Latex Typesetting and Forum/CMS Choice Discussion

[Tom McCurdy]

No--
I haven't forgotten about the forum Marcus
I actually have been working with my hosts about being able to instal latex

I finally got an answer and they said it would cost 50 dollars...

I however also got an offer from a friend to use some of his space and he would allow me to install latex typesetting

since we would be starting fresh with him
I have some questions

1.) should the site just be a forum
2.) Should I have a cms system (IE site with forum)

Also
do you perfer
Invision board
Phpbb

Although I am not 100% sure I can customize invision
but i got phpbb worked out

 

[marcus]

here are some immediate thoughts, just saw your message

1. you are supposed to be doing college applications and completing an outstanding high school senior year, if i understand the situation

2. starting any science board is a high risk venture. who else has succeeded, really, besides this one (PF)

3. I don't feel ungenerous. I can help. but I cannot make it succeed
or guarantee that the outcome is right for you. Also I can't
help you decide how you allocate your time.

-----------------

It might be better planning for you to focus on your Senior Year studies and projects and not do this. But suppose you decide to do it. Then what is my advice?

1. Try to make a board that will run and grow without a LQG forum
and add a LQG forum to it. that will be more fun for you and everybody
(quantum gravity is a small slow line of research, one I find compellingly interesting, but have to recognize is small and slow, not all that much happens day today)

2. look at what are boxoffice favorites of PF-----homework help, general discussion, politics, general astronomy, "general physics"--- whatever that means---books. I haven't done a careful study but you must have similar impressions: what attracts a lively entertaining crowd of people.

3. crackpots and sillies are a terrible problem. PF has a team of devoted volunteer helpers (rewarded by respect, titles, deference, editorial power, esprit de corps) who tirelessly defend against crackpots and talk sense to sillies. I don't have the desire or skill to do this. I mostly just talk to whoever I want to, not who needs a talking to. but this is a formidable task

-----
Suppose you just want a quiet, not-much-visited QG board. Then clearly I could help you. I am a physics watcher and a kind of librarian, I watch, assemble QG links, try to identify growing areas of interest and trends. I can do this anywhere there is LaTex and a peaceful environment (not to many popup ads, not too much spam in the threads). But what I do has a limited readership appeal.

dont you ever think of some kind of hybrid board with a QG forums (maybe) but also with some other forums, to liven it up?

You have to decide what sort of a web-experiment you want to do. I am still not clear as to whether you want to creat a widespectrum board and attract hits (and include LQG as one forum of several) or whether you want just a single-focus board.

 

[Tom McCurdy]

Well for one thing I love PF and don't mean to take away any of their members... I was just trying to supplement their forums to add something that they were lacking in. So I havne't decided whether or not to add in all the other areas. I was thinking about linking up String Theory and LQG though since they are vaguly similar... however having two distct forums for each... I need a good idea for a domain name and I need about 38 hours in a day... but I will work slowly on completing this

ty for your continued support.

 

[marcus]

Well for one thing I love PF and don't mean to take away any of their members...

yes, I was thinking that too. PF seems congenial and comfortable.
SelfAdjoint just called attention to that fascinating paper by Thanu Padmanabhan
about gravitons being inadequate for a full theory of gravity
and Tsunami just impetuously demanded that someone write email to Lee Smolin about a certain neutron star being unexpectedly massive.

such things are not easy to duplicate.