[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'I')f Davep or Pops or one of he other tech savvy types were to do a weekly YouTube show like that I would watch it and recomend it too my friends.

[Loki]

There are some great ideas in this thread.

I think Youtube is by far the best idea---a PO.com channel. Users submit videos for moderator approval, which are posted on Youtube. Perhaps comments disabled to siphon viewers over here? I've never submittted a video to Youtube, but I've watched tons of them.

Facebook maybe? I have no idea, I've never used---would it siphon discussions off PO.com to FB?

Not sure about chat, video or otherwise. I personally would be unlikely to use it. I vaguely remember a chat function here at PO.com that I never used.

The video conferencing with prepared presentation idea is interesting, I've seen a few of these but never done one myself. I wonder what the audience would be, especially relative to the effort a person would have to put into creating a presentation. Seems like a Youtube video would work just as well and get a lot more viewers. Not that these are mutually exclusive---a video conference with good participation and informed questioners would make a better Youtube video than a guy with his smartphone yakking to himself.

Take my opinions with a grain of salt, I'm already behind the tech times, my “social networking” is limited to semi-technical discussion forums like PO.com.

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('radon1', '
')
Credit is mostly someone owing money to someone owing money to someone who owes money to the first one. All three think that they hold assets, some of them even think that they are rich. When the whole thing goes belly up there may be a liquidity drain, but not much will change in the material world. As to the quadrizillions in derivatives, those are mostly pure mathematical abstractions, even the liquidity will not be affected by their disappearance (unless banks' middle offices are full of rubbish which may happen to be the case).

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('pstarr', 'P')O Youtube? Copious. Abundance's suburban real-estate porn? My slathering disdain? Images of pond scum? Ibon lecturing the world on cloud forests? I can't imagine what you are talking about.

[americandream]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('ralfy', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('radon1', '
')
Credit is mostly someone owing money to someone owing money to someone who owes money to the first one. All three think that they hold assets, some of them even think that they are rich. When the whole thing goes belly up there may be a liquidity drain, but not much will change in the material world. As to the quadrizillions in derivatives, those are mostly pure mathematical abstractions, even the liquidity will not be affected by their disappearance (unless banks' middle offices are full of rubbish which may happen to be the case).

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Who wants to volunteer?

[Pops]

Great Newf!

[davep]

The only quality time my daughter and I have together is plucking chickens or stacking firewood

[Ibon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('davep', 'T')he only quality time my daughter and I have together is plucking chickens or stacking firewood

[ralfy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('americandream', '
')
Dropping for Japan. Haven't they just mothballed their nuke facilities?

[Ayoob]

This site is great for finding out about peak oil, freaking out, and then going somewhere else to find solutions.

For example, when it was time for me to buy a bicycle, I asked questions here. There were some experts on human-powered exotic transportation systems, but nobody answered my questions about bicycles with any specificity. So I went to a bicycle forum and found what I needed to know. I went to a flashlight site and found out what I needed to know about bicycle lights. Then I bought the bike, bags, lights, attachments, and now I'm set. And I ride regularly. It's very enjoyable to ride paved roads with the bike I got.

When I bought a house with a wood burning stove and a fireplace, I knew immediately that peakoil.com was not going to be much of a resource. I immediately went to hearth.com and found everything I needed to know. My fireplace is now set up almost the best way my particular fireplace can be set up, and when I get $1000 to burn I'll improve the woodstove situation. The most important thing is to have wood to burn, so that's my next major project. So far my scrounging has been minimally productive, but I found out where to get the permits to hunt wood in the major forests. This summer should be better than last summer. It took a year of fucking around with cold air returns and box fans to figure out how the previous owner of this house really had the place dialled in for heating the bedrooms and leaving the kitchen/living room cold. The key was to leave the basement bedroom door open and let the vents do all the work. I never would have figured it all out without digging around at hearth.com for a while.

For pressure canning, I went to several sites and bought a couple of books. It's now about five years later and I have some experience with pressure canning. I'm not going to find any specific information here about that. For knives and axes, I went to bladeforums.com. Now I have a decent Fiskars for busting up sticks, a knife for processing cardboard as firestarters, better kitchen knives (I still want better ones), etc.

For chainsaw information, even the guys at hearth.com wound up basically telling me to go to a store and buy something, so there are limits to what you can find out even at very specific forums. Can't be all things to all people. For smoking meat, I found pelletheads.com and learned how to turn $300 into a VERY productive way to store meat. Now I have a couple books on charcuterie and plan on turning my basement storage room into a place to process meat in that way as well.

My old lady wanted to sprout some quinoa. Guess where I didn't go? Right here. Chickens? That's this coming year, and I know a couple places to go to find out enough about chickens that I'll probably be successful with them. For guns, I went to ar15.com. For archery, a number of local resources worked out best. They have an open archery day once a week for a very low rate. I get to use their gear until I decide on what I like the best, and then I can work with a personal archery tutor for that same low rate. That's one of my Spring projects.

My participation here has dropped to almost nothing over the last couple of years. The reason is because I don't find information that is of value to me. I want to know how to make my life better in an era of reduced resources. I want more money. I want to provide my children with education and tools that will enable them to have good lives.

If I magically found myself in your boots, Pops, I would think about using this forum to establish a connection with OTHER forums that have solutions to a world of scarce resources. I would think about Food, Heat, Transportation, Tools, Finance, Gardening, First aid/Medical, Animal husbandry, Careers, Education, Fitness, Books, Hygiene, Water, and Technology. Who are the experts?

I don't think there's much for me to gain by continually rehashing the When Is Peak Oil question a hundred times. That isn't to say that it won't be immensely valuable for a noob, just like it was when I was a noob. This was a very valuable place to me at one time. Thanks to Aaron and Dan for building and hosting it.

My best wishes to you and all, I hope you figure out a way to make this place more productive.

[Loki]

Imagine that, peakoil.com isn't the place to go for information about which light to use while bow hunting from a bicycle

[Ibon]

Ayoob's post sums it up well. An ultimate purpose requires expertise in 5 million solutions. We serve the purpose of initiation, what follows from there happens out in the physical world of solutions.

Being a clearing house for solutions as in the Planning Forums might become a major forum once again when consequences start forcing out the creative juices from the current complacency.

[C8]

I was wondering by PO.com after I saw it on my favorites list and said "what are they up to? its been weeks" and saw this thread.

PO.com does have a purpose- but not the one you think. It is not a non-profit like TOD was with a designed goal of extending education, it is not an .org trying to develop new lifestyles and communities- it is a .com for profit venture which sells ads for software, cheap Chinese brides, etc. all of which make money for the owner (who doesn't have to pay the posters or moderators for their free labor- how capitalistic!). In other words, you have no higher purpose except that which exists in your minds. This is a place for people to post, generate page clicks, generate revenue- this is not a real community. A real community is not filled with anonymous members who come and go in the night, have no obligations to each other, have no shared burdens or real expected cooperation.

if you want a real sense of purpose then go out in the real world and join a real community. Otherwise, just relax and have fun talking to each other (and generate revenue for the owner). Remember, the owner could wipe out this "community" tomorrow- don't let capitalism confuse you with what is real and what is fake. Have a good time here while the site exists and develop real relationships in the real world as well- but don't confuse the two.

[davep]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('C8', 'I') was wondering by PO.com after I saw it on my favorites list and said "what are they up to? its been weeks" and saw this thread.

PO.com does have a purpose- but not the one you think. It is not a non-profit like TOD was with a designed goal of extending education, it is not an .org trying to develop new lifestyles and communities- it is a .com for profit venture which sells ads for software, cheap Chinese brides, etc. all of which make money for the owner (who doesn't have to pay the posters or moderators for their free labor- how capitalistic!). In other words, you have no higher purpose except that which exists in your minds. This is a place for people to post, generate page clicks, generate revenue- this is not a real community. A real community is not filled with anonymous members who come and go in the night, have no obligations to each other, have no shared burdens or real expected cooperation.

if you want a real sense of purpose then go out in the real world and join a real community. Otherwise, just relax and have fun talking to each other (and generate revenue for the owner). Remember, the owner could wipe out this "community" tomorrow- don't let capitalism confuse you with what is real and what is fake. Have a good time here while the site exists and develop real relationships in the real world as well- but don't confuse the two.

[SeaGypsy]

I'm sure Admin is laughing all the way to the bank in his Tesla Roadster. (really???- I know a few folk who run much busier websites who still need a 9-5 job. 10,000 hits a day might earn enough to live just ok in a developing country. This place might get a tenth of that.- Probably just pays the IP rent and coffee.)