I can’t speak for what exact control Ed or Cecil have over the place, because I’m not either of them. And it would be dishonest of me to imply that I have any super secret knowledge I could share. But I can say that I do know Ed and every other person I’ve communicated with is honestly, truly concerned about the SDMB performance, and that they do care that people have a board that works. As to what extent they have control over things, that’s something only they could answer. jdavis posted he was the person where the buck stops, and as far as I know that is truly the case. You know that already I reckon, but I can’t give any further info since I’m no insider. I guess I shouldn’t say anything on it really, but to not reply to your query with what I can say would be rude of me.
And I understand 100% that it may be hard to believe that Cecil or Ed do not have much more control over the operation and disposition of the site, but I will say that I have seen similar situations IRL - even worse ones - where a website set up for a client ends up being out of control of that client. It’s even happened to me directly, on an intranet site, where I ended up being so frustrated I threw away months of work rather than see it presented poorly on a slow server, and killed the project. That’s not a defense by any means, but just saying, things happen, and sometimes they keep on happening.
It is worth adding to Una’s comments that the website is not Cecil’s, nor Ed’s, but the Chicago READER’s. The READER has many aspects to the website, not just the Straight Dope. The Straight Dope is one weekly column in the READER, not the entirety thereof.
In the case of the forum which Colibri specifically mentions, the questions are along the lines of:
“der cecl i’m bein tracked by robots what do i do!”
“Hi Cecil! Long time fan, first time writer. Say, one of my chairs is wrong. Can you tell me why?”
“Hey Cecil, due to a birth defect my scrotum is the size of a casaba melon. This seems to put girls off for some reason. Can you tell me if Azerbaijanii mail-order brides will care about that? Mine is arriving next Tuesday.”
“What do I have in my pockets?”
“Dear Cecil, I have this (hideous medical problem) - can you tell me how to perform surgery at home using my father’s old Roy Rogers knife, since thanks to Bush I have no medical insurance. Pictures would help. Thanks!”
The title “… still thinking about” is probably a misnomer. It sort of means, one does a double-take. My favorite in that pile is still, “Dear Cecil, is my boyfriend cheating on me?”
Sometimes, things that I put in that forum are actually used by Cecil. I thought “Why does the Canada flag have a marijuana leaf on it?” was just silly, but Cecil put it to good use: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010112.html
Jerry’s responsibilities involve the technical side of the site; he’s the Information Systems Director for the Chicago Reader and as such is responsible for all that implies for the entire Reader empire. Ed is not the computer guy for the site but rather oversees Straight Dope content, though rights permissions and etc. reside with the Reader.
Ed is not responsible for advertising, that is also handled by the Reader.
But to get back to my question: If Ed said that it was important to keep the archives intact you are saying it would have to pass a Chicago Reader executive board review before Jerry would implement it? Ok, then.
Slight clarification: Besides the SDSAB Members, there’s some among the plain vanilla Members who will occasionally be asked by Dex to write an answer as a “Guest contributor” (preens modestly) to a specific question within that person’s expertise. They’re classified as “A Staff Report by the Straight Dope Science Advisory Board” but the writer doesn’t get the acronym under his/her username on the message board.
For example, Bricker has done enough Staff Reports to earn the SDSAB appellation. I’ve done only two Staff Reports and continue to be identified as a Charter Member.
:: looks plaintively at Dex ::
If I ever get that third article written, about gait-training, will I get promoted?
Apparently you’re not satisfied with 2/3 of a mug, are ya?
It appears to me, the artist, that Slug Signorino is really getting the short end of the ink pen here. Is an Oreo just a coupla chocolatey wafers? Is a Yodel just a rolled up bit of cake? Is sushi just a fistful of cold rice? Is Philadelphia really suffering from The Curse of Billy Penn? Is The Straight Dope merely a column of words?
Please.
A moment, if we may, to pay silent tribute to the visual half of our much-beloved Abbott and Costello. Our Nixon and Agnew. Our Laurel and Hardy. Our Punch and Judy. Without the timelessly mirthful contributions of the esteemed cartoonist, I do believe that The Straight Dope would not have arisen to the heights that it has.
Thank you, Slug. For the clever way you do what you do.
Keep at it EddyTeddyFreddy, squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that. Be forewarned however, while Dexter does technically have the ability to change user titles, the final decision rests, as always, with the Chicago Reader. The Board is unfortunately looking askance at title changes at the moment, what with the vagaries in the futures markets.*
*I’m just razzing you Tuba. Thanks for fixing my coding. I’m fairly sure you and Ed both probably want the full archives online so I hope you are able to sway whomever needs swaying.
