# Hijack



## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

A rose is a rose is a rose
Too often a thread on this board is a rose, a recipe for tacos, a volkswagen, a weapon of mass destruction or a diatribe.

There are only about 2 or 3 monitors on this board that I have noticed, but apparently they are vacationing. I wish they would return and cut short the threads that go off on a tangent and endlessly repeat themselves in a lovefest of a few individuals.

What good is it to find a thread about, let's say living in guadalajara, and wind up in a discussion of cat food or some other non relevant crap?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

dongringo said:


> A rose is a rose is a rose
> Too often a thread on this board is a rose, a recipe for tacos, a volkswagen, a weapon of mass destruction or a diatribe.
> 
> There are only about 2 or 3 monitors on this board that I have noticed, but apparently they are vacationing. I wish they would return and cut short the threads that go off on a tangent and endlessly repeat themselves in a lovefest of a few individuals.
> ...


it's called thread drift............. & when you're dealing with people it's bound to happen - just like conversations evolve & change over time


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

So what is your problem with redirecting them to a thread that more or less describes their proclivity, such as CFE rates, or whatever? In the past, the moderator was nasty enough to cut off a thread. There has to be a balance somewhere otherwise this is a freeforall and destroys the funcionality of a message board with topics.


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## kazslo (Jun 7, 2010)

dongringo said:


> So what is your problem with redirecting them to a thread that more or less describes their proclivity, such as CFE rates, or whatever? In the past, the moderator was nasty enough to cut off a thread. There has to be a balance somewhere otherwise this is a freeforall and destroys the funcionality of a message board with topics.


+ it makes it a lot harder when using the search function and then scanning the results based on the thread title when the threads take a tangent. If I search for CFE rates and see something like "Guadalajara Living", I won't click it even though good, relevant info might be inside.


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

dongringo said:


> So what is your problem with redirecting them to a thread that more or less describes their proclivity, such as CFE rates, or whatever? In the past, the moderator was nasty enough to cut off a thread. There has to be a balance somewhere otherwise this is a freeforall and destroys the funcionality of a message board with topics.


Several reasons. This is an informal chat forum, not just a question and answer board. The idea is to cultivate informal discussions to enable folk to learn about life in a different country, understand the small idiosyncracies and understand others who are on here - making friends etc.

I agree that posts can drift, but to those who are drifting, they're learning other things, as are others who read them. But it is sensible to not go too far off track.

As for us mods - well there are only so many hours in the day and we dont always have the time to read, move and censor posts - maybe when you see it happen just post the little :focus: emocon on the thread??????

Jo xxxx


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

jojo said:


> Several reasons. This is an informal chat forum, not just a question and answer board. The idea is to cultivate informal discussions to enable folk to learn about life in a different country, understand the small idiosyncracies and understand others who are on here - making friends etc.
> 
> I agree that posts can drift, but to those who are drifting, they're learning other things, as are others who read them. But it is sensible to not go too far off track.
> 
> ...


Hey, I like that icon :focus: emocon, nevertheless that does not absolve your assumed responsability, which previously was exercised to the extreme (I know, I was shut up once or twice). So why go wishy washy now?


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

No one is "wishy washy", this is an informal chat/info forum, its not a question and answer forum. As for moderators assumed responsibility, we are not paid, we are not on the forum at set times with set hours. We dont change or remove posts that are not breaking rules as that would be censorship, which isnt what the forum is about. Moderators are here to make sure that the forum rules are adhered to - including the rule which states that moderators decisions are not questioned on the open forum. So if you have any further issues, then it please could you do it via PM

Jo


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

DARN! I wish you had at least quoted me in your response so that I could remember what you considered insulting. Now I can´t even say I'm sorry. 
Of course this is a potential hijack directing the thread to something that has absolutely nothing to do with its title.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

dongringo said:


> DARN! I wish you had at least quoted me in your response so that I could remember what you considered insulting. Now I can´t even say I'm sorry.
> Of course this is a potential hijack directing the thread to something that has absolutely nothing to do with its title.


I think hijacking a thread called _hijack_ is completely apt & on topic


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

yeah, you are right ( I had even forgotten the title of the thread)


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## Retired-Veteran (Oct 29, 2011)

How about we impose a usage fee so we can pay the moderators a weekly sum to sit and read each and every thread looking for off topic discussions? 

So I vote to put dongringo in charge of writing the guidelines explaining in detail how differentiate being on or off topic. We will need example of all kinds showing the warning signs of being off topic and then write the punishment for each infraction. Then when we get a new person on the board they can read these guidelines and sign the understanding and consent for imposing or levying the fines for each infraction. Then we also will need to come up with dues to pay each moderator and then the one time entree fee to use this board.

No wait, to heck with all of that it's easier to just go to another board instead of dealing with such nonsense. 

Life is people and people are as different as the number of individuals. Some people are anal retentive and some are not. 
Mexico is one of the most laid back places on Earth and the people on this board "Mostly" are that way also. JMHO 

I'm sorry but lets not suck the fun out of this board over a little conversation between two or more people.
I have always found it easier to just click on another thread when the topic no longer is interesting or useful to me. But what's not useful to me "is useful" to others. 
So what do we say $10.00 monthly dues and a $50.00 one time fee to pay the Mods?

I better get :focus:


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## tepetapan (Sep 30, 2010)

jojo said:


> Several reasons. This is an informal chat forum, not just a question and answer board. The idea is to cultivate informal discussions to enable folk to learn about life in a different country, understand the small idiosyncracies and understand others who are on here - making friends etc.
> 
> I agree that posts can drift, but to those who are drifting, they're learning other things, as are others who read them. But it is sensible to not go too far off track.
> 
> ...


 The OP has been banned from nearly every forum on the planet. Something to understand and accept.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

I know what D.F. stands for but what is OP?


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## sparks (Jun 17, 2007)

I wondered how that thread about little green boxes went on so long and finally checked it out. It was about everything and anything :focus:


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

chicois8 said:


> I know what D.F. stands for but what is OP?


Original Poster. The one who started the thread.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

Note to self: 

Being awake in the middle of the night is not a good reason to start a cranky thread. 

Nor to jump in and agree with the OP.

Having been a mod on another forum, I understand how thankless a job it can be. My personal favorite are the people who assume that you get paid for it.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

sparks said:


> I wondered how that thread about little green boxes went on so long and finally checked it out. It was about everything and anything :focus:


As a contributor to Little Green Boxes - you are right - it ran off the road. And maybe there is a mid-ground between dongringo's total mod and forum anarchy
At times, the repeat posteres here have re-directed the threads when they have gone too far astray. That :focus: thing pops up from not only Mods, but from us.

Yes, I am sort of a structuralist - dongrino in a more tolerant form - but, you know, when threads do get hijacked, they sometimes provide info we wouldn't get elsewhere. "Little Green Boxes" is a good example: it was a very friendly place and we got to know each other. Off topic? You bet!

Oh a note to dongringo -the mods here seem to respond to posters e.g. when we suggest that a hijack belongs on another thread, they move it. Also, they have started new threads to re-classify stuff.

Believe me, when it gets too off topic, I don't let it go - but this is a friendly place and just like a face-to-face conversation, things can get off topic. Roll with it.


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## chicois8 (Aug 8, 2009)

TundraGreen said:


> Original Poster. The one who started the thread.


I know,I was just trying to hijack the thread.........


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## sag42 (Mar 22, 2012)

Just click on another topic and forget about it. Life's to short to worry about such mundane things.


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

sag42 said:


> Just click on another topic and forget about it. Life's to short to worry about such mundane things.


As I was saying about living in a ****** ghetto in Tepetapan in Catemaco, those pimiento trees look good enough to eat. Unfortunately I dont chew too well. Does anyone know a good dentist north of Guatemala?


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

dongringo said:


> As I was saying about living in a ****** ghetto in Tepetapan in Catemaco, those pimiento trees look good enough to eat. Unfortunately I dont chew too well. Does anyone know a good dentist north of Guatemala?


:focus: 

But, I know that RV has made a reccommendation about dentists on another thread - I am told Mexican dentists are really considered good.

Were you trying to make a point?


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

An interesting discussion of the relative merits of a conversation meandering vs sticking to the original topic. It occurred to me this morning that it is possible to do both. I could start adding a new topic to thread titles when they wander off. Not always, and not consistently, but when I notice it. There is sufficient space in the title to keep the original subject and add new subjects, so why not. Good idea? or not?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

TundraGreen said:


> An interesting discussion of the relative merits of a conversation meandering vs sticking to the original topic. It occurred to me this morning that it is possible to do both. I could start adding a new topic to thread titles when they wander off. Not always, and not consistently, but when I notice it. There is sufficient space in the title to keep the original subject and add new subjects, so why not. Good idea? or not?


I have done that before in Spain - when the 'drift' is a relevant or logical one

I've also split threads completely into two - sometimes the drift is an interesting subject in its own right - sometimes it's just chit chat so ends up in our pub _La Tasca_

one thread ended up with a totally new title - the subject hadn't changed - but instead of being a 'how to' it had become a 'how not to'!!


I don't do it often though - it's time consuming & as often as not if the original question has been addressed as far as it's ever likely to be, then the threads are best left alone to wander or die a natural death


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## conklinwh (Dec 19, 2009)

DonGringo, I certainly hope that your tongue isn't get so far back in your cheek that you swallowed it.


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## La Osita (Oct 31, 2010)

hahaha, rofl and I liked the little green box thread... There's nothing so wonderful as a great belly laugh with friends! I think this forum is perfect just the way it is. Oh, shoot, I think that comment belongs on the "Do I like this Forum" thread. Oh well.


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## stormgal (Sep 30, 2009)

dongringo said:


> What good is it to find a thread about, let's say living in guadalajara, and wind up in a discussion of cat food or some other non relevant crap?



hmm, well I once heard that cat food (the one in the can) tastes good when it's mixed with white rice.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

stormgal said:


> hmm, well I once heard that cat food (the one in the can) tastes good when it's mixed with white rice.


I think I'll let someone else do the due diligence on that comment.

Seriously, though, where I've been mod, there is NO thread drift allowed. None. But it's a different type of forum. MUCH more formal.

This forum would not be as valuable as it is if people didn't have the opportunity to head off on oblique angles, because those angles can yield fascinating information.

Knowing that that is true, if a search brings up a thread entitled, "Cat food in Mexico" when you are searching for the best farmacia in your area, you can rest assured that there are probably a few (or most) posts that segued from cat food to medication for cats to human medicine.

So click on it, Silly!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

dongringo said:


> What good is it to find a thread about, let's say living in guadalajara, and wind up in a discussion of cat food or some other non relevant crap?


That depends. If you see this forum as a kind of online encyclopedia or an information automat (anyone from NYC or Philly remember those?), where you go to find information by hitting a few keys on your computer, then threads that ramble may irritate you. If, however, you also see this forum as a place to make online friends and have interesting conversations which may segue from one thing to another, then occasional diversions from the thread's topic sentence shouldn't be a problem.


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Ha! I'm so glad I'm not a moderator any more !!! 
This thread would have been gone so long ago. Maybe that's why I'm not a moderator any more.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

RVGRINGO said:


> Ha! I'm so glad I'm not a moderator any more !!!
> This thread would have been gone so long ago. Maybe that's why I'm not a moderator any more.


Yeah, now you're just our lovable *CURMUDGEON TEDDY BEAR*!

Loved the NYC Horn & Hardart Automat* - sat at a table with strangers, best mac & cheese in the world, and where else could you get creamed kale and coffee that came out of a lion's mouth?

*aka: "The Green Room" aka "H&H" - Now some NYC trivia: If H&H was the Green Room, what was The Orange Room? A real prune danish for the winner!

Yeah, yeah :focus:


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## dongringo (Dec 13, 2010)

FHBOY said:


> Yeah, now you're just our lovable *CURMUDGEON TEDDY BEAR*!
> 
> Loved the NYC Horn & Hardart Automat* - sat at a table with strangers, best mac & cheese in the world, and where else could you get creamed kale and coffee that came out of a lion's mouth?
> 
> ...


I would kill for a "real prune danish" but I also like hangliding. Just a few days ago I and a companion ventured into the outbacks of the Sierra de Santa Marta in Los Tuxtlas to take advantage of an almost 1500 meter drop. Unfortunately the local habitants only spoke popoluca and apparently were too dumb to realize that I wanted ice cubes in my coca cola


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## Grizzy (Nov 8, 2010)

Off topic but is there an ignore feature on this forum? Just curious.

I know I know :focus::focus::focus::focus::focus:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Grizzy said:


> Off topic but is there an ignore feature on this forum? Just curious.
> 
> I know I know :focus::focus::focus::focus::focus:


you can't hijack a thread called hijack 

yes there is an ignore feature - go into USER CP & you'll find the option to edit 'ignore list'


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## jojo (Sep 20, 2007)

So you want a mod to come and sort this thread out - to remove and repost the stuff that not "on topic" ?????

*AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!*



Jo xxx


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## La Osita (Oct 31, 2010)

Well put. Guess Don ****** chose to ignore the point being made, now he just thinks he's funny. Think I'll go find the ignore button.


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## Ken Wood (Oct 22, 2011)

*Dumb?*



dongringo said:


> I would kill for a "real prune danish" but I also like hangliding. Just a few days ago I and a companion ventured into the outbacks of the Sierra de Santa Marta in Los Tuxtlas to take advantage of an almost 1500 meter drop. Unfortunately the local habitants only spoke popoluca and apparently were too dumb to realize that I wanted ice cubes in my coca cola


Maybe there is wisdom somewhere in letting someone vent to the point of self-destruction, but to let stand a comment calling an entire populace dumb is approaching the limit. I appreciate the flexibility the mods allow within the forum, but topic drift is one issue, inflammatory statements are an entirely different one.


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## mickisue1 (Mar 10, 2012)

FHBOY said:


> Yeah, now you're just our lovable *CURMUDGEON TEDDY BEAR*!
> 
> Loved the NYC Horn & Hardart Automat* - sat at a table with strangers, best mac & cheese in the world, and where else could you get creamed kale and coffee that came out of a lion's mouth?
> 
> ...


That wasn't thread drift.

That was you wandering down a rabbit trail to see who'd follow. 

I hadn't seen the post calling people who have the audacity to not speak YOUR language "dumb".

That's why I don't use ignore. Somebody has to notice that stuff.


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## PieGrande (Nov 16, 2008)

OP, ProBoards - Free Forums & Free Message Boards provides absolutely free, with embedded ads, message boards on any topic of your preference. And, you have absolute control over how the board is run. You can be as anal as you wish.

Of course, it is more work to run a board than to let someone else do it, and just sit back and complain.

People are all different. Most people can follow and enjoy "drifting threads". Some people are so anal the slightest drift drives them insane with rage. I will say, as a moderator myself on, um, three boards right now, the most interesting boards with the happiest members are those who let human beings be human beings.

I do agree with the moderators who have said letting people evolve the thread as it goes, does provide a lot more useful information, and a much more informal environment. I also urge them not to change the personality of the board based on one person's complaint. You are doing great, don't break the board.


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## PieGrande (Nov 16, 2008)

*Just gibberish*



Ken Wood said:


> Maybe there is wisdom somewhere in letting someone vent to the point of self-destruction, but to let stand a comment calling an entire populace dumb is approaching the limit. I appreciate the flexibility the mods allow within the forum, but topic drift is one issue, inflammatory statements are an entirely different one.


Actually, Ken, as much as it hurts to take his defense, I do not think he meant any insult towards the "Popoluca" (where I live they call themselves Popoloca). He wrote sarcastic gibberish merely to mock those who violate his personal standards by going off topic. He did it to me, yesterday.


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## Detailman (Aug 27, 2011)

dongringo said:


> I would kill for a "real prune danish" but I also like hangliding. Just a few days ago I and a companion ventured into the outbacks of the Sierra de Santa Marta in Los Tuxtlas to take advantage of an almost 1500 meter drop. Unfortunately the local habitants only spoke popoluca and apparently were too dumb to realize that I wanted ice cubes in my coca cola


Suggestion. Try again. Have five or six rum and cokes and then go do a high jumping russian dance on the very edge of that 1500 meter drop. Afterwards the local inhabitants can talk about the "dumb" ****** (past tense). As the poster above notes, I am simply mocking your post. Nothing personal. :fencing:


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

PieGrande said:


> Actually, Ken, as much as it hurts to take his defense, I do not think he meant any insult towards the "Popoluca" (where I live they call themselves Popoloca). He wrote sarcastic gibberish merely to mock those who violate his personal standards by going off topic. He did it to me, yesterday.


you do know that if a poster is being insulting or breaking rules, that there's a report button?

looks like a big* !* in a triangle top right of each post

that alerts all the forum mods to any problems..............


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## PieGrande (Nov 16, 2008)

Actually, I had a really clever, and witty response, involving a true story about Mexico, and the tourists of which nation prompted the government of Acapulco in the late 90's to pass a law prohibiting public access facilities from refusing entrance by the Mexican people. But, it would be lowering myself to his level, and causing work for the moderators who seem to be doing an absolutely great job at this time. So, I chose to let it go.


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## FHBOY (Jun 15, 2010)

To sum up and put this thread to RIP - it appears the consensus here is that a bit of wandering is OK - it makes us all human - but the limit is reached with insulting poss and totally irrelevant responses. I am a wanderer myself and these are the kind of rules I like: I want to get to know the people I am communicating with, people are interesting. Questions and answers have no personality - and you can always Google for answers.

Let's move on, people - we have beaten this horse to death :deadhorse: - we are not children - we know when things are way of course and we seem to correct it.

Buena Suerte!


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