Mike/Archaea
 

My avatar has been changed.

What gives? Why was it changed?

Did one of you decide to just change stuff on a user's account? That seems strange.

I like your previous avatar better. Those sweaters were lovely.

Well, mike or archaea can change yours to the SC song girl one if you want.

Send me a PM request, they will read it in my inbox, and then change it for you!

I see it was changed back. But if they were going to change it they could have at least changed it to something funny what was up with the guy, the dog and the toilet?

I imagine it was in reference to Triplet Dad's fear of public restrooms.

Mike did do some great work with BYU71's avatar. I also liked when he put a thought bubble on SU's avatar reading, "Who farted?"

I changed it back.

If it was a joke, no worries. Although I still think changing user preferences is not really great behavior on a chat board. Trolling your own site or dupe accounts is one thing, but going into the User CP of someone else seems to cross a bit of a line.

I do care if these guys are reading PMs, which has been alleged here before. A PM to mike asking him to clarify went unanswered.

The great irony would be if mike creates his own site so that he can then read the PMs of others. Sounds very familiar to me....

He once edited one of my posts to put words in my mouth. It was a joke ... har har har. But I agree, not great behavior.

Don't get moralistic on me. It doesn't go with your class clown mojo.

Sorry, Jefe. DLTBGYD.

Do you run a macro that searches PMs for any reference to "mikewaters," or do you just open PMs at random?

Trust me, if I can't be bothered to read your posts, I certainly won't bother to read your PMs.

Can you give me an avatar. I don't seem to be able to find a picture that works. I would prefer some type of dog. If there is a girl in the pic that would be best. So...make an avatar with a dog and a hot girl...or an ugly girl. whatever.

You dont read my posts? I just had a length conversation on this board last week with a guy who sounded a lot like you.....goes to parties with wealthy people, meets with real estate barons, wants to grow his Schedule E portfolio, etc...who was that guy?

This thread is starting to get more views, Little Jefe. I think the masses want to know if you are reading their PMs, too.

When you started this site and said you wanted it to be a bit more cozy than our big brother, I had no idea you meant in a Gestapo sort of way.

The real question...do you like my new avatar? I do. I like the image of a dog pissing on the keyboard.

We have already been through this recently. Vbulletin does not have a built in mechanism for administrators to read PMs. I am not reading, have never read, and pledge not to read PMs.

Having said that, the PMs of course exist in a database which is password protected, but not encrypted. I would not put anything of a personal nature in them that you can't afford to see the light of day, just like email. They are subpoenable, I assume.

VBulletin does allow for admins to expunge inboxes.

You cant read them? Can you see them without opening them? Do you change user specs of individuals? Have you done that in the past? Any particular reason for it? Seems like a slippery slope.

The bigger issue is not the technical capabilities of vbulletin.....but why do multiple people here suspect that you are reading their personal info? Doesnt seem like the type of atmosphere you would want here, no? Maybe I am wrong. You were the one who called yourself Demiurge.

This kind of stuff is bad for business. Maybe you have found a way to prevent new people from coming here. Simply override any measure of personal privacy someone has here and change perferences, look at PMs, etc..although doing such doesnt fit your proletariat mojo....

It's cool.

I really like what it implies about Mike's opinion on my posts. He thinks I'm a puppy pissing on the keyboard. If it was someone I respected I would be offended but from Mike it makes me feel good about myself. :D

Hmmmm.... The paranoid version of DDD isn't quite so amusing.

This is not a business. That's your first mistake.

Anyone who suspects I am reading their personal information--I suggest you leave post-haste, because I wouldn't stick around at such a site, and neither should you.

I am a benevolent, laissez-faire dictator. But I am still a dictator at the end of the day.

I asked a simple question that has gone unanswered. Who changed my pic and why?

As I stated to mike in my PM, I dont care that the avatar was changed, in and of itself. I easily changed it back.

I am curious as to why mike would do such a thing. I find strange mike's refusal to address it quickly.

The only other explanation I can think of takes me back to elementary school....Valentines day is coming up and he is teasing me because he really likes me, instead. If that is the case, then cool. I am flattered.

In all fairness to the admins here, a year or so back I left a post that became somewhat controversial because I used people's real names, and some were offended and PM'd Mike, asking him to edit my post. Mike PM'd me and asked if I would consider editing it, but he would not up and edit it himself, he left it up to the author to decide.

A legitimate concern that deserves an answer.

Got it. That is a good example, so thanks.

I think my question is a legitimate one. From a policy perspective, what will the admins do or not do? Changing avatars is harmless fun. I get it. No big deal, even if the avatar was not funny or titilating. But it raises the general issue of having access to a user's preferences, being able to see inboxes, etc.

Mike is being purposefully evasive on the topic, but the cat and mouse nature of his wily ways do not bug me. He has made it clear that he does not nor will read PMs, which is good. He also ends his post emphasizing that he is dictator. What does this mean?

Would you like me to post a screen shot of your user page, as the admin sees it in the admin control panel?

No, I dont care about the screen shot.

I want you to stop being evasive. Just answer the questions being asked and all of this will just go away. Have you learned nothing about PR from Exxon Valdez, Bill Clinton, or BYU athletics airbrushing Araujo's tattoo?

Have you assume control of another user's CP, without their permission or knowledge, to change settings, preferences, or anything else? As the chief El Jefe, it seems like poor form to be doing that. Almost a breach of ethics, if you will, although I know you have an aversion to moral arguments.

If you did, why?

You just stated a page back that you cant even be bothered to read my posts, so something is not jibing. You cant be bothered to read my posts, but you can be bothered to think of a little joke and change my avatar?

Look mike, let me make this really easy for you. I like you. A lot. This poor comminication is kiiling our relationship.

I could do anything I wanted to your account.

I could change the password, shut you out, impersonate you, change the associated email address, delete the accout, change the avatar, change the sig. These are all things that are theoretically possible.

If you can do it, I can do it.

Like all message boards that I know of, accounts exist at the whim of the admin. No one has a "right" to an account. Users have been banned, and will be banned.

The reason I don't answer your question, is because it is a stupid question.

One thing I don't know about is whether a vbulletin can theoretically allow an admin to know a person's password. Don't know about that one.

Maybe it is a stupid question. Or maybe you do not answer the question because you would have to admit to getting into the accounts of others. Which, as I said before, would be bad for your image.

If you don't want a gremlin to change your avatar, then leave. That's the best I can offer you.

Consider it the price of having a "free" avatar, LOL.

Mike, it is fine. No worries.

You have answered my question and everyone here and any guest can now see it. Per this thread I have learned:

- You dont read my posts
- You are a dictator
- If someone wants to post here, they need to be willing to let you get into their account, no matter how trivial it may be.

I have been put in my place. You won this round!

I am never "in" your account.

My beneficence is apparent to all. You sign up on this site, the first thing you do is rip on it. Then you rip on me. Then you continue ripping on me. That's fine.

People here that know me know that I am not running a business, and I am not running a popularity contest. So it would not be wise to operate under the assumption that I am.

I don't speak for Mike, but I will hazard a translation.

Mike doesn't do the things you've insultingly inquired about and doesn't tolerate fools lightly.

He has playfully installed an avatar gremlin that strikes everybody, including himself and me.

But because you have gone the asshole route, he reserves the right to do anything he wishes as dictator to assholes. However, his better nature has prevailed.

Mike Diamond Bay, this issue is settled. Let's not harp on it any longer.

I have no issues with you. I think you are an interesting study. I read most of your posts....the ones I do not, simply because they may slip my mind or because you post a lot of different things on here and I cant get to all of them. If you sent me a PM, I would answer it insetad of pretend I did not get it.

You would be better served figuring out why you feel the need to pretend to not read my posts, why you pretend to not like me, why you have such an issue with anyone or anything that takes the spotlight away from you, even for a second.

I enjoy toying with you, yes. Kind of like the cat pawing at the mouse. After awhile it gets boring, but every now and then it is really fun to watch the mouse squirm. If you want me to stop, I will. I didnt know it hurt your feelings so much.

If you are still raw about it, post a video blog on YouTube. Or PM me. I will respond.

Well done, my good and faithful servant.

By the a-hole route, what exactly do you mean?

I sent mike a private PM asking him simply what the deal was. Why didnt he just answer it?

I have stated before that the changing of the avatar was not my concern. It was the bigger issue...the one that mike has continued to not address.

Seems to be that the more curious route is to not answer the innocuous PM, then continue to avoid the question in this thread, finally blowing off the question as stupid.

By asking the stupid question, you insinuated he was doing something the rest of us know he doesn't do.

So I shouldnt ask a question, the answer to which YOU already knew?

This makes no sense, Archaea.

Do you really believe Mike would look into another person's account? Do you know enough about these programs as to the limits?

This is fun and games to Mike, despite a lot of work.

Mike is basically libertarian and railed against the status quo over at CB. It offends a libertarian's sensibilities to even question his integrity on a freebie site. Or at least it would if I invested the same money he has without a return on investment or an intent to ever reap a return.

And Mike's point is valid. If you haven't watched him enough to trust, if you must even raise the question, then don't participate, because we don't participate where there is no trust. You apparently don't trust so you shouldn't participate. The rest of us trust enough to participate in a libertarian environment.

There is an avatar gremlin. So shoot us. And the right to bar somebody exists and nobody owns anything here but Mike.

Then why didnt he just answer the simple PM I sent him originally? It would have been over and done with in 5 seconds.

The reason is because mike seems to like to play games.

You are now doing the same thing by being evasive to the simple question in front of you. The whole thing has become boring.

Your playing the "mike is victim" card here will be great reading for all those who continue to click on this thread. How many people has mike offended or annoyed or pissed off? Why take it so personally?

I made a significant contribution to the purchase of the software ... what a fool I am!

I'm pretty familiar with VBulletin, thanks. I'm not really interesting in wading too far into this little battle, but I will say I didn't like Mike editing my words to appear as if I've said them. And then, I occasionally hear about how he knows where I live, who I work for, blah blah blah.

I wouldn't put it past him, frankly.