Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

Can i buy the letter E? and then every time you wander over the letter it'll say "This is the letter E"

Alternatively we can out bid people like VMAR and put things like "these kits suck" instead lol

Give a fool a tool and he'll use it in a foolish way

What might work better is if someone like Tower gives RCU X amount of money per year and every word "Tower" in the forums will automatically be a link to their website. Also no-one else would be able to buy that word from them by outbidding then using it to slag them off.... if they choose not to buy then that word wouldn't be open to us either, unless another manufacturer wants the word for their own advertising...

SDR-Hammer

Good idea!

However I predict this thread will be closed in 5…4…3…

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

2.... 1.875.. 1.75... 1.5..... 1.... .5....

(my mum used to say that, start breaking the count into 4th, 8ths, 16ths....)

sorry, I'll go back to work now...

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

now that would imply i'm trying to stir the pot.. not at all, but i can see a side that turns this against what it's meant to do..
the highest bidder for a word could lead to all sorts of trouble...
also, your looking through a thread with LOADS of these words and little bubbles are popping up next to the word as you touch it by accident everywhere

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

I read that e-mail (sent to me soliciting this new "feature"), and I'm still not sure what I was reading. So either it was somewhat of an obscure message, or I'm not too bright. Take your pick, either will probably fit.

So, does this mean that we'll soon be seeing all sorts of high-lighted words and phrases in the posts? Man; I was just becoming accustomed to this new, cluttered look. I dunno about you guys, but I'm about "new & improved" out...

.

Trombe

My Feedback: (1)

Some I think I have seen already

Ebay Saito Dubro Futaba TowerHobbies Tower


I think some work...

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

is that what it was...

aahhhhhh look at the text, RCU have taken the liberty of doing this word already taking the guess they will be bid on. umm guess thats why they are keywords... so there goes my bid on E

BaronSchwab

But E-bay in a link doesen't work. [link]http://www.ebay.com[/link] [>:]

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

look above, the ebay link bubble says RCU auction.
but thats a different thread

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

This is something new to RCU, but many websites are doing it. Before you criticize it, think about how it can help. If a newbie was browsing and saw the word "Saito" for instance, and didn't know what it was, by simply clicking on it, he would not only find out it was an engine, but later, he could use it as a quick reference to buy one.

Get used to it. And while you're at it, get used to TV ads appearing at the bottom of your favorite show. Have you noticed those lately? The Sponsers have gotten tired of people "Clicking" to another channel whenever a commercial comes on, so now they run commercials DURING the show.

Commercials are not going to go away. Sigh.

beardking

My Feedback: (4)

On top of that, just the word auction gets its own link back to the marketplace. Not my favorite thing about this site, but hey, I don't pay so i'm not going to complain to loudly.

Cactus.

My Feedback: (1)

i can see the use's, i just like seeing flip sides.
the word goes to the highest bidder? how long till someone buys a word for the wrong reason?
the ideas sound but the word should only be open to those who NEED it.
we've already seen how some people brought up .com names only for the net to take off, companys want the names, they either had to buy the guy out or come up with something else.
If someone got annoyed with a company they can outbid the keyword and put what they want as the bubble and link.

talking of missuse, the Ebay keyword really shouldn't take you to the RCU auction, like we're not allowed to see ebay links neither should this be a keyword for RCU gains.

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Minn,

Are you serious?! that they are starting to run ads during the show, down at the bottom? of the screen? Haven't seen any yet...

I thought product placement was 'the new advertising' but as yet have not seen this.

I remeber they were once talking about ads between the rings on teh phone, when placing a call to someone...

Then again, i watch edumakashunal (educational) TV, and rarely get bombarded with ads for ... crap. And I HATE these new 'reality' shows!!!!

tiggerinmk

I too, was intriqued by the contents of the email and saw the points you mentioned as well as being concerned about further clutter.

I've already started to see this when people mention specifics in their posts.
e.g. I've just bought a Great Planes J3 cub from Tower Hobbies and am going to use a Saito 72 engine with an APC prop. It will have a Futaba receiver and Hitec servos with a Dubro thingy and a Sullivan whatsit.

mvigod

thank you for your feedback and concerns.

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

Same here. But more importantly, I'm still waiting for all those items they promised to fix when they made the big switch to be fixed (ie, spell checker, listing of only new subscribed threads, etc). I feel we got the big brush off, and thats a let down []

New and improved away, but at least look back and fix what you broke and promised along the way!!!

EagleOne

My 0.000000000002

Since this website is offers this huge amount of info for FREE, and for sure costs a LOT to be maintaned (spelled correctly?), something has to be done to pay the bills. If allowing users to "buy" some words is one of the ways, it's fine with me. Actually it doesn't bothers me to see a word underlined with little dashes, it's unusual at first and after a little time you can get used to it. But I think there should be a limit. As in everything......

By a limit, I mean that users shouldn't be allowed to "buy" commonly used words, otherwise it would be a complete polution of the forums with underlined words that link to something. I think that this feature should be limited to names only, like Futaba, Saito, Great Planes, OS Engines, Enya, JR, Tower Hobbies, and so on. What do you think??

BaronSchwab

It sorta gets annoying to have all of your words underlined.

(My Futaba radio works better than JR. Hitec is different from Airtronics. Dubro and Sullivan make parts for your Extra 300. Hanger 9 and Great Planes make ARFs. Tower Hobbies and Horizon Hobby sell the stuff from O.S. and Saito. Sorry I had to...)

mvigod

what do you mean by listing of only new subscribed threads? I think this one was fixed if I'm reading your post right.

the spellchecker is nastier than I thought it would be. the checker runs on a linux box from another domain within rcuniverse.com. because javascript security issues it won't let us auto insert the checked text into the box. you can still manually cut/paste it into the text area and get the same thing done with an extra step. I did research other spell checkers but wasn't satisfied with the interface on them. It is on my list but hey the really good ones out there cost some dollars and maybe with these keywords we can easily justify purchasing an expensive spell checker that works perfect.

tiggerinmk

It looks like there are some random glitches in this keyword 'enhancement'.

Notice that in post 18, the words Futaba, Dubro and Saito are not underlined whereas in other posts they are. I noticed this initially when Futaba wasn't underlined in my post although I knew I had spelt it correctly....

JNorton

My Feedback: (2)

Well Minn you say get used to the adds on TV. I did. I no longer watch anything but the news. If this site gets to be too much - too intrusive advertising - to the point where I feel like AGHHHHH! I'll no longer be here either. There is very little I HAVE to get used to. So far the pluses out weigh minues here. I understand needing to make a living. What I don't understand is people thinking they have no choice. Thank God there are still books!
John

LSP972

My Feedback: (13)

<<...fix what you broke...>>

The only thing I REALLY miss is the little indicator telling you that you posted in a certain thread. I'm beginning to get CRS in a bad way, and sometimes am not sure what I replied to.

At least, no one jumped on here and castigated me (us?) for being unable to use/appreciate technology, etc., etc. That's something, I suppose.

I am felony computer-illiterate. I freely admit it. I can muddle my way through these forums, but each "improvement" usually makes my life on computers more difficult. Same deal at work. I had just about figured out Word Perfect, and now the brain surgeons at Data Processing are switching us over to Word; with little or no warning, and for damn sure no transition training. They say, "But it is a better program!"

I don't give a crap. I was doing just fine with Word Perfect; it did everything I needed it to do. Personally, I think it is an extension of the concept of "planned obsolescence"; continue bringing out new stuff on the short term to keep those sales up. If codgers like me are inconvenienced, tough bananas.

Anyway, so much for progress making me unhappy. I'm not really griping (about RCU, anyway) here, Marc. But, gee; what else have I got to look forward to? My cell phone is going to be incompatible in a year or so; high-res TV is coming, and you know those puppies won't be cheap. Progress is okay; but I could do with a bit of status quo for awhile...[&o]

.

MikeL

My Feedback: (3)

I've yet to see it on any of the other forums I frequent, some of which are larger than RCU. I have seen it in some articles, but not usually for advertising purposes. Can you give me addresses for some of the other sites doing this, so I can see for myself what it is like?

Sure, it could be used in an educational way, but it isn't. Let's not pretend that clicking on a Pepsi banner to discover that Pepsi is soda is educational. Let's say you're right, though. If the first thing he learns about Saito is that they're a beat-up used engine that just doesn't look to be in good shape what's he going to think? Or if an old gold-box Futaba is a person's first exposure to that brand.

When I want to buy something, I'll seek it out for myself--especially on the marketplace side. The only way this would be useful would be if it brought up all Saito ads when I click on Saito, but that's not the way this is designed.

I don't have to get used to it. If it gets to the point where I'm distracted and irritated while trying to read and participate in discussions, I simply won't use RCU for that until something changes. There's no reason for me to get used to it if I don't like it. When advertising distracts and drives users away, the market changes. Remember the RCO monkey? I recall Marc saying one of the reasons he built this site was to give people an alternative to that. Perhaps he was being tongue-in-cheek with that, but I think it illustrates a point. You're an artist, and can appreciate a clean design. I don't mind banners. I look at them as I read the forums, and when I'm interested in one I click it. I do mind advertisements inside of the threads I am reading. I find the ebay underlining distracting already, and I can only imagine how busy things will look if this is widely used.

Frankly, I think saying "other sites are doing it so we'll do it too" is sinking to the lowest common denominator. RCU used to have extremely high standards in all aspects of the operation. My opinion on that (not that it matters) is beginning to change.

mvigod

mike,

here is one large site.

http://www.devshed.com/c/a/MySQL/Und...ing-SQL-Joins/

also we don't have popups, pop unders or that garbage. this is very subtle.

mkranitz

My Feedback: (60)

The high standards have not changed. Personally, I don't give a rat's behind if other sites are doing something either (don't punch me Marc!).

Marc and I launched the keyword technology for the benefit of our members and to enhance revenue on the site. Here are more specific answers to some questions I've read:

1. Members may SUGGEST words, but we approve or disapprove them. No common words will be allowed (like "airplane", "tire", "the" etc.). We are concerned about "Post Pollution" too.

2. As for what can show up linked, there is a limit of 5 distinct words per post. Nothing will get too cluttered and most folks won't run a string of brand names together in a single post.

3. The mix of retailers, manufacturers and hobbyists makes this site a great community. Remember, many of the folks who buy keywords are members AND they are retailers. Most are not huge and most don't have the funds to spend on banners and such. This technology allows those members to promote their products in a subtle and inexpensive way. We had requests from "basement" and "garage" type vendors ask us for an inexpensive way to reach 1,000's of folks. This is one of the solutions we can now give them to help level the playing field. Where would we be without innovative guys like Eureka Hobbies et. al.?

4. Members who sell things in the market are free to take out keywords to help draw attention to their ad in the market.

5. If we see offensive links, we will suspend the offending members.

6. Marc and I are considering linking specific brand names to that brand in our product guide. Only those advertisers who want to reserve the name could change that. We are mulling this over.

7. In order to get a bubble promo to pop, you have to hold your mouse over the word. If you don't want to see it, DON'T PASS YOUR MOUSE OVER IT!

It's fun to get crazy about stuff on this site that you like or don't like, but when you stop and think about it for about 1/4 of a second, you realize that NO OTHER SITE and I mean NO OTHER SITE has the array of free services that we offer. We have put more than 6,000 man hours into programming over the last year. It's not free folks and we are a business. This is one way for us to generate revenue and cater to many facets of our membership. Hopefully, our members will appreciate the services we offer. If not, they are certainly free to look elsewhere. I think those folks will miss what we have.

BTW...we are working on a tutorial for the site!

Michael