What to do about Ken

[scott]

Hi everybody (and Ken :-)

First of all, I do *not* want this to become a Ken bashing thread, but Jim raised a few points in his last post that it's time to address.

Ken has some interesting things to say and he has the right to say them here. For anyone who feels differently, the board comes fully equipped with an "ignore" feature that works flawlessly. Anyone who is upset with Ken can simply use this feature and hear from him no more; but most don't. The reason is because he *does* actually have some interesting things to say now and then that are worth hearing.

But a consensus is building that there is a *very* weak correlation between the number of words he posts and the number of new or interesting things he has to to say. In fact his posting habits have driven a few *very valued* members away from the board entirely, which is a crying shame.

How best to address this? When I first noticed the problem, it was clear to me that Ken is a natural born blogger, born in the wrong era, who just happened to find his creative outlet here. That's fine, and it's largely why I added the blogging feature. (I also enjoy using it quite a bit myself. Try it, youÂ’ll like it! :-)

But Ken said he would rather keep posting his blog in the main forum, since:

the traffic is higher and there is a greater chance of my rambling posts actually generating some feedback

and that he's really doing us all a favor by making sure that our:

cortical neuronal pathways get some exercise

and then he goes on to inform us that:

not much new has been happening with regard to the situation in the Middle East

http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/viewt ... 5306#35306

Since he's taken this selfish approach, I've been forced to think about it some more. A few months ago I considered adding a new feature that caps the number of words that a member can post in a single day: a "words per day" post limit.

Though it seemed like a great solution at first, I could not find an existing phpbb mod that provided the right functionality. The closest thing I could find was a "posts per day" limit, which would not really work in this case since each post could just continue to get longer and longer. That means I would have to write a "words per day" post limit feature myself.

Now *this* post is getting too long :-)

To make a long story short, I hope this thread alone will make a difference. If not, then toward the end of peacefully resolving the issue I have added a new feature that counts the total words posted per member and displays it in viewtopic and viewprofile. At least this will be a start toward implementing a "words per day" limit of my own one day, if it has to come to that.

Best to all and good luck,

Scott

[MrTim]

Somebody hurry up and solve the damn wheel.
That'll take care of the whole 'problem'....
;)

[Mac]

the board comes fully equipped with an "ignore" feature that works flawlessly. Anyone who is upset with Ken can simply use this feature and hear from him no more

I agree. Constant complaining about Ken's posts (yet reading them anyway!) makes no more sense than standing in the rain with a folded umbrella and complaining about getting wet.

I have never read a post by Ken that wasn't polite, even when he's been blatantly insulted or ridiculed. You guys should be ashamed for taking advantage of his good nature.

I say use the umbrella or stop whining.

Mac

[scott]

Be that as it may, check out the new "Words per User" statistics. http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/statistics.php

Nearly a quarter of all the words ever posted here were posted by Ken. That's just not playing fair.

-Scott

[jim_mich]

A few statistics...

The top five posters in order are Ken, Jonathan, Ralph, Jim_Mich, and Bill.

Ken has posted 3469 times since he joined 1 year and 8 months ago. He has posted an average of 5.68 posts per day with an average of about 271 words per post. He has typed 941,112 words. This works out to about 1547 words per day and 10,829 words per week.

Jonathan posted 2411 times during the 28 months that he visited the forum. During that time he posted an average of 2.8 posts per day (had to figure that one out) with an average of 93.74 words per post. He typed 226,010 words. This works out to about 265 words per day and 1,855 words per week. (Jonathan no longer posts.)

Ralph has posted 2371 times since he joined 22 months ago. He has posted an average of 6.72 posts per day with an average of about 136 words per post. He has typed 322,421 words. This works out to about 482 words per day and 3,375 words per week. (Ralph no longer posts this often.)

Good grief, I see that I've posted 2002 times since I joined 3 years (minus 3 days) ago. I've posted an average of 1.89 posts per day with an average of about 119 words per post. I post more often than most. I've typed 239,087 words. This works out to about 218 words per day and 1,526 words per week.

Ovyyus (Bill) has posted 1745 times since he joined 3 years ago. He has posted an average of 1.60 posts per day with an average of about 60 words per post. He has typed 104,351 words. This works out to about 95 words per day and 665 words per week.

Together Jonathan, Ralph, Jim_Mich, and Bill have posted a total of 891,868 words compared to Ken's 941,112 words and the four together posted about 1060 words per day compared to Ken's 1547 words per day.

I would suggest that Ken try to control himself to postings a reasonable 2,000 words or less per week.




PS. I think if this were broken down to percentage of words posted per month it would look even worse.

[Mac]

Nearly a quarter of all the words ever posted here were posted by Ken. That's just not playing fair.

"Playing fair"? Lol, does anyone count the words spoken at parties or other gatherings? Usually if someone is boring or annoying, we just ignore them.

It's not like he has control of the floor and others have to wait their turn to post. And he's prolly shared more ideas than anyone here from what I've read (even if ya don't like 'em, they often bring other ideas to mind).

Seems like some folks want to hear his ideas, but only on their terms. Doesn't this seem a wee bit hypocritical to anyone?

Mac

[Bessler007]

What to do about Ken?

Good question. If someone doesn't like to read Ken they can put him on ignore. Another thing might be just don't read him. Since his posts are verbose you could read every other line.

I like Mac's thought on the question. Eat the fish and spit out the bones. I don't know if there's a problem with Ken using a lot of the server's harddrive. A lot of people do read Ken's thread. Might be the high point of some people's day.

Mr. Tim has the best idea.

☯

[ken_behrendt]

Wow...when I see a thread with this kind of title, it definitely gets my attention which is not something that is easy to do as a low glycemic / high protein breakfast begins to send my brain into a post digestive stupor!

Well, I am certainly sorry if my post size, frequency, style, and content is offensive to some. That is never my intention at all. I do always try to express myself in the fewest words possible whenever possible. But, I am, bascially trying to do "technical writing" here that deals with a rather technical topic...the quest for the "Holy Grail of Mechanics" a working overbalanced gravity wheel, particularly of the kind that Bessler fabricated almost three long centuries ago. Trying to communicate one's ideas on technical subjects can be a challenge and I'd rather use a few paragraphs more and have nearly 100% of those who actually take the time to read my post understand it, then, for the sake of the very few here that like brevity, limit the length of my presentation and have only a handful of readers manage to read between the sparse lines to figure out what I am trying to say. This Discussion Board is supposed to be about sharing ideas and opinions...but what good will such sharing be if only a few can understand them?



So, I've racked up a total of 941,112 words since I joined here in March of 2004. Yikes! That is a LOT. The minimum length for a novel is about 60,000 words (the next book I am having published will be about 70,000 words) which means that, since I've joined, I written the equivalent of 15.7 novels!!!

Yes, I know it amounts to a encyclopedia on the subject of Bessler (with some miscellaneous philosophy of mine thrown in for flavoring), but I am not ashamed of this word count. I think it is a shining testament to my interest in the subject and to my trying to help make this Discussion Board more interesting so that it can attract new members. In fact, I have had many emails from people telling me that they find my various ravings, technical and otherwise, the most interesting part of this board! I have to conclude that I must be doing something right, despite the complaints of a few. When it comes to word count, I would gladly tickle out tens times that number of words from my keyboard if I knew for a fact that it would bring us the secret of Bessler's wheels.



Generally, I find the whole isssue of imposing "limits" on posters to be somewhat disturbing. As mobilists, we are instinctively allergic to the whole idea of an imposed limit, especially with regard to what a piece of machinery can and can not do. If Bessler had been content to live within the limits that Newtonian physics placed on mechanical devices, then I would not be writing any of this now and all you out there in Besslerland would not be reading it now!


I think each poster should have as much room as possible when it comes to expressing his thoughts...just so long, of course, as he does not become insulting or threatening to other members. The length of our posts should be determined solely by the nature of our thoughts and our ability to express them.


ken


P.S. In rereading this post, I actually omitted two paragraphs because I found that they did not directly support what I was trying to say. What many complaining about my post lengths do not realize is that I often do this and, if I had not been doing so all along, my actual word count could easily have exceeded 1 megaword!

[graham]

Ken, you are someone I would really like to meet ,just to satisfy my curiosity.
A very unique member who covers the spectrum from "genius" to "anybody there?"

To try to hold you in check would be like trying to stop the sun from rising each day.So why not make a donation to Scott so that he is able to procure a bigger server.

Graham

[Gregory]

Basically I have no problems with Ken, except the repeating theory patterns over again, sometimes spelled like holy writing.

Anyway, Ken is a very polite and kind member, and his long thread has some parts which can be interesting and inspiring for a number of members inside the forum. It also inspired me a bit. So, what I don't like in Ken's post that is my own problem, after all. I have to ignore or don't read what I don't like to read, and this way my problem has solved instantly.

The word limit per week has advantages and also has disadvantages. Maybe it can have some use with a well choosen number for the limit, but I'm not sure about this.

And yes, Mr.Tim has the best idea ;) Make a damn wheel.

[rlortie]

This is an example of what we can live without!

Wow...when I see a thread with this kind of title, it definitely gets my attention which is not something that is easy to do as a low glycemic / high protein breakfast begins to send my brain into a post digestive stupor!

We all something to eat once in a while but, most of us do not get on the internet and make an issue of it. We also have been known to have headaches, I for example have heavy cuticles that prevent me from raising my arms above my shoulders, but I do not complain to the forum of this willful lack of physical dereliction.

Heck man, I was operated on the first of last month and currently have a suture thread hanging out of my chest over 1-1/2" long! But it is no big deal to make public record of it.

When I go back to the doctor next week, I will simply ask him to please rewind the coil spring on my starter rope.

End of subject.

[primemignonite]

I have posted my reply to this cheeky, contemptuous piece of outrage here: http://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/viewt ... ght=#35773 where it belongs, as a discussion that should have been kept only among members, away from public view . . .

James

P.S. Also, I see Graham hitting the facts of the matter squarely on the nailhead, just like Bessler's pounding toys. Ditto here. [Do I detect the sweet fragrance of 'schism' now forming?]

[scott]

LOL I always know I'm on the right track when James is "outraged."
-Scott

[primemignonite]

. . . "Outraged."

Just who was being quoted there?

James

[rlortie]

Somebody hurry up and solve the damn wheel.
That'll take care of the whole 'problem'....
;)

I agree, and I am working on it! Just stopped by to pick up some glue to repair a mis-cut. Now I have to let it set up.

Ralph