A new and improved forum?

[Phil Deakins]

I'm not surprised, Aislin. My brain is extremely good at forgetting all sorts of stuff. For instance, I've been watching episodes of The Mentalist. I've seen all the episodes before but I have no recollection of seeing the ones I've been watching recently. Sometimes I know that I've seen something but I don't remember how the story goes. With TV, it's a plus, because I can watch the same thing over again as a new story. But with people, it's a negative because I should remember things and I often don't.

Anyway, I feel that I'm getting to know you through your posts, which I'm pleased are many now

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

12 minutes ago, Aislin Ceawlin said:

Phil, you and I banded together against a rather grumpy old forumite  many moons ago. I'll only say that he certainly gave us a lot of "pep" lol! (although it was a different and highly caustic incarnation). I posted here and there after that, but usually quietly, and inconsistantly because of some of the nasty responses I would get from simple posts. 

OMG, I remember that person.  He did enjoy stirring the pot.

[Aislin Ceawlin]

8 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

OMG, I remember that person.  He did enjoy stirring the pot.

Some of his incarnations were rather nasty, some were rather humorous. Never could figure out the method to his madness, lol. ETA (Geeze I'm doing a lot of ETAs today) I've actually found myself wondering where he's been hiding lately. I did see one post from a newbie account with an old join date that I thought was him for sure!

Edited May 23, 2017 by Aislin Ceawlin

[Aislin Ceawlin]

I used to pop into the forums when I had nothing else to do, and didn't feel like going inworld. Now I find myself coming here first thing. Example: I just woke up (I work 12 hour midnight shifts 7p to 7a) the first thing I did after getting something to drink was grab the laptop and come here because I was interested in what everyone posted while I slept!

[Madelaine McMasters]

19 minutes ago, Aislin Ceawlin said:

ETA I was even accused of being a know it all in a rather nasty post just before they closed the last forum, that blew my mind. Not sure where they got that from!

T(he)y got that from the same groupthink that created the Kool-Aid.

It was an interesting thing to watch over the years, cementing my belief that the reason I can provoke such negative passion in people is exactly the same reason I can't provoke positive passion.

I'm dispassionate.

...weeps gently into her keyboard.

;-).

[Aislin Ceawlin]

Just now, Madelaine McMasters said:

T(he)y got that from the same groupthink that created the Kool-Aid.

It was an interesting thing to watch over the years, cementing my belief that the reason I can provoke such negative passion in people is exactly the same reason I can't provoke positive passion.

I'm dispassionate.

...weeps gently into her keyboard.

;-).

(wipes your tears with my shirt) I've never thought of you that way! I've always thought of you as the wise soul of the forums! 

[Madelaine McMasters]

18 minutes ago, Phil Deakins said:

I'm not surprised, Aislin. My brain is extremely good at forgetting all sorts of stuff. For instance, I've been watching episodes of The Mentalist. I've seen all the episodes before but I have no recollection of seeing the ones I've been watching recently. Sometimes I know that I've seen something but I don't remember how the story goes. With TV, it's a plus, because I can watch the same thing over again as a new story. But with people, it's a negative because I should remember things and I often don't.

Anyway, I feel that I'm getting to know you through your posts, which I'm pleased are many now

 

You share Mom's unique (until I met you) ability to be entertained for an entire television season by one single episode.

And I'm also pleased by Aislin's presence here. You're just not enough for me, Phil.

[Madelaine McMasters]

2 minutes ago, Aislin Ceawlin said:

(wipes your tears with my shirt) I've never thought of you that way! I've always thought of you as the wise soul of the forums! 

TY, you're too kind... and should get out more.

[Aislin Ceawlin]

22 minutes ago, Phil Deakins said:

I'm not surprised, Aislin. My brain is extremely good at forgetting all sorts of stuff. For instance, I've been watching episodes of The Mentalist. I've seen all the episodes before but I have no recollection of seeing the ones I've been watching recently. Sometimes I know that I've seen something but I don't remember how the story goes. With TV, it's a plus, because I can watch the same thing over again as a new story. But with people, it's a negative because I should remember things and I often don't.

Anyway, I feel that I'm getting to know you through your posts, which I'm pleased are many now

 

No worries, Phil! At least I can claim menopause brain for my memory lapses (Again, not that I'm old enough) 

[Aislin Ceawlin]

3 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

TY, you're too kind... and should get out more.

Believe me, that's truer than you could possibly know, lmao!

[ChinRey]

On 22.5.2017 at 6:40 PM, Madelaine McMasters said:

Design can set mood, and that's part of McLuhan's point. This thread is an expression of that.

There's one side of that we haven't mentioned yet and that is the soundtrack.

The alert sounds you get on the OS Grid (I understand those are the old alert sounds from SL) are pure slapstick comedy, the computer even blows raspberries at you every now and then to tell you what an idiot you are. The current SL alert sounds tend to be in that style too but they've been toned down and not quite as annoying. Firestorm doesn't always remember to change the sounds when I switch between grids so I often get  to experience the same scene with different "soundtracks" and it's amazing how much a difference that makes.

Those are different levels of bad, the alert sound of the forum is absolutely brilliant. I don't think many people realzie how difficult it is to make that. An alert souind has to be instantly noticeable but not intrusive, it has to be very simple but still easily identifiable and repeatable without becoming annoying and it has to stay within a fairly limited frequency range. The one we have here is spot on and I think that helps set a good mood for the forum.

[Aislin Ceawlin]

1 minute ago, ChinRey said:

There's one side of that we haven't mentioned yet and that is the soundtrack.

The alert sounds you get on the OS Grid (I understand those are the old alert sounds from SL) are pure slapstick comedy, the computer even blows raspberries at you every now and then to tell you what an idiot you are. The current SL alert sounds tend to be in that style too but they've been toned down and not quite as annoying. Firestorm doesn't always remember to change the sounds when I switch between grids so I often get  to experience the same scene with different "soundtracks" and it's amazing how much a difference that makes.

Those are different levels of bad, the alert sound of the forum is absolutely brilliant. I don't think many people realzie how difficult it is to make that. An alert souind has to be instantly noticeable but not intrusive, it has to be very simple but still easily identifiable and repeatable without becoming annoying and it has to stay within a fairly limited frequency range. The one we have here is spot on and I think that helps set a good mood for the forum.

That's so true! Sound and smell (which we obviously can't use here) are proven to elicit certain moods and feelings towards a thing or situation.

[Aislin Ceawlin]

Annnnnnd, now I have to get ready for work! (stooooopid work)

[Madelaine McMasters]

25 minutes ago, ChinRey said:

There's one side of that we haven't mentioned yet and that is the soundtrack.

The alert sounds you get on the OS Grid (I understand those are the old alert sounds from SL) are pure slapstick comedy, the computer even blows raspberries at you every now and then to tell you what an idiot you are. The current SL alert sounds tend to be in that style too but they've been toned down and not quite as annoying. Firestorm doesn't always remember to change the sounds when I switch between grids so I often get  to experience the same scene with different "soundtracks" and it's amazing how much a difference that makes.

Those are different levels of bad, the alert sound of the forum is absolutely brilliant. I don't think many people realzie how difficult it is to make that. An alert souind has to be instantly noticeable but not intrusive, it has to be very simple but still easily identifiable and repeatable without becoming annoying and it has to stay within a fairly limited frequency range. The one we have here is spot on and I think that helps set a good mood for the forum.

I very much like the new forum's notification sound, even though it's addicting.

I've always been interested in things like this. My first formal introduction to the use of sound in interface design came from Brenda Laurel's "The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design". She collected essays by visionaries like Alan Kay (GUI pioneer), Ted Nelson (coined "hypertext" in 1963), Timothy Leary (if I ever do a drug, it'll be a lab supervised LSD trip) and Don Norman (who, like me, sees big faces on every busy street). Brenda is a theater gal who drifted into technology. Her humane perspective on the use of technology is very attractive to me.

I have no doubt that things like the notification sound (and the fact that we get motivational notifications to ping our reward centers) affect my attitude, which then affects my participation here.

43 minutes ago, Aislin Ceawlin said:

That's so true! Sound and smell (which we obviously can't use here) are proven to elicit certain moods and feelings towards a thing or situation.

Absolutely, both can elicit moods and recall memories with fascinating precision and depth. There are so many levers that can be pulled to manipulate us that to believe we're independent, autonomous agents is just plain dangerous.

[Deltango Vale]

On 5/22/2017 at 4:46 PM, ChinRey said:

I've found maybe the first bug in this new forum software. This is not a quote. Will submit to see what happens.

[Deltango Vale]

Yes, awkward bug. It is a natural reflex to click Quote at the bottom of a person's post because it's where one would expect 'Reply'. The problem is that once one accidentally clicks Quote, it can't be undone. There is no way to clear/delete the resulting window. Even logging out doesn't solve the problem.

[Madelaine McMasters]

8 minutes ago, Deltango Vale said:

Yes, awkward bug. It is a natural reflex to click Quote at the bottom of a person's post because it's where one would expect 'Reply'. The problem is that once one accidentally clicks Quote, it can't be undone. There is no way to clear/delete the resulting window. Even logging out doesn't solve the problem.

Select all (Cmd-A on a Mac), Delete.

I've yet to find a way to quote from posts on separate pages of a thread.

Edited May 23, 2017 by Madelaine McMasters

[LittleMe Jewell]

14 minutes ago, Deltango Vale said:

Yes, awkward bug. It is a natural reflex to click Quote at the bottom of a person's post because it's where one would expect 'Reply'. The problem is that once one accidentally clicks Quote, it can't be undone. There is no way to clear/delete the resulting window. Even logging out doesn't solve the problem.

Position your cursor anywhere after the quoted area and then just keep hitting backspace.  The quote will go away.

ETA:  If you decide not to reply at all, clear the quote first and then leave or refresh the page, otherwise, it will try to keep the quote for your next reply.

Edited May 23, 2017 by LittleMe Jewell

[Deltango Vale]

What I was going to say before being snagged by the bug is that I agree with everyone about being ignored by LL. It was a bitter pill to swallow - and I railed against LL for its bad management - but all to no avail. Visions of Macbeth out on the heath, raging at the storm. The storm didn't care about Macbeth any more than LL cared about the forum or the intelligence and experience of its customers. Well, finally, exhausted, one accepts reality: denial, anger, bargaining, acceptance. I gave up and retreated to my home in SL.

I guess this is one of those big lessons of life that we learn as we grow older. One can scream at a brick wall, but it's not the wall that suffers; it's you. There are times to give up and find peace in some alternative manner. That's why I feel it's pointless to discuss LL policies here. It's a waste of space. Far better to talk about cooking or cinema or favorite inworld memories. Instead of angst at our powerlessness, let's instead seek humor and goodwill. Hopefully, I can live up to my words, but I think I'm cured 

[LittleMe Jewell]

On 5/20/2017 at 11:22 PM, Snugs McMasters said:

Or ends one.

hmm

8 minutes ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

Select all (Cmd-A on a Mac), Delete.

I've yet to find a way to quote from posts on separate pages of a thread.

I did quote from two pages, but not easy.  I went to a previous page and did the first quote, copied it, backspace to delete it, go to the last page, hit reply, paste the first quote, then quote the second one, then type more.  Using multiple tabs helped a tad, but TOTAL PITA.

[Deltango Vale]

3 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Position your cursor anywhere after the quoted area and then just keep hitting backspace.  The quote will go away.

Interesting that your suggestion works now. I had tried it earlier, but the quote box stubbornly remained. There was no alternative but to post inside the quote box.

[Madelaine McMasters]

24 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

hmm

I did quote from two pages, but not easy.  I went to a previous page and did the first quote, copied it, backspace to delete it, go to the last page, hit reply, paste the first quote, then quote the second one, then type more.  Using multiple tabs helped a tad, but TOTAL PITA.

If I find posts from the appropriate people on the same page as my reply, I quote from those, then go back to previous pages and copy/paste their text into the dummy quotes from the current page. I think that's what you're describing and yes it's a PITA.

[Dillon Levenque]

I was thinking earlier today about Aislin's mention of the Pepster. I caught a considerable amount of flack from him and even more from someone who became his almost worshipful apostle. Oddly enough, at the moment they are both pretty much irrelevant. Both, in my opinion, placed a lot of emphasis on how important they were; how much content they provided. One of them even announced on the Jive? forum (I don't think I got in during the RA days) that the post count showing for him in the forum was too low and he'd written a script to keep a more accurate count! True story.

He may have started not liking me when I mentioned it in a post and asked, "How lame is that?"

The great thing is that for me and I think for a lot of us, we know we're irrelevant. The entire inworld population of SL at any given time is about a third of the population of the city (in name) where I work. It calls itself a city; most people would call it a cowtown although agtown would be more accurate. In any case it's one town in California containing a tiny fraction of the world's population, but it has three times as many occupants as SL, a worldwide entity, has at any one time. And the Forum? An even tinier fraction of SL!

So yeah, we're ALL irrelevant. Who cares? My personal reason for being here is mostly the pleasure of the conversation (this was my first ever online forum of any kind) although it's nice to learn things, too. Relevance is not part of that. I really like the way this new version is structured so I hope it sticks around.

Of course, I actually AM relevant so it's easy for me to say stuff like this. Ebbe personally responded directly to one of my posts on the last forum. I'm so doggone important it's a wonder I don't just swell up and float away.;-)

[Phil Deakins]

9 hours ago, Madelaine McMasters said:

You share Mom's unique (until I met you) ability to be entertained for an entire television season by one single episode.

And I'm also pleased by Aislin's presence here. You're just not enough for me, Phil.

Aaw. And here was me thinking that I was alone in being able to keep watching the same thing, always viewing it anew. I'm gutted

But I'm delighted that I'm not enough for you, Maddy. It does take time to recover between roasting sessions.

[Pamela Galli]

The most important influence on the more positive feel of this iteration of the forum, aside from persistent logins, the ability to screen out spam forums and spammers, and the absence of various irritations we have endured, is the Like button. People feel like they are getting feedback and interactivity that never existed before. And always only positive feedback ( from the button)!