Mystery Guest?

Who, indeed? You're not missing anything.

Hundreds of people happen along to browse the nonsensewealth of informative stuff posted here. As CR4 is an open forum, anyone can turn up, and we have no way of knowing who they are.

There'll also (usually) be a few members who haven't logged in, so appear as Guests.

Sometimes I think I'm still logged in when I'm not. When I discover that, I will log in and let you know the guest was me.

One very strong reason of mine why I don't like to respond to anonymous posts is: if the post involves something that could conceivably be illegal, like "where can I get ammonium nitrate" or "do I need a license to buy dynamite", I won't respond to it. The internet is full of people who want to do harm and this is the best place to find things out. I don't know if you are old enough to remember the slogan, "a slip of the lip may sink a ship". I believe in being cautious at all times. That keeps you out of trouble.

I don't remember that one - I don't know whether it made it to the UK. This is one I do remember - the "Careless Talk Costs Lives" campaign:

... which I think turned up on both sides of the pond in one form or another.

When I come across questions such as those you've mentioned, I respond with something like:

"Why do you want to know this? It could be used for dangerous or illegal purposes ... if you have a good reason to know (whatever), please contact me via private message"

... and I immediately report the post. It is invariably axed, and I've yet to hear back from any of them.

My lot liked this one, but used the streamlined form. "Loose Lips Sink Ships"

Origin

This phrase was coined as a slogan during WWII as part of the US Office of War Information's attempt to limit the possibility of people inadvertently giving useful information to enemy spies. The slogan was actually 'Loose Lips Might Sink Ships. This was one of several similar slogans which all came under the campaigns basic message - 'Careless Talk Costs Lives'.

The slogan was in use by 1942, as this example from the Maryland paper The News, May 1942 shows:

At countians [attendees at the local county school] registered in the high school lobby before the opening of the meeting, they were surrounded on all sides by placards bearing such admonitions as "Loose Lips Might Sink Ships", "Defense On The Sea Begins On The Shore", "Defense In The Field Begins In The Factory" and patriotic creeds and slogans.

really how many posts have actually requested where to find dynamite or anything like that? I think you are confused, I mean really confused.

While it may be true that few posts are quite as blatant as suggested in #31, it may surprise you how many posts over the years have been subtle (or not-so-subtle) requests for information about timing and remote detonation devices, telecommunications jamming equipment and various other illegal applications.

Such posts are almost invariably deleted very quickly by CR4 Admin, so you'll be lucky to find any by searching the archives.

there was one thread that wanted to remove the packaging on tablets.......it raised suspicions. But the guest soon registered and explained himself, which seemed legit.

He received help, but there is always that doubt, maybe by viewers of that thread to use the information.

p911

How subtle was the terrorist in Florida who wanted to know how to fly a plane, but didn't care about how to land?

That was rather a one-off. (I did say "few posts ...").

So now we could be guilty of giving (half) flying lessons to terroists?

CR4 is good, but not THAT good!!!

True - but what we can do is blurt out stuff that makes links clearer to how to do something undesirable. I.e. armed with the proper terminology, things are much easier to find on the internet.

The Catch 22 here is; if I 'justify the above' with a list - if they missed it - I hand it to them. Equally if I remark that the discussion is getting a bit 'revealing' - I sound an alert for them too.

And worst of all is when members who obviously would know 'fall silent' - then someone decides that "lack of comment' is an opportunity to "look smarter", and not think why.

It's a difficult Mystery Guest area.

There are often requests for copies of software, or passwords for software that is not "free".....

Recently an Aussie with a proper CR4 name was proudly exclainming how he "never bought Software or OSs"! All was pirated........

He seemed to even be proud of the fact!!!! Some upbringing he must have had, not even ashamed or posting as a guest!!!

I can only hopre that the companies concerned will be able to fix him up with a stiff fine asap!!!

If anyone needs his name for any reason, I can give you it!!

You think you're confused? I don't even know who I am either!

Anyway, don't think of it as being outnumbered by us Guests. Rather think of us as mysterious, intriguing bringers of truth who seek neither reward nor accolades. Also we don't want to get sued when we're wrong.

I have absolutely no idea.

i admire CR4 as ONE forum where one need not register to ask a question, where experts the world over can help. A one-off thing for the needy. Great.

However, while this is still true for the true knowledge seeker, 9 others spring up .... insulting members, turning GAs to non-GAs with -ve votes, asking "how a flashlight works" and such...

Nevertheless, as the spirit of the law says..."better to let 100 guilty go rather than convict the one innocent"

So, let CR4 coninue as we are... ignore the 9/10 guests.

You know how flashlights work?!?

j/k

Think of the guests as secret admirers, you'll feel a little better about yourself this afternoon.

Small detail on messing with the GA's.

Guests can't vote.

So look to 'members' logged in or anonymous mode, for any "lack of playing well with others".

But; it can just simply be not reading/understanding the voting 'destructions', which in the "Off Topic" mode asks a 'double negative', which even those with English as allegedly their "first language", clearly often get wrong.

And yes I have asked for the wording to be revised .... still waiting.

Yes of course, i did mean those members who log in to vote negative and then post anonymously. And you are right about the voting window too....maybe CR4 can have a rethink on that.

turning GAs to non-GAs with -ve votes.

Why o worry about GAs.

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषू कदाचन

(for others: Work without expectations)

Dear Sir Merlin, I confess...... I have responded as a guest, being new I sometimes forgot to sign in. I came across this site and have very much enjoyed the fact that sifting through the chaff is easy. I have yet to post any questions, but I enjoy the shared knowledge. On occasion (Sunday mornings) I have even been guilty of responding off the cuff, my hope is that this hasn't offended anyone. Ray

i was a power user and suddenly found degraded to contributer hence i do respond as a guest may be many more are responding as guests who were downgraded

crm

Interesting comment Guest.

These titles and GA's raise all sorts of issues.

Is "power user" higher than "contributor"? - Maybe one is a frequency class? I got no idea. Never fixated on my "ranking".

What I can say is; that if a member posts as guest, it does not contribute to his/her post count.

Therefore the "logical tactic" for a member obsessed with their post to GA ratio kudos, is to post as guest for 'entertainment', and then as themselves, for "Deep and Meaningful" (DaM) comment, they think will warrant a ('precious') GA.

Brich 11 touches on this "tactic" of popping up and voicing populist DaM 4 GA 'goodness'.

Gsuhas 12 a.k.a. the Alfred E. Newman of India, doesn't actually fully feel his stated ideal, but definitely has his priorities to rational scale.

So as you see; it well may be I'm "insulting, rude, way off mark, nasty, un-informed, childish, ignorant, and a pain in the backside".

I, as my initial self (guest), former self (banned for naughtiness - (specifically including - bitching about the guest and GA impacts arising out of the Ill-conceived (but Sacred) Authorship of these 'interfaces')), continue to Flirt with Fate as we speak, on this topic, as the now me......

So: Should I post this 'anonymously'?

As guest - were I banned - (again) - no one would care or know.

As a member it is noticed.

As a guest you can make no change, as member you can - eventually - perhaps.

Ultimately it's about; are you joining for personal rewards or to contribute to the greater good?

34point5. I've seen a number of your postings, and enjoyed them all. I don't know what you feel you may be flirting with, but from what I've seen (and admittedly I DO NOT know what history you've seen here) I can't see any danger for you. You make valid, and valuable, conversation, with, as many of us do, an occasional, and (I'm pretty sure) surprising, but welcome, GA resulting.

Can't ask a CR4 member for more, I think

Of course there are always those like Del, Kris, a few others, who skew the curve, and make it harder on us mere mortals.

But I've learned to live with my mortality.

Thank you Micahd - I am - as ever - 'flirting' with helping Admin to help itself. Frankly it's never been that welcome. However, I shall save your comment for my next 'trial by email'.

Have you lawyers call my lawyers. I'll provide a deposition. For a reasonable fee, of course!

Good grief KrisDel©®™ is a contagion.

Why should they get all the goodies? Besides, CR4 is a great place to learn stuff. I just demonstrated that I've learned how to make money off of other's (mis)fortune.

And KrisDel(how do you do that copyright/patent stuff, anyhow?) taught us all how to make anything work for your budget. Great process, this.

I have always wondered why we have "Guests".......

"Guests" have been insulting, rude, way off mark, nasty, un-informed, childish, ignorant, and a pain in the backside.

EVERYONE should register.

Would it stop those uncalled for vicious comments and put-downs? Probably not, but at least CR4 Admin could then cancel them and they would have to re-register to continue with their abuse.......

Why hide?

I second your views.

You are probably right. But I can never remember my login and password so if I read something while I am at work (in a very short lunchbreak). and feel I can give a constructive reply, I do so on the spot rather than wait till I get home and look up my login details. Since I have over 35 years experience in engineering I think my contributions might sometimes help.

Looking through responses, I think, on balance, there are more contributors among the guests (as well as the regular registered members) than there are people who trade insults etc.

wake up my mississppi friend, clearly the oil spill has affected your thought process. Are you so naive to think that just because someone has a login name that they are not anonymous? This is the internet we are talking about so wake up and smell the roses- welcome to 2010.

brich, check out these two sample threads and please come back and tell us how many insulting, rude, way off mark, nasty, un-informed, childish, ignorant, and a pain in the backside comments were made by Guests. I think this will blow a hole in your theory.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/58043/Will-this-Circuit-Allow-Correct-Battery-Charging?frmtrk=CR4digest

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/58147/What-is-the-Velocity?frmtrk=CR4digest

It would be better to do a bit of reasearch before posting in the future.

Granted that anonymous guests aren't always guilty, here is one guest who stalked me for quite sometime. Despite my entreaties as to why he was being so nasty.

http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/55425

There are all kinds of people. Can't change those who are nasty by birth/upbringing.

What i can't stomach is the cowardice.

Dear Guest who shall remain nameless because of identity theft

If you are going to quote me then quote me properly, I said "Guests", I did not say "All Guests" as you are implying.

Unfortunately you have me at a disadvantage by being able to give me the links to answers from "Guests" that are good, and in many cases answers given to the forum thread from "Guests" are good, no argument there.

However there is the "bad egg" out there (I do hope you are not one) that gets a kick of being insulting etc, and those those comments/insults to which I refer, I cannot give a link to, having been removed by CR4 admin because of the inflammatory content.

As far as research goes, my comment are based on experience from being at the receiving end of, (together with a few other people), someone acidic writings. Please follow the link in comment 38 to read an example of.

I make no bones about my view on the matter, if you feel I have spoken out of turn or insulted you, you are entitled to your comment and opinion as I am to mine.

If you have read, and I'm sure you have, the other answers you will see at least two other comments are in agreement with my post.

I can only wonder why you have not registered or logged on... or am I to expect a tsunami of written abuse and you have no wish to be recognized?

If you would like to debate the subject then please continue, if you wish to hurl insults, don't bother...... unless it really makes you feel better

I've never had a problem with guests - I feel now I've missed out on something.

I wonder what attracts them?

Some guest initially just happen onto the site. With legitimate reasons. thats how I stated, I think everyone here will assist for the most part.

When they are rude, I'll rarely engage them, they seem to thrive on the attention.

When a registered member makes a comment that is rude, that I'll engage, most times at least Off-topic. Usually to me the rude comment was just a knee-jerk reaction.

But I do notice one thing, when there is a spat going on......does it bring up more interests from members that think its terrible (which it can be) which normally would not have the interest......I can't answer that.

p911

But you have answered that. Line 3 part 3

guilty....I'll work on that.

thanks

We're victims of identity theft.

How about sending out a general email to everyone reminding them of their name and password. Most don't remember it and the recovery thing doesn't seem to work well.

Try Firefox - it remembers.

Guilty as charged. I visit CR4 daily and try to learn from the post here. However I only log in if i have something to say, which is not often. I am no engineer, just a couple of decades experience in motor control. By the way the threads on motor control issues are of the least interest to me. My Dad used to tell me to learn something new everyday. CR4 seems like a good place to start my mornings and fulfill that task. No offense intended. I will try to remember to log in each morning from now on.

ddifferent

With a couple of decades of experience in motor control, you can be a great teacher to those who ask questions on this subject. Some are quite inane, but some are worth answering. IMHO, you should allocate at least 30% of your CR4 time to see if someone has asked a good question....the other 70% you can learn. Will you please reconsider ? Thanks in advance....

Ah-h-h-h... but the real question is ?

(And here there is plenty of space for psychoanalysis, venting, etc.)

G'day Merlin

I don't mind guests at all. Some have contributed very good answers and questions. Some others have just shown and proven that they have no idea but that hurts not many but them selves.

The most irritating guests introduce religion to our "church". That is when my alter ego breaks free (?) and I protect my cells rather with instinct, which can create controversy, than with good will or tolerance.

I wonder what they would say if I entered there richly decorated holy premises and proclaimed that they are all on the wrong track and that they should give away their 'Dog's' to animal research. They would react just as I do here and possibly show me the door, or dog forbid, preach to me.

I am tolerant. I would never tell any one what to believe in or what dog to put on a chain, to show of the tricks he/she can do, or has done in the past. Even when we make suggestions regarding the fixing of a mechanical or other problems, we usually tell the advised that they should be careful using a suggested method. Common sense really.

I expect the same from them. If they come here, don't even think about indoctrinating me and others with concepts that are not of scientific nature or re-searchable, provable.

Although there is a leading sign at the entrance of Conference Room 4, they still persist and are then insulted when they are told to go away (not only by me BTW) and do something very nice to their bodies. After that, they (no, not only the guests) strip some GA's, what else would one expect from dog fearing individuals, and leave in triumph, possible telling their true believer friends that they have done a good deed and handed out appropriate punishment.

That I then apologize to admin, for being rude or too direct, indicates (or should) that I really care. I never wish to hurt any one but if they smear their ideas, concepts, ideologies over my nice, daily cleaned slate, I will react with vigor and defend my mental territory.

So much for guests and their friends who justifiably occupy parts of this universe, Ky.

LOL!!!

Great Blog.

Guests want to avoid any discrimination against them when identified.

Do like discrimination ?

micahd02

An inferiority complex is not an engineering problem but a crippling state of mind that needs to be grown out of. Maybe your excellent post has made this clear to the guest but I am not holding my breath.

Being challenged is what I am here for and having guests that whimper and whine just holds back our overall development. To pick on the idiot of the class is bullying and surely nobody wants to do that. Just sit back, guest, and jump on when your ready for the ride.

Good answer from me, Ky.

micahd02 has a very good post. And with the complaint of bias towards members from guest and guest-like members, there are members with less than 300 posts under the label gurus status that have an 8% GA's.

Members including myself vent and discuss amoung the engineering community of like experiences is great.

Being challenged is what I am here for

There is nothing like a good debate, and when challenged I have changed my veiw on a subject, if the subject matter presented is sound. But what is disappointing is when debated from what your are stating and pointing out with using words of inferiority complex, crippling state of mind that needs to be grown out of and guests that whimper and whine .

Though these are taking a little out of context....the meaning still remains. Now points to the need for another topic for CR4 for Mental Health......which for this site IMO is beyond the realm of CR4 initial basis or intend, but as recent posts show are very much related and needed.

I have to agree that micahd02 post is a GA.

p911