Goodbye.

[iiipopes]

Today's storm of spam is too much. It has been a very fun time here on TubeNet. But I spent more time today sorting through spam than actually enjoying the forum. I will leave my avatar and contact information intact, so that if Sean or someone else grabs the bull by the horns (no, not bloke's current avatar) and sorts everything out, then I would enjoy being a contributing member of the forum again.

Thanks again for several years of good fun, good information, and good virtual fellowship.

Goodbye.

[Rick F]

I̶'̶m̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶o̶.̶ ̶ ̶A̶ ̶l̶o̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶e̶a̶d̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶t̶a̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶p̶a̶m̶ ̶c̶a̶u̶s̶e̶d̶
m̶y̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶e̶w̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶(̶Z̶o̶n̶e̶A̶l̶a̶r̶m̶)̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶o̶p̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶s̶a̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶
w̶a̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶.̶ ̶ ̶I̶ ̶k̶e̶p̶t̶ ̶c̶l̶i̶c̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶l̶y̶,̶
̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶o̶w̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶'̶r̶e̶m̶e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶'̶.̶ ̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶r̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶
:̶ ̶7̶5̶.̶7̶5̶.̶7̶5̶.̶7̶5̶.̶x̶x̶ ̶d̶n̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶s̶i̶m̶i̶l̶a̶r̶.̶

[Worth]

What a shame. I haven't noticed any issues with my Apple devices, and I still have a lot to learn, so I'll be sticking around.

[Woods]

I'm new so I don't know what happened do you mind explaining?

[Dan Schultz]

I haven't had any problems...

Ditto. I find spam to be just someone's stupid waste of their own time. Not a problem for me. The titles are easy to spot and I don't bother clicking on everything that comes on the screen.

[Donn]

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me!

Well, since you sort of bring it up, this might be a good time to recognize that among that crap that has gone down here on Tubenet over the past several years, we would have to include at least one case of a moderately serious cyber stalking kind of thing. Where a member was being harassed here and on social media platforms, by another member with a very crappy attitude. Words may not have much ability to hurt you, but carried to some extreme it can get to a point far past what anyone should have to put up with. Since the episode seems to have started here, I have to assume that part of the problem is that we did not have fully functional administrative support here to address problems like this.

That doesn't have anything to do with whether spam messes up your Tubenet viewing experience too much to make it worthwhile. I personally am still here, as may be evident to the keen observer from this post, but it would be silly to say I didn't notice the difference during the worst of it. If it comes to that, I'm more likely to just fade away without any long farewells. If I seem to have been absent for a while, you can call me a coward if you want.

[Donn]

So far, that adds up to 3 tuba player mental cases.

[Donn]

Assume the worst, is what I always say.

[Heavy_Metal]

So far, that adds up to 3 tuba player mental cases.

Only 3?

[Donn]

Documented in this thread.

[Heavy_Metal]

Ahh.

[Ace]

Today's storm of spam is too much. It has been a very fun time here on TubeNet. But I spent more time today sorting through spam than actually enjoying the forum. I will leave my avatar and contact information intact, so that if Sean or someone else grabs the bull by the horns (no, not bloke's current avatar) and sorts everything out, then I would enjoy being a contributing member of the forum again.

Thanks again for several years of good fun, good information, and good virtual fellowship.

Goodbye.

We will miss you, Scott. Yours were always interesting and informative posts. I hope you decide to return to the TubeNet family. -Ace

[Dan Schultz]

I've been a 'sponsor' here for many years even though I am retired from working a 'real' job... simply because I enjoy working on, discussing, and playing tubas. I can put up with the occasional storm of crap that gets posted simply because I don't read it unless the subject line is interesting or the poster is familiar to me. My dollar contribution is nothing compared to the time and energy that's required from the forum owner to keep it going. Thanks to Farah and Sean for all that you do.

[saktoons]

...nothing compared to the time and energy that's required from the forum owner to keep it going. Thanks to Farah and Sean for all that you do.

Good perspective, Dan. Thank you. I don't post much in here (because I don't have much to say). However, I do visit often. I, also, appreciate those that maintain the forum.

[Rick F]

Wow! What a difference a week or a few days make. Just stuck my head in here to see how things were going. I was happy to see no more spam cluttering the place and causing security alerts with ZoneAlarm. It had to be a lot of work.
Thanks to the new mods and Farah for tidying up this forum. I guess I'm back.

[iiipopes]

I did send an email to iiipopes, and told him about the new spam filters, and he did not rule out a return, though he hasn't logged on since his goodbye message

Yes, he sent me an email, and I appreciate all the kind thoughts expressed above. To quote Jack Benney in response to the mugger pointing a pistol at him and demanding his money or his life, I have my hand on my chin, and the reply is, "I'm thinking about it." Thanks for the efforts to restructure TubeNet. We'll see.

[Donn]

Wow! What a difference a week or a few days make. Just stuck my head in here to see how things were going. I was happy to see no more spam cluttering the place and causing security alerts with ZoneAlarm. It had to be a lot of work.
Thanks to the new mods and Farah for tidying up this forum.

That was great, for sure, but what sort of bowls me over is the hum of activity since that comment was written a couple of days ago. What could have been a spring cleaning maintenance project seems to have turned into a new generation Tubenet with a very healthy administrative climate in the control room and the forums focusing their energy on interesting and useful discussions. It isn't just better than the recent breakage, I think it might be better than it has ever been as far back as I can remember. That's probably a temporary honeymoon effect to some extent, but even so it's good to see.

[iiipopes]

Yes, I just might come back. I concur with Donn's observation.

[arpthark]

Wow! What a difference a week or a few days make. Just stuck my head in here to see how things were going. I was happy to see no more spam cluttering the place and causing security alerts with ZoneAlarm. It had to be a lot of work.
Thanks to the new mods and Farah for tidying up this forum.

That was great, for sure, but what sort of bowls me over is the hum of activity since that comment was written a couple of days ago. What could have been a spring cleaning maintenance project seems to have turned into a new generation Tubenet with a very healthy administrative climate in the control room and the forums focusing their energy on interesting and useful discussions. It isn't just better than the recent breakage, I think it might be better than it has ever been as far back as I can remember. That's probably a temporary honeymoon effect to some extent, but even so it's good to see.

I really quit visiting the forum around 2012 because of the quality (lack thereof?) of posts, etc. Always enjoyed seeing Joe or Dan Oberloh restoration/repair job but the tenor of the forum was kind of vitriolic - this was around the time people were a lot less accepting (and vocal about it!) regarding Chinese tubas, etc. Tempers were really flaring. Glad to see people like Jonathan Hodgetts and Tom McGrady are very upfront and helpful about the quality and origin of their instruments, people like Mark and Farah are actively trying to improve the site and people like Wade and Joe will still give out the lovingly(?) curmudgeonly responses and lots of great(?) advice. Relations seem to have normalized and I think the forum is in great shape.

[iiipopes]

Mark and Farah have been very gracious to me, welcoming me back. After a couple of trial posts, if the rest of the TNFJ will have me, I am pleased to re-join everyone.

Thanks for all your support. Don't forget about dropping in to say "Hi!" to Schlep occasionally as well, so we can all be good neighbors in the virtual cyber-forum-neighborhood.