should 445 subforum only be accessable for "members only"?

^wouldn't that be a yes? Making this section available only to memebers

Yall dont think it would be good for the hobby to expose the new people to the ever cautious more experienced hobbists? it would be better to let them fend for themselves and have a higher chance of incidence which could make the news? I know it could be a bother, but wouldnt it be public service and a service to the hobby?

I've also been thinking about the odds of parents letting their kids have it. My first thought is no way, but I had over protective parents and I used birthday money to get a 50kv Tesla coil at age 12 from Frey Scientific. Wasnt until I was older that I learned the stinky smell it makes is from ozone which can melt your lungs. Luckily for me I have an aversion to bad smells so no damage When I got in to lasers though the FIRST thing I did was start searching for safety info.

While the initial media backlash may be bad, maybe it will be enough to educate parents, keep it out of kids hands, and when the initial attention dies down the hobby will be better of for it. Though I agree it would have been for the best if it had never gotten out, their affiliate program made that an inevitability. People have been hyping it up and posting their referral links all over the place!!!

Gryphon said:

^wouldn't that be a yes? Making this section available only to memebers

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No I don't think it should be made accessible to members exclusively. Those who used to just lurk and read will now joint and flood the boards with redundant questions. It won't make any difference. We've already seen a spike in new members who just join to jump into a GB. If we close the section nonmembers they'll join just to have access to it, why? There isn't any point to it.

-Tony

^That's why I said it needs to be INVISIBLE to guests as well as only accessible by members.

Restricting pertinent information from newcomers will accomplish nothing but fuel ignorance and dangerous behavior in no way will it make the hobby safer.

By keeping the sub-forum or at the very least its safety implications available to everyone who wishes to learn, we do our small part in promoting the safe use of laser pointers and thusly hopefully save someones eyesight.

The era of the 445nm has brought with it a shit-storm, which will not end any time soon. Censorship and the limiting of information is not the way to handle this matter (or any other matter for that matter...).

If we're that scared that what we do and make is of such a dubious or illegal nature, or that the nature of the information we provide is dangerous and problematic, why do it at all? Are we to also censor Sam's Laser FAQ? Are we to leave the publicly available information to be distributed by the like of Kipkay and such?

How many of you benefited from this forum being open? I know that I, for one, encountered Kipkay's tutorial before this forum, with his hokey maglite burner using a resistor. I then searched for other attempts to create such lasers and encountered this forum, which, among other things, had many suggestions to not use Kipkay's method. I'm sure this kind of pattern played out for many others.

Perhaps where the real liability comes in is from the shops and group buy since actual lasers or parts are being exchanged, not just information. Whether or not hiding those forums would help things in that manner is debatable, but I believe having these purchase-sources "close" to the people who can best advise in their use is still best.

ElektroFreak said:

^That's why I said it needs to be INVISIBLE to guests as well as only accessible by members.

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vbullitin can easily do that as phpbb can :beer:

brtaman said:

Restricting pertinent information from newcomers will accomplish nothing but fuel ignorance and dangerous behavior in no way will it make the hobby safer.

By keeping the sub-forum or at the very least its safety implications available to everyone who wishes to learn, we do our small part in promoting the safe use of laser pointers and thusly hopefully save someones eyesight.

The era of the 445nm has brought with it a shit-storm, which will not end any time soon. Censorship and the limiting of information is not the way to handle this matter (or any other matter for that matter...).

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Generally I agree with you 110%. The only reason I suggest that we hide the class4 blue info at least for now is because of the shit-storm you just mentioned. It could become a legal expense for the forum admin regardless of whether the reasons behind the legal actions are valid or not. It costs money to hire lawyers to defend yourself from unjust charges. Better to keep these sections members-only than to have them shut down like over on PL.

why in the hell would you do that? it draws alot of attention to the forum and avery can use the traffic. traffic generates click on ads... clicks on ads generate revenue which help keep the forum up and running...

Gryphon said:

^wouldn't that be a yes? Making this section available only to memebers

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that would be a no... making it available to members only will load the DB down with new members only registering to look at it and bring in ALOT of newbies... are you gonna answer all the newbs questions?

^read the above post. The potential threat of legal action trumps profit. Lawyers have apparently already contacted Pls admin because there is no more 445nm talk over there. Could be BS, but on the chance that legal action is pending it could possibly save Avery a bit of trouble.

ndrew2505 said:

why in the hell would you do that? it draws alot of attention to the forum and avery can use the traffic. traffic generates click on ads... clicks on ads generate revenue which help keep the forum up and running...



that would be a no... making it available to members only will load the DB down with new members only registering to look at it and bring in ALOT of newbies... are you gonna answer all the newbs questions?

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This is a very good way of looking at it. Think about all the new kiddies which will register so they can look at stuff. Once they're registered, already logged in, well hell, what's a post or two gonna hurt?

if they dont get the info from here then they will get it from somewhere else... before you pass out any info why not suggest reading up on the safe side of things and teaching them the right way. just like us when we started out... what we do with the knowledge is our own business but at least we know the right way...

If people come here looking for 445 info, they won't see it here until they register. So that can help filter out those who are just googling "Laser Light Sabre", and those who genuinely want to learn about lasers, and will register and then find they info they are looking for.

We want those who want to learn about lasers. Not those who are out just to buy them. We as a forum, are a source of information, not just a lasers consumers consultant firm.

well if they want to buy them tell the to learn to search.... DUH! isnt that what most of you do anyway? seems kind of like a pointless thread to me..


http://www.justfuckinggoogleit.com/

ndrew2505 said:

well if they want to buy them tell the to learn to search.... DUH! isnt that what most of you do anyway? seems kind of like a pointless thread to me..


Just Fucking Google It

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445nm lasers - Google Search

Hey, what do ya know, Jayrob cutting a match.