From Sua:
Sua, you are absolutely correct - I did not mean to “lump” you. Your position I can understand and respect. Although I may not agree. 
I was reacting (with a huge knee jerk) to the responses more typical to Monster’s.
My apologies.
I thought this was a classic Uke Ike funny rather than a serious desire or hyperbole of a desire, surely?
Ike, are you asking goboy for a date? 
Lemme see. Silo was a jerk once too often. Took a year longer than expected, so no surprises there.
Manny and Tuba were high-handed, seemingly arbitrary, and remember enough of Silo’s old avatars to have difficulty looking beyond. They’re human; so what.
Look. I’ve had my problems with this board before, but not this time. He asked for it and got it.
Ike, sugar, there’s LOTS better things for you to lick than my boots. I can get mean in the Pit just like anyone else, but I don’t think I ever wished violent death on anyone as a rhetorical device. It just seems emblematic of the wild overreaction coming from many posters.
And Sua, we can disagree and I’ll still dig you, man.
I just wish other posters were as intelligent and as even-keeled in their protest of Silo’s banning as you.
Well Sua, you can read. Judge for yourself. It’s still the same story, whether you agree or disagree or sound like a nutcase or like a professional judge. Someone is banned then they are banned. It’s between that person and the admin/mods on whether they get reinstated. Continuously stating why you think it was right or wrong ain’t gonna change a thing and most people are intelligent enough to realize that when it gets right down to the nitty-gritty the person was banned for a reason whether you think it was right or wrong…there was a reason. While it’s nice that all the people come out and stand up for Silo and defend him, it still ain’t changed a thing. Nor should it.
Sure, Manny gets on the rag at times, but really, how much effect has it had on anyone and really what difference does it make. Most people are mature enough to take it with a grain of salt, while others are like ‘na na na look at what he gets to do and I don’t.’ Come on folks, get over it and quit beating a dead horse.
I’m outta here, this is enough.
A couple thoughts:
- Do I have something personal against Masterson? You betcha. I remember his shtick, even if others don’t. Want to know when he stopped? Was it when he realized that this is a wonderful community and he was ruining a chance to be a part of it? No. When he needed the vast resources of the TM on some question of fact or advice? No. No, he stopped his garbage when we got so tired of looking at it that we deleted it on sight, denying him the psychic reward of posting it in the first place. That’s right – he was beaten into submission one electron at a time.
Now comes Silo again, having discovered a way to use a resource that we’ve had to cut off to others. Told that his use of it may actually further reduce the resources available to others, he responds with, essentially, ‘eh.’
And yeah, I got mad about that. If search goes away, the TM are deprived of a resource solely because of one person. More selfishly, if search goes away, the workload in GQ goes up. Masterson already increased moderator workload once with unacceptable shenanigans. Twice?
This is a guy who is willing to deny resources to others for his own amusement.
- My language, and specifically why it was harsher in ATMB than here. Well, I got mad. I was addressing the poster, and was insufficiently mindful of the forum I was in. I wasn’t as mad at the OP here, so he didn’t get the blast.
That was wrong (the ATMB part, of course). And candidly, piling on was wrong – I should have kept it internal. So I apologize to the TM and to my fellow mods for my oversight on that point.
I, for one, would like to thank Manny for admitting that he acted out of sorts.
I realize that it wont bring Silo back, but it takes a big person to say “Okay… I went a little overboard. Sorry about that.” and in the spirit of my idealistic dream of what this board should be, I would like to be the first to accept Manny’s apology and forgive him his untoward actions.
Maybe I can set an example.
I like Silo and I am sad to see him leave.
Regardless of whether or not I feel the mods made a wrong decision, the drama in this thread is amazing. Are some of you truly “in fear” of being “gang raped”? Or so affected to the point of being “saddened and sickened”? Then this little gem that would rival the drama of daytime soaps *“And people think CHINA is an oppressive society that punishes people for thought crimes?? Try the SDMB on for size!” * Does it personally affect your life so much “that will not set well for me for time to come”?.
Then -
*“I actually DO believe that a single Mod’s actions on a recreational Message board is exactly the same thing as nation-wide political regulation for the largest country on earth.” *
You’re kidding, right? If it’s a joke, it isn’t getting through.
I am not one to use the cliché “get a life”, but really folks, if something like this whips you up into a foaming at the mouth frenzy, you really need to get out more.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to help a friend cope with the fact that last Sunday her 16 year old daughter wrapped her car around a tree, killing herself, another boy, and by the looks of things the other two boys in the car may not make it through the week. You know, something that really matters in the great scheme of life.
Thank you, Diane, for adding a little perspective to this thread. From some of the reactions here, I wasn’t sure if the administration had actually killed Silo or had banned him from posting here.
Damn fine post, Manny. Classy, even.
I’m not really understanding the idea in this thread that mods aren’t allowed to get mad. The mods had just spent a very long (and stressful) period of time making the search function behave in a manner that was beneficial to the boards. Then, suddenly, Silo comes along and posts a method that pretty much renders all their work null and void. Not only that, but there’s a lot of evidence to show that he used that method to resurrect one of his classic trolling threads. Manny, Euty, Lynn, Tuba, and all the other mods had every right to get angry. True, Manny overreacted a little, and used language that he probably shouldn’t have, but he just apologised for it, so that’s a moot point.
And speaking of apologizing, that’s exactly what Silo should have done. He should NOT have taken a patronizing tone with people whose work he had just rendered useless by posting a way to get around with it.
And my guess is that yes, if someone other than Silo had posted the back door method, they probably wouldn’t have gotten banned. Personally, I don’t see the problem with that. The mods and admins have made it very clear that Silo did not, in fact, get reinstated “no strings attatched.” He got allowed back with the understanding that if he messed up, he’d be gone. And that’s exactly what happened. He messed up. And to add insult to injury, he was an asshole about it.
I liked Silo. He was a nice guy, and a good poster. But the admins had every right to ban him.
-Walt
Make a mistake. Have mistake brought to your attention (even if in less than polite terms). Apologize for mistake.
Great idea, Manny. I just wish I had faith it would catch on.
So I was thinking about rob’s OP last night as I strived to sleep. I half-thought half-dreamt, the way you can only when you’re in that fuzzy nether-region of consciousness, that no one is overreacting, and that the Mods are suddenly going to go Ban-crazy. When I woke up, I dismissed these thoughts as more appropriate to a raving, monkey-molesting lunatic. But I still opened up the thread this morning deep-down suspecting that I’d see BANNED for this poster and BANNED for that poster, BANS all around.
Wouldn’t ya know it, not a single ban. Hmm, I guess paranoia is more fitting for a raving, monkey-molesting lunatic.
Quix
Watch it, you don’t want to face the wrath of a fireball flying your way.
I am just mad about the search function. I saw silo as banned in a pit thread so I try to use the search all function to see why he was banned.
I think the drama in this thread kills most of the humor:)
Every time I read one of these administration-bashing threads, the question arises in my mind:
How many of you who have expressed your displeasure at the actions of the moderators/administrators have ever started a thread thanking a moderator for changing a thread title?
Or originated a topic showing appreciation to an administrator for deleting spam? Or e-mailed a staff member to express your gratitude that the SDMB is not overrun with trolls trying to start fights?
Please ask yourself this the next time you feel the urge to criticize the administration. If you think something is not right, by all means speak up. But don’t forget to speak up from time to time when things go well also.
You’ve hit that right on the head, John. It doesn’t matter if you will freely admit that a thread exists, and send a copy to the people involved in it if they ask, and archive it properly, or anything. I can tell you that as an Admin myself I have found that deleting a thread or posts brings up shrill cries of “censorship”, “hiding the dirty laundry”, “covering up your crimes against humanity”, and all sort of fucking childish statements. Regardless of how good your motives are (motives tend to be ignored when someone has a Pet Cause)…of course, I still delete them nonetheless.
On the main subject - since I run my own Board I don’t feel free to comment on issues like this anymore over here. However, I guess this whole incident is more evidence as to some of the problems that may crop up if this becomes a Board underwritten by a paying membership.
Thank you, manhattan.
I said this privately, but I think it bears repeating:
Rules apply to everyone, that’s all.
As a member of the SD community, I thank you for the apology. Well said.
I know some folks feel that virtual hugs are fake and insincere, but I don’t, and I’m not doing this to suck up to y’all personally or to piss others who disagree with you off because I really don’t know you or you me. After what Arnold Winkelreid said about folks expressing more appreciation for the good things the mods do, I want y’all to know that I appreciate what y’all do. It’s tough making the hard calls and trying to keep order. Somedays my colleagues in Admin are near tears because they have to deal with idiots who think they’re entitled to be the exception to the rule and just lose all sense of decorum and good manners when it’s pointed out that they are indeed NOT exceptions to the rule. I really feel bad for y’all taking all this flack. So take this in the spirit of comfort that it’s offered. I’m not sure I can remember all your names so I’ll do it this way.
{{{{{{Mods/Admins}}}}}}
Hang in there.
We have heard people say “I read Silo’s post and I have no idea what he’s talking about”. It’s fair to say the post was inconsequential to this group of people.
We have also heard people say “I read the post and I know what he’s talking about.” The post was inconsequential to this group as well. Anyone that UNDERSTOOD Silo’s post (myself included) could have figured this “hack” out for themselves if they had a desire to search the board for all dates/all forums/whatever. They also would have noticed it if they used the search all prior to its’ removal.
I would also note that by pointing out this problem, Silo was assisting the SDMB by allowing the moderators to fix the problem. (The possibility of a fix was, of course, ignored.) This fact, however, was not considered, because we all know that Silo = Mike Masterson = Asshole. He MUST have had it in for the board. That bastard!
Silo was banned because he did not come out and say “sorry you guys, you were right, I shouldn’t have posted that”. He shouldn’t have had to apologize. Because his posting of the “hack” made no difference. To anyone.
No one read his post and said “Well, I can now h4x0r the SDMB, and I couldn’t before. Thanx Silo!”
- Rob
Wrong. I understood what he was saying just fine but I wouldn’t have thought to try it until I read his post.