# What's Up With The Avatars?



## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

All of a sudden they're gone, and I can't reinstate them from My Settings. Anybody else have this problem or have I fouled something up on my computer once again?


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Same problem here, McGee...


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Mine's gone too....
Who's running this ship anyway???
Mcdee


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

Same thing here,.....I also thought I had hit a wrong button on my computer, LOL.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

North Korean hackers?


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Sorry guys, that was me, I'm trying to collect Avatars from all 50 states....


Carl-


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Is Mort still there?

EDIT: Yup! Phew!


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

There were some that went missing yesterday while some were still here, so it's not all avatars as of yesterday. Not too sure about today though.
Went and clicked on submit and my screen suddenly said the page cannot be displayed. What the bleep is going on??????


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## chuck_thehammer (Oct 24, 2007)

my guess.. memory or storage space... otherwise network/server issues...

but the site seams for be working fine.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

chuck_thehammer said:


> ...but the site seams for be working fine.


Except for spell check.


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## chuck_thehammer (Oct 24, 2007)

Mark McGovern said:


> Except for spell check.


 
No,,, that is my great and overpaid... Cleveland Ohio education...

OR, was it my brain...??? I cannot tell anymore.:wave:


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## J_Indy (Jan 28, 2013)

Actually, that would be Grammar Check...


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Do we have Moderators anymore?
Mcdee


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## anameli (Feb 26, 2015)

Same problem OP


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

If you want to see your avatars again, you must pay me one million dollars. Bhwahahahhaha


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## gman223 (Feb 16, 2010)

Yesterday morning they did "server maintenance", probably has something to do with the missing avatars.


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## JOHN B (Apr 17, 2006)

So much for being a lifetime member. I thought I was going nuts or did something wrong!


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

mcdougall said:


> Do we have Moderators anymore?
> Mcdee


Isn't Griffworks still a moderator???


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

irishtrek said:


> Isn't Griffworks still a moderator???


not according to this post # 12 of Oct 11 2014
Check it out here ::: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=420351

: 
slotcarman12078 slotcarman12078 is offline 
LED Burner Outer

My Photos Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Stump City, USA
Posts: 11,577 

Unfortunately, us moderators can't do anything about this. The new owners don't listen to us at all, so don't count on them listening to you. Sorry to say, but I believe Griff has stepped down from moderating, as has Gerald. I can't say I blame them one bit. All the new owner seems to care about is selling ads and creating pop ups!


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## jimkirk (May 27, 2010)

mcdougall said:


> All the new owner seems to care about is selling ads and creating pop ups!


I say.


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

gman223 said:


> Yesterday morning they did "server maintenance", probably has something to do with the missing avatars.


But the avatars went missing two days ago. 

It sure would be nice if one of the people running this asylum would stop in and let us know what happened.


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Zombie_61 said:


> But the avatars went missing two days ago.
> 
> It sure would be nice if one of the people running this asylum would stop in and let us know what happened.


They only let us out of the asylum on Sundays. That's computer use day....so I've heard.

Let me go, I gotta go peel a gorilla and catch a banana. :freak:

Carl-


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

Deleted redundant comment here...


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

mcdougall said:


> All the new owner seems to care about is selling ads and creating pop ups! [/COLOR]


In that case it's a bit surprising they're not charging any one for joining. Not yet anyway.


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

Too much advertising pop ups they have taken over


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## aurora fan (Jan 18, 1999)

It would be hard to leave this forum after all these years. I found it one day when I heard some company was going to reissue the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Imagine, models, slot cars, RC cars, movies and other stuff too all at one neat little site. It sure was a good idea but I agree it sucks more and more all the time. Funny, my yingyang avatar is still on. That was one of only a few originals avatars you could pick back then.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

....um.....I don't see your avatar
Denis


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

irishtrek said:


> In that case it's a bit surprising they're not charging any one for joining. Not yet anyway.


Yeah, but now that you've given them the idea...


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## bert model maker (Feb 19, 2002)

Your 100 % correct mark, what has happened here ? These pop up adds are everywhere and block what your trying to read or type. There is so much here to just walk away, people and all of the combined information here. Where could we all go and ALL meet up and continue where we all left off.?


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Mark McGovern said:


> Yeah, but now that you've given them the idea...


Don't remind me, please.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

bert model maker said:


> ...Where could we all go and ALL meet up and continue where we all left off.?


But Bert - why should _we_ leave? This forum was started in the 1990s for the fans of Playing Mantis/Polar Lights, with the help (as in, "Supergirl_ help_ed by holding up the collapsing bridge until the train had passed.") of our beloved Queen of Styrene, Lisa Greco. The Modeling Forum has grown and evolved over the years, but it has survived.

I'm not going to quit it just because the current owners have made changes I don't like. Doing that in any situation always lets the other guys win. Instead, I'm going to look up an email address or some other means of contacting the current owners. When I do, I'll post the information. They may not listen to a couple of disgruntled HobbyTalkers, but if we _*ALL *_chime in... :devil:


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Mark McGovern said:


> ...I'm going to look up an email address or some other means of contacting the current owners.


To that end, does anybody know if the HobbyTalk "Contact Us" email is effective?


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

I have been trying to contact them Mark, alas to no avail....
I just tried again.... Perhaps you are right ...If everyone shoots off an email, they might take heed....Strength in numbers if you will...
Cheers
Denis


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

KLAATU BARRADA NIKTO!!!!!!


no... wait a minit.... that was back when Yamahog was still hanging around here....

- GJS : ^ )


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

My fellow HobbyTalkers,

I have sent a message to the HobbyTalk "Contact Us" link I posted on the Modeling Forum. It's concise and polite, hopefully it gets the point across. I suggest that anybody who's unhappy with having lost their avatar send something similar - in fact, I don't care if this message just gets copied and emailed with the sender's signature:

To Whom It May Concern,

Over the past week the avatars of the HobbyTalk members on all the forums have ceased to function. I am writing to request that the problem be corrected on your end, or for information about any solution to the problem that the HT members can apply to their own accounts. Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Mark McGovern

Let's see if this gets a rise out of the current HobbyTalk owners.

Another HobbyTalk member just found another email address for the current HT owner:
Admin Name: CHRISTOPHER CARUK
Admin Organization: MARTINGALE INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES
Admin Email: [email protected]

I suggest sending your message to this address as well.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Great Mark.....I copied and pasted the note you wrote and I urge all HT members to do the same :thumbsup:
They can't ignore all of us..........can they? ulp!
:thumbsup:
Denis/Mcdee


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Let's hope not, mcdee. I've posted the same thread on all the other Forums, since they've all lost their avatars, too.

Getting the owner's attention is the main idea behind my initiative. They seem to be like the absentee owners of a property that's going downhill and spoiling the neighborhood. But in all fairness, if they don't know we've got problems, the owners can't be expected to do anything about them.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Just got this response from Panjo...

Panjo Support ([email protected]) 

Add to contacts 

12:51 PM 
To: mcdougall.d 
[email protected]

Are you asking about avatars in the forum or in the marketplace?

Your forum avatars will not show up in the Panjo marketplace. 

Helpful? Click to give Panjo Support thanks! 

On March 02, 2015 at 11:24 PM mcdougall.d <[email protected]> wrote: 
Where are our avatars ?

Powered by UserVoice.

....and I responded...
The Avatars in the Forum, for the past week or so all the Avatars have disappeared.
We have been trying to contact the owner, is that you?. It might be a maintenance issue, but I really don't know.
All I do know is that all the Avatars on all the HobbyTalk forums aren't showing up on any of the Forums. Can you look into this matter or point me in the direction of someone who can?
Thanks 
Denis McDougall


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

....and a very quick response from Panjo :
Hi Denis,

I've just sent an email to one of the people managing the forum to let him know that this issue was occurring. I also gave him your email so that he can follow up with you about it.

Let me know if you need anything else! 

___________________________________________________
Fingers Crossed
Denis


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I assume the current owners are the same folks Hankster sold the forums to, so then if they don't want to register and join in then why did they bother to purchase Hobbytalk???
If they had been registered then they would already know about the pop ups slowing everything down and that the avatars had disappeared.


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## aurora fan (Jan 18, 1999)

They purchased it as a revenue source of course. The pop ups and other irritations will just continue until someone choses to take an interest in the site for something other than money making banner adds.

I seriously hope they care a little. I think they do. They sent me Birthday greetings. They really did. Who am I fooling. It was probably automated. It didn't feel very personal.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Well another week has gone by with no results or Contact, anyone else have any luck? 
You guys are sending in messages too....right?
My only contact so far has been with the manager of Panjo, who said he *did* send our concerns to the manager of this forum....who knows....maybe he's on holidays or in a coma or perhaps working on new and improved Pop-ups....either way I've heard nothing back, so I just sent this note off to my Panjo Contact :
Hi again,

Could you send this person my contact info ? Because a week has gone by and absolutely no contact or change to the problem !

This forum is falling apart and no one seems to care. I and many here are LIFETIME supporters and actually paid extra to have our Avatars posted to the HobbyTalk Forum. If we can't fix this I'll be looking for a refund. Please pass on my sentiments to the Manager/owner and again , Thank You for your assistance in this frustrating situation. Please have him/her contact me.

Regards

Denis McDougall


....might get someones attention 
I also sent off an email to Hank...He pops his head in here every now and then.....
Mcdee


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

......and just got this response from the Panjo contact.....


Panjo Support 
To: mcdougall.d 
[email protected]ice. 
I just pinged our contact there and passed along your message. Very sorry to hear about what's going on at HobbyTalk! 

Let's see if the 'ping' brings any results.
Denis


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

You da man, mcdee! :dude:


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

By the way, just on the off chance that the problem was nothing more than the avatar files having somehow been deleted or moved, I just tried to upload a new avatar file. Unfortunately, what I got was the following error message: "Upload failed due to failure writing temporary file." I have no idea what that means (other than the obvious), but thought it might be of some use just in case someone actually tries to diagnose and correct the problem at some point in the future.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Mark McGovern said:


> You da man, mcdee! :dude:


Hey Mark....I just copied and pasted your note :thumbsup:
Like I'm sure everyone else here did.......... right?.....guys....? BUELLER....? anyone....?
well I hope more than just and I sent them off, Mark...
Mcdee


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

With the help of domaintools, here is the info to contact the owners.

Registry Admin ID: 
Admin Name: CHRISTOPHER CARUK
Admin Organization: MARTINGALE INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES
Admin Email: [email protected]

---> http://whois.domaintools.com/hobbytalk.com

This is all public info, and if you use that link, you will have more ways to contact them. Just trying to help


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Well, thank you a whole bunch, K.I.T.T.! I will add this new link to the Avatar threads on all the other forums (forumses? fori?).


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Just sent Chris an email...
Thanks for this contact info K.I.T.T 
That link also dug up this info:
If I'm reading this right it seems our New owners are from Great Britain 

Domain Name: HOBBYTALK.COM
Registry Domain ID: 891807_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.enom.com
Registrar URL: www.enom.com
Updated Date: 2015-03-01T21:16:21.00Z
Creation Date: 1998-02-19T05:00:00.00Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-08-28T03:59:00.00Z
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Registrar IANA ID: 48
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: 
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4252982646
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited

Registry Registrant ID: 
Registrant Name: CHRISTOPHER CARUK
Registrant Organization: MARTINGALE INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES
Registrant Street: 31A HILL AVENUE
Registrant City: AMERSHAM
Registrant State/Province: BUCKS
Registrant Postal Code: HP6 5BX
Registrant Country: GB
Registrant Phone: +44.7909980079
[email protected]


Mcdee


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

You are welcome! :thumbsup:


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## BobbysMonsterModels (Mar 8, 2014)

mcdougall said:


> ]If I'm reading this right it seems our New owners are from Great Britain.


Well, that explains it then.
Just kidding, American humor aside…
:tongue:


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## Kitzillastein58 (Jan 27, 2009)

Looks like our team has been traded again, see the announcement at the top of the modeling forum page. Hopefully, the new guys can get everything straightened out.

Mike :wave:


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

So the New(old now) owners first post here was to just drop in and say Goodbye......
Marvelous :wave:
Mcdee


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

mcdougall said:


> So the New owners first post here was to just drop in and say Goodbye......
> Marvelous :wave:
> Mcdee


Well, another car forum I am on was also bought out by another company that buys forums. Most of these company's only see $$$. Sadly that is the truth and while they will invest into the forum and such, we will just have to sit back and ride the waves!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Aha! The change in ownership explains why, when I sent an email to Mr. Caruk, I got the dreaded "Mail Undeliverable" message. Let's hope we'll be able to reach the new owners when the need arises...


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The fact the newest owners are specialists in Vertical Marketing is very encouraging.

It would be a nice gesture if when they actually take over the reigns they send all the members a message letting us know how they plan to fix this site and make it a fun place to go to once again.
Just posting a sticky would not do since a lot of great members have already been driven away already but I think would be willing to give it another chance...


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

> *We have a particular interest in purchasing web sites, online communities and forums in the Automotive, Powersports, Power Equipment, Sports, Pets, and Technology verticals.*


I find it interesting how HT doesn't fit into the above interests. I'm not saying anything bad about the new owners. Unless they plan to add a new Acquisition area for Hobbyist such as HT.? 

I hope they don't change too much, but I also hope they correct problems with the forum soon.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Mark McGovern said:


> Aha! The change in ownership explains why, when I sent an email to Mr. Caruk, I got the dreaded "Mail Undeliverable" message. Let's hope we'll be able to reach the new owners when the need arises...


Talk about bad? timing.
K.I.T.T., just so you know Hobbytalk is not just about collecting and building models it also has forums for small engine repair.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Mark McGovern said:


> Aha! The change in ownership explains why, when I sent an email to Mr. Caruk, I got the dreaded "Mail Undeliverable" message. Let's hope we'll be able to reach the new owners when the need arises...


Agreed....well still no avatars so looks like the need has been sustained.
I wonder if the Newest owners are aware of our situation?
I wonder if these guys will at least introduce themselves and provide us with a point of contact....
I wonder, wonder who (ba-doo-doo-who)...who wrote the book of love ?
I digress....sorry.... it's a Canadian thing......
Mcdee


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

irishtrek said:


> Talk about bad? timing.
> K.I.T.T., just so you know Hobbytalk is not just about collecting and building models it also has forums for small engine repair.


Yes I know.


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## wjplenge (Apr 14, 2011)

Hoping that the new owners quickly resolve the avatar issue but hoping even more they revert the For Sale forum back to it's original format.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

wjplenge said:


> Hoping that the new owners quickly resolve the avatar issue but hoping even more they revert the For Sale forum back to it's original format.


I hope so too!
Dump that Panjo [email protected] and simply just let members post.
I resent being forced to use some useless eBay wannabe- that forum worked fine before and can work fine again...


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Just got a response from Hank...
I haven't been in contact with the owners for a year now. I understand that HobbyTalk has been sold to some other company that I have never been in contact with.
Hank

Back to square one I guess......
Mcdee


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## K.I.T.T (Mar 11, 2013)

Domain WHOIS has been updated.

Domain Name: HOBBYTALK.COM
Registry Domain ID: 891807_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.enom.com
Registrar URL: www.enom.com
Updated Date: 2015-03-01T21:16:21.00Z
Creation Date: 1998-02-19T05:00:00.00Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2016-08-28T03:59:00.00Z
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
Registrar IANA ID: 48
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4252982646
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: 
Registrant Name: LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Registrant Organization: VERTICALSCOPE INC
Registrant Street: 111 PETER STREET
Registrant City: TORONTO
Registrant State/Province: ONTARIO
Registrant Postal Code: M5V2H1
Registrant Country: CA
Registrant Phone: +1.4163418950
Registrant Phone Ext: 
Registrant Fax: +1.4163418959
Registrant Fax Ext:
Registrant Email: [email protected]
Registry Admin ID: 
Admin Name: LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Admin Organization: VERTICALSCOPE INC
Admin Street: 111 PETER STREET
Admin City: TORONTO
Admin State/Province: ONTARIO
Admin Postal Code: M5V2H1
Admin Country: CA
Admin Phone: +1.4163418950
Admin Phone Ext: 
Admin Fax: +1.4163418959
Admin Fax Ext:
Admin Email: [email protected]
Registry Tech ID: 
Tech Name: LEGAL DEPARTMENT
Tech Organization: VERTICALSCOPE INC
Tech Street: 111 PETER STREET
Tech City: TORONTO
Tech State/Province: ONTARIO
Tech Postal Code: M5V2H1
Tech Country: CA
Tech Phone: +1.4163418950
Tech Phone Ext: 
Tech Fax: +1.4163418959
Tech Fax Ext: 
Tech Email: [email protected]


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Thank you, K.I.T.T. - at least it looks like the new owners are located on _this_ side of The Pond...


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

The Avatars seem to have returned


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## chuck_thehammer (Oct 24, 2007)

Richard Baker said:


> The Avatars seem to have returned


 
I can not say the same.. logged out and back in. nota...


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Still nothing for me ?
Denis


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Richard Baker said:


> The Avatars seem to have returned


That's funny, because I don't see any returning avatars.


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

irishtrek said:


> That's funny, because I don't see any returning avatars.


You have one of the TOS Enterprise right next to your name on that last post.
Using Chrome with Adblock Plus


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## Richard Baker (Aug 8, 2006)

mcdougall said:


> Still nothing for me ?
> Denis


None on yours- you might want to try uploading it again.


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## chuck_thehammer (Oct 24, 2007)

I went to get the House Avatars.. all 400 are blank...


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Same here. I tried inserting the location of my avatar from my web site and also uploading it from my computer. No dice either way.


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Then they only solved part of the problem, wonder when they'll get the rest of it solved.
By the way I went to see if R2 had updated their blog and I keep getting detoured to someplace else. Any one know what's up???


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

No seeing the avatars I being


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Lemme get these fixed. 

-Philip


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## race71 (Oct 20, 2010)

vs-Admin said:


> Lemme get these fixed.
> 
> -Philip


They are alive  :wave: Hi Philip


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

vs-Admin said:


> Lemme get these fixed.
> 
> -Philip


Thanks Phillip :thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Please let me know if there are other bugs on the site. We took over management of the site for MAS media along with several other hobby type sites they owned. If you see other bugs you want to report please let me know. 

-Philip


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Cool and Thank You...How long do you think it will take to fix the Avatar situation?
Mcdee


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

mcdougall said:


> Cool and Thank You...How long do you think it will take to fix the Avatar situation?
> Mcdee


This was personally above my pay grade so I escalated this to the techs above me. It should not take too long to be honest I would imagine by early in the coming week. We are down one tech right now with vacations so site down emergency stuff is taking priority bit it will be fixed. 

-Philip


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

vs-Admin said:


> This was personally above my pay grade so I escalated this to the techs above me. It should not take too long to be honest I would imagine by early in the coming week. We are down one tech right now with vacations so site down emergency stuff is taking priority bit it will be fixed.
> 
> -Philip


We all appreciate your response to our situation....
Thanks again :thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## geoffdude (Mar 31, 2009)

The biggest issue is that the "avatars" directory seems to be gone (trashed, renamed, whatever). -- I truly hope they can ALL be restored.

My image was located at:
"http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/images/avatars/glring.gif"

"../*avatars*/.." is the missing directory in the URL.

Hopefully all the standard, and our custom, avatars have just been moved to another part of the server.. and the path to them broken. Let's keep our fingers crossed they can be found.

:thumbsup:


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Welcome to the forums, Philip. By my estimation, your last three posts put you 300% ahead of the previous owners. You'll see that you've got a good group here, with a core of members who've been posting for over 15 years. And our moderators have been highly effective about keeping the posts civil and family-friendly.

And if you have any questions about building plastic models, this is the place to ask! :thumbsup:


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

Since MM beat me to it all I can say is I'll just chime in with another welcome to the boards Philip.:wave:


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

vs-Admin said:


> Please let me know if there are other bugs on the site. We took over management of the site for MAS media along with several other hobby type sites they owned. If you see other bugs you want to report please let me know.
> 
> -Philip


Hello Philip! It's nice to know someone has been listening to our concerns; sorry it had to be you! 

Since you asked, in recent months two of the more common comments/complaints have been about slow loading times throughout the various forums, and the pop-up ads. Now, I know it takes money to operate and maintain a forum like this so I'm not sure anything can be done about the pop-up ads, but a few members (possibly more) have abandoned the forum because the slow loading times made the forum more "hassle" than "fun" for them. I haven't experienced this myself; for me each thread loads just as fast or slow as it ever has (currently using Mozilla Firefox 36.0.3).

Thank you for addressing our concerns!


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

geoffdude said:


> The biggest issue is that the "avatars" directory seems to be gone (trashed, renamed, whatever). -- I truly hope they can ALL be restored.
> 
> "../*avatars*/.." is the missing directory in the URL.
> 
> ...


I have one of the techs looking at this. We are short staffed with techs until Wed this week with their leader on vacation. Its on the list to be fixed soon Apologies for the delay. 



Mark McGovern said:


> Welcome to the forums, Philip. By my estimation, your last three posts put you 300% ahead of the previous owners. You'll see that you've got a good group here, with a core of members who've been posting for over 15 years. And our moderators have been highly effective about keeping the posts civil and family-friendly.
> 
> And if you have any questions about building plastic models, this is the place to ask! :thumbsup:


This appears to be a pretty self moderated group, its good to see. Maturity and enthusiasm in the same place makes for a smooth running forum. 



irishtrek said:


> Since MM beat me to it all I can say is I'll just chime in with another welcome to the boards Philip.:wave:


Cheers!



Zombie_61 said:


> Hello Philip! It's nice to know someone has been listening to our concerns; sorry it had to be you!
> Since you asked, in recent months two of the more common comments/complaints have been about slow loading times throughout the various forums, and the pop-up ads. Now, I know it takes money to operate and maintain a forum like this so I'm not sure anything can be done about the pop-up ads, but a few members (possibly more) have abandoned the forum because the slow loading times made the forum more "hassle" than "fun" for them. I haven't experienced this myself; for me each thread loads just as fast or slow as it ever has (currently using Mozilla Firefox 36.0.3).
> 
> Thank you for addressing our concerns!


Popup ads are banned from our network so they should no longer show for any of you logged into the site. If you see anything that looks like a popup grab a screen capture of the page for me so I can show it to ad traffic and have it killed off 100%. If you are sill experiencing speed issues with pages loading please let me know as well and I will see what I can do to add a little more fuel to things. 

-Philip


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Thanks for the update Philip :thumbsup:
Hoping to see favorable results soon 
Mcdee


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

I am hoping as well. We where digging around in the database last night. It looked like the stock avatars are there but there is a break in the URL chain. Its possible we may be able to restore those, the rest will be adding URLs from your own sources that should be resolved soon. We are back to a fully staffed tech crew Thursday so the non emergency stuff should be getting cleared out of the to do list shortly after. 

-Philip


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

If it hasn't already been mentioned,....some of us are having trouble uploading photos to threads from our computer. And this was never a problem before. I hope this will get fixed. And thanks for listening.


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

DCH10664 said:


> If it hasn't already been mentioned,....some of us are having trouble uploading photos to threads from our computer. And this was never a problem before. I hope this will get fixed. And thanks for listening.


I just tried this and am getting: 

*Upload Errors
20141231_104137.jpg:
Unable to move/copy file* 

Going to report this now. 

-Philip


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## irishtrek (Sep 17, 2005)

I logged in at about 9:08 this evening to find a few avatars are back, woo hoo!!!:thumbsup:


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Looks like Bill the Cat is back! Woot! 

--Sean


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

irishtrek said:


> I logged in at about 9:08 this evening to find a few avatars are back, woo hoo!!!:thumbsup:


Mine is still M.I.A., but at least some progress is being made. _And_ Philip is being kind enough to stop in and give us brief updates--I don't recall that ever happening here before unless it was a moderator passing along whatever information he/she could obtain. All things considered, so far I think it's a good sign.


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Still working this out. I am checking in as much as I can and if you need anything specific PLEASE send me a pm. There are a bunch of sites on this network we are still working on and I am trying to keep this all organized with a steady flow of bug reports to the techs. We are also back up to having a regular crew of techs. Looking at the remaining missing avatars today. 

-Philip


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Zombie_61 said:


> Mine is still M.I.A., but at least some progress is being made. _And_ Philip is being kind enough to stop in and give us brief updates--I don't recall that ever happening here before unless it was a moderator passing along whatever information he/she could obtain. All things considered, so far I think it's a good sign.


Its fixed! Working on attachments now.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

YAY !!! Thank You !!!:thumbsup::thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## Bruce Bishop (Jan 17, 1999)

Thank you. It's great to see the site has no longer been simply abandoned!


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Doing what we can. The rest is up to you guys to make sure we know what is broken. If you post a bug report and dont see a reply please please pm this account with a link to the report. 

-Philip


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Attachments should be fixed now. 

-Philip


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Philip,

Administrators who actually administrate?!?!??  Holy *_expletive deleted_*!! My heartfelt thanks are mixed with shock and awe. :wave:


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

Glad we can help. As I said we are covering a lot of ground right now so if you need me please PM me. Also if anyone knows "hankster" he PMed me offering to help with things on the site two weeks ago but has not replied to my pms back to him. I take it he was the site founder. 

-Philip


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

vs-Admin said:


> ...Also if anyone knows "hankster"...I take it he was the site founder.


Philip,

Hankster is Hank Hagquist, who was a friend of our Queen of Styrene, Lisa Greco. They were the brains (and, one might say with a little trepidation, the brawn) behind the Polar Lights modeling forum. You can get the full story, which was featured in _Inc._ magazine, by clicking here.


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

Yep ! It seems they have fixed the problem. Thanks a lot. I truly appreciate your efforts.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Deech,

Dunno what that car is, but I like it! :thumbsup:


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

It's a concept car built by Ford in 1953. It was called the X-100. But was never put into production.


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## skmod (Feb 23, 2010)

vs-Admin said:


> Attachments should be fixed now.
> 
> -Philip


Thank you!!!!!


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## Zombie_61 (Apr 21, 2004)

DCH10664 said:


> It's a concept car built by Ford in 1953. It was called the X-100. But was never put into production.


Kinda' looks like the bastard love child of the Batmobile and the Black Beauty. :lol: But I like it!


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Hmmm...the 'Bat Beauty'? Amazing crime-fighting vehicle of - *The Green Bat??!?*


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## hal9001 (May 28, 2008)

Mark McGovern said:


> Hmmm...the 'Bat Beauty'? Amazing crime-fighting vehicle of - *The Green Bat??!?*


Well now that's just silly! Who's ever heard of a green bat? Now I've heard of green bat...uh...er...uh...well, never mind. :freak:

Carl-


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## DCH10664 (Jul 16, 2012)

Love the Green Bat pic !! Thanks for the laugh Mark. I needed that this morning :wave:


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Don't thank me, thank Adobe Photoshop...


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

So what else do you all want for the site? Lets get this all fixed and up to speed. 

-Philip


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

IMHO, the appointment of responsible individuals to moderate the forums was always an effective way to insure that civility reigned here. There have been occasional disruptions in the past that were quickly dealt with by our moderators. One hears of all kinds of bad behavior on other forums, but rarely here - and I'd like to see things kept that way.

Oh, and a full pardon to and a plea for the return of our Queen of Styrene!


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## K & O Racing (Feb 25, 2014)

What I would like to see is moderators that actually do their job. Pretty much all of them have left the site and nothing is being done about spam PMs, spam threads, and members who were once permanently banned which managed to make new accounts for trolling people in the chat room.


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## vs-Admin (Mar 9, 2015)

K & O Racing said:


> What I would like to see is moderators that actually do their job. Pretty much all of them have left the site and nothing is being done about spam PMs, spam threads, and members who were once permanently banned which managed to make new accounts for trolling people in the chat room.


I will take a moderator roll call over the weekend and see who is still about. We are setting up our own helpdesk support too. This should appear on Monday afternoon. When you have an issue with your account you can post in the helpdesk section and we will come help.

-Philip


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## K & O Racing (Feb 25, 2014)

vs-Admin said:


> I will take a moderator roll call over the weekend and see who is still about. We are setting up our own helpdesk support too. This should appear on Monday afternoon. When you have an issue with your account you can post in the helpdesk section and we will come help.
> 
> -Philip


Any update on the roll call?


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## Owen E Oulton (Jan 6, 2012)

On a note related to the Avatars and Images coming back, I would also like to thank Philip for heeding my request to access the Adult Modelling forum, which I'd been repeatedly requesting access to from the old owners for about 5 years! You da man, Philip, as they say in the United States of Less Than Half of One of the Americas!


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## Dyonisis (Nov 11, 2009)

Mark McGovern said:


> IMHO, the appointment of responsible individuals to moderate the forums was always an effective way to insure that civility reigned here. There have been occasional disruptions in the past that were quickly dealt with by our moderators. One hears of all kinds of bad behavior on other forums, but rarely here - and I'd like to see things kept that way.
> 
> Oh, and a full pardon to and a plea for the return of our Queen of Styrene!


I agree. However, we _are_ all adults here, and we should be able to control ourselves when dealing with disagreements. We know how to behave, and should not need to be babysat. I know that we sometimes have one, or two, sometimes three, or more that can't seem to get along with others. They are the ones that disregard authority, and respect for others that need to be treated like a little baby. I'm just glad that the forum has been left in good hands NOW. I was unaware that the site was sold again, and again.


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