What are these?

[K9CCH]

I have nothing to do at 2am, so I was inspecting the home page and clicked on the 'users online' tag, and this is what I found.

9999

Why are google 'spiders' viewing domestic violence threads on a ham radio forum?

And I was also wondering how much of this forum is unviewable by non-registered members.?

[Bubba]

Wow, you are a smart dude. The google spider is the NSA. However, you bring up a point that I have always felt strongly about. I was under the impression that only registered users could view the content of the sensitive / selective areas of discussion, ie. politics. etc. Apparently I was wrong. When I signed out, I could read everything. That is terrible. That means I can’t speak my mind anymore if Bob is watching... Most forums that are related to having a license in a specific area, or discussion , ham radio, ATC airline pilots forum, medical, law etc. etc. will only allow the public to view the general, or educational portions of the forum. I could list them all but it’s not necessary. I can’t even view the landscaping forum postings without becoming a member. I hope we put this up for a vote and change it.

[ad4mg]

Why are google 'spiders' viewing domestic violence threads on a ham radio forum?
This is normal activity, performed by nearly all of the search engines. They harvest data useful to their function as search engines. This is allowed, otherwise, there would be little to see if you 'googled' HamIsland.


And I was also wondering how much of this forum is unviewable by non-registered members.?
Not too much. Goes with the theme of acting as adults. The political forum is intentionally public if for no other reason than to add a level of accountability for what's posted.

Forums invisible to non-members have this listed in their descriptions on the index page. All other forums are public and may be viewed by non-members.

Profiles here are off-limits to non-members and bots alike.

None of this is likely to change. There is a fine balance between portraying the site as open and inviting to all versus paranoid and secretive.

You should carefully consider what you post in both the public and private forums, as it is very likely going to remain just as you offered it for a very long time.

Use your freedom to speak your mind here carefully. If you think you're gonna regret saying something here, you're probably right!

[Bubba]

I respectfully disagree. Most forums today, require membership, accountability, to view the forums materiel. Its like a private club for hams, if you don’t have to join, but everyone can mock and read what you write as non members it is just not right. Most forums of specific subject materiel are this way, and it is a good idea. News forums are the only exceptions. I say we vote. Any seconds.

[WØTKX]

I respectfully disagree. Most forums today, require membership, accountability, to view the forums materiel. Its like a private club for hams, if you don’t have to join, but everyone can mock and read what you write as non members it is just not right. Most forums of specific subject materiel are this way, and it is a good idea. News forums are the only exceptions. I say we vote. Any seconds.

Object to Consideration!

[KB3LAZ]

After logging out of my account to test every amateur radio related forum I visit I have found that most of them allow me to read most boards if not all. The island, QRZ, QTH, Eham, Radioreference, AMfone, etc. However, most only have a general chat section if that when talking about non radio related material. IE most radio sites talk about only radio topics. Or rather, that is what is intended. Most of my major gaming forums allow me to read everything while not logged in as well. I also visit reptile forums and they run about 50/50 open to public reading vs closed. So with that group it is a toss up.

I cant speak for any other type of forum.

[W4GPL]

Yeah, most of the forums I frequent allow open access to most of the content.

I don't plan on changing anything. We've dawn a lot of new members in through Google and other search engines.

[Bubba]

I just don’t see the politics section as necessary to read for everyone. But ok.

[K7SGJ]

<snip>I also visit reptile forums and they run about 50/50 open to public reading vs closed. So with that group it is a toss up.

I cant speak for any other type of forum.

Wow, I thought you quit going to the ZED.

[K7SGJ]

I respectfully disagree. Most forums today, require membership, accountability, to view the forums materiel. Its like a private club for hams, if you don’t have to join, but everyone can mock and read what you write as non members it is just not right. Most forums of specific subject materiel are this way, and it is a good idea. News forums are the only exceptions. I say we vote. Any seconds.


Not from me. The way it is and has been is fine by me. I don't usually go out of my way to post things I can be mocked about, but if/when it happens, color me "I don't give a shit". Besides, I don't go to other sites to see if anyone is posting shit about me anyway. I have some real problems in my life to address, and believe me, that isn't one of them.

[WØTKX]

Your sigline is mockery. :mrgreen:

[Bubba]

Not from me. The way it is and has been is fine by me. I don't usually go out of my way to post things I can be mocked about, but if/when it happens, color me "I don't give a shit". Besides, I don't go to other sites to see if anyone is posting shit about me anyway. I have some real problems in my life to address, and believe me, that isn't one of them.

If only you knew.

[K9CCH]

I was just wondering. I didn't mean to start an argument.

I've been a bit more forthcoming with personal information in my posts here because of the welcoming environment, and because I thought it was more or less not available to the public. I'll just remember to watch what I say and in what areas of the forum I say it in.

[Bubba]

I was just wondering. I didn't mean to start an argument.

I've been a bit more forthcoming with personal information in my posts here because of the welcoming environment, and because I thought it was more or less not available to the public. I'll just remember to watch what I say and in what areas of the forum I say it in.

Exactly !! Thats how I feel as well. Thats why I don’t see the downside in making the correction. Otherwise all future, potentially lively and vibrant discussions are going to be significantly dumbed down to lameness. I mean, if the forum rules allows you to talk crudely about LGBT issues, and drop F bombs on people freely, at least you should be a member to be able to read it. Just common sense. Thats not unreasonable. Upon further review of this topic, really the only forum that should be privatized additionally is the “Politics “ forum. I says “ The Forbidden Zone “ on the title, I mean WTF. The Decontam, and Rumbus are done appropriately already. The rest of the forum should be open. Now, saying all this, I know does not mean cr*p, as I know I am a worthless POS already and my opinion doesn't matter, as it shouldn't. :rant:

[K9CCH]

10007

[Bubba]

Thats the kind of sheet that will get you in trouble...

[K9CCH]

Especially when the basket fails...

[ad4mg]

Exactly !! Thats how I feel as well. Thats why I don’t see the downside in making the correction. Otherwise all future, potentially lively and vibrant discussions are going to be significantly dumbed down to lameness. I mean, if the forum rules allows you to talk crudely about LGBT issues, and drop F bombs on people freely, at least you should be a member to be able to read it.
The forum rules don't say one way or the other, although they request things be kept at a PG or PG-13 rating. It is our loose enforcement of the rules that allows things to roll. We'll step in when it gets out of hand. Also, except for a brief experiment, the rules here haven't changed significantly in over 7 years, and I'd say we have plenty of 'vibrant' discussions.


Just common sense. Thats not unreasonable. Upon further review of this topic, really the only forum that should be privatized additionally is the “Politics “ forum. I says “ The Forbidden Zone “ on the title, I mean WTF. The Decontam, and Rumbus are done appropriately already. The rest of the forum should be open. Now, saying all this, I know does not mean cr*p, as I know I am a worthless POS already and my opinion doesn't matter, as it shouldn't. :rant:
I can't understand why you wish to hide political discussion. We hide the DZ because it's 99.9% QRZ discussions, and they grew old a while back. The Rumpus Room was a place for the odd, the macabre, and racy jokes that may not appeal to a wider audience.

By now you should have an understanding that you may state your opinion without fear of retaliation by any of the staff. Try that on your everyday amateur radio forum and let me know how it works out for you.

The political forum needs all the fresh air it can get. It keeps things in there from rotting.

[K7SGJ]

Your sigline is mockery. :mrgreen:


I prefer to think of it more as plagiarism.

[Bubba]

The forum rules don't say one way or the other, although they request things be kept at a PG or PG-13 rating. It is our loose enforcement of the rules that allows things to roll. We'll step in when it gets out of hand. Also, except for a brief experiment, the rules here haven't changed significantly in over 7 years, and I'd say we have plenty of 'vibrant' discussions.


I can't understand why you wish to hide political discussion. We hide the DZ because it's 99.9% QRZ discussions, and they grew old a while back. The Rumpus Room was a place for the odd, the macabre, and racy jokes that may not appeal to a wider audience.

By now you should have an understanding that you may state your opinion without fear of retaliation by any of the staff. Try that on your everyday amateur radio forum and let me know how it works out for you.

The political forum needs all the fresh air it can get. It keeps things in there from rotting.

I agree with you 100%. However, we are obviously talking about two totally different subjects without even knowing. We can pm if interested, but I’m loosing interest anyway.

[kb2vxa]

Sorry if I don't understand why you're even having this discussion... or maybe I DO. Could be you don't observe the following common sense rule, the only one you really need.

"I'll just remember to watch what I say and in what areas of the forum I say it in."

I'll just remember to watch what I say. STOP! Never mind WHERE you say it, if you can't say it everywhere you can't say it anywhere.

[Bubba]

Sorry if I don't understand why you're even having this discussion... or maybe I DO. Could be you don't observe the following common sense rule, the only one you really need.

"I'll just remember to watch what I say and in what areas of the forum I say it in."

I'll just remember to watch what I say. STOP! Never mind WHERE you say it, if you can't say it everywhere you can't say it anywhere.

Have you ever been in a deposition ?

[n2ize]

Wow, you are a smart dude. The google spider is the NSA. However, you bring up a point that I have always felt strongly about. I was under the impression that only registered users could view the content of the sensitive / selective areas of discussion, ie. politics. etc. Apparently I was wrong. When I signed out, I could read everything. That is terrible. That means I can’t speak my mind anymore if Bob is watching... Most forums that are related to having a license in a specific area, or discussion , ham radio, ATC airline pilots forum, medical, law etc. etc. will only allow the public to view the general, or educational portions of the forum. I could list them all but it’s not necessary. I can’t even view the landscaping forum postings without becoming a member. I hope we put this up for a vote and change it.

Google spiders are not the NSA. They are simply bots that scour the net for search links. In fact, anyone can run a spider. I run a spider on certain sites specifically related to my profession. The spider periodically collects updates and changes and updates followng the instructions in "robots.txt" for the given site and that information ends up in my personal search engine. If I wanted to I could spider the entire web but that would be pointless since I can use Google or Bing or Yahoo or any of the other publically available archive/search engines

[n2ize]

Have you ever been in a deposition ?

As a general rule if you don;t want the public to know then don;t say it on the internet. Anything I have said here, or on FB, or most other sites is public knowledge to anyone interested and can be used against me by anyone who desires to do so,

[WX7P]

Have you ever been in a deposition ?

yes

[WØTKX]

I try to make a deposit every day. With regularity.