Is this NG dead?

[Alan Browne]

[floffy]

On Sat, 24 Feb 2018 13:48:53 -0500, Alan Browne <bitb...@blackhole.com> wrote:

yes its

all the Garbige prime here

[-hh]

On Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 1:49:25 PM UTC-5, Alan Browne wrote:
> [newsgroup dead?]

Yes, unfortunately so.

Mostly, a product of changing times, where the subsequent generation wasn't
being introduced to USENET (typically in college), but went to more web-based
media & social media.

With the loss of "new blood", topics became stale and the group shrank, and age
is catching up with a lot of us too - passing interests and/or health. A few of the
old time participants you knew have since passed away (Mike Grey, Lee Bell).

If you can tolerate some of the nonsense, <scubaboard.com> is a place to go
for info, although I've been finding <reddit.com>, while smaller, to be a bit better.
On reddit, one doesn't see big chunks of threads get "accidentally deleted" just
because those posts were embarrassing to the board's owner.

-hh

[Grumman-581]

On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 4:31:39 AM UTC-6, -hh wrote:

<snip>

I've always preferred USENET over the various web forums for the simple reason that there was not some site owner who could sensor you if you did not conform to his particular beliefs on some matter.

But, you're right -- without the new blood being introduced to USENET in college and us old farts dying off, that seems to dwindle the participation (other than the spammers).

[-hh]

Grumman-581 wrote:
> On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 4:31:39 AM UTC-6, -hh wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> I've always preferred USENET over the various web forums for the simple reason
> that there was not some site owner who could sensor you if you did not conform
> to his particular beliefs on some matter.

Indeed. I recall a conversation on Scubaboard where I basically told the owner-operator
that his premise was demonstrably wrong. A day later, a ~dozen pages of that exact
thread “accidentally” got deleted. The only copy that survived was some pages I still
had opened for cross-referencing, which I then PDF’ed.

> But, you're right -- without the new blood being introduced to USENET in college and
> us old farts dying off, that seems to dwindle the participation (other than the spammers).

Unfortunately for scuba diving, it has also become a less affordable sport, so there’s fewer
in the next generation participating to even seek out online discussion groups.


-hh

[Edward]

I still check every morning. And I still appreciate all I've learned
and the folks who took the time to give advice over the twenty five or
thirty years this newsgroup has been around. Thanks to both of you and
Airhog.

[-hh]

On Sunday, October 27, 2019 at 5:58:10 AM UTC-4, Edward wrote:
> On 10/26/2019 3:08 PM, -hh wrote:
> > Grumman-581 wrote:
> >> On Wednesday, February 28, 2018 at 4:31:39 AM UTC-6, -hh wrote:
> >>
> >> <snip>
> >>
> >> I've always preferred USENET over the various web forums
> >> for the simple reason that there was not some site owner
> >> who could sensor you if you did not conform to his
> >> particular beliefs on some matter.
> >
> > Indeed. I recall a conversation on Scubaboard where I
> > basically told the owner-operator that his premise was
> > demonstrably wrong. A day later, a ~dozen pages of that
> > exact thread “accidentally” got deleted. The only copy
> > that survived was some pages I still had opened for
> > cross-referencing, which I then PDF’ed.
> >
> >> But, you're right -- without the new blood being introduced
> >> to USENET in college and us old farts dying off, that seems
> >> to dwindle the participation (other than the spammers).
> >
> > Unfortunately for scuba diving, it has also become a less
> > affordable sport, so there’s fewer in the next generation
> > participating to even seek out online discussion groups.
>
>

> I still check every morning.

I'm using Google Groups, so its not as automatic. Probably
~2x/month, unless there's been any traffic.

> And I still appreciate all I've learned and the folks who
> took the time to give advice over the twenty five or
> thirty years this newsgroup has been around. Thanks to
> both of you and Airhog.

My thanks goes out to those who preceded me as well; learned
a lot while passing it on.

Coincidentally, I had a conversation this week with a new
coworker and found that he got certified locally just two
years ago ... and that the instructor actually did some
stuff which was good for his personal skills development,
but I'm not sure was technically allowed as per current
OW-I training standards.

Those which caught my ear were:

A) A "Doff-n-Don" confidence drill.

B) Buddy breathing ... where I'm not sure if it was
the modern version (donate Octopus) or old school
(where a single reg gets shared between two divers).

C) Air supply interruption. Apparently a valve-off
exercise, presumably to recognize change in breathing.

I'll need to find a currently-active instructor to tell
me if these are allowed, and in what context, and under
which Agency (eg. PADI vs others) rulebook that they're
referring to.

My now-dated recollection was that PADI had not been allowing
anything to be added to the course minimum standards, even if
it was expressed as "not part of the official class", etc.


-hh

[Edward]

> Those which caught my ear were:
>
> A) A "Doff-n-Don" confidence drill.
>
> B) Buddy breathing ... where I'm not sure if it was
> the modern version (donate Octopus) or old school
> (where a single reg gets shared between two divers).
>
> C) Air supply interruption. Apparently a valve-off
> exercise, presumably to recognize change in breathing.
>
> I'll need to find a currently-active instructor to tell
> me if these are allowed, and in what context, and under
> which Agency (eg. PADI vs others) rulebook that they're
> referring to.
>
> My now-dated recollection was that PADI had not been allowing
> anything to be added to the course minimum standards, even if
> it was expressed as "not part of the official class", etc.
>
>
> -hh
>

I was PADI certified around 1981 by a great instructor. I know we did
the doff n don drill, and both methods of buddy breathing. He also
taught us to turn our air all the way on, then back off just a tad. It
seems like he also turned our air way down one time in the pool.

We went to Panama City for our open water. There were more jelly fish
in the water than I have seen since. None of us had wet suits so we
wore our blue jeans and maybe we bought long sleeve shirts. I still
caught one across my top lip. Ohhh, the memories. I went drove strait
to New Orleans and hopped on a flight to Cancun/Cozumel after, and
thought, so this is what diving is all about. I don't think anyone used
wet suits there either.

[deployment...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 12:49:25 PM UTC-6, Alan Browne wrote:
>

I remember the old days and miss you all.

[-hh]

On Saturday, January 11, 2020 at 11:16:31 AM UTC-5, chr...@nospam.com wrote:
> On Saturday, February 24, 2018 at 12:49:25 PM UTC-6, Alan Browne wrote:
> >
>
> I remember the old days and miss you all.

The center shifted long ago … new divers went to places like ScubaBoard and reddit; the retiring greybeards hooked up on Facebook, and so on.

In related news, heard last week that Rick Simms has died. Here's the obit:

<https://www.newcomerkentuckiana.com/Obituary/179857/Rick-Simms/Louisville-KY>

[quote]

Rick Simms, 69, of Louisville, Kentucky, passed away on Thursday,
January 2, 2020.

He was born on August 18, 1950 in Louisville, Kentucky to the late
Charles and Ethel Simms.
Rick was a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a proud
veteran of the United States Navy. He was also a member in good
standing of the Kentucky Colonels and the Masonic Plumb Lodge 862
and the former owner of Simms Wholesale Tire. Rick was an avid
scuba diver, having dove all over the world from Bimini to the
Barrier Reef. After his retirement he found time to enjoy his
hobbies of photography, motorcycles, and classic cars.

Rick is survived by his loving wife of 37 years, Veronica "Ronnie"
Simms; son, Christopher Simms; daughter, Cara Simms; and numerous
extended family and friends from Florida to Panama.

Per Rick's wishes he will be cremated with no formal services.

The family requests that contributions in Rick’s memory be made to
the American Lung Association at www.lung.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/

[/quote]


-hh

[Grumman-581]

On Monday, January 13, 2020 at 8:05:34 AM UTC-6, -hh wrote:

> Rick Simms, 69, of Louisville, Kentucky, passed away on Thursday,
> January 2, 2020.

So many of us are dying lately... Lee... Then Rick... Now Doug... Hell, Doug didn't even make it to *60*... :(

[-hh]

Yes, plus others who we're neglecting to mention or remember.


It seems to me that <rec.scuba> has had more deaths than the
equally-old <scuba-l> bitserv email group; there's roughly
a half dozen or so of us still alive & friends on Facebook.


In other news, my local dive shop has told me that my ScubaPro
regulator has also died … have to now figure out how to go
invoke its lifetime warranty without getting ripped off.


-hh

[Grumman-581]

On Saturday, October 26, 2019 at 3:08:59 PM UTC-5, -hh wrote:

> Unfortunately for scuba diving, it has also become a less affordable sport, so there’s fewer
> in the next generation participating to even seek out online discussion groups.

Yeah... Get off my lawn, dammit!

[-hh]

Looks like it took me a month to notice I was standing on your lawn, dear sir!

In diving news, happened to notice a small dive shop near the main port of Kilroan,
in the Aran Islands. Seems they were taking out a snorkelers group in a RIB, in fairly
loose fitting full 5mm suits (water temp ~51F). Water viz looked nice 50ft++

-hh