Housekeeping

Yoda · 2020-04-30 15:13:38

tahanson43206 wrote:

This Housekeeping post is for Yoda ...
Yoda, if you see this post, please reply.

Hello Tahanson. Here's my reply.

tahanson43206 wrote:

Yoda appears to be a legitimate new member, but his initial approach to us used a format so similar to the bots that I was expecting to see him banned, or at least watched like a hawk. Instead, kbd512 gave him the benefit of the doubt, and I am looking forward to his contributions to the forum.

Yes, I was a little worried someone would mistake me for one of the recent spammers and ban me. Thanks for giving me the benefit of the doubt! (You and kdb.)

tahanson43206 · 2020-04-30 17:19:34

For Yoda re #76

It is neat to see you are familiar with BBcode! The quotes look great!

Thanks for your reply ...

Here's my first offer of a suggestion ...

When you next spot a spammer, you may be hours ahead of kbd512, or SpaceNut when he returns.

To alert them, you can use a topic set up for the purpose: Index» Meta New Mars» Okay guys, we need new moderators... - Want a job? Post here or nominate.

Just post a note there with the name of the questionable ID, and a link to the post that is to be checked, if there is one.

Second ... I have no way of knowing (at this point) how long you've been reading posts in the forum, or how many contributors you've come to know.

However, I'll take a chance here ... GW Johnson has been a frequent contributor to the forum over a number of years.

He put together a series of posts about education.

You can collect the series using the FlubBB Search tool. Just enter "educationdoneright" into the search window, and GW Johnson as the author.

If you have comments in response to that collection, you can reply in the topic where they reside.

(th)

Yoda · 2020-04-30 18:56:40

For Tahanson Re #77

Thanks for the advice! I'll be sure to do that if I see any more spam.

Unfortunatly, I can't seem to find them the collection of posts on education you mentioned. This is the only thread that I see when I search "educationdoneright" with GW Johnson in the author field: http://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8765. Am I doing something wrong? I'd love to take a look at the posts you mentioned if I could find them.

tahanson43206 · 2020-04-30 19:11:55

Hi Yoda,

You've provided me with helpful feedback. I tried the search and it worked for me. However, I noticed that when I did the search, I did two things that might have made a difference: I did NOT enclose the expression in quotes, and I DID select "Posts" rather than the default of topics.

Please try again.

However, ** that said **, you called up the next name i was planning to offer by way of introduction. RobertDyck is another prolific contributor to the forum.

After your search for GW Johnson's essay on education succeeds, I have a suggestion for a specific post by RobertDyck, of the 5,911 posts he has contributed to the forum archive.

For the (many) other prolific contributors to the forum, I am not forgetting you! The selections I am offering Yoda are my personal favorites, and each member will come up with a different list.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-04-30 19:13:39)

Yoda · 2020-05-01 11:54:36

Thanks Tahanson, the search worked this time.

Also, I occasionally browsed the New Mars Forums for upwards of two months before I signed up, so names like RobertDyck and SpaceNut have become familiar to me. I haven't read every post by them of course, and I would love to hear any suggestions on posts/essays I should read like the ones by GW Johnson you mentioned.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-01 12:09:15

Hi Yoda,

Thank you for the good news the search worked!

Before I offer another name/post for your introduction to another forum contributor, I would appreciate some feedback on GW Johnson's multi-part essay.

There was an important lesson buried in there, and I expect you will have picked up on it. However, the fact you did not specifically mention it tells me you might have missed it.

(th)

Yoda · 2020-05-01 12:27:55

Thanks for the fast reply Tahanson!

I haven't read the essay yet, later today when I have some time I'll sit down and read the whole thing. (And give you some feedback, too. )

Just to make sure I'm getting the the entire essay, could you check the following link to make sure I've searched it right?

http://newmars.com/forums/search.php?se … 1935358112

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-01 13:23:40

For Yoda re #82

First, I'm glad the revised search seemed to work.

Second, thanks for another opportunity for me to learn something about how FluxBB works (or in this case, doesn't work << grin >>)

Apparently, the link you sent in Post #82 is for a temporary record in the FluxBB database. That temporary record would have worked for you, but (I'm guessing) the record would have been deleted after you signed off.

However ... there ** is ** a way for me to give you confirmation your search worked properly.

I'll go get some information and return to this post with an edit.

Edit#1: I collected the series again, and recorded the titles of the six posts in the search results:

Re: Not So Free Chat » The state of US Education » 2019-05-13 13:19:56 Post#1
Re: Not So Free Chat » The state of US Education » 2019-05-12 12:06:17 Post#2
Re: Not So Free Chat » The state of US Education » 2019-05-08 21:36:23 Post#3
Re: Not So Free Chat » The state of US Education » 2019-05-08 13:21:05 Post#4
Re: Not So Free Chat » The state of US Education » 2019-05-07 10:14:39 Post#5
Re: Not So Free Chat > The state of US Education > 2019-05-05 20:31:42 Post#6

SearchTerm:HowToSearch

For Yoda ... the expression above is useful for pulling a single record out of the FluxBB database.

I use this method every day. The colon between the sections of the expression provides an anchor.

To use this method, you would enter two phrases. The first is the left side of the expression concluding with a colon.

The logical operator "and" sits between the strings.

The second is the right side of the expression, beginning with a colon.

This procedure helps the SQL search software to eliminate look-similar strings.

If you want to use this method to find records you have created, it will not interfere with anyone else, because you will be able to use your own ID as Author, to create an SQL command that the FluxBB software will process.

Edit#2: There is a caveat .... Occasionally the FluxBB search feature collects unrelated items when the format shown above is used.

My guess, without having looked closely, is that the SQL search string constructed by the FluxBB software may truncate the argument provided by the user, as a way of saving time. The programmer who wrote the search code may also have employed other techniques for improving performance, which then result in "hits" that are not correct from the point of view of the requester. It is ** also ** not only possible, but likely, that multiple programmers have worked on the FluxBB code over a number of years to try to improve performance.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-02 08:16:48)

Yoda · 2020-05-02 21:02:41

Tahanson,

Thanks for your patience as I tried to find the essay! At reply #78 I was completly clueless as to how to find the article series. Then when I wrote #80 I thought I had it figured out, and my plan was to read the educationdoneright series later that day and see if you had any other suggestions to read along with it. Then at #82 the paranoia set in and I was wondering if I still wasn't searching it quite right and perhaps missing some of the posts in the series. (Your post above confirmed I was searching right.) You managed to help me finally locate the posts though, so thanks.

And now for the feedback. It was really thought provoking. You mentioned a lesson hidden in it, but I personally found a few.

Why someone has to go to school for several years to teach something they learned when they were 10 was actually something I've thought about in the past. Johnson's posts confirmed the absurdity of it.

I also think everyone's favorite teachers are always the ones that have people skills, not neccasarily the ones that are the smartest or most knowledgeable. Johnson's post brought that out nicely too.

It was definitely worth reading.

Last edited by Yoda (2020-05-02 21:30:25)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-03 06:09:09

For Yoda re #84

Thanks for your helpful feedback, once again. You are the first person who has commented upon the procedure, so I am now aware of the need to try to insure that the procedure includes details that show success.

Thanks too, for taking the time to read GW's essay, and more importantly to me, to pull out a couple of the points. There are a lot of ideas/practices you could have selected, and I like the ones you did. The one I was thinking of was to try to insure that practical exercises are carried out as soon as possible after a theory session. While (I think) the procedure was advocated for engineering students, I think it applies to just about every field. In this specific instance, I was using the concept to try to insure you (and those who may be following the discussion without posting) got a chance to put the theory (search tool) into practice as soon as possible.

The next long term member I would like to "introduce" is RobertDyck, although by now you've already "met" him via recent posts.

I'll return here to post a specific message I liked from long ago, in the dim recesses of the archive.

Edit#1: RobertDyck

Keyword search: rifle and farm Author search: robertdyck

Result set: 3 posts

The first is not the one I was remembering, but it is (to me) worth re-reading
Re: Not So Free Chat » Advice to parents on school options » 2018-02-25 19:34:10

This is the one I was thinking of:
Re: Life support systems » Booze » 2016-02-10 20:01:51

And here is a second version:
Re: Martian Politics and Economy » Corporate Government » 2015-10-17 16:28:41

This little set of posts gives a bit of an glimpse into the history and politics of a time and place many of us may not have experienced. I can relate to much of it.

Dr. Zubrin puts in a cameo appearance.

(th)

Last edited by tahanson43206 (2020-05-03 06:30:13)

Calliban · 2020-05-04 06:05:00

Welcome to NewMars forum, Yoda. Enjoy it you will!

Last edited by Calliban (2020-05-04 06:05:16)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-04 09:20:14

This is for kbd512 in the absence of SpaceNut ...

Please prune out all the improperly placed Index level entries in the Space Advocacy Index level topic.

I understand your desire to retain posts by members who are not yet banned, on the remote chance they may decide to become part of the forum.

This could be achieved by moving all those posts over the Chat topic, or to a new topic you might create for the purpose.

(th)

Yoda · 2020-05-04 20:46:20

For Calliban Re #86

Thanks for the warm welcome, Calliban!

And for Tahanson, Re #85

I read the posts you suggested by RobertDyck. I personally agree with the statement at the end regarding how we should ban all weapons of war on Mars. For me, Mars represents a fresh start for humans. That means leaving behind the less desirable parts of humanity, such as war, violence and pretty much any other universally agreed upon "evils" that we as humans have on Earth right now.

Thanks for the suggestion, I enjoyed reading that one too.

kbd512 · 2020-05-05 02:58:13

Yoda,

I have an alternative proposal if we're intent on sending humans to Mars:

We go to Mars as we are. That means all of the good and bad features of humanity, many of which are clearly in the eye of the beholder, come with us. Otherwise, we're going to Mars to start a second branch of human civilization wherein some of the most fundamentally innate characteristics of humanity are absent. For some reason, that doesn't much resemble any part of humanity that I've ever witnessed.

When it comes to all things related to humanity, patience you must have. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-05 06:56:00

For Yoda re #88

Thanks for your comments about a few of the thousands of posts by RobertDyck. I think you'll find many of them worth reading, to the extent you have time.

You just met the next member I had in mind, kbd512 has a mere 3,411 posts to his credit << grin >>

This time I'll offer a free-form search opportunity. See if you can find kbd512's recommendations for a list of items to pack for an emergency. I consider it to be one of the better such lists ever published (that I have seen, for sure). As a hint, the context was a hurricane that caused major disruption.

For kbd512 .... I think your realistic outlook will turn out to be a better picture of what actually happens than the Utopian vision of a peaceful society constructed by design. Never-the-less, Utopian visions HAVE succeeded to establish themselves in human history, under strong initial leadership. As nearly as I can tell, all have eventually yielded to the lower human impulses of the new generation mixing with the outside world to some extent.

For Yoda, I think the American experience demonstrates for all time that if you want peace you must establish and maintain a dominant capability to wreak fearsome destruction on a foe. In my view, that will manifest itself on Mars, just as soon as the residents there bond into a single community. I expect that as soon as practical, Mars will establish a strict quarantine of visitors arriving from off-planet.

There are members of this forum who have in the past expressed disagreement with this view, but there is NO nation on Earth that is both successful and has open borders. I think there is a set of reasons for that, but they all come down to certainty that some outsiders cannot be trusted.

Humans have earned that reputation over thousands of years.

"Trust but Verify" rang a bell with Americans a couple generations ago, and I suspect it always will.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-06 10:53:18

Inventory of Index Level Contamination with Spam

The inspection shown below includes ONLY the top page of results

Meta New Mars (clean) id=1
Mars Society International (clean) id=14
Mars Analogue Research Stations (clean) id=15
Mars Rovers / University Rover Challenge (clean) id=16
Mars Gravity Biosatellite (clean) id=17
Youth Group / Educational Outreach (clean) id=27
Human missions (clean) id=4
Interplanetary transportation (clean) id=5
Planetary transportation (clean) id=23
Unmanned probes (clean) id=24
Life support systems (clean) id=8
Life on Mars (clean) id=9
Water on Mars (clean) id=25
Terraformation (clean) id=11
Pictures of Mars (clean) id=34
Martian Politics and Economy (clean) id=12
Civilization and Culture (clean) id=28
Martian Chronicles (clean) id=35
Liberum Olympia (clean) id=36
Not So Free Chat (clean) id=13
Science, Technology, and Astronomy (clean) id=29
Space Policy (clean) id=19
Other space advocacy organizations (**CONTAMINATED**) id=22
First Words (clean) id=32
Intelligent Alien Life (clean) id=30
New Mars Articles (clean) id=2

Only one index level is contaminated with spam, as viewed in the top page of results.

(th)

Yoda · 2020-05-06 22:11:31

For kdb Re #89 and Tahanson Re #90,

Well done on the Star Wars quote, kdb!

As for the thought on Martian culture, I am of course not suggesting that we create a sperate branch of human civilization, only that we seize the chance to create a more peaceful culture. But as kdb said, many of the characteristics of humanity are in the eyes of the beholder. Who gets to decide what Martian culture should include or exclude would greatly vary the end result. So perhaps your right when you say it would be more realistic to go as we are and let the Martian culture develope naturally. Oh well, I do tend to be a bit of an idealist at times.

As for the next post Tahanson suggested, I haven't read it yet. I'll edit in something on it when I do get to reading it.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-07 07:01:20

For Yoda re #92

There is a great deal of discussion in the forum archive on Martian culture. It is spread over multiple topics.

When you get time (which I understand may be never << grin >>) it is sometimes possible to find nuggets buried in the archive and bring them back into current view. That is the ONE useful thing that the occasional spammer does, purely by accident of course. SpaceNut used to go exploring for discussions that deserved a current look.

Now I'll introduce a low key suggestion ... Members like RobertDyck appreciate contributors to topics they are managing staying on topic.

Others do not care at all if the discussion veers wildly into completely different territory.

I tend to lean toward preferring to stay on topic, but at the same time, I do try to encourage creative thinking.

In this case, since Martian Culture is a well developed thought domain in this forum, it does not seem (to me at least) a good fit for Housekeeping.

You'll see in the next post an example of clutter removal identification.

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-07 07:02:25

2020/05/07 Notes for Contamination of Space Advocacy Topic

The following posts are NOT related to Space Advocacy

If they are considered valuable they could be moved to another topic created for them.

I am the new girl by EmeryCulbe 2020-05-01 21:51:00 by EmeryCulbe
Im happy I now signed up by TristaSalo 2020-05-01 20:03:47 by kbd512
I am the new guy by Tia5109201 2020-05-01 15:07:04 by Tia5109201
Im happy I now signed up by VitoFlande 2020-05-01 08:35:28 by VitoFlande
Just want to say Hello. by CyrilLamar 2020-04-30 18:47:33 by CyrilLamar
Just want to say Hello! by BorisS4052 2020-04-30 09:55:06 by BorisS4052
Just want to say Hello. by ChristenX3 2020-04-29 23:55:12 by ChristenX3
Im happy I now signed up by IsmaelN795 2020-04-29 22:33:52 (entire series)
Im happy I finally registered by MickiOwo72 2020-04-29 14:43:20 by MickiOwo72
I am the new guy by GabrielaVi 2020-04-29 14:36:07 by GabrielaVi
I am the new one by LaureneAkh 2020-04-25 19:11:10 by LaureneAkh
Just want to say Hi! by SusannahHa 2020-04-25 09:28:38 by SusannahHa
Im happy I now signed up by KathlenePa 2020-04-25 08:34:35 by KathlenePa
I am the new girl by Lloyd60345 2020-04-25 05:04:31 by Lloyd60345
Just wanted to say Hi. by CarltonGab 2020-04-24 19:31:45 by CarltonGab
Just want to say Hello. by CelindaEst 2020-04-24 11:35:44 by CelindaEst
Just wanted to say Hello! by DemetraSti 2020-04-24 09:36:37 by DemetraSti
Im happy I now registered by BrockVicke 2020-04-24 08:59:17 by BrockVicke
Just wanted to say Hi. by ZacharyA07 2020-04-24 05:16:53 by ZacharyA07
Just wanted to say Hi. by LowellHeys 2020-04-23 07:20:50 by LowellHeys
Just wanted to say Hi. by WilburnLei 2020-04-23 00:16:50 by WilburnLei
Im happy I finally registered by Antonio60C 2020-04-21 17:55:29 by Antonio60C
I am the new girl by AutumnMaye 2020-04-21 16:46:03 by AutumnMaye
Just want to say Hello! by AlvaroBkd 2020-04-21 14:41:37 by AlvaroBkd
Im happy I finally signed up by AldaChisho 2020-04-21 12:39:47 by AldaChisho
Just want to say Hi! by DelphiaOxe 2020-04-21 07:14:20 by DelphiaOxe
Just want to say Hi. by PetraRobe 2020-04-20 23:20:50 by PetraRobe
Just want to say Hello! by NilaGoble 2020-04-19 15:25:09 by NilaGoble

Thanks to the Administrator who takes care of this!

(th)

Yoda · 2020-05-07 10:33:29

For Tahanson Re #93

Sorry about that, Thahanson, and thanks for the heads up. I'll try to stay on topic from now on.

Edit: I read kdb's post on emergency preparedness that you recommended. That reminds me, I should probably make sure I have all of that together. There aren't any hurricanes where I live, but I believe it's suggested that everyone have a basic emergency preparedness kit anyway. Good reminder.

Last edited by Yoda (2020-05-07 11:44:52)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-10 07:15:26

Transferring conversation about FluxBB to Housekeeping from "Okay guys" topic ...

tahanson43206 wrote:

For Yoda re #234
Thanks for your continued interest in FluxBB, and how it might be improved for NewMars forum.
For SpaceNut ... thanks for confirming the database is MySQL (version 5 is good to know). Per Google, the current version is 8.0.
For Yoda ... text communication has its perils! << grin >> Asking questions and verifying assumptions seems to be helpful. Perhaps that's true for face-to-face communications as well, but the bandwidth is so much greater there.
Regarding Captcha ... thanks for finding that offer of a Captcha mod in 2011. When I first came to this site, in 2018, Captcha was installed but not working. Subsequently it was removed. I don't know any more than that at this point. It is possible that the version of FluxBB, or the presence of other mods may have something to do with it. Here is the bottom line ... if we can set up a test site and prove that Captcha works, it might be approved for a re-try.
OK ... now I remember something I read about Captcha ... apparently bots have improved to the point Captcha is less useful. That's pretty impressive work on the part of the spammers, if true, but images are (in the end) just bit patterns, so a really smart hacker could (no doubt) code a way to duplicate the pattern matching we humans evolved to do so well.
OK ... I'm going to make the assumption you're willing to have a go at this.
I've been wanting to start an Azure test site for years, so this is an opportunity to do so.
Do you want to do the same?
We can compare notes ... OH! Let's move this discussion to Housekeeping.
This is an example of how a topic drifts .... it happens SO easily. In this case, I started the drift by mentioning FluxBB.
The Okay guys topic is (by past practice) being used for direct communication about spam.
(th)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-10 08:03:15

For Yoda .... OK! Your interest in the FluxBB investigation got me off the dime!

You’re ready to start with Azure
Go to the portal

Please let me/us know when you reach the same point.

(th)

SpaceNut · 2020-05-10 10:26:15

post 94 list

Those users that have been banded from the new location in meta have been deleted still leaving 18 which have not returned to review commentary to post once again to the forum. The 90 day clock is running....then the accounts will be locked and users banned.

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-10 10:42:59

For SpaceNut re #98

Thank you for taking care of the weed patch in the Space Advocacy topic!

It looks ** much ** better!

(th)

tahanson43206 · 2020-05-11 10:09:44

This if primarily for Yoda ...

However, ** anyone ** (member or not) is welcome to follow along. As far as I know, anyone can set up a free account on Microsoft Azure, as long as they are validated by Microsoft. Validation includes having a valid email address and a valid credit card. There might be other factors that I'm not aware of. I doubt that US citizenship is a requirement, since Microsoft is a global company.

Getting started is easy
You can do a lot with free compute, network, storage, and databases, all included with your Azure free account. To learn about Azure services and get started building your ideas, check out these tutorials, how-to guides, and video demos.

Explore training resources >
Go to the Azure portal to build, deploy, and manage your cloud applications. Here are a few ways to start working in Azure:

Web Apps

Build a web app with Java, .NET, Node.js, Python, or PHP.
Database

Create a relational or NoSQL database.

*** I assume this is SQL, although it is more likely Azure SQL

I haven't started taking the tutorials yet, but expect to start this week.

(th)

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#76 2020-04-30 15:13:38

Re: Housekeeping

#77 2020-04-30 17:19:34

Re: Housekeeping

#78 2020-04-30 18:56:40

Re: Housekeeping

#79 2020-04-30 19:11:55

Re: Housekeeping

#80 2020-05-01 11:54:36

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#81 2020-05-01 12:09:15

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#82 2020-05-01 12:27:55

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#83 2020-05-01 13:23:40

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#84 2020-05-02 21:02:41

Re: Housekeeping

#85 2020-05-03 06:09:09

Re: Housekeeping

#86 2020-05-04 06:05:00

Re: Housekeeping

#87 2020-05-04 09:20:14

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#88 2020-05-04 20:46:20

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#89 2020-05-05 02:58:13

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#90 2020-05-05 06:56:00

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#91 2020-05-06 10:53:18

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#92 2020-05-06 22:11:31

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#93 2020-05-07 07:01:20

Re: Housekeeping

#94 2020-05-07 07:02:25

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#95 2020-05-07 10:33:29

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#96 2020-05-10 07:15:26

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#97 2020-05-10 08:03:15

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#98 2020-05-10 10:26:15

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#100 2020-05-11 10:09:44

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