which case those regs don't apply. Here, we try to pay more attention to basic principles governing the ethical conduct of research involving human subjects.
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My guess is that Roy's experiment has now reached the next level. I would suggest we just ignore him and all his future postings.
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Simon, your profile says you're not clever. Hah you stated exactly what I wanted to say but couldn't think of a way to say it in polite company. Well done.
My opinion, Roy realized what a ass he had made of himself and made up the experiment story to try and salvage something. What was it Dave TLO said? Tough teabags
Roy, may I suggest Active Bass to you? You'd fit right in. Best of luck where ever you go from here.
I'm through with this one now. No more from me on the subject.
Sam
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I LOVE this place!
Now, for my hijack: We played for these guys in between shows last night:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/29963.jpg)
John
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I'll bet that guy can hit the high notes.
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cool, we saw a perfoming troup like this at last year's Super Bikes races. Was pretty cool until one of the riders over shot the landing ramp landed flat and burried his shoulder and bike into the parking lot. Yeeowza.
Mike
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These guys were all really young. I'm guessing a significant percentage of them spend much of the remainder of their lives hooked to some sort of tube or at least in a wheelchair if they stay in the business very long. That said (or typed, as it were), it was pretty awesome.
John
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I REALLY wish I had as much class as Dave and Bob, was as well spoken, and as considered in my ruminations regarding Roy's cute little experiment, twisting us all up to get a rise of us . . . .
Well, what the hell, it's an experiment.
Roy, why don't you just !*#*$&)*@!)#)*!)&!@)*$#!&)*!##$_($_$_(, and don't let the screen door hit you on the way out.
See, it worked ! ! !
J o e y
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Before everybody gets all angsty, let's all concentrate on the kittens.
Cuuuuute kittens.
(Message edited by byoung on July 15, 2006)
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You mean like this?
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/29981.jpg)
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Born May 16 2006
(Message edited by fc_spoiler on July 15, 2006)
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Or maybe the bunnies:
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/29987.jpg)
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Sweet! I sure hope they did not eat any buds...
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(Message edited by davehouck on July 15, 2006)
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/29993.jpg)
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And more bunnies (http://www.retrocomputing.net/racconti/umor/coniglio/pandora.beptuui.html)
Keith
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(Message edited by davehouck on July 15, 2006)
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a nice trilogy that reminds of this jerk roy
1-a schmuck.......
2-a
3- and someone with no balls
(Message edited by davehouck on July 15, 2006)
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Flaxattack, did your cat eat the buds? (looks like it)
I think we must watch our languages/pictures, we don't want mr. Houck to b working too hard in the week-end.
(Message edited by fc_spoiler on July 15, 2006)
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Ok guys, I know a lot of folks are upset, but let's not forget whose server this forum is sitting on. And I know for a fact that one of the people that owns the server is reading this very thread today. I don't like censoring posts, and I know you guys are upset, but this is a family forum.
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(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/29999.jpg)
I've got an 8 weeks old looking over my shoulder
Picture taken when he was 4 days old (young)
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Dear Dave Houck,
Once again, for the umpteenth time, I'm in awe of how classy you are. Thanks for all you do.
Rich
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Hi Roy;
The word Moderator does kinda stick out there like a warning sign or something, just sitting right there under my name.
I tend to think that, in addition to being just another club member, as moderator I represent both the club members as a whole and Alembic, particularly Susan and Mica. As has been mentioned, I do not represent Alembic legally or contractually; I am just another club member. But it seems reasonable to think that people are going to see that word Moderator under my name and are going to assume some kind of association.
As has been mentioned in this forum before, communication by means of posting messages to internet discussion groups can be problematic. In a face to face discussion one gets visual and aural cues from facial expressions, hand gestures, the rise and fall of voice pitch, etc. And even with these aids, there are still frequent miscommunications. These clues are not present in posted messages and thus the chances of miscommunication are increased. Therefore, the comments you made that were directed specifically toward me in the Bike Week thread were taken by me as understandable. People do not read things the same way. What one person intends to convey in a post can easily be interpreted differently by another. We do not write in isolation; the other things that are happening around our lives have an effect on what we write and how we interpret what others write. When a car is weaving in and out of traffic in a seemingly irresponsible manner, we may think the driver is a selfish jerk who does not consider the other drivers around him. On the other hand, it may be that he is rushing to the hospital and his thoughts are so focused on some loved one that he is not giving his driving the attention that he should. The point here is that we just don't know where someone else is in life; we can't know the overall context of someone else's remarks in a message posted on the internet. Thus I accepted the remarks you made toward me, as I understood that it was highly possible that your interpretation of what I read may not have been the meaning that I intended. And then of course you may have just disagreed with what I wrote, which is fine; people understandably do not agree on things.
However, as a club member I am saddened when the harmony of our group begins to become discordant. And as moderator, representing the group as a whole, I do feel that it is to some degree my role to help smooth things out when such discord occurs. And as moderator, representing Alembic, I do want to help maintain an atmosphere that reflects positively upon the Wickersham family and their employees. In this particular case, because I was seemingly the initial cause of the discord, I felt, perhaps incorrectly, that any response I might have made as moderator could very well serve to exacerbate the situation. Therefore, having accepted your remarks as your position on the matter, I thought it best not to respond further.
Life is interesting; it's certainly a challenge. Each of us is where we are right now; we can't be anywhere or anybody else. Given that, I tend to think that a reasonable course is to accept that fact with an open heart as it pertains to me and as it pertains to everyone else, and move forward. What we say and do effects others, and then having been thus affected, the subsequent actions of those others then effects still others, and so on exponentially. When I awoke this morning, one of the first things I did was read the news, and the news from the Middle East was very sad indeed. How we treat our fellow humans does have an effect. And we can choose how we we will treat our fellow humans. And we can choose to treat our fellow humans with respect, understanding, and compassion. It has an effect, the effect is exponential, and it will be an effect on the world in which our children and grandchildren will live.
So, I guess all of this is to say here we are, now lets move forward. We've all had the opportunity to learn some interesting things about communication over the past few days. And now we get to choose how we will make use of our newly gained knowledge.
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Thanks Rich, and thanks to all of you!
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Well said Dave.
Keith
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guts, integrity, honesty, honor, compassion, empathy, intelligence, humor and....all things in moderation...what more can we ask? Thanks, and God Bless you Dave.
...........and you as well, Roy
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Dave - thanks for the excellent job you do here.
You must have read Zen and the Art of Forum Moderation. Or, perhaps, should write it.
Peace
Tom
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Roy- Here is another experiment you can try (minus the Mesa):
http://club.alembic.com/Images/394/25831.html?1142708178 (http://club.alembic.com/index.php?topic=4279)
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Dave:
Not to worry. I have it from a reliable source that the bunnies are suffering from a serious bunny illness and have recieved the appropriate prescription from their vet!
Bill, tgo
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Would just like to add my continuing thanks to Moder Dave for all his hard work.
(and to suggest the rabbit pic have the caption 'Drugs Bunny' and include the relevant links for bunny rehab).
Simon.
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Flax,
What a great picture!.
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as I said before: Dave Houck for President!
Thanx for putting us back on track, way to go!
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SINCE dave has edited my photos....
with my understanding and no malice-lol
my apologies to anyone if they were offended
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In case anyone may have the impression I like Jeff's pic 'cause I like the idea of getting a cat stoned,please be assured that's not the case.It's just a cool picture.
Simon.
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Bill,
I heard that the bunnies might need a lawyer.
Brad
PS- Dave, your supposing that you caused anything at all is completely incorrect. There is only one person (ir)responsible, and it isn't you.
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Sam,
Simon, your profile says you're not clever. Hah you stated exactly what I wanted to say but couldn't think of a way to say it in polite company. Well done.
I'm not sure if my initial post of 3 letters and some punctuation somehow offended you but help a stupid person out here re:the above quote.
Simon.
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thats pookie simon,,,,,
she;s not a stoner kitty......
but she sure does like the nip.......
uts one of my fav photos though
she looks very aristocatic....
:-)
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She's way beyond cute Jeff,and with that slight head-tilt and the look in her eyes she seems to be expressing so many things at once.
If only they could talk.
Heart-warming,thanks for posting it
Simon.
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The circle is now full...
John
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/30010.jpg)
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So then, that's the Champagne Velvet of Bottle Beers? Anybody take their cat to Laconia for Bike Week? Now I know why those bunnies are flop-eared!
Dave, you're the best.
J o e y
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Simon
No offense taken at all. On the contrary, your three letters where right on the money. That's assuming of course that I translated them correctly and I think I did.
Sam
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I'd just like to offer a public Mea Culpa to Sam (bracheen) for mis-interpreting his post (Saturday, July 15, 2006 - 7:25 am) in a most spectacular way.
My response may well have added to the bad atmosphere at the start of this thread and I'd like to apologise to Sam and to you all for that.
Sam e-mailed me off-site to clear up any misunderstanding for which I'm very grateful.
Yours sheepishly
Simon.
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Simon,
If cats could talk, I suspect they'd say things like:
Would you please try to read the newspaper, so I can lay on it?
Oh goody, he's on the computer again! Let me jump on the keyboard.
Give me the tuna and nobody gets hurt.
Paper bags rock. Especially at night!
Ahhh. Lap.
Scratch right... no. left. Ahhhh. right there.
Brad
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Hijack warning - cats to dogs
Here's my baby girl. Blow in her ear and her tongue comes out.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/30043.jpg)
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Blow in her ear and she sticks her tongue out? Far out! What happens if you blow in the dog's ear? LOL
Bill, tgo
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Well I just now got around to reading this string. And I have but ONE question, the same question I always ask.
What key's it in?
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Expecting a fix now is probably asking too much of this short-sighted politician type person who has no incentive to do so. A fix or at least a succession of patches, will probaly come when and if the problem ever becomes more pressing.
I am leaving now and will never bother you fine folks again. See how nice I can be. Its just the duality of nature I guess. bye bye
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Bill, are you sure you're an attorney? That sounds suspiciously like a sense of humor to me. One of those would get you disbarred in Florida.
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Dogs?
Here's Cosmo and his little pal Harry.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/30048.jpg)
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A friend e-mailed me a bunch of cute/amusing animal pics.This one I found amusing and slightly scary.
Simon.
(http://club.alembic.com/Images/449/30052.jpg)
Roy,would you close the door on your way out,old chap.Thanks awfully.
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Something about a thread that is titled True Confessions and then contains pictures of animals is slightly scary in its self.
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LOL!!