Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

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  • Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

    Hello Larry,

    I have not been on your board recently, and just noticed that some old climate change posts are now locked (no further posting allowed).

    Is this a new policy to restrict posts to chess only?

    Regards,
    Paul

  • #2
    Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

    Originally posted by Paul Beckwith View Post
    Is this a new policy to restrict posts to chess only?
    I hope so!
    A computer beat me in chess, but it was no match when it came to kickboxing

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

      Originally posted by Ernest Klubis View Post
      I hope so!
      Well, aside from some server storage space, I don't see why some off-topic threads (provided they have value in general) would cause a problem... buried in those climate change threads were a lot of very useful links to additional information - of course, the usual signal to noise ratios exist.

      One doesn't have to read threads unless the title seems appealing or interesting... ;)
      ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

        I'd be happy to create an "Off-topic" subforum if that's okay with Larry, then we could keep all the Chess-talk here.
        Christopher Mallon
        FIDE Arbiter

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

          Originally posted by Kerry Liles View Post
          One doesn't have to read threads unless the title seems appealing or interesting... ;)
          Kerry, I would understand if we have it occasionally, but unfortunately for some people it becomes an obsession. If a new visitor comes here and counts number of posts on global warming we have, he would think that we were hijacked by anarchists. Their plenty of other forums that would accommodate their personal interests. I like Chris idea, but call it clearly to prevent any confusion. As an example: " NOT Chess Stuff ".
          A computer beat me in chess, but it was no match when it came to kickboxing

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

            Originally posted by Christopher Mallon View Post
            I'd be happy to create an "Off-topic" subforum if that's okay with Larry, then we could keep all the Chess-talk here.
            I think Larry said to take it somewhere else.

            Personally, I can't think of much to add to the duplication of arguments which has already been written. The discussion had changed from anything productive to an attempt of some of the participants to impose their will on others.
            Gary Ruben
            CC - IA and SIM

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

              Originally posted by Ernest Klubis View Post
              Kerry, I would understand if we have it occasionally, but unfortunately for some people it becomes an obsession. If a new visitor comes here and counts number of posts on global warming we have, he would think that we were hijacked by anarchists. Their plenty of other forums that would accommodate their personal interests. I like Chris idea, but call it clearly to prevent any confusion. As an example: " NOT Chess Stuff ".
              I think Gary hit the nail on the head - despite any initial good intentions, threads often get hijacked or stray from the original ideas - either deliberately or otherwise... The site is called ChessTalk after all, so I am ok with enforcing the requirement to have a chess connection of some kind.
              ...Mike Pence: the Lord of the fly.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                Originally posted by Ernest Klubis View Post
                " NOT Chess Stuff ".
                Really though... how much of what's posted on chesstalk is actually chess related? Most of the good (chess) stuff never turns into a topic of discussion.
                I don't see why climate change is any worse than some of the garbage that's posted here related in some way to the community but not actually chess.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                  Have a look at the way "Australian Chess Chat" has their board set up (too many categories I think). Notice that the "Non-Chess" category has almost as many views as all the "Chess" categories put together.

                  Even "Non-Chess" is broken down into Politics, Religion and Science, and Teen Forum - as well as a general "Non-Chess" board where the popular threads are:

                  1) Cricket
                  2) What did you do today?
                  3) Football - Soccer
                  4) What song are you listening to RIGHT NOW?
                  5) Jokes (warning- taste level varies)

                  The "global warming" threads are split between Politics and Religion and Science. Most popular thread overall seems to be the one on Religion and Science titled: "Does God Exist"? (over 78,000 views).

                  http://www.chesschat.org/

                  (I think simply "Chess" and "Non-Chess" would by sufficient for Chesstalk.)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                    Originally posted by Paul Beckwith View Post
                    Hello Larry,

                    I have not been on your board recently, and just noticed that some old climate change posts are now locked (no further posting allowed).

                    Is this a new policy to restrict posts to chess only?

                    Regards,
                    Paul
                    Hi Paul,

                    This is what I wrote when I locked the posts...



                    "Hi Guys,

                    Can you bring this discussion to another board. I don't mind off topic posts from time to time...but I think this is a little much :)

                    Have a great climate productive... 2010 :)"

                    So Paul

                    Basically I think it got a little overcooked :)

                    I always appreciate your comments Paul... and welcome your off-topics thoughts on occasion...but only on occasion :)

                    Larry

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                      Originally posted by Larry Bevand View Post
                      Hi Paul,

                      This is what I wrote when I locked the posts...



                      "Hi Guys,

                      Can you bring this discussion to another board. I don't mind off topic posts from time to time...but I think this is a little much :)

                      Have a great climate productive... 2010 :)"

                      So Paul

                      Basically I think it got a little overcooked :)

                      I always appreciate your comments Paul... and welcome your off-topics thoughts on occasion...but only on occasion :)

                      Larry
                      Larry, from what I can tell, your post explaining the locking of the threads never made it as a separate post. I also wondered what happened when the threads were locked, and found nothing.

                      Then I looked through the latest posts on those climate threads, and somehow your post got merged with a post by Carl Bilodeau. So very few readers of those threads might have seen your post.

                      Just now I did a search of your posts, and it's not showing up there either.

                      BTW, you're mentioning of posting off-topic "on occasion" reminds me of my high school Business Law class. The teacher would try to give us the legal definition of "reasonable", since this term shows up in so many business contracts.

                      And the definition of "reasonable" is: "Anything that isn't unreasonable."
                      Only the rushing is heard...
                      Onward flies the bird.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                        Hello Larry,

                        Thanks for the clarification; I did not see your original post.

                        I agree that the climate posts were too dominating, and I understand your decision. I think there was a huge number of posts in December due to world events (Copenhagen conference, hacked emails, etc.); these events also had worldwide media coverage so were on a lot of peoples minds; including chess players. That should slow down somewhat now.

                        On the other hand; there were benefits for you. I do think that the discussions on this topic were popular with ChessTalk users based on the number of posts and traffic to the posts. In other words it did draw traffic to the site in general which is a good thing.

                        Perhaps you could consider allowing one thread called Climate Change Topics to appear and deleting or locking any post on this topic that did not appear in the one designated thread? That way the topic would not be discussed in multiple posts.

                        Just a thought...

                        Regards,
                        Paul

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                          Let's not forget (I know I've tried to) Gary's Mother of All Threads, Depression.

                          Off-topic threads do cause worthy chessy threads to be trundled off the front index page.

                          I suggest that the off-topic section be called:
                          Café Bavarder

                          and that all off-topic threads be sent there. Learning a new word in French--nobody could claim it is useless!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Larry; Are climate change postings banned on this site now?

                            Originally posted by Jonathan Berry View Post
                            Let's not forget (I know I've tried to) Gary's Mother of All Threads, Depression.

                            Off-topic threads do cause worthy chessy threads to be trundled off the front index page.

                            I suggest that the off-topic section be called:
                            Café Bavarder

                            and that all off-topic threads be sent there. Learning a new word in French--nobody could claim it is useless!
                            Thank you, Jonathan. I hoped you enjoyed it. :)

                            There were some differences from most which give predictions. They were timely. They pretty much happened and were relatively accurate. Things could have been different and the economy turned upward instead of downward.

                            You can't ride the wave if you don't see it coming.

                            When someone asks "who knew", I smile. I used the same computer to figure it out as I use to decide my correspondence chess moves. I love to use that line on the ICCF message board. :)
                            Gary Ruben
                            CC - IA and SIM

                            Comment

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