Gentlemen

[laddy]

I have found with the ouster of one particular person just after I joined that the remaining group are Gentlemen (for the most part). And a Good group to be around. Fred

[John Stevenson]

Personally I blame Alistair................................

[Alistair Hosie]

Alistair was born bad, and he will remain so ,.for the rest of his days He's a well known pub brawler in Scotland and will fight usually with small women as he's a damned coward to boot. His three foot two inch father was hitler's henchman in Glasgow and he once saved napoleon from drowning with a roll of carpet and a set of national health dentures, but that is top secret. He wears his kilt back to front to allow for the swelled up big assed belly He's a loser I am surprise any of you talk to him me personally I only mention his name at funerals and gunfights. Alistair

[dogdoctor]

As one of the novices here, I would like to say I have been treated with kindness and care. I am hugely impressed with the thought that goes into the answers I have received to my questions. In New Zealand you know you are becoming accepted when they start taking the piss.
Regards
David

[sasquatch]

I have no problems at all with members of this site. Sure some get a little grouchy at times, but isn't that just human nature?

I enjoy the posting variety, the contoversy's, the amount of knowledge and the patient responses to numbers of newbie questions, someone is always here to help out it seems.

All in all i like this site, lots of humor, and a great bunch of people here in my opinion.

[AD5MB]

politest board I hang at is for bad@$$ bikers

rudest board: ham radio

50-50: SCUBA

way I got it figured, your all just glowing phosphor dots on a screen, and there aint't a thing you can do that I will feel.

So say what you want and do what you will, 'cause none of it is real

[uncle pete]

Wes,
OK, Just possibly those lurkers might have a minor point. Overall though, This forum is pretty well behaved with very little moderation. I'd rather see what we have here than some of the tightly policed moderation you see on some other forums where almost nothing is ever criticised. Or the exact opposite where a very few on that "professionals" forum go out of their way to be insulting to the new guys, Or worse hobbiests. I have no issues at all about that professinal forum. It's just too easy for someone new to post the wrong thing there, And a very few on that forum seem to live for that fresh meat to come along and make that mistake.

But if your posting anything on a public or at least members only forum, Aren't you opening yourself up to critisium in one form or another? Continious glad handing and attaboys doesn't do anyone any favours. I'd much rather have peoples real and honest opinions than two faced B.S.

I'm a blue collar worker. I've yet to work anywhere that didn't involve far worse on a daily basis than the general additude normaly shown here is. You better be able to give at least as well as your getting anywhere I've worked.
Most times I try to be far nicer here than I would in a working enviroment.

Maybe I can or can't understand those lurkers points, But they come here the same as the rest of us do to learn. So even from those lurkers perspectives since they keep reading the forum, Then it has a great deal of value. I really can't recall ever asking a single question that wasn't fully answered with far more information than I'd expected.

To be honest, I've learned a huge amount here, I've gotten far more than a few chuckels, And there's a lot of people on this forum I greatly admire. I'm just not sure there's enough broken that it actualy needs fixing. It's far too easy to end up with much less than you had by just trying to fix things that aren't really broken.

Pete

[jpoe]

In my opinion this is one of the more polite boards that I follow. I believe that a lot of the "lurkers" out there are just like me, in that, they are trying to get into machining and they have no idea where to start. The deeper you get into research, the more questions you have and you quickly realize that there is way more to this than buying a machine and making parts.

Newbies, such as myself, need to put time and effort into learning about ( insert topic of interest) before they hop onto any forum and ask questions that have been asked a million times prior. All forums have a search function and a FAQ, use them.

As a newbie, I find it imperative to do as much "homework" as possible before you ask a question.

[jkilroy]

I concur, if all member, me included, would remember to address each other as though they were face to face then we would have far fewer blowups. It is possible to inform, correct, and even criticize in a way that is both polite and effective, and doesn't leave the other party insulted.

[oldtiffie]

There seems to be an underlying assumption here that all new members are novices.

I am not sure that is correct.

My guess is that some who look but do not join (I don't like the connotations that go with "lurker") are neither novices nor unskilled at all. I'd guess that some have loads of experience and are all too willing to discuss and pass it on to all of us here - but perhaps they see a barrier of some sort to joining (in).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lurker

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lurking

If that is the case it is most unfortunate in many ways.

Not all who visit (but not join) here need to "have a say" as they are or may be just content to read whatever crops up without commenting on or questioning a poster or the topic.

Perhaps some potential members need to be assured that despite the "numbers of posts" or "Rank" of some of the more "senior" members that all are equal - from day one - and that there is no having to defer to another or "keep your place" (as a new(ish) member).