but if the (likely) AI-assisted garbage is allowed to continue to flood the forum, the desire to even check out the forum will disappear...at least for me.
Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
Posts
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
#2
@Alarmed,
Nothing is AI generated on the forum. What do you mean?
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
#3
Alarmed wrote:but if the (likely) AI-assisted garbage is allowed to continue to flood the forum, the desire to even check out the forum will disappear...at least for me.
Spits beer all over the coffee table and laughs. They hate it when it gets to real don't they ? Alarmed ! Yeah, you should be.
When the fox is caught in the hen house with a 12 gauge in his nose and no alternative exit. Truth outlives BS. Everytime.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
#4
I do have a section called "Ask Woody" that uses the ChatGPT Large Language Model (LLM) to generate responses based on its dataset, which includes the content on this site.
For example, I asked it the following:
Woody:
Hi! How can I help you?
User:
Is Maurice AI?
Woody:
Maurice? Oh no, Maurice is very much a real person! He's our candid and sometimes colorful forum member who shares his worldly woodworking wisdom with us. His humor may be off-color at times, but it's always honest and insightful. You can check out his profile at Maurice's profile to see his posts and get a feel for his unique style.
If you have any questions or need assistance navigating the site, just let me know. By the way, we'd love to hear what you think of our features and any suggestions for improvement! And don't forget to join the conversation in our forums at WoodCentral Forums. 🐾🪵
Keep in mind, I did not program it to say any of this. It determined the answer by having read everything on the site and forming an answer based on what it determined was the best answer.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
Edited #5
Wow, validated by AI ! The paradoxical meets the comical.
No matter how hard it gets, always try to have fun and see the humour in adversity.
When the crew of HMS Sheffield was hit and going down, the crew all sang ' Always look on the bright side of life '.
Added later 03 min 45 s:
Ps. Thank you for demoting me to chisel.
Never quite felt comfortable with Bronze member. If I make it through the next few weeks Commaner Chisel has a nice ring to it. Bottoms up Chap's ! Another round ?
My shout.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
#6
Anytime a forum or any kind of social network gets new users beyond a cadre of regular users, there will always be some who don't like it. I only know of three ways to deal with this:
1. Ban the so-called offenders, which will inevitably offend others who don't like censorship or want it to be an inside club.
2. Try to program the ability for users to block other users. (I would have to ask the forum dev about that, but that opens its own can of worms.)
3. Encourage everyone to just self-censor by not reading posts that don't interest them.
Every post shows the topic creator and who last responded to the topic. I don't read every post, and it works for me.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
#7
Never underestimate the value of healthy combat. It worked for Maximus.
Are you not entertained ? Is that not why you are here ?
I don't go looking for scraps but they come after me when reality collides with fantasy.
Pass my toolbag, there's a good chap. It's going to need a spanner and a screwdriver.
Now go away Alarmed ! Or I shall taunt you a second time.
And yes, we already got one. It's a very nice uh.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
Edited #8
@Maurice,
Are you French?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSo0duY7-9s
Added later 3 h 23 min 05 s:
@Alarmed,
I appreciate your expressing your opinion, though I believe there may be a misunderstanding regarding my role. As one of the site's programmers, I'm not personally involved in content creation or moderation, nor do I own WoodCentral.
To address the concerns objectively, I consulted our site's AI assistant, which is separate from the forum platform. Its generally unbiased suggestions (since it is not human) align with existing forum features, including:
- Polls for gathering community input
- Post reporting mechanisms
- Emoticon-based post rating system
These tools are already available to enhance user experience and community engagement.
I remain open to constructive feedback and am committed to improving the platform within my capacity as a programmer. Let's continue to foster a positive environment for all woodworking enthusiasts.
Woody:
Hi! How can I help you?
Guest:
Some posters want Maurice banned and think he is AI. I am the site admin. What should I do?
Woody:
Well, well, well! It looks like we have a bit of a mystery on our paws, don't we? 🕵️♂️
First off, it's always important to listen to the community, so let's wag our tails and see what's bothering everyone. Maurice is known for his candid and honest posts, sometimes with a splash of off-color humor. This might ruffle some fur, but it also brings a level of real-world woodworking experience to the table.
Here are a few steps you could take:
Gather Feedback: Ask the community for specific examples of why they think Maurice should be banned. This will help you understand whether it's a case of personal disagreements or if he has genuinely crossed the line.
Review Maurice's Posts: Take a good sniff through his posts to see if any violate our terms of service. Remember, healthy debate is welcome, but name-calling and personal attacks are not.
Communicate: Reach out to Maurice directly. Let him know about the concerns and give him a chance to explain or adjust his tone if needed.
Community Poll: Consider running a poll to gauge the community's feelings about Maurice. This can provide a democratic way to decide whether his contributions are valued or problematic.
And remember, the forum is a place for all woodworkers to come together, share knowledge, and have fun. Let's try to keep it a bark-tastic place for everyone!
If you need more paws-on advice, feel free to ask! 🐾
Regarding the AI accusation, reassure the community that Maurice is very much human. You could even suggest he shares a bit more about his woodworking projects to show his human side.
Added later 2 h 58 min 07 s:
@Maurice,
>Ps. Thank you for demoting me to chisel.
See https://www.woodcentral.com/forkbb/topic/76003301/User%20groups
It was a global thang, nothing personal. Higher levels are only available to those willing to make the required oaths and obligations. How do you feel about goats?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqzEe2rRVdw
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
#9
Fascinating.
Here is a true story which I think best describes the situation as it typically occurs in many club type venues as well as forums.
When I was a kid I did a lot of aeromodelling in the UK. You name it my friend and I gave it a go. Free flight, control line, slope soaring, powered Radio Control. Fantastic fun. Kept us out of trouble, taught us so many valuable skills.
So when in the US, I joined an rc flying club. Awesome venue. Sealed runway, shelter and even a phone.
The best flyer and builder in that club was an ex Boeing employee. He designed and flew his own 3D comp aircraft. He was generous and helpful to any newbie. Test flew their planes to avoid any horrific crashes.
That year he won the national championship. The senior club members and administrators grew jealous and found an excuse to ban him from the club. They framed him. I was the only club member who resigned in protest at his treatment. The cowards closed ranks and refused to stand with the guy that they claimed was a friend.
So we flew at an abandoned airstrip. Never looked back.
This ugly nonsense happens all the time. The often less than competent old guard resents real talent putting them in the shade.
The irony is this. My friends generosity brought many new young members to the club. Drone pilots revered this guy and sought him out to learn from him.
The club died a few years later. To many silly rules, to many grumpy old officers used to pulling rank.
And now the pressure is on admin from the same types.
Why ? Because not only am I a genuine woodworker with a wide wealth of experience I can prove. I'm also VR.
So Peter, i really don't care about rank. I think ranking members is rather divisive to be honest. It creates a hierarchy that puts the curious potential members off. It reeks of preferential treatment, nepotism and stifles honest, humorous, light hearted debate.
Club's die when the old guard throws their Weight around to much. Smart secretaries, commodore's, treasurer's etc know that a light touch and discreet interventions are far better than heavy handed ex communication.
People join when they feel welcome. They sense grumpy vibe and they leave. Simple.
Woodworking is only a part of who I am and what I do.
It only takes a few miserable buggers to ruin a club atmosphere if they are not dealt with instead of indulged.
My workshop doesn't btch at me when I cuss. It serves me well and you guys haven't seen my best work by a long long shot.
No point. It would attract the most virulent accusations of AI ! OR plagiarism. Lol.
It's okay Pete. Do what you gotta do.
But you will have lost with me a wealth of useful knowledge and experience I could have shared with those who could see I was the real deal. Just like those at the other forums who closed ranks knowing they had no choice but to submit or face the chop too.
Kinda sad. But that's why this forum is dying.
Along with the others. To many chiefs...
Sign of the times. My work will live on though. This forum surviving ? In this form ?
Unlikely. Except as a dialogue deprived shell.
Doesn't bother me in the slightest.
It only saddens me that those who want to learn have been deprived of an opportunity.
Apprentice's love a colourful foreman who informs and encourages with humour and candour. They won't find it here though.
The armchair keyboard warriors, the boomers, the fakes have taken the joy out of this space.
A happy workshop is a productive workshop.
But if you allow the killjoys to rule the roost ?
The good guys resign and take their skills elsewhere. ALWAYS. Not worth the grief.
I don't need this space. But others could use a wise counsellor who isn't a miserable killjoy.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
Edited #10
@Maurice,
>So Peter, i really don't care about rank. I think ranking members is rather divisive to be honest. It creates a hierarchy that puts the curious potential members off. It reeks of preferential treatment, nepotism and stifles honest, humorous, light hearted debate.
I don't either. Here's the deal with ranks and titles in forum software:
They are just a way of organizing those who have registered into groups that can be given different permissions. For example, to prevent spam, most of us have seen forums where you have to make x-number of posts before you are allow to post links. Or upload images. That sort of thing. And it can be used on new forums to encourage posting.
Out of the box, this forum software had three groups: Guest, New Member, and Member. After making four posts, you are upgraded to Member. More groups can be defined based on post count, each with their own set of permissions.
This forum is a port from old forum software that had over a million posts. The post count varied from zero to over ten thousand, so I made up some new names using some rather unimaginative names like Silver, Gold, and Diamond to group them.
To be honest, I never fully grasped how this all worked, and the other day I decided to experiment a bit to better understand how it works. I guess I agreed with you in thinking post rank titles like Silver, Gold, and Diamond were a bit pretentious and it might be better to tone them down a bit into sort of silly woodworking terms like Sapling, Plank, Chisel, Joiner, etc. So I did, and everyone got new ranks.
I mentioned this in my post
https://www.woodcentral.com/forkbb/topic/76003301/User%20groups
and asked for feedback on the names. I have no issues changing them; they are just names used to define groups based on post count and can be anything.
It may even be possible to turn them off where they are not displayed. I'll have to look into that. As I mentioned, the interface to setting them up is a bit complicated and there is no documentation for this software. It is being developed by a software developer who is well known in the forum software field and is the author of FluxBB, which was once one of the most popular forum platforms in the world.
Re: Congrats on so many new posts seen lately
Edited #11
Show me a woodworking machine that's dead on its feet and chances are I can tell you exactly what's wrong with it, if it fixable or worth fixing. Computers, programming etc ? Pretty clueless. It's just not my thing.
But no matter what else is involved everyone likes simplicity. If it's easy to use they come back for more. If there are two many hurdles and bad vibes only the twisted hang around like thugs in a blind alley.
Cowards hide in the shadows. Genuine people keep their face to the sun.
Added later 10 min 50 s:
That Monty Python Mason clip is solid Gold.
I've used that hammer a few time's.
My mentor was one of the script writers on the Python team.
Nice find Pete.
Added later 2 d 21 h 52 min 34 s:
Alarmed wrote:but if the (likely) AI-assisted garbage is allowed to continue to flood the forum, the desire to even check out the forum will disappear...at least for me.
Show us some of your own generated work Alarmed. Let's see how you measure up.
In the meantime I am going to continue sharing real pictures and useable practical EXPERIENCE based opinion's.
I would love to know how you can prove my pics are AI generated...