Need an Amnesty on Electronics Forums - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2024, 11:59:11 pm
content: Hi,EEVBLOG is an excellent forum...So why would loads and loads of engineers want to actively delete their account on a permanent basis?eg...https://www.eevblog.com/forum/news/how-to-delete-my-account-401706/There are loads of people who send this kind of post to EEVBLOG and all other Electronics forums.Well...the reason is because seniors at companies where these engineers work, hawkwatch the forums, and proove that their juniors are using forums, and , for whatever reason, influence management to force the junior to remove their forum account permanently.This is pointless. It does not help the companies concerned. The electronics discussed is mostly "out there" anyway. It will do no harm to the company whatsoever.So can we have an amnesty on forum use?Can we influence the managers that forum use really is no harm to them. Electronics is just mostly well trodden over, and not anything new. (apart from a few things but they are exceptions)Maybe we need a section called "Electronics is not a secret anymore" to make the managers realise that its pointless to stop their juniors from using forums.If you want to make a product...you do not copy it anyway...to copy it..you need the full design skill of it anyway...and if you have that...then why not just make it to the required spec and not copy it...where you may copy the warts and all.I have had people disallowing contractors from working on simple linear regulators in case they "run away with the company's secrets".Its all nonsense.These managers companys are being harmed and its time to get a reality check on this.Bring on the Amnesty?Floobydust kindly tells a story where he knew of a company that got ripped off and copied by its staff...but that is the exception..and in all truth, it was likely the customer company that got fed up with order delays and so payed the workers to bring the company under their wing so they could make the products quicker. In any case...you still wouldnt need to copy anything...just do it from fresh...another point, is that any western electronics company can have any of its products copied and sold at half price by a Chinese competitior at any time. The Chinese have a huge quantity of the best EEs in the world now.https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/general-analog-electronics-companies-must-stop-killing-themselves/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/intelligent-product-of-switch-mode-power-supplies/

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 12:22:02 am
content: A little common sense goes a long way - simply don't mix your work life and personal life online!Unless you live and work in a totalitarian state, for personal use simply register with anym, not your full real name*, never mention your employer or any of their products, or post photos from work, and never post here from a company device (or any device running company apps) or from the company WiFi, and you will never need to delete your account to please your current or prospective employer. If they attempt to link you to your personal nym, you can tell your manager or HR department to go to hell in a handbasket, and if they don't back off, threaten to sue for cyber harassment and promoting a hostile work environment.If you need to ask questions about your company's product here,CYA, and get written permission from your manager specifying what product details you are permitted to disclose, do so only from a company device, at work, on a second account here e.g.<company_name>_tech123(but ask permission from our moderators before creating a second account). Never link personal social media, or reply to your own nym from the company nym or visa versa. If you use a personal device to take photos to post for the company online, strip the metadata before sending the images to a company device!* Anyone who registers with their email address as their user name is an IT security risk. If their email address also contains their full name, they are probably too high a risk to remain employed!

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:07:04 am
content: QuoteThanks, thats a good idea, but even if one does all that, after a while , it becomes obvious that a poster is a known employee of whichever company.Just from the details of the post.....they have to be reasonably relevant to the work and situation being undertaken.Remember that these senior engineers really hawkwatch the forums. They will find out if the company has a forum user.I totally believe that companys are actually totally helped by forum use concerning their product developments. In reality.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:17:06 am
content: People may not be asked to delete their account / stop writing on some forum.They may do this on their own after noticing that their boss realized it, and they may just not want their boss to "spy" on their online activities, whether this has a direct link to their job or not.That is a general problem. Of course this has relatively little chance of happening if you don't appear under your real name and don't mention your company, or give enough clues about it.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:25:15 am
content: I feel that unless its a small start up with very optimistic people posting any corporate stuff online is a recipe for trouble*. The guidelines for corporate were made when the worst you can do is talk about something in a bar to people that don't understand you. Obviously the reprecutions were obvious to someone that thought "lets put this in a magazine".When I worked in a design role, frequently things came up that the forum would probobly assist with. But I never post that stuff because they pay you to learn it, chances are it will be unrealistically fast progress (weird time table errors), and chances are that people would be upset if they figured out their actually answering questions for a corporate entity. And they don't pay you enough so why would you go outside of your role?Plus, you don't wanna follow rules of thumb and crowd advice in a job, the reason why your job exists is likely because its nuanced.*And if its really a good idea, it really can get stolen. Everyone needs to be in complete agreement.

author: Faringdon
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:28:10 am
content: ThanksThe reason for forum hawkwatching and "catching red handed on the forum", is that in UK (and other countrys),the electronics industry is well stagnated and small. Most electronics is outsourced to China. So there really is very littlechance of technical progression, and not likely to be another electronics company within commutable distance, where an engineercan go to , in order to expand their technical career....This leads to a situation in UK electronics companys where seniors desperately wantto hold on to their knowledge, and be "top technical dog". The thought of a junior coming in and scooping off knowledge ona forum is unbearable.As such, the ploy is to hawkwatch for forum use by juniors in the company...then to manipulate and convince the manager or owner that its detrimental to the company, and get the junior forum user to ditch the forum permanently.As well as getting them "well snitched up" as being a "cheat" and "useless toerag" that cheats by using forums to try and get knowledge and thus disguisewhat a useless engineer they are.I guess in UK, the opportunties to shine technically are few and far between...so the next best thing is to concentrate into looking into getting those around you to look technically rubbish...so that oneself shines out as being "the best". Catching them out on a forum, and blowing this up out of proportion is a great way to do this. "dirty cheating useless forum user".However, its not generally detrimental at all to any company.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:30:56 am
content: I disagree, it just makes the company make aggregate decisions based on popular data. You might find a new idea online, but you won't develop something new there.Treez, with your questions, I often feel that I should be paid per answer because their awfully specific and you don't learn much from them. I feel like I am doing legwork not giving you a general map to information. They are boring ass questions about mass produced infrastructure that mainly deal with business compromises.... clearly because you have way too much on your plate.. and everyone has a political backstoryMaybe the retired and unemployed don't find it as distasteful as me, but my feeling is "where is my money for this"I personally want the english street light industry to collapse. clearly its working on exploitation if anything you say is true, so stop feeding the fire. It sounds like its on the verge of imploding. Then you might get something interesting like someone putting up a emergency job posting for a real salary. Maybe give it a rest for 6 months and someone might call you as a highly paid consultant, when they totally get into bed with china and get regulated by whoever is in charge there. Basically its hanging on to a bad position. And more then likely you are living in a echo chamber of industry specific bullshit, so if you switch industries after brushing up you will find better pay. If enough of those lights fail then politicians will be forced to act (scandal), they are afraid of the dark. If you step away a while you might really notice 1) better solutions 2) your bosses are insanely greedy and they get you into a ultra tunnel vision mindset about engineering.I get the feeling that you work for a industry that considers a 16 cent power diode to be a lynch pin and threatens to go out of business if the cost rises anywhere above 19 cents, and the truth is that you can build the product with $50 extra in BOM and business would be just fine.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:34:15 am
content: If you aren't a blabber-mouth, sanitize your metadata, and don't log in as your personal nym on company time or using company facilities your management 'hawks' have no way to pick out your personal nym from the other 65K users here!OTOH if you historically have bad-mouthed your employer and/or their products here as an identifiable individual, or leak company owned intellectual property that only you or a limited number of others could access, you *will* be flagged as a risk to the company and are unlikely to remain employed, (and if in a totalitarian state, may be selected for 're-education')!Lastly, if you regret your presence here, don't emulate a certain cyanic cranium ex-user*, its enough to simply delete anyPII(and only your PII) from your posts, sanitize posted media, andwalk away. . .* Who AFAIK threw a hissy fit, took his ball, and went home. The admins know more but they ain't talking and never will.--I am not an EEVblog 'staffer', nor do I play one on TV!

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:48:40 am
content: Unless this is explicitely allowed by your company, using online forums during your work time is often against the rules. Now the line is fuzzy, as companies can't usually prevent you from using the Internet as a tool, but anything considered "social networks", even if it can be seen as a tool for your job, is always borderline.But from Faringdon's story, as usual, it's not exactly that. It's usually all about manipulating employees with a link to China's domination.Whatever the underlying reason, which obviously is either fantasized here, or possibly partly real, as soon as you as an employee realize that your company is manipulating you in a negative way, it's time to go. It rarely ends well.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 03:06:58 am
content: Asking a tech question on component manufacturer forums i.e. TI or ADI or Power Integrations etc. during the workday is sometimes essential.So I think it's OK to ask for work-related help here as long as any product information or IP divulged is ordinary, commonplace. That there is no danger to "the corporation". Almost everyone masks the true application, withholds details in their thread and we are all used to that.I had a bad boss, micromanager extreme that constantly watched what I was doing with my computer, remote viewing feature IT had. I laughed, his day off and he phoned me from home to give me shit I wasn't working on what he wanted. Some managers are fucked in the head. I see others doing their online banking at work, social media, youtube, eBay shopping etc. - not work related, and they seem to not get in any trouble.OP, you did give away your identity once, not that I really care at all or would do anything against a person here. I get pissed off but leave it at that. I don't foresee us having a pint, you are a long ways away. So there is some personal danger I guess posting on the forums.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 04:45:16 am
content: Quote from: Faringdon on August 04, 2024, 01:07:04 amWhat may be obvious to the employer, may not be obvious to a court hearing an unfair dismissal case brought by the employee against their former employer.(unless the employee is completely careless in revealing commercial-in-confidence information that only the company could possibly know)

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 09:01:06 am
content: Here. EEV blog forum was the third mandated forum by my company for 'interpersonal improvement'.The rule was not to identify the company, any specific project, or customer.Possibly, everything is read,most is compiled in work time lulls, some sent during personal time.I dont/won't do "normal" soc.med. At least coming here it's a reasonably entertaining (to me), and partly educational experience.To the OP...In the event you whine about your employers ethics, policies, projects, and also identify yourself as well, rightly or wrongly you're gonna get canned.BTW congratulations are in order: it was post five before China was mentioned.X, (yes, it is Xena).

author: Xena E
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 09:11:44 am
content: Beg everyone's pardon didn't read the OP properlyHe mentioned China in the very first post.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 10:36:19 am
content: Quote from: Faringdon on August 03, 2024, 11:59:11 pmThey don't. You made this up. A small minority do for various reasons (I was one of them under a previous pseudonym several years ago.)Quote from: Faringdon on August 03, 2024, 11:59:11 pmThat sounds like a "you" problem. Many companies have social media policies and confidentiality agreements, yet, you will always get a few idiots breaching those policies. Everyone else is free to speak their minds. Even on a professional level. This forum is highly respected. We intend to keep it that way.Quote from: Faringdon on August 03, 2024, 11:59:11 pmYou've said this before. I disagree. China (as in the CCP) have a lot of sway in the market when it comes to Chinese technology companies (by law). Do they have the best EE's? Hell no! Not by a long shot. Their technology is untrusted. It's ridiculed. It's transparent. Wake up to yourself.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 10:40:48 am
content: You know what Faringdon? You've been banned from this forum before, and you're banned again.At best, you contribute nothing meaningful. At worst, you're a CCP shill.The educated world doesn't have time for your crap anymore.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 11:41:41 am
content: Now I won't be thanked so often. (Good thing too)I'll also miss out on the "fun" of looking at the "recent unread topics" page, reading the topic headers, and quickly guessing that it is a Faringdon/Treez/Ocset topic.On the plus side, the forum's signal-to-noise ratio will be noticeably improved

author: watchmaker
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 11:44:36 am
content: Now I get why people use pen names here. Never thought about the companies that deal with sensitive issues.OTOH, when my daughter was 10, I showed her the log on our home router. I told her I would never look at the data, but she needed to be aware that everything is recorded.I have always been offended by those who use company resources to conduct personal business. It is no different from the sales clerk using company time to chat with a friend while a customer is waiting.Even had an ebayer using an account from US Architect of the Capitol account try to screw me. That did not go well for him.In one of my professional jobs, in the 1990s, a young researcher was fired for using association resources (internet) for personal business.Anyone who does not understand the requirement to separate personal use from business use (including personal accounts on company infrastructure) is asking to be fired.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 11:46:10 am
content: I imagined Keller writing something on a forum in the middle of a cpu development and AMD firing him. Or Elon Musk writing something and being kicked out to South Africa.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 12:02:29 pm
content: Quote from: Halcyon on August 04, 2024, 10:40:48 amAs someone who has tried to help Faringdon and tried to take their questions at face value, I took a hard look at theirposts(a couple of hundred most recent ones), plus because it started to get pretty repetitive, theones thanked by othersover the last couple of years.I cannot agree to "nothingmeaningful", but the signal-to-noise ratioishorribly low, reminding me ofAlbert Bernstein'sEmotional Vampiresin an online interaction scenario; a variant of the used-car salesmen type, or perhaps "you need to do my homework for me because I've got better more important things to do", who never remembers a previously given advice after the moment it was applied has passed.I am not a psychologist, but having had to learn social skills the hard way myself, I don't think they are intentionally so, but definitely in need of adjusting the way they communicate. A proper mutually beneficial interaction is a give-and-take –– not so much between exact pairs of individuals, but an individual and the community. When someone just takes and takes and asks questions rarely really engaging in the ensuing discussion, just reading the responses, and even more rarely trying to help others in turn, they do become a burden on the community. (This is what I fear myself; beingusefulis what brings me joy here, but I have my own set of faults causing friction here.)The solution exists: one needs to adjust the way they communicate with others. It is unreasonable to expect everyone else conform to your needs. If one understands feedback mechanisms and basic scientific principles, they can experiment and find what changes in their communication style they can do and maintain that will yield positive results. And there are books and therapists specialized in this kind of thing, too. Unfortunately, I do not see any such effort on Faringdon's part.Quote from: watchmaker on August 04, 2024, 11:44:36 amFor me, it is a tool, reminding me that others do not respond to my person, but to my output and output style. My output I can change; my person I cannot.In that sense, it is not really Faringdon the human person that is banned; it is the member Faringdon due to their difficult communications patterns and styles that the moderators just cannot reasonably sustain/allow on this forum. In the past, Dave and the moderators have allowed such "reformed" members back in under new pseudonyms – including in Faringdon's own case before! –, exactly because it really is that and not anything personal per se. I find it important to understand this, and not consider the situation from an emotional perspective.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 12:15:12 pm
content: Sad. Faringdon was good for an occasional laugh.Like, how could anyone think this guy actually likes China or wants CCP to be seen in good light?

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 12:21:12 pm
content: Quote from: magic on August 04, 2024, 12:15:12 pmIf you miss him. They seem to still be active here:Code:https://www.edaboard.com/search/3701502/?c=cupoftea&o=dateE.g. Their latest, Common mode chokes are a hoax for SMPS? thread:https://www.edaboard.com/threads/common-mode-chokes-are-a-hoax-for-smps.411942/post-1778232

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 01:59:26 pm
content: It's not just him but the interactions with other users here, including a few groupies who always show up in those threads

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 03:07:14 pm
content: Quote from: magic on August 04, 2024, 01:59:26 pmIn my opinion, I think they were tending to drag the forum down, in various respects.How on earth a user can create so many different accounts, to (presumably) try and deceive both the user base here, and the moderator/administrator teams. Then not get immediately permanently banned (all accounts), from doing that.They habitually cross-post stuff, and seem to intentionally create (trolling) stories.They don't seem to really care about users who take the time and effort, to reply to their threads.If you compare their posts on here, to other forum(s). They do seem to be intentionally, creating simplistic/beginner like threads here, yet attempt to appear, all professional/experienced, on other forum(s).So, there always seemed to be something very seriously wrong, with their posting style(s).

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 03:24:47 pm
content: Hello: FTTS Farrington Treeze Time Sink:I hearby grant you Amnesty, universal and unlimited, ....You are hearby absolved from all sins you have committed .....You are now deemed immune to all these issues.You can finally retire, cease these posts and take a vacation.....preferably to a location with no internet acess....Invoice for services rendered: Complete Amnesty...and Absolution from Sins EU 5,000 (special low price)Master Card/Visa/AmEx gladly accepted.Have an absolutely Fantastic Day!Jon

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 04:24:29 pm
content: What I found noteworthy, aside from the general lunacy of the questions themselves, is the ratio of questions/new threads to replies. For the sake of argument, let’s pretend people only start threads to ask for help, not to proactively share anything.I looked at the top 25 non-admin/moderator forum members (by post count) and calculated the ratio of posts to threads started. The range spans from 26:1 to 2075:1, with most being between 100-300, with an average of 456:1. (I’m right at 302:1.) Even given the fact that some of the posts will be replies in their own threads, there is a clear trend: responding to others far more than asking for help.And again, this is under the assumption that every thread started is a request for help. If we discounted threads offering proactive information, the ratios would go even higher.Then we look at Faringdon (just that account, not including any alternative ones), and we find a ratio of just 2.9:1. That’s a ratio one might expect of a brand new member with exactly one thread they just started the day before. (The original treez account, currently renamed to “ocset” and not yet banned, has an only slightly better ratio at 3.6:1.)Unfortunately, there’s no easy way to see a count of threads a member has participated in (regardless of thread starter), so no easy way to see how many threads Faringdon responded to that he didn’t start himself. But an unscientific skimming of his post history suggests that he responded to a few threads by others a few years ago, but really focused solely on his own threads in later years. Even if we generously guess he responded to 20 threads by others (I suspect it’s half that), that’s peanuts compared to the 730 threads he started. That would suggest a help-offered to help-sought ratio of just 0.03:1, or 36 requests for help for every one offer to help someone else.The upshot? Typical top forum members primarily reply to threads started by others, suggesting they are trying to help others more than they are seeking help themselves. And then we have Faringdon, who seeks tons of help but rarely, if ever, tries to help others. In other words, a freeloader. We expect that from actual newbies (both to electronics and to the forum) who sign up to ask a question. But not from members with thousands of posts.Even if we assume positive intent (no malice), this kind of user is a drag. One could even accept that a user who knows nothing but asks good questions that prompt interesting, enlightening discussions is adding value to the forum. But his questions (“don’t you agree that [insert loony nonsequitur here]…”) only rarely prompted truly productive discussions, and he clearly never actually took to heart anything anyone said, which is frustrating to those who took the time to reply. It could easily be interpreted as disrespect for others.If we do assume malice (deliberate trolling) then it becomes way worse.What’s the solution? I dunno. In a way I’ll miss the “oh jesus wtf” moments prompted by his unhinged theories, or his beginner questions that a supposedly experienced working engineer should have known the answers to inside and out.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 04:46:35 pm
content: It would not hurt to also bun a few morons who jumped at every Farington's thread with the only intent to make it more stink.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 04:48:55 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on August 04, 2024, 04:46:35 pmEh, I can’t begrudge people for getting annoyed with his threads. I don’t think the intent is to “make more stink” but to let off steam.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 04:58:03 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on August 04, 2024, 04:46:35 pmYeah, but Faringdon was amazingly adept at sucking newbies andcasualreaders into his threads, thus wasting their time and energy. IMNSHO it is "public spirited" to warn newbies and casual readers about "emotional/technical vampires". (See tooki's analysis for why "vampire" is an appropriate concept).In addition, pithy comments can help posters improve their thought processes and questions. Not so with Faringdon, of course.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 06:23:38 pm
content: QuoteMaybe. A typical thread (from any thread starter) will usually veer off into some semi-related argument. The initial topic may be interesting (or not), but later posts can unearth stuff that wouldn't otherwise have arrived. So who started a thread (and, conversely, who has a poor start-to-contribution ratio) may not be meaningful - it is what happens later in the thread that defines it as being useful or not.Perhaps comparison of thread length might be interesting, on the basis that a long thread indicates user engagement. But to do that meaningfully it would probably have to ignore the usual contributors that are just bad mouthing the thread starter.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 07:11:33 pm
content: Quote from: tggzzz on August 04, 2024, 04:58:03 pmthis... it got tedious having to have my troll filter set so high.Thank god the EEVSewer got a little less sewery.....

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 11:30:44 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on August 04, 2024, 04:24:29 pmFrom an admin point of view it is possible to put a user into a group that removes their ability to start new threads.That's something I can do if people think that's best.That stat you shared is amazing. 730 topics started from 2124 posts.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2024, 11:44:44 pm
content: I think limiting his ability to start new threads is a better solution; although, the statistic given suggests such contributions are infrequent. I think banning should be reserved for only the very worst offenders. Aside from China bashing, he is not overtly offending.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:27:29 am
content: Yeah. I understand the ban here, but not sure I fully agree. The guy may have been obsessive but he's never insulted anyone that I remember of, or even been offensive towards China per se - more so towards western companies that allegedly outsource everything there. And while frequent, it's not like he started several of these topics a day, which would have been experienced as flooding.Now, granted his contributions in terms of replying to threads other than his own were very limited, possibly even non-existent. I don't think that's per se a reason for banning users, but given the total number of posts, I admit that's not a very "friendly" behavior. We never quite figured out if he was just actively trolling, or if it was done in "good faith". As Nominal said, this may just be his own character and way of handling social interactions, which is why I personally have always cut him some slack. Also, while the core of his threads were always around the same topic, there were sometimes some more general elements (possibly accessory in his mind, I'll never know) that were interesting to discuss, if not really related to electronics at all.Anyway, I probably won't miss his threads but they've never really bothered me either. I've seen way worse on online forums.

author: floobydust
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:30:13 am
content: He was the #1thread starterfor quite a while, it was a constant stream of useless threads that never ever reached a conclusion or solution. That was my main beef, he was leaving turds all over and making people angry. No contribution, just a vampire in the community.That paper on the psychology of trolls said it is usually for attention or unmet childhood emotional needs that they post.Conflating a tech issue, china, the Boss etc. is worthy of a ban. We don't need Harry Potter story telling here.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:44:21 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on August 05, 2024, 12:27:29 amThe thing that needs to be taken into account here is that he has been banned before under the name Treez (changed to ocset), he was the most reported account on the forum.IIRC, after a sob story I cut him some slack to come back as Faringdon, only for him to have been warned several times again.I just remembered that he has also personally attacked a moderator here in the past. So I can't let this stand any more, he's banned.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:52:49 am
content: Alright. And yes, I admit you already gave him a second chance.

author: Gregg
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 01:14:05 am
content: Treez, Faringdon or whatever moniker you’ve chosen lately:What you need is a serious reality check. Posting your problems on a public forum won’t make them go away. You need to take a good hard look at yourself and ask “Who am I?”, “Where do I want to go in life?” and “How can I get there?”You only have yourself and time; basically you are wasting a lot of your precious time with most of your posts to forums. You can change yourself when you realize you are in charge of your own decisions in life; only you know all of the circumstances. Life is hard, but can get easier once you learn to take charge of your own life first and foremost.Ranting only makes you a whiner not a winner.(Wouldn’t you agree? sic)

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 03:13:18 am
content: Quote from: SiliconWizard on August 05, 2024, 12:27:29 amSeriously? Did you really never read any of the crazy convoluted situations he was constantly proposing? None of the threads he started were ever reasonable. He was either an active troll or a schizophrenic (someone was always out to get someone else). Either way it was just forum contamination.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 03:48:33 am
content: I don't think its either, it has a good chance of being a person caught up in company and industry specific BS.For some reason he has the dedication of a conservative traditional japanese man to his industry. I feel like sometimes those guys kill themselves because they don't realize there is a literal high paying "do nothing" job waiting around the corner for them.Like, the biggest thing I see, is someone refusing to accept sunk cost. It looks like a big batch of failure. You spent time on it, you gotta get out of it, you take some losses, which you can make up elsewhere. Its like having to accept you gotta learn something new.It probobly feels sad if you spent ages looking through low cost LED driver circuits and that you might not need that in your next job. But its something you gotta accept and get on with life. In university you spend alot of time studying things you never need againThere is always some esoteric, usually low cost but complicated thing you can spend a ton of time on for a job thats literarly useless anywhere else. At least its electricity. Imagine you were in some cut throat humidity control industry.. now thats gotta feel like throwing gold bars off a sinking boat LOL. I knew some guy that was saying something about his job being third order differential equations for vent actuators in HVAC... basically that job was somewhat highly paid but all that technical info he got was basically totally useless elsewhere. He must have felt like he got back from a mirror universe on a episode of star trek when they started talking normal to him again LOL. Just pretend the information you got is a space ship that only works with the laws of physics in a parallel universe, at this point its a interesting memory and dead weight.And its not THAT funny, the guy almost had like a kind of PTSD type thing going on because of that job. He kept thinking everything was going to get mega complicated, cheap, unstable etc.Most places don't care if you can predict the failure point of some chinese diode run in a overloaded design. You might get lucky and get someone that tells you "get a part that works".

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:24:50 am
content: Quote from: magic on August 04, 2024, 12:15:12 pmI was in a bad mood last night and just didn't have the patience for his nonsense. If Dave wants to bring him back, he's free to. I stand by my comments though.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:26:58 am
content: I always thought there to be two sides to the Faringdon character. The SMSP person with threads I did not look into because it is not my field of knowledge, so can't say if they are worth anything, and the somewhat idiotic and simpleton work related story character. Lately the later mostly came up in the weekend as if he had no time during the week anymore.Guess we will never know the true story behind the character.Some very laughable and others just plain right nonsense or stupid. I was never bothered by it and joined in once in a while just for entertainment or to point out how ridicule the original post was. Lately mostly ignored them.But looking at the statistics of thread starters, what about the forums personal youtube "AI" Homer J Simpson? He has a far worse ratio of starting threads (934 started on a total of 1230 posts). Most of his topics are showing youtube videos. Hardly ever looked at his postings since the thread names did not lure me in.This is not a complaint. Just an observation.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:35:45 am
content: Whatever you guys decide. Personally I think a cooling-off ban of a couple of weeks is adequate, since Faringdon did not really receive a specific warning before the ban (in this thread or other recent ones, to my knowledge).In any case,could we all please stop posting theories about a member's mental state, or other hypotheses about their personality?This is a public forum; the person being discussed is identifiable based on their long posting history; and this kind of discussion is extremely intrusive. Thanks all.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:08:20 am
content: Quote from: pcprogrammer on August 05, 2024, 06:26:58 amI don’t look at his threads, since by the time he posts it, YouTube will have already shown me the video hours or days earlier.As I alluded to above, threads started is a poor proxy for actual helpfulness. It’s merely the least-bad option we have, short of examining every thread by hand and determining its intent.Homer J’s threads are rarely helpfulto me, but others find value in the videos he posts, but above all, they aren’t asking effort of others. It’s very different from someone asking for help over and over and over, but contributing nothing outside of his own threads. (And to be clear, I am not saying that only experienced pros contribute value, by being able to answer complex questions. Even newbies can contribute, whether by answering even simpler questions for others, or by engaging meaningfully in the process of answering their own questions. Or their questions themselves might be truly interesting. Or they have amusing anecdotes. There are many ways to enrich a community, and technical expertise is just one of them.)Heck, in terms of vampirism and frustration, I don’t even think Faringdon was the worst; we have had a few extraordinary examples of people who suffer fromsevereDunning-Kruger who thought they had come up with super-clever solutions (which couldn’t work), and steadfastly refused to accept the people who paaaaaatiently laid out in excruciating detail why it wouldn’t work, only for the OP to restate their beliefs as if nothing had happened. Some of those members eventually got banned.Then we have the folks who do know a lot, but not nearly as much as they think they know, and who think they knowbetterthan the entire world. They argue disingenuously by using their own private definitions of otherwise established terminology, move goalposts as their arguments are carefully disproven by others, and insist others are wrong despite incontrovertible proof to the contrary. These members remain and continue to reply to, and often derail, threads.(I will mention that I sometimes end up overconfident, but I am always willing to review what I wrote and learn from others. If I’m wrong, explain it to me, and I will amend my knowledge/beliefs.)Closely related to the aforementioned are the members who reply frequently, attempting to be helpful, but who have a remarkable amount of irrelevant, erroneous or wildly outdated “knowledge” which they disseminate with confidence. So then entire discussions have to be held simply to correct the false statements, often prolonged by these members’ doubling down on their mistakes. This is particularly nefarious in replies to beginners who simply don’t have the knowledge and experience to identify bad responses. So other experienced members have to step in and make sure the beginner understands that a particular response is wrong, hazardous, or merely inadvisable.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:44:33 am
content: Quote from: Halcyon on August 05, 2024, 06:24:50 amWe all have moments like that, and Faringdon/treez/ocsetdoesprovoke them.The concept of preventing someone with that posting behaviour from starting threads is an interesting concept. My suspicion is that he would merely continue his behaviour in other threads. That would, arguably, beworse- it is possible to "ignore thread" but not "ignore subthread" (i.e. individual posts and replies to those posts).The repeated behaviour after repeated bannings, and being the member with most complaints, are both significant. Hopefully his absence will reduce the mod's workload.Also significant is his personally attacking a moderator. Fortunately the distances involved mean that is unlikely to have happened in personHence, rather reluctantly, I think a ban is the least bad way forward.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:49:29 am
content: Can I suggest that this thread be terminated at this point...Halcyon banned him yesterday and Dave confirmed that ban in reply #34 today.Faringdon has used at least 6 other identities on the forum, in addition to the officially sanctioned treez->ocset, some of them simultaneously. Despite the warnings that Dave alluded to (that we have no visibility of), temporary bans and numerous second chances, his behavior hasn't changed, a combination of thinly disguised anti-China diatribes, and using the forum as his personalAI engine to avoid putting in effort himself.Dave has made his decision so further discussion, especially when it starts going off track (as ebastler mentioned), seems counterproductive. The phrase 'divorce due to irreconcilable differences' comes to mind.Edits: Terrible punctuation!

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 09:01:39 am
content: Quote from: tooki on August 05, 2024, 08:08:20 amI have learned a lot since being on the forum about how incomplete my knowledge actually is. I now try to stay within my comfort zone when picking posts to reply to and also point out that I'm not an expert but can provide some insights.No idea if it is really valued, but sometimes there is some nice interaction.Have been involved in some of the discussions with the know it all's you mention. Sometimes fun but other times more time and energy draining.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 09:48:59 am
content: Since people are throwing their opinions around, I will do the same.My answer is a technical one (a flowchart, but in text writing).IF they really are TROLLING, i.e. intentionally creating a ridiculously massive number of factitious situations, in the form of various threads.THEN ............ Seriously consider (keeping) the ban.But, if you think that the vast bulk (almost all) of their threads are genuine/real issues. In which case, I'd much prefer to see plenty of relevant pictures (or it didn't happen).I.e. of the circuit(s)/component(s) in question, of their setups.THEN ............. Some kind of reconciliation, could be considered.I DON'T think, preventing them from starting threads, would necessarily solve the problem, as they already have a 'database' of around 730 pre-existing threads, in which to unleash their activities, upon this forum.

author: jonpaul
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 10:05:06 am
content: Haylcon and Dave: BRAVO for finally solving this years long trool saga.Especial thanks to our friend Tooki for his fine statistical research and analysis of the FTTS (Farrington Treeze Time Sink) posts, and replies.HAVE AN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC DAY!Jon in Paris...

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 10:06:15 am
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 05, 2024, 12:44:21 amSomething Simon should have done ages ago. Same timezone and turned a blind eye.He gave the forum little more than entertainment.

author: ebastler
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 10:29:54 am
content: Quote from: jonpaul on August 05, 2024, 10:05:06 amAnd he made some other relevant observations too, in his follow-up post.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 am
content: This forum is full ofactualzero contributors - people like jonpaul who never have anything to say, except to complain about Faringdon posting. Like a bot.Or people like tggzzz ruining their otherwise very decent SNR by zero-replying to every Faringdon thread like a bot. What a weird fixation.Meanwhile, while Faringdons SNR isn't great, it isn't colossally poor either, probably pretty average stuff. Sure it's all made up X-Y problems, but still maybe 50% of posts discuss some actual technical thing, which is often interesting and special enough that it triggers unnecessary people like jonpaul to try tothink, only to realize "oh crap, I don't understand any of this". But there is something interesting in Faringdon's style: it triggers these unnecessary people to write lots of unnecessary replies, where the only thing they do is to reveal they did not understand the actual technical discussion at all. Then they pat each other heads, writing dozens of unnecessary replies.What a weird fixation to have.And these unnecessary people are the actual root cause of the SNR problem.But now you have banned the one who acts as a trigger - a trigger to some childish old farts who have nothing to do except to complain, when they should just follow a simple principle:if you have nothing to say, do not post.In reality, you didn't have to do anything. You could have left Faringdon allowed to post, and these old farts fixating on their fixation. The rest of us can choose to just add certain names to ignore list.Now it's totally obvious that moderators officially joined the bullying team, joining the core of the problem, and I don't like that. Not at all. Actually, to be direct: fuck you.

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:06:22 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amIt is NOT your own personal forum. There are thousands of different users, around the world.You seem to be very rude, and inconsiderate, in that post.Ultimately, it is up to the moderation and administrator team, to decide (or Dave to make the final decision).

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:15:58 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amWhat a strange post that was...I'm surprised at that last paragraph. Did you really mean it?I don't know what "zero replying" means, and a fast search failed to reveal it. And I certainly didn't reply to every faringdon thread; please don't start "fake news".It seems you've missed the my reasons:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/need-an-amnesty-on-electronics-forums/msg5593585/#msg5593585One person agreed sufficiently strongly to reply:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/need-an-amnesty-on-electronics-forums/msg5593725/#msg5593725As for "actual root cause of the SNR problem",noneof the people left here are the root cause.

author: voltsandjolts
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:21:28 am
content: Faringdon started 113 topics so far this year, until banned in early August. If he posted less he would likely find folks here to be much more tolerant, and be treated as a forum 'character'. But the shear relentlessness of (mostly) BS wears you down IMHO.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:25:59 am
content: Hat tip to the moderators. At least one lurker approves. Occasionally I saunter in here and check things out and think"oh bloody hell not another fucking Faringdon thread"and go and sit and rock in the corner with my hands over my head.Siwastaja: if you don't like moderators, you can go and start your own forum, with blackjack and hookers. This actually happened, successfully.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:26:00 am
content: Quote from: tggzzz on August 05, 2024, 11:15:58 amI suspect it means something along the lines of deliberately replying in a way that completely ignores the subject of the OP.

author: AVGresponding
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:32:41 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amThough the Mods/Admin can be overly heavy handed, I'm not sure it's bullying, though I suppose it's rather subjective.The behaviour of other forum members towards Faringdon doesn't quite clear the bar as bullying,mostly, for me, though I strongly disagree with openly speculating on someone's mental health/learning disabilities/position on any spectrum, or any attempt at doxxing, however oblique.I suspect he would mostly have been left alone if it weren't for the recurring themes in his posts/threads, China-bashing in particular.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:57:17 am
content: Treez/Ocset/Faringdon has made *some* progress over the last few years, as he no longer morphs to a new nym at the drop of a hat and doesn't have any more sock-puppets. If our admins can secure an agreement with him that he will stick to actual 'hands-on' electronics, on a one topic per project basis and he promises wont revert to any of the behaviours he has previously been formally warned about, I also would support his return after a brief time-out even though he's a bit of a time-sink. OTOH if he wishes to continue to post his business and industry conspiracy theories in 'General Technical Chat' (and other less suitable places), or sh!t-stirs elsewhere then drags it over here, lets keep him perma-banned.+1 for not tolerating unqualified speculation about *any* posters' psychology or mental health. If you wish to speculate, show us your relevant medical qualifications!

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:04:19 pm
content: Even now he is gone it is still good for a laugh.What a fuss about nothing. Sure it is somewhat important to keep information up to some standard and warn when some BS comes along, and why not have a laugh from time to time at the expense of someone who sticks his neck out. If you can't handle that and don't want public exposure, you should not participate on a forum and let alone start BS threads.Take alone the diversity in the things posted by Faringdon over the years. Lures about the Russian-Ukraine war, China bashing, and what ever nonsense stories about mystery companies that mistreat their workers, etc, just to get what? Basically only good for ridicule.And for sure there is always a simple solution: Just do not open the thread when you see the posters name Faringdon. (No longer needed now he has been banned)I have not yet used the ignore list. I skim the titles and only select something interesting to me. For the rest I just press the "Mark all messages as read" button.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:05:25 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on August 05, 2024, 08:08:20 am(Me too, absolutely. My own writing style makes me often sound more confident and authoritative than I intend to –– I believe it is hard to tell when I'm confident and when I'm not –– so to combat that, I've ended up mentioning "on the electronics side, I'm only a hobbyist" in various forms in 100+ posts...)For any new members or lurkers reading this thread, engaging in the discussion after posting a question –– particularly mentioning what solution they eventually chose, and why –– is very important. It is okay to ask questions (I do so myself); just don't do it like a drive-by shooting. It's perfectly okay and good to have different opinions; we just need to concentrate and discuss the reasons and experience behind those opinions instead of the opinions themselves.In case it wasn't already clear, I consider Faringdon a (former) member, a peer, who just like I myself should work on their communication style (because without that work, it is causes too much friction to be sustainable in the long term); and I felt it was –– especially considering the title of this thread! –– important to 'bring out' the reasons for the ban, so everyone understandswhy. Dave and the moderators have promised to let me (and us members in general) know if we're getting too close to the line –– a warning via a private message ––, so nothing here was instant/unexpected/out-of-the-blue, either. The number of posts and threads involved also shows that there is plenty of time to adjust, too.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:27:52 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amYou do not know any of the back story that the moderators do, so I'd advise you to keep quiet on this topic.Similar story to many of the high profile people banned over the years, there is almost always way more to the story than we can tell. Some of it is actually VERY nasty stuff (not in this case), and a lot of you would be stunned at what some banned members who you thought were unfairly banned etc have done that wasn't public.Anyway, in this case Faringdon just personally and privately politely thanked me for continuing to let him be on the forum for all these years even after previous bans. And he said the ban is fine and he understands.But given his previous history it wouldn't surprise me if he tried to come back again under a new account.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:32:51 pm
content: Quote from: AVGresponding on August 05, 2024, 11:32:41 amSomething that he actually promised not to do any more after the last ban. But of course he did ultimately continued.He has even admitted that was the main reason he's on the forum, for the politics of Chinese made products.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:39:40 pm
content: Quote from: Ian.M on August 05, 2024, 11:57:17 amWe have tried that, accepted the promises, and he broke them.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 12:41:20 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amIf I may be direct, but you're wrong. I appreciate your opinion and I even respected you for it (at least to begin with), until someone else's decision didn't gel with yours, then you lost all respect.I know this forum is full of old, cranky men. So what? At least they impart some wisdom, even if you don't like the delivery.Faringdon/Treez was generally a problem, not always, but frequently enough. You forget that this entire forum is moderated by 3 individuals (4 if you include Dave). We all have our day jobs but we are all pretty relaxed with the way we moderate.If you think you can do a better job than me, put it to a vote, and if the majority thinks I'm doing a crap job, then I'll step back to a regular user. I promise not to take it personally either. If I've fucked up, I'm the first to admit it. The way I tend to moderate is almost anything goes. But if you take the piss one too many times and a limit is reached, I'll crack the whip.I fully expect the reverse in return: If you think I'm being unfair, TELL ME. Anyone can PM me with their thoughts and opinions.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 01:05:04 pm
content: I'd like to publicly thank the mods for the time and effort they put into moderation, and the style in which they do it.I say that as someone who has been accused of many things over the decades, butneverof having a "brown nose" nor "depth perception problems"Hence I echo the apposite comment...Quote from: bd139 on August 05, 2024, 11:25:59 am

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 01:30:34 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amAny forum is full of zero contributors. Usually there are many more.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 01:49:34 pm
content: Quote from: Postal2 on August 05, 2024, 01:30:34 pmSure, there are probably thousands of zero posters who have found the forum, thought it was a good idea to sign up (or thought they needed to) but have never posted anything. They are no problem and zero moderation load - well I think Dave does a sweep very occasionally just to keep the numbers sensible - they can always sign up again if they want to say something).On a personal note, I would be mortified if I got to the stage where I needed off-line / behind the scenes moderation. The mods have better things to do and I would probably leave of my own accord, tail between my legs.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:05:04 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amWell said.

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:12:02 pm
content: Quote from: Gyro on August 05, 2024, 01:49:34 pmNo. It means they posted something empty about "how I spent my day". You mentioned moderators - would you like it if Faringdon became a moderator? It's a subtle question.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:20:59 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 05, 2024, 12:27:52 pmHow about making a video on your second channel telling some of the better stories of what happened behind the scenes. No names or other personal info, just the stunning details.

author: armandine2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:22:01 pm
content: for a changehttps://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021jk0

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:33:29 pm
content: Quote from: joeqsmith on August 05, 2024, 02:20:59 pmPersonally, I'm not interested in reading, watching, or listening to any crap. I don't even like movies where there's destruction in the background. I don't want to teach myself that this is normal.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:44:20 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on August 05, 2024, 11:06:22 amQuite obviously, just like it's not YOUR personal forum, or jonpaul's, or Faringdon's.QuoteGood - that was my intention. I sometimes - quite rarely - reply to longstanding rudeness with rudeness. For example, naming out jonpaul is well deserved if you actually look at what kind of dedication, nearly stalker-level has been applied against Faringdon's threads by said forum member. I have reported some of those bullying posts to moderators in the past, and some of them have been removed or edited as a result.QuoteThis is obvious, as it's Dave's forum and he will ultimately do whatever he wants.Quote from: bd139 on August 05, 2024, 11:25:59 amOr I can state my opinion, in this particular case, like I did, and I don't have to start my own forum just because I disagree with one random action made by one moderator, as he admitted, because he had a bad day. Life goes on. Unless they are dick enough to ban me, too, in which case I'll then leave. But I don't think this would happen. I have good reasons to stay and post here, but it does not mean I have to apply self-censorship or praise every moderator action, or explain self-evident stuff like you do.Others are praising the moderator actions like some sort of choir, so I'll just express my disagreeing in this particular case. I still agree with >95% of moderator actions, and would probably agree even with this one if given correct reasons and backstory for the ban, instead of this "I was irritated so banned him" story.And I'm not here to throw some kind of "I'm leaving boohoo" temper tantrum, just stating my opinion like you are stating yours.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 02:54:01 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 05, 2024, 12:32:51 pm.... aaaand at the same time, the forum is full of members who just post random political Youtube videos or whatever. Faringdon's China fixation might have went a bit overboard, but at least it was always in scope of electronics design and manufacturing, instead of purely commenting political systems, covid of whatever totally electronics unrelated stuff.And I bet it would have been easier for Faringdon too if other members tried to keep Faringdon's electronic related topics on-topic (or not reply at all if there is nothing to say). But nearly every thread was filled with very actual bullying along the lines of "oh crap, Faringdon is posting again", or "ignore Faringdon". That sort of behavior is classic textbook example of bullying, andshould not be tolerated, and I'm sure it stresses out the one who is targeted, making it more difficult to keep following the rules - after all, if others are not following them, why would he?

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 03:03:52 pm
content: OTOH the moderators need to remain somewhat inscrutable, otherwise ****ing trolling lamer rules lawyers with no interest in electronics will visit us and use any insight the moderators offer us to game the system and see how close to the edge of the rules they can get without a ban, or compete to see how few posts it takes to derail an ordinary on-topic thread and get it locked, or compete aggravating and inciting some of our thinner-skinned members to see how many replies it takes to get the thin-skinned member banned!

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 03:09:09 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 10:56:51 amWell, the "report" button is right there; have you ever reported them for their behavior? A persistent and pathological pattern seems worthwhile.I admit I haven't. Can't say I've reported treez either, myself. But I tend to ignore these things: see it in the thread list, skip right on by, don't care that the topic might be attractive. Oh, look, it's the latest SMPS question something or other -- check author, if it's a newbie give it a look, oh it's another Faringdon,of course.Along similar lines, the pile-on behavior doesn't bother me so much, in part from the direction of: "Sure, go ahead, make yourself look like an ass in public view. Appreciate the heads-up not to need to value your opinion."I think I'd replied to JP once or twice along the lines of "do you really have to be the bully, in public, every time?" I don't recall a reply though. (I might also be misremembering the context, or the thrust of what I even said. Or if I'm imagining having wanted to say it...) Like, evidence-based analysis says: dude hasn't responded to a single "hey, take a step back and reflect on yourself, would ya?" comment yet, you might as well stop trying. Matter of fact, going back to the DutchForce days (mid-late 2000s) I can say he's been in/around the electronics online forum community quite a long time, hasn't shown a spark of introspection, and you're sure as hell not going to change that, with one or a hundred very visibly bullying replies.But so too, a lot of the community is older here, very set in their ways, and I see no reason to reply to try and change things. Ioccasionally see fit to call things out, but alas it would be optimistic to expect real change. The young at least are still flexible, learning, able to change their ways; but the old, you can only pick and choose who to pay attention to.(That's not a dismissal. That's a challenge. Prove me wrong. Prove me wrong,I dare you)Perhaps we should normalize hitting the report button for more casual acts? And by anyone, not giving established members a pass. Moderator response doesn't have to be absolute (deletion, ban), it could suffice to PM a userfrom a position of authority-- something they can't so easily ignore. Building a record, establishing patterns, and setting a threshold would be clear justification for further escalation (warning, temp ban, etc.). Perhaps that wouldn't be effective; more mod involvement means more distractions from current activity. Trivial, erroneous, and grudge-driven reports obviously would happen, and need to be sorted out.Perhaps there is a plugin that can facilitate such process; I don't know. A lot of the record-keeping and veracity-checking can be done automatically, or semi-. For example, some pre-cooked options could be added to the report button, users could be automatically graded on their use and effectiveness of reporting (say, each report has to be mod reviewed, but users with too many declined reports have reduced reports/day or /month to use, or lose rights to use it at all for some duration, etc.), perhaps reporting itself could be automated (too many reports within some time frame, with the same complaint/reason, i.e. a (near-?)unanimous vote, hides the offending post, pending mod review for final deletion, or to decline the reports and restore the post), etc. etc. Lots of ways it can be facilitated, without making it a burden on users or mods; mod activity in general would still go up, but I suspect a few more volunteers could be found; or a lower-stakes review or "deputy" position could be added, with a looser process (perhaps multiple votes required to complete a given review?) to reduce potential for arbitrariness, abuse etc.Just spitballing. Ultimately, the world is what we make it to be, and it is our civic duty to police each other, in a good-faith effort to build and strengthen the community. That can be done in a more crude form just in conversation (with, as can be seen, brings no guarantee of change, and greatly increases noise levels), or can have (again, give or take the effort of plugins/patching/modding the forum..) various automated features to help out. Clearly, we have failed each other in this: allowed offenders too long, and those they trigger, by association.Tim

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:09:51 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 05, 2024, 03:09:09 pmRequest for clarification, please state the obvious, if necessary.So, as one of our (probably) few SMPS experienced/knowledgeable people here, what exactly is wrong with Faringdon's, SMPS threads/questions?Compared to the unknown newbie?Answer(s) could be:E.g. They make too many such threads over a short space of time, don't always respond for more detailed information, waste of time, question is too silly or obviously made up, their technical idea(s) are too far fetched (wrong), too little/vague details etc.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:19:34 pm
content: This is a real question for the Faringdon supporters. I really am interested in your responses here.Question: Post a list of Faringdon threads that you think are legitimate.By legitimate I mean the question he asked was actually electronics related and reasonable without any conspiracy theories or bizarre convoluted scenarios AND he actually cared about hearing the answer to the question in a way that wasn't purely to argue with people.I can't think of a single thread he posted where he asked a real question, someone answered it well, and he acknowledged it and moved on. Not a single one.

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:28:24 pm
content: Quote from: Smokey on August 05, 2024, 04:19:34 pmI would like to see such a list too.Hardly looked at his SMPS related threads simply because it is outside my experience and knowledge base. What I have seen from the other threads I can't come up with one that indeed felt real.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:28:43 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on August 05, 2024, 04:09:51 pmSMPS is not my specialist area by far (I can design simple ones if I need to) but it's pretty obvious how that particular class of thread goes:Firstly, there is the title hook which is a generic enough sounding question about SMPS.Secondly, the vaguely defined undiscussed case that resulted in that question being asked. The nature of the question was merely a thought framework in which to introduce the question not a real problem to solve. I don't mind a thought exercise but it must be posed as a question which is to be challenged to eliminate assumptions. This is not the case with Farindgon threads.Thirdly, the requirement of forward engineering of some device which can be had off the shelf for pittance suggesting that an engineering mindset was not applied to the problem in the first place. This is a problem with Faringdon threads.When a colleague came up recently with a similar class of problem I asked him what the use case was, found a suitable power supply off the shelf (From Meanwell) and the job was done. Unless you have very specific requirements, that is usually the end of the discussion. Careful thought was made in the case of Faringdon on how to engineer the discussion so this was never the answer.The end game was that on multiple threads, this seemed to be a method of collecting bodies for another separate discussion that no one wants to really have.I mean I bet he literally creamed himself the moment someone said buy a Chinese SMPS module

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:34:17 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on August 05, 2024, 04:28:43 pmNailed it.

author: joeqsmith
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:43:53 pm
content: Quote from: Postal2 on August 05, 2024, 02:33:29 pmI say that about that vast majority of materials available. I'm fortunate that I have a choice and am capable of finding material I enjoy.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:44:05 pm
content: Siwastaja is right on the money, except for the "fuck moderators thing". Treez has definitely done enough to get axed, repeatedly.He will be back, anyway

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:48:57 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 05, 2024, 03:09:09 pmActually I have, two or three times IIRC. At least once a moderator stepped in and very rightfully edited or deleted the offending and unnecessary bullying post IIRC by jonpaul and warned about such behavior, and oh boy tggzzz (who is a bit more careful and academic in his wording) was pissed that their little bully ring is not untouchable.And don't get me wrong, I'm not here to say that Faringdon should be untouchable either and I have made fun of him many times too. But I think some members have taken it too far, and a good metric to that is the drop in their own SNR due to the sheer amount of zero-information posts, which are almost copies of each other - to the point of them having to invent their own bully ring acronyms.This bothers me because many of such ruined threads are actually semi-interesting from electronics perspective, and highly on-topic for the forum. They sure are made-up problems instead of real world questions, but since when was this forum Stack Overflow? IMHO this is not a question - answer site, but a discussion forum.Quote from: Smokey on August 05, 2024, 04:19:34 pmEven with your bizarre made-up definition, most Faringdon topics seem to pass just fine. Topics started by him, in order, excluding this very thread:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/who-makes-this-thermistor-assembly/msg5591279/#msg5591279https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/how-to-get-power-supply-control-chips-very-quickly/msg5589271/#msg5589271https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/sot23-marked-w17/msg5588579/#msg5588579https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/why-does-mains-transient-tester-only-get-up-to-1600v-when-set-for-2kv/msg5586001/#msg5586001https://www.eevblog.com/forum/eda/do-all-of-ltspice-in-qspice/msg5585873/#msg5585873https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/mains-transformer-core-is-earthed/msg5582679/#msg5582679https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/smc-diodes-in-mains-rectifier-bridge/msg5580983/#msg5580983https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/special-esay-to-solder-footprint-for-son5x6mm-fets/msg5579259/#msg5579259https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/high-current-high-voltage-switching-with-thyristorfet-combo/msg5576803/#msg5576803https://www.eevblog.com/forum/renewable-energy/what-is-vgd-in-thyristor/msg5576589/#msg5576589I know if I went further back enough I would finally find some semi psychotic conspiracy theory* topic, but you seem to suffer fromconfirmation bias: you see what you want to see, and you don't care to check.*) even then it would be electronics related

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 04:49:05 pm
content: Quote from: EEVblog on August 05, 2024, 12:27:52 pmHaving long ago been an administrator on what was at the timetheleading tech forum for Mac users (with around 65K registered users IIRC, of which about 10K were regulars, at its peak), I can confirm that this is absolutely how it goes.Permabans aren’t something a forum admin wants to do, so they bend over backwards trying to work something out. But sometimes it becomes unavoidable.That forum’s most infamous member registered literally hundreds upon hundreds of new usernames to circumvent his permaban. He also managed to annoy some other member (not a mod/admin) so badly that they reported him to the government over a tongue-in-cheek “I’m gonna kill the president” comment, which got him a visit from the Secret Service who quickly deemed him to be a bored 20-something kid who likes to get a rise out of people, but not an actual threat. 😂

author: pcprogrammer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 05:29:49 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on August 05, 2024, 04:48:57 pmWhat I noticed is that many of these threads did not attract that much response and in some Faringdon failed to thank the responses.As written before, we will probably never know the real story behind the curtains.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:01:16 pm
content: Quote from: Smokey on August 05, 2024, 04:19:34 pmhttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/comparing-altium-pcbs/ttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/is-circuit-maker-different-to-altium-at-all/m/altium/altium-questions/https://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/altium-questions/A few more, but that certainly refutes the 'single one' requirement

author: Postal2
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:35:59 pm
content: Since the evil Faringdon is banned, and now no one is doing dirty tricks in the topics with questions, but on the contrary, they give very competent advice, I calmly opened a topic about my laptop.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 06:56:11 pm
content: Quote from: PlainName on August 05, 2024, 06:01:16 pmYa, you guys got me. I was being hyperbolic. Sorry.I tend to not actually look at or really care much who starts threads, so I'm sure the normal ones just passed through the filter, with the crazy ones triggering the "WTF?... oh fucking Faringdon" response.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 07:01:32 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on August 05, 2024, 04:09:51 pmIf you want me to walk through my entire perception / thought process and decision tree, I suppose I could do a "worked example", but suffice it to say: the title is often attractive / topical / "bait" (for those of us looking for SMPS questions), and the content is just... intellectual cringe. Besides that, the decades (yes, plural) of experience knowing that these topics (usually in variations, but still not deeply understanding the inner workings) come up time and again by the author, and the answers to which have never been well internalized.The more obviously political ones of course stand apart, and may be worth a peek just for context, and maybe some perverse amusement, maybe even to share thoughts with others, on a topic that's rarely discussed (and somewhat short of officially prohibited), but, when one is, perhaps, bold enough to break that curtain, it can be interesting to see what others are saying behind it.And there's the, even if the OP isn't asked in good faith, there can still be useful discussion, and I have contributed to treez threads on occasion.I think what's actually going on is that kind of bull-headed frustration; where intellectual curiosity is required in this field, yet one proceeds in spite of themselves. That internal disagreement (theresistanceto learning) is reflected externally as if arguing with the replies. One way or another, the information manages to seep inside, a design is completed (in, uh, whatever sense "complete" might mean here), but lessons aren't learned, and the process starts over.It's surprising I guess, given the scope of the internet (even just the English speaking internet, and even just in the subject of electronics), that his case is unique; sure there have been others, there have been far worse trolls (and much stronger intentioned), especially going back to the Usenet days say (those who remember Phil Allison, or RSW), and there have been the ignorant and stubborn coming through from time to time, but rarely sticking around for anywhere near so long.Not to get too into psychoanalysis, of someone I haven't even met face-to-face -- but more to provide useful context on related situations, andperhapssome explanation in this case -- if I had to guess, the pattern of behavior seems to be: chronic self-interest, a lack of empathy (and perhaps theory of mind) for the "other", a resistance to learning implies an overpowerful ego that resists all possible change, a lack of introspection, etc. Symptoms that very much cluster around the NPD type -- but keep in mind, these are just symptoms, and they can be related to many things. NPD in particular has a strong "learned" component, whether directly (by example), or as a survival mechanism in a stressful environment -- abuse and trauma are often involved.It doesn't have to be intentional, a troll. Avery similar interactionmight result, but it can happen subconsciously, without intent. And if one lacks introspection, there's no reason to re-read, edit and compose something else. (And even then; y'all can see what I write sometimes, and I often edit meticulously. Whether those cases slip by due to hasty/skipped editing, or are missed even after significant editing, who knows...) One might still (and perhaps rightly) accuse such a person of acting badly, but what's interesting is the cause behind it: a classical troll consciously revels in the chaos, the NPD-symptom-sufferer may not intend it at all, or even feel regret for having done so (but, of course, expressing that as such is a challenge).And circumstances like that, when it includes trauma from an early age, it's... understandable; kids are just trying to survive, and if they're forced into presenting an unassailable ego-wall, that's going to imprint on them a lifelong resistance to any kind of change, inside or out. Later development issues, difficulty learning complex topics, etc. is practically a given. How can one change their understanding of reality itself (say, learning the sciences) when it's been so deeply beaten into them, from such an age, to resist any force of change?And there's overlap with ADHD, whether neurochemically (it's starting to look like there's more in common here than we thought, and. we're slowing teasing apart genetic influences), or by necessity (e.g. punishment for "acting up", etc.)This article and comments are kind of fresh in my mind, so, take it as inspiration for these last few paragraphs perhaps, or perhaps even more sharply as a bias, but it may be related reading of interest:https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1ekjzna/a_new_study_found_that_a_notable_proportion_of/As for my... general demeanor I guess, with respect to, well people in general, but here as much as any other case -- I do try to keep a neutral, distanced perspective, while looking for aspects to sympathize with, to understand.Usually if someone is acting out, and it's intentional, they'll telegraph it. Like, uh, in one online-friends group, I know someone who expresses persistent interest in "chaos", is as much an absolute gremlin as you would expect, and "steals" everyone's "fridge". Silly fun. (There has been some drama, but it's been dealt with promptly (to the credit of those modding the space), and, in time, a warm apology given. 10/10 would virtual-hug again. Wish I had a fridge though...)Okay, maybe that example's too in-the-open to be a troll per se, but comedy includes a sliding scale between self-interested sadism and broad collective amusement, and one can imagine the same kind of energy, turned inward and inverted outward, trolling others for personal amusement. This may've been a bad example; but maybe it's also a positive example -- I don't know her history, if, like, behavior used to be worse, I don't know, and certainly not making any assumption or accusation to that effect -- just that, I can imagine someone starting out that way, but maturing towards a more wholesome outcome. And I mean, teenagers, we've all been one, we probably know (or have known) at least several who werefull of shitto mince no words, but matured into okay people in the end, life is a journey, who you are now doesn't dictate who you'll be in the future. Especially at a young age when experiences are new, and in stages where the environment changes suddenly.In other cases, it may be telegraphed more subtly, or can be recognized as manipulation (as is the penchant of [full, proper] NPD) given close enough observation, or establishing a pattern over time. But there is always a tell, or an affect on others (even if the victims might not consciously realize it, or be willing/able to say so).Whereas if it's subconscious, it may very well and truly be more accidental. The person might not bring themselves to apologize, or to even hint at their wrongdoing, but they may still understand it. Again, I'm not talking full-blown NPD here, just clusters of symptoms. It is of course hard to tell the difference between intentional, unapologetic rudeness, and accidental, regretted but still unapologetic rudeness, but that difference does matter.In general, peopledeservesympathy; that's... the human condition, that's, literally what makes us human, makes us cooperate, able to build complex social networks, civilization itself. Some people may not choose to seek it out, or resist it even when offered, but people in general deserve a sympathetic and understanding approach, and even if someone is clearly behaving in bad faith, there is still some good-faith outcome to be hand. Even if it's as basic as staying out of it -- like, I know a few people for example who are going through a toxic phase, and, it's a saturation of information sort of thing, I would dearly love to help them but I can't afford (or frankly, bear) to spend nearly enough time with them to counter the negativity; the next best option, I think, is to just step aside. Maybe they'll come around in time -- in which case they'll likely invite you back warmly. And if they never do, you're probably better off without anyway. That's just life, relationships come and go, nothing need be forever. And friendship isn't a state of being; it's a recurring affirmation!So too, one never needs to express negativity, in person or on the internet. A sharp remark once in a while might be justified, but is still neverrequired. (And yup, read that with a bit ofdo as I say not as I doself judgement!)If nothing else, just step away. We can all see who has the bigger ego by who replies last; you don't need tobroadcast itto the world.(There is only one exception: when someone chooses to break the social contract, and proposes violence as their solution, then violence is a justified, and in the last resort necessary, response. There are many degrees of violence, mind, but even just calling the cops / tipping the FBI / etc. regarding a violent comment, is ultimately invoking, potentially, the entire system of legitimized violence that is the state;calling the cops is 100% an act of violence, whether it's appropriate for the situation or not, whether it has agoodjust outcome or not.)(That last bit is an important distinction. Justice isn'tgoodper se. Justice is just. It's rare enough that we havejustjustice in this world, anyway, but it's rarely if ever a mutually-consented "good" to all parties involved. Particularly in our western, adversarial system. Even more particularly so, in that the Justice System enforces law, but law is, by itself, amoral; a court may accept moral arguments, but they are generally weak, or a "hail-mary" for a party to invoke. Thus, neither is the Justice System as we have it, moral per se.)So, yeah. I hate that this has gotten so long (well, kinda not really,'tism go brr, but, I wish there were more concise ways to convey these topics; but they're complicated, not often discussed/unfamiliar, and highly sensitive and delicate too), and I hate to armchair-lecture you allexcept when it's about electronics, and obviously I'm far from a therapist, I just know some things, and probably not very well at that. But change is possible, given an openness to find it. This goes both for readers, who should strive for understanding, and for posters who might be tempted to snap back at something objectionable -- but for which an explanation can be found.When one needs change, has been told of it, but still refuses to seek it -- don't antagonize. That just looks bad. It doesn't help anyone: worse, it reinforces the target's need for an armored defense. Let it be known, kindly, once in a while, then leave it be. The ideal situation (in this thread, to get back on topic for a moment) is to just ignore the problem, and it either goes away on its own, it intensifies into antagonism (moderation steps in; this is perhaps the current outcome), or it seeks appropriate treatment.I will say one final closing comment, to treez, if you are reading this at all:And, again if I haven'tcompletely cocked upmy analysis, even as tenuous as the above is -- you can seek help. You don't have to shut people out forever, change is possible. I might even sayeconomicallyjustified, given the challenge of your jobs, I mean it's clear you've met many challenges, frustrations. Why is it so easy for some of us, but so hard for others? Who knows, but there may be options. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy can't undo a lifetime of -- well, whatever, again I'm not going to assume your background, there are possibilities I could list but only you know for sure and that's all that matters -- but with a concerted and willful effort, it can make life better, you can be more productive, but most of all you can just be... happier, and that's what matters the most.Cheers, and good luck (to all),Tim

author: MK14
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 07:41:49 pm
content: Thanks T3sl4co1l/Tim, that is a very thoughtful, nice and detailed answer.I've enjoyed my first read of it, but it will take longer, to give you a fuller response.But here are some initial responses:Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 05, 2024, 07:01:32 pmThat doesn't surprise me. It also makes 'trolling' come to mind, because a 'real' practicing SMPS engineer, surely couldn't possibly come up with such questions/ideas (others, including other forums, have said similar, about Treez).Although one of the moderators (Simon), has said some stuff, which could give an alternative explanation:The 'weird' questions, could be to challenge the wider forum community, to explain and explore certain specific fields/areas, within Electronics/SMPS-design etc, in wider and better depth, without the OP (Treez), needing to bias or supply too many technical details.E.g. Hypothetically speaking, they may want to find alternatives, to certain circuit practices, within SMPS design. So, by asking those apparently silly questions, it might lead to new insight.But, I suspect I'm over-thinking this, and some of your other suggestions, on why this is happening, are probably closer to the truth.Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 05, 2024, 07:01:32 pmThat's very interesting, that you have said that.Because it could explain some of the 'don't care less', waste of other peoples time, and not spending the time and effort, to properly reply, to topics they started.I.e. After a bit, they seem to seldom return to the thread they created.This making hundreds of threads, instead of a small number of well organized threads, e.g. on a per project or major project stage. Makes it difficult to follow, what is going on with Treez.They seem to prefer to just create a new thread, even if it is essentially identical to the last one, rather than respond, within the 'old'/previous one.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 07:57:26 pm
content: Quote from: T3sl4co1l on August 05, 2024, 07:01:32 pmOh, I remember them well. Usenet was a take-no-hostages environment! Phil Allison was in my bozo filter, as was skybuck, tabbypurr, aminer, and others. (Canter and Seigel, anybody?!)The key point is that while they were rampant nuisances, tools rapidly developed so it was possible tocompletelyignore their existence - and many people did just that.Unfortunately that isn't possible here: you have to manually exclude each of their topics, continue to see they have posted in threads, and continue see responses people have made to their posts. There's no equivalent of "Phil Allison"=>"ignore subthread". Life would be nicer/easier if there wasQuoteVery true. Consider full-blown autism, aspberger's, and thateverybodyis somewhere "on the spectrum".QuoteSometimesall partiescan benefit from expressing negativity, in order to help someone be a better (cyber)citizen. That's most obviously the case with children, but can apply to any "societal behaviour" which makes it difficult for others to behave in a "social" manner. Such negativity should start gently and sympathetically, but what should happen if unacceptable behaviour continues?I saw one subtle, gentle, continued form of abuse when I was a kid. My mother put alotof time into helping a school friend's mother when her husband went off with a mistress. Repeatedly. Every time he cam back, he was accepted, only to disappear later. Eventually my mother reluctantly realised that she could never be helped, and that it was a wasteful drain on my mother's time and energy. Much later I came across a term which described the situation well: emotional vampirism. That's where one person sucks all the emotional intelligence out of another, leaving them exhausted.Having seen that, when I come across it again I feel - hesitantly and reluctantly - that other people should be alerted to the possibility, lest they be sucked in and drained.QuoteThere are very dangerous forms ofnon-physicallyviolent abuse. The local village hall has posters up pointing that out to people, plus a reference to helplines for men and women.Non-violent abuse is one reason the term "gaslighting" has become popular.

author: IanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:07:22 pm
content: Off topic a bit, but there was an interesting note above about being stuck in one tiny specialist niche when seeking work.It reminds me that at work, I have seen several instances of people totally jumping domain either when joining us, or when moving on to other jobs. By jumping domain, I mean into completely different fields, like for example to/from software, information science, or engineering. This is not even between subfields within a particular branch of engineering.This shows that if you have at least some background, and you can show aptitude and experience, you can get hired into totally different roles. You don't need to be stuck where you are.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:09:35 pm
content: Quote from: PlainName on August 05, 2024, 06:01:16 pmWeelllll... do they really?The statement wasQuote from: Smokey on August 05, 2024, 04:19:34 pmEmphasis added by me.In those Altium threads, Faringdondidmove on, but hedidn'tacknowledge the correct answers, or ignored follow-up questions. (I am not counting a post "thanks" as a real acknowledgement, due to his bizarre habit of indiscriminately thanking every single post in his threads, without exception, making such a "thanks" devoid of meaning.)P.S. Your second link should behttps://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/is-circuit-maker-different-to-altium-at-all/and not the mixed-up mess you posted.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:45:19 pm
content: QuoteThanks. Had a chat popup occur right at the moment I hit ctl-v and it went titsup. Cleared it up but obviously not completely!

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:48:59 pm
content: QuoteGood job you're not on Facebook or similar what undesired shite is posted to your timeline - you'd be unable to resist checking it out. And Youtube adverts must take up a lot of your time.Really, this universe doesn't exist for one person to shape exactly how they would prefer. Rather, one has to make the best of what is out there, and it's messy. Being able to ignore stuff you dislike - that you have to actively look at and read to have it intrude - is a minor skill, but one worth learning.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 08:56:45 pm
content: Quote from: PlainName on August 05, 2024, 08:48:59 pmI use farcebook for village matters only!Even there I'm bewildered how difficult the platform makes it for me to see what I want/need to see. Then I remember its business model.Yoootooob tacktock and the like don't exist, unless I know in advance it will be a fruitful use of my life. That excludes 99.9% of the content.QuoteTrue, but irrelevant to the point I was making.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 09:10:24 pm
content: I'm disappointed that I find you use Facebook. Even I don't use itSurely there is a killfile equivalent on here?

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 09:59:15 pm
content: Quote from: MK14 on August 05, 2024, 04:09:51 pmGenerally: missing most of the context/details, and opens with inverted proof of "I'm right but everyone says I'm wrong, so its on you to change my mind" (much like the persistent free energy nuts that pop up regularly on this forum).People would point out the obvious tangent/mental-gymnastics that were being applied and there were trivial solutions to the problems that should be obvious if the poster did some reading on the topic or researched other implementations. More recently the threads wouldn't even get replies, but more threads piled up asking for help on basically the same problems asked in different ways. People following it quickly realised that the replies were not being valued/taken on, and rightly questioned why ask for help and then ignore/reject the sage advice.

author: tggzzz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 10:04:34 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on August 05, 2024, 09:10:24 pmUnfortunately that is where people discuss planning applications for US companies that want stomp on the green belt, diversions for local festivals, shared space schemes, hare brained PSPOs, dustbin collections, farmers markets, bus diversions, and similar.Farcebooks business model is being paid to shove crap in my face. They won't let anything get in the way of that, e.g. allowing me to "have it my way" with bookmarks, filters, ordered posts, consistent helpful GUI.Naturally I have an "unprotected" browser with an isolated Linux user that is used for farcebook only. Other users, e.g. me have separate browsers with lots of anti-farcebook plugins.Perfect? No. But the crap farcebook shoves in my face is pleasingly disassociated with my interests.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 05, 2024, 11:03:27 pm
content: I think we are probably done here.