Reflections on AO

[AngelicKnight]

I find anytime I have a question I get a string of quick and informed responses, so AO continues to be satisfactory for me.

Every since I joined, there's been good stuff and bad stuff. You ignore the bad and run with the good. That's about all you can do, really.

[The Texan]

AO isnt perfect but neither is any other forum i have been too so im agreeing with Knight here things are good and bad and just gotta go with the flow. but overall AO still is a good forum i think with smart people ( for the most part lol) trying to help other people out.

[©opy®ight]

it IS unpaid work after all. and there appears to be no thanks in it ..........

I believe MsM and Neg do, not a big amount but still they do. And they deserve it too, since i think they do the most work here from the mods.

[Egaladeist]

Hi CopyRight,

I think they can afford to pay two forum-wide mods a decent salary...if they're not getting a decent salary the word ' cheap ' would spring to mind...

in fact as far as I'm concerned every mod should get some compensation...I'm sure they ( JupiterMedia ) don't work for free...why should they expect to get free labor? They probably pee themselves laughing all the way to the bank every time they get somebody to work for nothing.

I can see some obsure struggling website depending upon the generousity and good graces of it's members...but JupiterMedia is not obsure nor struggling.

The firm expects Jupitermedia shares to outperform the market "by at least 25% over the next 12 months."

SG Cowen cut Jupitermedia's 2005 estimate to earnings of 50 cents per share on revenue of $129.2 million, down from earnings of 81 cents per share on revenue of $140.9 million. The firm cut the 2006 estimate to earnings of 67 cents per share on revenue of $163.3 million, down from earnings of 96 cents per share on revenue of $175.1 million.

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2005/0...markets12.html
Jupitermedia Shares Could Outperform Market By 25% - Forbes.com

as a further illustration...

JUPITERMEDIA CORPORATION REPORTS RECORD RESULTS FOR ITS SECOND QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30, 2005
(New York, NY - August 1, 2005) - Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM) today reported results for the quarter ended June 30, 2005. Revenues for the second quarter of 2005 were $33.8 million compared to revenues of $17.8 million for the same period last year, an increase of 89%. Net income for the second quarter was $7.0 million, or $0.19 per diluted share, compared to net income of $3.5 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the same period last year.

"We are pleased with our financial results for the second quarter, with record revenues and net income," stated Jupitermedia's Chairman and CEO Alan M. Meckler. "We have been emphasizing the development of our JupiterImages division and the second quarter illustrates continued organic and overall growth in the sales and distribution of commercial images. The acquisition of PictureArts in July marks our seventh major images acquisition since June 2003 (ArtToday, Comstock, Thinkstock, Hemera, Dynamic Graphics, Goodshoot and PictureArts). We plan to continue our acquisitions program in the coming months. Our employees are working hard to shape and integrate these acquisitions so that Jupitermedia becomes a powerful creator and distributor of a wide range of commercial images. The full impact of this integration will be more apparent in future quarters. In the meantime we continue to evolve as a company making positive financial progress not only with JupiterImages, but with our JupiterWeb, JupiterResearch and JupiterEvents divisions," added Meckler.

http://www.jupitermedia.com/corporat...ndQuarter.html
JUPITERMEDIA CORPORATION REPORTS RECORD RESULTS FOR ITS SECOND QUARTER ENDED JUNE 30, 2005

[Spyder32]

Egaladeist -- Damn near every moderator here is a fool then.. only Negative and MsMittens are official "JUPM Employee's".. sucks, eh?

[Egaladeist]

Hi Spyder,

They make enough to pay their mods...they don't because they don't have to...in my opinion that still doesn't make it right.

They should pay ' everyone ' who works for them...and not depend upon free labor.

If they were destitute or struggling that would be different.

I'm a charity co-ordinator...we need and depend on volunteers...JupiterMedia is a business...they don't need volunteers.

Pay your friggin' people...on revenue of 163 million dollars you can't afford to pay your mods...give me a friggin' break.

Eg

[Spyder32]

Well, as much as I wish they had your thinking.. I don't think I consider what I do as "labor". My opinion though.. it does take time and all that but yeah, I don't expect JUPM to compensate me. They can if they like though!

[Egaladeist]

Hi Spyder,

But that's not the point...if you were hired as a graveyard shift supervisor to just oversee the workers...walk around and make sure they were all working and not goofing off in the lunchroom...would you expect to be paid for that...or would you offer your services for free?

A job does not have to be labor intensive to be a job...I know alot of people that get paid to just oversee others...and basically that's what a mod does.

To me it's like Bill Gates saying to a guy ' Hey buddy! Can you watch my store for me while I run a few errands...just a few hours a day...just keep an eye on it for me will ya?! ' and then the cheap ( insert word ) doesn't even so much as offer to pay him.

Eg

[gauravjulka]

A fresh female member can wreak havoc

Hey.. where is ms Mittens.. She has had an overwhelming impact on this forum... She is not around lately.. Does anyone know where she is...

[HTRegz]

Hey Steve,

AO has changed... some for the worse, some for the better... lately... I'm one of those for the worse things (but seemingly only for American members.. hehe and no I'm not trying to start anything)... Technology and Security seem to be at a low lately, even the mailing lists I subscribe to are down in that aspect... which on a forum leads to bored.. .and boredom on these things always causes trouble.. which is what we have... We also have a highly stressed political situtation in the world which is frequently broached here and we unlike a good ol' fashioned debate, we make it personal or take it personally... We read the literal when we should read the general or the general when we should read the literal... We also have a lot of immaturity... (my political beliefs would have me classed in that by those that I label as immature but there are others as well)... It's as it will always be a revolving soap opera..

As far as your question of mods... How it happens kinda varies...

ZenCoder was announced and that was the first i'd heard of it... and for the most part it was a good choice (I'm still of the belief that a mod should be 100% impartial in the forums they moderate... but no one else agrees)....
I suggested a forum and someone mentioned spreading mods too thin, so I volunteered to do it if they wanted... got a PM saying I was doing it.. I'm just trying to stay out.. make important things sticky and delete requested threads.. unless it get's outta hand.. but it's Phishing and CyberScams.. that seems unlikely.
HogFly suggested the Forensics forum (I believe) and is quite obviously the best person to be the mod.
As far as I've heard Spyder sent in a message begging to be made a Mod.... and they finally relented and allowed a non-technical post whore to becom a moderator... He's become more technical and less of a post whore thankfully... but unfortunately still allows himself to be easily angered and let's his feelings cloud his judgement.

That's about it...

Peace,
HT