Is Boardreader Cannibalizing Physics Forums?

  • Thread starter rhody
  • Start date
In summary, the conversation revolved around the discovery of a website called BoardReader that archives forum discussions, including those from Physics Forums. There were concerns about privacy and the possible involvement of human intervention in organizing and vetting the content on BoardReader. However, it was also noted that BoardReader is a well-known and reputable site in the social media community and that its bots are mostly automated. There were also discussions about the potential impact of online posts on personal privacy and the possibility of becoming a historical figure through digital archives.
  • #1
rhody
Gold Member
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I ran across http://boardreader.com/thread/uh_I_need_a_runway_really_let_me_explain_3mqyX9n41.html" today from a google search. "physics forums rhody", it's almost like this site is cannibalizing PF, even Evo's avatar appears, under "Thread Members". try googling it yourself. I left this open ended to see where it would lead. General comments, opinions from members, moderators, admins, and Greg are most welcomed.

Rhody...
 
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  • #2
There are ton's of sites like this that archive forum discussions. I'm really surprised that this is the only one that comes up when you searched.
 
  • #3
I've known about it for several years. It's an interesting site. I don't see much cause for concern. It's no different than what Google does. Boardreader clearly displays that the content is not their own and links everything back to PF. In the end they send PF maybe 500 visitors a day.
 
  • #4
Greg Bernhardt said:
I've known about it for several years. It's an interesting site. I don't see much cause for concern. It's no different than what Google does. Boardreader clearly displays that the content is not their own and links everything back to PF. In the end they send PF maybe 500 visitors a day.
I understand, thanks Greg, but the creepy thing to me is that they can somehow link Evo's avatar (No offense Evo) to me. Are these Board readers totally automated, or do they require human intervention to organize and vet content, etc... ?

Rhody... :redface:
 
  • #5
rhody said:
I understand, thanks Greg, but the creepy thing to me is that they can somehow link Evo's avatar (No offense Evo) to me. Are these Board readers totally automated, or do they require human intervention to organize and vet content, etc... ?

Rhody... :redface:

The bots are certainly automated for indexing, but they're a big player in the social media community, not some shady underground organization. I'm actually attending a conference next week and one of the speakers is from BoardReader.
 
  • #6
Greg Bernhardt said:
The bots are certainly automated for indexing, but it's a big player in the community development community, not some shady underground organization. I'm actually attending a conference next week and one of the speakers is from BoardReader.
If you get a change to speak to him/her, maybe you could address my question to him/her then, thanks. I didn't mean the site was creepy, I guess it could have crawled my profile and seen I was friend's with Evo, something like that.

Rhody...
 
  • #7
rhody said:
If you get a change to speak to him/her, maybe you could address my question to him/her then, thanks.

Rhody...

What is your exact question? :)
 
  • #8
Greg Bernhardt said:
What is your exact question? :)

As I gave it a closer look, it is obvious that Boardreader picked up on a popular recent post with a high number of responses, and was able to find the users I have corresponded with which would explain the Avatar list. One thing I do like about the way things are presented is the brief post history before each post, and affiliated searches using keywords from the title to other links, that is quite slick. We have a thread search feature that pretty much can do the same thing, but I like the way you can briefly review each post in Boardreader.

One question would then be: is a Boardreader Admin required to oversee the mining and recreation of PF's content ? Is the process entirely automated ? If not, what part does the Admin person play, if any, in creating content mined from PF.

Rhody...
 
  • #9
Greg Bernhardt said:
The bots are certainly automated for indexing, but they're a big player in the social media community, not some shady underground organization. I'm actually attending a conference next week and one of the speakers is from BoardReader.

well... i don't know that i'd place too much stock in the mainstream players either.

http://www.businessinsider.com/well...s-wont-help-facebooks-privacy-problems-2010-5
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/20/100920fa_fact_vargas?currentPage=all
 
  • #10
Makes me feel violated. :frown:
 
  • #11
Evo said:
Makes me feel violated. :frown:
In what way, the fact that boardreader was able to see that I am friend's with 16 or members here on PF, and then further to figure out that you and I are participants in similar threads ? I am guessing, but I would like to know what criteria it uses to put up the four avatar's it choose (including Evo's), and mugaliens (who is now banned).

Or, in scenario B, Evo, is just pulling my leg, and has no issue with it, so which is it going to be Evo, are you really offended, or just pulling my leg ?

Rhody... :uhh:
 
  • #12
rhody said:
In what way, the fact that boardreader was able to see that I am friend's with 16 or members here on PF, and then further to figure out that you and I are participants in similar threads ? I am guessing, but I would like to know what criteria it uses to put up the four avatar's it choose (including Evo's), and mugaliens (who is now banned).

Or, in scenario B, Evo, is just pulling my leg, and has no issue with it, so which is it going to be Evo, are you really offended, or just pulling my leg ?

Rhody... :uhh:
The fact that I post here at PF and end up on hundreds of unrelated websites. Makes me want to stop posting anywhere. I want to choose who sees my dirty laundry. :eek:
 
  • #13
This is yet another example of how I feel everyday life does not map well to the internet. We consider what we say here to be semi-private but in actual fact we might as well be publishing in a national newspaper.

On the brighter side don't say anything mental and you will be ok. On the brighterer side in several hundred years there may be archaeological digital digs into old data archives and this rhody character may end up some sort of historical figure :tongue2:
 
  • #14
Evo said:
The fact that I post here at PF and end up on hundreds of unrelated websites. Makes me want to stop posting anywhere. I want to choose who sees my dirty laundry. :eek:
Isn't that called being a victim of your own success ? If PF's, hit rate were in the tank so to speak, you wouldn't have to worry about being picked up by other websites, no ? Like ryan just said, "don't say anything mental and you will be ok" is good advice.

Rhody... o:)
 
  • #15
rhody said:
Isn't that called being a victim of your own success ? If PF's, hit rate were in the tank so to speak, you wouldn't have to worry about being picked up by other websites, no ? Like ryan just said, "don't say anything mental and you will be ok" is good advice.

Rhody... o:)
I used to tell kids here not to brag about their illegal activities and they would say "no one that matters is going to see this", meaning coming to PF.

I've known that posts here get re-posted elsewhere, but that doesn't stop me from disliking it. I feel that PF is my home, and that the people that browse or post here are, for the most part, a bit above the average, but when you start thinking about your posts ending up who knows where, yuk.
 
  • #16
Evo said:
The fact that I post here at PF and end up on hundreds of unrelated websites. Makes me want to stop posting anywhere. I want to choose who sees my dirty laundry. :eek:

How is this different than what Google does?
 
  • #17
Greg Bernhardt said:
How is this different than what Google does?
It's not knowing where my posts are. I know I can google my posts, and people googling a subject might come across my posts that lead them here. But to just have them posted at who knows how many other sites feels weird.

That's just me. I'm a control freak.
 
  • #18
Evo said:
It's not knowing where my posts are. I know I can google my posts, and people googling a subject might come across my posts that lead them here. But to just have them posted at who knows how many other sites feels weird.

That's just me. I'm a control freak.

There are more search engines than google you know. Your posts have been accessible in thousands of different places for years :wink:
 
  • #19
Greg Bernhardt said:
There are more search engines than google you know. Your posts have been accessible in thousands of different places for years :wink:
Yes, I know.

Years ago I found out that there were websites made about me. They were nice, kind of "shrines", but I try not to think about it.

I've also found a site where a disgruntled ex member complained about me. he was angry that I banned him, but what was really funny was that I wasn't the one that banned him. :tongue:
 
  • #20
Evo said:
Yes, I know.

Years ago I found out that there were websites made about me. They were nice, kind of "shrines", but I try not to think about it.

Tell me about it! This one seems to be all about you;
http://www.evo.co.uk/
Though the fans aren't very good. All they seem to do is take pictures of cars that you own or discuss the merits of your favourite cars (or something like that).
 
  • #21
Evo said:
Years ago I found out that there were websites made about me.

Really? Wow, that's creepy...

Then again, I wouldn't mind having a fanpage about me o:)
 
  • #22
micromass said:
Really? Wow, that's creepy...

Then again, I wouldn't mind having a fanpage about me o:)

There nearly is! Micro http://bit.ly/aOVMt3" has a record of some of your posts and has the function for people to rate them.
 
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  • #23
Ryan_m_b said:
There nearly is! Micro http://bit.ly/aOVMt3" has a record of some of your posts and has the function for people to rate them.

:grumpy: rawr :grumpy:
 
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  • #24
micromass said:
:grumpy: rawr :grumpy:
:rofl:
 
  • #25
micromass said:
:grumpy: rawr :grumpy:

Tricking the trickster, allllllright :cool:
 
  • #26
Ryan_m_b said:
Tricking the trickster, allllllright :cool:

Cute, but the ad gave it away before the rickrolling started. I bowed out before the main event.

Rhody... sigh... wishes rickrolling would become an artifact of history.
 
  • #27
rhody said:
Cute, but the ad gave it away before the rickrolling started. I bowed out before the main event.

Rhody... sigh... wishes rickrolling would become an artifact of history.
At least it's decent music, be careful what you wish for, the replacement is usually worse.
 
  • #28
Evo said:
At least it's decent music, be careful what you wish for, the replacement is usually worse.

I know psychology 101 states that the more you make a big deal out of something and are aggravated, the more people will continue to inflict it (in this case rickrolling) on you. Ok, I'll embrace the horror, I love it and I hope this form of prank continues into the distant http://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...1l9l0l0l0l0l391l1812l0.1.2.3l6l0&safe=active".

Rhody... o:)
 
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  • #29
Back to the topic then, how can Boardreader compile and repeatedly scan PF without having an ID to login, and be smart enough to show four member's avatars who I have interacted with on the forums, and through PM's ?

Rhody... :confused:
 
  • #30
rhody said:
Back to the topic then, how can Boardreader compile and repeatedly scan PF without having an ID to login, and be smart enough to show four member's avatars who I have interacted with on the forums, and through PM's ?

Rhody... :confused:
I thought that the avatars were randomly picked from members that posted it that particular thread?
 
  • #31
I'm still fuzzy on the purpose of archiving perhaps thousands of message forums, each of which has hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of posts.

And greg, while it may be sending 500 visitors a day this way, consider what might happen if it didn't exist in the first place. Wouldn't those 500 visitors' Google searchs that took them to boardreader simply deposit them here in the first place?

Seems like an unnecessary step to me.

Besides, there are ads out there, so... Oh! That's why they do it.
 
  • #32
Evo said:
I thought that the avatars were randomly picked from members that posted it that particular thread?
That is a possibility Evo, but three out of four who I regularly touch base with led me to wonder. I just want to know the nuts and bolts of what they data mine and how they do it. I don't worry about being stalked as you do, but I find it amazing that they can do this so effortlessly, that's all.

Rhody...
 
  • #33
rhody said:
That is a possibility Evo, but three out of four who I regularly touch base with led me to wonder. I just want to know the nuts and bolts of what they data mine and how they do it. I don't worry about being stalked as you do, but I find it amazing that they can do this so effortlessly, that's all.

Rhody...
I'm not worried about being stalked. I just don't like not knowing where my posts are. :tongue:
 
  • #34
Ok, I just blew my own mind, I went into google images: and searched on Rhody PhysicsForums, and I swear almost every image I posted since being a member came up ! Try it with your ID's. I started with a friend of mine, just his name, guess what came up on the first page, his son's picture, click it and where he worked and went to school came up in his work profile. There is NO privacy folks, none, if you are clever with search tools, it takes mere minutes to find you and your likes and dislikes. Google is cataloging and referencing everything on the internet, now in near real time.

From my ID and forum name it is pretty easy to see my likes and dislikes.

Rhody... :bugeye: :grumpy:
 
  • #35
Anybody googling my name will see a lot of lolcats :biggrin:
 

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