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I also spoke to Carbon60 about some sort of UK AFOL Map, classic smileys
representing the location of AFOLS, clicking upon which takes you to their
homepage, other icons could be shops, Fests, clubs, events etc, all taking
the viewer to the appropriate page.
I had a brief fiddle about with this, but can no longer work on it due to
my monitor breaking. I think the map was more of a nice gimmick than
anything essential anyway.
As for breaking down the loc.uk content into specialized categories, I
personally prefer to get all my UK Lego info in one place - even the
dreaded trade posts.
Couldn't connect to www.freenetnames.co.uk
--
Liam.
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Liam Parnell wrote:
> I also spoke to Carbon60 about some sort of UK AFOL Map, classic smileys
> representing the location of AFOLS, clicking upon which takes you to their
> homepage, other icons could be shops, Fests, clubs, events etc, all taking
> the viewer to the appropriate page.
I'm thinking of registering www.uklug.org.uk - has anyone been to
www.itlug.org ? That's brilliant and the same sort of thing I want to
do. I've got a prototype logo done in POV-RAY - anyone is welcome to do
a superior one.
Current design spec for UKLUG:
3-pane display;
|---------|
|---------|
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-----------
Hope that's clear, the top pane will have some vital links, Entertainer,
Busy-Bee, loc.uk and a few other shops that have appeared online as well
as a way back to the main UKLUG site. When a link on the top pane is
clicked the destination web page will replace the two panes at the
bottom which are UKLUG specific.
The left pane will be the links for the site, the right pane the
information.
Ideas for left pane links:
Map
LEGOFest details:
Links to past Fest photos which are quite spread out, details of past
Fests as well as a link to come.to/legofest for the latest one.
Links to all UK LEGO Homepages, e-mails too if specifically requested.
LEGO UK addresses, as well as the new details about LEGO North Europe
based in Slough.
As well as other ideas I've just seen as ITLUG.
> I had a brief fiddle about with this, but can no longer work on it due to
> my monitor breaking. I think the map was more of a nice gimmick than
> anything essential anyway.
Well it can be added later.
> As for breaking down the loc.uk content into specialized categories, I
> personally prefer to get all my UK Lego info in one place - even the
> dreaded trade posts.
I agree - we battled with Todd to get rid of the 88 useless groups for
ages. The only case for another group is for LOCAL auctions and sales.
> Couldn't connect to www.freenetnames.co.uk
That's because it's www.freenetname.co.uk :-)
--
Carbon 60
ICQ # 5643170
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Simon Denscombe writes:
> I'm thinking of registering www.uklug.org.uk - has anyone been to
> www.itlug.org ? That's brilliant and the same sort of thing I want to
> do. I've got a prototype logo done in POV-RAY - anyone is welcome to do
> a superior one.
Cool! It appears that I've stumbled across something already thought of :)
> Hope that's clear, the top pane will have some vital links, Entertainer,
> Busy-Bee, loc.uk and a few other shops that have appeared online as well
> as a way back to the main UKLUG site. When a link on the top pane is
> clicked the destination web page will replace the two panes at the
> bottom which are UKLUG specific.
By pane do you mean table or frame? Do you mean that if you clicked upon a
entertainer web-site link, then it would appear in the bottom frame, with the
UKLUG top frame remaining?
> Ideas for left pane links:
>
> Map
> LEGOFest details:
> Links to past Fest photos which are quite spread out, details of past
> Fests as well as a link to come.to/legofest for the latest one.
> Links to all UK LEGO Homepages, e-mails too if specifically requested.
> LEGO UK addresses, as well as the new details about LEGO North Europe
> based in Slough.
> As well as other ideas I've just seen as ITLUG.
This sounds good! Maybe shopping could move from the top bar to the left panel
as well?
Lets see how well my brain works this early in the morning, and if I can
integrate the spotlight-hierarchy idea :) How does this look?
-Shopping
-Static Information - Busy Bee, Entertainer, etc;
-Links to (x) last spotlighted shopping reports
-breakdown to countries, and then regions, poss not as far as towns/cities
-Stuart Curtis had a cool idea which could fit right here
-Events
-LegoFESTs
-Current (Details, directions, trading info etc)
-Past (reviews, stories, pictures etc)
-Local (shouldn't need too much of a hierarchy for this)
-People
-Entire List
-Hierarchy by country, region and/or Smiley Map
-Lego Contacts
Where ever the hierarchy is mentioned, I'm thinking of something inspired by
Lugnet where if you selected Scotland, you'd see shops in Strathclyde and
Lothian (etc), and if you selected Lothian you'd see fewer shops, and if there
was an Edinburgh to click upon you'd probably just see those shops in
Edinburgh.
If some geographical hierarchy is implemented then it'd be nice to select an
area, and be able to see the shops and people nearby.
Although, is this the sort of thing that Lugnet would ultimately want to
achieve?
Is there any other type of information that should be on the site, that we
haven't thought of yet?
> > As for breaking down the loc.uk content into specialized categories, I
> > personally prefer to get all my UK Lego info in one place - even the
> > dreaded trade posts.
>
> I agree - we battled with Todd to get rid of the 88 useless groups for
> ages. The only case for another group is for LOCAL auctions and sales.
I have to admit that I can't quite picture loc.uk getting swamped with
messages, and obviously the thing you want to avoid is *missing* out on
something important because you didn't subscribe to some more localised group!
The website will hopefully contain most of the vital information..
Do freenames allow cgi - or can they redirect to another site that does? Useful
for things like showing all people in Ireland who want to trade trains.
Richard
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PS. Let me know if my thoughts are squiffy - I do get carried away sometimes :)
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Richard Franks writes:
> Lets see how well my brain works this early in the morning, and if I can
> integrate the spotlight-hierarchy idea :) How does this look?
> -Shopping
> -Static Information - Busy Bee, Entertainer, etc;
> -Links to (x) last spotlighted shopping reports
> -breakdown to countries, and then regions, poss not as far as towns/cities
> -Stuart Curtis had a cool idea which could fit right here
I'll take that as my cue, thanks Richard!
My idea, as discussed with Richard and Ian at the recent DK/Lego event in
Glasgow, was for a website, either as part of Lugnet, or on a seperate server,
which basically lists all of the shops in the UK which sell Lego.
This idea came about after the multitude of posts on Lugnet of the scheme:
"Hi, I will be in <insert city here> over the weekend, can you tell me a good
place to go for Lego?"
If there was a site with this kind of information, it would be convenient not
just for tourists, but also for us British AFOLs too...
So basically, you could have a map of the UK, as discussed elswhere in this
thread, with a link for each major city/town/area... people could mail the
host/server with information which could then be accessed through this map.
So, for example, in Newcastle, one of the most interesting shops is the Co-op
department store on Percy Street / Newgate Street, which has old Lego sets from
as far back as 1990 in mainly Town, but also a few Castle, Pirate, Space, and
Paradisa... still at the original prices, which personally is an annoyance, but
undoubtedly a boon to many other AFOLs with more money than sense... sorry,
more money than ME, I meant to say :-)... Anyway, the site could contain this
information as part of the Newcastle / NorthEast section, with maybe a list of
all available sets and prices, and possible updates as these sets slowly
disappear...
The site could also then be used to point out all of the latest offers
available around the UK... e.g. Toy Stack has just started getting rid of Fort
Legoredo for £29.99, at least in their two Glasgow branches, presumably at all
other stores too...
> -Events
> -LegoFESTs
> -Current (Details, directions, trading info etc)
> -Past (reviews, stories, pictures etc)
> -Local (shouldn't need too much of a hierarchy for this)
> -People
> -Entire List
> -Hierarchy by country, region and/or Smiley Map
> -Lego Contacts
>
> Where ever the hierarchy is mentioned, I'm thinking of something inspired by
> Lugnet where if you selected Scotland, you'd see shops in Strathclyde and
> Lothian (etc), and if you selected Lothian you'd see fewer shops, and if there
> was an Edinburgh to click upon you'd probably just see those shops in
> Edinburgh.
Exactly as I mentioned above, apologies for the needless repetition on my
part...
> If some geographical hierarchy is implemented then it'd be nice to select an
> area, and be able to see the shops and people nearby.
>
> Although, is this the sort of thing that Lugnet would ultimately want to
> achieve?
>
> Is there any other type of information that should be on the site, that we
> haven't thought of yet?
I guess that linking to people's websites rather than each person having their
own separate page on the proposed site would be easier to manage, although it
does rely on everybody having a Lego-related part of their webpage (and,
indeed, having a web-page at all!)...
> Richard
Stu C.
University of Glasgow
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> that's clear, the top pane will have some vital links, Entertainer,
> Busy-Bee, loc.uk
What is "loc.uk"?
> LEGO UK addresses, as well as the new details about LEGO North Europe
> based in Slough.
What is this??
> The only case for another group is for LOCAL auctions and sales.
>
>
I'd back this.
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Scott Arthur writes:
> What is "loc.uk"?
shrthnd fr lugnet.loc.uk
> > LEGO UK addresses, as well as the new details about LEGO North Europe
> > based in Slough.
>
> What is this??
I think it's that LEGO North Europe HQ is now based in Slough, as opposed to
Denmark for example. I don't know where it was or if it existed before!
Richard
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Stuart Curtis writes:
> So, for example, in Newcastle, one of the most interesting shops is the Co-op
> department store on... <censored>
Sssh! That was supposed to be our little *secret* ;)
> Toy Stack has just started getting rid of Fort
> Legoredo for £29.99, at least in their two Glasgow branches, presumably at all
> other stores too...
Tis a half decent price, but I remember seeing it in Toronto for $30, about
£13. Mind you, I only passed it up because I was already leaving clothes behind
just to cram more Lego into my rucksack and suitcase :)
Richard
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Stuart Curtis writes:
> My idea, as discussed with Richard and Ian at the recent DK/Lego event in
> Glasgow, was for a website, either as part of Lugnet, or on a seperate
> server, which basically lists all of the shops in the UK which sell Lego.
> This idea came about after the multitude of posts on Lugnet of the scheme:
> "Hi, I will be in <insert city here> over the weekend, can you tell me a
> good place to go for Lego?"
> If there was a site with this kind of information, it would be convenient
> not just for tourists, but also for us British AFOLs too...
> [...]
I can help you here right now -- very minimal overhead. If you guys want to
pick someone to volunteer to maintain links & things, I'll give them editor
permissions to the whole /loc/uk/ hierarchy, and they can put information
onto the local UK LUGNET webpages right from their web browser.
For example, I put a couple links on the Boston page:
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/us/ma/bos/
LMK...
--Todd
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Richard Franks writes:
> Cool! It appears that I've stumbled across something already thought of :)
It's mine - you can't have it!! :-0
> By pane do you mean table or frame? Do you mean that if you clicked upon a
> entertainer web-site link, then it would appear in the bottom frame, with the
> UKLUG top frame remaining?
I mean a version 3 compliant frame. Tables were just too difficult for what I
want to create.
> This sounds good! Maybe shopping could move from the top bar to the left panel
> as well?
I'll create a working mock-up to demostrate what I mean.
> Lets see how well my brain works this early in the morning, and if I can
> integrate the spotlight-hierarchy idea :) How does this look?
> -Shopping
> -Static Information - Busy Bee, Entertainer, etc;
> -Links to (x) last spotlighted shopping reports
> -breakdown to countries, and then regions, poss not as far as towns/cities
> -Stuart Curtis had a cool idea which could fit right here
> -Events
> -LegoFESTs
> -Current (Details, directions, trading info etc)
> -Past (reviews, stories, pictures etc)
> -Local (shouldn't need too much of a hierarchy for this)
> -People
> -Entire List
> -Hierarchy by country, region and/or Smiley Map
> -Lego Contacts
>
> Where ever the hierarchy is mentioned, I'm thinking of something inspired by
> Lugnet where if you selected Scotland, you'd see shops in Strathclyde and
> Lothian (etc), and if you selected Lothian you'd see fewer shops, and if there
> was an Edinburgh to click upon you'd probably just see those shops in
> Edinburgh.
> If some geographical hierarchy is implemented then it'd be nice to select an
> area, and be able to see the shops and people nearby.
Sounds good but that would take ages to implement - unless someone else wants
to take it - make it a group effort.
> Although, is this the sort of thing that Lugnet would ultimately want to
> achieve?
Unknown.
> Is there any other type of information that should be on the site, that we
> haven't thought of yet?
Probably, it'll evolve.
> I have to admit that I can't quite picture loc.uk getting swamped with
> messages, and obviously the thing you want to avoid is *missing* out on
> something important because you didn't subscribe to some more localised group!
> The website will hopefully contain most of the vital information..
Well we should just ban the US imposters subscribed to our newsgroup that'll
cut down the traffic.
> Do freenames allow cgi - or can they redirect to another site that does? • Useful
> for things like showing all people in Ireland who want to trade trains.
Unknown, haven't signed up yet.
Carbon 60
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On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 13:34:55 GMT, Stu C. uttered the following profundities...
> The site could also then be used to point out all of the latest offers
> available around the UK... e.g. Toy Stack has just started getting rid of Fort
> Legoredo for £29.99, at least in their two Glasgow branches, presumably at all
> other stores too...
>
>
£3.60 at http://www.thetoyshop.com
though they are bound to catch on, as virtually every item
on the site, selling at 99% off, is now on backorder......
--
_____________________________________________________________
richard.dee@nospam.virgin.net remove nospam.(lugnet excepted)
Web Site: http://freespace.virgin.net/richard.dee/lego.html
ICQ 13177071 AOL Instant Messenger: RJD88888
_____________________________________________________________
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On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 14:19:29 GMT, Richard Franks uttered the following
profundities...
> Tis a half decent price, but I remember seeing it in Toronto for $30, about
> £13. Mind you, I only passed it up because I was already leaving clothes behind
> just to cram more Lego into my rucksack and suitcase :)
>
>
Secret (not really) about travel to the US/Canada, and back:
you are allowed two suitcases, each not to weigh more than
about 60 pounds each....... (Trust me, I work for an airline!)
Very useful, such a big luggage allowance, especially when you
have a rental car, and there is a TRU 3 miles from the
airport.......
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On Mon, 29 Nov 1999, Richard Franks (<FLypz7.BI7@lugnet.com>) wrote at
14:09:07
>
> > > as well as the new details about LEGO North Europe
> > > based in Slough.
> >
> > What is this??
>
> I think it's that LEGO North Europe HQ is now based in Slough, as opposed to
> Denmark for example. I don't know where it was or if it existed before!
LEGO Europe has been reorganised into two big chunks, AFAICT.
There is the N. Europe bit, which covers the UK, France, Denmark & the
rest of Scandinavia, and all points in between, which is run from
Slough.
Then there is Germany, and the rest of Europe, which I think is run from
somewhere in Germany, but I don't know.
This reorganisation is where all these old sets are appearing from, as
warehouses are cleared out and closed down.
The Wrexham operation here in the UK has already been downgraded from HQ
to warehouse, and even that will close in the new year, as everything
will be down south.
--
Tony Priestman
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Simon Denscombe writes:
> Well we should just ban the US imposters subscribed to our newsgroup that'll
> cut down the traffic.
I do hope that comment was a joke. I've spent periods subscribed
to lugnet.loc.de (the German group) just to get the language practice
- I'd not be amused if I was described as an imposter and told I wasn't
welcome there because I don't live in Germany.
Simon
http://www.SimonRobinson.com
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Richard Dee wrote:
>
> On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 14:19:29 GMT, Richard Franks uttered the following
> profundities...
> > Tis a half decent price, but I remember seeing it in Toronto for $30, about
> > £13. Mind you, I only passed it up because I was already leaving clothes behind
> > just to cram more Lego into my rucksack and suitcase :)
> >
> >
> Secret (not really) about travel to the US/Canada, and back:
> you are allowed two suitcases, each not to weigh more than
> about 60 pounds each....... (Trust me, I work for an airline!)
They don't even have to be suitcases. 2 weeks in a row I scrounged up
suitably large (for my nefarious purposes)/small (to pass restrictions)
boxes and stuffed them with stuff to bring back from Ottawa. (or are we
talking US/UK??? US/Canada is I think, 75 pounds each)
--
Larry Pieniazek larryp@novera.com http://my.voyager.net/lar
- - - Web Application Integration! http://www.novera.com
fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
NOTE: Soon to be lpieniazek@tsisoft.com :-)
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Carbon 60 wrote:
> Well we should just ban the US imposters subscribed to our newsgroup that'll
> cut down the traffic.
Could you elaborate on that, please? What exactly are you driving at?
--
Larry Pieniazek larryp@novera.com http://my.voyager.net/lar
- - - Web Application Integration! http://www.novera.com
fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
NOTE: Soon to be lpieniazek@tsisoft.com :-)
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I back Simon on this one. If imposters from the US or any other group are
banned from the Lugnet.uk group then I'm throwing away my "Up the Queen" tea
towel and "I love Great Britain" toilet brush holder in protest!
Sanjay
--
"If you don't have a sense of humour you don't have any sense"
PS: As an alternative perhaps there should be a lugnet.uk.foreigners
newsgroup?
Simon Robinson <simon@simonrobinson.com> wrote in message
news:FLzLHz.MoK@lugnet.com...
> In lugnet.loc.uk, Simon Denscombe writes:
>
> > Well we should just ban the US imposters subscribed to our newsgroup • that'll
> > cut down the traffic.
>
> I do hope that comment was a joke. I've spent periods subscribed
> to lugnet.loc.de (the German group) just to get the language practice
> - I'd not be amused if I was described as an imposter and told I wasn't
> welcome there because I don't live in Germany.
>
> Simon
> http://www.SimonRobinson.com
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Sanjay D'Souza wrote:
>
> I back Simon on this one.
An ambiguous statement in THIS particular thread... :-)
> If imposters from the US or any other group are
> banned from the Lugnet.uk group then I'm throwing away my "Up the Queen" tea
> towel and "I love Great Britain" toilet brush holder in protest!
Dude, where did you get those??? I want some!
--
Larry Pieniazek larryp@novera.com http://my.voyager.net/lar
- - - Web Application Integration! http://www.novera.com
fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
NOTE: Soon to be lpieniazek@tsisoft.com :-)
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Larry Pieniazek writes:
> > Secret (not really) about travel to the US/Canada, and back:
> > you are allowed two suitcases, each not to weigh more than
> > about 60 pounds each....... (Trust me, I work for an airline!)
>
> They don't even have to be suitcases. 2 weeks in a row I scrounged up
> suitably large (for my nefarious purposes)/small (to pass restrictions)
> boxes and stuffed them with stuff to bring back from Ottawa. (or are we
> talking US/UK??? US/Canada is I think, 75 pounds each)
I have no idea about such regulations, but we quite happily brought 3 suitcases
and 3 carry-on (between 2 of us), and I am *positive* that at least one of
those suitcases was more than 75 pounds. The only requirement I'm aware of
(not counting specific airline weight/size restrictions) for returning to
Canada is the customs requirments, which essentially is just "pay tax on more
than x amount of duty free".
But then, you undeniably do more travelling than I do.
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Todd Lehman writes:
> > [...]
> > If there was a site with this kind of information, it would be convenient
> > not just for tourists, but also for us British AFOLs too...
> > [...]
>
> I can help you here right now -- very minimal overhead. If you guys want to
> pick someone to volunteer to maintain links & things, I'll give them editor
> permissions to the whole /loc/uk/ hierarchy, and they can put information
> onto the local UK LUGNET webpages right from their web browser.
That sounds yummy! One big question I have is how we are going to tie it in
nicely with LUGNET. Or rather, how much (if any) of the information we have
described would be more appropriate if it were held on LUGNET? While we don't
want to impose data upon LUGNET, there is no point maintaining data on another
host if we don't need to!
I have the impression that LUGNET intends to evolve a more active web appendage
and that (and the long-term-plan) implies storing more static type information
- possibly similar to what we would store on UKLUG. So I'm inquiring really,
does LUGNET want to store any of the things we've discussed? (Todd - an "I
don't know yet,", or a "Let me think about it,", is fine!)
Out of the things roughly pencilled in for inclusion on a web-site at present:
+ Shopping
Min: Website URL
Max: Website URL, contact info, geographical location, stock,
comments/reviews.
One thing that I think we could implement with minimal LUGNET interaction,
is have a 'Shops in this area' link on loc.uk, loc.uk.sc, loc.uk.sc.gr, etc.
This could call a CGI script on the UKLUG site, which would bring up a list
of shops in each area. Ie - UKLUG would maintain its own database.
I know that LUGNET intends to store *some* retailer information, but I'm
not clear on exactly what that is or when.
If LUGNET would like to store something near the 'max' list sometime in the
future then we could design our database in conjunction with Todd to make
it compatible. Else we could maintain it upon LUGNET without UKLUG?
Possibly UKLUG would be more suited to maintaining a 'Current Good Offers'
page, as I don't see how that would fit into the LUGNET heirarchy neatly.
What sort of information on shops do you want to store Todd? And when? :)
+ People
Min: Name, Webpage.
Max: Name, Webpage, email, geographical location, interests, comments in
lieu of a webpage, shoe size etc.
It is probably more appropriate for UKLUG to hold this information. But then,
would LUGNET allow casual users (non-members) to input their geographical
location and contact URL? If so, LUGNET *could* be used to group us - one of
the main reasons for something like UKLUG.
Whereever the data is hosted, it would be nice to have a 'People in this
Area' link, under the shopping one!
+ Events
While actual pictures of events and reviews are probably better on
individuals sites, for each event there are usually >1 person hosting
pictures - somewhere there should be a collection of these links to
peoples sites. UKLUG/LUGNET?
+ Lego Contacts
This seems logically placed within LUGNET. Although there isn't anywhere to
put such information yet :)
+ UK FAQ
Just thought of this - is there a need? Or would everything else cover it?
I'm quite prepared for a "Just links, me thinks, thanks." reply, but again - if
any of the database stuff is intended for LUGNET in the distant future then it
makes sense to hack out the format now, to allow for easier integration.
Finally, about the loc.uk links maintainer - anyone keen? I'd be happy to do
it, but it could make more sense for Simon D to do it if he's doing UKLUG?
Urgh, that's enough for one nigh...erk! Morning.
Richard
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Richard Franks writes:
> In lugnet.loc.uk, Todd Lehman writes:
> > I can help you here right now -- very minimal overhead. If you guys want
> > to pick someone to volunteer to maintain links & things, I'll give them
> > editor permissions to the whole /loc/uk/ hierarchy, and they can put
> > information onto the local UK LUGNET webpages right from their web
> > browser.
>
> That sounds yummy! One big question I have is how we are going to tie it in
> nicely with LUGNET. Or rather, how much (if any) of the information we have
> described would be more appropriate if it were held on LUGNET? While we
> don't want to impose data upon LUGNET, there is no point maintaining data
> on another host if we don't need to!
Aw, don't worry -- there's no such thing as imposing data upon LUGNET.
Its whole purpose in life is to give data good homes -- especially text
and structured data.
> I have the impression that LUGNET intends to evolve a more active web
> appendage
Yup! -- that's been the idea all along. But it's the discussion groups which
are actually the appendage -- accounting for only about 20% of everything in
the big picture (right now they account for probably 60% of everything).
> and that (and the long-term-plan) implies storing more static type
> information possibly similar to what we would store on UKLUG. So I'm
> inquiring really, does LUGNET want to store any of the things we've
> discussed? (Todd - an "I don't know yet,", or a "Let me think about it,",
> is fine!)
Yes and no -- mostly Yes. LUGNET doesn't want to be a general ISP or web
host like GeoCities, but it does want to help LUGs around the world become
organized and communiciate within themselves most effectively and with other
LUGs around the world. So wherever that means helping organize data or
information or discussions, that's a big Yes. And if something is helpful
in one area, it's likely to be helpful in other areas as well -- so general
and flexible designs are crucial.
> Out of the things roughly pencilled in for inclusion on a web-site at
> present:
>
> + Shopping
> Min: Website URL
> Max: Website URL, contact info, geographical location, stock,
> comments/reviews.
>
> One thing that I think we could implement with minimal LUGNET interaction,
> is have a 'Shops in this area' link on loc.uk, loc.uk.sc, loc.uk.sc.gr, etc.
> This could call a CGI script on the UKLUG site, which would bring up a list
> of shops in each area. Ie - UKLUG would maintain its own database.
>
> I know that LUGNET intends to store *some* retailer information, but I'm
> not clear on exactly what that is or when.
I'm not exactly clear on it either, but I think it's something that will work
itself out over time, given a few rounds of manual experimentation.
> If LUGNET would like to store something near the 'max' list sometime in the
> future then we could design our database in conjunction with Todd to make
> it compatible. Else we could maintain it upon LUGNET without UKLUG?
If you (or someone) wanted to enter the 'max' list (or even more than that,
if you wanted) in a text format (as opposed to an actual database structure),
you could start doing that right now even. Each week I make a new page like
this:
http://www.lugnet.com/cool/?p=site-160
right from my web browser. And notice how that page was "borrowed" (reused)
in another page:
http://www.lugnet.com/?p=1999-11-28
That page is then also in turn borrowed/resused in yet another page:
http://www.lugnet.com/?p=spotlight
and the pages can be arbitrarily complex.
It's hardly a database, but it's pretty easy to do certain things very
quickly because the page creation/editing cycle is so straightforward.
> Possibly UKLUG would be more suited to maintaining a 'Current Good Offers'
> page, as I don't see how that would fit into the LUGNET heirarchy neatly.
>
> What sort of information on shops do you want to store Todd? And when? :)
What: whatever you want to store, as long as it's text-based (not images)
for now.
When: whenever someone steps forward to be a volunteer editor of the /loc/uk/
area.
> + People
> Min: Name, Webpage.
> Max: Name, Webpage, email, geographical location, interests, comments in
> lieu of a webpage, shoe size etc.
>
> It is probably more appropriate for UKLUG to hold this information. But
> then, would LUGNET allow casual users (non-members) to input their
> geographical location and contact URL? If so, LUGNET *could* be used to
> group us - one of the main reasons for something like UKLUG.
>
> Whereever the data is hosted, it would be nice to have a 'People in this
> Area' link, under the shopping one!
This area (helping LUGs more directly) is going to be a big focus of mine in
December. I would like to re-use parts of the code I wrote for LUGNET
memberships in order to help LUGs define and handle their own local
memberships. So LUGNET would probably still not allow casual users
(non-members) to input info about themselves in a database, but it would
allow casual users to join a LUG (i.e., UKLUG or NELUG) and then as a member
of that (not necessarily a member of LUGNET) then go ahead and input info.
In other words, I think what we'll ultimately wind up with is many different
types of membership -- all mutually beneficial and mutually compatible:
membership in LUGNET itself (as was just started), and then memberships for
various LUGs, where each LUG defines its own terms of membership and chooses
an officiant to process that LUG's incoming membership applications.
> + Events
> While actual pictures of events and reviews are probably better on
> individuals sites, for each event there are usually >1 person hosting
> pictures - somewhere there should be a collection of these links to
> peoples sites. UKLUG/LUGNET?
You could pretty easily make links to news articles or other sub-pages right
from the /loc/uk/ pages... For example, in 30 seconds time I just added the
following text:
{Hot Topic:} <</loc/uk/?n=1916>>
to the left column of the /loc/uk/ page, and Presto! there's now a link to
this very thread right from there. Check it out --
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/
What goes in the left column can actually be just about anything -- from pure
links to lists of articles to paragraphs of commentary. Here are two areas
which happen to contain only links:
http://www.lugnet.com/boats/
http://www.lugnet.com/starwars/
> + Lego Contacts
> This seems logically placed within LUGNET. Although there isn't anywhere
> to put such information yet :)
Well, you could easily create a sub-page of /loc/uk/ that contained that
information. If you were an editor, you could pop up this URL, for example:
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/?p=contacts
and instead of seeing a blank page, you'd see a blank page with a button that
says "Start This". If you click that button, you get an edit area which you
can type text into. When you save that text, the new web page appears
instantly.
> + UK FAQ
> Just thought of this - is there a need? Or would everything else cover
> it?
A FAQ could also be created very easily the same way -- although it probably
would need work later to be more compatible with the FAQ stuff in lugnet.faq.
But it's OK if they're divergent for a while -- data like that isn't too
tough to unify.
> I'm quite prepared for a "Just links, me thinks, thanks." reply, but again
> - if any of the database stuff is intended for LUGNET in the distant future
> then it makes sense to hack out the format now, to allow for easier
> integration.
In the "true database" sense, yeah, it's in the more distant future. But if
you wanted to create simple pages with a quick & easy editing mechanism, you
can get 80% of the way there with very little trouble at all.
> Finally, about the loc.uk links maintainer - anyone keen? I'd be happy to do
> it, but it could make more sense for Simon D to do it if he's doing UKLUG?
>
> Urgh, that's enough for one nigh...erk! Morning.
>
> Richard
Mmmm, getting late for me now too... :-)
--Todd
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Richard Franks <spontificus@__nospam__yahoo.com> writes:
> In lugnet.loc.uk, Simon Denscombe writes:
>
> > I'm thinking of registering www.uklug.org.uk - has anyone been to
> > www.itlug.org ? That's brilliant and the same sort of thing I want to
> > do. I've got a prototype logo done in POV-RAY - anyone is welcome to do
> > a superior one.
>
> Cool! It appears that I've stumbled across something already thought of :)
Thank guys! We're very glad you liked our ItLUG site. We consider the design
phase not yet finished, but the idea is definitely there.
> > Ideas for left pane links:
> >
> > [...big snip...]
Hope you don't mind if we steal some of *your* ideas :-)
BTW, an other item that could be useful is a glossary for those acronyms
like BURP, FOTW etc. We plan to insert one in our site.
> > > As for breaking down the loc.uk content into specialized categories, I
> > > personally prefer to get all my UK Lego info in one place - even the
> > > dreaded trade posts.
> >
> > I agree - we battled with Todd to get rid of the 88 useless groups for
> > ages. The only case for another group is for LOCAL auctions and sales.
>
> I have to admit that I can't quite picture loc.uk getting swamped with
> messages, and obviously the thing you want to avoid is *missing* out on
> something important because you didn't subscribe to some more localised • group!
> The website will hopefully contain most of the vital information..
So you succeeded in this. These are great news! We are going to ask Todd for
the same thing.
Mario (...who dreams of an European Legofest sooner or later...)
Web page: http://www.geocities.com/~marioferrari
LUGNET member page: http://www.lugnet.com/people/members/?m=22
Proud member of ItLUG: http://www.itlug.org
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Mario Ferrari writes:
> Hope you don't mind if we steal some of *your* ideas :-)
Heh - no problem here - if you implement them, then we can steal back the
implementation method ;)
> BTW, an other item that could be useful is a glossary for those acronyms
> like BURP, FOTW etc. We plan to insert one in our site.
True, I mean - those would definately be in the lugnet.faq at some point, but
work on that seems to be in progress still.
> Mario (...who dreams of an European Legofest sooner or later...)
Cool idea, that would rock :)
Richard
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James Brown wrote:
> I have no idea about such regulations, but we quite happily brought 3 suitcases
> and 3 carry-on (between 2 of us), and I am *positive* that at least one of
> those suitcases was more than 75 pounds. The only requirement I'm aware of
> (not counting specific airline weight/size restrictions) for returning to
> Canada is the customs requirments, which essentially is just "pay tax on more
> than x amount of duty free".
I was going the other way. And I think the weight thing is mostly
airline imposed, it may vary from line to line, or even by class of
service, and may be waived by the counter agent if you're polite and
lucky. And I am always polite to counter agents, it pays very very well
:-).
The US customs gang in Ottawa(1), the first week, had a good laugh with
me when I pointed out that Lego is a class of good that is duty free.
They asked how I knew and I said I saw it on their own website...
http://www.lugnet.com/market/theory/?n=176
The second week, they just said, "oh, THIS guy again" and waved me
through with a smile.
1 - Ottawa has a US customs right there in the airport. Handy. Means you
don't have to go through customs when you get to the US. Apparently the
officers are US citizens who live in Canada and get a pretty good deal
on housing etc, via allowances.
--
Larry Pieniazek larryp@novera.com http://my.voyager.net/lar
- - - Web Application Integration! http://www.novera.com
fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
NOTE: Soon to be lpieniazek@tsisoft.com :-)
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Larry Pieniazek writes:
>
> The US customs gang in Ottawa(1), the first week, had a good laugh with
> me when I pointed out that Lego is a class of good that is duty free.
Maybe going *your* way <grumble grumble bitch bitch>
> 1 - Ottawa has a US customs right there in the airport. Handy. Means you
> don't have to go through customs when you get to the US. Apparently the
> officers are US citizens who live in Canada and get a pretty good deal
> on housing etc, via allowances.
There are several US/Canada border points that do this. All of the ground
ones, of course, and I know Calgary has US Customs right there, and (I
believe) Vancouver does as well. I'm not sure if the same deal occurs the
other way or not.
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
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> I was going the other way. And I think the weight thing is mostly
> airline imposed, it may vary from line to line, or even by class of
> service, and may be waived by the counter agent if you're polite and
> lucky. And I am always polite to counter agents, it pays very very well
I went on a cycling holiday during the summer. I'm over 6 feet so my mtn bike is on
the big side. This, along with fully loaded panniers put me way over the weight
limit. I called the airline before I few and was told that billing me was more hassle
than it was worth. I was told that if I said nothing, the agent would do the same.
This turned out to be true. The extra baggage rate is 2% of the most expensive seat
per kg (~1% per pound).
If you take you bike on a plane, remember to deflate the tires!
Scott A
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Scott Arthur writes:
> > I was going the other way. And I think the weight thing is mostly
> > airline imposed, it may vary from line to line, or even by class of
> > service, and may be waived by the counter agent if you're polite and
> > lucky. And I am always polite to counter agents, it pays very very well
>
> I went on a cycling holiday during the summer. I'm over 6 feet so my mtn bike
> is on the big side. This, along with fully loaded panniers put me way over
> the weight limit. I called the airline before I few and was told that billing
> me was more hassle than it was worth. I was told that if I said nothing, the
> agent would do the same. This turned out to be true. The extra baggage rate
> is 2% of the most expensive seat per kg (~1% per pound).
>
> If you take you bike on a plane, remember to deflate the tires!
If you really want to have fun with airlines, try taking a sword home with
you. :/
We only held one plane up trying to sort it out, and while my Dutch is
atrocious, the MP seemed very nice.
James
http://www.shades-of-night.com/lego/
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Carbon 60 wrote:
> Well we should just ban the US imposters subscribed to our newsgroup that'll
> cut down the traffic.
Hey! I resent that remark. I'm not an imposter, I'm a gen-u-ine US citizen.
Steve
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James Brown wrote:
>
> In lugnet.loc.uk, Scott Arthur writes:
> > > I was going the other way. And I think the weight thing is mostly
> > > airline imposed, it may vary from line to line, or even by class of
> > > service, and may be waived by the counter agent if you're polite and
> > > lucky. And I am always polite to counter agents, it pays very very well
> >
> > I went on a cycling holiday during the summer. I'm over 6 feet so my mtn bike
> > is on the big side. This, along with fully loaded panniers put me way over
> > the weight limit. I called the airline before I few and was told that billing
> > me was more hassle than it was worth. I was told that if I said nothing, the
> > agent would do the same. This turned out to be true. The extra baggage rate
> > is 2% of the most expensive seat per kg (~1% per pound).
My dad once checked some balloon instrumentation packages which were way
over the limit. His secret? Checking them at the curb with a $20 tip to
the person collecting bags.
> > If you take you bike on a plane, remember to deflate the tires!
>
> If you really want to have fun with airlines, try taking a sword home with
> you. :/
>
> We only held one plane up trying to sort it out, and while my Dutch is
> atrocious, the MP seemed very nice.
One of my caver friends once caused a stir. As he was going through
security, for some reason they asked him about explosives, and he
remembered the baby bottle full of calcium carbide he had in his pack.
They dutifully took it and put his name on it so he could collect it
when he returned home. When he returned, they couldn't find it, and went
into a frenzy because there was an explosive missing at the airport. He
declined to wait (not feeling one badly abused baby bottle and less than
a dollars worth of calcium carbide was worth hassling over).
--
Frank Filz
-----------------------------
Work: mailto:ffilz@us.ibm.com (business only please)
Home: mailto:ffilz@mindspring.com
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On Tue, 30 Nov 1999 01:43:29 GMT, Larry Pieniazek uttered the following
profundities...
> Richard Dee wrote:
> >
> > On Mon, 29 Nov 1999 14:19:29 GMT, Richard Franks uttered the following
> > profundities...
> > > Tis a half decent price, but I remember seeing it in Toronto for $30, about
> > > £13. Mind you, I only passed it up because I was already leaving clothes behind
> > > just to cram more Lego into my rucksack and suitcase :)
> > >
> > >
> > Secret (not really) about travel to the US/Canada, and back:
> > you are allowed two suitcases, each not to weigh more than
> > about 60 pounds each....... (Trust me, I work for an airline!)
>
> They don't even have to be suitcases. 2 weeks in a row I scrounged up
> suitably large (for my nefarious purposes)/small (to pass restrictions)
> boxes and stuffed them with stuff to bring back from Ottawa. (or are we
> talking US/UK??? US/Canada is I think, 75 pounds each)
>
>
Two "pieces" I should have specified....
However charges result if such "pieces" are of unusual size/
shape (i.e. bicycles).
--
_____________________________________________________________
richard.dee@nospam.virgin.net remove nospam.(lugnet excepted)
Web Site: http://freespace.virgin.net/richard.dee/lego.html
ICQ 13177071 AOL Instant Messenger: RJD88888
_____________________________________________________________
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Frank Filz wrote:
> My dad once checked some balloon instrumentation packages which were way
> over the limit. His secret? Checking them at the curb with a $20 tip to
> the person collecting bags.
Quite. It's amazing what a little green grease can lubricate.
--
Larry Pieniazek larryp@novera.com http://my.voyager.net/lar
- - - Web Application Integration! http://www.novera.com
fund Lugnet(tm): http://www.ebates.com/ ref: lar, 1/2 $$ to lugnet.
NOTE: Soon to be lpieniazek@tsisoft.com :-)
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Todd Lehman writes:
> Aw, don't worry -- there's no such thing as imposing data upon LUGNET.
> Its whole purpose in life is to give data good homes -- especially text
> and structured data.
Great! Somehow that doesn't sum it up, but it is quite lovely to read that!
> > What sort of information on shops do you want to store Todd? And when? :)
>
> What: whatever you want to store, as long as it's text-based (not images)
> for now.
Wow, that sounds more than reasonable!
> When: whenever someone steps forward to be a volunteer editor of the /loc/uk/
> area.
I'd be happy to do it - it sounds like fun :) But I don't want to step on
anyones toes, especially as there are undoubtedly people out there with more
talent and time than myself!
> This area (helping LUGs more directly) is going to be a big focus of mine in
> December. I would like to re-use parts of the code I wrote for LUGNET
> memberships in order to help LUGs define and handle their own local
> memberships. So LUGNET would probably still not allow casual users
> (non-members) to input info about themselves in a database, but it would
> allow casual users to join a LUG (i.e., UKLUG or NELUG) and then as a member
> of that (not necessarily a member of LUGNET) then go ahead and input info.
That sounds just about perfect to me.. so while we could go ahead and put
shopping/contact/event reference information in the loc/uk hierarchy, it might
be better to wait until the LUG structure is in place before putting 'people'
into the hierarchy too? Although there'd be no reason not to collate potential
UKLUG member information before then.
> You could pretty easily make links to news articles or other sub-pages right
> from the /loc/uk/ pages... For example, in 30 seconds time I just added the
> following text:
>
> {Hot Topic:} <</loc/uk/?n=1916>>
>
> to the left column of the /loc/uk/ page, and Presto! there's now a link to
> this very thread right from there. Check it out --
>
> http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/
Cool stuff!
Going back to the database idea, mainly for curiousity, and also because if you
ever wanted to implement something like the shop information for /loc/us/ then
it could soon become impractical to edit manually. I don't think that there is
*that* much manual editing required for the UK, although we do have 4 levels as
opposed to the 3 in /loc/us/, but mainly because there isn't as much data to be
sourced.
Could you define a database like:
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/?d=shops
Would it be feasible (with editing priviledges), and assuming the data was
sorted alphabetically, to maintain that simple shopping database like:
-=-=-=-
[/loc/uk/sc/lo/edb/?p=happy, "Happy Toys, Morningside"],
[/loc/uk/sc/lo/edb/?p=tru, "Toys R US, Some Retail Park"],
[/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=beatties, "Beatties, St Enoch"],
[/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=toystack, "Toystack, St Enoch"],
[/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=tru1, "Toys R US, Forge Retail Park"],
[/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=tru2, "Toys R US, Queen Street"],
[...etc...];
-=-=-=-
So that in /loc/uk/, you could have something functionally equivalent to:
{Shops in this Area} <</loc/uk/?d=shops&q=/loc/uk>>
and in /loc/uk/sc/lo/,
{Shops in this Area} <</loc/uk/?d=shops&q=/loc/uk/sc/lo>>
There are a couple (!) of issues with this:
+ An i= parameter would be nice to specify the search index
+ A database management file would probably also be useful, specifying any
template page to put the retrieved information into, index names etc
+ Techically possible to have a database 'file' and 'entry' box in normal
page editing. Allowing you to create a new page whereever and automatically
include it in the database - frilly but non-vital.
+ It would be nice to be able to do something like:
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/sc/lo/?d=/loc/uk/shops&q=/loc/uk/sc/lo
Then be able to edit the /loc/uk/shops database, but only see the relevant
items to the part of the hierarchy that you were in.
So I think a database would be nice, because then you can do searches without
trawling through the entire hierarchy. Oh, and also because things like the
'Local Shops' link could be automated. I'm not going to plague Todd to
implement one though - I'm just throwing ideas around :) But if he'd like a
hand..
Besides, we can do about 90% of the things we've discussed as soon as we get
someone able to edit /loc/uk/!
> Well, you could easily create a sub-page of /loc/uk/ that contained that
> information. If you were an editor, you could pop up this URL, for example:
>
> http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/?p=contacts
>
> and instead of seeing a blank page, you'd see a blank page with a button that
> says "Start This". If you click that button, you get an edit area which you
> can type text into. When you save that text, the new web page appears
> instantly.
I'm in danger of sounding sycophantic if I say exactly how cool I think this
whole mechanism sounds!
> In the "true database" sense, yeah, it's in the more distant future.
Ooops, I forgot reading that :) Oh well, there shouldn't be too much harm in
discussing it?
> But if you wanted to create simple pages with a quick & easy editing
> mechanism, you can get 80% of the way there with very little trouble at all.
Yep - it sounds great - Thanks!
Richard
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Richard Franks writes:
> [...]
> Going back to the database idea, mainly for curiousity, and also because
> if you ever wanted to implement something like the shop information for
> /loc/us/ then it could soon become impractical to edit manually. I don't
> think that there is *that* much manual editing required for the UK,
> although we do have 4 levels as opposed to the 3 in /loc/us/, but mainly
> because there isn't as much data to be sourced.
>
> Could you define a database like:
> http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/?d=shops
I like that line of reasoning -- and the "d=<name>" format is also perfect
for specifying a database name as it allows for any number of named databases,
just as "n=<num>" allows for any number of numbered news articles, "p=<name>"
allows for any number of named pages, and "m=<id>" allows for any number of
member IDs.
> Would it be feasible (with editing priviledges), and assuming the data was
> sorted alphabetically, to maintain that simple shopping database like:
>
> -=-=-=-
> [/loc/uk/sc/lo/edb/?p=happy, "Happy Toys, Morningside"],
> [/loc/uk/sc/lo/edb/?p=tru, "Toys R US, Some Retail Park"],
> [/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=beatties, "Beatties, St Enoch"],
> [/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=toystack, "Toystack, St Enoch"],
> [/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=tru1, "Toys R US, Forge Retail Park"],
> [/loc/uk/sc/sc/gl/?p=tru2, "Toys R US, Queen Street"],
> [...etc...];
> -=-=-=-
I'll hafta zencogitate on this for a few days.
> So that in /loc/uk/, you could have something functionally equivalent to:
> {Shops in this Area} <</loc/uk/?d=shops&q=/loc/uk>>
>
> and in /loc/uk/sc/lo/,
> {Shops in this Area} <</loc/uk/?d=shops&q=/loc/uk/sc/lo>>
Since the new website restructuring earlier in the year, I've wanted to have
everything be more channel-based -- not like the "channels" buzzwords in the
web industry, but like lanes on a wide road... The idea is that, as a user
browsing the system, you could "be" in one "lane," and browse around, and
then switch to a different lane and browse around more from that angle. The
lanes would be things like: news, faqs, members, databases, etc.
So I would probably make "?d=shops" (or some other more general name) be a
full-fledged "lane" or "channel" in the system, where the "shops" database
occurred throughout (i.e., site-wide). In other words, "?d=shops" wouldn't
be specific to the /loc/uk/ hierarchy, but if you were in that area, then
that's what subset of it you'd see. So the URLs would actually come out
simpler, like this:
All shops in Lothian http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/sc/lo/?d=shops
All shops in Scotland http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/sc/?d=shops
All shops in the UK http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/?d=shops
All shops in the world http://www.lugnet.com/loc/?d=shops
Once you started browsing shops, the "?d=shops" portion of the URL would
automatically stay there until you switched to some other channel (or lane
or database)
It could work similarly for LEGO sets,
All Islanders sets http://www.lugnet.com/pirates/islanders/?d=sets
All Pirates sets http://www.lugnet.com/pirates/?d=sets
All LEGO sets http://www.lugnet.com/?d=sets
(These would just be simple browsing-based access mechanisms into the
databases; there could still be fancier mechansisms, of course, for doing
more complicated queries and merging trees and things like that.)
All LEGO sets with http://www.lugnet.com/?d=sets&q=truck
"truck" in the name
Anything in the any http://www.lugnet.com/?d=*,q=truck
database with "truck"
I think this could be a pretty powerful organizational tool for many types
of data, especially if it had optional fuzzy categories, because it combines
RDBMS, OODBMS, and HDBMS paradigms all into one.
> There are a couple (!) of issues with this:
> + An i= parameter would be nice to specify the search index
Yup -- like "n=" in the news database gives a specific numeric index, "i="
could give a specific named- or numeric-ID index. "q=" will probably always
stay as a fuzzy "query" search (not exactly an index).
Makes me wonder if the "p=xxx" stuff should go instead as "d=yyy&i=xxx".
That would generalize things nicely. Along that line of thought, the news
stuff "n=xxx" _could_ even go instead as "d=news&i=xxx" (but probably with
automatic transparent URL rewriting for backward compatability).
The spotlight stuff could work nicely as "d=spotlight", whereby the following
would happen almost for free:
Auction spotlight http://www.lugnet.com/market/auction/?d=spotlight
Pirates spotlight http://www.lugnet.com/pirates/?d=spotlight
Scotland spotlight http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/sc/?d=spotlight
UK spotlight http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/?d=spotlight
Everything spotlight http://www.lugnet.com/?d=spotlight
> + A database management file would probably also be useful, specifying any
> template page to put the retrieved information into, index names etc
Yeah, this is probably exactly what to head toward. I grok you and totally
agree. Now I just need to go zen in a cave for 3 days and think about the
details of the general implementation more.
> + Techically possible to have a database 'file' and 'entry' box in normal
> page editing. Allowing you to create a new page whereever and
> automatically include it in the database - frilly but non-vital.
Kind of like the index.html paradigm... :-)
> + It would be nice to be able to do something like:
>
> http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/sc/lo/?d=/loc/uk/shops&q=/loc/uk/sc/lo
>
> Then be able to edit the /loc/uk/shops database, but only see the relevant
> items to the part of the hierarchy that you were in.
Yup -- except the URL would probably be like this instead:
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/uk/sc/lo?d=shops
and right from there, if you had editor privs to that area, you could make
the changes right from your web browser.
> So I think a database would be nice, because then you can do searches
> without trawling through the entire hierarchy. Oh, and also because things
> like the 'Local Shops' link could be automated. I'm not going to plague
> Todd to implement one though - I'm just throwing ideas around :) But if
> he'd like a hand..
I think you've just set off a positive thought-chain-reaction in my brain,
which is helping make a few previously hazy design-gaps much more clear.
(Thanks!)
> Besides, we can do about 90% of the things we've discussed as soon as we
> get someone able to edit /loc/uk/!
Yea, even with the current interactive editing system that available right
now, you could do quite a bit. It's got a tiny bit of a learning curve, and
still has some fussy quirks, but it's pretty easy to get used to, I think.
> I'm in danger of sounding sycophantic if I say exactly how cool I think
> this whole mechanism sounds!
Well, I'm glad to hear it. I'll take it to mean that I'm probably still
on the right track... :-)
> > In the "true database" sense, yeah, it's in the more distant future.
>
> Ooops, I forgot reading that :) Oh well, there shouldn't be too much harm
> in discussing it?
No, not at all...in fact, it's all 50% clearer to me now...(thanks again).
--Todd
[followups to lugnet.admin.database]
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Mario Ferrari wrote:
> Thank guys! We're very glad you liked our ItLUG site. We consider the design
> phase not yet finished, but the idea is definitely there.
I like the logo - it was the right choice out of the 2, quite simple but
cool.
> Hope you don't mind if we steal some of *your* ideas :-)
That's cool.
> BTW, an other item that could be useful is a glossary for those acronyms
> like BURP, FOTW etc. We plan to insert one in our site.
There is already a website with all of those around somewhere - do a
search for rtlspeak. Saves you having to find meanings to the more
obscure words.
> So you succeeded in this. These are great news! We are going to ask Todd for
> the same thing.
Yep, we won that war - took ages.
> Mario (...who dreams of an European Legofest sooner or later...)
That would be brilliant - we would see a huge language problem I guess.
--
Carbon 60
ICQ # 5643170
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In lugnet.loc.it, Simon Denscombe writes:
> Mario Ferrari wrote:
> > Thank guys! We're very glad you liked our ItLUG site. We consider the design
> > phase not yet finished, but the idea is definitely there.
>
> I like the logo - it was the right choice out of the 2, quite simple but
> cool.
Thanks. We are still discussing whether to change the blue brick into a green
brick to make it more Italian :-)
> > BTW, an other item that could be useful is a glossary for those acronyms
> > like BURP, FOTW etc. We plan to insert one in our site.
>
> There is already a website with all of those around somewhere - do a
> search for rtlspeak. Saves you having to find meanings to the more
> obscure words.
Thanks again. I'm going to look for it.
> > Mario (...who dreams of an European Legofest sooner or later...)
>
> That would be brilliant - we would see a huge language problem I guess.
I don't agree on this point. Almost everybody in the Italian newsgroup speaks a
good English, well... I mean something you're expected to understand :-) And
I've been in touch with many other Lego fans from almost every European country
always using English. If you lurk at the German newsgroup there's plenty of
messages in Englis. When I write to Eric Brok (NL), Laurentino Martins (P) or
many others I use English.
The main problem I see is about the location. We should find a place close to
the "center of gravity" of the participants to minimize the trips. I imagine it
could be in France, Paris or around there, but there are so few French people
active on LUGNET we might have problems in finding the necessary logistic
support.
Anyway, I have a European Legofest in mind because it's been so great to meet
many Lugnetters in person at the Mindfest, and I'd love to repeat this kind of
experience without necessarily flying overseas.
We should find a proper newsgroup where to discuss this topic (Todd, any
suggestion?). Every local newsgroup could nominate a delegate to represent its
country during the discussion, just to keep the signal/noise ratio to an
acceptable level.
And see what happens.
Mario
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In lugnet.loc.uk, Mario Ferrari writes:
> The main problem I see is about the location. We should find a place close
> to the "center of gravity" of the participants to minimize the trips. I
> imagine it could be in France, Paris or around there, but there are so few
> French people active on LUGNET we might have problems in finding the
> necessary logistic support.
I think there are quite a few French LEGO fans online, but they're having
trouble getting organized. There was a vote about a year ago for a new
Usenet group fr.rec.jeux.lego, but it didn't get enough Yes votes (I think
it was 20 short of 100). It's just a matter of finding a few people to get
it started, I think. (Just like when you guys in Italia discovered LUGNET
a little over 3 months ago, and then /loc/it/ gathered momentum rapidly...)
http://www.lugnet.com/loc/it/?n=*53,100&v=c
> Anyway, I have a European Legofest in mind because it's been so great to
> meet many Lugnetters in person at the Mindfest, and I'd love to repeat
> this kind of experience without necessarily flying overseas.
>
> We should find a proper newsgroup where to discuss this topic (Todd, any
> suggestion?). Every local newsgroup could nominate a delegate to represent
> its country during the discussion, just to keep the signal/noise ratio to
> an acceptable level.
I would suggest posting a wide announcement and directing followups to
groups like lugnet.robotics.events & lugnet.org -- for example:
Newsgroups: lugnet.announce,lugnet.robotics.events,lugnet.org,
lugnet.loc.at,lugnet.loc.be,lugnet.loc.ch,lugnet.loc.dk,
lugnet.loc.de,lugnet.loc.es,lugnet.loc.fi,lugnet.loc.fr,
lugnet.loc.ie,lugnet.loc.it,lugnet.loc.nl,lugnet.loc.no,
lugnet.loc.pt,lugnet.loc.se,lugnet.loc.uk
Followup-To: lugnet.robotics.events,lugnet.org
--Todd
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Todd Lehman wrote:
> I would suggest posting a wide announcement and directing followups to
> groups like lugnet.robotics.events & lugnet.org -- for example:
> Newsgroups: lugnet.announce,lugnet.robotics.events,lugnet.org,
> lugnet.loc.at,lugnet.loc.be,lugnet.loc.ch,lugnet.loc.dk,
> lugnet.loc.de,lugnet.loc.es,lugnet.loc.fi,lugnet.loc.fr,
> lugnet.loc.ie,lugnet.loc.it,lugnet.loc.nl,lugnet.loc.no,
> lugnet.loc.pt,lugnet.loc.se,lugnet.loc.uk
> Followup-To: lugnet.robotics.events,lugnet.org
> --Todd
I think this is an ideal opportunity to create a lugnet.loc.eu to help
organise these events and also European-wide set releases, special
offers since many companies now ship overseas in the EETA (1). EU
officially standing for European Union although this newsgroup would
cover the whole of Europe.
--
Carbon 60
ICQ # 5643170
(1) European Economic Trading Area.
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