a lot of the "old guard" of UT - members that were around when I was a new member all those moons ago?

I see a lot of , to me, new faces (=new friends I hope), but alot of old friends seem to be missing.

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Funny you mention this, the same thing occurred to me too. Besides people moving to other interests or boards, I guess this board has become too large to "see" what is happening and who is where. Sort of like a little village growing into a city? Maybe everybody is only posting in the threads they seem most comfortable/interested in. And what seems different here compare to the UT board (I must confess I didn't cheack lately) is the thread where people could post pictures of themselves and talk like they are meeting eachother in a bar. The BAUT Cafe "What aBAUt you" maybe? Or the "Bar at the End of the Universe"?

Cheers.

I believe im one of those old faces too.

I have to agree i have seen little of those people i used to see on the UT boards.

I myself have been here very little - the whole village turning into city thing kinda. I guess this is propabliy why.

__________________
Challenging Limits

www.fullscap.com

www.howearthworks.com
www.climatechange.com.au

Hi Chromestar,

You sure are one of those "old" faces, something else I noticed is the "merger" changed everything into a larger BA board; the UT part (which was unique, I think) has definitely changed and (to me at least) almost disappeared.

Cheers.

May I ask just what it is that has changed? It might be good to reintroduce some of the things lost.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

To reintroduce many of the other aspects described would require reintroducing some of the personalities behind them - most of these personalities have moved on - some only lurk, not feeling comfortable to post, some were banned a while back. The rules and the increased sophistication would probably not permit such things (they were not necessarily silly).

I am, and I am sure VanderL and ChromeStar are not saying its a bad thing - its great to see the forum grow - but I do agree with VanderL - the unique UT part has largely been swept away or replaced, e.g. the old UT Rogues Gallery is buried/merged somewhere (pages upon pages of UT members).

Many of the "old guard" feel they have no place on the forum anymore, some, like me are reduced from active poster to lurker, some remain.

So, I do not think it is possible to reintroduce what was lost.

The board has evolved, and us "old guard" are just relics of the past

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Oh, now don't say that! Is there anything at all that can be done to make you feel more welcome here? This is your forum as well, after all.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

The thing is, Canuck (I've spoken about this with many other UTers), UT used to be a cosy little town for many people. Now that, as Chrome says, it has turned into a city. I find most of my former friends on UT are rarely posting now-a-days.


It might be impossible or very hard to restore the UT-atmosphere to BAUT. I appreciate your wanting us to feel comfortable too, and I do (and will) try to post here frequently.

I can understand that. BAUT is a big leap from UT. But there must be something. Anything?

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Like I said, I mainly lurk now - its probably a case of trying to adapt to the new BAUT. To follow from ChromeStar's and Rahul's analogy - the town grew into a city and many old UTer's houses were replaced with factories - so they moved on, or they live on the outskirts - in the non-descript outer suburbs.

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Now that I think about it, the same sort of thing may have happened on the BABB a short time before the merger. It got too big. There was a certain feeling of, well, wrongness in the air. A bunch of people left. We had a big increase in spam, trolls, and temper flare-ups. The only mod at the time was the BA, and things were getting to be too much for him to handle -- the board just got out of hand. Ironically, the merger seems to have fixed the BABB problems. But the strife lasted for a few months, and it took a while to adapt.

So I know where you're coming from. I just wish there was a way to avoid it.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

I don't think there will be any strife from some ormer UTers (unless this thread is at all referred to as "strife") - they simply moved away. Others (like me) have fallen back into the shadows.

Similar, except without the strife - just quietness and absenteeism

Don't get me wrong, I think the merger is a prudent thing to do - sharing of resources and building a gigantic member and info base, but I know from my own perspective - I am not needed anymore, my "voice" not required.

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

And that's what kills me. I hate to see people go.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

Much of their "work", threads started by them - that are now like Rogue's Gallery - buried and replaced (some presumably are deleted) - there is little reason for many of them to come back.

But, realistically, it does not matter, as new members come in all the time - new members with new ideas, opinions and fresh perspectives. I could contribute a whole lot more as my climatology interest also involves solar/lunar teleconnections with climate, as well as planetary climate. But not know where to "re"start.

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Well, I'm not really sure what to say, truth be told. I can't think of an answer. Maybe try starting a thread about those interests; you're bound to catch a few like-minded people.

__________________
Quaeso quousque humi defixa tua mens erit? Nonne aspicis, quae in templa veneris?

__________________
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

Hmm, this is an interesting problem, and it actually surprised me a bit. I know that the larger forum has scared a few forum regulars away, and that makes me a little sad, but nothing can ever stay the same. What we have now is an enormous community of people interested in space and astronomy. Any question, any topic gets dozens of responses within a few hours. Before the merge hours would sometimes go by without a single post. It felt like going into an empty nightclub. Now the joint is jumping, and I like that.

It's not necessary to stay on top of every thread, just get involved in the conversations you enjoy. Subscribe to the threads and that's all you need to look at.

__________________
Fraser Cain
Publisher
Universe Today - Free space news delivered by email every weekday.

BAUT not only grants access to profiles and individuals history of posts, but also TWO methods of reaching individuals who either have "gone on Vacation" or due to normal situations where strife or hurt is communicated "have layed low" - using 1). the e-mail and/or 2).private message links are invaluable to healing or at least reaching out. As long as such private ways are voluntarily exposed by the recipient when they are solicited unethically, these two added features are GREAT. Haven't heard from someone lately? Send them an e-mail.

Thank you ToSeek - its good to see its buried in there somewhere

Fraser, like I said, I do not consider it a bad thing, just missing some old friends

Fr. Wayne, yes I am well aware of those features - however, some come up as non contactable by either means

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

__________________
All words, phrases, definitions and theories provided in the above post are, unless otherwise stated, the property of Champion Munch © 2005.

Sign up to sue the Sun

Aussie Aussie Aussie!

__________________
If this writing is blue you're going too fast!