Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

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Ron Schmit
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Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:41 pm

Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ron Schmit »

Is it just me, or has activity in the forum really dropped off?

Where is everyone?

Did you head out to Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Instagram? Vine? YouTube? Tumblr? Blogger? Drupal? ExpressionEngine? LiveJournal? Open Diary? TypePad? Vox? WordPress? Xanga? Blog.com? Dailybooth? MyLife? Foursquare? Google Buzz? Identi? Jaiku? Nasza-Klasa? Plurk? My2i? Posterous? Qaiku? SocialVibe? Geoloqi? Google Latitude? Gowalla? Hotlist? Yelp? Eventful? Meetup.com? Upcoming? Netvibes? Twine? Causes? Jumo? Kickstarter? IndieGoGo? ASmallWorld? Digg? Bebo? Chatter? Reddit? Cyworld? Diaspora? Google+? Hi5? Hyves? IRC? LinkedIn? Mixi? MySpace? Netlog? Ning? Orkut? Plaxo? Tagged? Tuenti? XING? WhoSay?

Oh, or Yammer?

Hmm...
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Dick Jacobson
Posts: 1397
Joined: Fri Jun 04, 2004 9:21 pm
Location: Cottage Grove, MN

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Dick Jacobson »

CloudyNights for me. I agree, it's too bad there is so little activity in the MAS forum. If winter ever ends, maybe there will be more...
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
10-inch Newtonian that folds flat
6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
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Dave Venne
Posts: 1931
Joined: Sat Jul 03, 2004 4:33 pm
Real Name: Dave Venne

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Dave Venne »

Impatiently waiting for the end of winter. Trying to be optimistic by planning for the summer.

Not really using any other outlets; when one is doing nothing, one has nothing to say.

Maybe I'll go out and shovel off my observing pad. Could post before and after pictures of that to illustrate the fierce amount of nothing that I'm doing.
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wkocken
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Real Name: Bill Kocken
Location: McGregor
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by wkocken »

Impressive list, Ron. I see you have MySpace in there twice. Are you still following your favorite Boy Bands or something? I never heard of most of them. but was surprised to see Google + so far down in the list.

I check in on the MAS forums and Cloudy Nights once every few days. When I'm not doing any observing or ATMing or planning my next star party trip, I don't follow either of them very closely.
Bill Kocken
16" f4.5 - home built truss design
8"f6 home built dob
102f7 Explore Scientific APO with Ioptron ZEQ25GT mount
4.5 Orion Starblast
60mm Meade ETX
Homemade equatorial platform
w m kocken at gmail dot com
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Ron Schmit
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Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:41 pm

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ron Schmit »

HA! Noted, and corrected. Thanks! The list is by no means comprehensive. I make no claim to using any of them.

Not that there's a lot going on, it's just that there are SO many alternatives now I'm wondering if the discussions are taking place elsewhere. Not sure I'm a big fan of that dilution... Maybe kids these days need the variety. Maybe they are happy with being the only 7 people on Jaiku...

I would think that you would want to join a dense population of like-minded individuals so that there is more opportunity and a richer experience. Maybe that's what they call being "old school."

Whateves...
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wkocken
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by wkocken »

There is an MAS Facebook page. Most of the activity there is oriented towards the general public with announcements about upcoming events and some general astronomy stuff. I always like this forum as a place for more membership oriented discussion and wanted/for sale ads. Like you, not seeing much of either these days.
Bill Kocken
16" f4.5 - home built truss design
8"f6 home built dob
102f7 Explore Scientific APO with Ioptron ZEQ25GT mount
4.5 Orion Starblast
60mm Meade ETX
Homemade equatorial platform
w m kocken at gmail dot com
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Deane Clark
Posts: 2446
Joined: Wed May 19, 2004 11:38 pm
Location: Mpls

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Deane Clark »

Ron Schmit wrote:Is it just me, or has activity in the forum really dropped off?

Where is everyone?

Did you head out to Facebook? MySpace? Twitter? Instagram? Vine? YouTube? Tumblr? Blogger? Drupal? ExpressionEngine? LiveJournal? Open Diary? TypePad? Vox? WordPress? Xanga? Blog.com? Dailybooth? MyLife? Foursquare? Google Buzz? Identi? Jaiku? Nasza-Klasa? Plurk? My2i? Posterous? Qaiku? SocialVibe? Geoloqi? Google Latitude? Gowalla? Hotlist? Yelp? Eventful? Meetup.com? Upcoming? Netvibes? Twine? Causes? Jumo? Kickstarter? IndieGoGo? ASmallWorld? Digg? Bebo? Chatter? Reddit? Cyworld? Diaspora? Google+? Hi5? Hyves? IRC? LinkedIn? Mixi? MySpace? Netlog? Ning? Orkut? Plaxo? Tagged? Tuenti? XING? WhoSay?

Oh, or Yammer?

Hmm...
Oh, I thought you meant this forum specifically. No one ever answered my post from last august.
Deane Clark
Eagle Lake Observatory keyholder
------------------------
I can quit any time I want. I just don't want to.
www.aponon.org
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Ron Schmit
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ron Schmit »

Deane:

I'm not following you. What post?

I just don't see a lot of activity on the MAS discussion forum and I'm wondering if people are using a different platform.

Ron
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Ricola
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Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 12:31 am
Real Name: Ric Heins
Location: Roseville, MN

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ricola »

For me personally, I've only recently emerged from my ice cave.
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SEmert
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Joined: Mon May 31, 2004 2:48 pm
Real Name: Steve Emert
Location: White Bear Lake, MN

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by SEmert »

I think that may be sort of a universal thing. The cold this winter caused many of us to revert temporarily to just be armchair astronomers, and aside from commenting on Curiosity news and other news, and commenting on the new Cosmos series, there is not much to generate a lot of activity on the forums right now.
But, with the wonderful warm weather of the last day or two, that should change!
Steve Emert
MAS Membership Coordinator
12.5" f/4.7 Obsession Clone Homemade Truss Dob, sometimes equipped with Celestron StarSense Explorer app
Celestron C8 SCT OTA on AVX GEQ mount
Astro-Tech AT72 ED Refractor OTA usually on Explore Scientific Twilight 1mount or tripod with Benro geared head
Celestron 5" SCT OTA on Synta AZ-4 or Explore Scientific Twilight 1 Alt-Az Mount, usually equipped with StarSense Explorer app
Orion 150mm Mak OTA and Orion EQ-G computerized mount
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Ron Schmit
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ron Schmit »

Yeah, about that...

I would have expected activity to actually INCREASE as we retreat to our caves. What are you going to do inside? Log into the forum and discuss the benefits of Ritchey-Chretien over Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, or start a lively debate on Anthropogenic Global Warming (Sorry... Too soon?)

I'm just seeing a bit of a shift in our online activity, and wondering if we're missing the digital boat on this one.

Opinions welcome.
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wkocken
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Real Name: Bill Kocken
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by wkocken »

I think the trend has been declining use of the forums for a long time.
Last year, most of the discussions were about astrophotography or construction projects. There seems to be very little discussion about equipment, or ATMing or general astronomy.
I don't do the former, so I will comment once in a while and sadly my involvement in the construction was limited.

There is an MAS Facebook page, but I don't participate there, either.

I don't really have any answers,

Bill
Bill Kocken
16" f4.5 - home built truss design
8"f6 home built dob
102f7 Explore Scientific APO with Ioptron ZEQ25GT mount
4.5 Orion Starblast
60mm Meade ETX
Homemade equatorial platform
w m kocken at gmail dot com
Astrolaman
Posts: 92
Joined: Tue Oct 16, 2012 11:33 am
Real Name: John Hill

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Astrolaman »

:( I can't speak for others, but I have been suffering from a bad case of AVAD (arctic vortex affective disorder), a form of SAD associated with northern locales. The only cure is abundant clear, moonless skies under conditions where snow shoes are not necessary. Talking about astronomy on forums only lengthens the time before observing conditions improve. I learned that last year.
johnkra
Posts: 207
Joined: Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:20 pm
Location: Minnetonka

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by johnkra »

Too bad amateur radio astro is such a fruitless endeavor. It could sure provide winter observing opportunities without the suffering.

But there is always arXiv.org for ponderment.

M73/kj0p
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Deane Clark
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Deane Clark »

Ron Schmit wrote:Deane:
I'm not following you. What post?
Ron
That thread just below this one about missing signatures.
Deane Clark
Eagle Lake Observatory keyholder
------------------------
I can quit any time I want. I just don't want to.
www.aponon.org
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Ron Schmit
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Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:41 pm

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ron Schmit »

Oh, now I get it. Thanks.

Nope. I meant the whole Forum.
rodo12
Posts: 30
Joined: Tue Sep 03, 2013 1:53 pm

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by rodo12 »

Indeed.....very quiet. I keep hoping to see some activity in the telescope making forum as well. Guess I should go over there and make another post to see if it jogs anything loose. ;)

BTW......you won't find me on any of those lists you posted......one of my life goals is to be the last human on the planet without a cellphone. :-0 ;)

Bob L.
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Ron Schmit
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Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Ron Schmit »

No apologies, Bob!

While these are part of the force that now connects us instantly worldwide, I find my son's generation stymied by all the choices.

My dad's generation didn't have calculators, and they put men on the moon.

My son's generation has 40 different methods of instant communication, yet they can't articulate a complete thought in under a half hour.

Typical txt:

"Wanna hang out?"
(2 mins)
"Can't"
(2 mins)
"Sup?"
(2 mins)
"Work"
(2 mins)
"Where?"
(2 mins)
"Matts"
(2 mins)
"When?"
(2 mins)
"4"
(2 mins)
"Hang out after?"
(2 mins)
"Sure"
(2 mins)
"How late you work?"
(2 mins)
"Close"
(2 mins)
"What time is that?"
(2 mins)
"10"
(2 mins)
"Pick you up at 10?"
(2 mins)
"10:30"
(2 mins)
"Thought it was 10?"
(2 mins)
"Gotta clean up."
(2 mins)
"Oh,OK. 10:30"
(2 mins)
"make it 1045"
(2 mins)
"OK"
(2 mins)
"See ya"
(2 mins)
"K'Bye"


<Please forgive the rant... I'm practicing to be a retiree.>
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Dick Jacobson
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Location: Cottage Grove, MN

Re: Hello...? Sure seems quiet in here...

Post by Dick Jacobson »

rodo12 wrote:BTW......you won't find me on any of those lists you posted......one of my life goals is to be the last human on the planet without a cellphone. :-0 ;)

Bob L.
Darn, you beat me, I caved in a few months ago and bought a Windows Phone.
30-inch homemade Newtonian with periscope
20-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian with periscope
14-inch homemade equatorial Newtonian
10-inch Newtonian that folds flat
6-inch Russian Maksutov-Newtonian on Vixen equatorial mount
Too many small scopes and binoculars to mention
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