I feel bad for the guy since they are probably pissed at him for trying to get me to give up with the methods he used. He went to far and deleted my postings and posted false postings and then said I made them. HE will remain nameless here but I kind of owe the guy a beer strange as it sounds.
Oh well in the end I will get my devices swapped (I think). The proof will be in FEDEX at the end of the week.
I am, to the best of my knowledge, the only volunteer moderator on the SH forums. I was empowered to remove spam on the SH forums to keep it from building up after business hours and on weekends. As is customary with 'volunteer' positions, the hours are lousy and the pay non-existent. But the satisfaction of being able to immediately deal with spam? PRICELESS!
That said, you are mistaken on several counts.
Firstly, I have *never* edited someone else's post on the SH forums. Every user is allowed to edit their own posts, and I've changed plenty of *mine* (to fix spelling or grammar mistakes, to supplement, revise or clarify information, etc.), but I *only* edit my own messages. No matter how annoying someone else's messages may be, if they aren't spam they stand on their own merit. There's really no need to do otherwise. People are generally pretty good at sorting out the fact from the fiction. If I've got something to add, I'll post my own reply.
Secondly, I *only* delete messages that fall into the classification of spam. New users show up and their first post is a link and an advertisement for something that doesn't apply to the classification it is in, I zap it. Posts that are nothing but links? The same thing. I haven't seen the digger handle post any spam, so I am pleased to say I haven't had to delete any of your posts.
Thirdly, I only post messages on the SH forums using my own account. I do not maintain a second account or post using a different handle, and even as a moderator, I do not have access to other user passwords. Life's been pretty good to me, so I've got no reason to earn bad karma by messing with other people's accounts.
Fourthly, today was the *first* time I have locked a thread. When I started seeing messages that clearly implicated a guilty party, then when you misread my post and threatened legal action, I took it upon myself to preserve the messages exchanged. Locking a thread does not delete any messages, it simply prevents users from modifying messages while we sort the whole mess out.
Lastly, no, you don't owe me a beer. SH hasn't shipped anything yet. Personally, I'm hoping the SH guys go over the forum account activity logs, subpoena the ISP records, then track down and do a complete forensic exam on the computer belonging to the anonymous coward that created all the fuss in the first place by trying to imply an association with SH. Whatever motivation he has, be it personal or professional, some anonymous coward ought not be allowed to slander and extort without incurring some substantial penalty.
I hope SH sues HIM for ALL he's worth, to make HIM pay for the trouble he's caused. Save that free beer for the investigator who captures the guilty party!
Tom
My experience with them was virtually painless (although, I am still awaiting my replacement (though it's been only a week since I sent it))
