Why is this site so negative ?

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

I think the subject line says it all.

Over the last few months there has been nothing but bitching and moaning on this site , why ? and this was before the website upgrade.

Is it easier to sit welded to an armchair and take the piss than actually go out into the shop and do something useful ?

Or heavens above, offer USEFUL critism.

I am seriously thinking about doing an article of making a scale model, something like 12" to the foot of a silver cross pram.

Then you would have something to throw your dummies out of.

John S.

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

The wheels on those things made great trolleys when we were kids 

Edited By _Paul_ on 04/10/2013 09:26:37

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

It's the British way of doing things

We bitch and moan, then conquer the world and start the industrial revolution

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

It's the only place where one can have a good moan, and somebody might just listen, unlike the world outside.

We're no longer allowed to hit children and kick cats, so its got to go somewhere.

Agree with Paul re trolley – I had a six-wheeler with a wooden coal box for a body.

Look forward to the article on building the pram, we never had one when I was a baby, as we were too poor for such niceties.     Do I hear violins?

 

Edited By Robbo on 04/10/2013 09:50:14

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by Ady1 on 04/10/2013 09:25:49:

It's the British way of doing things

We bitch and moan, then conquer the world and start the industrial revolution

That was last year,

PS No one told me about the cats – bugger……………….

[Cornish JackParticipant @cornishjack]

Interesting question but, I would suggest, somewhat slanted.

The latest 'bitching and moaning' was primarily generated by the contents of the 'BEST' etc. magazine and, more particularly, by the abysmal shambles attending the delivery (or NON delivery) of same. Now it may be that JS et al are totally sanguine about paying for an item and not receiving it and then being patronised and condescended to in response to a complaint of such.

While 'BEST' is, obviously, entirely open to interpretation, the latest effort does require some liberal interpretation!! The compiler (editor?) might consider re-titling any future versions as "A selection of past ME articles".

The tools of the Editor's trade are (unsurprisingly) words and while the Queen in "Alice's adventures" said that "words can mean anything you want them to mean", BEST, in the English language is, like 'unique', 'worst' etc. NOT open to qualification … it means what it says – or it should do!!

Rgds

Bill

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Having been using this site for a couple of years, the tone HAS changed.

There were a few rows that saw some regulars stomp off, but there was none of this assumption that the readers users, rather than the owners, of the website should have control. Certainly, I have been shocked by how ready some people are to 'shoot the messenger' – particularly that poor chap who, with little knowledge of model engineering, was told to promote social media and got lynched (virtually) just for trying to do his job.

Clearly there are some issues that do frustrate people – calling anything the 'Best of ME' is making a hostage to fortune, but have you ever come across a 'best of' or 'greatest hits' album that most fans of a band would say was exactly that? But as for the actual content, as far as I can see it was as described in advance. Equally, decisions of management haven't always been presented in the best ways.

For many, many years ME was referred to be readers as 'ours' and I suspect that a similar attitude still exists in some, and perhaps even more so for the website. Even so, I'm sure that Percival Marshall may well have listened to his readers, but would have had no truck with anyone who wanted him to cut back on advertising or change the paper!

I was going to enter a mirror image model of an A1, held to together by left hand threads, with all the colours replaced by their complementary ones and mounted upside down for the ME exhibition, just to give people something to moan about. With any luck this would cause enough negative energy for the real knockers to implode and give the rest of us room to relax!

I thought I could reply "why should scaling be the only valid transformation when you are making a model?"

Neil

[donkeyParticipant @donkey]

People pointed out the adverts appearing over the text of messages making them unreadable. People said it was difficult to post photos add links and various other points. But nothing was ever done to change these things so why wouldn't they moan and complain. Rant over. I still love this forum not the site.

Brian

[John CoatesParticipant @johncoates48577]

I've never moaned about the website because it has always worked on my home Linux machines and the Windows stuff at work.

I have griped about the CNC content of MEW because it's something I don't have, can't afford, and don't learn any transferable skills from the articles, therefore it has little relevance to me so I complain

The griping and complaining on here is tame compared to some of my motorcycle forums. We are all invisible people in the ether hence why tantrums happen sooner and self opinionated tosh spouts earlier

Bah! humbug

John (49 year old grumpy git in training)

[Brian StillParticipant @brianstill44962]

John S

I quite agree with you.

OK there are a few problems at times but surely we can get by without too much acrimony. Neil made a point about the chap doing his job and getting abuse – shame!

I would like to thank Katy for her willingness to listen to complaints/suggestions and hope that she will continue to work on this site without too much – I nearly used the wrong word there – complaint.

You cannot please everyone!

Brian

[Diane CarneyModerator @dianecarney30678]

I have noted that threads of technical merit, shall we say, where a sensible question is asked and a string of sensible answers and suggestions follows, is, in the main, contributed to by a different set of people than those that prefer to contribute to the rights and wrongs of the new look website, the social media question and the quality of the special issue.

Thanks Neil for yet another sensible post above.

Just my observations …

Diane

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Actually there were quite a lot of positive comments on the 'moaning' threads. You can always not read the ones that you don't like. Like I did when somebody compalined about Myford stuff on ebay that I don't care a toss about.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I am a bit surprised by JS creating a thread which is itself adding to the negativity especially as some of the recent furore has already died down.

Its simply not true that there has been 'nothing but bitching and moaning' recently, yes one or two threads did get some heated responses but mostly it was actually justified. As a magazine subscriber and user of this forum I felt I was treated (by MTM) as a second class citizen. There has always been a forum section devoted to website comments but it seemed that no one from MTM ever took any notice of it.

Oddly the recent lively facebook thread was totally ignored for the first few days, in fact it was only after Diane bumped it that I saw it. I latched on to it because it seemed to me that MTM had suddenly taken an interest in the forum and maybe were actually going to improve its usability.

OK, some of the whingeing was not justified but most of the comments were meant to be helpful

Sergeant Pepper drew a line in the sand as regards music albums, I think this forum site will in future have similar turning point and I feel sure there will be a 'before' and 'after' Katy Purvis.

Ian P

 

 

 

 

Edited By Ian Phillips on 04/10/2013 13:41:47

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Neil.

Like the idea of mirror image A1…
. What about a inside out version. ?

.btw whats an A1?

[jonathan heppelParticipant @jonathanheppel43280]

It's the economy, stupid! Or perhaps:

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

[John Stevenson 1Participant @johnstevenson1]

Posted by jason udall on 04/10/2013 13:44:03:
Neil.

Like the idea of mirror image A1…
. What about a inside out version. ?

.btw whats an A1?

Long black thing goes from London to somewhere about Newcastle

might go a bit further but not sure , not got a valid passport.

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Surely it should be a 1A not an A1 if its a mirror image???

JS I look forward to the pram build so long as its not CNC based, takes up pages and pages with G code and all your drawings are spot on

 

J

Edited By JasonB on 04/10/2013 15:51:10

[Gone AwayParticipant @goneaway]

Posted by John Stevenson on 04/10/2013 09:20:59:

Is it easier to sit ……. and take the piss …..

I don't know, John. is it?

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

> .btw whats an A1?

Like an A4, but eight times bigger.

> Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Another CAMRA member protesting against food colouring in mild ale?

I'm a bit more cheerfuil now – 7 day beard and something on my chin was irritating, turned out to be about a thick white hair about 3/32" long and 20 thou in diameter! Pulled it out and I'm mellow old me again.

Neil

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Both explanations given above for A1 , I had considered.

[Rik ShawParticipant @rikshaw]

Negative? Nah, just funny – think Harry Enfield and the "Old Gits". Its my contention that there are a fair number of us "ole gits" around here. Live with it chaps – gitishness goes with model engineering like lamp posts go with dog p*ss.

Rik

Edited By Rik Shaw on 04/10/2013 18:51:35

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

As to the OP.
Maybe because that’s how people feel?
.
Provoked by changes to archive access, increased subs ( increase = grumble hike=Whinge ),
Hike+”remove archive”…grumble grumble…
Hikw + archive+ new format+facebook+poor delivery on best of+ content of best of=…
Well you get the picture
Any one niggle would have died the death by now. But each one now feeds the next…

But I am sure you all know this…but guess what this is a forum

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

As we used to say. When a 747 landed at at Mascot and the engines were shut down, the only whining one heard was from the poms.

Cu later * Danny M *

[Katy PurvisParticipant @katypurvis79544]

I'd like plans for a model pram! I think I would find it very therapeutic to build. I'd like a scale model of a Silver Cross and dummy on my desk, it would be very welcome and would cheer me up no end.

I'm not a model engineer, and never will be, and I'm not trying to pretend that I am. I have quite a lot of ME associations though, so I do sort of understand where you are coming from, my Father-in-law is, my Mum's boyfriend is, and my daughter is a junior member of WDMES, (because she likes to drive model trains with Granddad, he used to have a Sweet Pea engine called Stella, named after her).

The closest I will ever get is a lot of visits to steam fairs (Widnes last weekend), an interest in Victorian and Edwardian pump stations from when I worked for flood defence for the Environment Agency, the family associations with WDMES, the engine house at Bolton and MOSI. I was the proud recipient of a No.10 Meccano set, and a day to play with it for my 30th birthday (I'd never had Meccano when I was little, and always wanted some, I know that's only a toy, but it's quite an odd birthday request for a 30 year old woman))

So that's a little bit of non negative, non grumpy git, yet interfering, unqualified moderator for you all.

I do understand the general negativity and frustration, I am quite frustrated by it all myself. However if if it is website functionality based grumpiness and negativity, I'd much rather you emailed me or a moderator and we tried to fix it. My email address is katy.purvis@mytimemedia.com.

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