RichardN22@No-Spam wrote:
> In a message dated 10/29/01 9:01:12 AM Pacific
> Standard Time, rdcrisp@No-Spam writes:
>
>
>
>> and the comment about the weather could have
>> just as easily been
>> posted to TAC where it could have been
>> welcomed.
>>
>
> You miss the point, Richard. If you want lots
> of astro chatter there is plenty on the
> internet. Sci Astro Amateur has lots of posts
> on a variety of topics. Some from very
> knowledgeable folks, some from people on some
> kind of drugs. ;-)
I am fully aware of the newsgroups on the net. I
grew up on them.
My point must not have been made clearly enough,
because you seem to have not received it. I am
just saying that having a local oriented group
where you can actually meet these people is of
benefit. the postings wander around a bit, but I
find it amazingly easy to skip ones that I know I
am not interested in, such as the green laser
pointer posts. I just read ones that look
interesting based on the topic or who wrote them.
I find it amazing that so many apparently have
such difficulty skipping irrelevant stuff. Hey,
when I go shopping in the store, I may skip aisles
that I know there's nothing in there I want, and I
certainly do not look at everything in the store.
I have learned how to pick and choose what to look
at and what to buy.
>
>
> Why would I welcome posts about the weather on
> TAC when I can look out the window? Perhaps if
> you want a free for all bay area astro chat
> list, you can start another TAC off-shoot like
> TAC-imaging. It can be called TAC-Talk! :-)
There's been quite a thread recently about the
weather and a website that predicts sky
conditions. I believe that most that participated
in the discussion felt they received value from
it. That's my point. And even though it could have
been discussed on Sci.Astro. xxxxx, it would not
have been of value to the guys in Florida or
Kashmir. Likewise when Orchard Supply has a sale
on some battery that is useful to power mounts,
why would a guy in Detroit care about that?
Bottom line is the off-shoot groups go off on
their own and are essentially a fracturization of
the group. Specialized by charter, yes, but in
reality, people are going to post what they find
interesting, and that occurs in the "boutique
lists" as well. Sometimes that stuff is deemed
off-topic, and either the thread dies out, or
someone squelches it. When you have unmoderated
groups, that just happens.
To me the S/N ratio on this list is still quite
excellent by normal internet standards. And I
think that comes largely from the localized nature
of the list. If you know you will never see
somone, then the temptation to flip them off in a
flame war is increased perhaps. Because many of us
see each other on a regular basis, I believe that
brings in a level of policing that simply does not
exist in the anonymous world-wide groups that are
full of the weirdos you mentioned.
>
>
> THIS TAC list exists to organize bay area
> amateur astronomers, plan star parties, chat
> about observing with a smattering of friendly
> banter thrown in. You talk about new folks
> ocming in and things changing, but do you start
> re-arranging the furniture when you visit
> someones home?
The TAC list works marvelously well at the goals
you have stated. I've never seen anything quite
like it. It is a testament to the wisdom of those
that created it. And like any successful endeavor,
it evolves over time.
Regarding furniture, I have on occasion done just
that. And guess what, it worked better and when I
have visited again, I've seen my work persist.
rdc
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon Oct 29 2001 - 12:40:42 MST