The Pod Bay

PearsonArtPhoto

01:02

My latest android app is coming together at last!

TildalWave

@PearsonArtPhoto yey goodies for my fone :)

what's it gonna do? :D

PearsonArtPhoto

Well, it's still a work in progress, but it's primary purpose is to assist amateur radio operators figure out where they are, in amateur radio operator speak.

TildalWave

01:37

@PearsonArtPhoto ah cool, yup I can see how that could be useful ... you'll only include US call sign map, or international?

PearsonArtPhoto

I'm trying to determine exactly what I'll do, but ideally international, probably US centric at first.

Stack Exchange

04:04

If the celestial sphere were mapped to the Earth's surface, astronomy would get a LOT easier; you'd just need a magnifying glass.

Everyone

05:39

@PearsonArtPhoto Will mobility apps for amateur radio operators be on-topic in AR.SE? (+:< E.g. Sky Command More importantly is your android app using grid-squares? Not that I'm aware of an alternative

@Chris Eh? That can't be right ... where are the remaining 5?

@Chris Never mind ... you meant a spacer, not a Spacer

@PearsonArtPhoto If Jupiter does not occult Sol, there're all those satellites winging by... Anyway, as Tildal says at times "Wait and watch we must" ; or was that Master Yoda who said that ... ?

UV-D

07:11

hello

RhysW

07:45

@TildalWave wakey wakey :D the party is here :P

PearsonArtPhoto

10:08

@Everyone Sure, why not. As far as what it will include, I'm still working out those details.

Ultimately I hope to include anything an amateur radio operator would ever want to know about where they are, at least, for logging purposes.

Stack Exchange

13:44

0

Q: We need to step it up with the questions!

All right, currently our biggest "Needs Work" area (in my opinion) is our questions per day. Our visits per day is also in the "Needs Work" but we are still a fairly young beta and we have been doing some promotion. Our questions per day is pretty bad though. Currently we have about 861 users, an...

PearsonArtPhoto

14:02

Looks like Amateur Radio will be launching really soon. Hmmm...

called2voyage

Great, I'm excited for you!

Unfortunately I know little about Amateur Radio.

PearsonArtPhoto

area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/43029/… , if anyone's interested.

called2voyage

@PearsonArtPhoto Lol, you only need one more person?

PearsonArtPhoto

14:17

Yep, that's right.

Crazy Buddy

15:09

@TildalWave: You fill up my feed everyday... :P

(More, today) :D

TildalWave

17:10

@RhysW Party? Oh, you're a smurf member now! Welcome to the club :)

@CrazyBuddy hehehe good!

Undo

@TildalWave Yep - we got our PT's!

TildalWave

@Undo yup, you're not too upset you're not in the list, are you?

Undo

@TildalWave A little surprised, TBH.

There has to be something I'm not doing right - somewhere to improve. And I want to find it.

called2voyage

@Undo Maybe the devs just think it's not your time.

TildalWave

I'm too but you have to consider community managers have to weigh a lot of stuff and make decisions they feel comfortable with. If they had more than 3 suitable candidates, then they had to cut some out. I imagine it's not easy either.

called2voyage

17:13

I was also surprised.

Undo

It has to be hard. And it probably isn't my time, I just want to know why :)

called2voyage

it may not necessarily be something you can fix

I don't know

Undo

@called2voyage Eh?

called2voyage

I'm just spitballing

Undo

lol

PearsonArtPhoto

17:14

15

A: What is the Stack Exchange (Staff) process of launching a site?

This is a rundown the major milestones each site goes through from proposal through graduation. The process may vary from time to time as we improve the process or take on “special projects” as opportunities present themselves, but for the most part, this is the gist of it. Area 51 Proposal Su...

TildalWave

and honestly, one doesn't have to be a mod to be a high value member either ... in fact, I could list a few sites on SE where that's almost problematically the other way around... but I won't, not to upset anyone with my opinion again LOL

PearsonArtPhoto

@BESW prides himself on being a valuable contributor, and not a moderator.

TildalWave

actually... it might be a lot easier to be a regular member, I know I miss a few stuff from when I was one here (even though I'm still one everywhere else)

called2voyage

And he is a very valuable contributor in most cases

TildalWave

@PearsonArtPhoto BESW?

Undo

17:16

It's probably that I seem like I want to have a diamond - and it's true, TBH. I've always been intrigued by the moderation system here, and wanna help more. I guess I just wait for the next elections... :)

And I would bet that wanting a diamond is a big red flag.

Because it is.

called2voyage

Ultimately there are elections as you have mentioned.

TildalWave

I dunno... I've never had to select pro tem mods :| I'll tell you when I do :P

called2voyage

And if you get high enough rep you are effectively a mod anyway minus a few tools

Undo

@TildalWave Lol.

PearsonArtPhoto

Wrong site, but BESW seems to hang around most SE sites that I hang around at.

Undo

17:18

@called2voyage Well... not really. I'm 4k here, still a big gap.

TildalWave

ah that's a user, OK

PearsonArtPhoto

@Undo Not really. I wanted the diamond here, and got it. I've seen many sites where that is the case.

TildalWave

not on sites I frequent tho

PearsonArtPhoto

RPG, SFF, GD, just to name a few.

TildalWave

not my cups of tea

Undo

17:19

I know there's something I'm doing wrong, but I don't want to go up to Jon and say something like 'why you no pick ME?' - that would be...wrong.

PearsonArtPhoto

If you want, just talk to Jon. I'm sure he'll set you straight. You could even do so in a private room, I suspect.

called2voyage

@Undo I don't know. If you don't sound too needy when asking, it is probably a great thing to ask.

TildalWave

@Undo No, it wouldn't be wrong. Why? It's all about community, not individuals. I'm sure he'd be a lot better at digging himself out than any of us here LOL

called2voyage

In RL in most cases an interviewer will tell an interviewee what issues they had if the interviewee asks.

pro tem mod is a lot less stringent than a job interview

Undo

I guess it's worth a try - I would at least learn something about myself :)

called2voyage

17:21

I can't imagine it counting against you to ask.

PearsonArtPhoto

There really isn't an interview.

TildalWave

@called2voyage so true

Undo

How do I get one of those private rooms?

called2voyage

@PearsonArtPhoto Exactly my point.

PearsonArtPhoto

It's a mod power. Just ping @JonEricson

Undo

17:22

@JonEricson If you're here, could we have a private room? I have some questions.

TildalWave

@Undo humpteen of ways? Click on a user you wanna directly invite, for one

PearsonArtPhoto

Somehow they let me in after only a few months here, no idea why...

Undo

@TildalWave Dictionary: Humpteen: No results found :P

TildalWave

@Undo that's because it's an imaginary big number

Undo

Oh.

We need to get it put in a dictionary.

called2voyage

17:24

umpteen

humpteen is just a variant

Undo

17:37

Do I get a hat or a t-shirt or something for being in the running?

called2voyage

You get a rabbit with a waffle on its head.

Undo

YES!!!

called2voyage

;)

Undo

It's a bunny, but ok.

Hmm... I'm the only non-blue in here, huh.

So, @TildalWave, now that Astro has its own mods, can I flood them with comment flags?

called2voyage

We'll expect no less of you.

Undo

17:41

<points secret comment flagging app at Astro>

And yes, I did make an app for this.

called2voyage

What does the app do?

How does it determine what to flag?

David Freitag

@called2voyage rng

Undo

@called2voyage It shows a nice list of recent comments, sorted according to a 'risk factor' - including trigger words and length.

called2voyage

@DavidFreitag That's what I'm worried about ;)

@Undo Cool

Undo

And if they're authored by mods, they get bumped up higher. I like to flag things that mods wrote :)

called2voyage

17:44

lol

I imagine shorter length comments rank higher?

David Freitag

Is it on GitHub @Undo?

called2voyage

as well as ridiculously long ones

Undo

@DavidFreitag No. It's on my hard drive and my iPad.

I don't think it would be wise to turn the world loose with it.

David Freitag

@Undo It's an iOS app? Eww..

GitHub has private git repos

Undo

If I were to make it public, it would be on my server :)

David Freitag

17:46

I was just interested in seeing the guts of it.

@Undo pah, vanity

Undo

They're not pretty, TBH.

David Freitag

It's objective-C, of course it isn't pretty :|

TildalWave

@Undo hehe yes, go ahead ... let them feel the pressure early on, adjust to what is expected of them LOL

don't flag too new comments tho... it's still early days, some of them might be relevant to what later develops into a meta thread

Undo

Mods! You have two flags in the queue! Those have been there for MINUTES! Go handle them! Go go go!

TildalWave

they probably all think they got two new gold badges?

Undo

17:51

@TildalWave LOL

Woohoo! They got handled!

called2voyage

@Undo Handled them while on the phone. ;)

Undo

@called2voyage You have the makings of a great mod.

I guess if I can't have a diamond I can at least boss them around.

called2voyage

@Undo I hope so. I have a little non-SE modding experience.

Undo

@called2voyage You know about the teacher's lounge, right?

called2voyage

@Undo Yes

Undo

17:55

Good.

Tell them that they get to have another month of not having to tolerate me bugging them.

called2voyage

'sup @Manish?

Undo

@ManishEarth !

ManishEarth

I may be sick.... again :(

Undo

:(

called2voyage

NOOOO

ok

I actually don't know what you had in the first place

sorry to hear that

David Freitag

18:07

If hissatron were around, i would have him throw you a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup.

Undo

@ManishEarth So now I'm sure that Comms really tarnished me in the community team's eyes :(

ManishEarth

@Undo ?

Undo

@ManishEarth I just can't think of what I'm doing wrong.

There has to be something to improve, something...

ManishEarth

context?

Undo

4

Q: Moderator Pro Tem Announcement

Throughout the beta, we need members from the site whose focus is to engage the community, both in community-building issues and site management. That's why we select a few members from each community to act as temporary, provisional Moderators. You can read about the program here: Moderators Pro...

discussion featured moderators

ManishEarth

18:10

that was early

Undo

I know.

I don't want to sound like I'm questioning their judgement (the community team knows their stuff), but I'd like to know why I'm not in the list. For education on what I can improve, of course.

David Freitag

@Undo it may not be a question of quality, but instead quantity. Four may be unnecessary this early on.

Undo

@DavidFreitag There still has to be a reason that I'm not in the top 3 - something to improve.

Something.

Of course, the three chosen mods are top notch.

ManishEarth

@Undo I know the reason, but I can't tell you for reasons that should be obvious. So I can't really respond well here :/

Undo

No hints? Nothing?

ManishEarth

18:16

Part of it is probably what DF said

Undo

ok

And part of it is classified. Shoot.

ManishEarth

For the rest ... maybe Jon or another CM could help

Undo

I've pinged Jon, no response :(

Probably busy.

ManishEarth

> Almost certainly. There are members who are actively involved and very deserving of recognition. My failure to account for everyone this early on is in no way a slight against them. Ideally, Moderators are elected by the community and that's why you'll have your elections several weeks after graduation

Undo

Is it something that is improvable, or is it a permanent black mark?

ManishEarth

18:18

improvable

Undo

Whew.

ManishEarth

But I suggest you don't focus on it

Undo

Eh? What do I focus on then?

ManishEarth

Normal participation :)

Undo

You're hurting my head.

Everyone

18:29

tosses rocks @Undo

Undo

dodges rock @Everyone! Be careful with those things!

Everyone

@Undo I read that as private moons )+:

Undo

lol

Everyone

I was like ... Yey!

Am I allowed to know about chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/info/4/teachers-lounge or is it something I don't need to know about?

Undo

@Everyone You can know about it, you can't get into it anyway.

called2voyage

18:33

I'm sure you could have found out other ways. It doesn't really matter as its an invite-only room.

Undo

@called2voyage Anyone with a diamond can get in to it.

Everyone

Oh ... so it's not for Everyone

called2voyage

@Undo Correction, anyone with a diamond who is invited can get in to it

@Everyone I see what you did there.

Undo

@called2voyage I don't think so... no one is supposed to be on the access list.

called2voyage

@Everyone If they made you a mod, things would get really confusing.

Everyone

18:34

this is making my head hurt ...

Undo

But there I go acting like I actually know something.

Everyone

'o @called2voyage

called2voyage

@Undo I'm not saying non-diamonds get invited.

I'm saying even diamonds have to be invited.

Undo

@called2voyage Really?

called2voyage

@Undo Yep

Though all do

Undo

18:34

Hm.

I just realized that almost all my friends have been taken away, whisked away to the great mod cloud, were they throw lightning down upon mere mortals. Shoot.

Everyone

@called2voyage: All do get invited?

Undo

@Everyone Get out from under that tree!

called2voyage

@Everyone All mods get invited, yes.

Everyone

_ looks up at the tree_

Does lightning travel at the velocity of light through all those zigs and zags, and forks, and merges?

TY @Undo

ManishEarth

@Undo @called2voyage no, diamonds have default access. Certain non diamonds (usually employees) are on the ACL

Undo

18:37

Whew, I get to keep my Meta rep :)

called2voyage

@ManishEarth Really? Then I guess the system just took a while to recognize me.

ManishEarth

@called2voyage Nah, parent user

For it to work, two things need to be done:

called2voyage

@ManishEarth What do you mean?

ManishEarth

1) Change parent user to Astro or whatever you have a diamond on

called2voyage

I did that, and I still didn't have access for several hours.

ManishEarth

18:38

2) Force refresh profile from parent site, OR wait for the profile to catch up .. which can take a while

called2voyage

Must have been that latter part.

ManishEarth

@called2voyage I could have fixed that. That's what I did for Rhys, if you notice he's not in the ACL

Everyone

shouldn't that be on the ACL?

(just being pedantic)

Undo

@Everyone Details, details.

ManishEarth

@Everyone tomato tomahto

David Freitag

18:45

@Undo the more you fixate on becoming a mod and trying to improve yourself based on that, the less people will want you to be mod

I would suggest staying on the current track and pouring your time and effort into helping build the Astro community into something great.

called2voyage

@DavidFreitag and Space!

David Freitag

and Space :]

Everyone

q+: I'm surrounded by people of influence who stare at the details on a tomahto

Undo

@David You speak truth.

I just kind of want to help more than I can even as a trusted user.

David Freitag

@Undo You'll get there ;]

Undo

18:55

I know, it just feels like I'm not making any progress.

Everyone

@ManishEarth + all the physics buffs. I'm confused.

ManishEarth

?

David Freitag

@Undo you aren't supposed to feel like you've made progress. That blue diamond is supposed to come up and smack you right upside the head one day.

Undo

@David My problem is that I just can't stop trying to grab it.

Everyone

@ManishEarth: This should be easy to understand ... but it simply doesn't register
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_cementing) writes to say _One source of difficulty is that vacuum (aka cold) welding does not exclude relative motion between the surfaces that are to be joined.

Uh. Should I ask this in the bar?

David Freitag

18:58

@Undo You need to learn to assess your priorities. Theres a few things you know

Undo

@David True, very true. Example of thing to know?

David Freitag

A: You didn't make mod, but there is some pretty visible inclination that some great mod-ship material was passed over for apparent size limitations

B: More mods will be elected when Asro graduates

C: You really, really want to be mod.

Undo

I'm afraid of C - it's slightly true.

Everyone

Universal question: Why would anybody want to be mod? What's in it?

David Freitag

Your main focus shouldn't be about becoming a mod now, but honing yourself into a Q & A Master until the day Astro graduates

Undo

19:01

@Everyone Not sure, really.

David Freitag

@Everyone An awesome hat

Everyone

@DavidFreitag: Seriously now

Undo

True about the hat, also you get to help the community way more than otherwise.

And that's what's valuable - you get to really steer the community toward graduation.

Everyone

@Undo: Exempli gratia?

David Freitag

But seriously though @Undo, for all you know you already are "mod quality" and they passed you over because we don't need that many mods.

called2voyage

19:02

@Undo Ideally, little steering is involved...more prodding.

Undo

@David It's just that every time I'm not picked my self-esteem goes down a little.

Everyone

brb. Sir Dumpty is upto something ... somewhere; he's gone walk-about

Undo

But that's fine, it probably needs to.

ManishEarth

@Everyone so you can weld two things without them becoming relatively fixed

David Freitag

It's nice to be taken down a peg or two every now and again, it gives you the opportunity to better yourself

Undo

19:03

Absolutely.

ManishEarth

@Everyone Free tshirt

Undo

You get a shirt too? And a hat?

David Freitag

And a big red button that orders you your favorite pizza

Madara Uchiha

@Everyone The hat!

David Freitag

Woohoo - heres for five completely different versions of Visual Studio running concurrently!

Undo

19:08

Lol.

Everyone

abck

@ManishEarth: That sounds weird ... "Weld without becoming fixed"

Madara Uchiha

David Freitag

Having fun.

Everyone

@DavidFreitag: A big red button? Not a hexagonal ultraviolet button?

David Freitag

And coding in C++, C#, VB .Net, and F# at the same time.

Undo

19:11

@Manish Should I take it as a bad sign if the community managers are running away from me? :P

David Freitag

@Undo They probably don't want to tell you that they wanted to pick you, but for constraints on community size vs. mods they didn't.

Undo

@David That's what I really want to hear. But I'm afraid it's something far worse.

David Freitag

Oh just stop annoying them already :|

called2voyage

Bye, all! I've gotta go.

Everyone

ciao @called2voyage

David Freitag

19:15

@called2voyage laters

called2voyage

@Undo Don't leave me too many flags while I'm gone.

TildalWave

@MadaraUchiha looks like you could use an invite for Pets?

Madara Uchiha

@TildalWave I'd love one

Not sure about answers, but I might be able to place some questions in :)

Everyone

@Undo: It's true. Size does matter q+: I'm not qualified to comment, but ... David is probably right. Sit back a while, and enjoy looking at the moderators scramble to your flags! (+:

Undo

@called Revs flag engine

TildalWave

19:18

@MadaraUchiha done ;)

@MadaraUchiha I'll prolly try both eventually, time permitting, but I don't expect to be too active in the early beta... can't neglect SEx.SE, Astro.SE and Sec.SE can I? ;)

Everyone

Whee!! AR.SE is @ 100%

David Freitag

ar?

TildalWave

not necessarily in that order, but SEx.SE comes first obviously

Undo

The Astro mods are lucky - I only have 12 flags to use there. The poor SO mods, though... 90 flags have I there. They probably hate me.

Everyone

Amateur Radio (+: If we can have SEx.SE, why not AR.SE?

TildalWave

19:19

@Everyone arse?

Everyone

@TildalWave: LOL. Yes, ARSE

TildalWave

:D

Everyone

uh oh. I've gone, and offended Pearson

David Freitag

shakes his head slowly

Everyone

crawls beneath a Roc, and hides

TildalWave

19:21

I can see some great memes coming out of that AR.SE

ManishEarth

@Everyone a Roc? Are you sure that's the best place to hide?

Everyone

Who else in here committed to Amateur Radio?

@ManishEarth It stinks ... but well, would you look beneath a Roc for everyone?

TildalWave

I forgot to trade my just freed commitment slot from Astro for a new one, so I'll wait either for an invite or public beta

ManishEarth

@Everyone Yes, but the issue is not who's looking for you. The issue is avoiding dismemberment

Everyone

Tsk. Shame on you!

TildalWave

19:22

> Roc: a gigantic mythological bird described in the Arabian Nights.

this one?

Everyone

@TildalWave: That one.

TildalWave

I've been hiding in Phoenix once, does that count?

Everyone

@ManishEarth: A Roc is never beneath itself

TildalWave

Phoenix used to be some local club here BTW

Everyone

@TildalWave: Risen from the ashes, eh? You must really have annoyed someone (+:<

TildalWave

19:26

@Everyone neah they just played old school music and all the nearby clubs on that same street don't... more of a retreat really

UV-D

@Everyone I would, but I would have nothing to contribute

Everyone

@UV-D: Don't knock it till you've tried it (+:

David Freitag

Do RF controlled wireless devices count?

Everyone

I hardly contribute here on SEx.SE, but I'm still here
(go on, rub it in)

UV-D

i literally are even dumber when it comes to amateur radio

Everyone

19:32

@DavidFreitag: Not quite the same thing, a question may be entertained but I, for one, wouldn't want to encourage it ; probably a better fit on the electronics SE

David Freitag

I figured :]

Everyone

@UV-D: So am I! I only know bits, and pieces from school days ... I'm more of an armchair ham really

UV-D

i just eat ham

Everyone

crawls back beneath the Roc

UV-D

lol and armchairs

Everyone

19:35

See? I told you a Roc is a safe place to be

UV-D

i eat Rocs as well

Everyone

You mustn't do that! They are an engendered species!

UV-D

i eat endangered species

Everyone

q+: too late

David Freitag

Yeah, why do you think they are endangered in the first place?

Everyone

19:37

For that, you must be with AR.SE

UV-D

what on earth could I contribute

Everyone

(+: Have you seen any of the examples on the proposal?

David Freitag

No, because if i searched for arse on the internet my boss would be mighty upset with me.

UV-D

i have not seen the proposal

Everyone

@DavidFreitag: You could always tell her you're not interested in the internet one (+:<

David Freitag

19:40

That would go over like the hindenburg.

Everyone

@UV-D: area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/43029/amateur-radio if the samples/discussion seem to be of interest, and if you have the time to - sure, why not? but it's really your call (+:

@DavidFreitag: The Hindenburg, or the R-101?

UV-D

@Everyone yup, had a look - committed

Everyone

@UV-D: TY muchly (+:

David Freitag

@Everyone By that i mean i would be coated in thermite dope and burned at the stake

UV-D

i think I can at least answer severl questions

Everyone

19:42

@UV-D: Cool! QRZ?

UV-D

QRZ?

Everyone

@UV-D en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_code (+:

Why do I have two different scores visible on stack-exchange? One says 9025 rep, the other says 88xx ?

UV-D

mind you, on Sec.SE, I have one question at 37 up and 1 down

Everyone

Security? or here SEx.SE?

UV-D

security

and that is outside of my expertis also

Everyone

19:52

how much rep does that work out to?
_sits and calculates on fingers & toes ... _

UV-D

i am at 284

Everyone

@UV-D: It's usually the person off-side who has a more holistic view of the situation. What if Gordon Moore and his team knew it was impossible to make the micro-processor?

UV-D

true

Everyone

@UV-D: Does Security allow questions on technical audit processes? I forget

UV-D

and amateur radio was always an interest in days of yore

i am not sure

Everyone

19:57

Amateur radio is of interest (+: I'm trying to get my CW speed back up the grade ... we never had all these easy applications to practice copy in my time

You plan to appear for a licence then? Whereabouts are you?

UV-D

I am in Queensland

Everyone

as in Down Under?

Oh nice! Atmospheric physics! Just the expertise! Question?

UV-D

yup, down under, atmospheric physics and question away

Everyone

Albeit it may border on meteorology ... At what altitude in earth atmosphere does atmospheric pressure equate the atmospheric pressure on Mars' surface?

UV-D

hmmmm I'd have to think about that - but it is quite high up

Everyone

20:04

Near LEO? Over/Under?

UV-D

I think under, I am looking up some data

Everyone

waits patiently

UV-D

as Mars's surface pressure is about 0.6 kPa, this corresponds to about 45 km (28 miles) for the Earth

Everyone

A mere 45km? )+:

UV-D

a mere 45km

Everyone

20:14

Even a jet-liner can make that altitude

well, almost

UV-D

yup, and it is fr stronger in the depths of the martian valleys

Everyone

as in an order or more?

UV-D

about 2-3 times more

Everyone

mmm

UV-D

i need to go forage for food

(in other words, go to the café down the road for an epic breakfast

Stack Exchange

20:27

astrobites: Detecting dark matter with milky way ripples

posted on October 11, 2013 by Ryan Foltz

Using the upcoming Gaia telescope to measure ripples in the Milky Way will allow us to detect the impact of clumps of dark matter on our host galaxy.

Everyone

@UV-D Sorry, nodded off. Time for the sack to wake up, and embrace me yet again. Happy Cyclone Phailin!

PearsonArtPhoto

23:33

@Everyone A more interesting question is what altitude on Earth corresponds to a flying altitude on Mars. This is different than the equal pressure point.

Undo

23:55

At almost 90 days into the beta, should we be worried that our stats are still orange and red?

(BTW, I've decided to come back from helping Astro and move most of my attention back to space.)

PearsonArtPhoto

Nah.

626

The Great Outdoors – outdoors.stackexchange.com

Beta Q&A site for people who love outdoor activities, excursions, and outdoorsmanship.

Currently in public beta.

That one I would worry a bit about...

But ours are not bad at all.

Transcript for