2/18/08

Two New Cities in RIA Local

We've launched two new cities as part of our local business reviews section: a Richmond, VA Directory and a Madison, WI Directory.

You can now rate restaurants, doctors, hotels, mechanics, bars, and much more in both Richmond and Madison.

8 comments:

  1. Any plans on adding the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area to RIA local?
    I realize there might not be a lot of demand for it, but the closest city currently on the list is over 100 miles away from me. The RIA local concept is cool, but with the current list of cities isn't of any real use to me.

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  2. I'll add the comment from the Ridgewalker/Wiseguy thread here to be sure it is current and also wanted to add a little note for Donovan in the hopes he reads this blog...

    Donovan, I didn't dislike you because of your Christian beliefs. I don't like you because you have no ethics and are a hypocrite. You cheated on the site and you gained unfair positive helpfuls and support from "buddies" just like Numbah.

    You had, and probably still have, all your buddies from the Kentucky EMA clicking helpful and coming to your defense.

    Such behaviour should not be allowed by the site admin since it provides clear disadvantages to many users and most definitely provides you with advantages. You are the precise reason why RIA was exposed as a Don't Give A Crap site so long as the hits keep coming and there is money to be made.

    Your beliefs are to the extreme in the same way ANY fundamentalist religious zealot is. You espouse hatred, damnation, and intolerance in worse ways than many over the edge fanatical muslim groups do.

    You hide behind your religion to deflect criticisms that you can do wrong or be wrong. Coming across as the right hand of god fulfilled.

    It is all a load of crap. You are narrow minded, mean spirited and wholly without moral. You are bad for your community and the world in general. Given power to determine the course of society you and your fellow members of that fringe group would bring it to ruin within weeks.

    In all my time on RIA I never encountered anyone as disingenuous or idiotic. RalphtheWonderLlama made more sense in a single tirade than you have in 10,000 posts.

    I was a more eloquent reviewer. I was more broad in scope. I was more detailed and certainly more tolerant. I was even friendlier.

    Whereas you tore down most things by spending most time on religious issues (which I am sure continues to this day) I worked to improve the site. Not just with comments and later my lists (which were non-judgmental unlike your utter crap) but also on RIA main.

    Long before most made an effort to assist with site improvements I was right there chugging away. I'd still be there today but greed won out and nimrods such as yourself were allowed to spoil the site with nonsense and banal comments.

    Am I arrogant? Not at all. I know what I accomplished as do many others. My focus was always quality and fairness. Two items that aren't even in your vocabulary and a review of your comments would easily prove that.

    So enjoy the buddies at EMA and offer them that occasional reach around for the support. But it won't alter what an intolerant, idiotic, and immoral hypocrite you are.

    Given what I know about myself and the site admin, if forced to choose I doubt it would be you or your comments that would be desired for the site. Admitting as much would require too much courage for the admin but I am content to know your comments also turn his stomach.

    Your private messages whining and moaning, only to publicly state I harrassed you was so pathetic. That was ultimately documented to the point you had to stop. Finally. You simply lacked the skin necessary and your intolerance refused to allow me the space to criticize your stupid comments. You had to carry on about it until warned to stop.

    Personally, I think hell holds a special place for beings such as yourself.

    And make no mistake. I AM Christian. My core beliefs are Catholic. You of course tried to tear down Catholicism too but that was par for the course.

    So if you comment about me at all leave religion out of it. Your religious views are meaningless to me except to showcase how narrowminded you are.

    Now my comments on the end of the year migration...

    Although I doubt the blog owner/site admin will leave any of this up for long...

    ********************************
    LMAO

    I am glad to see more shit hit the fan. Irishgit has taken leave as well.

    Numbah is an idiot and ruins credibility for the site. I am glad to see all those others leave. I don't care about the circumstances.

    I do think it is interesting that the Admin's was once again accused of not being fair. But the sheep that remain meekly kneel and ignore the obvious.

    Exactly how many well spoken and longtime reviewers have to leave, with most saying the same thing, before it sinks in?

    A few notes of clarification on comments I have seen here or there...

    The admin did not make the choice on my leaving. I was in fact encouraged to stay. I also never wanted the site run my way. I simply wanted the ability to voice my opinion about the flaws. When it became evident that an effort was being made to curb my opinion on certain issues I decided to leave.

    I don't give one crap about other peoples "comments" with regard to their "owning" it. I taught the admin a very important lesson... I had the ability to remove all comments on my lists and then the lists themselves. I did not like being screwed with. And the admin can deny he was screwing with me all he wants. I wanted no reference to me to remain on the site. No comments, no lists. Nothing.

    Would that be honored by the users or the admin? Hell no. I fully expected idiots like Numbah to make bold statements to the effect that I asked them to leave too. Or to make references to me as a child who cried and ran away.

    LOL

    I stated that EVERYONE should leave. The site was crap. It was crap because it didn't care about quality. And Numbah was the #1 tool in the cabinet that exemplified that. I didn't expect Numbah to leave and I stated to many including Irishgit, Castlebee, Becky, IJR and many others that it would be a travesty when that moron became the #1 most helpful reviewer because he had a few buddies helping out.

    Numbah plays the fool and rants about his marine corp stuff. Freely accepting his moniker as a know nothing smartass. I know a few marines and those I know are ashamed that he doesn't even attempt to represent such a fine group properly. No, instead he prances around an opinion site for the mock glory of getting the most helpfuls and being found the most amusing.

    And the admin doesn't blame the recipient of those helpfuls? Huh? It had been blatant and obvious that he was getting helpfuls for utter crap. He knew his buddies were giving him helpfuls and he loved it.

    Now go post something rude about me Numbah. I am sure it will get lots of helpfuls. Considering the admin lets comments by you such as "duh" stand with 10 helpfuls is a true testimony to the fact he and the site lack any integrity whatsoever and that you couldn't think your way out of a yes or no question.

    People should check sites such as myspace and even blogspot. ALL user created items belong to the user. Should that user leave EVERYTHING goes with them if that is their choice. That includes any comments made by others.

    So why does RIA differ in that respect? Surely Myspace, and blogs care just about about the "sanctity" of their sites. About the continuity. So arguments to that affect (which are about the only ones made) are bullshit.

    The real reason is that it is a clique and the admin wants to make a name for himself. Wants the hits and wants to brag.

    In the same way he posted on the blog that RIA trounced Facebook. If you read the article RIA is described thusly:

    "Many of the other poorly-performing social media sites aren't exactly household names, like Searchles (SPI 5,856) and RateItAll (SPI 3,370)."

    LMAO.

    Come on admin. Can't you at least try not to exaggerate SOME of the time. To me your assessment that RIA trounced Facebook, given what the article actually said, was a complete fabrication.

    But then again honesty isn't a commodity that sells or generates activity for a website. So I guess the fabrication is a necessity. You can always count on the sheep being too naive to know better.

    I said when I left that I would come back if things changed. If idiots like Numbah were eliminated or at least put in their place as a novelty reviewer and not allowed to receive helpfuls for crap.

    I also advocated the ELIMINATION of helpfuls period. To this day tht has not been done. Odd that every time the helpful controversy rears its head the same thing is said... I am consdering changes or eliminating it. Same old song and dance.

    And it hasn't been done and won't be done because that will cost the site a lot of users. Most of the crap reviewers would be gone immediately. But so would all that website generatin business. And RIA is a business.

    The users are nothing more than a tool. Stop being tools.

    If the admin had any integrity and actually cared about quality and fairness he would have made REAL changes.

    Is this a case of the site not running the way I think it should? No. It is a question of common sense.

    The site touts itself as a review and opinion site. Yet it makes no effort whatsoever to provide quality commentary that might actual be useful to browsers.

    And I quote from Ridgewalker:

    "but when writers log on to RIA and see the kind of drivel, bantering and adolescence that goes on, they don’t see a place to write."

    Obviously nothing has changed. When I was on RIA it was a challenge ignoring the regular morons who posted hate, stupidity, sarcasm or other such irrelevant material EXCLUSIVELY. And to this day no effort is made to control it.

    The exact opposite is true. The site advertises itself as a place to say anything about anything.

    My assertion when I left that eventually all good writers and regulars would leave in frustration is coming to pass. And I am glad of it. It's what th admin deserves. Oh sure, he'll probably go to his SF 2.0 events and speak on opinion and community sites as an "expert". He will probably still earn a living from his useless tools making jokes on even the most serious subjects.

    But there will be no one left who actually puts in an effort to apply their brain and provide useful critiques to anything meaningful.

    And maybe the site will eventually be sued. A Court order seeking email addresses based on commentary for a TV evangelist is only the beginning I would think.

    But then again, when you allow any nimrod to post what do you expect?

    I suggest revisiting some business ethics classes.

    Congratulations to all who were banned, left, or grew tired of the site. Your opinions are priceless and thank god you are no longer participating in a site that tries to sell them.
    *******************************

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  3. Twansalem, unfortunately I don't think we have any data for a Cedar Rapids / Iowa City directory. Let me know if you want to start one - I could set up some basic lists (restaurants, bars, etc.), but it would be up to folks to fill in the businesses. It's sort of a hassle as you'd have to add the address data as well.

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  4. If you set up a few of the basics, I'd be more than willing to start adding items. I don't know how much I'll add, or how quickly, it really depends on how much free time I have.

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  5. From Donovan

    pbeavr,

    I usually do not read this blog but another RIA reviewer told me about what you said. I knew you did not like me but I am amazed just how much you actually hate me. Yes, I had a friend that works with me that also previously had a RIA account (only one). If it's a crime for friends to give you helpfuls if they like your posts then yes I'm guilty. He is no longer on RIA and has not been so for a long while. Now how you figured out he worked with me just goes to show how unsecured this site is. I'm saddened by your hurtful post but I am glad that you are now a Christian. I'm sorry for the back and forth banter we shared on this site because it really served no purpose (I see that now). You can doubt my faith if you want but I do try to serve the Lord whether you believe it or not. I never said I was perfect. God bless you, I wish you the very best!

    Donovan

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  6. FYI Donny boy... you have radio buttons below the message box to type a message where you can select to enter a name. That way you don't get lsisted as "Anonymous" and have to post your name twice.

    And don't give yourself that much credit.

    I dislike your behaviour and nature. And by "you" I mean all the sniveling religious zealot hypocrites. In this case I happen to have had more contact than desired.

    I shouldalso note, in addition to the fact you can't follow the process to provide a name for posts, that you also don't read or comprehend my posts.

    Hell, you don't even seem to remember the repeated private messages directing me to websites bashing Catholicism...

    "that you are now a Christian"

    I was born and raised Catholic you moron. I didn't just become a christian. And it is people like you that lead me to question doctrine. Among Catholics and other religions. Buddhism seems the most tolerant and accepting. Especially in contrast to your narrow view of things.

    You efforts to take the high road are laughable. A stunt you have always pulled. You can't risk saying what you really think... "PBeavr is a complete prick". Yeah, any fool would know you have thought it. Given the absolute lambasting I sent your way for the underhanded tactics of you and your crew and the constant harrassment (which also disproves your "faith" and "oneness with god") I am sure few believe that you didn't want to say it either.

    What you want people to believe:

    Donovan has prayed for PBeavr and the preservation of his soul. Donovan has no ill will or anger or any untoward feelings for PBeavr or anyone else.

    What people know:

    Donovan has steamed over many comments and would like nothing better than to return in kind. But unmasking yourself publicly is communal suicide.

    Do you beat your wife? Do you browse for porn? Maybe browse for the extra special and hard to find fetish porn? Do you fantasize about the neighbors 10 year old son?

    Offensive questions? Let me put it this way...

    How many documented cases of men described as "upstanding citizens and members of the church" who were actually found guilty of pedophelia, spousal abuse, child pornography.

    When someone shows absolutely nothing but a "take the high road", "I am a good christian soul who holds no ill will stance"... I question them in every aspect of their word. And when I know that person, one such as yourself, to have committed blatant harrassment and cheating then it opens the door to suspicion even more.

    As for your "friends helping friends" comment for RIA items...

    The admin can attest that I FULLY expressed dislike for such things. It is like voting for the prom queen or class president. It isn't about how well a campaign they ran or how deserving they are. It is only about how many friends they have or how many "buddies" they can make.

    The RIA Top Reviewer and overall Top 100 should have been based on something tangible and worth having pride in. And if buddies are stuffing the ballot box it loses all value and respectability.

    And since there is no viable means to prevent such ABUSES, abuses you admit to being part of, that leaves only one option... Eliminate it.

    And one last bit of clarification. The admin can say publicly and privately whatever he likes about me, my attitude, and my behaviour. He knows I don't give a rats ass. But he also knows that I don't deal in rumors and nonsense. I have a very keen sense of right and wrong and ethics. We have clashed on those subjects many times and I am adamant he is wrong but I have no need for lies and have a stomach churning distaste for issues and people that violate those things.

    That being said I would never state something I didn't believe in fully. Sincerity is paramount.

    RIA had nothing to do with tracking down who you are and who your chronies were. It is the same for Irishgit, Enkidu, President X-D and many others. At no time did the RIA admin or any aspect of RIA (other than someone having established themselves as known to me by posts there) assist me in tracking down who people really were.

    I run regular searches for myself on the web. All my personas. My street address, my telephone number, my wife, my kids. And am glad to say the ONLY people who know anything at all about me or who could find anything out about me are those on RIA who have access to my email addresses and former account information.

    And since that information is protected the consequences of anything being revealed from those sources would be dire.

    But that should be a lesson to you and to others. Not because you use RIA but because the internet is an unlimited resource and few know how to protect themselves and even fewer try.

    You should keep that in mind as you write something. The world is a dangerous place and your high road antics won't mean squat if you piss the wrong person off.

    A women in the recent past had a daughter with issues on myspace where she was humiliated. The mother got access using an anonymous account to the girl who hurt her daughter. She pretended to be a young boy in the same town who was attracted to her.

    After several months went by she mocked the girl and said after receiving new pictures of the girl how grotesque she was and how fat she had become.

    This young girl, mean as she may have been to that women's daughter, went upstairs to her bedroom and killed herself from the hurt inflicted.

    This woman lived only a few houses away on the same street.

    That story can be found on the internet for anyone interested in the facts... my restating is the best I can do from memory.

    Suffice it to say that the internet is not a toy as some would believe. It is a tool. And if you are willing to pay 40.00 a year you can look up ANYTHING on someone if you get the right informationto start with.

    And you Donovan, not only allowed your true self to be easily found but it includes color pictures so you can be IDed with ease.

    In today's world I would not want to allow that to happen. For a public persona or someone like the site admin who requires such things to make the sale it is one thing. For the average person protection of their privacy and their own security is much more vital.

    I happen to enjoy the ad where a man transports his real Social Security number around on the sides of a semi truck daring people to try and find out anything.

    Now that man is selling something EVERYONE should buy.

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  7. pbeavr,

    I hope you feel better now that you were able to get all of that off your chest. Apparently you do not know me as much as you think you do. It is amazing to me that you are still so bitter after all this time. I use the anonymous choice because I choose to. I sign my username so you know it's from me. You call me mean spirited but do you read what you write? Oh well you have not changed; I would though encourage you to lighten up or you will have a heart attack.

    Donovan

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  8. Psalm 64

    1 Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy.

    2 Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

    3 Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

    4 That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.

    5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?

    6 They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.

    7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded.

    8 So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away.

    9 And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.

    10 The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

    Have a good evening,
    Donovan

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