Ask the Moderators

[the captain]

It seems that after a few mods posted what I thought were pretty reasonable requests for acceptance and tolerance, the negative response (PREsponse) died down.

Hopefully everyone everywhere can get over themselves and their drama to just talk online about The Beach Boys, music, or whatever else is permissible on each board—and not obsess or bitch (whether initially justified or not)—about other boards and members.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Sounds great to me

[rab2591]

Solid advice indeed.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Posted in the psf thread in the sandbox. Hopefully that will continue the process

[the captain]

Kudos on a great post. I support you fully.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

Thank you...much appreciated

[SMiLE Brian]

Billy is a diplomat!

[thatjacob]

A poster over at the r/thebeachboys on reddit mentioned that they couldn't get approved here and have tried signing up twice. If you see the username fastballooninghead pop up, they seem to be a  decent poster. I lurked through their post history on reddit and didn't see any arguments or trolling. 

[leafy]

Hello, is there a mobile friendly way to access/read this site? Text doesn't wrap to the typical mobile width, so to read a whole line of text one has to be zoomed out that squinting doesn't even help. Any tips?
thanks

[Stephen W. Desper]

COMMENT:

I hope this is the right place to ask for help.  If you can offer advice, please send instructions via the private message service.

Question:   How do I post a photo from Windows 10 - "photos"?  I have a few photos from my camera that have been put into files in the photo sections of MSWindows 10.  Is it possible to get them posted onto the Smileysmile message board? I know how to post photos from the Internet using the image web address button, but how do you post images from the Windows 10 photo section?  Someone suggested a third-party interface. Is there any other way to post -- more direct.

Thanks for your help.  ~SWD

[guitarfool2002]

COMMENT:

I hope this is the right place to ask for help.  If you can offer advice, please send instructions via the private message service.

Question:   How do I post a photo from Windows 10 - "photos"?  I have a few photos from my camera that have been put into files in the photo sections of MSWindows 10.  Is it possible to get them posted onto the Smileysmile message board? I know how to post photos from the Internet using the image web address button, but how do you post images from the Windows 10 photo section?  Someone suggested a third-party interface. Is there any other way to post -- more direct.

Thanks for your help.  ~SWD

Hello Stephen, unfortunately there is no way to upload images directly from a user's computer files or hard drive onto the board. Some message board platforms do allow it, but the best way to do it in general is to get an online photo host site on which to upload and store your images.

I used to use Photobucket but they changed to a pay service with ridiculous monthly fees and restrictions on "hotlinking" image URL's to message boards or blogs. This is why many of my previous posts containing photos now have no photos.

I switched to and would recommend you try Imgur, here: https://imgur.com/

They are a free photo hosting site with an easy to use platform. Sign up, get the password, and you can start uploading any images from your computer's files or even direct from a phone or camera's storage. When you upload an image, you will see a menu that has a "direct link" option, which you can then copy and paste that URL here or elsewhere as you would with any other image found online. And you can set privacy settings and accessibility so your files being hosted can be protected.

Until or unless Imgur decides to start changing and charging crazy fees as other sites had done, I'd recommend giving them a try. They're the best hosting site I found, and have had no issues...plus, they allow remote direct linking which is what I think you're looking for.

[PetSmile]

As I mentioned in the Beach Boys general discussion channel, Fred Vail has said that crowdfunding to give him directly the much needed support to release the Fred Vail album commercially. I have agreed to kickstart things a little, and he was happy to hear that. Would one of the moderators here, who is reliable be willing to quite simply create a GoFundMe account (which is completely free, by the way) so that we could all start donating to it? We already have an anonymous donor who's willing to put in £250, and some more.

Ideally, it would be Billy, as he's cool. So I guess I should address you Billy directly -- are you happy to make this account quickly and share the link with us?  If not, I'll take it upon myself to raise after in the start of April.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

I think there’s some sort of server issue

[“Big Daddy”]

Any reason when I access the site on my phone it tells me I’m banned but when I access the site on my computer everything works fine? I guess I’ll try to keep on the straight and narrow going forward just in case

Edit: I was able to clear my cookies/history on my phone and re-log in and everything’s fine again, so nevermind.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

That’s odd

[guitarfool2002]

There have been issues before with people who log in using their phones or mobile devices. I think most if not all eventually straighten out as described above, but some mobile carriers which use certain IP addresses could hit on an address which is banned from the board and that's why it shows up that way for the user. Best fix to try is the one listed above for now, clear all cache and cookies and try again. If someone can log in using a laptop or computer but can't on a mobile device with the same user info, the mobile device and IP seems to be the cause.

[Stephen W. Desper]

Several of my friends have recently posted on SmileySmile and within an hour their postings were taken down. All their posts had one thing in common, my name, Stephen W. Desper. 

Is there a problem associated with using my name for a discussion topic?  This is a "Beach Boy Discussion Board" is it not?  Are some topics off-limits? If so, what could possibly be so offensive about using my name, Desper in any Beach Boy discussion topic? 

Please advise. ~Stephen W. Desper

[jeannethornton]

Hi, my name is Jeanne Thornton, and I'm the author of a novel called Summer Fun, recently out from Soho Press. The book is about a transgender woman living in New Mexico in the early 2000s who's writing obsessive fan letters to a reclusive musician named B--, leader of a fictional 1960s band from California called the Get Happies, who largely vanished from the public eye after failing to complete a masterpiece psychedelic album called "Summer Fun." As a very big fan of an ACTUAL California band from the 1960s that folks here have certainly heard of, I think there is some obvious relevance to this forum, and I suspect that people here might enjoy it.

But I also don't want to be weird in how I post about my book. Is there any guidance from moderators? I'm not sure what the policy is for things like this and where/if this might be okay to post.

Thank you for any guidance you can provide, and thank you for moderating a forum that I've enjoyed lurking for some time!

[guitarfool2002]

Hi, my name is Jeanne Thornton, and I'm the author of a novel called Summer Fun, recently out from Soho Press. The book is about a transgender woman living in New Mexico in the early 2000s who's writing obsessive fan letters to a reclusive musician named B--, leader of a fictional 1960s band from California called the Get Happies, who largely vanished from the public eye after failing to complete a masterpiece psychedelic album called "Summer Fun." As a very big fan of an ACTUAL California band from the 1960s that folks here have certainly heard of, I think there is some obvious relevance to this forum, and I suspect that people here might enjoy it.

But I also don't want to be weird in how I post about my book. Is there any guidance from moderators? I'm not sure what the policy is for things like this and where/if this might be okay to post.

Thank you for any guidance you can provide, and thank you for moderating a forum that I've enjoyed lurking for some time!

Hello Jeanne, and welcome! Since your book is inspired by the music and the musicians we all talk about here, I say go ahead and post about it on the "General On Topic Discussions" forum. And maybe it would be interesting to members here if you would like to mention any specific references to or from the Beach Boys' own story and how it may have inspired the plot or characters in your book. I think it sounds like a very interesting story and would definitely like to hear more! 

[SMiLE Brian]

Why are you guys so awesome?

[rasmus skotte]

With this all~important Beach Boys~relevant  SAD news, i would like to ask the MODS about the possibility to color or frame this whole board in some kind of mourning~spirited design to honor Brian's legacy, please !?
If not on this occasion, whenever else - for CRYiNG(!) out loud? 

[Julia]

Well, on my phone it says I've been banned ( it says "Sorry Julia, you've been banned from using this forum!"). On my desktop Im still logged in but my profile image on the top left of the screen is now gone, which makes me worry something's up. Which is it and if I'm supposed to be kicked out, why?

Is it because Im using a new account from the one I started with (Mujan)? I left voluntarily then, I was never banned, I didn't return as Julia to subvert anyone, I just lost my old login info. I've never shied away from who I am though, including referencing my old account, old mixes and blog. I thought it was an open secret in any case.

Is it because I made an offhand reference or two to Trump? Im looking at the rules right now and see political speech isn't banned. I dont think I ever focused on it or anything either.

Is it because I've made offhand references to the EH crowd? Well...they dont post here anymore and Im far from the only one. Especially when I started posting again in earnest there were entire threads devoted to dunking on them for how they've treated others. With good reason if you ask me. If this is the cause, I believe it to be a case of selective enforcement.

Is it because I've complained about the way some people who are technically still members (though inactive for years) treated me in the past? While petty I admit, I havent mentioned any of them by name nor called for them to be banned or to leave the forum. And considering the way those people accused me of trolling or posting in bad faith before, I feel Im entitled to a little snark after doing a bunch of research and revealing my ideas were at least as well founded as theirs, and that the "proof" they used to gatekeep me just doesn't exist. I've seen people talk about me in terms much more unflattering, singling me out by name, both while I was originally here and during my absence, which really hurt my feelings but the excuse then for not taking action was (words to the effect of) "we don't police people's opinions here" / "the question is, what kinda forum do we want to be if people can't speak their minds?"   

Is it because I post a lot (IE spam)? I feel my contributions have been substantial, in good faith and reinvigorating for a long-dormant board. It's not as though there's a post-quota every day that I've been filling up against others ability to contribute. Several of my posts have started friendly, productive dialogues.

The only other thing I can think of is I've offended "the insiders" by calling Priore a liar and saying that I don't think what Brian told Reum is accurate. (Not that Reum lied, just that he believed info given to him by a notoriously inaccurate witness. I chose my words very carefully in this.) I don't see any rules stating I'm not allowed to say I disagree with people, even respected insiders (who never post anymore anyway) and looking at past threads I'm far from the first to call out Priore on his nonsense--I'm just the one to do it the most recently and vociferously.

Anyway, regardless of the reason, I think it's strange for me to not even get a warning or something--just straight to a ban. Seems needlessly personal if that's what's going on here, which I hope isn't the case.

This website is pretty old and janky, with long periods where I can't even get it to load, so I guess this could all be a weird bug, I don't know. If that's the case, y'all should be made aware of the error since other people may be affected with similar issues. (Wouldn't it be funny if multiple other people stopped coming because they were getting the same message by mistake?) But if I'm going to be banned I think I and the people who've expressed interest in my posts deserve a public explanation, please. I don't think I've done anything worse than what I've seen others say in my time on SS.  

[guitarfool2002]

You or your current account were not banned. Since 2021, only 3 members have been banned from this forum. It could have been a case of the IP address your post or attempted login was coming from was on a previous ban list from another member or account who had used that IP. That list of banned IP addresses goes back nearly 20 years so it's a possibility whatever IP location your mobile device tapped into when you got the message was on the list, having been used by a previous account or mobile device. That has happened before, but as far as I know they were isolated cases and not a widespread issue.

But in no way was your current account, or username, banned. There hasn't been a ban imposed here for several years, and just to restate only 3 members have been banned in the last 4 years. If a user is using a VPN or IP masking program, that could have caused an issue as well, specifically if the IP address the user's device accessed happened to be on that existing ban list.

[guitarfool2002]

And here is some advice that may help the situation from 5 years ago:

Any reason when I access the site on my phone it tells me I’m banned but when I access the site on my computer everything works fine? I guess I’ll try to keep on the straight and narrow going forward just in case

Edit: I was able to clear my cookies/history on my phone and re-log in and everything’s fine again, so nevermind.

There have been issues before with people who log in using their phones or mobile devices. I think most if not all eventually straighten out as described above, but some mobile carriers which use certain IP addresses could hit on an address which is banned from the board and that's why it shows up that way for the user. Best fix to try is the one listed above for now, clear all cache and cookies and try again. If someone can log in using a laptop or computer but can't on a mobile device with the same user info, the mobile device and IP seems to be the cause.

[Julia]

You or your current account were not banned. Since 2021, only 3 members have been banned from this forum. It could have been a case of the IP address your post or attempted login was coming from was on a previous ban list from another member or account who had used that IP. That list of banned IP addresses goes back nearly 20 years so it's a possibility whatever IP location your mobile device tapped into when you got the message was on the list, having been used by a previous account or mobile device. That has happened before, but as far as I know they were isolated cases and not a widespread issue.

But in no way was your current account, or username, banned. There hasn't been a ban imposed here for several years, and just to restate only 3 members have been banned in the last 4 years. If a user is using a VPN or IP masking program, that could have caused an issue as well, specifically if the IP address the user's device accessed happened to be on that existing ban list.

Thank you for clarifying I appreciate it. I just thought if that wasnt the case you guys ought to be informed--if its happening with me it could to others. For the record I wasnt using a VPN in either case and the error message used my username specifically.

Anyway, cheers