I had proposed DOF as topic for the last contest but it was sabotaged by some hacker who has already done this once before. So I am suggesting the same topic again.

DOF, really? all of you had the chance to make a stand in this current contest! I applaud of you that did! its standing up for what you believe in and making a "Wrong" Right again! i pick numbers and letters...BY CHOICE THIS TIME! im not doing a repeat. or unless i see another creative idea posted...i'll be glad to change my vote.

you also have the chance to do the right thing by voting. just thought i would toss that one out there ;)

here's something to think about Ramad. now that you used the word "Sabotaged" and "Hacker" its safe to say you have a certain accused party in mind? one that did this before? whats to stop him from doing it again? look at your "DOF" bar..and in just one night? impressive! consider the fact several people that join in on this current contest of DOF are now waiting to be voted on thier entery for the contest, huummmm! and most of us join in all the time. do you think we would pick it again? im sure they dont want to repeat as well...and i doubt most other members that didnt join in( but were watching the out come) dont wish to have this topic repeated as well. so whats to stop him from now making us have a repeat?

now im just saying of course...if i was the so called hacker wanting control? you would be doing DOF ONCE Again! since he didnt get his way the last time. hey your the one that picked it. and accused! im having a hard time with the logic presented here with another DOF. I worked my ass off(as did a few otheres) to make sure we had a contest...and...one by the people...YOUR TOPIC! and you didnt even join in to help the cause....shame shame! im done!!!

I have no comments to make.

you seem to have your wires crossed, i didnt accuse Phil of this type of mischief. i dont know where you got that from. now he did send me a rather uncalled and rude PM more then two years ago. him and i have gotten through or past that...or i would like to think so. Maybe something im not reading into your comment, Sorry.

Ramad you have no idea what i did to get the people that did entry the contest under "your Topic DOF" that should have made you happy, i would think! so what your telling me is theres no possible way there was a computer glitch in the contest program, correct? your just assuming there was this evil hacker that sabbotage the contest so we should all act accordingly by boycotting immediately? Sorry Sir, assuming is not a good enough reason to act upon! surely no reason to act irrationally or should i say hastily and start an all out boycott. when you dont even have proof of this so called hacker of Caedes? so all of us should suffer and just sit back and leave the page blank? NO! instead of boycott more of you so happly people should have seen it as a mistake or whatever and joined in as usual. there was no reason to make a fuss over it with a boycott, thats not supporting Caedes. so why not have fun with it? isnt that what the contest is all about in the first place?

Ramad if your telling me i was wrong? which it clearly seems to be the case. then you just told 7 other people they were out of line as well! i believe i was helping despite what you claim. however, I am a man of reason. get all 7 to admit they were wrong and hindered what should have been the correct choice of action? that being said, "a Boycott" i will posted an apology to you, anywhere on this site you see fit. you have my word! it will happen.

if not we can go on all day debating and tossing this can around. first? you really should have proof of the so called hacker. a computer glitch wouldnt be too far fetch. also, dont drag Phil into this redirecting the issue at hand. that was a bit pretentious or even shoddy on your part.

have a good day :)

oh my! it seems the ranting above here now makes little to no sense i typed. i was to respond to the commenting above that which now has been erased. huuummmm delima indeed! WELL MINE STAYS! i dont run

it say "i have no comment to make" sure was alot there before he erased it. ohwell.

hey i like "point of view" after all this? thats a pretty good one!

Okay here is my thought on this one.---- We just entered the last contest with DOF images Raj, to counteract the farce of the contest glitch or hack. Why not choose another topic this time, and wait a bit to do DOF again. Those of us who entered the contest, did so to show our support of the original contest DOF. Just saying, we supported it, and it would have been nice to have more join us. I think it was a hack, and by entering our DOF entries, the hacker did not dare post their entry for letters, and numbers. That is my thought on this one.

I'm entered in the contest now being voted on which we made a DOF contest to right the wrong of having numbers & letters forced on us by whoever. I have chosen Point of View this time as it seems redundant to do DOF right now. And POV is something I'm always emphasizing to the flower group I'm administrating on Flickr. It can make such a difference in a shot.

point of view seems different, never seen that topic before, or its been some time ago. im game! i'll gladly change my vote...done

After reading the opinions above and elsewhere, here are my thoughts...

All caedes members are welcome to suggest topics for any given contest...just as all members are entitled to differing opinions when problems come up on the site...Mimi and other mods can not always fix the problems...sometimes only caedes (Geri) can and he's seldom around these days...so that just leaves us...

I'd like to point out that when problems do arise doing nothing can have consequences, sometimes very negative consequences...
If everyone had boycotted the last recent contest, the voting hijacker would automatically have won...at the very least, by disrupting the process, and potentially legitimizing Letters and Numbers entries that might have popped up...

I don't know how the system would have handled things if there had been no entries at all...that has never happened before...perhaps things would have continued smoothly for the next contest...or maybe it might have thrown the whole contest setup out of whack...then we'd have to wait to see if and when it all might be fixed...

It seems we are all too quick to complain when problems of one sort or another arise but seldom lift a finger to help solve the problem...I, and others, chose one solution to the recent contest dispute and hopefully that will be respected with the participation of voters who are eligible to vote on those entries...

I will not be voting for another DOF contest again so soon...however, I WILL recognize the results of a legitimate vote and WILL respect those who participate in another DOF contest by voting on those images...may those of us who chose a different solution to the recent problem look forward to the same respect???

Hi Pat. When I saw the false topic I was the first to point it out. I contacted Mimi and informed her about this. I knew that she could not change it but I had hoped that Geri could do something about it. So you cannot say that one seldom lifts a finger to solve the problem. As for my re-posting DOF as the new topic - As you yourself said, opinions vary and my reaction was to boycott the false topic. Some others have sent me PM and had the same opinion. I personally have nothing against those who chose the other solution and wish each artist good luck in the contest.

SAW does have some very good points that cant be(but im sure someone will, hopefully not) argue those points. its always been my experience in the past, the things i sit around and wait for others to fix? rarely if not never happens. Im a do-er! and i thank god i have the ability to be given options to choose from, thats not always the case.

I myself, am getting tired of stepping up to the plate and then getting slap down for doing so. will i stop? never, i cant be broken!(except my leg...ouch that hurt! ☺) for that reason alone i deserves a little respect. theres not a one of you on here i wouldnt help if needed or asked from me. even the others that want to hold opposition to me for no apparent reason. im the first to admit when im wrong. and i'll be the last standing when im right! in this case? like SAW explained... was it worth taking the chance to do nothing and see what became of it? put your anger aside for one moment and ask yourself that question.

I would also like to take this opportunity to be the bigger man and apologize if i seemed a little abrasive on this issue. it truly was that important! as SAW also pointed out..the Mods cant always fix your problems. if you enjoy Caedes(and im speaking to all of you) then you should support the things you like. not wait for someone, or thing to take that from you. we all need to work together and meet halfway if necessary. there is great force in only a group that does so. one brick alone doesnt bear the weight to hold up a building. nor should one brick be ignored, found useless, or be removed.

I wish all of you good luck, not in just the contest but life itself...and have a wonderful week.

I understand why you and others chose to boycott the last contest Raj but as I tried to point out, if we had all done the same, it 'might' have had negative results by messing up the whole contest setup and we'd end up with no contests at all, not to mention an automatic 'win' to the hijacker...that aside, I am merely asking that those of us who chose a different solution might at least have the respect of a vote on the entries we submitted...as for 'lifting a finger' I was not referring to just this recent problem or you but rather a frequent observation I have made when there have been numerous problems on the site in the past and oftentimes people will whine but never try to offer a solution or get involved...as for re-introducing DOF again, as I said, it is always the prerogative of any caedes member to suggest any contest topic for any contest.

Hi Pat,It looks like "Point of View" may overtake DOF. It doesn't really matter to me because I am happy with any topic as I always like a challenge. I find "point Of View" also very interesting. Of the last 7 or 8 Topics 4 were proposed by me.

In the final analysis, I don't really care that much what the contest topic is either, Raj, (though hopefully for any given contest the topics would be interesting and challenging)...lots of times I don't even enter the contests...my main concern is that the vote and results are legitimate and that trolls, hijackers and the like don't get away with their trouble-making for the sheer purpose of messing things up for everyone else...my only other contention is that there needn't be a boycott on the voting of the entries in the last contest...that doesn't seem quite fair...afterall, the 8 of us who did enter the contest were only trying to help by supporting the DOF theme...the rest of my long spiel above was not directed at any one person or group of persons but for the benefit of all who read the discussion boards...there are lots of members who don't fully understand how things work around here but do check out the discussion boards...I guess that's pretty much it in a nutshell...cheers.

You summed it up very well SAW, and I do hope members will support us and vote, I believe it is better to take on a challenge, and not ignore the issue.

I know someone who is working for an IT firm here. He is a friend of my neighbor. If a manipulation happens again I can probably ask him to find out at least from where this comes.

Raj, Since mimi could not help, perhaps that is not a bad idea. I'm thinking it was not a glitch, but that is just my thought.

just a thought, if a IT tech guy goes into the inner working of caedes to catch a hacker, without a password? doesnt that make him a hacker as well...lol sorry, its the little things in life that i get a giggle out of :) oh com'on now, you know that was funny!

Rather unusual to see 27 votes in all here! Members have become very active it seems. That is good to see. I wonder whether it will go up some more.

My final comment in this matter is this : Whoever this person is who takes pleasure in disrupting our peaceful contests, that person must be someone who can manipulate the votes but must be someone with a rather childish mentality like that of a child in school who takes pleasure in disrupting the whole class. Also he/she takes pride in the fact that by manipulating the votes he can decide which topic will be selected and that satisfies his/her ego ! ! Let us not be discouraged by this miserable person.

I have already talked to my neighbor and he has promised that he would talk to his friend about this.

I agree Raj, let's don't let that person ruin it for us.

I agree too, it's good people are getting involved and paying attention...it seems this poll is behaving as it should but it's something we'll need to keep an eye on in future.

A cautionary note...you may want to consult with Mimi before proceeding with your idea, Raj...I mean, I'm not very IT savvy so what I say may be quite naive, but if your idea involves actually getting into the workings of the site itself I have to wonder how caedes might feel about that...just a thought.

I thought I would give some examples of the contest topic Point of View. There are so many creative ideas...

Thanks Pat, of course I'll do that if it becomes necessary.

Thanks Connie...checked out your links and it's got me thinking already, that is if POV wins...and I agree, would be interesting.

There is to be NO outside tampering with the server by anyone but *caedes. Is that clear?

To do so would most likely shut this site down permanently.

I stated that the artists were able to choose whatever contest they wanted to participate in at any given time.

I ask that everyone remain civil & polite even if we disagree.

No accusations hurled about or character assassinations in this thread or elsewhere on the site.

Artists wanted this contest. *caedes took the time to program it in so it runs automatically for you.

What that means is you can choose to participate or sit out any particular contest(s).

OK?

Peace

mimi

Raj, i believe that was that "Cautionary Note" SAW was talking about. all of us really need to move on to something else. this is getting boooorring

I do hope that this does not happen again, I have my personal thoughts about it being a glitch or manipulated by someone. I won't get into that one, but lets just have fun, and do things according to the COC, that really is not hard to do, and we should all understand it by now. Just my final thought, no reason to get all bent out of shape with each other or the mods. If we follow the code of conduct we give them no reason to remove our images. As for the contest lets play fair people, games are childish.As for Raj's idea on the IT guy I don't think he meant that they would mess with the site, just get some thoughts on maybe what might have caused it in the first place.

one page of enties is all we have? com'on people!! lets get looking in those folders for a POV shot, this is not a hard subject matter. yet a very good one picked that we all can post. we all have one or two of these laying around.

it doesnt matter who wins or what place your in, or even place at all....it does however matter to participate! SUPPORT YOUR CAEDES!!

We have a page and a half of entries, lets get more entered, involvement in the site helps keep it going! :)