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

 

[Compositepro]

milkshakelake, click on phamENG's handle to see all the information that is available. You are missing out.

 

[phamENG]

I know. I'm kidding. I do recall that thread as well. (Down here is in the mid-Atlantic region.)

 

[KootK]

...but it seems like it's used as much for rewarding people for entertaining responses as technically useful ones

Yeah, that's the "imperfect". It will never be perfect but, at the same time, I've never seen any guidance as to what things should, and should not, earn a post some LPS. Not that folks would necessarily abide that anyhow. Were it up to me:

1) OP's would have the ability to award one star that's worth three stars for the post that best answers their question. Or 5, or 10, or whatever. Gotta incentivize the most valuable thing.

2) Stars somehow go to posts that demonstrate either a) great insight or b) great effort. Ideally, great effort would always be accompanied by at least modest insight. I'd not want to reward great effort paired with incorrectness.

3) No stars for "you have amused me".

4) No stars for "you agree with me".

5) No stars for everybody who responds simply because they responded. Maybe there could be a separate "thank you" for that. Or a thumbs up like in Zwift. I suck everywhere I go on zwift but get a few "thumbs up for showing up" anyhow, which is nice.

I also feel that a robust reputation system could tie into how we treat folks that fall into the "vendor" category. These would be people promoting companies, software, web sites etc.

The trouble with folks promoting things is that it's difficult to come up with a one size fits all solution for them. Consider:

1) At one extreme, you've got the COMSOLs of the world who abuse us and need to be eradicated mercilessly.

2) At the other extreme, you've got people like Celt83. Celt was a power contributor here long before there was TheStructuralToolbox. And he remains a vendor who gives a lot more than he gets. That, I'm happy to support.

3) Between the extremes, you have folks on a broad continuum, some of whom clearly "give" only enough to not wind up on the guillotine alongside the COMSOLs. Meh.

I envision a reputational tracking system wherein one could use their own reputational points like currency for advertisement. For every 50 stars earned, you can run an ad for a week or something. Again, the goal is to incentivize behavior that benefits the community. By this measure, the software guys that have surfaced in this thread would be able to do much more than they've done in the past with respect to self promotion.

[sub]That's a horrible idea. What time?[/sub]

 

[WinelandV]

For every 50 stars earned, you can run an ad for a week or something.

The important question: what is KootK going to advertise for 32 weeks? 10 more LPSs and you can advertise for 33 weeks!

All joking aside, this thread has it all: Site management access, secret structural cabals, html blocking, wild suggestions about who users are IRL, CROSS sub-forum postings from eng-tips "fellows", arcs (and possibly arks) and still no real consensus on what to do about signatures. This might be the most fun thread on the forum.

Please note that is a "v" (as in Violin) not a "y".

 

[phamENG]

WinelandV's post made me laugh. I almost gave him a LPS. But out of respect for KootK's reputation goal, I will resist the urge. (Sorry, WinelandV.)

 

[JohnRBaker]

A week of adverts for 50 LPS's; that would already put me in the 33+ week range

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

 

[BridgeSmith]

This might be the most fun thread on the forum.

I think I agree, but what the heck is it doing in the structural engineering subforum?

 

[milkshakelake]

@KootK I never understood the star system, and doubt it would be easy to get compliance. I click it when someone gives a great idea in one of the few threads I've started, but if I did that too much, I'd just be starring everyone. I don't know how to show gratitude without abusing the system. I like reddit's upvote and downvote system, which is kind of a popularity contest at times, but I don't see how to get more compliance than that. Steam has a system with "Helpful", "Not helpful", and "Funny", which is nice and simple with 3 buttons. The "Funny" one could be omitted because we're comically bankrupt as a profession, since I failed to get phamENG's joke above. But more seriously, I don't see funny or off-rail comments getting a ton of stars, so it might not be an issue.

1) OP's would have the ability to award one star that's worth three stars for the post that best answers their question. Or 5, or 10, or whatever. Gotta incentivize the most valuable thing.

That's actually a pretty cool idea. I like it, and it's fair.

 

[phamENG]

Sorry, MSL - I should have used a modifier to express my humor, such as it is.

 

[KootK]

...arcs (and possibly arks)...

Ughh... how embarrassing. The new arc is going to need a more dummy proof spell checking system. Thanks for the correction.

The important question: what is KootK going to advertise for 32 weeks?

Well, now that you've asked:

1) Run ads to build up my cabal of SE chess opponents on the Social Chess app. To those already in the cabal, yes, I realize that I make moves too slowly.

2) Run ads to build up my cabal of Zwift SE friends with the goal of eventually having an SE team. Viva la Tour de Anchorage 2025!!

[sub]That's a horrible idea. What time?[/sub]

 

[WinelandV]

Sorry, WinelandV.

No worries, if my snark and somewhat humorous framing of observations netted me LPSs, I'd probably post more but not really provide help.

we're comically bankrupt as a profession

Hey now, just b/c non-structurals don't understand our humor doesn't make us comically bankrupt. Alternatively, I resemble that remark.

KootK, I thought I saw that you were no longer in WI, but didn't realize you gone that far north (and west).

Coming back around to the thread topic and what to do about the signatures, I think the general readability of signatures would be improved if the little blue line that separates the post from the sig didn't vanish when you edit your post.

Please note that is a "v" (as in Violin) not a "y".

 

[phamENG]

What is this Zwift? I have a stationary bike downstairs, but I use it...not enough. Could this be a source of untapped, external motivation?

 

[XR250]

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.

Ha. That is almost accurate. I have been known to ride my street bike to jobs on nice days. Mountain bike sometimes - but only to jobs with Contractors I have a good banter with.
Nice to get paid to ride either way!

 

[BrentG]

WinelandV's post made me laugh. I almost gave him a LPS. But out of respect for KootK's reputation goal, I will resist the urge. (Sorry, WinelandV.)

Ditto!

 

[dik]

I often use stars to highlight, what I think is a good reply, to cause others to read it...

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

-Dik

 

[XR250]

@Dik,

Please stop editing your posts or remove your signature line.

 

[KootK]

What is this Zwift? ...Could this be a source of untapped, external motivation?

Absolutely. I tried but I cannot resist the temptation to do a PSA on what is, currently, my favorite subject. This is XR's party, he can cry if he wants to. I've exercised diligently my entirely life and only started Zwifting last November. It's been nothing short of transformational. Moreover, I suspect that the things that make Zwifting work for me would likely make it appealing for others of a technical / data hound bent.

BEGIN PROSTHLETIZING

The magic combination of technology is, in my opinion:

1) The gaming application, be it Zwift, Trainer Road, or whatever. You ride an avatar of yourself around some virtual worlds alongside the avatars of other riders from all over the world. It's cool but it's not the main draw for me.

2) A "smart" trainer that both measures power output (watts) and ACTIVELY CONTROLS it. This could be a Wahoo Kickr, Zwift Hub, or a high end stationary bike. The data and control that this setup affords is the main draw for me.

Consider the black line in the first graph below that steps up in very defined increments. I decided that the power output distribution over the course of the ride would look like that. Then, once that was set up, the smart trainer FORCED me to maintain the defined power for those blocks. Power on a bike is [CADENCE x RESISTANCE). As the rider, the only thing that I control is the cadence.

If I choose to pedal faster, Zwift lowers the resistance to maintain the target power. If I choose to pedal slower, Zwift raises the resistance to maintain the target power. This is the "smart" in smart trainer. This gives me the ability to do a workout that is objectively the same as my previous best, 2% harder than my previous best, or whatever I want. The workout below is a 449 calorie work effort. Unless I change something, it will be a 449 calorie workout every time.

With the work (joules/calories) held constant, the parameter of interest to me becomes my heartrate distribution (second graph below). A sweet spot workout for me has some of my heart rate in Zone 4 and none in Zone 5 (that hurts). The process is this:

1) Jack up the work output 2% such that my heartrate is spending some time in zone 4.

2) Every two or three workouts, I'll be able to track my heartrate migrating out of zone 4 and into zone 3.

3) Once I have no heartrate in zone 4 for a few consecutive rides, I return to #1, jack it up another 2%, and repeat the cycle.

This setup motivates me in the following ways:

A) I get a dialed in, sweet spot workout pretty much every time. 2% harder and I can't finish it. 2% lower and it's boring and I'm leaving gains on the table. I get the endorphin rush every time.

B) Because I can see objective, trackable gains every two or three rides, I'm constantly chasing my personal bests and getting near instant positive feedback.

C) I have an objective measure of whether or not I'm over training. If I am, my heart rate will push up into zone 4 rather than dropping down into zone 3 with each successive workout. This, combined with the dialed in, sweet spotting has allowed me to drop my ride frequency from five days a week to three days a week. That, while progressing faster at the lower workout frequency. I can also use this same technique to predict when I'm getting sick and bone up on vita-bears.

In the past, I always dreaded winter because I either didn't ride or I had to ride on a shit trainer that is uber tedious and can't do any of this cool stuff. This year, I'm actually dreading summer. While it's fun to be outside, there's just no way that I'll be able to replicate the quality of workout that I can get on the trainer.

I paid $1300 CAD for my trainer. You can get the Zwift one for a paltry $500 USD. I hummed and hawed over the purchase because $1300 felt like a lot to me. Now, if I had to replace the damn thing quarterly, I wouldn't even bat an eye at that (Mrs KootK might).

END PROSTHLETIZING.

 

[phamENG]

Thanks for the in depth explainer, KootK. I started riding again in the fall. Okay, "again" is a stretch. I've never been a cyclist. But before moving to the exurbs I commuted on my walmart Schwinn. It was an important part of my fitness. Between that and swimming a mile a day. I was in good shape. Now, I'm 35 lbs over weight. Yuck.

I too, hate the winter, and stopped my newfound hobby pretty quickly. Got an exercise bike but haven't made much use of it. Probably won't spring for a new one just now, but I'll check out the app and see if it helps.

 

[XR250]

As much as KootK nerds out in Structural Engineering, it does not surprise me that he does the same with his exercise program
I used to do that in spin class a bit, but now I am happier outside riding my mountain bike year round - even if I might not be in as gooda shape.
Honestly, I think I stayed in there s long as I did because it was a great place to meet women

 

[milkshakelake]

I got a nice home gym setup. Weights, racks, and sound system; probably spent over $4000. My goal is to be an Arnold Schwarzenegger of structural engineering. I'm not remotely there yet, but I've reduced 10 lbs of live load from myself.

@XR250 Women? Never heard of 'em.