Hi Bill / TheSkepticOverlord:
Sorry to harp on this but I feel that you've illustrated my point for me... this may be a bit long winded so Please bear with me on this:
Both you and Mark / Springer have stated that my banning took place over a year ago and that things have changed since then.
I believe that we have agreed that what happened then was that you entered a forum, scanned the pages, saw some Buzz Words, made an assumption based upon those buzz words, and then made a decision based upon the assumption.
Very Human, but that is more or less what went down and we're all cool with that, yes?
I've requested that ATS CONSIDER revising its policies regarding banning, both 'nebulous post bans' and 'perma bans' and have received some very stout opposition from both of you regarding that request...
Both you and Mark / Springer have stated that "things have changed since then" but what those actual changes are has yet to be seen.
In fact, the policy that Mark / Springer described seems to be the Exact same policy that was in effect when I was there. He described a process that is very loosely defined, very nebulous, with no safeguards to protect your membership from your staff.
In this thread here we have an example of the Exact Same type of behavior coming from a staff member of ATS.
On page two of this thread I made this post:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1354&start=15#p19439Some of the stuff in that post are indeed My words... but some of the stuff in that post are Your words.
Further down on the page you made this post:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1354&start=15#p19455in which you reply to four elements from my post above (thanks for replying, btw)
Elements one, two and three are indeed coherent, as those are My words you are replying to, but element four:
torbjon wrote:You guys aspire to be crtical-thinking "researchers"?
No. We aspire to provide a venue for a wide range of people, among them would be critical thinkers concerned about quality research.
the line "You guys aspire to be crtical-thinking "researchers"?" are actually Your Words from over a year ago - and are labeled as such - (back when you strolled into a forum, took a quick glance, made an assumption, made a decision based upon that assumption, and then carried out your decision)
And here I am seeing the Exact Same Behavior Again.
You strolled into this forum, glanced at some pages, saw some Buzz Words, made an assumption, made a decision based upon that assumption, and then carried out your decision.
I'm not seeing any changes here...
Please understand that I am NOT seeking 'vengeance' or 'retribution' or 'oh gee torb is so cool' or anything Personal, nor am I attacking you personally, I am simply trying to understand the machinery that is ATS in order to help find ways for People to not get hurt.
Now then, I don't know for certain but I get the distinct impression that the staff of ATS is under the belief that the Only thing that happens to a human being when they are banned is a 'bruised ego' which is no big deal, and statistically it's such a small number anyway so who cares, right?
I brought this up earlier in another thread here, and it is still sitting there un addressed, last post in that thread:
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=1331&start=135#p19374as you can see, I had to bump it up because no ATS staffer would address it, and here I am Again bringing it up. From my post linked above:
Please don't belittle the damage done to me. I am NOT talking about 'bruised egos' here. I'm talking about very real Potential financial gain (or in my case, financial Loss)
Among other things ATS is an outstanding portal for networking with other human beings... for certain subjects / skills it is probably the Best portal for networking currently available on the internet. Case in point Jeff Ritzmann. I doubt his time spent on ATS has hurt him financially. That was good advertising for him, his skills and abilities, and it wouldn't surprise me if he picked up a few third party contracts as a result of his time spent on ATS. (which is Great)
By jumping the gun, flying off of the handle, and running amok the Management of ATS has cost me over a year of some of the Best Networking the internet has to offer, through No Fault Of My Own.
Networking has Value. Monetary Value. And I was denied that due to a "fluke" of "human nature" which, according to our conversations here, I have every reason to believe could happen again to some other member. Perhaps to a member even more destitute than myself.
YES, from the manufactures viewpoint looking out, having only ONE out of a MILLION units crash and burn and kill all the occupants is a "very small issue".
To that poor schmuck who crashed and burned it truly was a Life or Death event.
I ask you to please reconsider your position on this issue and to please discuss it with your partners, board members, staff or whatever group of people you have who determine company policy.
Thank you
twj
Human Networking is a very speculative venture, no doubts about it. MAYBE I would have hooked up with the 'right' people and landed the 'groovy' job, MAYBE not, we'll never know as I was axed through no fault of my own and denied over a Year of quality networking by the exact same person who is exhibiting the exact same behavioral traits and decision making processes now as he was then... while at the same time trying to assure people that no, really, things have changed...
Again I ask you to Please reconsider your position regarding this issue.
I KNOW that statistically the numbers are small... from Managements point of view looking Out it's not that big of a deal...
To the individual member looking in it IS a big deal, it's the BIGGEST deal because that One Poor Soul is THE statistic, That's the poor schmuck who crashes and burns and loses everything (again, not talking about 'bruised egos' here, but very real Potential Financial Gain)
Thank you
twj
Expendable Guy. The show is no good without them.