New ChatRoom Invite

Question

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

This question may appear naive to chat room participants but its answer might gin up some participation, or not.

What purpose does the chat room serve that the Forum does not?

Re: Question

Jack Guzman from Maine

Bill, The chat rooms are about the interaction. The forums are more casual. The back and forth discussion can become very interesting. I think you would enjoy one of woodcentral's chats.

9:30 pm is a half hour before midnight here

Re: Question

William Duffield

…if your "primitive" internet bandwidth supports it.

I hope it does, but the only way to find that out is to try it out.

Jack is right. The main advantage as I see it is the quick interactions. These are especially useful when discussing troubleshooting issues. For example, often the person with the problem doesn't know enough about what is going on to provide all the necessary details. If he can answer a quick question or two from the others, they can much more quickly narrow down the problem and provide real help.

Another advantage of the chat format is the chance to discuss issues with experts, in particular famous woodworkers. These are a bit more difficult to arrange, but always well attended. On the Chat entry page (see link in my previous message in this thread) are links to the logs of archived guest chats. If you read the logs, you can get an idea of the questions we have asked them and the ideas these people have shared with us.

Re: 9:30 pm is a half hour before midnight here

William Duffield

Where are you? Thule, Greenland? Are you sure that 9:30 p.m. EST is not 7:30 p.m. your time?

I guess that's a "problem" with a chat on the world wide web. I wish we could get Derek Cohen to join us, but in Perth it will be the middle of the morning tomorrow by the time we "convene."

I should point out that the chat room is "open" 24/7, so if you can arrange for a couple people you'd like to discuss something with to meet you there at a specific time, it can happen at any time.

Re: 9:30 pm is a half hour before midnight here

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I am trying to figure out what a telephone is not a better communication device

Re: 9:30 pm is a half hour before midnight here

William Duffield

A telephone certainly has some advantages, but a chat room can do things you can't do over just a telephone. A smart phone can do some of these things to some extent, if you have cellular service where you are. (I don't.)

Telephones can best for a simple two way conversation. Our chat room can handle up to 25 at a time, but consider the "cocktail party effect" if too many people "talk" at once. If you miss an important point, it is easy to scroll up and reread it.

It is easy to pass on a link to information on the web, including web pages with tools for sale, pictures, pdf files of tool instruction manuals, etc. I think the new chat system also supports posting of pictures from participants' PCs without the prior need to upload them to a host on the web. I admit I haven't figured out how to do this yet.

More features are enumerated here: https://www.rumbletalk.com

Re: 9:30 pm is a half hour before midnight here

Stuart Johnson

posting of pictures from participants' PCs without the prior need to upload them to a host on the web. I admit I haven't figured out how to do this yet.

click on the paper clip on the right side of input line.

select the file / photo from your pc and hit enter.

Re: Thanks for the Tip, Stuart

William Duffield

When we were shaking out the new system the other evening, the paper clip wasn't showing up on my iMac. Maybe, Ellis has been flipping some switches, because now it appears to be working.

I'm still looking forward to the promise (or maybe just a rumor) of interactive collaborative sketching.

Re: BTW, Nice Morris Chair in-progress pic.