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A2K 2009 Year in Review

 
 
jespah
 
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 09:13 am
Well, the year's over. And the many A2K managerial and creative teams and I hope you have all had a good 2009 and as much fun (with a little learning, too) on Able2know as we have. Huzzah and good times in 2010!

Here's some information and a review of last year that we hope you'll find of interest.
2009 was an eventful year. Every time you turned around, it seemed, something was happening.

Member News

A2Kers engaged in all sorts of shenanigans, both serious and silly, throughout the year.

maporsche got married: http://able2know.org/topic/121925-1#post-3389239
So did mysteryman! See his profile for details.
Seed came home: http://able2know.org/topic/138691-1#post-3828645

Marathons were run, as were 5K races. A2Kers watched their diets, but also exchanged recipes. Some A2Kers saw the insides of hospital rooms, more than anyone wanted to.

We smiled at the antics of Ya-Ya, Chiquita, bean, sozlet and Mo. We worried when sonpad became ill. We shared in the triumphs of little Calamity Jane and Linkat's own, and other little and not so little ones.

A2Kers' pets also commanded our attention in 2009. Every photograph was a treasure, every story a joy. We look forward to more news of the young, and the not so young.

Expertise, Traffic and Forums
Expertise
Members have astounded us with their knowledge of everything from the history of the Civil War to how to breed goldfish to how to answer children's most challenging questions.

We offer good relationships, child rearing and pet care advice. We offer good Latin translations and fair Hebrew translations. We offer a good place to debate the issues of the day.

Traffic
On www.alexa.com, our traffic ranking has been good, see:
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/www.able2know.org Throughout the year, we've consistently reached about .004 persons per million on the web. In contrast, very large sites, such as CNN, reach about 1.75 web users per million.

We're #23 on Bigboards.com's list of the largest Internet forums using English and written in phpBB, see: http://rankings.big-boards.com/?sort=posts&filter=phpBB,EN&p=2 (these are ranked by number of posts). We're #36 when it comes to number of members,
see: http://rankings.big-boards.com/?sort=members&filter=phpBB,EN&p=2
The membership figure on Big Boards is misleading and out of date (the real figure is over 98,000). Both figures have slipped a bit since 2008.

It is a certainty that we will exceed 100,000 members in 2010. Remember when there were less than 100 of us here? Less than 10?

Spam
There's been considerably less since the changeover to the new A2K. The Moderating Team has done an incredible job keeping the number of spam views down and getting it off the public boards as quickly as possible. And, no, it's not automatic. We still depend upon your reports to help us!

The Team has done Herculean work wading through the trash and getting rid of it as quickly as possible so that we can serve you, our members, more readily and efficiently.

Some things to remember when it comes to spam.
(1) Report it (please)!
(2) Don't vote it down (makes it harder for us to find it).
(3) Don't vote it up (once it hits a particular threshold of positive votes, it gets onto the Twitter feed. And in that way, the spammer gets more free publicity).
(4) Don't tag it, even to tag it as spam (that votes it up, see #3).
(5) Don't comment on it, even to scold the spammer (that votes it up, see #3).

So, to make it simple: Please just report it. If it's well and truly spam, we'll pull it as soon as we can, usually within about 48 hours or so. If it's not spam, then the topic will still be out there after that amount of time. And then, of course, feel free to treat it like any other A2K topic. But please report it and then give us a chance to take care of it.

Every report of spam is helpful to us. Even if your report is one of several, that assists us, because it shows us just how urgently we should act to pull a particular post or topic. You can contact the Help Desk by clicking Contact Us at the very bottom of any page.

Just follow the directions on the left (Note: if you click Report on a post, then all you need to do is write the word spam in the comments box, and click submit) and we will act upon it as soon as possible. Our continuing mission is to assure that spam is off Able2know as soon as possible. And I'm proud to say that the Team is doing just that. Down with spammers!

http://www.physics.upenn.edu/~pcn/spam.gif

Forums
Interest continues to surge in many new areas of A2K. Old chestnuts were found again and new topics took off.

Top News Stories
The world turned and spun and the changes were chronicled, debated and deconstructed on A2K.

American politics continued to be a mainstay of discussion, but A2Kers also talked about the balloon boy, John and Kate and their ongoing debacles and, of course, all manner of sporting events. We fretted (a little bit) about the H1N1 virus and followed Sonya Sotomayer's confirmation hearings. We marvelled at the new technology in the Avatar film and made and shared playlists, all while considering purchasing Kindle readers. The economy kicked a lot of us in the butt (myself included), and American involvement in Afghanistan continued to concern us all. We marked the passing of many of the famous, paying tribute to Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Walter Cronkite and Senator Ted Kennedy, among others. The Fort Hood shooting sparked a number of debates and we admired Sully Sullenberger's nerves of steel as he landed a plane in the Hudson River. A2K was, at times, the first place any of us even heard some of these news stories, and it was often one of the only places where we could discuss them in depth, and intelligently, even if it was with people who didn't always see eye to eye with us.
http://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gifhttp://across.co.nz/Newspaper.gif

In Conclusion ....
Able2know has grown and progressed in ways that were hard to imagine just a few years ago. More surprises are in store in 2010 and you, our membership, are the key. We're looking to meet and interact with all of you in the coming year.

I cannot imagine a group of people I would rather spend 2010 with.

Thank you all and have a marvelous New Year.

Signed,

jespah and the Administrative, Developmental and Moderating Teams at
www.able2know.org
Happy New Year!
 
wandeljw
 
  3  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 09:46 am
Thank you, jespah, for taking the time to give us such a detailed report.
0 Replies
 
Robert Gentel
 
  2  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 09:48 am
@jespah,
jespah wrote:
We're #23 on Bigboards.com's list of the largest Internet forums using English and written in phpBB, see: http://rankings.big-boards.com/?sort=posts&filter=phpBB,EN&p=2 (these are ranked by number of posts). We're #36 when it comes to number of members,
see: http://rankings.big-boards.com/?sort=members&filter=phpBB,EN&p=2
The membership figure on Big Boards is misleading and out of date (the real figure is over 98,000). Both figures have slipped a bit since 2008.


Our stats on that site didn't get updated in 2009 (when the software changed the way they pulled our stats did as well, and I haven't bothered to fix it), so our numbers there are frozen from back in 2008.
edgarblythe
 
  2  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 09:55 am
Let me say, I admire the staff and have to thank Robert endlessly for his untiring work on the site. I offer my hand to those with whom I have disagreed and my love to most of you. Where I have been a pain in the butt, let me say, humbly, tough doo-doo.
0 Replies
 
the prince
 
  2  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 10:17 am
And the prince came back just in time for the celebrations ! Drunk
0 Replies
 
CalamityJane
 
  3  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 10:20 am
This is a nice 2009 tribute to the a2k as we know it, jespah, thank you!
We've had a lot of laughs here and a few tears (Abbie comes to mind just recently) and I am immensely grateful that we haven't lost any of the a2k members as in previous years - remembering Noddy, Carv, Timber, Jeanne Dorrell.

I am going into my 6th year at a2k while originally looking for
some info via google link only. I've been looking ever since ....well and writing too Smile

Happy New Year a2k!
0 Replies
 
CalamityJane
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 10:21 am
@jespah,
Another marriage - Cyclo and his lovely bride got hitched in Hawaii this past
July. (it even rhymes).
0 Replies
 
Eva
 
  2  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 11:38 am
But we did lose someone...sort of. We lost half of jespah. Fortunately for all of us, it wasn't the half with the work ethic, the intelligence, the patience, and the sense of humor!
Merry Andrew
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 11:39 am
@jespah,
Thank you for the updates, j.
Happy New Year, everyone!
0 Replies
 
the prince
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 12:15 pm
@Eva,
Huh?
mac11
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 12:19 pm
@the prince,
Prince G, check out jes' stats at the bottom of this post. Nice to see you here!

And jes, thanks for the excellent summary of 2009.
the prince
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 12:20 pm
@mac11,
Bloody hell !!! Way to go Jespah !!!! You are now my inspiration and I am off to compose an ode to you
Eva
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 12:50 pm
PRINCE G!!! You're BACK!

{{{{{Smooch}}}}}

I think you leave and come back just for the smooches, don't you!
That's alright. I will never run out of smooches for you.
Where have you been, you sexy beast?
0 Replies
 
High Seas
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 03:47 pm
@Robert Gentel,
Do you think traffic numbers will improve whenever the software is changed to make full use of tags? Thanks to you, Jespah, others here (specifically excluding assorted stalkers and compulsive post downgraders) and a very happy 2010 to all of you Smile
0 Replies
 
ossobuco
 
  1  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 04:10 pm
@jespah,
Thanks for the report, 'appreciate it a lot.

Happy New Year to the crew - administration, developers, mods.

(I think I notice there has been a tagging change in that the order the tags get listed in, even if it is your thread and you tag it, no longer seems tied to putting what were the old general categories first. Maybe this observation is wrong, but it seems so. I think this is good - it will pull up, I think, different and potentially more appropriate recommendations for those reading the thread than the old general categories would, and may (?) pull up more new visitors.)
0 Replies
 
jespah
 
  2  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 04:26 pm
@the prince,
Mwah! Thanks!

Jane, I cannot begin to tell you how thrilled I am to not be reporting a death this year. May it be ever so.
Dutchy
 
  2  
Reply Thu 31 Dec, 2009 04:40 pm
@jespah,
My best wishes go to the Management of A2K for a Happy and Prosperous 2010. Thank you for your accurate report jespah, you are the 'Jewel' in the crown around here!
0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Mon 4 Jan, 2010 12:02 pm
@jespah,
Jeepers all that happened last year - could thing some one is keeping track!
0 Replies
 
Reyn
 
  1  
Reply Mon 4 Jan, 2010 02:06 pm
@jespah,
Thank you Jes for this review of 2009. Looking forward to 2010.

And thanks to Robert (and all others involved in this site) for continuing to work on and improve A2K! Very much appreciated!
0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  2  
Reply Mon 4 Jan, 2010 02:13 pm
Just one more tidbit for 2009 - Leonabanks and crack/STD/cheating/sonofbitch/prostitute tirade.
 

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