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Post by gabriele on Mar 3, 2013 8:13:24 GMT
I have a question for friends from TT. In researching something for a new poster (who wants a lot and doesn't really deserve it but I did it anyway) I came across a trove of information on Schengen from the Masters of Schengen... I have been exploring, verifying and copy/pasting links and quotes to an new thread I just created on TT. Now I have second thoughts. I could share it with the TT community (such as it is now) and basically give the results of my labors to LP to capitalise on...but when I think of it that way, I'm feeling selfish. I'll post what I would have posted on TT. Let me know if you think I should share it on TT or if there are other forums that might value it more. Thanks. ============================================================== Came across this website while looking for information for a recent post. It is quite specific in what is being done and what will be done and what the results will be: soderkoping.org.ua/page18216.html It bears the notice: Recent update:26/02/2013 Intro: "System (SIS II) - 1st pillar legislation The second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) will replace the current system, providing enhanced functionalities. It is currently undergoing extensive testing in close cooperation with European Union (EU) countries and associated countries participating in the Schengen area. The SIS II Regulation lays down the technical aspects and the operation of SIS II, the conditions for issuing alerts on refusal of entry or stay for non-EU nationals, the processing of data relating to alerts, and conditions of data access and protection. It constitutes the legislative basis for governing SIS II with respect to matters falling under Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Community (former first pillar)." --------------------- "SUMMARY The second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II) will be a large-scale information system containing alerts * on persons and objects. It will be used by border guards, customs officers, visa- and law-enforcement authorities throughout the Schengen area, with a view to ensuring a high level of security. This new system is currently undergoing extensive testing in close cooperation with European Union (EU) countries and associated countries participating in the Schengen area (referred to below as the Member States *) and will replace the current system, providing enhanced functionalities. The SIS II Regulation constitutes the necessary legislative basis for governing SIS II with respect to alert procedures falling under Title IV of the Treaty establishing the European Community (former first pillar). It is supplemented by a decision relating to procedures falling under Title VI of the Treaty on European Union (former third pillar)." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A word of warning: A lot of links on the site don't connect For those who want an easy guide to what is Schengen and what isn't: ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/multimedia/infographics/index_en.htm#0801262489595c5e/c_Click on the "Entering the EU" picture to download the interactive map. Follow the arrows (bottom right) which will take you through the process including which countries qualify for the no-visa program, which require a visa and which require a transit-visa (for travelling through Schengen en route to another country). And for the curious, information and a graph on who applies for Schengen visas and percentages of refusals... and also Schengin visas with limited territorial validity . But Wait! That's not all. You can also download a brochure on Schengen ec.europa.eu/dgs/home-affairs/e-library/multimedia/publications/index_en.htm#0801262488bfd52d/c_in lots of languages. Very useful for new posters who don't read/understand English well. ===================================================================
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Post by gabriele on Mar 2, 2013 8:34:12 GMT
I can't find my post....the post with the quote from that other website it up.
Fairly new poster on WE Phidou (I suppose it's a phonetic pun on Fido)...twice he's either given the wrong info (June is the high season for lavender in Provence) after I had told the OP to do a search as the question was asked a couple weeks ago, all answers would be on the earlier post. I was doing research on a post for a woman looking for info on how to get from Marseille to a small town in Var. Came back to see a post from Fido saying there was service from Marsaille to St Maximin but no bus to the town--she'd have to take a taxi. My post had links to both bus info sites (with time tables, etc) so while I hadn't planned on contradicting him I didn't mind proving him wrong and providing the info the OP needed. His profile shows less than 20 posts but I know he could be a newbie or just another one who lost most of his post count...doesn't really matter but I hate to think there are people voicing opinions rather than facts... I've answered half dozen posts or so, think I'll lay off for the weekend.
Thanks for the information on Westwood ansh...
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Post by gabriele on Mar 2, 2013 3:05:43 GMT
After reading the posts, I, too flagged wetwoods comments as defamatory...
I am wondering how many of the remaining posters (and strangely, they seem to have most of their posts count updated...westwood's are in the thousands...which seems to point out that he is a very privileged character...with the lack of fully released archives (or so it seems to me), how is it his post count is so high? I confess I wonder about Fwoggie...since I remember his sig used to be a link to BBC...mickeyfinn...a queston mark in my book as well. And no, I'm not obsessing about my post count anymore, it's meaningless, like so much of what was...and is no more.
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Post by gabriele on Mar 2, 2013 2:28:51 GMT
I have posted the text of the LP letter to bloggers on the PM archive & How to get.... I started by stating it is an official communication from LP... let's see if they let it get through the censors...I think eliminating the PMS are part of the steps to divert all possible useful info into the BBC travel zone, as noted in the article...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 27, 2013 10:43:10 GMT
The post before the TT one was about Fried Momos...in Nepal. I just posted a comment on Get Stuffed (Nepali food in Paris) with the idea of getting the website link on TT...and then hopefully the post can be recommended on...so other people are exposed to the target article without the direct link ever appearing on TT.. and they just posted it.
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Post by gabriele on Feb 27, 2013 6:09:26 GMT
Check out this from the comment section of the post noted above:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ReplyDavid Bennett says: February 26, 2013 at 4:59 amLike Charlotte, we also were an LP Blogsherpa blogger until they pulled the plug. They were entitled to do that, of course. But it was the manner in which they did it that upset us ‘sherpas’.
Here’s the email they sent out: ______________
“Hi there
We hope this email finds you well. As a member of Lonely Planet’s BlogSherpa initiative, we wanted to get in touch to let you know that as part of larger changes to LonelyPlanet.com we will be decommissioning the BlogSherpa programme during the month of December 2012. This means the ‘Blogs we like’ section of our destination pages will disappear from our website, along with all the content from blogs on LonelyPlanet.com.
With more than 12,000 blog posts from over 500 bloggers, the BlogSherpa initiative has given us a great insight into our collaboration with travel bloggers and we hope it has also been a positive experience for you. As a small token of our appreciation, we’d like to give you a 50% discount on any item on Lonely Planet’s Online Shop. Please send an email tocommunity@lonelyplanet.com.au with ‘Blogsherpa’ in the subject line within the next 7 days if you would like to receive your unique discount code and we will send it to you.
The end of BlogSherpa is not the end for the relationship between Lonely Planet and bloggers by any means. We are currently building out new ways of featuring bloggers’ content and incorporating more guest writers, photographers and videographers into the Lonely Planet website more directly. We will communicate these plans very soon, so keep your eyes peeled to our website, the Thorn Tree forum and our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitterand Google+ for any future announcements.
One thing you can do immediately – if you’re on Twitter, when you tweet a link to a new blog post, tag it #lp and we’ll retweet the best throughout the day.
Once again, thanks for sharing your experiences with us, and we hope it was a good ride. See you on the road!
All the best,
The Online Editorial Team at Lonely Planet” ------------------------------------------------------------------------
How can I comment on such....#*+##%$**^^*&()~!
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Post by gabriele on Feb 27, 2013 6:01:26 GMT
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Post by gabriele on Feb 27, 2013 5:41:08 GMT
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Post by gabriele on Feb 27, 2013 3:37:22 GMT
I asked about Ansh's status (and other things) on 'Welcome back'...but as with other posts, it's out for moderation. If it does post, I'll add the link
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Post by gabriele on Feb 26, 2013 6:12:43 GMT
whj: Truth hurts. We tell the truth and they hurt us. There is probably a list of banned websites and Alexa has been added to the list..altho' it's still on another thread--or was recently. I just read through the most recent posts on WE and found myself both apathetic and bored. I know people want to travel but since helping them has stopped being enjoyable, well now it's sort of painful. I'll read a post if there's a reply from someone who usually has something useful to say or something snarky (I live in hope). And a part of me wonders if some of the new posters are shills, to either keep the traffic up or to see who might misbehave.
Somehow it makes me think of Alice: "But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here.”
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Post by gabriele on Feb 25, 2013 11:42:01 GMT
For waterhazardjack I had to use the search function...fortunately that worked. I've been following Welcome back to TT to see what others say (and what they're not allowed to say) and found out PMs are not going to be allowed (a temporary opening of old messages).. don't know how many were aware of this: www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2299914On the other hand, a post 'Solo Traveller in Paris', I was allowed to post a link to Anyport's Paris section....love the new Montmartre in the Snow Kerouac...if the snow isn't wet, a heavy cardboard box works well for sliding, too....but the best is an inflated inner tube...small truck size (not that there will probably be much more snow). I posted a comment on both Welcome back and PM threads...of course they're still out for the mods to sanitise or reject. And the Alexa website, along with other stats, shows the pages are loading more slowly...wonder if it's all the behind-the-scenes-work from the mods or what...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 23, 2013 15:21:39 GMT
I thought I wrote a proper (for the mods) but overly sanctimonious reply to the woman with 'good skin' who was looking for a specific Retin-A Rx drug in Greece....had to be a troll. And please, even if I sound like I'm being serious and helpful by even replying, don't hesitate to jump in with a question about my comments (like, 'do people in Greece even use it?'). Checked Alexa.com....LP still isn't looking good...most numbers still declining, less time on the site...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 18, 2013 13:44:56 GMT
Kerouac--my last comment on the Paris cat is currently stuck with the mods also...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 17, 2013 8:21:04 GMT
Posted on FAQ: deleted during the 'pending' process Posted reply on WE: Cat to Paris...three small posts. Fwoggie posted at 10:53 pm (which hadn't shown up when I posted, but appeared after my first post. My first post was approved at 11:37 pm. Regards posted at 11:44; I'm still waiting for my second and third posts to show up.
Whatever list you're on Kerouac, I think I'm on it also. Perhaps they're taking names from anyport posts?
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Post by gabriele on Feb 15, 2013 10:16:13 GMT
What I found interesting on the alexa site is comparing page views and traffic rank....they show a very different view from what LP would like to have people think they're doing (popularity-wise) If it were my business I'd fire the CEO...(unless I was the ceo which I wouldn't' want to be anyway). Page views by user is lots of red down arrows...not good news and the amount of time spent on the website...well, that keeps dropping also. To misquote Timothy Leary: Tune in, turn off, drop out...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 15, 2013 6:56:51 GMT
Thanks for the link. Kerouac, I have the gumbo file powder and would like to send a couple packets (no charge) to the lady in the US on TT...does she post on APiaS--without PM function I don't think the mods would let me offer it to her directly. I can send you a packet or two also, if it would enhance your cooking pleasures...a way to say thank you for all the pleasures you share with us here...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 14, 2013 12:48:44 GMT
bjd,
I went back and reread Canadian Mouse's post....MTL is talking art and history that has influenced the world and she's talking---well, there's lots to Canada but it's not up there on any list of world-culture sites, is it? Something MTL didn't mention but that I think we've all experienced is cultural overload. I can take four hours in the Louvre and then I need time away. Same thing with other museums. I, however, have lived in rural areas and I can say that I can see the forest for the trees and they just don't compare to great art and architecture. When I used to go to France every year a couple of friends tried to set things up so we'd meet up there and spend a week together. One of them was the kind of person I could spend a morning with, or maybe a morning (2-3 hours) followed by lunch but any more time and she would start arranging everything according to some obscure but absolutely necessary schedule (her needs, of course) and the idea of spending even one full day on HER schedule in the US, let alone my beloved France was unthinkable. I get the sense Canadian Mouse is a similar sort of woman. Perhaps we need a departed forum member who no longer posts and when confronted with one such as the Mouse, say 'perhaps so-and-so can assist'...who of course doesn't and the rest of us stay off the post as well. I am tired of picky-picky people. I was going to post that the trains from Toulouse up to Latour-Carol are suffering from rolling strikes so all the trains on the schedules aren't running, do check before making plans concerning this service. (I follow the Ariege news online). Then I thought...why bother. People don't use the search function anyway. I wish the PM function was back--if it ever will be.
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Post by gabriele on Feb 14, 2013 12:17:07 GMT
There's a new post on WE about the Stevenson GR70.
This is what I tried to post as a reply: "France in September is beautiful and it's still considered high season in a lot of areas so yes, easy to get accomodations...reservations might be needed. I did a quick search and there are so many listings for the route...the GRs in France are well-known and very popular; it makes sense that finding lodging on the way should be a profitable business. gr70-stevenson.com/en/trail.htm Maybe some forum member has personal knowledge of it...if so, they'll post."
I got an automatic response:
XThis message contains content not allowed in this forum.
I can't figure out what they're objecting to....the website?
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Post by gabriele on Feb 13, 2013 10:58:44 GMT
In WE posted a reply to an inquiry about car rental from Rome to Paris, suggesting a lease plan from Renault (which I have used, and discussed in the past) but making certain to list other companies, say they work the same, all served by same facility at CDG. OP had been unhappy with previous rental as car they booked wasn't provided, some other make and model...and I know the program I've used, you get the car direct from the factory, so no substitutions. The explanation was a little long (I talk too much, also) but easier to give details for best picture of process. It's been about 5 hours and still nothing, so I posted a brief note saying I had posted another option but it was pending approval by mods....wonder how long it will take. So in addition to everything else, they're understaffed? I'm not seeing that many posts in WE that would need monitoring (unless they're slow readers)...in fact I've been wondering how much the new question traffic has dropped off since the shutdown...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 8, 2013 10:02:10 GMT
K2 what was your post about?
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Post by gabriele on Feb 7, 2013 11:29:03 GMT
I followed the instructions and it worked...no links which is wonderful. If they do start showing up again and I can't stop it, I will certainly follow your suggestion Ansh. And by the way, when do you become legal? I think we should do a round robin and we can start out asking you about all the places you've already visited in WE and then we can take turns asking about each place... such as "how does tea in the hotel you stayed at when on a school tour compare to tea as made in India?" It's still about travel....speaking of travel, is your brother still in the US at school?
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Post by gabriele on Feb 5, 2013 8:44:36 GMT
Thank you nutrax...I wonder if they automatically reset my profile as the links hadn't appeared before...except for links away from TT... and Thank you nautiker for the information...it's things like that that make me care less and less about LP...
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Post by gabriele on Feb 4, 2013 22:53:42 GMT
Grumbles...
They're still editing simple posts: MTL posted "for the mods- still missing"...I posted a thank you to MTL, Nautiker posted a comment, MTL posted, then WaterhazardJack posted "Best of luck with this, MTL...but in my experience, it's like playing tennis against a haystack..." I loved the analogy and posted to tell WhJ that I loved the comment, so visual, so apt... It was there...and then it was gone. wtf?
I don't know when it started but having absolutely every location that could possibly be found in the Destination part of LP turn up in the posts as a link to that information in color, just as a complete url does... in looking at the thread mentioned above, some of the destinations are highlighted, some aren't... I don't know about anyone else but I find highlighted links (esp when unrequested - if I want the link to be completely accessible I use the http before it (like the Michelin or Seat61 sites so people new to TT can click through easily). distracting. Kerouac2 recently replied on an older post about Monaco and the thread is cluttered with highlighted links.
I've been seeing this linking in other websites (not necessarily travel ones) and since the webpage is usually already cluttered with ads, the additional visual pollutions makes me decide I'll leave the page and find information elsewhere.
I'm wondering if LP is trying to increase its page views for the Destination section (to make it appear more popular than it really is) and make it worth more... Perhaps the return of the archived files has been put aside so they can devote time to this bit of chicanery. I know it wasn't in use before because I used to recommend (esp to OPs) that they check out the Destinations section. I wonder if I put a line through each destination I might use in a post if it would subvert the process...I see it picked up europe (uncapitalised) and highlighted it so that ploy won't work.
For those who read both TT and this forum, is this happening on other TT branches?
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Post by gabriele on Jan 27, 2013 3:45:50 GMT
I was checking my profile settings (for forum and threads and under User Profile it shows I have Total Posts: 129 Archived (-1,459)
so it's still out there...somewhere. I wonder how savvy their tech people are...(as far as old posts returning with current date. They may not have even thought about the effect releasing the old posts would have....
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Post by gabriele on Jan 24, 2013 23:15:52 GMT
bjd, I agree. I can't remember the last time I relied on a TA listing or review... I remember reading a couple reviews of a semi-local motel, several yearso ago....posters complaining about dirty carpets and air conditioning not working. Funny. Photos showed tile floors and description of the place said no air conditioning, ceiling fans only. Sort of typical for TA...not very reliable. And spam. Lots of spam. Do not want to be associated with it...
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Post by gabriele on Jan 24, 2013 6:28:42 GMT
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Post by gabriele on Jan 21, 2013 1:44:42 GMT
I'm copying some posts on TT to TT Refuge so if they're deleted there will be a record.
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Post by gabriele on Jan 15, 2013 21:36:45 GMT
Hello to all and how nice to see so many familiar names! On Anyport I am Gabriele, on TT I am SFgirl......I hadn't been following this thread (I had posted early on) but then on TT Refuge I found out about Ansh being banned (Age discrimination!), well that irked me no end so I went back and read all the rules and since they had let me post about losing all my posting credits I decided to test them a little further...and they accepted it!
I do wonder if I have raised issues which the mods are not qualified to answer and they're waiting until someone higher up make a decision. I read the UK papers and I think alot of the BBC response on this is a kneejerk reaction to the criticism they continue to get for their handling of one of their famous personalities, Jimmy Savile. Google his name and BBC and you'll see what I'm taking about. I think they're going overboard, which is why I'm willing to confront them. I also think they are trying very hard to avoid getting any more attention to what they're doing on TT....and may be afraid that my next reaction might be to take my concerns to another forum...a more public one. They don't know who we are and for all they know, I could be a working reporter or influential blogger. I have considered contacting the Travel Editor at the Independent as I have corresponded with him before (about his hiking in the Pyrenees) because what is going on at TT really IS travel news. BBC is an extension of the government and what they do should be open and apparent but of course that never happens. For those who don't use the TT Refuge, I've been copying my TT posts (the seditious ones) there so there is a record of them should TTP (thorntree proper, although the letters could stand for something else should one wish..) delete them. My attitude to TT is: WE are a community, you are just a bunch of bureaucrats. (I do prefer the French word, 'functionaires'...somehow it's more patronising...telling someone they're there 'to function'. K2, bjd, I seem to remember the work is somewhat insulting..is it? If so, I'll have to use it more often.
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Post by gabriele on Dec 27, 2012 9:14:49 GMT
Thanks so much bjd, this is wonderful. Author is an excellent photographer and captures the area very well. Who needs a translation (well, I do know the area so I don't) when the pictures speak for themselves. One visit I met a German couple who come to the Aude to buy wines which they take back to Germany for their store/restaurant (can't remember which).
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Post by gabriele on Dec 26, 2012 8:38:21 GMT
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