David - Ebay must be doing one heck of a media push. The article you linked to is almost word for word as in my local paper, West Hawaii Today, this past Sunday. The only problem with mine, the reference to the big media event in Anaheim, CA being held June 23, in the future, not 2 weeks ago. The local story had an Associated Press reporter by-line, but my guess is most reporters copied the Ebay hand-out.

Not mentioned in the Australian article is this:
"Prices of collectables on Ebay dropped 11% in May from last year and 25% from 2000, according to Auctionbytes.com, which tracks Internet trading. Perhaps more telling, collectables' average "sell-through rate" - the percentage of listed items that sold - was 55% last month (in May), down from 72% in 2000." Brian Bergstein, AP Business Writer.

It's reported there are now 50 million registered users in 27 countries. I believe the countries part, but in all honesty and truthfulness not the number of people (customers).

Everyone - Here's an idea!!! All of us who have more than one registered user name (balcony included) makes a post using our alternate ID's during the next 24 hours and says, "hello", "bookmark", "anything", to the Stamps Chat Board. Don't identify yourself other than Ebay ID. (No screwups, eh?) Let's see how many new names show from our own little community. We'll never know who's a regular or balcony watcher. My guess is 117 in the next 24 hours.
Start time = Ebay time Monday, Jul 01, 2002 19:00:00 PDT
One caveat - Alternate Ebay ID must have at least 1 feedback, this to stop new ID's created for this survey and skewing the Ebay data.

Roger

BTW - I'm going out for a couple of hours so won't be the first to post at 19.00.

Roger, I'll be looking in later.

Roger Capital idea! One suggestion--rather than insisting on "1" feedback at least, limit it to those IDs without the "shades" icon. I know a couple guys who have been on eBay for a long time with no feedback.

jaywild - OK, good correction. Email me your address for three 5 Oct cancels.

Roger poof

Hello! All...

good evening everyone!

howdy Sarge. Know anything about the Rocket Test Site Branch of Edwards, CA? Found this in a junk box at last weekend's show....can't imagine there's much commerical mail out of there.

Er Roger
what happens if a pinkie shows up and the board scrolls in an hour?

How ya'll doin?

How ya'll doin?

How ya'll doin?

too bad this is philatelic. When was the last time anyone saw a 4.5 cent prexy on cover? (much less with 2 4 cent coils, a 5 cent coil, and a 1.5 cent endwise coil?...and in 1939, right when these stamps were all available over the PO counter...)

I'm here just to drive by as Roger asked...

Er... sorry for all the trouble I caused.

Justa posting anote

dkru..Looks like mine is the hematite-variety geode. The millerite looks real cool!
I'm just happy the geode broke in half, instead of multiple fragments. I just rolled it on the table, and where it came to rest, I whacked it with a big hammer (after I put it in an old sock).
Thanks for the mineral info.

Good evening

g'day from oz,

strange, I entered using another name and another computer but it showed my name,

D2

D2, I still have never figured out how you gave me two feedbacks for the same auction!!!

if at first you don't succeed, give up,

deebee

Hi

Matt... Your 4˝˘ Prexie link does not appear to be working...

K-dub

Elizabeth*R... You're not the Elizabeth R, you know, the Windsor Castle one? We get a lot of mileage out of you on this board...

Jim

Jeff L
Depends on the provenance of your geode but the contents are more likely to be one of the hydrated irons such as Goethite or Limonite.
Matt there could have been a lot of people working at Edwards AFB back then.
Jim thanks again for S&T info, had a nice email chat with chuck.

D2, S2 and all interested in 'Vineta' Some interesting observations on the other chatboard

Dirk

Matt... You found a relatively unusual non-philatelic cover from Edwards. The base is not far from Mojave, CA, and enjoys the notariety of being a test site for big rockets, auxilliary landing site for the Space Shuttle, and not far from Goldstone Tracking. Too, Boron is just down the road...home(/) of the Borax Mule Team (of our youth).

io... You're welcome...

Hi Y'all

Matt... The PO at Edwards was est. in 1951. As many times as I've been in the neighborhood, I don't think I've ever seen the town(?). Cannot be large...and I'd bet that the PO is now a Sta. of Mojave, or Lancaster.

Good evening.

Just my ˝˘!

Hi all. jnluff sends his best and will be back on the threaded board in 28 days as incorrigible as ever.

Matt... Here's a repaired link to your Prexie cover.

K-dub

I enjoy swimming, light aerobic exercise (remote control works well) and reading romantic novels next to the dumpster at the 7 11.

This is the only ID I have.

Hello.

Good Morning!!

For statistical purposes one may disregard this post or accept it. registration date: philatelic.communist Tuesday, Aug 22, 2000 Present

Post

Good Night.

The sum of the square roots of any two sides of an isosceles triangle is equal to the square root of the remaining side. Oh joy, rapture! I've got a brain!!

:)

been here a while...

Hey schuylercrap, nice to see ya...

Careful: concerned for, taking care of, painstaking, watchful, cautious
T.N.

:))))
me too...

Snipe successful, time for bed.
Talk about speedy.
 

• bid 20:19:15
• end of auction 20:19:18
• ebay bid notification 20:19:49
• seller win notification 20:24:15
• ebay win notification 20:25:03

rocketscientist@telocity.com registered Saturday, Jun 03, 2000 - Present

Look!!

Jimbo posted. Hello.

Hey schuylercrappie, I thought you were gonzo.
Someone said you were selling Jellied eels and mash in the East End of London.

Nah. I don't know where you got that idea. I am the role model for today's youth. At least that's what my shrink told me.

Do you believe in the hereafter? - Then you know what I'm here after.

malolo
Better get out your abacus, or did you graduate to a slide-rule?

Appearing for roll call:

It's me.  Just with the one id.

  -- Dave

Sorry, I can't remember how to spell my other user ID. Or maybe I was narued and just didn't know it.

Evening All - Looks @@ great!
I count 37 different ID's in one hour, 13 have 2 or fewer feedbacks. (No conclusions yet) Only one screw up (electronic wizardry), and one ahem! (Think man, think! Pretend Publishers Warehouse has a million for your alter ego.)
Keep those ID's coming.

Roger

jaywild - I received your message and will take immediate action,
in the morning. The answers to your questions are Imagexperts, Hollywood, and England.
It's for everyone else to guess the questions.

Roger

Hello Roger!

hello

I'm where this board's going.

Anybody want to buy some iffy stamps?

Do you mean iffy or nifty? :)

10050, Iffy is the same as sus, you know what a lot of the stamps on Ebay are,

D2

Roger... A quick survey of your test shows 41 different IDs showing up in about three hours. Your guesstimate of 115 may be exceeded, especially when the "rest" of the world wakes up. In fact, some of the earliest posts might scroll off before the 24 hours are up.

Jim

Roger, Jim
A little methodological "niggle': keep in mind alternate ID universes may never post here, they may just exist. So how do you sort out, from your data, the balconies who log in to just mention that they watch in from the parallel worlds?

Dirk

German Colonies—MarshallsHialeah / Florida ForgeriesMarshall Islands Postal History

antonius-ra: My two neg feedbacks were from a non paying winning bidder(also from Italy) who didn't respond to my emails nor to Ebays non payers programme. After I left two negs for the non payer he/she immediatly left me two negs in retaliation and went private.No reason given just two negs.

Ed

A&S: Sorry for the bold. It's early in the morning here and just woke up.

Dirk - I think this is a fun way of seeing how many people actually are in the balcony. This is obviously a non-threatening request to stop and just say , "Hi!".
I also think many Ebayers have an alternative ID making "registered members" data by Ebay more of a niggle than this little survey. If one owns a newspaper, the circulation numbers are audited by an independent agency which verifies the circulation. Circulation is usually the basis for advertising fees, so if Ebay has a 40% duplication of registered users, it has 30 million, not 50 million users and that's quite a niggle. Maybe we just have a niggardly venue with some sellers on the same niggle.

Roger

Hi from the balcony. Add my name to the list.

Alan

Today's featured item of postal history focuses on the SMS Vineta. Here is card sent from the SMS Vineta shortly after the outbreak of WWI. I am not certain why this card bears only the handstamp of the command of the SMS Vineta and not the Marine Schiffspost cancel in use by the Vineta prior to the outbreak of the war. The message side of the card can be seen here . I have not yet traced the history of the Vineta during WWI, but I know that the ship survived WWI to be broken up in 1920. Please note that my irregular daily cover posts will be appearing elsewhere as well as here. Good evening to all.

Malolo -- I know what you are saying and that it also what I was driving at. Ideally you would have asked all balcony sitters to say 'HI' and all double ID's among us to say "DOUBLE'. That would have given you both a level 'viewership' and a the same time a handle on the number of multiple IDs floating out there (among this small patch of the e-bay universe that is)

Dirk

German Colonies—MarshallsHialeah / Florida ForgeriesMarshall Islands Postal History

GFA opinions - I received 2 covers today. How do you think they prefer it mailed? Postage due, or shall I stick on 3 cent? What does Postage due markings look like, and will it arrive at the recipient if there's no return address?

jfr245 Re: tracking a registered letter. Have you gone to usps.com? There is a place on the website where you can enter the registration number and it should show you the current location of the item.
Theoretically, All registered mail is recorded as it enters the USPS , and is scanned into the computer system and reentered at each drop point, until it is delivered.
However, our office lost a registered package last year. And to make matters worse, it contained the cremated remains of customer's father. Very sad. Never was located. Probably sitting in a "dead letter" office somewhere (sorry, postal pun). Good Luck -Pam

After the second day of the annual shed clean-up, we have discovered:

• a pile of WWII censor covers to Oz
• Italian and German POW cards
• 3 dusty New Hebrides exhibits
• a box of old French auction catalogues
• 10 boxes of US stamps in envelopes, some with funny notations on the outside
• various prime iffy early US stamps (in album pages)
• packets of pen-canelled US duck stamps
• selection of Wallis and Futuna "France Libre" fake overprinted stamps
• 10 boxes of A4 European paper
• Macedonia 1992 and Slovenia 1990 paper money with fake "Specimen" handstamp
• some old coins (a shilling, a swy, a few zacks and a brass razoo)

Looks like we'll be busy for a while sorting out this mess......

S2       eBay forgeries, fakes, misdescribed items, dodgy sellers and scam auctions articles

ed845... Don't feel left out! I just picked up another neg because I had left a neg about a seller who sent a stamp different from the one in the auction scan, then refused to accept the substitute (of markedly lesser quality) back for a refund. Again, a simple childish retaliation. What can you do? Nothing. This is the way the world is nowadays, especially in this country, where the Victim culture has reached insane proportions. I'm sure the seller who slammed me has managed to convince himself that he was really the one wronged here. The only way to avoid negatives is to be dishonest and never leave them for anyone else, no matter how richly deserved.

Jim

blangoren I would tack on the 3 cents. Frequently postage due letters go back to the return address, but they are also defaced by pen scribbles, or stuck in some drawer till someone gets around to dealing with the postage due backlog. Since there are no postage due stamps used on mail anymore anyway, I'd vote for added the 3 centers.

Jim

I have been reading this board with interest over the past few days regarding Ebay’s stance against some of the postings here. I have to agree with sveiki! and vonbag who seem to be the only people here with any reason or sense in what to do or how to do it. Maybe that’s the European way, think out the solution before acting rather than tear off in all directions like many are suggesting here.

In a way I can understand Ebay’s position. A few years ago in the UK someone complained to their ISP that a posting on a public newsgroup hosted by the ISP was defamatory and asked for it to be taken down. When the ISP refused claiming no liability for what was posted on the news group they were taken to court. An English court (note English as Scottish law is different as I suspect are many countries) found in favour of the plaintiff and fined the ISP saying anything hosted by them was their responsibility. Since then AFAIK, ISP’s in the UK have been very wary of what is allowed on news groups hosted by them.

I suspect Ebay is taking a similar position. Like it has been said many times on this board, a person is presumed innocent until proved guilty by a court of law not by a bunch of rabid posters who at times consider themselves self appointed net policeman.

My opinion is that if these people feel so strongly about something and think they have the proof then they should take it to court in their own country. In other words put up or shut up!. It is very easy to destroy an innocent person’s reputation but a lot harder to put it back again.

smudger_the_ink Point well taken. But where do you draw the line? One should be able to discuss items which appear 'dodgy' in an open fashion. There are clearly cases where items have been falsified and where there appears to be a history of this. Surely there has to be an opportunity to raise the concerns? But even that is not permissible under e-bay rules.

A seller who fears that his sale might be jeopardised by this can always cancel the sale early, apparently without any hindrance and penalty (while it is harder for bidders to pull out of deals). It is always a small number of seller, and, you will find, that most will actually contact the seller with their concerns before posting them here. Only of responses are evasive or not forthcoming will matters be raised here.

D.

Good morning/afternoon/evening to @ll ! :-)

rocketscientist I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure your post 20:27:36 is not correct.
I'm sure that I remember correctly that the rule is that "In any 3-4-5 triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides".
This is quite different to what you wrote:
1. The rule has nothing to do with an isosceles triangle, and
2. The formula uses 'squares' not 'square-roots'.

Perhaps Jim Io can comment if I've too got it wrong.

Scott.

Hi there Roger. (-waiting for the Kona coffee-)
pertinax and rocketscientist - In any triangle with a 90 degree angle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. The 3-4-5 is just one example showing the most simple solution with three 'round' numbers.
Maarten

Scott - This looks like a job for Maarten.
BTW - I find it incredible you can tell the plating from some of the scans you link to. Very interesting!

kassi_de - Imagine my surprise when I opened a magazine last weekend and saw this headline. I then read the article, it's about "heartburn", sorry. );>)

Roger

Maarten - I knew you were the proper person to answer that. Remember patience is a virtue. Sniff deep when you first open the bag! AAAAaaaahhhhhhh.

Roger

Down from the balcony just to let the world know that I'm here. Don

smudger_the_ink - Why don't you take of your shades while telling us how to act?
Maarten

Thanks Maarten, I was 95% correct!

Roger, the ones I am able to plate are the really easy ones - either blacks from which there are only 11 or 12 possibilites, blues which are even easier and any reds I'm able to plate is because of something unique that I've spotted on them.

Good Morning/Day/Afternoon/Evening! {:o)

Actually, I haven't been sleeping at all this night. For the last 10 hours I've been working on what I think is an improvement of the Yellow Boxes. It will, in the long run, save me some work and people would hopefully get more "community oriented". {:o)

Ta ta...

Please have a look at - The Yellow Boxes ~ Revised version. {:o)

If there are any bugs, I haven't found them yet. But, I'm too tired to think straight ~ so, please do me a favor, take it for a test ride. *hehehe*

Oh... Maybe I should add... It's a "do-it-yourself" version of the Yellow Boxes ~ self service in the first degree. {:o)

Good Night and sleep tight! *about to crash*

*lol* malolo :-)

trianglemaarten: I am not telling you how to act I am passing an opinion which if you read some past postings on this board are very similar to mine. That if someone believes that strongly about something then they should do something about it. In other words, collate the evidence and take the person to court.

Albert.H.

Jim the Joker I hope that you are able to post your pages on the web. When Rocky was clearly become interested in his massive holdings but at a total loss as to what he had I thought of your collection. This would be such a useful site to initially identify the stamps. Even our occasional visitors who have found some stamps might be able to form a more intelligent question - which is, of course, 75 % of getting an intelligent answer.

David Detrich

smudger Albert - Of course you are basically right. No one is guilty untill ....etc. In fact it all started by acting according to your option given: we, eBay users, saw weird items being offered (fakes, forgeries) and weird behaviour (shill bidding) and reported that, as we would do in real life, to the 'police' i.c. eBay. This is where it the story gets interesting. Many times eBay acted as a 'police' be constantly telling the visitors of their marketplace what to do and particularly what NOT to do ('no business', 'not discussing removed posts'). But when they got confronted with real crooks, they suddenly say they are just a marketplace. The basic thing bothering us is the fact that eBay is wearing 2 different hats.
It looks very obvious to me: when people meet in a (virtual) house and one person thinks another visitor is violating the house rules, he turns to the house owner reporting that and expects that the house owner deals with it.
Maarten

Reporting as ordered......Marius

Good Morning from Tampa Bay!

Can anyone read the signature on the top right?

http://www.ij.net/stampn01/pic375.jpg

thanks, Lee

Checking in for 2nd ID census. Create for selling - hasn't happened - and before B and S labels on feedback.

Good Morning . Hutch

trianglemaarten...EXACTLY that is what I think too. I mailed plenty times to them....you got a standart email back...and this was it. No answer more ! :-(((

Hi,
Just a single ID checking in from the balcony where I am frequently to be found.
Terry

Malolo Just checekd in again, and am impressed by the response you are getting! Good stuff! As to all who made their presence on the balcony known--a big thank you. We knew the reader/viewership would be large, but getting an impression of this is wonderful.

D.

Full moon id

Good morning from central Maryland

LARS

Gód dćg eall.
Scott
maarten is the man, I just look at dirt.
However, I did wake up as a palindrome.

io Jim - How do you do that, waking up as a palindrome? Suffering from aibohphobia?
Maarten (-sometimes waking up at a palindrome: NOON-)

I see: congrats at the 575!

maarten
when it's eve in Europe it's noon in the US, monochronologic palindromes.

jpa828@earthlink.com

Thanks for the response. I did try the USPS.com site, however, the only registered number that I have is the original number given to the letter by the postal service in Brazil. The seller is telling me that it receives a new number upon arrival in the U.S. He does not have the new number and I can not figure out how to find the number! I guess that is the real question. Who (and where) can one find the new number given a registered letter when it arrives in this country?

Thanks again,

JFR

sarge & k-dub: thanks. Just like me to get a link wrong.

I have another ID but I never use it for anything. In fact, I'm quite confident I don't even remember the password for it. I don't even remember why I registered it in the first place.

jfr
Unless, registration has changed significantly in the last 100 years, I think you are receiving some Beguiling Script.
Letter receives one registration number at outset which it retains.
Letter is canceled at registration offices on its journey but does not, as far as I know, receive a new number.
sveiki with a ! would know better than I.
If you have not already done so, ask seller for scan of registered postage receipt.

Good day from tropical IL

Any Lebanon collector's with a Scott catalog? I'm trying to identify the stamp on the right in this scan. I think it's somewhere around Scott C245 - C249. Between the cancel covering the denomination, and my 1985(!) Scott catalog not having an obvious match for color description, I'm stuck. The stamp on the right is, I think, Scott 331, but corrections on that also welcome.

Off to work but will check back later. Thanks.

Ken in IL...with his one and only id since Oct 1998

That should read....the stamp on the left is, I think, Scott 331....... (not enough coffee)

My son and I use the one user id, anyone else sharing?

Good morning all. Just checking in.

Bill

Morning from another hot and sticky day in Maryland ( and it's only 9am )

Mark

sveikiwith a !, one question, so far, will "add a link" to the yellow pages literally do that or is there an intermediate vetting stage?

Hi all! Can anyone tell me about when it was that eBay changed its policy from "auction interference" (where bidders were not to be contacted during an auction) to "transaction interference" (where bidders were not to be contacted during or after an auction)?

I believe that the change occurred some time between mid-August last year and early February this year.

S2       eBay forgeries, fakes, misdescribed items, altered US classics and buying tips articles

kmichael,
I believe that the right stamp is Scott C246. I think that the arabic numeral 10 is to the right of centre just above the dark part of the stamp. I think that you are correct on the other one.
Terry

pertinax

It's correct. Although, it is clear the scarecrow had it wrong.

Scarecrow formula.

Good day / night All.

Underhi2p thank you for your answer. I now understand what was it about.

Re- ^ Triangles :-)
In every right-angled triangle (a triangle with one angle of p/2 rad),
the square built on its hypotenuse (a square with a side measuring the hypotenuse, the subtending side) has the same area as the sum areas of the squares built on the two cathetus (the two perpendicular sides).
(Pythagoras, 6th century BC)   

The ancient mathematicians believed that every physical quantity was a rational multiple (belonging to the set Q of the rational numbers) of a certain unit,  i.e. that two quantities were always commensurable (= entire multiples of a suitable unit of measure). 
The discovery of Pythagoras, that the diagonal and the side of a square are incommensurable quantities, demonstrated this belief to be false (a philosophical forgery :-).  

In fact, hypotizing per absurd that the diagonal and the side of the unit square (a square with the side measuring 1) were commensurable quantities, a quantity a should exist :

(2)˝ = m·a  and
1 = n·a

where
m and n are natural numbers (belong to the set N of the natural numbers);
(2)˝ = square root of 2 = irrational number (belonging to R, set of the real numbers).

Hence, the division of the two equations yealds the absurd:
(2)˝ = m/n 
where m/n is rational.

Paolo (sorry couldn't help)

You can call me Rock.

Good

Morning

From sunny, but rainy Dallas.

U2p
Rocks I can understand, commensurable quantities subtending catheti takes a bit of work.

Hi Rock :-) you can call me the brainless scarecrow.

In fact, among else, I still have to reply to many e-mails and catch up on a couple of stamp boards. Hope I will be able to do this before the sun, just shyly tinging the clouds light grey, gets obscured by the earth for two subsequent times (it moves, it moves :-)
Paolo

iomoon Why don't you just try and see what happens? I dare you! *hehehe* {;o)

thurgoona I said: so, please do me a favor, take it for a test ride ~ show me the bugs and I'll (probably) fix them... {:o)

jfr Iomoon is right. The registered item retains its original number as issued. This number is usually followed by a two letter country designation, however, this is not always true either. It totally depends on the issuing country. All receive the letter R prior to the number. Some countries have as many as 12 digits in their registration numbers, others have only 2, its all up to the individual issuing country.
Will double check this and report later if there is any change. Meanwhile, off to work :-( Pam

vonbag Youe entries URL has been corrected. {:o)

sveiki! very interesting project and work with the "interactive version" of the YB.
Three questions regarding this site (maybe banal):
1. "Email Address:" : the one of the person adding the link, or the one of the author of the site?
2. How does one eventually remove (or replace, or edit) a link to a site he added?
3. Would the next step be to restrict the possibility of adding or deleting links to 'some authorized webmasters' (e.g. creation of passwords)?
Paolo (catch up later)

sveiki! :-) mine was just a test and I screwd up the category where I put my site. In fact, I had not noticed the "Yellow Boxes Users Websites" among the Site Categories.
Paolo (BBL)

vonbag Thanks for your feedback on the New Yellow Boxes beta version. {:o) I will note your questions, think about them and later add some write-up to the pages. {:o)

S2: If shill bidding is "OK", so should all the listed buying offenses, including transaction interference. :P

CJ Yuan

Good morning/afternoon/evening to all.
As this message allready are scrolled off the board (this must be a new record!) I repeat it as I would like to hear if any have an answer to my question.

I will like to share a recent find with the board. I had a good trade with a collector of censored covers and amongst the cover I got (together with 4 other allmost similar) were this cover sent from Reykjavik, Iceland to Lissabon, Portugal February 14, 1942. It has the fairly rare cancel O.A.T. (Onward Air Transmission) and a reciever from Lissabon March 19, 1942 on back. It was censored by the British and the O.A.T cancel were applied in Prestwick, England. What make these covers very interesting is the reciever. Dr. Helgi P. Briem was commercial attache of Iceland from late 1940 to June 1, 1943. As it was difficult to send mail from Iceland to Denmark he acted, at this adress, as a "mailbox" like Post Box 506 (Thomas Cook, London) and other. People from Iceland who wanted to send a letter to Denmark enclosed it together with a note of the recievers adress and Dr. Briem did then send it in another cover to Denmark. There is no doubt about the authority of both England, Portugal and Germany knew of this but silently accepted this. In the book "Island postalt set i perioden 1939-1945" (Iceland as seen postaly in the period of 1939-1945) by Kristian Hopballe and Olafur Eliasson there is recorded 15 covers with O.A.S. markings and of these only 2 to Portugal. Has anyone seen covers like this before? K.E

Daw!! *hehe*

stampn01 Lee, can't read the signature, but you can probably figure it out by going to the US House of Representatives web site. They have a link to a list of all former Crongresspeople. I would start with IL.

stampn01 Lee You probably should ask on Richard's board too as they do covers. It looks like initals like OI then a space then "free". Then if you look at Young" below the letters look the same as those after "free" "ounill" and the M.C. below could be Member of Congress. Anyway, that's what it loks like from here.

Forgery Identification Site

Terry....Thanks for the help. I thought that was probably it, since Scott's "yellow-orange" description was the closest. But knowing even less about non-US stamps, than I do about US stamps (which ain't much!) I thought it best to ask. ;-)

Yellow Boxes...Nice job Sveiki! on the new look. Possible suggestion. On the "How to make a link..." page, would it help to include an example of how to make the link open in a new window? I always just right click and open every link in a new window out of habit, but do others like it better if links open in a new window automatically (with a normal left click)?

Ken in IL

kmichael Thanks! {:o) Your suggestion has been added to suggestions pending. Yes, I will add an example of how to open links in new windows.

Gee, finally someone explained that triangle business so I could understand it. Thanks, Paolo.

Bob

Hello!
Checking in! ID registered August, 2001.
Rich

Hello from Vermont

Dropping in for the first time to be counted. I typically read the board two or three times a month to see what's happening.
Gena

Hi, stampviper -- Sure wish you'd been around when we were desperate for a Vermont GFA remailer! Maybe next time?

Bob

sveki! nice modification to the Yellow Boxes. I have one suggestion, and a question for the general audience. First the suggestion. I like the link to other user's websites. For that specific link would it be possible to add a field so we know who owns the website for each particular link? Either the person's "real" name, or their eBay userid. I think that information for that particular page would be helpful.

Your new format, particularly the option for people to add links, started me thinking about the purpose of the Yellow Boxes. I view them as a filtered set of favorite internet links, slanted somewhat to help newcomers to the hobby as well as to help make eBay easier (HTML tutorials, etc). In my mind there is a "danger" of allowing free addition to links. For someone that wants a list of all possible websites related to philately we already have Joseph Luft's excellent site. That site is organized into categories and has a search function. So it already provides a great general resource. I don't believe that is what the Yellow Boxes are for (or should be intended for). Allowing everyone to add links to the Yellow Boxes could push them to be a copy of Joseph's website. Perhaps I'm the only one who views that as undesireable. I'd be interested in comments.

Bill

Has anyone read the top of this page lately? I'm just a little puzzled by how the first paragraph clashes with the second paragraph:

This board is not connected in any way with the company, and any messages are solely the opinion and responsibility of the person posting the message.

No business please! The use of this discussion board for buying, selling or trading will not be tolerated! Violations may result in the elimination of this discussion board and/or in the suspension of board privileges for offenders!

Bill: I agree about the need for someone(s) having control over additions to the boxes. I have nightmares about the Yellow Post being spammed by every internet dealer/ebayer selling mortgate rates, diet aids, breast enhancers, p*nis enlargers, etc. etc. etc.

BTW, ebay in its infinite wisdom has set its censor troll loose on these pages to protect our delicate minds from being shocked by nasty words. Wonder how this item (and lots of others like it) got around their radar screen? (Rhetorical question only)

Anne

wrd3 Thanks for your thoughts. Try to add a link just to see how the routine works ~ I can always delete the link (and there is room for additions). As webmaster I'm able to administrate the boxes in any way. I am able to block certain websites, well there's even a troll function. We still need to think of the policies of using the Yellow Boxes if one wants to add links to it. Maybe some of you would be helpful with this?
The new construction of the Yellow Boxes enables users to add their own links, so my part of the work would be to delete the unwamted links ~ a job I needed to do anyway, since I'm sure at some point people would have e-mailed me with some unwanted link.
Now, the "Chat Board Community" and the "Yellow Boxes users" are in control ~ democracy in action. {:o)

Interesting. My link vanished. Let's try again here.

Oh BTW, I'm also able to "close down" any category for further additions, in case we think the category is well represented. {:o) We can always go back to the old version if any problems occur. Technically it's quite easy.

abt1950 Please... Do not tell in which way your attention was brought to that auction... {;o) (Absolutely Danish humor)

sveiki! Absolutely innocently. Was checking the weird stuff category for truly weird stuff. About 95% of the listings there are similarly sleazy. Anne

One more thing... Access to the Yellow Boxes has never been restricted to the users of this stamps chat board ~ just have a look here.

abt1950 Please excuse my weird humor ~ I simply couldn't resist. {:o)

Hi ALL .. Just a quick drop by post. Have read and caught up with what is going on. BBL

ALLAN.

A&S As I have tested the Yellow Boxes new beta version for bugs and given a minor design enhancement ~ I'm going to give it a rest (and create some other webpages).
Please have look at the new Yellow Boxes beta version, try it and get to know it ~ in a couple of days I would like to know your opinion. The new Yellow Boxes version will only be replacing the old if consensus of this board says so. {:o)

wrd3, Abt and sveiki?
My friend's Paolo question at 07:51:34 PDT:

"3. Would the next step be to restrict the possibility of adding or deleting links to 'some authorized webmasters' (e.g. creation of passwords)? "

paolo_ba

sveiki!: No offense taken. I inadvertantly set myself up for it. BTW, I really like the new look on the boxes. Thank you for all the work you've done. Anne

And finally, we can remove the "Add Links to the Yellow Boxes" link and keep the concept as the old Yellow Boxes.

BBL... *poof* Decisions, decisions... darn, why doesn't the World stop for just 5 minutes... *hehehe*

Maybe a secret handshake?

Seriously, that seems to be a reasonable way to do it. That way the burden wouldn't be on one person entirely (namely you), but could be shared by several. Maybe EUSC officials or a set of 5 or so draftees (oops--meant volunteers) with time and computer skills enough to do it? Anne

Last post refers to the password approach. Have a "send suggested links to one of the following people" and then give names and addresses. Or to one address with the selected individuals each having password-based access? Anne

Aloha and Good Morning - Well, this is fun and interesting. After approximately 12 hours the count is 76 different ID's checking.
And for the first time I'm trying to use Excel to add the total feedbacks. It is not intuitive!!! How does one total a column of numbers, (ie feedback)? The examples are so complex I don't even understand the math, let alone the process. Other than frustration, it's great to see so many "chatters" coming out of the balcony and saying. "Hi".

Careful! (infernal trumpets sounds

I am Tuchulcha, half animal half deity, just one among the fine sparce lurkers.

Just surfed on lava in.
You can call me
TuTuTu_ini_ino_hikky_frooo

Anne -- As a devoted listener to Dr Dean Edell, I can guarantee you that the product you stumbled on is about as sound as one of Schu*le*ac's concoctions. I see the money back guarantee lets them keep the shipping.

sveiki! -- Many thanks for your work on the yellow boxes. I'm a dunce in this construction department, but I agree that leaving it too open to links should be carefully considered. Don't know enough to suggest what to do, just whatever minimizes our chances of winding up on 1000 spam lists, or open to hackers.

Will the censor troll allow me to say "The pen AM mightier than the sword?" No, it wouldn't; I had to go back and change it. Tough scheiss, Bulwer-Lytton!

tukulkah - Welcome to Stamps Chat. You need to meet chingkiskan, one of,our infrequent visitors. I think you two would get along famously. He has horses and is always looking for a good deal.

Ah, another poster from sunny Italy, I presume? Anne

Aloha and Bood evening - especially to malolo.

Malolo - Aloha and Good Morning to you too. I would just say on behalf of me and my wife - GREAT COFFEE!
P.s send a greeting to your better half! :O)

K.E.

Roger: I'm sure this is not the best way, but this is how I do it:
1 Go the the cell where you want the sum to appear.
2 Enter the following start of formula(not the quotes): "=SUM("
3 With your mouse, select the area that you wish to add up. You will see after your paranthesis something like E11:E33 show up)
4 Add ")" at end of formula.

Bob No surprise there. But the name shows creativity. Anne

MALOLO Hi Roger Re Excel. An easy way is to just highlight the column and the total appears at the bottom of the Excel window. Understand your situation, I have trouble myself and just use the above shortcut. Another posting ID for your list. Mike in NC

Until a fraction of micro-century ago, I thought one could both click on links and read (or at least, think or understand). I was probably wrong.
Hi Mooo nice to see you posting.
Sorry, I told you I am the very nasty one (doing that rather honestly, though).
TuTuTu_ini_ino_hikky_frooo

Everyone is checking in for some reason. So, as I breeze through, I thought I'd take a second and check in too. Now I have to run. Busy few days: Thursday and Friday we will be closed.
Marty

tukulkah: Considering your ancient origins, you must have a unique perspective on postal history. Anne

Roger / Malalo:  If you want your totals to just be in a row below the numbers you want to sum (i.e., same column), put the cursor in the cell where you want the total, and then you should just be able to click on the sigma (Σ) button in the toolbar.  Excel will then highlight the column range that it thinks you want to sum.  Hit enter.  You can then edit that range if it's not exactly what you want.  (Sometimes it includes extraneous cells.)

Another alternative is to create a really simple formula.  Again, in the cell where you want the total (and this time it can be anywhere on the spreadsheet), type in, say,  " =sum(c5:c12) ", ignoring the quotes I just put in.  For my "c5:c12", you can substitute your own beginning and ending range.

I hope this was relatively clear.  It's kind of hard to describe just using words.  And I hope I understood your question correctly.

Let me know if that helps.

Greetings,

45 of 50 states back to me now. (2 states are expected to be delayed) I feel that's pretty good.

Now off to read the board.

Excel - I must have been in the sumn for too long.
blangoren - I followed instructions and get to the formula in the cell, including (). Then what? What is the , I'll call it the action key to create the total?
Mike - I click on column "B", which highlights the whole column. When I scroll down the "whole window" I stop at 1500+ cells, never get to the bottom of the window! The bottom of my window under column be is taken up by tabs for "sheet 2" and "sheet 3".
I'm willing to learn!

Roger No need to scroll down, the total should appear at the bottom of your window. At least it did on an Excel program I was using last year at a job. Unfortunately, I do not have Excel on this computer to test my memory. GFA re-mailings for SC & NC. Has anyone recd any back today that I posted for them on Sat.? Hope the machine cancels came thru OK. Mike in NC

philitarium - Got it -Thanks. Sigma key was the secret.
I can now report that so far number of people checking in totals = 82,
number of feedbacks = 22,696 ( stampn01 has 9886, congratulations!)
ID's with 3 or fewer feedbacks = 26 (31%)
So at this point an interesting calculation. (Statisticians don't get excited, this is for fun.)
82 - 26 = 56 - stampn01 = 55 "normal" Ebay Stamp Chat community members = 12,793 feedbacks = 233
average per "normal" Ebay Stamp Chat participant. (Remember these are unique feedbacks.)

Swayze-J - present and no accounting for me.

Roger:  Excellent!  Glad that worked out for you.  Once you learn a couple of basics, then it's not too hard for the simple stuff.  (It is also loaded with tons of more complex stuff.)

  -- Dave

Bob in Wa you're welcome :-)
paolo_ba thanks for your mention.
miekiemuis I see you sank in there, didn't you.
Don't give me a "no, I didn't" otherwise we go on until tomorrow.
tuchulcha vade retro, you misciviuos insectivorous beast...
oh well, speaking of parasitarian insects or flees, we may need you here at some point.
Had a piece of new from Gerber von Kaboem, he's slowly getting better, after his nth rocket accident, fortunately.
He lost the faculty to speak, due to his oral cords being cut by a piece of flak, but he can make it up pretty good with water bubbles sequencies and he can write like a wild buffalo. Too bad, for himself me and his silent atrociously deformed helper though very obedient, he's got totally the touch of the nutty professor.
Paolo

Roger... Statistically, if you (must) delete the high end, then you must also delete the 'low' end(s).

Grabbing some bananas before retreating to the balcony.

:-)

sarge - I deleted the 26 0-3 feedbacks. The next is 8, then 13, 26, and then another nine below 100 feedbacks. If I just deleted the lowest, an 8, it wouldn't effect the average. So the question becomes, how many lowends does one deleted to balance an almost 10,000 feedback. That's why I said "don't get excited". );>)

Talk about forgeries! This item carries a Philatlic Foundation back stamp from 1939. I just telephoned the PF, and was told that the PF was founded in 1945, six years afterwards. And the PF NEVER stamped anything on the covers. Over the past month or two, several covers with PF back stamps were reported to the PF. Beware OK, I'm going home.
Marty