Who do you miss on BPL and why?

[Jerry Adams]

Sometimes that can be helpful to post a link or several to threads that have covered that before, but I get your point.

If someone says “that’s a stupid question that’s been answered before many times” – that would definitely be unwelcoming.  RTFM : )

[Kattt]

“Also, some people, in response to a honest question, don’t post an answer, but links to past answers. How is “That’s been covered before” welcoming to newbies?”

I agree with this.

[Ken Thompson]

Sometimes a certain thread comes to mind. Search results being what they are it seems helpful at the time to post the link. No reply would be unwelcoming.

Anyway, that is a whole thread worth of opinion waiting to happen. Perfect for that once thriving wasteland, Chaff.

[Rex Sanders]

Charging people to post on forums kind of kills bringing in new people which means the forums slowly runs out of newbs for the experts to teach.  And then experts will move on.

Tradeoffs.

I remember the horrible spam-storms BPL suffered through until the nominal $5 per year charges started. Spam drove me off BPL multiple times until the next temporary hack slowed the torrent. I wouldn’t be surprised if the spam-storms knocked out some of the former participants mentioned in this thread.

— Rex

[Greg F]

Spam can be managed through moderation and good forum software management.

A simple manual confirmation of new members from mods to ensure they are people.  Two factor authentication or other software measures can be taken to beat spam.  Many free forums deal with it.  Better software is required though.

Charging to post stops people who have one question from posting and then getting sucked in.

[Addison Page]

That angry guy. I think his name was Bob Gross. Loved all his brusque posts. Is he still on here?

Edit: Just read the rest of this thread. Apparently I’m not the only one who missed the guy but I also missed some BPL drama. Pardon me for not informing myself before I posted.

[Kattt]

I don’t think Bob Gross was ever angry. You must be thinking about someone else.

[Brad Rogers]

I miss lots of people, and I am sure I can’t even remember them all.  I miss Mike Clelland a lot.  I didn’t agree with everything he said, but I had a lot of respect for him and he really knew his stuff.   I miss Alan Dixon, though he has a blog that he posts on occasionally.  I miss Ryan too though he posts from time to time.

I miss Bob too, I wish he would or could return.

I really miss all the traffic BPL used to get.  We don’t get half the posts that we used to get (other than gearswap).

[Ian]

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned David Abernathy.  He was a wealth of knowledge and as kind and decent of a human being as you’d ever hope to meet.  Last I heard he’s given up on the FKT of the Tyler Durden Trail and is competing on a semi pro muay thai circuit.

I liked Bob Gross but he appeared to me to perpetually operate on the internet at a low level of road rage.  Not hatin’; just sayin’.

[Dena Kelley]

Weird. I never saw Bob like that. He seemed a bit crusty and to-the-point, but not angry. And I like people that are direct. Beating around the bush and passive aggressiveness annoy me.

[Ian]

Dena,

I’m unaware of a tongue-in-cheek emoticon, but imagine one following my comment.  Again, I said that I liked Bob.

[Ethan A.]

I never felt Bob was angry either. He was specific and exacting and when he corrected language in an article or in a post I don’t think he meant it in a mean way. He was a wealth of knowledge and I’ve missed him here. I have not a few friends and colleagues that have a similar style, particularly in engineering, and I accept them for who they are.

[Ken Thompson]

Konrad

[Ian]

Yup.  Konrad used to contribute quite a bit.  In fairness to BPL, it’s tough to compete with medical school.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Ahhhhh!   Konrad!!  Twas he and TFunk that would always have me crackin up.  Man I think that was the year I got married so like 2007!   damn!

!

[Kattt]

I think Bob was one of the most mis understood  people on the forum and probably beyond that. Some people are wired a little differently and things just need to be exact or else they don’t add up. I have someone else like that in my life and their intentions are often mis understood too.

I met Bob and I got him. The fact that  he of all people was banned here is actually pretty sad to me.

[Jeffs Eleven]

Daniel Fish

[Ian]

“Konrad!!  Twas he and TFunk that would always have me crackin up.”

Not just them but there was more levity and personality in the non chaff forums in that time-frame.  Good information still flows in Gear and other forums from time to time, but it’s mostly dry as toast.

“Daniel Fish”

This one does sting.  That was one of the saddest group bullying events I’ve ever witnessed here.

[Kattt]

Daniel Fish….yup, I remember that as a very sad event as well.

[Ian]

Kat,

Totally get where you’re coming from with Bob but after watching him aggressively go after some new folks, it’s tough to paint him as a perfect victim.  He was also given an opportunity to come back which he refused.  I’d like to see him come back as a BPL member, but he has to meet Ryan & co. halfway.

I’m not trying to hold Bob to a standard I can’t hold myself to as my flaws are many and massive.

[Kattt]

Hey Ian,

I guess I don’t have the interactions you are referring to in my memory bank at the moment. I know I got into it with him a couple of times though. I am not painting him as the perfect victim but here at BPL there have been a whole lot more offensive, abrasive, ill intentioned interactions than what I saw Bob doing. I mean…..I deserved banning before he did but I navigate society a little (!!) better and pull back before I totally screw up.

[Ian]

Kat,

Let me balance out my previous comment.  From what I observed, the catalyst that led to his banning were his criticisms of the poor editorial work done on the published BPL articles.  His criticisms were justified IMO.  I don’t feel in any way that he was treated fairly during that incident nor should that have been used as an excuse to ban him, but I don’t own the website and no one asked me.

[Ethan A.]

Before mentioning some people I’ve missed, I’d like to note how deeply grateful I am for Roger Caffin’s moderation and advice, always in good humor, as well as new authors and flimmakers like Jörgen Johansson, Chris Smead, Emylene VanderVelden, Eric Vann and others and for all the helpful long-time and new members who are here now. They’re driven by passion – no one does this for high pay (or any pay often).

I won’t mention all the excellent current forum members for fear of leaving someone out – so many have been informative, interesting or helpful either by virtue of advice and photos shared or good questions they asked. New members tend to ask questions that prompt helpful reexamination of technique and gear.

@Albert M, I don’t think you’ve wasted money – I’ve received single pieces of advice that increased safety and comfort, improved technique, lightened weight, etc. worth far more than $5. There are very good articles with excellent info, but I’ve always derived the most value from the members here who are kind enough to share their experience.

[BlackHatGuy]

What a fascinating thread from 5 years ago. And somewhat ironic that many of the people who posted in this thread are no longer around or barely around. The more things change and all that.

[john mcalpine]

I miss that Bob Gross.  He brought knowledge and a different personality.

I also miss the guy from Vancouver who always used Dead Bird in place of Arc’teryx.  He was also very knowledgeable and always on the site.

[Author]

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