Today Wayne from Badger Pond ww forum let it be known that the Pond would close for good on Feb 28th, a lot of the faithfull posters are scrambling to find a new forum to post on.. some are moving over to WoodCentral.. I think we should open our arms and say Welcome to Knots..
ToolDoc
Replies
I say they are welcome. Always like to hear other's perspectives. Would you invite them over? or, what is the Badger Pond forum's address? we can gang on them that way.
:-)
http://www.www.wwforum.com/index.asp Badger pond forums you can post there to Welcome those folks to Knots,I already have,but the more that do the more welcome they will feel, some are already going to Wood Central others will be lost in the shuffle..
Good idea.
BTW, any reason why their forum is closing? -- I seem to remember some discussion here about the Badger Pond site about a year or so ago which talked about troubles of some kind but I forget the specifics.
IanDG
Wayne the host at the Pond is tired of running the Pond and has decided to shut it down...guess it was too much for one person to handle...
I'm one of the regulars at the Pond, two different dynamics completely between here and there w.r.t. forum moderation and focus. Shame to see it go, it has/is a wealth of information. Needless to say, there are many scrambling to keep as much of the accumulated information as possible.
Cheers,
eddie
Edited 2/5/2003 5:42:09 AM ET by eddie (aust)
Nope, those dudes are too freaky, if somebody like me can say something like that.
It's hard to believe he's shutting down - man those guys bought hats and had conventions - real Jim Jones type stuff.
The moderation policy was way to uptight for me. When people had to preface a recommendation with, "I don't work for or represent the manufacturer (distributor, store, etc.)," so that it wouldn't get "Wayned," that's pathetic.
Get's in the way of information exchange. As a complete opposite moderation policy, (if you're into fast boats) - go to http://www.havasubarney.com. Their "rules policy" when you sign up says, "We don't have any rules." They seem to self-moderate well & don't get into flame wars, etc. Not sad to see them go, as how many times should you need a discussion on, "should I buy a PC 690 router?" Really low-end...
Took a look, fun site. I especially liked the "you supply the caption" photo section. I do like fast boats but been out of it a long, long time. I used to crew on an E Class Flatty called "Light My Fire". Short Deck Bies set-up just like and by the same guy as the legendary "Cold Fire" K Boat. Louie Unser 327 tunnel ram motor approaching never before seen rev's with 1st ever BRC rev kit set-up, custom cast heads w/o upper jackets for BB valve sizes and serious BB level HP out of a Mouse running "Welches". ($26k in just the motor in 1975 dollars). We owned our home court, Long Beach Marine Stadium with a class record just an RCH under 99 mph, not bad for 1 can turns. We won the nationals at Firebird in '76. No prize money in those days, just trohies, a cam or a crank and a case of oil or plugs. Boy I miss those days.
I had a real eye-opener a year or so back. A friend is partners in a day cruiser with the owner of Wilkes Marine (SoCal). I went to watch a tuning session after hours at Irvine lake one evening. I was absolutely blown away to see a couple of day cruisers blowing right past the century mark. John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid - John Wayne
Hey I agree that Waynes rules were a tad to strict but it was a nice site to post or just read and get some info from...there were some real talented craftsman who posted on that site and I will miss reading there posts guess I just have to check on em over at woodcentral...as thats where most are heading...
Try to remember that that "Badger Pond" is/was "the posters" and their valuable contributions.
It was not Wayne Miller.
He never contributed anything but censorship as far as I could see.
He did no more than the webmaster at any other site does in addition to that.
I have no doubt that those fine conversations and gifted posters will be around on the net long after the dust settles on the Pond website.
Your mileage may vary.;-)
Bob
>> He never contributed anything but censorship as far as I could see.
And the server?
Maybe the editing is what allowed the forum to focus on the valuable contributions and not be distracted by flames and irrelvancies, and that's what kept the posters coming back.
Nobody (well, hardly anybody) calls it censorship when a newspaper declines to publish everything submitted. Why should an internet forum be any different.
Funny you should mention the server.
To the best of my knowledge the "server" is what advertizers look for to place their adverts.
The owner is usually paid by the number of hits or acesses the advertizer gets. ( the average is about 7 cents.)
I really doubt the the advertizers paid one cent toward the hits on the '"forum".
Especially with the tight restrictions regarding commercial product and being shut down on Sundays.
Now, if perchance you were to make your site inaccessable to buyers and or advertisers by virtue of your site hours or other restrictions , that could seriously impact your cash flow.
This could leave you with a rather large "free area" with a small revenue base.
If you look above this box you will see several enticing adverts from this forum owner.
Cheers
bob
What I mean by server is that there is a computer, or a group of networked computers, that runs the forum software, responds to requests from people's browsers, and stores all the old and current messages. It's called a web server because it provides the services that the forum readers request when they click on this or that button or link on the screen. A server can be programmed to send advertising back to the users' browsers in addition to the information they asked for, but it's a server whether or not it does advertising.
My point was that someone owns the computer, the disk storage system, the modem, or modem equivalent, possibly firewall software, uninterruptible power supply, etc., and while it's supporing the web site, it can't be used for more productive purposes. Similarly, someone provides services such as electric power, heat or cooling, periodic backups, software maintenance, hardware installation, etc., and the time and money spent on those services also can't be put to a more productive use. If Wayne can unilaterally decide to take the site down, then I suppose he's the one who owns the equipment and provides the service. That's what I meant asking didn't he also provide the server, in addition to the censorship.
I agree that a lot of sites sell ads to try to pay their costs, but not all, and again, it's not the ads that make a server.
I shouldn't have to say it, but I'm neither defending or attacking Wayne's behavior. I haven't visited the pond half a dozen times, and I have no stake in it, one way or the other. I am suggesting that there are plausible reasons for the behavior that you're attributing to Wayne.
Well, Uncle Dunc,
You will get no confrontation re: that from me.
Your speculation may well be more correct than mine.
Or perhaps not...
I respect your opinion and hope you can do likewise for me.
If not, what purpose is a forum?
Cheers
Bob
Edited 2/7/2003 8:13:09 PM ET by 4333
Here's the direct quote from the site.....
"Badger Pond supports itself from commissions earned on sales of items purchased through the Badger Pond Mall. Every item you purchase here generates a commission for Badger Pond enabling it to remain a free site. Please consider supporting Badger Pond whenever you have need of a product we carry."
I still have to wonder if perhaps one or more of the posters banned on the site were in some way related to some of the advertisers?
Like shooting yourself in your foot to get rid of a fly. ;-)
And, I still wonder if the advertisers appreciated the Sunday lockdown?
I know this is speculation on my part but, the fact remains that the Pond is closing.
regards Bob
Edited 2/9/2003 9:41:51 AM ET by 4333
Thanks for pointing that out. Like I said, I only visited there a few times. I know there are people who pay for web sites out of their own pocket. The comments you and others posted about Wayne's close, personal management led me to think he might be one of those. So mine was pretty much speculation too.
Regarding your previous post, I certainly took no offense from anything you wrote, and hope I didn't give offense either, as I intended none.
Uncle Dunc:
No offense taken.
The entire purpose of a forum is to discuss things .
I really hate spending good talking time on a debate. ;-)
I hope the tenseness felt from Wayne's decision to close the other forum give all us woodworkers another chance to appreciate one another and share our bounty.
regards
Bob
Edited 2/9/2003 6:10:14 PM ET by 4333
Badger Pond used a large commercial server farm. I don't know how they actually partion the load up, and that you get a computer, or several computers or a fraction of a computer, or just so much bandwidth and storage.
Also any large web site is done this way. And I am sure that is the way that Taunton's web sites work. They don't have a bank of computers and modems setting in someone's office.
Now for something like geocities and similar "free" sites they provide advertising and you don't have any control over it.
For the web sites that come with your ISP subscription you are usually limited to a small space and you are limited to what you can do. Such as no "servers" such as streaming audio or other things that take large bandwidth or that are commercial in nature.
For something like Taunton or Wayne operated the server company is only responsible for keeping the disk spinning and the power on. Within the limits of the bandwidth and disk space that you rent you can do anything that is legal.
In Waynes cases he had several sources of income and that include referal links to Amazon/ToolCrib, Rocklers and a few others.
In addition each message had small ad space. At one time he got it from an "advertising company", but there where to many complaints of some of the ads that where for diet pills and other non-wooding items. The ones that run now are all wood working related.
Wayne was an a.hole.
He accussed my of working for a company and promoting products and banned my from his site. (very far from the truth)
badger pond was a bunch of weenies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s always refreshing to see someone with an absolute command of the language, cut right through his critics and make them metaphorically “bleed”. I am particularly fond of that damning indictment…”bunch of weenies”. Could it have been put more succinctly? I think not. Bravo.
The Pond did its job. I was happy there; it was familiar and one of the first places I found after rediscovering my own love of woodworking. If I had found this, I hope my new home, first I would feel the same about this forum.
I really want to talk woodworking.
I got a DW788 for my birthday (0121) - love it. Also, just got my first "real" table saw, Powermatic 64A. Love it, hate the guard. Could they have possibly have made it more loser "un"friendly?
Skip (ex-weenie).
Where you where the one that was asking about a sharping service?
About 2 or 3 years ago someone from that sharping service posted a message as if they where a customer recommending that service. Then posted a couple of couple of replies as if they they where also different customers talking about how good the service was.
That kind of stuff does not go over well in any forum once it comes out what they were doing.
no bill, that was not me.
I just answered a question someone had about a better sander and shared my great success with the festool line. The lame wayne was one of those threatened by german tools maybe????
I was over that place long ago. The management was an anoyance.
Uncle Dunc makes a very good point in his post Wayne kept the trolls from over taking the forum on many other forums the trolls run rampant....
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