Who knows Smeggy, alas not I. Some years ago someone else ran amok (I'll spell it right this time) and it always surprises me when supposedly grown up and mature people act like children. We have to accept that, discounting those who are just genuinely malicious, usually people act in a way that fits with themselves. In other words, they believe they are right.

Of course we rarely know who we are dealing with on a forum. Someone who pretends to be retired could be 10 years old, and any other permutation of that. Fortunately some people on this forum are actually real and we know them in one way or another. I've met Ken (gartmore) and he definitely exists. But things are not always what they seem.

Speaking for myself I have no particular axe to grind, so to be honest it does annoy me if it's suggested that I do. Even the notion that I'm firmly pro-Pentax is a bit more amusing if you know just a little more about me. But not here. This is Pentax User, and indeed I am a major user of Pentax. Always have been.

But that's enough of me. Take some of these random accuations with a pinch of salt, but it's good in a way that they have come out of the mix.

I agree it would be easier. Just as it would be easier to explain Doug's mysterious comment to thoramay, the thought for which I thank him.

The explanation is obviously that someone severly broke the rules in a deliberate way and continued to do so, continuing to add more and more inappropriate threads and new identities and basically abusing the system. The result: banning. Some people will have seen some of it, some will not because we were quick to respond and stop it. That doesn't tell you anything you couldn't have seen had you been around at the right time.

If people run amock on the forum they get banned.

Hopefully that will add clarity and explain also that the original issue had nothing to do with later events.

I can assure you there was little thought in the post, but that's another issue.

Unfortunately this couldn't be moved like that, but it's all water under the bridge now anyway. I'm sure if you find one of your members stepping over the line Smeggy you will do something about it.

An afterthought, I might add that the original action was explained very nicely in a PM and if there was any disagreement with that then discussing it would have been a very sensible option. Putting things back if necessary is not a problem.

I've never felt I could find a definitive answer to this, so perhaps someone can help.

Sometimes potential eBay buyers ask for the serial number of a camera. Now on the face of it I don't mind one bit telling them, but I am aware that some sellers will not reveal the number.

I can't think of what scam might make it unwise, so what do you do and why?

No Aiki, you haven't got the point. It wasn't the simple thing that caused the banning, it was what followed it, which you haven't been following and what followed it that you haven't seen.

We are apparently much less likely to ban here than at some other forums, so I'm told, and only do so as a last resort.

Anything that was done via PM is covered by our confidentiality rules and I cannot share that sort of thing, so I will have to put up with that.

Do you really think we ban people if there's no reason for it? Would not that be rather pointless and also rather difficult to explain to the rest of the team? Of course we don't. And you do know that really because everyone who wants to has been able to say what they wanted about this even when they really don't know much about it at all.

In other words, exactly what I said, that is, that the files are not fully functional and need an update. Nobody said they wouldn't open.

You make it sound like an argument, which it wasn't. It was very simple. Tim was asked to place something in a more appropriate spot. That's all. The result was what you see, which is completely out of proportion.

The simple thing if someone wants to disagree is to discuss it, the usual reaponse would have been to say OK, that's fine, no problem.

Why the response was so extreme I cannot say because I simply do not know the answer.

And that is pretty much the whole story.

From Ned Bunnell. You must have missed the original discussion Stefan.

At the top of the Your Photos section there's a sticky covering how to post images in the forum.

Perhaps it's because we are currently looking at the introductory top price that early adopters will pay. The price will certainly go down until it finds its long term level.

Supply and demand.