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'tis our site, 'tis our home.

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(@kovar)
Posts: 805
Prominent Member
Topic starter
 

Greetings,

I've seen a few out of band complaints about the quality of FF of late, and some in band comments as well. I've been thinking about this a lot and came to one clear conclusion - Forensic Focus is our site to shape. If it gets bogged down in poor quality questions, or flame wars, or simply goes silent, it is because we the users let it happen.

Jamie has provided us with a superb home for many years at significant cost to him and no cost to us. I think we should all step up a little, do some housekeeping, and make this a home we can be proud of.

-David

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 12:55 am
(@douglasbrush)
Posts: 812
Prominent Member
 

I am getting REALLY strange looks in my office for the standing ovation I am sending your way.

If you see something you don't like the first response is to pick up a hammer to repair the house not to smash what windows remain.

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 1:04 am
(@brad4n6)
Posts: 6
Active Member
 

Great points David! Jamie does continue to deliver a fantastic, FREE resource to the digital forensic community! This is our community and it is what we make it!

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 1:22 am
 Earn
(@earn)
Posts: 146
Estimable Member
 

Great post.

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 1:53 am
(@trewmte)
Posts: 1877
Noble Member
 

Am I right in thinking it has been about 12 years since Jamie first introduced this well resourced and FREE forum? And it has over 18,500 members.

I would like to add my congratulations to Jamie and thank him for putting up with all of us.

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 2:13 am
Jamie
(@jamie)
Posts: 1288
Moderator
 

Appreciate the support, guys, thank you.

Complaints about the "quality" of Forensic Focus - almost always in relation to the forums - are something I've been aware of for some time (and I'm sure there are many, many more which don't reach my ears).

In an open community such as this, I think the this quality issue tends to be heavily influenced by the least experienced end of the spectrum and in recent years we've seen the landscape change radically in that regard. We've moved from an industry where the newbies might have been new to the emerging field of digital forensics but still had years of computing experience under their belts, to one where some recent recruits seem not only inexperienced (which is to be expected) but also wholly unsuitable for a role which requires not just technical expertise but also maturity, professionalism and integrity.

Interestingly, many of the problematic posters have a number of features in common - some of which are fairly obvious, others which are probably only apparent to me given the greater insight I have into who posters are and where they're located. Without naming any names, it's clear to me that certain academic institutions are serving their students, the digital forensics community and society in general poorly by admitting students on to courses for which they have no particular aptitude, on to courses which are poorly run or resourced, or on to courses from which they have almost no likelihood of gaining employment at a later date.

Without wanting to be seen as adopting too defensive a posture, though, I should mention that we do have some meaures in place to prevent the forums from being completely overrun by these sorts of posts. To a degree, I also think it's useful to see some of these posts in the forums because they reflect what's going on in the real world (and hopefully act as a warning sign to those with decision making powers).

I really am very much open to ALL suggestions, criticisms and any other comments which help to strengthen our community here. David, Douglas, Brad et al. are absolutely right - as far as I'm concerned, as long as we honour a commitment to open and civilized debate, this is a community site which works best with everyone's involvement.

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 2:26 am
Jamie
(@jamie)
Posts: 1288
Moderator
 

Am I right in thinking it has been about 12 years since Jamie first introduced this well resourced and FREE forum? And it has over 18,500 members.

12 years? 12 YEARS!? Time flies, huh?

Mind you, it's only free because I still haven't worked out how to make any money out of it - LOL 😉

I would like to add my congratulations to Jamie and thank him for putting up with all of us.

Thanks Greg, much appreciated.

 
Posted : 21/05/2011 2:31 am
binarybod
(@binarybod)
Posts: 272
Reputable Member
 

What a great thread..

I would just like to add my thanks to Jamie too.

In a rare moment of self reflection though…

Interestingly, many of the problematic posters

Does he mean me?

Paul

 
Posted : 22/05/2011 1:43 am
gkk001
(@gkk001)
Posts: 7
Active Member
 

I have just completed my A.A.S. in Computer Forensics now working towards a B.S. in Comp Sci. / (Forensics B.S. - part on hold for now). I count myself lucky to have such a forum with people willing to spread and share knowledge.

I still recall working with hardware such as CD rom drives connected to audio cards, MFM hds that had obscure labels, attempting to find a book / manual that stated "X" 9600 buad card had to have IRQ 7.

For the new people that may not say anything, I would just like to say thank you.

 
Posted : 22/05/2011 4:39 am
lucpel
(@lucpel)
Posts: 55
Trusted Member
 

I'm new here, but i've followed your community for a while. as we all know, Computer forensics involves areas Informatics, networking, Law, Audio & media, programming…… so newbie questions can come from any of this areas.
Just remember that we all have been newbies(or still) just like we have been kids. So 'bad quality posts' can very helpful when simple and direct answers are given.

This site is great, and i hope it keeps going && going…..thanks Jamie

 
Posted : 22/05/2011 7:45 am
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