Random Thoughts Showing 4,251-4,300 of 17,689

[Bryn]

My own preference for an ereader is to have a dedicated device, not one with whiz-bang distractions. So, I have an ordinary Kindle, that only means 'books' to me not 'internet' and other non-book associations. In that way I can love my ereader.

[Jane]

If I ever buy an eReader, I'm with you, Bryn.

[Bryn]

You don't have one, Jane? I thought you read ebooks?

[C.P.]

Kindle Paperwhite has a light you can turn on when you need it. Seems like the best of both worlds—although I haven't used it myself. Good battery life, too.

I have an iPad, which works well for me because I mostly read at night, when a non-lit Kindle is too dim and gray. But it is true that the iPad does not read well in sunlight. Meanwhile, the basic Kindle works best in sunlight....

If you read mostly in the evenings and want to surf and check your e-mail and talk to us, though ;-) the Fire would be your best bet.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

There are also a lot of pros andd cons with the differnt eReading devices outlined in the eRaders vs Dead Trees thread. (only the comment related just to kindle fire will be harder to find in the multi page thread - a seach discussion posts might get you some results though, Paula)

http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/7...

[Jane]

Bryn wrote: "You don't have one, Jane? I thought you read ebooks?"

No, I do not at this time--maybe someday... Any eBooks I might be interested in I buy POD, if they don't cost an arm and a leg. Otherwise I just hope they come out in paperback someday. For instance, Gordon's books I finally got POD.
The library's still a wonderful source.

[Paula]

Terri wrote: "There are also a lot of pros andd cons with the differnt eReading devices outlined in the eRaders vs Dead Trees thread. (only the comment related just to kindle fire will be harder to find in the m..."

thanks Terri

[Paula]

Although i want an e-reader, there is actually nothing like holding a real book in your hands

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Is the site loading slowly for other people?

[Jane]

No slower than usual for me. So far.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Jane wrote: "No slower than usual for me. So far."

Mine's on a go slow. :\

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Mine's on go slow too.

[Jane]

Could it be you Australian and NZ folks and it's moving East?

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Now mine has woken up!

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jane wrote: "Could it be you Australian and NZ folks and it's moving East?"


It could be happening again. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I know I am having some grief with my profile feed.
I have been unable to delete group comments from my update feed for two days.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Still sluggish here. It comes and goes.

[[deleted user]]

I keep getting that 'Goodreads is over capacity' message.

[Lia]

goodreads are hit and miss today... keep getting "unable to load page" message... :(

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

In the last 5 minutes..Me too.

[Lia]

... and whet it connected, it was very slow... .

[[deleted user]]

It's all screwed up here. No notifications or updates...

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Comments are not showing up again. Wish GoodReads would get their act together.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Marina wrote: "I have too much updates! As in, unable to delete them from my profile page..."

You are not alone. I reported having this problem in Feedback today and others posted in the thread saying they were having the same problem.

It is annoying. As my feed is dominated by group comments and I keep forgetting to 'unclick' the box (when posting a comment) that says 'Add to my Update Feed'.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Margaret wrote: "Comments are not showing up again. Wish GoodReads would get their act together."

GR staff are completely quiet in the Feedback group.
I think they are so preoccupied administering their new review policy that they haven't got time to fix problems...and i also wonder if most of those problems come about due to the sweep they are doing of the site right now searching for inappropriate reviews and bookshelf titles.

[Jane]

Derek wrote: "It's all screwed up here. No notifications or updates..."

Goodness, I've been missing notifications forever, since way before this last nonsense started. I get some, but not all. I always check 'Home' in addition. I hope I'm not missing anything.

[Jane]

One review and rating were eaten up. I was disappointed it was this particular one; many times I may spend 1/2 to 1 hour on a review to get it just right, opinion plus the wording, etc.

[Andy]

Jane "who" :)

[Jane]

Goodness Andy, you know me. :) I was the lady in the babushka, now I'm the Lady of Shalott, 'half sick of shadows.'

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Comments are not showing up again. Wish GoodReads would get their act together."

GR staff are completely quiet in the Feedback group.
I think they are so preoccupied administerin..."

Inappropriate reviews?

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Margaret wrote: "Inappropriate reviews..."

Goodreads has FINALLY decided to do something about the reviewer/author flame wars that have been going on on GR. So they have been deleting reviews that are not about the book. The kind of reviews that are about the author or the author's behaviour.
GR are also deleting the shelves that the warring parties have that are denigrating to authors. ie Author Behaving Badly

There is a big deal amoung those people at the moment as they believe it is censorship and some are leaving the site.

I have been staying clear of it as I have never written a review about an author or their behaviour so the new review policy doesn't affect me and i find it has many positives to it.
If authors are mentioned in my reviews I only talk about authors in relation to their book. ie what was he thinking when he wrote this plot.. that sort of thing. So it should be safe. nothing was written with the express intention of bringing ill repute to an author. Although I have been targeted by some nasty authors on here before and I would have liked to say something, but that's not my style.

[Mark]

Terri wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Inappropriate reviews..."

Goodreads has FINALLY decided to do something about the reviewer/author flame wars that have been going on on GR. So they have been deleting reviews that..."

Well said.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Jane wrote: "One review and rating were eaten up. I was disappointed it was this particular one; many times I may spend 1/2 to 1 hour on a review to get it just right, opinion plus the wording, etc."

Really? Do you know why they deleted one of your reviews? Which one was it?
I think they should notify people if the review is clearly not a 'revenge review' on an author. So the reviewer can amend their review.

Some people have complained that they have had reviews go missing in the last couple weeks. Reviews that had nothing in them about the author. GR hasn't removed them, they have just gone missing.
Could this have happened to your review, Jane?

I think I have lost two reviews. If GR found them negative towards the author then I bow to their decision. This is their site and they want to keep it about books and if I crossed the line in some reviews then fair enough. I just wish they had contacted me to let me amend.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "Margaret wrote: "Inappropriate reviews..."

Goodreads has FINALLY decided to do something about the reviewer/author flame wars that have been going on on GR. So they have been deleting reviews that..."

That makes sense.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "Jane wrote: "One review and rating were eaten up. I was disappointed it was this particular one; many times I may spend 1/2 to 1 hour on a review to get it just right, opinion plus the wording, et..."

I now have a policy of only reviewing books I REALLY enjoyed to avoid any possibilities of getting caught in a flame war.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

You shouldn't have to worry now. The war is pretty much over. both sides have had the table reset.
I think the Authors Behaving badly group is gone. And the authors who had organized themselves to target reviewers who left negative comments of their books have also been pulled into line. In future GR will apparently be stricter with authors harassing reviewers.

If an author makes an inappropriate comment on your review, I recommend our members either flag the authors comment to GR staff (there is a flag button option on all comments anywhere on GR) or delete it.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Terri wrote: "You shouldn't have to worry now. The war is pretty much over. both sides have had the table reset.
I think the Authors Behaving badly group is gone. And the authors who had organized themselves to..."

I've never had an author comment. Obviously my reviews are boring. LOL

[Bryn]

No sweat. Authors are now being actively, officially discouraged from leaving comments on negative reviews. When they go to comment, Goodreads pops up with a warning message telling them "we really, really (really!) don't think you should comment on this review", but to flag if it's flaggable. To ignore the warning, the author has to click an 'Accept and continue'.

:)

[Jane]

Margaret wrote: "Terri wrote: "You shouldn't have to worry now. The war is pretty much over. both sides have had the table reset.
I think the Authors Behaving badly group is gone. And the authors who had organized..."

Same here. A couple have clicked they 'like' them, but no comments, not that I'm complaining.

[Jane]

Terri wrote: "Jane wrote: "One review and rating were eaten up. I was disappointed it was this particular one; many times I may spend 1/2 to 1 hour on a review to get it just right, opinion plus the wording, et..."

That is possible. I know GR was [and maybe still is] monkeying around with their site and temporarily disabled some functions.
I wish they would have said something first, also.

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

Thanks Bryn, I was going to mention the pop up, but wasn't sure on the exact words. :)

That is such a positive step. If an author has a problem with a review, they should flag it to Gr and let them decide. If they think GR made the wrong decision then they can take it up with GR and not the reviewer.
If the author goes ahead and comments, then the reviewer doesn't need to start a fight, he/she should just delete the offending comment or flag it to GR.
That is my recommendation to our fellow members. I just don't think there is any reason to ever engage in an aggressive way with someone who is being rude or irrational (whether it be reviewer or author).
If you feel that you can have an unoffensive conversation with the author. To discuss the negatives like grown ups, then sure go ahead (tis what I did recently with Anthony Riches on my review of his book), but if it gets insulting or rude at any stage. Walk away or flag or delete. We have the power to avoid bad situations. We just have to use our common sense and the devices GR gave us - flag/delete.

[Bryn]

I think it's great. I feel safer.
I can't possibly stop low-starring, I two-starred yesterday. With this I feel we have a safer environment to do so. And that Goodreads is more 'there' to deal with situations, so you just have to flag and let them deal.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Bryn wrote: "No sweat. Authors are now being actively, officially discouraged from leaving comments on negative reviews. When they go to comment, Goodreads pops up with a warning message telling them "we really..."

That's a good idea. :)

[Terri, Wyrd bið ful aræd]

I feel safer too. :) I feel that in 6 months time when everything has settled, that Goodreads will be a nicer environment. A more 'moderated' environment.
Being a mod myself I know there are many things that need to get nipped in the bud or they will have a knock on effect and before you know it you have complete pandemonium and anarchy. haha.
Goodreads have sat back on their laurels and let pandemonium and anarchy reign. :)
They should have decided long ago that there is a massive difference between censorship and simply enforcing rules. If the rules are there and people break them it isn't censorship. If they give people free rein without rules or enforcing rules, then it can feel like censorship when they finally choose to shut things down.
That is what is happening now. They have decided to make rules and enforce them, when they should have made them and enforced them as soon as the trouble started escalating a couple years ago.

[Jane]

Absolutely!!

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Testing...testing....

[Jane]

Goodness, my computer has been really, really slow today and this evening on GR! Anyone else's?

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Jane wrote: "Goodness, my computer has been really, really slow today and this evening on GR! Anyone else's?"

Not slow, but according to my notifications, or lack thereof, NO-ONE has been in ANY of the discussions I frequent for almost 24 hours.

[Jane]

Margaret, my notifications have been spotty for me.
I just added a review of Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World. Hopefully, you'll get a notification of that.

[Margaret, Sherlockian Sheila]

Jane wrote: "Margaret, my notifications have been spotty for me.
I just added a review of Sailing from Byzantium: How a Lost Empire Shaped the World. Hopefully, you'll get a notification of that."

I'm getting those, but nothing for the discussion threads.