Where is everybody?

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
--

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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