yep... you're a jinx! <br><br><br>[color:red]semicolon dash parenthesis</font color=red>

I always knew i was a *special* boy! <br><br>

why not just lock the lurkers thread and this thread? they won't be deleted and people can still read them all they want as they slowly fall down the lists of posts and into our history. <br><br>this is a difficult issue to be sure. i visit a few forums seeking quality discussion for the most part (with an understanding that everyone is entitled to do as they please within the rules). i rarely care for silly talk (i have two kids in diapers providing me with this)...please don't interpret this to mean that nobody is entitled to silly talk from time to time, but the lurkers thread was about 99% silly talk and i consider that to be abusive of the opportunity we are being provided. sure, it makes the forums "more" active, but i don't think it adds a thing to the quality of a forum. i would much rather visit a quality forum for discussion on a variety of topics. i find it annoying to open a thread that is merely designed to increase one's post count and doesn't lend to any sort of meaningful discussion. that being said, i realize this is my preference and shouldn't be forced upon other members of the forum. i suppose the mission of the forum(s) would help to clarify whether or not long lurker-type threads are to be tolerated. do we have a mission or purpose for these forums?<br><br>the brief description for this forum is, "This part of the Café is a place to talk about whatever tickles your fancy." this could be interpreted to mean anything goes. hmmm. is there a larger mission for the whole cafe?<br><br>[color:blue] -sean</font color=blue>

Thats pretty much how I felt about that Lurker thread. I came in here one day and there was 87 new posts to that thread! I knew that I would never get around to reading those and that they were mostly just fun and silly stuff anyway. <br><br>However, I don't see a real problem with that as long as it is in the appropriate place (The Lounge)? I'm not sure what Stan meant by having to monitor it and he appears to have gone back into hibernation when asked for an explanation. If those in charge here at MM want to put a cap on a thread that seems perfectly fine, but it would be helpful to know what it is and why, because without any explanation one can only assume that it was stopped due to its silly (pointless?) behavior, eh?<br><br>

They do have to monitor just in case it does get out of hand.<br><br>Think about a newbie that entered into the lounge the first time. It took me with a cable connection 5 minutes to load the page - I then went into the control panel and reset to collasp mode.<br><br>Thats the problem with thread bumping the Lurker thread would have been dead after 6 pages.<br><br>

But the thing is..you don't have to read the lurkers thread, Sean. Just ignore it like I do for the most part...and then contribute some silly stuff only to bypass more and add again <br><br><br>I will skip some threads if they don't appeal to me and so somedays I go without posting here. No problem. <br><br>Then other days when I'm in a silly mode, I hook up with MacGizmo and we have fun! <br><br>I too don't understand the viewing of the lurkers thread in case it gets out of control...I think we do some good monitoring ourselves.<br><br>

It only takes me 30-50 sec. to load the lurkers thread and i still have it set to 75 post per page on a 56K modem. My point is it was never that hard to load or read through all 530 some post in the first place. no big deal to me! <br><br>

The problem is Sean, without the folks who participated in the Lurkers thread there would be NOBODY here... you rarely post, and OSX addict and YoYo will eventually tire of posting knowing they are the only two people here. <br><br>Most of the posts in Lurkers were made by MCF people who enjoy MacMinute and we are trying desperately to get folks involved in MM Cafe... but in order for anyone to stay here, there has to be activity. Now you may not like the activity you found in the Lurkers thread, but obviously the people who participated in it did enjoy it, and judging by the number of posts, they enjoyed it very much! Now, considering we are the only ones who post here on even a semi-regular basis, I find it quite offensive that you or anyone else should complain about it.<br><br>Mississauga, Marg, Carp, iRock, Lesh, myself and the others who "padded" in thread are more than willing to participate in serious discussion... when it can be found. So by all means, start a bunch of threads about the Mac and other serious topics and we will gladly contribute... until then, I would appreciate it if anyone who doesn't like it (silly, pointless threads such as lurkers) just keep their opinions to themselves until such time as they have something to contribute themselves. It's not my/our fault you have a slow internet connection, its not my/our fault you don't like mindless banter, and the last time I looked, your (not you in particular, but anyone who disagrees) name wasn't in the domain name.<br><br>Now I certainly don't mind being asked to tone it down by Stan, if there was something offensive or malicious going on. But clearly the entire thread was based on complete siliness, and the only people who were offended were the ones who obviously have no sense of humor and can't stand seeing others enjoy themselves.<br><br>I enjoy the discussions I've had with OSX Addict and YoYo - some were serious topics, some were complete goofiness... but the point is they were our discussions, and anyone else not interested could have easily just passed right on by.<br><br>You stated [color:blue]i don't think it adds a thing to the quality of a forum. i would much rather visit a quality forum for discussion on a variety of topics</font color=blue>. That's YOUR opinion... if you would rather visit a quality forum full of discussion, then go somewhere else where there IS DISCUSSION. There have been dozens of other threads that were more on a serious note here, and I didn't see you participate in any of them.<br><br>[color:blue]i find it annoying to open a thread that is merely designed to increase one's post count and doesn't lend to any sort of meaningful discussion</font color=blue>. I find it annoying that you would make such statements, especially considering you told us that you haven't even read the entire thread. So how the heck do you know what's in there? And who are you to judge what is valueable and what isn't? I didn't start the thread to Pad my post count, I started it to try and get some of the people who lurk and don't post to contribute... it turned into siliness all by itself.<br><br>Now I have probably said more than I should have, but you know what, I contribute to the forums, I read the news page, and I click on the banner ads daily (I've even purchased from them) just to support MM. So as far as I'm concerned, I have as much right as anyone to say, "If you don't like what I'm cooking, get outta the damn kitchen and go to McDonalds!"<br><br><br>[color:red]semicolon dash parenthesis</font color=red>

Where have you been Carp... haven't seen you in almost a week.<br><br><br>[color:red]semicolon dash parenthesis</font color=red>

I would say the Lukers thread was very successful in getting more people to contribute and starting a fun and silly conversation, it was just what this forum needed and with more than 500 some post and 2000+ views you can't tell me people didn't like it! I think that this sort of thing should be encouraged here, and if you don't like it, don't read it! It never has nor will be a big problem to deal with, however i do agree that it may cause problems trying to manage it so if stan wants it to die i think that is fine. i say just start another one! <br><br>