Disappearing posts?

[Pauldelbrot]

I'm quite sure I saw a new post here by Kali with a name like "Blue Lights On" or something similar. Now I don't see it, and the forum claims the most recent activity in it was several hours earlier than when I thought I saw it.

Moreover, I'm sure I saw the same image in the gallery, but can't locate it there either now.

On top of that, I recall seeing something similar happen a week or two ago, and again I think the images were by Kali.

Is somebody censoring some of his images for some reason?!

Checking my browser history I find this URL:

http://www.fractalforums.com/images-showcase-(rate-my-fractal)/blue-lights-on/

which seems to indicate that I'm not imagining or misremembering things. OTOH, that URL produces an error message saying that either there's no such forum post (but then how did a URL for it wind up in my browser history? I didn't just invent that URL out of whole cloth!) or that I've been specifically barred from viewing it. Process of elimination seems to indicate that the true explanation would have to be the latter, since "it doesn't exist" seems to preclude my having it in my browser history. So, it looks like maybe someone is reverse-censoring me, specifically, disallowing me to view certain of Kali's posts, but is doing so retroactively -- that is, whoever's responsible has to wait for Kali to post something, decide if I should be allowed to see it, and set it to be hidden from my userid or not at that time. Which seems pointless, since apparently I check for new stuff here more often than this hypothetical censor does.

What I'd like, then, is an official word on what is going on. Other than possibly Kali, the only people who should be able to do this (if anyone should) would presumably be moderators and the admin. A categorical statement from them accepting or denying responsibility for whatever is happening, and explaining themselves if they accept responsibility, will do. (As for Kali, if he doesn't want an image viewed by certain users and can set something to make the site enforce that, it doesn't make sense that he'd post the image, wait, and then change that setting later instead of doing it right away with the upload. Hence why it seems likelier someone else is responsible. What really burns my noodle is the lack of any apparent logical motive on anyone's part. Could there be a bug that has such symptoms, then?)

Regardless, I'm somewhat disturbed by the implication that for whatever reason the forum software is presenting different versions of history depending on who you're logged in as, and that some of those, at least, are subject to retroactive revisions. I think they did that (with images, no less) in Soviet Russia once, for political reasons. It's not clear there's any justification for the capability for presenting revisionist histories to even exist here (let alone to do so selectively per-user). On the other hand a wide variety of database bugs, glitches, and errors could theoretically manifest as apparent historical revisionism ... at least, without the per-user selectivity part that the error message nonetheless implied.

If it's a bug, or some other kind of mistake, it might be worth checking various logs and the system's backups. Depending on those, it might even be possible to undo the damage (though I doubt it when the two or three things I know about, and an unknown subset of the unknown additional number I don't know about, that were affected were affected within hours of being posted, such that a backup having occurred between the upload and the bug striking is improbable).

[cKleinhuis]

it might be that kali just deleted it ... lets see what he says about it....

[Pauldelbrot]

it might be that kali just deleted it ...

Then why post it in the first place?

lets see what he says about it....

Well, if someone is mucking with his posts, now he'll at least know about it. Unless, of course, this thread disappears too.

[David Makin]

Given the title you quote "blue-lights on" it's possible it's just a name change on Kali's part - here's the most recent from Kali:

http://www.fractalforums.com/images-showcase-%28rate-my-fractal%29/ufo-docking-and-charging-station/msg40281/

[Pauldelbrot]

That seems to be the same one, but the time on it is after I started this thread, and indeed it wasn't there when I started this thread. Would a simple name change take hours rather than seconds, let alone also cause it to have supposedly never existed during those hours between beginning the name change and the name change being finished? If so, there's obviously a software problem somewhere, since something like that should be nearly instant, and in any properly set up database-backed system should also be atomic from the viewpoint of any user. A rename during which there's a period of time of any length in which a user can see the object in a state of neither existing under the old name nor existing under the new name is, though, clearly not atomic.

[ker2x]

I think they did that (with images, no less) in Soviet Russia once, for political reasons. It's not clear there's any justification for the capability for presenting revisionist histories to even exist here (let alone to do so selectively per-user). On the other hand a wide variety of database bugs, glitches, and errors could theoretically manifest as apparent historical revisionism ... at least, without the per-user selectivity part that the error message nonetheless implied.

bwahahahaha ! 
(sorry)

[DarkBeam]

In Soviet Russia fractals iterate you

 

[blob]

Pauldelbrot, just so you know, you're victim of a conspiracy. 

[Pauldelbrot]

I doubt it.