DMOZ is NOt Open, it is BIASED

[PRBot.Com]

Not only does the DMOX philosophy change all the time but it seems they are very biased too.

It turns out that one of my very professional websites for atheists which has been waiting for a year to get approved may never actually get approved.

I did some research and it turns out the editor of that category is a fundamental christian and he only approves crapy sites while in their support forums they claim they only approve unique qulity websites.

This is pathetic.

I have asked other atheist sites how they got in there and they told me stories about how they had to wait for 2 years and many did not even get in still.

Then there are the other editors who own highly competitive ecomerce busineeses whose sites are listed but they only appove the most crapy of their competitors.

I am so sick of those hypocrite bastards!

[Sholva]

HUMANS do it better

Change that to, "HUMANS can do it better"

I agree with you PRbot, there's no way that people can not have an opinion and easily let that overcome their duty for a personal reason.

I feel a religious war brewing on this thread... I'm out! :eek:

[Will.Spencer]

DMOZ is NOt Open, it is BIASED

Well, duh.

Here's a quote from an SEO named Martin:

The Catholic spammers at NEWADVENT.ORG have 14,039 dmoz-entries. http://www.whois.sc/internet-statistics/dmoz-listings.html

[PRBot.Com]

Yeah, it figures.

I think I am going to have my lawyer send Google a nice letter where we will explain that we also have access to press release wires.

We would like to know why Google associates itself with such a blatantly narrow minded directory service.

[joeychgo]

why would you have your lawyer send google a letter? what has google done? DMOZ is not owned by google.

[thedude]

My guess is that Max (PRBot.com) is actually having a problem with them not accepting any of his sites. Interestingly enough, he has actually been blacklisted by many sites across the internet, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of them.

He claims to threaten legal action against many people/websites for similar reasons (all of them bogus). If he had an ounce of common sense that they are an entity that can do what they want with their business as long as it is within US law. Simple civil liberties tell us that we cannot be guaranteed free speech and other rights on private property. They simply don't extend that far.

More details about Max here: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?p=34386

And here: http://www.nodeity.com/tulbure.html

[PRBot.Com]

Its over your head. Leave it alone.

[PRBot.Com]

thedude, you are a parasite, a criminal and a coward.

[thedude]

Typical responses right there from Max. He's said similar things about Jelsoft and Invision Power Services staff members.

[joeychgo]

Well here is one lie I cuaught him in right here when I questioned his contridictions:


geez people, pipe down. I use the same link generator for other sites which are doing very well. LINK (http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=3395&page=2)


and then i a different thread he posts this:


I have already explained this in my search engine optimization articles but you guys laughed at me.

Oh well.
__________________
:::Max::: LINK (http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=3428&page=2)



SO what gives man???

[joeychgo]

thedude, you are a parasite, a criminal and a coward.



That is slander and defamation of character. Call your Lawyer dude

[PRBot.Com]

You lost me there Joey. You will have to do a hell of allot better to to prove me a liar.

[joeychgo]

well - in one thread you say you know nothing about SEO and in another you talk about how you wrote a book on the subject....... TheDude did a pretty good job at laying you out. Something smelled fishy to me when reading your posts a few weeks ago.

[PRBot.Com]

That is slander and defamation of character. Call your Lawyer dude

LOL! Exactly why he would never call a layer, because I have volumes of website pages saved with what he has done. That is what he does: slander and defamation of character.

[PRBot.Com]

well - in one thread you say you know nothing about SEO and in another you talk about how you wrote a book on the subject

Dude, you are a LIAR. I never said I wrote any books about SEO. I never said i did not know anything about SEO.

What I did do is poke fun at the "experts" through sarcasm but since you are not old enough to understand such things I'll let it go.

[joeychgo]

then explain this post (http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showpost.php?p=34181&postcount=13)

[thedude]

Good point Joey.

By the way Max, in addition to explaining that post, could you please tell me what university you graduated from and when? Oh, and what your degree was? Everytime I ask you on one of your forums I am mysteriously banned. :confused: Now is your chance to set the record straight for the whole world and stand behind your words.

[PRBot.Com]

1. This forum is about Directories.
2. This topic is about DMOZ.
3.. You guys managed to disrespect the owner of this forum and violated the rules of this forum.

I am not going to entertain your small brains with any more responses.

[thedude]

1. Huh, interesting. I pointed out that you were probably blacklisted. I gave a bit more information.
2. You then took it completely off topic when made your remark about criminals. ;)
3. I posted information. I have no disrespect for him. Actually, you disrespected him when you called the entire vBulletin community "Jelsoft Sheep."

Oh, and speaking of off-topic remarks: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80815

Now, if it be the moderator's or administrator's will, I feel that this thread should be closed. It has severely generated into a pie flinging. I simply would like to warn people before dealing with Max. It may be negative, but neccessary.

[hurricane_sh]

Well, duh.

Here's a quote from an SEO named Martin:
Very interesting link, CNN has 231,895 lists alone, that's crazy!!

[PRBot.Com]

I agree. I am wondering exactly WHAT do they mean by "we only add quality websites which are unique..." blah blah blah.

I am also apalled at the elitist attitude the head admins display in their support forums.

Open Directory? Open to whom and what?

[thedude]

Max, all you want is a chunk of their money.

They can run their own site as they wish.

You shouldn't even try to talk about elitist attitudes, you ban everyone who speaks against you on any of your sites.

[joeychgo]

Very interesting link, CNN has 231,895 lists alone, that's crazy!!



I posted about this on the dmoz forum (http://resource-zone.com/forum/showthread.php?p=120152#post120152) and they responded like this:


Submission guidelines state that a submitter should submit their site ONCE to the SINGLE, MOST APPROPRIATE category. Exceptions include sites with a Regional component (submit your Widget company to Business/Manufacturing/Widgets and Regional/United_States/Iowa/Podunk) and sites in multiple languages.

Editors, however, can and often do "deeplink" sites that are of particular usefulness. The guidelines for deeplinking are publically available at http://dmoz.org/guidelines/site-specific.html#deeplinks .

The list you provide is misleading. Most of the top 20 are free web hosts (Geocities, et.al). They have thousands upon thousands of unique websites that just happen to share a domain name.

The original post in the thread you cite is incorrect in many ways, not to mention libelous. There is no editor that can effectively keep sites out in ANY category. No editor OWNS a category. Maybe he should come here and ask for a site status.

And, I'd like to add, we take allegations of abuse very seriously. If he submits an abuse report with the "evidence" he claims to have, it WILL be investigated.

[PRBot.Com]

Ha! What a JOKE! In their own forum they stated that they only include sites of high quality and uniquenes etc. They are so full of shit. Go read their many elitist posts!

I submitted http://www.atheistworld.com a year ago and I asked them about the status. their response? Resubmit it. Guess how many people they have told this to? Hmmmm?

I am an educated person, I read their rules and followed them to a letter and submitted my site to the correct category A SECOND TIME a little while back BECAUSE their fanatical religio editor DELETED my original submit.

Those guys are a JOKE!

I am going to have my lawyers contact Google alonf with printouts of no less than 100 certified complaints and we will ask Google to disassociate itself from such an obviously biased and out of control so called "open directory".

They are open to nobody but their own whims.

[leer]

Are you aware that Google remove sites that are considered illegal like one of yours? Now isn't that an idea!

[schlottke]

Not only does the DMOX philosophy change all the time but it seems they are very biased too.

It turns out that one of my very professional websites for atheists which has been waiting for a year to get approved may never actually get approved.

I did some research and it turns out the editor of that category is a fundamental christian and he only approves crapy sites while in their support forums they claim they only approve unique qulity websites.

This is pathetic.

I have asked other atheist sites how they got in there and they told me stories about how they had to wait for 2 years and many did not even get in still.

Then there are the other editors who own highly competitive ecomerce busineeses whose sites are listed but they only appove the most crapy of their competitors.

I am so sick of those hypocrite bastards!


The also don't approve sites because of spelling errors often... and you seem to have a very bad problem with that...

[schlottke]

And I bet google is going to listen to you and "your lawyers"- you genius. Go get 100 signatures from people who didnt get in and they will say, "Bother us with your BS when you have 25,000 or more."

Good Luck buddy.

[leer]

He may take a while to respond - he is busy abusing me by email about his site at zonebot.com

[joeychgo]

DMOZ might........ A quote from DMOZ

if legal threats are announced all communication will be aborted and sites will not be reviewed until matters are settled through our laywers


Guess he wont be getting listed anytime soon........... ROFL

[leer]

Anyone would think we have never had legal threats before. He tells me that he is a shareholder of google :)

Can anyone please help me get up off the floor. The laughter is killing me :) :) :)

[leer]

Here is a joke for you all. He just said to me in an email

I happen to have an IQ off the charts but I don't feel special.

Anyone else need a hand up?

[joeychgo]

im too busy laughing myself leer-it seems this guy just makes enemies everywhere instead of trying to work with people.

[schlottke]

The guy is an idiot - first person I think Shawn should ban... lol.

[joeychgo]

Here is a joke for you all. He just said to me in an email



Anyone else need a hand up?



I DO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[schlottke]

His huge brain couldn't get him listed in DMOZ.. weird.

[thedude]

This thread has made my day!

Max has once again not been able to take responsibility for his own words, and spews out bogus threats. Further, he chooses to ignore posts about him, but the reason he doesn't state is because he has no true response for them!

I am laughing as I type this. I wonder if Max ever would have thought that DMOZ would catch wind of his unsubstantiated threats? :D :D

This is just too funny... :)

[joeychgo]

Now, lets not forget what he says in his SEO Expert Site (http://www.ooomooo.com/Geting-Guaranteed-BackLinks-Optimizing-For-Google-And-PageRank.html)


Here is an example of what my signature looks like, for example on Digital Point which (happens to be a very very nice place to hang out. Very nice people there.)


ANyone wanna start a pool on low long before he changes that?

[schlottke]

Everyone is nice, when you arent a jerkoff

[leer]

Maybe we should not be so harsh after all when you have such an IQ it must be difficult dealing with all us low life who hangout in forums. Must be torture for the poor bloke... all that IQ but still can't become a dot-com millionaire because of one measly link!

Oh the stress!

[joeychgo]

Maybe we should not be so harsh after all when you have such an IQ it must be difficult dealing with all us low life who hangout in forums. Must be torture for the poor bloke... all that IQ but still can't become a dot-com millionaire because of one measly link!

Oh the stress!



Ok, that one got me!!!!!!!!!!!!! ROFLMAO :D

[thedude]

EDIT: Sorry for the double-post. My wireless was going wacky for a second.

*SNIP*

I think a Tachy Goes to Coventry might do the trick for him. Except that I have so much fun reading his ridiculous posts.

[joeychgo]

Where did maxx go??? Oh - meeting with lawyers, I forgot........

[leer]

Time is money and all that - not all of us have silver spoons ya know :)

[joeychgo]

Time is money and all that - not all of us have silver spoons ya know :)



Or Sky High IQ's ~~~~~~

[minstrel]

This thread began by questioning whether the Open Directory was in actuality open or not.

It then got sidetracked with all this PRBot stuff -- I don't know anything about him, not have I bothered to follow the links posted about him because frankly I don't care one way or the other.

On the other hand, has his original point about ODP/DMOZ been addressed here? It is a misnomer -- it's not an "open directory" at all -- it's a selected set of bookmarks based on the opinions and preferences of a self-selected and self-pruned community of editors.

[disgust]

it isn't open in the sense that anything goes, no. I associated the "open" with ODP as something more along the lines of how wikipedia is "open"

[minstrel]

it isn't open in the sense that anything goes, no.
How is it "open" at all? in any sense?

[caroline]

I think Google should stop giving so much importance to links from DMOZ, since it's broken. That's the way I feel, anyways.

[disgust]

How is it "open" at all? in any sense?

it's edited and run by the public, and you're able to get up to that step if you want... I made it into editing fairly easily, and I aided a few friends into getting into their cats, and it really isn't that hard at all, assuming you can do a bit of work beforehand.

[tomecki]

It turns out that one of my very professional websites for atheists which has been waiting for a year to get approved may never actually get approved.

I did some research and it turns out the editor of that category is a fundamental christian and he only approves crapy sites while in their support forums they claim they only approve unique qulity websites.


In your case, I think, that you should make a chrisitain site and submit it to DMOZ. If it will be indexed you should download your site or submit yourself as DMOZ editor. I think that is only way to do it.

Tomecki ;)

[schlottke]

I'd like to see where his proof is that his "Athiest" site wasn't accepted by this terrible "Christian" person...

[ResaleBroker]

I made it into editing fairly easily, and I aided a few friends into getting into their cats, and it really isn't that hard at all, assuming you can do a bit of work beforehand.

What is your secret of success to getting into DMOZ?

[leer]

I'd like to see where his proof is that his "Athiest" site wasn't accepted by this terrible "Christian" person.

Like I told him while he was throwing abusinve emails at me last night NONE of the sites he submitted have been deleted thus they have NEVER been declined.

As for 'open' the data is 'open'. It is permitted for download for completely free and the data can even be used to make money from it simply on the condition that the license is adhered to (the same license PR chooses not to adhere to might I add).

Would you really want a directory where the webmaster could stick their links in like a Wiki? Trust me if this was the case we would hardly have any data users and google would pay it zero attention. The reason google do use it is because it is human editoed - a factor that no spider can imitate.

The public can join the project at anytime. They simply have to prove their competance and the majority of that is being proving literacy and a clear understanding of the guidelines - which are publicy on display. It ain't hard.

[KeepItSimple]

thedude, you are a parasite, a criminal and a coward
Lord, forgive him. He does not know what he is doing :)

[minstrel]

How is it "open" at all? in any sense?
it's edited and run by the public
It isn't "edited and run by the public" -- it is edited and run by people chosen by existing meta-editors according to their own biases and preferences and those chosen may on a whim be locked out of "the club" at any moment, without even the courtesy of a clear statement as to why. It is anything but open -- rules forbidding editors to provide any rationale for not listing a site or dropping a site, or to provide any rationale to another editor for his or her dismissal are stated quite clearly in their rules. This is not a "public organization" any more than the board of governors of a private country club is open.

you're able to get up to that step if you want... I made it into editing fairly easily, and I aided a few friends into getting into their cats, and it really isn't that hard at all, assuming you can do a bit of work beforehand.
But that isn't the point - you are in now, but once there you can be dropped on a whim and you must take the vow of secrecy that any editor must take. Again, it's like be elected to the board of a private club. It's not a democracy. It's not "open source". In no sense is it public.

[minstrel]

As for 'open' the data is 'open'. It is permitted for download for completely free and the data can even be used to make money from it simply on the condition that the license is adhered to (the same license PR chooses not to adhere to might I add).
All right -- the product produced by DMOZ is made available to the public, Big deal. That doesn't make the orghanization open. I can quickly construct an html page of my bookmarks and post it on the web with a statement that anyone is free to copy or mirror those bookmarks at any time. That's what DMOZ does. However, my choice of bookmarks is my own. I don't take input into how they are chosen; I don't provide explanations to anyone about why one site is there and other similar ones are not; I don't accept emails telling me to add or drop listings. Doesn't that sound a lot like the "Open Directory Project" to you?

Would you really want a directory where the webmaster could stick their links in like a Wiki? Trust me if this was the case we would hardly have any data users and google would pay it zero attention. The reason google do use it is because it is human edited - a factor that no spider can imitate.
You're creating a straw man here -- who said anything about free-for-all submissions being preferred? There are also several smaller human-edited directories that are more responsive to queries than ODP, even though they make no claims whatsoever to being "open". It's the process that sucks at ODP.

The public can join the project at anytime. They simply have to prove their competance and the majority of that is being proving literacy and a clear understanding of the guidelines - which are publicy on display. It ain't hard.
See my reply to Disgust above -- certain members of the public can join the club, at the whim of existing editors and meta-editors -- that doesn't make it "public" or "open" -- members of the public can also apply for jobs at Microsoft... they are not "open" either.

[T0PS3O]

Building upon Schlottke's posts...

http://www.ooomooo.com/Geting-Guaranteed-BackLinks-Optimizing-For-Google-And-PageRank.html

Geting Guaranteed BackLinks

Great SEO work there.

3. Make sure to include your main key words in the title-meta-tags, meta-description and meta-keywords.

[minstrel]

I understood this to be a discussion about DMOZ.

Suggestion: take the "Max is evil... no: thedude is evil" debate to (1) private messaging; (2) another forum; (3) its own separate thread at DigitalPoint; (4) www.personalvendettas.com; (5) The Jerry Springer Show; or (6) anywhere but here.

[Michael]

Leer is correct in that the 'Open' in ODP means that the data is freely available to users (those who comply with the very reasonable conditions anyway!). It has also been construed that it is 'open' for anyone to suggest a site for inclusion and although it is, this was not the intended reason for the original use of the word in ODP. Obviously the Directory is not 'open' in the sense that everyone on the planet can have their dross listed.

- Michael

[joeychgo]

Like I told him while he was throwing abusinve emails at me last night NONE of the sites he submitted have been deleted thus they have NEVER been declined.
I feel left out - I didnt get any abusive emails!

[debunked]

I understood this to be a discussion about DMOZ.

Suggestion: take the "Max is evil... no: thedude is evil" debate to (1) private messaging; (2) another forum; (3) its own separate thread at DigitalPoint; (4) www.personalvendettas.com; (http://www.personalvendettas.com;/) (5) The Jerry Springer Show; or (6) anywhere but here.
I agree with you on this... your previous posts on this thread I don't agree with.
How is the crew at ODP going to know who you are when you ask to be an editor. You don't send them your photo ID or other personal info, and if you totally lie about your name and everything how would they know?? You just have to give them evidence that you could help in the catagory you apply for.

[DarrenC]

I agree debunked - but I might not be able to spel but I can say if a website should belong in that category or not. It's all about ego :)

[Will.Spencer]

The list you provide is misleading. Most of the top 20 are free web hosts (Geocities, et.al). They have thousands upon thousands of unique websites that just happen to share a domain name.

Yes, some of them are, and many of them are not. This is an obvious dodge.

The original post in the thread you cite is incorrect in many ways, not to mention libelous.

Oooo.... "libelous". That is a very meaningful word. Are they perhaps offering to sue me? Us? The entire Internet?

And, I'd like to add, we take allegations of abuse very seriously. If he submits an abuse report with the "evidence" he claims to have, it WILL be investigated.

In my experience, the DMOZ editorial team does not listen to any input, advise, criticism, or suggestion from outside their small social clique.

In their defense, it is their web site and they should be allowed to run it as shoddily as they see fit.

[Will.Spencer]

It is a misnomer -- it's not an "open directory" at all -- it's a selected set of bookmarks based on the opinions and preferences of a self-selected and self-pruned community of editors.

Very nice summation.

[leer]

I think that you will be surprised how much effort actually goes into finding and investigating abuse. I am not a meta so can't actually investigate or comment on abuse reports but I can say without any doubt whatsoever that editors do get removed if the need arises and there is a simple rule on abuse - zero tolerance.

If you know of any 'report it' please! All reports get looked into and action taken if proven/necessary/justified.

[schlottke]

I understood this to be a discussion about DMOZ.

Suggestion: take the "Max is evil... no: thedude is evil" debate to (1) private messaging; (2) another forum; (3) its own separate thread at DigitalPoint; (4) www.personalvendettas.com; (5) The Jerry Springer Show; or (6) anywhere but here.


Thanks for being our Moderator- I didn't know Shawn appointed you to run his forum- Congrats...

[DarrenC]

To be fair - it is a discussion about DMOZ not about some muppet in the forum :D

[joeychgo]

To be fair - it is a discussion about DMOZ not about some muppet in the forum :D

Your right - althought the muppet started the discussion

[minstrel]

Your right - althought the muppet started the discussion
He didn't start a discussion about what an evil muppet he is or is not, though... he started a discussion about DMOZ which got hijacked into a flame war about his alleged flaws as a muppet.

[thedude]

Actually, if you look back, he started that discussion with the post of: thedude, you are a parasite, a criminal and a coward.
when I mentioned a possible reason as to why his sites were not included in the DMOZ directory.

Perhaps you need to go back and re-read the thread. He hi-jacked the thread himself after being offended that someone discovered him.

[minstrel]

Actually, if you look back, he started that discussion with the post of: thedude, you are a parasite, a criminal and a coward.when I mentioned a possible reason as to why his sites were not included in the DMOZ directory. Perhaps you need to go back and re-read the thread. He hi-jacked the thread himself after being offended that someone discovered him.
I don't know who PRBot is or anything about him (or her) or whatever issue you have about him (or her) and I'm not trying to defend him (or her). I don't even care what issues the two of you have. It all just bores me.

However, if this is an example of your idea of "evidence", it tends to sway me more in favor of whatever position you are arguing against. Maybe you should go back and re-read the thread, "dude" -- PRBot did not "start that discussion" or any discussion with the post you quote:

My guess is that Max (PRBot.com) is actually having a problem with them not accepting any of his sites. Interestingly enough, he has actually been blacklisted by many sites across the internet, and I wouldn't be surprised if this was one of them.

He claims to threaten legal action against many people/websites for similar reasons (all of them bogus). If he had an ounce of common sense that they are an entity that can do what they want with their business as long as it is within US law. Simple civil liberties tell us that we cannot be guaranteed free speech and other rights on private property. They simply don't extend that far.

More details about Max here: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?p=34386

And here: http://www.nodeity.com/tulbure.html
which looks a lot like the first shot fired to me. It was only after YOUR personal attack on him that he responded with the quoted passage:

thedude, you are a parasite, a criminal and a coward.

[thedude]

I suppose I really don't see it as a shot. That's an explanation. I didn't attack him in that post at all, I simply stated why he may not have been included. You are reading into it too far.

I also don't use any personal language in it. It was directed towards anyone reading the thread.

So, I can't follow your explanation as to how it was a personal attack. Maybe it was the first shot, but he took it as the first shot. It's one of those types of posts that would only be offensive to the one who was caught in his tracks.

[minstrel]

Call it anything you like, dude -- after the first paragraph in that post, it was off topic and personal... that was my point and why I called it hijacking the thread.

To post throughout this thread (and perhaps elsewhere) with the sigline you're using and then try to claim innocence with "what? it's nothing personal and I was only explaining why he wasn't listed in DMOZ" seems more than a little disingenuous, in my opinion.

[thedude]

Again, you read too far into things. How was I claiming innocence? When I originally posted that I never even had the link in my signature. Max has a history of spamming every forum he hits like a plague. It is not common for someone to register as the URL of their website; the website field simply isn't enough for him. You don't have to do any digging to find out more about him. Even check his first few posts on this forum for details! You are being blissfully ignorant of someone who has a wide history of spamming and illegal activities on the internet. If you don't like the explanation I gave, tough for you.

And, if you wouldn't mind answering, if this is all so boring to you, why on earth do you keep replying?

Furthermore, aren't you also doing what you are preaching against? You've taken this into personal territory--much more than you claim that I did in that first post of mine in this thread that you keep going back to.

I suggest that if you want to take this any further, you PM me instead.

[minstrel]

1. I'm responding to direct questions or comments from you to me
2. "taken this into personal territory" because I'm responding to direct questions or comments from you to me
3. as I've already said, I'm not defending Max -- I don't know anything about him and I don't care. It's not "blissful ignorance" --it's simply that I don't care. My original and continuing point was simply that I don't think any of this was an appropriate addition to a thread discussing DMOZ.

[thedude]

First off, my only intent was to let people know about the probable reason that he has seen so much misfortune with getting into DMOZ. When I saw that he was continuing his typical line of posting here instead of actually making changes in his character I posted the link in my signature. I feel that it's time that people know about him and beware.

On one of the forums he was banned from, the administrator posted in his sig line: vB3dev.Com has been BANNED. Take his posts with a grain of salt.

If you don't care, you probably shouldn't post here. It's as simple as that. The thread started out bogus when he was rejected by DMOZ. If he had posted valid reasons behind his rejection, this thread never would have degenerated in the first place.

[minstrel]

If you don't care, you probably shouldn't post here. It's as simple as that.
Actually, that's good advice. You keep this thread to continue complaining about Max. I'll take myself off to another one where people are discussing something that matters.

[thedude]

Out of all the unneccessary remarks in this thread, that one was probably one of the most unneccessary.

Though this entire thread has been built upon an unneccessary first post. Max knows why he wasn't indexed by DMOZ, and after my discovering of who he really is, this thread went severely downhill.

If someone wants to start a new thread with rational arguments about why DMOZ isn't open/is biased, etc, go ahead!

[joeychgo]

Actually, that's good advice. You keep this thread to continue complaining about Max. I'll take myself off to another one where people are discussing something that matters.



See, to me it does matter.

Newbies should be able see that this guy has no credibility in some of our eyes, and why that is so. He dontesnt seem to contribute much of value. He spams an awful lot from what I see.

[Will.Spencer]

I concur on all points with Minstrel.

[thedude]

And I concur on all points with joeychgo.

The thing is, it does matter. This guy has defrauded many people. Perhaps it doesn't matter to you, but in general, someone who presents himself (or herself) as an honest individual, then goes and lynches your money or someone else's hard work is truly important.

That is the foundation of the justice system. People who go around plagarising other people's works and presenting them as their own is dishonest and is theivery and should be punished. Justice is very important. Say that you were the owner of SitePoint or any of the official vBulletin websites. Would you say that you didn't care if Max stole your site descriptions and tried to undermine you? If you take a look at any of the vBulletin sites, you can see that the owners and the rest of the community DID care about this issue.

His actions are affecting everyone here, either indirectly or directly. And you plan to just sit back and say that breaking the law doesn't matter? I don't know what to say to someone with that sort of mentality. Max has taken plagarism and stealing to the Nth degree.

We live in a country that values certain things. And it's people who sit back and don't care who undermine what we stand for. Even if you aren't in the US, but Canada or Western Europe, or other parts of the world. The mentality of "it doesn't matter" is very dangerous thinking indeed.

[sarahk]

I find it amusing that prbot's site at zonebot.com claims to be
ZoneBot.Com is a FREE business directory of business websites and seeks to help individuals find the resources they need.yet excludes the regional data so is infact a USA directory. I know that many cats have regional content but the bulk of regional sites are in the regional tree.

Sarah

[Will.Spencer]

The Regional directories are yet another reason to be annoyed at DMOZ... they force good sites with absolutely no regional focus into the regional directory.

[joeychgo]

The Regional directories are yet another reason to be annoyed at DMOZ... they force good sites with absolutely no regional focus into the regional directory.


how do they force?

[leer]

how do they force?

Have you never seen our fleet of black Mercedes (with tinted windows) full of extremley 'wide' men who seem to have a somewhat 'persuading' nature'?

[Sorry - just thought it was about time to try and inject some humour :) ]

[joeychgo]

Have you never seen our fleet of black Mercedes (with tinted windows) full of extremley 'wide' men who seem to have a somewhat 'persuading' nature'?

[Sorry - just thought it was about time to try and inject some humour :) ]



Yeah - every family holiday

[joeychgo]

ROFL - Just got Neg rep for the above comment - only a year old. Naturally they didnt sign their name - gotta love it.

[RectangleMan]

thedude...you gotta know if you win an argument you have to stop or else you can lose again

you made your points...if all your posts are just arguments with someone I don't think you are being a valuable member

does everything need to be an argument?

also I won't respond to you as most of my questions were rhetorical and I am leaving this trashed thread...it was fun for a page or two but now it's trashed totally

[fryman]

Actually, it was trashed a year ago... and "thedude" hasn't been at the forum since December of last year...

[dejaone]

If we rank all directories by whether they're open, dmoz would be definitely on the botton most.

[joeychgo]

ROFL - Just got Neg rep for the above comment - only a year old. Naturally they didnt sign their name - gotta love it.



LOLOLOLOLOL And now I got neg rep just for mentioning I got neg rep!

Unbelievable. Some people have no life.

[mahmood]

DMOZ has contradiction in its criteria. They say they would accept only unique contents websites, this means that if I create a site today and somebody else a similar one tomorrow, only mine will be accepted but they also promise that they won't treat websites based on "who comes first"

How can this be possible?

from the other side accepting only "unique" contents is unfair. This means that if somebody sells mobile phones online and was lucky to hear about DMOZ and got accepted, nobody else has the opportunity to sell mobile phones and be in DMOZ. This means a great discrimination against the second one since 1000 backlinks cant compete with DMOZ alone. How can I sell mobile phones and create unique contents? Actually some one with a high IQ may find a way to create unique contents for the same products but this simply mean an advantage for the first one that could easily follow the traditional approach.

[sarahk]

Settle mahmood!

They're just saying that if you have another "me-too" site don't count on getting listed. Online stores are another thing altogether.

And if your site is in a regional category such as "outer mongolia" and someone submits a very similar site to "inner mongolia" do you really think anyone will notice?

[joeychgo]

I think thats the wrong attitude.

Include information about mobile phones thts unique - Write articles about new developments, review the phones yourself, discuss the different cel companies yourself. There is your unique content. And on this one I agree with DMOZ - I wouldnt want them listing 100 affilliate sites that are all effectively identical.

Take some time, provide information, and you will get higher conversion rates from the people who do visit your site. Dont blame dmoz on this one.

[Alucard]

Excellent post, joeychgo!

Focus on offering something of value to the surfer, and not just to the webmaster.

But there are many definitions of "unique" - for example - a car dealer in city A selling Toyotas is probably offering the same products as dealer in city B - how is that unique?

Well, to someone living in City B, just listing the City A site would deprive them of something useful. In that sense their physical location is different - that is the unique part.

[joeychgo]

Thank you - exactly. You have to have something to make you different. Why should they buy from your affilliate site rather then someone elses? Just cuz you rank higher in ther serps? No... Your offering the same products at the same prices.

You want to compete, then compete. Offer more, offer different things, offer information, offer opinion. Offer SOMETHING besides what everyone else is offering.

[lorien1973]

The only value of a dmoz listing is all the surrogate DMOZ sites out there. ITs instant 200-300 BL's or more. Do a Press Release, pay $80 to prweb and you get the same thing and its only 2 days to get the links live.

[starmonkey]

RE: DMOZ is NOt Open, it is BIASED

No kidding. I'm still kinda new to this forum here, but I thought that EVERYBODY that works with the web either in marketing/seo/sem or whatever knew they were corrupt.

Their reputation is so tarnished that no one in their right mind should even give them the slightest bit of consideration.

http://marketingslave.com/2005/05/30/corruption-at-dmoz-trouble-brewing-at-the-open-directory-project/

http://www.corruptdmozeditor.com/2004/12/how-to-bribe-dmoz-editor.html

and for a laugh:

http://www.nmoz.com/

DMOZ is a joke, plain and simple. Zero credibility.

[Googles76]

The only value of a dmoz listing is all the surrogate DMOZ sites out there. ITs instant 200-300 BL's or more. Do a Press Release, pay $80 to prweb and you get the same thing and its only 2 days to get the links live.

Can you expand on this a little? What do you pay the fee for and also do these BL's from PRweb stay for a long time? I am interested if I can yield the same results as from getting a Dmoz listing.

[lorien1973]

the PRs are released to a ton of sites. They seem to stick around for quite a while (at least on some sites). I've seen some of my prs have gotten to a toolbar pr3, so they are available for quite a long time.

[minstrel]

The only value of a dmoz listing is all the surrogate DMOZ sites out there. ITs instant 200-300 BL's or more.
Perhaps not. There are suggestions currently on several forums that Google has taken steps to devalue the clones and other "link farm type" directories...

If true, DMOZ is just one backlink again, as it always should have been.

[xeno]

I didn't have time to read the 100 threads on this topic, but I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. I think DMOZ was a noble idea when it started, but has tainted the spirit of the movement with neglect and myopia.

[minstrel]

Wuss!

It's only 103 posts and 11 pages... some of the threads here go to like 30+ pages... :eek:

[Design Agent]

Its just never going to be possible to get a balanced directory when so many ' subjective opinions' are involved.

[lorien1973]

Perhaps not. There are suggestions currently on several forums that Google has taken steps to devalue the clones and other "link farm type" directories...

If true, DMOZ is just one backlink again, as it always should have been.
I'm about historically, though. That used to be why everyone wanted in DMOZ. If it gets back down to 1 link again (which it should, I agree), then the furor of getting into DMOZ will be lessened significantly.

[minstrel]

Yes. And then virtually all interest in DMOZ will vanish.

[namxas]

DMOZ is like a big turtle :D

[joeychgo]

ROFL -- More bad rep for this thread -- No signature, but this sweet note:

you had to revive prbot and thedudes one year old crap thread, didn't you

Some people have NO life. Get over yourselves.


--

[sarahk]

It's only 103 posts and 11 pages... some of the threads here go to like 30+ pages... :eek:What else could there be to say?

[basecamp]

Its just never going to be possible to get a balanced directory when so many ' subjective opinions' are involved.


"I agree wholeheartedly with the OP. I think DMOZ was a noble idea when it started, but has tainted the spirit of the movement with neglect"


I agree with both of them. In a chaos situation like that where everyone argues and blames this and that with no end result, i think its upto Dmoz administration now to set things straight. Nothing "open to public" can be controlled without proper check by a proper commanding authority, which in this case is the Administration at Dmoz.

[Alucard]

Interesting that people feel there is neglect at the ODP. What I see on the inside is a large community of editors who are still reviewing several thousand sites a day, working at improving the tools available, trying to find those corrupt editors that everyone is talking about on the forums. (It's amazing how everyone forgets about those when they suddenly stop posting, isn't it?)

The spirit of the movement was to provide a human-edited directory whose contents were free to use. I feel that thet ODP lives up to that spirit very, very well in spite of the fact that most of the original founders have moved on to other things (and made some cash out of it) and the growth of the internet.

Posts leaked from internal fora show that there is a large group of editors who are very much trying to keep their fingers on the pulse of what needs to be done to keep the ODP "on track" with the initial vision. If the ODP has changed over the years, it is for this reason, not because it is neglected.

The fact that SEOs and webmasters like to quote "time-to-review" as a signal that the ODP is in decline is, in my opinion, misguided. Instead, look at how the ODP grows in terms of number of sites listed.

[sarahk]

[OT]

Alucard

I was thinking of you today when I was looking at the forum smilies a site had and one was called alucard!

http://www.alzaeem.net/images/smilies/smile/alucard.gif

I've never understood your nickname (not that it's super tricky) and don't see how you get the cowboy hat. The site is probably not yours but is the ref. to alucard the same?

Sarah

[minstrel]

It's only 103 posts and 11 pages... some of the threads here go to like 30+ pages...
What else could there be to say?
You should know DP better than that by now. It's not a matter of whether there is anything else to say but whether there is a member who hasn't yet said, "I agree", "I disagree", or "You're a jerk"... :D

[Alucard]

Sarah,

No clue where that icon came from (or its name). The way I got my nickname actually has nothing to do with the video game (which most assume) but a lot to do with Billy Idol :D

[sarahk]

there's a video game? I feel sooooo old!

I'm from Billy Idol's era so I can relate to that...

[Alucard]

The video game is an old one - Castlevania - was released in the late 80s for Commodores, NES and Amiga computers. I doubt very much that you are too old to remember that! :)

Castlevania Series on the ODP (http://dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Platform/Castlevania_Series/)

[joeychgo]

You should know DP better than that by now. It's not a matter of whether there is anything else to say but whether there is a member who hasn't yet said, "I agree", "I disagree", or "You're a jerk"... :D


I agree. :D

[lorien1973]

You're a jerk :P

[dvduval]

If you want to go where everybody is an ODP supporter, then look here:
http://www.ihelpyouservices.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=19792
They pretty well gave me a good roll in the mud. :)

[joeychgo]

You're a jerk :P


I disagree :D

[lorien1973]

I disagree :D
I agree! I really do! (is that 10 characters?:P)

[guru-seo]

DMOZ takes forever to approve sites. Very slowwwwww!!!!

[sarahk]

DMOZ takes forever to approve sites. Very slowwwwww!!!!Let us all bow down in gratitude. The guru has spoken.