Is F295.org dead?

bergytone · Jan 2, 2015

I recently tried to get registered on F295.org's forum and even though I was able to get a login and password, my account has never been approved. This means I cannot post to it or even view photos posted by other members. Now I notice that the registration has been closed by the administrator. I have tried every way I can think of to contact the administrator (Tom P) including facebook and using some of the members here to try to contact him, but have heard nothing.

I'm trying to learn the art of pinhole exposures, and the site is a wealth of information, a lot of which I cannot access. I think if you are already in, you can go about business as usual on the site, but for someone new like me, I'm not allowed in. It's like standing in the window of a candy store that's closed and all you can do is look in the window and see a few things.

I'm just wondering if anyone else is experiencing this with F295?

bsdunek · Jan 2, 2015

I haven't looked at the site for a while, so I tried to log in. It won't take my log in, and you're right, it says registration has been closed by the administrator.
Don't look good, does it?

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

I've tried twice in the past 18 months to join the group, and though I was given a login both times, I was never actually granted access to the forum, and all email inquiries went unacknowledged.

winger · Jan 2, 2015

I think what happened is that they kept getting a ton of new account registrations from spammers and Tom was having problems telling the good from the bad when approving people. I don't know if he wants to open it back up to new registrations or not. You can look for the f295 facebook page if you're on there - I think that's somewhat active.

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

winger said:
I think what happened is that they kept getting a ton of new account registrations from spammers and Tom was having problems telling the good from the bad when approving people. I don't know if he wants to open it back up to new registrations or not. You can look for the f295 facebook page if you're on there - I think that's somewhat active.

Plenty of folks don't "do" Facebook - myself included. I asked another member about the f295 group recently and it was suggested to me that we simply make more/better use of the Pinhole Photography section of this forum, which is likely to remain quite active

Richard S. (rich815) · Jan 2, 2015

Are new forums postings going up?

EDIT: answered my own question. There's a few postings in the last week and some from yesterday. So it's not dead.

Richard S. (rich815) · Jan 2, 2015

Did have problems logging in though. Tried password reset but it keeps telling me my Captcha entry does not match the number in the photo. The one I got was not hard to read and I'm sure I entered it correctly so something might be up.

winger · Jan 2, 2015

paulbarden said:
Plenty of folks don't "do" Facebook - myself included. I asked another member about the f295 group recently and it was suggested to me that we simply make more/better use of the Pinhole Photography section of this forum, which is likely to remain quite active

Yeah, facebook is sorta ok for those who use it, but there's no reason to expect everyone to use it. I agree that the pinhole section here is likelier to stay active.

gone · Jan 2, 2015

Not everyone uses facebook. Any website that required me to sign in w/ that, which I refuse to have, can live w/o me. There are so many problems w/ security and privacy w/ that site. I don't understand why anyone would sign up for it.

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

I'm more than happy to encourage and participate in the Pinhole discussions here! It doesn't have to be f295 (which I was never able to access for reasons unknown) - I just want to be in the company of other Pinhole photographers and share ideas!

PS, here is my newest purchased camera, a Nopo 6x6 format from Spain:

It's a very interesting camera with some really unique features, which I will review later today in a separate post.

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

momus said:
Not everyone uses facebook. Any website that required me to sign in w/ that, which I refuse to have, can live w/o me. There are so many problems w/ security and privacy w/ that site. I don't understand why anyone would sign up for it.

The sole reason I choose not to participate is Facebook's agenda to mine user data at any cost, and that invloves the TOS continuously evolving in an attempt to erode user's privacy rights. No thanks.

scheimfluger_77 · Jan 2, 2015

That's too bad about f295. Been a member there since 2006 and not having any difficulty now, but I have noticed it's been very, very quite for a number of months. There used to be so much activity you couldn't keep up, and lot's of good photography along with a lot of technical help, most of which you should still be able to see as a non-member.

Sharing pinhole here is fine but will it be limited to LF only? There are lots of users working in every small format you can think of.

I like your new camera Paul, it looks like a wooden Hassey.

Steve

bergytone · Jan 2, 2015

There's a group on here for pinholers, but what I find interesting is posts to the group don't show up as new posts for the day.... so you start to debate... do I post in the group, or on the general discussion for pinhole????

There's a huge amount of photos in the galleries on F295 that I'd love to look at, but can't access. Tom Persinger... if you're out there, can you comment?

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

I would certainly be interested in knowing if its even possible to get into the F295 group. I have a login, but have never had my account activated. :-(

Richard S. (rich815) · Jan 2, 2015

paulbarden said:
I would certainly be interested in knowing if its even possible to get into the F295 group. I have a login, but have never had my account activated. :-(

I searched my old emails in my Gmail account and found I joined f295 back in 2007. Also found an email where I reset my password back in Sept of 2012. It gave me my user name and gave me a password to use. I just tried and I successfully logged in. Saw a few other postings from today from others while there.

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

Richard Sintchak (rich815) said:
I searched my old emails in my Gmail account and found I joined f295 back in 2007. Also found an email where I reset my password back in Sept of 2012. It gave me my user name and gave me a password to use. I just tried and I successfully logged in. Saw a few other postings from today from others while there.

Richard, any idea how (or IF) I can get my account activated? I applied for and received a login/ID back in June or July, and I was instructed to wait for my account to be activated, which it never was. I emailed the group owner several times and never did get a response :-(

Thanks.
Paul

Richard S. (rich815) · Jan 2, 2015

paulbarden said:
Richard, any idea how (or IF) I can get my account activated? I applied for and received a login/ID back in June or July, and I was instructed to wait for my account to be activated, which it never was. I emailed the group owner several times and never did get a response :-(

Thanks.
Paul

No, sorry. I'm surprised my login worked actually. Have not been there for a while.

SMBooth · Jan 2, 2015

f295 is alive and well, yes a tad quite lately but turning your back on it will only make it worst. Post your pinhole stuff there, they accept all formats.

NedL · Jan 2, 2015

It has been quiet at f295, I wish there was more activity. The camera making and other sub-forums contain an wealth of information and practical experience. It is a friendly place with good people too.

The forum software was updated a couple years ago, and I had a bit of a hassle getting my newly assigned password working. I think we lost a few people then who weren't as persistent as I was. There are new accounts being activated, it's slow and I think Bethe is right that there were problems with huge volume of account creation by spammers and robots... so interested real people who are potential new active members are slipping through the cracks.

I'd love to see more activity over there, and it's not just for pinhole but for all sorts of "alternative" processes, including hybrid processes.

I wonder if the account activation process could be streamlined better, maybe we could "advertise" it a bit here in these threads. I think f295 and APUG serve slightly different and complimentary niches.

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

SMBooth said:
f295 is alive and well, yes a tad quite lately but turning your back on it will only make it worst. Post your pinhole stuff there, they accept all formats.

I can't exactly be accused of turning my back on a group I've never been granted full access to! I've been waiting 18 months for my account to be activated! Still waiting, hoping...

elekm · Jan 2, 2015

Spammer activity can be very frustrating for those who operating a forum.

I see he uses vBulletin. I don't know that software specifically, but Catcha is useless from blocking spammers, as spammers learned to defeat that several years ago.

It's interesting that any spammer thinks that the crap they post to a site is effective - especially to a specialty site such as f295.org.

He's done the thing of shutting down all registration. That certainly will block spammers - and anyone else, unfortunately.

And I do understand the concerns about Facebook, and its data-collection efforts and willingness to sell what it learns to the lowest bidder. We're really not customers - just a source of income.

SMBooth · Jan 2, 2015

Paul, contact Tom direct through the f295 Facebook page. He will sort it for you.

removedacct1 · Jan 2, 2015

SMBooth said:
Paul, contact Tom direct through the f295 Facebook page. He will sort it for you.

Shane,
As I stated a few posts ago, I do not have a Facebook account and I am unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices to set up an account. Would someone be kind enough to point Tom to this discussion so perhaps we can discuss options here? Thanks - I would be most grateful. As I say, I apparently have been given a login, but my account was not activated, so I can log in but not participate.

I received an email prompting me to complete registration by providing an activation key, which I did. The site then gave me the following message:

"Your account has been activated but you are currently in the moderation queue to be added to the forum." That was in August 2013. I've never been granted access to the group to do anything but read the content!

Paul

bergytone · Jan 3, 2015

Paul, that's what happened to me, only instead of a year ago, it was only a few months ago. I also tried to contact Tom P through the facebook page, and haven' t heard a single thing.

It's too bad, as a lot of great photos have been posted through the years, and there are some threads I'd like to participate in.

If anyone knows Tom, can you contact him and ask him to comment on the status of the forum?

lxdude · Jan 3, 2015

paulbarden said:
The sole reason I choose not to participate is Facebook's agenda to mine user data at any cost, and that invloves the TOS continuously evolving in an attempt to erode user's privacy rights. No thanks.

Easy to understand. I do use it to connect with old pals and such. I don't put much personal information on it.
I have no illusions about it. It's important to remember that with Facebook, you are not the customer; you are the product.

Is F295.org dead?

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