[Yoc]

Hi Gang,
Everyone must know by now how generous Jim (JVJ) has been about sending out books from his huge collection to be scanned and added to our site.  You've seen my requests for donations to the postage fund saying how important the project is to our hobby.

But some might ask just how many books from Jim have actually been posted on the site?   

If you do a search for 'JVJ' on the site you will get a return of... (envelope please)
about 307(plus or minus 2 or 3 for duplicates) scans!

And there are more to come!   

A huge round of applause to Jim and all the JVJ Project Scanners and especially to the Postage Fund contributers!
Bravo!

-Yoc
'the very impressed'

[Astaldo711]

Thank you Jim! Your contributions are truly appreciated. You're a very generous person! 

[JVJ]

Oh, BOY! A race...

You're more than welcome, folks.

Lots more here to share.

(|:{>

[rez]

Just sent $5.00 via paypal. Not much but a little here and a little there will help keep the presses rolling.
Anybody can spare a fiver for an original, quality cause.

[Yoc]

Thanks rez, I just gave you some karma for being such a solid GAC member!
Your posts here on the board are always fun and keep the place from getting boring. 

[rez]

I'm in a race, too.
I want minus 100 karmas just to prove it can be done.






be Faye Dun-away

[Yoc]

LOL,
Fellow admin ZOG has proved that already rez.  You gotta have some nasty play friends to get there.  The karma here carries over into the old Zcult board where he must have had some spirited 'debates' like the town hall meetings these days.

[rez]

heh ya, but he holds the keys that can add or subtract as much karma as he wants.

'taint fair I tell ya! Jus' taint fair!

[Yoc]

I just checked Rez and admins can track ips, change genders, change passwords, ban and promote members.
We can NOT change karma numbers.  We are just like a normal member.  1 pts at a time - wait an hour to it again on any single member.

-Yoc

[rez]

I just checked Rez and admins can track ips, change genders, change passwords, ban and promote members.
We can NOT change karma numbers.  We are just like a normal member.  1 pts at a time - wait an hour to it again on any single member.

-Yoc

hee hee
There must be secrets in the storehouse.

[John C]

Behind the web interface is a database.  If you can access the database, then you can change pretty much anything, down to (for example) how long you've been logged in.  Probably not the number of posts, though, because I'm guessing that''s counted every time someone asks.

I can't find a database schema (the layout of the tables) for Simple Machine Forums, but I wouldn't be very surprised if there's a table (like a spreadsheet) called "user" with a column called "karma."

[Yoc]

I see nothing about adjusting karma anywhere gang.
Not that I would want to anyways.

[rez]

I see nothing about adjusting karma anywhere gang.
Not that I would want to anyways.

Well, I have a confession to make.
Seeing zog's previous avantar and some of the stuff he wrote I figgered him fer a good ol' boy and couldn't think of a nicer guy to smite so I tried to remember to smite him whenever I came online to the site.

Garnered a rather decent tally at one time I might add. But it all came to naught when the dreaded day arrived and I could see zog's applause meter was suddenly totalling something over a thousand and I knew that n'er agin would I e'er see a negative number on zog's name.


Another confession tho'. I did have an unknown benefactor assisting me in my dementia of whom I knew not but could see the numbers alter between my inputs. A hat tip to you, my friend, whomever you may be.



so alas, now the truth is known. I am found by my own hand. A fitting end.

[John C]

I see nothing about adjusting karma anywhere gang.
Not that I would want to anyways.

Sorry, I was unclear.  What I meant was that there clearly are ways to do such things, but you don't have access.

Think of it like your credit card balance.  Your actions are limited by the card-swipey machine (you can only pay) or the web interface (you can only check statements and set up payments).  The rep you call if there's a problem can set and unset flags and change your billing information (name and address), but that's about it.  However, somewhere in the organization, there's a database.  If one had direct access to that database, they could arbitrarily change anything about your account, including the account number, the day you signed up, the interest rate, and even the balance.  But access is highly limited and monitored, and even the top-level management probably has no clue how to get in.

That's what I was getting at:  Zog and Serj can get into the database itself, because they need to be able to make changes if something goes catastrophically wrong.  Even the most trusted administrator wouldn't need it, though, and it's dangerous if you're not very careful (imagine the chaos if who people accidentally had the same user name) so you're not told how to access the database at all.

I wasn't encouraging you to find out, just pointing out that such a thing is definitely possible for someone with access to the forum's back end.

[boox909]

Well, I have a confession to make.
Seeing zog's previous avantar and some of the stuff he wrote I figgered him fer a good ol' boy and couldn't think of a nicer guy to smite so I tried to remember to smite him whenever I came online to the site.

Garnered a rather decent tally at one time I might add. But it all came to naught when the dreaded day arrived and I could see zog's applause meter was suddenly totalling something over a thousand and I knew that n'er agin would I e'er see a negative number on zog's name.

Another confession tho'. I did have an unknown benefactor assisting me in my dementia of whom I knew not but could see the numbers alter between my inputs. A hat tip to you, my friend, whomever you may be.

so alas, now the truth is known. I am found by my own hand. A fitting end.

Interesting, I wondered who was behind Zog's negative numbers -- it never made sense to me because he always came across as a good guy, so I thought it was some nut out on some kind of vendetta. I also noticed that your own numbers appear to always be under assault, and again, it never made sense to me because you always come across as a good guy, so again, I thought it was some nut out on some kind of vendetta.

Ironically enough, I use to make it my business to give you both +karma whenever the thought hit me.

We should make a soap opera around here.     


B. 

[narfstar]

and a smite to rez and + to box just for the heck of it

[John C]

and a smite to rez and + to box just for the heck of it

That's the way!  Overpower the signal with noise!  Power to the...uhm...yeah, whatever.

Seriously, I always wonder about features like this and the people who care.  I mean, I imagine some programmer in a basement, somewhere, thinking that it's all well and good that you can say whatever you want on a forum, but what do you do if someone says something you like (or don't), but you're (clutches stomach) afraid to actually communicate like a human being.  Ah-ha, he cries out loud, hoping nobody hears him over the thousandth replay of the Keyboard Cat.  Add abstract buttons that you can satisfyingly and anonymously thump to express appreciation (or lack thereof) for some past event.  And the best part?  Nobody knows who did it or why, making it impossible for the offender to stop, giving everybody hours of abstract and productionless anonymous satisfaction for years to come!

Of course, there was no budget to make them actual buttons, so they're just [buttons].  And it's a visible feature, so of course everybody using the forum takes the time to wonder what it's all about and how it affects the rest of your life.  Because surely, no programmer could be so stupid as to add a feature that doesn't actually, y'know, DO anything.

Actually, I've made extensive use of the karma feature.  Turns out that I leave my mouse pointer hovering over that column (because there's no content there), and with a touchpad, the occasional stray thumb will mess with someone.  I like to think that's how the universe really works.  Your after-death activities aren't selected based on how good or bad you've been in life, but rather how many times random idiots accidentally bumped some random spot of scenery...

[rez]

heh
Maybe we should all start smiting Yoc and when he gets back from vaca he'll come online and say 'Hey! What The Sam Hill...!'

[Yoc]

I've already got the Sam Hill scans, thanks anyways.