The ATS Issues Thread

reply to post by welivefortheson


It's because the list only shows "Recent posts in last 180 days". Older posts are still there, even if they don't show up on that list. What's the problem?

Originally posted by welivefortheson
here are some more examples

Truth, registered march 16 2003,banned march 16 2003, he made 92 posts in one day and none of them appear in the post or thread list....
www.abovetopsecret.com...

(S)he authored no threads (says so in the profile you linked) so that's why there's nothing in the threads-link. He was last here over 5 years ago and, as has been repeatedly pointed out, the system doesn't list posts that are more than 180 days old (of course no one had to tell you that it says so in LARGE letters in the profile link you supplied.)

dbeniek,registered oct 14 2003,last vist nov 2003,made 14 post none appear
www.abovetopsecret.com...

I'm not seeing anything listed there either, although it is odd to have both 14 threads and(only) also 14 posts. I'd assume some sort of glitch.

member cryrus , last vist oct 17 2004,thread list shows he posted up to near that date but his post history has disapeared.

Did you mean Cyrus? If so you'll see that all of the threads he authored are still there, the posts are not listed but, then again, (s)he hasn't been here in almost 4 years. I'm no mathematician but, I believe that exceeds the 180 day limit.

there are many more ,but i cant be bothered sparring with a wall

I'm sure they're all equally impressive, no doubt. PS, that wall is kickin' your arse. You want I should throw in the towel for ya?

Originally posted by welivefortheson
this is what you said not long ago about lupes profile shortly ago

This types of timing issues do not apply to the display of posts from banned member Lupe ...

Lupe and Lupes are two different accounts... are you aware of that?

Question 1
I am wondering why this post was deleted almost immidately after being posted by starvingartist, I managed to get screenshots of it before and after it was deleted though, there were no moderator warnings posted beofre it was deleted and the post was never locked either before it was deleted, you can see this in the first screenshot. Only two people had read it in addition to myself before it was deleted.

Screenshot of the post "Is ATS a CIA front" by starvingartist

I read the post and wanted to reply, but then all of the sudden it was deleted.

Screenshot of the deleted post

Question 2
I know that the owners af ATS say that ATS is not a CIA front, but is it still ok for you to delete posts that has a message you dont believe in? And if the answer is "yes" to this, is there any borderline to what is an appropriate thread and what is considered alright to be deleted the second it is posted at the whim of an operator? I am not an american but I always hear of your constituiton and your freedom of speech and this does not add up in such a context imo. I understand that ATS does not want negative publicity, but I think that this kind of behaviour, deleting of threads you dont want people to see, will lead you down the wrong path. One of the things I love ATS for is that one can disguss almost anything here, try and keep it that way

-A


[edit on 3-9-2008 by Acharya]

Originally posted by Acharya
Question 1
I am wondering why this post was deleted almost immidately after being posted by starvingartist,

As I already indicated, the thread was removed and the thread author directed to this thread (ATS Issues) to post their question.

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by Acharya
Question 1
I am wondering why this post was deleted almost immidately after being posted by starvingartist,

As I already indicated, the thread was removed and the thread author directed to this thread (ATS Issues) to post their question.

Yes, the "Is ATS a CIA Front" thread was closed and the original post was placed here at "The ATS Issues Thread." The reasoning behind that move was that the topic was already in discussion here. But this isn't an ATS = CIA thread. It's an ATS Issues Thread. Sounds like a typical bureaucratic CIA way of burying a topic it doesn't want discussed.

Since you are the site owner, can you explain how you decided to start ATS and provide a biography. Have you always been the site owner? Have you ever been contacted by the CIA about this website? Who gave you legal advice so that ATS could exist without hindrance from the CIA.

I'm curious why you don't think discussing this conspiracy theory about ATS being the CIA wouldn't be beneficial for ATS' popularity. Can you explain your dicision to hide this topic?

Originally posted by Matrix1111
Can you explain your dicision to hide this topic?

Nothing is hidden...

Our corporate website: www.TheAboveNetwork.com, linked at the bottom of every page.

Our news items (in the top menu of the site home page):
The Above Network, LLC Announces Completion Of First Round Equity Capitalization
Richard Belzer Hosts the 10th Anniversary Gala of AboveTopSecret.com

Interviews with the "Three Amigos:"
The Three Amigos Interview - The Candid History Of ATS
The History Of ATS - The Three Amigos Interview
ATS.MIX: 08 – The Owner's Box - SkepticOverlord
Ask SkepticOverlord

SkepticOverlord's secret other life

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Cool! Not to say it explains away the possibility ATS is a CIA sting operation. But hey, thanks for attempting to appease. I'll be sure to look the links over.

In the meanwhile, can you answer the "has the CIA ever contacted you" question?

And a new one: Are you aware that CIA operatives post disinformation here?

Just wondering....

reply to post by SkepticOverlord



Okay, this makes more sense. Simon Gray is the founder of ATS. He looks the part. Now the rest of you guys look like CIA ops for sure. How is Simon these days. Does he post? Is he alive? ;-)

Originally posted by Matrix1111
can you answer the "has the CIA ever contacted you" question?

Not the CIA, but the FBI and DIA.

FBI: We had a hoaxer several years ago who used an exploit in an old forgotten version of forum software still on the server to edit his posts without leaving a trace. He made it seem as though he predicted a terrorist bombing by having advance knowledge of the event. A member "freaked out" and contacted the FBI. After a not too-long conversation with two agents (who enjoyed the site), they agreed it was a hack & hoax.

DIA: The Defense Intelligence Agency "tested" ATS and other conspiracy boards back in 2004 buy hiring a contractor to post tantalizing stories, in our case, it was the "Juniper Six" project (I think that's correct). The details included an actual working number of a DIA agent, and several ATS members attempted to call the number before it was pulled from the post. They then contacted me to request removal of the phone number... which had already been done. The contractor who was hired to run the ruse/test came clean and revealed he was part of the DIA effort to test the willingness of conspiracy sites to remove sensitive information. The test data was rather stupid as one of our existing policies included restrictions on posting personal details, including phone numbers.

And a new one: Are you aware that CIA operatives post disinformation here?

There are no confirmed cases... however, I can confirm that we are currently getting a lot of activity (member-based) from an IP-range associated with the Republican party... for what it's worth.

reply to post by SkepticOverlord

There are no confirmed cases... however, I can confirm that we are currently getting a lot of activity (member-based) from an IP-range associated with the Republican party... for what it's worth.

No, that's just Dick Morris. He's very clever.



[edit on 9/3/2008 by Matrix1111]

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


Thank you for clearing this up.

Everytime I click on a link at ATS, a popup showing this IP comes up.
[67.192.42.5]

-Chicago Mortgage Finance
-Guys Web Design
-Welcome to 3AOO
-Sea Island GA Real Estate

Haven't tried anything yet, but i'm going to add it(ip) to my ban list and see if it makes a difference.

reply to post by Rren


jazzerman,as skeptical overlord explained ,its not posts that are over 180 days old that is the problem, its posts that are over 180 old prior to the users last login ,truth made all his posts in one day ,hence they should still be there.

an example would be this member , last visit nov 2003
www.abovetopsecret.com...

yet his posts are all still there, even his one on brainwashing(s).

I'm not seeing anything listed there either, although it is odd to have both 14 threads and(only) also 14 posts. I'd assume some sort of glitch.

there are an awful number of glitches related to banned members posting history isnt there?

Originally posted by welivefortheson
there are an awful number of glitches related to banned members posting history isnt there?

No, just misconceptions and an outright refusal to trust what I say.

truth made all his posts in one day ,hence they should still be there.

Truth's posts
What's the issue?

Originally posted by welivefortheson


an example would be this member , last visit nov 2003
www.abovetopsecret.com...

yet his posts are all still there, even his one on brainwashing(s).

Weird. I'm not sure why that is.

there are an awful number of glitches related to banned members posting history isnt there?

Why do you think it so important? Their threads are still listed and their comments still exist on the boards - they weren't deleted - they're just no longer listed.

I'm not getting it, really. I'm no IT expert but I imagine there's probably several glitches on a board(s) this size with all the various features (search, messaging, chat, profiles, blogs/profile comments etc) especially considering that SkepticOverlord has said he's patched the code for this place together over the course of several years.


Is there a post from a particular banned member that you are looking for? Google didn't help find it?

What?

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord

Originally posted by welivefortheson
this is what you said not long ago about lupes profile shortly ago

This types of timing issues do not apply to the display of posts from banned member Lupe ...

Lupe and Lupes are two different accounts... are you aware of that?

you say they are two different profiles yet why did you use lupe's profile to link an example for lupes???.....

This types of timing issues do not apply to the display of posts from banned member Lupe as his profile shows a last visit date of October 17, 2002 and his posts are all within 180 days of his last visit.

(click on the link skepticaloverlord gave to lupes profile)
www.abovetopsecret.com...

strange huh?.

in regards to sherwoodsteeles deleted posts
www.abovetopsecret.com...

i said in this post yesterday that there was a discrepancy between the deleted posts on the 20th and the posts in bts with a date of the 19th...

the bts posts you mention for sherwood steel were created on the 19th of the 3rd ,yet the deleted posts in sherwoods profile were all posted on the 20th.

to which you explained,

That was long ago, long before we had any time-limits in place in regards to editing posts. Members could indeed make any edit they wished, on any aged post, including deleting the post content.

now suddenly the posts in bts show an edit and post date of ta da.....
www.belowtopsecret.com...&mem=sherwoodsteele73

20th and 21st

now why would you cite the reason there never used to be time limits in place for editing posts when that was the reason for the discrepency as to why they were posted on the 19th and not at the same time as the deleted post in sherwoods post history?.

looks like somones changed the data to cover thier backs,why?,shame i didnt take a screen shot of it or i would have had ya up against the wall!





[edit on 3-9-2008 by welivefortheson]

[edit on 3-9-2008 by welivefortheson]

reply to post by welivefortheson

Hi,

Small problem causing me to want to punch my monitor. I just spent the last hour putting together a post only to have it all disappear when I hit the "Preview Post' button I was directed to an error page then returned to a blank reply box. I then thought to try saving it to drafts so I typed it all out again, clicked "Save to Drafts", then attempted to retrieve it. While it showed SOMETHING was there (it gave me the option to DELETE it) I could find no link to the actual draft.

Sorry to sound annoyed, I know it is just a glitch in the system somewhere, but I lost a lot of good research and retyping it will undoubtedly lose some of it's initial impact through changing of the wording.

[edit on 4/9/2008 by Kryties]

reply to post by Kryties


I have found that the draft function doesn't work in the past as well. The best thing to do would be to type up your posts in a word processor and to save your work regularly . If you don't have time for that there is another less reliable trick that I use sometimes . If you find yourself unexpectedly making a long post copy its contends every now and then . That way if something goes wrong you can just make a new post and paste the majority if not all of your text that you had typed up.

Another thing to watch for is that when you go to post a reply you don't click on the post a new topic button . I have done this only to get an era saying that the new topic requires a title and I have lost what I typed up .