Where has the "fun" gone at the forum?

[Patrick]

In another thread, I had posted a joke in reference to the question being asked. I'm no comedian, but I was rather surprised that not one of the four people in the eight posts afterwards made any reference to it. It's not that I'm desperate for attention, it's just that there seems to be a general lack of humour at the site now. Even though my Profile states that I've only been a member here since the beginning of this year, I've actually been posting in this forum for closer to two years. (It's a complicated story of why my Profile is incorrect.) During the last several months, it appears to me that either everyone has gotten very serious, or else the "fun" people have disappeared. Of course I'm generalizing here, but I believe there's been a change. Probably a lot of this has to do with Chris's job situation and the fact that he can't add his own brand of humour to the forum on a more regular basis.

This site has always been an excellent source of information. It also used to be an excellent source of entertainment. I'm not complaining so much as I'm just disappointed that the atmosphere seems to have changed. I'm not suggesting that there's a need to have a wisecrack included in every post, but I sincerely hope that the forum hasn't been taken over by dry, humourless, computer nerds.

Chris, you know that I appreciate your efforts (and Ant's) with this forum. Do you have any comment on any of this? I'd also like to hear some feedback from both the "regulars" and the newbies. Maybe it's just me. Let me know. Thanks.

[SteveC]

I often read this forum, and can agree with you as far as I can see. But the Soap Box gets sillier and sillier by the day...

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"Life is what we make of it, yet most of us just fake"

[This_Idiot]

Hi Patrick,

Nice to hear from you again. Weeeelll, I'd look at the site stats, this might give you a clue. The annual summer "drought" seems to have hit early, with hits down by some 60% on the average. This happens every year, and come late September the hits will climb and no doubt some of the wit will be back.

But you are right, I'm finding it difficult to lead a "normal" family life AND put in a full working week AND travel to/from home AND maintain the site. No excuses here, it's my site and if I don't put the work in then I can hardly expect the public to respond. News wise, the latest regime at Matrox doesn't appear to disseminate any info other than "Game of the month" which I don't publish since it is covered at Matroxusers and is of little interest to use VidEds. Likewise, despite the inital enthusiasm and support from Miro/Pinnacle, they haven't kept me in touch. This leaves a large vacuum which I'd like to fill by following the forum trends towards direct capture to MPEG/2. Needless to say, I need to upgrade at this end to keep up which may take a little while.

All of this is an excuse for the general direction of the site rather than Patricks specific comment on humour. Well, short of listening to more of Evil Twins "Yo mama" jokes, I'm all in favour of some off-topic contributions. What I always loved about this place, right from the start, was the amount of contribution that was made by the participants. As the Old Timers will tell you (and there are plenty of them), this directly led from nightly new posts as a result of emails that I received to the forerunner of this forum (which is much better vehicle). Humour, tragedy, politics, hockey, it's all all been a part of the story.

So please, by all means feel free to post whatever is on your mind. If it's beyond the boundaries then one or other of the kind souls will gently let you know

[A_BIT]

Two doctors were in a hospital hallway complaining about Nurse
Sally.

"She is so dumb! She does everything backwards. Last week I
told her to give a patient 2 milligrams of Percocet every 10 hours.
She gave him 10 milligrams every 2 hours! He nearly died!"

The second doctor said, "I know....yesterday I told her to give my
patient an enema every 12 hours, she tried to give her 12 enemas
in an hour!"

Suddenly they heard a scream from down the hall. "Oh my God"!!
said the first doctor, "I just told nurse Sally to prick Mr. Smith's boil.!!

[jeff b]

Gee, this sounds serious.

[This message has been edited by jeff b (edited 20 July 2000).]

[Flying dutchman]

Sorry, I guess we're all gloomy because Matrox fails to deliver decent Win2000 capturing drivers for the Marvel. It took them until the year 2000 to get the Windows 95 drivers more-or-less bugfree (not totally - there are still a dozen or so issues) , so I guess we'll have to wait till 2005...

[Patrick]

Hi Chris, good to see that you still have some time in your busy schedule to participate in the discussion. I know that you didn't take my comments the wrong way, but I'd just like to add anyway that I certainly wasn't blaming you for anything. We're all just very pleased that you keep this forum going despite the challenges in your life at the moment. Thanks again.

I think the diversification of the hardware covered by the forum is both a good and a bad thing. Obviously it has opened up the forum to a greater variety of topics regarding video editing, but it probably has also taken away some of the tightness, or togetherness of the membership. When everyone here had some kind of a Rainbow Runner, we all sort of understood the various problems encountered through the use of these Matrox boards. Now with all types of products being discussed it may have sort of divided the members into different camps, and maybe we don't know each other as well anymore. Possibly this has led to the seeming reluctance of many members to let their hair down a little. Apparently A_BIT has no such problem, and he's done his best to make me regret starting this thread. And I'm afraid that Jeff has been out in the hot, midday Worcester sun without his hat again. (Editor's Note: Unfortunately, Jeff's original post has gone the way of the dodo bird, but in it he had been discussing hot weather in the strange way that only Jeff can.)

I guess there's still a cast of interesting characters here. For all the newbies, don't be shy. This forum has always been about learning, sharing information, and joking around. How could it be any other way when the moderator refers to himself as This Idiot??!!!

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 21 July 2000).]

[This_Idiot]

Hi Patrick,

Good Lord, I certainly wasn't assuming any criticism on your part. Yes, perhaps you are right about opening the mix of capture cards, and I'm sure that each has it's foibles that need addressing. Having snuck around a fair number of other forums that have taken the opposite tack and opened seperate forums for every kind of card under the sun, I'm convinced that I took the right step because so many of the frequent problems are common across devices. It also gives exposure to how the "other side" are getting on, which gives valuable info for newbies who are trying to decide which kit to buy, or even the moderately experienced visitor who is looking to trade up.

All of which has nowt to do with your original query, which was on the humour/off topic situation. Again, many forums are so determined to stick to a strict agenda that this kind of frivolity is frowned upon, whereas I think that most regulars here are happy to tolerate/enjoy a reasonable amount of banter (or even the occasional flame as long as it doesn't get out of hand).

You are definitely right, this place is supposed to be a second home for would-be editors, and it's always struck me that it's as important to strike up personal acquaintances as to swap tech details.

Long live humour (and even hockey if that's what it takes) !

[GinoCyber]

Didn't think Patrick was the sensitive type

What's a chinees word for 69?
tukhanchu

What's a chineese faggot soup?
creme of sumyunguy

PS: The moderator calls himself an idiot because he is one

Let the flames begin. All for fun of course

ciao

[Patrick]

Hmmm.... unfortunately there's always one in every crowd who takes great delight in pushing the limits of good taste and common decency.

[jeff b]

Is it my imagination, or is Patrick beginning to enter "old buzzard-hood"?

This forum is the one I check first, whenever I get online. Since I started working with DV, though, most weeks I'm only lurking.

It does seem to be true that things have hit the summer doldrums, and there also has been a dearth of "new stuff" and even announcements of impending "new stuff" over the last couple of months. However, I think that once the summer has run its course, there will be the usual gearing up for the holiday sales season with announcements for various and exciting new ways to part us fools from our money.

Jeff B

[GinoCyber]

You're such a stiff Patty. Take off your tie and loosen up a bit will ya?

sheeeeeeeeeeesh

ciao

[Laurie]

Okay Patrick, you asked for it.

There once was a guy from Eau'Claire
Who was enjoying his girl on a stair
On the ninety-ninth stoke
The bannister broke
So he finished her off in mid-air

Laurie

BTW, I do agree with you, most of the forums have become positively stodgy.

[jeff b]

Are we having "fun" yet?

[GinoCyber]

Where is Eau'Clair?

- This blonde and her boyfriend were sitting in a hot tub when the blonde said to her boyfriend, "Is it true that if you pull you finger out, I'll sink?"

- A blonde and a brunette were talking. The brunette complained, "Everytime my boyfriend brings home flowers, I have to to spend the weekend with my legs in the air." The blonde asks, "Don't you have a vase?"

Ciao