I need to get this off my chest
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@rob d said:
For a long time this forum has been the Quasi official one, and as such I just don't like that it's monetized in the way it is, and censored in the way it is.
You're mixing things up...
Even back when Coen was in charge, SCF needed an income...If Google and subsequently Trimble had sponsored SCF, I'm sure they wouldn't need to care too much about people advertising for various products...
On the other hand... If Google or Trimble were sponsors of this community, SCF couldn't claim the independence they can today...However, since SCF is a privately held community and independent from Trimble, they do need an income...
There's plenty of volunteers here, who contribute and keep this place a great place to be a member of - and they all do it without any monetary incentives...This community have expanded a lot over the years and with such a huge member base, it's not cheap...
I don't even want to guess or estimate what the expenses are for hosting this community, but I'm certain it isn't cheap, hence an even greater need to have an income...@rob d said:
Just because Sketchucation is selling its own books doesn't mean other authors can't say "Hey, here's my book. Please tell me what you think".
As far as I can see from the June newsletter as well as from the link in your signature, you can't be seriously claiming that SCF is squeezing you like a simple man...
From where I stand it looks like you're getting far more promotion than anybody else...!!
@rob d said:
You don't squash people who mention rendering software or paid collections of trees, so why squash me when I mention an update to my book?
Once again you're mixing things up...
Please tell me why you should have free advertising, while others have to pay for it...?!?
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@rob d said:
You're kidding me? For years I've not had access to SketchyPhysics because I thought I had to pay for it.
You're joking - right...
Then you shouldn't have access to the Plugin section as well...
If you can see it - you have access...
"Secret" sections are only visible for users who have been appointed to them...
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Thanks for seeing it as it is Fred.
Now I need to go to the shop in my Lamborghini to get some caviar and champagne.
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Did you get the unicorn leather upholstery for the Lamborghini Rich? Apparently twins vomit will make it supple and shine.
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It has everything you can imagine and whatever else you can dream of/up.
Sent from my
iPhone 9 -
Well, I assumed that the lock icons were part of the premium membership. Simple assumption to make though ultimately the wrong one. Were these lock icons never part of the premium package? I remember questioning it at the time and didn't get an answer to suggest they were anything else. See http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15%26amp;t=55831
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Looks like you got some good answers there, but perhaps it was assumed you were asking about the Premium forums.
When the question was asked specifically it was answered in this thread. http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=179%26amp;t=58570%26amp;p=533007%26amp;hilit=forum+locked#p533007 -
The forums have certain areas that a user needs to subscribe to to get access. Adding these in your user panel is a simple click and save.
Like any of the foreign language or special interest forums.
If everything was open then the board would be a mess to navigate as the activity would be too extreme.
We have it setup so that a member adds additional forums that fits their interests.
And this is and always will be free.
There is only one unaccessible forum that is the Premium forum. This is to protect URL of premium content getting into unscrupulous hands.
If you have issue with this approach then feel free to express it.
But I find it personally insulting to allocate greed to this community and its stewards.
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@rich o brien said:
But I find it personally insulting to allocate greed to this community and its stewards.
In addition to being insulting, it is completely unheard...!
A formal and unequivocal apology is appropriate in this case...
Plain stupidity is rarely rewarded...! -
I have obviously completely misunderstood. I completely and unequivocally apologize to the forum owners for my comment about their greed.
@frederik. Stupidity is not the issue here. It is well known that if you place certain signs up then people take notice and act accordingly. A lock is one example, a red triangle is another. If I've been duped, how many noobs have missed out on accessing the content in these forums and subforums?
@richard. Thanks for taking the time to explain. Regarding insulting the forum stewards, I don't remember doing that. As far as I know this is a commercial enterprise run by you and a number of others, so I assume decisions to create a locked area (paid or not) is down to you. I implore you to take this episode seriously and somehow clarify for people how they might use these forums. Nowhere have I ever seen a message about opting in to forums. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Anyhow. I shall beg your pardon and take my leave. Richard if you wish me to edit the original post let me know and I'm happy to do it.
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@rob d said:
Anyhow. I shall beg your pardon and take my leave. .
Rob
I dont believe you should move on,
you have expressed yourself, realised your error and apologized, so in the interest of world peace I believe you should stay
Philip
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@Rob D
I can say little more than the others, without getting apoplectic...
Your lack of understanding and/or curiosity about how SCF works is worrying, particularly given your important professional role in the real world, and your supposed maturity.
The main start page http://sketchucation.com/community says you can 'join groups', so if you were unsure what it meant you could have asked
There are FAQs and other sticky posts...In your User's Settings there are several tabs - including a 'Usergroups' tab - where you could join say 'Woodworking', if that's your bag.
Did you never think to explore these tabs when you were in that page? - e.g. you must have been in that page to add your 'book-advertising-signature'...Why would you think 'SketchyPhysics' in particular was NOT free? - there are relatively few 'paid' plugins hosted at SCF.
I see nothing in its thread suggesting it costs money or even has a convoluted download process, say from an external URL, which sometimes suggests something is more 'commercial'...
I'd have thought you would be more likely to be moaning that those few weren't free ?Time to face up to your shortcomings, keep calm and carry on...
EOF
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@rob d said:
I have obviously completely misunderstood. I completely and unequivocally apologize to the forum owners for my comment about their greed.
@richard. Thanks for taking the time to explain. Regarding insulting the forum stewards, I don't remember doing that. As far as I know this is a commercial enterprise run by you and a number of others, so I assume decisions to create a locked area (paid or not) is down to you. I implore you to take this episode seriously and somehow clarify for people how they might use these forums. Nowhere have I ever seen a message about opting in to forums. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I basically find being referred to as greedy being an insult on my character. Everything I create I share freely. Portions all members get for free. Premiums get everything I create for free. I price extreme low for those that want to pay me for my output.
We also work hard to make sure the 'small guy' gets a voice among the bigger fish without placing the advertising base in jeopardy.
re: clarify for people how they might use these forums
This is here since 2007...
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=79%26amp;t=1398
...which links to this also...
http://sketchucation.com/forums/faq.php
...both these cover in detail the intricacies of using the forums system. I can't see how we can go beyond that?
Opting into forums is dictated by the forum software phpbb. We don't control that as it is an open source software. We only administrate this place as best we can. But on the whole it is a free for all where the mantra is to 'be nice'and educate yourself.
re: this is a commercial enterprise run by you and a number of others
yes, Mike is Chairman and The Godfather, Csaba is floating around, Gabor programs and think-tanks, TIG plays an important role. In fact we think the team is in the 1,000s if not 10,000s.
The company itself is separate from the forums. What we do at a local level and online is polar opposites.
I mentor small businesses locally on online e-commerce and web design. We all freelance as 3D artists/architects,programmers etc... Nothing earth shattering or abnormal about it.
As for me...I am a dad with 3 kids [age 5 and twins aged 1]. I drive a 2004 Renault Kangoo van. I live in a rural area in a 3 bedroom house. I have an aviation background and used SketchUp since v3.
I'm also head of the Bilderberg group and Fred is my right hand man.
In honesty, there's no harm done here as far as I'm concerned.
Can we get back to helping one another and stroking our egos again?
I want to get a modeling competition going for the xmas and want to have as many prizes as possible.
Anyone got some ideas?
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"I want to get a modeling competition going for the xmas and want to have as many prizes as possible.
Anyone got some ideas?"
a book?
Honestly, I never noticed the padlock icons. I guess that is a little confusing, but then I always knew what was open and what had to be applied for.
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@rob d said:
@frederik. Stupidity is not the issue here. It is well known that if you place certain signs up then people take notice and act accordingly. A lock is one example, a red triangle is another. If I've been duped, how many noobs have missed out on accessing the content in these forums and subforums?
I agree with Rob. The big red padlock icon is ugly and misleading.
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The big padlock icon IS ugly - but then again so are many other icons on the site, but someone had to make design decisions about what things would look like, color-schemes etc...
That icon padlock is actually not that misleading, if you think about it - if you hover over it its tooltip even says 'Forum locked'.
This is true.
E.G. the Resources forum has two sub-forums [Plugins and Post-Processing] which are readily accessible to all, but you can't post a topic into the Resources forum itself... because it IS locked !
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This is all a bit like someone posting a comment on your site saying.
@unknownuser said:
I got your book from the library, I looked at the cover, flipped through a few pages and I still don't know how to be an architect.
What a useless book, don't anyone buy it he is ripping you off. -
@rob d said:
If I've been duped, how many noobs have missed out on accessing the content in these forums and subforums?
Like others, I've not taken much notice of these padlocks myself...
Although I can agree - to some extension - that the padlock sign can be misleading, I still don't understand why you started this rant with unfounded allegations...Rob... Out of curiosity... Have you never entered the Plugin section...
I guess you haven't, cause it's a subforum under one of these padlock sections...Tell you what... You've missed tons of great new plugins during the past 6-7 years...
Not even sure where to begin...
The easiest would be to give you a link to the Must Have Ruby Plugins - Visual Index, but A LOT of other great gems are not even listed in that thread...I'm sure you'll soon discover that these plugins can turn your SketchUp to a completely new application...
Edit: OK, I was ironic...
I'm sure you've entered the plugin section and I'm likewise sure you've already installed a lot of these great plugins available...
My point is... You claim to have been duped, yet you have found your way into the plugin section, although it's a subforum to a section with a padlock...
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i have to say this is the first time i noticed the red lock icon for "Resources" and "Special interests"
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