Text 2123, 87 rader
Skriven 2015-03-08 12:56:42 av Daryl Stout (1:19/33)
     Kommentar till en text av HOLGER GRANHOLM
Ärende: Re: All OK ?          1/2
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Hi, Holger...

HG>DS>   Like the old song "Standing On The Corner, Watching All The Girls
HG>DS> Go By". :)

HG>Yes, I remember that one.

  Several years ago, when I was still able to work (before becoming
disabled), I was listening to "big band and swing" music of the 40's,
and one employee said "Are you trying to get old before your
time??"...to which I replied "You're d@mn right, I am". :)

HG>It seems to me that the Fido era at this BBS may soon end and only
HG>memories of nice people will be remembered.

  Nowadays, kids are too into their iPads and tablets. You can't
interest them in ANY hobby...BBSing, ham radio, or otherwise.

  Compound that with the "ham radio old timers" who say "we never did it
that way before"...and who just despise the new technology (such as
"internet radio" (VoIP))...which has become a necessity for ham radio
operators like myself, who live in antenna restricted/prohibited
environments...we can't get new hams to replace those who let their
licenses lapse, or who are dying off. Computers are so much a part of
the ham shack now, anyway.

  The nice thing is that with my laptop, a wi-fi card, an external
monitor, DV Dongle (D-Star), the programs of D-Rats, Echolink, and
Outpost, plus a desktop mic and speakers, I can do a demo of Packet (via
telnet), Echolink, D-Star, and D-Rats, virtually anywhere...and I did
that at an area high school ham radio club. One of the selling points
was that "you don't have to worry about the expense of rigs, power
supplies, antennas, towers, coaxial cable, SWR meters, etc. -- as long
as you have a computer, soundcard, speakers, mic, plus DSL or broadband
internet...once your license has been verified, you're good to go". I
even have operated from a moving train. :)

  One ham out in El Paso, Texas, was showing his grandson his "shack",
because his grandson asked Grandpa "what's the big deal about ham
radio??". Well, the little one wasn't impressed...until Grandpa used
D-Star and D-Rats to send a text message to his grandson's
cellphone...at which point, the kids eyes lit up. "WOW!!". The ham said
"you can reply to it"...that got him hooked. :)

  The same is true nowadays for websites. My HTML knowledge is VERY
BASIC...and it's easier for those who do NOT have a fast computer,
and/or who are still on dial-up internet access...and that's true in
many of the rural areas of Arkansas. With a simplistic format (no fancy
videos, audio, graphics, etc.), it doesn't take the page forever and a
day to load up.

  Besides, when I visit a website, I don't want to have to look to find
a needle in a haystack, for the one piece of information I'm looking
for.

  Yet, the "basic site" offends all those with faster computers and DSL
or broadband connections, because they want a site with all the bells,
whistles, and graphics. The thing is, if a site is "loaded up", those on
dial-up internet, with slower computers, or even using speech
synthesizers to view pages, will visit that "loaded site" ONLY
ONCE...and tell others "what a lousy site it is".

  In this regard, it's best to have the main page with 2 links...one for
the "basic page", and one for the "loaded page". That way, people can
choose which one they want. Sometimes, you can get a webmaster to do
both pages, but workload wise, it's better to have 2 separate
webmasters. To me, it's the K.I.S.S. philosophy...Keep It Short And
Simple.

HG>The BBS (as the name implies) was started for hams by a ham (me) to
HG>serve my users with programs and bulletins for radio amateurs. There
HG>were and still are a lot of other interests catered for but that was
HG>the main thread.

  I got involved with BBSing, after being on one done at the local
college (I think it's an internal one for the students only now)...and
that's how I met the woman who eventually became my wife. I was going to
have a weather theme for the BBS, as it was before I got into ham radio.

(Continued to next message)
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