I can beat your 14 point average (P-o-e-t)/4

W-i-l-l-P = 23 + 9 + 12 + 12 + 16 = 72

Or an average of 14.4

It's not just you. It's quite obvious when you're using a very fast connection. Nothing major, but it's present, exactly where you said it was.

It started, as I recall, when you added the "clear" buttons.

Regards,

WillP

I'm sorry you feel the need to go smoochless. I assure you that it was interpreted as nothing but a friendly sign-off by me.

Frankly, I'll miss it.

That was well said.

From my perspective, your 404 screen provides a bit of levity to an all-too-frequent situation -- being led to an Internet dead-end through my, or your, error.

If I get a good laugh out of the experience, so much the better. It usually prompts me to seek out other funnies on a site.

Keep it up.

Will

Gary is a friend of Matt's who wrote all of the existing code before I took over. I'm very impressed with the job he did. There's room for improvement in a lot of it (as there will be in any changes I make) but I think a lot of it was that iHub's previous "connection and security" provider didn't give him the access to the database he really needed.

LOL. That must be universal. I'm rather "protective" of all my code. Not because it's so great and unique, but because I dread others looking at it.

"Make it work, then make it work quickly," has always been my motto. "Make it small and make it read pretty," was always somebody else's chant, I fear.

It's encouraging how those notions of right and wrong so often will lead to better days, is it not?

And it already has for me. I don't know that there will ever be financial rewards, but the far more important thing is that I really love what I'm doing.

Oh, so true. That feeling is the source of my happiness. I have always loved what I do.

Haven't felt like this since, oh, about this time last year.

That's right. You have a bit of an anniversary coming up in a week, don't you. Anything special planned? A good bottle of wine, and maybe steal away some more good threads? [grin]

Regards, and continued happiness.

WillP

Well, it gets worse. (Dare I make a stock-related post on a non-stock-related board?)

While I was calling their help line -- all on my nickel of course -- I was forced to listen to a six-minute taped message right off the top. For just under three minutes, it explained what their regular office hours were, then outlined their holiday schedule. In English. Then, they repeated it all in French, for a little over three minutes. Now, about one-quarter of all Canadians are of French descent, so I can understand the desire to serve them. Most companies have two separate lines, however. Not Microsoft apprently.

Each time I called them, I had to listen to the same thing. No quick way out, no nothing. Listen, or else.

The ultimate joke occurred a few days later. Microsoft called me. Did they solve my problem, and was I a happy camper, they wanted to know.

Well, I told them.

You ask, "Do they even know what a satisfied customer is?" Well, not from me they don't. They do have an inkling of what an increasingly nervous shareholder is, however.

ROFL. He posts that to me, a resources guy. Go figure. (Insert one of those cute emoticons here that I forgot the address for.)

Well, here's the funny thing. That's about the only e-mail spam list that I'm *not* on.

But it's real similar to some I do get. The same "This is not spam" sentence, and the same spoofed address tactic. That's getting to be real common, by the way. I bet some of you thought that "unsubscribe" legislation was going to be a good thing. Oh well.

Heck, I'm even a regular on that Nigerian scam list.

I would have laughed harder at that, had it not contained this:

1. Put him/her on hold for 30 minutes then say "Clear your cache and if that doesn't work call us back."
2. When they call back, say "Did you close down all your browser windows and try again?" and disconnect them.
3. When they call back, say "You need to reboot your machine. That'll fix it. Guaranteed. Call us back if it doesn't."
4. If they call back, blame Microsoft.


Been there, heard that. Actually it was...
1. I was put on hold for 30 minutes then disconnected.
2. When I called back, I was told to upgrade my BIOS. Guaranteed fix.
3. When I called back, I was told to reformat and reinstall. Guaranteed fix.
4. When I called back, there was nobody to blame. It *was* Microsoft.

All's well that ends well. I'm almost happy with XP now.

Lord only knows I post articles here that ought to stir up some opinions once in a while.

Yes, I lurk here frequently, reading your articles. I should hire you as a reader!

Many of them evoke opinions. I'll share a few in the future.

Oh darn. Now I've forgotten the coding for my emoticon.

Aha!

MINE! All Mine!

Groan. I'll practise later. You got the idea, anyway!

Sea breezes are good, but I like my cooling to be on demand.

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/images/emoticon28.gif
">YOURS! All yours!
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/images/emoticon28.gif
">

Sea breezes are good, but I like my cooling to be on demand.

<img src=http://www.investorshub.com/boards/images/emoticon28.gif>
YOURS! All yours!
<img src=http://www.investorshub.com/boards/images/emoticon28.gif>

Well, anything over 80 degrees is hellish in my book. And Yankees don't 'believe' in those newfangled central air conditioning systems.

LOL. Well, it's a funny thing up here. The places that need central A/C the most have it the least, and vice-versa.

I'll go Freudian on you and simply say "And what do they look like to you, Will?

I'll play. My first thought was tongue. On closer inspection they were lips.

Regards,

WillP

The eastern part of Canada is similar to New England, but the western part, east of the Rockies, is continentally dry for the most part. Oh, there are a few days, but few is the operative word.

I struggle in Eastern Canada in the summer. Florida? Phaa....

Guest beds galore.

Nice emoticon. Are those rosy red lips or a bright pink tongue? Or both?

Don't apologize, it's a fact.

Warm is anything about 10 degrees above normal. That can vary from +10F in late January, to a disgustingly sweltering 95F in July. That's with no humidity, of course. I would melt in Florida.

Nice weekend down here in Florida. Nice and cool. Supposed to clear up in a little while. I wanna go fishing tomorrow!

Nice and warm up here. I'm taking my latest daughter tobogganing.

I guess the OTCBB fraud game has a lower cost of admission.

Yes, or entirely, depending upon how you define cost of admission. Most OTCBB stocks have a lower share price, certainly. They also are much more thinly traded, which makes manipulation by fraud an easier -- and cheaper -- game.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that OTCBB fraud is easier to perpetrate, big-cap fraud takes more money from more people,...

Exactly. Like most things in life, the more money you put into a good "scheme," the more you are likely to reap.

...the whole "analyst" game takes even more, and the market itself is largely based on a notion (that a company is "worth" something if it has earnings, whether or not it pays dividends) that would seem doomed for failure.

The role that analysts play is an interesting one. On any given stock, I love following the analysts -- and touts -- predictions through the years. It can make an interesting story, I think.

As for the notion of earnings-equals-price, I can see a number of flaws. Nevertheless, it is that notion and the flaws themselves that make the market go. For every buyer, there is a seller, and all that.

Regards,

WillP

Oh great, now I have to cut-and-paste from two posts!

Pretty much covers it. If he is a thread disruption on her thread...

Well, no, at this stage you did not "pretty much cover it." His first post was not a thread disruption, as it seemed to be a pertinent question, unless you leave the definition of disruption completely wide open. But, let's not dwell on that.

It's her thread.

OK. now you're getting closer.

If you think that that stream of posts wasn't harassing, then that's just my Admin-view on things.

Actually, I think it was. I don't think the first post was harassing however, which started the slide down the slope.

Yes. The stock clubs. They have an incredible amount of latitude to operate how they want. It's their board, home, pasture.

Closer still. I'm getting your message -- I think.

When I said it was simple. It really is. The two simply can't get along, so why should he be over there? If you see the history of the relationship through my screens, you'd see why she doesn't want him there. That simple.

I'm sure you're right Matt. However, didn't you stifle all attempts to present a contrary point of view several months ago? Didn't you delete a number of entire threads devoted to presenting a contrary point of view about her picks? I can't prove it, as they have been, well, deleted.

I am banking you are a big SI fan. Tell me what the difference is between getting deleted here....and getting banned from a board on SI?

Actually, no, although I certainly have nothing against SI. I'm certainly no fan of moderated boards over there, either.

However, it was your second post that got down to brass tacks, as it were.....

Being an Admin and running a business run on the same logic wavelength. You can't run a site like a lawyer. Not everything is written in stone nor can it always run exactly the same way, consistenly.

Ahh, I see where you're headed....

A lot of what I do doesn't always fit right in with the rules. Similar to the way most people operate a business. Often, you do what makes sense.

Exactly. No shoes, no shirt, no service.

With a little luck, this also will lead to him starting a board here and posting his trades. I've love to see that and have been begging him for months to do so and put Jenna "in her place" by his actions, not his words. If so, then logic prevailed over the "rules" and Shorty turned into a serious asset to the community.

That makes darn good sense, Matt. Business sense. You get him here, doing that, instead of "there", and it's a good move.

Further, you can bribe me as an Admin. Want me to swing in your favor in a dispute, hear your side? Post about stocks.

LOL. Well, it works that way in the real world, and I'm the last one to disagree with that. You're getting really close.

That's what this place is here for. I'll bend over backwards for someone who gets out of line, but has provided a lot of stock content.

Ahh. There's the sentence I was waiting to see in print from you. There are multiple standards on iHub.

Fine. Again, I certainly don't have a problem with that. This is supposed to be a business, not a soapbox promoting free speech.

Someone who picks on people that do post about stocks; or spends their time posting ONLY off topic stuff, then want to blast a stock poster....I have no patience for and have booted many of them off. Waste of my time, bandwidth, and Pepsi. Show me that in the rule book.

Again, the principle makes sense. You have to advance your business.

My point is that there are a lot of things that are not in the rule book. The TOU could never include every possible scenario or way to operate the site.

Exactly. That's why it bothered me to see the TOU held up as the proverbial stone tablets that all must follow. That is not the reality.

And there will always be those who try to pick it apart. Which is cool. I appreciate and listen very closely to criticism of the rules or operation style.

I'm not going to criticize what I will call your selective application of the rules. Again, from a business standpoint, it makes great sense.

Specifically, you want to attract posters that will attract other posters. That's a pretty, dare I say the word, simple concept.

What is not so simple to most, it the notion of what posters will bring in other posters, or increase traffic. I see you're talking about your 10,000th member. That's great. How many of those will actually advance your site? Of the 250,000-odd posts here, how many of them will actually prompt a non-member to sign up in order to make a response?

It's not a job I envy. It's all a fine line, although the content of radio talk shows, newspaper columnists, and TV-programs like Sally-Two-Names and Maury Povich probably provide a few clues as to what successful editors and producers think will sell.

And alternatively, what will not.

Best of luck,

Will

what point?

OK, I'll spell it out for you. There is no real interest here in resource sector stocks.

No I don't spend any time on "resource" securities.

See...

Too much fraud and deception there, and way more work required than I am willing to do for the meager amount I place in the speculative arena.

Shrug. Just what base metal was Enron mining, again?

I'll not quibble over semantics concerning the word *resource* as relates to message boards. Nice try though.

Shrug. I believe Poet has confirmed my use of the word.

Have fun stormin' the castle!

No stormin' for me. I'm much more of a defender than an attacker. That should tell you the way home.

Funny you bring up raising children. Shorty's rant reminded me of my children's early years tugging at what ever appendage they could reach repeating the same thought over and over until they got a satisfactory answer or got the message that the answer was no. I guess Shorty can't figure out the answer must be no.

Which rant by "Shorty" are you referring to? I see no rants by cOUSIN SHORTY.

On the other hand you remind me of my kids when they were preteenagers and through their early teenage years, who thought they could outsmart dear old dad and manipulate him as they wished. They know better now.

I'm afraid not, although I'm sure that Matt will get a kick out of your characterization of him as 'dear old dad'. I wish to manipulate nobody. I do wish that posters will be free to post rational dissent. I disagree with cOUSIN SHORTY's first post being deleted. I expressed my disagreement to Matt. You disagree with me. Fine.

you did bring up something that interests me though...

LOL. It all seems to interest you, as you keep replying to me.

>>In fact, I tried to help Poet and marcos fire up a resource thread here, but with little success. Active posters elsewhere have offered reasons why. C'est la vie.

What kind of resource thread? Poet seems to be doing fine currently with the options box and her corner threads, what were the "reasons" given for the "lack of success".

Thank you for proving my point. You don't even understand the word "resource" in the context I had intended. I was referring to the resource sector -- mining and all that.

I'll be happy to offer my own since Poet seems to be succeeding well enough when unencumbered by your and/or marcos's assistance.

Well, I'm sure that I would honour a request by Poet to stay away from any of her threads. In fact, I would honour a similar request form anyone here.

1. I waited 29 minutes for you to respond to my post. I once waited 24 hours for a response. With certain individuals I have a policy of giving them as much time as they need to respond because I know they are *busy*. So he waited 17 minutes and then posted 22 times in 32 minutes as an answer to having his harrassment deleted by the board moderator.

cOUSIN SHORTY did not have to wait long. His answer was apparently delivered with his post being deleted.

His first post was Off Topic and probably should have been sent in PM if his intention was to resolve the issue between he and she.

It certainly appears to be on topic to me, based on the one line offered by Matt.

All subsequent posts were repeats (spam) and in violation of the TOU.

No, they seemed to be legitimate requests for an answer. First, to the question, second, to why the post was deleted. As I said earlier, I think he got carried away with the additional requests, before referring the matter to Matt.

2. Your response merely repeated the theme stated in your first attempt at an argument. Repetition seems to be a recurring theme here (pun intented). In light of that I'll refer you to point number one for the answer to your question.

Sigh. I have raised a number of kids through the years, and I find that repetition is the only thing that works, with children and frequently with adults.

3. OK, let me rephrase. The desired response was not expected to be delivered, the sole purpose was to disrupt the thread, and that *is* in the TOU. Hey, this repeating stuff is kind of fun!

Sigh. One more time. Mr. Shorty *did* wait for a response. He waited 17 minutes. He therefore expected a response, and a response other than having the post deleted. That is logic, and I shall repeat every time you offer that flawed argument.

4. I doubt you'll get a different answer. The rules are clear, harrassment is a no no. Except on the Parking Lot.

That is another bit of silliness. Harassment on iHub is bad. Of course, you can freely harass on "the Parking Lot", which is a pretty wide audience -- it's in 16th place on the hot list, after all. Permitting harassment there, but not elsewhere is just illogical -- and wrong.

5. If your last statement is true, then *your* sole purpose here is to support the disruption of threads here at IH, or to effect that disruption yourself. Why you want to do this is unknown.

My last statement is true. For the record, my last statement was: As for posting elsewhere, most of the specific stock posting activity that actually interests me *is* elsewhere. There's probably a good reason for that, I suppose.

Now, how do you translate that into my sole purpose here is to cause disruption? That is a quantum leap. In fact, I tried to help Poet and marcos fire up a resource thread here, but with little success. Active posters elsewhere have offered reasons why. C'est la vie.

The rules are clear, harrassment is not acceptable at IH.

Uhh, except, as you said, on the Parking Lot, apparently.

Harrassment is defined by the moderators and either verified or rejected by Matt.

I thought harassment was defined by the User Agreement, and enforced by Matt. This difference of opinion is precisely what I asked Matt to clarify.

Matt also decides when someone needs a little time in the *cooler* to understand this concept.

As is his right.

thank you for playing

Shrug.

I've got to agree with Matt on this one.

That's fine. I respect differing opinions. It makes me reassess my own.

I've been on the receiving side of what I consider harrassment, so much so that I left SI and settled here, where, if my reqest to not be posted to is made on my own threads, I have the right to delete. This has given me signicantly more peace of mind.

I guess it comes down to what is harassment, and what is disagreement.

There are so many "stock gurus" out there -- real and imagined -- that contrary opinions are necessary to provide checks and balances.

If one is harassed by receiving comments on the basis of sex, creed, etc., as listed in the TOU, then I agree with you. If one considers merely offering a contrary point of view to be harassment, then I certainly do not.

That said, Shorty and I are friends and I share his deep suspicion about the legitimacy of many of Jenna's trades.

Then you do not agree? My objection is what *seems* to be the offering of a safe haven to individuals with non-stock-specific threads, where they can stifle contrary opinions. When those opinions pertain to stock-related matters, I believe they should be heard.

From my perspective, my concern is not about "jenna" or her thread, specifically. I don't go there, nor do I frequent any of the guru boards. My concern is about the apparent reluctance to tolerate dissenting views, expressed rationally and politely.

Regards,

Will

23 posts in 49 minutes with as little as 32 seconds between posts in neither polite nor respectful. It's harrassment. Period.

Nonsense.

There were 17 minutes between the first post and the second. The second seems to be a repeat of the first, which I assume was deleted, as the third, which followed a few minutes later, asked, "Why are you deleting my posts."

None of the posts allowed time for a suitible response.

Again, nonsense. The response that the chairperson deemed suitable was to delete the post. Seventeen minutes is an eternity in such a situation. Furthermore an apparently incorrect deletion would beg the question, "Why?"

Therefore no response was desired, the sole purpose of the posts was to disrupt the thread, and that *is* in the TOU.

No. Your argument is incorrect. The thread chairperson chose not to have the question answered, for whatever reason, so the post was deleted.

There *was* a response desired, becasuse cOUSIN SHORTY waited for such a response, initially. All he received was a deletion.

If you don't like the rules...tough.

I asked Matt what *are* the rules specifically, which pertain to this matter. I'll wait for any response from him, thank you.

Follow them or post elsewhere. It is as *simple* as that.

It will be as *simple* as that when the rules are clarified.

As for posting elsewhere, most of the specific stock posting activity that actually interests me *is* elsewhere. There's probably a good reason for that, I suppose.

Quite simple, man.

Ahh, I dread things that are described as simple.

She doesn't want you on that thread.

Is that part of your site's rules? I can't find it anywhere. It's not in the "User Agreement". It's not in the "Tout Box", or whatever you call that thing at the top of a subject.

You've harassed her for months (or years) now.

Years? cOUSIN SHORTY is listed as a member since February 2001. That's not quite a year by my count.

You know you are just there to aggrevate her. And that aint cool, shorty.

I suppose you could be right, but I can see little evidence of harrassment. The list of deleted posts you offered just now all seem polite and respectful, for instance. cOUSIN SHORTY may not know how to use a "Caps Lock" key, but he seems to know how to be polite, unless there was something bad in the content of each message. We will never know, I suppose.

In fact, the list of deleted posts that you list seems to be a rational progression that anyone might follow. I personally would have called it quits before the number of posts reached the teens, but to each their own.

So...my question is: Are there areas on this site with "special rules"? If so, could you specify what they are, who they apply to, and how one gets on or off the special lists.

Thanks.

Awww, you should have seen that one coming!

"Windows has discovered new hardware"

At least it told you. Years ago, every time I booted, Windows detected a modem. That was good, since I had one. Unfortunately, it thought it was a new one. Even worse, it assumed that I wanted to install it.

You can imagine my displeasure when I discovered I had 18 fully functional modems, and one bad one. The bad one, of course, was the one I was supposed to be using. The fully functional ones? Well, of course they didn't exist.

Leader Mining international Inc?

It's a Calgary-based company, trading on the CDNX exchange in Canada -- symbol LMN -- last at $2.45.

They're currently touting a magnesium play in BC.

Last news in mid-January:

The first meeting of the senior advisory group and HATCH Associates Ltd. was held in Vancouver, B.C., on Jan. 9, 2002. A decision was taken at the meeting to commence a production feasibility study for the Cogburn magnesium project, located 20 kilometres northwest of Hope, B.C. The study is to be completed by the end of 2002.

John A. Chapman has been appointed as acting project manager to oversee the production feasibility study, which will be conducted by independent engineering and environmental firms. Mr. Chapman is a professional mining engineer with a track record of over 25 years of successful mine development and management of mining operations.

Project permitting will be advanced in lockstep with the feasibility study. Extensive baseline environmental data are already available for the Cogburn project area from prior development of major power lines, mainline natural gas, Highway No. 7, CP Rail main line, an industrial plant, logging and main line logging access roads.
Leader Mining is adequately financed to complete the production feasibility study over the next 12-month period.

WARNING: The company relies upon litigation protection for "forward-looking" statements.

Web-site: http://www.leadermining.com

I take it that their OTCBB listing is disappearing?

Regards,

WillP

He had good intentions though, in a non-stock kinda way. I've pointed it out to him.

Yeah, I thought it was rather funny, not annoying.

Maybe I'm just a bit slow on the uptake, but didn't this guy spam the SPAM thread?

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=249119

Regards,

Will

Tell you what. Can you rewrite that post in a style that you would prefer, but so that it will convey the same message.

Xxrayeyes, then let's not belabor the point. If she violates the TOU, she's gone. If someone else does, in responding to her, they're gone.

(Right, Matt? Or are you going to pussyfoot around and give them some freebee shots before banishment, guaranteeing that shots will indeed be fired?)

So, let's see what I see on MMMary's original "OTCBB SCAMS" subject, just in the last 50 posts:

http://www.investorshub.com/boards/board.asp?board_id=610

#1. The first thing I see is that Matt is now the "Started By", othwerwise known as the CoB.

#2. The second thing I see is that there are 81 post numbers consumed to get 50 posts, so just under 40 per cent of the posts have been deleted.

#3. I see a post by responding laughingly to some clearly OT jokes.

#4. A request by MMMary that people" flame her on the parking lot thread, not her OTCBB SCAMS thread.

#5. More OT stuff by a few posters.

#6. A bullish article about the economy is posted, to cheers from a sidekick. By the way, how did that work out for you all?

#7. More requests my MMMary for on topic posts.

#8. This from Matt: No more namecalling, personal information posting, or anything else related to Mary should go on here. Post about OTCBB scams. She has left because she believes I didn't properly enforce the rules. I will work to improve this, since I apparently failed in this regard, in her opinion.
So, I will work to improve. Now let's see this board improve.

Remind me again who is at fault and why having MMMary start a separate subject is such a good idea?

If everyone but Mary can post negative comments without causing a riot then who is to blame for the problems, Mary or everyone else?

It's simple. The person to blame for starting a riot is the one who starts a riot. Posting negative commentary is not the start of a riot.

I trust Matt has learned to enforce his TOS, and to enforce it evenly. I hope Mary has learned not to violate the TOS with personal attacks. We will see what "everyone else" has learned.

MMMARY: I can do both so don't get your hopes up that I will post the negative truths about suspect companies only on my board where the investors of suspect companies can't see them.

xxrayeyes: This statement is ridiculous. If investors are interested in what you have to say, then all they have to do is go to your board and read it.

So, may I assume that bullish posts also belong on a separate thread, and not on a company thread?

Unless I have made a major error in my reading of the TOS, MMMary, or any other bearish poster, has an equal right to post on company threads as does a shareholder or any other bullish poster, your lamentations notwithstanding.