I forgot to mention I couldn’t tear myself away from the site even though it is close to 4:00AM now.
quote:
Originally posted by New to the Site: [b]Get the word out there and this could become even more of a resource. Like the forum.[/b]
A Pedant Writes:
I’m a bit fed up with seeing job adverts that “require Taiwan ID”. What does that mean ? Taiwanese citizenship ? The right to apply for Taiwanese citizenship ? A valid Taiwan ID card and/or household registration ? An ARC ? Or does it just mean “No Big Noses” ?
You will surely need to split your job advertisements into those that are suitable for those with the unfettered right to work in Taiwan, and those who are required to obtain work permits and ARCs. I would imagine that most people accessing this website would fall into the latter category.
Otherwise, a very interesting and professionally done site - and long, long, overdue in Taiwan. I wish you every success.
Warren Hamilton
This letter is for Christina (Apani) if I remember correctly.
I’m the guy you met at Grandma Nitti’s whilst you were chatting with Gus and Mingson. You had said you wanted to do an interview on me at the time but we sort of lost touch. I have been extremely busy but it looks like I have a pocket of time right before the Chinese New Year’s that might be good.
Anyways, I believe you still have my business card with my e-mail on it or you can always contact Mingson.
Thanks,
Jay Miao
It’s seems long past time that you changed your home page – the real one, that is (index.html), not index.shtml. Referring to the “beta version website” after more than a year is kinda silly. (And, anyway, the link into the main page isn’t as prominent as it should be.)
Also, your link on index.shtml to the “interview of the week” leads back to index.shtml.
But those are just details. I love the site.
Hi! We totally agree with you and hope to end the silliness soon! Believe us when we say that we cannot wait to officially launch the site. You should see some changes soon. Thanks for the feedback and keep coming back!
ORIENTED Administrators
quote:
Originally posted by cranky laowai: [b]It's seems long past time that you changed your home page -- the real one, that is (index.html), not index.shtml. Referring to the "beta version website" after more than a year is kinda silly. (And, anyway, the link into the main page isn't as prominent as it should be.) Also, your link on index.shtml to the "interview of the week" leads back to index.shtml.But those are just details. I love the site. [/b]
I miss the Yellow Pages… they’re gone!
What is the status ?
Keep on the good work. Thanks,
Yann
Hi! Thanks for asking! You can still access the Yellow Pages at http://www.oriented.to
We are currently updating the top navigation bar (the jade bar) to include this Business Directory but feel free to use it, and add whatever entries you’d like to see posted!
Thanks!
Sincerely,
ORIENTED Administrators
I’m interested in moderating a new forum but cannot read the “next step” instructions. Please get back to me on this.
Thanks.
Robert Juarez
You might consider having a special corner or section in the Oriented site for such topics (below) in the future:
- warning messages
(including traffic/parking violations and penalties in Taiwan and how to avoid them; motorbikers in Taipei beware of moving/mobile cameras; how to detect a, say, 2-way mirror in public toilets (especially for women)
- health tips
(e.g., soybean vs. breast cancer; the effects of microwaving, say, cup-a-noodle)
- special recipe of the week
(e.g., contributed by …)
- other tips
(how to cope with (say, stress, etc.), the wonders of water therapy, drinking tea, etc.; things to do to avoid being a victim of a crime in Taipei) recommended restaurants (or even street restaurants) in Taipei others
Thanks for the feedback, Evelyn.
You might have noticed that we used to have a Health Forum on ORIENTED INTERACTIVE, but we’ve lumped it’s discussions with other forums. We’re looking to “make room” for new forums which we hope will be of interest and use to site visitors.
We’ve got a couple of good ideas which we’re talking about with moderators. Did you see the Opinion Poll posting from Richard Hartzell about having a Human Rights FORUM?
If you think you can develop a content area in ORIENTED, an area which will be of value or interest to a significant segment of ORIENTED visitors, please post it here (or in the OPINION POLL topic). If you’d like, e-mail us at info@oriented.org
Cheers 
I think this site is really good and the participation of someone as knowledgeable and helpful as Richard Hartzell a real bonus. I just have one problem. I went to register and for some bizarre reason actually read the terms and conditions, including this:
“By posting messages here, you agree that any communication which you post on the Site is considered to be non-confidential, and you automatically grant – or warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted – the Company a royalty-free, paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide nonexclusive right and license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display such Content (in whole or part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any Rights that may exist in such Content”
I dunno if it’s standard, but it’s way too much for me. This means that I surrender the rights to anything I write on this site. If I had a piece of political analysis or travel piece I shared on this forum, then legally I couldn’t then go and publish it in a newspaper and, in fact, Oriented could publish and make money off it. I’m not saying it’s likely, but it’s hardly fair.
Hi Bri. You bring up a very good point. We believe it is pretty standard as we have seen this on almost all online community sites of credibility, but we have forwarded your comments to our lawyer to help us clarify and will post a more concerted response either way, here in this section, once we have one.
Thanks for the posting!
Sincerely,
Gus Adapon and Christine Hsu
Hi Bri,
Well, here is the official response from our attorneys. It’s interesting and actually makes for a great forum topic! If you have further questions, please do post them here or write to us directly at info@oriented.org We’d love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Gus and Christine
[b]"The particular term you have cited is very common for private websites to have in their terms and conditions. ORIENTED provides a medium for its members to express their views, and in exchange, the members give ORIENTED the right to use whatever its members write.
"Please note that a “license to use” is not relinquishing ownership rights to his or her writings. Using your example, if a member wrote a political analysis or travel piece, ORIENTED cannot prevent the member from publishing that same work elsewhere because the member still owns it; ORIENTED merely has the right to use what the member wrote. Simply having writings on ORIENTED for others around the world to see is “use”, and ORIENTED must be able to use what people contribute in this way. This is one of ORIENTED’s purposes. The flip side of the situation is that if a member wrote something on one of ORIENTED’s forums, that person should not be able to come back to ORIENTED to ask to be paid money for what he or she wrote.
"By typing one’s thoughts on a public medium accessible around the world via the Internet, it is difficult to expect complete protection (if any) of the proprietary nature of the writings. If the member is concerned that ORIENTED or others who access ORIENTED may use his or her writings improperly or may derive a profit from his or her work, it is advisable for the member not to share his or her works anywhere on the Internet.
“What ORIENTED’s terms and conditions achieve is to explicitly state certain ways that ORIENTED may use the writings posted on its forums, and contributors acknowledge that once they make a contribution, ORIENTED can use their writings in the same way as anyone else in the world.”[/b]
Congratulations on being cited on the front page of the Taiwan News. Oriented is becoming the voice of the English professional community in Taiwan.
Funny observation, though. That writer needs to take some writing lessons because there is one sentence that doesn’t make sense. The article says “‘The power of the media is terrible,’ Ma said yesterday. He said there was no question of the city government discriminating against foreigners and vowed to write a letter to the British newspaper asking for a correction.” Did the writer mean that Ma means that he does not dispute that the city government is discriminatory (meaning that it is) and will clarify to the newspaper that there is no question that the city government does indeed discriminate against foreigners? I hardly think that Mayor Ma meant this. This is just plain bad writing.
Anyway, kudos to Oriented, but I will keep reading the Taipei Times.
Mike
Here is a question posted by wolf_reinhold from a discussion from the Rant & Raves forum:
quote[quote]…this topic has been viewed 6 times with 15 replies. Someone tell me how 9 people were able to reply to something that they did not view?[/quote]
The answer: they didn’t. Whenever a discussion link is clicked, a counter-file is updated. Each discussion that is viewed at least once has its own counter-file. Now when a discussion grows long enough to spill onto a new page, that discussion’s counter-file is reset. Each page doesn’t get its own counter-file
Many thanks to cranky laowai for pointing us to an explanation of this.
Instead of hacking/reasearching a way around this unfortunate and confusing situation, we’re banking that our long awaited upgrade of this software will resolve it. Upgrade is scheduled for this month.
Dear Christine,
Could you explain what probably means? I mean if you’re not forced by law, what other situations would cause you to hand out our information? Are you using cookies? Is “collect” a bad word?
These questions are in response to your previous E-mail, which I pasted below. Also, thanks for your link but I’m more curious on the specifics of the policies of the board we post on, Oriented.
Thanks,
Cool Beans
PS I saw in your journal that you mentioned my name as well as a three letter word that’s synomynous for glutious maximus (not in the same sentence of course). Too bad you don’t have the same censor program on your site. Ha ha, we’re influencing your diction, aren’t we? By the way, do you ever answer little pigs’ e-mails (don’t answer that here, but from the oriented e-mail where a note was sent to you, plz and thx)
Yes. And to answer Cool Bean’s inquiry, users can be traced to a certain extent with that information (and sometimes to an exact computer) depending on where he or she is logging in from, and whether or not cookies are being used.
This is common knowledge to owners of commercial websites (and a big debate in the Internet community with regards to privacy issues). In short, we CAN do this. But we haven’t done it. And we probably won’t do it… unless we are ordered to do so by law.
As for user information that we “collect”, click on the ORIENTED INTERACTIVE (top left of this page) and then click on “Registered Members”. What we “collect” is that which is volunteered by those who opt to register, for the most part.
I guess I should clarify by saying that we are not in the business of “collecting” information about our users so much as we are providing a free and open forum in which to build communities amongst you.
The option to register a UserName and to provide accurate user information (name, location, occupation, etc.) is there for the benefit of those who want others to know a little bit about who they are… thus the foundations of a defined community.
Sincerely,
Christine
Hi.
“Could you explain what probably means?”
It means most likely.
“I mean if you’re not forced by law, what other situations would cause you to hand out our information?”
Won’t know until we come upon it. As I said, thus far we haven’t had to.
“Are you using cookies?”
Register and you will know.
“Is “collect” a bad word?”
Not as far as I know. But the implication was that we were “collecting” something which we are not, at least not with intent.
“PS I saw in your journal that you mentioned my name as well as a three letter word that’s synomynous for glutious maximus (not in the same sentence of course).”
So you know then what the difference is between a community site and a personal one?
“Too bad you don’t have the same censor program on your site.”
Why is that too bad? I think it’s great that I respect others in a public (community) forum and do and say whatever I like on my personal channels.
“Ha ha, we’re influencing your diction, aren’t we?”
Depends on the situation.
“By the way, do you ever answer little pigs’ e-mails (don’t answer that here, but from the oriented e-mail where a note was sent to you, plz and thx)”
Did not receive, please resend. Thanks. Apologies for the short note, usually prefer to elaborate, crunched for time today but do feel free to let us know how else we can help!
Sincerely,
Christine
Hi, people.
Why are all your forums in English? Aren’t we all in Taiwan? I think it should be easy for you to add an all Chinese forum to your list of forums. A lot of people would enjoy ranting and raving in Chinese… or laughing at people’s broken Chinese (my Chinese is not perfect - but I would still love to post!).
It’s hard to find a discussion board like this in Chinese. I doubt it exists. So will you guys put one in?
Hellizabeth
Ya! Why not have an all Chinese section of the forums? And get somebody who really knows Chinese to correct all the mistakes! Woo hoo!
Big Dork
Hi folks,
Thank you for posting over here (doesn’t happen often enough, if you ask me 
)
quote[quote]Why are all your forums in English? Aren’t we all in Taiwan?[/quote]Our forums are in English mostly because people post in English, although Spanish and Tagalog have popped in from time to time. Last time I checked the codes (if you are using Internet Explorer, press ALT-V, C), we do not ‘force’ any encoding. This means you should be able to post in Chinese (Big5 or GB ) without a problem. If I am wrong about this, we will make sure to allow for all encoding in our long-awaited, soon-to-happen, no-one-believes-me-anymore upgrade of this forum software.Aren’t we all in Taiwan? No, we are not. In fact, this very weekend (26-27 May), Christine will be building Monday’s Bulletin from Las Vegas! Don’t you just love this Internet thing?
quote[quote]And get somebody who really knows Chinese to correct all the mistakes![/quote]Boy, would I love that.ORIENTED dotORG is a volunteer run resource – so if anyone can find anyone else willing to moderate/clean up a Chinese language forum responsibly… for FREE, then:
[]I won’t believe you at first;[]I’ll invite this person to lunch (on me) so we can find out what they need to make this happen (uh, I’m talking training, not hardware, sorry)
But I’m going to wait for pigs to grow wings first
Please keep the comments and feedback coming. You may also e-mail us at info@oriented.org – but we would prefer you post it here so that others can benefit, too.
Cheers!
gus. aka