S.O.S. Here On ATS, Is This ATS In Distress?

I humbly offer my services.

I'm not real good at Army stuff, but when I was a kid and we played Cowboys and Indians. I always chose to be an Indian.

I am real good at running around in my underwear screaming, if there is a need.

(Cool tank Slayer)

reply to post by SkepticOverlord


I agree that it is a shame that the requirement was removed. I always felt that in learning the communication skill was important to "spark a message out" in a time wen power was at a premium to as far as possible. That and the dedication required gave a seriousness to the hobby and prevented reckless behavior on an otherwise clean decorum.

It was my next door neighbor's sticking point on receiving his full license. We spent many hours listening to broadcasts the world over from professional, semi-professional and just personal conversations. As a child it allowed me to see a much bigger world, full of people of differing opinions and circumstances to their lives than my own.

As a communication medium, it was how the internet should be. A global network of resources and information and personal sharing and exchanging of ideas, thoughts and personality...pretty much consistent with how ATS could and should be so long as everyone can come to the forum with a modicum of self-restraint and personal responsibility to present themselves and their words, ideas and opinions to the best of the their ability...

But the removal of the Morse Code portion of the license was to encourage more licensed operators to a dwindling pastime so as to have a reply to the CQ to the few that still fire up the old boxes.


---------------

SO might not come right out and say it, people. But I will. It is the membership and how we conduct ourselves that makes ATS what it is. Unlike HAM Operators, we type. We can edit, self-censor anything before we hit that post button. Heck we can even reconsider our statement and edit it after the fact. While broadcasting over the air, every cough, crying child in the background, curse under your breath and general ass-tard thing you said or did was there...on the air...heard around the world.

You could not take anything back. Once it was said, it was said. The best a person could do was apologize. Here on ATS, we can hold back and even edit whenever the urge is stronger than our resolve. I have seen ATS Logo changes before, and in SO's shoes I'd probably be purple faced and spitting out blue flames at times while screaming obscenities through clinched teeth as some of the disrespect that happens here from time to time.

The Logo change is a visual clue, a subtile reminder to, in the words of Bill and Ted, Be Excellent to each other. Is that really so hard with the tools that are at your disposal?

[edit on 11-8-2009 by Ahabstar]

Originally posted by SLAYER69
ATS is under attack.
I brought a few of my friends

I got reinforcements SCA numbers 35,000 plus strong. Believe me they can be counted on in a pinch



And its no 'small' promise

IT PROBOBLY MEANS THE GAME HAS BEGUN.

reply to post by zorgon

I think the situation is more critical than that.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/5dfa869deaec.gif[/atsimg]

reply to post by SLAYER69


Anything with shaky camera work is always deemed critical.

reply to post by SLAYER69


The situation is much more critical than that... these new logos are obviously a trap!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/fc22b6757744.jpg[/atsimg]




[edit on 11/8/09 by GhostR1der]

Originally posted by kinda kurious
I humbly offer my services.

I'm not real good at Army stuff, but when I was a kid and we played Cowboys and Indians. I always chose to be an Indian.

I am real good at running around in my underwear screaming, if there is a need.

(Cool tank Slayer)

I have a feeling if I saw you running around in your underwear I'd run around and scream too.

so ats is being invaded by aliens? is that why the logo is upside down?

i should change my avatar to the upside down ats symbol.

upside down is the new right side up.

[edit on 11-8-2009 by Chovy]

reply to post by Chovy


Nah you got that all backwards.

is it just me or did the logo turn around again? its like a yo yo!

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
Sadly... that skill has fallen.

Yep, funny thing I found out was that my grandmother could hear Morse and understand it, I found out when I had one of my first Nokia mobile phones and I was going through the ring tones (the mobiles were still a bit of a novelty back then) and one of the ring tones was Morse for 'connecting people' she herd it straight of the bat! Also there is the SMS for the text messages.

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas
reply to post by Helig

 

I an attention to detail kind of person.

Do you get the irony of this statement?

My guess is that it's a comment about the quality of some of the posts lately. They've gotten insulting and petty, attacking individuals and not addressing the issues people raise.

The ATS owners have commented about this in posts, but as far as I can see, that hasn't had much effect on how some people respond to posts. Throwing out an 'SOS' could be a gentle way of hinting that, when we degrade ourselves with insults and personal attacks, we bring the whole site down a notch.

Personal attacks cause harm. They demean our members and ATS itself. They do not help anyone to understand an issue. They do nothing to support any point. All they do is attack someone. No one gains; everyone loses.

When you focus on the issues, you can inform people. You can state your case. If someone is still too thick-headed to be swayed by your impeccable, lucid logic, then so be it. They won't be swayed by being called names, either. BUT - if you keep your cool and explain your position respectfully and with clear reasoning, you are likely to help others understand what it is you believe, and why you believe it. In fact, if you present facts that the person didn't know, you might plant the seeds that motivate him/her to dig deeper and maybe change his/her mind.

The ATS owners can only do so much. They can post a few requests for us to clean up our acts; they can drop messages and threads that are bogus; they can even close the accounts of the worst offenders. But they can't force us to stop behaving like we're still in grade school. Someone whose account was closed can just open up a new one. People can repost their nasty comments repeatedly. Who's got time to review each and every comment?

The quality of ATS really depends on the members. We're the ones who can keep this place a forum for meaningful discussion. Or, drag it down into another stupid free-for-all of mudslinging and foolishness. It's up to us, not to the owners or the mods.

Old Russian saying (well, the person who told it to me was Russian, anyway): Fight with a pig, and you both get dirty. But the pig likes it. Let us not engage in porcine fisticuffs.

Why the American flag though? The founder of this site is English. If anything there should be flags from all countries.

All has been explained in this thread......fear not.

[edit on 12-8-2009 by desertdreamer]

Thanks, DesertDreamer.

Well, I believe most Americans will be with SkepticOverlord on the issue.

by the time i got round to viewing this thread the logo was upside down.. now it has a flag

In all fairness i liked the upside down ATS logo !! seemed some what twisted lol

LET ATS RULE BABY No matter what the logo!! well of course long as it says ATS hehe

loved it

but one thing can i point out even if it some what meaningless, a lot of users are not from the USA who use ATS

reply to post by symmetricAvenger


I think you will find there are 3 versions - the morse, the flag and the upside down ATS - each time you load up a new page you cycle through them.

I adds a bit of variety.

reply to post by SLAYER69


So what happened to the "cool" logo with the bombs, and rockets red-glare?

Slayer69...you gotta be the funniest person on this thread. I read all your logo ideas and about peed myself. At work too. Great ideas, just funny they all came out as posts, one after the other. Where do you get those crazy emoticons?

Oh yeah and I love when people dont read the backpages of a thread and then post.

Springer is right. If he got an eerie feeling from going to D.C., imagine if we went to see the real action. Lobbyists are killing us. Dollar by dollar.