Chad

http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=5317

Yay! Finally, a place in Northern California. This will be perfect for my wife.

Yes, definitely. Most of the time when something offensive sneaks through it's only because it was never reported in the first place. Edit: Also, sometimes it may take us a day or two. We aren't on here 24/7, so when a post is reported give us a little time. Especially over the weekends and late at night.

Kristy, I really, really wish there was a reliable way to accomplish this. The only way we would be able to properly moderate PMs is if we could read them in their original format. That's just not possible. Forwarding nasty PMs to the moderators could help a little but won't work in the long run. Let me explain why... When you forward a PM to a moderator (or anyone for that matter), you're given the ability to edit the original message to say whatever you like. You could quite easily try to incriminate someone that did nothing wrong and then it becomes nothing more than a game of "he said, she said". There is no possible way for us to see the original conversation. Sad, yes. Also, quite true. I'm not trying to rule with an iron fist here. At this point, I just see no alternative.

One troll/member hasn't caused any of this to take place. This really illustrates how much takes place that most members never see. Currently, a total of 13,383 people have registered as a member of this site since I first installed it. If you look at the bottom of the main index page you can see that there are currently 5,328 registered members. That means I've deleted/banned a total of 8,055 accounts. These accounts were all trolls, spammers and bots. And you think one troll is responsible for this decision? Your one troll may be off somewhere laughing about what they think they've accomplished (which is quite sad, if you think about it). Really, they're just one more number...out of many. This forum was around for years before our more recent problems started and will be around for many more. We didn't even have moderators on this forum for years. We never needed any. We also didn't have PMs for most of that time. Hmmm, that tells me something. It doesn't bother me if you're critical of my decisions. I'm fully aware that it's not possible to make everyone happy. I'm also fully aware that out of the 5,000+ members and 2000+ visitors a day, it's only the same small handful that I'm hearing any complaints from.

There are many other ways (as I've already suggested) for the members to keep in touch outside of our public forum. There is also a way to email members (who allow it) directly from their profile page. This is a good way to exchange information and set up other ways to stay in contact. Removing the PM service really isn't that big of a deal. And again, this site was never meant to be a private messaging service. I'm not exactly sure how you define a "serious" question, but I would suggest that if any patient ever has something that feels like a serious question or issue they should call one of the doctors and ask them directly. They are usually quite good about answering and returning calls. This forum is for general support. It's not meant to replace direct contact with your doctor if you ever have any serious issues. An experienced forum moderator? If you have any recommendations for one just let me know. I've never really heard of one myself...and I've been an active member of dozens of forums over the years dating all the way back to pre "world wide web" when they were still called BBS's and you needed to connect via Telnet. I've seen virtually every type of troll and drama starter you can imagine. Am I experienced? Probably as much as a person can be. Will I always make the right decision? Certainly not. I just try to keep the peace for as many people as I can. It's never possible to please everyone.

You've pretty much pin-pointed the main problem with that statement. It's not possible for us to monitor and moderate the PMs and Shoutbox.

A lot of people use a separate email address to post of forums and public sites. If you have good friends on here that you like to chat with a lot I would suggest getting an actual Instant Messaging program like Google Talk or Yahoo IM. Those are far easier to use than the PM system on a forum like this.

Fair enough....I've enabled the PM system again so everyone can get any information out of there that they need. Collect any emails, phone numbers, etc...I'll shut it down again in a week or so. The PM system has been the catalyst for almost every bit of drama this forum has been plagued with. The purpose of this forum is to provide a public support forum. It was never meant to be a private messaging system. I'll take full responsibility for that. I should have never installed the PM system or Shoutbox in the first place.

http://www.lapbandforum.com/index.php?showtopic=9531

I hated to see it go as well, but the fact that most of us miss what is said there is exactly the problem. It can't be properly moderated...so all I hear is "this person said this" and "this person said that" without having anything to look at.

Sorry everyone, but the Shoutbox is gone. I installed it thinking people would use it with respect and have some fun with it. Unfortunately, that hasn't been the case. It saddens me to say it, but the entire PM system may very well be next. It is also being abused by some members. We do not have the ability to moderate PMs, so unless they are sent to us we will not see them and can't take action. Over the last few months we've gotten a few complaints about why some posts are deleted and others are not. The answer is quite simple. The ones that don't get deleted were most likely never reported. If you see something inappropriate just use the Report button so we're notified. Unfortunately, we don't have the time to sit and read every single post on this forum. In fact, I personally rarely have the time to read any of them. So please...report posts you even think may be inappropriate. Chad

I'm pretty sure that Dr. Ortiz has been gone since the 22nd of Sept and is just getting back today. Rene was also gone on vacation all week last week. I'm not trying to make excuses or anything like that (I'm only the webmaster). I just thought I would throw that out there. It may have just been really bad timing since they have been a little light on staff. If there is one thing I've learned about Dr. Ortiz over the years, it's that if problems like this are brought to his attention he will take it very seriously and he WILL do something about it. Chad

You usually won't be able to take a photo straight from your camera and use it on the web. Especially for something small, like an avatar. Some web sites may allow avatars with huge files sizes, but it really slows down the page load times and it's just not a wise thing to do. You will need to Resize/Crop the photo to the proper size. If you don't have any photo editing software I would suggest looking at Google's Picasa. It's free to use. http://picasa.google.com/

You can usually right click on the image file and choose Properties. That should tell you everything you need to know about it. If you keep having problems you can email me the file at webmaster@obesitycontrolcenter.com and I can take a look at it for you.

Does the error message say anything else? Do you know what type of image file you are trying to upload? It is limited to a certain size and certain file types.

There are two different pictures that you can upload. One is your Avatar and one is your Personal Photo. The Avatar is the one that will show up on your posts. The Personal Photo will show on your Profile. If you go into My Controls you should see a link to Edit Avatar Settings. That will be where you can choose an Avatar. Chad

I'm into the Showtime shows right now. Watching "Weeds" and "Dexter". Both great shows.

I use the Google toolbar for a spell checker in Firefox. Works great.

Yes, a different "theme" will change the way the forum looks. I only have this one theme installed on the forum and gallery, but if you start a blog you have control over changing the theme yourself. However, you do need to know a little CSS/HTML to make the changes.

I had a fiend that was still growing at like 28 or something like that. He actually got tested with doctors because he thought he had some strange growing disorder. He didn't. But anyway, you could keep growing!

Strange...they show up once for me when I first looked at the page and then when I reload they are gone. I'm thinking that Kodak is blocking the images from being "hot linked" like that. I can't think of any other reason they wouldn't show? May want to try Photobucket or another site and see if that makes a difference.

I looked at the source code of your post. You're trying to use HTML and that's not allowed in forum posts. <img src="http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1544/3/20/73/41/90/8/890417320305_0_ALB.jpg" class="linked-image" border="0"> You need to use BB Code. When you start add or edit a new post you should see a little icon in the editor that looks like this . Just click on that and paste in only the URL to your picture, which is: http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1544/3/20/73/41/90/8/890417320305_0_ALB.jpg

I was the same way. I didn't completely stop growing until I was about 20.

Go for it Lynn! It's an amazing experience. As long as you have a lot of water you will be fine. Filtering water along the way is totally the way to go. The lighter you can pack the better. It's an extremely difficult hike, especially the end. The last mile or so is a very steep climb, not including the cables at the very end. Climbing up and going back down in the same day is a very long day. If you have the gear for it, you may want to consider taking your time on the hike up and pitching a tent at the base and spending the night up there. It's an incredible sight at sunset. One of my most memorable moments. Bring an extra pair of socks, a flashlight if you get a late start and a light weight pair of gloves for the cables at the end as well There are usually some gloves up there, but they're nasty. Here's a pic from the very top with me and some friends. This is the summer of '91. I'm on the far right with the A's shirt (geez, I look like a baby).