CHIMMING IN:
I've been reading through this thread and staying out of the conversation
because I'm not an expert on Corn Snake ID or any other snakes for that
matter. When I don't know something, I go to the Experts to request help
or ask advise. I have always had a fascination with snakes and just
recently got on as a pet. I don't breed or sell, I simply own them because
I like them. Corns are my favorite. Thus, I joined this board right after I
caught my first one, learned a lot from people here who have owned,
breeded and or sold them, and spent a lot more time with them than I. So
the Internet and the Message Boards do have a lot more useful information
to people looking for specific help or answers. As a moderator of another
Sports Site, I know for a fact that Chuck's description of message boards
in general has some merrit. But I can also (being a long time poster on that
and other boards) say with certainty that all boards on the net (like any
social group, regular get togethers or even family gatherings) in real life and
off the net have the same problems that you find on message boards and the
internet. The secret is having enough intelligence to know what to say / post
and what to take and separate as fact and fiction. I feel like the average
person can do this quite easily, but there are the small handfull of those that
don't and unfortunately, give the rest of us a bad name.
Saying that, I am also a poster on a board that is renouned for photoshoping
and "farking" famous pictures News Photos and just pictures in general. I have
gotten pretty good and doctoring up photos for fun. In the last couple of
years, I've seen some of my work there posted on the internet as someone
elses original work !! . . .I've never run to the site where these pics came
from and started demanding that someone take it down and stop using my
stuff. I simply used it as a lesson learned, and now I watermark all my work,
and even though I still see some of my stuff used, I see that it is marked
and get the credit for it even if the person who re posted it, doesn't feel the
need to credit me for it like they should. No biggie, just self satisfaction I
guess. Above all though, I have learned form this that you don't post stuff
on the net anywhere and then expect people (who you know in advance) will
take it and re-post it somewhere, if you want to keep it under your control.
There are many examples in the media almost daily of people taking
Compromising or Risque' photos of themselves for "Selective Eyes Only" but
for some reason when brain dead when they posted them to a hosting
site, or other internet middleman (so to speak), then were shocked to find
out that some website was posting those same Risque' photos of them all
over the web, and that millions were now downloading them to their own
personal "stash" .. . . . . There are even examples of people who sent photos
to "TRUSTED" friends at one time, but because of a bad breakup, or fight, the
photos were distributed across the net for all God Chillren' to view.
I can see your point (Chuck) of maybe wanting to meter out who sees and
who doesn't see the pictures that belong to you, and I can understand your
original reason for not wanting them to get out before you had a chance to
examine the snake, BUT . . . . . . This is the internet, and all your good
intentions mean nothing when it is posted in the web. Someone, somehow
will see it, and make it available to the world. My personal opinion is that
your basic reason for your constant insistence to remove the pictures here
stems from you distain for message boards in general. As said above, having
been a long time member of a few boards and a moderator on a couple of
others, I've learned to disregard the "crap" that inevitably gets posted on
these boards and to focus on the higher percentage of useful information
that can be gotten from boards designed for those specific reasons. After
surfing for almost a year and checking out other reptile boards, I can vouch
for this board that it has been a useful source of information for me
personally in learning to care for my pet snakes. That's why I joined it.
