Where is everybody?

[Ian Johnston]

In the good old days, this was a buzzing place. By comparison,
nowadays, the sagebrush is blowing across my screen. Where is
everybody?

John Roake ... Peter Masak (whatever did happen to the Scimitar?) ..
Iain Strachan ... all gone, it seems. It's pretty clear that usenet is
dying on its feet, but is there one place where the old r.a.s spirit
continues or does the decline here simply reflect the growth of many
other on-line opportunites for discussion?

Ian
--

[[email protected]]

Tragically, in May 2004 Peter Masak died in a crash at a contest in
Mifflin PA.
We do miss him.

[Marc Ramsey]

Ian Johnston wrote:
> In the good old days, this was a buzzing place. By comparison,
> nowadays, the sagebrush is blowing across my screen. Where is
> everybody?
>
> John Roake ... Peter Masak (whatever did happen to the Scimitar?) ..
> Iain Strachan ... all gone, it seems. It's pretty clear that usenet is
> dying on its feet, but is there one place where the old r.a.s spirit
> continues or does the decline here simply reflect the growth of many
> other on-line opportunites for discussion?

John Roake is likely too busy these days. Ian Strachan still posts here
when a flight recorder controversy is brewing. Peter Masak was
tragically killed while flying the Scimitar (by that point a Ventus B
with 2C wings, I believe) in a contest a couple of years ago...

Marc

[Ian]

Marc Ramsey wrote:
> Peter Masak was
> tragically killed while flying the Scimitar (by that point a Ventus B
> with 2C wings, I believe) in a contest a couple of years ago...

Oh dear. I was out of gliding for a bit, and hadn't realised. Apologies
to anyone upset by my blundering enquiry.

Ian

[Frank Whiteley]

I think several special interest topics have moved over to Yahoo groups
or other forums. I'm in seven and there are many, many more.

I do read RAS, but don't post nearly as often. Currently I'm working
with the SSA Clubs & Chapters Committee and Coloardo soaring topics,
which aren't of general interest here unless we're trying for maximum
exposure.

If Yahoo groups and other forums start charging, I think the RAS
discussion level would suddenly go up. FWIW, my Internet compadres
decided that they would contract USENET services, rather than keep
pumping the local news server and bandwidth. As a result we've lost
contol of the process and I think my old posting addresses have been
blacklisted without notice as my posts don't bounce, but go nowhere.
To date, the news host is non-responsive to requests to whitelist it or
even explain why, so I've been using g-mail for a while. What I don't
understand is why some are setting their preferences to expire posts in
six days. Is what they post of so little value?

Frank Whiteley

[Frank Whiteley]

I think many are participating in special interest groups on Yahoo
groups and other forums. I'm in seven. There are many soaring-related
specialty groups. I post less often because the topics are followed up
on quickly, or I have nothing to offer. I'm also busy working with the
SSA clubs and chapters committee and Colorado soaring matters, which
are of little general interest here.

I don't get why some posting here set their options to expire their
posting in six days.

Frank Whiteley
ps: Posted a similar response several hours ago that still hasn't
appeared. This has happened previously, which is one of the
disappointing features of Google. Last Sunday, posts weren't appearing
at all (I was reading them on another server) for several hours, so I
my be queued up somewhere. If so, I apologize for the duplicate post.

[Eric Greenwell]

Frank Whiteley wrote:


> If Yahoo groups and other forums start charging, I think the RAS
> discussion level would suddenly go up. FWIW, my Internet compadres
> decided that they would contract USENET services, rather than keep
> pumping the local news server and bandwidth. As a result we've lost
> contol of the process and I think my old posting addresses have been
> blacklisted without notice as my posts don't bounce, but go nowhere.
> To date, the news host is non-responsive to requests to whitelist it or
> even explain why, so I've been using g-mail for a while. What I don't
> understand is why some are setting their preferences to expire posts in
> six days. Is what they post of so little value?

I didn't even know you could do that. How is done? My newsreader
(Netscape 7.2) doesn't seem to have a setting for it, and I'd like to
know if/when my posts are set to expire.


--
Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly

Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA

[Roger Worden]

Searching for "soaring" in Yahoo Groups, I find 367 groups, many of which ar
R/C or totally unrelated to our sport. Are there some popular ones you can
recommend?

"Frank Whiteley" > wrote in message
ps.com...
> I think several special interest topics have moved over to Yahoo groups

[Frank Whiteley]

As I said, they are specialized, so I can't recommend any, unless you
have an specific topical interest. You can already tell that R/C
soaring is very popular. Think of some other search terms, like
sailplane (make and models), gliders (a lot of track and field clubs
are gliders, then there's those pesky sugar gliders, or the one's for
the porch). From a quick Yahoo groups search....

winchdesign, 169 members
ventus_2CM, 105 members
skysailingtowing, 704 members
caratmotorglider, 315 members
moneraiP, 115 members
mini-nimbus, 75 members
LAK-17a, 197 members
ASW-24Sailplanes, 139 members
ASA-NewsGroup, 112 members
GenesisFlyers, 103 members
L33Solo, 103 members
ASW27owners, 73 members
sparrowhawk, 55 members
Bolkow_Phoebus_Sailplanes, 47 members
wisoar, 40 members
FloridaRace, 39 members

and there are many more on Yahoo, Google, and perhaps even MSN groups,
in English, German, and other languages. Some are lively and popular,
others quiet until something happens to generate discussion. Some are
seasonal. The seven I subscribe to cover specific topical areas. Four
are private, the remainder public. I'm just saying that these groups
have reduced the overall amount of postings to RAS.

Frank Whiteley

[Frank Whiteley]

As I said, they are specialized, so I can't recommend any, unless you
have an specific topical interest. You can already tell that R/C
soaring is very popular. Think of some other search terms, like
sailplane (make and models), gliders (a lot of track and field clubs
are gliders, then there's those pesky sugar gliders, or the one's for
the porch). From a quick Yahoo groups search....

winchdesign, 169 members
ventus_2CM, 105 members
skysailingtowing, 704 members
caratmotorglider, 315 members
moneraiP, 115 members
mini-nimbus, 75 members
LAK-17a, 197 members
ASW-24Sailplanes, 139 members
ASA-NewsGroup, 112 members
GenesisFlyers, 103 members
L33Solo, 103 members
ASW27owners, 73 members
sparrowhawk, 55 members
Bolkow_Phoebus_Sailplanes, 47 members
wisoar, 40 members
FloridaRace, 39 members

and there are many more on Yahoo, Google, and perhaps even MSN groups,
in English, German, and other languages. Some are lively and popular,
others quiet until something happens to generate discussion. Some are
seasonal. The seven I subscribe to cover specific topical areas. Four
are private, the remainder public. I'm just saying that these groups
have reduced the overall amount of postings to RAS.

Frank Whiteley

[Wayne Paul]

"Frank Whiteley" > wrote in message
ups.com...

> winchdesign, 169 members
> ventus_2CM, 105 members
> skysailingtowing, 704 members
> caratmotorglider, 315 members
> moneraiP, 115 members
> mini-nimbus, 75 members
> LAK-17a, 197 members
> ASW-24Sailplanes, 139 members
> ASA-NewsGroup, 112 members
> GenesisFlyers, 103 members
> L33Solo, 103 members
> ASW27owners, 73 members
> sparrowhawk, 55 members
> Bolkow_Phoebus_Sailplanes, 47 members
> wisoar, 40 members
> FloridaRace, 39 members
>
Here is one more to add to the list:

hp-gliders, 315 members
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hp-gliders/

Wayne
HP-14 N990 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder

[Frank Whiteley]

Exactly. I might add that in my prior post I only listed one soaring
related Yahoo group of the seven I use. I found several more that I
didn't bother to include.

Frank

[Bruce]

Frank Whiteley wrote:
> As I said, they are specialized, so I can't recommend any, unless you
> have an specific topical interest. You can already tell that R/C
> soaring is very popular. Think of some other search terms, like
> sailplane (make and models), gliders (a lot of track and field clubs
> are gliders, then there's those pesky sugar gliders, or the one's for
> the porch). From a quick Yahoo groups search....
>
> winchdesign, 169 members
> ventus_2CM, 105 members
> skysailingtowing, 704 members
> caratmotorglider, 315 members
> moneraiP, 115 members
> mini-nimbus, 75 members
> LAK-17a, 197 members
> ASW-24Sailplanes, 139 members
> ASA-NewsGroup, 112 members
> GenesisFlyers, 103 members
> L33Solo, 103 members
> ASW27owners, 73 members
> sparrowhawk, 55 members
> Bolkow_Phoebus_Sailplanes, 47 members
> wisoar, 40 members
> FloridaRace, 39 members
>
> and there are many more on Yahoo, Google, and perhaps even MSN groups,
> in English, German, and other languages. Some are lively and popular,
> others quiet until something happens to generate discussion. Some are
> seasonal. The seven I subscribe to cover specific topical areas. Four
> are private, the remainder public. I'm just saying that these groups
> have reduced the overall amount of postings to RAS.
>
> Frank Whiteley
>
There is a yahoo group for the standardcirrus drivers...

--
Bruce Greeff
Std Cirrus #57
I'm no-T at the address above.

[Ian Strachan]

Ian Johnston wrote:

> In the good old days, this was a buzzing place. By comparison,
> nowadays, the sagebrush is blowing across my screen. Where is
> everybody?
>
> John Roake ... Peter Masak (whatever did happen to the Scimitar?) ..
> Iain Strachan ...

I'm still around. Just been too busy to post on r.a.s. recently.
Testing three new typs of GPS flight flight recorder for IGC, for a
start ....

The agenda for the IGC Plenary meeting on 3-4 March is now out on the
fai/gliding web site. This includes reports on GPS recorders and other
things, by me and Bernald Smith who may be known to some of you guys
over the pond .... Bout time he had a haircut, tho ....

Ian Strachan
Lasham Gliding Centre, UK

[Bruce Hoult]

In article . com>,
"Ian Strachan" > wrote:

> Ian Johnston wrote:
>
> > In the good old days, this was a buzzing place. By comparison,
> > nowadays, the sagebrush is blowing across my screen. Where is
> > everybody?
> >
> > John Roake ... Peter Masak (whatever did happen to the Scimitar?) ..
> > Iain Strachan ...
>
> I'm still around. Just been too busy to post on r.a.s. recently.
> Testing three new typs of GPS flight flight recorder for IGC, for a
> start ....

I guess we're all out flying our PW5's or otherwise enjoying the summer
weather.


John Roake seems to be busy sending out missives on next week's Grand
Prix, and no doubt other things behind the scenes. Nice to see a 50%
discount on ticket prices for Gliding NZ members and friends&family.

John/Peter, do we need to prove this somehow?


Peter Masak, of course, is sadly no longer with us.

--
Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+-
Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O----------