The arguments thread

JACS, Bob has made very clear were he stands, he even mentioned “We all should be grateful to him”, so it is up to us if we want to swallow that pill or not.

Unless Jerry Astro, I bet he is already hidden under a new name anyway.

I stayed away from DPRforums just to avoid suffering from those bullies, I hope we will be different!

I've tried them all, but that white flash still hurts me. I'm not sure which is the least objectionable, but black with background and gray are probably the ones that hurt the least.

Strongly disagree with everything you've wrote here. It seems the crowd has spoken loudly. I'll say no more on the matter.

Bob, Alan and anyone else who was instrumental in starting this site, thanks for starting the forum. I don't use forums much but it's nice of you to carry on as it helps people gather info and to possibly assist others. I was a member at dpreview for years but eventually asked to be removed as I went back to film. A few years passed but when they opened the film forum I signed on again as that is my primary choice in photography.

Bob, over the years I often wondered about the strange importance 'some' people put on dpreview as many were there every day, seemingly for hours on end. It was like an addiction for 'some' and it seemed (to me) to take on an unrealistic importance in 'some' people's lives, so things could get touchy in reasons that had nothing to do with cameras though cameras were the supposed subject. I realized for some it was personal as it was much more to them than a simple forum to get / give camera info. Some people seemed to feel the need to constantly save 'face' or impress with knowledge or lack thereof OR just a need to have the last word . . OR just to argue. (That's my Sigmund Freud moment to be taken with a smile and a grain of salt.) I'm sure moderation wasn't always easy at times. With Mako, I feel it became much more than it should have. He went out of his way to do the opposite of 'principles before personalities' it's why so many people are speaking up.

Up to this point I haven't participated in ongoing 'dpreview' threads at dprevived because it seemed stupid to whine about the past and because this of course is an entirely different place, but Bob as you know there is a reason some feel the need to speak up about Mako. Now I want / need to after reading your post. I feel you are being schmoozed by him, though I respect your view as your own. No one forced him to be a moderator there. No one forced him to be a jerk, regardless of the rules. He far overstepped the rules. He could easily have stopped regardless of whatever selfless, altruistic excuse he may give. Like others it became personal to him which should never happen. Obviously he began to pick out people and put them on a 'list' of sorts. As a NYer I can be blunt . . I was banned a few times because he didn't like my tone rather than my point. Maybe I deserved it a couple of times. Then I would get banned because he didn't like my point in a discussion but he would use some other excuse. I then realized I was on some sort of list for him to watch out for, even though I hardly ever posted. Personally I feel no empathy for the guy or his whining about 'following the rules' as some sort of martyr (in his mind). To me he enjoyed having some sort of God complex and seemed to take out his misery on other people. Take care.

To quote the old Maya Angelou saying, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”

When you appoint someone to any role or task, you don’t simply run through a tick list of qualifications and accept their pinky promise to do the job properly, you take some account of their character and past performance and experience too. Right here on this thread (and others) you’ve got a wealth of people desperately trying to give you a character reference when it comes to Mako, and at the moment you’re seeming pretty determined to ignore and override them all; I think that’s a mistake.

The kindest way to put it was that he very aggressively enforced a particularly strict interpretation of a rule that should have been set aside or treated with more flexibility in the circumstances, and was being treated with more flexibility by most other mods. He applied the ban, after twice deleting my posts with no explanation or warning at all; it was only after my third questioning what was going on that he slapped me with a ban and said my crime was posting in the “announcement” thread, despite the fact that several others already had without their posts being deleted. In truth the whole thing was arbitrary, very poorly explained and seemed entirely subject to an arcane set of rules that existed only in Mako’s head, and was for me to merely wonder upon.

I’m all for second chances, but they should be earned.

He banned me for life because I got in contact with a DPR moderator “outside” DPR, which was a violation of their rules, and “outside” was here! 😂

Isn't Bob in contact with a DPR moderator “outside” DPR, which was (is) a violation of their rules, and “outside” was (is) here?? 😂

This is a prime example of who he really is…no matter how many PMs are sent…this is the real person.

My feeling is that you're the boss, you shouldn't be getting into these discussions in this forum in the first place. On top of that, you should never have divulged that you were getting advice from Mako. You need to elevate yourself above the peasants, do the work behind the scenes that you need to do.

I also don't think it's a matter of you staying out and him taking it on the chin. Apparently there's plenty of anger to go around on Mako, you're just further adding to the anger and getting it directed at you since you seem to be leaning towards possibly, maybe, want to, consider him as a mod. I personally have no beef with him, maybe I should have one, but once the conversation is over between me and a mod, it's over and forgotten.

My problem with DPR is that the original Z6s and Z7s weren't much of it, and moderation changed, deleted, adjusted, banned, whatever and whomever they needed to put them in a favorable light. That's just crooked business. And if I were a mod, or if someone wanted me to do that in business, the answer would have been no. If moderation is actually a volunteer only endeavor, with no money changing hands, no loans of equipment, free equipment, deep discounts on equipment, then maybe you could explain to me why a moderator would do what I just described.

And this is not directed at Mako. I don't remember what he might have pulled, changed or whatever.

I understand….but I also disagree. Who I think he is, is based upon his actions and behaviour…and that is indeed relevant. Mako banned someone for communicating with a mod outside DPReview. There is no rule against that, and as such, the banning was simply vindictive. That is not open to debate.

That said, I’m done with all this. I highly doubt he will reveal himself as a regular member. And if I ever found out he moderated here, I’ll be gone. I’m just going to enjoy the rest of this forum and ignore these mako threads as it takes us no where and just makes people upset. You and the team are doing an awesome job and really, that is all that matters here. So, thank you!