Saturday, April 21, 2007

Crank's Silence

Over on the Free crank!!! thread, we've learned why crank hasn't posted in a while:

Hello all - I just stopped posting once I realised I was getting quoted elsewhere :sad: It's one thing spoofing around with people that you think of as 'friends' (which included Thicket, I have to say) another when you realise you're being quoted elsewhere. So now I glance in once a day or so, then run.
I wonder who she's referring to? ;-) My personal thought on this is that the Internet is the Internet. Whether crank is posting on the forum for the whole world to see, or quoted here on this little ol' blog, there's no difference.

I'm certain that Steorn's forums get a lot more traffic then this blog anyway, and my other guess is that the majority of the visitors here also frequent the forums. My goal in all of this is to make it a little easier for folks who don't have as much time as the rest of us to keep up with the latest Steorn activities.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

And... I, for one, thank you. This is sort of the Steorn Digest version of the forum. It's the forum with all the static removed. It's so much easier to keep up for me now.

Anonymous said...

Mark Twain said "if you always tell the truth, you never have to remember anything". I don't think Crank has anything to worry about, she has always told what truth she knows.

Being "internet famous" is fleeting. There's too much data for anyone to put too much together. It is always interesting when someone finds something I posted in 1989 though. But I know I told what I thought was the truth, so it doesn't matter.

I hope Crank gets the chance to go back to posting, but I also hope she gets a chance to get some real work done. Sometimes this Steorn stuff is just too much entertainment, and there really are better things to do!!

Anonymous said...

I have just a couple of things that I want to say

(1) I do tend to read this blog; I think over-all SteornTracker does a very good job with this blog :-)

(2) I had nothing to do with the bannings of pope/father luke duke and whatever other accounts that he had.
I do not believe that he was banned for being skeptical;
I came across a disturbing hidden post of his recently...
I'm sure he is aware of how offensive it may be perceived by certain religious groups;
it was clearly a violation of the TOS.
That he is unsure as to why he was banned, after writing such a post, is a very "warped" perception.
to claim that others have gotten away with worse ( which is what I usually hear from the "returned of the banned") is not a good defense.

(3) a reminder:
the forum is currently set to "auto-ban".
if you would like to be able to post,after registering, please send an email to one of the admins.
( include your name, and your general location)

(4) I haven't banned anyone recently, but have been un-banning people, in an attempt to keep the Steorn forum "alive"
as so many have mostly moved over to the SPDC only.

(5) to whomever the "anonymous" poster is, who keeps "attacking me" on this blog, please feel free to email me to discuss your gripe.
It is difficult to not defend myself every time you attack, but this blog isn't the place for it ( a fight) and so I tend to try to ignore it.
I would be willing to have a "private discussion" with you, if you like.

Unknown said...

some things I forgot to write in the previous post:

(6) I don't blame Crank for being uncomfortable with the idea that everything she writes or does on Steorn.com gets posted here.
Although I can totally "see" the point of one blogger who said something along the lines of {& I'm paraphrasing here},
"Crank should not expect her comments to be exclusive to that website"
- It is no wonder that she rarely wishes to post in open forum these days. Many of you readers (posters) would feel the same way, if you were in this situation.

(7)Announcement:
For those of you wishing to have a "Skeptics Forum":
due to popular demand, one has been created for you at fizzx.com
Enjoy! :-)

Anonymous said...

crank is a steorn employee who got in too deep so bailed. simple as that..

Thicket said...

Hello Magnatrix

Boy, am I glad that the weather has turned around in the Maritimes. Just in time for some vacation... woohoo.

From what I know, the rash of recent bannings were all done by Sean/Steorn with the exception of one by Crank.

There's no need to try and justify one specific banning. Most of us, including you, know that Sean took a scatter-gun approach to banning folks. They were petulant, spur-of-the moment bannings. There's nothing wrong with that. It *is* Steorn's private forum.

I believe you about your involvement in the reinstatement of some of the banned folks that were caught in the crossfire.

You might want to look at the Terry Lingle banning. Other than the unfortunate name similarity with JTerry, I saw no reason for his banning that didn't also apply to a couple of Sean's 'faves'.

Unknown said...

I ceased to like crank after she sent me an abusive comment in a whisper (which I commented on at the time). It's fine to go on about how people should be polite, not talk to each other in a different way than they would in real life etc, etc but you should practice what you preach. Hiding your unpleasantness in private messages is not the same thing as not being unpleasant.

I agree with Steorntracker. If you post in the public domain you shouldn’t be surprised if it appears elsewhere.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Steorn raise 14 million?

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=80178

Is that true?

Will Gorman said...

Hey folks, please don't personally attack people here. If you have a real issue with the moderators of Steorn's forum, you can email them.

Thanks,

SteornTracker

Ping1400 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Whether crank is posting on the forum for the whole world to see, or quoted here on this little ol' blog, there's no difference.

Isn't it obvious that she failed to see the difference?
Just like she'd fail to see the difference between a toaster and an OU device, if shown. No wonder Sean wants to show it to her and not to Dr Mike. No harm done...

Its clear as a day that the steorn mods (including Sean) are terrified by the loss of control over who says what about them. Its the little ego thing, when some power is given to someone who is ineligible to handle it.

I can bet that Steorntracker's blog is more popular than Steorn forum at this time.

Thicket said...

@15-India-Street

Wow... nice sleuthing. You paint a plausible scenario.

Anonymous said...

Well hello all,crank here.

anonymous said "crank is a steorn employee who got in too deep so bailed. simple as that.. "

anonymous can go jump in a lake for all I care about his opinion. I'm not a Steorn employee, and if anyone thinks I am then nothing I say will change their minds. I'm not about to justify myself.

@ ben - the feeling is mutual. Considering the insults you hurled around it's a joke that you'd be peeved at something I said to you privately. Here's something public - maybe the reason you were afraid to visit Steorn was because you saw the abuse that was levelled at me after my visits? Chew on that one for awhile.

To whoever said I wouldn't know the difference between a toaster and an ou device - you're right, and it's why I haven't ever wanted to see a device or give an opinion on one.

As for vlan's point - I think he's the one who fails to see the difference between posting on a forum where I feel like I know everyone, and being quoted elsewhere. Perhaps there are a lot of lurkers on the Steorn forum, but it's not something I'm consciously aware of when I'm posting.

I signed up for the Steorn forum because it was fun, and an interesting idea to play around with. I had a lot of time on my hands in the winter, and the Steorn forum filled a gap. But once it ceases to be fun, why should I stick around? I did the reporting expected of me, but nobody can tell me what I can or can't do, or where I have to post on the internet. Posting on the Steorn forum has become a hassle, and I like a simple life.

Unknown said...

Crank, I never insulted you personally. I said that Steorn are a fraud of some kind and I stand by that. You insulted me personally.

You might want to think about why you got so offended when I suggested that Steorn are a bunch of liars.

I was 'afraid to visit Steorn' firstly because of the legal implications of a contract with them and secondly because of the fact that my visit, regardless of what I said, would be seen as some kind of validation. You might want to think about that too.

Thicket said...

Hello Crank.

There certainly has been a lot of abuse, almost all of it on the Steorn boards. You and Magnatrix have seen your share.

Ben and others have also seen lots of abuse. Much of it came from folks *you* consider *funny*. Maybe *you* think that abuse was justified, but I don't. I feel the same about abuse tossed at you.

A key point is that you and Mags were and are the non-Steorn moderators. That gave you control over the abuse, but you let it continue unabated. You could have enforced forum rules, but you chose not to. This resulted in escalating abuse by many and a perpetual battle of abuse one-upmanship.

I agree that the abuse hurled at you is unfair. You seldom participated in the abuse, except when defending yourself.

But *you* had control over forum abuse of all forms.

I agree that it's a good idea for you to step back. Personal aggravation is not worth it when it's not off-set by fun.

Unlike some, I always liked you Crank and I still do. I think you're exactly what you say you are.

Anonymous said...

Crank, the absue from a very small group of people , you nkow them , all believer, continue unabated. Would you care to justify (not here but on Steorn Forum where some thread were open on that) why such people are not BANNED for the insult they did this week, whereas other skeptic are more readily banned ? Ban everybody or none. But all should be under the same policy, without "some being more equal than other".

Anonymous said...

Intersting.

Seems that the Mods have started to roam, trying to quiet or distract the sceptics on other forums now.

One of my posts has been deleted here (sorry ST, I did not think it offensive, but it is your place and so be it)

While I have gathered many new links to contradiction and deception, I will not be posting my links here. My feeling is that Mog (hybrid Mag / Mod) has spread her influence here. The accusations of Anti-Steornatism are sure to follow.

While the Steorn mods may have deserved praise in the past, the 'Power Corrupts", cliche proves itself yet again.

Thanks still go to SteornTracker, and I don't want anyone to think I blame him. Goodbye, goodluck, goodthinking.

Anonymous said...

15 India Street

Thats interesting stuff.
I appreciate your efforts.