Signature Lines 13

[XR250]

@Dik and others who have signature lines...

For me, it makes it annoying to follow posts sometimes - especially when the responses are short as I incorporate the sentence into the response I am reading. Are these really necessary?

See the attached thread...

Anyhow, maybe I am just easily annoyed

 

[dik]

I don't know yet... part of the challenge was just to see if I could do it.

My signature line is pretty self explanatory... it was a line from one of my son's eMails to me. I thought it was pretty good, and to the point, and started using it... he objected until I gave him $20. for permission to use it. I think it's great, and very timely. My signature for my eMails, including business is different... it's below... If I'm not thanking someone, I delete the first line.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[BridgeSmith]

I've been following along/lurking in this thread, and it looks like it's produced some good fruit. I definitely like seeing something that distinguishes signature lines from the body of the post, whether it's putting a name first, and/or changing the color, typeface, size, etc.

That said, I've decided to drop my signature line altogether, since it's likely no one remembers anything I posted under my old handle now, anyway, and KootK's early comments about letting the value of the posted content and the reputation of the member stand on its own, without any denigrating or puffing up by adding background info, makes good sense to me.

That's not to take anything away from those who have legitimate reasons to include a signature line, or just want to add a salient quote or inject a little humor. I enjoy seeing those, too, as long as they don't get confused with the body of the post. Maybe I'll think of something witty or funny to add as a signature, eventually. I just can't think of anything at the moment.

 

[XR250]

I've already got that problem sorted out. I've programmed my keyboard (I have one that is programmable) and can hit a single key to embed my signature in the text message body, not relying on the site's signature.

How about not doing this? You ARE actually thwarting other's efforts to not see signatures who are using new-found filter.

 

[phamENG]

XR - I think he was saying that editing isn't to thwart people's efforts.

"He already has the problem sorted out" means he already figured how to thwart those efforts without having to edit every post.

 

[XR250]

" I think he was saying that editing isn't to thwart people's efforts."
Yeas , I get that part.

" I've programmed my keyboard (I have one that is programmable) and can hit a single key to embed my signature in the text message body, not relying on the site's signature."

I take this as he is going to embed the sig into his text body instead as a sig line. The filter will not be able to process that AFAIK.

 

[phamENG]

I take this as he is going to embed the sig into his text body instead as a sig line. The filter will not be able to process that AFAIK.

Correct. That's why he doesn't need to edit it to thwart the filter. He's thwarting it by doing this.

 

[dik]

Yup... but I wasn't going to do that... it was simply a challenge...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[MJB315]

This thread really is eye-opening and I don't disagree with the logic of it.

But as I reach for the delete button, I can't help wonder if the pendulum will someday swing back, and put signatures back in style - like muttonchops or vinyl records.

"We shape our buildings signatures, thereafter they shape us no one in a positive way... so let's just kill them to free up our mindspace and focus on the discourse." - Winston Churchill This Thread

 

[KootK]

Is that really necessary? I'm not sure I even understand the point of your signature. Please explain.

I suspect that the "point" of dik's persistence in maintaining his signatures is to stubbornly resist caving in to immense peer pressure.

In my opinion, that makes dik:

1) Mildly annoying and;

2) Kinda cool and badass.

I don't know what to say? I always seem to fall for men who are bad for me...

_{That's a horrible idea. What time?}

 

[KootK]

By "To my knowledge, there is no planned modernization coming down the the pipe" do you mean that (a) you know for a fact that there is no planned modernization, or (b) you are unaware of what Site Management's intentions might or might not be?

Written with the precision of computer code. As was my original statement, which was deliberately vague where I needed it to be.

I'm not trying to be frivolously evasive but, truly, neither [a] nor allows for the nuance that is necessary for me to answer your question meaningfully. This is "people" stuff after all.

Try this:

1) Because I am a "Fellow" here at Eng-Tips, I have a modest amount of what I'd call "backstage access". The only "superpower" that I have is that I can participate in discussions in which the owners of this site sometimes participate. It's a bit like prayer with a slightly higher response rate.

2) When I hang out backstage, behind the curtain and try to read the tea leaves of what is taking place around me, my conclusion is overwhelmingly this: no major overhaul of our forum is in the works.

3) If your question really reduces to "KootK, what do you know with absolute certainty?" then my answer would be "nothing at all". Not a damn thing. Your option .

If you require more detail or precision on this, you'll probably need to reach out to the owners of this website. Alternately, if you wish, I can pose the question on your behalf. That said, I cannot guarantee you that will yield a response that you find satisfactory.

Lastly, when I read the tea leaves, they tell me that my backstage access pass may well be revoked in the near future. So there's that. Regrettably, I'm even more of a magnet for confrontation there than I am here.

_{That's a horrible idea. What time?}

 

[milkshakelake]

Hope I don't derail the thread, because I have no opinion either way. But what does phamENG and XR250 mean? For my name, I'm simply a connoisseur of milkshake, preferably in vast quantities.

 

[JohnRBaker]

Please note that KootK's 'status' as a "fellow", and thus having a modest amount of what you'd call "backstage access", is NOT limited to only KootK. In fact, there are several of us here on ET who also enjoy this same 'status'.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[KootK]

In fact, there are several of us here on ET who also enjoy this same 'status'.

Your turn then. Do you think that a major overhaul of the system will take place in the near future?

_{That's a horrible idea. What time?}

 

[phamENG]

milkshakelake - mine is a not very creative expression of my identity and profession. I'm guessing XR250 likes dirt biking.

 

[KootK]

Hope I don't derail the thread..

Don't sweat it.

1) Hopelessly derailed already.

2) I've gotten what I need here and am happy to see folks have some fun with their digressions.

_{That's a horrible idea. What time?}

 

[JohnRBaker]

Do you think that a major overhaul of the system will take place in the near future?

Sorry to say, I would tend to concur with your apparent conclusion that this is not in the cards, at least not for the foreseeable future.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

 

[KootK]

KootK's early comments about letting the value of the posted content and the reputation of the member stand on its own, without any denigrating or puffing up by adding background info, makes good sense to me.

Sweeet! Even if it is still a minority opinion, it is nice to know that I'm not in that particular trench all alone. This is going to be a journey but, I promise, I will return to "reputation" by the end.

TO EVERYBODY

Here at eng-tips, I consider "Team Structural" to be a community. It is a community that is of great importance to me and one which I feel has a "right to exist" entirely separate from this website, the owners of this website, or the fellowship group. Like the Tibetans.

One benefit of there being no major overhaul of this forum is that, temporarily at least, it keeps our community together and reduces the likelihood of our being scattered to the wind. I do not ever want to see us scattered to the wind if that can be helped. This, primarily, is why I've taken to collecting the contact information for as many folks on Team Structural as I can.

On the other hand, over a long enough time horizon, I take it as self evident that this forum will need to either:

1) Modernize or;

2) Die.

It's just evolution at work. So, ultimately, I feel that Team Structural will need a new 'arc' in the biblical sense. That arc will need to be either an overhauled version of this site (ideally), or a different site. In recent years, I've done a bit of informal polling to try to figure what features would be necessary in a satisfactory arc.

Somewhat to my surprise, it seems that most users would require that any new arc have:

3) A way to quantitatively track one's reputation (something like our stars) and;

4) A way to port one's reputation from the current arc to the new one.

While this sounds a bit vain, I get it. For me, it's like this:

5) It's rare that I enter any thread here saying to myself "oh boy, here's a thread ripe for me to earn a few LPS (little purple stars)".

6) As imperfect as the LPS system is, does it motivate me to receive some manner of quick feedback indicating that my contributions are appreciated? Hell yeah it does.

7) Over the long haul, the reputation that I've cultivated here -- imperfectly measured in LPS -- buys me a measure of credibility that I would not otherwise have. I spend that credibility when I'm afforded the latitude to initiate complex discussions that, frankly, someone lacking my reputation might struggle to get off of the ground.

So, yeah, reputation tracking matters I think. The new arc will need that in order to placate the hippos.

_{That's a horrible idea. What time?}

 

[milkshakelake]

I think I've got the handle on XR250. XR250 roars up to the job site on a dirt bike in faded Carhartt shorts, 5 year old Blundstones, and a T shirt with company logo with smudges of dirt all over it. He unslings his beaten knapsack, puts out a Lucky Strike on the gravel, and yells, "WHERE'S THE CRAWLSPACE?"

 

[phamENG]

The LPS system is okay...the instant gratification is nice, but it seems like it's used as much for rewarding people for entertaining responses as technically useful ones. KootK, I'd say your reputation is completely independent of your stars.

I think I've got the handle on XR250. XR250 roars up to the job site on a dirt bike in faded Carhartt shorts, 5 year old Blundstones, and a T shirt with company logo with smudges of dirt all over it. He unslings his beaten knapsack, puts out a Lucky Strike on the gravel, and yells, "WHERE'S THE CRAWLSPACE?"

Is that what you New Yorkers think of us down here? A bunch of rough barbarians?

 

[milkshakelake]

@phamENG I'm not sure where "down there" is but I've probably been down there and up there. It's basically more of the same as here, just more spread out. XR250 did mention his attire in a different thread. I quoted it here verbatim, and inferred the rest using AISC code and LRFD combinations to 95% probability. I imagine a badass biker dude. I met a mechanical engineer who was like that, showing up to meetings in his leather motorcycle gear and carrying a helmet, sans the yelling part.

If at least the gender is correct, I'm at least 50% correct.