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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 13, 2022 12:04:04 GMT -7
This hit the hammer on my head.
A few thoughts on OC and now PAAH.
OCP started as an information seeking thread. Was I the only one out there with this nutty idea of having a home planetarium. I was looking for support as well as information on how to do it as well as what others had done. At the time I'm not at all sure if I knew the HPA even existed. I had found Owen's web site which had two projectors at the time and I drooled at the pictures of a Spitz A3P. Shockingly the little thread expanded and became the driving force of questions and answers, perhaps a clearing house for all things for the amateur planetarian. I'm not sure when it reached its peak (probably a different time for each of us) but it was slowing down for several years toward the end. Finally, like all things, the end came. A forced ending, but an ending all the same.
When OC died, Facebook pages popped up, and rightly so as building a planetarium (in your own backyard) is a substantial commitment from any viewpoint. What I missed most was the one stop clearinghouse where every project was represented and showed new visitors that this is not a one person madness. Come join us and live your dream. When I received an email lamenting the loss of OCP, it was all it took to get me started to find a way to resurrect the PAAH pages but without the begging for money every year. This is the result.
This started with a bang and fifteen people joined the first day. Yes, I posted on any place that catered to planetarium people, not to steal people, but to announce the return of PAAH. I have since removed the posts as some might have taken my intention in the wrong light. If so, I apologize. Anyway, as a clearinghouse, I have made a listing of the web addresses of as many places as I can think of. Please feel free to add any that I might have missed.
Since there has not been another member request since that first day or so I'm wondering if PAAH's time has come and gone. The life's blood of any BB is in the postings and threads. A few, but not like even the last days of OC. I cannot do this alone. Only three members have signed in and only two on a regular basis.
Gare's podcast HPA2-14 Worlds Collide triggered this rant but he alone has a true idea of what I'm babbling about. He has done it all before with the HPA. His comment in another thread hit home: "Well were are going to be gone a little while, but its hard not to notice that 1) you arent loading any more and 2) nobody seems to care lol. Dont do anything crazy like delete it or anything you know? i say that now like Urania does, you know? I dont know anything about how big the files are and whether you'd consider breaking it up or sending some to other people, or trying to put it on the cloud, etc. Theres that archive guy at IPS. Owen might be interested in it. but DONT DELETE IT. have you got that?? lol send it HERE before you delete it. But i think you're right, theres a gig limit on these free boards and then they aint so free no mo. Will be gone a couple days, chow for now"
I have no intention of deleting anything but it would be nice to see some participation from others in the group. That gives me incentive to fill in more and more of the blanks.
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Post by mrgare5050 on Jul 14, 2022 6:48:52 GMT -7
Well Ranted! The podcast is about the same two guys that are logging in here as well. Its hard to find people who live in all these worlds I think (IPS, Home Brew etc), plus there's so much content now VIEWS have replaced POSTS for the most part. Ironically, I've just put all my stuff on pause as we have family situations in both St Louis and Grinnel Iowa (some good, some not so good). Susan Button wanted the information you posted, and Mr Hicks also asked about what model the Saint was, I had posted briefly a picture of it (I think), those were the loose ends from my own FB page. As for the future, PAUSE NOT DELETE is always good policy, which i think as a matter of fact was what YOU always said - always keep a backup of everything!
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 14, 2022 10:36:19 GMT -7
While none of us have any idea as to how long anything will last in the Cloud (or wherever this is stored), if others want to see this 'clearinghouse' move forward then participation is a must. Simply, if you have a post anywhere about your project, just make a duplicate post in a thread here. Simple. If you want this to die then continue not to post.
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Post by scotttucker on Jul 15, 2022 12:28:22 GMT -7
Pause not delete is a good mantra! Apologies that I have been slow posting recently. To be honest I think it is how I naturally work - phases of slow activity then an obsessive onslaught. Even when not much is happening on line I still love it that there a people out there who get it- who really get it.
Yes, you are one of the two that actually visits on a regular bases. I know you will be adding when you have the time.
It is interesting that not long ago I opened this up for viewing to anyone who cared to come and read the various threads and posts. With that came requests for over 800 page views. Not quits sure what the site was advertised on but obviously it generated some interest. When there are no posts the number of page views dropped as low as four, averaging around thirty to fifty. With the thirteen posts and five new threads over the last three days the page requests have blossomed up to 286. What is most gratifying, the number of post views has held constant at over 90% of forum requests. That tells me that there are a lot of lurkers out there that follow and read the things that are posted here. What would be nice is if they would join in and say hi or anything. We don't bite, or suck blood, or anything.
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 15, 2022 18:02:34 GMT -7
Well Ranted! The podcast is about the same two guys that are logging in here as well. Its hard to find people who live in all these worlds I think (IPS, Home Brew etc), plus there's so much content now VIEWS have replaced POSTS for the most part. Ironically, I've just put all my stuff on pause as we have family situations in both St Louis and Grinnel Iowa (some good, some not so good). Susan Button wanted the information you posted, and Mr Hicks also asked about what model the Saint was, I had posted briefly a picture of it (I think), those were the loose ends from my own FB page. As for the future, PAUSE NOT DELETE is always good policy, which i think as a matter of fact was what YOU always said - always keep a backup of everything! Actually you need to make three backups of everything if you really want to protect it. Now I must ask you if you say never delete, how come you dump any posts and pictures on your new Facebook page after a day or two? This is fine if you want to, but then you should have a thread here to save them all. Hopefully all is well with your family. Take care of them first as they are most important.
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Post by mrgare5050 on Jul 19, 2022 5:03:45 GMT -7
questions, what questions
( how come you dump any posts and pictures on your new Facebook page after a day or two?)
that was to address YOUR STATED CONCERN that facebook boards are inaccessible once things get pushed down. and its true, people never go back and comment later on facebook posts that are out of sight, they look at whats current and move on. all that stuff is backed up, those were ancient pictures of TSA projectors and stuff. I think here, like OC in the last years, VIEWS are coming not from people who have planetarium projects going, they are coming from the vaguely curious public, or the small IPS followings the other FB boards have. Why do you think YES YOU NEED ONE AT YOUR HOUSE, my first old OC board, had half a million views. John Q Public read that one and moved along their way! but therein lies the opportunity. we are all in show biz, but we are on stage. you could use this platform to inform these viewers, the public at large, about subjects. forget the clearinghouse concept and concentrate instead on public education! doesnt the fact that the guy who wrote you and started this revivable hasnt been back here since say something lol. and its not just true here, its true everywhere. my podcast is no different, if i get a download, thats all i can hope for!
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Post by mrgare5050 on Jul 19, 2022 6:06:47 GMT -7
Couple more thoughts, the guy who wrote you was probably just being nostalgic, thats what drives ALL of us to be 'Experts in a Dying Field' if you saw that. Also, isn't the whole point of your planetarium PUBLIC EDUCATION. the whole point of my little ebooks, other than vanity things my son wont care about, a hail mary attempt at public education. its what we have left lol
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 19, 2022 11:44:37 GMT -7
Couple more thoughts, the guy who wrote you was probably just being nostalgic, thats what drives ALL of us to be 'Experts in a Dying Field' if you saw that. Also, isn't the whole point of your planetarium PUBLIC EDUCATION. the whole point of my little ebooks, other than vanity things my son wont care about, a hail mary attempt at public education. its what we have left lol The original email that started me with this BB came from Albert "Dear fellow and brother Planetarian- dear Ron! finally I found a mail adress in THE PLANETARIAN. It came as a great shock to me only a week or so ago when I wanted to post a new story to OSC. I found a “black hole” where my beloved web site was. Now on the new issue of the Planetarian which only reached me today, you detail what has happened. My only hope is that the database- all these thousands of posts, of personal histories and inspiring trajectories- is not completely gone! Is there still a record of the website as it was? It would be invaluable to me and others for reference purposes, even if it is not updated anymore. It would be a tremendous loss to me and others if it were completely gone. Without OSC, there would be no Bad Toelz planetarium today. It was such an inspiration. The fact that only a few people came to your facebook pages does not mean anything- who knew about this? and personally I dislkike Facebook so much I would not register for posting there. Why was there no note on the old web site? ALBERT MALY-MOTTA" Albert, if you remember was the fellow who built the Bad Toelz Planetarium planetarium-toelz.de/ in his puppet theatre. Interestingly you are correct in stating that he has not been back since originally joining or perhaps has just come back as a visitor. Also, as I think you might be aware, I posted the death of the original OC for several months before it happened. This is not a lone event. As I visit James Hicks page I followed his dome building exploits. Remembering when I was at that point, I posted a few pictures of my work on my dome at that same stage. He thanked me for sharing the pictures as he had never seen them before. Perhaps he forgot or perhaps he never viewed my original dome building thread on the original OC as the pictures I posted came from there. These are just points of fact which still boil down to if anyone wants this to continue, they must participate. I have a gut feeling that once most builders finish their own projects, or fix their problems, they tend to "fade away". I guess this is to be expected as people move on to other things. If that other thing includes, "a hail Mary attempt at public education" then lets hear about what works and what doesn't. I think James was a bit disappointed at the loss of his material on the original OC so I will look into rebuilding the threads of his I can find.
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 19, 2022 12:15:21 GMT -7
Couple more thoughts, the guy who wrote you was probably just being nostalgic, thats what drives ALL of us to be 'Experts in a Dying Field' if you saw that. Also, isn't the whole point of your planetarium PUBLIC EDUCATION. the whole point of my little ebooks, other than vanity things my son wont care about, a hail mary attempt at public education. its what we have left lol It is interesting that as I look back public education was the last thing on my mind when I built my planetarium. I just fell into that as I was asked by people to do shows for them. It had developed to a point where I would miss the interaction with an audience if my shows would stop. The interaction with the Covid brought that to light very quickly but I worked around that. Now we need to get the price of gas down so people can drive out.
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Post by mrgare5050 on Jul 19, 2022 14:46:40 GMT -7
OK, carry on then!
Hmmm - I've got someone pushing for an HPA startup. The same problem as always though, what would go in it. Any ideas?
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 19, 2022 23:00:03 GMT -7
OK, carry on then! Hmmm - I've got someone pushing for an HPA startup. The same problem as always though, what would go in it. Any ideas? I plan too. Are you talking a printed mail out?
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 19, 2022 23:46:28 GMT -7
" I think James was a bit disappointed at the loss of his material on the original OC so I will look into rebuilding the threads of his I can find." I guess I have already posted several of his threads. He also goes under the name philosopher1, at least I believe that is him, please correct me if I'm wrong. Please note that as I post these the BB lists each post under my name as I am the one posting it. The first line lists the original poster as well as the date posted. His last view of this BB was on April 15th, the day after this board went up. Example: Posted by: Philostopher1 Aug 26 2017, 06:29 PM I'll try to keep the rest of my project confined here. Let me know if Admin would like me to post differently. This can be found at: planetariumsasahobby.freeforums.net/thread/55/jamies-planetarium
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Post by mrgare5050 on Jul 20, 2022 12:01:44 GMT -7
questions, what questions
(Are you talking a printed mail out?)
Something's been holding me back on the ebooks, and I think I know why. I think I can kill two birds by creating a text file in Google Documents, then FORMAT IT for an HPA newsletter one way, and another way for an ebook, since its all public education related. And as such, I don't have to accumulate content from others, I can generate it all myself from podcasts and other sources. So every time I produce a brief ebook, i also produce an HPA newsletter. I cant do paper anymore though, it would be all online. Once content is generated, it should be available to the public in a number of different formats, so why not standardize them in some fashion. At least thats the idea forming in whats left of my brain.
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Post by Ron Walker on Jul 20, 2022 20:02:51 GMT -7
Sad everything is going digital. There is something about holding a paper in ones hands.
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Post by mrgare5050 on Jul 21, 2022 3:56:44 GMT -7
Sad everything is going digital. There is something about holding a paper in ones hands.
Thats why I put out a test Google Docs PDF file, to see if you can download and print it locally. Thats actually part of an original essay as to the various groups represented in the 90s HPA. I'm trying to make it happen, but synergistically (i have no idea if that is a word) with all other formats. I found that I need to edit and finalize things I come up with while the iron is hot, if i try to come back to them later, I have no enthusiasm for them. Its a common thing I've heard, authors don't lke to go back and read things they wrote last year, they need to do it while the Muse is singing. So this is my effort to remedy that. But you have to print locally, the cost of ink alone is staggering these days. You know?
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