AED Forum

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by Mohammed, Mar 29, 2001.

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  1. Mohammed

    Mohammed New Member

    What is happening at the alt.education.distance forum?Is there no one
    who can control the situation? Going to this
    site is a waste of time, which is a shame really. It is full of multiple spammers!!
     
  2. Guest

    Guest Guest

    Stay here. The water is fine and the living is easy : )
     
  3. alt.education.distance isn't a forum -- it's an unmoderated Usenet newsgroup. This does mean that there's no one in control -- anyone can post anything.

    A lot of newsgroups go through waves of spam and flames. I think that the a.e.d. mess may have been started by one individual posting under a few different names and that now there are probably quite a few copycats. Some kids enjoy stirring up trouble -- the more response they get, the more pleased they are and the more they escalate.

    The newsgroup may recover if they get bored and go away ... or it may end up as a little-used repository for spam and nonsense.

    Luckily there are alternatives -- this board, the About Distance Learning forum, several listservs. Unluckily, none of these are as widely known.


    ------------------
    Kristin Evenson Hirst
    DistanceLearn.About.com
     
  4. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I still persist in my opinion that AED's problems are a calculated attack by those behind Earlscroft University. I base that on the fact that "factwatcher" first appeared on AED as an apologist for Earlscroft, and when he didn't get anywhere with that, he launched into his attacks on Dr. Bear later in that same day. On the few occasions when he was willing to interact with others and to discuss something, it was to defend Earlscroft and Capitol as in his exchanges with Marshall Rice, or to argue that any university that is operating legally in its jurisdiction (such as the Virgin Islands) is legitimate and shouldn't be criticized, as he tried to argue with me.

    BTW, in his exchange with Marshall I thought that 'factwatcher' displayed an unusual knowledge of British and Irish educational law, able to cite particular laws and when they went into effect for example. That suggests that he's more than just some degree mill "graduate" defending his alma mater.

    But yeah, there have subsequently been copy-cats like the 'AED News' guy (who probably is just Goldblatt). That guy just seems to want other people to admire his wit or something.
     
  5. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    I agree that the current spamfest is likely the result of action by one or a small group of Earlscroft defenders.

    But I don't think AED News is a production of Goldblatt... at least not the most prolific Goldblatt alias. Keep in mind that Goldblatt isn't one person. The grammar, spelling, and such show at least two different posters, and the ISPs used have originated from geographically distant locations (NY and Illinois, if I remember correctly)

    Several have privately suggested that AED is most reminiscent of Snell's writing style, and given that at least one message claims that the original spammer contacted several other mills to seek support for an all-out spamfest, it's not entirely out of the question.

    But who knows? I guess the good news is that we've now got a couple of different, thriving discussion communities, so, as Snell did several years ago, these folks have inadvertently helped to create something more effective in stamping out degree mills than what was originally there in the first place.
     

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