RobertB of Astak is back... let's talk!!

[Davimee]

Originally Posted by John1997

This is an unpleasant possibility, but Robert may have suffered some catastrophic health crisis that prevents him from participating in the forum. He had suffered a lot of problems. In today's world, employers are cautious about discussing the personal issues of their employees. Robert could share what he wanted, but there would be legal and regulatory issues if a company employee (like Jennifer) were to say something. I'm sure no one wants to consider this possibility, but could explain a lot. If so, let's hope he recovers well.

I really hope that's not the case!

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by Davimee

I really hope that's not the case!

I highly doubt it. Robert came back from surgery (yes in pain) but started to get back in where he left off, helping people and talking about long term projects etc. If he had health issues and did not want to disclose them, I think he would have just come back and said "hi" to everyone and not continued talking about the long term.

My 2 cents. Everytime I come to this forum and I see this thread has been updated a little tickle inside of me of 'hope' comes alive thinking Robert has returned to say hello to us all. Sadly once again today it is not the case.

I've noticed things here are rather quiet now, this use to be a rather active forum, now it appears to have gone to the way-side. Come on people, lets pick it up a little. Speaking of which, anyone visited the forum on ezread.com?

[Davimee]

I did go to the EZRead forum the day Jenifer gave the link, but I didn't register. How about you?

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by Davimee

I did go to the EZRead forum the day Jenifer gave the link, but I didn't register. How about you?

They want my gender and birthday to participate in the forum. Not interested; my personal data is already in too many places online. To hand over private info to a forum--especially one that's obviously got commercial data-harvesting goals--I have to be convinced it's worth something to me.

(I think it's very reasonable that they'd be harvesting data from forum users; their ultimate purpose is to *sell ebooks & readers*, not to promote ebook discussions. But I have no particular desire to hold my ebook discussions on a commercial site; I'd need a reason to spend time there instead of here.)

[Solicitous]

Originally Posted by Davimee

I did go to the EZRead forum the day Jenifer gave the link, but I didn't register. How about you?

Nup, with like 3 threads and 8 posts (or some very low number) I wasn't willing to sign up and post. It would make me feel like a loner waiting at a bus stop for a bus that has already come and gone (or an Apple fanboy lining up for a new gadget 5 days before release date.......nah not that sad, perhaps just the bus )

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Davimee

I did go to the EZRead forum the day Jenifer gave the link, but I didn't register. How about you?

My feeling is they want a forum they can (over)control what is said. MR remains open to real users

[cloggy]

..I fully agree and that's why I will not use their forum...

[nimblem]

Originally Posted by theducks

My feeling is they want a forum they can (over)control what is said. MR remains open to real users

I agree Duckie... I wonder why Jennifer hasn't had anything to say on the matter....?

[jenifer.ezread]

Originally Posted by nimblem

I agree Duckie... I wonder why Jennifer hasn't had anything to say on the matter....?

Our forum will probably have the same current level of "management" or "maintenance" that I'm applying here right now; it's not necessarily a control-thing as much as we are creating a new tool for our upcoming project.

While everyone is free to use it, I'm not promoting it currently because it is not device related, and our future project (which I'm unsure if Robert mentioned) is not ready.

It will probably become dusty with 'test' posts for a while before we perfect everything.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While I agree they want too much personal info to register which may be used for promotional purposes (saying I was agreeing to receiving to emails for "updates" was my turn off point), if you haven't actually used the site, how can criticize it? I've seen only five or six posters there, one being Robert, another was a Jenifera (same Jenifer who replaced Robert?), some clown named Peipei who didn't really have anything to say, a moderator, and one or two others. Until people actually start using the forum, there is nothing to judge.

We can postulate Robert's fate until the cows come home but nothing will be established until someone hears from Robert himself (which may be never; deal with it). 'Til then, why don't we give this a rest and move on.

[MaggieScratch]

You should know there's a U.S. law that states children under 13 cannot give personal information (like an e-mail address) without their parents' permission. That's why some forum software is set up to ask a birthdate--just to find out if you are old enough to register, which usually requires giving a valid e-mail address. It might not be anything sinister.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

You should know there's a U.S. law that states children under 13 cannot give personal information (like an e-mail address) without their parents' permission. That's why some forum software is set up to ask a birthdate--just to find out if you are old enough to register, which usually requires giving a valid e-mail address. It might not be anything sinister.

Which is kinda goofy since all a kid has to do is lie.

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by MaggieScratch

You should know there's a U.S. law that states children under 13 cannot give personal information (like an e-mail address) without their parents' permission.

I'm aware. Many forums have a "click here to verify that you're over 13" button. Requiring birthdates is excessive. (I very much prefer the sites that say "if you're under 13; send fax [here] with parental permission to join the site." But there are very, very few of those.)

I'm aware that many people don't mind handing out their birthdates to all the sites online that ask for them; shrug. I don't like giving out personal info unless I have to; I don't give it out to websites unless I believe I'll get back something that makes up for the erosion of my privacy.

I don't expect the EZreader forums to change to match my preferences. I don't expect to participate in them, either.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Elfwreck

I'm aware. Many forums have a "click here to verify that you're over 13" button. Requiring birthdates is excessive. (I very much prefer the sites that say "if you're under 13; send fax [here] with parental permission to join the site." But there are very, very few of those.)

I'm aware that many people don't mind handing out their birthdates to all the sites online that ask for them; shrug. I don't like giving out personal info unless I have to; I don't give it out to websites unless I believe I'll get back something that makes up for the erosion of my privacy.

I don't expect the EZreader forums to change to match my preferences. I don't expect to participate in them, either.

If you have my full birth date, you have 1 major piece of the Identity puzzel. Birth year should be sufficient in most cases. Remember the questions for "Liesure Suit Larry"? Of course, tat was before Google

[jenifer.ezread]

Originally Posted by theducks

If you have my full birth date, you have 1 major piece of the Identity puzzel. Birth year should be sufficient in most cases. Remember the questions for "Liesure Suit Larry"? Of course, tat was before Google

I will ask our tech if it is possible to simply as for birth year.

Currently, I believe any identity questions other than the required birthday are optional to add to your profile. Unless you're making a purchase on EZ Read, which is considered separate and will not be associated with the forum.