Diamond Talk Shakedown?

[Iceman]

AGBF ~

You always had a way with digging up the info and telling it like it is !
Not a great attribute for being a member on some forums

 

[ccuheartnurse]

Wow, I go work some night shifts & I come back to this. Jon, RA & Nice, I'm sad to see you guys were banned. DT is a festering swamp of crap.

That site will find themselves with too many newbies & too few from the trade to answer their "How does this diamond look" questions. Oh well. I'm not very poetic at this time & so on that note, I'm off to bed for a few hrs.

Judy

 

[pricescope]

Hi guys,

I'm a bit uncomfortable reading this thread.

I understand and sympathize to those of you who’ve been banned from DT. On the other hand I have great respect for DT where I used to post when Pricescope was at the very beginning.

Sometimes there were difficult situations over there but I also meet nice people and friends on DT.

When we launched this forum we tried to enforce some rules in order to avoid situation when people confront each other instead of sharing knowledge and experience.

On my experience as the forum administrator I know that it is not an easy thing to enforce the rules and without offending some members of the forum.

Anyway, I just want to ask you to be fair and let's not to wash DT or any other sites here, please

 

[AGBF]

----------------
On 2/28/2003 8:44:35 AM leonid wrote:

Hi guys,


I'm a bit uncomfortable reading this thread.


I understand and sympathize to those of you who’ve been banned from DT. On the other hand I have great respect for DT where I used to post when Pricescope was at the very beginning.

...
----------------

I hear you, Leonid. The reason I did not register here until I was banned from Diamond Talk is that I was loyal to it beyond all reason and did not want to contribute to any other forums lest they take interest away from Diamond Talk.

So I don't like hearing your message. (Big surprise

.)

Having been wronged, I long to speak out.

This is your forum, though, and your relationship with Diamond Talk is what must govern what you allow here.

I respect your right to make the rules here. I did *not* respect the rights of the Diamond Talk owners to make all sorts of (in my opinion crazy) rules because I helped build that site.


AGBF

 

[jackieblue]

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On 2/23/2003 8

3:30 PM lawmax wrote:

Those vendors have more than that in common, but I will not speculate. Why not ask the moderators on DT?
----------------

Perhaps because whomever does so puts him/herself at risk of being banned from that site.

 

[lawmax]

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On 2/28/2003 3:21:39 PM jackieblue wrote:

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On 2/23/2003 8

3:30 PM lawmax wrote:

Those vendors have more than that in common, but I will not speculate. Why not ask the moderators on DT?
----------------

Perhaps because whomever does so puts him/herself at risk of being banned from that site.

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

Nice quote in your signature line.

 

[jackieblue]

[/quote]

Nice quote in your signature line.

----------------
[/quote]

Thank you very much!

 

[niceice]

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On 2/27/2003 12

5

5 PM pyramid wrote:
I for one am not going to miss the "If I have a distended unnatural on my girdle that occasionally breaks the surface in my EGL-Kandahar graded diamond from exactly how many feet up in the air can I drop it if it lands on sod with two-inch depth over a sandy substrate? What if the soil is a silty clay? Anyone...anyone? Beuller?"

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

What if a tank rolls over it?

 

[optimized]

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

-Tim

 

[Sierra Nevada]

How awfully sad. I have always liked DT, and I have no interest bashing them, but something does seem to have gone terribly wrong over there when people are banned for quite restrained and mild criticism.

I was open minded to the explanation given for the previous mass purge. However the ever expanding level of censorship along with the expanding list of banned members for increasingly minor infractions seems less and less clear or justifiable. I'm not at all comfortable with the suddenly repressive direction they are taking.

NiceIce, and the rest of you, you acquitted yourselves with honor and dignity. It truly is their loss in this case, and they did you wrong.

 

[Iceman]

AGBF ~ I agree with you , I stayed loyal to them , not even to venture into DAD , Loyal as in 8000 posts. If only they would have tried to iron it out with me and everybody else they still would have had a loyal honest full crew.

But that is in the past and I see they are not the only forums.

Its like a split personality, not the same people I use to joke around with and if they had a problem with a post of mine I would delete it (back when you could) and I would appoligize.

We all respect these forums and after this , I think we respect them more

I have no hard feelings to Gilbertz, I leave there with only the good times remembered and what a great guy he was.

That part of my life is over and I have moved on.
Like Girlbertz had said over and over ~ "Life is made of choices" These were his choices and I respect that. I dont try to understand why these were his choices, I just respect them.


As always
Nuff said
The Iceman

 

[Hest88]

That's putting it with class, Iceman!

It's rather harder for not to be bitter, due to the same reasons AGBF mentioned. It was like being tried and executed without first being heard by a jury of my peers.

 

[AGBF]

On 3/1/2003 1:46:35 AM Sierra_Nevada wrote:

I was open minded to the explanation given for the previous mass purge.

As Hest88 (a fellow DAD member) said, I find it hard (actually, impossible) not to be bitter when it was Gilbert who makes someone feel about me as Sierra Nevada was made to feel. She writes she was "open minded" to the explanation offered when I and my DAD friends were purged.

Many people were.

They didn't know me. I was unable to post in response to what Gilbert wrote. Why *shouldn't* they believe him?

That doesn't mean what he said was true or just, however, just that it appeared credible given the circumstances *CREATED BY GILBERT*.

I happen to be a kind and gentle person with whom Gilbert had a friendship for years. I offered to help him, since I am a social worker, after 9/11 when he set up a website to help victims. I gave him all the information about my licenses and insurance; I gave him my home phone numbers and address. I tried to help him...and, indeed, took a break from Diamond Talk as I worked on ebays's Auction for America-raising money for 9/11 victims-for months.

Gilbert posted that he had considered making me the moderator of Diamond Talk after he had known me for almost three years.

I *do* resent the completely untrue picture of me and of DAD which he publicized on Diamond Talk *after* banning me so that I was unable to respond.

 

[rodentman]

There are a lot of visitors and members there, but relatively few posts compared to the old days. I think people are chicken crap to post fearing the thread will get deleted and they will be banned.

It is surely a lot different than it once was. I really think the CC requirement is a mistake. It keeps the newbie lifeblood to a minimum and causes the forum to become a chatroom for people who know each other, thus further alienating newcomers.

**** (as you are reefered to there), it is good to see you still alive and kicking...

 

[Rhino]

You are so right about posts getting deleted Rodent. A client of ours whom we helped in quite a unique situation (different from the usual) wanted to post his experience and series of events that took place and he told me after multiple attempts it kept getting censored or that he was not able to post. Apparently consumers can not write about their experiences there now either without being censored, unless it was a problem with the cc thing. It's probably the latter perhaps.

Iceman! Great to see you here bro. It's odd looking at your name with only 19 posts next to it.

What you have said is true. Time to move on and drop the past. A great crew of people are here and you my friend are welcome of course. It's a pleasure to have you, AGBF, Hest88, Jaxie, Rodentman and everyone participating here as well. Hopefully we'll see Cassandra participate more as well too.

Peace,
Rhino

 

[AGBF]

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On 3/1/2003 8:53:14 PM Rhino wrote:

It's a pleasure to have you, AGBF, Hest88, Jaxie, Rodentman and everyone participating here as well.


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

Thanks for the mention, Jonathan. I do not expect to participate a great deal in any public diamond forum. The infamous DAD (Diamonds After Dark) is a small, warm sisterhood which suits my everyday needs better than a large diamond forum.

I am, still, a gem lover, though. I do, still, make purchases from jewelers. I expect that until I buy a ruby I will not be able to give up these large forums entirely

.

Right now Jan and Brad of DBOF are holding a red spinel I bought from Pala Gems using them as an intermediary. I will want that set. Juan of Van Graff is going to make some gold mountings in which I want to set some semi-precious gemstones for everyday use: a garnet; a paraiba topaz; etcetera.

I heard wonderful things about your bricks and mortar store from CherylP. She said it was absolutely packed with gorgeous items and was very busy.

Best,

 

[pricescope]

Oops, I was banned too and links to Pricescope are treated as bad words and substituted with ****... oh well

 

[AGBF]

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On 3/2/2003 10:58:33 AM leonid wrote:

Oops, I was banned too and links to Pricescope are treated as bad words and substituted with ****... oh well

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

I am sorry, Leonid. You have a refugee problem here, which often occurs in the lands of neighbors of a war-zone. You didn't ask to have refugees flood your borders. I hope your site will be unaffected or positively affected by Diamond Talk's actions.

Best of luck!

 

[Hest88]

Oh, I'm sorry Leonid. Back *there* I often referred newbies to Pricescope and to Jonathan's tutorial as the two premier places for basic diamond info. I wonder where people will refer newbies to now.

 

[optimized]

Leonid,

That is an unfortunate turn of events, especially since in all my time here you've always maintained a courteous and almost deferential tone regarding DT. It makes one wonder what is really going on in the ranks of the DT organizers. It's very difficult to make judgments about any forum or organization without knowing what the "real story" is, but it seems like they're really going through some trying times right now. I really hope they work it out....

-Tim

 

[pricescope]

No worries guys

I haven't participated there for a long time anyway. I think my last post was before the new rules were introduced.

It just feels weird to find out you were banned without warnings or notifications.

I promise those who will be banned here will receive polite notes: first warning, second warning,... thousandth warning

 

[trichrome]

Any website where there are asking your Credit card number for no reason is highly suspicious
for me.

With the number of members there, in 1 hour, the webmaster
would be able to steal thousands of dollars from your credit cards
and disappear right away........ and it would be too late.


I strongly advice any member of Diamond Talk to quit.

Trichrome.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

I can't get on DT any longer either...

I had never given CC info, and assumed I was "grandfathered" in. Now it has a screen saying I can't access the network, for one of several possible reasons, the foremost being that I need to supply CC info.

I can't imagine anybody supplying CC info just to get on a forum. It's unheard of, and throws up all kinds of red flags.

There's absolutely no business sense in the decisions they're making over there. Reminds me of an angry child rather than a business person.

 

[AGBF]

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On 3/2/2003 8

2:43 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:

I can't get on DT any longer either...


I had never given CC info, and assumed I was "grandfathered" in. Now it has a screen saying I can't access the network, for one of several possible reasons, the foremost being that I need to supply CC info.



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

It may just be a mistake, Richard, unless you criticized them somewhere (public or private). I don't think they would cut off *ALL* the people who never gave them credit cards!

If they did that they would be left with ten newbies gullible enough to give credit card info to them and maybe three vendors to advise them on diamonds!

Are you sure you didn't say something that might have sounded critical? Perhaps mumbled it in the shower?

 

[Sierra Nevada]

I'm sorry,Leonid.

A few days ago I would have been shocked by this, but now it's becoming a pretty routine event. I think there must have been some sort of behind the scenes coup and a more paranoid controlling interest is pulling the strings now. The complete about face just doesn't make sense to me otherwise. I once worked for a business where a similar weird shift occurred and it was because an absentee owner suddenly decided take an interest and set all new contrary policies. It made us look like the bad guys, but we were just unhappily following orders. It's really too bad, because I had such respect for both these sites and you seemed like natural links, each strengthening the other.

Well, I still really like pricescope

, and maybe DT will find it's soul again one day.

 

[Iceman]

Rhino ~ Ya 19 posts

Nothing like putting your heart and sole into 8000 posts

I think I learned my lesson

 

[fire&ice]

----------------
On 3/2/2003 8

2:43 PM Richard Sherwood wrote:

There's absolutely no business sense in the decisions they're making over there. Reminds me of an angry child rather than a business person.
----------------

That is exactly what I think.

Rich, you have never posted anything contrary over there. You weren't even part of the Rhino backlash. Go figure.

 

[Iiro]

All the banned should ask all their posts deleted.
Now DT has intellectual property from people they do not respect.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

--------------
Are you sure you didn't say something that might have sounded
critical? Perhaps mumbled it in the shower?
--------------

Well, there WAS that time I mentioned that I liked Leonid...

 

[AGBF]

----------------
On 3/3/2003 7:48

2 AM Sibelius wrote:

All the banned should ask all their posts deleted.

Now DT has intellectual property from people they do not respect.




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

I know that some of the women on DAD with me (at least one) did that and I respect the rights of someone who wants to do that. I did not want to ask Diamond Talk to do that with my postings, though.

I have no attachment to any of the postings, but I dislike destroying public records just as I dislike censorship: because it obscures the truth.

We did destroy our DAD archives after we found the Diamond Talk administrators had read them without the members' permission and then posted about them publicly. Gilbert very disingenuosly suggested in his manifesto to us on Diamond Talk that we publish our archives in their entirety.

He knew that would be impossible since the information in there was NOT primarily about others but about US as we shared our own real life concerns!!! He made it seem we wanted to hide our plots against others (when there were none) when in reality we just didn't think the 'net needed to know all the details about our medical problems and children!

The Diamond Talk owners may have copies of our archives, though, and we know they have disseminated information from them in ways that *obscure* the truth. What they did broke several laws, however.

The DT mode is currently to censor anything and anyone with whom they disagree and cut them out of their version of history.

Know the movie, "Silk Stockings"? It takes place in Paris and in the bad old days of the Soviet Union (USSR). In one scene a character asks for a copy of "Who's Still Who".

That's the current Diamond Talk approach to history: edit the record to fit the image they want to project.

Given how Gilbert and Nathan have already skewed the picture of those of us who were banned, maybe we should ask to get back what belongs to us. They will only use anything we wrote to fit their propaganda, leaving on what they can use to paint the negative picture of us they want.

Maybe you are right, Sibelius.