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Hi guys! Sorry this problem returned overnight when there was no one around to squish it. I think I have blocked all of our current “wave” of spammers so you should not get any NEW spammy private messages (timestamped after 9:30am EST). If you do, please reply here with the exact user name of the person sending you spam.
As for what to do with the spam private messages you already do have (if any), just delete them. I think that by me marking the users as spammers on our web platform that their PMs might become unavailable to you… but if not, just delete them. Please don’t be alarmed if you read the message; reading it won’t cause you any trouble (other than annoyance). Just please don’t click any links in the messages! That’s where you can get into trouble.I confess I don’t know enough about our web platform to remove any pending notifications you might have for new messages; hopefully Clay can figure that one out for us!
(I’m re-posting this to all the current threads about the spammer)
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comHi guys! Sorry this problem returned overnight when there was no one around to squish it. I think I have blocked all of our current “wave” of spammers so you should not get any NEW spammy private messages (timestamped after 9:30am EST). If you do, please reply here with the exact user name of the person sending you spam.
As for what to do with the spam private messages you already do have (if any), just delete them. I think that by me marking the users as spammers on our web platform that their PMs might become unavailable to you… but if not, just delete them. Please don’t be alarmed if you read the message; reading it won’t cause you any trouble (other than annoyance). Just please don’t click any links in the messages! That’s where you can get into trouble.I confess I don’t know enough about our web platform to remove any pending notifications you might have for new messages; hopefully Clay can figure that one out for us!
(I’m re-posting this to all the current threads about the spammer)
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comHi guys! Sorry this problem returned overnight when there was no one around to squish it. I think I have blocked all of our current “wave” of spammers so you should not get any NEW spammy private messages (timestamped after 9:30am EST). If you do, please reply here with the exact user name of the person sending you spam.
As for what to do with the spam private messages you already do have (if any), just delete them. I think that by me marking the users as spammers on our web platform that their PMs might become unavailable to you… but if not, just delete them. Please don’t be alarmed if you read the message; reading it won’t cause you any trouble (other than annoyance). Just please don’t click any links in the messages! That’s where you can get into trouble.I confess I don’t know enough about our web platform to remove any pending notifications you might have for new messages; hopefully Clay can figure that one out for us!
(I’m re-posting this to all the current threads about the spammer)
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comI think that when I removed the spammer, it removed the items that they sent as well, but I’m not quite sure! Thanks for notifying us, guys! If you ever get questionable stuff like that, never click links (even if it’s worded better than these ones were!) and let us know so we can check it out. Our system has been pretty good at catching spammers and bots, or else we’d see hundreds per day (yes, it’s that bad… sigh!) but sometimes one still fits through the cracks, especially if it’s a real person setting up the account and then letting a program start spamming…
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comThese repair jobs are 100% top notch, based on the photos you’ve shared here! Very impressive re-sculpting and blending, both of the patch as well as the paint. I can only imagine the time investment!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comSince I’m East Coast, I often get to see spam and problems that happen overnight/early faster than the Windstone crew does… especially on a weekend where they might not see their emails.
I’m mostly not modding anymore, but am still happy to kick spam out! Especially really awful spam like that. We don’t want that up on the Windstone site a microsecond more than we have to, ugh! Fortunately most bots are blocked now but a few of the better ones sometimes sneak through…
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comIs this an old Brown with a different set of eyes, or was the whole thing repainted as well?
Wow, that might be a legitimate, if ancient, old brown mother dragon, maybe one of the first? Or a repaint… the eyes used to look like this on the first ones. I can ask Melody! Looks like someone bought her.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comSometimes it helps to share photos and/or stories of the good times with people. You have support here if you wish to do so!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comI’m so sorry for your loss. I too have nightmares, sometimes years (decades!) later, about pets I’ve lost. I’m going though it right now, as I just lost a truly beloved hen, and it’s a lonely grief to struggle through because even though some people understand grief over a dog or cat, no one can understand my grief over my chicken. After struggling with illness for months, we had to euthanize her as she was beginning to suffer. I won’t get detailed but going through that (and not for the first time) in person… it’s really rough to see, that’s all I will say. The imagery of her last moments, and the poor other pets I’ve had this experience with, also stays with me and haunts me. I get the nightmares!
But… as Natasha said, do not put weight to your nightmares. They are indeed often the product of stress, depression, sadness, and anxiety. Experience and live your grief as you need to, for yourself, but don’t punish yourself by making your dreams out to be more than what they are.
The only things that help me cope are knowing my other animals need me too. Volunteering at a shelter, rescue, or animal rehabilitator can help. If that’s not possible (I personally live too far away from the place I’d like to volunteer 🙁 ) I find that creative outlets help. Even if you are not an artist, writing or drawing about your pet can be therapeutic. You don’t need to show anyone unless you want to… it’s for your benefit, not anyone else’s.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comI hear you. My only saving grace is that I flaked out and didn’t go to college at the last moment (this ended up being one of the best accidental financial decisions of my life). I worked really awful, soul-sucking service/retail jobs for about 6 years, and took artwork commissions at home after I got home from work, so it was like having two jobs. After that, I landed an art job for a few years that was lovely, but ultimately not my own artwork so I wasn’t exactly doing my dream job. In all, it took me about ten years of doing other jobs to get to a point where I was doing the work I wanted to do. It’s still a struggle at times and doing something you love as a career is NOT for everyone. Many people, especially creative people, find that success in their creative field (art, music, writing, etc) actually makes it a chore and they lose the joy they had when it was just a passionate “hobby”. I can’t tell you the number of creative people I’ve talked to that finally had a big success only to find it wasn’t what they expected (which honestly can be worse than just failing!). Some prefer to work “normal” jobs while doing their “dream job” on the side. Others, like me, dive in head-first as soon as they can. I can’t say it’s all good, because it’s quite rocky financially… I’ll probably never be able to retire, and I’m really SOL if I have serious health problems, a huge unexpected bill, or anything else that puts me out of work, because I don’t have the safety net that comes with a good employer. It’s worth it to me, but there are times where I almost want to give up.
I know this is hardly advice, but more of a solidarity thing. Many people in the younger generation are struggling with this very thing.Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comBodine, oh I see… I misunderstood. They are production birds, not a home flock. I wish them all the best 🙁
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comMelody, generally the most overwhelming part of successful kickstarters with a lot of backers is the dang packing and shipping! For most individuals doing this out of their homes, this is really the worst part. You are way step ahead on this since you have an actual factory with a shipping department!
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comMatty, Paypal should resolve in your favor if the item is not shipped in a timely manner. I agree; I would not wait longer than Friday, though the choice is yours of course. I think you are being very reasonable and patient!
As an aside, and this is a message for everyone (not aimed at Matty!) It’s important to determine what the most reliable methods of communication for you are. Some people do like the PM system. I know some people like PM systems on other pages too (such as facebook, etc). Just remember that if your messages are being hosted on a private site that you don’t pay to use (e.g. Windstone PMs etc), that if the site suffers a catastrophic data loss or other technical problem, there is always a chance your PMs could be inaccessible or even lost. Always try to back up important messages locally either on your computer or device. If you do a lot of dealing, it might be worthwhile to get a ‘business’ email address that you can more easily back up. Even free email servies, such as google, are easy to back up with a client such as Thunderbird (also free), so that you have a local (meaning on your personal computer) copy. I find that this helps prevent a lot of miscommunication when I legitimate miss PMs. For example, I have a hard time with Facebook’s private messages getting to me, so I always ask people to email. If I am doing business with someone, the last thing I want to do is miss several of their messages, if I can prevent that from happening.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comBodine, oh no! Did any of their chickens make it? Once they have their feet under themselves again I’m sure the chicken keeping community would help them rebuild their flock…
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comSorry I missed this until now.
Mary is correct, we can’t exactly ban someone via IP, as IP is not static (and if someone really wanted to get around it, there are ways). The stronger forms of authentication are indeed used mostly by financial institutions and are outside of the scope of a small company like Windstone. This means if we ban or block someone that has broken rules, there is a chance they could make a new account here. If anyone reasonably suspects someone of creating a new account here as a way to get around being banned, I ask that you please let one of us (me, John, [or Susie in a pinch but she is very busy with orders!]) know, especially if you have any evidence. Ban evasion is not permitted (though is sometimes hard to prove).
If a member is indeed scamming others via the forum (classifieds, PMs, or on the forum), please do send us evidence. John makes the final call on these situations, but we have banned people in the past. Scamming is not permitted!
It’s been explained to me that Windstone can not legally become involved at all in the feedback list, but again if someone is scamming someone else out of money or items, we do care, and if verified, we have historically taken action to remove said person(s) from our community.
Matty, if you do not have your situation resolved shortly to your satisfaction, I think you are well within your right to open a Paypal dispute on the transaction.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com
