Ozzard

What's all of this discussion about? It boils down, in my opinion, to two choices. One is to express your opinion and then shut up. Two is if you don't like what's going, make like a tree and leave.

Quite.

Bye.

May I drop in a few further comments? For those who can't see my face or hear my voice, please assume that I'm trying to explain politely below and to keep communication channels open and bridges un-burned. I'm not trying to point fingers at anyone else; I am merely trying to make my own position clear.

I'm talking about my own beliefs here. They cannot be disproved (or proved), and thus are in the realms of metaphysics rather than science. I welcome discussion, and I refer anyone who wants to jump up and down and shout to Karl Popper's comment that while it may not be possible to have a rational conversation about metaphysics, it should at least be possible to have a reasonable discussion. I apologise if anyone feels that my earlier comments were unreasonable.

Firstly, I'm well aware that it's a (very!) hard job running any form of online communication centre. I can't quote forums where I have tens of thousands of posts, as I'm simply not that prolific a poster. I can merely quote running a MUD for 18 years, running one board and being the first recruited mod on a second. I have more than zero idea of the effort it takes being on the admin/mod side of this - and the size of the inbox one gets as a result!

Secondly, this isn't my site! I'm not paying for it, and I'm getting this content and functionality for free. It's not even ad-supported (for which I'm grateful). This means that I have zero say in how it's run. It's run however its owner(s) want it to be run, and that's fine by me. Forums are not democracies, nor should they be. The best ones I've seen are benevolent tyrannies, run by one or a very few people and with a user community who are aware of and agree with the board's leaders' policies.

The core of the problem is that I hold a different view from the current site admins of HHPlace in one area that is dear to me: that of moving existing content around to tidy it up. That's it - our views are different. I can't prove that one approach works and the other doesn't; I have no idea whether moving content or leaving it would result in a "better" site, as I suspect it depends on who you ask. I happen to prefer existing content staying in the same place, and find content being moved "under my feet" very difficult. Again: because I don't own the site, this is my problem, not the site admins' problem. Note that I have no problem at all with content being deleted that is inappropriate for the board - although I may have a fairly liberal interpretation of "inappropriate".

This lot means that when a bunch of existing threads get moved, I get irritated. It's clear that the present admin team's view is that moving threads that start or drift off-topic is better than the alternative of keeping them where they started, and living with the drift. As a user, my choices are to accept that ("like it and stay"), or to get sufficiently irritated - for my own reasons - to move on. I'll move on.

Finally, my original closing paragraph applies. I genuinely do wish the admin team, and the remaining users, all the best with this board.

Rather than just "throwing in the towel" and claiming that the website rules or website team are not in sync with your own views, how about at least telling some of the team what your views are first?

We had that discussion by PM on/around 18th Aug 2008 last time you elected to move threads around without warning - if you look through your PMs from that time, you'll find the discussion. If you now wish to have that discussion in the open, feel free - but it would be nice to have a *discussion*. Instead, I rather expect to see you slap yet another big red THREAD CLOSED marker on this thread when it turns into another public criticism of your strategy on moving threads :-(.

You're no longer willing to receive PMs, or this would have been a PM.

Parts of the admin policy on here are sufficiently at odds with my own views on how a forum should work that I'm no longer willing to stay. It's not my forum, so I'll not try (again) to change that policy - I'll merely lower my blood pressure by not coming here. All the best to the admins. Keep maintaining and policing these forums in the manner you think is appropriate. I hope you end up with a well-maintained site with a vibrant and tolerant user community.

As others have said, I'll hold a door for anyone - male human, female human or (far too frequently around our house) feline. The exception's when I'm carrying 100lbs (45kg) of racked power amplifier to/from a gig, at which point anyone following me is on their own!

Any Guild Wars players?

Nah. World of Warcrack. Search for the obvious name on the EU Armory and you'll find me. Not all of them are mine, but the top two hits (at time of writing) are.

I think to myself ' I can get on train and go streetheeling aroung Manchester then surely I can go as far a field as London'.

*chuckle* I wore a (long, denim) skirt and some 4" knee boots home on the train from London to Manchester last year. It drew little attention, and no more than a couple of sniggers as I walked 4 carriages to the shop and back. 40 year old fat bloke, not trying to pass - just a bloke in a skirt and heels travelling on the train with his wife. Got off at Piccadilly, waited in the queue for a taxi... no problem.

I would guess if anyone notice you are using their picture, they will send you an email asking you to remove the pics.

Probably. In most countries, copyright is a civil law issue rather than a criminal one - so it's up to someone to notice and complain. In jurisdictions where there's no notion of punitive damages, they also have to show there's been a loss to them before they can claim damages from you. Both of these limit the damage in "sensible" jurisdictions - i.e. almost anywhere other than the US and UK.

The copyright position in most countries is very simple: *all pictures have a copyright*, and you can't use them unless some provision says you can. You may be able to use them without getting permission from the copyright holder under fair use provisions in the copyright law of your country - consult a lawyer who knows about the copyright law in your country. Or you can definitely use them if you get permission from the copyright holder. Disclaimer: I'm not even an English lawyer, let alone a specialist in the law of the Philippines. I merely relay my own summary of the advice given to me over time under English law.

Btw what is Manc like for buying heels.

I've not had any problems from staff or shoppers, though some odd looks from other shoppers when trying on boots in a crowded Evans in the Trafford Centre. The staff couldn't care less - it's a sale!

I'll be interested to see what you get around Preston. To me, Manchester's a lot more forgiving than the other Northern towns, but it'd be good to have some comparisons!

Ye gods. Going straight to a helicopter without going via fixed-wing aircraft is a big step. Flying a plane has been likened to balancing a broomstick on one finger, flying a helicopter has been likened to balancing two broomsticks, one on each hand. There's a lot to keep in trim - I can't even manage a helicopter in a flight sim, let alone where "crashing" doesn't just mean "... and reboot the computer". Good luck with it!

What does Kylie think she looks like wearing these over-large clompy stiletto shoeboots?

Fashionable...

I have tried Barratts in couple of places and they only seem to stock up to a size UK8.

Some of their larger stores stock their "tall and small" range - unfortunately very limited. The Trafford Centre store does, for example. http://www.barratts.co.uk and pick "Larger footprint" from their Womens range.

Smart. It's happening more and more as well, probably due to the current fashion for killer heels in the UK. I play for a fair number of weddings each year, and it's amazing how quickly the heels are traded for flats at the end of the night. Frequently women will swap into flats for dancing as well (we're a ceilidh / folk dance / barn dance band, so this may not apply to other dances!) Oh - and surprisingly often, the flats *also* match the outfit.

Me, I always though the way to the heart was through the ribcage and up... maybe I've just spent too long playing Dungeons and Dragons. Unfortunately my wife's the good (OK, excellent) cook, so I'm a wee bit short of good recipes. However, she's dropped one very broad hint a few times: the best food is the home-cooked food you've not made yourself. Guess I'd better learn!

Heh. Hi. There's a few of us around!

There's nothing worse than interviewing somebody who doesn't have a clue about the company and its products.

Agree entirely. There's at least one thing worse, though: interviewing someone *arrogant* who doesn't know the company .

With a smile. At which point the outfit is irrelevant.

There are also quite a few size 9s around. Clarks, Hush Puppies, Next and others have quite a few styles in size 9.

Faith, if you want to be a little more adventurous. Chris (who I've not seen around here for a while) has had good experiences getting size 9 boots from there.

Evans have bigger sizes too - be careful because their sizing is often generous.

Very! I'm an "Evans 10" and anything from 11-12 anywhere else.

Aside: Just returned from a (fruitless) hunt for some wedges at Evans in the Arndale Centre. Not an odd glance, from customers or staff - I'm just another person looking for shoes.

If you're a UK 8 (even a large 8 ), you're in luck. a) Most high street shoe stores carry those sizes, and the general experience on the list is that none of the staff care if you're a bloke trying on heels - it's a sale! If you're worried, pick one of the major shopping centres and go in half an hour before the stores close on their late opening nights.

http://www.northernconcord.org.uk/shoes.htm has a list of shops nationwide and is a useful resource for ladies shoes - depends what you want!

http://www.alternative-footwear.co.uk have a good returns policy - return in original packaging and undamaged within 7 days for a full refund less postage costs.

Those are the stainless steel heels from 6 inch heels forever, which I believe are now discontinued - worth a check though!

The perils of developing web apps... most of the above, though IE7 "natively". Incidentally, Opera is free on PC platforms and has been for a couple of years. They went for the embedded market to make money - the browser on the Wii, for example, is Opera.

Typically denim or black, and ankle- or floor-length. As a middle-aged and somewhat overweight bloke who's not trying to pass, I might as well at least have *some* style!

Having posted that I have no problem, I managed to slip on the stairs at home about 5 weeks ago. In bare feet, coming down reasonably slowly to feed the cat at 5am, before you ask. Twisted sideways as I fell, measured my length along the stairs, and now apparently have a haematoma (large blood blister) on the bone. If I'm lucky, it'll go away; otherwise, it'll either calcify (extra lump on the bone) or need operating on. Ow, ow, ow. With a side order of ow. Since then, I've treated stairs with a lot more respect - whether in heels or not!