Time to re-read the About this forum...

[aron]

http://www.diystompboxes.com/sboxforum/viewtopic.php?t=21

It looks like Doug may not be coming back. We should all take this time to remember that this forum is for helping others.

Of course long-time participants may get tired of the same questions over and over if they are in the FAQ. If you feel like you are getting upset, take a break and think before you post.

If you are really upset, take it to PM or email.

Participating in this forum should be fun, not taxing. Let's all help each other out and give a little slack to the new people just entering the hobby. Don't let one or two people make you so upset that you decide to leave "forever". All that does is give them control over your actions.

For the people that contribute and have helped over the years.

THANKS!!!!  

[jmusser]

Aron, are talking about Doug Hammond? I know there was the "Gus" thread the other day where there was a little mud slinging or whatever, but man, I hope he's not going to quit posting because of whatever was said there! I only read a couple of the posts, because It was getting to a rant type of thing, and I'm I'm kind of into the pedal thing, and not that. I get enough of that crap prior to "Super Tuesday" to do me for 4 years. When I got on here 3 or 4 years ago, Doug was the one that walked me through my first circuit the "Bobtavia", so I kind of have a soft spot for him and his generosity. I hope whatever was said can be water under the bridge, and we can just go back to building and learning. That will be a big loss for the forum if he decides not to post again. I thought we were all just doing this for fun. I mean, nobody is lying on an operating table somewhere with chest spreaders, waiting on a donor Foxx Tone Machine. Lighten up!

[aron]

Yes it is Doug.  

Very, very sad. Apparently that thread was extremely upsetting.

I'm sure he'd be happy to hear from you!  :wink:

I don't know what to do... Yes, this should be FUN!

[Mark Hammer]

I'm assuming that the focus of this thread involves whatever the reasons were that resulted in the apparent disappearance of the '?' thread.  I certainly hope my own discouraged comments were not responsible.  (I still don't even know what it started out as.  I simply looked at the last few postings, expressed my dismay with the tone, and left without looking any further.)

Ironically, on a listserv I subscribe to for work-related reasons, there was a brief eruption the other day from someone tired of having to answer statistical software questions.  I resorted to using this forum (without naming it) to illustrate how broadly-based issues of patience and cooperation are in the so-called on-line community.  Happily, things have returned to normal on the listserv, and it even provided an opportunity for people to become acquainted with some terrific online resources.

On-line forums are largely victims of their own success.  It's a whole lot easier to inadvertently insult someone you don't know very well when the circumstances suggest informality is the norm.   As Stanley Milgram showed years ago, it's a whole lot easier to hurt someone when you can't see them or have little connection to them.  

Every day, the sheer volume and quality of know-how, wisdom, and good will demonstrated here draws eager learners like pilgrims to Mecca.  Many will lurk a long time before having the courage to post.  Happily, they DO post, and are met with the sort of welcome that encourages many more to come forward, and every time I see another posting where someone expresses their joy at stumbling onto this community, I feel profoundly happy for Aron and Peter.  Would that we all had a similar chance to serve the musical community.

But when you stick so many people in one spot, and shake up the mix of people every single day, something is bound to happen eventually.  As much peace and love as there was at Woodstock, half a million people in one spot eventually resulted in trouble.  Though some folks here have known each other for years, that is not true of everyone.  This forum, and so many others like it on the net represent what is essentially the whole world.  People with different languages, religions, ages, experience, motivations, interests, and yes, sore spots and bad habits.  That people with so many differences, and linked by only one commonality can be parachuted into the midst of others, and still be civil to each other most of the time is, in my mind, a triumph.  Sure, the flare-ups are unpleasant, but when you consider how the odds are stacked against people being able to cooperate in the manner that they do, well I think they deserve some credit for being able to pull it off with the frequency and consistency that they do.

When I was a kid, slot cars and slot car racing was very popular.  It seemed everyone had a road race set.  Being 12 and easily thrilled with speed, naturally, there would be a gradual acceleration of the cars until eventually someone would take a turn too fast and the car would spin out of control, and pop its little guide pin out of the slot that guided it.  The race would grind to a halt.  We'd put the cars back in the slots, ask each other if we were ready to begin again, and the pleasure of the race would be resumed.

Lets get the cars back in the slots, folks.

And as ever, thanks Aron.

[brian wenz]

Hello  Hello--
   Thanks, Mark.   Great post!
 [except that MY blue slot car is prettier then yer red one......]
Brian.

[Tobias Karlsson]

Hi Mark!

If it would be posible to search for the longest or highest level of used letters, you would win :-)

But the're always VERY well used!

Aron, yes, it's all about fun :-)

And try to ignore what's bothering you even if I understand that somtimes it's easier said than done :-)

Best regards

Tobias Karlsson in Sweden

[Mark Hammer]

Hi Tobias,

It's been too long since we corresponded.  Now that winter has come and the bikes are safely put away, though, we should pick up again.   Or are you the sort of man who rides even in winter? :lol:

Brian,

Why do you think those late 60's Fender Mustangs had racing stripes on them?  We was racing-car crazy!

[brian wenz]

Hi Mark--
   Yeah, true!  [Or at least the Fender ad dept was crazy about them...]
Brian.

[Mike Burgundy]

I completely missed whatever this was - but I'm sad to see Doug may be leaving. He's one of the hard-core solder-heads and an inspiration for me for I don't know how long (the firefly alone...lovely).
I hope he decides to return, and that all of us can keep our racecars in the appropriate slots.
No, let me slightly restate that: it's okay to occasionally spin off and have a restart. As long as all participants can then look each other in the eye, wait untill all cars are placed back and we all have fun again, there's nothing amiss. It's not wrong to get heated over something, as long as you don't get abrasive.
The difference between spinning off and hitting someone over the head with the controller, so to speak.

Thank you Doug.
Thank you everybody.
Now let's heat some solder and play some music, 'kay?

[Regan]

As one of the fellows highly involved in that thread, I must apologize.
Its been a bad week and I have very little patience. I would like to see the newer crowd using the schematics and info that is already available to them, but I had no right to rant about it like an idiot.
Regan

[troubledtom]

i left the forum for 4-5 months , because an asshole pissed me off , but i'm back. as most of you know by now.[ no i will not say the name ] but he is  likely married,fat, and not happy because he's not able to do what he wants to do.................fx  .  his loss...... i guess.
    between fx bizz and touring i missed the the thread that drummed up this one.
  doug , don't allow someome to rob you of the joy of this place.
        peace to ALL pedalpals,
                    - tt

[javacody]

Jeez Tom, do you really need to insult all of us fat, married guys? :lol:   Between making pedals and marriage (on a good day anyway), I'll take marriage.  

[David]

If Doug has indeed left the building, that would be most unfortunate.  The more I see it, the truer it becomes:  if you can't see body language or hear vocal inflection, you can't really tell what a person is thinking.  That thread didn't need to get anywhere near as hot as it did.  Whether intentionally or not, I've caused the temperature to rise on a few threads.  I am taking great pains to make sure that doesn't happen again.  The worst was when I misunderstood a post from someone who wasn't familiar with colloquial American English and I accused him of plagiarizing pedals.  I was pretty embarrassed and feeling wormish after that.

In my opinion, if anyone's interested, here are a few things that might help.

Us native English speakers have to be real careful about properly understanding and interpreting the posts of those who aren't adept with English.

"Newbies" will be obvious from the tone and content of questions.  The mentors should answer at a high level, and point out how to do research and gain experience.  The ones who are truly interested will get it and go off to do just that.  The ones who aren't should just get reminded of how to do research and gain experience.  If they choose not to do this, the seeds of this hobby will wither and die quickly.

Finally, it was said earlier that if you're thinking of posting something inflammatory, wait a while before posting.  This might help cool things off.

This place is a shining jewel in the wasteland of the Internet.  Let's PLEASE keep it from becoming just another flame-fest forum.

Please?

[Dragonfly]

wow...i must've missed quite a bit of "action" on that thread...ive been working a lot in the past couple days !

with regards to doug....it sucks to see him go...hes been a true inspiration to many of us, and the diy community has certainly benefitted from his generosity and knowledge. it'll probably be good for him to get away and "recharge" a bit.

you know, many people seem to think that the problem with the internet is that you cant "read" someones inflections, sarcasm, jokes, etc properly....i dont think that at all. i think the problem is that people get on the internet and, because theyre not "face to face" with someone, dont feel that they should show that person respect and common courtesy. i didnt see what happened in the "?" thread after a few pages, but my guess was that "respect for other peoples opinions" was thrown out the window.  and you know what the "funny" part (and by "funny", i mean "not so funny") is.....??  the people who show a lack of respect and bully someone off the forum are often the ones who could use that persons help the most.

anyway, much love to you all....i thank you for your ideas, inspiration, "net friendship", jokes, opinions, etc....in general, this forum is a great place to be

[troubledtom]

Jeez Tom, do you really need to insult all of us fat, married guys? :lol:   Between making pedals and marriage (on a good day anyway), I'll take marriage.  

it's cool brother :wink:
  i'm married and not" pussywhipped ", i i rock out w/ my kock out, push
and push to make things happen.
    peace and rock on,
             - tom :twisted:
ps: NEVER GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS, IT'LL MAKE YOU A BROKEN MAN :!:

[Burstbucker]

It sucks when this stuff happens.   8^(

I hope Doug has a change of heart.  I couldn't believe how ugly that thread got.  I felt that a lot of good people were slammed for no good reason.  Man, can we just get along people?!

FWIW, I'm pretty green when it comes to electronics, it's just a hobby for me but I love it all the same.  So I've posted quite a few things that have made the more advanced guys groan I'm sure.  Oh well.  Now I'm kind of feeling like I'm walking on thin ice if something I post doesn't quite make the grade.

I would think that another area could be created on this site for the advanced solder-heads so they wouldn't have to wade through all of the newbie posts(like mine) that eventually make some of them blow a fuse.  That way they could cut to the chase and discuss the higher level stuff.  And for us less advanced, we'd post on this board and if some of the senior guys want to contribute, well all the better.  Maybe make the advanced board a "read only" unless you're part of the senior gang.  Wouldn't that resolve some of the problems here?

Just my two cents.

[Fret Wire]

Now I'm kind of feeling like I'm walking on thin ice if something I post doesn't quite make the grade.

I would think that another area could be created on this site for the advanced solder-heads so they wouldn't have to wade through all of the newbie posts(like mine) that eventually make some of them blow a fuse.  

No need to feel that way. It's Aron's forum, as long as you follow the rules, and are respectful, he's the only one you have to answer to. I think some people start to get thinking the forum is their personal sandbox. It's a shame when people leave, but it's not like they are dead, or going off to war. They are no longer clicking on this forum's link for awhile.

I originally suggested the high level section on the "?" thread that was deleted. I guess there are good points for and against such a section. I never saw the end of the thread, and have no idea how nasty it got, but useless flames are always sad.

[Fret Wire]

I think some people start to get thinking the forum is their personal sandbox.

No edit function......I wasn't refering to one specific person.

[bwanasonic]

Before anything got really going on the *?* thread, Doug posted that he felt some vague *It ain't what it used to be* vibe or some such.  I felt the initial post in that thread was a thinly disguised troll, and it seems to have had the effect trolls enjoy. The theme of a divided forum seems to be reoccuring in different forms. Let's hope the theme doesn't develop any further. This forum still has a very high s/n ratio, one of the best on any forum I've seen.


Kerry M

[Joe Davisson]

i left the forum for 4-5 months , because an asshole pissed me off , but i'm back. as most of you know by now.[ no i will not say the name ] but he is likely married,fat, and not happy because he's not able to do what he wants to do.................fx . his loss...... i guess.

Sounds like an asshole to me, but I would let it go if I were you. Life's too short to be worried about all that bullshit