Laser Misery

[Helios]

There is plenty of information out there. Anyone who is capable of finding this forum, registering, and then starting a thread asking for this information is more than capable of spending a few hours searching and reading.

 

[rhd]

From what I can make out, this community prides itself on civility of discourse and responsible conduct. But here, within just a few posts people were outright calling this guy a liar and inadequate. We can do better.

Key words:
and "responsible conduct"

IMO, responsible conduct is fulfilled by discouraging experimentation by those who state goals like the desire to create a laser that "will start fires", and claim to "need it by tomorrow".

That is A: someone who presently lacks an understanding and/or any wisdom regarding just how dangerous these lasers are,

And B: someone who wants to be up and running overnight, before actually attaining said wisdom through reading and research.

 

[notahardwareguy]

Sorry but I have to go along with Trevor on this one. Not saying that 802Laser is anything other than what he claims but it is a bit strange for a “journalist” to have such a short deadline and to come into a user community forum asking for such hand-holding to do something that he is supposed to write a tutorial about and (don’t forget) can cause injury if not done with proper respect for the results.

His purpose may be perfectly legitimate but without spending the time to review this forum and other information sites on the use, background, and construction of lasers, you are potentially handing a loaded gun to a kid. A proper laser construction article would require at least a couple of weeks of research and some basic electronic skills, along with acquiring the necessary components. If all you need to do is “construct” a laser, there are plenty of kits available as sites like o-like. Now, if instead my purpose was to shine a bright light on a possibly dangerous and unregulated hobby that could cause injury to myself and others, coming to a laser forum and pushing that helpful community for some quick “assistance” in building a burning laser, that would be a great way to end my article.

Not that my experience is typical but before even assembling my first laser (so far just the parts, no host, my DX order finally came in today) I read through a number of the beginner articles referenced on this site and others, read through a couple of weeks of posts in the safety, build, red and general forums and purchased some safety equipment. That would be the way to go about writing an article on how to build a laser…

 

[Shadowspawn]

I agree with the caution that Trevor and others are urging, and the safety reasons for such caution.

That said, the guy might be truthful and legit. In the last few years, the whole journalism field, including technical journalism, has collapsed pretty badly. Many journalists who used to have full-time salaried jobs are just free-lancing now, which is probably the case for many or most who came out of school in the last few years.

It would not be surprising at all, for a free-lancer to get an assignment from some fat-assed Editor saying "Give me a burning laser-building article by Monday and I'll pay you for it".

The demands of such an Editor, however, is not an excuse for LPF giving out advice that might be harmful to the journalist or his readers or the LPF.

I think that the LPF community is reacting with appropriate skepticism and caution, to a request that might be sincere, and truthful, and misguided.

 

[jongilluley]

i personally think this thread is great and if it gets reported then brilliant... imagine the story...

'i went onto laserpointerforums.com looking for help as a newbie and quickly got told there would be no help as its dangerous and not what the site 'does'.....'

i for one love this site since joining and love that all us laser users are all about safety first and then enjoying the lasers.

 

[notahardwareguy]

i personally think this thread is great and if it gets reported then brilliant... imagine the story...

'i went onto laserpointerforums.com looking for help as a newbie and quickly got told there would be no help as its dangerous and not what the site 'does'.....'

i for one love this site since joining and love that all us laser users are all about safety first and then enjoying the lasers.

I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or not but your post is a bit off of the mark.

He was not "not offered help", he was just not offered the help he wanted, which was how to build a burning laser in a day. This person presented him or her self as a journalist but his initial post and early responses contradicted that assertion as he (or she) did not act like a journalist (not quite true, they acted like a tabloid journalist). I for one am glad that he was not just handed a "how to" by the forum. If that was really all he wanted, there are plenty of places on the web to read that and/or watch a video on that. What he received here was a healthy amount of skepticism and some advice as to how to proceed in a safe and through way. If his intentions are/were on the up and up, he should be appreciative of the respect that the members of this forum treat this hobby. If he is not, then he did not get his "expose". Either way, a good thing.