What ever happened to signaltrafficforums, we should bring that site back online. I already got banned from highway divides, and people here always ignore my posts.
It looks like Skyscraper City is probably the second most common place for people to talk about roads and such. I don't really think there is another "highway forum" that is as popular as this one, but I'm not 100% sure of that either.
If you create another one, make sure that the main focus is not the same as the one here. In your example, there should be more of a focus on traffic signals, compared to this one which covers a much broader range of topics, but does not cover traffic signals nearly as much. If you just create a duplicate of this forum, that means that there is competition between the forums, which we don't want, and also, a duplicate will not last long if everyone stays here (which most people will).
Quote from: US 41 on January 02, 2017, 01:30:49 PM
It looks like Skyscraper City is probably the second most common place for people to talk about roads and such. I don't really think there is another "highway forum" that is as popular as this one, but I'm not 100% sure of that either.
If there are two websites or sections of websites with exactly the same purpose, only one will be used often. However, if they differ some, it is possible for both to be used about equally.
Examples:
1. Google is used more than any other search engine by far. "By far" is even more extreme if Baidu is excluded (Google is banned in China).
2. Amazon and eBay have some notable differences, like people being able to sell things much more easily on eBay. Because of this, eBay is moderately behind Amazon, but not too far behind. On the other hand, Youtube is much more often used than any other video website, and the second-most popular and third-most popular English-language video websites are not in any way similar to YouTube (I won't say what they are).
3. There are two wikis each for the games Team Fortress 2 and Minecraft. In both cases, one is the dominant wiki by far, and the other is mostly abandoned. Road-related topics are abundant in Wikipedia, so that is why there is no separate English-language wiki for roads.
Because of this, I don't think there is another United States-based road forum that is nearly as popular as this one.
There should be a traffic signal realated forum, or someone should bring signaltrafficforums.
There should be a traffic light ghetto.
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 02, 2017, 01:37:04 PM
There should be a traffic signal realated forum, or someone should bring signaltrafficforums.
No one is stopping you from creating one yourself.
Bear in mind that the roadgeek community as a whole is very small. The audience that would talk about traffic signals non-stop is probably going to be extremely few.
Quote from: NE2 on January 02, 2017, 04:23:32 PM
There should be a traffic light ghetto.
Only stop signs allowed everywhere else. Segregate the traffic lights.
[null]
The owner of the SignalTraffic Forums decided that they didn't want to run the site anymore so they shut it down. Highway Divides was created by one of the forum members on SignalTraffic so that the signal collectors who didn't like to use Facebook could stay in touch with other signal collectors more easily. That's why SignalTraffic was shut down and likely won't come back.
Quote from: freebrickproductions on January 02, 2017, 06:31:28 PM
The owner of the SignalTraffic Forums decided that they didn't want to run the site anymore so they shut it down. Highway Divides was created by one of the forum members on SignalTraffic so that the signal collectors who didn't like to use Facebook could stay in touch with other signal collectors more easily. That's why SignalTraffic was shut down and likely won't come back.
Can we get someone to take their place ?
Ask Trump.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 02, 2017, 04:35:59 PM
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 02, 2017, 01:37:04 PM
There should be a traffic signal realated forum, or someone should bring signaltrafficforums.
No one is stopping you from creating one yourself.
Bear in mind that the roadgeek community as a whole is very small. The audience that would talk about traffic signals non-stop is probably going to be extremely few.
They're too expensive to create
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 02, 2017, 01:13:33 PM
people here always ignore my posts.
No guarantee they wouldn't at any new forum that might spring up.
If you want responses to your posts, post interesting items and ask relevant questions. Most people tend not to respond to posts just for the sake or responding. It's not like Facebook where people will just automatically click "Like" on every post their friends put up.
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean traffic lights are traffic lights. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about traffic signals for days, months, or even years. That is probably why there is no longer a "traffic signal forum".
Quote from: US 41 on January 03, 2017, 11:19:24 AM
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean traffic lights are traffic lights. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about traffic signals for days, months, or even years. That is probably why there is no longer a "traffic signal forum".
There's at least one fairly active Facebook group where they discuss different traffic signal manufacturers, show off the signals they've bought and hooked up in their homes, etc. So there is a specialized interest in signals as a subset of roadgeeking/road enthusiast/hobbying/viatolo (slap).
Quote from: hbelkins on January 03, 2017, 02:36:32 PM
Quote from: US 41 on January 03, 2017, 11:19:24 AM
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean traffic lights are traffic lights. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about traffic signals for days, months, or even years. That is probably why there is no longer a "traffic signal forum".
There's at least one fairly active Facebook group where they discuss different traffic signal manufacturers, show off the signals they've bought and hooked up in their homes, etc. So there is a specialized interest in signals as a subset of roadgeeking/road enthusiast/hobbying/viatolo (slap).
There's also a fairly active forum for them as well (Highway Divides, which OP was banned from).
Quote from: freebrickproductions on January 03, 2017, 02:49:15 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 03, 2017, 02:36:32 PM
Quote from: US 41 on January 03, 2017, 11:19:24 AM
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean traffic lights are traffic lights. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about traffic signals for days, months, or even years. That is probably why there is no longer a "traffic signal forum".
There's at least one fairly active Facebook group where they discuss different traffic signal manufacturers, show off the signals they've bought and hooked up in their homes, etc. So there is a specialized interest in signals as a subset of roadgeeking/road enthusiast/hobbying/viatolo (slap).
There's also a fairly active forum for them as well (Highway Divides, which OP was banned from).
Well that's his fault then.
I think there's just not as many people familiar with stoplights as there are other aspects of roadgeekery. I have no idea what brand of signals Norman uses.
Maybe you could post a "field guide to spotting signals" to see if that sparks any interest. ("This is a Durasig, you can tell because of X feature, this is an Eagle...") If you can't get anyone posting about signals, it might be because they simply feel like they don't know enough to post.
Quote from: US 41 on January 03, 2017, 11:19:24 AM
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean traffic lights are traffic lights. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about traffic signals for days, months, or even years. That is probably why there is no longer a "traffic signal forum".
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean road signs are road signs. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about road signs for days, months, or even years. That is probably why this forum has 494,784 posts in 18,172 topics by 3,085 members.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 03, 2017, 06:39:12 PM
That is probably why this forum has 494,784 posts in 18,172 topics by 3,085 members.
Only 1,606 members have posted. The other 1,479 have never made a single post.
I would not be adverse to having a separate child board under General Highway Talk devoted to signals/traffic control devices. This would better separate that content out from general signing and other topics found under "traffic control". Plus if someone has zero interest in signals, they could "mark read" all posts within that subsection and better ignore the content.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 03, 2017, 06:39:12 PM
Quote from: US 41 on January 03, 2017, 11:19:24 AM
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean traffic lights are traffic lights. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about traffic signals for days, months, or even years. That is probably why there is no longer a "traffic signal forum".
Don't get mad at me for this comment, but I mean road signs are road signs. They are green, yellow, and red; and some of them have turn arrows. I don't see how you could sit and possibly talk about road signs for days, months, or even years. That is probably why this forum has 494,784 posts in 18,172 topics by 3,085 members.
Well this forum doesn't just cover "stop lights" either. And it doesn't cover just "signs". It covers everything about roads. That's why it has 1606 people that have actually made a post. If we just covered signs we might have 50 people that have actually made a post and like 7 people that actually post regularly.
Quote from: Alex on January 04, 2017, 09:51:06 AM
I would not be adverse to having a separate child board under General Highway Talk devoted to signals/traffic control devices.
I'd be cool with that.
Quote from: US 41 on January 02, 2017, 01:30:49 PMI don't really think there is another "highway forum" that is as popular as this one, but I'm not 100% sure of that either.
SABRE has 868383 posts and 4280 members. However that is over a longer time than here.
The Dutch Wegenforum, German AutobahnOnline and French SARA are also fairly popular, but not on the level of the Anglophonic sites IIRC. SSC is great for news, broadbrush discussion and local discussion, but I wouldn't call its roads discussions as being part of the hobbyist scene - most of the people are non-roadgeeks.
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
I tried that, and I got caught four times by the moderator
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 04:53:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
I tried that, and I got caught four times by the moderator
recommendation: change IP
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 04:53:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
I tried that, and I got caught four times by the moderator
Heh. You are a persistent little troll.
Quote from: Alps on January 04, 2017, 10:57:55 PM
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 04:53:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
I tried that, and I got caught four times by the moderator
recommendation: change IP
I tried registering in a different location, and I still got caught. Next time, they may take legal action
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 10:59:23 PM
Quote from: Alps on January 04, 2017, 10:57:55 PM
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 04:53:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
I tried that, and I got caught four times by the moderator
recommendation: change IP
I tried registering in a different location, and I still got caught. Next time, they may take legal action
I'm pretty sure they can't take legal action for that. They can ban you as many times as they want, but I mean I highly doubt (I may be wrong though) you can go to jail or be fined for something that ridiculous.
Quote from: US 41 on January 04, 2017, 11:31:15 PM
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 10:59:23 PM
Quote from: Alps on January 04, 2017, 10:57:55 PM
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 04, 2017, 04:53:05 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
I tried that, and I got caught four times by the moderator
recommendation: change IP
I tried registering in a different location, and I still got caught. Next time, they may take legal action
I'm pretty sure they can't take legal action for that. They can ban you as many times as they want, but I mean I highly doubt (I may be wrong though) you can go to jail or be fined for something that ridiculous.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fuploads.tapatalk-cdn.com%2F20170105%2Ffad58a588e61336f05a8e957a40767b3.jpg&hash=e9e89db61efac28ac408edfbedf4de5acc7915c8)
Just buy a new computer so you'll have a different IP address and start anew? I'm fairly certain that aren't any laws on the book in the U.S. that would fall under the domain of "trolling." There might be something you can get tagged on for false identity, threatening behavior, or harassment. Its not like a physical place of business or private property where someone would have to get a formal trespass complaint against you by which you could be prosecuted for violating. Besides even if they know your current IP how is that going to track back to you, your name, where you live, ect?
I've been reading this thread for a little bit, I'm with Alex's opinion. Why not just open up a subsection on traffic control devices and signals? I'm not sure why AAroads would go out of the way to create a brand new forum just for something that narrow in scope?
Trying to open an account is trolling? In what alternate universe?
And legal action for trying to join again? I'd call that bluff in a heartbeat.
But yes, I concur about using a different IP address. Take your laptop or phone or tablet to a public wi-fi spot and send your join request from there. If you have to send a confirmation email, do it elsewhere as well. If you're logging in from a hardwired (Ethernet Cat-5) computer, you probably have a static IP. I have satellite internet at home so I also (I think) have a static IP. When I had DSL, I was able to log out and back in and get a different IP address, so I had some semblance of a dynamic IP. We have a wi-fi network at work that allows guest access, and if I log several devices onto the network (iPod Touch, iPad, personal laptop) each will get a separate IP.
Maybe stop doing whatever it is that made them want to ban you? Just a thought.
Quote from: kkt on January 05, 2017, 01:05:18 PM
Maybe stop doing whatever it is that made them want to ban you? Just a thought.
Part of that was being rather...obsessive...about a certain model of traffic light and he had a habit of using other people's pictures without crediting them at the time as well. I suppose a number of the other members had lodged enough complaints to the admins and mods about it that he got banned. All I know is that a few members of Highway Divides (including a moderator, IIRC) are members over here, so they could probably tell more information about the exact reason why he was banned.
I don't know the situation, but if he's wondering how he got figured out....
Most newbies tend to sign up, get approved, say Hi, and tend to post about stuff already talked about (definitely not everyone, but more/less kinda a trend).
If this guy tried signing up again and again, he probably went straight into more advanced arguments, which is highly unlikely for a new member. Writing styles and pic postings are generally giveaways also.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on January 05, 2017, 02:00:17 PM
I don't know the situation, but if he's wondering how he got figured out....
Most newbies tend to sign up, get approved, say Hi, and tend to post about stuff already talked about (definitely not everyone, but more/less kinda a trend).
If this guy tried signing up again and again, he probably went straight into more advanced arguments, which is highly unlikely for a new member. Writing styles and pic postings are generally giveaways also.
No, all the new registrations were rejected before I could even post
Quote from: freebrickproductions on January 05, 2017, 01:48:39 PM
Quote from: kkt on January 05, 2017, 01:05:18 PM
Maybe stop doing whatever it is that made them want to ban you? Just a thought.
Part of that was being rather...obsessive...about a certain model of traffic light and he had a habit of using other people's pictures without crediting them at the time as well. I suppose a number of the other members had lodged enough complaints to the admins and mods about it that he got banned. All I know is that a few members of Highway Divides (including a moderator, IIRC) are members over here, so they could probably tell more information about the exact reason why he was banned.
"Obsessive about a certain model of traffic light"
Yup, Pennsylvania 1970s-era mast-arm Eagle flatback traffic signal installs.
I wouldn't mind a separate sub-forum for traffic lights, but that's up to the admins of our site. Asking them to accompany the request of a handful of individuals to create a whole new forum and address (with their own expense) is a bit unreasonable.
You could also create a new Facebook Group, because there's probably a million of those. You would have a comparatively tiny niche audience and would need a good deal of patience.
Speaking as a moderator on another site; there have been times in which we wrote letters to a particular institution to block our site so as to prevent the user from acting hostile to other members. They responded, and it worked...while not requiring the law, asking a higher educational institution to effectively "block" us for a few months was taken seriously, though swiftly (there was limited educational value in our site).
Quote from: formulanone on January 05, 2017, 03:43:15 PM
Speaking as a moderator on another site; there have been times in which we wrote letters to a particular institution to block our site so as to prevent the user from acting hostile to other members. They responded, and it worked...while not requiring the law, asking a higher educational institution to effectively "block" us for a few months was taken seriously, though swiftly (there was limited educational value in our site).
Had I been a student of that school and had my access cut off because another student at my school couldn't behave, I'd be highly upset with you. Even if there is limited educational value in your site, shouldn't people be able to peruse sites of personal interest when they're in their dorms on evenings or weekends?
Quote from: hbelkins on January 05, 2017, 05:37:46 PM
Quote from: formulanone on January 05, 2017, 03:43:15 PM
Speaking as a moderator on another site; there have been times in which we wrote letters to a particular institution to block our site so as to prevent the user from acting hostile to other members. They responded, and it worked...while not requiring the law, asking a higher educational institution to effectively "block" us for a few months was taken seriously, though swiftly (there was limited educational value in our site).
Had I been a student of that school and had my access cut off because another student at my school couldn't behave, I'd be highly upset with you. Even if there is limited educational value in your site, shouldn't people be able to peruse sites of personal interest when they're in their dorms on evenings or weekends?
A university in another country was happy to comply. The other option was suspending his account, which they were not willing to do over simple harassment. They'd unblocked the site a few months later.
Five years later, he hasn't returned.
The irony is that we're a lot more open to nearly all discussions of religion and politics there (although not our core subject), but some of the coarser language used here would get one banned after a few failures to comply...
A couple folks that showed obsessive behaviors had also been shown the door over the years, but for things a little more creepy than traffic lights!
Quote from: hbelkins on January 04, 2017, 11:17:28 AM
If the OP has been banned from the other forum, the simple solution is to go get another free email address and sign up under another name. And avoid the behavior that got him banned once he gets his new account.
Unless the IP's match. We've had multiple people try to register with a new e-mail, but the same IP. Sometimes it's a matter of wanting to change their e-mail or forgetting their login credentials. Sometimes, it's a troll.
Quote from: 1 on January 02, 2017, 01:32:58 PM
If you create another one, make sure that the main focus is not the same as the one here. In your example, there should be more of a focus on traffic signals, compared to this one which covers a much broader range of topics, but does not cover traffic signals nearly as much. If you just create a duplicate of this forum, that means that there is competition between the forums, which we don't want, and also, a duplicate will not last long if everyone stays here (which most people will).
Quote from: US 41 on January 02, 2017, 01:30:49 PM
It looks like Skyscraper City is probably the second most common place for people to talk about roads and such. I don't really think there is another "highway forum" that is as popular as this one, but I'm not 100% sure of that either.
If there are two websites or sections of websites with exactly the same purpose, only one will be used often. However, if they differ some, it is possible for both to be used about equally.
Examples:
1. Google is used more than any other search engine by far. "By far" is even more extreme if Baidu is excluded (Google is banned in China).
2. Amazon and eBay have some notable differences, like people being able to sell things much more easily on eBay. Because of this, eBay is moderately behind Amazon, but not too far behind. On the other hand, Youtube is much more often used than any other video website, and the second-most popular and third-most popular English-language video websites are not in any way similar to YouTube (I won't say what they are).
3. There are two wikis each for the games Team Fortress 2 and Minecraft. In both cases, one is the dominant wiki by far, and the other is mostly abandoned. Road-related topics are abundant in Wikipedia, so that is why there is no separate English-language wiki for roads.
Because of this, I don't think there is another United States-based road forum that is nearly as popular as this one.
If you mean duplicate like, say, copying
every single thing, wouldn't someone sue him for copyright infringement?
Quote from: english si on January 04, 2017, 11:09:10 AM
Quote from: US 41 on January 02, 2017, 01:30:49 PMI don't really think there is another "highway forum" that is as popular as this one, but I'm not 100% sure of that either.
SABRE has 868383 posts and 4280 members. However that is over a longer time than here.
The Dutch Wegenforum, German AutobahnOnline and French SARA are also fairly popular, but not on the level of the Anglophonic sites IIRC. SSC is great for news, broadbrush discussion and local discussion, but I wouldn't call its roads discussions as being part of the hobbyist scene - most of the people are non-roadgeeks.
What forum is SSC?
Quote from: TravelingBethelite on April 27, 2017, 08:24:03 PM
Quote from: english si on January 04, 2017, 11:09:10 AM
Quote from: US 41 on January 02, 2017, 01:30:49 PMI don't really think there is another "highway forum" that is as popular as this one, but I'm not 100% sure of that either.
SABRE has 868383 posts and 4280 members. However that is over a longer time than here.
The Dutch Wegenforum, German AutobahnOnline and French SARA are also fairly popular, but not on the level of the Anglophonic sites IIRC. SSC is great for news, broadbrush discussion and local discussion, but I wouldn't call its roads discussions as being part of the hobbyist scene - most of the people are non-roadgeeks.
What forum is SSC?
SkyScraperCity.com
Quote from: hbelkins on January 05, 2017, 12:30:27 PMBut yes, I concur about using a different IP address. Take your laptop or phone or tablet to a public wi-fi spot and send your join request from there. If you have to send a confirmation email, do it elsewhere as well. If you're logging in from a hardwired (Ethernet Cat-5) computer, you probably have a static IP. I have satellite internet at home so I also (I think) have a static IP. When I had DSL, I was able to log out and back in and get a different IP address, so I had some semblance of a dynamic IP. We have a wi-fi network at work that allows guest access, and if I log several devices onto the network (iPod Touch, iPad, personal laptop) each will get a separate IP.
I don't think getting a new IP just to register would necessarily solve his problem. When I was managing SABRE (which was at the time using an earlier version of phpBB), we could look up the IPs any given member had posted from. A proxy or VPN for posting would work, but only at a technical level. Refraining from the behaviors that led to banning in the first place is usually far more challenging.
Quote from: Scott5114 on January 03, 2017, 06:39:12 PM
I think there's just not as many people familiar with stoplights as there are other aspects of roadgeekery. I have no idea what brand of signals Norman uses.
Maybe you could post a "field guide to spotting signals" to see if that sparks any interest. ("This is a Durasig, you can tell because of X feature, this is an Eagle...") If you can't get anyone posting about signals, it might be because they simply feel like they don't know enough to post.
This is me, I wish I knew more about signals and their design eras.
Just make a sock.
Quote from: Marf on December 29, 2017, 06:12:40 PM
Just make a sock.
He already tried that. It didn't work.
Well then act like someone different.
Quote from: traffic light guy on January 02, 2017, 01:13:33 PM
What ever happened to signaltrafficforums, we should bring that site back online. I already got banned from highway divides, and people here always ignore my posts.
There is nothing stopping you from creating a new forum. Others have tried it with limited success. If you have your own, you can misbehave as much as you want. Here, we try to maintain a certain level of decorum.
Yeah, you are kind of stupid for getting banned.
Quote from: Marf on December 29, 2017, 06:28:11 PM
Yeah, you are kind of stupid for getting banned.
There needs to be better word choice in that sentence.
And damn, be
nice newcomer!
Well, he did.
Stop trolling.
Well, I see the usual suspects are acting like children again,so I'll just lock this thread until everyone can play nice. :pan: