Re; Forums ..

If there is any interest (!) we have a new Forum product that we could add here instead of the current Forums .. the new product is quite different in term of scope, speed, facilities etc. (for example it includes a Calendar you can post items directly into ..)

It would operate as a 'stand-alone', for example forum.arthur-ransome.org, however it could be made to look 'similar' to the website and linked from the website.

Additional features include the ability to safely allow people to post without logging in .. (!)

We have a new instance set up here if anybody wants to take a look-see ...

http://forum.linux.co.uk

Thanks Gareth, the idea of not having to log in each time may be a plus, would it still be moderated?

One thing with the present setup is the delay in seeing your post go public and getting a response aggravated no doubt by the difference in the time zones.

See what the powers think,

Moderation is a choice available on a per-board basis ... it's probably the most comprehensive forum product on the markket atm ...

Regardless of the product used I think it's still beneficial that the boards are moderated,  (though that is very much my personal view). To work well a reasonable body of moderators is required and that's probably where we fall down at present.

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

Thanks Gareth, the idea of not having to log in each time may be a plus, would it still be moderated?

One thing with the present setup is the delay in seeing your post go public and getting a response aggravated no doubt by the difference in the time zones.

See what the powers think,

I hope that you don't mean that our current moderator(s) is/are not reasonable, Andrew?

David.

Previously Andrew Jones wrote:

Regardless of the product used I think it's still beneficial that the boards are moderated,  (though that is very much my personal view). To work well a reasonable body of moderators is required and that's probably where we fall down at present.

 

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

Thanks Gareth, the idea of not having to log in each time may be a plus, would it still be moderated?

One thing with the present setup is the delay in seeing your post go public and getting a response aggravated no doubt by the difference in the time zones.

See what the powers think,

 

Previously David Bamford wrote:

I hope that you don't mean that our current moderator(s) is/are not reasonable, Andrew?

David.

Previously Andrew Jones wrote:

Regardless of the product used I think it's still beneficial that the boards are moderated,  (though that is very much my personal view). To work well a reasonable body of moderators is required and that's probably where we fall down at present.

 

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

Thanks Gareth, the idea of not having to log in each time may be a plus, would it still be moderated?

One thing with the present setup is the delay in seeing your post go public and getting a response aggravated no doubt by the difference in the time zones.

See what the powers think,

There are two types of moderation, one is prior approval before the post can be read, for that it would be advantageous to have more than one individual with the rights to approve so that delays are minimised. No one should be expected to be on duty 24/7 especially in an international forum where people may post in any time zone.

The alternative is post-posting moderation where offending posts are removed once they are seen or complained about but they appear immediately.

The former allows for more control and avoids spam or offensive posts, but can be frustrating and slow down discussions if moderation is not reasonably rapid. The latter is more risky, but many speciality forums, such as Tarboard, work well in this mode and only rarely have posts been removed from Tarboard (less than four or five incidents a year).

Really it is what the users and owners are comfortable with.

To my mind the latter is preferably, usually an offending post can be pulled fairly quickly.

I think if you can see your post quickly it is an advantage, as it can be responded to sooner and make the thread more interesting.

At the present time I cannot see it being a problem as we are not exactly overwhelmed with participants.

True Robin, we are 'underwhelmed' with participants, but I do think that these fora on this site are like a steam engine hauling a 'Mixed Goods'; very slow to start, but once it gets up a pace it could roll along very easily , but may be very difficult to stop.  I feel that this year they are 'waking up' after an initial topor.  I feel that we are like firemen, taking it in turns  to open the firedoor and shovel another lot of 'coal' in.  So let's 'get about it', or we'll run out of steam!

David.

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

To my mind the latter is preferably, usually an offending post can be pulled fairly quickly.

I think if you can see your post quickly it is an advantage, as it can be responded to sooner and make the thread more interesting.

At the present time I cannot see it being a problem as we are not exactly overwhelmed with participants.

 

"I feel that this year they are 'waking up' after an initial topor."

David - who do you mean by "they", and why should they "wake up"??

The "they" refers to the fora of this website.  I was not saying that they should wake up, but that there is the appearance of a slow acceleration of contributions this year, as though the fora are awkening from a slumber.  I, for one, am now checking the RSS news regularly to see if there are any new postings.  I welcome this slow increase in activity, and fain that it would be a little quicker, but we must be glad for what we do get.

David.

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

"I feel that this year they are 'waking up' after an initial topor."

 

David - who do you mean by "they", and why should they "wake up"??

The reason I queried David’s use of words like ‘they’ and ‘wake up’ is that, regrettably, in my opinion, ‘they’ don’t exist, and I am referring to a notional body of AR devotees out there who might be persuaded to start posting on the TARS Forum. I have come to realise that the world out there is changing, and TARS is not changing with it. TARS is steadily losing members, and that is bound to be reflected in Forum participation.

I will probably be accused of being ‘negative’ but, on the contrary, I think TARS and its Forums would have a great future if a huge effort could be made to update our general outlook and aims. A start was made here recently in the exchanges about ‘TARS in the 21st century’ and we need to continue that discussion – the only tragedy being that so few members joined in. I say ‘huge effort’, because the general attitude in TARS is summed up by that wretched phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” – the motto of reactionaries throughout history. I am very much afraid that all the signs are that it’s ‘broke’. A few blokes exchanging cheery remarks about AR won’t alter that.

As Peter knows, I have been dubious about the value of TARS as far as I am concerned.

I think that TARS has to consider its balance of activities, at least as presented to the general member. At the moment it seems to me (admittedly from afar) to concentrate on giving local UK members an opportunity to try vaguely TARRY activities some of which seem to have very little connection to Ransome and his works. I have no problem with that but I wonder how many members they really appeal to.

What I don't see so much of is research into Ransome's life and writings. Mixed Moss comes out once a year and some of the articles are excellent and do focus on Ransome, but others seem again to be very loosely connected (pointing no fingers) to the ostensible subject and interests of TARS. I would love to read more of the sort of article that seem to emerge from the Literary Weekends and fewer of the sort that appear in the reprints of the Regional newsletters. I wish that TARS would consider distributing the Literary Weekend articles more widely in its general publications rather than making people buy a set of the proceedings as a separate item. That would make my annual subscription much more cost effective to me. As it is every year I do wonder whether its worth renewing it, this year the Canadian dollar is a bit stronger, so I have paid again. 

I recognise that a society of literary scholars and their hangers on would probably be much smaller and may not have the resources to do what I would like and I am sure there is a significant overlap between them and the people who enjoy the other activities, but if TARS is to be more than a fun day out for a few, I feel it should look more to the intellectual aspects of studying Ransome and less to the organizing of excursions.

I quote from the TARS brochure: "TARS exists to celebrate Ransome's life, to promote his works and to Spread the spirit of adventure  portrayed in his writings.We seek to encourage people of all ages to take part in outdoor activities such as sailing ,walking,  and camping". It goes onto say to promote wider readership of his works and encourage research.

In my view the encouraging of people to take part in the outdoor activities is important as this is what AR tried to do, particularly children. Do we as a Society do this, in some part yes, but should we do more? and how? ideally there should be camps that teach sailing, and other outdoor pursuits, would this mean becoming another sort of Scout movement, that would be a huge undertaking, a possible answer would be to contract out to organizations that are set up for this already. sailing schools for instance.

Wider readership would mean donating to libraries perhaps, I believe this has been done, and I know a lot of research into his life and writings has been done.

The question to answer is what do existing members want and what do prospective members seek.

From what I have found is a lot of members are drawn to the Swallows and Amazon part of his life and in the case of the younger ones and some older wish to at least try to emulate the books, others like Adam prefer to study and learn about his life and works.

Do we do both and cater for all interests, in which case a hard look must be done to make sure both aspects are done well. Or do we abandon one or the other, which in  my view not an option.

I first joined TARS with the goal of joining other TARS in outdoor pursuits and the joy of being able to discuss the books with other and have fun, an escape to childhood, I was not particularly interested finding out about the author, in fact I had avoided it because I felt it would taint the magic in some way.

I left because TARSUS was unable to fulfill my wish owing to its scattered membership. later having still got the interest I did yearn to find out more of the man himself and finally re joined and I now enjoy the more literary part of TARS but I still feel cheated that I cannot join in some of the activities in the UK.

I do not know the percentage of juniors and families or what is the ratio to older members, but if the Society wishes to continue we must encourage younger members as the older folk are a declining resource, an unfortunate fact. and if we need younger blood we must find ways to cater to their more modern needs.

There seems to be a variety of reasons for people joining TARS.  Some are literary people, who delight in First Editions, and the variations of type face and paper thickness used in the books.  I am basically a sailor, and I love the passages which include details about sailing.  Others may be 'Lake District' enthusiasts, including fell-walkers.  I think that all of us love a well-written story, and agree that these stories are as well written as any which we might hope to find.  All of these different enthusiasms have to be catered for, or the society is seen as failing its members.  It is one thing to put on an event in the U.K., possibly located at a place referred to in one of the books, so that those attending can get some of the 'feel' of the place.  This is of no comfort to those who live in far-flung parts of Canada, New Zealand, Africa or Australia.  They must rely on the printed material circulated by the society.  How to write new discussions on aspects of the books taxes us all, and yet most members are waiting for someone else to write thoughtful or entertaining articles for their enjoyment.

Here in southern Australia we are blessed with a climate which permits, nay, encourages outdoor activities all year round. We also have an enthusiastic group of members who meet regularly for almost any reason at all, or just to enjoy each other's company.  The society not only brings us together, it gives us a focus for our activities.  We have an excellent local newsletter, 'Furthest South', which keeps the members of AusTARS in touch with each other, as well as the 'Signals' and MM emanating from the U.K.  For us, the society is working.

David.

Previously Adam Quinan wrote:

As Peter knows, I have been dubious about the value of TARS as far as I am concerned.

I think that TARS has to consider its balance of activities, at least as presented to the general member. At the moment it seems to me (admittedly from afar) to concentrate on giving local UK members an opportunity to try vaguely TARRY activities some of which seem to have very little connection to Ransome and his works. I have no problem with that but I wonder how many members they really appeal to.

What I don't see so much of is research into Ransome's life and writings. Mixed Moss comes out once a year and some of the articles are excellent and do focus on Ransome, but others seem again to be very loosely connected (pointing no fingers) to the ostensible subject and interests of TARS. I would love to read more of the sort of article that seem to emerge from the Literary Weekends and fewer of the sort that appear in the reprints of the Regional newsletters. I wish that TARS would consider distributing the Literary Weekend articles more widely in its general publications rather than making people buy a set of the proceedings as a separate item. That would make my annual subscription much more cost effective to me. As it is every year I do wonder whether its worth renewing it, this year the Canadian dollar is a bit stronger, so I have paid again. 

I recognise that a society of literary scholars and their hangers on would probably be much smaller and may not have the resources to do what I would like and I am sure there is a significant overlap between them and the people who enjoy the other activities, but if TARS is to be more than a fun day out for a few, I feel it should look more to the intellectual aspects of studying Ransome and less to the organizing of excursions.

Gosh, lots of points are being made. It might be worth looking at Gareth's suggested alternative board. I personally find the repitition of messages in pale grey annoying, if we could get rid of those and just see the actual posting. Is there a way of just seeing a title, and clicking to get the body of the text? If there are a few posts you don't have to scroll down a long way! It'd be nice to have a preview screen or a bigger input screen. I would certainly go for post-posting moderation, as everyone has to be registered to log in and post. I'm not sure in fact, if the opinion of one member (moderating) is worth more than that of another (posting). If a message is stopped, do two or more moderators have to agree? Are there protocols on this?

I also wonder if these Forums are seen to be mainly for internal TARS matters as there is already a general discussion board, Tarboard.

I do feel that a society such as TARS could have some wider views of its role than just  the usual divide into literary or activity. The following ideas overlap and merge, and include just a few suggestions to illustrate.

Preserve and conserve – I posted here about nine months ago suggesting looking after the Dogs Home and litter collection. In fact Northern are planning to do this this summer. We could also look after footpaths etc in the Lakes. TARS does conserve Scarab though most other artifacts are in private hands (including AR’s fishing rods which were sold about 4 years ago - could TARS have bought them?) or in public hands such as the Museum of Lakeland Life.

Recreations – recreating temporary scenes from the books (the camp on WCI, Dogs Home etc) but also more permanently e.g. the charcoal burners wigwam in Grizedale coud be rebuilt. And hence my suggestion that Northern region use a legacy to buy two replica Swallow style tents.

Historical/living museum – 1930 is now 80 years ago. What was camping like in the 1930’s? How far were trains part of everyday life? What was life like in rural pre-war Lake District? And how do you find out about these things. TARS could undertake or fund an oral history project for example.

Education - encouraging children to read AR but also just read full stop; and informing today’s children about life in the 1930s. I have been working with Veronica Priest on material for her local school’s book day.

Lastly, encouraging simple, quiet enjoyment particularly of the Lakes and Broads, say a gentle stroll and a meal together.

I agree with Peter that there are some signs that TARS is broke, at least in parts. There are some external factors in this especially the increasingly complex rules governing health and safety and also running events for children and young people, and the limitations of copyright, but not everything is explained in this way, for example running high cost events especially when not balanced by low cost ones (e.g. an hotel based weekend/a camping weekend), or spending 10% of membership fees on having our accounts audited.

Some fine ideas Rob, I like them all.

With regard to posting I always use the quick reply box which avoids seeing the previous post, I believe you can edit pieces so people see what points you are replying to.

I think the reason this board seems to deal with internal matters is because most of the posters are involved with the day to day running of TARS, it has so far failed to attract many of the grassroots membership. Maybe it would be easier just to incorporate Tarboard into the TARS site, though I could see resistance to that even if it were possible, maybe there are just too many forums chasing too few people.

One thing I would like to see is Signals, The Outlaw and Mixed Moss accessible in pdf form on the site, I notice you Rob, did put one issue on here but you have to search for it,

If these were on here they would be in colour and anyone thinking of joining would get an idea of what they get. maybe just the previous issue available for non members with only members logged in could see the current issue.

Another thing occurred to me, has there been any attempt to get juniors to find what used to be pen pals with other juniors through out TARS, I used to be pen pals with a girl in Germany and New Zealand. I know some friends like this have lasted for years. today with email it would be easy as one no longer has to wait for weeks for the letters to go across the world .

I hope some of this will come up at the Trustees meeting this weekend.

Oh dear - I do wish TARS members could get into the real logical world! For a start - Tarboard. This is a completely separate, independent, forum, which cannot just be casually 'incorporated' into this Forum. The managers of Tarboard would have something to say about that, as would also the managers of this Forum! It's not on.

"I hope some of this will come up at the Trustees meeting this weekend". I very much doubt if any of it will. I sent out the agenda two weeks ago! As Robin evidently knew the date of the Board meeting, could he not have asked in good time that these matters be placed on the agenda, via the Overseas Trustee? Are we supposed to include these matters by telepathy?

And referring to one of Rob's suggestions - "simple, quiet enjoyment particularly of the Lakes and Broads, say a gentle stroll and a meal together." Yes that sounds idyllic, but I have a 2-hour drive to get to the Lakes. I am perfectly prepared to make the trip for a meeting with a specific AR content - lecture by Ted Alexander, repair the Dogs Home etc, but just for a 'gentle stroll' - it's not worth it. So Rob's suggestion only includes the Lake District contingent of members (of which there are a fair few). The main problem at the moment, as I and others see it, is that there are too many "gentle stroll" events in TARS in which Ransome barely gets a mention. This is not the way forward - no strolling please, we need to MARCH  towards Ransome!

G;day Robin,

I get asked questions of which the answers are in the local newsletter, 'Furthest South', and also on the website.  My reply usally begins "This information is in FS and on the website; have you looked there?  Although I post news on the website, I doubt that anyone except me looks there more than once a year.  We have 'Furthest South' available on the website (http://home.vicnet.net.au~ransome/) too, but I think that this is only seen by prospective members. That is who it is there for.  We have a juniors forum that I cannot get anyone to contribute to, in spite of constant urging.  Thank goodness that 'Furthest South has a fairly good level of reader input!

David

Previously Robin Marshall wrote:

Some fine ideas Rob, I like them all.

With regard to posting I always use the quick reply box which avoids seeing the previous post, I believe you can edit pieces so people see what points you are replying to.

I think the reason this board seems to deal with internal matters is because most of the posters are involved with the day to day running of TARS, it has so far failed to attract many of the grassroots membership.

One thing I would like to see is Signals, The Outlaw and Mixed Moss accessible in pdf form on the site, I notice you Rob, did put one issue on here but you have to search for it,

If these were on here they would be in colour and anyone thinking of joining would get an idea of what they get. maybe just the previous issue available for non members with only members logged in could see the current issue.

Another thing occurred to me, has there been any attempt to get juniors to find what used to be pen pals with other juniors through out TARS, I used to be pen pals with a girl in Germany and New Zealand. I know some friends like this have lasted for years. today with email it would be easy as one no longer has to wait for weeks for the letters to go across the world .

I hope some of this will come up at the Trustees meeting this weekend.

As Robin evidently knew the date of the Board meeting, could he not have asked in good time that these matters be placed on the agenda, via the Overseas Trustee? Are we supposed to include these matters by telepathy?

Peter I only knew of the date of the board meeting from Peter Wright a week ago, I did outline my views to him but was not informed they had to be in two weeks prior, in fact a week prior to my knowledge of it,

As to Tarboard it was something of a tongue in cheek suggestion as I know it would not happen, it is however the only one I see that is used by more than a small group of people.

It seems pointless in suggesting matters that may or may not be of some improvement to TARS itself or the website if it get shot down in flames on this board

"As to Tarboard it was something of a tongue in cheek suggestion"

Apologies, Robin, I didn't spot that. All the same, I think the joke is just a little bit risky - there are sensitivities here, and I would like to think that relations between the two Forums will remain amicable. Many TARS members post on both. And I can assure you that all suggestions for improvement to TARS are welcome.

>but was not informed they had to be in two weeks prior

Just as a matter of interest, do you really need two weeks notice to get something put on the agenda for a board meeting?

Hmmm seems the safest course is to stick to Beckfoot plumbing or who was Cooks 7th cousin twice removed.

Trivia seems to get the juices flowing on most of the boards so one assumes that is the main interest of those looking for a forum.

In my research for setting up my Google group I found the usenet forums one of which was dedicated to The Archers radio serial (soap opera) that forum has between 200 to 300 posts a day

some are off topic, but most on the previous nights episode.

so one has to conclude trivia has a great following

Gareth: "Just as a matter of interest, do you really need two weeks notice to get something put on the agenda for a board meeting?"

That's normal in TARS, because things don't happen very quickly. Items which need discussing are usually apparent a month or two before the Trustees meeting. There are only 3 full Trustees meetings per year. However, if a Trustee wants to raise something at the last minute, he or she can do so, either by asking that it be 'written in' to the agenda for the meeting, or by raising the topic in AOB. Er, to be honest, I just follow what the previous secretary did, Gareth.

Robin: "I hope some of this will come up at the Trustees meeting this weekend."

Here is what I hope is a more civil answer (even if maybe not a satisfactory answer) to your query, the meeting having now taken place.

"One thing I would like to see is Signals, The Outlaw and Mixed Moss accessible in pdf form on the site"

This was not discussed.

"If these were on here they would be in colour"

Colour inserts are going to be introduced into Signals and Outlaw, in hard-copy.

"has there been any attempt to get juniors to find what used to be pen pals with other juniors through out TARS?"

This particular point was not discussed. The junior situation generally was discussed, with particular regard to where all the juniors have gone to, as no juniors have so far been booked for the Oban IAGM this May. Perhaps they have all grown up.

Thanks for the brief resume Peter.

Strange about juniors we seem to get quite a few new ones, no doubt too far to go to Oban.

My concern is over here there are no activities to participate in, and they seem to stay as members for a year or two then vanish. Probably grow out of S&A's and pursue other interests.

Just curious, it sounded a bit like something was being turned down for discussion in meeting because it hadn't been submitted with two weeks notice - obviously not the case, as you say it could have been added to AOB - which is what I would have expected.

From memory the chaps who were printing MM when Kath last did it actually took final copy as PDF, so obtaining this and publishing it on the site would be *very* trivial and indeed something I have suggested previously. However, I think the sticking point was that if PDF's were available via the site, some people may be tempted not to pay the membership and just download the publications for free, and non or potential members would not sign up if they could get the publications for free. Personally I'm inclined to agree with the point that while the publications are the main reason for membership for a notable percentage of people, publishing the PDF could prove to be a little counter-productive.

I guess this could be countered somewhat by a more official username/password/auditing system, but this is a membership/organisational issue and not something (as I understand it) that's currently in place ..

A historical archive might be quite nice tho' , this might even attract new members !!

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

Gareth: "Just as a matter of interest, do you really need two weeks notice to get something put on the agenda for a board meeting?"

That's normal in TARS, because things don't happen very quickly. Items which need discussing are usually apparent a month or two before the Trustees meeting. There are only 3 full Trustees meetings per year. However, if a Trustee wants to raise something at the last minute, he or she can do so, either by asking that it be 'written in' to the agenda for the meeting, or by raising the topic in AOB. Er, to be honest, I just follow what the previous secretary did, Gareth.

 

Robin: "I hope some of this will come up at the Trustees meeting this weekend."

Here is what I hope is a more civil answer (even if maybe not a satisfactory answer) to your query, the meeting having now taken place.

"One thing I would like to see is Signals, The Outlaw and Mixed Moss accessible in pdf form on the site"

This was not discussed.

"If these were on here they would be in colour"

Colour inserts are going to be introduced into Signals and Outlaw, in hard-copy.

"has there been any attempt to get juniors to find what used to be pen pals with other juniors through out TARS?"

This particular point was not discussed. The junior situation generally was discussed, with particular regard to where all the juniors have gone to, as no juniors have so far been booked for the Oban IAGM this May. Perhaps they have all grown up.

Unless I have missed something I thought we already had the login procedure already in place.

One cannot reply to posts on here without logging in does one not have to be a member to get the password?

As to the pdf of the books, I suggested previous copy being available online for prospective members to see as an incentive to join, The current copies would only be viewable by members by login , this is a procedure used by many clubs and societies in fact our own Austars uses it.

It seems to a simple thing to do, though I have heard that some find this site difficult put things on it.

With reference the pen pal idea this was not really a suggestion to put before the board just an idea Rob Boden might use in Outlaw.

Previously Gareth Bult wrote:

 guess this could be countered somewhat by a more official username/password/auditing system, but this is a membership/organisational issue and not something (as I understand it) that's currently in place ..

A historical archive might be quite nice tho' , this might even attract new members !!

 

Yes, I'd be in favour of a 'historical archive', and I would suggest, as a 'halfway house' to full passworded access to MM PDF pages, a sort of 'teaser' synopsis of each article or selected articles. Or maybe the first page or two could go up (minus any copyright AR material) - this is frequently done on the internet.

However, as with all these ideas, we come up against one big snag - TARS in general, with few exceptions, is not "web conscious". It seems clear to me that not many of those who govern TARS are regular visitors to this site, and some never do. Website topics, when they come up before the Board, are usually kicked around for a few minutes with no real result or decision and then the agenda moves on. Responsibility for supervising member log-ons is one of those minor chores on the TARS fringe which are rather reluctantly taken on with no real enthusiasm (I hope I am being fair here, Andrew! Maybe the 'supervisor' has enthusiasm but no one else does.) I am moving into "what's wrong with TARS" territory here and I had better stop, but I have a mental picture of a number of AR enthusiasts sitting round a hospital bed in which TARS is lying, hooked up to drips, not feeling well, and they are all suggesting marvellous things to do "when you feel better". The "patient" doesn't respond.

Ok, so let's say someone passes their username / password around or even better, publishes it on their blog ... What is there in place to spot thousands of people logging in with the same id? It only takes ONE person to do this to break the security model. It's easy to spot this issue in the context of publishing content or posting to the Forums, but for people "viewing" things - no. i.e. one typically wouldn't even spot the issue.

The majority of members do not have logins .. and quite a few seem 'resistant' to having to 'apply' for credentials. So lots of people unable to get new content will potentially (a) cause some discontent and (b)  cause Andrew a lot of work creating new user Id's.

Also, is there a procedure in place to remove access from people who cease to be members .. (??)

I think my point was that anybody providing value added content via user/password credentials on the web generally audits access on a regular basis to make sure user id's are not abused. They also provide credentials at time of payment rather than at a later date on request .. you might even find that because the publications are essentially 'the product', there could be an issue with taking people's money and then only offering the product 'on request'.

[you'd also need some changes to T's & C's / acceptable use to allow you to disable / remove login id's from people should they abuse their credentials in this way, which would need to include an arbitration type process for people claiming their account was hacked etc etc ...]

You "used" to be able to get away with all sorts of things on the web, but there are now Soooo many people out there trying abuse anything and everything, the expression "paranoid security" in the context of the Internet no longer holds much meaning.

So far this year "my" two mail servers have marked 10,000 incoming emails has SPAM based on content. However, they've rejected around 500,000 further emails which were trying to get around security control systems .. if you leave a hole somewhere, eventually someone will find it ...

Peter -

My point about simple quiet enjoyment of the Lakes and Broads was the fifth of five areas in addition to the two main ones that Tars could be involved in.  We do need to think more widely about making TARS appealing for people to join and stay joined, and my five suggestions might help broaden our appeal. I do know that I meet up with at least a dozen TARS members every year who are quietly enjoying a holiday in the Lakes: last year I met Canadian, Australian and Czech members as well as UK ones. Having information available about travel; accommodation (just a list of websites maybe); and recommended places to go might help them. I would guess there are many more who visit and might appreciate meeting others at a corroboree/picnic, perhaps with some local members.

Re pen-friends - as editor of The Outlaw I have offered two or three times to match and put in touch young people around the world, but haven't had any take up. 

I used to post full colour pdfs of Outlaw into the Junior Yahoo group website. This however isn't currently used but could be revived quite easily. Someone interested could feed say one posting a fortnight into it to create some momentum (somewhat like my suggestion that Trustees could inject more interest into these fora - they did after all seek election to run the Society/Company...). I did look at the Google product alternative and it's very similar. I might try plugging the Yahoo group in Outlaw, at least then no-one can say that Juniors haven't had the chance of communicating and seeing more material. I know there is a section on this site but reviving the Yahoo group would make use of everything that's already on it.

Rob

Previously Peter Hyland wrote:

Oh dear - I do wish TARS members could get into the real logical world! For a start - Tarboard. This is a completely separate, independent, forum, which cannot just be casually 'incorporated' into this Forum. The managers of Tarboard would have something to say about that, as would also the managers of this Forum! It's not on.

"I hope some of this will come up at the Trustees meeting this weekend". I very much doubt if any of it will. I sent out the agenda two weeks ago! As Robin evidently knew the date of the Board meeting, could he not have asked in good time that these matters be placed on the agenda, via the Overseas Trustee? Are we supposed to include these matters by telepathy?

And referring to one of Rob's suggestions - "simple, quiet enjoyment particularly of the Lakes and Broads, say a gentle stroll and a meal together." Yes that sounds idyllic, but I have a 2-hour drive to get to the Lakes. I am perfectly prepared to make the trip for a meeting with a specific AR content - lecture by Ted Alexander, repair the Dogs Home etc, but just for a 'gentle stroll' - it's not worth it. So Rob's suggestion only includes the Lake District contingent of members (of which there are a fair few). The main problem at the moment, as I and others see it, is that there are too many "gentle stroll" events in TARS in which Ransome barely gets a mention. This is not the way forward - no strolling please, we need to MARCH  towards Ransome!

 

Gareth's remarks make me wonder if we should go back to pigeon post, I had heard the web is a dangerous place but did not realise how bad it was.

It seems the current or at least the older members are still stuck in the first third of the 20th century, in fact I had a message today from one of my members stating just that, he wants no truck with emails and websites. unless forced to.

Interstingly I see the Nancy Blackett trust has  a new website www.nancyblackett.org they are also on facebook and twitter so I guess they embrace the new technology.