C-R-M Other methods of discussion...

I've been posting to usenet since 1994, and the group spam flooding is infrequent. Most people on the net don't have a clue as to what usenet is. Even many of the MS MVPs in the "microsoft communities" don't know that they are using a web based usenet interface. ;)

Personally, I've found that the relative non-mainstream aspect of usenet newsgroups is nice - it reduces the likelyhood of everyone with a browser that just learned to write a bit of code getting on here and posting all kinds of craziness (unless you look at the metalworking newsgroup, that is! ) The sporgery took a dedicated effort.

Anybody remember Gopher ? Wasn't that kind of like a Search Engine before Yahoo! came to life ?

IMHO - jcd

Spam flooding is infrequent yes, true. I just wonder if it is so "elitist" in nature that we miss some good info from interesting people. Of course it does run the risk of flooding with idiots if you open it up other ways I agree.

Fair points. I do think that usenet is a relatively poor effort at a community though, its like everyone staying in their house and talking over SMS instead of going to the pub and getting photos, if you catch my drift. Maybe I'm just frustrated at the lack of people posting here and the lack of "robotics" friends I have lol.

Good points, as well. I completely understand. On the other hand, I have made some very good contacts on here that I pay close attention to when they answer my posts. Quality vs. quantity, I suppose. But then again, with more quantity, you do have more to choose from!

Back to the issue at hand, though. Perhaps it would be best to start another

*moderated* newsgroup, and just invite everyone to move over to that one ? I believe someone else already suggested that and also to cross-post to this one. But even that brings up issues. For example, I would be willing to moderate it, however, since I am also starting up a small robotics venture myself, I would have to take extreme measures to ensure against conflict-of-interest issues - whether real or perceived.

Anyway, who knows what "usenet" will look like in another 10 years ?

Regardless, keep posting your thoughts! It's where good ideas come from! JCD

I think the only problem with this group is the lack of participants. I know it took me while before I stumbled across this group. I initially went to comp.robotics and said "Gee, that sucks". It wasn't until I was Googling for something that I realized that comp.robotics.misc was the REAL group.

I like generic news groups because I am not forced to use somebody else's choice of web interface software.

-howy

I suppose that is a good point yes.

In all honesty I was considering creating a site for likeminded people on my server - it has some spare space and isnt running anywhere near max - but I know, like most people, I am a member of many forums and dont have time to spread my time even further to participate on a new forum. As most people tend to be somewhat architecture specific and/or area specific they tend to prefer sticking to existing sites with existing communities.

Tis all fair enough, guess i was feeling cheesed off and like doing something to fix it lol. I'll go back to google news :)

I will comment that I have started to use RSS feeds to keep track of multiple robotics groups. That way I use one piece of software to keep track of what is going on rather than having to have to visit multiple sites on a regular basis. Posting requires visiting the forum site, I can live with that.

Some robotics sites have RSS feeds and some do not. For example, Seattle Robotics has RSS, DPRG does not. Alas, the one I have some level of control over (HBRC) does not have RSS, so I am being a bit of a hypocrite.

-Wayne

Until the sporger starts putting C-R-M at the start of the messages it's pretty easy to avoid it. In any case, if we all defect to some Web-based group, then the sporger has won.

There are a lot of groups out there, but the good ones tend to be specialized. I think that's a good thing. C.r.m. is a good resource for general discussion -- hence the "misc" in the name. The Parallax forums are probably the best for questions about the Basic Stamp or one of their kits.

-- Gordon

CoyoteBoy wrote:

... And ... the script kiddie has been at it again. Too bad these guys can't take that all "talent" and effort and do something GOOD with it. Or at least profitable. Do THAT and they will get a lot of respect. But not this way ...

See what you mean, but I'm not here to fight a fight - just get on with life - I have enough things that are difficult to read around without adding another lol, Not everyone adds CRM, which means some interesting posts go missing. I suppose I'm just wondering why we all hang on to an archaic method, seemingly just because we don't want to lose it, not because its best lol.

Yes, im starting to see this.

I'm on lots of robot lists. I promote the UNI annual MIniSumo Ship-In contest, so I spread the word by posting on the lists, and I try to keep my hand in when I can add to the various conversations, so I'm not just a one-trick-pony.

All the other groups tend to have a localized bent. PARTS is Portland. SRS is Seattle. DPRG is Dallas. And so on. The Robotics Club on Yahoo is the only other group which is not associated with a local club, or a particular robot type. You can often have a very interesting conversation on a local group, and many posters may be from far and wide, but I always have the feeling of being an outsider, unless I actually attend that club (as I do DPRG).

The value of keeping c.r.m. IMHO is it is world-wide. If your interest is broadly "robotics" as opposed to a particular club or specific robot, this is the best place. It doesn't hurt that old doesn't necessarily mean outdated, but venerable. This is a known place where you get to talk to the experts sometimes, and that is very important.

-- Randy M. Dumse

Caution: Objects in mirror are more confused than they appear.

So you're suggesting a semi-read-only group that displays threads from all (or maybe a user-selected choice) of all robotics groups? I think that would be cool since I am mostly as lurker anyway.

-howy

That would require effort to make that happen. I would appreciate it if somebody undertook that effort, but I am not signing up.

Currently, I just sign up for as many robotics RSS feeds as I can. Here is my current list:

Seattle Robotics:

Society of Robots.Com:

SDRS-List (some SPAM on this one):

-wayne

(sorry, my keyboard went weird and I had actually had to reboot to fix it.)

Here are the rest of my Robotics RSS feeds:

SFRSA:

ORE:

Robots.Net:

Robots Dreams:

If anybody has any other robotics related RSS feeds that they would like to share, please post to the list.

For example, if somebody knows how to get a DPRG RSS feed, please let me konw.

-Wayne

Such as under the robotics > Newsfeeds link on my site:

One of my favourites:

Later, Jon

-------------------------------------------------------------- Jon Hylands snipped-for-privacy@huv.com

Project: Micro Raptor (Small Biped Velociraptor Robot)

I don't know if this spam crap is ever gonna go away, but it's been bad enough for the past month and more that I haven't even bothered to try and sort the valid threads from the junk. So, I've just been avoiding c.r.m altogether, via groups.google.com web access.

I don't know if the spammers would catch onto it, but maybe we can deal with the problem by adding something like [RO] to the beginning of valid posts/threads. As above.

Hmm. [RO] didn't seem to show up on the topic listings. Let's try (RO).