What is going on with "A Curiosity Of Spirit"?

I am puzzled by the locking of the thread - and I think the mods owe the members of ATS an explanation.

But I'm really, really disgusted at the behaviour of the trolls, who added nothing to the thread. One particularly ignorant post attempted to parody the OP by using nonsense words. All they did was reveal their own ignorance of the very real technical terms used by AE, and their lack of familiarity with the kind of protocols he was talking about.

pb[Not one poster could move beyond generalised criticism to pick a hole in anything specific. And how many pages did they fill with their garbage?

I would like to know it is locked too.

Anyway, if this thread is to asnwer that question, thaqn fine.

But why is it people who are vetting the OP, or attempting to with the dribble of information that came out, being called trolls?

Here is what the gray area asks us to do. In fact we are bad members if we dont do this!!

"The Gray Area is a discussion forum that provides a dedicated area for members to post their confessions, disclosures, and related extraordinary personal experiences. Like the highly speculative Skunk Works forum, The Gray Area will tolerate topics that may be unusually hypothetical or unproven for the purpose of vetting the stories of thread-starters by the ATS membership at large."

Google through on the word vetting. Nevermind, Ill just do it for yall.

Vetting:en.wikipedia.org...

"Vetting is a process of examination and evaluation, generally referring to performing a background check on someone before offering him or her employment, conferring an award, etc. In addition, in intelligence gathering, assets are vetted to determine their usefulness."

Trolling has a different definition.

Membership at large.

Hey yall thats all of us, me and you and you and you!!!

But here we get called trolls.

I will say it again.

An abridged synopsis could have been posted from the get go. This fdeal has already passed.

AE claims he revealed all in a previous post, if we are impatient. He failed to link to that, but someone else did.

All AE claims is something to do with faster than light something.

Several people posted links to ftl articles.

Again not troll behavior.

And I myself brought up the fact I was disappointed in the posting style method. If you start a thread I have the right with in t n c to respond my opinion. We all do. I never called the OP a troll, or a hoaxer, I was trying to explain why the cliff hanger teaser method is lame. I work forty hrs a week. I love to relax online at ats. It sucks when a noobie does this, and telling the noob valid reasons to change his posting style in the future to NOT aggravate us seasoned posters was a kindness and not trolling.

I dont like the delivery, sue me for saying so. It sucks and is bad posting form.

Reread what the top of the gray area says in my quote and quit lumping us all who dont have time or might forget this thread by the time it is done, trolls. That is trollish of itself and this thread reminds me of Sisyphus.

Maybe he does have some great contributions, I hope so, his subject matter is very fascinating.

But what raised my meter is I am a writer, and the phrase about hearing the whisper of the snake reeked of action thriller dialogue, or narrative. But maybe the guy is a gifted writer. I dont know yet, unlike a lot of folks, my mind is still not made up yet.

OK, thats my contribution at vetting.

reply to post by hotbakedtater


while your behavior may certainly have not been trollish, I will find it hard to believe fhat 22 pages filled up in a couple of days, while the OP only presented 3 different sets of information (one never got posted), and there wasn't obvious trolling happening.

I find it telling that Phage didn't really weigh in. There was nothing to debunk yet.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by bigfatfurrytexan]

Ideally, we would have a posting of information, Pro and Con. If the OP is disputed, present evidence or a decently thought out opinion. If there are already postulations mirroring your own, do not bother commenting. Muddy waters make for a poor visibility.

The truth will end up being stranger than fiction. I fear it will be missed, when it makes its rare appearance, amongst all the noise of naysayers.

Originally posted by bigfatfurrytexan
reply to post by hotbakedtater

 

while your behavior may certainly have not been trollish, I will find it hard to believe fhat 22 pages filled up in a couple of days, while the OP only presented 3 different sets of information (one never got posted), and there wasn't obvious trolling happening.

I find it telling that Phage didn't really weigh in. There was nothing to debunk yet.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by bigfatfurrytexan]

I apologize if my post sounded mean, rude or anything either. I get het up sometimes.

I really think it boils down to user education.

I knew how to access all of one posters posts in one thread, from the profiles.

Can you believed I just found out that if you push the THREAD button at the bottom of every post, all that persons posts in the thread show up, in a row. (and I had the nerve to call my self a seasoned poster. hmph)

Now THAT information is useful, helpful and MIGHT (might) help cut down on SOME (maybe might some) of the annoying add nothing posts.

I have to say there are a few issues that can be addressed arising from that thread and many threads like it.

reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan


Well, on the bright side of things, I guess, Astro hasn't been banned (yet) which means his last thread is probably on hold until he addresses that "urgent U2U" he received.

Since he's not on here every second like many of us he probably hasn't seen or addressed it yet... and once he does (if ever) come back it could be a while longer before the ATS mod squad verifies what ever it is they need to verify...

This certainly adds to the intrigue of the situation with this members story, now doesn't it....

Like I mentioned before he's got people (including TPTB here on good ole ATS) very curious (concerned?), which leads me to believe that what he is saying could have some real jelly in it... you mean a real whistleblower on ATS??

Either way its a damn good read, whether fiction or non...

I do prefer the non and hope this Astro fella can deliver the goods... and if he proves to be a fake, oh well... he was a good one.

There is part 3 on his blog which was posted just yesterday, although I'm not sure he posted it in his current, now locked, thread. So if all else fails here you can always keep an eye on his blog-

The link is around here somewhere...

[edit on 31-3-2010 by PhotonEffect]

Mystery solved!

The thread in question was closed due to the inability/unwillingness of the original poster to provide the information promised. Once/if the original poster can provide the information to staff, the thread will be reopened for discussion. A note to this effect will be placed in the original thread and I apologize for the oversight in leaving a message.

If there are any further questions about this, please submit a complaint or use the ATS Issues thread.

Thank you. Thread closed.

[edit on 31-3-2010 by Duzey]