New Stormtrack changes for January 2012

[Drew.Gardonia]

I think allowing random user names is stupid. Having real names allows us to know who each other is, put a face with a name, etc... on Facebook. I say keep the real names. Just my $.02.

what about privatizing the viewing of the entire forum to members only? Aside from employers and other things, would there be a valid concern with insurance companies browsing here and cancelling some people's auto policies since they are storm chasing and intentionally placing their vehicle in harm's way?

just a thought.

 

[Jesse Risley]

what about privatizing the viewing of the entire forum to members only? Aside from employers and other things, would there be a valid concern with insurance companies browsing here and cancelling some people's auto policies since they are storm chasing and intentionally placing their vehicle in harm's way?

just a thought.

I don't speak from a personal platform of any expertise in the insurance industry, but this topic has been discussed previously, and there were some who were familiar with the insurance industry arguing that yes, what you gave as an example could conceivably happen. Since one could easily argue that chasers are at a higher risk for damage that would result in a claim, insurance companies would want to take that into consideration when assessing premiums or otherwise paying for claims and balancing that with the fine print in your given policy. I did know someone who once worked as an investigator for an insurance agency, so they do employ people to investigate claims and save the firms money whenever possible. I have no idea how much attention is paid to vehicular claims versus something like job-related claims, which could have a greater likelihood of fraud, but this has dissuaded some from posting much in the way of chase reports or forecasts in the past.

 

[James Hilger]

My insurance tried this but final result was since im technically not employed to chase they had to pay. It's my free will where and when i drive. I was able to get paid without ever even having to file the lawsuit. I have since then rhino lined my vehicle and built a hail guard so hopefully i dont have to worry about it anymore. It was far cheaper than painting it anyways.

 

[John Farley]

I liked the separate FCST and NOW threads and would like that to come back. As to the question of people mooching off forecasts and leading to chaser convergence, I have my doubts about that. I think it has more to do with when and where the storms are - i.e. holiday weekend in OK equals massive convergence - as well as, perhaps, in 2010, all the hype about VORTEX 2. With no VORTEX 2 in 2011 and fewer instances of big days on weekends in OK, there did not seem to be as much of a massive convergence problem.

In general, I am not convinced that ST forecast threads are a significant cause of massive chaser convergence. I think that the FCST threads are an excellent learning tool for new chasers, and sometimes help remind us older chasers of considerations in the forecast that we may have overlooked.

 

[David Drummond]

I've had a number of people tell me they tracked me down to follow me chasing.....via Spotter Network. I've never had anyone say they saw where I was going as posted on ST (or any other venue for that matter). It might happen, but I can only relate what I have been told, and the SN thing has happened quite a few times.

It's nice to see some updates, but I seriously, seriously wish you would reconsider dropping the real name requirement Tim. If not, I'll eat a hailstone if you aren't regretting that decision in 6-9 months. It's inviting nothing but trouble and drama from troublemakers in my opinion. Sure, you can be swift with the ban hammer, but they will just create another persona and be back. Perhaps you could make a special exception for those in government employment to have an alias (I can see the reasoning there), who have been verified as to identity, but alias in general is bad.

On the other hand, they have a wealth of valuable knowledge to share, and without the real name, how does anyone know if they are learning from Greg or Rich, or some random person that decided they were a chaser last week and is proficient in using Google and regurgitating information? (Perhaps some sort of icon or member designation for these verified people?)

 

[Jason Boggs]

As a longtime Stormtrack member, I have to agree fully with what David has said. Why go to a nickname format when the real name format has worked all along. I think people will be more willing to create trouble with a fake name. Having a real name criteria creates a sort of "responsibility" before hitting the post button. Tim, I agree that you will regret your decision much sooner than later.

Also, making the target area public is asking for trouble as well. I thought you guys might be really trying to make a positive change to this site, but it's the same old site, just regurgitated in a different way. Not bashing you guys, but just giving you my honest and blunt opinion. Take it for what it's worth.

 

[Rob H]

As a longtime Stormtrack member, I have to agree fully with what David has said. Why go to a nickname format when the real name format has worked all along. I think people will be more willing to create trouble with a fake name. Having a real name criteria creates a sort of "responsibility" before hitting the post button. Tim, I agree that you will regret your decision much sooner than later.

The nice thing about the nickname policy is that if things really go to hell, the site can go back to real names and then this suggestion never has to come up again.

 

[Jacob Ferden]

The nice thing about the nickname policy is that if things really go to hell, the site can go back to real names and then this suggestion never has to come up again.

The problem lies in the fact that if/when things go to hell, some people tend not to come back.

 

[Jeff Duda]

The problem lies in the fact that if/when things go to hell, some people tend not to come back.

I'm pretty sure that's already happened. I think we are in a post-apocalyptic Stormtrack now. Of those still here, I bet 90% won't be turned away by such a policy change.

 

[Dan Robinson]

I wrote a script to help new members pick a username:

http://stormhighway.com/blog2012/chaserusername.shtml

On a serious note, I think the real names policy has benefitted overall. Most of the better-run and more professional forms I know of use real names.

 

[Sean Ramsey]

I think the point Rob made in another post about how seriously someone will be taken with a nickname carries a lot of weight. I don't like nicknames, but I wholly understand the argument for them. The downside for someone using them is there is much less chance their posts will be taken seriously unless their posts are really strong. On the flip side, you can ban a username but you can't ban a person with this method. I'm not sure how much of an issue this will be.

I also think that the Reports and Nowcast threads should be public, but the Forecasting area be separate and closed to the public. Obviously with nicknames it won't take much to register and see them with a good essay.

 

[Steve Miller]

I kinda like my new nickname...

 

[rdale]

If your intent was to be anonymous -- FAIL.

 

[Dave Gallaher]

Put me down as plus one for continuing real names here.

 

[Drew.Gardonia]

That was probably an unintended casualty of moving to a simpler, one forum Target Area. We might need to go back to separate Forecast and Reports sub-forums to get that feature back as I don't see a way to make just certain threads visible to members only. We also definitely want the Reports threads visible to all so it would probably not be best to make the entire Target Area visible to members only. I think Tim is still making changes so I'll see if we can make some suggestions.

yep, that would be the only way to do that. or you could create a new forum category for the Target/Forecst/Reports, make the one's you want private, and the other one public.

Put me down as plus one for continuing real names here.

+2

 

[Matt Tottle]

+3.

I'm not sure if it's an issue here, but I agree that most of the forums (especially the Marketplace) should be hidden from the public. Same with signatures and location. On other forums, the marketplace forums are a common target for scammers. One does have to be rather dense to fall for them, but why not just slap a preemptive lid on it while things are being shuffled. Visitors don't really need access to everything, give them a taste, and if they want more they can register.

Sigs/profiles also commonly contain personal information in the form of a callsign (mine included), location, and a real picture, and while I don't mind sharing it here, I can't help but imagine there's some little kid chained to a desk somewhere in China or Russia writing a bot to harvest them for malicious purposes. Again, those are things that visitors don't need access to. All a visitor should see is a name in the left bar. No avatar, location, or sig.

Just my $0.02.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Why is the target area viewable by non members? I think that's why many people have stopped posting, so freeloaders can't get information. I think that should be changed. Also, I loved the way the target area was way back when, with now threads and FCST threads, and having a separate forum for post storm discussions. It just made things more manageable and organized and people used to post more often.

What is the harm in open access to information? Thank God the NWS doesn't have the same attitude when it comes to data.

Granted, I may not have as much of an issue with this because I kinda suck at forecasting compared to many chasers and anyone who would rely solely on my forecasting advice would be in for a sad surprise.

 

[Andrew Burnett]

I like the changes. Please change my handle to "Kansas weather flame baiter" lol.

 

[Andrew Burnett]

That was probably an unintended casualty of moving to a simpler, one forum Target Area. We might need to go back to separate Forecast and Reports sub-forums to get that feature back as I don't see a way to make just certain threads visible to members only. We also definitely want the Reports threads visible to all so it would probably not be best to make the entire Target Area visible to members only. I think Tim is still making changes so I'll see if we can make some suggestions.

U could have a Members target area.. that only members see.. and one for the non-members... to me to foster growth some form of target area has to remain available.

 

[Danny Neal]

Decent concepts. I like the idea of keeping real names or at the very least "brand" name. Not that I post much anymore, I think the chase target game could have its' perks.