I've been BANNED from Garden Web! *lol*

Have many of you ever had problems with the Garden Web Seed Exchange? I'm new to all of this seed swapping stuff...just started about a week or so ago. Since that time, I screwed up and posted something on the seed exchange that wasn't specifically asking for seeds, and I got a warning from the webmaster (Spike). Then a few days ago, I posted on the same forum telling people where they could find some software that would help them keep track of their seed exchanges, and Spike banned me from using it! I can't believe Aunty's been banned! *lol* I'm really not offended or even mad....just dumb-founded because of the lack of patience with newcomers. It was an honest mistake...I thought I was HELPING some of the other people ....and without saying a word to me, the guy banned me! After several emails back and forth with him, he's just not interested in letting Aunty back in there. Sheesh! Hope I don't have to watch my P's & Q's in here that tightly...cuz with MY memory, Aunty won't last long here either! *lol* Just thot I'd get this off my old chest and see if anyone else has had similar problems there! Thanks!

Oops....I guess we really need to pay attention to the fine print.

Watch out for the garden police at Dave's. If you step out of line like that here - oh wait this is a general forum. I think you are safe for the moment.

Cheer up - I bet Spike will relent if you properly beg for forgivness.

Smile :)

I immediately told Spike I was sorry and that I was new...and he had no time for me. Either the guy's a real jerk, or he's havin a bad hair day. Either way, I don't think he should be the webmaster there. He has zero tolerance for newbies. With that in mind, the guy obviously doesn't like his job. He'd be nicer if he enjoyed it, don't ya think?

I posted a message on the IRIS forum, asking for help with one of my iris, but because the title said "Need Help" and not the word Iris, such as Need help w/ Iris I got a warning and the message was deleted.
What else would someone think I needed help w/????? The post was on the iris forum??!!
Well, I decided that since I mostly lurk anyway that I will only lurk and not post. If there is something I need to know that isn't on the forum, I just surf the net. If there is someone I want to share info w/ I just e-mail them direct.
While I understand Spike has his hands full and that a webmaster is needed to keep the forums the way they are intended, I do believe he is rather strict and unforgiving for newcomers.
Ok, got mine of my chest too, thanks Aunty, didn't realize I needed to vent that, lol.

This is the first I've heard of this happening. I used GardenWeb's forums during Fall 1999 and Fall 2000, and never heard of this.

I guess that makes sense, though, since people wouldn't talk about that over there. They'd have to come to a neutral territory to discuss it. Glad to provide that forum. :)

In any case, this is disturbing behavior from someone who currently holds a monopoly position in online gardening. Maybe we can change that...

Dave

Since I wasn't sure if the webmaster (Spike) was just having a bad day or what, I decided to write a nice email to the editor of Garden Web explaining to them what happened and that I felt Spike has Zero tolerance for newbies and this was the response I got from the editor:
"You got a warning, didn't you?" DO YOU BELIEVE THAT??? That's ALL the email said to me!!! ONE LOUSY SENTENCE!!! You know, I'm a Christian lady, and I would never want to do anything to offend someone, etc, but I'll tell you...this whole Spike thing sure makes me wanna cuss a blue streak! I just can't believe how they're being with me. You'd think I posted something that was out of line or offensive in there. All I posted was where they could find software to make a list of their SEEDS in! I mean, SHEESH! I posted the stuff in their SEED EXCHANGE!!! *LOL* It's not important to me to get re-instated in their forum. In fact, I don't want to at this point because of the type of people who run it. It's just the principal of the thing, you know? I've gotten emails from other people who have had the same experiences at Garden Web, as well as from "current users" of Garden Web's forum who know this stuff happens but they continue to use it strictly for their exchanges and then they get out of there. What kinda *&^$%@#@&*! is that??? Because of that, I honestly believe that Dave's Garden is going to have a LOT of people switching from Garden Web's forum and coming over here. They're not going to want to put up with that stuff when they can come here to a nicer, friendlier place. Whew! Got that off my chest! (I feel SOOO much better now!...thanks, Dave!) *LOL* Just for the record tho....I'm referring ALL my friends to DAVE'S GARDEN! The BEST, MOST FRIENDLIEST SEED-EXCHANGE ON THE INTERNET! *s*

This is my last posting about the Garden Web dilemna. I just wanted to let you know what their final response to me was. After I recieved their "one sentence email" I wrote to them saying that my intentions were good, I was sorry that I posted to the wrong forum, but I still felt the "punishment for my crime" (getting banned) was too severe for a newbie. I explained to them that my intentions was not to get re-instated on their forums, but to understand why there was such a 'zero tolerance' for these things, when it's a SEED-EXCHANGE FORUM, afterall. I explained I wasn't mad, I just wanted to understand. (I think Aunty took this a little too personal! Like being banned is saying Aunty's a bad person or something, and I'm actually a very nice person, which I tried to tell them!) *lol* Anyway, after getting this response, I give up. I'm not going to discuss this any further. I've hit a dead-end, so I'm done with it now. Just wanted to fill you in on what the final outcome was.
I copied and pasted their email here and put it in perenthesis:

"No one said you weren't a nice person. Spike's a
nice person too.
He sent you nice note asking for your cooperation.
It specifically asked that you use the exchanges
ONLY for arranging trades.
You see, the reason people value the forums is because
they work. They work because they are carefully
monitored.
I suggest you send Spike an apology, and instead
of telling us why you deserved further warnings,
or insisting you were treated unfairly, when you
most certainly were not, you take responsibility
for for your actions and make it clear you will
in the future read the instructions and follow them.
Stop making yourself out to be a victim. It's just
silly." THE END.
Just for the record, the first thing I did was apologize to Spike for posting to the wrong forum. He wasn't interested in hearing ANYTHING from me. Although I consider myself to be a nice person and I'd like to get along with everyone, I will not, however, bend over back-wards to kiss his _____.

I remember when I was kicked out of a trivia chat room once for rushing the bot to ask the next question. He actually kicked me out. I could not believe it. At first, I thought he was kidding. Then my feelings were hurt. Then I got just plain mad. So I deleted that room from my chat room list. I can live without that place.

And now that I'm doing seed swapping, I don't play trivia on the computer at all anymore. This is much more worthwhile!

I'll bet that if you, in the future, would want to trade on gardenweb.com again, you could rejoin under a new name. But it would only be for your convenience and trading, not because they're great or anything.

Just remember, AuntyB, we love you here at davesgarden.com. By the way, are you related to Aunt Bea?

Hi,
I got a right telling of at gardenweb only a couple of weeks ago. Since this summer I've got a cool greenhouse and I wanted to know what type of plants where save to sow in there in the autumn. So first of all I went to the greenhouse forum, but after reading two pages of posts I decided that wasn't the place to be. The post here have more to do with technical stuff like: how to heat; how to build; where do you get; insolation; etc.
So I went to the seed propegation forum; after the all the question had a lot to do with propegating seeds, guess what.... first of all I got a right telling of for asking the question on the wrong forum and then I got told of for not stating my zone. I did mention what the lowest temperature at night in the greenhouse would be; I thought having forst protective heating in there, defeats the object of mentioning my zone.....ah, well still wondering what the answer to question is.

To come back to an earlier posting , usually changing your name on forums and in chatrooms doesn't work. These things often work by reckonizing your computers IP-adress. Now there is a program called "False IP"........

Setting up a false IP (also called IP Spoofing) is easily detected on the server end, and most (or all, I don't know) good firewalls will block this stuff.

FYI. :)

Your technology consultant :)

Dave

So....Granny's an outlaw too, eh? *S* At least I'm in good company then! My feelings were hurt too, Granny. I wasn't angry, just took it as a personal smack in the face or something. It's like, now I feel like I'm labled as a "Garden Web Reject" or something, ya know? *LOL* Just call me AuntyB...the GardenWeb Reject! *lol* I think I'm still in shock! *lol* Anyway, I tried switching names (and my email addy) just to see, and NOPE! Ole Spikey-baby blocked my IP number. (Clever little devil, isn't he?) *S* I met a hacker in a chat room once who (besides being a pain in everyone's side from his antics!) told me how to change my IP # so it would be a different IP all the time, (he was actually caught for his antics and is in prison at this moment too), and I wrote that info down somewhere just so I could try it, but....hmmmmm.....Now where is that paper when I need it?! *lol* Aunty's too honest for that, anyway. (I think?) Yep, I am. And I don't know if it's legal or not. Besides, I don't want to waste my time dealing with people like that. Life is too short! I'm a firm believer that what you give is what you get out of it. So, I'm okay with it. I know it will all work itself out in the end. I'm still a good person, even if Spike won't give me the time of day. (boo-hoo)
And AGNES!!!!!....How dare you post in the seed propagation forum???!!! And you didn't state your zone, either??? You're lucky you weren't banned, young lady! *LMBOBO* Since you weren't banned, you're not OFFICIALLY an outlaw yet, but...I guess you can join the "FUTURE OUTLAWS" club, cuz if you keep it up, I'm sure Spikes gonna have his way with you, too! *LOL* (hope you know I'm just havin fun with ya!)Anybody else have any stories to share??? *S*

I have followed the forums in gardenweb for 4 months now, especially bonsai and what people have posted is that if your message mention money or anything that is linked to a commerical site on their no-no list, gw can and will delete. What happened out there is that when the user attempted to send, he/she was sent to DisneyLand! HAHA That's a funny one.

Big brother is watching!

Why IP casting? Is it really worth the trouble? I thought using an isp would get you a new ip each time since ip host server assign a new one when you log on.

Tim

Many of us use cable modems, where the connection stays up all the time, and the IP address changes only once a week (or less!).

There are also ways to ban a user by IP-subnet. This means blocking the entire ISP! It's only used in the most dire circumstance.

Once I started and operated a website called Linux Today (I since sold it). We had somebody using a malicious program to try to bring our server down - it was causing thousands of hits per minute. I ended up having to ban his entire ISP to keep him from causing any damage.

Dave

I'm new to this site today and I just love it!
I'll be spending more time here I am sure. I think it's more personal and better equiped to handle our needs.

I read this post and now I'm curious as to what software you were talking about and where can I get it or see it?
BTW I got slapped on the wrist as well but not banished. I have found that there are FAVORITES on the garden web that can say anything and threads complaining that should be banned but if you a FAVORITE nobody says a word.
Dave now, don't you ban me I just got here and if this discussion is not allowed just let me know THANKS
Carol

Maybe I should update the FAQ with big bold letters:

There are no garden police here. You will not be banned unless you are doing evil and illegal things. You won't be banned for being a newbie or doing something wrong or posting something silly.

People have the right to build their own reputation as they see fit. People who contribute positive things to the site will have a good reputation. People who do stupid things will get a bad reputation. It's not up to me to decide who gets a good or bad reputation - that's entirely up to YOU!

Best,
Dave

BAN CAROL FOR USING CAPS!! OOPS, I'm using caps too! :)

J/K Carol, welcome to Dave's garden.

Tim

Good to have you join us, Carol! You're RIGHT! This IS a more personal and better equipped website, and I hope you can join us here often! Dave's a pretty neat guy and the rest of the people here are real friendly, too! I'm sure you'll love it here just as much as I do. Just one question tho....What in the world does "BTW" mean? I've seen that a few times lately and have no idea. Thanks!

It's one of hundreds of acronyms that exist.

Dave

BTW means by the way. So By the way tell me about the software Auntie B.
Carol
Thanks for the welcome all of you

There's no software that I'm aware of, Carol. It's just something you do to your computer. It's in the "tools" or something. I don't know how to do it tho. I had it written down somewhere, but can't find it. Sorry. If I do find it tho, I'll be sure and share it with you!

I have been out of the loop for too long now. I can figure out what people are saying. Thank you so much!

What a fun dictionary, I found myself COTFLGOHAHA :)

CUL

*LOL* Couldn't resist!!!

Reading that acronym list, I DNPM (d**m near p*ssed on myself) because it was SOOOOOOo funny. BFN (bye for now).

OK you got me???????????

loved the DNPM

OK, so I picked one that you would have to look in the dictionary to figure out (i.e. crawling on the floor laughing guts out having a heart attack and catch you later :)

See Dave's "BTW means By The Way" post for the link to the dictionary!

Grinning ear to ear - oops GE2E ;)

Rise Ann, that is one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time! Thanks for the big belly laugh!

AuntyB Can you send Andy or Barney to talk to spike? :)
Spike also "spoke" to me about a posting I made. BTW when I surf the gardenweb I almost never post I just e-mail the person directly. They get your e-mail sooner.

I sent a copy of everyones reply to spike and...lookout! LOL!!!!! I hear it might ban all of you from the entire web!! LOL :)
Try begging to spike one more time and hopefully...
Sari

Sari...First of all, you should check the "Seeds I need and Seeds I have to trade" forum, because I answered part of your question there, explaining to you my "latest" experience with Spike. It's kinda long so I don't want to have to re-write it here. Now, on to THIS posting from you...
I'm honestly not bothered by Spike or my banning at this point. And even if I was, I wouldn't beg him for anything. I've come to the conclusion that I don't WANT to post there anyway. The only thing that bothers me at this point is knowing that I CAN'T...because I'm banned. If he un-banned me, I still wouldn't post. Well, maybe ONCE, but just to see if it actually works! LOL He's just not worth it, and neither is GardenWeb, if that's the way they're going to deal with people. (because it's not just Spike...I've also emailed their editor and have gotten the same rude and nasty responses from them!...so don't think it's just a "Spike" thing...Garden Web backs him up ALL THE WAY...and have very rudely told me so!) Since then, I've had a LOT of people email me telling me they've been treated the same way, so knowing that I'm not alone in this only makes me dislike that website even more. I don't like their attitude...I think they're rude, cold, unfriendly, and real control-freaks. They don't "care" about the people who use their forum. They're in it to benefit themselves. In today's society we sometimes HAVE to deal with those kinds of people...to keep our jobs, our bank dealings, etc. But with Garden Web it's a CHOICE. So why would I CHOOSE to deal with those kinds of people? I don't want to deal with anybody who treats people the way they do. It's because of people like that, that we have all the problems we do today. A little kindness goes a LONG way....and they don't even know the meaning of the word! Those kinds of people only make your life more miserable, so why purposely put myself in that position??? And in my opinion, the people who have had the same problems there but continue to use their forums have NO right to complain about how they're treated there either, because they continue to support them by using their forums anyway! Because of that, I honestly don't have the "desire" or "need" to post on their forums. I do try it now and then, just to see if I'm still sent to "Disney Land" when I try to post...and so far I still am! *LOL* (always wanted to go there anyway!) I do chek the forums there, and I email directly to anyone I want to swap with, but at the same time, I also give them a link to THIS forum. ;-) Anyway, Aunty's not a begger. Especially with nasty people. Why would I want to 'hang out' with the kinda people who run that place? Eeek! I've also found several other seed swaps that I've joined and check out regularly. They're not NEAR as good as this one, and I do refer those people to this one too, but I still go to them to see if anyone has anything I want, etc. Anyway, I hope I've answered your question. Don't feel like you need to go to bat for me with Spike OR GardenWeb. You'll not only be wasting your time with them, but I'm not going to gain anything by it anyway, because I still won't post there. Thanks anyway tho! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness! ;-) And to anyone else out there who reads this and wants to do something to "help" me...please don't. I don't want to cause any trouble for Spike or anybody else. (those kinds of people bring enuf trouble onto themselves...I don't want or need to help them do that) And I sure don't want to stir anything up and have a bunch of people mad over this. I honestly believe that this will work itself out in the end....one way or the other. The Lord sees to it that everybody gets what they give in the end, if not sooner....and I'd rather leave it in HIS hands, okay? :-) Have a great day! And don't stress out over this! Life is TOO short!

If you really did send all our replies to gardenweb.com, you didn't help anyone. If I wanted my reply to go to them, I would have done it myself. I check into gardenweb.com every night and don't want that taken away.
I totally agree with AuntyB in everything she said about not begging and not getting even. She's one wise Aunty.
And now it's time for GrannyLois to get ready for work.... on this frigid cold morning. It feels like Minnesota-land where AuntyB lives!! Brrrrrr !

Dave's garden obviously supports Garden Web via references and links, and the continued use of their forums by many of the majority of the members here. Don't think that GW isn't acutely aware of what is happening over here. Their site is obviously for-profit and they may worry that they are losing customers this way. On the other hand, I'm sure that they are also aware that they are gaining customers from Dave's site and that they have a loyal following here as well.

Garden Web is loaded with extremely valuable information, gardening resources, seed trading contacts, and a lot of just plain good people. While I realize that Spike may be a bit cantankerous and overzealous in enforcing the rules, I continue to use Garden Web for those purposes regularly.

I like you AuntyB and as I read your posts I can tell you are a good soul and you don't want this to happen to anyone else. Others coming into Dave's see it too and want to help you. I understand how important it is to get things like this off of your chest, which I think you have done eloquently.

I love Dave's because it is also an extremely valuable resource, I have a large seed inventory that I am maintaining, an opportunity to contribute to the growth of this site, I have met some wonderful people, I can make a trade without losing critical information, and in addition to all of that, it is a place where those of us who have this common interest can LOL and talk about our gardens, our families, the weather and the things that make us feel good or bad about life without fear of reprimand.

Have a HAPPY Monday all!

It is the cliquiest site I have ever seen with minimal garden knowledge available . The site leader ( the so called KWEEN ) is the most elitist person I have ever met during the last 4 years of Gardening web surfing ; she constantly deletes all postings that she does not like ( depending on the mood of the day ) . They constantly badger visitors for money and make them feel guilty for visiting if they do not donate . Thanks for the great site Dave . FREEDOM OF SPEACH LIVES HERE :)))) LONG LIVE DAVE !!!:)

GrannyLois,

I would NEVER EVER do that. It was just a joke. I also feel like AuntyB if someone treats me bad I don't go back. That said I would bet that "someone" at the gardenweb is probably looking at what is going on here. The "joke" was kind of (not sure how to put it) way of making folks realize that someone could do that or that they might be doing it. Before my husband was hurt and unable to work he was a computer geek/guru and that kind of stuff does happen. But... I don't live in "fear" of being "ban". I try to remember they need ME not the other way around. I feel like they made a mistake with AuntyB. That said I have received e-mails from folks I've trade with on the gardenweb trying to sell me something. If they treat alot of people like they treated AuntyB they will go out of business, it that simple.
I also hoping that someone at the gardenweb might read this and see how ,for lack of better word upset that some of the more frequent gardenweb users are over the treatment of AuntyB and invite her back to the gardenweb.

Sari

Ok. I understand. Thanks for setting me straight. What's say we put an end to this whole AuntyB getting banned topic? I believe we've beat this dead horse long enough.

More for new readers to ponder.

As I said before on another bannee site: I was just wondering if Disney know their site is being used illegially? Maybe we could sue Spike for millions on behalf of Disney - like a class action suite?

I have to say that over at Spikes Hot Pit he can either detect who has been banned but using a different email address from the same computer but choses to look the other way as long as its a favorable post or he just blocks out any unfavorable posts from anyone and everyone because I have been posting under a different name and I usually can get posts on as long as they are favorable.

Ladies just be happy your not married to the man. LOL

I too have been "warned" (and not so nicely) by Spike in the last couple of years.......he's gotten to be the most arrogant, short-tempered egomaniac I've run across in ages! He allows his "favorites" (and the "Queen's") to say or do anything they want, yet anyone he's not familiar with or doesn't like, he boots to Disney.

I think that finally he is getting his just rewards though (look at how many people have signed up here in the last week!)....and this has just been since Spike posted that he might have to start charging fees for use of the GW (all due to his inept business practices!)........I know of many decent, good-hearted, well-meaning people that he's booted off his elitist site, for no good reason other than they ticked him off. He recently accused a very conscientious, knowledgeable and kind friend of mine of doing something she didn't and he threatened to Disney her too.....she gave him directions to hell and left the GW and came here.

I know that just in the past week, I have personally referred about 40 gardeners to this site, (even before I joined it myself), as we are all getting fed up with the dictatorship that rules the GW, and how we have been treated.

ALthough I've not been banned (yet! probably will after Spike reads this post!! LOL), I doubt if I'll be using the GW much anymore - there's just too many good information/trading sites available and like Aunty B said, (whom I know and can vouch for being a 'good person"!),life is too short for this garbage!

I am thrilled that Dave's site is one where we can be civil, have fun and best of all -- enjoy gardening!!!!

Hi mom24cats.
Not that this has anything to do with Spike ( been there....One way ticket to Disney LOL) but do you have 24 cats? Just wondering. I was up to 6 and I did find it easy accumulate after number 3.
Have only 4 but sure the number will rise this spring. I am such a sucker.....LOL
Minnie-Janice