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For SpaceNut ... It was good to see James Burk new topic today!
Here is the daily demo of the new Daily Recap....
I hope Mr. Burk can find time to install it for you to use and for us to enjoy.
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For SpaceNut ... here's today's demo of the new Daily Recap php feature... I think you're going to ** really ** like this once you get it installed.
It literally just takes seconds to perform all the work you used to do with spreadsheet and typing.
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For SpaceNut ...
Nice to see you back on the board with several posts.
When you get some free time, please let me know what you think about the Daily Recap.
It appears to be working but we cannot install it. Mr. Burk left a post inquiring about software for the forum, but I have heard nothing since, and I wonder if he came back to see if there was a response.
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I sent what was in house keeping and gave the indications that it was running on the clone to which we need to have it installed by the web admin which is not us.
I am not sure but I read it as he is thinking the forum needs up dating from fluxbb which is not really the issues.
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For SpaceNut re #4329 ...
Thanks for confirming you sent the information via email!
The forum needs advertising by the Mars Society. We could serve the entire society if folks knew we exist.
I've been working with the combined chapters in Houston, and have invited several members to open accounts with us, but they have accounts on other systems that they use instead.
Most recently we had an opportunity to open a Google Meeting to report the chapter meeting, but the folks there opened their own Google account and then forgot to open it at the meeting.
A concern expressed by one member of the ISS chapter is that our forum is considered obsolete by the current generation who prefer the flashy environments they use on their phones.
A larger concern is that the current generation may have stopped reading. This forum is a rock solid environment for sustained propagation of knowledge, but it ** does ** require the ability to read and to think in depth.
Thank you for reaching out to Mars Society to ask for support. That is all we can do at this point.
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advertising on other websites that have gone that direction is just a means to receive spam.
I have noticed that the large NasaSpsceFlight.com forum has gone back to the plain php page format.
Space.com did have a forum and got rid of it for a while but is looking once more to restart one.
If one thinks about many of the sites they leverage a home page to which ours is gone of science news feeds to get people but if you look at just messages as being discussion there is nothing happening.
The forum is sort of hidden on the mar society pages with a number of those that once had come to discussion aging out of the desire to contribute.
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For SpaceNut re #4331
Thank you for this thoughtful analysis of the situation, and for your report of experiences of others!
We won't have much problem with spam. Your prudent decision making and guidance over years have led to a spam free forum.
If any spam were to occur here, it would be coming from approved members.
Very occasionally, a member may slip up and let some spam item in, but that is rare, and generally other members point out the problem quickly.
I do want to point out something you touched on ... I think the age of "discussion" is over. I think we will see discussion continuing here, but hopefully as new members arrive, they will be interested in long term useful data storage instead of discussion.
All of us humans do need a place for discussion, and we can see in the posts by our remaining members that this forum is useful to them for that reason.
However, this forum is potentially available to serve the Mars Society as a gathering place for people who are going to be working on the Mars Project for their entire lifetimes.
We Admins have the opportunity to prepare and to maintain an environment where long term productive activity is possible.
Humans are ** always ** going to need and want a place for unstructured banter, but this forum fell into a trap of serving ** only ** that purpose for a while. Hopefully we are going to be able to work our way out of that and into a more balanced mix of productive posts and posts that have no lasting value.
As just one example of a positive sign, RobertDyck is back working on various aspects of Large Ship. We have many many topics like that that are languishing for lack of energetic members who want to build something lasting.
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In the context of PHP, "a forum serves as an online discussion platform where developers, learners, and enthusiasts can interact to share knowledge, solve problems, and collaborate."
Main Purposes of a PHP Support Forum
Technical Support & TroubleshootingAsk and answer questions about PHP errors, bugs, and unexpected behavior.
Get help with debugging code and understanding error messages.
Learning & Skill DevelopmentShare tutorials, code snippets, and best practices.
Discuss PHP frameworks (e.g., Laravel, Symfony) and libraries.
Learn about new PHP features and updates.
Project CollaborationFind collaborators for open-source or commercial PHP projects.
Share and review each other’s code for improvement.
Community NetworkingConnect with other PHP developers worldwide.
Exchange career advice, job opportunities, and freelance work leads.
Resource SharingPost links to documentation, tools, and learning materials.
Recommend hosting providers, IDEs, and debugging tools.
✅ Example PHP Support Forums:PHP.net Official Community
Stack Overflow (PHP Tag)
Reddit r/PHP
If you want, I can list the best active PHP forums in 2026 with their strengths and weaknesses so you know where to get the fastest and most reliable help. Would you like me to prepare that?
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For SpaceNut re #4333
Thanks for that helpful summary of how the PHP support forum serves it's members.
Now please run the same analysis in the context of the Mars Society. don't use the NewMars forum as an example. it is not a good example, because it has not been helping it's members to grow their careers in the context of Mars development. That is understandable. All that has been happening over at the Mars Society itself. Recently we were identified as the "official" forum of the Mars Society. To me, that means we need to start serving the needs of the Mars Society, and that includes professional development, and projects like Robertdyck's Large Ship and GW Johnson's many space vehicles and systems.
Please ask your AI to idenify how this forum could serve the larger community. Please make sure it understands this is NOT limited to discussion, but is instead a gathering place for those who are going to be going ** to ** Mars, or helping to support that effort.
The days of "Gee Whiz Ain't that something" are fading, and we have an opportunity to serve a community that is actually working on the project.
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The Mars Society web pages serve to educate the public, coordinate global space advocacy, and support research for human exploration and settlement of Mars.
[1] (https://www.marssociety.org/),
[2] (https://www.marssociety.org/about/),
[3] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2020/1 … -involved/)Main Web Page PurposesPublic Outreach & Education: Share news, updates, and resources regarding Mars science, STEM programs (like the Red Planet Pen education blog), and student design competitions.
[1] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2019/0 … -web-site/),
[2] (https://education.marssociety.org/resources/),
[3] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2020/1 … -involved/)Project & Research Coordination: Provide updates and operational info for major analog research facilities, including the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) and virtual reality initiatives like MarsVR.
[1] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2025/0 … h-station/),
[2] (https://www.marssociety.org/about/)Global Collaboration & Chapters: Connect international chapters, members, and volunteers through dedicated portals and IT support.[1] (http://itf.marssociety.org/about-us/),
[2] (https://www.marssociety.org/members-area/),
[3] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2020/1 … -involved/)Knowledge Sharing: Host projects like Marspedia, an online collaborative encyclopedia covering Mars exploration history, science, and future settlement concepts.[1] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2017/1 … yclopedia/),
[2] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2019/0 … -web-site/)Events & Fundraising: Manage registration and announcements for major annual events, such as the International Mars Society Convention and the University Rover Challenge, alongside supporter donation campaigns.
[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Society),
[2] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2025/0 … h-station/), [3] (https://www.marssociety.org/about/)Would you like details on a specific sub-page or project (such as MDRS, Marspedia, or local chapters) run by the Mars Society?
Purpose is mainly a news communications page its the projects that have their own news pages for reports.
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New Mars serves as the official discussion forum powered by the Mars Society community, supporting its outreach and member engagement goals.
[1] (https://www.marssociety.org/news/2019/0 … -web-site/),
[2] (https://newmars.com/)Key Functions and SupportCommunity Discussion: It provides an open platform for members and the general public to discuss human exploration, settlement of the Red Planet, and space advocacy topics.
[1] (https://newmars.com/)Member Integration: It is listed as a core member benefit, allowing participants in the New Mars Forums to connect over topics ranging from Mars analog research stations to interplanetary transportation.
[1] (https://www.marssociety.org/members-area/),
[2] (https://newmars.com/forums/)Outreach and Alignment: The forum aims to align its mission closer to the Mars Society by hosting discussions, sharing project media, and supporting local chapter structures.[1] (http://newmars.com/forums//viewtopic.php?pid=234534),
[2] (https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.php?pid=239623)Would you like more details on how to join or participate in the New Mars discussion boards?
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For SpaceNut re #4336
Thank you for asking Google to collect all those citations.
It seems to me that most of the citations are aspirational.
We have never asked existing members how they benefit from participation in the forum.
We definitely have contributions that are bringing news of current events, and those often inspire comments.
In some cases, members use the forum as a kind of blog, with the advantage of exposure to a generally open minded community.
In some cases, members use the forum as a way of sharing experiences, or insights about the human experience in general.
My sense of it is that few members are at all interested in reading anything posted by anyone else.
Our forum software could be improved to show who is reading what. We put a marker in place when we upgraded the software in 2024, but have not had the time or energy to pursue it.
I logged in just now with the idea of taking a cue from Dr. Johnson's exRocketman blog. He has achieved some success with that initiative. He has written here with a similar theme of sharing knowledge or best practices.
If you wanted to, you could create a category for Member Blogs.
Void is a member who I imagine might be interested in that idea.
Perhaps we have other members who would appreciate the opportunity as well.
However, I am thinking of the huge number of people who are Mars Society members who do NOT participate in this forum.
Mr. Burk might be interested in offering a personal blog opportunity as a member benefit.
No one has to read anything anyone else has written.
Members could create posts about anything at all. We have members right now who do that, as a model for what might be possible.
The idea of **discussion** implies people are interested in the opinions of others.
My sense of many of the posts we have in our archive is that contributors wanted to place their opinions on the record, but did not necessarily want criticism.
I don't think anyone but you will read this post, and I'm not even sure you will have time to read it, let alone think about it.
***
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The recap is in the hands of the web admin and in this case the exc., comments some times in discussion if opinion, agreement, more information to add to the read posts and questions. That is the nature not echo chambers.
I had asked in the past about blog content being save here as well as back up but then again all of the failed mars forums could be re-hosted under Mars society to re-ignite those...
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For SpaceNut re #4338
Thanks for the update! You are literally the only person on Earth who can represent this forum.
It is possible everyone is extremely busy getting ready for the conference in October.
Never-the-less, an occasional ping from you may find a moment of time to implement the Daily Recap.
We don't need anything else at the moment.
It would be nice to have our webmaster back, but i'm not sure kbd512 is available even if he were given the credentials.
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For SpaceNut re Daily Recap ...
Because the Mars Society Convention is so close (in October) do you think it would be better to wait until after the convention to ask for installation of the Daily Recap?
You indicated you wrote privately to Mr. Burk, but you did not indicate you received a reply.
This might imply he is super busy preparing for the event. The last time I checked the number of registered attendees was more than 1000.
That's an impressive number, and a lot of work would be needed to keep everything on track.
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For SpaceNut re upcoming Mars New Years on NewMars.com.
We are in the final week of Year 38 on Mars.
I was curious to know what Mars, Pennsylvania is doing, and learned that they are celebrating the occasion next year in June.
That makes sense ... June is a nice time of year for a festival and folks can use the Mars (the planet) as a theme.
However, on Mars (the planet) the event will occur one (Earth) week from today.
We'll note the occasion as usual here in the forum, without much fanfare.
The last day of the old year will be extended by a few hours, to align the business calendar with the astronomical one.
I had hoped to have a physical calendar ready for sale, but wasn't able to achieve that this year. My idea for the calendar covers was (and still is) to show the sky above Sagan City (Viking I) at midnight as the New Year begins, and every Business Calendar month transition afterward.
That plan would mean the scene shown wouldn't change much from year to year, if one were to take a superficial look. However, in celestial terms, the sky would have changed a LOT during that interval. Planets and other Solar System objects would have moved, and some stars would have changed luminosity. An occasional star would have disappeared and a few new ones might appear.
The Moons of Mars would occasionally put in an appearance, and there would ** always ** be artificial satellites in the scene.
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For Spacenut re Engineering Category
Please create a new forum under the Engineering category.
We already have "Projects"
Please create a forum called "Tools"
GW Johnson has just created a new set of tools to help RobertDyck with his Aerocapture investigation.
Projects is NOT visible to the public.
If I understand the set up correctly, the new Tools forum will also be blocked to the public.
I think this is OK... we can publish GW's tools in the public area in the forum.
What I like about the new Tools forum is that it will be visible to registered members, and over time, if we are lucky, we will begin to add new members who are interested in building careers around the Mars quest, instead of just talking about it as we have been doing for 24 years or so.
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For SpaceNut re email to Mars Society about Recap feature....
Please send a copy of the email you sent asking for help with the Recap feature.
It is surprising that you have not heard anything back.
Your request might have been deferred until after the Convention, but you should have heard something by now.
It would be appropriate for copies to go to the three admins.
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For SpaceNut ...
First, thanks for reporting success in reaching Mr. Burk! He has to be super busy preparing for the convention! Now that we know how to make contact, let's wait until after the Convention in October. There should be a bit of free time then.
And ! Thank you for taking a look at the heat question from a 5th grade student.
capturing heat to charge an electronic device.
This is a more complex question as you need to know output power level, how its created by conversion process.
There are lots of methods to create heat, several good to poor methods to store...
You have raised kids through 5th grade. How would you present an answer they would understand? Let's start with ... what is heat?
And if we know what heat is, how does it relate to electricity?
This could be a learning opportunity.
Void came up with an interesting idea recently. Void suggested that datacenters might dump excess heat into the Earth using geothermal wells. That's definitely an interesting idea, but how it would work in practice is something we would need an engineer to explain.
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First most of the data centers are where water is not abundant so When you cannot rely on water evaporation to carry heat away, you have to use "dry cooling" (giant radiators and fans). Because dry air is a terrible heat conductor compared to water, pushing heat out into a hot, dry desert atmosphere requires massive amounts of electricity. That is the defining engineering paradox of modern infrastructure: dumping data center heat in arid locations forces a brutal "water vs. energy" penalty.
Work the problem back wards to determine the energy to create and then decide how to create it as that what will dictate what the level of required heat must be.
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For SpaceNut re #4345.
Thanks for your reminder of the issues faced by builders of datacenters.
Void suggested dumping the heat into the Earth. I looked carefully and saw nothing in your post about that idea.
The immediate problem or challenge that would face a designer thinking of using a geothermal well to ** store ** heat is that Calliban keeps telling us the Earth is a very poor conductor of heat, so it would take energy to deliver the heat to the Earth, and the generation of that energy would generate more heat.
It's an interesting problem.
The oceans have plenty of water but Internet fiber and power cables don't run there (much).
As a reminder, datacenters are located where power is abundant and Internet cables are able to handle the load.
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For SpaceNut re new Tools forum in Engineering
Thanks for creating the new forum! We are off to a good start with GW Johnson's tool set for Aerocapture.
Dr. Johnson has published a number of similar tool sets for other scenarios, so I am hoping he might be willing to let us offer them here.
kbd512 has created tool sets for aircraft design, and he might be willing to share them here.
*** Update:
Thanks (again) for the new Tools forum! I've added the calculator for the Mars Business Calendar.
My hope is that eventually we (Mars Society (NewMars.com)) will be able to publish the Business Calendar for Mars as a public service and to raise funds for the Society. The Society has paid the bills for NewMars.com for many years. If we can pull this off, it will be an opportunity to return a bit of that investment.
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Last edited by NewMarsMember (2026-09-30 06:36:19)
Recruiting High Value members for NewMars.com/forums, in association with the Mars Society
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earth is to the water table not just the dry soil and that is were the issue is
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For SpaceNut ... GW found the Tools Forum you created and wrote me that he would like to add other tool sets.
I'll help as needed. GW has tools scattered all over the place, and this new forum will help collect them so folks can find them when they need them.
***
Regarding water and cooling and Void's idea ... so, do you think Void's idea is worth attempting? If not, why not?
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For SpaceNut ...
Re https://newmars.com/forums/viewtopic.ph … 17#p241917
Thanks for the reminder of Louis and his many creative ideas, and especially for his ability to inspire great writing by other members.
Louis pretended to not understand physics or chemistry or much of anything else besides finance, so he inspired members to write impressive explanations that are worth rereading years later.
It would be great if you could find the post(s) where Louis discussed collecting an energy tax for passage on roads. That's a tax idea that politicians would love if they knew about it.
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