New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

This would be a really cool feature.....

we could give brandon a week off :)

Obviously this would never happen if the forums were on, but how about disabling new posts for a week, or even shutting the site down for a week?

It would be good for all of us, without chiefdelphi, what else better would there be to do other than get out and enjoy some of the summer sun?

Who knows if this would ever happen...

Tom

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

.. don't fear the Day Star.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I'm glad this was mentioned. And, I like it, but part of me thinks that we wouldn't necessarily get the desired effect.

Sure, Brandon gets a week off (which he deserves!), but then all chatter moves to the aim/yahoo/tigerbolt chats. And it wouldn't necessarily mean that we'd all go outside, because a lot of people would just go to other sites/forums.

A better way may be a CD outdoor challenge of some sort, like a picture scavenger hunt. "Take a picture of you in your team shirt on a junglegym" or something.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Great idea Tom! I'm so happy you thought of this!! ;)

When I was little, I became addicted to cartoons & TV. My mom took the TV away from the whole family for two weeks... it stunk a little at first, but by the end of the two weeks we were having so much fun that we were sad to see it come back. Even now, I hate TV... there's too much life going on outside to miss it by staring at a screen.

We could even make this a contest! No CD for a week, give Brandon a break, and when it comes back... vote for who did the coolest thing while we were all out living our own lives!!

Whose in... c'mon, don't be afraid :D

ByE

erin

p.s.
- What I did this summer instead of reading ChiefDelphi for more than 10 minutes a day so I could post to something like this:

1) Taking 8 credits of courses, Thermodynamics & Differential Equations
2) WhiteWater Rafting
3) Seg-Boston Glide
4) Family Reunion (reason why I missed IRI)
5) Hangliding
6) Attend concerts, symphonies, & plays in Boston

The Challenge? Hehe... try to outdo me :p

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

If you're missing out on the summer sun to spend time on ChiefDelphi, seek help, now. If we're at the point where we need to shut this board down so people can get some sun and enjoy the summer, I think we've horribly wrong somewhere...

Maybe it's living in frozen Toronto thing, but when the weather turns nice, I cherish it. We only get 4 months of it, so hell yeah, I'm going to take advantage of it. Regardless of what else is going on in my life.

There's more to life than can be seen on a 17" monitor. Trust me.

That being said, it's rainy and miserable right now...

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I'd totally do this: http://www.rrholidayescape.com/

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Where exactly are you that there's sun? (Anyone from Michigan knows what I'm talking about here...)

I do agree that Brandon deserves time off from the forums. Or maybe we can all send him a dozen cookies or something as a thank you... ;)

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I agree! Although, I LOVE CD ... I think I'm on CD a bit too much! But I can't help it ... whenever I come online I just have to come on CD ... its like I'm addicted or something! :ahh: And I know, you'll probably say well "why don't you just go outside if you really want to?" Well, its not that easy ... as long as I know that there is something for me to do in CD ... I have to come online!! :p
But in all seriousness, my summer is almost over ... I start school in week (Aug. 5) and I'd like to just get out and enjoy a bit more of my summer before I HAVE to go to school! And above all, I really think that Brandon needs a big brake ... so that he can go out and enjoy HIS summer!! That's only fair!

As far as the challenge ... that'd be cool ... I'd like to go see the Chicago play that's coming to the Tampa Bay Perfroming Arts Center, but I'm probably not going to be able to! Although the picture bit is not a bad idea at all! I love photography and: what a better way to spend my last week of summer taking pictures of things? :cool:

In the end ... whether it happens or not ... the idea is not bad at all!

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Hm... a week without CD. Everyone should be able to handle that. Why dont we take a step further and try to see if anyone could handle a week without the internet like we did before seven/eight years ago.

But yes, this is a good idea. I hope Brandon does do it.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Umm... While I would dislike having CD for a week... perhaps it would be good... We might actually do something instead of just reading... hm...

As for going out and seeing the sun... bah. Theres too much sun here. All year round its just really sunny. The summer is when you stay inside because its too hot to go out. The winter, or as I call it cooler summer, is the nice time. Stupid Phoenix weather.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I already went a week w/o CD this summer, I don't need to do it again. Besides, you guys have lives. ;)

[edit]Cloudy and chance of rain: MI[/edit]

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Conversely, I vote we lock Brandon in a room for a week with padded walls and a computer with limited internet access (only the essentials), and reward progress with food and beverages. By the time the ordeal would be over, he'd have his to-do list done, resulting in more free time! It's a...err...win-win situation?

Hm. Come to think of it, I think ChiefDelphi users would have created 10 more items for Brandon's to-do list while he was locked inside the room. We'll have to put this idea aside. For now. :D

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Great idea!! No CD for a week!!! Give it a go, Brandon!
It would be best...I think I should take a break this place anyway before i become addicted... :ahh:

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

maybe what we could do, instead of shutting down the site, would be for brandon to train a few trusted individuals to run the site as a group effort while he is gone.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Wait! There's no back up for Brandon?! What would become of CD if something happened to Brandon? :ahh:

I could go along with no CD for a week.........as long as it's only a week. ;) Instead of shutting the site (server?) down wouldn't it be easier to just lock all the threads for a week? You could still view the site but nothing could be posted or edited. This would not only give Brandon rest but also the many mods. Maybe this rest is exactly what Brandon needs to recuperate and feel better.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Come on Brandon....close it...close it. You know you want to :D

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I think for all you whackos (j/K) who want to shut CD down for a week, there needs to be a selective option for (1 week disable) in your user control panel. That way, the sane people like me can still be on. :D

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

you can have the whole forum to yourself-- hows that? :)

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

No, I couldn't handle it (without anti-depressant drugs anyway. Or Benadryl. That stuff puts me to sleep...). ;)

Agreed. At least I could get on CD still... ;)

Maybe it could be a semi-permanent thing. We could all donate a little and send him in food once a while.

I don't know. There would probably be a war started by the Canadians because their teams would complain about us. We'd all have to live in underground shelters, sheilded from alpha, beta, and gamma rays. ;) JKing about the Canadians. Don't hurt me... :D

After saying all that: I like the idea of locking all threads temporarially. I would give me a chance to actually work on FVG. I mean, uh, go outside. :yikes:

EDIT: In response to sanddrag, there should be a usercp option of "Keep me off for a while!!!". Clicking it temporarially disables your account/bans your IP.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Vote here if you think you can handle a week without ChiefDelphi! Lets give Brandon (and ourselves) a REAL vacation!!!

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=29740



ByE

erin

p.s. For those of you with boring desk jobs this summer... I know that killing your workday is much easier with ChiefDelphi. Here's a good game for while your at work:

-Pick a week of the year, location, and intent of a cool vacation
-find somebody to play against you (another bored intern or somebody)
-compete to see who can find the sweetest vacation package

See! Kill time! And learn how to get the least expensive vacation deals... all while being at work. No need for ChiefDelphi then. :p

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Okay, I going to go off on a bit of rant here. Sorry...

The ChiefDelphi forums are more than just a place for people to kill time and engage in some chit chat. Over the years this board has evolved into one of the most useful educational tools in all of FIRST. You need information on past games? Search the forums. You're working on an off season project and need help with your transmission? Search the forums. If your search doesn't turn up what you're looking for? Post a message, there's hundreds of experienced engineers here who are willing to help.

There are a lot of people who work very hard to keep these forums useful and educational. The people who handle the moderated threads, the people who run UFH. These things are assets to the entire community.

I'd hate to see these things halted for a week, just because a bunch of people don't know how to manage their time, and can't pry their sticky hands away from their computer for more than 15 minutes at a time. You don't need Brandon to shut down the site so you can go out and play.

Maybe this is unrelated, but it seems to me that over the past while, these boards have become a lot less informative. There's been way too much focus on inside jokes, personal projects and chit-chat, and not enough on actual information. There was a time when I came here, I knew I was going to find lots of insightful discussion. What happened?

I'm not saying there isn't room for fun and games here, I'm just saying that maybe we should step back and look at why these forums exist.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Karthik,

If you noticed in my original post, one of the ideas was to disable any new postings. This would serve the purpose of anyone who needs to search for older information.

I originally posted this thread as a sort of Pat-Brandon-On-The-Back for a job well done, and to kind of remind people that there is more to life than chiefdelphi. I did not expect this kind of astounding support for what i see as a semi-absurd idea :)

It all boils down to this; Would most of us mind if the forums were shut down for a week? nah probably not. Would we miss reading all the chatter that goes on here? sure. Would we live? yep.

As you said in your original post, if you can't make your own time to go out and have fun outside of the computer there is something seriously wrong. But stopping all new posts for a week may have a beneficial impact on the quality of posts around here. People would have time to gather their thoughts or come up with new ideas to improve this community.



Just remember that it is the offseason. There is obviously going to be less "useful" discussion around here. Sign on in mid-January and i'll bet you a team shirt the ratio of chit chat to "useful" threads is down. (edited thanks to a correction by Aignam)

Sorry for being so long-winded about this!

Tom

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I'm terrible at math, and pretty much all things technical, but wouldn't it be the opposite? Wouldn't the ratio of "useful" threads to chit-chat be up and the ratio of chit-chat to "useful" threads be down?

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

absolutely correct. my bad :)

Thanks!

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

The site won't be shutting off. A week without Chief Delphi doesn't require the site to be turned off. If you need a break, take one. I don't; I'm not going anywhere. We strive to keep the site online, taking it offline purposely would be counter-productive.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I'm in.. lol But apparently REALLY cool things like that , which don't involve spending time surfing CD cost money.... :(

(I wonder if the ship has a 10/100 lan connection....):p


Elgin
(Proudly addicted to Chiefdelphi.com)

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I participated in TV turn off week a couple times this summer just because I couldn't find my remote... lol It was a bad reason why I did it, but I kind of feel the same way as yo do now.. I don't need TV like I thought I use to..

Oooh.. a challenge.

Ok, In no particular order this summer I:

1) Went up and down half the East coast from CT to DC and back - Oh wait... That was my week without CD... :)
2) Worked on my truck for many hours already... See signature (Off season Project)
3) Took a (only) 3 credit English class at college, but it was with the Division Director, and I wrote 32 papers, reports, speeches, and poems over and 8 week period - ughh... glad that's over:D
4) Went to many car shows and cruises and even met the guy who played John Milner in the movie American Grafitti last week.
5) Went to PARC without my team just for fun
6) Went to Battlecry with my team also for fun
7) Went to a lake for a weekend, went kayaking and fell in the lake (oops..) - Swam to shore...
7.5)Cleaned my room.. OK, I know this is still an indoor actvity, but it had to be done.. :rolleyes:
8) Random parties - Graduation and Birthday (Fun was had at all)
Later this summer I am going to:
9) Was Beantown Blitz during the summer? Went there too... also for more fun.
edit:
10) Made a website fo my own which I hope to get online by the end of summer, just in time for school when I will be looking for input from all my CD peers for picture submissions.
(Stay tuned...)

On the "To-Do" list for the remaing portion of the summer:

Possibly go to NH - Hampton Beach area in a couple weeks.
Go to a huge car show and 50's party in NJ labor day weekend
Workin' on the Truck some more.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

It's summer vacation. I'd die of boredom w/o all this chit-chat.

(sorry, I saw this linked somewhere).

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Let's see, since I sped out of the Irmo High School parking lot for the last time...

1) Attended no fewer than two graduations (one mine, one my friend's from leadership school).
2) Have been on two college campuses (USC and The Citadel)
3) Registered for classes
4) Flown to the complete other side of the country
5) Appeared on national TV three times (The Price Is Right x2, Jimmy Kimmel Live x1)
6) Been one of those people who deliberately calls out the wrong price on The Price Is Right (yeah, it's not really GP, but when your mother is in contestants' row, whose side are you gonna take?)
7) Been through two annoying/painful/disgusting medical tests (read my blog if you want all the gory details)
8) Cleaned my bedroom (which is a true feat--wish I had a before picture)
9) Worked all these hours at Piggly Wiggly, plus a few others didn't want
10) Fought tooth and nail to corner the Neopets market for omelettes.

HA! :D

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I spend an awful lot of time on here working on assorted projects, researching, and other useful activities.

I also appreciate the fact that apparently, this leads to the assumption that I have no life and have spent all my time on here without ever seeing the sun. When a logical argument for taking down CD comes forth, someone please notify me. Otherwise, I think we're all wasting time.

Need a break? Leave.

/edit: and in response to 'Who had the best summer by the most activities they did' - This is ridiculous. I understand that time is what you make of it. But your life is influenced on how many lives you've changed and what impact you've made in your short time here. I fail to see how regular summer activities achieve those... This isn't a competition to see who spent their time most wisely. The only competition we have here, folks, is the one that's in March and April.

You had a great summer? I'm very proud. Mine was good too.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Hmmmm.... I could beat that. This is a list of things I did in chronological order.
1)Went to a friends party.
2)Went to a Japanese Resturaunt.
3)Went to graduation.
4)Went to grandma's funeral.
5)Went to register for college courses.
6)Traveled around with grandpa while he visited doctor.
7)Ju-Jitsu
8)Went to a hospitol a two times.
9)Realized I didn't have to go the second time.
10)Worked.
11)By the end of September Im playing to go see a bunch of Nobel Laurettes(spelling?).

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

On some level, it seems as if I've done a lot this summer, but I know that I've spent summers past doing far more.

• Spent time with friends at the Northwest Folk Life Festival (as it was there.)
• Visited the Golds, Jim and Bill, in San Jose, CA
• Watched The Shins perform in concert at The Warfield in San Francisco
• Drove across California and visited Six Flags Magic Mountain
• Visited the Disneyland Resort
• Taught robotics summer camp
• Worked my regular job a lot
• Ate an egg for the first time in two years
• Lost my voice singing "Joy to the World" in karaoke
• Saw a July 4th fireworks display on Lake Union
• Said goodbye to the third friend I've met to leave Seattle since my arrival
• Visited Bite of Seattle
• Attended Festival of the Fountains, a formal fundraiser for my job
• Began brainstorming an idea to bring FIRST robots to science museums all over the country

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

Okay. Maybe I'm just being picky, but a seed spitting contest was not the point of this thread. Not to say it's not important what everyone is doing, but I respected all of you without you having to list it out for me. Truth is, I'm skipping over the list, as well as whatever point you were making in the post that might have been related to the thread.

The point of this thead was to discuss the idea of closing down CD for a period of time, to which Brandon has already made his decision. I call to close both "closing CD" threads.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...
 

I second that. Both of these threads have outlived their usefulness, and are on the verge of becoming a bragging contest.

Re: New Idea for Chiefdelphi...