Blip TV Restricts Users.

I mostly use You Tube to upload to and share my videos,though I also use a few less well known video sharing sites. One of these is Blip TV who I have been with since 2010. Well yesterday I was uploading my videos to Blip as I normally do. The first video I uploaded was fine and it uploaded and published. Then when I uploaded my second video, I got an error message saying I can only upload one video in 24 hours.

At first I thought there was a glitch on the site so I emailed Blip TV support.Then I did a search on Google as I thought it strange that I could only upload one video per 24 hours. I found this post on Change.Org that said Blip TV have restricted their users to one video upload every 24 hours. Also Blip TV are deleting accounts of users who are not film producers.
See here- http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/blip-tv-aka-blip-com-abandon-policy-changes-that-have-alienated-over-80-of-their-users

I could not believe it,apparently there used to be an upload limit of three videos per 24 hours though I was not even aware of this. Now they had restricted that limit to one video. I tend to make rather long videos, which I split into three parts. Which is three separate videos and so one video per 24 hours is not enough for me. As this means that if my video is in three or four parts which many of my videos are. Then my viewers have to wait several days before they can see part two or three and the rest of my video. So of course I deleted all of my videos from Blip TV in disgust over this.

Later on yesterday I got a response to my email from Blip TV which said this.
Here is Blip TVs response to me by email-


"Blip Support, May 10 01:27 pm (EDT):
Hello,

Blip's mission is to bring the best in original web series to our audience. Blip is not an open platform for hosting video content.

Our recent changes to the upload limit are so that we can best support serious web producers in this endeavour.

You can read about this more here:

(Link to changes.)

You can also read about our "Permitted Uses" and "Prohibited Content" here:

(Link to terms.)

After reviewing your account, it's clear that your content is better suited for open platforms such as You Tube or paid platforms such as Vimeo. In the education space, vendors such as Kaltura are also available.

Your account will be closed on June 15th, 2013.

Please take the time now to move your content to another service provider better suited to your streaming needs.

In the meantime, you will still be permitted one upload per day to help smooth your transition.

Blip TV Support."

So there you have it. Blip TV have now restricted their users to one upload a day which is stupid and they are deleting accounts of ordinary users who are not film producers. Or paying subscribers and they are deleting my account in June. I make my own videos as my hobby the same as I blog and write my websites as a hobby. I do not intend to start paying money to upload my videos and I won't. I have my videos on You Tube and some other smaller video sharing sites like Blip TV. 

My videos on My Space and Dailymotion and Blip don't get as many views as on You Tube. Though that's not the point as if I had not emailed Blip TV I would not even have known my account was going to be deleted in June. The same thing is happening to other users.Most of us are not film producers.we are simply ordinary computer users who want to share our videos with others. This new policy that Blip TV have is just stupid, as why should we have to pay to host our videos. So the best thing to do is forget Blip TV, as it's a waste of space and stick with You Tube,as it's free to use. 
  
Update.

I have just got an email from Blip TV today,Monday 13th May just now, 7.30 PM English time.
It says they have just removed my account from Blip TV. Here is the email I got.

Second Email from Blip TV.

 "Hello,

We have closed your Blip account.

This is part of the initiative we announced on March 1st, 2013:

  (Link to updated terms.)

Thanks,
Blip TV Support."

Well I had already deleted my videos from Blip TV a few days ago, on Friday, in disgust at their new one upload a day policy. First they told me they were going to delete my account in June, but now they have deleted it today instead. It seems it's true that Blip TV do not want ordinary users, unless they are film producers. Though if they treat their users like that, then Blip TV is no loss. As there are plenty of other video sharing sites where we will be welcome.












 
 

Banned From Using My Real Name And Photo On A Forum-Part 3.

Here is part 3 of my video in which I tell the rest of my story about what happened to me on ADO and another forum.

Banned From Using My Real Name And Photo On A Forum-Part 2.

Here is part 2 of my video in which I talk more about my ban from posting on ADO and another forum.

Banned From Using My Real Name And Photo On A Forum-Part 1.

Here is one of my videos in which I talk about my problems on ADO forums.

My Tale Of Woe On A Forum.

I have had more problems with forums. Just over two weeks ago I Joined A Different Opinion Forums,ADO for short. ADO is a political and general discussion forum. I have had my problems with other forums in the past. Though never in my wildest dreams did I think what happened to me on ADO forums could happen to me or any member. I found out about ADO forums from Top Admin Forums,which is a webmasters forum. I was reading the posts from the owner and admin of ADO on TA forums,who said her members were complaining because her rules were too strict. I also read that some members of TA forums had left ADO forums for the same reason.

I am also a member of another Political forum on Forumotion. On the Forumotion Political forum, members there were talking about ADO on a thread started by another member. So out of curiosity I stupidly joined ADO forums. After I signed up I posted my welcome thread in the Introductions section. A member responded to my thread and asked me about my avatar. I then told him it was a photo of myself taken with my webcam.

I then got a private message from the admin of ADO telling me she had removed my avatar because I stated it was a photo of myself.
Here is the email-

"Admin of ADO said-I have removed your avatar after you stated it was of yourself. The rule concerning personal details extends to the use of personal images including as Avatars. This is to avoid privacy issues where in people have been tracked through their personal images.

I am aware that in your case this is not so much of an issue but I must keep rules consistent for all so please make sure that your avatar is not of you or a member of your family personally." 

I could not believe it. So I PM'd the admin of ADO forums and told her I am over 18, if I want to display a photo of myself as my avatar, it's my right to do so. She responded back saying it's against forum rules, for members to use their real name, and photo of themselves in their profile.

I was so angry about this as all the other forums I am a member of let members use their real names as usernames,as well as put their real names in their profile if they want to. They also let them use upload a photo of themselves if they want.

 I then sent the admin of ADO another PM telling her sarcastically how stupid she was being. That another member who also happens to be the admin of Top Admin forums has her photo of herself up,as do other members. So what was she going to do take them all down? The admin simply replied "yes," she then removed the admin of TA forums photo as well!

So fuming frustration I started a thread on ADO about that forums stupid rules. The admin or a moderator came along and locked the thread.
I then started another thread and the admin locked that one as well. I have noticed on ADO that every thread a member has started complaining about their rules is locked. Every time I started another thread complaining those were locked too. The admin also had a go at me on another thread in which I mentioned the Forumotion political forum and that Google Chrome does not work well on Forumotion sites. Nothing wrong with that, but the admin replied on that thread-

"Admin of ADO wrote-Can I politely mention as you are a newcomer Andrea that it is a rule on this forum to not discuss other forums. The rule will be strictly enforced."

So it is also against the rules on ADO to talk about other forums even indirectly which is also silly. I was now quite worked up by all of this and I posted two of my Banned From a Forum You Tube Videos on ADO. Because I was so sick of that forum I wanted to get banned. I posted on the thread that I think we members should go to our President or prime Minister and The European Court Of Human Rights. As we have never heard of any forum not allowing us to use our real names. It was of course a joke but they did not see the funny side of it. They removed my videos locked those threads and blocked me from posting.

Then the admin changed my username from Andrea Borman to And Bor because I told her in one of my posts that Andrea Borman is my real name.
I got mad over this and started another thread asking why she canged my username. She even put the censor on it,meaning every time I typed my name on ADO it would display as ***** instead of my name. Another member also wound me up, by saying that no forum allows you to use your real name and photo-which is a lie.
After that I could no longer post as ADO forums blocked me from posting without moderator approval.

Worse was to come as to my shock,two members who I banned forum my own forum,a few months ago for spamming and trolling showed up on ADO. They even used the same usernames they used on my forum. The first member who I will call Member A (not his real username) first met me on Facebook and became my Facebook friend. Then when I started my own forum,he asked me to invite him to it. Trusting him,I did and he then started trolling and upsetting the other members. After that he posted a screenshot of my website on another forum. I knew it was him as the admin of that forum gave me his IP address, which matched that of his. So I had no alternative but to ban him, I also banned a duplicate account under another username. As I and my moderators who also have admin rights, found several matching IPs of his first account. Member A also used sock puppets to mask his other IPs on his other account.

After I had banned him he sent me a very nasty Facebook Message.Then a month later he came back on my forum again under another username, put up offensive avatars. Then was abusive to both members and staff in his posts when we blocked his account from displaying an avatar. So we banned him again under that account and he then created a third account under another username,which we also banned.

I also banned Member B, the second member for trolling,spamming and posting lude mesages to myself,another female admin and other female members. In addition to that he also posted MY private Facebook Messages on my forum, which I and my staff removed. Which he had obviously got from Member A. Member B also spammed my user page on Wikipedia. He was silly enough to post as an anonymous user and so the IP was recorded by Wikipedia, so I knew it was him. I reported him to a Wikipedia moderator,but I don't know what was done about it.

Well both those two members I banned from my forum turned up on ADO forums and started abusing me on the threads in their posts. I could not reply back to them on ADO because I was blocked from posting. So I replied to them by PM. And I admit I blew up at those two members and called then trolls and used a few swear words in my PMs. The admin of ADO forums found out about it and she has blocked me from sending any PMs. I cannot even PM the admin of ADO to ask her to remove the block. In addition to that the Admin has also blocked me from displaying an avatar and a signature. Because I uploaded another photo of myself in protest and I created several signatures in bold red text, stating how stupid the rules were on ADO.
So although I am not banned from ADO, my account is blocked from doing everything. I cannot post,cannot send PMs,cannot display an avatar or signature. So apart from being able to log in,I might as well be banned from ADO forums,as I cannot do anything.

That's not all, as now those two banned members from my forum have showed up on the Forumotion political forum,under the same usernames. Except Member B is now using an offensive signature as his username,that we banned a third member for on my forum. They started winding me up over there, I was silly enough to respond back to them. Now the admin on the Forumotion political forum has also restricted my account somewhat. Meaning I can post on that forum but cannot start new threads, and he has deleted all my threads, about my unjust treatment on ADO forums. Now the admin of TA forums has told me off for naming ADO forums on her forum. It sucks.

On a brighter side one of my admins from my forum has started his own forum. On which I posted about how bad ADO and some other forums have treated me. The admin and the other members on there are sympathetic,probably because they know me from my forum.

 I am the kind of person who likes to rant and it's been pure hell for me on ADO forums,these last two weeks. Yes it is partly my fault, as when the admin of ADO told me I could not use my real name and photo of myself. I should have left that forum. Instead I kicked off or kicked up, as they say. Which only made things worse for myself. Yet I still don't think I deserved to be treated like that,nobody does.

Why I Shut Down My Forum.

After much careful thought and much consideration I have decided to close down and delete my forum Andrea Computer Forums.

I started my own forum back in August 2012 last year because I was having problems on some other forum and also as a result of my bans from some Windows Forums. So I wanted to start my own forum so that I and other people would be able to speak their mind with out fear of being banned by a ban happy moderator as is what happened to me on some forums,for nothing. Such as going slightly off topic for example.

So I started my own forum,Andrea Computer Forums which was about computers and a Windows software forum.The idea was good but unfortunately I made the mistake of going with Forumotion a free forum service. Also their forum settings was easy to lean to use the problem with free forum service like Proboards,Forumotion,Zeta boards and others is that they can delete you forum anytime.

And I soon found out I could not do what I wanted. Forumotion has very strict policies and I had started to read stories about forums being banned or deleted. So I began to worry.

First off my forum was a Windows software forum so of course my members would want to post topics and maybe download lins to Windows software as this is what you do on a Windows forum.

I will give you one example,over on My Digital Life Forums ,there was this member who invented the Windows 7 Games Patcher for Windows 8. Which enables games like Purple Place from Windows 7 to work on Windows 8.If you copy the program files onto Windows 8.

The members on other big Windows forums,such as Windows 7 Forums and others  can and do post links to software as long as it is not pirate software or links to illegal sites. But then the big forums are not hosted on a free forum service. They are hosted  on a paid web host or their own server. 

But my forum was not,it was hosted on Forumotion which is a free forum service. And though it was on a custom url which I bought though Forumotionthis does not make any difference at all. Forumotion,Proboards,Freeforums.org and the other free forum services,all have the option for you to buy a custom domain,URL through them but you are still subject to their terms of service the same way you are if you do not have a custom domain name. 

As all you have done is paid for your own custom URL,it does not mean anything. 

So if you do anything to violate their terms of service they can delete or ban your forum and there is nothing you can do about it. So you could have your forum one day,then wake up next morning to find it gone.

Also the free forum services Forumotion and the other will not let you export your database or forum posts. So you cannot transfer your content should you decide to move your forum to a paid web host.

As time went on I became very uneasy with my forum  on the Forumotion. I also looked into other free forum services like Proboards,Freeforums.org,Invision free and free My Phbb Free, and they are actually stricter than Forumotion.

For example one free forum service TOS said they don't allow flame wars . But on all forums,you get some members who will argue with one another and if it gets out of hand a moderator may tell them to stop,depending on the situation. And yes I have had some of my members argue with one another and there was this member who I banned for just reasons who upset some of my other members. As a result a few of my members called him a troll. But that happens on all of the forums I know. So as a admin I cannot tell my members not to speak my mind as that would not be right.

Then there was another issue and that is I have my own websites about Lebanon and Hezbollah and I started to worry. Because what if Forumotion found out about my other websites and my You Tube channel. Which also has videos in which I talk about Hezbollah and Lebanon.I also put my website link in my forum header same as the link to my You Tube channel. 

So would Forumotion and the other free forum services delete or ban my forum if they found out that I support Hezbollah,or found out about my websites,or of I even put a link to my website on my forum?

Then there were the other worries someone who has got a grudge against me could flag or report my forum. Also I was constantly looking over my shoulder and worried that there might be something in mine or my members posts that Forumotion could say violates their TOS. It could be a weblink,a link to software even though it is legit,it could be a comment made by another member.

In short if you are hosting your forum on Forumotion,Proboards or a free forum service,it does not matter if you bought a custom URL or not you are still under them.

They can delete your forum anytime they want to,so you could loose your forum for some thing or for nothing. Also if the service closes down,so does your forum.

That is why the only safe way to host your forum is to host it yourself through a paid web host or on your own server not on a free forum service like Forumotion or Proboards.

Then I had another problem which was the turning point for me. Some of my members emailed me and they were very upset because Forumotion had blocked them from logging into my forum. Forumotion have this Online Guardian plugin which cannot be disabled by the forum admins.my members tried to log into my forum with their account and got this message.

"Online Guardian has detected suspicious activity on your account and your account has been blocked,click here to unblock it."

 My members were presented with captcha,verification code,which they had to fill in. But every time they did so, they were given a message incorrect verification code, and presented with more captcha. But no matter how many times they filled it the page would just refresh again to more captcha. And my members DID fill in the code correctly, but the captcha was did not work,and they were locked out of their forum accounts.

So I tried changing their usernames and that worked for about half an hour, and they were blocked again,so it did not work.

This has been going on for quite some time now.Also other Forumotion Forums have had this problem.

It has something to do with Online Guardian which is part of Forumotion and is also a plugin on all Forumotion forums.Which owners and admins cannot disable. Yet Forumotion have done nothing to fix it and the catchpa just does not work so my members were locked out of my forum and every time they tried to log in the same thing happened.It was impossible to complete the verification codes.

It was then I got together with my members,and we talked. I decided that was the last straw and I have now deleted my forum two days ago on Tuesday.

I knew there was always a possibility as everyone who uses a free forum service does that you could always loose your forum and if you host on a free forum service,Proboards etc,they could always find some excuse,say you violated their TOS even if you did not and delete your forum.

So when I realized that, I decided it was better for me and fairer for my other members to get out now. Before I got in too deep and in the end, maybe I could have lost my forum anyway,who knows.

The blogging services like Blogger and Wordpress are not so strict as the free forum services.In fact Blogger are the most relaxed, but then it is run by Google, which could be the reason,I don't know.   I would have had a forum on Blogger only Blogger don't do forums.So I went with a free forum service which I now realize was a mistake so I got out.

My opinion is if you are going to start forum and are thinking of using a free forum service my advice is DON'T. If you are going to start a forum do it properly and host it yourself through a paid web host then you can do what you want and are your own boss and have full control over your forum.

I deleted my forum because I found I was not getting anywhere as because I was with a free forum service I was in fact less free that what I was on all of those forums I had been complaining about,some of which banned me as you know.

So I have no regrets about cancelling my forum and I think I have done the right thing and should have hosted my forum the proper way myself on a paid web host.

You see you have no control over the free forum services,they can put adverts on your forum,make other restrictions you do not want and they can delete your forum. And they won't give you the database.

So it is best to host your forum yourself through a paid web host then you have full control and no one can delete your forum except you. 

But it is a waste of time using the free forums services,it sure is. But my members will stay in contact with me and we will keep in touch. 

I have tried to learn to host my forum myself but I just do not know how to it seems to complicated. But one thing is for sure if you go to a free forum service like Forumotion,Proboards and other you are putting all of your work,time and efforts in the toilet.

Because you could end up loosing your forum,either for something or for nothing. And that's the truth.

Lesson learned I think.

Barred From Another Forum-Part 2-Video.

Here is part 2 of my video in which I talk more about my ban from Neowin Forums.