Please allow non-members to hide online status

[gopher_p]

That you've put this option behind a paywall is creepy as hell. Do the right thing and change it back.

Edit: I'm speaking primarily to the fact that people viewing my profile can see what pages I've viewed recently. That people can see if I'm on site and, if not, when I was last here is also pretty shady.

 

[Evo]

That you've put this option behind a paywall is creepy as hell. Do the right thing and change it back.

Edit: I'm speaking primarily to the fact that people viewing my profile can see what pages I've viewed recently. That people can see if I'm on site and, if not, when I was last here is also pretty shady.

You're on a public forum, so there is nothing "shady" about it. It's always been a Gold perk for as long as I can remember. If you want special privileges, then you have to decide if you want to get Gold membership, there are ways to get Gold privileges other than buying a membership.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Do the right thing and change it back.

I believe in the old site "set invisible" was a Gold perk as well.

Just about every forum software has activity records. What exactly are you concerned about?

 

[gopher_p]

What exactly are you concerned about?

If you (or anyone here with an account) go to my profile right now it says

gopher_p was last seen:
Viewing thread Please allow non-members to hide online status, 3 minutes ago

I don't like that. That's information that I'd rather not have publicly available. It's creepy.

 

[Evo]

[QUOTE="Greg Bernhardt, post: 4922546, member: 1"What exactly are you concerned about?

If you (or anyone here with an account) go to my profile right now it says

I don't like that. That's information that I'd rather not have publicly available. It's creepy.

That's normal for any forum I've been on.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I don't like that. That's information that I'd rather not have publicly available. It's creepy.

What makes you think anyone is visiting your profile page? ;) Member pages aren't indexed by search engines so few are viewing your page. If you wish to set extended privacy settings then upgrade to Gold membership. Support PF :)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

btw, it's not a paywall, there are lots of free ways to get Gold membership.

 

[gopher_p]

I think it's an awful policy, and I'm complaining about it. That is all.

 

[dlgoff]

I think it's an awful policy, and I'm complaining about it. That is all.

Simple fix ... Don't post. ;)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Simple fix ... Don't post. ;)

Nah, don't recommend that, but rather just find a free way to get Gold. :)

 

[dlgoff]

Nah, don't recommend that, but rather just find a free way to get Gold. :)

Yea. You're right.

 

[OmCheeto]

I think it's an awful policy, and I'm complaining about it. That is all.

hmmm... I have neither a degree in Accounting, nor in Math. But I took two terms of Economics about 25 years ago. What I learned there, prompted me to purchase a lifetime membership here.

As I said;

...Not sure if I mentioned, that I've a lifetime PF membership. And I'd not be PO'd if they banned me, as I get as much in two weeks here, as in a lifetime, anywhere else.
...

Which was apparently in response to Jim's comment:

I hope I contribute 1% as much as I get.

OM - you'll like retirement. Are you a chemist? Here's hoping you invent the next generation storage battery.

I'm almost done with the "storage battery" maths. It's looking good. (96% efficiency!)
Next stop: The patent office. :)
A $50 investment, is going to make me a trillion* dollars. And I'm positive I could not have done it without PF.

ps. Is my online status visible? I don't want lisab to know that I'm still stalking her. :p

* I may be off by as much as 4 orders of magnitude, but that's still more dough than I've made in this lifetime.

 

[jtbell]

If you log on only when you post, and log off immediately after posting, I don't think the forum software can track you while you're browsing.

 

[DataGG]

@gopher_p

I sympathize with you. Since the recent news, I've also been a bit obsessed with my privacy/security.. I find the "show the current activity" feature to be completely unnecessary. What's the point of it, really? Why would anyone want to have other people be able to check what they're reading in PF?

Having said that, I don't think Greg is going to add the "hide online status" feature to non-gold members, though I think he should.

Ideally, there would be no gold-accounts but Greg has to support PF or even make money himself, nothing wrong about it. This is his forum after-all. He already removed ads for registered users.

So ya, my suggestion is:

- Buy/get a gold account. It's not that expensive and you also have several free ways of getting it.

 

[mfb]

ps. Is my online status visible? I don't want lisab to know that I'm still stalking her. :p

That's what I see:

 

[RonL]

hmmm...

ps. Is my online status visible? I don't want lisab to know that I'm still stalking her. :p

* I may be off by as much as 4 orders of magnitude, but that's still more dough than I've made in this lifetime.

Ah ha, it's you that keeps bumping into me:D

 

[Rocket50]

In my opinion, hiding online status should still remain a privilege for gold members. However, it would be nice to get rid of the "Last seen" feature all together.

 

[DiracPool]

Thanks for this thread gang, now I'm having tons of fun snooping on all the members and seeing what they're doing. This is even more entertaining than posting :w

 

[OmCheeto]

Thanks for this thread gang, now I'm having tons of fun snooping on all the members and seeing what they're doing. This is even more entertaining than posting :w

Me too!
Btw, what does it mean when a Mentor is "performing mentor duties"?
Is that a metaphor, for washing their hands?

 

[RonL]

Me too!
Btw, what does it mean when a Mentor is "performing mentor duties"?
Is that a metaphor, for washing their hands?

It probably means their in conference deciding who will cut my thin thread, that I hang on with:D

 

[Nugatory]

Me too!
Btw, what does it mean when a Mentor is "performing mentor duties"?

It's not a coincidence that you see that one a lot when you're logged in. Other members may not see it as often.
:)

 

[Ryan_m_b]

I find the "last seen" and "currently viewing" features to be quite useful. They let you know if you should hang around a bit longer because someone is about to reply to you or if someone you've been talking with has logged off. I don't find it creepy given that this is an entirely public and voluntary forum and it reveals nothing personal about you. If the site insisted on real names or tracked your location and published it then that would be entirely creepy. Letting it be known how you use the site is harmless.

 

[OmCheeto]

I find the "last seen" and "currently viewing" features to be quite useful. They let you know if you should hang around a bit longer because someone is about to reply to you or if someone you've been talking with has logged off. I don't find it creepy given that this is an entirely public and voluntary forum and it reveals nothing personal about you. If the site insisted on real names or tracked your location and published it then that would be entirely creepy. Letting it be known how you use the site is harmless.

Ha! I just learned a new way to cover your tracks, regarding who you are stalking: Just keep multiple windows open, and make sure the first one you open, is innocuous. :)

​

ps. When trying to find a related past post; "I'm afraid the NSA is going to use my browsing history, and come and put me in jail!", or something to that effect, do not search for:

Keywords: cats
Posted by member: Evo,​

as that will send you into a weird, sometimes morbid, rabbit hole of a spiraling history of PF:

Why is my cat eating concrete and mortar?
Ike is heading for the Gulf of Mexico​

She apparently only gets involved in hurricane threads, so she can say; "it's a cat one", "it's a cat two", etc.​

Sometimes, it was the thread title, and other times, it was her response:

Three Questions
Evo; "Cats - scratchy, demanding too bright and otherwordly caribbean"
??​

But mostly, it is morbid:

Cute, Fluffy Murderers
Is there any hope for our psycho cat?
Corpses in my office:
Stop the madness!
Death Cat?​

But sometimes, it was just, ummmm...

Ooops! Must blood pressure medicine from the litter box.
Getting dogged: When your pet cheats on you
​

Told you!

Here comes Hurricane Gustav!
Evo; "Looks like Gustav is steadily decreasing in strength. It should only be a Cat 2 by the time it hits land."
​

I mentioned weird, didn't I?

The Nazi army of talking dogs​

At some point, I lost track of how many cats she mentioned she'd owned:

Kitty stool
Evo; "I had a cat named MewKiss. I'll never forget that first trip to the vet. What? MUCOUS? We later changed her name to Moose."​

I never did find the thread I was looking for.