TEDEX
TEDEX
I have been punishing myself by fretting over the TEDEX forum. I started it may years ago even before the current date which is showing about 5 years. It has been closer to ten years as I had one system crash that totally wiped out the original forum and messages during a move between ISP server companies.
Blogs like this one were not even thought of or invented back then. The BBS and Forums were and still are great places to share information in an interest group. Blogs do that too but require much more user discipline. I tried it here for awhile but management was messy.
I got within two weeks of shutting the TEDEX down. I am just today placing a hold but still counting on the fate of TEDEX. I love the Internet but it truly is a “big city” cesspool. I don’t want to regulate freedom of communication but regulation is necessary when it is my own and isn’t universal.
The TEDEX forum is now a private membership by request, but open for general viewing except for the pictures. Only members (logged in) can see the pictures.
I hate to lose all the information and pictures available in TEDEX by just shutting it down. It is still a great place for members to post whatever they want. I know some folks like to think of it as an on line club room. That is OK with me.
The welcome messages in TEDEX tells the story.
Shoeless
This blog is attracting a lot of European registrations. Most are just name and email registrations through gmail. It is obvious who they are. A few post inappropriate links that the filters eat. Yum!
I try to understand why but I am at pretty much of a loss. I assume it might be a way to improve standings in the web crawlers, but most seem to be private entries. Maybe it is just a game. Perhaps they just want to belong. If it is marketing, it is way off track. (Old railroad term). It does prove (I think) someone is reading this blog. Ha!
TEDEX was suffering the same flood, so I shut the door.
At TEDEX I first suspected frustrated kiddie hackers who have written or downloaded a program that crawls the web just trying to blindly enter and join open blogs and BBS’s. However, I don’t see how they get past the visual filters. So it must be live people with a lot of time.
Joining here is quick and easy but just permits replies. Not much status there. Most post nothing after joining. Those that do take the form of very strange links. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Maybe they are barefoot like me except when I am in the shop… 🙂
Dan’l
Fading Light
TEDEX may slowly fade into the sunset. It is a web forum I started about five years ago, sharing information about machine shop hobby activities. I had already shared web space in my The Hobbyist’s Machine Shop web site with about eighteen people with projects and equipment they wanted to show off. I figured I could provide a separate forum where everyone could enter their projects and share information.
That is the reason TEDEX was born. Little did I know then that the creeping crud was laying-in-wait to slither into open forum doors. It has been a constant challenge to stay clean and probably the main reason many small forums shut down. For them, the Internet garbage collection just isn’t worth the effort.
I persevered because there were enough active users to justify the cause. That just isn’t the case any longer. I started a blog (two actually) here where I post my personal activities. I am torn to re-post again in TEDEX.
Registration to TEDEX is currently turned off. Registered users can still have full access. Non users can enter but do not see the photos. I dropped about 100 old non-participants from the rolls. The house has been cleaned and the doors locked. There are still a few resident suspects but I will see how they behave. The good guys still have the keys and can share the space.
If there are no postings or knocks at the door I will just let it set for awhile. Then…