The Administration Goes Too Far

About Site Feedback
1

Several weeks ago I was suspended. Didn’t faze me. I lose my temper occasionally and can certainly take a slap on the wrist without complaint.

However, at the time of suspension I had some information in my PM box that I needed access to that morning. As most people know, and as the admin certainly knows, I make a living as a writer. So when I contacted Maoman I certainly expected that he would immediately give me 10 minutes to get back in to look at what I needed. Again, we are talking work here, the way I pay my bills and my living.

Maoman refused saying I needed to learn some manners. I wrote back several times making it clear I needed these files for work. After repeating himself twice, Maoman simply didn’t respond anymore even to an email that basically said, you can’t be serious and are denying me access to files I need for work?

I was livid. What an absolutely shabby way to treat someone who has been a member of the site as long as me, has helped promote it, has moderated it, has provided endless advise to newbies, and has always defended the integrity of the site and the basic rules that make it a decent place to post.

Later when I was calmer, I called Maoman. He pretended not to understand what I was angry about and explained why I had been suspended. I repeated that i didn’t care about that but about his sabotaging my work. He repeated that I needed to learn some manners, and some nonsense about how please and thank you would be nice. I started to explain that it really didn’t matter if I said please because this wasn’t some fantasy online chat site where I am Mucha Man, but real life where I am Robert Kelly who needs to make a living.

He hung up on me. I don’t mean our conversation ended. No, like a preening high school girl, he hung up. I called back several times but he wouldn’t answer. Nor would he answer an email.

This is beyond ridiculous and as I said, absolutely shabby behavior. But that’s the admin of this site. Arrogant and unaccountable and unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy anymore it would seem.

2

One would have thought that someone who is so familiar with this forum would know by now that the moderators are prone to being illogicial, unfair, and grumpy from time to time. :whistle:

3

Fark me. And now admin’s checked out of here too!

Damn, but you’ve really pissed him off.

HG

4

You know what happens to people wearing a uniform … don’t you?

5

After considering your complaint, the moderators have voted to relieve Maoman of his duties. There is no longer any admin to speak of. Hope this makes things easier in future. Lucky for you he let you back in before hanging up his gloves.

6

[quote=“Mucha Man”]Several weeks ago I was suspended. Didn’t faze me. I lose my temper occasionally and can certainly take a slap on the wrist without complaint.

However, at the time of suspension I had some information in my PM box that I needed access to that morning. As most people know, and as the admin certainly knows, I make a living as a writer. So when I contacted Maoman I certainly expected that he would immediately give me 10 minutes to get back in to look at what I needed. Again, we are talking work here, the way I pay my bills and my living.

Maoman refused saying I needed to learn some manners. I wrote back several times making it clear I needed these files for work. After repeating himself twice, Maoman simply didn’t respond anymore even to an email that basically said, you can’t be serious and are denying me access to files I need for work?

I was livid. What an absolutely shabby way to treat someone who has been a member of the site as long as me, has helped promote it, has moderated it, has provided endless advise to newbies, and has always defended the integrity of the site and the basic rules that make it a decent place to post.

Later when I was calmer, I called Maoman. He pretended not to understand what I was angry about and explained why I had been suspended. I repeated that i didn’t care about that but about his sabotaging my work. He repeated that I needed to learn some manners, and some nonsense about how please and thank you would be nice. I started to explain that it really didn’t matter if I said please because this wasn’t some fantasy online chat site where I am Muzha Man, but real life where I am Robert Kelly who needs to make a living.

He hung up on me. I don’t mean our conversation ended. No, like a preening high school girl, he hung up. I called back several times but he wouldn’t answer. Nor would he answer an email.

This is beyond ridiculous and as I said, absolutely shabby behavior. But that’s the admin of this site. Arrogant and unaccountable and unable to distinguish between reality and fantasy anymore it would seem.[/quote]
You were suspended for telling someone, without any provocation whatsoever, to fuck off. No biggie, most people take it like a man. But YOU email me, scolding ME for not having “warned” you, and DEMANDING to be allowed access to your important files. I tell you to learn some manners. You respond with a “We can discuss this now on the phone or at the next happy hour in public.” And you wonder why I’m ignoring you? What was that, a threat? Honestly, that kind of shit just bores me. At that point I stopped caring about your dilemma altogether.

Learn some manners. Stop telling people to fuck off. Don’t make demands of admin. Don’t be rude to people when favours are wanted. It’s really that simple.

7

Yes he was suspended from contributing to the forum, and perhaps rightly so, I don’t know the context. But he’d also been using some of this site’s add on features as part of his professional life. Contacts, details, links to files, etc. You chopped him from both. He just needed to get PM stuff. What’s the outcome? He’s not going to use the add ons again. That’s for sure. I learnt a similar lesson. It is a black hole in the being sin-binned thang.

HG

8

It’s not a unique situation, but his response was. Usually what I get is “Hey, you suspended me! I don’t think I should have been suspended because of Reason X, and also the other guy was being a jerk first. But hey, it’s your call. But listen, I’ve got a problem. I’ve got an important number/the nuclear codes to American missiles/the complete sequence of pi in my PM box and I need to access it. Could you let me on for just 5 minutes so that I can get the info? I’d really appreciate it.”

THAT kind of query is almost always met with a favourable response.
But when I get, “Anthony, I’ve told you this before. Don’t ban me without warning. I need to access my PM box”, I feel less inclined to help. And when things get to veiled threats, I always dig in my heels. I don’t respond well to threats. :idunno:

9

Isn’t this all kinda moot?

10

God you are clueless. And rude. Here’s the analogy. Let’s say I went to a party of yours and insulted a guest and you threw me out. I call later and say I left my jacket behind and it has my car keys that I need for work. You would not have any right to keep the keys and jacket to “teach me a lesson.” It wouldn’t matter if I said please or thank you. That’s patent nonsense.

And no my statement about meeting you at HH was not a threat. That is obvious. HH is the only place I know to find you to talk to you face to face. I could go to your work but I don’t want to disrupt YOUR ability to make a living.

Again, you are clueless. You almost lost me a job and you think you are the one who’s been wronged. :unamused:

11

Right back atcha, sailor. Here’s another tip for you. Don’t insult admin on his own forums. It’ll get you banned. You can take up an eventual return to the forums with Goose Egg. In the meantime, don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

12

No worries, big fella, it looks like you have bigger fish to fry. I’m sure, in this instance, reason will prevail.

Many thanks for all you’ve done, and what I’m sure you’ll continue to do. And i dare say I’ll continue to “see” you on the new gig, or see you in flesh on the odd pop back to Taipei.

Cheers.
HG

13

Poor show Maoman.
Sure, he could have handled things more politely, but he’s a highly strung character at times. And he’s talking about work commitments - real stuff, not the usual internet piffle. You could have been big and cut MM some slack. Few have done more than him for this site - year after year he’s provided masses of quality content.
And of course he wasn’t threatening you. he’s hardly the violent type.
A pity to see two good guys falling out.

14

Noted, AJ. :neutral:

Yeah, it takes two to tango, for sure. I don’t respond well to people deliberately pushing my buttons. I need to work on this. When people approach me with good intentions, I always reciprocate. When they are rude to me, I often become inured to their plight. I guess I’ve got plenty of room for personal growth here. :eh:

In that spirit, I’m unbanning Muzha Man. He can have at me, I don’t care. It’s now Goose Egg’s problem. :idunno:

15

Iv been suspended a few times. And may have deserved it. The only thing i really missed was not being able to access the Temp Forum (which is where I normally hang out ) and of course not being able to answer any pm sent my way. Couldnt do anything bout not being able to access the Temp Forum but later when I got in, anyone that mattered I got their email addresses so communication can continue on any subsequent bans.

I would think that muchaman coulda saved all the important info he needed for work? Any stuff he needed access to he should save on a SD card or something.

A hard disk can crash without warning and an unexpected encounter could occur at forumosa that may result in instant suspension. Therefore , dont keep anything important on your HDD without having another copy stored and save everything important on the flob you need.

IF the club is “risque” enough, do not leave your jacket hanging on the back of the chair with your car keys in it. Be able to run out at any moment and not have to run into the “club on fire” to retrieve your jacket.

16

All other issues aside, storing important work info on a php forum? :loco:

17

I frequently get inquiries about work that come through Forumosa.com, and that information is in PMs. I wouldn’t have any idea that I ought to have removed it, since I can regularly access it. Yes, I try to copy it to somewhere else when it occurs to me, but many times I have had to find things in my PMs.

18

I frequently get inquiries about work that come through Forumosa.com, and that information is in PMs. I wouldn’t have any idea that I ought to have removed it, since I can regularly access it. Yes, I try to copy it to somewhere else when it occurs to me, but many times I have had to find things in my PMs.[/quote]

Yes, but if you get work through here, are you more or less inclined to use the ‘F’ word in open forum, fully knowing it will get you banned? I’ve been a member for 7 years and never even been warned with a banning. Self control isn’t that hard. Responsibility for one’s own actions and all that…

19

I frequently get inquiries about work that come through Forumosa.com, and that information is in PMs. I wouldn’t have any idea that I ought to have removed it, since I can regularly access it. Yes, I try to copy it to somewhere else when it occurs to me, but many times I have had to find things in my PMs.[/quote]
It’s simply an insecure location. Next thing to leaving an iPhone full of personal data on the dash of a locked car.

20

The issue at hand is not the banning. The issue is whether the admin, as an individual, has the right to, or should, impose additional unstated rules of behavior on a longtime member in this particular situation (wanting to access PMs).

My position is that the two are separate. The banning is a consequence of a certain action on the forum. The admin, IMHO, does not have the right to demand that the poster take one action, use a particular word, or whatever, to obtain his intellectual property (if you want to get legalistic) from the site.

What if the admin simply doesn’t like the person? How polite is polite? What if he says please but not thank you? What if he uses some word that the admin doesn’t like? What if the admin’s breakfast disagreed with him that day?

This is rule of man, not rule of law. Yes, the forum is not totally, 100% run by the rules, but IMHO matters concerning the forum should not degenerate into being handled based on one person’s emotional reaction. It is not the admin’s place to teach the poster how to live his life or how to speak – except insofar as the admin had (and exercised) the right to ban.