New Off Topic Hobbies Section

[EEVblog]

It was suggested that an Off Topic Hobbies section be created for those that like the community here, but want to discuss other hobbies they have and want to discuss with other like minded people they already know here.
I don't see the problem with the idea, but please leave your thoughts, and suggestion for other catgeories you would like. e.g. it could be wood working, metalworking, books, 3D printing, whatever.
It's down the very bottom of the forum main page for obvious reasons.

NOTE: This is NOT the free-for-all general chat section some people want, the usual rules about politics, religion, guns, covid apply, and other off-topic stuff that gets nasty real fast.
You might also notice the General Chat section has been relabed General Technical Chat.

[Ed.Kloonk]

+1

There are times when I notice users with very low post count get a little overwhelmed with responses to their beginner questions. It might be helpful for some of them to show off what they are good at so as to break the ice so to speak.

[tggzzz]

Dont do it!

If I want to discuss bicycles or gliding, I go to bicycle or gliding forums.

It is better to do one thing well than two things poorly.

When living in Cambridge and I wanted a tool, I went to MacKays. If they had it, great, if not I hadn't wasted much time.

Living in Brizzle there are many shops that might (and often don't) have the tool. I have to waste time going to see several on the off chance they have it.

[CatalinaWOW]

I think the real question might be:  Why is the environment on this forum more appealing than others? 

If it is simply the rule set then those interested in other topics can borrow the rules and either start their own forum, or point out the benefits of the rule set to one or more existing forums.

If it is a reflection of the moderators I would think seriously about whether the moderators are interested in taking on what would likely grow into additional members who were more focused on the added topics.  (Of course the added members should translate into additional revenue so there is both a stick and a carrot).

If it is just a reflection that like minded people flock together it might just make sense as a community service.  The existence of much less congenial EE forums elsewhere on the web suggests there may be something to this possibility.

I am sure those in the business of running this can come up with other theories.  And of course because this is real life, not some homework problem, the answer is undoubtedly a mixture of all of them.  But it is probably a good way of thinking about the problem.

[tggzzz]

Is there an automated way in which I can never see any of the posts from would-be Nigella Lawsons (or Graham Kerrs)?

In other words, I don't want the Cooking stuff to appear in my "unread" and "unreadreplies" pages.

[Ysjoelfir]

I realy love the idea! The atmosphere here is just so nice, as is the way people tend to discuss. I am very looking forward to have this atmosphere in other topics not related to electronics as well.

I personally would love to see categories for wood- and metalworking as well as literature besides the already existing cooking section which I appreciate also very much.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Is there an automated way in which I can never see any of the posts from would-be Nigella Lawsons (or Graham Kerrs)?

In other words, I don't want the Cooking stuff to appear in my "unread" and "unreadreplies" pages.

Does Forum Profile> Ignore Board Options  not work to your liking?

This page lets you ignore particular boards. When a board is ignored, the new post indicator will not show up on the board index. New posts will not show up using the "unread post" search link (when searching it will not look in those boards) however, ignored boards will still appear on the board index and upon entering will show which topics have new posts. When using the "unread replies" link, new posts in an ignored board will still be shown.

[Halcyon]

I think the real question might be:  Why is the environment on this forum more appealing than others? 

I think I can answer that and this is purely my own anecdotal experience and what I've heard from others.

This forum attracts a fairly specialised group of people, compared to the general population. People here generally seem to be more intelligent, coherent and more open to differing ideas than others. It's certainly not the type of forum where bored housewives come to bitch about things or people with huge egos come to troll. I've seen forums such as the Australian Whirlpool forum spiral out of control, it used to be dedicated to just telco and now, you can discuss all manner of topics there from people losing their driving licences to consumer law and everything in between. It has become a shit-show of over moderation and people basically arguing with each other. Basically, Whirlpool (or Whingepool as it's commonly known) has basically reached the point where if a moderator takes issue with you personally or disagrees with your opinion, they just delete your posts. Their forum rules alone spans pages and pages yet are inconsistently applied depending on which moderator you get and which way the wind is blowing, it's not conducive to a nice environment.

To quote figures, they have almost 900k members and over 40 active moderators. EEVblog has almost 53k members and 2 active moderators. Yet very few posts that are not spam get removed and I'd like to think people are generally quite content here.

The idea of the off-topic section was mine (I wanted a section dedicated to cooking as it's one of the topics often discussed in the EEVblog IRC channel). But it's not designed to attract non-EE people to the forum, rather to complement the hobbies and interests of those who are primarily interested in tech/EE/computing but also have other interests. Some people like being members of discreet forums and that's fine, I personally don't.

[ataradov]

Not a fan of this. I read the forum though RSS, and it get everything. Could not care less about cooking.

It would be nice to have technical stuff only RSS feed, but I guess that's a pipe dream.

Wow, two posts and already annoying. Hopefully it just dies over time over the lack of interest.

This is indeed a good forum for EE. Why make it worse by adding random unrelated stuff?

[Bud]

I do not want that.

[beanflying]

It was suggested that an Off Topic Hobbies section be created for those that like the community here, but want to discuss other hobbies they have and want to discuss with other like minded people they already know here.
I don't see the problem with the idea, but please leave your thoughts, and suggestion for other catgeories you would like. e.g. it could be wood working, metalworking, books, 3D printing, whatever.
It's down the very bottom of the forum main page for obvious reasons.

NOTE: This is NOT the free-for-all general chat section some people want, the usual rules about politics, religion, guns, covid apply, and other off-topic stuff that gets nasty real fast.
You might also notice the General Chat section has been relabed General Technical Chat.

If you pick off a few of the topics you suggest they are actually Mechanical Engineering so maybe more a narrow section catering for Mech Eng topics that have Electronic applications. So CNC, 3D Printing, Metal working these already come up a fair bit and get lumped into the General or Beginners Sections normally so a home makes some sense for these.

We don't need a cooking/cycling/coffee/fishing section much as I would likely join in 

[ataradov]

Yes, on the other hand mechanical engineering/physics/chemistry/math would be way more interesting.

[Ysjoelfir]

I always wonder when people complain about topics they don't like - well, then just don't take a look at them. There are other people who do like and enjoy it, so... 

[ataradov]

Specifically for me, reading the forum though RSS reader, there is no way to exclude them, so I have to see them if I want to see other stuff.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Specifically for me, reading the forum though RSS reader, there is no way to exclude them, so I have to see them if I want to see other stuff.

?

You've got more control than your realize. Mock up a script to read the rss.

[Ysjoelfir]

Specifically for me, reading the forum though RSS reader, there is no way to exclude them, so I have to see them if I want to see other stuff.

?

You've got more control than your realize. Mock up a script to read the rss.

I just wanted to say exactly that. I did exactly that just by using code snippets I collected through google (I am not a coding person) back in the days when RSS feeds were big. Was no big deal and made it very easy to filter out stuff I wasn't interested in.

[ataradov]

The thing is, I don't want cooking, so don't subscribe to cooking forums. I like electronics, so I subscribe to electronics forum.

If following the forum becomes too much work, I abandon the forum. I know, most people won't care. But if forum becomes too noisy to be useful, and more people leave or don't stick around, then you get a dead forum.

[wilfred]

The thing is, I don't want cooking, so don't subscribe to cooking forums. I like electronics, so I subscribe to electronics forum.

If following the forum becomes too much work, I abandon the forum. I know, most people won't care. But if forum becomes too noisy to be useful, and more people leave or don't stick around, then you get a dead forum.

I don't want discussion about short selling stocks in some US game store company. Perhaps reading between the lines that is why Dave renamed the General Chat to General Technical Chat.

But a year or two back when the gender studies and various other topics that were of no interest I studied the cross section of contributors to the big ones with lots of posts. What I found was that 50% of posts was made by 10 or fewer contributors. With EEVBLOG at the top by some margin.

So I concluded the Dave's presence in them both encouraged such threads and in so doing sets the tone of the forum generally. So renaming general chat is a bit of a mixed message.

You can tell more about some threads by the number of forum members who do NOT participate and stay well away from them and leave them to a fairly small number of prolific forum posters.

Maybe I've changed, but after clocking 11 years as a member here I feel the forum is a less communal, less genial place to hangout. I don't seem to get news of new things relevant to hobby electronics as much as I used to. It seems very much concentrated on a small group of members. So further diluting the focus on electronics with new unrelated categories doesn't seem likely to change that in any way I would regard as useful.

[EEVblog]

Specifically for me, reading the forum though RSS reader, there is no way to exclude them, so I have to see them if I want to see other stuff.

There is no way you can possibly find every single existing post and topic on this forum interesting, and now all of a sudden it's going to become unreadable.
Threads already drift wildly off-topic, what does a couple of more matter?
I don't expect this section to dominate it's just there in case anyone needs it and doesn't want to or can't go to another decicated forum.
As with all threads here, if someone posts a topic and and no one is interested in discussing it then it just dies naturally. If it does pick up then that means there are people here who are interested in discussing that topic and therefore there is value to them in having that discussion here.

[EEVblog]

So I concluded the Dave's presence in them both encouraged such threads and in so doing sets the tone of the forum generally. So renaming general chat is a bit of a mixed message.

It sends a very clear mesage. Stop posting off-topic stuff that is usually either completely silly like cats or something, or current affairs/politics.
The new section is for specific hobbies a group may be interested in and will be limited to those thing, there will not be a general chat sub section.

[ataradov]

There is no way you can possibly find every single existing post and topic on this forum interesting, and now all of a sudden it's going to become unreadable.

No, but the topics at least start more or less on topic. When I see "butter chicken", I immediately think it is spam since it is so far off from the topic of the forum.

Threads already drift wildly off-topic, what does a couple of more matter?

Where things drift does not matter, I mostly read new topics RSS.

A good thing. I expect this to die naturally, so it is probably fine. I just don't really understand the point of doing that.

[DrG]

...
I don't want discussion about short selling stocks in some US game store company. Perhaps reading between the lines that is why Dave renamed the General Chat to General Technical Chat.
...

Since you brought it up, I will say that I certainly would not have started that thread if I had only known that you didn't want that discussion...I can at least relate it to technology and I am sure that you can see that.

Here is the current description for that topic area:

This is where everyone hangs out and rants and chats about whatever electronics topics that don't quite fit into the other more specific categories on this forum. Occasional off-topic stuff is ok, but generally we like to keep it electronics related, so please don't start deliberately off-topic threads.

The GameStop topic is one where folks got together on an Internet forum that we have all heard of, largely using the same computer app, to collectively, arguably exploit a market, in a way that was formerly only available to big traders. Now, you can argue the relevance of that to the description, but you can not accurately say that I deliberately started an off-topic thread (which you have not done, but that is explicitly mentioned in the description).
 
But mea culpa, maybe I should have started a thread with endless speculation about why packages from China smell...oh wait.

Seriously, I am not offended that you did not want that thread, but that does not mean that I am not going to stand up for creating that thread.

I am not offended by a cooking thread or RC airplanes or shooting or photography or model railroads or sailing or car restoration or woodworking or metal working or anything else that could be considered a hobby. Since it is easy enough for me to ignore them, it is not a problem for me. I get the RSS feed complaint, and it has been stated.

I get your complaint, but not your point that included specifically mentioning that thread. Doesn't everyone try to adhere to the topic areas, outside of some necessary moves and a few instances of double posts and the like?

[nctnico]

Yes, on the other hand mechanical engineering/physics/chemistry/math would be way more interesting.

The manufacturing & assembly section is kind of like that. I got some good ideas from there in the past.

Either way hobbies do pop-up in the general chat section anyway so why create a new section? IMHO the EEVblog forum already has too many sections.

[vk6zgo]

I think the real question might be:  Why is the environment on this forum more appealing than others? 

I think I can answer that and this is purely my own anecdotal experience and what I've heard from others.

This forum attracts a fairly specialised group of people, compared to the general population. People here generally seem to be more intelligent, coherent and more open to differing ideas than others. It's certainly not the type of forum where bored housewives come to bitch about things or people with huge egos come to troll. I've seen forums such as the Australian Whirlpool forum spiral out of control, it used to be dedicated to just telco and now, you can discuss all manner of topics there from people losing their driving licences to consumer law and everything in between. It has become a shit-show of over moderation and people basically arguing with each other. Basically, Whirlpool (or Whingepool as it's commonly known) has basically reached the point where if a moderator takes issue with you personally or disagrees with your opinion, they just delete your posts. Their forum rules alone spans pages and pages yet are inconsistently applied depending on which moderator you get and which way the wind is blowing, it's not conducive to a nice environment.

To quote figures, they have almost 900k members and over 40 active moderators. EEVblog has almost 53k members and 2 active moderators. Yet very few posts that are not spam get removed and I'd like to think people are generally quite content here.

The idea of the off-topic section was mine (I wanted a section dedicated to cooking as it's one of the topics often discussed in the EEVblog IRC channel). But it's not designed to attract non-EE people to the forum, rather to complement the hobbies and interests of those who are primarily interested in tech/EE/computing but also have other interests. Some people like being members of discreet forums and that's fine, I personally don't.

One of the things I liked about this forum is that it was possible to discuss moderation decisions with other members, unlike Whirlpool, where moderation seems to be done almost at the whim of the moderator, so that one favoured poster gets to go "off topic", post a lot of twaddle & be untouched, but an answer refuting that posting, offering proof of the points made, will be hidden as "off topic".

An even worse example is the sports forum " The Roar", where a posting not in accordance with the favoured narrative never appears at all.
At least Whirlpool has their fairly useless "Talk with a moderator" system,which is clunky as hell to use.

Imagine my surprise, then, this morning, when looking through "Show new replies to your posts" to find that, although the Moderation thread came up complete, there was no "quote" or "reply" option, only a stupid "thanks" option.

"Weird", thought I , & resolved to look for the thread using  the main index.
When I found it, I was surprised to see no postings later than November 2020, & no explanation as to why.

Please don't go down the Whirlpool route, keep us informed!

[tautech]

......................
Imagine my surprise, then, this morning, when looking through "Show new replies to your posts" to find that, although the Moderation thread came up complete, there was no "quote" or "reply" option, only a stupid "thanks" option.

"Weird", thought I , & resolved to look for the thread using  the main index.
When I found it, I was surprised to see no postings later than November 2020, & no explanation as to why.

There are 2 Moderation Report threads one in General Chat and the other in the Supporters lounge which I have temporarily locked for moderators and members to take stock of the last few days postings.
Yes that right, I'm as shocked as anyone that I have a lock feature for a thread in the Supporters Lounge.
Maybe that's normal for OP's there IDK. 

[vk6zgo]

......................
Imagine my surprise, then, this morning, when looking through "Show new replies to your posts" to find that, although the Moderation thread came up complete, there was no "quote" or "reply" option, only a stupid "thanks" option.

"Weird", thought I , & resolved to look for the thread using  the main index.
When I found it, I was surprised to see no postings later than November 2020, & no explanation as to why.

There are 2 Moderation Report threads one in General Chat and the other in the Supporters lounge which I have temporarily locked for moderators and members to take stock of the last few days postings.
Yes that right, I'm as shocked as anyone that I have a lock feature for a thread in the Supporters Lounge.
Maybe that's normal for OP's there IDK. 

My bad!

It had slipped my mind that I got bumped up into the Supporters Lounge, due to longevity, rather than support.
"Moderation Reports" pops up on "Show new replies to your posts" automatically, & I thought it was the "General Chat" one, as I am not used to being amongst the select-----the rabble is more my comfort zone!

[beanflying]

Hi Dave,

with the new forum sections what are your thoughts on moving some of the established or even some of the more recent topics into them?

Obvious one is this 3D printing one for a start https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/3d-printer-yet/

a few others from recent topics as other maybes? Fairly easy to trawl into the last couple of pages of threads in general, beginners etc to find a few more.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/repair/tensile-strength-solder-for-repairing-small-band-saw-blade/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/holy-crap!-cant-drill-holes-correctly!/

Depending on what you think do we add them here rather than PM/email?

Cooking Noooooooo  

[wilfred]

Cooking Noooooooo  

I'm not enthusiastic about this new section but what I am even more against is facepalming others interests. I definitely don't want to see an elite set of "acceptable" hobbies and then sneering at others excluded from that set.

If there was any worthwhile benefit to be gained from the new sections then it will be diminished if any form of intolerance to others interests is allowed to fester.

[beanflying]

Seriously look at my signature line and actually READ my earlier post here in this thread saying I would likely contribute! I am anything but anti food or cooking.

Don't throw muck unless you know the context the joking comment was made with.

[Tomorokoshi]

A forum area equally related to electronics, test equipment, design, manufacturing, and testing would be something like "Standards, Agencies, Testing, and Approvals". Consider EMC, IEC, UL, ATEX, UKCA, 61000, 61010, 60079, etc. Currently, postings on these topics are spread across several forum areas. A central place for these topics may allow for improved communication.

[beanflying]

Metrology sort of makes sense for those topics? If you want a collected index of existing ones maybe write it and ask to have it made a sticky?

[Tomorokoshi]

Metrology sort of makes sense for those topics? If you want a collected index of existing ones maybe write it and ask to have it made a sticky?

Metrology would make sense if the question were about, let's say, the use of the calibrated antenna, spectrum analyzer, or such equipment. However, if the question were about some detail in standards such as IEC 61000 or CISPR 16 then would that fall under Projects, Manufacturing, or maybe even Beginners?

I've seen questions related to standards and agencies when it comes to regional safety, regulations for transmitters such as Bluetooth, where the problem isn't how the electrically interface with it, but how to guide the product through testing and certification.

There are also questions related to RoHS and CE marking. With Brexit there is now UKCA, and all sorts of administrative trouble related to it. Approvals for China has also been changing over the last few years.

Perhaps a better title would be "Standards, Regulations, Agencies, and Certification" to describe the it.

[beanflying]

I didn't register the numbers as being product standards I only saw the first bit on Testing and standards.

As they vary across the world I can see a lot of couch exspurt comments in the threads in that sort of section already  RoHs is already a complete dogs breakfast around the planet.

[SilverSolder]

I didn't register the numbers as being product standards I only saw the first bit on Testing and standards.

As they vary across the world I can see a lot of couch exspurt comments in the threads in that sort of section already  RoHs is already a complete dogs breakfast around the planet.

Things like RoHs can be fixed if experts reach out to politicians...  it isn't going to happen by itself, or by waiting for corporate interests to get it right.

[beanflying]

Pointless reaching out to 'politicians' in Country or EU X. Australia's ROHS is nothing like an EU ROHS so rehashing that BS ad infinitum here at this stage us and NZ don't. This and similar rabbitholes would go political/economic/green/corporation and be in general a bad idea.

Standards are similarly Country/EU based discussions and as I mentioned earlier would only encourage couchsperts.

[wizard69]

This thread is interesting all on its own.   You will never make everybody happy with respect to the right number of and type of subsections nor how they are named.   For example Solar technologies are now to the point that they are affordable to people like me so I thought a subsection covering Solar and off and on Grid technologies would be a good idea.   Then some time ago I realized that that was already covered in the power and Renewable Energy section.   The phrase "Renewable Energy" rubs me the wrong way because there is nothing renewable about energy.

As far as having a forums or sub forums, for 3D printing and CNC I really think that would be a good idea.   The reason is that 3D printing is advancing pretty fast and I can see the day where 3D printed circuit boards / assemblies are the norm and they will be very much 3D constructs on their own.   That is we will be building PCB in the near future with far more that on or two component layers.   CNC in a more general sense has applicability to just about anything made in the realm of electronics due to the need for enclosures.   Not to mention the machining of the actual PCB.

The problem I wee right now is that there are two good places to post related to these interests.   We have a Robotics and Automation forum and Manufacturing and Assembly, plus the ""off"" topic 3D Printing forum, which actually makes one think about where to put 3D printing and CNC posts.   I just see the organization right now as being a bit messed up making things confusing and frankly thins posts out across multiple sections.    So yeah I believe the topics are related enough to electronics to be accepted here, it is just a matter of finding the right organization, maybe not so much more forum sections but subsections. 

As to expansion I do believe that it is extremely easy to have to many forum sections that make it hard to select the right forum for a post.   The EEVblogs should have a minimal number of forum sections that get the job done.   When considering things like wood working that is harder to judge as if one is doing restoration work on old electronics half the challenge can be in the wood work.   I don't see it as totally worthless.

As for how I use the forums it is always via the web and a web browser.   I don't really consider the opinions of others that use alternative technologies as valid.   To me it makes about as much sense as the neckbeards that are complaining about E-mail that is not plain text.    I'm really sorry for the guys that can't adapt to modern technologies but modern E-Mail is one of the best things to happen to the whole concept of E-Mail.   In this world you either get with the times or fall far behind,

[Black Phoenix]

I see as a great idea. I also learn how to cook 3 years ago (yes for years I was considered the terror on the kitchen, able to make it look like a bomb site), and nowadays after being teach by my wife I started to do some foods that she teach me better than she does (although I think that it is her scheme to run away from the kitchen since she didn't enjoy cooking  ). I don't mind and kinda like to experiment (until now only once the food has to go into the trash.

I would love to see also a section to Photography, one of my hobbies and probably the biggest one that I've been doing since I remember.

What I don't like is the attitude of some users that don't accept anything outside of the scope of the forum, and then go and make ultimatums like "If this happens I'm going/out of here" or the kind of user who didn't want to use their time to learn something new or filter/block a section of the website he is not interested.

From what I saw most users here are professionals with high scholar degrees and most of the topics are kept on topic, with people knowing how to filter what is off-topic and on-topic, keeping the off-topic to a minimum. If said users don't like something, they just need to express why, without the ultimatums. Then is a weighting of who wants and who don't wants and in a democratic fashion the option with most votes is the one who goes forward. Ultimatums for me is kinda childish and demonstrates insecurity in anything other than what they feel good about it.

And if said users don't feel OK with that, they just need to or block said section of the forum or simply log out from the forum and look for another avenue to read what they are interested in. There are a lot of other forums or platforms that for sure will have exactly what said dissatisfied user wants to. Or even start their own forum/website/blog/Youtube channel/discord channel.

I hope I didn't sound like a jerk (or probably I sound like it). I didn't want to hurt anyone feelings. It is a controversial opinion yes, I will not get a lot of friends for it (to be sincere I'm expecting some backlash) but it's my opinion, without ultimatums and I think I should be respected by it as I respect the others opinions.

[Ian.M]

Could we *PLEASE* have an 'Aerospace' category/subforum to help get non-electronics related space launch and exploration, and aircraft stuff out of 'General Technical Chat'.

@all: Please thank this post if you also support an 'Aerospace' category/subforum and just want to vote '+1' without cluttering this topic.

[EEVblog]

Could we *PLEASE* have an 'Aerospace' category/subforum to help get non-electronics related space launch and exploration, and aircraft stuff out of 'General Technical Chat'.
@all: Please thank this post if you also support an 'Aerospace' category/subforum and just want to vote '+1' without cluttering this topic.

I'm not against this.
Can you please list all the existing threads that should be in such a section. I'm not regularly watching every thread in the general chat section.

[Ian.M]

As requested:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/starship-12-5km-launch-live/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/mars-copter-vs-mars-plane/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/f35-jet-has-crashed-into-the-sea-why/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/incredible-hand-made-micro-space-telescope/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/boon-bang-fai-talai-lan-pinwheel-rocket/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/elon-musk-is-a-delusional-moron/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/starship-is-now-stacked/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/we-need-traffic-lights-for-satellites/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/new-ufo-videos/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/scott-manley-vid-is-apollo-11s-lm-still-in-orbit-around-the-moon-52-yrs-later/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/flying-drones-in-the-us-now-requires-a-certificate/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/north-american-xb-70-valkyrie-feature-from-the-national-museum-of-the-usaf/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/betelgeuse-the-star/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/one-step-closer-to-suborbital-travel/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/one-step-closer-to-suborbital-travel/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/mars-helicopter/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/nasa-award-spacez-moon-landing-contract/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/one-day-until-seven-minutes-of-terror/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/starship-sn10-high-altitude-flight-test/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/lion-air-crash-jakarta-boeing-737-had-prior-instrument-error/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/and-now-the-boeing-777/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/spacex-sn10-just-landed-successfully/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/perseverance-landing-on-mars/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/starship-sn9-flight-test-in-lt-30-minutes-(disclaimer-here)/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/propellant-less-electric-spacecraft-engine/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/change-5-moon-rock-sample-collecting/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/nuclear-propulsion-in-space/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/acceleration-of-gravity-from-earth-on-objects-traveling-at-near-the-sol/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/starship-12-5km-launch-live/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/the-first-road-legal-flying-car-in-europe/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/spacecraft-capsule-just-landed-in-australia/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/adam-savage-reviews-bandais-1144-saturn-v-model/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/2000-drones-in-the-sky-of-saint-petersburg/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/spacex-crew-dragon-launch-tonight-(sunday)/

I've gone back approx. one year for the above, and have tried not to list ones with heavy electronics content.

One of mine:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/wtf!!!-(french-airforce-fubar)/
I think Ed.Kloonk will also have some to nominate.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/dodgy-technology/spinlaunch-can-it-succeed/
isn't in 'General Technical Chat' and is certainly dodgy so I'm neutral on moving it, though it would fit the 'Aerospace' theme.

[Shock]

It's very little traffic, I think general technical chat is exactly where technology like space flight should be posted. The rule for new forums "should be" that it attracts about a page of active threads or will quickly grow to that.

Look at the computing section, immensely popular topic but still struggling, I forewarned this. But it would help a little if people actually posted all computer related stuff there instead of general technical chat for exposure.

But tidying up the forums is more important. I'd redesign the massive list of forums so that it could be easier to navigate, this is why some forums are so inactive there is literally pages of them.

Taking a quick look I would: Merge all the EDA forums into one. Merge FPGA and Microcontrollers forums. Merge the computing section into one hardware one software. Merge Eevblog Specific and child forums into Eevblog. Merge Suggestions and Help into a new News/Suggestions/Help forum. Audio and general radio could be piggybacked into the RF forum. It has a large following and is essentially a subset of that branch of knowledge.

I'd also change this:

Beginners
A place for electronics newbies to ask questions. Include detail & what you have already done to find the answer. Short "How does X work" questions are not proper forum etiquette. Assignment questions are ok, but show existing work.

Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Show off your projects or other stuff you are working on. Talk about designs or ideas, ask technical questions, and share technical information. This is the big catch-all thread for anything electronic.

To this (for the whole page):

Beginners
Newbies ask electronics questions and advice here, include detail and research.
Projects/Designs/Technical
Show your projects or work. Discuss and share design or technical questions.

Lastly large threads with no topic like the TEA thread don't add much to the forum, we already have many show your gear and lab super threads. New threads are easier to follow and get better user participation and revenue due to page ranking. Obviously 1000 (insert model here) threads are the exception, as they are topic based they are the super threads you do want (they attract users). The Rigol DS1054Z thread 370:1 views to replies is an example of that.

The TEA thread has about 60:1 views to replies ratio and when you consider the same people are contributing it's probably worse (doing a deep analysis of it). The "New Type of Automated Electric Guitar" thread is doing better at 70:1 and it's new and not even posted in the correct forum .

Anyway I've mentioned some of this before.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Hashtags on topics is what you really need. Don't ask me how to implement that, tho..

[beanflying]

Hashtags on topics is what you really need. Don't ask me how to implement that, tho..

Their is a a few Tag Mods but we don't want it to load this place any more than it is I reckon. example https://custom.simplemachines.org/index.php?mod=579

Google as a site search picks up keywords fairly well without it.

[tggzzz]

But tidying up the forums is more important. I'd redesign the massive list of forums so that it could be easier to navigate, this is why some forums are so inactive there is literally pages of them.

Taking a quick look I would: Merge all the EDA forums into one. Merge FPGA and Microcontrollers forums. Merge the computing section into one hardware one software. Merge Eevblog Specific and child forums into Eevblog. Merge Suggestions and Help into a new News/Suggestions/Help forum. Audio and general radio could be piggybacked into the RF forum. It has a large following and is essentially a subset of that branch of knowledge.

Not all changes and new things are better.

There's a fundamental problem with all tree taxonomies like the Dewey Decimal system or forum topics: if you have an item that can reasonably be in more than one place, which place do you choose?  Simple example: a poorly performing voltage standard. Should that be in "repair" or "metrology"? Which do you ignore? Should you double post?

If you want to find an answer you search for it. You don't browse a hierarchy.
If you want to find new responses to topics that are already interesting, use "Show new replies to your posts".
If you want to find new responses to topics that might or might not be interesting, use "Show unread posts since last visit"

What cannot be done with the existing mechanisms and topics?
Why fragment hierarchies so that there's more cross-posting?

Why bother? What benefit would there be to having myriad finely divided topics?

[Shock]

The correct answer is meteorology, ask and move it to repair if it's a fault.

I'm talking consolidate not fragment (aside from the TE forum later and done properly). I'm well versed in navigating forums (as well as designing them). I don't care, but Dave should be aware what impacts the forums ease of use, and you aim for active forums not inactive ones.

As I mentioned some forums like the EDA ones, 8 threads active across 8 forums in a week. Mechanical Engineering 1 post only. Cooking 3 threads active. Now theres a request for Aerospace. No offense to Ian.M but this is a good way to wreck your forums.

Visitors can't easily see new posts by topic without digging through the list. There is no unsubscribe button if you reply to a thread and it will keep showing up in your "replied threads". So the workable solution is to browse through "all new posts" as there is no "new threads" option. That is 3 strikes for usability before you tidy up the inactive forum topics .

Anyway I've suggested half a dozen design fixes here and Daves only implemented a couple of them due to change management reasons. None of what I suggested impacts people negatively it's all minor tweaks and improvements, and if the forum is dependent on the tea thread for survival it has problems. I have a great solution for the tea thread but the other stuff is more important.

[tggzzz]

... I don't care, but Dave should be aware what impacts the forums ease of use, and you aim for active forums not inactive ones.

In your opinion, which is one of many.

It is too easy to break something which doesn't need fixing. New/different != better.

[EEVblog]

It's very little traffic, I think general technical chat is exactly where technology like space flight should be posted. The rule for new forums "should be" that it attracts about a page of active threads or will quickly grow to that.

Looking at the sections:
Electronics: All sections have posts from today or within two days. So all seems ok there.
Products: All today or yesterday, so fine.
General: One is weeks old, but that's to be expected, those cateories like Contests and Jobs are imporant.
Computing: Again, all recent posts in each catgeory. But I can see the argument below.
EDA: Yeah, this a legacy thing, not that popular. Could be consolidated.

Look at the computing section, immensely popular topic but still struggling, I forewarned this. But it would help a little if people actually posted all computer related stuff there instead of general technical chat for exposure.

But tidying up the forums is more important. I'd redesign the massive list of forums so that it could be easier to navigate, this is why some forums are so inactive there is literally pages of them.

Taking a quick look I would: Merge all the EDA forums into one. Merge FPGA and Microcontrollers forums. Merge the computing section into one hardware one software. Merge Eevblog Specific and child forums into Eevblog. Merge Suggestions and Help into a new News/Suggestions/Help forum. Audio and general radio could be piggybacked into the RF forum. It has a large following and is essentially a subset of that branch of knowledge.

Agreed on the EDA forum, they could all go into one "PCB/CAD/EDA" section under Electronics, doing away with the section entirely.
FPGA and micros, I'm not so sure. They used to be one and we split it IIRC. Both are very active.
Agreed on the News/Suggestions/Help merger.
Agreed on EEVblog content merger, I've never really liked that anyway.
Seven computing catgeories is too many I think. Hardware/Software/Vintage would be adequate.

Anyone have any objections to these?

[gnavigator1007]

I've been wondering if a separate soldering category might make sense to add somewhere like the Products section. End of the day, I'll find whatever I'm interested in wherever it ends up.

[EEVblog]

I moved the PCB/EDA/CAD section to Electronics, but kept the sub catgeories as child boards. I did merge gEDA with the main topic though, it's basically dead.
I can put them into the one big category, but it's not trivial to do, I have to move bulk lot threads manually. I put a note on the main section to title posts with the package in anticipation of this though.
The main page is already less cluttered.

The Computing section now obviously needs the same treatment.

[EEVblog]

All EEVblog categories merged, and News/Suggestion/Help merged.

[Shock]

Yeah looks better already, down to just 4 page downs (5 counting the two advert banners and menus, which takes up the top page).

Might get it a little shorter still with:
Removing Halcyons name from under every forum in the computer section
Shortening a few descriptions down.

Halcyon looks to be in the global admin group now, so fairly easy to figure it out .

[EEVblog]

Yeah looks better already, down to just 4 page downs (5 counting the two advert banners and menus, which takes up the top page).

Might get it a little shorter still with:
Removing Halcyons name from under every forum in the computer section
Shortening a few descriptions down.

Halcyon looks to be in the global admin group now, so fairly easy to figure it out .

Yep, can certainly tighten it up that way.

[EEVblog]

General computing moved to under Products with child categories.
This is looking more inviting now. Less change of vistors being overwhelmed by the cateories.

[EEVblog]

I'm thinking maybe an Off Topic Hobbies board instead of category, and then Cooking as a child under that?

[Shock]

Yeah that is the best. It looks great btw.

Edit:

I'm thinking it works well to have "EDA" right above "Test Equipment" and "Computers" right above "General Technical Chat" as well, they get almost more exposure by proximity. The same thing happened a while back when you moved "Repair" up.

[Shock]

Now about that color scheme and those icons, heh.

If SMF has themes without requiring the user to logon that would be ideal, as you could store your preference in a cookie and keep using the old theme for old users but new users see some revamped version of the light/dark/black and white theme.

[EEVblog]

I'm thinking it works well to have "EDA" right above "Test Equipment" and "Computers" right above "General Technical Chat" as well, they get almost more exposure by proximity. The same thing happened a while back when you moved "Repair" up.

Yeah, I think it does matter.

[Nominal Animal]

General computing moved to under Products with child categories.
This is looking more inviting now. Less change of vistors being overwhelmed by the cateories.

The number of clicks needed to go to my favourite boards is annoying.  (Just kidding, I keep them bookmarked.)

But seriously, do you really want to cater to visitors who would be overwhelmed by a single flat list of categories?

What I fear, is that that makes it easier to drive-by-post, making more and more throwaway threads that have value only to the asker, and nobody else.

I've seen that happen on other forums, and have left because of that.  I personally love the somewhat-sprawling, but more-or-less on-topic longer threads.  Hmm, I guess you could say that the more unique members participating in the thread, the better it tends to be.  (Even the sprawling threads tend to only get sidetracked by a couple of members who start discussing or bickering some tangentially related detail.  I'm guilty of this too, definitely, but I do try to circle back to the original topic.)

[beanflying]

Now about that color scheme and those icons, heh.

If SMF has themes without requiring the user to logon that would be ideal, as you could store your preference in a cookie and keep using the old theme for old users but new users see some revamped version of the light/dark/black and white theme.

The way SMF themes generally work is they are completely separate in look and design and only registered user selectable. I would love a dark theme as would others but it is not trivial to do even if you made a clone of the current one and you would likely need to tweak it in code to get it looking ok (guesstimate 5-10 hours of tweakage). Most of them only allow limited table changes in the backend not all colours and features.

Tightening up the list length generally  and you wont please everyone.

[magic]

I approve
Thanks to the cleanup I finally found this thread. And yes, scrolling through that long list of boards was getting tiresome.

The number of clicks needed to go to my favourite boards is annoying.  (Just kidding, I keep them bookmarked.)

But seriously, do you really want to cater to visitors who would be overwhelmed by a single flat list of categories?

Yes.
Halcyon was regularly moving threads from "general chat" to "computing", some of them started by long time users. As the list grows longer, fewer people will bother reading all of it.

Another problem with too many boards is that some users don't bother reading mostly inactive ones and end up missing when something gets posted to them.


BTW, I think it was a tradition that "dodgy technology" was at the bottom of the "products" section?
Maybe "computers" should be moved one slot up so it stays that way?

[Nominal Animal]

But seriously, do you really want to cater to visitors who would be overwhelmed by a single flat list of categories?

Yes.
Halcyon was regularly moving threads from "general chat" to "computing", some of them started by long time users. As the list grows longer, fewer people will bother reading all of it.

Ah; so members already were overwhelmed (if that's the right word to use; no negative connotations implied, as this is about usability).  I wasn't aware of that.

(In case it is not clear, I am/was genuinely wondering about it.  I don't have an opinion on this, only vague suspicions I already voiced.)

[Ian.M]

On the front page, its not obvious that 'Computers' contains 'Embedded Computing' which is a problem because the description of:

Microcontrollers
General discussions about microcontroller hardware or software. Use the Embedded Computer section for single board computers like RPi etc

refers to it.  Its probably easiest to fix it  to something like "... the Computer: Embedded Computing section ..." though it would also be worth mentioning SBCs in:

Computers
PC's, Macs, Tablets, phone thingoes etc

[Ranayna]

While you are at it: Fix the "Click Here to Subscribe" link in the description of the Supporters Lounge, or remove it. It does not do anything for quite some time now.
Other than that: I like the new structure.

[tautech]

While you are at it: Fix the "Click Here to Subscribe" link in the description of the Supporters Lounge, or remove it. It does not do anything for quite some time now.
Other than that: I like the new structure.

Not visible to me and FYI with 1k posts or Supporter status you have rights to access the Supporters Lounge.

[Ranayna]

Oh, i was not aware that the description actually changes when you are an active supporter.
As far as i know, originally, that link redirected to a paypal donation feature. But for a looong time now, the link just redirects to your profile. I have attached a picture. My mousecursor is not visible, but i'm hovering over the link, the target is shown in the statusbar.

For reference, the target of the Link as well:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=subscriptions

[tautech]

Oh, i was not aware that the description actually changes when you are an active supporter.
As far as i know, originally, that link redirected to a paypal donation feature. But for a looong time now, the link just redirects to your profile. I have attached a picture. My mousecursor is not visible, but i'm hovering over the link, the target is shown in the statusbar.

For reference, the target of the Link as well:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?action=profile;area=subscriptions

Dave accepts donations on his main EEVblog site that qualify for Supporter Status and therefore access to the forum Supporter Lounge:
https://www.eevblog.com/donations/
BUT, I do now offer an automatic supporters section of the forum for donations over $25/year. So if you want that added extra, please donate through HERE (link) instead.

[Ranayna]

I know
But that Paypal thing did not really work for me, when a couple of years ago i donated 50 bucks, even though i mentioned my forum name. 
I remember opening a thread about that back then, but nothing came of it, except thatthe Paypal donate is not really supported anymore for donations.

I already reported the not working link on the supporters section back then, but again, nothing came of it. Now that a restructuring happed, maybe it would be a good opportunity to fix or remove it

EDIT: I just checked the donation page, found the sentence you quoted, and surprise: That is actually the same not working link as on the description of the supporters section.

[tautech]

I know
But that Paypal thing did not really work for me, when a couple of years ago i donated 50 bucks, even though i mentioned my forum name. 
I remember opening a thread about that back then, but nothing came of it, except thatthe Paypal donate is not really supported anymore for donations.

I already reported the not working link on the supporters section back then, but again, nothing came of it. Now that a restructuring happed, maybe it would be a good opportunity to fix or remove it

EDIT: I just checked the donation page, found the sentence you quoted, and surprise: That is actually the same not working link as on the description of the supporters section.

OK, notified Dave using the best direct method by reporting your post and he'll have a read and hopefully sort it out.

[RoGeorge]

What a mess, please undo it Dave!   

[Halcyon]

The above has been noted. Waiting for a response directly from Dave.

[Shock]

Two sections that accounted for approx 2% of discussion were taking up 30% of the page, they have been reverted to child forums (which Eevblog has always used). Other than that, the forum descriptions are shorter. I'd be surprised if it wasn't negatively impacting the forums participation and growth.

[magic]

Pretty much how I feel about it too and I even suggested pruning some of the computing boards that get three threads per month and merging them into "general computing" aka "computers".

And I posted this suggestion in "computers" because I didn't know that this board exist because it was buried in the middle of nowhere somewhere at the bottom of the forum; I can't even tell where it used to be.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/general-computing/idea-just-nuke-the-computing-child-boards/

I also found it a little weird that "computing" and the low-traffic "EDA/CAD" sections were above "EEVblog-specific", on the EEVblog forum of all places

[EEVblog]

BTW, I think it was a tradition that "dodgy technology" was at the bottom of the "products" section?

I think the child sections looks better at the bottom of the category.

[EEVblog]

There are now two standout sections with less than 1000 posts. Robotics and Automation, and Mechanical Engineering. Maybe a merge?

[EEVblog]

And should General Chat board go up the very top before Beginners?
This is after all an Electronics forum, and the general chat section is for general electronics/technical chat.
Although IIRC the argument before for not havign General Chat at the top was so people would see and use the other categories before they consider GC?
And the General section renamed to something else perhaps?   

[EEVblog]

I also found it a little weird that "computing" and the low-traffic "EDA/CAD" sections were above "EEVblog-specific", on the EEVblog forum of all places

The forum started as a place to just discuss the EEVblog videos, but it's quickly became it's own forum.
There are many on here who really don't care about, or even know about the videos.

[beanflying]

There are now two standout sections with less than 1000 posts. Robotics and Automation, and Mechanical Engineering. Maybe a merge?

Given Robotics and Automation has been around for a while now and a bunch of the topics are borderline in that category for a start maybe a quick look and move some threads into more appropriate sections.

The 'Automation' topics make sense to include in Mech Eng as they will likely tend to Control Systems and mechanical devices doing real world tasks.

The 'Robotics' bit is a bit murky as it covers toy $30 robot kits to Boston Dynamics toys the lower end has more or less Zero to do with Mech Eng while the upper end is a very high end control system and refined mechanics. Or the ridiculous side of it is self driving cars are technically Robots and do they belong in Mech Eng or ? Or is it best to not have a Robots section at all?

And should General Chat board go up the very top before Beginners?
This is after all an Electronics forum, and the general chat section is for general electronics/technical chat.
Although IIRC the argument before for not havign General Chat at the top was so people would see and use the other categories before they consider GC?
And the General section renamed to something else perhaps?   

Putting it above 'Beginners' could give the impression that the forum is about General Rambles instead of more educational and projects/problems/advice.  small edit I see you amended your initial post a bit so you are sort of down this track I guess.

[RoGeorge]

IMO smashing computers topics in subforums is a mistake.

With each day, computers and software becomes more important everywhere in EE, while the electronics skills of the past are externalized, or maybe simulated.  Not many will ask about how to etch PCB, but will ask about Kicad or computer skills needed in PCB design.  Same most are using modules or assembly factories, not many will solder SMD parts.

Instead of a 555, today we'll rather need to know how to program a microcontroller instead so it will do like a 555, instead of soldering a TH thermistor and use a uA-meter to measure temperature we'll need to use a digital sensor, therefore a microcontroller, therefore a computer to program it.  Even soldering stations have computers inside these days, many times with Linux or at least with a smaller RT OS.  Things like this.

The trend is to put a computer in anything, therefore I'll expect to see inmportance of computers growing even more in the future.



TL;DR not pretending I know better, not demanding to do what I like, my mind splits the categories this way:
(draft only, rearranged + added "Science", I hope I didn't remove anything by mistake)
Electronics
    - Beginners
    - Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
    - Repair
    - Metrology
    - RF, Microwave, Ham Radio

Digital and EDA
    - Microcontrollers
    - FPGA
    - PCB/EDA/CAD

Computers
    - Programming
    - Administration
    - Networking & Wireless
    - Security

    - Mobiles
    - Embedded Computing
    - Vintage Computing

Other tech
    - Machining
    - 3D Printing
    - Robotics and Mechatronic

Teardowns and Reviews
    - Test Equipment
    - Other Equipment & Products
    - Crowd Funded Projects
    - Dodgy Technology

EEVblog
    - Supporters Lounge
    - EEVblog Specific
    - Other Blogs
    - The AmpHour Radio Show
    - News/Suggestions/Help

Offtopic
    - General Technical Chat
    - Science (Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, etc.)

    - Buy/Sell/Wanted
    - Contests & Events
    - Jobs, want to work or to hire

    - Drunk and Cooking 

[Shock]

RoGeorge,
The Computer and EDA forums are still there. What you are suggesting adds about a third to the size of the forums list for no gain in usability for most forum members. That is before you include descriptions and white space, once you do that it almost doubles. People coming to the forums (unless they are regulars, who know the forum layout well) don't want to hunt through massive lists to find topics, even on a mobile phone - too many swipes.

Dave,
General Technical Chat is in the best spot where it is (the large forums balanced throughout). If you want to move and merge a couple (so it's less top heavy), how about these two under "Other Equipment & Products". It makes sense, you have the test gear, thermal, then soldering and tools, manufacturing and assembling the pcb then machining the housing or any other fabrication or automation discussion.

"Manufacturing & Assembly"
Manufactured or Home Brewed PCBs. Assembly methods Reflow or Pick & Place etc.

"Mechanical & Automation Engineering"
Machining, Fabrication, Robotics, CNC and other automation.

[RoGeorge]

I don't think this forum should be reorganized for the laziness of mobile scrolling, because EE (for either work or hobby) requires a desktop/laptop PC, not a mobile.

Mobile posting will rather dilute the forum with short bloat comments.  From a mobile one can barely type punctuation.

[tggzzz]

I don't think this forum should be reorganized for the laziness of mobile scrolling, because EE (for either work or hobby) requires a desktop/laptop PC, not a mobile.

Mobile posting will rather dilute the forum with short bloat comments.  From a mobile one can barely type punctuation.

Very true.

[Ed.Kloonk]

An EE forum where it's users argue about what truly is signal and what is noise.

Grand.
 

[EEVblog]

I don't think this forum should be reorganized for the laziness of mobile scrolling, because EE (for either work or hobby) requires a desktop/laptop PC, not a mobile.
Mobile posting will rather dilute the forum with short bloat comments.  From a mobile one can barely type punctuation.

It's not for mobile scrolling, it's also for desktop. I hate having to scroll, the more compact it is the better IMO. I like how it's shorter now.

[EEVblog]

It makes sense, you have the test gear, thermal, then soldering and tools, manufacturing and assembling the pcb then machining the housing or any other fabrication or automation discussion.

"Manufacturing & Assembly"
Manufactured or Home Brewed PCBs. Assembly methods Reflow or Pick & Place etc.

"Mechanical & Automation Engineering"
Machining, Fabrication, Robotics, CNC and other automation.

I like that. Done. We Robotics now merged to "Mechanical & Automation Engineering", giving us one less category.

[EEVblog]

RoGeorge,
The Computer and EDA forums are still there. What you are suggesting adds about a third to the size of the forums list for no gain in usability for most forum members. That is before you include descriptions and white space, once you do that it almost doubles. People coming to the forums (unless they are regulars, who know the forum layout well) don't want to hunt through massive lists to find topics, even on a mobile phone - too many swipes.

I agree, visually is harder and adds no value.
The catgerogies are mostly all still there but now it doesn't look as overwhelming.
I can however see an argument for putting Embedded computing under the Electronics section just under Microcontrollers instead of beign a child category under the Computing section? 

[magic]

One remaining point of confusion is "programming". Maybe it should be renamed "software development" or something?

Problems:
IIRC it occasionally receives MCU-specific questions which would be answered faster and better by the crowd from "microcontrollers" board.
It occasionally receives questions about physical programming of flash memories, MCUs and the like and all the related computer software and dongles, which really is quite a different topic than 99% of the content on that board. I'm not even sure where those questions should go?

edit
Or maybe it's not a big deal; I just tried to find some examples of such threads in "programming" and had to go back half a year.
Still, not sure what would be the best place for a topic like flashing SPI memories or vintage EEPROMs?

[tggzzz]

These changes in the taxonomy will be better in some ways and worse in others; that's always the case.

For my part my interaction is rarely with the "front page", but is via:

• "unread replies", for posts that probably interest me
• "unread posts", for new topics that might just interest me
• searching via google or the "search in topic" mechanism

so I won't notice any changes in the taxonomy.

[sandalcandal]

Just dropping by to say I like the updated organisation of topics/boards 

[EEVblog]

Just dropping by to say I like the updated organisation of topics/boards 

I like it too, it's more organised and compact.

[EEVblog]

Still, not sure what would be the best place for a topic like flashing SPI memories or vintage EEPROMs?

When in doubt post in the General Chat section, and often we'll get a report from someone that it really belongs in X section.

[jonovid]

Im ok with a section dedicated to mechanical engineering and or woodworking and or motor vehicles be it electric or internal combustion 2 , 3,  4 or more wheels!
or aircraft and or watercraft. particularly if its a DIY project.       cooking is ok with me if its DIY robotic gadgets for household chores.

[Shock]

Mechanical & Automation Engineering
Machining, Fabrication, Robotics, CNC and other automation.

[RoGeorge]

I just tried to find some examples of such threads in "programming" and had to go back half a year.
Still, not sure what would be the best place for a topic like flashing SPI memories or vintage EEPROMs?

It happens that I've just read yesterday an SPI memory, with only an ancient Raspberry Pi 1 B (256MB RAM), some wires, and a few lines of Python. 
I can post it as a project if it helps.



Regarding which section to search, a google search inside the EEVblog only (add \$site:eevblog.com\$) might return better results, e.g. by typing in the search box something like this:

program SPI flash EEPROM vintage site:eevblog.com
https://www.google.com/search?q=program+SPI+flash+EEPROM+vintage+site:eevblog.com

[beanflying]

I just tried to find some examples of such threads in "programming" and had to go back half a year.
Still, not sure what would be the best place for a topic like flashing SPI memories or vintage EEPROMs?

It happens that I've just read yesterday an SPI memory, with only an ancient Raspberry Pi 1 B (256MB RAM), some wires, and a few lines of Python. 
I can post it as a project if it helps.



Regarding which section to search, a google search inside the EEVblog only (add \$site:eevblog.com\$) might return better results, e.g. by typing in the search box something like this:

program SPI flash EEPROM vintage site:eevblog.com
https://www.google.com/search?q=program+SPI+flash+EEPROM+vintage+site:eevblog.com

Dave installed a small plugin I suggested some time ago that does that without needing to add the url and site bit. Use the top right search bar and pull down and select Google. SMF's native search is one of its weak points although the advanced search has some good filters to help narrow it.

[RoGeorge]

Nice, thanks!   

I thought "Google" selected from the forum's search will do a normal search, didn't know it was set to search inside EEVblog, so never tried it before.  Thought, the forum's search box doesn't remember the engine in new pages, it has to be selected each time.



Another way would be to define a keyword bookmark link (Firefox can do that):
- select the prefered search engine inside the EEVlog searchbox
- right click inside the search box
- from the contextual menu choose "Add a Keyword for this search"

As triggering keyword, pick something short and easy to type, preferably a single letter, let's say "e", from eevblog.

Now open a new Firefox tab (CTRL+T), then type in the address bar:
e SPI flash programmer
and hit Enter.  That will summon the EEVblog search box, and the Google search is bounded to look inside EEVblog.



Yet another way would be to use the KDE launcher feature, for those using KDE Plasma on top of Linux or BSD, and to define the search link in KDE, so it will work with any web browser, but it might be trickier to set a keyworded search inside the KDE's Application Launcher.



Such shortcuts of one letter, a space, followed by the search words are very handy to use in switching searching engines or places.  I'm using these for things like word definition searches ("w" for "Webster" search, "c" for Collins), or to specify the engine ("g" for Google, "d" for DuckDuckGo), or in programming help ("s" for Stackoverflow, etc.), and now I'll add a new one, "e" for EEVblog.   

I've seen this trick (one letter followed by the words to be searched) first introduced by the old Opera browser (before Opera 12).  Up to v12, the Opera devteam came with many other revolutionary innovation in web browsing.  I think browsing tabs was also their invention, reopen last tabs, single letter prepend to select the search engine, search from the URL address bar, integrated mouse gesture for navigation, webpages saved locally as a single file, and so on.  Opera was very innovative until v12, when they decided to abandon their own code and just adapt an open web-engine like anybody else.