As per my proposal I’ve installed a blog which syndicates content from the Alaska collective blog but allows comments.
www.OpenCouchSurfing.org/alaska
I’ve installed the WP-SpamFree plugin for WordPress and set very loose spam restrictions. Only posts with 4 or more links should be held for moderation. Otherwise, all comments that meet the WP-SpamFree criteria should appear instantly. If you do have any problems posting a comment feel free to contact me directly.
Here’s to freedom..
Update: Logins are now linked, so if you’re logged into this blog, you’ll also be logged into the Alaska blog.
Looking into the future
The next chapter of CouchSurfing history will include a new logo, a refined mission and vision for what we want to accomplish as a non-profit organization and wider recognition as a charity as we seek to obtain the United States federally recognized 501c3 status.
blog.couchsurfing.com/couchsurfing-project-priorities
Wow a total Make Over
for all the crying that went into enabling comments, and the time spent on mirroring the blog… it is fitting to your inconsistency how no one is even posting comments to it.
sometimes it seems people bitch for the sake of bitchin.
Lewis, Casey&co tend to keep things from memory. Formerly public information disappeared. CouchSurfing.com suddenly disappeared from archive.org. Mirroring this blog is a tiny effort to fight this trend.
Besides, I think that if a comment-enabled blog were linked from the “official” CS posts that there would suddently be a lot of comments.
3 comments: 2 from Kasper himself, 1 annoyed by Kasper’s childishness.
Good job, OCS. Thanks for keeping the laughs coming.
Kasper Souren Says:
June 16th, 2008 at 10:33 am
“A “thank you” system is in the process of being developed so we can remind our volunteers how important they are and how much we appreciate them.”
Awesome. I wonder if I will get my “thank you” for the money and the months of work that I spent on CouchSurfing.
—-
For being a self-proclaimed “utopic anarchist”, it seems you have a hypocritical obsession about money spent long ago. let it go man, really, it’s ok to move on now.
My comment was not about the money or even the work, it’s about acknowledgment. CoucSurfing Inc. doesn’t acknowledge the contributions made by former volunteers. I do see some improvements, but it’s still mainly PR.
Just within 24 hours I received two messages from people who contact me with issues they have with the CouchSurfing wiki. Ironically I had to refer them to the person who blocked me from editing that wiki, and who is receiving a nice salary plus many many perks for doing exactly that. Maybe instead, the CouchSurfing Leadership should move on? Or rather, dissolve itself and make way for self-organized teams of volunteers?
Nice salary? ha, $2k a month is peanuts. aditionally, you’re asking someone to resign their current job. You on the other hand are long gone from CS, and still complaining and crying. How long will you continue to bitch? One year, two, ten? Is there a limit to your misery?
Kasper, I’m now convinced that the leadership team giving way to self-organized teams of volunteers would destroy Couchsurfing. The vast majority of people I meet through the site have a very similar view of CS: it’s a site for free accomodation which will hopefully lead to some great partying, allowing endlessly traveling (or having the world come to you) in a chillout atmosphere. They are a tolerant bunch, where people who drink or smoke mingle with people who follow a straight-edge lifestyle, meat-eaters unwind in the company of vegans, the religious befriend the atheist, and the most important thing is letting everyone be as they are and feel at ease. The leadership team’s own activities mirror the community well in this respect.
However, these people are rarely interested in administration of the site. The people who are organizing themselves generally seem intolerant of the lifestyles of this majority, and have a strict view of CS as a mere hospitality exchange where strict rules must be followed and certain people should be prohibited outright just because their personal tastes aren’t deemed acceptable.
It seems Christopher Culver is not quite over the rejection yet he experienced for his ideas in:
www dot couchsurfing dot com/group_read.html?gid=1075&post=1023217
I find myself in the unhappy position of disagreeing with you, Pickwick (especially with you…)
I didn’t read Christopher’s comment here as bruised. I think he’s making the point that people who use CS to meet others are typically easy-going folk who don’t involve themselves with the politics and organization of the site. He states his admiration for people who live and let-live…and what’s not to like with that? It’s like saying Love is Good.
Yet Christopher, I don’t agree that there is a connection between someone’s ability to tolerate a variety of choices and their interest in good management. I simply think that most people don’t involve themselves in politics generally because they find it tedious…which holds true for society in general. Most people don’t care about their local government…regardless of their flexible/inflexible natures.
I do find it perplexing that Christopher should be in favor of broad toleration when he was so critical of hosts in the CS thread to which you referred. If you’re intolerant of boundary-lovers, then you’re equally uptight.
Trent Collins from Montreal, Canada
on the brainstorm group on the new hierarchy coming into effect on couchsurfing.Most channels
Trent Collins from Montreal, Canada on the brainstorm group.
Guess trent need to goto MORE burningman events to go UP THE CHAIN.Maybe being into the swingers group like suzie would help.
I love these guys especially guys who LIE to the media about there being NO security risk on couchsurfing. Guess that helps move UP the CHAIN.
wonder whose chain will get yanked?
One more serious note i hate newbies who have no idea about ambassador motivation and then come up with new dumb ideas which fail and they never take responsibility for that.
also watch ramnita’s and dani’s video interview on youtube really nice
NOT!.
Margaret, I’m just intolerant of intolerance. When I discovered hospitality clubs several years ago, all hosts were extremely cool people who were just as I described above. Though I was a boring student with little travel experience and idiosyncratic tastes, they nonetheless took me in to their homes and parties and showed me whole new ways of living. Receiving such hospitality changed my life for the better. It was only about a year back that I discovered there are hosts who don’t host people unless the guests’ lifestyle meets their demands. The fact that they are organizing doesn’t bode well for the future. I just want the group vibe to stay strong. Is that so bad?
2 new pimps in town opsie I meant Body Guards!.
Quote Now if you want to ask anything to da boss you AsK me!You Do NoT TaLK to the BoSs directly. ThE bOsS is BuSy!!You low lifes do not have the right to play with the big boys (Global admins).Only if you have your ass checked can you be in the BiG BoYs LeaGue.
I understand you Christopher…fair point. You have an ideal of inclusiveness in mind that you’d like to see shared as community-wide values. I agree that it’s poignantly generous and life-changing to be treated with such open arms. Nice to hear your gratitude.
Yet not every host can conform to such a high standard of open-ended hospitality, for reasons they don’t need to explain or apologize for…and shouldn’t be shamed into adopting. We’re all human. I remember being mortified one time when my kids got into a literal fist-fight in front of my couchsurfer and I apologized endlessly but he said, “oh don’t worry. Kids are kids.” I never forgot it. Generosity flows in both directions:)…and I appreciated having such a tolerant guest.
I would argue that anyone hosting has a right to be clear on his or her preferences, if they have them. Hosts are sharing their homes with strangers and, if they prefer to host only certain types of people(…while this perhaps does not represent the ideal…) it’s just fine. No one is perfect and it’s best to know yourself than try to fake tolerance for the sake of fitting in. I would rather see hosts participating in whatever way they feel comfortable than dropping out because they feel inadequate if they are unable to offer the ideal of perfect inclusiveness. Sound fair?
@ Christopher
I’m not buying your preaching of generosity because in the thread I quoted you exposed yourself as someone who doesn’t like hosts to have boundaries because you want to leech without limits. Your own “giving” is mostly hypothetical (“I would …”) or announced to happen in future (“I will …”). I’m sure I won’t be the only one to check your profile again later in the year to verify your promises of boundless hospitality including free bottles of wine. So far you seem to have a habit of Couchsurfing not only when you’re travelling, but also when you’re in the town where you live. I suppose it saves paying rent. Maybe you should take a break from lecturing others until you do as you say.
@ Margaret
Please don’t ever hesitate to disagree with me. I often do it myself. ;-}
No, Pickwick, my giving is not “hypothetical”. As I mentioned in the thread, I host more than you do when I am settled in one place. I had about 30 guests in the two months I was back in Helsinki this spring. That’s probably more than most people on CS who registered themselves as hosts have had.
“So far you seem to have a habit of Couchsurfing not only when you’re travelling, but also when you’re in the town where you live.”
As already mentioned, staying with CS hosts for a few days or a couple of weeks before moving into a new flat (which does take a while to arrange in most cities) is a very common use of CS, source of several of my couch requests and local group posts and done even by members of the leadership team.
“done even by members of the leadership team”
The Mother of Moral Tests. Thanks for helping me out here; I forgot to mention your admiration for the parasitical lifestyle in high quarters.
From the mafia goon Trent Collins(AMB ASS A DOOR/lying cs media dude ) from Montreal, Canada on an email
Also remember that the CS mission statement is to
“Change the world, ONE couch at a time” so if you are
going to try to use CS as a platform for your
education then stick to its mission and do it one
couch at a time and not by spamming many people. If
you don’t like the idea of CS as it is with this one
at a time policy then please don’t use it at all as it
shows very little respect for the organisation that you
are abusing to do things the way you have.
Trent Collins from Montreal, Canada on the brainstorm group
Trent Collins from Montreal, Canada on the brainstorm group
I sometimes don’t get a lot of proof reading time when I’m hurrying around.
comment** hes does not have time ***
That “kind of lends” itself to the point that this is about. If you’re too busy doing other things then clear communication to large numbers of people at once in the form that you are calling for is not possible. It must go through channels. Its not a game just the way that it works.
*but communications need time***
I’m trying to keep it above the personal level and have a decent discussion about things and I’m offering what I know and what I see. You’ve got very strong opinions and that’s all good
**the threats being***
but you’ve never met me so if you try to have a go at me personally again then I will refuse to post here again and you will solely be responsible for closing down yet another form of communication.
Please think about that because maybe it was the negativity of the posts from people like you that drove the LT and others away from posting or being able to follow these forums.
**this is real funny by a newbie .How can the LT be driving into silence when they NEVER participated.And should be not be cowards and be engaged with the community (unless the dont care a damn about it – Notice casey never even logs in now days,He just uses the money for rave parties)**
Questioning is fine but personal attacks of the like that I’ve seen from many parties are just not cool.
You may not like the LT members but please don’t put the brush that you use on them on the other volunteers that you’ve never met and can’t possibly judge.
Thank you Pencil. I could not say it any better.
“I forgot to mention your admiration for the parasitical lifestyle in high quarters.”
If it’s so bad then, again, why do many of the hosts I meet on CS intend on beginning to travel full-time themselves in the near future, and most of the rest, even settled professionals with families, rue that that awaited hour is nowhere in sight?
Furthermore, your assertion that travel is somehow economically parasitical is ridiculous. It takes large amounts of money to travel full-time, and that income is taxable in one’s home country. At the same time, one is not using the social welfare services of one’s home country, saving them money. One is also paying local sales taxes, benefitting the economy of the host country. And since the full-time travelers I know tend to become more and more affluent as time goes by, eventually abandoning CS to stay in hotels or to rent property in whatever small community they decide to stop in for a few weeks, opportunities for business are evidentally abundant.
Christopher: “one is not using the social welfare services of one’s home country”
Yes, I remember from that other thread, how it annoys you to miss this free ride. Interesting that you should consider living on welfare the normal course of things.
I don’t consider living on welfare the normal course of things. But if accident struck, one would be abroad and would probably rely on private health insurance to visit a physician, therefore sparing the public resources of one’s home country.
Of course, you just evade my entire post.
Christopher: “you just evade my entire post”
In my opinion you’ve been led far enough down the garden path for everybody to recognise your attitude, and no more response is required. It is obvious that you wouldn’t recognise real life responsibilities if they came and grew as a boil on your nose.
“It is obvious that you wouldn’t recognise real life responsibilities if they came and grew as a boil on your nose.”
And yet I have an income, pay taxes, and beyond work I do to get by I produce something of eternal value to society (after all, Finland invited me there for research that no one else was interesting in doing).
What are real-life responsibilities to you, Pickwick? Working 9 to 5 at a sham job and then coming home to sit in front of the television until you dose off?
Christopher: “What are real-life responsibilities to you, Pickwick?”
To most people I suppose it means putting children through college. To others it means sharing good and bad times in a relationship. Then there are people who take pride in their work because they can make a real difference. To me it happened to mean for instance working to pay the difference between my grandmother’s tiny pension and her giant nursing home bill for six years, so that she could stay in a nice place within her life long neighbourhood. As a result I had to wait until I was 50 before I could go into early retirement, to achieve the independence I had worked for all my life.
Christopher: “Working 9 to 5 at a sham job and then coming home to sit in front of the television until you dose off?”
You really know absolutely nothing about me. Knock it off. The more you say, the deaper you’re digging your hole.
“Then there are people who take pride in their work because they can make a real difference.”
I take pride in my research because it may solve a number of longstanding problems. OK, I’ve fulfilled one of your definitions of adult responsibilities. Now explain why I have to stay in one place as I work instead of taking advantage of the fact that, as long as I have access to the literature and can write on my notebook, I don’t need to be in any one specific place all the time.
Just because one of your loved ones was in need and you felt obligated to work for her does not compel everyone else who might have the freedom to move about to give up their dreams.
Waiting until retirement age to travel is undesirable for most because at that age diminished energy and language-learning skills are typical. I’m sorry you had to wait so long, but stop acting like the happier lot of other people is some kind of moral issue.
Christopher, you don’t get it. I want to be left alone by leeches like you. That’s why I tell you to knock it off, when I see your passive-aggresssive, sanctimonious preaching, asking people to show boundless generosity towards you, who has the “more meaningful” life style.
No, Pickwick, at heart evidentally I am not your problem. You have elsewhere, even in fora where I have not ever posted, attacked the Leadership Team for their lifestyles. How did e.g. Casey interfere in your personal life? You took it upon yourself to attack people thousands of kilometers away and various degrees of separation away on the site.
Christopher: “How did e.g. Casey interfere in your personal life?”
Same way he interfered in the life of all Couchsurfing users: he stupidly nearly shut down the site , he broke the law, he lied about it, and put our community in danger. I “took it upon myself” to participate politically by expressing an opinion. How do kilometers, or “degrees of separation”, come into that? How do YOU know where I was physically whenever I “attacked” Casey? Now you’re associating yourself with the “Visionary Leader”. I think I’m done.
Getting the site on better legal footing is one kind of complaint. So is wishing Casey were more competent with database work. You, however, have gone beyond that to attack Casey and the gang just for traveling a lot, and staying with people that willingly signed up for Couchsurfing to host them and others. They are managing a website and working on their computers. Why do they need to stay in one place for the rest of their lives?
“Why do they need to stay in one place for the rest of their lives?”
Yes, I’m done.
For reference, here’s Pickwick’s highly fallacious post on the supposed badness of young people traveling:
* I suspect many in the LT, being Americans, already paid for their universities in the course of attending or in repaying student loans. They owe nothing in that regard. (Ditto for hospitals, if private.)
* They are producing something of value, hence verification and donation money rolling in from grateful users of the site, so they have economic productivity.
* They are paying taxes on income, so they are keeping up public infrastructure.
* As for starting a family, birthrates are plunging everywhere in the developed world, and intentionally childless couples that travel constantly are but a tiny fraction of the total. Getting CS people to settle down isn’t going to change much.
Traveling full-time is a rising trend. I’m seeing it grow among acquaintances of mine who I didn’t know to be interested in travel in the first place. Evidentally Pickwick is just going to be increasingly angry at everyone, even as society fails to disintegrate around him like he insists it will.
guys
You’ve taken two opposing sets of completely acceptable circumstances and argued against the validity of the extremes. How true for both. No one wants civilization to collapse Fellini-style in self-indulgent perpetual travel and free-wine-drinking. Likewise, no one yearns to be stuck in 9-5 hell, evening-drooling in the Barcalounger with the remote in hand, awaiting death and annual income tax. It’s easy to win here…just meet in the middle by accepting that the vast majority of CS people travel for some portion of their life and will host as generously as they can (…not perfectly…) for another portion. yay for us:)
An example with (caution, here) some bragging: I can do 8 pull-ups, run a sub 3:50 marathon, do 100 sit-ups and finish off by doing 50 push-ups. I swam 2 miles just yesterday and ran 10 miles in under 80 minutes today. I’m an extreme example of someone who likes to participate in aerobic sports. I’m also a non-drug-using vegetarian who drinks very little alcohol. I am surely the only woman in the history of the world whose husband brags at parties about her serum triglycerides and resting heart rate. Is this good? (Embarrassing at the party but…) yes…I like it and it saves the US medical-industrial-pharmaceutical system a ton of money since I freaking never go to the doctor because I’m never sick.
Do I angrily insist that all people follow my example? No…because most people don’t want to. I don’t have any problem with their choice and don’t mind paying extra on my insurance so that their choice can be equally valid in our society.