Now I understand

[Andy K]

Unfortunately, I remember log tables before I upgraded to a slide rule - still have one in a drawer somewhere. Also remember the first office electronic calculator around '69 - about the size of a laptop and only add, subtract, multiply and divide - oh, the good old days 😀

Still have my Log Tables somewhere. Used them quite a lot when I was a draughtsman for Ford in the late 70s early 80s.

SOHCAHTOA. 😉

 

[sf]

Many of us know the "things" that happened at RFF in the past few months, specially in the past month.

I knew something was "off" at RFF. I slowly realized that, RFF...had somehow lost something.

>> http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22415 <<

I won't go into a long ramble as to why I think things happened and who and why. That was beaten down for weeks. We're beyond that now. I am.

So many of the familiar names and heavy contributors have made this less of a home in cyberspace. Sure, many of us are here, but there is family missing.

I miss many of you. Some of you are gone for good, many of you hardly ever show up anymore. I hope that the ones that are still here don't leave.

How much soul can one lose?

...

Moderators/Jorge: you may move to where you think is best appropriate.

back to the original post

RFF is just as engaging and enjoyable as it once was. There are a few new members (who post) and a few of the old membes have left, but I find my interest in being here has not dimished, but has rather increased in recent months. I think, all things considered, that the most important thing about RFF is that the layout really brings things together, and that the active members tend to be very much on topic - with the exception of very very few. That's a nice thing.

One major step forward was bringing on a couple more moderators. That should really help the site stay as we like it. I would like to see it grow in certain ways, but I NEVER want to see it get so big, so out of hand in terms of sheer size and user interface, that it ceases to be a single internet entity and becomes instead some massive network like pnet.

 

[rover]

One major step forward was bringing on a couple more moderators. That should really help the site stay as we like it.

If it seems that way it is because there hasn't been much to moderate. (I know, some will disagree with this but it is true.) We do have a lot of members now, old and new and what has been successful here at RFF is not the moderation, but the members.

 

[sf]

If it seems that way it is because there hasn't been much to moderate. (I know, some will disagree with this but it is true.) We do have a lot of members now, old and new and what has been successful here at RFF is not the moderation, but the members.

Yes. I should have phrased that differently.

Having a couple more moderators is like having a couple more secret service officers on duty. Doesn't make you a different president. Just ensures that things will be easier to control, should things get out of hand. Mostly, by that, I mean outside attacks in the form of spam and such . . . such.

I'm not here for the moderating. I'm here for the conversation, the sharing of art, the members' generally strong sense of camaraderie.

 

[rover]

I'm not here for the moderating. I'm here for the conversation, the sharing of art, the members' generally strong sense of camaraderie.

Me too. 😉

 

[GeneW]

Some members have come, some have gone, and some of us are on the disabled list 😀

Gene

 

[Ash]

Well this is my first message here, having got round to registering this afternoon.

I've been filtering through some threads for a week or two for info to get me started with rangefinders (having decided to give it a go as a break from SLR and digital etc), and the people on here are brilliant with the level of info on anything I search for.

I guess I'm lucky I've missed the unpleasantness on the forums here. I'm hoping that myself and other new members wont have some different treatment because we are not part of the original 'gang' who made this site so popular. And forgive me if I'm still a little oblivious to the changes that have taken place here, having only discovered the site very recently.

 

[Silva Lining]

I think whatever your forum, (and I am a member of several in widely diverse subject areas!) there is always some kind of infighting or falling out amongst a small amount of people who feel wronged or upset at the way they have been treated / 'spoken' too etc.

For me, that is not why I come here. I love RFF for the discussions, the support, and the amazing amount of 'free' technical knowledge amongst the contributers.

It is sad when people fall out, but I generally just avoid reading those threads. After all, to create and perpetuate bad feeling it is required that people continue to post bad vibes...

 

[Socke]

ha

All you weenies. I had a computer with a 6 inch monitor (monochrome green), not even 4 MB of disc space. I forgot what the thing was called, but I wrote programs to make beeping noises. That was when I was 6,7 years old. Back in 1987-1988. Programs written in assembly language.. . .

I hate computer programming now. I'd rarely use this computer if my photography, school, and RFF were not reliant on it.

Ah a newbee!
Sinclair ZX80 in 1980 and Apple ][ clone with 32KB RAM and a cassette recorder hooked up to a portable Sony Color TV in 1982.

Still have, and use!, sliderules and log tables.

 

[MCTuomey]

It is hard to read this post. It is hard to lose members, especially ones who contributed so much and asked so little in return. But there are still good reasons to remain, like this recent thread on HCB, Ronis et al.:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22197&page=1&pp=20

As Silva said above, the discussions and support here are simply wonderful.

 

[ywenz]

I can't compare, my first computer experience was playing Wolfenstein 3D from a 5.25" Floppy Disk. Drive B! Drive B

 

[Marc-A.]

New members who have spoiled RFF ...

New members who have spoiled RFF ...

Hello,
I am not comfortable with what has been said about the new members, as I am a new member (for 8 months I guess). I am quite sad that some think new members have spoiled the site 🙁
I find this place wonderful and, instead of watching stupid TV programs, I like hanging around here when I have two minutes to spare. And now, instead of being idle when I go out in bars, I think: hey, try and take a good picture for Inaki and his W/NW thread about pubs.
The threads are always interesting, even when they are about the new expensive Leica or Epson gear I don't have. And when I browse the daily submitted pictures and the members galleries, it is like traveling all around the globe and sharing a common world. In my daily trip, I met interesting people who are not close friends but people I respect and I like to talk to.
As many other members, I bought my first rangefinder camera because of this site. I cannot afford, like Copake Ham, a "a Nikon S2 and SP, two Bessa R2S's about five Nkrs 5.0cm's, three Nkrs 3.5's, two CV 85's... " (I envy you Copake!), but I started with a Zorki 4K, just to test rangefinder system, and then I bought a Zorki 3M and a Leica III, some leica lenses like my Summitar that I luv! ... and I am waiting for a Leica M2 which is in a parcel somewhere between Berlin and Paris. This has been a big step for me.
At first, I was very shy about showing my poor results, and then I thought ... that's not so bad, and even if it is, I will improve myself ...
I contributed to some threads too as I like sharing my views with others, even when ...no ... especially when we disagree about. I don't see disagreement as a loss of civility and respect for others, but as a way to learn and to grow richer in truths.
I may disagree with policies decided by Big Cheese 🙂 but it is only a matter of opinion and I know that we have this wonderful site thank to Jorge! So THANK YOU JORGE; I hope new members, like me, did not spoil your site ... otherwise, I would consider to leave 🙁
well, I did not know the goood ol' time, sorry, but I know this, and I like this ...
Enough said,
Bests,
Marc

 

[Andy K]

Ah a newbee!
Sinclair ZX80 in 1980 and Apple ][ clone with 32KB RAM and a cassette recorder hooked up to a portable Sony Color TV in 1982.

Still have, and use!, sliderules and log tables.

Pah! Thats nothing, in 1977 I had (and still have) a Binatone games machine with football, tennis, squash and a shooting game. It was basically two controllers with a dial each which moved a 'bat' up and down the screen. It made beeping sounds. Powered by four D cell batteries.

 

[BrianShaw]

I can't compare, my first computer experience was playing Wolfenstein 3D from a 5.25" Floppy Disk. Drive B! Drive B

so you don't remember using 11 inch floppies and, before that, data/control language on punch cards?

 

[peter_n]

Well this is my first message here, having got round to registering this afternoon.

I've been filtering through some threads for a week or two for info to get me started with rangefinders (having decided to give it a go as a break from SLR and digital etc), and the people on here are brilliant with the level of info on anything I search for.

I guess I'm lucky I've missed the unpleasantness on the forums here. I'm hoping that myself and other new members wont have some different treatment because we are not part of the original 'gang' who made this site so popular. And forgive me if I'm still a little oblivious to the changes that have taken place here, having only discovered the site very recently.

Welcome to the forum Ash! I too am a refugee from the SLR world... 😉 I wouldn't worry too much about the "treatment" here, we are all nuts anyway! 😀 Good luck in your search!!

 

[telenous]

I miss the input of some older members, both for their good humour and their immense expertise. I do not profess to understand what ticked them off in the first place but perhaps those who have spent much more time here, raising with their contribution the forum to the heights it now enjoys, have reasons which I as a newcomer cannot fully appreciate. Far from thinking that everyone is expendable, I believe that the forum is the sum of its parts, and its parts are its members, new and old. With the change of membership, the evolution of the site is inevitable. Whether this is for the better or for the worse, remains to be seen. I still think the forum is a congenial place to drop by and I shall continue to support it in any way I find appropriate.

 

[bmattock]

Ah a newbee!
Sinclair ZX80 in 1980 and Apple ][ clone with 32KB RAM and a cassette recorder hooked up to a portable Sony Color TV in 1982.

Still have, and use!, sliderules and log tables.

Ha! I *sold* TRS-80 Model I computers at Radio Shack in 1978! I was doing programming in BASIC on a TTY-33 over a 300 baud acoustic modem to a mainframe, using paper tape for storage, in 1977!

I also bought a ZX80 in 1982, but never did much with it. Bought, and still have, a Kaypro I (running the CP/M OS) in 1986.

I never learned how to use a sliderule, though.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

I am not comfortable with what has been said about the new members, as I am a new member (for 8 months I guess). I am quite sad that some think new members have spoiled the site 🙁

First off, thank you all to those who have contributed to the thread.

I do want to clarify one important point: I never said, meant, etc. that new members spoiled anything. I haven't read anything here that says so. I have read, however, things to indicate that obviously many of us can't read and that's where misunderstandings start.

So, no, new members have nothing to do with this. Growth is good. Change is good. But not all of anything is good always anytime.

That was not my point. My point is that I hope that the ones that are still here don't leave.

I hope we get new valuable members. We have lost some very valuable members. Some of us know who they were.

I'm no technical guru. I'm no optical guru. I'm no photo master. I'm no savant of a specific area. I'm like most of you, just another member.

This was not directed at anyone or anything. I'm sorry if I offended anybody by saying a little bit of what was bothering me.

...

That said, I think the Commodore 64 was light years ahead of the Apple ][ 😛

 

[Silva Lining]

Commodore 64 - programming in basic - no modem - just a tape recorder and a multi-coloured flashing screen! Must have been 1981 /82

 

[John Camp]

"Ha! I *sold* TRS-80 Model I computers at Radio Shack in 1978! I was doing programming in BASIC on a TTY-33 over a 300 baud acoustic modem to a mainframe, using paper tape for storage, in 1977! I also bought a ZX80 in 1982, but never did much with it. Bought, and still have, a Kaypro I (running the CP/M OS) in 1986."

You young guys had it **so** easy with all your fancy advanced Radio Shack equipment. I can remember standing in the "computer room" of the Miami Herald's Fort Lauderdale Bureau in the mid-70s, up to my ankles in the paper tape needed to reboot the box that shipped our daily output to Miami so it could be set **in hot type,** with twenty minutes before the absolute final deadline and everybody, including me, losing our heads...