All,
The question was raised over in Legal why Staff members have not been
posting as often as in the past. It is felt that we are not as accessible as in
the past and may have developed our own little clique in the Staff Forum.
Here’s my personal opinion on the subject.
- Rich has been up to his neck in alligators trying to debug forum problems
(what are they, where are they, how do they occur, are they accidental or
“hacks”, etc.) and trying to keep TFL functioning. Have you noticed that
when the General Forum or the Legal Forum goes haywire it is not too long
before they are fixed? Thank Rich.
- UBB is not a bad system; however, just as a VW bug is a poor substitute
for a Greyhound bus, TFL has grown too big for our software. Therefore, Rich
has been working full-time and overtime (just like a *real JOB*!) keeping TFL
running and trying to determine what we must do to continue growing. It’s a
heck of a lot of work for a volunteer like Rich!
- You may remember he recently bought a new, larger, faster server for TFL.
We no longer share servers with anyone. TFL is now under the control of
TFL!!!
- Rich now has purchased new software, a whole new bulletin board package.
I have NO idea what this involved, but I have seen it working (in test mode).
I have no idea what it took to give the new software a similar look and feel to
our familiar UBB software, but I’ll bet it took work - a lot of it. Rich will have
some exciting news about all this sometime in the near future. Please have
patience while the new package undergoes initial testing.
-----
Concerning the rest of the Staff: summer vacations, moves from one state to
another, changing jobs - even changing careers, family illnesses, computer
crashes, and the curse of the drinking class (called “work”) have all taken a
toll on the time available for many Staff members to post their views. When
a few Members take time for personal activities, we seldom notice - there are
many Members. When a few Staff members take time for personal activities
it becomes pretty obvious!!
I know that you can see the number of posts in the Staff Forum. I imagine it
seems we have started our own little clique in there. Trust me, such is NOT
the case!
One of the biggest functions of the Staff Lounge is to ensure we keep each
other informed of problems, potential problems, and to coordinate our
responses to problems. We ask each other to “cover for me” when we are
going to be absent for a time. We discuss which threads to watch or what
administrative functions we are contemplating or employing. We don’t want
to bump into each other by accident. So, the first place we hit when we
come onto TFL is the Staff Lounge. Consequently, the number of posts there
increases rapidly. (By the way, most posts there are short and boring.
)
Yes, there is some venting about RKBA subjects that we just don’t want to do
in public. There are discussions about both technical and administrative
problems, policies and coordination of efforts to correct and improve TFL in
the future.
But what most Members never see is how the Staff spreads out to cover all
the forums, all the threads, and (hopefully) all the posts. When all we do is
read, you can’t tell we’ve been there!
If there is a problem, we usually try to solve it by e-mail. We do try to avoid
“administrating” in public! There are a LOT of e-mails involved! That’s how
we keep the forums as free as possible from divisive and needless
controversy. I would estimate the Staff handles at least 200-300 e-mails
each week.
As for me, when I have work I must work. When I’m free, I’m usually on
TFL! My ISP has threatened to terminate my service or “fine” me because
my monthly hours always exceed the permitted 100 hours and frequently
exceed 200 hours per month. Not all of that is spent on TFL, of course, just
the vast majority. Note that 200 hours per month is greater than a full-time
job. (I gotta get a life!
)
As for being inaccessible - that stumps me. Unless I’m out of town (it
happens sometimes) I check my e-mails daily as do the other Staff members.
Sometimes I can’t answer the e-mail until I get further information and yes,
sometimes, I do not answer as quickly as I should. (BAD Dennis! BAD! )
However, if a Member has an immediate problem, I suggest sending the
e-mail to all the Staff for that forum by putting all the addressees in
the TO: line. (That way we know who received your e-mail.) We usually
take it to the Staff Forum and hash out our reply unless it is something
routine.
As for rubbing elbows with the masses, we (the Staff) ARE Members of the
masses. All but the very first two or three Administrators were Members
first. If we don’t post, it’s because of lack of available time after our other
duties and obligations and/or we feel other Members are stating what we
wanted to say. Trust me, if any Staff member began to get a big head about
his position, the rest of the Staff would slap the snot out of him!
We are accessible. We are available even when we can’t post as often as we
would like to post. We don’t ignore Members. You are the reason we are
here. Our goal is to discuss and advance responsible firearms ownership.
We donate a lot of time and, in Rich’s case, a lot of personal resources trying
to keep TFL running, improving, and growing.
I’m going to close this thread - not to prevent replies but to eliminate this
subject as a potential distraction from our goals. If you have any problem
with this post, please e-mail me - we’ll talk it out. Otherwise, let’s get back
to restoring our Constitution!
RKBA!
------------------
Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't.
Stick it to 'em! RKBA!
The question was raised over in Legal why Staff members have not been
posting as often as in the past. It is felt that we are not as accessible as in
the past and may have developed our own little clique in the Staff Forum.
Here’s my personal opinion on the subject.
- Rich has been up to his neck in alligators trying to debug forum problems
(what are they, where are they, how do they occur, are they accidental or
“hacks”, etc.) and trying to keep TFL functioning. Have you noticed that
when the General Forum or the Legal Forum goes haywire it is not too long
before they are fixed? Thank Rich.
- UBB is not a bad system; however, just as a VW bug is a poor substitute
for a Greyhound bus, TFL has grown too big for our software. Therefore, Rich
has been working full-time and overtime (just like a *real JOB*!) keeping TFL
running and trying to determine what we must do to continue growing. It’s a
heck of a lot of work for a volunteer like Rich!
- You may remember he recently bought a new, larger, faster server for TFL.
We no longer share servers with anyone. TFL is now under the control of
TFL!!!
- Rich now has purchased new software, a whole new bulletin board package.
I have NO idea what this involved, but I have seen it working (in test mode).
I have no idea what it took to give the new software a similar look and feel to
our familiar UBB software, but I’ll bet it took work - a lot of it. Rich will have
some exciting news about all this sometime in the near future. Please have
patience while the new package undergoes initial testing.
-----
Concerning the rest of the Staff: summer vacations, moves from one state to
another, changing jobs - even changing careers, family illnesses, computer
crashes, and the curse of the drinking class (called “work”) have all taken a
toll on the time available for many Staff members to post their views. When
a few Members take time for personal activities, we seldom notice - there are
many Members. When a few Staff members take time for personal activities
it becomes pretty obvious!!
I know that you can see the number of posts in the Staff Forum. I imagine it
seems we have started our own little clique in there. Trust me, such is NOT
the case!
One of the biggest functions of the Staff Lounge is to ensure we keep each
other informed of problems, potential problems, and to coordinate our
responses to problems. We ask each other to “cover for me” when we are
going to be absent for a time. We discuss which threads to watch or what
administrative functions we are contemplating or employing. We don’t want
to bump into each other by accident. So, the first place we hit when we
come onto TFL is the Staff Lounge. Consequently, the number of posts there
increases rapidly. (By the way, most posts there are short and boring.
)Yes, there is some venting about RKBA subjects that we just don’t want to do
in public. There are discussions about both technical and administrative
problems, policies and coordination of efforts to correct and improve TFL in
the future.
But what most Members never see is how the Staff spreads out to cover all
the forums, all the threads, and (hopefully) all the posts. When all we do is
read, you can’t tell we’ve been there!
If there is a problem, we usually try to solve it by e-mail. We do try to avoid
“administrating” in public! There are a LOT of e-mails involved! That’s how
we keep the forums as free as possible from divisive and needless
controversy. I would estimate the Staff handles at least 200-300 e-mails
each week.
As for me, when I have work I must work. When I’m free, I’m usually on
TFL! My ISP has threatened to terminate my service or “fine” me because
my monthly hours always exceed the permitted 100 hours and frequently
exceed 200 hours per month. Not all of that is spent on TFL, of course, just
the vast majority. Note that 200 hours per month is greater than a full-time
job. (I gotta get a life!
)As for being inaccessible - that stumps me. Unless I’m out of town (it
happens sometimes) I check my e-mails daily as do the other Staff members.
Sometimes I can’t answer the e-mail until I get further information and yes,
sometimes, I do not answer as quickly as I should. (BAD Dennis! BAD!
)However, if a Member has an immediate problem, I suggest sending the
e-mail to all the Staff for that forum by putting all the addressees in
the TO: line. (That way we know who received your e-mail.) We usually
take it to the Staff Forum and hash out our reply unless it is something
routine.
As for rubbing elbows with the masses, we (the Staff) ARE Members of the
masses. All but the very first two or three Administrators were Members
first. If we don’t post, it’s because of lack of available time after our other
duties and obligations and/or we feel other Members are stating what we
wanted to say. Trust me, if any Staff member began to get a big head about
his position, the rest of the Staff would slap the snot out of him!
We are accessible. We are available even when we can’t post as often as we
would like to post. We don’t ignore Members. You are the reason we are
here. Our goal is to discuss and advance responsible firearms ownership.
We donate a lot of time and, in Rich’s case, a lot of personal resources trying
to keep TFL running, improving, and growing.
I’m going to close this thread - not to prevent replies but to eliminate this
subject as a potential distraction from our goals. If you have any problem
with this post, please e-mail me - we’ll talk it out. Otherwise, let’s get back
to restoring our Constitution!
RKBA!
------------------
Either you believe in the Second Amendment or you don't.
Stick it to 'em! RKBA!