Should Winston Make Me a Moderator?

[Winston]

Good points MZ. You are lucky I am not the average American, because like most here will tell you, once you get into a fight or dispute or even a misunderstanding with most Americans, they hate you for life or avoid you for life. That's how petty they are. I'm sure people in your Dutch country are not that petty and narrow. Seriously. lol

So Pixel Dude is like a British version of me? That's cool. lol. I've always felt like I was British in a past life, like in Victorian England, which looks super familiar to me and triggers a lot of nostalgia in me. lol

[Lucas88]

Yes good point MZ. A good moderator should be kind and have some compassion too. Not be an a-hole or prick. Because we all should be kind to others. It's good karma. All religions teach kindness. That's the thing with me, I may be eccentric and weird and maybe crazy too, but at least I'm kind and patient with others.

Yeah, I know we sometimes pick on you and give you a hard time. I used some pretty harsh words with you in the past, @Winston but it seems like you never held it against me and are a forgiving person. Very much "live and let live" type of guy. Pixeldude sort of has the same quality, he's like a young British version of you in that sense haha. He's also into conspiracy theories, into foreign cultures, and he has one kid, just like you. I actually think he has a lot in common with you. And the way you describe America as soulless and bland, he also describes England the same way. His theory is that there's something in the English language that makes people like that, somehow. Going to Latin America saved his soul.

You're confusing Pixel--Dude for me!

Pixel--Dude and I are childhood friends and live in the same town in the UK. We are both into conspiracy theories, occultism and the paranormal, and display a Winstonesque "live and let live attitude" for the most part.

Pixel--Dude is the one with the kid and therefore hasn't been able to travel much or relocate.

I Lucas am the one who is obsessed with Hispanic culture and Latinas, has lived extensively in Spain and Latin America, despises the UK, and describes it as soulless and bland like Winston describes America.

Just to clear things up!

[MarcosZeitola]

Good points MZ. You are lucky I am not the average American, because like most here will tell you, once you get into a fight or dispute or even a misunderstanding with most Americans, they hate you for life or avoid you for life. That's how petty they are. I'm sure people in your Dutch country are not that petty and narrow. Seriously. lol

I think people anywhere have the ability to be narrow and shallow and act in petty ways. But overall, Europeans are probably less mean-spirited than Americans. I frankly haven't really dealt with any Americans in real life, aside from the internet. I did encounter a few in the Philippines. Of all the foreigners there, they seemed the least "chill" of all people. A bit more on edge, a bit more nervous, less relaxed. An Indian, Pakistani or Chinese man, I found, usually appears more at ease with himself, more comfortable in his own skin. Americans, by contrast, seem stressed out and kinda out of tune with themselves and their surroundings. They usually stick to their own diet, their own eating habits, culture and language. Less likely to try out new things, eat new things, and as a result, less able to "blend in" with their surroundings. They always end up sticking out like a sore thumb for some reason lol. Their English also has a more harsh accent to it and Filipinos will tell me they find Americans harder to understand than other foreigners lol.

I'm indeed lucky you didn't hold grudges against me because I remember I went after your ass pretty harshly in the past with the whole Angelo thing, haha. I was probably way too harsh in those debates we had before. But I apologized already for those words, back in the day. Which is why I think we're cool now. He dropped by the chatbox a few days ago, his account is @AngeloTheMage and I gotta say, you seem to have raised a pretty chill little dude. I wonder how he'll develop in the years ahead. My girlfriend and I are expecting our first son next year, so I have been quite hyped to raise a little boy of my own as I just had a bunch of daughters before haha. Cool stuff.

[kangarunner]

I think people anywhere have the ability to be narrow and shallow and act in petty ways. But overall, Europeans are probably less mean-spirited than Americans.

Hmm, not sure on that.

I frankly haven't really dealt with any Americans in real life, aside from the internet.

God, I wish I could say this..... @Winston Imagine what it would be like to never have to deal with America or Americans in your life?

I did encounter a few in the Philippines. Of all the foreigners there, they seemed the least "chill" of all people. A bit more on edge, a bit more nervous, less relaxed. An Indian, Pakistani or Chinese man, I found, usually appears more at ease with himself, more comfortable in his own skin. Americans, by contrast, seem stressed out and kinda out of tune with themselves and their surroundings.

Of course Americans are not chill or relaxed. You can't be chill or relaxed when you come from a country that literally f***s you in the ass hard every day.

[Pixel--Dude]

Thanks @Winston I'm glad you decided to make me a moderator. I will do my best.

Obviously had issues with a few of the cynical naysayers who think this is an attempt to grab power for myself. To those I would like to refer them to the following clip.

[Pixel--Dude]

Awesome! Thanks again @Winston you'll have to send me a private message with a quick run down on how this all works.

[Winston]

Ok done. @Pixel--Dude you have now been knighted. lol. I'm tapping the sword on both your shoulders in accord with English tradition. lol

Do you see your username is green now?

Do you know the moderator control panel? Go to the forum home page and look on the top right corner. You will see an icon that looks like a little hammer. Click on that and you will see the moderator control panel. You should be able to access the moderation queue too. From there it should be self explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions.

In each post, you will see buttons in the top right corner that will let you warn users, look up their IPs, or edit their posts, or delete their posts. Do you see it?

Btw, if some nasty bots spam the moderation queue with hundreds of posts, then don't bother with it. Just PM me about it and I will prune them from the admin panel, which will delete all their posts. It will take too long for you to disapprove all of them when that happens. Some bots from Russia/Ukraine are able to do that somehow, send tons of spam posts at once in the moderation queue. I hate that.

Also when you look up a profile, you should see a feature that allows you administer them and a banning panel link in the profile too. The banning panel is where you add names to be banned, temporarily or permanently.

I don't remember exactly where everything is. You just have to play around with it and find it. It may take a little learning curve. Let me know if you get lost on anything.

Thanks,
Winston

[Pixel--Dude]

Ok done. @Pixel--Dude you have now been knighted. lol. I'm tapping the sword on both your shoulders in accord with English tradition. lol

Do you see your username is green now?

Do you know the moderator control panel? Go to the forum home page and look on the top right corner. You will see an icon that looks like a little hammer. Click on that and you will see the moderator control panel. You should be able to access the moderation queue too. From there it should be self explanatory. Let me know if you have any questions.

In each post, you will see buttons in the top right corner that will let you warn users, look up their IPs, or edit their posts, or delete their posts. Do you see it?

Btw, if some nasty bots spam the moderation queue with hundreds of posts, then don't bother with it. Just PM me about it and I will prune them from the admin panel, which will delete all their posts. It will take too long for you to disapprove all of them when that happens. Some bots from Russia/Ukraine are able to do that somehow, send tons of spam posts at once in the moderation queue. I hate that.

Also when you look up a profile, you should see a feature that allows you administer them or add them to the banning panel. The banning panel is where you add names to be banned, temporarily or permanently.

I don't remember exactly where everything is. You just have to play around with it and find it. It may take a little learning curve. Let me know if you get lost on anything.

Thanks,
Winston

Okay Winston, thanks. I'll have a little look. It will probably take a while for me to get used to things and become an effective moderator, but I'll get there eventually and I'll give you a shout if I have any issues with anything. Thanks again, buddy.

[WilliamSmith]

I would say that you MZ would make an effective moderator. Firstly you've been here a long time - since 2014. You're frequently here and if there is a quarrel or conflict I don't think I've ever seen you mudsling or insult anyone. So I cast my vote to @Winston that @MarcosZeitola be elected a forum moderator. I think that makes a lot more sense.

Thanks for the recommendation dude but I'll pass. I have a tendency to disappear for long stretches of time, so it'd be kinda pointless. It wouldn't solve the problem. For instance people are displeased with Winston's lack of activity but if you look at how many posts he has in total, it's clear that he's been much more active over a longer stretch of time (fifteen years).

I'd probably go for Pixeldude. He's active. I think among the old-timers, @gsjackson and @Yohan are both a bit older, both level-headed, calm and fairly active. They'd make good moderators too and would no doubt be fair about things. If what you aim for his strictly seniority in combination with "the right temperament" they'd be my go-to guys.

I agree with you. Pixel Dude seems like a great choice to be moderator. He seems level headed, is very intellectual, very smart and bright, and he is young so he has more energy and enthusiasm than most of us here do. Plus he has good motives and is not seeking any kind of power trip, so it's unlikely he would develop a power trip like others have. He doesn't seem like a guy with an ego either, and has good wholesome intentions. I also get good vibes from him too.

So YEAH we will make a moderator if he still wants to be. I'm sure he will do great. I'll set it up and let you all know when it's done.

Sorry it took me a long time to get to this thread.

Oh, !@#$ yeah, it happened! Winston made @Pixel--dude a moderator, LOL.
Damn, this makes me happy.

@Winston you're the f-ing greatest, LOL, thank you for creating this forum. I was all into expatriation and chasing tail before finding your site via some article you wrote about "best countries to get laid" or something along those lines, but I swear this place is the greatest.

Did anyone ever play that early-2000ish game "Gothic," by the way? The "Colony" that was full of a big bunch of oddball inmates from all over the place thrown onto one strange somewhat barbaric prison island, yet largely allowed to do whatever they wanted there, was the basic setup. That's what this forum reminds me of, and I like it a lot.

[Voyager1]

Please note that Pixel Dude has only been made a moderator. Moderator is not the same level as Site Admin.

[Winston]

@Pixel--Dude
Have you played around with the moderation panel yet? Does it look easy and self explanatory? Did you click on the hammer icon in the top right corner of the forum from the main page?

[Pixel--Dude]

@Pixel--Dude
Have you played around with the moderation panel yet? Does it look easy and self explanatory? Did you click on the hammer icon in the top right corner of the forum from the main page?

Yes, @Winston. I have a basic idea of how it works now. Had a good look at the different features yesterday. Most of it seems easy and self explanatory.

[Voyager1]

In each post, you will see buttons in the top right corner that will let you warn users, look up their IPs, or edit their posts, or delete their posts. Do you see it?

@Winston I would be very uncomfortable with him knowing my ip address. That is why I use a VPN and encourage everyone here to do so.

After all we know very little to nothing about him and after only a few months he was made a moderator (only because jamesbond and fschmidt were not doing a proper job IMO).

Winston, do you know if moderators can read users private messages and know their real email address? Thanks.

[Voyager1]

@Winston can you open the poll again? I'd like to change my vote.

[Voyager1]

-