News Merrily returns as Official Administrator

Bradley

Admin/Operations
Staff member
I would like to welcome Janet Rupert ("Merrily") back as an official administrator on The Laser Forum. Janet has been an important part to TLF since she joined and always very helpful. I look forward to her assistance as a friend and administrator here on The Laser Forum!

Best Regards,
 
Thanks, Bradley. As long timers know, I left as official administrator some time ago but continued to try to set a tone, and obviously, I care about a great deal about the forum. Now Bradley and I have talked about a few changes. Often a simple question gets overrun with off topic posts, so I’m going to create some threads where empty or off topic posts can be sent. Foul language will be deleted and attempts to reply to moved posts will be deleted. Threads will be more concise that way. Of course, humor is welcome as it relates to the topic and people at hand.

As always, The Laser Forum is a place where even the timid can feel safe asking a question. TLF is a No Flame Zone. This includes indirect insults, such as “it’s idiot proof.” That said, I’ll be relying on readers to tell me when someone, including me, has gone too far, but you will have to tell me in a serious fashion.

It’s a privilege to serve this great community, and I’m looking forward to being with you.

Janet Rupert AKA Merrily
 
Welcome back, Merrily! (although you never left) A breath of fresh air and proper grammer!


I am also, Not Fred, either.

OMG, he's stoved the stem on the bollard!!
 
Welcome back, Merrily! (although you never left) A breath of fresh air and proper grammer!


I am also, Not Fred, either.

OMG, he's stoved the stem on the bollard!!

Thanks, Mike!

Who stoved the stem on the bollard? The UnFred? Send him on over to one of those repair threads.
 
bollard

One entry found for bollard. Main Entry: bol·lard
Pronunciation: 'bä-l&rd, Brit also -"lärd
Function: noun
Etymology: perhaps from bole
1 : a post of metal or wood on a wharf around which to fasten mooring lines
2 : [SIZE=-1]BITT [/SIZE]1
3 chiefly British : any of a series of short posts set at intervals to delimit an area (as a traffic island) or to exclude vehicles
 
As always, The Laser Forum is a place where even the timid can feel safe asking a question. TLF is a No Flame Zone. This includes indirect insults, such as “it’s idiot proof.” That said, I’ll be relying on readers to tell me when someone, including me, has gone too far, but you will have to tell me in a serious fashion

Merrily, I apologize that my original post in this thread hurt your feelings. It was unintentional.

As regular readers will know I try and liven up this forum with a bit of humor and occasional heavy doses of sarcasm. But this post is in a serious fashion as requested.

Yes, I did write a post mocking the new rules. Actually I wrote several posts over the last few days mocking the new rule. Several of these themselves seem to have breached the new rules and have ended up in the thread for random comments and one-liners. I seem to hold the current record for most "random comments and one-liners" at five. I consider that a badge of honor. Gouvernail is in second place with two. Even Bradley and Merrily have a couple in that thread now too. So I am in good company.

Merrily you asked us tell you when you have gone too far, but to tell you in a "serious fashion". So I am telling you, "Seriously you have gone too far." Idiot-proof is not an insult to anyone. One-liners are often funny and entertaining. And the occasional mild expletive doesn't offend most folk these days and, believe it or not, sailors do occasionally use expletives.

I hear some people have complained about some posts recently. I don't know who they are so to me they are anonymous and so their opinions have no weight to me.

Merrily I heartily welcome you back to the forum. Forums need moderators. But the new rules go too far. Seriously. Let's please all lighten up a bit and enjoy the diverse range of opinions and ways of expressing them here.
 
I can highly recommend the Dinghy Forum at Sailing Anarchy. As with any free-flowing conversation, you need to separate the wheat from the chaff, but here's a lot of excellent conversation. And you won't get forum administrators shushing you or accusing you of being rude.
 
"Old Geezer" etc.:
It has been in the past I had an issue with the admin of TLF Bradley Green about deleting serious replies here. I went away. From that time you still see the personal infos of me under "LooserLu". I returned aft several months of proving from time to time this website by being only a spectator.

I returned aft strong discussions with Merrily about what is correct to delete and what not.

I stay here at TLF, because this is a serious forum of Lasersailing. Everyone that joined TLF and hopefully read the laws to post here have to agree to this laws or may decide to leave like I have done this for a while.

This is a serious internetforum and to much stupid posts, f.e. from the LooserLu etc., may be deleted, to give Laserites that have serious questions (f.e. newbies) a chance to get a serious answer. Not serious threads and replies really may live very good at the "Open Discussion" area of TLF, I say.

In my opinion: Here at the serious sections of TLF, one really don't need always and everywhere "funny" comments of f.e.: LooserLu, Old, Geezer, gouvernail, Ribecca, Ross B etc. etc. etc.

From a time, before TLF has existed, I guess, there have been replies deleted by the former chairman and admin at the official mailing list for Laserites of a big official association of Laserites. I remember, there as been really big trouble with that. If I remember correct, it has been a reason to found TLF.

If the admin here decides to delete or move something here, he has any right to do it. I agree to that or leave or stay passive. The admins here are independent. I am sure, if I see to the number of members of TLF, TLF will survive with or without me (or anyone else) that perhaps is a bit angry if one of my (their) replies is moved (or deleted).

Klinsmann (former head-coach of the Team GER soccerplayers, now lives at LA) always says:

"Immer schön den Ball flach halten, Jungs!" (Allways hold flat the ball, guys!)

Cheers
LooserLu
 
As the composer of the occasional sarcastic comment (OK, maybe a little more often than occasional), I though I would offer my two cents.

Clearly the last few weeks has demonstrated the need for moderators on this forum. I may not personally agree with every decision to move or delete a post, but I'm not a moderator and it's not my forum.

I don't think Sailing Anarchy is really a good comparison. It pretty well lives up to its name. It's fun to read some of the posts, but just TRY to get a constructive comment over there. The idea is to make TLF something different.

To all of you complaining about censorship, maybe you should take a turn as a moderator.
 
Klinsmann (former head-coach of the Team GER soccerplayers, now lives at LA) always says:

"Immer schön den Ball flach halten, Jungs!" (Allways hold flat the ball, guys!)
LooserLu

I'm sure that's really deep but maybe it loses something in the translation. I don't understand what "Allways hold flat the ball" means in a literal sense in a soccer game. And I certainly don't understand what what it means metaphorically in the context of whether or not to allow humorous comments on this forum.
 
It translates to
always hold dances at your appartment.

Probably a reference to

waltzing merrily

And as we know Merrily has waltzed back in as an administrator.

Perhaps we should all dance with her for a while and appreciate her ability to both lead and follow.

No stepping on her toes
 
... but just TRY to get a constructive comment over there. The idea is to make TLF something different...
I agree. All of this brings a thought to mind - the web does funny things to people. It's easy to sit here in my office and spout anonymously, or react instantly to comments. I once pissed off a guy with a snide answer, only to realize I had missed an important post in between that would have prevented my post and subsequent embarrassment.

So I think of it this way - we are all at a very large meeting in a big room at a local community center or library. We are all interested in essentially the same thing - Laser sailing. Some of us are 14, some are 65. Some have never been on a boat in their lives, some have raced all their lives. Some have a passing interest, some are obsessed with sailing.

In the public discussion in this large group, how would you speak to other people in the room? Especially knowing everyone in the room is listening and every word is recorded.

That said, it absolutely needs to have humor, wit, irreverance, goofyness - it would be a boring group otherwise. But condescending, patronizing, rude, or insulting comments wouldn't last in the big meeting room. You'd get called out or at least get the stink-eye from a lot of faces.

I am really glad this information-sharing forum exists. Before I got a boat, I found a strange and fantastic site called drLaser. It was great, full of every bit of info you could want. It was fun. It was irreverant. Right as I was getting serious, it mysteriously vanished. That's when I found you all.
 
I don't think Sailing Anarchy is really a good comparison. It pretty well lives up to its name. It's fun to read some of the posts, but just TRY to get a constructive comment over there. The idea is to make TLF something different.

To all of you complaining about censorship, maybe you should take a turn as a moderator.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I have found that the questions I've asked on the Sailing Anarchy dinghy forum have invariably been answered intelligently by someone who knew what he or she was talking about. I have found in general the level of knowledge and discussion over there to be pretty good.

And, although I applaud Janet and Bradley for their volunteer work on creating this forum, I disagree pretty strongly that forums need moderators. I think self-moderation works quite well. I believe that Janet and Bradley are reasonable people whom I would probably like a great deal if I met in person, but I find the "moderator" attitude that they both project online to be condescending, smarmy, and pretty offensive. Accusing people of being rude, complaining when someone uses the term "idiot-proof" to refer to a piece of hardware, locking threads as soon as anyone expresses an opinion, those are all behaviors that make it unpleasant here; they are why I have stopped contributing to this forum and have chosen the SA dinghy forum instead.

Again, different strokes for different folks; you might have very much the opposite opinion.
 
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I have found that the questions I've asked on the Sailing Anarchy dinghy forum have invariably been answered intelligently by someone who knew what he or she was talking about. I have found in general the level of knowledge and discussion over there to be pretty good.....

......I have stopped contributing to this forum and have chosen the SA dinghy forum instead.

Maybe there is a need for two Laser forums?

1. A very serious, information only site with rules defined by a person who "owns" the forum and strictly enforced by an official administrator, a bit like an official meeting in the local library of the temperance league say, run according to Roberts Rules of Order.

2. A more free-wheeling, fun, irreverent site where questions are asked and useful intelligent answers freely given, but in an atmosphere where there is joking and joshing and good-natured teasing and the occasional mild expletive, a bit like a gathering round the beer keg after a day of Laser racing.

Which one would you join?
 
In my personal opinion ...

I think a forum can be both fun and light hearted and factual. All things in life need a balance. Recently the balance here had swayed a long way out. Nobody could ask a question without getting a string of clever comments. It seemed to have become more of a race to reply than worrying too much about posting a helpful (or even accurate) response.

Of course there are subjects where there is no right or wrong answer but degrees of opinion. There are also straight-up wrong answers and it had got to the point where the "race to reply" had somewhat overtaken the concept of helpful responses.

I was really shocked the other week as I did a nasty capsize and had difficulty righting the boat (managed but it took me too long). I did a search on the description of my problem and some of the threads I got from the search were amazing. Fun, helpful, no nastiness, nobody trying to be clever - just lots of people replying with their experiences and thoughts to help initially the original poster but that soon developed into discussion on the subject. Such a contrast to many of the threads seen here recently.

I guess the degree of control exerted will depend of what people post. My interpretation of what is acceptable is that not a lot has changed from 12 months ago. What one can or cannot say to some extent must depend on the context. Several months ago I made what to me was a reasonable post but, without my certain information about the person I was directing my question at and that I expressed it (very) badly it was mis-interpreted. I should have been more careful and thoughtful. Maybe I then did what others have also been doing.

My opinion anyway.

Ian
 
Of course there are subjects where there is no right or wrong answer but degrees of opinion. There are also straight-up wrong answers and it had got to the point where the "race to reply" had somewhat overtaken the concept of helpful responses.

Great point. I must admit that the occasional flippant, funny, but perhaps unhelpful one-liner doesn't worry me too much. But I have noticed a trend in recent months for some people (who are probably well-intentioned but not very knowledgeable) to post answers which at least to me seemed totally wrong.

Don't believe everything you read hear folks. Sometimes errors get corrected. Sometimes they don't. It's hard sometimes to tell someone they're talking total BS without it sounding like a personal attack.
 
I believe most of the posts here are supposed to be total BS*

welcome back Merrily






* boat stuff
 

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