Help help help

Just now we got a new member 'watt' here

This the PM I am sending him (or her) NOW before they make thier first post-

- SO please, ALL my friends, compose your own version and keep it handy to paste into PM sent to brand new members as THEY will very likely NOT know what can happen.. do this every day (or more) it would be great if these new members got lots of PM regarding this problem

& just go ahead and 'friend' them too..as I think coming on too hard may not always be good BUT if you come at them in a friendly manner this should work..

IMHO very few members with any large number of posts SHOULD already be informed so its the new members we need to contact first-- also by reading what some post you can get a feel for the new and UNDERIMFORMED MEMBERS-thier common questions are about 'burning' and how far thier laser will reach-- some arrested thought that because they seemed to see the 'end' of the beam that it cannot reach farther OR because they thought they bought a <5 mW laser that is ts legal to do anyhting they want .. duh!


THEY are the ones most likely to allow some other fool handle thier laser and we ALL know that lasing outdoors at night is awesome and they may not even think about how bad that idea can become--

here is my stock PM-- please make you own and keep it handy
update edit 11/19
I have shortened this a lot -made it less intimidating.



"WELCOME new member-- glad to have you here and to get a chance to give you some sound advice-

please consider doing all these things..

#1 and the most important-- NEVER EVER lase people- vehicles or aircraft-- no matter how far away they seem to be- this (in USA), if done intentionally, is now a Federal Offence-- and they dont play around.

Some must think that doing these things is a fun prank-- BUT are shocked when they get arrested and sent to prison with no early release. And a big fine--so it is very important to the forum and also you that you go to laserpointersafety.com and spend a few hours reading all of what you see there-- like a young girl getting two years for lasing helicopters (yeah two f them) with her boyfriend who got 6 years...you DO NOT want to see your photo and name at LPS.com as you would be also banned for life from this forum.. Part of the punishment for several was not ever being allowed to own another laser...

so never lase when in doubt and NEVER hand your lasers over to any idiots as YOU will be more responsible for what they do than they will.

IF you are unsure about making a nice intro just go to the welcome section and read the intros made by others--

Each section at LPF has threads that stay at the top called 'stickies' they remain there BECAUSE they are very important and so its a wise thing to go to each section and read most of the stickies.

Sorry for the bad link--just search .. laserpointersafety.com
There is a ton of info there-

*******************
ALL stickies at thewWelcome board are important-- so they all are a must-read as this will save you lots of grief later--
Always do lots of searches BEFORE you ask questions at the forums-
Very few questions are not answered by searching-- If you dont get a good result then just change your search terms unti you do ...also google search to find answers off forum. And Dr Sam for everything laser with much about the history-and thtioe largest collection of info
on gas lasers

ANYONE OWNING A POINTER OR LARGER!!read this!! < click here

^^ READ every word in this thread- click ALL the links--this will save you much trouble and maybe even your LIFE-- a laser dot aimed at law enforcement CAN get you killed!!-- they know that many lasers are attached to firearms.. so they are entirely 'legal' to put a bullet in YOU.....no questions asked.

BTW any laser even just 1 mW is illegal when aimed at peeps- cars and planes/helis ETC..jjst dont do it--

Hope you enjoy the forums and feel free to PM me anytime-- hak


__________________


so IF they get just one PM on this from us.. that is great

BUT IF they get many--

much better IMHO- advice from many always seems more valid than from just one member--so go to LPF home page --scroll to the very bottom and look for the newet member NOW-- do this every time you come here and again each day before you leave-- That is the best time to get them on-board with this important topic-- we might even save the life of an idiot who got shot because he (intentionally or by accident) aimed a laser at law enforcement or some other fool with a gun---


I will see if there is some way we can get the names of EVERY new member on a daily basis as when another joins we have lost the one who joined just before..


I am very happy to +6 rep all who join me in this endevour.

BUT do it becasue its the right thing to do----Len

I think this is a good idea, helps gets the word around about safety & lasers!

-Alex

Re: -edited--Ideas about dealing with new members- ..etc

EDIT 4/2016

LOTS of good posts and points- read and take from this thread whatever you like. BUT your opinion and post will get more 'reads' at any of the Stickies already in this section. so- no need to bump this one-- thanks all the same-
no sticky-

maybe you can copy/paste stuff from this one to add to the dialog going on in the stickied threads--
______---bottom line---
IMHO-- any attempts to educate or do something (rather than nothing) for the average new member- likely young --with young friends-- equally important than safety glasses..



hope you send 'watt' a friendly PM--
and when you find other newcomers post thier usernames in this thread --hk

You become banned for life? That's a bit overkill, seeing how serious it is, banning won't do any good. Second, how would they know if you rejoined the forum 5 years later after realizing what you've done and repenting. Is it a perma ban or can you appeal to Avery?

hakzaw1 said:

TY GL
hope you send 'watt' a friendly PM--
and when you find other newcomers post thier usernames in this thread --hk

Click to expand...

Will do! This is how is my format, anyone can copy it if they feel they like it

Hey watt,

I wanted to welcome you to LPF! First things you want to do is take a look at these threads, which will tell you anything from General Laser safety to how this forum works:

http://laserpointerforums.com/f37/how-get-along-accepted-lpf-82184.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f37/read-before-posting-lpf-forum-etiquette-50917.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/learn-mistakes-can-happen-anybody-50044.html
http://laserpointerforums.com/f44/complete-guide-owning-lasers-please-read-82066.html

Laser safety is taken VERY seriously on LPF so it's best to read up on lasers & how damaging they can be instead of thinking any power is safe! One thing to note:

405 & 650 lasers since being located far from the human peak visibility will APPEAR dimmer then green & blue lasers so even if it looks dim it's enough to blind you, be careful!

If you have any questions or just want to chat just hit me up & I'll get back to you ASAP!

-Alex

If I just started as a new member here, Im not sure how much I would appreciate that. I understand the good will and intention, and trying to explain that lasers really aren't toys. But if I was just bombarded with PM's... that would be very annoying.


Don't get me wrong, I'm just giving my opinions. I think this is a good effort to try and inform people. I just don't like having stuff shoved down my throat (which it may seem like that if a single member gets 10+ PM's regarding the same thing)


EDIT: I do like the way Alex formatted his by the way

I can understand Flutterpies concern about being bombed with too many PM's, but a couple or so are probably a good thing. Also, maybe an auto message with those links could be sent from admin for each new member? If I remember correctly, an auto message is already sent but could be added to.

Because of past sins, I'm concerned about using my laser outside at all for fear someone will report me even if I have done nothing wrong. One night I was pointing my laser into the night sky and no aircraft were anywhere in sight, yet within a few minutes a police helicopter slowly flew towards me, I assume, hoping I would laze them, I shut down as soon as I saw them and didn't go out again that night, then a few nights later the same thing, I'm out there having fun pointing at stars and another helicopter slowly creeps into my neighborhood. Persistent buggers begging for an idiot to laze them or just coincidence, either way, if I see an aircraft coming my way, I'm shutting down. Why? I know law enforcement, I used to work for federal law enforcement and they too often actually enjoy busting people, even to the point of yelping out in glee when they do, so don't give them the chance.

FlutterPie, I agree with your signature.

FlutterPie said:

EDIT: I do like the way Alex formatted his by the way

Click to expand...

Thanks

-Alex

FlutterPie said:

If I just started as a new member here, Im not sure how much I would appreciate that. I understand the good will and intention, and trying to explain that lasers really aren't toys. But if I was just bombarded with PM's... that would be very annoying.


Don't get me wrong, I'm just giving my opinions. I think this is a good effort to try and inform people. I just don't like having stuff shoved down my throat (which it may seem like that if a single member gets 10+ PM's regarding the same thing)


EDIT: I do like the way Alex formatted his by the way

Click to expand...

sorry Buckeye this is bigger than you- and far too important to let petty annoyences bother anyone-

you can do what these two new members have done block all incoming PMs
not sure how the rest of us feel about that but as i said its not important --

I kinda wonder why someone would join and block incoming PMs.

Why not just stay a 'lurker' and not join at all .. not that it matters or that i care--
Its clear that somebody needs to get informed as we still get an average daily report of 10 incidences per day of lases being AIMED at aircraft THAT has to stop and stop NOW --

shad6786 has blocked PMs so dont try

Thanks Hakzaw1 for the post!

I think I may take this intro pm and make my own version of it.

Though, it would be a nice idea if there was an automatic pm for mew members.

Automatic is good as it happens every time BUT a PM is Personal. .even if it is a stock post of your own design. I don't buy the excuse most use about how they did not know it was wrong. I guess they (the Law) will and should keep throwing the book until that gets the attention of more people.


If LPF were some other kind of forum--say for archery-- people who like to target shoot-hunt-compete etc THE last thing the 'membership' would tolerate would be behavior that brings bad press involving bows and arrows. LIke some idiots shooting pets-- or killing just for 'fun' or doing vandalism.. you might say this is not a fair comparison but somebody is going to get killed and a laser will be involved.

it will likely be two road rage idiots one with a gun the other with a laser. And I bet booze will be involved. Or worse.


IF you want to send a message to the new members that speaks a thousand words ...JUST send them this FBI poster below.

What is the sentencing for minors (typically)?

Just giving my 2 cents here.

While I think that laser safety is indeed very important, and definitely should be spread, I (*personally*) think things are getting a bit out of hand. I mean, bombarding new members with multiple PM's, asking them to read each & every word of several stickies & threads? These threads are not always that easy to read, with information sometimes spread over multiple posts & pages with lots of chatter in between.
I agree with Flutterpie that it would probably deter people (and no, not just people who don't care about the rules, but also serious persons who are just scared away by all the attention & passive agression).

Idea: Great. I'm just concerned about the execution.
I think that one clear, well-written, concise 'statement'/safety briefing / sticky thread / pm will be much more effective.

Then again, I'm relatively new here and haven't had much experience in the online laser safety world.

hakzaw1 said:

Automatic is good as it happens every time BUT a PM is Personal. .even if it is a stock post of your own design. I don't buy the excuse most use about how they did not know it was wrong. I guess they (the Law) will and should keep throwing the book until that gets the attention of more people.


If LPF were some other kind of forum--say for archery-- people who like to target shoot-hunt-compete etc THE last thing the 'membership' would tolerate would be behavior that brings bad press involving bows and arrows. LIke some idiots shooting pets-- or killing just for 'fun' or doing vandalism.. you might say this is not a fair comparison but somebody is going to get killed and a laser will be involved.

it will likely be two road rage idiots one with a gun the other with a laser. And I bet booze will be involved. Or worse.


IF you want to send a message to the new members that speaks a thousand words ...JUST send them this FBI poster below.

Click to expand...

Good point. I guess people would listen to a private message more than an automatic one that can't be replied to.

So before we send a PM to a new member we have to check here if he has already got one in this topic, right? And if not, we send one to him and then post his name here?
Don't get me wrong I just read the first post in a very fast manner. Sorry.
By the way this is an awesome idea, I'm in. :gj:

I just sent a PM to ISISDOREY, don't send him anymore.