# Welcome Back, Everybody! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 1, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533 "2008-08-01T20:01:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/1 "2008-08-01T20:01:17Z")
It’s good to have everybody back now that the board has gone back to free posting! …um, is this thing on?.. No, actually it’s because there is no free posting. We’ve all come to expect empty promises and, given the frequency that the promises are broken, pretty much outright lies, but this one is a whopper. This one wasn’t “we’ll get to it eventually”, this one was in writing, posted to the SDMB, that free posting was coming by the end of July. Oh, sure, there were weasel words and caveats, but there were actually dates for a change. A good number of people hit the bricks in anticipation of this change, and now they’re shut out unless they pay. And what will that get them? A year of freedom from ads, something that the savvy computer user can do in about 5 minutes for nothing. Just a few days ago I said that I was tired of trying to teach the pig to sing. I still am, but it is now to the point that if anybody in charge here told me that water was wet I wouldn’t believe them. Don’t make promises you won’t keep. I know that they could be kept, but they won’t, so just stop lying to us. Nobody believes anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/2 "2008-08-01T20:38:03Z")
Do you actually expect this thread to get you anything? 1. It’ll happen if and when it happens, 2. there’s no way to predict either, and 3. the mods and administrators don’t know anything more than we do. It’s the same answer that’s been given in these threads for the last six months. Hurling pit threads at the mods isn’t going to suddenly give them info they don’t have. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/3 "2008-08-01T20:41:30Z")
I read it more as bitching in general, seeing as he didn’t name names. And I can see his point. But, yeah… Did you really expect it to happen, **Airman**? ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/4 "2008-08-01T20:41:41Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] Do you actually expect this thread to get you anything? [/QUOTE] No. ---
**Author:** ![freekalette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/50afbb/32.png) [@freekalette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freekalette)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/5 "2008-08-01T20:42:41Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] Hurling pit threads at the mods isn’t going to suddenly give them info they don’t have. [/QUOTE] Cite?? Sorry, couldn’t resist. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/6 "2008-08-01T20:51:53Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] Hurling pit threads at the mods isn’t going to suddenly give them info they don’t have. [/QUOTE] Well hey, I think the OP is as much of a drooling spit cup as the next person, but nothing was being hurled at any mods, although I"m sure some spittle got out. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/7 "2008-08-01T20:57:36Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] Do you actually expect this thread to get you anything? 1. It’ll happen if and when it happens, 2. there’s no way to predict either, and 3. the mods and administrators don’t know anything more than we do. It’s the same answer that’s been given in these threads for the last six months. Hurling pit threads at the mods isn’t going to suddenly give them info they don’t have. [/QUOTE] If it’s actually possible for the service to get worse, it will surely do so if people stop complaining. And yes, we can vote with wallets, we all know that too. ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/8 "2008-08-01T21:00:57Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] No. [/QUOTE] Have fun venting, then. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/9 "2008-08-01T21:05:51Z")
[QUOTE=Revtim] If it’s actually possible for the service to get worse, it will surely do so if people stop complaining. [/quote] I’m just getting irritated by the endless threads about this, when the mods have said over and over again that it’s not in their control. Who’s the bitching actually going to? No one who can do anything with or about it. Unless you seriously think that **Tuba** has any sort of control over the pricing structure of the parent company. > [@](#): > > And yes, we can vote with wallets, we all know that too. And yes, I can skip these threads too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/10 "2008-08-01T21:07:07Z")
Where did you read “by the end of July”? I seem to recall it was “June or July at the earliest” [according to TubaDiva](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9830918&postcount=5) ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/11 "2008-08-01T21:29:25Z")
[QUOTE=Airman Doors, USAF] Don’t make promises you won’t keep. I know that they could be kept, but they won’t, so just stop lying to us. Nobody believes anymore. [/QUOTE] As a fellow blue-suiter in the employ of Uncle $ugardaddy, haven’t you yet learned the Washington Two-Step? C’mon now. . . when has something promised free ever been _delivered_ free [sub]without fine print[/sub]? I’ve just come to accept that it isn’t going to happen, but I’ll pay a few bucks here and there to do my thing. Personally, I get more than $7.95/year in laughter than I do anywhere else. YMMV. Tripler “You put your left foot in, you pull the red tape out, you get your checkbook here, and ya scribble all about. . .” ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/12 "2008-08-01T21:33:43Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] Who’s the bitching actually going to? No one who can do anything with or about it. [/QUOTE] That’s where you’re wrong. Clearly, the complaints _do_ get to someone in control; or have you forgotten when ads were turned on for all members, paid and unpaid alike, which were subsequently turned off just days after an outraged pit thread about it? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/13 "2008-08-01T21:39:35Z")
I’m sure we can make something happen – if we boycott and refuse to pay without guarantees the service will improve. One of the following changes WILL happen: 1. They will improve the service and invite people to re-subscribe. 2. They will GUARANTEE to improve the service, and invite people to re-subscribe. Then they won’t improve anything, or make such a marginal improvement that it is not noticeable to the average user. 3. The will shut down the board permanently. So, anyone care to roll the dice? ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/14 "2008-08-01T22:27:15Z")
Well I’m paid through next year, but thanks. Glad to be back. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/15 "2008-08-01T22:35:05Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] Where did you read “by the end of July”? [/QUOTE] Seconded. I remember Ed Zotti saying something like “around June or July” or “not before June or July”. Working in the IT industry, I am not at all surprised to see a deadline slip. I wouldn’t even be surprised if, in the time since the announcement, a different decision had been made altogether. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/16 "2008-08-01T22:35:27Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] That’s where you’re wrong. Clearly, the complaints _do_ get to someone in control; or have you forgotten when ads were turned on for all members, paid and unpaid alike, which were subsequently turned off just days after an outraged pit thread about it? [/QUOTE] Just for the record, there was at least 18 threads spread throughout the boards on that particular issue. 1. [No more banner ads for subscribers](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446080) Ed Zotti 2. [Is the Straight Dope marketed anywhere or in any way? If so by Whom?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445967) Phlosphr 3. [I’ve downloaded adblock but I still see ads.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445902) Contrapuntal 4. [It’s just a Banner Ad.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445956) Lobsang 5. [Banner ads? You’re kidding, right?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445824) Zsofia 6. [Banner Ads: An SDMB Posting Boycott](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445953) Scissorjack 7. [So who will actually leave due to banner ads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445895) yojimbo 8. [Sorry for all the uproar.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445936) TubaDiva 9. [Recommend a Good Ad-Blocking Program or Plug-In](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446067) garygnu 10. [Split off SDMB from Chi Reader?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445958) Musicat 11. [Where are we going to go when we abandon this dump?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445869) silenus 12. [Banner ads or Subscriptions? A Poll](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445987) Sapo 13. [Boycotting the banners ads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446043) Winston Smith 14. [Today’s reason to b](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446042) Lobsang 15. [Does SDMB need a new slogan?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=446010) Musicat 16. [Is the Blitzkrieg over yet? Can those who don’t mind the banner ads come out to play?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445969) Phlosphr 17. [Banner ads for _members_](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445818) Noone Special 18. [Banner Ads](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=437136) jdavis Some of these were only barely related and not all were bitching, but the response was huge. (Before anyone asks that took me about 8 minutes to do in word, converting an HTML page the dope generated) I have mentioned it before, but if you are really annoyed by the delay in positive changes, bitching here and to the mods won’t really help. You need to send Emails to \*\*Ed Zotti \*\* and the new owners at Creative Loafing. It does not mean they will do anything, but if many people are asking and complaining, maybe they will. Meanwhile enjoy the pitting, but drop an Email to someone actually in charge too. Jim ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/17 "2008-08-01T22:36:31Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] Seconded. I remember Ed Zotti saying something like “around June or July” or “not before June or July”. Working in the IT industry, I am not at all surprised to see a deadline slip. I wouldn’t even be surprised if, in the time since the announcement, a different decision had been made altogether. [/QUOTE] I’m not surprised either, but we in IT usually send out updates to the concerned parties. I have seen any updates, have you? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/18 "2008-08-01T22:39:00Z")
[QUOTE=Kat] Where did you read “by the end of July”? I seem to recall it was “June or July at the earliest” [according to TubaDiva](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9830918&postcount=5) [/QUOTE] > **[YIKES! When To Renew?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=463405)** > > Isn’t about that time of year again to renew our SD memberships??? When is this dubious date? I am always so afraid of being dropped! Of course, some would applaud that… 😃 > [@Ed Zotti](#): > > I don’t have much to add to what I said earlier. As of now a subscription is still required to post, and most charter member subscriptions expire around May 10. It’s highly unlikely we’ll be ready to switch to free posting by then - June or July is more like it. > **[Improving the SDMB](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=461088)** > > UPDATE AS OF 5/11/2008: As of now a subscription is still required to post. We’re not ready to switch to free posting yet - June or July is more like it. While dropping the fee is simply a matter of changing a software setting or two, we need to have... > [@Ed Zotti](#): > > UPDATE AS OF 5/11/2008: As of now a subscription is still required to post. We’re not ready to switch to free posting yet - June or July is more like it. > [@](#): > > I’m a charter member but ads don’t bug me. I’m going to let my subscription lapse. Will free posting begin by April 30? > > We can’t guarantee that. If it seems like we’re close, we’ll probably just extend everyone’s subscription a week or two. SEE UPDATE ABOVE - Free posting probably won’t begin until June or July. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/19 "2008-08-01T22:43:25Z")
[QUOTE=Arnold Winkelried] Seconded. I remember Ed Zotti saying something like “around June or July” or “not before June or July”. Working in the IT industry, I am not at all surprised to see a deadline slip. I wouldn’t even be surprised if, in the time since the announcement, a different decision had been made altogether. [/QUOTE] When I give a date in work I’m expected to hit it or let the people involved know why it’s not going to be hit in advance of the deadline. Not only is it the professional thing to do it is also just common fucking courtesy. ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2008, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533/20 "2008-08-01T23:05:29Z")
[QUOTE=yojimbo] When I give a date in work I’m expected to hit it or let the people involved know why it’s not going to be hit in advance of the deadline. Not only is it the professional thing to do it is also just common fucking courtesy. [/QUOTE] You too? Poor fucking bastard. That keeping your word bullshit. :rolleyes: I’ll bet your customers just love you. 😉 One of the few things I have in this shitty ass world is my word, and when I can’t stick to it, you can bet your greasy ass I apologize before I fuck you. But I’m not bitter. I’m just soo fucking happy that the wonderful personnel here allow me to keep posting. Never mind the child raping trolls. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-back-everybody/458533.md?page=2)