CherryVodka Publications

Room #TJ


Page Contents

Current Situation with #TJ
How the votes was cast
First Letter
Second Letter
Third Letter
Forth Letter
Fifth Letter
Sixth Letter


Current Situation with #TJ

 

There have been a number of bots placed in #TJ but none have remained for long. A lack of interest in maintaining control means that people who was unhappy tend to frequent #Cricky&Noxas leaving #TJ for more wild forms of IRC chat. I am not aware of any current plans to regulate the room and believe that most people that use the room are happy to leave it with out a bot.


How the votes was cast

 

There has currently been a total of 33 votes cast, walker just snuck one in after my last mail. The majority decision was for a bot to be placed in the room to maintain control. I have listed here how people have voted so that it is demonstrated that the vote was fairly held and counted. If anyone notices that I have made a mistake then please mail me so that I can correct it... please do not mail me if you wish to change your vote.

No votes total 14
Andie, Arclight, Beckles, Catherine, Cricky, gr8one, Jenn, Lisa, Nancy, Novacaine, Noxas, NWO, Walker, Xamp.

Yes votes total 19
Albie, Anita, Cheeser, Chris, Eviem, g-9, Hart, Loulou, Nightwing, NYchick, PhyKraker, QT, RoboSteve, Roy, Specter, SvenJo, Tunes, TJ, WAizFiz.


First Letter

 

Hello Gang

For some of you this mail may not make much sense... I apologias and request that you simply ignore it. If any of you are aware of someone who should have received this mail but have not done then please forward it onto them.

Those of you who are frequent users of the IRC room #TJ on the Uppernet range of server should be aware that there has been a number of problems occurring recently caused by flooding, kicking and the banning of people from the room. Due to these problems a number of people have asked for a "bot" to be placed in the room that monitors and control the behavior of all present to prevent flooding, kicking and banning.

This bot has been brought into operation and is currently controlled by myself and Cricky (plus the bot owner and server owner). It allows all who are contained on its recognized list to be op status in the room but prevents anyone not accepted by the bot from becoming op. Both myself and Cricky wish for everyone to be given op status and would only revoke such status when their behavior becomes sufficiently extreme for such drastic measures to be taken. We do not desire for the room to become moderated like our IRC room #Cricky&Noxas, only the most drastic behavior would be prevented after much discussion with the person committing it.

I believe that the room #TJ is for everyone's use and everyone should have a vote to decide if the bot remains in the room or is removed. I therefor request that you reply to this mail with a vote for YES keep the bot or NO remove the bot. A debate as to how the bot is configured can take place after acceptance for the bot has been agreed, I am happy to organize another vote on who should control the bot if that is requested.

The votes will be collected by me and published at the City Apartment on Thursday the 24th of October 1996. I will publish all of the votes received and will monitor any votes that are placed after that date. If the majority decides to vote YES then the bot will remain in #TJ if the majority votes NO then the bot will be removed from #TJ.

I repeat: please reply to this mail with either YES the bot should be kept or NO the bot should be removed.

Thank you for your assistance... I hope that a democratic vote will satisfy the majority of you.

Yours and Mine

Noxas

PS... I would like to make it clear that I had no knowledge of the bots creation until after the event. I have since discussed this matter with many people who are using the IRC room #TJ and have called this vote with their acceptance. If any of you object to this method being used then I am happy to hear your suggestions for a better way of deciding the future of #TJ and will publish those suggestions along with the votes.


Second Letter

 

Hello Gang

This mail is being sent to all who have voted regarding the future of #TJ. I will continue to collect the votes over the next two days so things may change but I thought I would let you know what the current response has been;

26 people have voted

22 for a bot controlling the room
22 against a bot controlling the room
2 votes that I have requested clarification as to what they wish.

A few suggestions as to how the bot should be configured, or how the room should be run with out the need for a bot have been made. These ideas generally concentrate on there being a group of recognized operators in the room who maintain the order. The suggestions vary from a select few operators to nearly everyone.

No one has suggested an alternative way of deciding the future of the room, but it has been expressed that it would be nice if people could just agree. There is still a couple of days for votes to be added but I feel that it is likely to be a close call which ever way the vote goes.

It would appear that there is a lot of strong feelings regarding this issue, so after publishing the decision as to if a bot will be used or not, I believe that discussion and suggestions will need to be made regarding;

If the bot is voted in... How the bot should be configured.
If the bot is voted out.. What if anything should be done to prevent future problems in the room.

As long as the majority of you are happy for me to continue organizing these votes and discussion I will continue to do so. I hope that those of you who are critical of my involvement will accept my assurance that I do not consider that I should have anymore say then anyone else regarding these matters.

If anyone has a suggestion as to a better way to organize these discussions then as ever I would be pleased to hear them. I believe that adopting this democratic method is probably the best way of allowing everyone to have a fair say in the future of #TJ. For those of you who have stated your belief that Cricky owns the room and should make the decisions, I assure you that these votes have been done with her full consent and she has expressed to me that she does not wish to decide the future of #TJ alone.

Yours and Mine

Noxas


Third Letter

 

Hello Gang

As I promised here is the results on the vote regarding the future of room #TJ. There was 32 votes in total cast and 19 votes YES for a bot controlling the room and 13 votes NO against a bot controlling the room. The majority of you desire for a bot to control the room.

Some of you feel that the room has become a battle ground and will leave if a bot is not used to maintain the peace, others will leave if a bot is used to control the room. It seems that people are going to leave no matter what actions are taken :(

After reading your emails and in the hope that peaceful co-existence is still possible, I am passing this mail onto Immy & Shorma (who have offered to construct bot's for the room) and respectfully ask them, if they are willing, to construct and place a bot (or bots) to control the room in the following manor.

1) The default behavior of the bot will be to allow everyone that enters the room to have ops and allow them to carry out all normal op commands. To the majority of users in the room the bot will not effect them in anyway.

[If this proves to be impossible to implement for technical reasons or as to many abuses of the op status occur; then the original concept of only those who have their IP's added to the bot will be allowed to be op. The people who will have this ability will be considered "friends of the room" and will initially consist of everyone on this mailing list.]

2) Everyone who is considered a "friend of the room" will be given the ability to self op by using the bot. Anyone who wishes to become a "friend of the room" should request to join and a vote will take place amongst current members and the majority will decide.

3) If anyone floods, kicks or bans; the bot will warn them and if they persist it will de-op them and prevent them from having op status in the room. They will also no longer be considered a "friend of the room". This means that only people who behave in a manor that goes against the majority wishes of the room are effected by the bot and everyone else is allowed to continue in peace.

4) Anyone who is being prevented from having op status in the room can approach the "friends of the room" and request that they be allowed to have op status again in the room. If it is voted by the majority that they should be allowed to have op status in the room then they will be allowed to become op again. If the majority vote against them being allowed to be op then they will still be prevented, but a new vote for them to be allowed op can be made 1 month later.

5) Anyone who is no longer considered a "friend of the room" can reapply for membership and request that a vote be taken. If rejected then another vote can be requested 1 month later.

I expect that some of you will decide to ignore the majorities wishes and attempt to hack and destroy the bot and room. Hopefully such behavior will eventually be removed, as the people who behave that way are prevented from having op status and are no longer considered "friends of the room".

I hope that the number of votes that are needed will quickly be reduced to just the occasional happy voting of a new member into the group. As an alternative electing a governing body consisting of a few individuals could be used, certainly it is worth discussing.

I don't consider this system to be perfect or to be the one that will remain in place. I have only attempted to cobble together something that will for the immediate future provide the protection that has been requested. I hope that this is a clear explanation as to how the bot will be controlled and meets with the majorities initial approval.

I have endeavored to maintain a democratic approach to all decision making and hope that you feel I have carried out my duties towards you all honestly and accurately. I hope that the discussion will continue as to what is the way forward for the #TJ room... but in the mean time the majorities wishes should be brought into effect.

Yours

Noxas

PS... I have completed all that I have offered to do regarding this issue and now feel that it is up to others to take the lead and organize a continued discussion. I wish to, in the main, return to DCC land and spend time alone with my sweet heart. Both Arclight and Nancy have made public statements as to their views and I wish them and any others who wish to take a lead in this debate success in taking the debate forward.


Forth Letter

 

Hi all

Crimson has kindly offered to construct and configure a bot to provide the protection to the #TJ room that was requested by the majority vote. It will be built and maintained exactly as requested in the mail I sent which gives the results of the vote (see below).

The bot will allow everyone to be ops in the room unless they misbehave where the person will be prevented from being ops until a vote is taken allowing them to regain the right to be op again.

The bot is being tested and will only remain as long as the majority are happy with its use. Only configuration changes agreed by the majority of the "friends of the room" will be accepted as legitimate and any attempt to usurp the bot will be considered a hostile act that should lead to op status being removed.

Crimson alone will be configuring the bot and no one else will be allowed to edit it... this means that Crimson will be considered responsible for it and held accountable for any misuse. The bot will be running on Immy's server so if the bot is abused I will request Immy's assistance in removing it.

I would like to thank Crimson for offering his time and resources to help protect the room in the manor that has been requested. Everyone on this mailing list will be gradually added to the bot so that they will receive automatic op when entering the room.

I hope that this will help to bring to an end the problems and disagreements concerning the room. The bot should hopefully now take a back seat and rarely come into operation allowing us all to continue with the chat that we all desire.

Yours... In hope of some peace and quiet :)

Noxas

----- How the bot is to operate ------

1) The default behavior of the bot will be to allow everyone that enters the room to have ops and allow them to carry out all normal op commands. To the majority of users in the room the bot will not effect them in anyway.

[If this proves to be impossible to implement for technical reasons or as to many abuses of the op status occur; then the original concept of only those who have their IP's added to the bot will be allowed to be op. The people who will have this ability will be considered "friends of the room" and will initially consist of everyone on this mailing list.]

2) Everyone who is considered a "friend of the room" will be given the ability to self op by using the bot. Anyone who wishes to become a "friend of the room" should request to join and a vote will take place amongst current members and the majority will decide.

3) If anyone floods, kicks or bans; the bot will warn them and if they persist it will de-op them and prevent them from having op status in the room. They will also no longer be considered a "friend of the room". This means that only people who behave in a manor that goes against the majority wishes of the room are effected by the bot and everyone else is allowed to continue in peace.

4) Anyone who is being prevented from having op status in the room can approach the "friends of the room" and request that they be allowed to have op status again in the room. If it is voted by the majority that they should be allowed to have op status in the room then they will be allowed to become op again. If the majority vote against them being allowed to be op then they will still be prevented, but a new vote for them to be allowed op can be made 1 month later.

5) Anyone who is no longer considered a "friend of the room" can reapply for membership and request that a vote be taken. If rejected then another vote can be requested 1 month later.


Fifth Letter

 

Hi All

Concerns have been raised regarding Crimson supplying the bot for #TJ. As no one else has offered to supply a bot and the people I have talked to are happy to give Crimson a chance I approve of his offer. I have no right to tell Crimson that he can not build a bot or that he can... I mealy have passed onto him the wishes of the majority that a bot be constructed.

The bot is called ^TJ^ and should be running from today. If people object to this bot then I respectively ask them to call a vote and allow the majority to decide. The idea of us all debating this was not for me to end up making the decisions for you all... a bot is what you asked for and so I have passed that information on. If anyone wishes to change how the room is to operate then I hope they will organize a vote and go with the majorities wishes.

Some people have expressed the view that they will kick the bot if they do not like it and will therefor ignore what the majority have voted for. If the bot is abused or does not work then of course it should be removed but in an organized manor not by starting a fight in the room.

Such behavior was the reason why people requested a bot in the first place. I hope that you will all help to defend the majorities wishes, and stop anyone who thinks they have the right to ignore the majority vote and just do as they please.

I think those who claim freedom is the right for them to force their desires on the rest of us need to think a little harder and fight a lot less.

Here's hoping that we are at least closer to resolving the problems that have beset the #TJ room :)

Yours in hope that democracy will continue...

Noxas


Sixth Letter

 

Hi Gang

I understand that a number of people have become tired of receiving so many mails regarding #TJ... so here is a mass mail about stopping the mass mails :)

MASS MAILING

All of you receiving this mail have expressed your opinions or voted regarding matters to do with the chat room - therefor you are all concerned "friends of the room". If any of you wish to no longer receive mails then I suggest you mail everyone on this mailing list asking them to no longer send you mails about #TJ - obviously you will then no longer take part in discussions regarding the room :(

Everyone that is still interested in mailing their votes and opinions please respect the others wishes and remove their name from future mass mails. This may cause a few mails to start with but ultimately will result in less mails... or so I hope *g*

As a further way of keeping the amount of mails to a sensible level I suggest that people only use this list to organize a vote or a meeting. Your opinions are respected and wish to be heard but if you are not proposing to organize a vote to change the way the room operates then discussing things on-line would, I think, be a better way to express them. This should help to reduce the number of mails to only the occasional one asking for a vote on an issue or informing people of a on-line meeting where something important is to be discussed.

Any vote regarding #TJ should, in general, only be mailed to people on this current list preventing others from being bothered with the mails they are not interested in. A misunderstanding regarding which mailing list was being discussed lead to me suggesting that Babe use the wrong mailing list... the mailing list for #Cricky&Noxas Newsletter is a personal one that covers areas outside of #TJ so please don't use that one :)

AUTO OP IN THE ROOM #TJ

Crimson has asked me to request that any of you who are on this mailing list but do not receive automatic ops when entering the room;

1) If you meet him on-line request that he add you as a user to the bot.

2) Send him your host details for him to manually add you to the bot.

SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH (or should that be trout's *g*)

The bot is in place as requested and a mailing list to vote on future changes has been constructed. It is now up to you all to decide what happens regarding the future of #TJ... my role in organizing the initial vote on #TJ is at an end.

I hope that people will now take the initiative and organize votes on issues that they feel strongly about. Perhaps this attempt at democracy will not last... perhaps it will continue... it is up to you all to decide by making the effort or not.

I am sure you are feed up with my numerous mails regarding #TJ... I know that I am. This hopefully should be the last mass mail regarding #TJ you should get from me... thanks for listening :)

Yours

Noxas

PS... Details regarding my best seller ... "#TJ (Trouble & Joy) - IRC at its best and worst" should be available in all good books shops soon *lol*

PPS... The vote was 8 to 1 for banning DOL, Babe asked me to pass on a message to Crimson asking to ban DOL which I have done so.


GOTO MAIN ROOM