A Keen Eye For The Obvious

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Jack Tracey, Mar 2, 2002.

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  1. Jack Tracey

    Jack Tracey New Member

    Please pardon me for drawing attention to something that has, in all liklihood, been painfully obvious to many on this forum. I refer to the sad state of afairs on a.e.d. It has been months since I last visited that newsgroup and, upon seeing one or two references to a.e.d., I decided to pay a visit, hoping that evolution had played its hand. Unfortunately, I discovered that entropy had played its hand and that things had descended lower than I'd dared to imagine. I saw one or two familiar names listed; intrepid persons, to be sure, but on the whole it seemed to be a sort of haunted house where once real persons engaged in real life and now are twisted shadows whose version of the world is so distorted as to be unrecognizable, by me at least. Without wanting to be melodramatic I'd like to suggest that those intrepid persons who remain, "ABANDON SHIP!" Let the shadows speak to themselves alone. Let the newsgroup die. Don't keep it on "life support." Let it go. Post a standard message, as often as you like, directing people to degreeinfo.com, for REAL discussion and information on the subject of DL. Also, I'd like to thank the degreeinfo folks for the creation and maintainance of this forum. I've had some debates and disagreements here but at least they've been honest.
    Jack
    (Who's had a long day at the end of a long week and the end of a long Winter.)
     
  2. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    I agree with Jack; I don't think any further use will come of posting to a.e.d. If the attacks have gone on for over a year, it's clear that these guys are on somebody's payroll and probably won't stop until the mill paying them is shut down.

    One caution: The spammer's latest activity is to claim that DegreeInfo is "spamming" the newsgroup, encouraging people to post at DegreeInfo, and attempting to get the DegreeInfo site suspended by our providers.

    The claim is as ludicrous as all of the other Factwatcher claims, especially since the very FAQ that they claim we're violating actually encourages people to check out degreeinfo.com as a source for reliable information.

    Nonetheless, I'd encourage people to be low-key in mentioning DegreeInfo at a.e.d., maybe only as a "That topic was disussed in thread [insert url of Degreeinfo thread] at the DegreeInfo discussion board. You might check there for more detail."

    That way, it's clear that useful information that answers the poster's question is being provided, not just plugs for degreeinfo, so no one can make even the most remote claim that the newsgroup is being spammed by degreeinfo.

    As always, the support, assistance, and contributions of our growing community is much appreciated, and any thoughts, comments, suggestions, criticisms, etc are welcomed.

    Thanks

    Chip
     
  3. I think the current spammers are different from the original factwatcher because the current gang use obscenities and homophobic slurs and the like, and thus offend many newsgroup readers. The original factwatcher was slightly smarter. The original factwatcher also had a certain paranoia (people were supposedly hacking into his/her account, threatening his/her life, etc.) that the current gang lack. But maybe it's just a change in his/her meds.
     
  4. Nicole-HUX

    Nicole-HUX New Member

    Re: Re: A Keen Eye For The Obvious

    Would it help, as has been suggested, to write to the DI provider in support of the forum? One would think sanity and reason would stand out over rant and rancor, but it doesn't always happen that way. I'd be more than happy to be part of the chorus in defense of this highly valuable resource.
     
  5. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    I don't think that it is the same precise individual. Factwatcher and his countless clone personas used British-style spelling and slang. I haven't read much of the recent wave, but the first few posts that started it seemed to be written by an American.

    But I do believe that the various individuals doing it work for the same people because their agendas and methods are so similar. They have been assigned to suppress voices that might steer students away from their employer's various bogus but profitable "schools". My guess is that the employer is a syndicate running a good number of shady online enterprises.
     
  6. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Re: Re: Re: A Keen Eye For The Obvious


    Thanks much for the offer... that sort of support may come in useful at some point, but we have quite a few resources up our collective sleeve, and I don't at this point think it will be necessary.
     
  7. This is a case for Antonio Smith, Forensic Linguist! (character based on Don Foster, Vassar professor and author of Author Unknown, about his method of textual analysis, which he used to identify an Elizabethan funeral elegy as a lost work by Shakespeare, to identify Joe Klein as the anonymous author of Primary Colors, and to support the case against Ted Kaczynski).
     
  8. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    At this point, my only purpose in visiting aed is that I don't want aed to turn into a free haven for degree mill scam artists. I think the world would probably be better off if aed ceased to exist but that's very unlikely for an alt group under the present circumstances.
     
  9. Peter French

    Peter French member

    Bill - you go there to argue with me - ADMIT it you old git!
     
  10. Come back to degreeinfo, Peter, and then Bill won't need to wander into dangerous territory looking for his prey.
     
  11. Peter French

    Peter French member

    Gert

    Consider this:

    My opinions differ:

    1. I don't support any form of 'outing'
    2. I don't support a practice that does not offer a fair defence to anyone.
    3. I don't support us going onto a.e.d and flogging degreeinferno as i didn't support JB or his cronies using a.e.d as a free adverstising forum for his books
    4. I don't support people now getting their arses publicly kicked because they followed JB's previous recommendations

    My locale differs:
    1. I am in Australia
    2. I am not in America
    3. I am part of the 3rd world

    My aims differ:
    I am not a 'wannabe' academic or preacher :))

    My activity areas differs:
    1. I am professionally qualified in 4 practice areas - teaching, accounting, engineering and banking & finance
    2. I am a national [Govt provider] DE coursewriter and tutor
    3. My wife and I own a government registered provider of Nationally Accredited Training

    My education differs:
    1. All of my education over 30 years, 4 areas of undergraduate professional education, and 3 post graduate degrees in Australia have been by DE.
    2. I hold a non tradittional doctorate that I earned under the mentorship of someone JB recognises, but most call it a degree mill degree.
    3. I received another doctorate that on reflection i didn't consider appropriate, and disposed of it

    Gert, I simply DON'T fit the degreeinferno mould.

    Sorry you asked the question?

    By the way, the other day someone asked me if i knew you - you have been a guest here?

    Regards
     
  12. Peter French

    Peter French member

    Gert

    ...and by the way, copy my above reply, because IF Dan Peters is correct, this post will be removed and I will be cautioned/kicked off - who knows?

    ...and who cares? Not me, and most will probably clap :))
     
  13. Exactly. You can be obnoxious, Peter, but you're not boring! Degreeinfo often gets repetitive and repetitive and repetitive and wordy and wordy and wordy...


    Nope, never been to Australia. Though I have a cousin Digby (a name I never hear in USA) who emigrated from South Africa to Australia about the same time I moved to USA (20 years ago in August).
     
  14. Peter French

    Peter French member

    Being obnoxious gives me space, and not being able to work out how to *&@#% copy your message gives me more space here ...

    ...Chip must either be asleep or Dan is a @#%*^ ... no I can't say liar, he must have misjudged Chip as my previous post isn't down yet.

    Come on Chip! - get off your arse - you are spoiling your reputation here - you wouldn't like to prove some detractors as wrong would you?

    Well Gert, you had better stay inside or (1) you could freeze to death or (2) get hit by a missile fired by an angry Australian steel exporter.; I don't why we ever trust you blokes :)

    I have used up enough space so I'll go.
     
  15. Chip

    Chip Administrator

    Well, to *&@#% copy my message, use the "quote" button at the bottom of the post, rather than the "post reply" button.

    And your post isn't a TOS violation, so there's no reason to remove it. Stating different views is fine. Shilling for mills isn't, and neither is libeling other posters... Those are the posters that get suspended.
     
  16. Where are the TOS?
     
  17. Peter French

    Peter French member

    OK - got it.

    Now who can I libel? I don't have a mill to sell today .....
     
  18. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    You have my permission to pick on me. ;)

    Just to get things started,
    Peter, I never considered Australia a third world country until I started reading your posts.
     
  19. Ken

    Ken member

    Peter,

    Some very insightful posts. You should share your views more often... consider it a duty to fight the degree info axis of evil ( jingoism, quick & easy degrees, and de-regulated education)

    As far as being a 3rd world country...

    If you took a tour of America and considered the inner cities, the incredible poverity in the midst of incredible wealth, the proliferation of small arms, the number of people without health insurance, "elections" where the fellow who comes in 2nd is President due to the decisions of a few... you may have a different perspective regarding what is a 3rd world country.
     
  20. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    You would be like them too, if you had to live your entire life upside down on the bottom of the Earth, hanging by your toes like a bat.

    The blood rushes to their heads.

    They have to learn to drink beer upside down while they are still in their mothers' pouches. Otherwise their XXXX beers go up their noses.
     

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