Just two questions and a suggestion (is it needed?).
Will all the postings on this board be saved and made browsable on dev.net?
Wich kind of archive system will bw used?

The suggestion:

i think that filtering all the topics and indexing the posts would be of great usefulness.
Instead of searching some posts by subject or some words you could also search them by defined categories, so everyone could make himself a "technical library" from them.
What do you think about it?
Please ask me if there is some points obscure (i agree i'm not hte best at explaining my ideas)...

Ras

------------------

1. Fraid not, the Dev.net boards are 100% seperate from the ASW boards.
2. A file sharing system similar to the ambrosia one, only with more information for each file.

I agree that your ideas would be an excellent idea, but I think the implementation would be too hard. Although the site is run using PHP, I'm not a PHP master, and the only way I could think of how to implement this indexing idea would for each poster to specify the different subjects when they posted using something like a (subject) (/subject) tag. This would be an added chore, I don't think this will be present at EV-Dev.net in the near future.

------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know we have something special for you at
Birdland this evening. A recording for Blue Note Records...
Let's take it back to the concrete streets, original beats and real live MC's...
"We find it hard to strike a good balance between reality and fun. The reason being? Reality is often not fun." - _pipeline

Well, it would be possible to grab all these posts and reindex them, but it wouldnt be worth it. To do that you would either have to get the database files off of andrew or crawl every post on this board gaining the info. While it is possible to do this, it would take ages and sap a lot of ambrosia's bandwidth.

As for adding a subject, just add an extra field in the SQL table and add a lookup table for the IDs, then place a popup menu for the subject.

------------------
--sitharus
(url="http://"http://www.evp.f2s.com/chelp/")Carracho Help(/url)
(url="http://"mailto:sitharus@ureach.com")mailto:sitharus@ureach.com(/url)sitharus@ureach.com

Quote

Originally posted by the Necromicon:
**
I agree that your ideas would be an excellent idea, but I think the implementation would be too hard. Although the site is run using PHP, I'm not a PHP master, and the only way I could think of how to implement this indexing idea would for each poster to specify the different subjects when they posted using something like a (subject) (/subject) tag. This would be an added chore, I don't think this will be present at EV-Dev.net in the near future.
**

Well, in fact not too hard. I'm not a PHP master too, but i work everyday with DBs and indexed information. It's not too hard, on condition that you can import datas on a automated basis. Then it is necessary to give subjects to every record (having edited a stop-list before). It is not so long after all (a pair of months should be enough for 6-7 thousand recs.). Of course, since the ownership of theese records belongs to Ambrosia, this is "another pair of sleeves".
By the way, at wich point is the work with the site?
Ras

------------------

Hey, Necromicon! Do you check your mail? I emailed you several days ago!

Thanks.

------------------
Gentleman at arms.
(url="http://"http://stevdevelopers.tripod.com/")Star Trek: Escape Velocity(/url)
"My definition of an educated man is the fellow who knows the right thing to do at the time it has to be done. ... You can be sincere and still be stupid."
-- Charles F. Kettering, American inventor (1876-1958).

Quote

Originally posted by Harbinger:
**Hey, Necromicon! Do you check your mail? I emailed you several days ago!

Thanks.

**

hrm..no, I don't think I did.

------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know we have something special for you at
Birdland this evening. A recording for Blue Note Records...
Let's take it back to the concrete streets, original beats and real live MC's...
"We find it hard to strike a good balance between reality and fun. The reason being? Reality is often not fun." - _pipeline

Quote

Originally posted by blackhole:
**Well, it would be possible to grab all these posts and reindex them, but it wouldnt be worth it. To do that you would either have to get the database files off of andrew or crawl every post on this board gaining the info. While it is possible to do this, it would take ages and sap a lot of ambrosia's bandwidth.

As for adding a subject, just add an extra field in the SQL table and add a lookup table for the IDs, then place a popup menu for the subject.

**

As this board is the single best source of info on EV development, I think archiving and indexing it would be worthwhile. Then the information could be Searched semi-usefully.

Instead of a subject for each post, perhaps assign them keywords that are linked to a thesaurus. User enters word to search for. System queries thesaurus for related words. System queries database for articles containing matches for user words and related words.

There are only about 16,000 posts on this board, and the HTML is very regular so a perl program could take it apart.

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by magicianeer:
There are only about 16,000 posts on this board, and the HTML is very regular so a perl program could take it apart.

Yes, but the problem is bandwidth. Every internet transaction requires data to be sent between each end, which takes bandwidth. Grabbing all the posts on this board would take plenty of that, and the program would have to cope with multiple pages etc. The only feasible method would be to get the database off of ambrosia, which would be very easy to do.

Another problem could be privacy and copyright issues - the posts on this board are officially copyright by the poster I believe, so you'd have to get everyones consent to do such a thing.

------------------
--sitharus
(url="http://"http://www.evp.f2s.com/chelp/")Carracho Help(/url)
(url="http://"mailto:sitharus@ureach.com")mailto:sitharus@ureach.com(/url)sitharus@ureach.com

Quote

Originally posted by blackhole:
**
Another problem could be privacy and copyright issues - the posts on this board are officially copyright by the poster I believe, so you'd have to get everyones consent to do such a thing.

**

true, just imagining tracking down everyone who has ever posted in dev corner gives me a head ache.

------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you know we have something special for you at
Birdland this evening. A recording for Blue Note Records...
Let's take it back to the concrete streets, original beats and real live MC's...
"We find it hard to strike a good balance between reality and fun. The reason being? Reality is often not fun." - _pipeline

Quote

Originally posted by magicianeer:
**

Quote

Originally posted by blackhole:
**Well, it would be possible to grab all these posts and reindex them, but it wouldnt be worth it. To do that you would either have to get the database files off of andrew or crawl every post on this board gaining the info. While it is possible to do this, it would take ages and sap a lot of ambrosia's bandwidth.

As for adding a subject, just add an extra field in the SQL table and add a lookup table for the IDs, then place a popup menu for the subject.

**

As this board is the single best source of info on EV development, I think archiving and indexing it would be worthwhile. Then the information could be Searched semi-usefully.

Instead of a subject for each post, perhaps assign them keywords that are linked to a thesaurus. User enters word to search for. System queries thesaurus for related words. System queries database for articles containing matches for user words and related words.

There are only about 16,000 posts on this board, and the HTML is very regular so a perl program could take it apart.
**

Hey Magicianeer, do you work in the information retrivial field?

In any case: the problem about privacy is real, this is the reason why i'd opted for a digested form of DB. Of course this aggravates the problem with copyright. In any case it could be helpful to take a poll among members about this privacy & copyright issue. another solution could be editing all posts and then cancelling (on request by the authors) when needed... ...i wonder (wander? ) this would be particularly complicate.
Ras

------------------

Actually, the best thing you could do is all register EV:N when it comes out, this will enable Ambrosia to get a new server and reactiveate the search function

------------------
--sitharus
(url="http://"http://www.evp.f2s.com/chelp/")Carracho Help(/url)
(url="http://"mailto:sitharus@ureach.com")mailto:sitharus@ureach.com(/url)sitharus@ureach.com

Quote

Originally posted by rasputiza:
**Hey Magicianeer, do you work in the information retrivial field?
**

Sort of. My company, Enjazz, Inc. (www.enjazz.com) renovates websites, adding content management and advanced e-commerce functions. This usually involves downloading the entire existing website, ripping out the HTML formatting, restructuring the data and stuffing it into a database.

I have various tools which automate most of this, and would make short work of ambrosia's webboard

(This message has been edited by magicianeer (edited 07-18-2001).)

I thought that these posts were also copyright of the recipient?

------------------
Signed,
Brian Schack
"DOS Computers, manufactured by millions of companies, are by far the most popular, with about 70 million machines in use worldwide. Macintosh fans, on the other hand, may note that cockroaches are far more numerous than humans, and that numbers alone do not denote a higher life form."
--The New York Times, November 26, 1991 (also quoted in MacAddict 4)

Quote

Originally posted by Ellmist:
I thought that these posts were also copyright of the recipient?

Not afaik, but I'll check. I'm pretty sure the posts are all copyright the poster, so you'd need their permission. I still think the best way to go is to all register EV:N when it comes out so Ambrosia can reenable the search function.

------------------
--sitharus
(url="http://"http://www.evp.f2s.com/chelp/")Carracho Help(/url)
(url="http://"mailto:sitharus@ureach.com")mailto:sitharus@ureach.com(/url)sitharus@ureach.com

Quote

Originally posted by blackhole:
**Not afaik, but I'll check. I'm pretty sure the posts are all copyright the poster, so you'd need their permission. I still think the best way to go is to all register EV:N when it comes out so Ambrosia can reenable the search function.
**

If only this beta testing had began earlier :rolleyes:, ok, ok i'm joking: Atmos work deserves really much more recognition, indeed!
Ras

By the way, Blackhole: does your post mean that Ambrosia is going to really implement (or simply reactivate) the search function?

------------------

Quote

Originally posted by Ellmist:
I thought that these posts were also copyright of the recipient?

I don't think it says anything about copyright in the web board guidelines, so therefore under the laws of most civilised countries the posts on these boards are the property of the people who wrote them.

Quote

Originally posted by rasputiza:
By the way, Blackhole: does your post mean that Ambrosia is going to really implement (or simply reactivate) the search function?

Andrew Welch has stated that he will reactivate the search function as soon as it becomes practical to do so.

------------------
David Arthur
(url="http://"http://members.aol.com/darthur1/talon-ev/")Talon Plugin for the original Escape Velocity(/url)

Quote

Originally posted by David Arthur:
**Andrew Welch has stated that he will reactivate the search function as soon as it becomes practical to do so.
**

So, dudes, stop messing around with pointless topics and write some useful and meaningful stuff now!
Ras

------------------