What's up with the penalty box?

[Diesel]

Just saw the new section called the "penalty box".

A cute term that looks like the webmaster is now using to make sure that we all play nice.

So now you can be put in the penalty box if you ".....or just because your being a pain in the arse to the rest of the boards."

While I realize trolls can be a problem they are usually taken care of by other posters on this board.

The difference between this penalty box and ohare is that ohare has rules. Screw up a taxi or something else and your going there. With these new rules we are now put in the box on the whim of a moderator.

Falcon Capt has been truely enjoying his job by posting.. "whos next?"

Does this do the comunity any good? How about a 3 step process begining with taking care of things privately. Then if they still get out of hand dealing with it in public.

So now we are on notice that anything that might offend the mighty webmaster or falconcapt. Like maybe a difference in opinion in BBQ taste or that a Gulfstream is better than a falcon might get us put to the penalty box.

We all know that the webmaster doesn't like unions. I guess posting union stuff might get us put in the penalty box too.

Watch your back.....

 

[Brett Hull]

I agree. It's very airliners.net-esque.

 

[banned username 2]

Personal attacks, general disruption, posting personal info, posting porn are all things that will get you into the penalty box...

The members who are in there did one of the above things...

Feel free to discuss unions, aircraft types, airlines, BBQ, whatever... Basically, if you act mature, use a couple ounces of common sense and be civil, you will never have to worry about the penalty box...

It ain't rocket science...

 

[350DRIVER]

So I was the goat?

No reason or justification is given to the user unless they so choose to post in the "penalty box".

Is this tied into the DAL F/A by any chance?

stumped,

3 5 0

 

[banned username 2]

So I was the goat?

No reason or justification is given to the user unless they so choose to post in the "penalty box".

Is this tied into the DAL F/A by any chance?

stumped,

3 5 0

Not sure on your situation, I wasn't the one who tossed you in there... When someone gets banned, the Mod who banned them is supposed to post something in the Penalty Box stating why they were banned and for how long...

 

[350DRIVER]

Not sure on your situation, I wasn't the one who tossed you in there... When someone gets banned, the Mod who banned them is supposed to post something in the Penalty Box stating why they were banned and for how long...

He must just not like me

3 5 0

(being careful with the words)

 

[328dude]

I think this is a very bad idea.

Ok moderator's. Here's a few questions.

Define personal attack? Does a difference of opinion constitute a personal attack.

General Disruption? What is that? So what you might construd as a disruption is another member just venting his own opinion? To broad a subject. Needs to be defined a bit more. Are there topics associated with this. For instance, religion. That alway's seems to get diffrent people all freaky. Again, define for us kids in the sandbox.

Personal info? I agree with.

I'm a little shocked that Flightinfo.com has started to convert itself into an easy listening station.

If you start banning people for just general offenses, not only does it hurt your fan base, it will also hurt you in your financial status in the next round.

Falcon? Your "Who's Next" line needs to go. Not very proffesional from someone who is preaching to all of us about proffesionalism.

Just a thought. Have fun in your patrol's.

 

[banned username 2]

Falcon? Your "Who's Next" line needs to go. Not very proffesional from someone who is preaching to all of us about proffesionalism.

That quote was because someone was stupid (yes I use the word STUPID because it is about the only appropriate word in this case) to post as their avatar a picture of a totally nude genital section of a woman with a model plane stuffed half way up... Now you can't tell me that anyone with half a brain can't see that this would constitute totally unacceptable behavior on a board such as this... In addition this person had just registered, this was their first post and they were bringing attention to said post by naming it "Flown anywhere deep lately?"

Give me a break... Stupid is as Stupid does and stupid got banned for 3 days... There are kids on this board and there are a LOT of members on here with small children in the house or nearby when they might be viewing these forums... The Membership doesn't need to be shown porn unexpectedly when their child could be sitting with them...

Yeah "Who's Next?" was refering to who is the next person to do something this utterly stupid?

Just a thought. Have fun in your patrol's.

Well basically the "Patrols" are done by the general membership... I don't read even 1/100th of the posts that are posted here everyday, but when a post gets reported by a member, every Moderator gets an email notifying them of the reported post. Over 1/2 of the reported posts don't even get deleted because it is just someone being "overly sensitive" or something along those lines... The other 1/2 or so get deleted because someone did something stupid...

I don't think it takes an rocket scientist to figure out what a personal attack is... Disagreeing with someones opinion on a topic does NOT constitute a personal attack, but if you rip them apart, say nasty things about their person, etc... Yeah, that would do it... You guys are trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill...

There really is nothing different going on than has gone on for the past few years... Posts have been being deleted when they were inappropriate, now we have a means to prevent the people from posting for a given period of time to prevent them from continually posting the same thing and causing the mods to have to continue after them cleaning up their mess...

The only people that should be concerned about the Penalty Box are the people who come here looking to make trouble, and nothing else... 99.9% of the membership will never see the penalty box...

Remember it is easy to sit back as a general user and say "Why the moderation" but sometimes you need to see the other side of the coin to see what some of these folks are doing to get "Moderated"... Most of the time the really bad stuff gets deleted before many people have to see it...

Again, make this into a mountain if you want, but there is nothing different going on except it has more visibility now, and that was the idea of the board webmaster who thought that if people could be seen who were banned, it might discourage people from making trouble...

It ain't rocket science, act mature, use a couple ounces of common sense and be civil, you will never have to worry about the penalty box...

 

[GravityHater]

incompletelydeletable

 

[banned username 2]

Throw me in the box for being stupid, blind or both but I cannot find the derned thing.. Where is it? How do you get there from here? I have clicked on jump to and about 8 forums are available but none "PB". I promise to delete this msg when an answer shows (if able).

It's the third section down on the first page of the forums, You have the Aviation Message Board and then the Aviation Interview Board and below that is the Penalty Box...

Here is a quick link: http://forums.flightinfo.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34

 

[Vector4fun]

An opposing viewpoint:


I appreciate a certain amount of decorum here. If I wanted to see, hear or read trash, I could just flip on the TV or listen to Howard. Dissecting an individual or idea while remaining civil, intelligent and mannerly takes quite a bit of effort for some I suppose. Why not rise to the challenge?

 

[Diesel]

It's funny how falconcapt is the only one with enough guts to post. While the moderator of flightinfo.com can't even get on here.

Good for falconcapt for defending your position.

 

[empenage]

Falco Capt

If you havent heard it from anyone else.

"I think you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work."

 

[banned username 2]

It's funny how falconcapt is the only one with enough guts to post. While the moderator of flightinfo.com can't even get on here.

Good for falconcapt for defending your position.

Falco Capt

If you havent heard it from anyone else.

"I think you're doing a great job. Keep up the good work."

Guys, thanks for your kind comments and support... I spend a lot of time on this board, probably way too much time... I think this board is a great resource for everyone, but whenever you have something like this you will inevitably have a few people who try to make trouble/ruin it for everyone else...

I think Mark does a great job running this board, but I think he is pretty busy at work and other things to keep up with this board, and that is why he has asked for several of us to Moderate. My Moderation style is fairly laid back... I let people go pretty far and a lot of the threads get way off topic and such, I don't care about that... Threads typically take a life of their own and migrate to some point and then usually die... The things that piss me off are the items I listed earlier (Personal attacks, general disruption, posting personal info, posting porn) will get you banned from me (I can't speak for the other Mods but I bet they will agree)...

Lets keep this place fun, informative and a valuable resource... Discuss anything you want, we are a huge group of people with similar backgrounds, interests and ideals... Let's just keep things to a G or PG level (no R, NC-17 or XXX) and everyone will be happy, treat people the way you want to be treated and everyone will be happy... and the Penalty Box will be the sparsest place on this board...

Like I said before, It ain't Rocket Science... If you come here looking to make trouble, you'll find trouble in the box, if you come here to read, post and become a contributing member to the board, you'll have a great time and will never find yourself in the box...

Again thanks to everyone who posts here and makes Flightinfo the valuable resource it is...

 

[wildbill]

Let's face it, the board is a lot of fun for most of us. If we want garbage we can go other places. I agree that I don't want to subject our families to alot of obscene garbage. From time to time I like for my wife to read some of the posts and laugh along with me. When you have to worry about what is posted, it no longer is fun or enjoyable. Thanks for doing a great job..

 

[bigD]

328Dude - a personal attack is very different than a mere difference in opinion. Or even a heated difference of opinion with a bunch of name calling going on. I moderate a private sports message board, and personal attacks are some of the more difficult things to deal with. The line is somewhat gray, but it's still obvious when someone crosses too far onto the wrong side. I think the moderators here are only taking action when this happens.

Any anonymous message board allows a group of people to argue, tease, and generally spar about certain subjects at a level removed from their personal lives. I don't participate, but I ocassionally browse the various threads about politics and religion, and of course there's a lot of name calling, heated words, etc...but I'd bet that most of those guys, in real life, would happily have a beer together. That's the beauty of message boards like this. The trouble comes when someone decides to break through this little 'barrier' and attack the actual person on the other side of the screen name.

This isn't a large industry, and many of us on these boards aren't all that anonymous (myself included). Awhile back, a female member of this board was told how unattractive she is by someone claiming to know her. In my mind, that's just bullsh*t, and has no business here. If you tell me that I'm an idiot for taking some 20K/yr 135 job, that I'm dragging down the industry, etc...that's one thing. But if you then mention that you know who I am, that I have two kids, then talk about the sh*tty Wal-Mart clothes they wear, the fact that my wife can't spend time with them because she's working another job - all because I wanted some SIC in something burning kerosene, that's crossing the line into getting personal.

I'm not a moderator here, but I think this is the type of thing they're trying to prevent.

 

[FN FAL]

Hey! Wazzup with picking on rocket scientists anyway?

I appreciate Falcon Capt's candor in this subject matter. Makes sense to me!



I think getting the point across in a post to a thread should be an art form, not a post that is so full of **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** and more **CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** to the point where you can't read the thing because the word "censored" is every line. I don't mind the occasional re-spelling of slang, to emphasize a point or to make a humorous post, but if used in an aggravated and excessive manner...it does get to be too much.



I also think the use of porn in avatars is a bad misuse of trust, that it signifies a maturity problem and that the person doing it suffers from a deviant personality. It also means that anyone can be exposed to it by simply opening a thread. I find this practice objectionable.



However, if someone posts a link with possibly objectionable material in it and gives enough of a warning in their post so that an unaware person does not click on it, I do not really care about the content because a choice could be made at that point in time. I have to agree with most, that if we log on at work, we do not want to be subject to disciplinary action by our employers for violating company policy. I also empathize with those readers that have children at home or have other viewpoints regarding objectionable graphics.


I don't view the "penalty box" as a threat or a goal to be achieved, I view it as a reminder to use a little thoughtfullness and tact when posting.

 

[banned username 2]

I don't view the "penalty box" as a threat or a goal to be achieved, I view it as a reminder to use a little thoughtfullness and tact when posting.

FN FAL,

VERY well said!

 

[chrisdahut24]

Could someone explain what the real life penalty box at O'hare is all about? Never heard of it before!

 

[TheDogsBollocks]

So,
Our English moderator has now invented the "penalty box" for miscreant's who end up on the moderators sh*t list for inappropriate postings.

Looks like Hugh Jorgan will have to be careful!

I'll miss his posts-consistantly some of the funniest posted when he is
"sent off"

 

[GravityHater]

Could someone explain what the real life penalty box at O'hare is all about? Never heard of it before!

Well none of the qualified pilots have answered so second hand I have heard this: It is a place on the airport surface where you are made to sit and stew (contemplate the errors of your ways) following an action by you the pilot which makes ground control upset, even if you did not break an FAR.
I was told it was an unofficial place and the action is also unofficial ie not published and because of this it is more of a way for a controller to silently vent their rage at an errant pilot.
Sometimes posting an incorrect answer will bring out the truth in a topic, hope it works for you.

 

[English]

So,
Our English moderator has now invented the "penalty box" for miscreant's who end up on the moderators sh*t list for inappropriate postings.

Looks like Hugh Jorgan will have to be careful!

I'll miss his posts-consistantly some of the funniest posted when he is
"sent off"

Who is the English moderator? I hope you aren't referring to me - I'm not a moderator.

And, why miss Hugh's posts? He's still here, isn't he? I don't see him in the penalty box.

 

[Neal]

my 2 cents

Over the last year I have:

1) removed 328 inappropriate avatars
2) banned permanently 100 people from ever posting on the boards again
3) Been threatened to be sued 124 times
4) Been subpoenaed 32 times for posters information
5) Edited 1000's of messages of people posting personal information
6) Blocked 56 IP address forever
7) Wrote 12 letters to different universities complaining about their students using the university internet access to post porn.


This is just plain STUPID...complete waste of time.....why do people do such stupid things...amazes me really. I have a ton of things I want to do to the site to make it alot more fun....but spend too much time putting out fires to implement anything new.

I spend on average 2 to 4 hours everyday fixing peoples username errors and registration problems and fighting all the above crap all because people cannot ACT professionally or with common sense. I am tired and it is wearing on me. My only hope was to create a penalty area where people could have the time to think about what they post and say.

Bottom line...... act like grown ups and you will never have to worry about it. Like Falcon Capt said 99.9% of all the users won't ever have to worry about it....it's that .1% that ruins it for everybody.

PEOPLE it isn't that hard!!!!

Mark - Webmaster

 

[English]

Over the last year I have:

1) removed 328 inappropriate avatars
2) banned permanently 100 people from ever posting on the boards again
3) Been threatened to be sued 124 times
4) Been subpoenaed 32 times for posters information
5) Edited 1000's of messages of people posting personal information
6) Blocked 56 IP address forever
7) Wrote 12 letters to different universities complaining about their students using the university internet access to post porn.

WOW. I had no idea how much work goes into maintaining this resource for us.

Thank you for providing this for us.

 

[TheDogsBollocks]

English,

You are not the moderator I was referring to - go check out the "penalty box" forum and read the moderator's post. Arse is the British English spelling of Ass from that I deduced the moderator was English.

In regards to Hugh, to the best of my knowledge he is still around but some of his previous posts may be of the nature that may incur a trip to the penalty box.

If he is unfortunate to find himself there one day it will be a great loss to the forum, his deleted post about responding to the female pilots being 8 times safer than male pilots had me falling off my chair.

 

[Neal]

Yea, people just don't realize how much time and effort is put into maintaining the site and that does account for what the moderators do....they spend a ton of time helping out with the moderations.

Half the battle is babysitting. If we could just get poeple to act like professionals and use common sense alot of the crap wouldn't need too be done.

What amazes me is what would possess one to display a porn avatar...what do you gain from that? Why would you post personal information about another person....are you just stupid thinking that they won't come after you legally for that? Scab list on a public forum....I don't get it????? Makes no sense to me. Heck I even had user threaten someone elses life on the boards.....what the HECK...HELLO that is a threat and you can go to jail for that.....HELLO MCFLY!!! (knocking on head)


Mark

 

[sqwkvfr]

4) Been subpoenaed 32 times for posters information

I'm just kinda curious here.....how do you handle subpoenas for that info?

Now keep in mind that whatever you do is just fine with me, but how does one handle divulging that sort of information from a privately owned message board?

 

[Neal]

Well, the courts can subpoena the IP data if they like. Essentially, that is all I have as the registration process doesn't ask for anything else....so all they get is a IP address.

 

[FN FAL]

If he is unfortunate to find himself there one day it will be a great loss to the forum, his deleted post about responding to the female pilots being 8 times safer than male pilots had me falling off my chair.

Hear yea now, hear yea now...all those in favor, say yea!

Sorry I missed his post, in context it must have been pretty funny! I like his posts! In fact I like a lot of you guy's/gal's posts. More than you can imagine.

FN FAL,

VERY well said!

Thanks! I think there are a lot of long time posters here that have a lot to bring to the forum. It may not be present in every post, but it is there none the less.

 

[English]

Well, the courts can subpoena the IP data if they like. Essentially, that is all I have as the registration process doesn't ask for anything else....so all they get is a IP address.

Do you notify the poster when you divulge their IP address?