Serial poster

[Swifty]

We seem to be under attack again on the home page, 6 articles in the last few days. I did a quick google of his name and he writes brief articles on other sites, if it's anything like the previous one, it's all cut and paste. Appears to have a need to get his name and articles out there.

Paul.

 

[Tin Falcon]

Yep appears to be classic information regurgitation.

tin

 

[Nerdz]

I fear that there could be repercussions for making this public, but it does have to be said. Look at this article (I mentioned it to the Admin a few months ago) :
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/The-Nature-of-a-Biomass-Gasifier.html

Now look here: http://www.mdpub.com/gasifier/index.html

Notice anything? The photos are taken from that website. No citation was provided for the original source in the Article on HMEM. This should be a major issue, as I highly doubt the author had permission from the original Source. I could be wrong though. I only know of the mdpup website because that is how I build my own panels. Makes me wonder how much other stuff is "stolen".

 

[Philjoe5]

classic information regurgitation

This was called plagiarism not long ago. There seems to be an assumption now that any information that is published on the internet is fair game for copying, sharing, etc. That may be true in the purely legal sense but it does not convey an appropriate message, IMHO, about the nature of this board.

To imply that someone else's work is my own and not credit the original author is cheating and lying. If I were to take someones build log from here and publish it elsewhere as my own, would that be ethical? No it would not, and I would appreciate seeing this practice disappear from this board pronto.

Phil

 

[Sshire]

Agree 100%, Phil. It saddens me to see the quality of this forum moving from what was, IMHO, one of the premier model engineering sites, to one with total disregard for the original creators's work. The only reason that forums exist is through the generosity of the members sharing what they have done and what they have learned.
If this flagrant disregard for someone's work product continues, I will stop sharing my builds and fade into the sunset.


Sent from my iPhone using Model Engines

 

[Admin]

I bring in all writers, and as I've said in the past if you see issues let me know and I will correct it. Don't start "This site is terrible" talk when I/m giving you the tools to correct it.

 

[Philjoe5]

[FONT=&quot]When I was asked to be a moderator a year ago I asked the question, “What are my duties as a moderator?”. At the time IIRC I was told a moderator was to alert and eliminate spam, stop flaming wars and that was about it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]It seems now that moderators have the additional responsibility to read articles that appear on the home page and determine if they are original work or not. That is asking a lot from volunteers who may not have the means to adequately police what appears on the home page. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And yet, by posting the articles in the first place, the owner(s) of the site are displaying work that may not belong to the author who submitted it. And they are sending a message that it’s OK to do that until one of the volunteers takes the time to determine if the work is original. That’s not right. The owner(s) of the site who have the means to post articles, advertising etc. have the responsibility to review those items before they are posted. If that is contrary to current management thinking, that’s fine, just don’t ask me to be part of it.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sadly, after participating here for 7 years I am resigning as moderator and will seek a hobby machinist community elsewhere. I feel the original intent of the board as set up by Rick has been lost IMHO. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Austin, I am not saying this site is terrible. It’s a great community and has brought a lot of hobby machinists together. What is terrible is the way it is currently managed. I have no ill will toward this site and will keep all my photos and videos in place, but I won’t be coming back.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Phil[/FONT]

 

[kquiggle]

I am not a moderator, and I cannot claim to have read every post on this site, but I do visit this site frequently and read a fair percentage of posts. Based on that, it does not appear to me that the kind of issue you are referring to is very infrequent. On the contrary, it has been my experience that when someone makes a post that is based on previous work, they are careful to credit (and frequently link to) the work that inspired them. Further, while I have been a member for not quite two years, I have not noticed any reduction in the quality of the site.

This is not to say that there are not some bad apples. It's just the nature of the Internet that any successful site attracts some unsavory characters, and weeding out such nonsense is just an unfortunate cost of doing business.

Phil - I just want to say that your work as a moderator (and all of the other moderators) is much appreciated. I know it is often a (literally) thankless task, and it's easy to see how someone would suffer burn out after seven years. Good luck to you, and perhaps you'll think about returning (not necessarily as a moderator), after some time away.

 

[Swifty]

My original post about the serial poster was only to inform the owner / managers of the problem popping up again. We had a lot of discussion between members last time this happened, with several saying they were leaving. I did not want to start another big discussion about the same thing. Perhaps, in hind site, I should have tried to contact Austin directly to bring the problem to his attention, however if I was incorrect in my assumption of the postings, it would have been an injustice to the poster. I thought that it was best for several members to check up on my thoughts.

Stan, I would hate to see you fade into the sunset, and Phil, please reconsider as I enjoy reading your posts. Sites like this one are open to abuse from pests, I have occasionally reported blatant advertising in posts via the "report" button, and these have been promptly removed, that facility appears not to exist in the articles section on the home page.

I usually read every post and article, even if it is not something that I have an interest in, I can still pick up hints and methods from these posts though.

I thought that once the problem about an article was brought to notice, it would be removed and the problem fixed, however as I stated earlier, several members have to be of the same opinion.

Paul.

 

[Swifty]

Another problem that I see is that the articles are nearly useless, shown below is the list of materials required to make (or design as the author has stated) an engine, the list was taken straight from the article.

1.Plywood
2.Brass tubing.
3.Tea light candle
4.Epoxy Glue
5.Plastic tubing
6.Piano wire
7.Elastic bands

Could someone please point out where these materials are used in making an engine, brass tubing is OK, but what is the candle used for?

Paul.

 

[Tin Falcon]

The "AUTHOR" that wrote this article http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/Home-Model-Engine-Machining-A-beginners-Lesson.html
Just poorly edited , condensed and retitled my thread found here:
http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f27/geting-started-model-engine-building-8701/

And this thread. http://www.homemodelenginemachinist.com/f27/selecting-first-engine-build-15183/

And he can not even copy the information correctly.

I made this statement

Avoid running fits of like metals. use softer metals on parts that are more easily machined and replaced.

Mr Robinson
rewrote it to read

Materials: Use softer metals on parts that need to be replaced:

A statement that does not even make sense.

I really hope this character is not being compensated in any way to plagiarize and misinterpret the the work of the members of this forum. To pay this guy would be an insult to the moderators and members that freely contribute quality material.

IMHO the writers that know best this material are the people that author the threads and posts here.
Tin

 

[Tin Falcon]

I went back and re-read most of Kyial Robinson's articles. I will not comment on the one about the RC controllers As it is not an area i have strong knowledge in .
1) the Oscillator article poorly written, little if any useful info.
2) beginner article My work plagiarized.
3) Painting article poorly written little useful information .
4)Foundry article again useless. Poorly organized. gives tips of pitfalls but don't does not help if there is not this is the correct way presented. .
5)beginner engine article. subject matter does not match title. no organization just gleaned info thrown together.


IMHO this person does not likely have the Knowledge ,Skill, or Ability to accomplish building even the simplest project he is attempting to write about.
Tin

 

[idahoan]

Where can I get a lather, I guess I need one to make model engines?

Dave

 

[Tin Falcon]

You work up a lather when you use SOAP and water to clean engine parts before painting.
Tin

 

[Admin]

I will be dismissing that writer due to the issue they presented.

I'm not trying to pass the buck, I'm just not one to determine the issues with the technical issues of the articles.

I will be contacting some people (not you guys) to see how best we can proceed.

 

[Admin]

For the record the articles are still up while under review. I don't have a a system that allows me to take them down but still be visible for review.

I apologize for their continued presence.