people should behave!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQddWwQLyeU

 

A few points.
The mention of 'professionals' as if the holders of such vague title would be precluded from fighting rightly or wrongly is a tad naive. Moronity and courtesy do not make distinctions of class, credo, race, or political affiliation let alone knowledge real or presumed about any industry, science or divination attempts.

Scared of some bullets flying over your head?
Duck.

Don't want to take sides? Well that is a problem. You always take sides, what you don't want is to tell which side you are on.
Telling is voluntary.

You don't want to feel uncomfortable? Certainly a common feeling, who wants to? However in my humble opinion little can be achieved without discomfort, yet that is also voluntary.

Consideration and cordiality? Sure yet consider also that there are many who would be hard pressed to express their passion and opinions in Queen English and need to do it with alternative manners. Don't hold that against them, it is all part of the fun.

 

Well, what happened to close minded Rick Williby then?

He has resigned I see.

-Tom

 

So true.

 

Semplice vero?

Tu sei al lago di Garda?
Mio padre andava in vacanze propio li.

M

 

eh well...

Lets quote Harry Lime on that issue:

"You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

​

Rest my case... Peace and love aint all.....

 

Man, you must have seen something I missed. I never saw Rick as anything but helpful. A little terse, humorless, and given to much detail, yeah, but he's an engineer.

 

============
Rick was(and is) very helpful to me-he's done some remarkable things. I think the forum is worse for his absence.

 

I find that respect goes a long way when requesting help from those with more knowledge and experience than I do. Also, I find that if I cannot positively contribute to a conversation (which is generally in our case, working to bring us closer to an answer), it's best to keep my mouth shut and keep reading.

By the way, I've lurked on these forums for months now and very much appreciate the experience represented by this group.

 

BM
I think the whole idea of a forum is to seek help, discuss ideas, debate opinions and to get some camaraderie amongst a scattered profession.

However some people want to convert everyone to their view regardless of fact. They are the ones that drive most of the passionate debates and receive the testy replies.

The crux is how someone reacts to being questioned, if you make a statement that's incorrect it will probably be challenged and everyone learns from the exchange. If you are wrong and bull headed then you can expect a more robust continued exchange. People are not usually rude unless you are either rude yourself or use questionable debating tactics.

The only difference between a Pro and a non-pro is the level of experience and understanding. So they are more likely to correct someone.
If you then cry foul because you don't like the result you won't get much sympathy from anyone including the professional.

But unless you are highly opinionated on a contentious topic you will just get polite discussion. At least that's what I think, (unless you had any examples to the contrary).

All in all it's a pretty good bunch and the level of moderation being exercised seems to be working.

 

I didn't know we had lost Rick
to bad, he did lend a unique perspective on a variety of aspects of design that while not my "bag" made for some dam interesting reading.

 

Hi Boston
Just a heads up - your tank web page is saying the parking meter needs feeding and the woodandmills page is saying visitors are forbidden error 404, not sure what thats about but thought you might not be aware of probs.

 

Given my 'druthers, I'll take the cuckoo clock and the lack of bloodshed. The fact that there were no Swiss Michelangelo's or da Vinci's doesn't sway me much; those boring Swiss did more to influence people's everyday lives with their banking and their industrial technology than any Renaissance artist ever did with a painting.

Your analogy is somewhat skewed, anyway. Do you think the Swiss Guard has served as bodyguards, ceremonial guards, and palace guards at foreign European courts for the last five hundred years because of their watchmaking abilities?

No. They simply outsourced their violence, instead of pissing on their own doorstep. They were hired by the royal courts of France, Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia, the Vatican, Savoy, Saxony, Naples and others because they were the best-trained, most disciplined and meanest mercenaries available in all of Europe. And there were also companies of Swiss mercenaries fighting for almost any European power you can think of, for hundreds of years--including the Italian city-states where the Renaissance was born.

You know why foreign powers have left the boring Swiss alone for hundreds of years? Because no one in his right mind wanted to invade them and get chewed up, that's why.

And while I'm on my rant, I might as well point out that cuckoo clocks are from the Black Forest of Germany--not from Switzerland.

 

ya I dont give them my credit card number nor do I give them my e mail address cause of all the spam they generate

funny how I have the right e mail on the site but cant give it to there billing dep lest it get sold off to the spammers

thanks for the heads up
B

 

****... I stand corrected, again....
Forgot the Swiss guard, didnt know about the Black forest of Germany...

But the fact that Rick has disappeared is a loss, that was not known to me. He was posting very interesting views on propellers/ speed/ energy consumption etc... He'll be missed.

By the way; "The third man" was/ is a very good movie anyway..