Spike's Post to All

Here's his post to all us crybabies - which I think is the pot calling the kettle black:

"I'm sorry, but amazingly, I find it difficult to host discussions for those who seem to want nothing more than to rag on me and this site.
I can ceratinly understand that many reasonable people would decide not spend $15 for access to this forum. But the self-righteous, back-stabbing went just a little too far.

So beginning immediately, it's contributing members only. If anyone wishes to discuss, they may email me privately.

For the well-meaning people who simply can't afford it, I'm sorry. I am not happy about my biusiness situation either. From July 2000 to July 2001, our income from the ad networks fell 85%, and in June 2000 they constituted 90% of income. I've laid people off, cut the hours of anyone else working for me, and squeezed more out of every other resource. Meanwhhile, traffic was up 60% this year.

The idea of moving toward membership fees is not a philosophical one, it is simply born of economic necessity.

Recently, this forum has become a real pain and right now there is no extra time to spend cleaning up adolescent ramblings.

Again, if anyone wants to discuss this, they can email me privatelty.

Thanks,

Spike"

As I said in another post...I think he brought it on himself, by the way he treats people. Certainly, idiots who can't behave themselves and go way over the line should be banned. I'm sure that would happen here too. But my situation was nothing like that. As I said before, I didn't even get a warning! I had to find out after 3 emails to him and by that time I was really upset because nobody would reply to me. None of my previous posts were the least bit controversial. He should have at least given me the benefit of the doubt and checked a few of my other posts. I don't feel sorry for him. He's responsible for his own mess.

This message was edited Thursday, Sep 13th 12:20 PM

Well I can certainly understand the need for funding...

However you(SPIKE ARE YOU READING THIS??) can catch a lot more flied with hunny than hunting them down with a swatter!

Be nice and people will be beating you door down to give you money!

NO! They will not!!

"eyes"

I was banned from GW about 1 year ago for still unknown reasons. I have sent over 10 emails to Spike over this time with no response. I even apologised for what ever it was I did and still no response.

No loss really, DG is a better site

Spike , It is too bad you cant see a way for all online gardeners to speak freely, express themselves and build their own reputations. It would be a great step for both sites to become freinds. Or at least co-exist peacefully.
I had to move my e-mail addresses repeatedly to dodge harassing e-mail , after I spoke up against your site.
Yes , I assume , its a mystery to you?
But I am extending my hand, and saying , lets put an end to this.Start fresh. Gardening is all about nurturing, caring and sharing our love of Mother Earth.
Especially at a time like this. Spike, there are many good people in this world, I pray for you to have faith in them.
Let a little love in your heart. It will come back to you 100x over.

Thanks for posting this here. He is nothing short of amazing, that spite. I guess we should thank him for driving us all away to a far better site. A business decision? How about not driving away members, whose every hit on the site means revenue? How much of this nonsense will his advertisers tolerate? It is their dollars being flushed as well.

I like Dave's very much, I also like Gardenweb. Can everyone just move on? There seems to be much higher priorities right now than bashing GW. Also, obviously soemone is hanging out at GW and bashing it at the same time or you could not have found this post to bring over here and muddle up this sight....

Hey "Spike" WWWAAAAAAAAAA!
We dont care about your financial problems. You have more to worry about concerning your personality than you do about money.
Daves is a much more pleasant place to go. Perhaps you could place a post for the ALL the people who will refuse to pay money ( who will eventually be banned anyway) that they are welcome here.

It seems important that we get the message across that we will not tolerate being treated in such a capricious, arbitrary manner, let alone be asked to pay for the privilege. Any number of people who are shut-in have little enough in their lives, without being deprived of their perhaps only outlet. Hopefully they will find their way here... The virtual friends they have made over there may be the only bright spot in days filled with pain and loneliness...

"let alone be asked to pay for the privilege"...LOL Good one...I love it!

weebus, I also like gardenweb and have no problems with it. Many people I know personally (not cyberfriends) post there, and I will continue to help cyberfriends via private emails. However, the problem is the webmaster's attitude, as you would see if read the "problem with gardenweb" post on this forum. He has personally attacked people via his emails to them, accusing them of things they did not do. I have been a target of his personal attacks which were totally uncalled for. He resorts to name-calling and swearing in his emails, which, of course, he does not allow on his website, but it's OK for him to harass via email. I don't put up with that from a "real" person, let alone some faceless webmaster. His actions are unacceptable.

If gardenweb went belly-up tomorrow, oh well. I wouldn't feel sorry for him. It would just be another dot.com company that couldn't make it, like so many others lately.

This message was edited Thursday, Sep 13th 1:38 PM

I understand what you are saying Loba, but why do people get so up in arms? It's just a website that eveyone seems to think is run by a jerk. There are millions of them to be sure. Just don't go there. I do not see how they can be any better by coming here, to a different website, bringing the junk here to dirty it up and then badmouth the guy that badmouths...HUH? FORGET ABOUT IT! JUST DO NOT PATRONIZE THE PLACE.

Life's good

Sorry...I accidentally posted twice...with the click of a button. See below for post...

This message was edited Thursday, Sep 13th 2:55 PM

I got banned for posting a mole picture that he thought was inappropriate, in the pest and disease forum. The thing is, he gave no warning (to me) and offered no 2nd chance. I didn't badmouth anyone. The professional thing to do is contact the "problem" user privately and make them aware of their transgression. At least give them the chance to explain their actions or find out what the actual rules are. Most people just are not aware of the rules in place there...if there are any. That's the biggest problem...the arbitrary nature in which most people are banned. But hey, I guess I'm just a problem user here too huh.
Everyone, please forgive me...I'm just a pathetic loser...and I don't deserve to be here. <<<(sarcasm)

This message was edited Thursday, Sep 13th 2:56 PM

Now, now, have some chocolate. Save the coconuts for a better time. This is a really nice site, and I can understand how the posters who have been here a long time see our venting flustrations about the GP here would be an issue. The fleeing from GP are hurt and angry and many other mixed emotions. Many of us are posting to get rid of some of the emotions. Please forgive us for complaining about another site. Have some chocolate. It's virtual, and it's calorie free!

For the information of the uninitiated like me, what is GP, please? DG has been my gardening home from the start, so I have no history to know what you guys are referring to. Thanks! :)

I believe she means "GW"...GardenWeb.

Removed by member request

Spike

"Get a Life" Treat people with respect and you will be treated the same way.

I'm deleting my statement,
and I apologize.
I had just come home from work,
and was in a goofy mood.
Sorry.


This message was edited Friday, Sep 14th 5:55 AM

It really is starting to sound the same here how sad.

LOL@GL's comment! :)

Can't be - Spike openly owns up to what he does - doesn't really care about the consequences.

LOL Granny!!

People of all walks of life need all sorts of healing...if you dont want to be a part of that healing please dont get nasty with those how do!

People were hurt at GW and they have come here and they also deserve a chance to vent and heal!
What comes around goes around,
remember the three fold rule??
Do unto other as you would have them do unto you???
Does any of this ring a bell??

I didn't want to get in here but I must object to Grannylois's post. That is beyond the limits.

May I also point out that posting references to Daves Garden on the Party forum was an extremely unwise move. What was that meant to achieve - if not to stir the pot?

No forum that I have come across is perfect. No webmaster is perfect. Freedom of speech is inordinately difficult to manage without allowing your posters to descend into flaming wars and vitriol. We are quite close right here, right now.

May I respectfully suggest that all posters pull their heads in for a while until the dust settles and we can react to the days events with a little less hurt, and a little more balance?

Let us not reenact the worlds tragedies in our own little bit of cyberspace, we are all overloaded right now.

Removed by member request

That's right, MzM, leave Spike Hernandez in GW, His site! Here in DG we had love and harmony, and would like to continue in that vein. Leave all that offends behind!!!

"eyes"

I for one will not refer to Spike anymore, but the above poster is correct, people do need to vent about it, something that was not allowed at GW.

Spike who?

I second everything Loba says. Weebus, I would gladly just have put it behind me but for the friends I made there. Several of them were also blocked by Spite just for speaking up for me. Politely. Speaking up politely, not politely banned. Spite was, in fact, quite rude, nasty and abusive about it.

Well put, Viktoria. We need to let spite know that his behavior was just unacceptable, and he should be called on it. A public access forum like GW has a certain responsibility to those it would service, the idea that it is spite's party to run as he chooses shows little respect for those deserving of something better than abuse. I do hope that this does not become a recurrent theme here at Dave's, but the need to vent is real. It seems timely after the posting spite made today, one which admits of no publicly posted replies.

I don't post on GW much--I just read a lot--and I've never had any contact with Spike so I have no basis for judging what he's really like. However, after seeing so many people who appeared well-behaved just disappear, and hearing so many allegations about arbitrary bannings, I find it difficult to believe all of you guys are just troublemakers...

I can't imagine why Spike would act this way, but I hope he will reconsider his demeanor. Carrying on in such a hostile manner over something that is supposed to be fun (like gardening) is such a terrible waste of time.