- Joined
- Dec 27, 2005
- Messages
- 12,674
- Reaction score
- 4,299
I've received a number of complaint recently about user behavior. I've not been reading the forum that much recently due to being busy with other stuff.
My intentions in starting this site are clear in the title. UNBUILT PROJECTS, MILITARY and AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY. It's got a bit broader than that due to the wishes of the forum membership, but this is where my personal interests lie. In fact, personally I'm only interested in 1950s onwards within those areas and generally only aircraft and missiles. These are the sections I visit often.
In the beginning of the forum 11 years ago, I and several other researchers did a lot of donkey work going through NASA reports, books, magazines, foreign language websites and forums, and posting interesting things we found here on the forum.
Now, some of the those people are sick, dead, or busy with other things. Several of us are now published authors and hence are probably researching things for a published article or book and hence less likely to share their findings in a public forum. Additionally, with tools like Blogspot.com its much easier for people to post their research themselves rather than relying on a forum like this.
That doesn't mean there isn't interesting stuff out there. If you find some interesting stuff on the Shenyang J-15 on a Chinese forum post it here for us all to read and appreciate. Search through http://contrails.iit.edu, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/, https://www.sti.nasa.gov. Buy old aviation magazines or obscure books and read through them. Google projects you like and see if there's new material out there and share it on the forum.
This is the core of the forum I wanted to see. Not discussions on budgets, American politics, or Chinese geo-political ambitions. It can only happen if people make it happen. Make the posts you want to read.
Now, off-topic subjects might be interesting to some sections of the forum memberships, and (like with any group of people) off-topic discussions will occur and that isn't a problem. They can't be allowed to derail and interfere with the core mission of the forum, however. If you read a topic and it makes you think of an off-topic reply, by all means create a new topic.
If users can refrain from personal attacks, and stick to facts, then opposing political views shouldn't be a problem. Users who cannot comply on either side of the political spectrum may face post moderation.
To answer a post Orionblamblam made elsewhere - I AM very interested in users' opinions as well as facts - but opinions on the technical aspects of a spacecraft design, not on the previous or current US president or whether China is a geopolitical threat etc etc.
Thoughts are welcome.
My intentions in starting this site are clear in the title. UNBUILT PROJECTS, MILITARY and AEROSPACE TECHNOLOGY. It's got a bit broader than that due to the wishes of the forum membership, but this is where my personal interests lie. In fact, personally I'm only interested in 1950s onwards within those areas and generally only aircraft and missiles. These are the sections I visit often.
In the beginning of the forum 11 years ago, I and several other researchers did a lot of donkey work going through NASA reports, books, magazines, foreign language websites and forums, and posting interesting things we found here on the forum.
Now, some of the those people are sick, dead, or busy with other things. Several of us are now published authors and hence are probably researching things for a published article or book and hence less likely to share their findings in a public forum. Additionally, with tools like Blogspot.com its much easier for people to post their research themselves rather than relying on a forum like this.
That doesn't mean there isn't interesting stuff out there. If you find some interesting stuff on the Shenyang J-15 on a Chinese forum post it here for us all to read and appreciate. Search through http://contrails.iit.edu, http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/, https://www.sti.nasa.gov. Buy old aviation magazines or obscure books and read through them. Google projects you like and see if there's new material out there and share it on the forum.
This is the core of the forum I wanted to see. Not discussions on budgets, American politics, or Chinese geo-political ambitions. It can only happen if people make it happen. Make the posts you want to read.
Now, off-topic subjects might be interesting to some sections of the forum memberships, and (like with any group of people) off-topic discussions will occur and that isn't a problem. They can't be allowed to derail and interfere with the core mission of the forum, however. If you read a topic and it makes you think of an off-topic reply, by all means create a new topic.
If users can refrain from personal attacks, and stick to facts, then opposing political views shouldn't be a problem. Users who cannot comply on either side of the political spectrum may face post moderation.
To answer a post Orionblamblam made elsewhere - I AM very interested in users' opinions as well as facts - but opinions on the technical aspects of a spacecraft design, not on the previous or current US president or whether China is a geopolitical threat etc etc.
Thoughts are welcome.