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Registered Users who are not Sawhorses just lost a bunch of permissions

jar546 said:
Which is why that damn moisture meter is still on my desk. I'm going to have to refund you or get to the post office or just keep procrastinating.
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I got the book a few days ago. That only took a month. It had a Chinese postmark. There's more than one way to California but you don't have to try them all.
 
ICE said:
I got the book a few days ago. That only took a month. It had a Chinese postmark. There's more than one way to California but you don't have to try them all.
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It was the cheapest way to send it though. The moisture meter will have a North Korea stamp on it
 
Here is a thought. if we can create a "pay per view" catagory for individuals seeking a professional opinion and code reference response, to have a separate catagory to click on specifically for all inquires, and not be subject specific.

So if I want to inquire about a GFCI requirement, or venting question I would post both under "pay per view" and not enter into general plumbing or electrical. This will allow a paying question not to be overlooked, and possibly a way to send an "you have mail" to individuals that would want to be put on a list to be notified that there is an inquiry posted.
 
Gregg Harris said:
Here is a thought. if we can create a "pay per view" catagory for individuals seeking a professional opinion and code reference response, to have a separate catagory to click on specifically for all inquires, and not be subject specific.So if I want to inquire about a GFCI requirement, or venting question I would post both under "pay per view" and not enter into general plumbing or electrical. This will allow a paying question not to be overlooked, and possibly a way to send an "you have mail" to individuals that would want to be put on a list to be notified that there is an inquiry posted.
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The forum could be sued for the horrible outcome from a wrong answer.
 
ICE said:
The forum could be sued for the horrible outcome from a wrong answer.
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I have tried for several hours to think of some type of horrible outcome that could come from an answer that has a code article sited with an explanation.

An individual with a question, whether it be a tradesman, a home owner, a code official etc. would be inquiring as to whether something is required such as the requirement for a GFCI, not how to install it. I do not see it.
 
Jeff has made up entire codes .... section number included.

Here's one example.

1102.4.3.2(a) Service dogs shall be provided with a stainless steel bowl no less than 8" in diameter and capable of holding 1 quart of fresh, potable water. Establishments required to provide water bowls for service dogs shall be responsible for the sanitary condition of the bowls.
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It looks completely legit huh.

I might be guilty too.

Well not with section numbers.

Here is a suggestion Jeff.

 
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"The forum could be sued for the horrible outcome from a wrong answer."

I believe that the cold one was kidding............
 
fatboy said:
"The forum could be sued for the horrible outcome from a wrong answer." I believe that the cold one was kidding............
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A friend of mine from Florida owns a scuba forum. They are in the midst of a multi-million dollar lawsuit because a thread was started about a fatality in the Maldives on a dive boat and they failed to moderate hearsay. It has been going on for years and costing tons of money. I'm not sure everyone understands the liability involved here whether or not the suits have merit. I am not sure people understand what liability I took on when I started this. I know I sure didn't.
 
jar546 said:
A friend of mine from Florida owns a scuba forum. They are in the midst of a multi-million dollar lawsuit because a thread was started about a fatality in the Maldives on a dive boat and they failed to moderate hearsay. It has been going on for years and costing tons of money. I'm not sure everyone understands the liability involved here whether or not the suits have merit. I am not sure people understand what liability I took on when I started this. I know I sure didn't.
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If enacted here, there would be no hearsay. If the question is vetted and a code article is sited, that would not be hearsay. It would be no different than an inspector arriving on a job site

to do an inspection and quoting a violation.

The knowledge base on this forum is paramount to any other that I am aware of. It is quiet diverse in the subject matters that are intertwined in obtaining a correct answer. There are wrong answers given at times and I have been guilty myself, but I have always gone back and corrected if I found that I miss quoted an article on something.

How many individuals on here have ever received a wrong answer on another chat board? I know that I have read them. Wrong answers are all over out there that are quoted as opinion statements and not verified by code articles or a testing standard.

I responded to one the other day where a home owner asked what the minimum gauge duct was

that a contractor had proposed for his house. He was quoted 30 gauge and I told him it was 28 gauge. I even posted one code article listing the table. For a week contractors posted back, even a moderator that it was 30. It wasn't until I posted four code articles and the SMACNA table that another individual agreed and then others agreed.
 
So far as I can tell, the answers that people get here are correct. The largest share are issues related to design. Things such as egress and fire ratings as well as ADA.

The people that come here for those types of answers are architects, engineers and designers. Jeff said that 400 architects joined in some small stretch of time.

Well what about those guys. Many have reached a conclusion and seek validation. Some haven't achieved a firm grasp on the code but they are headed in the right direction. Coming here for advice is proof of that.

Most certainly, without complaint, they spent a butt-load to get this far. I may have an exaggerated opinion of the value this forum returns. But if I'm correct, I don't get why they are holding back.

The conundrum of how to generate money enough to satisfy the need has been there from the beginning and without changes, will remain. It could be that the price isn't high enough.

While in high school I worked in a small town drugstore. There was a section of nick-knacks. The lady that took care of it was gone when a large shipment arrived. I was told to put it on the shelves. We had no idea how to price it. I was told to decide with each item. When the lady returned months later, she found that I had raised the price by as much as 100%. Sales were up.

If something is too cheap, people react negatively towards that something. They think that it is somehow flawed. My best advice would be to raise the buy in. Set it at $60 a year so all of the folks that bought two years are now good for one. If people complain, refund their money. If they bought a year for $35, let them keep that year.

I have seen several professional forums for architects and engineers that won't let you in at all unless you pay...and it's a lot. You should let people in but not let them become a member unless they pay.

The public should have less access. To such a degree that they can figure out that the forum has a real benefit but can't really see enough to serve them well. Just being able to read threads is all some people need. Sure it is nice to let anyone and everyone see inside the forum....as long as someone else is willing to pay for it.

How many of the regular participants are a sawhorse? If it is anywhere over 50% then I guess that we are talking to ourselves. The people that pay for this do most of what goes down here. Cut it off to only sawhorses....I won't notice much of a difference.

The counter shows 5,281 members. The number is meaningless. Most of the members joined and never returned. I could understand that if the forum was largely hidden. I would then expect people to join and discover that this is not what they were expecting. Since that is not the case here, something else convinces them to join but doesn't hold their interest enough to bring them back. Yet each one required some effort on Jeff's part. A pressing need is to free Jeff from so much of the day to day operation. As this place grows so does the work. Those members are not worth the effort.

I am an inspector. My feet are firmly planted on a treadmill. I churn out code violations. I haven't reached expert status so I continue to learn. I've learned plenty. $60 is not too much for what I learn in a year. 16.5¢ a day. 50¢ would still be a bargain.

These ideas sound drastic. What's the alternative? Jeff can continue with the way it is?...Jeff can continue until he burns out and then it is gone?...suddenly people will hear the call and start paying up?...that which has happened so far will happen again...except it will get worse because so many of us bought two years worth and next year brings it's own demands.

For a moment there I thought that this should be in the public side of the forum so that the 400 architects might see it. Then I remembered that we have asked them, excoriated them and damned near abused them to no avail.

As Wendy would say, "It's time to face the music" And follow up with, "I don't understand this American idiom" "Why are you facing music?"
 
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