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  • I could use a little of your knowledge, Sir

    I have been navigating the site for several days now and love it. It is far more vast than it initially appears. I have mostly just read forum posts and I've figured some stuff out, but for the most part, I still just have a lot of questions. I'll ask a few, but I'll try not to overwhelm you all at once.

    I read your post on how stuff from China gets here and into the DocStore. I can't for the life of me however, find the DocStore. Could you tell me how to find it?

    Doc's Dungeon: (regular, banished and supermembers only). Can the elite, underworld, and other members types not access this forum?
    Is banished simply a playful moniker for certain friends or did they actually do something to piss you or the russbo members off?
    What is the story with Blooming Tianshi Lotus, why is she the only one posting threads down there, and a strange gut feeling tells me it might be a mistake to post on her threads. Is there anything to that?

    Thank you again,
    -Michael

  • #2
    That last part sounded a little different than I intended. What I meant to communicate was: Is it a mistake for a newbie to post replies to the threads of banished members? Plus, I was thinking that it seems the only people who have done so are long time members.

    Comment


    • #3
      The Docstore is history.

      First, a little history.

      Many years ago, when streaming video was not an option on most servers, we had it here on russbo.com. For one reason: I had purchased my own server, maintained it, and had it functioning on a high speed T1 which was running out of my house. In fact, that SHDSL T1 was the first one of two, installed in Las Vegas, residential wise. We're talking oh, six years ago? I was using an Apple server, as it gave me the opportunity to stream video, which, is why most of the streamed video in the Video Library uses QuickTime. For martial arts websites, we were one of the first, if not the first, to have reliable, varied, streamed videos.

      Owning the server also gave me the opportunity to put an estore on it. So, I did. At that time, I was busy importing stuff from Shaolin, both because I thought it was fun, and also, in preparation for the school I was working on creating here. The first, genuine Shaolin training center, west of Texas. I discovered that importing shit from China was a true pain in the ass. It cost money, it was difficult, and it was fraught with all sorts of difficulties. We got tired of it rather quickly.

      The Docstore disappeared last year, when, finally, the price of renting large amounts of space on commercial servers diminished. When you consider that russbo.com needs space in the realm of gigabytes instead of megabytes, renting commercial server space six years ago would have cost me thousands of dollars a month. Instead, purchasing a server for a few thousand dollars, and paying around six hundred dollars a month to have the high speed line in my house, seemed like a better option. In fact, at that time, it was the only option. Now, with prices being more reasonable, I moved everything to two commercial servers (russbo.com and org), and, in the process, got rid of the Docstore. Just didn't want to configure the software and all the items onto the new server.

      Instead, I moved everything into the russboClassifieds section, where, everyone can post and try to sell their stuff. It seems like a better option. Much simpler to implement, and more avaialble to anyone that wants to use it.
      Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

      "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

      (more comments in my User Profile)
      russbo.com


      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by michael289
        That last part sounded a little different than I intended. What I meant to communicate was: Is it a mistake for a newbie to post replies to the threads of banished members? Plus, I was thinking that it seems the only people who have done so are long time members.
        Whether it's a mistake or not depends upon how much "entertainment" you're willing to deal with. Everyone, outside of HELL, is free to post anywhere, with the exception of a few forums that I keep restricted for myself, for announcements.

        All groups should be able to post in HELL. HELL was formulated for those people that, for various reasons, either needed time to cool off, or, reconfigure their thought processes. Unfortunately, the banished members that typically occupy HELL, can't get their thought processes reconfigured, so, Satan puts them in there. They're free to do whatever they want in there, within reason. They're released when they've demonstrated that they no longer pose a threat to the educational integrity of the rest of the forums. "Pissing me off" is not a reason to go to HELL; I could really give a shit if someone pisses me off. My concern is maintaining some sort of integrity in the rest of the forums; they've been constructed and organinzed to provide people with some sort of educational value. And if not that, at least, some sort of, albeit warped and disturbed, entertainment value.

        Feel free to play with BTL. You might want to read some parts of Doc's Hospital to get a better idea as to what you're dealing with. But for now, because she's basically been overwhelming HELL with nonsensical shit, which I'm afraid has been scaring others away, I've banned her from HELL.

        Imagine. Being banned from HELL. What an honor.

        With the new russbo estore, forum members, given that they have enough docdollars, can purchase the ability to ban, and unban, other forum members. Yes, imagine the fun you can have with that. I'm waiting for some of our wealthier members to start "playing" with certain other members. Trips to HELL might be more commonplace. But, as opposed to the real one, russbo HELL can be a fun place to spend time in. Anything goes in russbo HELL...
        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

        (more comments in my User Profile)
        russbo.com


        Comment


        • #5
          if for some reason you feel a need to ban a member or send them to HELL but are short the required amount of docdollars, you can accumulate them 1) via "theft," 2) the lottery (both functions in the estore), or 3) by creating threads and posting comments.

          i don't think you can make docdollars in the Colliseum any longer.

          btw, glad to have you. enjoy.
          ZhongwenMovies.com

          Comment


          • #6
            I'll fix the Colliseum, soon. Forgot about that.
            Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

            "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

            (more comments in my User Profile)
            russbo.com


            Comment


            • #7
              At this point, I can't seem to get the colliseum to grant points with the new system. I think I'll have to upgrade the entire forum software to the latest and greatest, which, quite honestly, with all the hacking and other stuff I've done to this, would literally take weeks.

              You'll have to resort to theft to get your docdollars. Sorry. I'll work on it...
              Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

              "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

              (more comments in my User Profile)
              russbo.com


              Comment


              • #8
                Michael289, you are a breath of fresh air!

                In my humble opinion Russbo is a community. Its a bit like Martial Arts "Speakers Corner" something akin to "Speakers Corner" in Hyde Park, London, UK. As with Hyde Park, in London, the mere fact that you can post (- talk) and people will read (- listen) brings to the surface the Narcissistic in the community. As is the case up the other end of the scale from where you find the very self-denigrating, you find the virulently narcissistic like BTL. Right up there in the never regions of Narcissism the personality breaks down and the thought process is disrupted. Speakers Corner in Hyde Park has a high proportion of nuts, and the police are usually always in attendance ensuring that because it’s a democracy they get their slot and are moved on. Very high membership Forums like this, inevitably attract their fair share too, and the Russbo Team seem to spend a lot of their time, as police, trying to ensure that the nuts don’t run riot.

                This is extremely problematic, because, for example, a very high proportion of the mathematical geniuses of this world fall into the category of seriously thought disrupted. Which implies that the lack of anchoring in solid reality (psychosis and thought disruption) has facilitated a large proportion of the advancements in mathematics and to our lives. At the same time, I suspect that living with these geniuses, was and is in almost all cases, a nerve-wrecking experience. One example is John Nash. "The Beautiful Mind" Biography and Film are both time worthy, in seeing both the genius and its side effects.

                I think we had the same in BTL... at times you come across glimpses of raw enlightenment that make you want to jump in and play around with her, and once you've summoned up the courage, you do so. Soon after you very quickly realise that you're playing with fire, and have opened up a can of worms, that you can't shut. Sadly, BTL is clearly a very clever person, but getting at the cleverness is outweighed by the dysfunction you have to put up with in getting at it.

                I think both Doc and Onesp1ng have personally learnt this lesson the hard way, and in fact are still learning this lesson, as BTL continues to harass them both personally. I knew what I was dealing with, in BTL (once they kindly flagged it up to me). I have been in their position once before, only in life / not on the internet. Its scary and debilitating, and I've no intention of going back there for anyone, or starting the madness (and it is madness!) with anyone else. The Forum has also learnt the lesson the hard way, as when BTL is in episode, everyone else is intimidated from chipping in and this has affected the throughput on the site. BTL is so pervasive and verbose, she even manages to crowd out the board from the depths of Hell! This unfortunately suppresses the whole Forum, and you Michael289, have just here attested to it.

                Don’t worry Michael289, BTL is projecting so much stuff on to other people, that its inevitable that when you say it like it is about her, you feel a bit of guilt for how she is behaving… if anything it implies that you have a healthy empathy capacity. She probably makes all of us empathetic types feel a bit guilty in not just accepting her, (she's revelling in this with Doc at the moment).

                The fact that only long time members engage with BTL is that we are the only ones with enough experience of BTL to make a judgement of whether we can come away unscathed. Just look at the proportion of BTL’s last two weeks postings aimed at humiliating and intimidating me. Has this done me any damage publicly? – probably not, most can realise that she’s unstable. Did I take any of it personally? – I don’t think so... still its not pleasand being poured contempt on and bullied.

                Problem now is that Doc is stuck in a psychodynamic with BTL, and when someone does as you are doing Michael289, saying something positive about BTL, Doc's "Mr Nice Guy (nice to everyone even BTL)" side comes out. So we can observe that, whereas he should know by now that he and the board has already gone round the loop twice (and that’s enough!!!!!):

                1) having BTL on the board,
                getting out of control,
                flattering her by putting her in Hell,
                banning her,

                2) having her on the board (i.e. bringing her back as a guest),
                back as BTL in Hell,
                seeing the situation deteriorate again...
                banning her for the second time

                he’s evidently still stuck in the dynamic…:

                "Feel free to play with BTL. You might want to read some parts of Doc's Hospital to get a better idea as to what you're dealing with. But for now, because she's basically been overwhelming HELL with nonsensical shit, which I'm afraid has been scaring others away, I've banned her from HELL.

                Imagine. Being banned from HELL. What an honor. "


                … and he's still planning on having her back!!!!!

                Now don't forget that at this point in time BTL can still read what we are writing... and so she has also picked up that Doc is going to let her cool off and then bring her back. She then takes this as a confirmation that he does still love her (even though, I hasten to guess, he's never been even 1% interested in BTL in the romantic sense)…

                ... and he wonders why she continues to harass him?

                Time to smell the coffee Doc!

                Anyway Michael289, please do join us, as I said, your direct and open posting is a welcome breath of fresh air.

                BTW, I'm Chicken, one of the presently rare female posters on the board (BTL we suspect finds other females a threat, and so finds ways to pour contempt on them and bully them so she can maintain her centre of attention position, i.e. Malignant Narcissism). I don't practise physical gongfu as I'm not in the slightest bit interested in breaking out in anything more than a spiritual sweat, on account of trying qigong and taichi twice with Shi Hengxuan taking 10 days to recover… still we’re married now, so I do have an angle on the socio-economic side of things. I have also been a sinophile for a long time, and now have all the benefit and disadvantage of the difference of being not just involved but committed.

                For example: I’m now the legal owner of half a hovel in Henan… I’m still out as to whether that’s an advantage or disadvantage. Any thoughts?

                Welcome!

                Chicken

                Comment


                • #9
                  You know, you're missing one aspect of this whole BL (and others, in the past) discussion, and why I'm tolerant of it. And that is, the educational value associated with reading this stuff. Personally, all joking and kidding with these people aside, there is a lot to be learned from interpreting what they say and how they interact, from a medical an psychiatric point of view.

                  You get out of it what you look for. If you see this stuff as purely antagonistic and irritating, then that's what you'll see in it. Look deeper, and you'll see the inner workings of people's minds. In a way, it's fascinating.
                  Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                  "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                  (more comments in my User Profile)
                  russbo.com


                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I see what you're saying Chicken, and no one's really said it in those terms before. But in all honesty, I think the reason is that most people don't really take her very seriously. She doesn't kill conversation because she intimidates people, she kills conversation because she interrupts it with a bunch of extremely argumentative nonsense.

                    You can refute what she's saying (if you can pin down exactly what that is), but it doesn't even slow her down. In that sense she's like thousands of other people on the web, the principal difference being that she never gets tired of it. There have been a few of those on this board before but they've taken the hint and moved on.

                    The thing is, to his credit, Doc (this is my guess) really, really doesn't like censorship. When it gets too out of hand he'll ban people, but really the purpose of keeping conversation going is served by putting her bullshit in its own, special place, out of the way of the normal forum, but not shutting her up completely. Maybe he's giving her false hope by not banning her outright, but after all, she's crazy, and I don't think Doc wants to grant her virtual martyrdom (TM) by doing so. That's my take on it anyway.

                    It is important to remember that this while an internet forum can be like your "speakers' corner" in a lot of ways, it's not. It's better, in the sense that there's no chance of a physical riot breaking out and the narcissist in question is on the other side of the world. So to an even greater extent than in reality, people should be able to speak their minds, including the nuts.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Zachsan, yes, you are right to a degree, but this last week she locked on to me like a pit bull and started shaking.... did you read it? She's a bully and she intimidates me.

                      Never understimate the mentally ill... one of the major reasons I moved back to China 2005 was my very own 6'2", 220lb, schizophrenic ex, who started moving back to the UK from US the day I convinced him I never intend to see him again, so he could continue stalking me right up until this very day.

                      No Doc, I'm 100% with you on the educational aspect of it. My own experience with my ex has given me more insight into cognition and behaviour in myself and others than I could have ever dreamed of, and certainly to the point that I believe I can see straight through what is happening between you and BTL here on Russbo...

                      But what about the ethics of actually using her in this way, as an experiment? I don't think she's well enough to realise that she's being facilitated in humiliating herself for our entertainment and education to such a degree, and for me that's an abuse of someone so evidently mentally ill.

                      Cheyenne, thanks for the support. The Witch has pressed so many of the Wizard's buttons, that he's hoodwinked from realising that he's letting a bully run amuck in his playground!

                      Aiya!

                      Chicken

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        The wizard knows that the witch is running amok in the playground. And he doesn't mind it.

                        But your point of "the ethics of using her in this way...", well, I had thought about it. But, you haven't been here long enough to know. I had banned her many times in the past, and have actually had phone conversations with her. I had made it clear that she had no further reason to visit with us on the forums, or, with me by telephone. She did not take that advice. She is mentally clear enough, and mature enough, to make her own decisions. She made a choice, many times, to return, and to continue to harass me. As it has been made clear many times in the past, anything that is sent to me can be used, albeit as anonymously as possible, on this website, for whatever purpose. She's aware of that, and she has made the concious choice to continue to communicate with me and us. Her choice. Not mine.

                        I have difficulties classifying her, or anyone else, as "mentally ill". We all have our foibles, granted, some more than others. I don't know exactly what hers is; it's not my job, it's not my raison d'etre. She has a right to post and communicate on this forum just as much as you do. I continue to let her do so, from time to time, depending upon how I view her "competence", for many reasons, first and foremost, it's not my job to decide what people want to talk about here. I put her in HELL when her ramblings become nonsensical and irritating to others. I put her in Eternally Damned when her ramblings in HELL become very nonsensical and very irritating to others. She occasionally has good points; if you read her stuff, she's not an ignorant person. The problem is, sometimes you have to dig through a lot of crap to find the pearls.

                        If I decided what people were allowed to say on this forum, then this forum would not be worth a shit. If you read extensively through these forums, you'll find many negative things written about me. I allow it. This 6'3" 230 lb bald mf wizard can deal with it.

                        Don't let her intimidate you. Or, anyone else for that matter.
                        Experienced Community organizer. Yeah, let's choose him to run the free world. It will be historic. What could possibly go wrong...

                        "You're just a jaded cynical mother****er...." Jeffpeg

                        (more comments in my User Profile)
                        russbo.com


                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Wow. I don't think I have ever been so intrigued by a great book or a good story as this thread has made me intrigued by this group of people and their interactions.

                          Onesp1ng, Doc, Chicken, everybody. . . Thank you all for the warm welcome. I look forward to communicating with all of you guys.

                          First, I have a degree in Psychology, so I certainly appreciate the knowledge and insight if not entertainment as well that can be derived by the study and or interaction with both geniuses and the mentally ill/unstable. I have known several geniuses in my life and maintain friendships with a few. Some of them are so normal, well-grounded in reality, in possession of so much common sense, and speak so plainly that nobody but a genius would know they posses that kind of intellect. Some of them are damn wierd, too -and usually very entertaining when you get them in small doses. The mentally ill, however are a varied group of individuals with varied personalities and problems, so approaching them all the same way is not effective. Many people even seem crazy who aren't -something to keep in mind.

                          I haven't spoken to BTL yet, so I won't address that one yet, but suffice it to say that her posts are quite intriquing -if a little incoherent.

                          I have to go to Jiu Jitsu now, I promised my friend I would give it a shot for a while, but I will be back on here in an hour or two; I have more to ask/talk about.

                          Later,
                          -Michael

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            That was a good workout. Grappling, arm-bars, and a nasty technique called a "four wins throw" Anybody ever heard of that one?

                            Chicken, if you don't do martial arts, how did you come to know all these people in the MA world? And for that matter, you are married to a monk, correct? ?? As far as being half owner of a hovel in Henan, I don't know enough about China or anything going on over there to form an opinion, but half a hovel sounds better than no hovel at all .

                            If you are banned from Hell, then what does that mean and what does that allow you to do on russbo? No posting at all? Does Eternally Damned mean kicked off the whole website? Just curious. If my questions get to be a bother, just let me know.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              half a hovel sounds better than no hovel at all
                              boy, if I only had a nickel..lol...
                              ZhongwenMovies.com

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