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pete.i

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2 minutes ago, tree monkey said:

Yes I agree to that, terrible advice from Athy about the spam but I'm not sure how much authority he actually has, there's personal responsibility here, if someone takes advice from a random bod on a forum and it bites them on the arse who's fault is it?

 

I doubt very much if he was trying to belittle tbh it's just his how his posts come across sometimes, the teacher snark hasn't completely left him I think :)

He's not a random bod.  He's a moderator.  Rightly or wrongly, that makes people more likely to trust his advice.

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6 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Those high walls of academia have shielded him from the real world for far too long.

Or they have trained him to have incredibly thick skin to shrug off the moaning on here

7 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

He's not a random bod.  He's a moderator.  Rightly or wrongly, that makes people more likely to trust his advice.

He is to me.

 I am aware he has areas of interest and would respect his opinion in those areas, otherwise he is just a mod applying the forum rules, although some respect is due for that just because I couldn't put up with modding on here

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Those high walls of academia have shielded him from the real world for far too long.

High walls don't protect from hackers.  My quick search on him, out of curiosity, revealed his full name and address, his nick-name, other then Athy, presumable related to his time living in France.  His wife's name.  His DOB and place of birth.  When he got married.  And even a nice mug-shot.  An identity thief's wet-dream (as Max Romeo might say). 

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8 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

High walls don't protect from hackers.  My quick search on him, out of curiosity, revealed his full name and address, his nick-name, other then Athy, presumable related to his time living in France.  His wife's name.  His DOB and place of birth.  When he got married.  And even a nice mug-shot.  An identity thief's wet-dream (as Max Romeo might say). 

Well, I just did a quick internet search on you. Apparently, you are a 7 year old Latina girl who enjoys embarking on quests.You can usually be seen with a back pack and a purple monkey.

 

I can see the monkey, but not the backpack.You often have encounters with a grumpy old troll (oh, no, that ain't me is it?)

 

 

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_the_Explorer

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56 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

 

 

And there's the problem.  An uninformed man, in a position of authority, (and therefore to be listened to) giving out very dangerous advice and then defending his view and belittling other views when challenged.

 

I don't have a problem with technophobes but don't then wade into debates like this with awful advice.

Being a gentle and tolerant soul, I don't have a problem with people who make erroneous accusations, you'll be relieved to hear. I did not give any advice, awful or otherwise. Nor did I write from a "position of authority" - my posts were made as a member of the forum.

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27 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

High walls don't protect from hackers.  My quick search on him, out of curiosity, revealed his full name and address, his nick-name, other then Athy, presumable related to his time living in France.  His wife's name.  His DOB and place of birth.  When he got married.  And even a nice mug-shot.  An identity thief's wet-dream (as Max Romeo might say). 

After that reggae reference I'll forgive you anything, almost.

Well done for finding out all that information, though I'm afraid it probably isn't of much interest to you. I don't have any guilty secrets, so I have no reason to be furtive.

It's a pity that you haven't found out which my favourite ales are, otherwise, now that you know my address, you could have sent a case round. 

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5 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

 

Interestingly, neither of you have the little star that flags you as having donated.  Did you both donate exactly a year ago?

 

If so, then it might be a genuine message.  @RichM should be able to confirm if it was.

I don't have a "little star" or the word "patron" by my name because I chose to donate and not boast about it. So basically I have donated every year since donations were asked for but only as a recurring "one off." I also do not reply to any begging letters or emails or phone calls or television adverts. They all get deleted and blocked or ignored.

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20 minutes ago, Athy said:

Being a gentle and tolerant soul, I don't have a problem with people who make erroneous accusations, you'll be relieved to hear. I did not give any advice, awful or otherwise. Nor did I write from a "position of authority" - my posts were made as a member of the forum.

But that's simply not true. The "Moderator" label appears on every post you make (even those posts made in the past....before you were a moderator) so it would be necessary to state its an opinion as a normal member, not a mod, if that were your intention.

 

I looked at it and thought "it could be the subscription auto-renewal email" but only those who set it up or triggered the subscription to be paid would have known. I'm going to assume you know the site accepts donations and who does that aspect of running the site......you do know those details, right?

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1 minute ago, Paul C said:

But that's simply not true. The "Moderator" label appears on every post you make (even those posts made in the past....before you were a moderator) so it would be necessary to state its an opinion as a normal member, not a mod, if that were your intention.

 

I looked at it and thought "it could be the subscription auto-renewal email" but only those who set it up or triggered the subscription to be paid would have known. I'm going to assume you know the site accepts donations and who does that aspect of running the site......you do know those details, right?

On the contrary, it is true. Moddies are normal people too - though, from your recent posts, you don't seem to think much of us.  No, it is not necessary to state that an opinion is expressed as a member, because it is blatantly obvious to most people.

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49 minutes ago, pete.i said:

I don't have a "little star" or the word "patron" by my name because I chose to donate and not boast about it. So basically I have donated every year since donations were asked for but only as a recurring "one off." I also do not reply to any begging letters or emails or phone calls or television adverts. They all get deleted and blocked or ignored.

Thanks for the clarification.  As suspected @RichM is on the case.

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2 hours ago, Athy said:

Being a gentle and tolerant soul, I don't have a problem with people who make erroneous accusations, you'll be relieved to hear. I did not give any advice, awful or otherwise. Nor did I write from a "position of authority" - my posts were made as a member of the forum.

Then I suggest you either don't reply in the Technical and Account Section or make sure your comments are not read as coming from a Mod. It's a bit like a primary school teacher trying to teach Degree Level studies just because they have Teacher as their occupation. Make whatever excuses you want but I don't think you realise the effect of having Moderator after your name has in this section of the site.

 

Tee Hee - everyone is out to get you!

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2 hours ago, Athy said:

Being a gentle and tolerant soul, I don't have a problem with people who make erroneous accusations, you'll be relieved to hear. I did not give any advice, awful or otherwise. Nor did I write from a "position of authority" - my posts were made as a member of the forum.

You know that is not the case your posts have “Staff” against them, and come out in a different colour to normal members, you are not posting as a normal forum member, your posts are intended to make you look superior to normal members. 

 

Whilst I did not see it as advice, I was quite shocked with what you posted about how you approach spam email.

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5 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:

Good point, I forgot Athy is supposed to be a moderator! :banghead:

I say Old Bean, a tad rude that wasn't it? 

 

"Supposed … to be" infers generally assumed or believed to be the case, but not really so.

He either is or isn't a moderator, and I have not seen anywhere a statement that even hints that Mods are not to voice their opinion nor that anything they say or do must be 24k indisputable to everybody.

Your proposal that anyone with a title that suggests responsibility or a role must be able to be trusted and believed without question I feel says more about your problems with authority than any you may have with technophobes.

Alternatively are you really saying that the image is more important than the whole package? If so you'd accept an instruction from a police officer without requesting sight of I.D. or insisting on the presence of your own Brief? ….. because the label of authority is enough.

I can't believe you mean that.

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12 hours ago, StationMaster said:

Then I suggest you either don't reply in the Technical and Account Section or make sure your comments are not read as coming from a Mod. It's a bit like a primary school teacher trying to teach Degree Level studies just because they have Teacher as their occupation. Make whatever excuses you want but I don't think you realise the effect of having Moderator after your name has in this section of the site.

 

Tee Hee - everyone is out to get you!

Of course you may suggest it - this is a discussion forum.

Being a moddy implies neither omnipotence nor omniscience. But I'm sure we're flattered by the awe in which you hold us.

I related how I dealt with such e-mails. I hoped that my comment would encourage other members to express their views. That has happened. Good.

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12 hours ago, zenataomm said:

I say Old Bean, a tad rude that wasn't it? 

 

"Supposed … to be" infers generally assumed or believed to be the case, but not really so.

He either is or isn't a moderator, and I have not seen anywhere a statement that even hints that Mods are not to voice their opinion nor that anything they say or do must be 24k indisputable to everybody.

Your proposal that anyone with a title that suggests responsibility or a role must be able to be trusted and believed without question I feel says more about your problems with authority than any you may have with technophobes.

Alternatively are you really saying that the image is more important than the whole package? If so you'd accept an instruction from a police officer without requesting sight of I.D. or insisting on the presence of your own Brief? ….. because the label of authority is enough.

I can't believe you mean that.

Thanks for all the straw-men.

 

Read into my post what you like.  I was simply saying that having "moderator" next to your posts, gives an air of creedence and officialdom to those posts and that should be considered by moderators when they post.  As spiderman once said "with great power comes great responsibilty".

 

In this case a moderator gave stupid (yes stupid) advice and then doubled down on it when challenged.

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17 hours ago, rusty69 said:

Well, I just did a quick internet search on you. Apparently, you are a 7 year old Latina girl who enjoys embarking on quests.You can usually be seen with a back pack and a purple monkey.

 

I can see the monkey, but not the backpack.You often have encounters with a grumpy old troll (oh, no, that ain't me is it?)

 

 

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_the_Explorer

Ah, but you don't know what I keep in the backpack do you?  Would make your head spin!

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26 minutes ago, doratheexplorer said:

 

.

 

In this case a moderator gave stupid (yes stupid) advice and then doubled down on it when challenged.

Point of order, Madam: I did not proffer advice: I related action which I had taken, and which a couple of members have explained may have been imprudent - "stupid" is not an appropriate term. But thank you for "doubled down", a term with which I am not familiar but which I shall look up on the internet, where (as you have pointed out) much information can be found.

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On 16/09/2019 at 10:01, TheBiscuits said:

 

 

Interestingly, neither of you have the little star that flags you as having donated.  Did you both donate exactly a year ago?

 

 

So now the whole world knows that certain forum members have not donated money. I'd suggest it is nobody's business but the members'. 

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Everything you need to know about SPAM and Phishing is here https://www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-yourself/spam-and-scam-email/

 

Anybody who uses a computer should know this or at least know where to find the information.  At the very least the following:

 

"Do not respond to emails from unknown sources. Do not make purchases or charity donations in response to spam email. "

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33 minutes ago, Athy said:

Point of order, Madam: I did not proffer advice: I related action which I had taken, and which a couple of members have explained may have been imprudent - "stupid" is not an appropriate term. But thank you for "doubled down", a term with which I am not familiar but which I shall look up on the internet, where (as you have pointed out) much information can be found.

Pedantic nonsense! I could equally say that when I suggest something I'm giving my opinion rather than advice. The reader will interpret the words in their own way not according to how you thought you were expressing things...

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34 minutes ago, StationMaster said:

Pedantic nonsense! .

Certainly not. "A clear explanation" would be more accurate.

34 minutes ago, StationMaster said:

 I could equally say that when I suggest something I'm giving my opinion rather than advice. 

Not a valid parallel.

Anyway, enough of this. The important thing is that RichM appears to have resolved the O.P.'s query.

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Being ‘staff’ should not preclude involvement in a discussion and maybe all staff should have a disclaimer statement in their footer bit stating that any views expressed are personal and do not represent (etc etc).

 

HOWEVER, I would concede the point made somewhere in this discussion that the forum itself ‘Technical and account support’ does imply a degree of authority to ‘staff’ on subjects posted therein.  I would agree that, the comments made, could by the nature/title of the forum, be construed as advice and that imho are probably not the best way to deal with such emails.

 

in this case maybe the best solution would have been to move the post to a different forum?

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5 hours ago, StationMaster said:

Pedantic nonsense! I could equally say that when I suggest something I'm giving my opinion rather than advice. The reader will interpret the words in their own way not according to how you thought you were expressing things...

Never pay attention to anyone else's advice.

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