Profile Pictures

[Sorceress]

Can someone please fix the links to our profile pictures and message avatars?? All these red 'x's are just not attractive. Also, please add the profile picture galleries?

P.S. FWIW, you need to implement an anti-spam program into the profile creation/editing process or the spammers will fill your database with thousands of ads. A good program for that is called 'ReCaptcha' were a human response is required to match numbers/letters/words before a profile can be created or edited. Once the find your database is unprotected, you'll have a mess on your hands.

[chill]

Can someone please fix the links to our profile pictures and message avatars?? All these red 'x's are just not attractive. Also, please add the profile picture galleries?

P.S. FWIW, you need to implement an anti-spam program into the profile creation/editing process or the spammers will fill your database with thousands of ads. A good program for that is called 'ReCaptcha' were a human response is required to match numbers/letters/words before a profile can be created or edited. Once the find your database is unprotected, you'll have a mess on your hands.

The avatar images should now work. I have also implemented the recaptcha for profile creation.

[Sorceress]

The avatar images should now work. I have also implemented the recaptcha for profile creation.

Thank you thank you. Ya dun guud MR Chill! I can see all my great friends avatars. Yeepee

Smart move on the Recaptcha, too. Looking GOOD!!

BTW, I am a native Houstonian now living in TN. Its great to help a Tx Project. I was going to go to
UT but ended up at Rice. (much cheaper lol)

Good Luck!
Sorceress

[mitrichr]

Well, my avatar is not showing, my BOINCStats bloc is not showing, in fact, I think my whole signature is not showing. Let's see....

[mitrichr]

Just testing community prefs.

[mitrichr]

Nope. No signature, no avatar. It's all in there, what's up with this?

[graeme]

I disabled the signatures. I'm not a fan of them because they lower the information density.

[mitrichr]

I disabled the signatures. I'm not a fan of them because they lower the information density.

Thanks for your response. It's your show; but you just might be a bit short-sighted. There is a significant "social media" aspect to forum participation at both individual BOINC projects and those at WCG. This has been documented and acknowledged in BOINC studies and at least one video. People spend a fair amount of time developing their signatures, complete with blocs from BOINCStats, BOINC Synergy, etc., and also their chosen avatars. They want to see that stuff. Right now, according to BOINCStats, you have 580 people crunching for your project. you need to get popular. Believe it or not, this does not help.

Some people are in this for credits. They literally use BOINC credits to race their machines. Some are in it for social contact. I personally am in it to contribute to scientific advance, so ultimately it is of little import to me.

But, you are idiosyncratic here on the forum, and you are idiosyncratic in that in BOINC Manager if I look at your WU's, in Tasks, I am told I will not see a run up of progress. People are used to seeing that. I actually detached, thinking I was not getting any work done. I came into a thread and got straightened out on that. But many crunchers will simply leave. they want to see from any given project what they see at all of the other projects.

So, this is just for what it is worth. I read some of your stuff on the main pages of the site and I like what you are doing. so, as long as I see successful WU's, I will be here. But, you know, you can grow to over 100,000 crunchers. That's where you want to go.

>>RSM

[Cesium_133]

Hi, new user here, Cesium_133. I've been unable as well to upload a pic as part of my profile. It also took me several tries with the Captcha dialogue just to get the text to save. I know how to use Captcha, and I've made many profiles before on BOINC. I have also dealt with Captcha many times, and it seems to have this bad habit of not realizing you typed the two words correctly; it'll give you a blank screen or an "incorrect" response. Would love some help on this one... gracias :)

[graeme]

I don't think we have profile pictures enabled. The idea here is to keep the forum less flashy and more content based. And yes, the captchas are terrible, as are the spam bots.

[mitrichr]

I think that this is a great project. But, you know, you guys in your forum structure are a wee bit idiosyncratic. Most forums allow signatures, avatars, etc. People like that stuff. For a lot of people there is something of a social element to crunching. You might re-think your philosophic position on this. I am not trying to be critical, just helpful. You really should be doing what everyone else is doing.

Cheers.

>>RSM

[Cesium_133]

...But, you know, you guys in your forum structure are a wee bit idiosyncratic. Most forums allow signatures, avatars, etc. People like that stuff. For a lot of people there is something of a social element to crunching. You might re-think your philosophic position on this. I am not trying to be critical, just helpful. You really should be doing what everyone else is doing.

Cheers.

>>RSM

Indeed, volunteers crunch because they want to help mankind. Without volunteers, you have nothing. Any good idea that doesn't affect the basic structure of DC'ing or crunching should be looked at if requested, and certainly in a forum. As to profiles, they include pics and signatures everywhere else, to include Facebook, MySpace, and so on- along with the other BOINC projects.

It's a bit odd when a sysop wants to control bulletin board content that is social in nature, recognizes the user in a polite way, and is harmless in form and function. Signatures and pics add to the content of a post, not detract. These decisions about content are really best left to the volunteers, as this is their board as much as the Grand Poobah's, supra, especially in topics that encourage social intercourse. If the sysop wants a "clean" site, he can design his masthead page to look as spartan as he wishes.

The project itself, though, owes its computations and progress to the graciousness of others, and to tell them for an arbitrary reason that certain items important to and customary in BB's are just verboten is cause to take issue, if not detach. Remember, there are lots of other projects out there worthy of CPU time, including the popular QMC and Spinhenge, both of which concern themselves with scientific conjectures in this general field. Both of which, too, allow you to post a fully fleshed-out profile.

Responses are welcome...

[mitrichr]

Cesium_133

Huzzah, huzzah, more power to you. Eloquent post.Thanks.

>>RSM