Hold on tight to your dreams!

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

Okay, there's a joke that I think applies to this debate, but I can't
remember whose joke it is, so my apologies for not giving proper
credit.

The joke (paraphrased and in brief): I was taking this intro to philosophy
class where the professor kept talking about all these questions like
"why do we exist?" or even "do we exist?" It didn't make much sense
to me. The final exam consisted of a single essay question: "Is anything
really there?" Obviously, I failed. At seeing my grade, my father
flew into a rage. I said, "But Dad, is that 'F' really there?" Then he
hit me with a chair that WAS really there.

I think what we can learn from this parable is that if we debate
this too long, someone's going to drop a tree on us which will
probably hurt even if there's no one there to see it.

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

ninjabear wrote: Bugger has a 'nick' name, as all my friends do.

"Call me anything you want to. If I don't like it, I'll punch you
in the nose. If there were more noses, there'd be fewer
wars." - Hagbard Celine (probably off on a few words, it's been a
while, but that's the gist)

My nickname for you, Ninjabear, is Sunshine. It seems fitting since
I'm convinced you're an optimist.

I am holding on tight to my dream that one day soon we will get you
in touch with your inner Shirley Temple and you'll be right there
with us in the bubble singing "The Good Ship Lollipop."

ninjabear wrote: Bugger? Bring it, sweetie; I say Neeh to you---and now, for something completely different...

And so what shall be the topic of our verbal melee, Sunshine? Or
should I just keep rambling on until my mentally deficient prose
stumbles on something that irritates you so much that you
can't resist fighting about it?

[ninjabear]

You'd like to know what irritates me?
The damn TrekPassions spamfilter!
All week my every effort to send an email to one person has been thwarted by that blasted software. I tried to email someone else, to ask if I was being intentionally blocked (I don't stay where I'm not wanted) but THAT email was blocked!
Just for laughs I tried to email Bugger, to tell her she was not alone, BUT THAT (oh, this part had to be self-censored, there are ladies present) EMAIL GOT THROUGH!
ARGH!
Okay that's it! I've had it up to my eyeballs with HAL-9000! Anyone who would like to trade barbs without cluttering a forum, can reach me at:


Do not post personal contact information within the forums area. We do not want members using the forums in this manner.

[feedback]

The spamfilter is designed to prevent members from being spammed by people they do not know.

If you are sending messages to people who know you, then ask them to put you on their 'Favorites/Friends' list.

When someone adds you to their 'Favorites/Friends' list, it means they trust that you will not spam them, so we do not run any messages to them from you through the spam filter.

We are very open to any ideas on how to maintain a spam-free area in a 100% free site...so rather than complain, feel free to send suggestions on how to make things better.

We read EVERY suggestion and comment sent in to us.

Thanks,

[lucifer666 (deleted)]

Here's a suggestion bud, now bear in mind I know very little about Spam filter operations, but can we not have the spam filter an option rather than something enforced upon us ........ So if we want to send new mails to people we can without fear of being blocked but if we also start recieving alot of spam we can then employ the Filter.

[ninjabear]

I tried to report the spam filter problem to website feedback, but IT WAS BLOCKED BY THE SPAM FILTER!!
Now a trained monkey at feedback won't let me post a Yahoo address---not surprising, though. If we switch to an email system that works, who would need these pinheads?
The spamfilter and email limit are not for member protection, it's to protect the incompetent morons who run Trek Passions.

[ninjabear]

I'm probably about to get thrown out of Trek Passions, so I'll say goodbye now.
Having a post edited because these monkeys are afraid to compete with a working email system, is just too much crap to take so if the blade falls, I laugh.

and now you may sing along if you know the words...
"Now and then,
there's a fool,
such as I,
over you,
You taught me how, to love and now
you say that we are through,
I'm a fool, but I love you dear
until, the day I die,
now and then,
there's a fool,
such as I."

[feedback]

Ninjabear, it shouldn't be a surprise that we don't want people posting 'hey contact me at this email address (removed)' in the forums area. (In fact, if you read the forum rules, you'll find this spelled out.)

It is not a classifieds or personals section, where people advertise their contact information.

You've complained about the spam filter quite a bit, yet the problem would be resolved completely if the people you regularly email would add you into their 'Favorites/Friends' list.

We can only assume they do not wish to do so (despite us telling you, telling them, and posting the solution within the forums area repeatedly).

It's really pretty simple.

If a message to 'feedback' was blocked as spam, it was because of something you put in the message.

This isn't rocket science. You are writing the messages, and they are getting flagged as spam. It happens every now and then for other members, but for you, it happens almost all the time.

Hmmm...why is that?

Now, you can call us monkeys and pinheads all you want, and we're not going to remove your comments...because they tell more about you than us.

We actually want the system to work, and even though you might not see us all typing on our typewriters, these monkeys are at work everyday on the site.

We are working on new features that will be released soon, and for the people who read the rules, and follow the instructions, everything should work great.

If you want to wail and cry and complain, feel free. Otherwise, we suggest you try and find out why people are not adding you into their 'Favorites/Friends' lists so that your messages won't be flagged as spam.

Thanks,

[iswallowedabug (deleted)]

I have added Ninjabear as a friend/favorite, and I'd like to suggest
that other people do so as well. His emails are quite amusing if you're
lucky enough to get email from him, so even if you don't know him,
add him as a favorite/friend.

Personally, I hadn't added anyone as a friend or favorite, because
I tend to post things in the forums rather than sending emails, so
it never occurred to me that adding someone as a friend would
be necessary -- not because I want someone's messages filtered.

But when I do think it's fair to say that there are bugs in the
filtering software. I have been told that the same text of an
email being sent to me was blocked when sent as a reply, but
the VERY SAME TEXT was not blocked when sent as a new email.
And I personally know that I've had messages blocked by the filter,
and then logged out and logged back in and sent exactly the same
text (EXACTLY) and had it not be blocked during a different log in
session. I'm not suggesting that the spam filters be disabled, and I
know you're all working very hard to keep this free service going
for us, and I appreciate it. But there is something inconsistent
and buggy about the filters sometimes if the same exact text
goes through sometimes and not at other times.

[feedback]

Great.

Hopefully that will help Ninjabear with this issue.

As to the possibility of bugs in the system, we are very interested in finding and fixing any problems.

Whenever there is a problem, report it.

Most of the time, in general, surprise surprise, the problem is due to user error, but every now and then someone helps us identify a real problem in the code.

We can't test every possible situation when we release a new feature, and usually we announce it as 'Beta' and ask people to test it out (like when we added audio and webcam features into the chatroom this past month).

We are actually watching for reports of problems, but we need very specific details when a problem is reported. Otherwise we can waste a huge amount of time crawling through lines of programming code looking for nothing....when we could be spending that time working on cool new things.

Thanks,

[lucifer666 (deleted)]

I have also added Ninjabear to my favourite/friends list ....... I have also added invisiblesteph and iswallowedabug ..... I even added you Mr Feedback just in case you can't get a message through to me .... I know it can be annoying

[ninjabear]

"Well I'm still here, so it must not be over yet."
Dr. Sam Beckett, from the series Quantum Leap
Wow.
Judging by the number of emails and these forum posts, I would be missed.
To all my friends, I apologize for losing my temper; I must not allow even UNWARRANTED CENSORSHIP to divert me from offering entertainment, edification and moral support to those who have been there for me.
I started this topic with the title of "Hold on tight to your dreams", and CENSORSHIP is the very antithesis of my life's work---but if it can happen to Master Heinlein, I should not be surprised when it happens to me.
We have the right to free speech, only so long as we are willing to fight for it; all I ask is that we stay on topic.

[ninjabear]

I wonder how many of you remember a news story, from a few months back?
Some teenybopper bimbo from Harvard had her novel pulled from bookstore shelves by the publisher, under a cloud of plagerisim (sic).

This story follwed the revelation that best selling author James Frey's book turned out to be "A Million Little Pieces" of fiction; what were not outright lies, were wildly exaggerated---but back to the Harvard teenager for a moment.

Every major news program ran the story, but a few also offered a revealing glimpse into how that book gets to the shelf at your local bookstore.
Often an author is selected not for his/her ability, but by how marketable he/she is; look good on the book tours, and you've got yourself a deal.
The publisher has a team of editors on standby, to help you fill out the form for the genre you'll be representing---and will even write the first few chapters for you.
When I saw this dirty little secret revealed on the nightly news---well I would've felt vindicated if anyone else had noticed, let alone cared.

[ninjabear]

Okay you've spent long, lonely hours at your computer, or typewriter, or even with notebook and pencil---but it's done, it's finally done! You've poured your heart and soul into your manuscript---how can anyone think it's anything but pure gold?
Sorry to be the one throwing the bucket of icewater, but if you don't have an agent, no publisher wants to hear from you.
If you don't already have a publisher, and agent, and a proven record of making money, no agent wants to hear from you.
Oh sure, you can send your work to an agent or publisher. Your masterpiece becomes just one more unsolicited book in the "slush pile". It may eventually be read either by the new editor, or someone who just got demoted to reading whatever came in "over the transom".
Don't get your hopes up, but if you're sure of your creation, do not surrender.
You have a better chance of winning the lottery, but it happens...

[ninjabear]

I issue a challenge to all of you;

Name one bright, truly creative person who is not also at least a little bit nuts.
I submit there are none.
Oh sure, not all crazy people are smart, but all smart people are at least a little bit off plumb---they have to be.
To risk rejection, obstacles, ridicule, outright failure---what sane person would want to step out of the crowd and make a fool of him/herself?
I believe I just answered my own question.