Posting on forums

[SusanDoris]

A thought or two on the subject of message boards.  I belong to four of which I've been a member almost since I foundthe the internet. They all have their times when it is better to simply ignore some stuff but then something will come up which initiates an interesting exchange of views. They all have their own characteristics too, don't they, and a topic which will go well on one* you just know will  not work on another.

Anyway,  I thought this might start a short run of posts? I shall certainly be interested in reading what you all think.

* 'Beyond coincidence' which I started a couple of days ago.

[SteveH]

I'm on two nowadays (this, obviously, being one). I've been on lots in the past. I suspect that message boards like this are rarer than they used to be, because people now use Facebook, Twitter or both (and others) instead. I'm in loads of Facebook groups: I recently pruned my list, by leaving many that I never posted in. Then there's Yahoo groups, which are whole different kettle of fish again. It's hard to remember, sometimes, what life was like pre-internet (which for me means pre-2004).

[jeremyp]

Message boards: I am active on four:

- this one

- International Skeptics (after a long absence)

- Stack Overflow

- The Swift Evolution forums

The last two are both computing related.

[SusanDoris]

Message boards: I am active on four:

- this one

- International Skeptics (after a long absence)

- Stack Overflow

- The Swift Evolution forums

The last two are both computing related.

I take a look at IS every day and post there occasionally. The thai cave rescue thread was very informative I thought.

My software is now compatible with /Google Chrome, but things like Face Book and twitter are too bitty to tab around or cursor up and down, i.e. too slow and what I have seen doesn't make it worth while the effort to pursue.

[Roses]

I have posted on numerous forums in the past, I am on four at present. I am trying to be much more cautious than I was heretofore.   I was once taken for a ride to the tune of £1000 in US dollars when I fell for a woman's sob story. I have also attracted an Internet stalker!

[jeremyp]

My software is now compatible with /Google Chrome, but things like Face Book and twitter are too bitty to tab around or cursor up and down, i.e. too slow and what I have seen doesn't make it worth while the effort to pursue.

They’re too bitty even if you’re not using screen reader software.

[Rhiannon]

Most discussion forums I've liked to use have closed or have so little traffic they aren't worthwhile. Mumsnet is still going but it bores me.

[Roses]

Most discussion forums I've liked to use have closed or have so little traffic they aren't worthwhile. Mumsnet is still going but it bores me.

I never fancied that forum.

[SusanDoris]

I googled 'forums for crossword solvers' and one looks promising. I can't do the 'prove you're not a bot' question, so have e-mailed them to ask them to register me. I don't want to look up answers, I would like a clue on how to do the clue!

[Robbie]

I never fancied that forum.

I didn't fancy Mumsnet either but I had the wrong idea about what it was like. When I looked a few months ago and saw the variety of topics I changed my mind and joined. I was amazed at the things talked about, I'd wrongly assumed it was all about nappies and nursery schools.

So I post on Mumsnet occasionally and this forum.

[SteveH]

'Friends Reunited', one of the earliest social media, closed down a year or so ago. I never joined it, but sad, all the same.

[Robbie]

I'd completely forgotten about Friends Reunited! It closed longer than a year ago, more like three. I was a member of that a long time ago but found it a bit overwhelming so my membership lapsed.

[Roses]

I'd completely forgotten about Friends Reunited! It closed longer than a year ago, more like three. I was a member of that a long time ago but found it a bit overwhelming so my membership lapsed.

I was a member of that forum  too, but wasn't that keen on it.

[Shaker]

FR closed down in February 2016, apparently.

[Rhiannon]

I didn't fancy Mumsnet either but I had the wrong idea about what it was like. When I looked a few months ago and saw the variety of topics I changed my mind and joined. I was amazed at the things talked about, I'd wrongly assumed it was all about nappies and nursery schools.

So I post on Mumsnet occasionally and this forum.

I joined when my kids were little and found it both fun and hellish. There were a hardcore group who would make life miserable for anyone who didn't think like them. The membership has grown so much now that the old group has been swallowed up and it is a far easier place to hang out than it used to be.

[SusanDoris]

I sometimes go for several weeks without posting on Ship of Fools, but the last few days I have posted on several interesting threads.

[SteveH]

I've been banned from 'Ship of Fools' twice. It's an appallingly-moderated forum.

[Aruntraveller]

I've been banned from 'Ship of Fools' twice. It's an appallingly-moderated forum.

I once joined there - I was banned on the first day. I can't remember what I did. Never tried to go back.

[SusanDoris]

I once joined there - I was banned on the first day. I can't remember what I did. Never tried to go back.

They have recently updated the site so that it is much easier to use with smart phones etc. Well, I always use this desktop computer, but certainly the new format is much easier for me to use my  software.

And on the other subject - of crosswords - I have looked at the answer to 21st's crptic this morning and see that the answer to: Celebrity  needs unlimited cover for teeth (4)
the answer is NAME. Well, I'm sorry, but that is absolutely ridiculous!!  How on earth does that come about!

[Aruntraveller]

And on the other subject - of crosswords - I have looked at the answer to 21st's crptic this morning and see that the answer to: Celebrity  needs unlimited cover for teeth (4)
the answer is NAME. Well, I'm sorry, but that is absolutely ridiculous!!  How on earth does that come about!

Clearly the answer is derived from "enamel", but not really getting the "celebrity" bit of the clue at all. But I'm not good at cryptics, you need others to explain it better perhaps.

[SteveH]

Clearly the answer is derived from "enamel", but not really getting the "celebrity" bit of the clue at all. But I'm not good at cryptics, you need others to explain it better perhaps.

A celebrity is sometimes called a "name", but it's a terrible clue.

[SusanDoris]

Clearly the answer is derived from "enamel", but not really getting the "celebrity" bit of the clue at all. But I'm not good at cryptics, you need others to explain it better perhaps.

A celebrity is sometimes called a "name", but it's a terrible clue.

Thank you for your posts. I'm glad you agree!
Thank you for the reference about enamel, Trent, I'll remember that if the clue comes up again!

[Nearly Sane]

Thank you for your posts. I'm glad you agree!
Thank you for the reference about enamel, Trent, I'll remember that if the clue comes up again!

I think the unlimited part covers removing the first and last letters of enamel, i.e. The limits of the word.

[Dicky Underpants]

I once joined there - I was banned on the first day. I can't remember what I did. Never tried to go back.

I can't remember whether I was banned or not - I certainly didn't stay long. I remember having a moderator screaming at me to apologise when I took issue with a certain Christian whom I thought very smug and who was blithely rhapsodising about her faith being "the most logical and reasonable of all" or some such blather. I didn't apologise.

[Dicky Underpants]

A thought or two on the subject of message boards.  I belong to four of which I've been a member almost since I foundthe the internet. They all have their times when it is better to simply ignore some stuff but then something will come up which initiates an interesting exchange of views. They all have their own characteristics too, don't they, and a topic which will go well on one* you just know will  not work on another.

Anyway,  I thought this might start a short run of posts? I shall certainly be interested in reading what you all think.

* 'Beyond coincidence' which I started a couple of days ago.

This is the only one I visit with any frequency, though I posted on several in the past. I haven't discontinued my membership of St Thads, or SustainedReaction (a forum dedicated to the critical assessment of that old New Age fraud, Carlos Castaneda. Amazing that, just like old Joe Smith of the Mormons, people simply won't accept that his fantastical screeds are all his own invention (apart from a few bits he plagiarised from whacky books).
In the early days of discussion forums, I was an enthusiastic member of the Colin Wilson discussion forum. Wilson, the occult and 'philosophical' writer, was all set to live till he was 250. Strangely, he died aged 82 or so.