Suggestions, Comments and Support

This is a subject that comes up from time to time in reported posts, but is rarely on target; it's usually just a complaint that someone said something snarky. There was a thread on this some years ago, but as that got bogged down with some particular instances, I thought just a general discussion might suffice I've imported a few statements from the other thread that are useful I'll add to this that an ad hominem need not include an insult, but merely a personal observation. "You are wrong because bald/old/tall people are never right" is an ad hominem because a personal observation is used instead of refuting some actual point.

Can anyone tell me the meaning this this strange message when often but not always pops up briefly when I log in ? I have arrowed the message on the screeshot. It shows the notifications bell plus the words " you have 5 personal messages " - the actual number varies. But as can be seen from the top there is only one message listed and it is not a personal one. I have never been able to find the alleged sender either . Who or what is C-19 ? Thanks.

I sometime find it hard to do what I would like when replying to a post, due to the WYSIWYG editor. I've not been able to find a non-WYSIWYG mode, e.g. where you'd see the tags used by the site to mark quotes and such. Does that exist? If so, what's "the button" look like?

Why am I still getting email notifications from someone I blocked? Now I'll have setup email rule just to block email notifications coming from this one individual. I've seen his interactions with others in other threads and they're awful too.

This is a problem on Chrome browser, so I've switched over to Firefox, hoping I can post this. Chrome is generating some kind of error regarding the site's certificate, and refusing to allow me to post in a thread. If the site's certificate has been allowed to lapse, that will be a huge problem. IIRC, only browsers like duckduckgo can plow through certificate problems and let you post anyway. If this doesn't post, I will use a device at home that has DDG on it. Looks like Firefox is okay. Has anyone else had problems with Chrome today? LATER Back on Chrome, going to test this again. OK, now it is working okay. What a weird glitch.

Just a question: Why I am retained as "quark" in my profile?

Hi, I seem to have some difficulties with Chrome when creating new topics on this board. Snapshot attached for your viewing pleasure. Edge seems to work properly.

Last time we had a concerted spam attack I lost a length important post in the middle of a whole bunch of spam. So THANK YOU to the mods for managing to clear the spam out without loosing my post this time.

For some strange reason, it seems as if I have been restricted to reply when others answer my threads. Does anyone know how to fix this problem? I am a new member. Thanks.

Somebody just went to an old thread and marked -1 four of my posts in a row: starting with this one: I am very curious, what makes these posts deserving negs. And why extra image appears in my post when viewed in the activity lists? Here, the "IMG Lifestyle" image:

In the past when I wanted to test or check something something during composing a reply a reply I could leave that thread make my check and then return to the original thread. So long as I simply clicked in the reply box before I did anything else, my previous typing reappeared and I could carry on. Why does this useful feature no longer work ?

why i can't delete my account? i don't ask my messages to get removed i was thinking i could delete my account and then create a new one, using the same email address so i guess i would first have to change the email address of my current one, then drop it then i could create a new account using my real email address if you propose to manually do it, please don't but add a button so everyone could i think keeping only posts but deleting username/avatar/signature etc, would be good.

Perhaps a stupid question and I’m just not observant enough, but is there a forum view that just sorts by the newest posts / updated topics? I saw a shortlist version of what I’m talking about but it’s not exactly adequate for my purposes. Edit: Found it on Edge anyway, but doesn't appear on mobile. Guessing I could request the desktop version of the site as a workaround.

Some (most?) of us care about facts, and when you make a purportedly factual claim, it’s not unreasonable to ask for the source of that information. Just making assertions (or worse, offering opinions as if they were facts) runs afoul of the rule on soapboxing, and possibly others. It’s not nitpicking.

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Is there a new user guide? I searched and didn't find anything. I would like to add my picture to my profile as well and am not sure how to do it. Thanks for helping!

Any possibility these nuisance ads could be eliminated? Banner ads are okay, but this new format makes for a pretty rude interruption. How can any advertizer, seeing what type of website this is, imagine we would respond to these in a positive way?

At one time we could keep small latex such as \[G^{\mu\nu}\] inline without requiring a separate line. This aided readability and allowed a cleaner presentation when simply designating variables or values etc. I have been using the \[ command structure. Is there anyway to get the example above inline ?

Dear scienceforums Can you please delete my account and my posts according to the GDPR?

How accurate is the views number under posts? Not the views to profile. I thought it was accurate because it increased slightly over time. Also the post has replies. I wanted to inspire new cryptographers. I believed it was so simple and would spread fast. Is 11,000 to large? Is it accurate?

I've placed an image in hidden spoiler in my post. It is hidden there, but it is not hidden in the preview on activities list:

I have just started a new thread. When choosing the thread name the computer offered the name of the previous thread I started in an automatic drop down box. What a pointless waste of computing power and resources. It could even encourage those who have been prohibited by a moderator from raising a subject again to break the rules an start another thread on the banned topic. I can't tell if this is part of the new site software or a W10 'Helpful' update. I also get a drop down list of every email address that has ever been used whenever I login to SF on this PC. What a security risk, not just to say that none of the entr…

I note that the titles in the current spate of spam contain certain words - Airlines, printers ....... My old outlook express allows the use of filters that I can set up to simply block email with titles containing certain words and I see 20 years on viagra still comes in and is blocked. Could the admins write a small routine to perform the same here perhaps dumping/delaying them to a mod queue as is already done for some posts. Especially if the mods could easily add or remove troublesome words as the spammers react ?

Just wondering if there's a way to, without revealing too much to a spammer who might read the thread, to maybe come up with innovative procedures to deflect spammers when their activity level (like the last half hour or so) verges on a DDOS attack. They (the discount airfare kamikazes) must have filled all the logon ports - I couldn't logon for about 20 minutes. Could IT-savvy members PM an admin, if they know any handy tricks? Or is it already sorted?

When you sign in to the forum you're asked for your display name and your password. Obviously you have to be asked for your password but instead of having to provide your display name, it might be easier to be able to sign in with your email address.