Badges?

i bought a statement and i am now a premium vip member !:partying_face::man_dancing:t3::man_dancing:t3::sunglasses:

1 Like

more « ps » like that and you will climb all badges😜

1 Like

The man who spent too long on the new naim forum… :scream:

13 Likes

Indeed, there are badges for “Promoter - invited a user”, “Campaigner - invited 3 users”, “Good Share - sharing a post with 300 visitors”, “Reply by email”, etc., so on it goes. All metrics to increase the virtual value of this site to prospective buyers of your information. It’s all about time spent online on a particular site and what you look at. This then feeds into Amazon’s algorithms/business model for advertisements. Might seem a bit odd when you consider that this forum displays no ads. Ultimately though, data being collected here (by Amazon) will influence the ads you see on other sites you visit. Nothing nefarious about it, that’s just the way the internet currently works, largely due IMO to lack of privacy legislation and the vast revenues generated by platforms like Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, etc. So that’s probably the real value of virtual badges.

Hi Joerand, yup I guess you are not far off the beam on that. Whatever, I’m not at all concerned, nefarious or not. That is until I find otherwise.

1 Like

Joerand, as far as I know your concerns are unfounded here. I’ve asked Naim to clarify if you’re particularly worried.

Their is an ‘I’m not concerned badge’ …:smile:

Hmnnn…he actually looks like a young Trevor Wilson the previous MD. Sorry Trevor if you are looking in, hope all is well😁

Oh dear. I hope my VPN and virtual IPs don’t mess up Amazon’s precious algorithms. That would be awful.And I sweep cookies. Maybe if they paid me…

1 Like

I don’t mind the badges, it gives an insight about other posters use of the forum, which is less intrusive than some threads.

1 Like

If we are talking badges what about this one ?

Hammersmith Odeon 6 May 1979

2 Likes

perhaps could we vote to cancel all these badges ? anyway i don’t bother on it.

1 Like

Richard, I’m not worried whatsoever. Just realistic about my privacy rights each time I log onto the internet. It has nothing to do specifically with Naim’s forum. My online actions are tracked by my ISP as well as any platform I log into. This generates data that can be sold to interested parties willing to pay.

Here’s a very relevant link to how this practice works in reality, why folks might want to be more concerned, and how little individual privacy regulation actually exists on the “net” (hope you’ll allow this);

The Naim forum offers the option to login via Facebook or Google, and it is administered by Amazon; the three big players accounting for every keystroke you make. It’s nothing personal, your actions are simply fed to an algorithm managed by a very, very big machine.

1 Like

One thing I’ve noticed is that even though all my lap-top/device Location settings are set to Off (inc Apps), on my Forum ‘Account’ page, it’s showing the location of my device. I may have to look-up the use of a VPN service.

Having been rejected by both the Cubs and the Scouts it’s nice to finally get some kind of badge, any kind.

2 Likes

Joerand, we don’t enable login via Facebook or Google. Confimed by our developer in response to your concerns, I can confirm that the only authentication method running on the forum is serviced by the local database. The same goes for badges, the data of who has what badge is stored in the local database. So no 3rd party involved - only Naim has access to the data.

The link we have to Amazon is the image storage service and AFAIK we’re working on trying to make that local too.

1 Like

Yes, I was surprised to see it had logged both device and location of use. It doesn’t seem to appear publicly (I’ve just tried to find yours to check), so that is slightly reassuring, but the fact that it is logged is a potential security risk, to anyone with access being akin to announcing on Facebook when you’re on holiday so everyone knows your home may be unattended… But as Joerand points out, that info is probably already monitored by Amazon, Google etc… VPN to hide your actual location may be a possibility if it works smoothly - but far better if unnecessary data was not collected. Where does this sit with GDPR I wonder?

I went through my entire scout career only getting the scout standard badge, so I guess I am not much of a badge person.

Apparently after visiting for 10 days on the trot I’ve been promoted to an Enthusiast which seems to imply that I must be enthusiastic about something…maybe that’s how I felt when I got my cycling proficiency and 25 yard doggy paddle badges when I was a child.

Seriously though, whilst I accept they are part of the platform I’m not sure what they actually add to the forum.

Well, at the very least, they’ve added this quite lengthy thread to the forum :wink: