Our community is about six months old now.
In this time, we have grown to over 1000 registered members. This is the good news.

And now for the bad news. We are still lacking the kind of user interaction our team was hoping for. We understand that many of you only come here to fetch the latest mobile links. And this is perfectly acceptable.

However, we think it is not too much to ask for if we can all try to be a little bit more interactive. If you don't have a new link to share - no problem. There are other categories available where you can talk about anything you want (well, at least anything that could be in any way interesting to us). You can talk about your opinions. Or share the latest PDA news with us (software, hardware, etc). Or, talk about a book that you can recommend. You see, there are plenty of opportunities for you to talk to us.

As an incentive for you to start your own posts, we restricted access to the new links (not your own) and also to attachment downloads. Anyone who participates will receive an user upgrade with no restrictions. Please don't hate us for this. We are not asking for millions of new postings. Because we nice. Just show yourself here and we promise you will be upgraded!

The following members were automatically upgraded because of their great commitments to our community.

Upgraded Members:Agrajag
archituz
BasilC
captainao
cbulock
daught
dillon65
extraction
Harpgliss
hesire
joemac
kezza
kizer
kstuart
LRFD
macrotor
radleyp
Ronindvm
Saud
Trucido
waynelorentz
wumpi
zorro_ksig8

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact one of our team members.

The Turcic.com Team

Oh and say what you think about these changes.

Alexander,

Thanks for including me in the "Upgraded Ones". I humbly accept the honor and fully understand the responsibility with which it is bestowed. You, all by yourself, have contributed greatly to the Palm/handheld world and I salute you.

....... and now please.... has someone/anyone yet solved/unscrambled iSiloX access to the NY Times links?

tee hee
Marty

Hey,

We cannot see new links because of what? I don't get it. Locking people out of content is not going to attract more users. To be on a grace period before being allowed in is stupid.

Well you are right - and also wrong. Content is the essense of a good web site. But maintaining good content is also the hardest thing to do. More and more companies and agencies move to the pay-for-content principle which is *not* what I want to do.

Look at it from my point of view.
Fact is: we have >1000 registered members now.
Sadly, also fact is: of these 1000 members, not even 30 (that is: not even 3%!!) posted themselves > 10 postings.

Why is it so hard to post something yourself? I am sure there are tons of news and interesting links related to our community that you know and that you could share with others here.

So, visorprismman, please don't get too upset. Your user status has been upgraded. That means you can access everything as before. At the same time I hope that you will share more of your information with us in future.

Greets
Alex

Hello visorprismman:

When I first came to this site I knew nothing about the abilities that Alexander and others were offering, I didn't know the difference between ixl file and wcc110. I take a deep interest in being able to learn things that I know little or nothing about.

I made it known that there will be many newcomers and the instructions to getting an indvidual started must be made clearer; not everyone is a computer programmer. The new board has been setup, very nice I must add. However I do belive that because I cried enough, and stamped my feet like a two year old child; I have noticed that the board has changed to best serve newcomers.

The point that I am trying to make is share your knowledge, in order for everyone to learn. Learning from each other is much better than condeming or hating each other.

Out of all the other boards I am a member of, this is the only one I feel comfortable on to be able to express my views, and not feel ashamed to ask a question (big or small).

Please do not take my comments the wrong way.

Regards,

Denise

Users upgraded:

ravem
visorprismman

While I can't say I'm thrilled about being required to contribute on a regular basis (this is only my second post), I don't want to be left out in the cold when it comes to the best site for my favorite Palm software (and no, I'm not brown-nosing!) I can't see why anybody here would care to hear me ramble on and on about how wonderful I think Isilo is -- it would be preaching to the choir, eh? I would LOVE to share the new link to the New York Times --- unfortunately, I haven't discovered it yet. Until the time comes when I do, since I don't want to miss a thing - please bear with my babble....

Heh,

I don't mind you babbling :) Seriously, I am trying everything in this forum to give everyone more opportunities to speak out and share interesting news and information.

It comes to the question what else we could add to make everything more interesting.

Remember, I had a poll for the future of our board. Most people were in favor of a ebook section. We added it. But until now, it hasn't really found much attraction.

Maybe we are doing something wrong, I am really puzzled over that, because I'd do anything here for you if it would only help to make the forum more interesting.

Cheers

Users upgraded:

cbeaman
iwy

Some people asked me how to upgrade their memberstatus.

I am sure you've noticed that I am very lax with the requirements to give people access. I don't want to pinpoint it down to the # of postings someone did. This would only lead to an improvement in quantity, but not necessarily in quality.

All I wish you to do is to participate. And you'll immediately get the upgrade.

Greets!

Can I be granted geekdom? I'm trying to participate, really I am...

:)

eponymous

granted.

:)

While I know you don't want to give a #, is there one? I've posted a couple of times since you decided to restrict access and I haven't been upgraded. I don't want to post something simply for the sake of getting that little "Posts:" number higher but I will if I have to. Thanks for reading.

it's not an automatic post thing
alex needs to do it i think

btw, thanks for uping my status

jfs01, I don't want to confuse you or anyone here. You know, when I started this board I had mainly one thing in mind: to start a community. A mobile-minded community or something in this direction. Now, with the recent restrictions I want to give us an incentive to be more communicative and to interact with each other. I hope you understand my reasoning.

That said, just feel free to post anything or reply to anything you think that is interesting. It is all what is needed to get the community rolling :)

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or suggestions for improvement.

Alex

User upgraded:

volcanopele

I'm in.

ok...

Hi,

My experience with online forums (and offline ones too for that matter) is that you can't force people to contribute.

Unfortunately there will always be a percentage of people who will not contribute, but just silently benefit from the work of others without even so much as a note of thanks. When you remove their access they will simply go elsewhere - and you don't end up expanding the community at all. So instead of 1000 visitors with 30 contributors, all you get is 30 visitors and 30 contributors (OK maybe an extreme example but you get the idea).

I used to run a BBS about 10 years ago and found the same thing back then - it's a matter of human nature I suppose.

My advice is to be patient and keep working - you can build an online community, just by providing a reason to visit. The more reasons to visit, the more visitors you get. The more visitors you get, the more contributors. Und So Weiter...

In short: I highly recommend you reconsider this policy.

Another thing: If you do want to continue with this policy, I suggest changing the "you have no access" screen. It currently says that you have no access because you haven't registered. This is not quite right - even if you do register you won't necessarily get access to the information! I think this needs to be spelled out.

I found this site looking for information on how to get iSilo to work with a given site. I used the search feature on the site name, and got a link. The link sent me to the access denied page. This is mildly annoying - I was led to believe that by registering I would get access to the information I was after. This was not the case.

Bear in mind that I had no idea about the access restriction policy. It was only after digging around a bit that I found out about it.

Thanks anyway for a great site (the bits I can see of it anyway :)

kitten_moon,

Thanks for sharing your concerns. I agree with you that in general forcing people to contribute is not a good thing.

But let's face it. Since I implemented this relatively small restriction, user participation has increased by several 100%. And it is sooo easy to gain access.

All the best,
Alex

Users upgraded:

crh3f
kennethmgreen
Aragorn

User upgraded:

jreifsnydr

I've only just registered isilo and joined the forum as well, but I plan on hanging around (and losing the newbie status :) )

As has already been said however, I don't want to post just for the sake of posting, as that seems pointless. Having said that, I will contribute when and as I can.

We could also improve turcic's profile by doing some "advertising". Contact the guys that run news sites like Clie World, tipsheets, etc, and ask them to plug the site. That can get more people interested, and perhaps get them participating in the forums too.

Hey, maybe we need a forum for new forum suggestions! :)

Thanks for the upgrade, Alexander ...

We could also improve turcic's profile by doing some "advertising". Contact the guys that run news sites like Clie World, tipsheets, etc, and ask them to plug the site. That can get more people interested, and perhaps get them participating in the forums too.
Yup, I agree. We will work on this. Especially a lot of non-PalmOS-users (such as PPC users) haven't heard from us yet.

Hey, maybe we need a forum for new forum suggestions! :)
Heh, we have that already! :) See here (http://www.turcic.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=13).

Greets

Hey, how do I lose this "Junior Member" status, hmmm?

Oh, and get access to the links....<g>

Out of curiosity, what is the ratio of posts to members on other Forums?
I know that on some of the ones with lots of posts, there are numerous duplicate postings.

Hmm, trying to comprehend this new policy. Actually, was looking for other users who may had experience problems with their SD 64Mb Sandisk card. I know there are other forums, but was hoping it would be easier to navigate on this site.

Originally posted by cbarnett
Hey, how do I lose this "Junior Member" status, hmmm?

You just did... :D

Cheers,
Gary

Originally posted by drc54
Hmm, trying to comprehend this new policy. Actually, was looking for other users who may had experience problems with their SD 64Mb Sandisk card. I know there are other forums, but was hoping it would be easier to navigate on this site.


I can't help you with the SD problem (being a Clie owner, it's memory stick only for me :( )

However, I find this site really easy to navigate. The areas areset out well, you can subscribe to the forums or threads that interest you and be notified when posts are made to them, or just click on the links for new and updated threads....easy, and quick.

Craig.

Originally posted by gvtexas
You just did... :D

Cheers,
Gary

Ack! :D Thanks Gary!

Ack! :D Thanks Gary!

You're welcome! I just gained admin status today, and you were my first promotion. Wasn't real sure whether I'd end up upgrading you or sending your user account into the etherworld... (just kidding).

Now that you're a "mobile geek," don't stop posting! :D

I wouldn't dream of it.... :D

New to Turcic and will try and contribute when I can.

Originally posted by cbarnett
I can't help you with the SD problem (being a Clie owner, it's memory stick only for me :( )

Craig.

Well, took the plunge, spent another S$84 (US$ 48) and got myself a 128Mb SD card. No brand, but comes with 3 years warranty (assuming the company still exist by then :)). It solves my problem, albeit, in an expensive way.

I set my Isilox to download to the external storage. Originally had a 32Mb MMC, which I erased and now is on my DV. Replaced with a 64Mb SD Sandisk card, it would intermittently refuse to write. Formatting the card didn't help. I had used the card on my Laptop for moving/sharing large files with colleagues before. I'll do more test to find out what was the problem.

Deva

I think the idea is a good one. It is however unfortunate the ppl need to be forced to be part of a community.

I must say i tend to agree with Hammer. It is nice to have people to contribute to your community but its even harder if you "force" them.

unfortunatley there will always be takers and givers. Thats boards and the net for you..sad but true.

Frankly, I don't like the policy. I use Plucker and a Handera 330. The only channels that I use are Three handheld webpages (palminfocenter, PDAavenue, and Writing on your palm), and the weather channel. My contributions will probably be few and far between. When the weather channel quit working, I contacted them and then lived without it for a while. I had a couple of exchanges with the weather channel and then tried a few other webpages (weather underground and accuweather). I like accuweather much better, but it quit working too. I then remembered this website. I came here to see about a weather alternative. I used the search and found the thread about the weather channel, contributed my communication with the weather channel, and then tried to click on the link that Alexander offered. I see the "you are not registered screen", I'm a bit confused as I was registered. So I search for why I can't get it. When I found out I was very upset as I see this page as a reference for the whole handheld community and really don't have time to join another community. I already belong to many online communities, (even a moderator at one) and multiple commitments in the "real world" that I just don't have time to build into another community. I've since calmed down, but I just wanted to let you know, that this policy probably will drive many people away.

true

Hi Kids,

I'm just catching up on the board after having been away for awhile, so I was unaware of this development.

I'm on another board which used the same "method" to foster participation. As a matter of fact, it became the largest thread on the board! The major difference was that the mods there have been basically harrassing users by watching their post numbers and deleting them after a certain period of inactivity -- despite outcries from most of the users, particularly the active ones. Now everyone's in a state of general fear about losing their privies, and some have said that they're receiving periodic nastygrams about lack of usage.

That said, not to scare anyone, but to draw a comparison. I can proudly say that Alex and all the mods here are, quite frankly, push-overs. What I sense is going on -- with legitimately no insight since I've been inactive myself -- is that Alex is simply trying to foster said participation and get some user input into what is going to make people want to be active.

Have no fear. Post what you like. Just make sure you're having fun!



:)

that is scary...

Users upgraded:

jfs01
RockerChick

Cheers,
Gary

Thanks Gary!!! Much appreciated.

I know I've been away for a long time. I do appreciate a community like this. I am not very tech savvy and sometimes I still feel like a novice. But I will try to be a more active member. Thanks for the nudge!

My problem with this is that I am the archetypical consumer. I have no computer knowledge. I already have all the channels I want. I can imagine that if one or more of them became unavailable I would be desperate to find an alternative url. But my only "contribution" would be actively to ask questions for other people to provide answers to rather than to lurk for information. But I feel uncomfortable being in that position. I can (and already have, as far as I am able) publicise what I think is an excellent solution to my particular problem, which is something that happens outside these forums. I feel as though, in order to express my appreciation, I am forced to post inconsequential meanderings like this, which help nobody. Also, I have never belonged to any forum before. It's confusing enough trying to work out how such things work without feeling compelled to post contentless entries in order to earn merit points.

As somebody whose status was only recently upgraded, I must say I was a bit angry and becoming more and more frustrated the longer I was kept away from "the good stuff." However, after being forced to be active I find that I am feeling more at ease contributing...and not only continue to add to this forum -- but to other forum groups as well. I suppose I liken it to college fraternity initiations or hazing ...though the latter is now illegal in the US. Hmmmmm.......

interesting thoughts renbud

Hmmm no comment from the forum leaders on this????

There have been some users that have been less than pleased with the probation period, and we appreciate (and read) all coments, but we've stated why we did this and how successful it's been several times, and those reasons haven't changed.

It's not that much of an effort to support the work we do here by thinking and posting a handful of new posts or responses...and it's not out of the norm for forums to restrict initial access.

Cheers,
Gary

Thanks for the resopnse gvtexas its appreciated. While I still stand by my opinion and you shoud to(and do) I would not like to see this forum become a plce of "Thank You's" from people just wanting access. (dont get me wrong many people deserve the thanks)

Seen it happen before on other forums and it can be messy.

Just my 2c nothing more

cheers

So how do we know if we have been upgraded?

Originally posted by illustratton
So how do we know if we have been upgraded?
The title under your name will change to "Mobile Geek."

I have to admit I was a little surprised upon coming to the site and finding I have been blocked. I have been primarily a browser, using the site primarily as a reference for handheld formatted sites since leaving AvantGo and becoming an iSilo user. I will attempt to be a more active contributor where I can.

I also have the same problem that this policy is trying to solve. I run a company that has developed software for handhelds. As part of our services, we offer a user forum where users can log in to get info and share ideas. The bottom line- over 1000 users (and growing) for our product - only 57 users on the forum. When questioned, many of our users don't even know what a forum is!! This may be unrelated but I think there are MANY people who get iSilo, see the link on the main page at iSilo.com to turcic.com and come here seeking reference sites. They may not even know how forums work. I too have thought extensively how to get more participation in our forums....I will watch closely how your experiment here works! :-)

By the way, here is my first contribution... For anybody with medical backrounds...we developed a pharmacy web channel (drug information/dosing etc..) designed to be viewed on handhelds. Called the 'Clinical Toolkit' you can download a iSilo version at http://www.healthprolink.com/product/freechannel/fcsignup.html. View the channel at www.healthprolink.com/mobile

So....I promise to bookmark the forum and contribute where possible. Can I get upgraded??? Pretty please??? ;-)

Thanks-
cambium

By the way, here is my first contribution... For anybody with medical backrounds...we developed a pharmacy web channel (drug information/dosing etc..) designed to be viewed on handhelds. Called the 'Clinical Toolkit' you can download a iSilo version at http://www.healthprolink.com/product/freechannel/fcsignup.html. View the channel at www.healthprolink.com/mobile


Very interesting link, cambium! But it will be lost here in this section. Suggest you do another post in the New Links section where folks can find your channel more easily! Upgraded.

Cheers,
Gary

Thanks Gary! Will do.
cambium

Just an FYI - there is a 'grumpy' post in the general forum @ ClieSource about this policy. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but it's different . . . ;)

Originally posted by RockerChick
Just an FYI - there is a 'grumpy' post in the general forum @ ClieSource about this policy. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing, but it's different . . . ;)

As they say in show business, "there's no such thing as bad press." Thanks for the heads up...I posted a soft rebuttal there, but refrained from saying what I really wanted to!

Cheers,
Gary

I think I will have more questions than contributions. But if a little light ever goes on in the old gray matter, I will definitely share it here first!

Originally posted by cambium
For anybody with medical backrounds...we developed a pharmacy web channel (drug information/dosing etc..) designed to be viewed on handhelds. Called the 'Clinical Toolkit' you can download a iSilo version at http://www.healthprolink.com/product/freechannel/fcsignup.html. View the channel at www.healthprolink.com/mobile

I tried the first link and got an error page. Tried the second and am now even more interested in the first! Can you repost url for iSilo doc?

Thanks!