Whatever Happened to the Old Chief Delphi?

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by JVN

Maybe more and more people have stopped giving the "powers-that-be" the benefit of the doubt and are now treating news with a more critical eye than before?

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me multiple times over multiple years?

Can I repeat this enough?

Also, FIRST has shifted from the national and global community into whatever it is now with as much grace as a fat kid off a diving board.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Karibou

I don't want to drag this thread further off-topic, but I've always wondered what the difference is between 12/12/2012 and 12/12/1912, 12/12/1812, etc. They're all 12/12/12 :/ All of the "OMG 12/12/12 WE'RE GONNA DIE BECAUSE IT'S FREAKING 12/12/12" comments that I see everywhere always annoy me for that reason.
I always figured that all of this "end of the world because the Mayan calendar says so" business is just a result of the Mayans not calculating far enough into the future, and modern people just mis-interpreting that. I mean, come on, we can probably calculate into the 3000s with our fancy computers, but they didn't have any of that Maybe they just gave up after that point.

I think it is related to multiple prophecies, but I tend to avoid those things. Additionally, the difference between 2012 and 1912 is simple, we have the internet to perpetuate mad rantings and theories.

Originally Posted by Karibou

Back on topic...
I don't believe that I ever really knew the "old" ChiefDelphi, because I joined in 2007. I wasn't really active until mid-2008, but I can still see a definite difference between now and this time last year. As someone has already stated, there seems to be a lot fewer "Hey guys, I CAD'ed a new swerve module, any suggestions?" threads and a lot more topics related to things that are occurring outside of the "shop", such as community service, cool robotics-related articles in magazines and papers, and A LOT of discussion on the items from Bill's Blog. I know that it's not always all about the mechanical aspects of the team, but it's nice to see what other teams are doing to improve their gameplay (after all, building the robot is kind of a big part of the team). I find a lot of the discussions on the chances for 2010/the blog entries to be really interesting, but it's not long before they end up going wayyyy over my head and start discussing logistics that I really don't need to know.

I think that this mightttt be because of the poor mentor/student ratio on CD. I see A LOT of mentors and college students making posts and having conversations, but I don't see a lot of students posting. I'm not really intimidated by adults that I don't know (well, okay, I am when I'm face-to-face with someone, but I'm the kind of person who opens up and talks a lot more when I have a computer in front of me), but I know a lot of students who are, and that may also be hurting the discussions. I cannot and will not speak for everybody, but people in general just have a natural fear of being wrong and being yelled at/scolded/told that they're wrong. Adults seem to get over a huge part of this fear at some point, but the students are still in school, and we've been trained to believe that being wrong is a bad thing. I know that a lot of kids are doing some really great things on their team, but I never see any of this being posted about, and I think that it's because of the intimidation factor.

Anddd I don't know where I'm going with this I'm very bad at writing out what I'm actually thinking, and I'm not very good at communicating concisely. It all makes sense in my head...

Edit: Oh yeah...that's right. Negative comments. Negativity->fear of posting because of a natural feel of being wrong->downsized conversation->??

I feel like I just went really off topic in the other direction :/

Ive been on CD since my freshmen year of HS, been an active reader since then, occasional posts until my senior year then I started posting a lot more. There has been a change, I think we can all see that. I think if we went back and looked through older posts that this is not the first time CD has changed tones, nor will it be the last.

However, I do agree with Eric, there has been a lot of negativity in posts lately, I won't deny that some of this is my doing. Is this a bad thing? Of course, I know that one of the reasons I am willing to even venture into the technical forums is because I know this place is focused on learning and the free exchange of knowledge. Short story from last year;

Originally Posted by Once upon a time,

A few people posted a CAD of an 8WD robot, I made a comment (despite being the idiot I am when it comes to all things not relating to computers) JVN corrected me and I learned. What could have happened; I could have made some remark (remember, Im an idiot) and he could have told me that I was an idiot. Now, I freely admit to being an idiot about most topics but there is a difference between knowing you are an idiot and being told it. One is a fact, the other hurts. Had anyone replied with, "That is the stupidest load of crap I have ever heard you should probably never speak again you moron" it would have bothered me because it is rude. It would have made the remainder of the discussion hostile because I would be defensive instead of welcome to new and different ideas.

(Now for my usual disclaimers, very few people would ever tell someone they are an idiot on here, don't take this as me saying JVN would call anyone an idiot for making an honest mistake)

It is my personal beliefs that part of the cause for this is the climate right now, watching the news lately things have been very charged. Everyone is nervous, those that arent nervous end up being nervous because the people who are are acting strangely and it worries them. This causes a nasty problem for the CD community, some of us are bitter about things (be it FTC, the new controls, FIRST, work, what have you...) this leads to some negative postings by them. This aggravates someone else who then posts negative posts elsewhere and irritates someone else. There is a really simple solution to this problem, don't post when angry. If something ticks you off take a walk, throw a tennis ball against a wall, play a game, just do something that relaxes you. Come back 20 minutes later when you have cooled off and then ask yourself why you were so irritated. Chances are it wasnt for any good reason. If you still think you had a good reason for being ticked off you need to go back and read why they said what they said to you. Did you deserve it? Then ask yourself if you really need to respond to it, does it add anything to the discussion or is it just some petty hit to your ego?

Summarizing the last book, THINK BEFORE YOU POST!

Addressing Kara's post; In the 6 years Ive done this, the countless thousands of people I have talked to, I never got over that fear of opening my mouth and cramming my foot in it. I doubt I ever will. Know that CD is a safe environment to learn to talk with a foot in your mouth. The vast majority of people on here will never think less of you for making a mistake as long as you learn from it. There is absolutely nothing bad about being wrong. Being wrong simply means you can grow more, when people tell you that you are wrong it means you have a logical path to grow on. In fact, I prefer when people tell me I am wrong to agreeing with me, it means that the person respects and cares about me enough to help me better myself.(well, that or they are just a jerk but that sounds a lot less nice so can we just ignore that possibility? kthxbai) This is a theme I always tell students right from the start, I admit I don't have all the answers, I don't know everything. This is going to be a learning experience for me too and that just because I say something it is NOT always right. I would hope that most people on here would not have such an inflated ego that they think their word is law .Except Brandon, his word is law... don't tick off the site admin

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Karibou

I don't want to drag this thread further off-topic, but I've always wondered what the difference is between 12/12/2012 and 12/12/1912, 12/12/1812, etc. They're all 12/12/12 :/ All of the "OMG 12/12/12 WE'RE GONNA DIE BECAUSE IT'S FREAKING 12/12/12" comments that I see everywhere always annoy me for that reason.
I always figured that all of this "end of the world because the Mayan calendar says so" business is just a result of the Mayans not calculating far enough into the future, and modern people just mis-interpreting that. I mean, come on, we can probably calculate into the 3000s with our fancy computers, but they didn't have any of that Maybe they just gave up after that point.

It has nothing to do with them not calculating far enough. In fact, they calculated further than that. But, some Mayans believed that 12/21/2012 (note that it's NOT 12/12/2012) would be the end of the fourth cycle of the world, and has importance in their astrological calendar.

[Adam Y.]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

It has nothing to do with them not calculating far enough. In fact, they calculated further than that. But, some Mayans believed that 12/21/2012 (note that it's NOT 12/12/2012) would be the end of the fourth cycle of the world, and has importance in their astrological calendar.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

[Dantvman27]

well technically, i believe it was the mayans that believed each town had to sacrifice a beating heart every morning to insure that the sun would come up the next day, and assuming that every town across the world is no longer sacrificing beating hearts to their Gods, i think we should be ok as far as the universe collapsing

but just for kicks and giggles, can we delay/perform the final test of the Large Hadron Collider on 12/21/12 just to freak everyone out

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

Nah, I am sure something will happen that day. I mean, I intend on going in to work that day.That right there is something happening... I might even do some work that day too. (Work as in what Im paid to do not as in work done on an object)

[Lil' Lavery]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

What fun is that?

I don't seriously believe the world will end, but I do believe in being informed. In other words, don't dismiss something, no matter how silly, without knowing the facts first.

[Alan Anderson]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

I'm pretty sure that days will start getting longer after that date.

Originally Posted by Dantvman27

but just for kicks and giggles, can we delay/perform the final test of the Large Hadron Collider on 12/21/12 just to freak everyone out

That would be fun, but expensive. The LHC uses a lot of electricity, and it has a planned shutdown every winter so the power can be used to keep people warm instead of making pretty flashes of light.

[Cory]

Originally Posted by JVN

Maybe more and more people have stopped giving the "powers-that-be" the benefit of the doubt and are now treating news with a more critical eye than before?

Fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me multiple times over multiple years?

Amen. My thoughts exactly.

[gblake]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

On the contrary - I am very, very confident that several extremely improbable events will occur precisely at the end of the Mayan 4th world.

One of them might be a sudden large increase in the extent to which all Chief Delphi users are excellent to each other.

Blake

[David Brinza]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

I predict the GDC will release a game hint on that day that will cause our heads to explode. (Based on prior experience...)

[rsisk]

You gotta love this thread, long soul searching posts about the content of CD twisted in with posts of Mayan calendars and the end of the world.

I love this place!

(and I get to learn things too, bonus time!)

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Adam Y.

Can't we all just agree that nothing will happen on that day?

Last time "they" said nothing would happen for Y2K, and the whole world changed. Suddenly, websites built with frames and animated GIFs weren't cool anymore, everyone forgot what Tamigotchis were, Doug and The Angry Beavers were canceled, "Help I've fallen and can't get up", Razor scooters replaced skateboards, Furbies tried to take over the world, and then a really crappy version of Windows called ME came out. The worst part? Still no monorails and flying cars.

[rtfgnow]

As much as we have veered off topic right into talking about the uncertainty of someday three years away, no one is being negative.

[Chief Pride]

Originally Posted by Akash Rastogi

I'd have to agree and say that's pretty accurate. I'd go as far as saying that recent posts have not been in bad taste though. Most of what has been written is productive or at least provokes thought and criticism. Even if it is criticism that's a little harsh, everyone needs to remember that posts on here need to be taken with a grain of salt. Same goes for those posting reactions to other posts and comments. I've read it someone before on here that "you people take this game too seriously" but I think a better way of saying to just relax and think out thoughts would be to take everything with a grain of salt.

Anywho, I still say JVN's post is pretty accurate as to why CD's been a little more confrontational recently. But its not that big a deal IMHO, it all just depends on how you let it get to you.



This is a public forum, anticipate a confrontational attitude when arguing about topics. GP and anything like that don't need to be dragged across every plane you cross. For this I'll quote someone I look up to on this matter:

I've gotta agree.