Yeah you're overreacting. I don't see anyone claiming the content as their own. It's like digg and similar "vote for this post" sites.

That's how the mods behave over at dadstayshome? Sounds like fun.

We got enough drama over here without sao95 coming over and embarassing himself on his first post. You need to work up to that type of flaming. Maybe start a thread about your love of fishing with your kids first...then you can begin hypocritically calling people dicks.

I don't know how RSS feeds work, but maybe you guys can figure out a way not to pull from our forums. There are plenty of articles and stories published on this site that aren't a part of our discussion boards.

I'm all ears :) Mike set up that RSS feed. I'm not sure how RSS feeds work for the rest of the site and the scripts he is using.

Anyone SAHD site is welcome to add their RSS feeds. I can include summaries or just linked titles (I do that for Rebel Dad per his request.)

I never set out to "Steal" anything. I'm not in this for fame and fortune. I'm quite the opposite. I turn down most media requests.

When this site formed, I emailed, asking how I might be able to help.

Such is life I guess, you can't like everyone. It's just a shame that this issue boils down to false accusations and name calling. I can't say there's no hard feelings, but that's not directed at this site asa whole, just a few members.

And this Digg clone I created (with the assistance of freeware)is in "beta" and I was hoping to create more unity among the SAHD community online.

His site just seems to grab things from all of the Dad sites without any credit given to posters/bloggers/etc. At least with Mile-Hi's posts, the athomedad.org is listed. With Rebeldad.com's latest post, the link reads http://feeds.feedburner.com.

I found this explanation on Don's website of his PLIGG site:
"Pligg, originally named menéame in Spanish, is a web application that allows you to submit an article that will be reviewed by all and will be promoted, based on popularity, to the main page. When a user submits a news article it will be placed in the "pligged" area until it gains sufficient votes to be promoted to the main page."

IMO, Don shouldn't be allowed to submit our articles/posts without permission.
Jim

JimD,

I appreciate the apology. I was not expecting one but it's nice to read :)

Since the script is a beta, some things are hard to control. Like the URL, it uses the feed URL which in some cases is created by a 3rd party, like feedburner.

My plan was/is to let this run for a few months. Then eventually site owners would register and submit their own articles.

RSS feeds are easy because they allow automated importing. I have it set to import feeds every 24 hours.

Most of the the feeds are from Dadstayshome members. Only 3 or 4 are from outside sources.

If you ever go to digg.com. Many articles are not actually submitted by the writer but readers. I try not to publish full articles, but some RSS feeds only have full article text in them.

I was/am hoping to spread traffic to everyone. There is something called the "digg effect". If your site makes it to the front page of digg, many times you get so many visitors your server crashes. I do not want my server to crash, haha, but would love to help boost traffic to those who want it (as long as it's not spammy)

I hope we can put this to rest and live happily ever after :)

Ticktock,
that's how the mods act when people start throwing around accusations. And they were accusations. As for embarrassing myself, that's fairly subjective, personally I don't feel embarrassed in the least. And am I a hypocrite, no as everyone on dadstayshome knows I'm a mother fucker, not a dick, a subtle difference perhaps but still a difference ;)

We didn't know that there was an RSS feed linked to the other site. Few of us have ever heard of an RSS feed, and I'm sure only a handful of us even knows what one does.

You guys have come over to inform us, and now we know. Thanks for doing that. Lord knows we aren't immune to snarkiness here, but call off the dogs please.

Wouldn't a better example be that we are a kid whose parents loaned our bicycle to the neighbour's children, and then we see the boy from next door on our bike and freak out and tell all our buddies that we're going to call the cops... only to find out from the neighbour that our parents were the one's who loaned the bike... and now the neighbour's kid is all up in our face acting like we knew our parents loaned our bicycle?

Very Nicely Put Mike...

I am also a Mod at Dadstayshome, but I leave the biting to SAO... LOL

Something we all might want to try is working together. Like Mike said there is no competition between the site owners. It is all about one thing...PROMOTING AT HOME DADS!!! Not only do I mod that site, but I am the owner of "A Man Among Mommies" and write for Dons other project. Plus I have a adventure blog with a group of outdoor friends. On my blog I have a TON of links to sites including this one and offer a RSS feed.

We as At Home Dads deal with enough crap from much of the uninformed public, the last thing we need to do is fight amongst ourselves...

I will try to post here when I can, but maybe some future project could be done with the cooperation of all the members of all the different dads sits.

Be Well...

DarthDaddy... A man Among Mommies...

Have we nothing better to do than argue over the internet? I had never even heard dadstayhome.com site before and thought I would bring it to my associates attention, sorry for any flame I may have caused.
Let’s move on guys, pick up a book and read to the kids, go for a walk, lube the stroller, do the anything just step away from the keyboard and breathe deep and crack your knuckles if you’re so inclined.
I have gotten a little “overindulged” in the past from the walls closing in and gotten in too deep in a discussion before, right Ticktock? No need for a reply. This is turning into “byte” turf wars so everybody back to their corner to remove the gloves, spit in the bucket and remember what is really important here, and that is to set a good example for your kids.
And with that said-
Anybody hear a good cheesy joke lately?
This mushroom walked into a dance club and asked this girl to dance.
She replied, "Are you kidding? You are a mushroom!!" And the mushroom replied, "Oh come on. I am a FUN GUY!!"
Get it???

i steal from my own web site!
check it out:

www.thechestpains.blogspot.com

Never Make A Promise You Can't Keep*

The promise: To build a tree house for my son Spencer before his fifth birthday.

I would like to mention up top here that this was not my idea – but the wife’s. She’d been looking at web sites and books with schematics and decided that she would take off the week of Easter, essentially Spring Break for the masses, and we will build the tree house.

The beginning of my tree house boot camp started on Saturday, March 26, 2005. My wife and Spencer drove to a lumber store in Burlington, NC, because it was significantly cheaper than the local Lowes or Home Depot.

My wife is all about the discount.

When they returned, Spencer ran in to tell me of how the wood fell out of the truck and that “people he didn’t even know” helped them pick the wood off of the highway. Yes, I just said HIGHWAY. My wife and son were one of those people – the kind who spill lumber out of the bed of a truck. Shortly thereafter, I ferried 60 pound bags of cement to the backyard and hauled whatever timber was needed at the moment off the back of the truck.

In the blink of an eye, my wife darted off to rent a two-person auger. Boy, did we feel sore the next day. But shit if we didn’t get some holes burrowed and 6” x 6” x 12’ posts set.

We finished framing the tree house, fastening lumber with lag screws to the pine trees which acted as the back of the tree house. Since we don’t have much in the way of tools, we borrowed a power drill and some drill bits. Outside of that, our circular saw, a hammer, and a pair of vice grips do the bulk of the work.

Day One was over and we were spent.

Sunday, Day Two, began at the crack of dawn. The kids were fed breakfast, coffee was made and by 9 a.m. the family was outside and construction continued. 5 ¼” x 6’ x 10” decking boards were placed as flooring. By now it was apparent that our thorough measuring wasn’t all that thorough: some angles weren’t straight and some lumber wasn’t level. We were well on our way to building a tree house of Dr. Seuss proportions.

Midway through the day, my hands became to sore – the hammering of ten-penny nails and screwing 2 1/2” screws into planks with a shitty drill bit took its toll.

We broke for the day at dinner time.

Monday found rain in the forecast so I attended a business meeting most of the day and it turned into a day of much needed rest; a day to recoup our energies and step back and take in what progress had been made.

Tuesday began much like the other days: the kids got fed the coffee brewed and then off to the backyard to work amongst the backdrop of whirring saw blades, buzzing drills, kids hollering and us screaming back at them. The agenda called for putting up the 6’ x 6’ sides, slapping up railings made with 2 x 4s and placing the balusters. The balusters mimic the look of the deck in our backyard and also function as a safety element prohibiting the kids from falling off the sides. As dusk arrived, the yard was cleaned of its construction litter and the tools placed back inside, because the next day was Spencer’s birthday and for that we spent the night at Wrightsville Beach.

Wednesday morning slogged by because we couldn’t leave too early since check-in time at the hotel wasn’t until after 3 p.m. We packed clothes and organized toys to be used as distractions for the kids during the 2 plus hour drive to the beach.

The wife was behind the wheel and we were somewhere east of Raleigh. She came upon what appeared to be an unmarked police car. He sped up and she followed him. Then he slowed down and got behind a car in the right lane. My wife did the same. He broke out of the right lane and sped up. Again, my wife followed suit. Finally he settled back into the flow of slower moving traffic in the right lane and with that my wife made the executive decision that the unmarked car is not a cop after all but probably just some business man. She zoomed past him in the left lane.

Moments later she cried out, “Dammit! It was a cop.

I turned around to see the red and blue blinking lights. I started to search for the registration in the glove compartment.

“Ma’am,” he said. “Do you know hwy I pulled you over?”

“I was doing the speed limit,” my wife snapped back.

“Ma’am,” he said emphatically. “Don’t argue with me! I haven’t written a ticket in over four years but I still could if I wanted to.”

The cop is obviously angry. He lectured her about safe driving. “Especially with children in the car,” he said.

“Ma’am,” he said sternly. “Please drive safely.”

The rest of the car ride to the beach is done in silence.

The beach was fun. The weather was great, the ocean water was predictably cold, but the pool was heated. Spencer did double duty going from beach to pool to beach and then back again to the pool until late in the evening. We attempted to eat dinner out by our youngest Cole was restless at the dinner table so we retreated to the room and ordered room service where we sat and ate as we looked out from our balcony to the beach, the waves and the horizon.

We ordered The Incredibles on pay-per-view and collectively snuggle in bed. Despite all the hype I’d heard about the movie, it barely kept my interest - or anyone else’s for that matter – and consequently drove the whole family to sleep.

Sunrise came too soon.

We hit the breakfast buffet, tackled the beach and pool one more time, than headed back home. Once home the car was emptied and it was back to the business of building a tree house. A couple of hours were put in tinkering before we shower up and the babysitter arrived. The wife was on vacation after all so a nice dinner between the two of us was a must.

Friday - Day Four of proper building if you are counting - came and we framed the roof, built a ladder, and attached a slide. The wife had second thoughts about putting on a tin roof because it cost too much so she settles for a blue tarp. I balked at the blue tarp because it didn’t appear very safe – the tarp wasn’t going to break the fall of a pine tree limb. So the roof situation is rethought and it is decided that the tarp with go and the tin roof will stay.

Saturday came and we now had a tree house in the backyard. But it was raining and the yard was all tore up from all the lumber and saw dust and still muddied from the previous rain storm earlier in the week. Our goal to finish in time for Spencer’s birthday party on Saturday was achieved only nobody was going to get to enjoy it since it was pouring down rain.

We kept the promise we made by building the tree house in time for his party. But it wasn’t an easy task.

And another lesson in the world of parenting was learned: never make a promise you can’t keep.

*A version of this essay originally appeared in Raleigh's The Hatchet.

http://thechestpains.blogspot.com/2007/03/esl-for-kids-trying-to-explain-good.html

I like that tree fort, my kids are buggin me for something. We bought a shed, I put a wall up to partition off an area for a fort but it was not authentic enough for my oldest, hahaha!

You should have posted more pics of the work in progress, pictures good :)