BR Forum Feedback

mihir.mehta · Post by **mihir.mehta** » 11 Sep 2020 12:46

RamSuresh wrote:
mihir.mehta wrote: I pointed out one fact of the post which was clearly unsusbtantiated and to me looked like a rant. The claim that it would take ten years for our GDP to reach pre covid levels.

All independent projections so far expect India to be back at pre covid GDP levels by March 2022.

That post is still there - another one has been deleted.

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 11 Sep 2020 21:48

BRF is not a democracy. The mods' decisions are final, and all the rest of us are okay with that. Those are the terms of the "service." Many of us (me included) found this out the hard way.

Mods don't offer reasons for post deletions to any of us other members, it is done upon their discretion. Just like judges in contests don't offer reasons to each participant as to "why did we pick that entry for first prize instead of yours." Judges' decisions are final, and that is made clear before anybody even enters the contest. Same goes here.

Mods aren't trying to be fair to members, in fact, many of their decisions are pretty unfair to members. Mods are trying to keep the forum safe from litigation, keep threads on topic, thinking about what kind of message is going out to the world through lurkers and even unsavory members.

Like I said, the rest of us members have learned to live with the occasional unfair mod decision in the larger interest. I suggest you do the same, if you want to continue on the forum. Take your cues from what gets deleted, and don't post any more along those lines. Just like all the rest of us.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 11 Sep 2020 23:17

Umm...haven't been here in a long time and was surprised to see I could not get in without being on VPN. Was I ip banned at some point?

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 11 Sep 2020 23:21

AshishA wrote:
Suraj wrote: No, you're expected to follow thread topic and posting guidelines.
Can you change my name to AshishA? I don't know how it's done.

Done.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 11 Sep 2020 23:26

mihir.mehta, mods may delete/edit any post at any time to maintain thread discipline or ensure that posts follow forum guidelines. This is not an uncommon occurrence and you have to learn to live with it if you wish to continue posting here. Posting on any online forum is a privilege not a right. It is important to understand that. Asking for clarification in this thread once is ok, but if the mods stick to their decisions there were good reasons for it and continuing to question those decisions will get you nowhere. I strongly advise you to let it go.

AshishA · Post by **AshishA** » 11 Sep 2020 23:40

nachiket wrote:
AshishA wrote: Can you change my name to AshishA? I don't know how it's done.
Done.

Thanks a lot.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 13 Sep 2020 16:01

Gus wrote:Umm...haven't been here in a long time and was surprised to see I could not get in without being on VPN. Was I ip banned at some point?

The server's algo might have put your IP as spam, esp. if not static ip. Please confirm that it's not your ISP doing the blocking.
If issue persists please drop an email to webmaster mentioning the issue.

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 15 Sep 2020 11:47

I'm noticing a flurry of new member in the China border thread all of whom seem like JNU waallas constantly posting the nerhu era narrative. All have the same quality of long time lurkers with very low post counts. Are these real humans or Chini bots?

sudarshan · Post by **sudarshan** » 15 Sep 2020 20:46

Can we coin a term for this habit of quoting lengthy posts verbatim, and then tagging on a one-liner at the end? Very often one scrolls down a page-long quoted post, just to see a "+1" added at the end. I thought this was against forum policy?

I suggest the word "tail-ending" as in - just tagging along at the tail-end of one or two lengthy quotes with a "me-too" one-liner. It's a mercy that the forum software restricts these quotes to at most two levels of nesting, else it seems forumites will keep appending these quotes to infinity and break the page-scrolling. I think many folks here are treating this the way they treat chain emails, forwarding them along with the entire trail intact but adding a line or two to the top with each forward. Even with emails, it's professional courtesy (at least it should be) to periodically truncate them down and save some bandwidth.

Maybe folks aren't aware that these quotes can be edited before posting away. It isn't necessary to keep the entire quote, it can be pared down, even to just "..." before replying.

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 15 Sep 2020 21:22

^^ tail-gaiting is the perfect word for it.

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 16 Sep 2020 09:25

Is there a thread for Indic thought and knowledge? I would like to share a few channels that are doing a great job of spreading information but need a place and recognition.

A Scientific Understanding of Time - Introduction to Jyotisha Shastra

sudham · Post by **sudham** » 19 Sep 2020 22:30

Mods / Admins,

Request support with a name change request. Please help.
Request has been sent separately.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Sep 2020 12:05

Gus wrote:Umm...haven't been here in a long time and was surprised to see I could not get in without being on VPN. Was I ip banned at some point?

Long time indeed - welcome back!

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 20 Sep 2020 12:07

vimal wrote:Is there a thread for Indic thought and knowledge? I would like to share a few channels that are doing a great job of spreading information but need a place and recognition.

A Scientific Understanding of Time - Introduction to Jyotisha Shastra

[snipped YT link]

Sounds like something deserving of its own thread, mods permitting. The old GDF used to have some threads such topics, not sure if the strat forum is the right replacement now.

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 24 Sep 2020 23:50

@mods, I'm unable to send PMs or reply to Pams I've received. I think I was able to in the long past before my BRF hiatus.

I was wondering if there's some restrictions there, or do I need to change some settings?

Thanks!

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 24 Sep 2020 23:57

k prasad wrote:@mods, I'm unable to send PMs or reply to Pams I've received. I think I was able to in the long past before my BRF hiatus.

I was wondering if there's some restrictions there, or do I need to change some settings?

Thanks!

PM's are only available for admins. You can receive PM's but cannot reply to them.

k prasad · Post by **k prasad** » 25 Sep 2020 02:27

Oh cool. that's good to know. Coz I got some messages but wasn't able to respond to them.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 02 Nov 2020 10:05

Rahul M wrote:
Gus wrote:Umm...haven't been here in a long time and was surprised to see I could not get in without being on VPN. Was I ip banned at some point?
The server's algo might have put your IP as spam, esp. if not static ip. Please confirm that it's not your ISP doing the blocking.
If issue persists please drop an email to webmaster mentioning the issue.

It's not static IP. I do get the capcha thing sometimes from googal itself.

Able to login now FWIW.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 02 Nov 2020 10:10

arshyam wrote: Long time indeed - welcome back!

Thanks. But I don't think I will be active again here. Teetaar works better for my needs and wants.

YashG · Post by **YashG** » 15 Nov 2020 19:20

Been here as a lurker/poster for 20 years. Journey started when LCA started flying.
I do want to say the best years for BR are yet to come. Indian MIC will grow atleast 5x-10X in next 5 years.

When that happens the employment and interested souls in the MIC sector will also grow - scores of new people who would want to talk about all this. I do think that BR will become the water cooler for all such people. Not that only BR will get more interested souls - other forums too will - but BR definitely.

If we stay in shape during this transition - BR has its best days ahead. When anything scales, quality -quantity balance becomes tough. Mods' work will get tougher - we will hv to cut them a slack more often when that happens. I do hope BR will adjust, adapt & thrive.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 16 Nov 2020 20:21

I am on both and I think both have their place. The forum format provides a seamless news and detailed discussion feed that is very difficult to replicate on teeter. Twitter is good for unilateral monologues or bilateral discussions at most.

Manish_P · Post by **Manish_P** » 03 Dec 2020 22:06

Hello

Looks like there is a problem.

The international aerospace thread has the last 2 posts from the Indian Space thread.

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 03 Dec 2020 22:56

I had moved two posts about China to international aerospace thread, since they don’t belong in Indian space thread. What is the issue?

vimal · Post by **vimal** » 14 Dec 2020 04:44

Can we create a dedicated Punjab thread?

jamwal · Post by **jamwal** » 16 Dec 2020 12:43

Can we have articles on main website and forum threads of ORBATs of our neighbouring countries?
It's surprising that we have so little actual information on the site.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 17 Dec 2020 01:44

To answer 'can we have a thread on...' questions, the real question is can YOU visualize quality content in an ongoing basis for it, drive that thread, get attention and contributions from others, and report any derailment so mod team can handle it ? If so, go ahead. There are lots of general topic (ones where the thread would normally last moths/years, not about short term events) thread where whoever enthusiastically starts it forgets about it a week later. That's what we want to avoid.

chola · Post by **chola** » 17 Dec 2020 12:59

Ok I don't want to complain but here I am. I've always taken my lumps respectfully and without complaints before. They used to be a week or two.

Now they are month long and I get them for things I've said and posted on for years if not decades! I've always loved this place because it was light hearted and interesting and fun. We ALWAYS had humor before. Now I can't even say anything humorous in a thread without fear of a ban. My expertise had been on chini economy and mil watch. Now I can't post anything there without being tagged a chicommie propagandist. Conversely, I am also called a racist for posting humor on same said commies.

Since GDF had been shut down things have changed. There is no outlet for the human stuff like fun and irreverence.

I am not revolting or anything. Just speaking as a old-timer who is now scared stiff of getting a permanent ban on everything he writes.

venkat_kv · Post by **venkat_kv** » 19 Dec 2020 12:37

Hi, a question for the mods and old timers. the images attached in the threads sometimes don't show up when there are no links. there is only "image" when browsing on a laptop, but the same are displayed when browsing through a smartphone. i am using Firefox for browsing. do i have to have any addons or do anything else to get the images when browsing on a laptop?

Not sure if this question came in the newbie section or the forum feedback page? so posting in both

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 20 Dec 2020 08:40

The images against thread names indicate whether there are any unread posts in that thread. They will appear only when you have logged in. I use both Firefox and Chrome on my mobile and they are there.

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 20 Dec 2020 21:09

venkat_kv wrote:Hi, a question for the mods and old timers. the images attached in the threads sometimes don't show up when there are no links. there is only "image" when browsing on a laptop, but the same are displayed when browsing through a smartphone.

Many times those images will fetch back when you rebrowse the same thread. You didn't say what kind of add ons that you have on Firefox. Especially privacy and ad blocking related. You can right click on the image and open in new tab. That image URL is still there even though it says Image.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 23 Dec 2020 03:10

venkat_kv wrote:Hi, a question for the mods and old timers. the images attached in the threads sometimes don't show up when there are no links. there is only "image" when browsing on a laptop, but the same are displayed when browsing through a smartphone. i am using Firefox for browsing. do i have to have any addons or do anything else to get the images when browsing on a laptop?

Not sure if this question came in the newbie section or the forum feedback page? so posting in both

This might possibly due to mixed content protection on your browser. This will happen when the image link is over unsecured http while the forum page itself uses secure https. Broswers will not automatically load content like images/scripts from unsecured links inside a secured page. Perhaps this protection is missing in your smartphone browser and hence you can still see those images. You can check if this is the case by clicking the quote button on such a post with an invisible image and checking if the image link inside it starts with "http://" or "https://".

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 25 Dec 2020 14:33

chola wrote:Ok I don't want to complain but here I am. I've always taken my lumps respectfully and without complaints before. They used to be a week or two.

Now they are month long and I get them for things I've said and posted on for years if not decades! I've always loved this place because it was light hearted and interesting and fun. We ALWAYS had humor before. Now I can't even say anything humorous in a thread without fear of a ban. My expertise had been on chini economy and mil watch. Now I can't post anything there without being tagged a chicommie propagandist. Conversely, I am also called a racist for posting humor on same said commies.

Since GDF had been shut down things have changed. There is no outlet for the human stuff like fun and irreverence.

I am not revolting or anything. Just speaking as a old-timer who is now scared stiff of getting a permanent ban on everything he writes.

I reviewed your user notes, Your record shows a history of warnings by at least half a dozen different mods and multiple bans, again by different mods. I’m not even in the picture here. These include 3 generations of BRF mods. These actions have happened across multiple forums - mil, strat and tech .

Here is the simple reality - the problem is you. Within the past two weeks you’ve responded to cautioning by mods, with an offer to behave because you asserted a deep interest in some topics here. You proceeded to break your own word within days.

You have a long history of ignoring patient moderation by successive generations of mods. Your own word is worthless. You are a repeat offender whose record shows mod action for the same problems repeatedly.

Your characterizations are tasteless, inappropriate and tiresome. Polite advice to listen has fallen on deaf ears. We do not want your behavior here. Unless you demonstrate maturity and the ability to offer original and new contributions that advances the knowledge of this forum, it is simply a matter of time before you’re permanently banned.

venkat_kv · Post by **venkat_kv** » 31 Dec 2020 07:46

darshan wrote:
venkat_kv wrote:Hi, a question for the mods and old timers. the images attached in the threads sometimes don't show up when there are no links. there is only "image" when browsing on a laptop, but the same are displayed when browsing through a smartphone.
Many times those images will fetch back when you rebrowse the same thread. You didn't say what kind of add ons that you have on Firefox. Especially privacy and ad blocking related. You can right click on the image and open in new tab. That image URL is still there even though it says Image.

Sometimes the images do come up when i am browing the page again, but that is a very rare case. i don't have any ad blockers or scripts running, just the vanilla firefox loaded up and running. I only see something as "image" and i can't right click on that as it looks like a text message.

venkat_kv · Post by **venkat_kv** » 31 Dec 2020 07:48

nachiket wrote:
venkat_kv wrote:snip?

Not sure if this question came in the newbie section or the forum feedback page? so posting in both
This might possibly due to mixed content protection on your browser. This will happen when the image link is over unsecured http while the forum page itself uses secure https. Broswers will not automatically load content like images/scripts from unsecured links inside a secured page. Perhaps this protection is missing in your smartphone browser and hence you can still see those images. You can check if this is the case by clicking the quote button on such a post with an invisible image and checking if the image link inside it starts with "http://" or "https://".

perhaps, in the strat thread for example not able to see image in chetak saars post regarding comparisons between Capt Amrinder Singh and Yogi Adityanath but another pic of the formation of punjab, himachal and haryana from the 1950 (i think it was Nandakumar's post) shows fine.

arshyam · Post by **arshyam** » 31 Dec 2020 08:01

I have seen this problem with Firefox when I used to have "strict" mode of Tracking Protection (under Options->Privacy and Security). This mode breaks some functionality as it does not allow some types of media and scripts (embedded YT videos wouldn't load, for example). As for images, I think it depends on this mode and the target site from which the image is loaded - a simple jpg link works most of the time, but sites that use a lot of scripting don't.

darshan · Post by **darshan** » 31 Dec 2020 08:17

Yes, essentially it's related to tracking and mixed mode. I usually just right click on the Image text and open the URL in new tab.

Avtar Singh · Post by **Avtar Singh** » 01 May 2021 16:11

I have been digging around and found some old printed pages and mbx files.

the first br meet was on sat 8th july 2000 ,missed the 20 years for the first ever meet.
there were 3 people there, not me, if still around they will know who they are

the first proper meet was on fri 24th aug 2001.
so the 20 years of this meet is still to come, I still have some of the business cards from this meet.

there were meets after this from one of which I still have some BR merch and
I am sure there was an air-show meet.

But next thing I have found is for meet No. 4 which was on sat 17th may 2003.

Kartik · Post by **Kartik** » 07 May 2021 14:02

Sadly, it seems that BRF is now getting quieter and quieter..not much movement on any threads.

Haridas · Post by **Haridas** » 10 May 2021 05:07

Kartik wrote:Sadly, it seems that BRF is now getting quieter and quieter..not much movement on any threads.

Sadly its a reflection of the Moderator's tending of the eco system.

Food for thought.

yensoy · Post by **yensoy** » 10 May 2021 06:16

Kartik wrote:Sadly, it seems that BRF is now getting quieter and quieter..not much movement on any threads.

Or peoples preoccupation with more important issues in their immediate family/neighbourhood/community, and any criticism of how we got to this state being subject to forceful opposition.