Open Discussion, HOF & Registration

PenultimateManStanding

I've gotten into trouble for logging on to this website at work. So I only do it now during prep periods. But I noticed the other day that I couldn't access the Open Forum or the HOF unless I gave my name and account code. I imagine the desire is to be respectable like theoildrum or the energy bulletin. Good luck with that, they've already got your number on that. But you guys were number one until this new folly. You had over 75,000 hits to one thread in the HOF, most of them non registered. Consider this a request that you rescind that policy. If you you don't, you may find that you aren't numero uno anymore.

{thread moved from Open Discussion by Shannymara}
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PenultimateManStanding

What, nobody cares about this? This site was number one for peak oil. That will soon be history.
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TheTurtle

Being #1 because lots of unregistered people read the HoF is sort of like the abused spouse who justifies the beatings by saying, "Well, some attention is better than no attention."
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“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)

PenultimateManStanding

Daculling · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Apr 12, 2005 Posts: 1357

Why is being #1 important. It's not like anyone here is going to get a posthumous award for forecasting the future. Most likely someone will come after you for not warning them.
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-Dac

Winners never quit and quiters never win, but those that never win and never quit are idiots.

TheTurtle

And why doesn't quality content matter to you, pms?

I'm sure there are porn sites that get more than 75,000 hits. Why is that an important measure if the visitors are looking at the least valuable part of these forums?

Personally, I applaud the decision to close these two forums (and I had no part in that decision) to only registered users. There have been some mods who wanted them both abolished because they detract from the credibility of this site. This way, registered members are given a treat of sorts. Smile

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“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” (Ted Perry)

dinopello

I wonder if any of those that were reading the HOF will register now as users. Unless most were like PMS - people who are registered already but can't login at work.

Atlantean_Relic

I thought you guys hid OD to spare people from reading Golem's Ramblings? It is interesting in smalls doses too much of that stuff and you start seeing Swastika dancing Swan lake in frilly neon tutus.
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Was a long and dark December
When the banks became cathedrals
And the fog
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TWilliam · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Nov 28, 2004 Posts: 1706

I think the HOF and OD threads serve a valuable function, in that they separate the human wheat from the chaff.

Those of us that are genuinely interested in understanding and discussing PO and the myriad issues peripheral to it (that would be MOST modern human issues) see the relevance in much of even the 'fringe' material, and don't see it as a detraction from the site.

On the other hand those who are looking for reasons to dismiss PO find ready fodder for fueling their ignorance. This is a good thing, as it means less competition for the prepared.

Open 'em back up, I say...
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PenultimateManStanding

TheTurtle

Pops

I’ll chime in here since I suggested this policy way, way back.

If this site is about spreading the idea that more expensive energy is in our future, I think first impressions on the uninitiated are important.

Flames and fluff and conspiracies and catastrophes of every sort along with the interminable We Are All Gonna Die threads are not only a distraction from the central idea but more importantly a sure way to give the impression of a Tin Foil Haberdashery on the casual passerby.

Don’t you think?
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Shannymara · Master Joined: Oct 04, 2004 Posts: 5440 Location: Oklahoma

TWilliam · Light Sweet Crude Joined: Nov 28, 2004 Posts: 1706

PenultimateManStanding

Sounds like an identity crisis to me. What is peakoil.com? Clearly we are not the oildrum. Since I primarily post in the two excluded forums, this affects me. This new policy is an example of cutting off the nose to spite the face. For me, peakoil.com is where regular folks can say what's on their minds. Regular folks, that is, who know our predicament. Shutting off the HOF and the OD forums to outsiders is craven and a bad business choice. I urge you to reconsider it.
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Turn those Machines back On! - Don Ameche in Trading Places