tomferry
Well-known member
I actually just text my wife 10 minutes prior to reading that saying, we are out of candles buy £10 worth
Has Facebook Won ?
- Thread starter The Old Ruminator
- Start date
Brains
Well-known member
Will cell towers work in a power cut?
You may need a fixed landline: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-tel...r-consumers/problems/landlines-and-power-cuts
Roger W
Well-known member
We used to have a landline we could rely on, until our "provider" went digital. Now our phone signal comes through the router so our landline won't work if the power goes down. That's "progress" for you.
nearlywhite
Active member
Something that plays on my mind is: who are the next era of journal editors as well as article writers?
I think it shows the demographic challenge that we are facing, we are not that good at integrating and bringing through the next generation into these roles and unsurprisingly if we have old folk in the background who always do the jobs quietly then no one else steps in to take that role. Knowing how to step aside and give responsibility to younger folk is a hard thing to do, especially if no one comes forward.
That said Descent has just changed hands.
I don't think it's an unsolveable issue though
I think it shows the demographic challenge that we are facing, we are not that good at integrating and bringing through the next generation into these roles and unsurprisingly if we have old folk in the background who always do the jobs quietly then no one else steps in to take that role. Knowing how to step aside and give responsibility to younger folk is a hard thing to do, especially if no one comes forward.
That said Descent has just changed hands.
I don't think it's an unsolveable issue though
ZombieCake
Well-known member
Can't stand facebook as to me it's a cynical data harvesting site masquerading as something socially useful.
Problem is that things get fragmented as some stuff might appear on fb, but not other sites, and vice versa, so people miss out big time.
Also information is great, but how do you know what's there? Had a look at my caving book collection and there's a load of stuff there, but do I really know in detail what is in there? I while ago I made a spreadsheet of the UBSS publications I have so can check what's there if looking for something as otherwise it's a bland section of dull red covers on the shelf (yes I know there's an on line index, but it doesn't equate to the shelf). Suppose I ought to look at the other stuff that isn't the obvious guide books.
I recently acquired an 1833 article on UK Caving - sort of a Mendip Underground and Northern Caves very very very light. (If the Caving Library want a pdf let me know and I'll send a copy). Obviously it's on paper, and I then scanned it as it looked a bit delicate. Thing is, if it just was stored on cutting edge technology at the time whether the likes of 5 1/4 or 3 1/2 floppies, or USB stick instead of paper it would no longer exist some 189 years later. OK fate could have played a part in paper destruction ....
Problem is that things get fragmented as some stuff might appear on fb, but not other sites, and vice versa, so people miss out big time.
Also information is great, but how do you know what's there? Had a look at my caving book collection and there's a load of stuff there, but do I really know in detail what is in there? I while ago I made a spreadsheet of the UBSS publications I have so can check what's there if looking for something as otherwise it's a bland section of dull red covers on the shelf (yes I know there's an on line index, but it doesn't equate to the shelf). Suppose I ought to look at the other stuff that isn't the obvious guide books.
I recently acquired an 1833 article on UK Caving - sort of a Mendip Underground and Northern Caves very very very light. (If the Caving Library want a pdf let me know and I'll send a copy). Obviously it's on paper, and I then scanned it as it looked a bit delicate. Thing is, if it just was stored on cutting edge technology at the time whether the likes of 5 1/4 or 3 1/2 floppies, or USB stick instead of paper it would no longer exist some 189 years later. OK fate could have played a part in paper destruction ....
Information has always been scattered over multiple media (although fewer formats), as before the digital age it was more difficult to reference other clubs' publications or even back issues of your own - the same minor caves were often "discovered" every 15 years or so, which is why so many have multiple names. (The location of several volumes of Gerard Platten's scrapbooks are unknown)
oldfart
Member
There will be few mourning the demise of Faecbook.
afraidofthedank
Member
I used to be a member of a professional-related forum that by about 2015 had quite literally dwindled from a few hundred active users to about 5, absolutely due to Facebook. That UKCaving is still going fairly strong is a good sign, and I think people come here because it’s a reliable font of knowledge - whereas Facebook tends to be full of misinformation. That so many people are still using this forum in 2022, I think is a sign that it’s not going anywhere (thankfully).
Steve Clark
Well-known member
Indeed, this forum does seem to be in good order.
The most popular scuba diving forum in the UK in the 2000's (Yorkshire Divers), was sold on to a spam-generating US firm around 10 years ago. The membership revolted to the change and a new forum was established (The Dive Forum), hosted by some actual divers in the uk, which thrived for the last few years and had some excellent reports, advice & debates. Sadly, I've seen yesterday that they have also now chosen to close up shop due to lack of activity. The on-going running costs are not justifying it's on-going membership and contributions. A terrible shame, there is a fantastic archive of discussion & debate held on there. This isn't just some small niche forum. Over 10 years, there have been 472,000 posts.
https://www.thediveforum.com/showthread.php?29323-TDF-is-Closing-Up-for-New-Management-amp-Ownership
I think facebook may have won that one. Terrible.
The most popular scuba diving forum in the UK in the 2000's (Yorkshire Divers), was sold on to a spam-generating US firm around 10 years ago. The membership revolted to the change and a new forum was established (The Dive Forum), hosted by some actual divers in the uk, which thrived for the last few years and had some excellent reports, advice & debates. Sadly, I've seen yesterday that they have also now chosen to close up shop due to lack of activity. The on-going running costs are not justifying it's on-going membership and contributions. A terrible shame, there is a fantastic archive of discussion & debate held on there. This isn't just some small niche forum. Over 10 years, there have been 472,000 posts.
https://www.thediveforum.com/showthread.php?29323-TDF-is-Closing-Up-for-New-Management-amp-Ownership
I think facebook may have won that one. Terrible.
The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
I have added loads of information to three Forums. Two were collector's forums and the other South West Mafia a diving forum. Hundreds of hours work and 1,000s of images gone. In a sense Wrecksite made the diving forums redundant as all wreck research should go on there. It needs a subscription though. Sadly more diving info goes on Facebook to be lost forever but I still keep nagging. Whilst this forum still seems popular that does not guarantee its future. Its still light on photos and dig reports. Not much here on latest Mendip finds and there have been a few. All on Facebook should anyone need to know.
Times change, the forum has certainly changed. Support from cavers from all areas of the UK (and beyond) is welcomed - encourage your friends to get involved with UKC, as I've said previously what YOU can do dear forum member and especially lurker is engage 😁.There is only so much Tim and I can do to promote UKC, if you value this unique caving resource don't just read it - add to it in whatever way you can from clicking the like button, posting a photo to starting a new thread. If you can do it on facebook, why not here???
Brains
Well-known member
Just been watching "The lakes with Simon Reeve" and in episode 3of3 he was at Sellafield. The records relating to the stored material are and have been kept on special paper in copper lined packets. At the time of writing reel to reel tape was the "apex media" followed by various floppy disks, microfiche and other things. They chose paper
The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
Interesting account in the I Newspaper today regarding scientific journals. Currently they still seem the way to get theories published but changes may be on the way.
The Old Ruminator
Well-known member
I think there are at least eight Mendip digging blogs. Some are semi moribund like Vurley. Last entry four years ago but I have just added another to moan about the lack of a survey. Some of those blogs are closed to non members as is the Mendip Diggers Facebook Group. Between them all they pretty well some up digging on Mendip but its all too diverse and restricted to make a proper record of anything.
kay
Well-known member
I will. I'm on several botany related sites which enable me to ask advice and have discussions with some of the leading botanists in the UK. Not all the problems are down to facebook; some of them are to do with how people use it.