Rhiza Labs FluTracker Forum

This thread is being created for announcements from the FluTracker Forum Admins. It is not a place for discussion, so please post all replies in the Feedback section.

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http://twitter.com/jknauer

New Anti-Spam Measures

I have made some significant changes to our anti-spam measures on the site. It would be inappropriate to discuss them in detail, but valid users that were previously being blocked or receiving error messages should now have access again to the site.

You will also see some new questions popping up that require a correct answer in order to register and post.

Please let me know in the Feedback section if there are any issues.

Thanks,

-josh

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http://twitter.com/jknauer

New User Registrations Fixed

Registrations for new users should now be working. There was a bug in the software that was preventing new registrations, but it has now been fixed. Please let me know via the Feedback section of the forum if there are any problems.


New Anti-Spam Measures

We've increased the level of some of our anti-spam measures. The one thing you may notice is that every once in a while you may be asked a question that requires you to type in an answer before a new posting is accepted. This should not happen frequently for regular users, so please let me know via the Feedback section of the forum if you notice problems.

Thanks!

-josh

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http://twitter.com/jknauer

I would like to remind everyone why we are supposed to be here:

http://fluboard.rhizalabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=406



And please remember:



Recently there has been a lot of vitriol on the board. I realize we have been through some trying times lately with a lot of bad news on a variety of fronts. But it is important to remember what ultimately draws people here: to understand what is happening!

Let me direct you to the following community standard rule (emphasis added)



And:





Please, think about what you have posted recently, and what you are about to post. Numerous posts have been made in recent days which could be summarily deleted.

Let this post serve as both reminder and warning, as neither I, nor other mods, may be so lax in the future.

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I am not a doctor, virologist, or any of type of medical/life sciences professional.

I am a layman with a background in the physical sciences.

I will be upgrading our server software this morning. Please excuse any downtime.

-josh

[UPDATE: Upgrade complete, no obvious problems. Please report any issues in the Feedback Forum.]

_________________
http://twitter.com/jknauer

The real-time chat room has been disabled. No one has been using it, other than spammers, so we decided to remove it. If there is a reason you would like a chat room, please bring it up in the Feedback section.

_________________
http://twitter.com/jknauer

We Need Your Help!

We are looking for volunteers to help keep the map updated. Dr. Niman has been doing this to date, but more and more of his time is being taken up with the viral sequence work. He needs help with the map, and Rob feels that there is a lot of volunteer potential among the people on this board. We would really appreciate your help.

The work consists of gathering the data from the sources specified by Niman and entering new cases and fatalities into the map database using an online data entry form. It does take a little time to do, but most states are not updating very frequently right now, so it will probably start off pretty slowly. Rob will work with each volunteer to get them started and help with problems.

We are going to start with the US states. Rob will work with Dr. Niman to determine what needs to be done to update each state, and then post on the "General Discussion", "Looking for Map Update Volunteers" thread to ask for volunteers for that state. Just reply within that thread if you are interested in helping out.

Thanks!

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http://twitter.com/jknauer