Dubai Forums Dubai Discussions Dubai General Chat

Have not been on this board in a while, having shifted my energy to another Dubai Forum. Just been browsing the past few days, and holy cow! Seems like troll-central of late. What the hell rocks are these people crawling out of? I feel bad for newbies tuning in for the first time. Seems like a prostitution/dating forum (although the regulars are doing their best). In the past few minutes another complete tool has signed up. Wow!

dubaidog wrote:Have not been on this board in a while, having shifted my energy to another Dubai Forum. Just been browsing the past few days, and holy cow! Seems like troll-central of late. What the hell rocks are these people crawling out of? I feel bad for newbies tuning in for the first time. Seems like a prostitution/dating forum (although the regulars are doing their best). In the past few minutes another complete tool has signed up. Wow!

its only because andy and smart arn't around.

Still its more interesting than the dark side forum where convo exists between the same 4 people

It wasn't a slag, arnie. Just a comment. haven't been here in months. I know that forums go in cycles. Actually, the "dark side" forum is more than four folks. I have to say that it is a smaller community than here, for sure. As you know, the other forum is not listed in google rankings, etc. (as far as I know)In a sense, kinda good that way, fewer trolls!

Obviously you pay us visits?!?!? We have lots of folks that post on DF as well as DHH, not a problem, this isn't a popularity contest, right? The folks on DF did wonders for me on my migration from Canada to DXB. It just so happens that the founders of DHH and I sort of "clicked". You should join us, sometime.

Sometimes a smaller community is better, you know. Come check it out, even Sage chimes in!

dubaidog wrote:It wasn't a slag, arnie. Just a comment. haven't been here in months. I know that forums go in cycles. Actually, the "dark side" forum is more than four folks. I have to say that it is a smaller community than here, for sure. As you know, the other forum is not listed in google rankings, etc. (as far as I know)In a sense, kinda good that way, fewer trolls!

Obviously you pay us visits?!?!? We have lots of folks that post on DF as well as DHH, not a problem, this isn't a popularity contest, right? The folks on DF did wonders for me on my migration from Canada to DXB. It just so happens that the founders of DHH and I sort of "clicked". You should join us, sometime.

Sometimes a smaller community is better, you know. Come check it out, even Sage chimes in!

It started out as a contest and certainly not from the DH side. It was also meant to be for Charity, so one would have thought google rankings played a bit part of that.

One does not see much charity work going on does one?

Lets be frank DHH was for the sole purpose of 2 peoples vanity and their preferred means of self importance because they didn't get their way here, and using Charity as the reason.

Perhaps you are right, but all that was before my time on DF. Kinda seems like farting in the wind all these months later, don't you think? "dark side forum" still makes me laugh, though. Does that mean that Concord is the Emperor? Is Ian Darth Vader? Or other way around?

arniegang wrote:

dubaidog wrote:It wasn't a slag, arnie. Just a comment. haven't been here in months. I know that forums go in cycles. Actually, the "dark side" forum is more than four folks. I have to say that it is a smaller community than here, for sure. As you know, the other forum is not listed in google rankings, etc. (as far as I know)In a sense, kinda good that way, fewer trolls!

Obviously you pay us visits?!?!? We have lots of folks that post on DF as well as DHH, not a problem, this isn't a popularity contest, right? The folks on DF did wonders for me on my migration from Canada to DXB. It just so happens that the founders of DHH and I sort of "clicked". You should join us, sometime.

Sometimes a smaller community is better, you know. Come check it out, even Sage chimes in!

It started out as a contest and certainly not from the DH side. It was also meant to be for Charity, so one would have thought google rankings played a bit part of that.

One does not see much charity work going on does one?

Lets be frank DHH was for the sole purpose of 2 peoples vanity and their preferred means of self importance because they didn't get their way here, and using Charity as the reason.

I think you have got it right Arnie, and Charity, well that part was soon forgotten along with Ian's diet.

I guarantee the charity portion was not forgotten, just building up the coffers till there is enough "to do something with". My initial post was just an observation, guys, having not posted/visited for ages. If you re-read, it was actually complimentary to the old guard.

dubaidog wrote:I guarantee the charity portion was not forgotten, just building up the coffers till there is enough "to do something with". My initial post was just an observation, guys, having not posted/visited for ages. If you re-read, it was actually complimentary to the old guard.

Come on DD, what charity, nothing has been reported, just a sham.

dubaidog wrote:Sometimes a smaller community is better, you know. Come check it out, even Sage chimes in!

true, on DHH I feel like I know everyone in reality... few people, share different ideas and its so much fun...

Its sad a split occurred in the first place.

arniegang wrote:
Lets be frank DHH was for the sole purpose of 2 peoples vanity and their preferred means of self importance because they didn't get their way here, and using Charity as the reason.

I agree... I felt it from day one that those 2 wanted the hale of fame for them selves... however, the mess which was going on here justified why I left this place...

as Ddog mentioned, it just clicked with me in DHH...

as for charity... i didn't care much or even others... and it was not why I left DF to DHH... if the charity idea would have happened, I would considered it a miracle

arniegang wrote:Its sad a split occurred in the first place.

I don't think there was a "split". Just some folks made choices, I guess. At the time that DHH was set up, DF was deadsville, except for in-fighting. There were a few rules and things that slipped after DHH's inception. One of which was the language rule. At first, I though maybe that was bad, but you know, no one has expressed any concern, so we just let it go. There is not really gratuitous cursing going on, but the odd f-bomb never really hurt anyone, right?

In typing that, as I vaguely recall, the admins at DHH left DF due to censorship, am I right? (I really don't recall). DHH is a little more "loosey-goosey" than DF....I kind of like it that way.

Like I said, there are people that post in both forums, and no one is excluded from either, right? At the end of the day you can be the same person on both, a different person on each, or only post in one place.

Like I said, arnie and sage. My OP was not to get into a pee-pee measuring contest. It just seemed like the posts of late were reminiscent of the days when/why DHH was set up. Just an observation, not a slag.

As far as a "split"...people CAN have dual citizenship! Sage knows this! BTW, Sage, I have something for you I have been meaning to replace. It has a yellow label on it and starts with "J" and ends in "B". Best of the New Year to all of you.

THe issue with regards language has always been and will always be "none" or it gets edited. There is a time and place for foul language and in DF's case it is not in open forum. We have a forum where you can say what you like, its called Fight Club.

Like DHH, DF is an open forum where visitors can visit without registering. There is no age restriction, thus young children can visit our forum. I personally dont think its sets a good example for children to read in some cases disgraceful language and accusations of Mods being paedophiles do you?

No one objects on DHH because no one really goes there apart from the core group thast originally split. That is their choice and i for one do not wish to make any form of critisism about this.

To be frank they were deliberately trying to be destructive and were throwing their dummies out of their prams because DF was not run as THEY wanted it run.

The reason why the forum went dead is people got fed up with the constant bickering and attacks by 2 core members who no longer post here. We lost a lot of regular posters and i am sure those potential posters who are considered lurkers thought better of than join a forum at war, so to speak.

At the end of the day it was their choice and decided they wanted a forum run by their own rules. That is fine and the vast majority here wished them luck.

I personally was prepared to make a generous contribution at DHH but withdrew it because within the first week, there were the same old personal attacks and insults to the members here, who went across to show DHH support. Nothing had really changed.

With hinsight i am glad i never made that contribution because DHH was formed as the centre stage for 2 people in particular, and not as a forum to do good in the community as people were led to believe.

I maintain the forum has done nothing to contribute any financial assistance to anyone, one only has to look in the Financial Details of DHH, lets be frank here there is nothing there.

Like Sage said, even the "main man" didn't honour his commitment or pledge in the weight loss gain fiasco. Lots of pledges and interest that came to nothing because of Ian's cop out. Still he was the centre of attention at the outset, which must have been nice.

We are all well aware that we can post on DHH, but some of us choose not too. Thats just the way it is.

At the end of the day it matters not to us here

Guess I missed all the drama about the creation of the other forum. I actually like DHH because it is more chilled. Not so many trolls.

kanelli wrote:Guess I missed all the drama about the creation of the other forum. I actually like DHH because it is more chilled. Not so many trolls.

It was no big deal K. Ian and Concs thought that threatening to set up another forum would bother Admin - It didn't.

When the forum was set up they thought everone on DF would go there and DF would die - They didn't and It didn't

The Forum was set up to raise money for Charity - It doesn't

No trolls get in there because hardly anyone goes in there apart from you and 4/5 others.

I do wish they would get rid of that ridiculous Google advert

Dubai Property Investment with 15% return & 50% growth. Free Brochure

It should read 5% return if you are lucky and worth at least 50% less than you paid for it by the end of 2009.

The forum needs more traffic and more donors in order to generate charity money. Therefore, if it is a quiet forum and no donors, then you are right, it isn't generating much charity money.

Personally, I'd like to see a section for charitable actions, because at least people can organize to do do charity work with other organizations, even if the site itself isn't generating much money for charitable donations yet.

I have no idea about the personal fighting, I was busy moving and looking after my family. In any case, I've done enough of my own fighting on here, so know it can get pretty hairy sometimes. That is the nature of internet forums, and they either survive or die out because of it - depending on the severity of course. Also, the quality of moderating affects the survival of internet forums.

Kanelli, you make good points. Absolutely, the charity aspect needs a kick-start, but regardless of what the lads say, I have it on good account that whatever funds are raised by DHH will definitely go to charity.

As far as charity, organizations, etc. I know of a couple of instances where folks on DHH have "pitched in" and helped out charitable organizations. At the very least, if the site is not generating revenues, it is generating awareness. Just because it is not advertised or spoken about, does not mean that it is not happening. (Sage I think you have done a few charitable things in the past that you do not plaster all over the forums!).

As Kanelli says, the nature of moderating dictates the survival and expansion of forums. I personally never had any issues with the mods here, but I guess others did. Arnie, you were very clear on your cursing policy, and people must adhere to that. As a mod at DHH, if someone took offence to language or subject matter, we (I) would certainly take action. There have been some gratuitous slanderous posts (isn't there always) which were quickly removed.

I think most posters on DHH are pretty thick-skinned adults, and quite honestly requiring little (if any) moderation. It is a little more small-town mentality than the bright lights, big city of DF. (Again, not a contest, just an observation).

Forums by nature are cyclic, right? If you have a look at the DF postings, it is generally the same 8-10 people commenting, with the occasional one-off and troll as well. So I guess DHH is pretty much the same, minus the one-offs and trolls. Like Kanelli, I was busy (moving to DXB) when all the arguing was going on. After all, it is an online community, who has time to "cyber-fight" with people? (Maybe some, I certainly don't)

Anyways, lads and lassie, see you here or see you there.

As far as the google advert....what shows up is dependent on the subject of the post. It can actually be quite amusing sometimes.

DD and K

Your both put your points across well and on the surface difficult to find fault.

However, the fact remains the forum does nothing for charity. DD you state Sage does his fair bit for charity and i am well aware what good Sage does. But so do lots of us and like Sage none of us advertise or bragg about it.

No one could possibly object to further good causes and helping the needy. The point is though, DHH does nothing that is transparent to the lurker for charity. I have already pointed out that nothing has been posted since April about the financial details of the forum.

However well you put your points across, at the end of the day as far as "joe public" is concernened then nothing has been raised and nothing has been contributed too any good cause.

Lets be frank here, let us know how much Ian raised for the farce of his sponsorship exercise, and who was the receipient of the funds raised. It is a rhetorical question really because we all know full well the answer is zero and zero.

With this in mind, it is difficult to see the puropse of DHH. The original concept of post post post and raise funds (and i believe still is), is to achieve what? No one has seen any evidence of contribution to any charitable organisation after all.

To be fair, Arnie, Ian did shelf his diet challenge and was big enough to say so rather than just ditch the topic all together.

I am not sure what the total amount in the coffers is. When the concept was conceived, no one really knew how much "revenue" would be generated. Turns out, it is not much at all. Do you have any ideas what to do with 60 or 70 bucks (I am guessing) for charity? If you have a suggestion, I would be happy to hear it (seriously).

Like I said at the inception of DHH, even if the concept does not raise significant funds, it can certainly generate charitable AWARENESS. To that end, I think we (posters on DHH) have achieved some success. Personally, it has made me more aware of the needs of people (and animals) in societies worldwide. Since being in Dubai and joining DHH, I think I have done my (albeit small) part. Honestly speaking, if I was the ONLY one whose awareness was raised, then so be it, at least that is one (well, Mrs. DD as well). Any and all of my financial and time contributions have been local, however, as I see there is a significant need here.

dubaidog wrote:To be fair, Arnie, Ian did shelf his diet challenge and was big enough to say so rather than just ditch the topic all together.

I am not sure what the total amount in the coffers is. When the concept was conceived, no one really knew how much "revenue" would be generated. Turns out, it is not much at all. Do you have any ideas what to do with 60 or 70 bucks (I am guessing) for charity? If you have a suggestion, I would be happy to hear it (seriously).

Like I said at the inception of DHH, even if the concept does not raise significant funds, it can certainly generate charitable AWARENESS. To that end, I think we (posters on DHH) have achieved some success. Personally, it has made me more aware of the needs of people (and animals) in societies worldwide. Since being in Dubai and joining DHH, I think I have done my (albeit small) part. Honestly speaking, if I was the ONLY one whose awareness was raised, then so be it, at least that is one (well, Mrs. DD as well). Any and all of my financial and time contributions have been local, however, as I see there is a significant need here.

To be fair DD, Ian only posted a reason after many many weeks of not posting his weekly reports and after being questioned by Sage.

I respect your opinion as much as i hope you respect mine, but nobody living in a civilised society needs to be made aware that there are those in need albeit human or animal.

You cant tell me you are not aware of any good causes in Canada or Dubai or anywhere else. I am sure even Mrs DD has heard of the "Red Cross".

In contrast to the actual organistion in Dubai called Dubai Helping Hands, i would maintain the forum has done nothing to contribute to anyone person or animal.

I am well aware of Concs sterling work with the animal shelters in Dubai, and so were/are many of us on DF. This is why I, and many others here gave a substantial contribution 2 years ago to buy water coolers for K9.

Sorry DD, the formation of a forum for charity just does not wash. It did however give people including your good-self a reason to migrate to Ian and Concs new forum that, they in turn could run, moderate and administer according to the way they wanted a forum run.

arniegang wrote:

dubaidog wrote:To be fair, Arnie, Ian did shelf his diet challenge and was big enough to say so rather than just ditch the topic all together.

I am not sure what the total amount in the coffers is. When the concept was conceived, no one really knew how much "revenue" would be generated. Turns out, it is not much at all. Do you have any ideas what to do with 60 or 70 bucks (I am guessing) for charity? If you have a suggestion, I would be happy to hear it (seriously).

Like I said at the inception of DHH, even if the concept does not raise significant funds, it can certainly generate charitable AWARENESS. To that end, I think we (posters on DHH) have achieved some success. Personally, it has made me more aware of the needs of people (and animals) in societies worldwide. Since being in Dubai and joining DHH, I think I have done my (albeit small) part. Honestly speaking, if I was the ONLY one whose awareness was raised, then so be it, at least that is one (well, Mrs. DD as well). Any and all of my financial and time contributions have been local, however, as I see there is a significant need here.

To be fair DD, Ian only posted a reason after many many weeks of not posting his weekly reports and after being questioned by Sage.

I respect your opinion as much as i hope you respect mine, but nobody living in a civilised society needs to be made aware that there are those in need albeit human or animal.

You cant tell me you are not aware of any good causes in Canada or Dubai or anywhere else. I am sure even Mrs DD has heard of the "Red Cross".

In contrast to the actual organistion in Dubai called Dubai Helping Hands, i would maintain the forum has done nothing to contribute to anyone person or animal.

I am well aware of Concs sterling work with the animal shelters in Dubai, and so were/are many of us on DF. This is why I, and many others here gave a substantial contribution 2 years ago to buy water coolers for K9.

Sorry DD, the formation of a forum for charity just does not wash. It did however give people including your good-self a reason to migrate to Ian and Concs new forum that, they in turn could run, moderate and administer according to the way they wanted a forum run.

Well said Arnie.

People made pledges to DHH. DHH, until now, did nothing with that. When you ask for the current status, you get some wise a$$ reply. They had the opportunity to do something for charity (because of the pledges), but somehow they don´t.

Charity was clearly used to try to attract people.


As for DF, it seems to get better...

Never been to DHH, read it or posted there.

Would much rather we had a good, sensible, fair and open forum here with intelligent, witty and intellectually challenging topics.
As this is a more frequented forum it is bound to get its dose of trolls, however I feel we are fair to all at first until they step over the line of decency or morality. At this point, the Mods have to step in for the greater good. Its why we are here.

Many of the old guard are still here because we care about the quality of the information available.

Happy Posting New Year!



Knight

Wow, I had no idea that there was so much animosity between some of the parties. I certainly missed a lot over those months!

I never had high expectations about the charity contributions because of the nature of how the money was to be raised. I would be criticizing if I saw a lot of money being made with no contributions to charity, but so far that hasn't been the case, so I don't feel the need to crap on the guys.

kanelli wrote:Wow, I had no idea that there was so much animosity between some of the parties. I certainly missed a lot over those months!

I never had high expectations about the charity contributions because of the nature of how the money was to be raised. I would be criticizing if I saw a lot of money being made with no contributions to charity, but so far that hasn't been the case, so I don't feel the need to crap on the guys.

Thanks, K. Not sure what I did to provoke the slagging. Like I said, thought my OP was complimentary. Never told anyone to "pick sides"..nothing of the nature. As far as I am concerned, DHH and DF are what they are. Usually people get acknowledged for returning after an extended absence, but I guess as a "dark forum" member, that's not the case.

You guys should think about putting the past aside and let bygones be bygones. As I said before, DF was instrumental in making the choice to come here. Guys like Concs, Sage and Ian had some good advice and always dropped the peeing contest to help out a noob (me). Once I got here to Dubai, I dropped the forum like 5th period french and got on with things. After a few months, I thought that was a little selfish and perhaps I should contribute to others as they did for me.

When I chimed back into DF, the place had gone pear-shaped. Maybe just one of those "cycles" taking place. At the same time, DHH launched, I got an invite and signed up. The rest is history as they say. I'm not sure why you keep crapping on the charity concept. As I said before, THERE IS SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH MONEY TO DO ANYTHING WITH. 2009 is a new year, and we can see how to change things. Don't be so quick to point out what you perceive as a failure...sometimes best laid plans can come up short. Whatever it WAS months ago, I assure you there is no vanity or popularity contest going on at all. Everyone at DHH is certainly welcome to their opinion and write as such...on the same equal and even plain. ( I see the very vocal threads get locked left, right and centre around here) I guess maybe I just find it a little more mature than DF was/is. (Haven't been here in months). Anyhoo gang, see you later, Sage, see you on the dark side.

No one has "slagged" anyone, however if you view it as such so be it. Maybe it is because our opinion does not match yours?

.....and with the greatest of respect DD i would disagree that your OP was complimentary.

Its difficult to not "carp on" about the Charity element, its plastered all over the place.

Ian, Concs and yourself are welcome here anytime, but as we are less mature then i would doubt it would be of interest.

dubaidog, is your last post directed completely at me? If yes, I think you need to re-read my posts, because I wasn't slagging anyone and haven't said anything controversial.

I think it was directed at everyone except you K

arniegang wrote:I think it was directed at everyone except you K

Arnie is right, K. Not directed at you at all. I think Arnie and I need a F2F. My OP is waaaayyy outta context at this point. I think time to retire this thread! Sagey, I owe you something I want to repay. Arnie, chill out mate. See you at Sage's place when you return to DXB. (seriously, Sage, I can walk over to yours and return the favour).

dubaidog wrote:

arniegang wrote:I think it was directed at everyone except you K

Arnie is right, K. Not directed at you at all. I think Arnie and I need a F2F. My OP is waaaayyy outta context at this point. I think time to retire this thread! Sagey, I owe you something I want to repay. Arnie, chill out mate. See you at Sage's place when you return to DXB. (seriously, Sage, I can walk over to yours and return the favour).

What I want to know is, are we going to get any time off due to the Shk. of UAQ or is it just the Public Sector?
DD anytime m8, I will be in touch during the week and we can sink a couple.
Arnie, when are you back in town?, we need to sink a couple too.