Question on Site Discussions and Members

[Jim Franklin]

I am new here, so please accept my apologies if anyone gets bent out of shape by my questions here, I am simply attempting to discover where things are.

1. Space.com is a reputable magazine/journalists for the reporting the popular science side of space related stories and information, yet there seems little posted on the forum, I do note the Admin does make posts of this type, but they do not relfect what is posted on the Space.com pages for news in general from other similar locations.
2. Am I the only one who thinks that there are members here who have a loose grasp on reality and an even looser grasp on science?
3. Can we not have a section to discuss actual observations, I have to assume that there are amateurs here who are active observers and imagers, discussing equipment, seeking advice and assistance, perhaps promoting software or hardware that works well (without it being a commercial outlet of course).

Just a couple of questions for now

I am trying not to get too draged in to some of the conversations, partly because the forum software is pretty rudimentary so doing maths equations in it is impossible, thus I am keeping my repsonses reasonably simple, that is not always easy for me, I found that it was the hardest part of teaching others when teaching postgrads and even other engineers.

 

[Gibsense]

I am trying not to get too draged in to some of the conversations, partly because the forum software is pretty rudimentary so doing maths equations in it is impossible, thus I am keeping my repsonses reasonably simple, that is not always easy for me, I found that it was the hardest part of teaching others when teaching postgrads and even other engineers.

There is a section called 'Astronomy' that will probably suit you more judging by your comments above. It tends to deal with more practical matters. The cosmology section does engage some fanciful ideas often silly but by rather gentle means they are usually straightened out by a few knowledgeable people with their feet on the ground in addition to the moderators who as you might guess are fairly tolerant.

As the current scientific community seems to be in some disarray in Cosmology the serious side in this section seems to take a broad brush layman's approach dealing in concepts rather than equations but on occasion dragged back to reality by the moderators or the ancients. However, if you did wish to persist in the Cosmology section I am sure you would be most welcome in debate (but perhaps not as a teacher so much as there is a tendency to be open-minded and tolerant of challenge).

As for mathematical notation maybe you could copy the stuff as a JPEG and post the image. Not a problem.

 

[Jim Franklin]

There is a section called 'Astronomy' that will probably suit you more judging by your comments above. It tends to deal with more practical matters. The cosmology section does engage some fanciful ideas often silly but by rather gentle means they are usually straightened out by a few knowledgeable people with their feet on the ground in addition to the moderators who as you might guess are fairly tolerant.

As the current scientific community seems to be in some disarray in Cosmology the serious side in this section seems to take a broad brush layman's approach dealing in concepts rather than equations but on occasion dragged back to reality by the moderators or the ancients. However, if you did wish to persist in the Cosmology section I am sure you would be most welcome in debate (but perhaps not as a teacher so much as there is a tendency to be open-minded and tolerant of challenge).

As for mathematical notation maybe you could copy the stuff as a JPEG and post the image. Not a problem.

Image posting requires the image to hosted externally, that is a lot of faffing about to upload to a site and then get a link.

 

[Gibsense]

Image posting requires the image to hosted externally, that is a lot of faffing about to upload to a site and then get a link.

Yes, it is a faff, I suppose it's an issue of being able to get stuff across in words which is not so easy. I found an image says what I wanted to say more effectively sometimes so I use "Post Image" which is simple enough even for me but it took a lot of time and help to get me familiar with the quirks of the forum system

 

[COLGeek]

I am new here, so please accept my apologies if anyone gets bent out of shape by my questions here, I am simply attempting to discover where things are.

1. Space.com is a reputable magazine/journalists for the reporting the popular science side of space related stories and information, yet there seems little posted on the forum, I do note the Admin does make posts of this type, but they do not relfect what is posted on the Space.com pages for news in general from other similar locations.
2. Am I the only one who thinks that there are members here who have a loose grasp on reality and an even looser grasp on science?
3. Can we not have a section to discuss actual observations, I have to assume that there are amateurs here who are active observers and imagers, discussing equipment, seeking advice and assistance, perhaps promoting software or hardware that works well (without it being a commercial outlet of course).

Just a couple of questions for now

I am trying not to get too draged in to some of the conversations, partly because the forum software is pretty rudimentary so doing maths equations in it is impossible, thus I am keeping my repsonses reasonably simple, that is not always easy for me, I found that it was the hardest part of teaching others when teaching postgrads and even other engineers.

Greetings,

In regards to your comments:

Item 2: Yes, we have members of all education levels and backgrounds. Feel free to engage and educate as you are comfortable. There is no compelling reason to participate in any thread. It is not a violation for a member to simply be wrong about something.

Item 3: There are already multiple sections of the forum to discuss observations to any level desired. You may recommend products and other on-line resources as appropriate to the topic at hand. However, self-promotion/advertising is never allowed, and driving a conversation to a third party site is generally discouraged.

Last, as already noted, posting images does require an external site. One typically uploads their image to a site like imgur.com and then posts a link to that image here. Not really all that difficult.

If you have any questions or suggestions, this is the place (Forum Feedback) to ask them.

Welcome to Space!

 

[Catastrophe]

My question is, there is a symbol for infinity, i.e.,

##


Surely, once symbols have been introduced here, they can be C and P'd.


Cat

 

[COLGeek]

Sure, links can be copied and re-posted.

 

[Catastrophe]

We just need one page with everything on:

Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ/ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω.

Cat


α = β / πr^2. Σ(1-x^2)

 

[COLGeek]

We just need one page with everything on:

Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ/ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω.

Cat


α = β / πr^2. Σ(1-x^2)

I would imagine that this can get a bit tedious, to string together the necessary links to build a complex equation.

There is something else that may help with the site software that I'll mention to the CMs/admin to get their take on it.

 

[Catastrophe]

I would imagine that this can get a bit tedious, to string together the necessary links to build a complex equation.

Could you not please produce a permanent "symbol" page onto which posters could add a collection of symbols?

After that, it is just like I did above: α = β / πr^2. Σ(1-x^2)

We could include subscripts etcetera.

Cat

 

[COLGeek]

Could you not please produce a permanent "symbol" page onto which posters could add a collection of symbols?

After that, it is just like I did above: α = β / πr^2. Σ(1-x^2)

Cat

A question has been posed to the right folks to look at this. Please stand by, good sir.

 

[Catastrophe]

COLGeek, sir

I know off site direction is frowned on, but could a link ti imgur be included on that page to facilitate new additions?

Cat

 

[COLGeek]

COLGeek, sir

I know off site direction is frowned on, but could a link ti imgur be included on that page to facilitate new additions?

Cat

That is not off-site direction (use of imgur and similar).

Off-site/redirected traffic is "go here and read my thoughts on another site".

These are different things altogether.

 

[Catastrophe]

That is not off-site direction (use of imgur and similar).

Off-site/redirected traffic is "go here and read my thoughts on another site".

These are different things altogether.

Many thanks.

Posters could also make their own equations and import in toto..

Cat

 

[Jim Franklin]

I would imagine that this can get a bit tedious, to string together the necessary links to build a complex equation.

There is something else that may help with the site software that I'll mention to the CMs/admin to get their take on it.

Most forum software has the ability to use ASCII coding within the setup, or symbols from shortcuts. I can copy past symbols from word, I suspect that was what Cat may have done (happy to be proved wrong) but that gets tedius, especially as typing a proper equation and the ability to superscript and subscript would be epic....I know many forums are able to do this, but it depends on whether this board has that ability.

Thanks to all for their comments and feedback, very much appreciated.

 

[Catastrophe]

Jim, you can get them all sorts of places, such as Mathematical Symbols. Cat

 

[Catastrophe]

Jim, you can get them all sorts of places, such as Mathematical Symbols. Cat

Ooops. That one didn't. Wiki. But would using imgur.

 

[Catastrophe]

x' ∫ ∫

Maths symbol list does though. Cat https://www.rapidtables.com/math/symbols/Basic_Math_Symbols.html

 

[Gibsense]

Write it all freehand on paper or blackboard and chalk, jpeg it and post via wherever

Lol, there's an idea : Similar to Zoom. Have a communal blackboard so that wizards can lock brains together and develop new ideas and we can watch experts develop magic. They would need the correct drawing kit (sensitive screens and pens) but people do, don't they?

 

[COLGeek]

The admins are looking at this now. May take a bit to fully review

 

[shaines]

Unfortunately, adding the ability to include symbols as requested would mean installing an add-on for Xenforo. We don't have specific plans to add it at this time, especially with add-ons having unknown lifespans, as they can stop being supported at any time and aren't a great tool to provide for consistent functionality across our forums.

Any of our existing sections should be used for the discussion of the appropriate observations, but if there are specific sections you think should be expanded upon, just let us know and we'll see what we can do to help improve things for everyone.

 

[Jim Franklin]

Unfortunately, adding the ability to include symbols as requested would mean installing an add-on for Xenforo. We don't have specific plans to add it at this time, especially with add-ons having unknown lifespans, as they can stop being supported at any time and aren't a great tool to provide for consistent functionality across our forums.

Any of our existing sections should be used for the discussion of the appropriate observations, but if there are specific sections you think should be expanded upon, just let us know and we'll see what we can do to help improve things for everyone.

Thanks Shaines, appreciate the feedback and understand the dilemna.