Frequently Asked Questions
1.0 The Page
1.1 What's this page all about?
1.2 How did this page get started?
1.3 How do I know what's OK to post, or which page to use?
1.4 I think a post is off-topic, what do I do?
1.5 What happens to off-topic posts?
1.6 A post offended me, is it OK to blast the other person? Don't they "deserve" it.
1.7. Wah, somebody was mean to me, isn't that wrong?
1.8. Wah, The Moderator was mean to me, he shouldn't do that, should he?
1.9. Wah, Brian R was mean to me, he shouldn't do that, should he?
1.10. What happened to Anything Goes?
1.11. Why can't I post clips to Discussion?
1.12. Why can't I post clip requests to Discussion?
1.13. But MY request is very very important, so the rules don't apply to me, right?
1.14. What the hell does "non-productive discussion" mean?
1.15. Why did my post get a Moderation notice? What should I do?
2.0 The Moderator
2.1 Who is this Moderator guy anyway?
2.2 Why is The Moderator such a f*cking asshole?
2.3 Why are some posts signed The Moderator, and others signed Brian R?
2.4 You keep talking about yourself in the third person. Are you nuts?
3.0 How do you work this thing?
3.1 I'm at the page, how can I see the messages?
3.2 I want to see only new messages, how can I make it do that?
3.3 What's this HTML button on the form?
3.4 How do I use HTML in a reply? Why is there no HTML button?
3.5 How do I post an image?
3.6 But the image is on my hard drive, can't I upload it or something?
3.7 Can The Moderator see all kinds of things about me when I post?
3.8 Why can't I reply to a post on VCR Alerts?
3.9 Is there some way to search for old posts?
4.0 The Database
4.1 What is the database all about?
4.2 How do I find things?
4.3 How do I become a Database Editor?
5.0 The Ezine
5.1 What's up with it?
1.1 What's this page all about?
As the sign on the front door should have told you, it's all about discussing scenes of women in bondage from mainstream sources. It's divided up into various forums, the most popular being Discussion and VCR Alerts.
1.2 How did this page get started?
The Moderator had a sweeping vision, of a grand and glorious page. Well, no. He started to collect scenes on tape over 20 years ago. During the computer age, he started using some of the usenet groups to contact people interested in trading such scenes, primarily alt.sex.bondage. Some others used that newsgroup to post VCR alerts for upcoming scenes. This worked OK most of the time, but you'd still miss some.
Then came the big spam attack, when all the alt.sex.* groups were flooded with advertising for porn web sites. At that time, he conceived the idea of a moderated web forum, one dedicated to just the mainstream scenes.
The first incarnation was on Tripod, using their simple guestbook script. The Moderator thought only a handful of people would use it, and that it would mostly be for alerts. How wrong he was.
Later, there were some disquieting rumbles after Tripod was sold. The new management was weeding out some of the "undesirables". At that time, the forums moved to the Dreambook system, and the pages took on a look very similar to today. Dreambook was good in the beginning, and had some nice added features. At time went by, the service became increasingly unreliable. In the fall of 1999, The Moderator began writing the software for his own forum. With the great help of the Beta Test team, the new site was launched January 1st, 2000.
1.3 How do I know what's OK to post, or which page to use?
The pages all have a paragraph at the top, the Mission Statement. This gives you a basic idea of the topics for that forum. Also, each page has posting guidelines on its Post form. Over the years, The Moderator has made a number of rulings regarding content. As these are numerous and subject to change, they aren't written down. As with any forum, lurk for a while and get a feel, or just ask.
1.4 I think a post is off-topic, what do I do?
It's best to do nothing, as I read the page every day, and will deal with off-topic messages. Do not reply to the message, that makes for more cleanup. You can post a "point of order" message to the forum and ask for a ruling, especially if it seems as though it's been overlooked, or email me about it. Do not moderate the page for me by instructing the offender.
1.5 What happens to off-topic posts?
If I think the post belongs another forum, I have a tool that will move them. Sometimes ones that are off-topic but have some value will be moved to the Bulletin Board.
1.6 A post offended me, is it OK to blast the other person? Don't they "deserve" it.
No, of course not. If the post is on-topic, then you must abide by the rules in your reply. You can request clarification of course. Abusive posts, regardless of supposed justification, will be deleted. DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS. Sometime posts are made by interlopers to get a rise. I will take care of those when I see them. It's best to ruin their fun by letting it disappear quietly.
1.7 Wah, somebody was mean to me, isn't that wrong?
Probably, although some people have excessively thin skins. If you don't think I have addressed it, appeal. Do not reply in kind, it will just get your message deleted. Remember, I can't take care of things until I see them.
1.8. Wah, The Moderator was mean to me, he shouldn't do that, should he?
You're out of luck here. See FAQ 2.3.
1.9. Wah, Brian R was mean to me, he shouldn't do that, should he?
Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes he speaks as the page owner, the ultimate authority. You might just have to take one and live with it.
1.10. What's happened to Anything Goes?
It was a good experiment. The hopes were for a wide-ranging discussion on varied topics that were of interest to the visitors. That didn't really happen. It turned into the Flame Page, with a narrow set of users doing most of the posting. It was also sucking up an inordinate amount of space and bandwidth. When there started to be tracking of IP addresses to restrict the amount people posted, the realization came that it was dead.
1.11. Why can't I post clips to Discussion?
Because there is a special forum for that, and it will encourage people to request clips.
1.12. Why can't I post clip requests to Discussion?
Because there is a special forum for that. Video forum was created because people were complaining about being pestered for clips every time they mentioned a scene. So now you have to make some effort.
1.13. But MY request is very very important, so the rules don't apply to me, right?
What do you think?
1.14. What the hell does "non-productive discussion" mean?
There are various topics, that while seemingly on-topic, have proven over the years to provide little information and lead to arguments. These include but are not limited to: unfounded speculation, like actress's "no this or that clauses"; conspiracy theories about why you're being denied your rightful scenes by evil feminists, liberals, conservatives, or stupid directors; and "this type of whatever is the BEST".
1.15. Why did my post get a Moderation notice? What should I do?
Because this is an open forum, it would quickly be overrun with scammers, spammers, and trolls without modration. To assist that, there is a list of words and phrases that are suspicious. Sometimes what is posted is a false positive. I get notified when something goes into the moderation queue. I then review it and take care of it from there. That can mean posting it (possibly with some alterations), post a notice that it's unacceptable as-is and to contact me, or something else for trolls and spammers. You get a notice with very explicit instructions, mainly NOT to do anything else. Don't try to fix it, because you might fill up my queue with multiples, or there will be two similar posts. And irritate me, which is never a good thing.
2.1 Who is this Moderator guy anyway?
He's just this guy, see? He tries hard to keep the discussions on track, without being too obtrusive.
2.2 Why is The Moderator such a f*cking asshole?
Oh, he likes it. No really, he's actually a rather easy to get along with type. However, he's also a veteran of the usenet wars (You fought in the flame wars, Grandpa? Tell me about it!). He knows that by their nature, discussion groups attract all sorts of people. There are those who wish to discuss the stated topic at hand, but also those that want to talk about related and even unrelated topics. There are also the usual kooks and trolls that infest the internet.
Groups that aren't moderated either spiral down into oblivion, or a group of regulars will apply moderation by peer pressure. To relieve everyone of that, he has shouldered The Moderatorman's Burden, and gone to strike a blow for righteousness. Or something.
Over the past several years, The Moderator has dealt with a number of problems, and has devised a "style". That style is generally blunt, and to the point. He sometimes chastises people in public, which can be embarrassing or annoying. Believe it or not, The Moderator is human, and some days are better than others. When he is irritable, he may be more likely to give people public admonishments. But usually it is because he feels that it is time for some public tutoring on the subject, and someone gets to be the lucky object of the lesson.
The Moderator tries very hard to apply the rules fairly and in an evenhanded manner. He rarely gets angry, but does get annoyed. Especially vexing are the messages that start out "I know you're just going to delete this but . . . " In general, The Moderator gives very wide latitude to those who disagree with him, and lets them speak their piece. Also, the rules about abusive posts are seldom enforced when directed towards him. He knows that such posts won't hurt his feelings, or start a flame war. In fact he often finds such posts to be amusing.
2.3 Why are some posts signed The Moderator, and others signed Brian R? Isn't it Brian's page, isn't he The Moderator?
Brian R is just one of the guys, and (theoretically) has no more influence than any other poster. No one need pay attention to him if the don't want to. The Moderator must be obeyed! His pronouncements, even if they sound somewhat casual, are official rulings.
So, posts regarding content of the forums and the behavior of participants are signed The Moderator. Another avatar, The Engineer, discusses technical problems and improvements for the software. Posts answering questions about scenes, or commenting on other posts, are signed Brian R. Also, sometimes Brian R chimes in with a dig at The Moderator, to lighten things up after some heavy user bashing.
2.4 You keep talking about yourself in the third person. Are you nuts?
Yes.
3.0 How do you work this thing?
3.1 I'm at the page, how can I see the messages?
There are various ways to read messages. First is the Display posts from the last ___ days option. It defaults to one, but you can put in any number of days. Use the buttons to select which forum you wish to access, then hit the Submit button. It will display all the messages for that number of days. In this case, a "day" is a calendar day, not a 24 hour period. For VCR Alerts, it works a bit differently, it shows the requested number of days forward. The legend next to each forum name lets you know when the last time a new post was added to each forum.
Next, and probably the most useful for frequent readers, is Display posts from the last ___ hours.. This defaults to eight, seemed like a nice number, but again any number of hours back can be shown. It is converted to days for VCR Alerts, because the time on the posts is usually not the time of the alert anyway.
At the top of the forum pages are calendars, the days with posts are shown as links. That way, you can skip back a few days (or ahead for alerts) without getting bunches of posts in between.
3.2 I want to see only new messages, how can I make it do that?
You can't. That will be a feature that will be available to registered users if and when that system becomes available.
3.3 What's this HTML button on the form?
Some forums allow this, Discussion and Anything Goes do not. If you desire to use HTML to enhance your post, click it on. Otherwise, my software will convert all the tags into plain text and it will look like crap. The old system needed HTML to be able to put in any line breaks, but this doesn't require that. Generally, don't bother with HTML.
3.4 How do I use HTML in a reply? Why is there no HTML button?
You can't. That would screw up all the > reply delimiters. If you have to use HTML, post a new message and set the quoted material off with italics or something.
3.5 How do I post an image?
Put the link to the image in one of the Image boxes on the form. The image must already be on the web, and you must put the full URL. It will be something like http://somewhere.com/image.jpg. The http:// is vital, otherwise the image won't render properly. It must be an image, not a web page, so it must end in .jpg .gif .png or something like that. Most free servers do not allow external links, notably Tripod and Geocities, so those images won't display properly. The software will reject your post.
3.6 But the image is on my hard drive, can't I upload it or something?
There are ways to do that, but I decided not to. I'd have to provide storage, worry about security (someone could use up my quota with a few big files) and I'd be on the hook for copyright violations. You will have to find web space or get it to another forum user who will display it for you. Don't ask me.
3.7 Can The Moderator see all kinds of things about me when I post?
When each post is made, the IP address it is sent from is logged with
the message. The Moderator can and will use that when necessary to deal
with the foolishly annoying types. This is up to and including sending
messages to the offender's ISP. While it is your right to post anonymously or to use various names, don't try to fool The Moderator, since he will see your addresses and Know The Truth.
3.8 Why can't I reply to a post on VCR Alerts?
Because people were using it as a discussion forum. It's only for alerts.
3.9 Is there some way to search for old posts?
Yes. You can search back on any forum for a string contained in the post. To cut down on resource use, there's a limit of 50 matches per search, so try to come up with something that will narrow down your search. You can also search forward for VCR Alerts.
4.1 What is the database all about?
Pretty much everything you want to know is explained on This Page
4.2 How do I find things?
Check the helpful hints on This Page
4.3 How do I become a Database Editor?
You'll need to contact me directly by email.
5.1 What's up with it?
The Ezine was great, and I really liked the issues. However, it was a lot of work. I'm considering a system to allow people to contribute directly without as much editorial control. We'll see. Even the old issues are off-line for the time being while options are considered.