Why so little discussion?

[Jacks Complete]

I'm curious. Why has the level of posting dropped so far in the forum?

[Jacks Complete]

I'm curious. Why has the level of posting dropped so far in the forum?

[FUTI]

My post count has dropped drastically and is half of the initial rate. In begining I was thrilled that some place like this is still on web due to numerous banning/shutdown of chemistry related sites. I don't have lot of topics started, but I tried to be constructive in the ways I saw certain topics and to post some good links I hope. For the time being I'm happy in just looking into archive - expanding my knowledge, and I hope that it is just summer vacation for everyone around that makes posting count go down.

I'm not a terrorist, I condemn their ways of fight, but this haunting against chemistry sites reminds me on medieval time when Vatican banned practicing of alchemy and particulary astronomy and physics (laws of motion etc.). If it was up to them we would still thinking that Earth isn't round but plate. Wolves want go away if you kill the lambs...they will find another food source most likely you. This works both for the terrorist and for goverment IDiots - fight them do not indulge them.

[FUTI]

My post count has dropped drastically and is half of the initial rate. In begining I was thrilled that some place like this is still on web due to numerous banning/shutdown of chemistry related sites. I don't have lot of topics started, but I tried to be constructive in the ways I saw certain topics and to post some good links I hope. For the time being I'm happy in just looking into archive - expanding my knowledge, and I hope that it is just summer vacation for everyone around that makes posting count go down.

I'm not a terrorist, I condemn their ways of fight, but this haunting against chemistry sites reminds me on medieval time when Vatican banned practicing of alchemy and particulary astronomy and physics (laws of motion etc.). If it was up to them we would still thinking that Earth isn't round but plate. Wolves want go away if you kill the lambs...they will find another food source most likely you. This works both for the terrorist and for goverment IDiots - fight them do not indulge them.

[TheHitMan]

There is hardly any people posting now for the fact NBK has banned most of them, for one reason or another. A lot of the old (read: good) members just don't like the way the forum is moderated. Including a few of the old moderators. (Zaibatsu, Bitter, to name a few)

[TheHitMan]

There is hardly any people posting now for the fact NBK has banned most of them, for one reason or another. A lot of the old (read: good) members just don't like the way the forum is moderated. Including a few of the old moderators. (Zaibatsu, Bitter, to name a few)

[Jacks Complete]

TheHitMan, would that be a vote for number three, then? They don't want to get banned for coming across as retards?

I do agree a bit, actually. I think NBK does sometimes go a bit too hard on people for perceived slights.

Over-moderation is as bad as no moderation in many ways. Another board I'm on has a mod who just seemed out to get me, but then I see that almost no-one posts there now, so I figure he has said the same to others, so no-one wants to get kicked out... So no-one posts, and slowly, no-one visits.

I'm not saying all the lamers should be allowed to do as they please, of course. The noise filter here is set high for a reason. But once the noise filter cuts out too much, you start to lose the meaning in the signal, too.

[Jacks Complete]

TheHitMan, would that be a vote for number three, then? They don't want to get banned for coming across as retards?

I do agree a bit, actually. I think NBK does sometimes go a bit too hard on people for perceived slights.

Over-moderation is as bad as no moderation in many ways. Another board I'm on has a mod who just seemed out to get me, but then I see that almost no-one posts there now, so I figure he has said the same to others, so no-one wants to get kicked out... So no-one posts, and slowly, no-one visits.

I'm not saying all the lamers should be allowed to do as they please, of course. The noise filter here is set high for a reason. But once the noise filter cuts out too much, you start to lose the meaning in the signal, too.

[Ropik]

I do not want to get kicked out. That's it. I only post if I'm absolutely sure that the thing I am going to post wasn't mentioned, that it is informative and innovative, that it is... And I am not sure most of the time (to be fair, sometimes it's because the post would be empty like an old oil drum) so I simply don't post.
Little discussion is taking place here because to discuse is to share thoughts, opinions and informations. Anything other than informations can be considered post-whoring here, so I am (and I am not alone, evidently) afraid to post the remaining two things.

[Ropik]

I do not want to get kicked out. That's it. I only post if I'm absolutely sure that the thing I am going to post wasn't mentioned, that it is informative and innovative, that it is... And I am not sure most of the time (to be fair, sometimes it's because the post would be empty like an old oil drum) so I simply don't post.
Little discussion is taking place here because to discuse is to share thoughts, opinions and informations. Anything other than informations can be considered post-whoring here, so I am (and I am not alone, evidently) afraid to post the remaining two things.

[DirtyDan]

Moderation has let up alot though, you have to admit. I think we are at a happy medium, and I havnt seen any additions to the BFL in a long time! I have not posted anything mostly because all my projects are on hold for who knows how long... All Im doing this summer anymore is working, running, and hanging out with my "friend".

After I found this forum, I experimented with quite a few things (candy rockets, AP, MEKP, hexamine, nitric acid production) But I didnt really know where to go from there and after a while lost interest. I've been reading feynmann lately, but thats about it.

I frequent 4hv.org and have shifted my focus to the electronics side, made a tesla coil and whatnot. The reason I mention them however is that they are similarly running out of innovative discussions and most of what is discussed over there is legal (or atleast not something branded as terrorist-related)

[DirtyDan]

Moderation has let up alot though, you have to admit. I think we are at a happy medium, and I havnt seen any additions to the BFL in a long time! I have not posted anything mostly because all my projects are on hold for who knows how long... All Im doing this summer anymore is working, running, and hanging out with my "friend".

After I found this forum, I experimented with quite a few things (candy rockets, AP, MEKP, hexamine, nitric acid production) But I didnt really know where to go from there and after a while lost interest. I've been reading feynmann lately, but thats about it.

I frequent 4hv.org and have shifted my focus to the electronics side, made a tesla coil and whatnot. The reason I mention them however is that they are similarly running out of innovative discussions and most of what is discussed over there is legal (or atleast not something branded as terrorist-related)

[meselfs]

I chose the second option since I really don't have much knowledge to share.

But I think this forum has gone half capacity mainly due to the month long outage we had.

[meselfs]

I chose the second option since I really don't have much knowledge to share.

But I think this forum has gone half capacity mainly due to the month long outage we had.

[tmp]

None of the above. Time is my enemy. Most time is spent working or
sleeping and right now I'm spending most of my free time working on
the FTP.

[tmp]

None of the above. Time is my enemy. Most time is spent working or
sleeping and right now I'm spending most of my free time working on
the FTP.

[Dave Angel]

A few reasons boiling down to one:

My hobby interests have swung away from chemistry/electronics/E&W a bit, my projects stall a bit and I don't come back to them for a long while. Some of my recent stuff was more general chemistry suited to SM, and there was the outage here - I found the lack of discussion strangely demotivating!

So 2nd option: Nothing worth saying really bar the bit about BBC news earlier.

Maybe it'll all change during the summer.

[Dave Angel]

A few reasons boiling down to one:

My hobby interests have swung away from chemistry/electronics/E&W a bit, my projects stall a bit and I don't come back to them for a long while. Some of my recent stuff was more general chemistry suited to SM, and there was the outage here - I found the lack of discussion strangely demotivating!

So 2nd option: Nothing worth saying really bar the bit about BBC news earlier.

Maybe it'll all change during the summer.

[Cyclonite]

Iv lost some of my E&W motivation....i post once and a great while now. Im not worried about getting banned....if i think its worth saying then ill say it

[Cyclonite]

Iv lost some of my E&W motivation....i post once and a great while now. Im not worried about getting banned....if i think its worth saying then ill say it

[Silentnite]

None of the above. For the most part I'm concentrating on my job, working a ton of overtime while its available. Saving money, and getting ready for the big move. School starts up again soon, so I have that to get started as well.

Beyond that, I've always had a problem keeping my mouth shut, if I have an opinion I voice it rather readily.

Banning would be unfortunate, but not the end of the world. I post to my standards, and hope thats good enough.

But, it seems that most of the topics going on lately are either something I have little to no interest in, or nothing to add. I am in deep dislike of "me too" posting.

The moderation truly isn't so bad. Its kept the majority of kewls out, and if it stems the tides of posting because people are afraid, well, so? Step up and post if you think its worth posting. Don't be a chickenshit and worry about a banning if you think you truly have something to say.

[Silentnite]

None of the above. For the most part I'm concentrating on my job, working a ton of overtime while its available. Saving money, and getting ready for the big move. School starts up again soon, so I have that to get started as well.

Beyond that, I've always had a problem keeping my mouth shut, if I have an opinion I voice it rather readily.

Banning would be unfortunate, but not the end of the world. I post to my standards, and hope thats good enough.

But, it seems that most of the topics going on lately are either something I have little to no interest in, or nothing to add. I am in deep dislike of "me too" posting.

The moderation truly isn't so bad. Its kept the majority of kewls out, and if it stems the tides of posting because people are afraid, well, so? Step up and post if you think its worth posting. Don't be a chickenshit and worry about a banning if you think you truly have something to say.

[cyclonite4]

Kind of a combination of some of the above, and some that aren't above.

Most the time, I don't have anything worth mentioning. Sometimes, I don't want to say something that sounds overly stupid. Sometimes someone else may have said it. Sometimes, I'm sure someone else will say it in a more
understandable manner. That list goes on...

Like others, I also have other things to do that take away my time (unfortunately).

As for over-moderation, I agree NBK may seem harsh at times, but it's the price you pay for a forum relatively free of idiots. Even though not a lot of people post, I'm certain many people are active here anyway. The amount of guests online (when I'm online) usually averages between 20-30.

[cyclonite4]

Kind of a combination of some of the above, and some that aren't above.

Most the time, I don't have anything worth mentioning. Sometimes, I don't want to say something that sounds overly stupid. Sometimes someone else may have said it. Sometimes, I'm sure someone else will say it in a more
understandable manner. That list goes on...

Like others, I also have other things to do that take away my time (unfortunately).

As for over-moderation, I agree NBK may seem harsh at times, but it's the price you pay for a forum relatively free of idiots. Even though not a lot of people post, I'm certain many people are active here anyway. The amount of guests online (when I'm online) usually averages between 20-30.

[me234]

I think the Forum's absence got people used to not coming here very often, and not thinking about this stuff as often. Now people are finding it hard to get back into the grove. To do so requires a bit of effort, and people are feeling lazy like after a school holiday. Give them time and ask them lots of questions to keep them interested and get them back into the grove of thinking again. Don't just post statements, ask questions. Asking questions is the key to improvement, to survival.
That's my opinion anyway.
So, what do the rest of you think?

[me234]

I think the Forum's absence got people used to not coming here very often, and not thinking about this stuff as often. Now people are finding it hard to get back into the grove. To do so requires a bit of effort, and people are feeling lazy like after a school holiday. Give them time and ask them lots of questions to keep them interested and get them back into the grove of thinking again. Don't just post statements, ask questions. Asking questions is the key to improvement, to survival.
That's my opinion anyway.
So, what do the rest of you think?

[FUTI]

Don't be to harsh to NBK. I frequently don't agree with his ways of treating weed kewls, but I have to admitt it is necessary. It like with SPAM fillters, sometime someone escapes the killing-machine and sometimes potentially usefull member end up in trash can, but you can't escape the use of filter unless you wan't to end up with inbox full of junk.

[FUTI]

Don't be to harsh to NBK. I frequently don't agree with his ways of treating weed kewls, but I have to admitt it is necessary. It like with SPAM fillters, sometime someone escapes the killing-machine and sometimes potentially usefull member end up in trash can, but you can't escape the use of filter unless you wan't to end up with inbox full of junk.

[hereno]

I personally think the reason is the crimal context most things are posted under here, most people do tend to grow out of posting crime schemes on the internet :p

It's also a fact that no longer is all the best discussion on roguesci. People have migrated for whatever reason to SM for chemistry/novel energetics and to APC for pyrotechnics where the level of discussion is very high, and motivation innocent. Any discussion of criminal activity will be shot down on these forums as kewl, here for some reason its glorified, I would think this would drive away many mature members interested only with hobbiest E&W.

I do believe NBK gets his jollies by standing over people, A number of people were banned for simply holding a difference in opinion, no matter how senior they were (Archangel for example). People who know there shit arent going to be stood over, when they can simply leave (Philou for example). Anyway, I guess I'm saying that theres a cartain type of very desirable people that you will never see posting here for the above reasons, Its like the geeks growing up, to only pity the bullies.

[hereno]

I personally think the reason is the crimal context most things are posted under here, most people do tend to grow out of posting crime schemes on the internet :p

It's also a fact that no longer is all the best discussion on roguesci. People have migrated for whatever reason to SM for chemistry/novel energetics and to APC for pyrotechnics where the level of discussion is very high, and motivation innocent. Any discussion of criminal activity will be shot down on these forums as kewl, here for some reason its glorified, I would think this would drive away many mature members interested only with hobbiest E&W.

I do believe NBK gets his jollies by standing over people, A number of people were banned for simply holding a difference in opinion, no matter how senior they were (Archangel for example). People who know there shit arent going to be stood over, when they can simply leave (Philou for example). Anyway, I guess I'm saying that theres a cartain type of very desirable people that you will never see posting here for the above reasons, Its like the geeks growing up, to only pity the bullies.

[controlphreak]

I personally believe i have little of value to add to the main discussions going on here. I am not as accomplished in chemistry as the majority of the people here. Frequently I find myself spending hours trying to go through one long post that has several chemical forumals or interactions within them to be able to understand why it is like it is and why it works like that.

I am not worried about banning, and all of that. I will get banned if I step out of line and then my education will continue elsewhere. But NBK is not a beast or a monster. NBK has done his job which has kept this place for a long time as I can see kewl free, and that is something I cannot say of a lot of forums. And so I must respect that a heavy hand can knock over more chess pieces of your own, but can also smash the other side completely.....

[controlphreak]

I personally believe i have little of value to add to the main discussions going on here. I am not as accomplished in chemistry as the majority of the people here. Frequently I find myself spending hours trying to go through one long post that has several chemical forumals or interactions within them to be able to understand why it is like it is and why it works like that.

I am not worried about banning, and all of that. I will get banned if I step out of line and then my education will continue elsewhere. But NBK is not a beast or a monster. NBK has done his job which has kept this place for a long time as I can see kewl free, and that is something I cannot say of a lot of forums. And so I must respect that a heavy hand can knock over more chess pieces of your own, but can also smash the other side completely.....

[nbk2000]

We're in our annual summer slump. Happens every year, so it's nothing to worry about.

I added a couple more options to the poll to reflect this.

As for the discussion about me, talk all you want. At the end of the day, I'm the one with his finger on the kill switch, and ain't nothing going to change that, so all such discussion is moot. :p

If you take this as proof of an overinflated ego, so be it.

As for Bitter, he was removed not because of any disagreement with how things were run here, but because he brought heat on himself in the form of police investigation. For the sake of the Forum, and everyone on it, we distanced ourselves from him.

As for anyone else, if they don't like it here, they're free to leave. It's not like we've got them locked in a cage. :p

I've always wondered about people who bitch and gripe about the way things are ran here, yet continue to come here. Why?

[nbk2000]

We're in our annual summer slump. Happens every year, so it's nothing to worry about.

I added a couple more options to the poll to reflect this.

As for the discussion about me, talk all you want. At the end of the day, I'm the one with his finger on the kill switch, and ain't nothing going to change that, so all such discussion is moot. :p

If you take this as proof of an overinflated ego, so be it.

As for Bitter, he was removed not because of any disagreement with how things were run here, but because he brought heat on himself in the form of police investigation. For the sake of the Forum, and everyone on it, we distanced ourselves from him.

As for anyone else, if they don't like it here, they're free to leave. It's not like we've got them locked in a cage. :p

I've always wondered about people who bitch and gripe about the way things are ran here, yet continue to come here. Why?

[Skean Dhu]

I don't post all that much because I don't have that much experience. I don't have a big chem lab setup in my basement with all the equipment and chemicals that I would like, so rarley is there anything of much pertinance for me to post about.

[Skean Dhu]

I don't post all that much because I don't have that much experience. I don't have a big chem lab setup in my basement with all the equipment and chemicals that I would like, so rarley is there anything of much pertinance for me to post about.

[Jacks Complete]

I'm obviously far too sad to realise the weathers nice - I'm still in front of the PC all day!

As for moderation, I think it is the slightly random element to some of the bannings that is what worries the older members. Because we can't see the reasons, we wonder why someone isn't here any more.

Personally, I think it a shame that the newbie posts are so censored now - we never get to see people get shredded any more...

Anyway, I've been experimenting in the heat, see my thread on "Silent loads" http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/showthread.php?t=4869 but no-one's responded yet!

[Jacks Complete]

I'm obviously far too sad to realise the weathers nice - I'm still in front of the PC all day!

As for moderation, I think it is the slightly random element to some of the bannings that is what worries the older members. Because we can't see the reasons, we wonder why someone isn't here any more.

Personally, I think it a shame that the newbie posts are so censored now - we never get to see people get shredded any more...

Anyway, I've been experimenting in the heat, see my thread on "Silent loads" http://www.roguesci.org/theforum/showthread.php?t=4869 but no-one's responded yet!

[simply RED]

There is another more reason. Most possibly it affects the newbies:

In the beginning of the forum we were discussing the basic methods of synthesis and the basic propperties of explosives (acetone peroxide, making AN explosives, basic ways of nitrating alcohols etc).
A lot of information is now available on the upper subjects.

Now, as time has passed - complex things remain unknown.
Complex understanding of E&W requires electronics, chemistry, mathematics... and information. See the threads about toxins, RC control etc...

So the level has rised! Many people may have difficulties following it.

Very good things are : the forum archive and search engine, the ftp and the info in the net - from where the beginners should learn.

[simply RED]

There is another more reason. Most possibly it affects the newbies:

In the beginning of the forum we were discussing the basic methods of synthesis and the basic propperties of explosives (acetone peroxide, making AN explosives, basic ways of nitrating alcohols etc).
A lot of information is now available on the upper subjects.

Now, as time has passed - complex things remain unknown.
Complex understanding of E&W requires electronics, chemistry, mathematics... and information. See the threads about toxins, RC control etc...

So the level has rised! Many people may have difficulties following it.

Very good things are : the forum archive and search engine, the ftp and the info in the net - from where the beginners should learn.

[xyz]

I'd say that the moderation does have something to do with it...
(Yeah NBK, this means you :p, but I agree, it's your choice on what you do as far as moderation goes)

Most of the members I used to know of are gone, some banned, but most just lost to the sands of time for various reasons (i.e. not liking the strict moderation, not having the time/energy for E&W anymore, mvong on to other things, e.t.c.).

If you're reading this and names like HMTD, Frostfire, 0EZ0, Green Beret, Noltair, Axt, THErAPIST, mark, S. Toppholzer, e.t.c. ring bells, then, like me, you must be getting old in forum terms :p

And whatever happened to Anthony and -BoB-? They were hilarious...

Hell, maybe I'm just too paranoid to be banned for something and too addicted to stop coming here :) Although I must admit that I've moved on from explosives somewhat, SWIM used to set several charges off every weekend, but it's been months now, maybe over a year. I'm still as interested as I ever was in firearms, poisons, and "interesting" psychoactives though.

Pity that Australia has now (thanks to London) passed a law against "indirect incitement" of terrorism. That means "anyone who supplies information that aids terrorists" :(.
If they'd had these laws in the US for the Oklahoma bombing, they could have arrested whoever taught McVeigh to drive... :rolleyes: (So the moral of the story is, boys and girls, if an arab asks you for street directions, refuse rudely, if you don't then there's a chance you might be aiding a terrorist and placing yourself on the wrong side of the law, and we wouldn't want that now would we?)

I give it 3 years for the ThoughtCrime laws to be put in place...

Back on topic, I actually remember being a noob here, I remember thinking long and hard about each thing I posted, and being pretty paranoid that I'd get banned. Then once I got to about 50 posts and got FTP access, I pretty much stopped worrying and posted whatever. These days I'm not so sure though, all I can say is that I'm glad to have a three digit number up there where it says "Posts:", or I'd be rather worried about ending up with a "Biatch Smackdown" instead of a "Roguesci.org" ;)

All in all though, I think I've done enough reminescing, if people come here, so be it, if they don't, so be it.

[xyz]

I'd say that the moderation does have something to do with it...
(Yeah NBK, this means you :p, but I agree, it's your choice on what you do as far as moderation goes)

Most of the members I used to know of are gone, some banned, but most just lost to the sands of time for various reasons (i.e. not liking the strict moderation, not having the time/energy for E&W anymore, mvong on to other things, e.t.c.).

If you're reading this and names like HMTD, Frostfire, 0EZ0, Green Beret, Noltair, Axt, THErAPIST, mark, S. Toppholzer, e.t.c. ring bells, then, like me, you must be getting old in forum terms :p

And whatever happened to Anthony and -BoB-? They were hilarious...

Hell, maybe I'm just too paranoid to be banned for something and too addicted to stop coming here :) Although I must admit that I've moved on from explosives somewhat, SWIM used to set several charges off every weekend, but it's been months now, maybe over a year. I'm still as interested as I ever was in firearms, poisons, and "interesting" psychoactives though.

Pity that Australia has now (thanks to London) passed a law against "indirect incitement" of terrorism. That means "anyone who supplies information that aids terrorists" :(.
If they'd had these laws in the US for the Oklahoma bombing, they could have arrested whoever taught McVeigh to drive... :rolleyes: (So the moral of the story is, boys and girls, if an arab asks you for street directions, refuse rudely, if you don't then there's a chance you might be aiding a terrorist and placing yourself on the wrong side of the law, and we wouldn't want that now would we?)

I give it 3 years for the ThoughtCrime laws to be put in place...

Back on topic, I actually remember being a noob here, I remember thinking long and hard about each thing I posted, and being pretty paranoid that I'd get banned. Then once I got to about 50 posts and got FTP access, I pretty much stopped worrying and posted whatever. These days I'm not so sure though, all I can say is that I'm glad to have a three digit number up there where it says "Posts:", or I'd be rather worried about ending up with a "Biatch Smackdown" instead of a "Roguesci.org" ;)

All in all though, I think I've done enough reminescing, if people come here, so be it, if they don't, so be it.

[Macgyver]

I think it's a combination of good weather in the summer and the recent things happening in the world, so maybe some of the users try to keep a low profile?

My reasons are summer holidays and the fact that I only post when I have something interesting to share with my fellow forumites... And I've been quite busy at work before the holiday season.

[Macgyver]

I think it's a combination of good weather in the summer and the recent things happening in the world, so maybe some of the users try to keep a low profile?

My reasons are summer holidays and the fact that I only post when I have something interesting to share with my fellow forumites... And I've been quite busy at work before the holiday season.

[nbk2000]

A little something relevenat to this discussion:


The greatest teaching you can do is permission-giving, to allow others to get in touch with themselves. The architect Louis Kahn was that kind of teacher for me. He allowed me to be more of me.

I was talking to his son, Nathaniel Kahn, who is making a film about his father by talking to a lot of people. I said to him that I have observed on the Biography Channel that when everyone says the same thing about a person, where there is absolute agreement, the person is usually totally boring.

The people who inspire conflicting opinions are the most interesting. When one person characterizes someone as funny, another says serious, one says stupid, another says smart— that's someone you want to know.

Louis was different with everyone. That is a measure of his importance.


From Information Anxiety 2, by Richard Wurman, page 17.

:p

Anthony has retired and moved on to other interests in his life.

[nbk2000]

A little something relevenat to this discussion:


The greatest teaching you can do is permission-giving, to allow others to get in touch with themselves. The architect Louis Kahn was that kind of teacher for me. He allowed me to be more of me.

I was talking to his son, Nathaniel Kahn, who is making a film about his father by talking to a lot of people. I said to him that I have observed on the Biography Channel that when everyone says the same thing about a person, where there is absolute agreement, the person is usually totally boring.

The people who inspire conflicting opinions are the most interesting. When one person characterizes someone as funny, another says serious, one says stupid, another says smart— that's someone you want to know.

Louis was different with everyone. That is a measure of his importance.


From Information Anxiety 2, by Richard Wurman, page 17.

:p

Anthony has retired and moved on to other interests in his life.

[Bert]

Too busy to scratch, and on the road without connectivity a great deal of the time. Add the forum often not being up when I did have a chance to go online.

[Bert]

Too busy to scratch, and on the road without connectivity a great deal of the time. Add the forum often not being up when I did have a chance to go online.

[TheHitMan]

As for the discussion about me, talk all you want. At the end of the day, I'm the one with his finger on the kill switch, and ain't nothing going to change that, so all such discussion is moot.

Exactly my point. This is why your in this "summer slump". ;)

If you take this as proof of an overinflated ego, so be it.

I shall.

As for Bitter, he was removed not because of any disagreement with how things were run here, but because he brought heat on himself in the form of police investigation. For the sake of the Forum, and everyone on it, we distanced ourselves from him.

Having spoke to him on a number of occasions, I know that's not entirely true at all!

As for anyone else, if they don't like it here, they're free to leave. It's not like we've got them locked in a cage.

Which is why there is hardly anyone here. Well, except those that want to stroke your ego.

I've always wondered about people who bitch and gripe about the way things are ran here, yet continue to come here. Why?

To laugh at you, not with you.

[TheHitMan]

As for the discussion about me, talk all you want. At the end of the day, I'm the one with his finger on the kill switch, and ain't nothing going to change that, so all such discussion is moot.

Exactly my point. This is why your in this "summer slump". ;)

If you take this as proof of an overinflated ego, so be it.

I shall.

As for Bitter, he was removed not because of any disagreement with how things were run here, but because he brought heat on himself in the form of police investigation. For the sake of the Forum, and everyone on it, we distanced ourselves from him.

Having spoke to him on a number of occasions, I know that's not entirely true at all!

As for anyone else, if they don't like it here, they're free to leave. It's not like we've got them locked in a cage.

Which is why there is hardly anyone here. Well, except those that want to stroke your ego.

I've always wondered about people who bitch and gripe about the way things are ran here, yet continue to come here. Why?

To laugh at you, not with you.

[megalomania]

Summer slump eh? Well that may be true for posts, but its not for lack of people. Did anyone notice we hit a new record high of people on at once? Almost 500 on June 21! New registration statistics are humming to increasing levels, although they are lower than what they are in February, our peak month for discussion.

If we have run out of things to talk about than it is time to open up new sections I say. Without the Hive a drug discussion exists, and those druggies are ever so good at improvised chemistry. The engineering section could probably use some high voltage/electronics stuff. Maybe a physics section would be nice. I can always expand the chemistry and devote more Forum resources to the general sciences.

I have other exciting plans for The Forum now that our software has been upgraded. It looks like that torrent tracker I have always wanted can go in since someone finally made a better one that works with vb. Plan on getting SSL encrypted pages for The Forum as well. Many don't know this but we seamlessly moved to a new host that offers us far more bandwidth, features, and space. I have already made the appropriate SSL certificates... Plan on seeing a greatly expanded library, or rather more ways to get books rather than just FTP or torrents. I am planning on compressing all documents on the FTP into individual zip archives to cut down on transfer times.

I am readying another mass expansion of my website as well. My website is what draws most people to Rogue Science, or at least that used to be the way things went. Be on the lookout for a better search engine for my website too. I will also be trying to make an archive of all the original sources of information I get for my website so the original references can be checked. At the very least I will cite all my sources. Even though the original sources for my existing explosives was lost before I got a chance to add them to my website, I will be pouring through the old data and finding all the info again.

Discussion or not, The Explosives and Weapons Forum remains a vast treasure trove of information going back 6 years now, and 8 years for my website. We have outlasted the rest and remained the best. We set the standards in the industry.

And as for you, TheHitMan, every one of your little retorts is uninformed and erroneous. If you want to gripe about nbk do it via email with your associates. Don't spread lies and rumors because you have a bug up your ass.

Contrary to popular opinion very few people get banned around here anymore. Our reputation precedes us for proper etiquette, and nbk's sheer presence insures compliance with the rules. People don't just get banned for no reason, and those that do always have a sob story about why they are innocent. Ask any inmate in prison what they did and they will say they are innocent. And while nbk may be the crushing boot, I am the resurrector. There are many of you here under new names that I have allowed back in. I would rather chase off a few good people than to allow kewls to run amuck (then they drive off the good people).

[megalomania]

Summer slump eh? Well that may be true for posts, but its not for lack of people. Did anyone notice we hit a new record high of people on at once? Almost 500 on June 21! New registration statistics are humming to increasing levels, although they are lower than what they are in February, our peak month for discussion.

If we have run out of things to talk about than it is time to open up new sections I say. Without the Hive a drug discussion exists, and those druggies are ever so good at improvised chemistry. The engineering section could probably use some high voltage/electronics stuff. Maybe a physics section would be nice. I can always expand the chemistry and devote more Forum resources to the general sciences.

I have other exciting plans for The Forum now that our software has been upgraded. It looks like that torrent tracker I have always wanted can go in since someone finally made a better one that works with vb. Plan on getting SSL encrypted pages for The Forum as well. Many don't know this but we seamlessly moved to a new host that offers us far more bandwidth, features, and space. I have already made the appropriate SSL certificates... Plan on seeing a greatly expanded library, or rather more ways to get books rather than just FTP or torrents. I am planning on compressing all documents on the FTP into individual zip archives to cut down on transfer times.

I am readying another mass expansion of my website as well. My website is what draws most people to Rogue Science, or at least that used to be the way things went. Be on the lookout for a better search engine for my website too. I will also be trying to make an archive of all the original sources of information I get for my website so the original references can be checked. At the very least I will cite all my sources. Even though the original sources for my existing explosives was lost before I got a chance to add them to my website, I will be pouring through the old data and finding all the info again.

Discussion or not, The Explosives and Weapons Forum remains a vast treasure trove of information going back 6 years now, and 8 years for my website. We have outlasted the rest and remained the best. We set the standards in the industry.

And as for you, TheHitMan, every one of your little retorts is uninformed and erroneous. If you want to gripe about nbk do it via email with your associates. Don't spread lies and rumors because you have a bug up your ass.

Contrary to popular opinion very few people get banned around here anymore. Our reputation precedes us for proper etiquette, and nbk's sheer presence insures compliance with the rules. People don't just get banned for no reason, and those that do always have a sob story about why they are innocent. Ask any inmate in prison what they did and they will say they are innocent. And while nbk may be the crushing boot, I am the resurrector. There are many of you here under new names that I have allowed back in. I would rather chase off a few good people than to allow kewls to run amuck (then they drive off the good people).

[thrall]

What about a section on militery strategy and tactics? There are few militery people here already and there are others with good enough knowledge or ideas. It would be a nice read I think.

[thrall]

What about a section on militery strategy and tactics? There are few militery people here already and there are others with good enough knowledge or ideas. It would be a nice read I think.

[megalomania]

Now that just might be an idea worth considering. I am sure we have many armchair generals too :)

[megalomania]

Now that just might be an idea worth considering. I am sure we have many armchair generals too :)

[Chris The Great]

Well, for me it's quite a combination of things. I think the offtime sort of turned me away from this forum somewhat, even though I find it extremely useful. Sciencemadness picked up some of the slack and I find I spend most of my time there when before I would spend roughly equal time in E&W and SM.

I also currently don't have anything new or interesting to post either, besides a VX synthesis which needs more work than I initially thought to make work. I said I'd have it two weeks ago, well vacation and other projects (needed a break after months of straight nerve agent research) intervenied, and the end result is I have nothing to post! Other experiments with explosives that have not been discussed much or at all are on hold as I lack certain chemicals and procedures, and so I need to get the chems and figure out some procedures.

I also agree that things have increased in difficulty, right now OTC nerve agents, complex caged nitramines and whatnot are the topics being researched, not how to make AP.

But, there isn't really any reason to worry, forums often slump and jump around with activity. It sure seems like there has been alot of activity however, judging by how many posts I have to catch up on since my last visit.

[al93535]

I think the new sections are a great idea Mega. I really like the high voltage / electronics category. Not only are they useful for entertainment but can be used for detonators and weapons as well.

I didn't frequent this forum as much, as I was really into pyrotechnics rather then weapons and explosives. But I have since returned for the high-quality information here, you can't beat it. Once I finish my current projects I will post the details and results.

[grammarless]

A high voltage/electronics section would be wonderful because it was those things that dragged me away from here and to highvoltage forum.

[FrankCastle]

maybe there's so little discussion because these forums are too heavily moderated. nobody wants to wait days to become a member and wait days more for every post they make.

[megalomania]

Our moderation system has worked fine for the past several years. If we did not make you wait, then we would be overrun with foolishness. One merely has to look at TOTSE, Weirdier, and Bombshock for an example of an explosive board without moderation. Discussion degenerates to anarchy, the anarchy chases away the knowledgeable, and the anarchy attracts the ignorant. Due to the nature of our subject matter we attract an inordinate number of kewls, to fight this we have enacted rather extreme moderating policies. Our moderation is solely responsible for allowing The Forum to survive and flourish in a harsh environment. To ease the restrictions is to invite disaster.

[TheHitMan]

to survive and flourish

Doesn't seem to be much of that as of the last few months! Reinforcing my remarks.

[Child-of-Bodom]

Our moderation system has worked fine for the past several years. If we did not make you wait, then we would be overrun with foolishness. One merely has to look at TOTSE, Weirdier, and Bombshock for an example of an explosive board without moderation. Discussion degenerates to anarchy, the anarchy chases away the knowledgeable, and the anarchy attracts the ignorant. Due to the nature of our subject matter we attract an inordinate number of kewls, to fight this we have enacted rather extreme moderating policies. Our moderation is solely responsible for allowing The Forum to survive and flourish in a harsh environment. To ease the restrictions is to invite disaster.

Absolutely true! No strict moderation would kill this board. It is a bit rude to ban someone after he/she opened a thread which is against the rules, but hey, that's the policy, RTFM, and I cannot care a lot for them...

However, I also don't like it that long-time members like Vulture and other guys/girls (you never know...) have been banned for more or less political reasons, this inhibits me to give my clear opinion in WC threads. I don't know the real reason behind this obviously, but as it is not explained, it looks at least a bit strange. Being a bit more open about that sort of things is maybe a good idea, if I decide to post a lot, so put a lot of time in a forum, it is nice to know that you're not banned after three years. This is obviously not how it works in reality, but if it looks like this happens, people are not willing to invest time in this board, but find another one....

For the other subfora I am not 'afraid' to post, I know myself exactly when it is good, or when it is crap, and even sometimes when I am writing something, it goes Alt-A+del, because it is too much offtopic, or I search to find a small bit of info and find the answer anyway.
This is the next point, there is so much info here, that for beginners' questions there is hardly space, it is already written down somewhere.
If you want more discussion, delete the archives :P...
Furtheron didn't I really felt like doing some nice deto's after the terror-shit happened in London, and people are killed there because they wear a backpack, but felt more for doing other stuff....

[al93535]

Perhaps there are less posts because people are having trouble accessing the site. I have talked to a few people, and read from others that they cannot lon-into the forum with thier user name, so are guests. Or they are getting "You don't have permission to access / on this server." And/or a 403 404 error. BTW, these are mostly people outside of the U.S.

[Child-of-Bodom]

Use a proxy server, that will solve the problem, and will allow you be more anonymous anyway. This is very easy, just go to the homepage of your provider, find the proxyadress and the port there, and fill it out in you browser. Both in Firefor and Idiot Explorer is this very straightforward.
I had the problem too, but it obviously works now... (and yes, I am outside the US)

[Pb1]

We're in our annual summer slump. Happens every year, so it's nothing to worry about.

I beg to differ. I made a quick and dirty chart of the posts per month and this looks like it's much more serious than that. In fact, looking at the chart, I don't even see a summer lull, it's more of a peak. Whatever's going on with this forum is much more long term. I can't offer an explanation, all I have is the (approximate) numbers.

If anyone wishes, I can post the picture here (the graph is in a format few are likely to recognize).

[knowledgehungry]

I got a personally signed letter from the BATF. So I guess that would put me into the not wanting to be seen as a terrorist. After realizing I was being watched I decided to get rid of most of my chemicals. I'm getting back into the theory however. Also if I wasn't working I was busy drinking, fighting and hanging with the boys. But those days are over too. So hopefully I'm back for good.

[meselfs]

I thought you weren't skerd?


Anyway, this forum is slowly but surely recovering. I think that the big loss was due to the outages early this year, and the IE login troubles.

[me234]

knowledgehungry, what exactly did the letter say?
I'm just wondering, not like I've done anyhting to deserve such a letter of course.

[knowledgehungry]

The letter basically said we know what you have been buying(Al, KClO4 etc.), making flash powder is considered the illegal manufacture of explosives which is a felony. I wasn't too skerd, I still had a nice Fourth of July ;) .

[nbk2000]

Sounds like a fishing expedition on their part.

So what if you have the ingredients? It's only illegal if you combine them. :p

[grendel23]

The letters are being sent out by the Office of Consumer Litigation, Dept. of (in)Justice. They are part of a campaign by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to stamp out amateur pyrotechnics in the US.
They are fishing, because if they had evidence, they would knock on your door with a search warrant, not send a letter.

[knowledgehungry]

My letter was from the BATF and signed by a BATF official. I agree it was fishing but I hate being even a blip on the feds radar.

[nbk2000]

The fact that they sent you a letter means you're safe.

Did they send a letter to the Branch Davidians in Waco, TX. Nope.

How about Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge? Nope.

If they have an interest in you, they just come sneaking up on you and assassinate your family and friends in bungled raids, before finally setting your house on fire in frustration over their inability to be real 'soldiers'. :p

[LeoDioxide]

I for one can say, I've nothing interesting to contribute, and the moderation is scary >.> Also, anything I could ever want is already here.

The high voltage section sounds great, there is a house being built right next to me, and I get a week or so of free electricity. I've been trying to come up with ideas, and so far google turns out bad homemade results for "spark gap trigger."

[Arbitwar]

I'm an old member, but just recently created a new login name. Hell I can't even remember my old one. I dont post now simply because anything I could want to know is already available. And whether you think so or not, most of you(us) dont have anything else to add. There are a few(very few) people here who do new research and make new discoveries. There is more imformation already here than any of us will use or could use. Only the few people who are willing to dump most of their money/time into this hobby can further it.

[zeocrash]

XYZ hit it on the head for me, when i first started here there was a huge community spirit. we all used to know each other (not personally but online). I don't mean any offence when i say this, but who the hell are half of our current members, they're new and not the people i used to know from back in the day, i don't mean that offensively, but it's making me feel a little old (in forum terms).

Another large factor contreibuting to my absence (and i'm sure i'm not the only person this applies to) is that i've had alot going on in my life recently, finished college, got a job, lost a job went to uni. i've had other things in my life and i've just not had time to sit down in my garage and work on stuff.

the armchair general board is an interesting idea. I remember a couple of years ago i suggested creating one of these global strategic analasys services as a way of financing the forum. the content for our service would be generated by forum discussion on various conflicts in the world today.
This idea got a good reception, then fell dead. It'd be nice to see a return of the armchair generals to the forum.

Also on the topic of new forums, weren't we going to create a forum on drugs and pharmacology to make up for the hive's dissapearence.

[Chris The Great]

While I probably fall under the category of "who the hell is this guy" I know what you mean about knowing everyone.
I recently joined a more kewlish forum to help move it away from becoming another totse (it's working) and since there aren't hundreds of members and everyone who posts is very active, you recognize everyone who posts. It really makes you enjoy the forum alot more, even if the subject matter is not as advanced.

Here, people don't post that often, and when they do alot of the time I don't recognize them. I would consider myself to 'know' maybe only a couple members.

[Jacks Complete]

But if people don't post, or respond to posts, how can we ever get back to that stage?

NBK used to throw out some great ideas that were somewhere between batshit crazy and warped uber-genius, but we all used to discuss them. I keep posting discussion articles on new tricks pulled from the web, but rarely does anyone want to say anything about them...

[THErAPIST]

This forum is dead. Noone discusses theory anymore. Everyone has either gone to studying/ making fireworks, or making AP. Noone cares about the theory behind things anymore, noone cares about the exploration, noone cares about the techniques, or the dangers, or anything else. Everyone now is either uninterested, extremely k3wl, or some poor guy stuck in the middle hoping shit would happen so that they could learn. I used to be the poor bastard stuck in the middle but then I went to fireworks and stopped caring about half of the stuff here. Lets not forget that in an attempt to make the forum better it was made impossible for me to login so that I could post if I wanted to.

The old members such as DBSP and such left because they got sick of how noone worked together to learn or accomplish things. Everyone worked together to learn, and somewhat develop. An example of this would be nbk's trinade idea. Now noone cares about team work, it's all "me me me". Also a large majority of old people got sick of seeing all the knowledgable people getting banned for pissing NBK off so they disappeared..

I don't mean to offend anyone. I'm not calling anyone still here worthless or greedy or anything ,because I doubt anyone who's still here is worthy of death by chocking on liquid nitrogen or anything, but that's what started happening and then people left. I really Don't know how it is here now. I left before it ever got to this stage.

[NoltaiR]

I thought DBSP and guys like him quit because they were afraid of getting in trouble or were already in trouble. If I remember correctly he was one of the guys that actually posted pictures/videos of his doings... while that is all great and all, it tends to be very good evidence for any sort of pursuing agency.

And if you guys remember correctly.. we had a Finnish guy named 'rc' that came here for a short while before reportedly killing himself and doing a lot of damage inside of a mall using homemade explosives... those are the people who don't quite comprehend the idea of THEORY.

[THErAPIST]

Na. DBSP was and still is on my icq buddy list. Granted I havent spoken to him in quite some time, I assure you he left because the whole teamwork aspect that this place had once had disappeared as well as some of the knowledgable/ senior members. He told me that a couple months after he quit coming here. He had a new job that was paying well and IIRC he had a girlfriend who became pretty important to him so it wasnt worth his time to stay here.

DBSP and the people like him who quit coming here were usually a bit too smart to get into too much trouble. They always seemed to quit while they still had the chance.

[Flake2m]

The discussion started dying after:
A member was implicated in the Helsinki bombing
September 11
It went down hill even more after:
The london Bombings
Notice a trend here?
When you include this javascript exploit (or so I am informed thats what it is) that is screwing up the logins, you realise that something is going on.

Without our forum G[m]ods: NBK2000 and Megalomania this forum is going to go nowhere. I haven't even heard from the demi-g[m]ods: Anthony and his merry men.

While people may post pictures of there doings, in some countries it is actually legal to conduct these activities, as long as appropriate safety measures are taken. This forum never has and never will condone terrorism or terrorist activities.

[Guerilla]

I couldn't agree more with you there, THErAPIST.

The team spirit, if you can call it that, has really weakened over time. It's obvious that the feel of 'community' diminishes as the member count increases, but that's not anyone's fault. Rather, like said, seeing how little you as a single member mean here when even old great contributors get banned because of some personal conflicts and all the "if you don't like it you're free to leave" type of attitudes are one of the moral-killers, or at least hardly encourage anyone to contribute and put time and effort on this forum IMHO. This is at least the picture I get, having spoked with some members that have left.

Maybe it gets better, I dont know..somehow I just feel like these technical problems put the last nail to the coffin.

[THErAPIST]

Maybe it gets better, I dont know..somehow I just feel like these technical problems put the last nail to the coffin.

Agreed.

I'm back to throw in some replies every once in a while since I can actually log in now, but i doubt this place will ever be what it once was.

[Jacks Complete]

Well, I have to agree.

Another factor is the banning of the IP/URL by a least one major UK ISP, so probably 50% of people trying to get this site get a 403 or 404 even when everything should be fine.

The lack of mods should probably be very worrying, and admin action should have been taken weeks ago. :confused:

[Davo]

If you're blocked and try using a proxy such as www.the-cloak.com, you can visit the site but cannot log on. Most anonymous proxies do not allow the sending of POSTDATA and therefore you can't log on and tell people you were blocked. You would probably be really pissed off if your isp blocked you, but you can read the site with an anonymous proxy but can't actually log on and tell anyone

[quicksilver]

Frankly, I can search and find what I wanted to talk about. That being said, I would want to add to the existing thread but I feel that to do so would bring a shitstorm of "that's already been discussed" even if what I added was in a slighly differing context. And in truth, there are some issues with some folks whom I know (from other places like the Hive) who got banned here for reasons that just don't coincide with the "rules". They were sharp fellows and I just don't know why they got banned and neither do they!

[mrloud]

I guess this thread ties into the "Where Did they All Go" discussion under Forum Matters.

The Forum (as it was known then) was quite small when I first found it. Over a few years it grew to an enourmous size with thousands of people making hundreds of posts. I really don't think that sort of growth and quantity of discussion is sustainable. Especially nowadays with the whole "terrorism" superstition on the forefront of everyone's minds.

As has been said before: All the basics have been covered here many times over. That is why I came here in the first place... to learn the basics, which I did. I had a great time tinkering with AP, nitrocellulose and a few other things.

I haven't lost interest in those things, but to take it to the next level requires time and effort I can't (or dont want to) spare from myother hobbies. Chemisty is an idle interest of mine. It's certainly not my profession. 90% of what is discussed here is ~way~ over my head.

I don't sign in here very often, but this place is probably the web site I am most emotionally attatched to, simply because I have seen it go through so much.

[lustvegas]

Hi. I don't know what goes on here. I'm surfing from the UK. I couldn't get in for most of last year '05 but I did in Dec. using a proxy. Right now I'm not using a proxy but this is the first time I could get in since then.
I can't see most of the site, only the last topic posted in each section (with the exception of The Water Cooler) and no images at all.
F'rinstance, on the main page, Chemistry Related tells me that there are 472 threads with 6,317 replies but all I can access is "Homemade Alcohol" the last post. Same with everything else. I don't know if the site's gone screwy or what.
I don't know what goes on here. Or if/when I'll be able to get in again.

So, good luck and best wishes for the New Year.

[Boomer]

Hi, can somebody PLEASE tell me why I could not get in for NINE MONTH ???
I tried from 3 computers in 3 cities, so it could hardly have been that the IP range was banned.

[megalomania]

I would say our trouble really must have started when I upgraded to the release candidate of vb 3.5. A beta by any other name is still a beta, damn bastards. There have been 5 or 6 releases since then to improve the code. I just upgraded to 3.5.2 last week and when I went back to the site they released 3.5.3! Ahhh!

mrloud is correct when he says the basics have been covered. Nbk2000 put it nicely in saying "the low hanging fruit has been picked."

Personally I will be trying to change the focus of the site to providing increasing amounts of professional literature. I have made a sizeable investment in digitization equipment and software. I have been making inroads with certain groups the relase bookz professionally, and I am making a systematic effort to acquire some of the most valuable chemistry literature avilable.

Discussion or not, The Explosives and weapons Forum will stand as a premiere source of information. We still get a staggering amount of visitors every day, and it seems a rather large number of newbie posts were being trapped in the approval que inadvertantly.

For the time being it seems most of the problems of the last few months have evaporated with the recent upgrade to the latest version of the board software.

As for there being problems with The Forum... Lets put it this way, there has been at least one major crisis, and sometimes more than one, each and every year since we opened our doors formally in 1999.

You want to know why I wasn't here for the past 4 months? I just could not take yet another problem. Rogue Science is my baby, and I hate to see her suffer. I needed a little time off without thinking today is the end of the world. Now I see my absence has been detrimental, but I think in a good way. With things slowed down I can actually get some work done around here instead of answering the same questions over and over, and fixing every newbs dilemma. A burocratic functionary I am not, I prefer to think of myself more as the chief engineer rather than the captain.

With things settled a bit I can retool, tinker, and focus my energies on much needed improvements. All I have to do is provide the tools for the people, and you will do the rest.

Build it and they will come...

[tmp]

Mega, in some ways I feel your pain. My FTP isn't quite 7 months old and
already it's given me my share of headaches. Creating user accounts,
upgrading, and solving problems is time consuming. I haven't had a lot of time
with the hectic work schedule I've had in the last 6 months. Sometimes I
couldn't do any work on the FTP for over a week !

As for other members, maybe some of them are experiencing the same
problems with time and commitments. Some probably got scared over the
terrorist bullshit. Others may have simply lost interest. I'm sure the reasons
are various.

[croc]

The main reasons I had stopped posting were.
Whenever I clicked the submit reply button nothing happened.
I had also lost some interest in the forum (too many computer games).
In another thread on the forum it explains some countries blocking this forum from there citizens and the only way they could get through was by using a proxy.
I may have also stopped posting a little and lost interest because I was coming off as a retard but now I’m older and more mature I think before I act.