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uk.sci.weather (UK Weather) (uk.sci.weather) For the discussion of daily weather events, chiefly affecting the UK and adjacent parts of Europe, both past and predicted. The discussion is open to all, but contributions on a practical scientific level are encouraged. |
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#21
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In article , dated Wed, 1 Mar
2006, Philip Eden wrote Not quite a birthday, well I've only been here for a year, and have learnt more about the weather than I thought possible, including how to photograph it. The rare trolls are far less frequent than in other newsgroups and seem to be treated here in a thoroughly grown-up way. Thank you and roll on the next ten years! -- Kate B PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne if you want to reply personally |
#22
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![]() "Philip Eden" philipATweatherHYPHENukDOTcom wrote in message ... Not quite a birthday, but today marks the 10th anniversary of this newsgroup's conception when I submitted a "request for discussion" and the proposed newsgroup charter to usenet uk-hierarchy admin. This was the culmination of several weeks of toying with the idea, discovering how it was done, talking to the people who had set up other newsgroups, and so on. Had I known how much aggro that creation process would bring, I would never have started! I hope that you will excuse me if I become ever-so-slightly proprietorial ... it is, after all, the first time in ten years. Firstly I need to acknowledge the half-dozen or so who readily and enthusiastically lobbied for the fast-track (oxymoron, that ... it took six weeks!) creation of the newsgroup. And the biggest bouquets go, of course, to Martin for creating and maintaining the FAQ pages so effectively. It's funny to recall that, way back in 1996, I feared that the group might be a damp squib. There were days in the first few months when no-one posted at all, and six posts in 24 hours was regarded as busy. The Met Office quickly discouraged its employees from contributing, although I was never quite sure whether that was because the newsgroup was created by that evil Philip Eden and therefore must be inherently evil itself, or just because they simply feared the freedom it provided. Whichever, they still actively discourage involvement, which I think says more about them than it does about us. And more power to the dozens of MO folk who do post here but still feel the need to do so anonymously. Exeter, evidently, is still a Warsaw Pact country. But I wonder if I am alone in thinking that uk.sci.weather's best days are behind us. People come and people go, but we have lost many regulars in the last 2 or 3 years, and several of them have let me know the reason for their departure. I almost followed the same route last year for the same reason. Others prefer to use their kill-files. It is not the village idiots who irritate, it is the pub bores. Just one or two ... ego-trippers, grandstanders, self-obsessed, self-justifying, verbally incontinent, and like most pub bores they probably won't even recognise themselves from this description. That they might be widely kill-filed would astonish them. This might, therefore, be a good opportunity for everyone to re-read the newsgroup's charter. It is absolutely not a list of rules which must be obeyed; rather, it is a set of guidelines whose objective is the happy continuance of this newsgroup: quote This group is essentially for the discussion of daily weather events, chiefly affecting the UK and adjacent parts of Europe, both past and predicted. The discussion is open to all, but contributions on a practical scientific level are encouraged. It may also contain postings of observations during interesting weather episodes. The group is expected to be patronised by both amateurs and professionals (including academics), but it is primarily for weather enthusiasts rather than research scientists. Any discussion of climate issues should be from a scientific standpoint and not a political (environmental-activist) one. unquote By all means criticise me or my words, but please be constructive in your criticism. And if the end result is that uk.sci.weather returns to its best, and old friends turn up again, I shall be happy. And I promise no more proprietorial throwing my weight around for another ten years. Philip :-) Very nicely said and well put. Well done for setting up this ng. It provides a great service to all those with an interest in the weather and its related issues. Here's to another 10 years. Regards, Gavin. |
#23
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Well done to Philip for his hard work in getting this group "up and
running": Philip, you can be justly proud of the results despite your reservations. You are quite right that in the early years, the MO senior management were very 'anti' any of us contributing to the newsgroup - I was twice 'unofficially' officially approached by such gentlemen who made it clear that my name turning up on the group was not welcome - and I only touched on non-controversial aspects of the work. In fact, rather than any conspiracy to gag us, I got the distinct impression that they simply didn't understand what Usenet & the Internet was all about; we got a taste of this a few years later when an edict went out that Met Office web pages should not be linked directly, but hot-links should only drag you to the home page. This didn't last long as we pointed out that this went against the spirit of the Internet. In later years, as Will has written, wiser counsel prevailed. In a small way, we have been influential though I doubt you would get anyone in Exeter to admit it ;-) We've come a long way in the past 10 years, both within this newsgroup and more generally with respect to the IT & the meteorological 'world'. The group has grown, and from it has risen a whole spectrum of resources that anyone with any interest in meteorology can use. Most obviously, Philip's own summaries, both posted on the newsgroup & in much more detail, on his website. These are truly superb and anyone who used to subscribe to the old DWR/MWR series from the Meteorological Office will recognise just what an achievement they are. Then there are the many personal web sites that have sprung up over the years, some by members of the group, which are a credit to all of us & of world-wide use: the FAQ pages alone generate a huge number of listings in many search engines, and if you type the phrase "weather FAQ" in Google, it comes on page 1 (of many), & thus draws users around the world not only to that source, but to members' sites linked from the FAQ - this isn't just my doing, this is a tribute to all here! Within the group, Colin's daily summaries, (& occasional help with language translation), Darren's daily model assessment (wolves permitting!), Ian's superb photographs & advice, Keith's daily SYNOP summaries (on the web site), which I know have given him much heartache in the decoding & many others too numerous to mention. These alone would justify the existence of our little community - which is pleasing to see spreads outwards from the UK to other areas in Europe and beyond. I think we can be *all* proud of the last 10 years, and look forward to many more - ups and downs no doubt - but always with a core of common sense and wonderment regarding our natural environment. Martin. -- FAQ & Glossary for uk.sci.weather at:- http://homepage.ntlworld.com/booty.weather/uswfaqfr.htm and http://booty.org.uk/booty.weather/metindex.htm |
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