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Alright...so, I will ask the question...

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by jck

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Where is everyone? Have the masses gone MIA from The Water Cooler now?

I know what'd get things moving again, but I'd have to get people calling me a leftist wingnut again. :p

So...is everyone hiding, or is there somewhere else?

If it's Facebook or Twitter, don't tell me. I'll just go to reading archives of old BBSes or something. :|

41 replies

by slayer_

I mean, we are all (or mostly) IT people here. Dealing with tedious confusing unintuitive interfaces is in our job descriptions.

by jaqui

lots still here,
but the new format makes keeping in touch impossible.

discussions started in the main area no showing in your list of discussions, EVER.
water cooler never shows in the lists
and no way to BROWSE the discussions.

so unless we luck out,
we don't see each others posts.

by boxfiddler

Doing the peeking in and out thing. I'm good for about a half hour before the blinding white gives me a headache. And following a discussion I'm interested in is well-nigh impossible. I'm winging it. Until I run out of feathers.

by charliespencer

Plenty of old timers felt so strongly about the cumbersome new format that they gave up over the last four months. Others of us have greatly reduced our activity.

The PTBs report that site traffic is actually up, but I don't know if those raw numbers are translating into long-term active members. I think Ansu may be the Top 25 member with the most recent 'Born On' date, and that was '09. Apparently there are a lot of drive-by visitors but it doesn't look like they're sticking around. Maybe the increased presence on Twitter and Facebook is resulting in traffic from the 'Attention Deficit Disorder' sufferers.

by jasonhiner

the numbers we look at the most these days are unique users and the number of people who sign up for a TechRepublic membership. Plus, things like... How many people show up at least twice a week? How long do members stick around once they come to the site?

As I've said before, don't think we haven't noticed that there are some things about the new site that are making it tougher to navigate big discussions and to follow the threads that you're participating in (especially if you are really active).

All I can say is that I wish we would have had the updates/changes ready to deploy by now. Apologies for the delay.

by av .

Its hard to follow discussions because "My Stuff" doesn't show anything from the Water Cooler, making it hard to find things.

I'm still posting because I refuse to give up, despite all odds, but some people threw in the towel, temporarily, I think. You know this place is like the Hotel California though, so if TR will correct some of the problems, it could be restored to its former glory.

Feel free to become the leftist wingnut again. Things are very interesting in Washington, always, and its always good to hear different opinions.

I'm not a Facebook or Twitter fan, personally. I don't see how either of them can compete with the Water Cooler on TR. They're not gut-level enough.

AV

by jaqui

for the shallow crowd.

twits [ the site is called TWITter not TWEETer, so they are TWITS not Tweets ] are even worse, empty bits of noise.

by jck

on both accounts. :)

It's one reason I don't use FB hardly. I get tired of the obnoxious noise you have to contend with. If I wanted to know your baby spit up on you or that your dog peed on your neighbor's foot.

FB users need to learn about what TMI is.

by jfuller05

I don't see how either of them can compete with the Water Cooler on TR. They're not gut-level enough.

I try to start good discussions on FB, but it never works. The conversations start out pretty well, but then they're lost in ADD world.

by av .

I can't do TR at work. Very rarely. I can only spend a little time at night.

AV

by ansugisalas

Like, once a week. I know you're busy, but it really really helps to hear that you are aware of the problem. A lot of people who don't stick around might even reconsider if you say it every once in a while.
There's a big difference between "holding the fort until the cavalry arrives" and "feeding oneself to the piranhas for no reason". We're all up for holding the fort... heck, with the awesome people who hang around here, we can even clean up and serve snacks!

by jasonhiner

Cool, I'll take some snacks!

Thanks for the holding up the fort. I'll try to regularly mention that we see the worts, too, and are working on applying some Compound W.

by purpleskys

but life gets in the way. With my Mom in a nursing home and running kids around, it does limit my time here; and to make it worse, I start back to my job next Monday :( , that will cut back my time a little more. I do make it a habit to stop by everyday though, if nothing other than to check for spam messages and try to catch up on the water cooler chats.

by jck

Sorry about your mom. Mine has cancer, and I just moved 1300 miles away from her to have a job. So, I know how you feel...sort of.

I left my old job (knowing budget cuts meant layoffs), and literally 3-4 weeks later the head chopping started. But, the new job is great. I have my own office, my supervisor is super nice and so is the head of IT. Things are more ordered and laid back here, rather than last-minute, crash-cart IT practices.

I'm just glad some of the old crowd I recognize are still here.

I'll try to be back here more. I have no Twitter, and I have a Facebook but I use that to just message my best friend...since he leaves his phone off and to talk to him requires him knowing when I'll call.

Otherwise, the only other things I do regularly are: work...unpack...spray bug spray...drink coffee...and watch Top Gear.

I just hope they actually learn to put the thing in at the top of the Discussion section that you're in to backtrack through things. When I want to switch a water cooler discussion, I have to go all the way back out rather than using a website breadcrumb.

Anywho...nice to see you all :)

by purpleskys

Sorry about your mom as well, that's gotta be hard, especially now that you're so far away from her. We were lucky...my mom's kidneys failed on her a couple years ago and we almost lost her; she spent a couple months in the Halifax hospital and then was transferred to a nursing home in Springhill (we live in Truro). Last year one of the nursing homes was able to have her tranferred to a home here in town. She's better but will always have to be connected to a dialysis machine every night. She let her diabetes slip and she takes full responsibility for how things are now.

Glad to hear that the new job is going well. It's always more satisfying when you can go to work and at least know that you're appreciated for what you do. And the lesser the kaos the better eh :D . I'm excited to get back to work, I've been off for almost 5 months...I've been getting a little itchy-twitchy ;) .

I don't do the twitter thing, I've just never had the interest in it, but I do have facebook which I generally use to keep in touch with friends and family that have moved away; although, I do have a few TR ppl added as well.

I find I have to dig to find some things ( like Soni's weekly), sometimes I don't mind but other times I'm just not patient enough. I'll work my way around most of it as time goes on.

Nice to see you're still around too, be seeing ya soon :) Be well.

by nexs

Get anymore good snowfall?

Our autumn here looks like it lost the fight with winter... we've already had snowfall on our peaks.

by charliespencer

is an oxymoron. The only good snowfall is the one that falls somewhere else, preferably well outside the radius of where I planned to travel that day.

by slayer_

A large amount of snowfall during the day (constant traffic keeps snow from building up on the roads) is awesome. Especially on a Thursday (trails get groomed) or Friday (trails get pounded) giving a nice thick layer of sugar on the trails. Its a lot of fun to be able to power slide through the trails. (I don't generally rip up trails, I am just saying, its a lot of fun at those times)

by jck

Wimp :p :^0 ;)

BTW, I'm back in a state that gets 100F+ days and sub-freezing days every year. In fact last year, they had feet of snow and days with highs of around 10F.

So...buy a coat and gloves...and put on some James Taylor or something to relax :)

by charliespencer

Three winters in Michigan's Upper Peninsula made a lasting impression, and it wasn't a favorable one. For those of you who will get the US reference point, I'm never living north of I-40.

by nicknielsen

I've not been able to get on TR reliably for the past three weeks. A post here, a post there, maybe two or three during lunch, if I'm lucky.

Glad to hear your new job is going well. Hope it stays that way.

by jck

My torture has been...er...pretty bad.

I did all my work by leaving 12 hours after I ended my last job and driving 1300 miles, finding a house here within 36 hours of arriving, then driving 1300 miles back, packing my house, having a garage sale, then moving in 3 days including down time because the trailer my car was on blew an axle on the way here.

I literally moved half way across the country and was started at a new job and in a new residence in 30 days. And, I'm still not unpacked because I had to leave a lot of furniture in the old house.

Hope your job gets better for you. I know how it is. Now that I'm where I am, I am getting bored more than anything. I go to my boss 3-7 times a week asking what I can do next. Already did 3 software packages for them, and helped a department get an Access DB app moved to a server location and got things working in it.

At least I have a job though. I found out that within 3 weeks after I left, they started the layoffs at the old job.

by jck

Maybe he got a magic 8 ball that actually works. ;)

I actually got a java-based DB application (that I hadn't seen before late yesterday) working client-server. I'm such a stud. :^0

by nexs

They differ, but there's a good reason to that...

Your area of residence is often graced (I use the term loosely, just for you!) by the presence of snow often, whereas the last time I saw snow around my area of residence was about 6 years ago and there wasn't even full ground coverage!

So snowfall is novelty for me, but a nuisance for you.

by jck

I don't think I've ever seen a pic of snow in Australia.

Of course, my friends almost all live on the coast.

I'll have to ask Bob and Sue if Sellecks Beach gets snow ever ;)

by charliespencer

NexS, are you replying to me or SS?

If me, we only get measurable white crud about once every other year. It's as much of a novelty here as it is for you, at least for most locals. I'd gladly go six years without seeing it again.

by charliespencer

I meant how would you know what work is.

Boy, have you seen the top of Thompson's head? Next festival I'm giving the boy a hat.

by jck

you should get him a commemorative Barack Obama Chia Pet style fro.

put on the seeds...water...and watch it grow! Cha-cha-cha-chia! :^0

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