Possible emerging trends on Forum?

[Ian K]

Just a point to ponder - and we are far from getting to this point:

Another forum I frequent has its own "paddock" area. Over the years, that
area has become so immense (the sheer number of topics and posts outnumber
the rest of the forum by a long shot), that their server and software constantly
have problems (and they have very capable hardware, software and programmers
working on it). As a result, the just initiated a purge of old "paddock" material.
The thinking is, since that area is not really relevant to the actual forum's focus,
there is no real need to archive the off topic material.

So, Ron, maybe regular removal of really old Paddock posts might be something
you can think about implementing in the near future.

As far as actual Paddock content - I very rarely post there, and tend to avoid
topics I either have no interest in or know that the flames are licking pretty
high.

Ian

[Malcolm]

Thread drift!!!!!!

1. Maybe or maybe not, SOME products and services are being over sold?
2. Maybe or maybe not, SOME forum members are being over reactive/sensitive about close to home humour/attempts at humour?

[Keith Hardy]

Originally Posted by Malcolm

Thread drift!!!!!!

1. Maybe or maybe not, SOME products and services are being over sold?
2. Maybe or maybe not, SOME forum members are being over reactive/sensitive about close to home humour/attempts at humour?

1. Yes
2. No

But clearly my opinions don't count as has been explained to me, as I don't have and now will never have a '40 - I am just "noise".

It's very common for things to change like this when an industry grows from Cottage to Factory. Is it for the better? Personally I think not but it's probably inevitable. I enjoy the self build, engineering and racing side of things but have no interest in the rollers and turnkeys, and when you add Commercial Interest into the equation, nothing will ever be the same again. And that is precisely how the forum has changed over the years.

Sorry for the "noise".

[Dave S]

Maybe or maybe not, SOME products and services are being over sold

Ok you Guys are going to have to come clean and say who is over selling?
I can't see any difference in the forum in the way the Manufactures push their products.

[I LOVE GT40- Paolo]

I love to talk about planes and with real pilots in paddock area.
Please do not remove such threads.

[roaldin]

To Malcolms points first -
1) I don't really have a complaint in that area, not more than the occasional post anyway, certainly not anything I would call an established problem. Maybe I don't read the posts in question.
2) Humour is definitely in the eye of the beholder. Getting it across can be tortuous and has certainly caused me problems...
I absolutely agree with you about the death thing - Never funny. Shows the depth of sickness in the "modern" world IMO and is (IMO) part of why some people think it's ok and even think it can be justifiable to destroy peoples lives. Sick people and a sick society, whatever society that is.

The rest:-

This forum is one of the best.
It is pretty tolerant of alcohol and mood swings as well.
I agree it isn't what it was but I'm getting used to the new evolved version and it's not so bad really. Occasionally things get a bit silly but that mellows out pretty quickly for the most part.
I've had issues with misunderstanding etc but hell, you get that. Suck it up and try again is probably the best attitude.
I see no need to change the forum, although I really do regret that some of the early contributors have departed.
I do see a bit of a gang mentality occasionally and that can make it difficult for people to pipe up in disagreement, but that happens in pub's too.
I do regret that there seems to be less engineering etc discussed but part of that is (IMO) a sometimes aggressive approach towards people who are asking questions or bringing up subjects that have been discussed before. That stifles discussion IMO although I understand the frustration of constant repetition...

All in all I think this place has a great balance and as many have said before, it's easy to filter out stuff you don't like.

Contentious stuff:-
Things like religious or political difference are difficult anywhere. Things like experiential differences can also be troubling - for instance I feel terribly for those affected badly by RF mk1 but when I see RL called a thief it just doesn't work in my head because there were many opportunities for theft by him in my situation and it didn't happen in any way that I would call theft. I don't know all the circumstances of RF's implosion but to me what happened looked like the result of the SA problems and some really unfortunate business decisions, by some definitions probably negligent, but that's a different thing, to me at least. I was affected because of the loss of arrangements made, but that is nothing like as direct as those who lost deposits etc.
Having said the above I repeat that I empathise deeply with the situations of those affected as I have been let down badly with another vehicle. I lost something like AU$40,000 in that debacle.
From the point of view of those directly involved it is certainly a bitter wound and I understand that. Some effort to repay would certainly have made for a vastly different picture, and perhaps less threatening posts here.
If I am ignorant of some vital incriminating fact or other then I apologise here and now. My opinion is based on what I know of what happened and my personal experience of the business.
...End contentious stuff.

Maybe this is the wrong place to have brought the above up but I thought it likely I'd be shot at if I posted it in answer to recent posts on the subject and I think that illustrates the difficulty of navigating forums sometimes.

Sorry if you think this is irrelevant Malcolm, it seemed like a broad response to a broad (and broadening) question and title.
This is the paddock after all...

Long live The Iron Sheik! (IMO )

Tim.

[Ross Nicol]

'Manufacturers claiming ownership of their part of the forum, because they pay for the privilage'.' You can't comment here because you don't own an xyz car.' Are the sort of things I hate.Had the latter this morning but I think it was tongue in cheek. The Paddock is great (long live the Paddock).Faili I have to correct you, but I'm not a Nazi, it's 'Spot on (old) chap' in English parlance, you missed out the 'old'. I don't understand why some forum users lower themselves to sniping at each other, it's entertaining but totally unnecessary in my opinion.
Ross

[Dave S]

I think that Malcolm's post is a little off topic?

[Iron Sheik]

Nicol, Old Chap,

Thank you for correcting me. I can use the “old” chap with you, because you are not OLD. I could not use it with Malcolm or most of the folks here, because they are senior citizens and I do not want to “insult” them!

Tim, I am renouncing my citizenship (this would be the 2nd time) and would want to know more about becoming an Australian. I am 100% "Nazi" when it comes to Gun Control and Capital Punishment,,,,,,,,, a bleeding heart "Communist" when it comes to people who make minimum wage and big corporations. Please let me know, If I qualify.

I am however quite concerned about one thing though,,,,,,as I hear there are more Muslims in Australia than “Australians” (If so, I ain’t coming).

BTW, where is Pete the Feisty Englishman,,, Australian?!

[Dalton]

Faili, there are quite a few Muslims here. However, these are by far mostly moderate and very pleasant Muslim people. There are some extreme and outspoken Muslims, but there are some extreme Christian and Catholic Australians too. We have a huge Greek population, plus many other nationalities. Overall, we are better off than most countries in the world, in every way.

Oh, quite a few New Zealanders have sneaked in. But they tend to live around Bondi Beach.

[Pete.]

How many forum members does it take to change a lightbulb?


It takes 1 forum member to change the light bulb..

BUT...

It also takes;

1 to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs

27 to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs

53 to flame the spell checkers

6 to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb"

... another 6 to condemn those 6 as anal-retentive

2 industry professionals to inform the group that the proper term is "lamp"

15 know-it-alls who claim they were in the industry, and that "light bulb" is perfectly correct

156 to email the participant's ISPs complaining that they are in violation of their "acceptable use policy"

109 to post that this forum is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a lightbulb forum

203 to demand that cross posting to hardware forum, off-topic forum, and lightbulb forum about changing light bulbs be stopped

111 to defend the posting to this forum saying that we all use light bulbs and therefore the posts are relevant to this forum

306 to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty

27 to post URL's where one can see examples of different light bulbs

14 to post that the URL's were posted incorrectly and then post the
corrected URL's

3 to post about links they found from the URL's that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group

33 to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too"

6 that flame them for not using the Search feature

12 to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy

19 to quote the "Me too's" to say "Me three"

4 to suggest that posters request the light bulb FAQ

44 to ask what is a "FAQ"

4 to say "didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

143 to say "do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs"

16 posts of two forum members that are exclusively talking to each other only about lightbulbs and what they did that weekend

24 posts of telling them to take it to PM's

1 new forum member to respond to the original post 6 months from now and start it all over again

[Keith Hardy]

That's very good Pete, but you missed one:

5 light-bulb (new spelling) manufacturers arguing who's is best and why...

Then, that will kick off a whole load more posts from the respective owners etc etc etc....

[Ross Nicol]

Phew! Pete I think I'll just stay in the dark, lightbulbs are too much trouble.
Ross

[Kevin L]

Pete, that is by far one of if not the best posting I have seen on this or any forum to date.... Thank you for bringing some much appreciated humor and truth.

Kevin

[Russ Noble]

Originally Posted by Dalton

Oh, quite a few New Zealanders have sneaked in. But they tend to live around Bondi Beach.

Dalton, this is a GOOD thing. It raises the average IQ on BOTH sides of the Tasman!!

[roaldin]

Faili,

How much do you drink?

Rules (thank's to Python):-
...
Rule One-
No Poofters!

Rule Two -
no member of the faculty is to maltreat the Abbos in any way at all -- if there's anybody watching.

Rule Three-
No Poofters!!

Rule Four-
I don't want to catch anybody not drinking.

Rule Five-
No Poofters!

Rule Six-
there is NO ... Rule Six.

Rule Seven-
No Poofters!!

Right, that concludes the readin' of the rules, Bruce...

Rule 4 is the most important one.
Oh, and rule 6.

Tim.