Over 53,000 have looked at his greatly helpful thread.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-ge ... on/956104-c4-rpo-faq.html

Because they have heads firmly positioned up asses.

And to this day, I still get emails from there, asking for help.

So I tell them I was banned, direct them here, and then answer there question... 9 times out of 10, they take my answer, say thanks and never visit here.

Hence, a lot of people have their heads firmly planted up their collective asses.

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So now you know. Direct them here, have them post the question to recieve an answer.

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How funny. I still get 2 - 3 emails a week from my years posting at CF. I made a lot of friends...most of whom I met and stayed in contact with outside the forum. However, new members and less active established members will find my posts from a search and reach out to me either to chit chat or to pick my brain.

I always let them know I post here and at DC. Since DC has a much more active C3 section, most of them look me up there but I have managed to bring a few people here to Guru.

So why did they ban you Andy? Which I am glad they did because then you became the maker and I have a place to hang out on the Guru...thanks for that....

There's only one good fourm section on Cf with no asswipes.
I don't go on any of the other ones.

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The saga...

Feb 2006, Troy, the founder of CF, sells the site to Internet Brands.

The sale was handled very poorly... in the background, privately and with as much transparency as CF handles anything... which means none whatsoever.

If a user was banned, they kept it a national secret... seriously. I hated that aspect of the place. It had a certain Soviet Era vibe to it... folks just disappearing off the streets.

Or, the admins (Jim and Jesse, IIRC), would leave cryptic messages about behaviour types they didn't like.

As I understand it, both Jim and Jesse were or are cops in FL. I am not 100% sure of that, tho.

When Troy was around, he kept a good rein on them; but once he left, they went off. Anyone who didn't agree with the corporate/party line, was summarily executed.

And that's what happened to me, Central Coaster, the former StreetNight and a couple of others... we practiced civil disobedience, and they didn't like it. On 20 Dec 2007, they summarily banned the core of the C4 Tech brain trust. That told me EXACTLY where their priorities were... with running a dictatorship and NOT serving the best interests of the membership or the Corvette hobby. It was more important to have no discord than have the right answers.

I got a nasty gram from Jesse with all sorts of cryptic comments, some snips from prior posts and vague references to violating site policies.

I have the emails somewhere, I think. I will try an dig them up.

The C3 sections had some very good guys as moderators and for the most part they did great. They were actual C3 owners too so they were enthusiasts just like us. Unfortunately, we didn't always get to work with them and not everyone was so easy to deal with.

Hmmmm.....interesting....never have been a member of CF but run into folks on the CAC where I hang for some GS info and such, that hate the CF and don't go there anymore...big is not always better....

I'm with you, Marcus...

I stop over at DC and CAC from time to time, but both have dead C4 sections, and even worse, their "knowledgeable" aren't... Their collective brain trusts are weak. Same with CF.

DC was sold off a couple of years ago, but Patrick did it right... for anyone who had paid him to be a "lifetime" member, was offer a FULL REFUND. As I understand it, not many took him up on it, due to the public way he handled the sale and the ethical way he offered to handle the lifetime members.

CAC folks are nice, and they have a lot of info there, just light traffic.

I still think this is one of the most, if not most, technically astute Corvette sites on the web.

VetteMOD is VERY engineering centric, they build their own stuff, which is VERY impressive, but not the same kind of assistance we can provide the average owner. Know what I mean?

Not everyone has a lathe, Bridgeport and welding equipment. Neat info, but not very accessible to the average enthusiast.

Corvette Anonymous appears to be very social... small group, more club like. From what I have seen, a nicer, older group. What I have observed is limited because the site is "private."

Smoken Corvette's is, in my personal opinion, everything bad with the hobby... at least on the surface... let me qualify... there seems to be an overage of bling, rather brash and loud, but lots of good tech under there.

The problem is that many people will be blinded by the bright lights and miss the good info.

The reason this site is rather plain looking isn't because I don't want bling, I do have a little... I want it so it's READABLE. The old white back ground on black text is still the best for reading.

And we have a damned GREAT core of members, willing to do most any major task and do it well. Engine pros, road course rats, drag racers, street/touring fans... yea, we have the best of the best here, I think.

I do want more members, yes, but I wand only those that will add to the discussion in intelligent ways... It's not just knowing something; it's asking the right question in the right manner and then explaining what was done to fix it.

One recent newbie comes in, asked a question, apparently didn't like our suggestions, implied he got it fixed and didn't tell us how. I call that ass a tool... and if he ever has the balls to come back, I will call him a tool to his face.

In fact, I email him and called him a tool... his snarky attitude wasn't needed nor appreciated.

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Don't worry, Tommy... we don't ban members of the bored.

There is no doubt that the C4 knowledge at the Guru is the best anywhere. I have been known to PM people on other sites and tell them to go to the Guru for answers.

The all around general knowledge here is remarkable also, in that someone will know something about most anything.....and if anyone has questions about soybeans or corn or anything agronomic......I got your back on that.....

I don't agree with how it was handled

that said, a lot of you were not just playing with matches, but you soaked it in gasoline.

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We were playing with matches.

They soaked it in gasoline.

I will accept my part of the blame; but they are unwilling to acknowledge they had any fault in what happened.

At that time, they were so ban happy, they were pulling triggers without even giving the offending party a chance to refute the charge... it was judge, jury, execution, in one deft swipe.

It was a war of words... and no one really won... Troy and IB set up the rules, the problem? It was the enthusiastic over enforcement that caused the war.

I posted over 'there' even less than I do hear (I like reading).

At CF I read alot of what Andy had written over the years and I appreciated his C4 knowledge greatly. So when I (with great interest) followed a thread with Andy 'at odds' with the admins I concluded his reasoning to be accurate and the admins to be ignorant.

So I simply typed and posted this: I agree with Bogus.

Two hours later I was lifetime banned from CF.

I
D
I
O
T
S

Wow... never in the world did mentioning my name cause one so much grief...

sorry 'bout that.

You renegades!

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LOL...I guess we share that about CF. Mentioning my name was enough to get a thread locked, and someone speaking up on my behalf would get someone banned.

and now we are back to the dictatorship aspect of that place.

I am pretty sure that the gang at VetMOD has already been here to check this thread... they seem to keep an eye out when their site is mentioned...

I have Posted in CF! Only got one reply about buying brake pads, everyone else seems that their car is better than miine. I love talking and taking any opinions. I would have gave up on my car if it wasnt for the Guru and Volzfan & Trae1976 for showing me this Forum.

yay! Thanks for the kind words!!!

CorvetteGuru.com is the best Corvette forum although it may not be the biggest.

CorvetteGuru.com is the number 1 in my book though I tend to be biased.

I was a pain in their side many times. I hate authority, and I won't like, I get some sick sort of enjoyment out of seeing how far I can push the envelope with those who like their authority a little too much.

It's a shame that sharing of knowledge isn't the #1 priority though.

Sometimes you gotta through out the baby with the bathwater though. But that's their forum and their perogative. Free speech is a two way street. I spoke freely, and so did they, by banning me.

That's the problem... speech isn't free over there. It's controlled by corporate policies and political correctness...

It's a "for profit" enterprise. Nobody has to like it, but it doesn't make it wrong. It's like getting upset that GM makes automatic Corvettes...that's what sells, there's no shame in it.

That said, I agree the BS gets out of hand and many are simply on a power trip. It's seen in every facet of life; give someone a little athority who otherwise is a puppet and they will abuse it to feel superiour, even if just for a moment...

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The problem, as I see it, is that the Internet was the one great experiment in anarchy that actually worked.

Then comes in people with the desire to protect their kingdom, and in doing so, violate the basic tenants of the American experience - freedom of speech.

Corporate America does it all the time and it does bother me.

At one point, at a past job, I was told outright that my marginally left leaning politic could cost me my job if certain people heard my opinions! I was flat out floored.

These "certain people" weren't even all that much in charge, either... it's not like they were the HR manager or VP of anything.

Then again, that job was loaded with drama, politics, angst and the basic rule, "perception is reality." If you made a less than stellar impression up front, you were labeled in a bad way FOREVER. It was impossible to dig out of holes there... most screwed up.

The NFL does it... NASCAR does it... and it bothers me...

I think you misunderstand what free speech is.

If you are asking for free speech without consequences, then you are stifling someone else's free speech.

I wonder what would happen if I banned Bogus from guru?

You ain't got the balls Kev!

Nobody can ban the Grand Pooh-Bahhhhh......nobody....

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Why do you think I am the only one with keys to the system control panel?

Gotta keep the minions under some element of control. heh heh heh

They booted me too.

I told Jon / FIC to make vids for stickies of the injector diagnostics. I told forum bosses too, since it would generate thousands of hits.

Forum bosses said good idea, but no go, since at the time, Jon wasn't a board sponsor.

Meanwhile, I was poking fun at the blood and guts garbage on 'Off Topic'. Everyone wants the first scoop on 'so and so' just died, and similar garbage.

I posted, 'Pics of tourist's face, when the knife went in??? (Olympic tourist stabbing in Japan), and then, 'Pics of bullet-riddled dog???' (DC politician drug bust, with shot up dog) Another CF user 'Karl' was doing it too - really funny too.

Anyway, someone whined, and Pewter99 mod put me in moderation. I trumped it by boosting my one year Silver membership, to one year Gold. I posted, and he got pissed, and booted me.

THEN Jon got his injector stickies posted - 115,000 hits I think now. My headlight sticky was around 40k hits too.

So I hacked the boot, and wiped my headlight pics from the sticky!!!

damn.

I knew this emoticon was here for as reason.

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53,001!

And what's the RPO for cloth seats??? First one I ever looked at had Grey fabric '91, and now I put F-Parts' Black fabric into my Red one...

I H8 that place!

I stopped going YEARS AGO.

Every now and then a CF issue pops up during a Google search related to what I'm researching.

Stupidly, I go back and post something trying to help someone out who asked a question regarding something unique I'm interested in.

Then from people's subsequent comments I realize just why I stopped going there to BEGIN with!

The other place I cant stand is CAC with that columnist (I forgot his name) who thinks he knows everything. I recall contacting him after he gave some wrong info and gave my source as a direct quote from Gordon Killebrew and he was rude and basicly told me to "pound sand" when he was proven wrong ;-)

Interesting mess with all this over on CF.

I haven't been given a vacation or hadcany of my post locked...

Over there I post hot links to my tech related threads over here on the Guru all the time.

Maybe I'm just under the radar.
Will

could be... if you don't cause issue, you don't get their attention.

too many people play games

I just there to support the hobby

I stop by here every day, i don't do much posting and i love this site. why go any where else

AS I'VE SAID BEFORE, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE FOLKS ON THIS FORUM. IT'S THE GURUS THAT MAKE THIS A GREAT PLACE.

I see it as we get along and respect each others space.

other sites don't have that luxury, and I must be cautious as we grow, to not lose that sense of family.

I think it was all worth it just for the phrase you guys came up with: "banned camp"

Still makes me laugh.

And Bill there are plenty of tools on the RR forum as well. Just less proportionally.

there are tools on every forum... just about... not here... most of them are ignored until they self ban.

we have had some odd balls... but for the most part, pretty ok.