Is Fodors limiting responses?
 

Do the authorities of this forum have a way of preventing people from responding to a thread? I usually have no problem posting a response. Today, I felt I had a constructive comment on the thread about overly obese airline passengers. There were already 97 responses; however, when I clicked on "post a reply" -- which I tried about 5 times -- all I ever got was a full-screen version of the thread. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Good question dwoodliff, I just went to that thread to see if I could reply and got the same result you did. But there are several other threads that have 200+ replies, so I am thinking that perhaps this is a sensitive subject and they want to limit the chance of nastiness and volatility.

When I?ve had an occasional problem posting a reply, I attributed it to the site being busy. I find this to be a very well designed and user-friendly forum.

There is another thread on here that now has the same thing happening. The AAAGGGH one is no longer able to accept replies. In that particular case a poster was getting a little too personal so I assume that is why they shut that one down. Bonniebroad knows what I'm talking about. They don't seem to pull all the threads that don't meet their criteria, they simply make them impossible to respond to.

Cars that occupy more than one space in a garage should pay for two spaces and the same applies to airline passengers.

Yes, there is a way to "freeze" a thread instead of deleting. Happens sometimes. Also some responses can be deleted without deleting or "freezing" the thread. Hang on, you'll see it all!

Jimshep: There was a little more I wanted to say than that on the "obese passenger" thread, but I agree precisely with your comment. Until the airlines start providing a few 1 1/2-size seats, they should charge double for overly-wide passengers.

By the way, is there a walk-thru maximum-size-gauge for people, like the airlines have for bags?

Donna

This is precisely why they froze that thread. You are talking about human beings, not bags, not cattle.

Hmm.... for security reason you go through metal detector, what if it's too narrow for horizontally challenged people?

Atilla: Well, then, how do airline personnel make a fair decision that won't be contested by the passenger?

It is a judgement call, hopefully done with sensitivity and tact. As stated in the other thread, there is only one airline that practices this policy, for obvious reasons.

have to admit...i was curious about the "aaagghhh" thread...oh well, guess i missed it. people say some crazy things on here! have they no other outlet for that?

jasper: the aaggghh thread is still there, you just have to go back a few days to see it. It is about 320 in the list of posts.

I don't think the overly large thread is frozen; I was able to get to the "post a reply" screen. When threads are frozen, you're not even given the option to post a reply.

Aside from freezing or deleting a thread, the only way fodors has to prevent a response is to ban the registered screen name, which is completely ineffective since all of us can register multiple screen names anyway.

Beachbum, it's not the screen name that gets banned, it's the ISP number, I remember the thread where Fodor's actually explained that. It was in regards to the San Jose troll.

Such a relief not to have to worry about reading or responding to an inquiry about San Francisco! I got to the point I didn't even open a thread that had anything to do with S.F.

Okay, I'm totally not computer-workings smart......... but can't there be more than one person with the same ISP number or something to that effect? And if you punish one, you punish a lot of other people, or am I totally wrong about this???? I thought someone explained it to me that way......

Faina: they banished the San Jose troll????!!!! When did that happen? Where's that Fodor's message - this I gotta see!

Bonnie, we may have the same ISP, for example, we both use NetZero. We have numbers with this ISP like 123 456 (yours) and 123 457 (mine). 2 people cannot have the same ISP NUMBER, only the ISP provider name would be the same, in my example NetZero.

I don't know where to look it up, any computer wizards here? Or they don't travel :)

Let me go look up a post where I asked a question related to this kind of thing. Thank you, FainaAgain, for trying to explain this to me. Let me research what someone told me before........... BRB

Hurry up, I'm going home in 20 minutes :o)

Shoot! I can't find it under my postings; I must have asked the question in someone else's thread that I can't remember the title of. The person explained that it wasn't as simple as having different numbers. That even though we do........ there was something else that complicated that fact, and that Fodors could not easily block just one poster without causing problems for others. I just can't remember who said was or exactly what they said. I'll keep thinking........8}

I think Faina is referring to the IP address. And yes, multiple people can (over time) have the same IP address.

For example, person #1 turns on their computer and dials up to the internet company whose name starts with A. A modem on the other end answers that call and the internet connection is established. When person #1 requests web pages from other computers, those other computers only know person #1 as a number. That number is called an IP address. Internet Service Providers (ISP's) often own a range of these addresses and assign them to their users as they connect to the net.

IP addresses are expensive to purchase. An ISP will only buy as many as they need. So, getting back to our scenario, when person #1 disconnects their call to the ISP and person #2 calls in, person #2 may use the same IP address that person #1 had when they were connected.

Website operators may "ban" an IP address if they find that someone from that address is trying to hack their system or is just causing general mayhem for them. It isn't very effective because the hacker can very easily change their IP address but some website operators will try to block them anyway.

I doubt that Fodors is blocking IP addresses. It's very simple for them to remove the little text that allows you to post a reply while leaving the post online for others to read. It's also very simple for them to remove a user or deny them access to posting.

And yes Faina, computer geeks do travel! ;) My wife and I are leaving on our second trip to Australia next Friday.

Can anyone tell me my ESP address? :))

I wish Fodor's would go back and limit some of my old posts! What the H was I thinkin'? :-"

JohnInMiami, you said:

"It's also very simple for them to remove a user or deny them access to posting."

How so? I'm not disputing, I just don't understand how. Can't a user always come back with a new name, and open an account with a new e-mail address?

hmmm, smarty pants me just had to kick it up a notch, and had no trouble posting to that other post!

The large people in airline seats thread is not frozen. Underhill has recently posted interesting news there about what has just happened at Southwest, the "one airline" attila refers to above which has been threatening large people with being charged double (which, of course, never meant that much of anyone would actually get charged double, but that anyone who felt the policy might be applied to them, or who wanted to travel with such a person, would reserve with a competitor.) Their president resigned suddenly yesterday after the announcement of an unexpected substantial drop in earnings.

Amazing how some people feel obligated to jump in to almost every topic even if they have no clue what they are talking about !!

While me may not agree on everything(which makes this board entertaining), whom among us can cast judgement about relevance? Gee, I was half expecting amusement park seats to be brought into the controversy, or trains or a variety of other limited space seats. It is Friday, Rusty..... relax.

jetset1, maybe we need a jug of that Sweet Tea around here. May help sweeten some dispositions, huh? ;;)

Crusty Rusty-I never let the facts or knowledge get in the way of my opinions.

Seldom correct but NEVER in doubt![-X

Bonniebroad, you are a true lady.. now how can I send you fish or a true Alaskan thank you for all your warmth and recipes? Unfortunately, there have been a couple incidents in the news about people losing their prized salmon catches while in the coolers between check-in and arrival. I'll Fed -Ex.
Do you grow rhubarb? We have the luscious combo of rhubarb/strawberry/raspberry at the farmers' markets. Smoked wild meats, etc. Wish you were headed up this way. I'd buy a truckload of ingredients and have my best friends get some real cooking lessons from you. Then we could relax with our sweet tea, play some backyard badmitton, watch the moose saunter through and listen to the pesky squirrels plotting their nighttime special ops! J.

Ooohhh, I recognise that tone!

Jetset1, now that sounds like a winner.........:-) What a picture you conjure up! Wouldn't I love to see a moose!

I don't know if we grow rhubarb in these parts but I love the stuff. Would love to come to Alaska - we could whip up a lovely strawberry/rhubarb cobbler, couldn't we? To consume after your yummy smoked salmon ....... thank you for your kind words! ((f)) ((f)) ((f)) to you...

Jetset1, no, we don't grow that rhubarb here in the South. Too warm........ Oh, well, just mail me a box, girl!:-)

(Did I tell you my great-niece is up there in the army, and we get a kick out of her writing about seeing bears, moose, etc., when she goes horseback riding???)

Do you thnk we need a "Rusty alert" icon or something like that to attach to a thread like an asterisk? Maybe somehing to symbolize a sour dispostion like a lemon, a lump of coal or a pic of Scrooge. :S- OK Rusty, now jump after the bait as usual. LOL!