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People,
I like this BB for its breadth and also for how dynamic it is - answers
from all time zones in the world lead to quick responses. I love it.
From most of the questions, I would safely guess that people are
perhaps not using ccp4bb as an easy substitute for their brains but
appear to be often voicing their case after "RTM-ing", "googling" and
"trying" a whole bunch of alternatives on their own or those suggested
by their immediate colleagues. Then, there are subscribers like me....
YES to CLEAR subject lines.
Cheers.
Raji
On Nov 4, 2005, at 9:05 AM, Robert Sweet wrote:
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... or give a choice.
If I had to go find a web site to see what's happening, I'd never do
it, and would miss out on interesting discussions like this one, and
others like crystallizing cats, etc.
It ain't broke. Please don't fix it. Duplicate it on a web site if
you want, but leave the e-mail.
Bob
On Fri, 4 Nov 2005, Mischa Machius wrote:
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The recent discussion about molecular biology has prompted me to try
again to suggest moving the bulletin board to a modern, web-based
format. I have suggested this in the past with mixed results. Most
"hip" bulletin boards (poetry, music, cars, etc.) are organized that
way; the CCP4BB is behind the time.
The most often voiced argument against this idea, and in favor of an
email-based system, was that an email-based system keeps one on their
toes. This is because one choses to monitor one's email account. If
one would choose to monitor a web browser window, one would have the
same benefits. In addition, one could always have any message posted
to the board automatically forwarded to one's email account.
The benefits of a modern system are numerous. It is easy to set up
different sections, so that one would not have to sign up for 15
different bulletin boards (O, CNS, CCP4, etc., etc.). We would thus
have a unified platform. Email accounts won't get clogged. Such a
board would be accessible from any access point to the Internet,
whereas email may not always be that easy to get to. There are also
powerful communication tools, like personal messaging and chat rooms
that make interacting a lot more straightforward compared to email.
To pre-empt the argument presented by some people last time I
mentioned this, that it would be too difficult to get used to a new
system, I would say, it is much more difficult to get used to a new
piece of software, or even a new version of it. We are all
intelligent people (or so one would assume), able to adjust
instantaneously to new scientific results. We would certainly be able
to adjust to a new way of clicking buttons.
And: modern bulletin boards come with those funny emoticons. Now that
should brighten things up a lot. We could design emoticons to
resemble certain moods of certain people, such as DVD (formerly known
as CD) wearing a police hat, Gerard B. raising his eyebrows, Wladek
M. scratching his long-gone beard, etc., etc.
Cheers!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
-- --------
Mischa Machius, PhD
Assistant Professor
UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
5323 Harry Hines Blvd.; ND10.214A
Dallas, TX 75390-8816; U.S.A.
Tel: +1 214 645 6381
Fax: +1 214 645 6353
--
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==
Robert M. Sweet E-Dress: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Group Leader, PXRR: Macromolecular ^ (that's L
Crystallography Research Resource at NSLS not 1)
Biology Dept
Brookhaven Nat'l Lab. Phones:
Upton, NY 11973 631 344 3401 (Office)
U.S.A. 631 344 2741 (Facsimile)
=======================================================================
==
