Building SBitZ.NET

[SBitz]

This topic is for discussion of SBitZ.NET, how it can be maintained and improved, and what next steps might be.

[SBitz]

In the "Flood Disaster" topic, doublej wrote:
> "apply to group" eluded me for quite a while.

Yeh, plenty of room for improvement on this interface.  My bad for going cheap (free) and simple (for me, not so much users) at startup.  I didn't know if anyone else would contribute, so my main focus was just sharing stuff I was interested in and taking on the extra work of posting it.

Once the dust (ash? mud? debris?) settles, I'd like to see if anyone else would be willing to collaborate on setting up a more useful site. If not, we'll just leave it as is.  If so, maybe it can become another friendly and respectful online community-run hangout.

> insight as to probability or intensity may have been useful

Clearly.  This is actually one role I appreciate that Edhat, SBitZ.NET and other local sites can provide.  A place where people with useful info can share it. My experience is that our town has a deep and wide pool of useful knowledge and info that's especially timely in emergencies.  With the current political climate of reducing taxes and minimizing government, seems to me we're very lucky to have even the limited government info we do.  For sites like Edhat and SBitZ to be most useful for me, they need to be free of the trolls and grumbling on every topic so common online.  Not easy to accomplish, but for now I'll happily suspend the account here of anyone who posts that sort of stuff as one way of minimizing the unhelpful. I'm glad there are plenty of places where people can rant, complain, protest, argue, swap insults, and generally go wild. Maybe SBitZ can provide a place free of that with useful, friendly, respectful, informative dialog and information. I hope so!

My hope is that other active participants here will join me in building a more collaborative site. I'd much prefer that to retain and refine the values I'm proposing: informative, respectful, friendly, and free. If people would prefer different values, I'd like that to be part of the discussion. It seems to me we have plenty of great online forums for humor, rants, trolls and personal attacks so I'm hoping SBitZ can offer something different. A big missing piece for me right now is in the current interface. I'd like a better free site that's easier to learn and use, yet also offers more options and customization.

So do you have ideas, opinions, comments, questions, suggestions or other contributions you'd be willing to share?

[Section Make8R]

Hey JW...I havnt forgotten about this discussion, I'm still on lockdown though, so busy.

you said:

This is actually one role I appreciate that Edhat, SBitZ.NET and other local sites can provide.  A place where people with useful info can share it. My experience is that our town has a deep and wide pool of useful knowledge and info that's especially timely in emergencies.  With the current political climate of reducing taxes and minimizing government, seems to me we're very lucky to have even the limited government info we do. 

and I think thats the right approach. 

 I would keep this as is, really, there is nothing wrong with it that a a bit of user effort (like me) wont solve. 

 I've read almost "all" the coverage of the disaster on "most" media, and these events do get so much coverage, that not only information overload occurs, but full information screwups....(different subject)

I think you ask yourself, what do YOU want it to be.  You have options to post elsewhere, so perhaps keeping a tight lid on "comments" is really the best course. That way you can share what you need to share, and keep it simple.  

In emergencies, clutter-free information is important, and your aerials really were helpfull .and still are...as were the other lnks you posted which can be hard to find on ones own.  You do have a distinct and singular point of view, ie 3000 ft up.

Now, could you do a food drop of a loaf of bread, some half n half?     Thanx!!!

 

[SBitz]

Section Make8R wrote:

I would keep this as is, really, there is nothing wrong with it that a a bit of user effort (like me) wont solve. 

I agree, yet also wonder if we could do better.  Not just on ease of signup, learning and ease of use, but also on protection from the trolls, hackers and spammers that can so easily destroy a helpful online resource.  I'm hoping you might be willing to participate in dialog about all this once things settle down from the flood disaster.

 

I think you ask yourself, what do YOU want it to be.

Exactly.  I'd like to know what each of the active participants here wants it to be.  If we target that, my guess is plenty of other people will like it too.  More importantly though, those of us who contribute to SBitZ will keep doing so and maybe even more if it's easier/better.

 

perhaps keeping a tight lid on "comments" is really the best course.

That's one of the biggest factors for sure.  Guess I like old movies because I'm old, so your suggestion reminds me of the witch in Oz who says of killing Dot, "These things must be done delicately, or you hurt the spell."  Like, how do you stifle comments w/o also limiting informal posting of helpful info by on-scene new participants?  If anyone can easily use text or at least email from cellphone, it will help a lot of people.  But then how do we prevent Joe Troll from taking it over?

You do have a distinct and singular point of view, ie 3000 ft up.

I've very much appreciated yours, on the scene.  I've appreciated everyone who's ever added anything here, and that's what I hope we can encourage and facilitate so it's fun and easy.

 could you do a food drop of a loaf of bread, some half n half?

Seriously, email me and maybe we can figure something out.  I'd love to help in some way!

[Section Make8R]

I wasn't very clear, as usual.   Joking about the food drop!!!  Although we could be ahead of the curve, ie amazon delivery drones etc.  Just get a stealth/nanotech paint job on your ride, come and go no problem.  haha.

Anyways, rumour has it, verified by some deputies, and not by others, that the San Ysidro main corridor will be open tomorrow, Thursday, for returning owners etc.  Soft entry, with ID.  They opened up the upper village for business owners today, so thats a good step.

The damaged creek areas and homes are going to be VERY off limits for awhile though, until the searches are over, and owners have come back to retrieve valuables.  I  keep wanting to go out and ride my bicycle around, but if I get kicked out, I have many many problems which would occur.....many birds, dogs, cats, fish....so I'm sitting tight.  Neighbors who stayed do go out and drive around abit, with various degrees of getting pulled over, and asked for ID. Some have fared poorly, but most have been fine.   I understand completely, as far as looting goes...nuff said. 

as far as Santa Barbara CitiZen goes.....

 

What I meant was, YOU,  Mr. moderator, owner, dude person in the plane...  its really up to you what to do.  Im here as a hanger on.

 

I actually think if you were to make it more professional, NOT open to the general public, but only for First Responders, or Radio guys like some of the other members, then you would have a more focused forum.   Of course, without crisis, it would be dead in the water, and back to Edhat you go.....still.  

I was involved in a  very"new agey" sort of forum for awhile back in 2003-2008 approx.  My first introduction to the online world of communication as it were..  

 I did moderator duty, and other behind the scenes chores.  We tried to make it as democratic as possible...but.....very very difficult.  

  It was great for awhile, I made lots of friends around the world, (which was cool) but eventually the personal politics, and the difficulty of addressing those personal politics,ie people and the way they are, just got way out of hand, and the whole thing crumbled. (and hard to believe  that with the credentials of some of the people, that they would fight like that!!!!!    Flakes n Fakes the whole bunch!!!!  haha 

I got out before the going got really ugly. 

 In some ways its setup determined it would fail, when one person has control of the purse strings, and can delete accounts etc.  trouble.

  Anyways, it was such a fine line between "oh wow what a great idea" and "oh wow, you are an idiot"......and therein lies the rub eh?

I have a theory that the great forum shakeout and fade away,(this includes personal blogs too) occurred around 2009, as when I do research on say, fixing a broken fan belt, or researching some food item, I will invariably find someone that just has posted incredible amounts of knowledge, (and general chit-chat) but after 2009, they just seem to have stopped, or realized that no one was reading.  I do think that the rise of Facebook has a great deal to  do with  this,  not for fixing items or finding recipes, (I suppose Instagram has taken that part over)..but for communication in general.   I'm not a big fan of either, they do have their uses though.

Ok....there is my my 37 cents. 

[Shasta Guy]

I've put my hat in the ring by signing up.  I really appreciate that this site was put together during the blackout period of Edhat.  I'll give everything some thought on how improve things here.  Thanks again!

[SBitz]

Shasta Guy wrote:

I've put my hat in the ring by signing up.

I was pleasantly surprised by how many people did so during the flood and fire.  My hope is that over time SBitZ will continue to grow into a supplementary source for info and dialog, especially during emergencies.

 I really appreciate that this site was put together during the blackout period of Edhat.

The rare problems accessing Edhat was one of the factors that motivated me to create SBitZ, but it was actually during a period of Edhat's normal operation that I set it up.  Another factor motivating SBitZ creation was that KEYT provided limited coverage.  To my delight, both Edhat and KEYT have been improving as sources of emergency info.  Even so, the number of views here during the Thomas disasters indicates there still seems to be value in having SBitZ as another source.
 

 I'll give everything some thought on how improve things here.

I appreciate any ideas or suggestions you're willing to contribute.  In addition to emergency info, over time I'd like to see more people just posting items of interest to them.  A major way of helping that to happen already suggested by several SBitZ participants, is moving from this Google Groups system to a different platform.

If anyone has ideas or suggestions related to the SBitZ interface, please share them here.  We're also considering a meeting at a time and place convenient for everyone willing to help make SBitZ an even more useful and reliable source of info, and keep it a friendly and respectful arena for dialog.

[Shasta Guy]

Thanks for your feedback, and sorry for taking so long to get back to you.  

I'm trying to remember when I first found Edhat, and I think it was around the time of the Zaca fire.  We are a cable free household, so all I wanted was information.  I am a weather-geology-natural phenomena freak, and I felt information deprived about Zaca.  EH provided a lot of great content on events going on around us.

Since Zaca, I've amassed my own set of links to find info about the natural events that affect us here.  What may be good for SBitZ would be to make accessible all those links so that people wouldn't be dependent someone posting a radar image to find out what's going to happen in the next 60 min.  

I find it fascinating that after all these years since Zaca, there still is not a list of links that we've all been using (inciweb, Vandenberg doppler radar, local seismic map...) on EH.  It's like it all all gets rediscovered every time something big hits.

What could make this good would be:

• a menu of links directly to understand local natural phenomena content
  
• perhaps live images of current stuff (Van. Doppler)
  
• Intelligent, snark-free dialog
  

More later, I'd support a meeting to discuss this live.

On Monday, January 15, 2018 at 11:23:19 AM UTC-8, SBitz wrote:

[SBitZ.NET]

> my own set of links to find info about the natural events

Similar for me, and I found Edhat to be a cumbersome place to share the
info. Since I'm gathering the info for myself anyway, it doesn't take
much more effort to share it in the hope of helping others. That's the
main purpose of SBitZ for me, since I found Edhat to be inadequate
during disasters. It would often be offline or overwhelmed, cluttered
with annoying trolls, and limited as a place to share links and media
(pix & video). I subscribe and participate there, while hoping to
supplement it with SBitZ to some extent since doing so costs almost nothing.

> good for SBitZ would be to make accessible all those links

Go for it. :)

I put up a few generic links, but more are always welcome. Especially
since they're prone to changing or being supplanted over time.

> wouldn't be dependent someone posting a radar image

That's exactly where I'd like to see SBitZ fill a need. The info is
easily available to anyone with modest search skills, but most of us are
too busy for monitoring. Subscribers to Edhat benefit from Roger and
others who take the time to monitor and then share what may be of
interest or importance. A few people other than me have begun doing
that on SBitZ during disasters, and maybe it helped a tiny bit as the
storm approached Montecito.

Sharing your links will help others with less search skill to find the
most current info. I believe that also sharing anything of interest or
concern that you encounter while perusing those links (or the stuff
others share) will also help others.

> - a menu of links directly to understand local natural phenomena

Let's do that. Would you like to make it a Post that I can pin so it
stays on top, and you can edit it to add new links people post in replies?

> - perhaps live images of current stuff (Van. Doppler)

You might be able to do that with a live link, but it might bog down the
site especially for those using mobile devices. I'm not a big fan of
live feeds as windows on sites. I'd much rather see a text post
(especially for a warning) with links to the latest and/or live info.
That way visitors can choose whether to look. Posts go out in the email
feed people sign up for, but a live link wouldn't have told any of them
that the deluge cell was about to hit Montecito.

> - Intelligent, snark-free dialog

That's BIG for me! Edhat actually benefits in view stats from all that,
and I appreciate that it helps them cover expenses. Since I have no
financial needs from SBitZ, it's easy to just banish negativity and
distraction.

> More later, I'd support a meeting to discuss this live.

Cool. Let me know when your "later" arrives and I'll poll the others
who've expressed some interest to see if we can come up with a
time/place. I thought it would be now that the disaster has cooled, but
I'm overwhelmed with projects at the moment.

Thanks for your interest and participation. Again, feel free to start
new Topics and let me know if you'd like me to pin one you do for links.

ciao -j

[Shasta Guy]

Thanks for the discussion.  I'm back online after having been to the east coast and back, and now I am up in Tahoe.  I'll create a new thread collecting links pertinent to what's going on in our area.  

On Monday, January 15, 2018 at 11:23:19 AM UTC-8, SBitz wrote: