Sciencemadness Discussion Board - A Sciencemadness retrospective

A Sciencemadness retrospective

Polverone - 28-3-2004 at 16:07

I joined the Explosives and Weapons Forum in the fall of 2001. There, my attention was caught by "madscientist," a user who seemed to enjoy chemistry for its own sake, and who was bubbling with enthusiasm, but who was also too mouthy for his own good and who I could tell would soon be banned. Fortunately, I obtained his e-mail address before he was banned and started communicating with him.

As much as I enjoyed the E&W Forum, I wanted a place to discuss chemistry where the discussion didn't have to be so goal-oriented toward making explosives. The Hive was a great place to visit, but it too was goal-oriented, with different goals. I discussed this with madscientist and we came to an agreement: we would create the place that we wanted to visit. I did not major or even minor in chemistry as an undergraduate, so my enthusiasm for the topic is untainted by any less-than-stellar instructional experiences or later employment in the field. Of course this means that my knowledge is also untainted by breadth, depth, and rigor; this is where I need the members of this site to keep me honest, expose errors I make, and contribute all the chemical lore that I never learned. I am merely the Benevolent Dictator, not the Biggest Smartypants. The Biggest Smartypants is probably Philou Zrealone, who sadly hasn't visited us for months.

In May 2002, I acquired webspace and a domain name, and launched the message board. Madscientist is member #1 because he read the setup directions for the board software before I did and logged in first, afterward creating my account for me. At first it was very slow going. Madscientist and I were pretty much "talking out loud" to each other, while a handful of people we'd known from the E&W Forum sometimes visited or contributed. Our original color scheme was a depressing shades-of-blue affair. For almost a year, the "edit" button for posts didn't work (even for admins). Membership and activity grew very slowly. I remember being excited the first time we started seeing a new post on the board almost every day.

In October 2002, a Finnish chemistry student named Petri Gerdt killed himself and seven other people, wounding more than 70, in a shopping mall near Helsinki with a homemade explosive device. He had been a regular user of the E&W Forum under the name "RC," and had apparently visited Sciencemadness on a regular basis, though he wasn't a member. The media attention brought a large traffic spike to this site, especially from Finland, though it didn't bring many new members.

RC/Petri was interested in the fabled explosive <A HREF="http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=179&page=1">diphoronepentaperoxide</A>, which was unearthed by Hoffmann-LaRoche (aka BASF?) from a German patent in September 2002, and which we still haven't finished discussing today!

In February 2003, I upgraded the board software from version 1.6 to 1.8 and simultaneously made a number of other changes. That's when we acquired the board logo (banner?) and our current color scheme. A number of security holes were fixed in the software, the admins got some slightly better tools, and the "edit" button started working again; hooray!

Madscientist found himself with less time for the board, and I was also growing busy and inattentive with Real Life Concerns, so in June 2003 longtime member and solid contributor Vulture was promoted to moderator (later made administrator so he would have additional useful powers). Vulture has sometimes been accused of having a heart of stone and the mercy of a snake in his dealings with unruly members, but I assure you that is completely backwards.

Prompted by remarks from Theoretic, the board was <A HREF="http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=1110">rearranged</a> in January 2004, converting Electrochemistry to Technochemistry, making new sections for beginning and organic chemistry, transforming Bioactive Materials to Biochemistry, and rearranging a large number of posts to sit in their new proper forums. Since none of the existing administrators were biochemically-savvy, Chemoleo was promoted to section moderator for Biochemistry, where he has done an admirable job.

A few days ago BromicAcid suggested that there should be some sort of commemorative post about the history of Sciencemadness since we were nearing 1000 members. Today we appear to have our 1000th real member, so I took the time to write this up. We've actually had 1028 members register since the beginning, but a few were deleted for misbehavior and more were deleted because they were automated signups done by a script trying to get higher search engine rankings for porn and gambling sites.

Sciencemadness has changed considerably since the beginning. Energetic Materials is no longer the most active section -- much to my delight -- and we seem to be getting more educated regulars who contribute here on a regular basis. It could just be my wishful thinking, but it seems we also get fewer simplistic drug-making questions nowadays. The hosting company I'm using has grown considerably larger and less customer-service-oriented in the last couple of years, so I certainly hope that I will be able to successfully renew hosting and the domain name for another year. I'd like to know that there will be a 5 year anniversary for Sciencemadness in 2007.

Edit: thanks for the date correction, Fish.

[Edited on 3-29-2004 by Polverone]

tom haggen - 28-3-2004 at 16:43

Well it's nice to learn a little about the history of this website. I must say that i'm a fan of your guy's banner. I joined this forum sometime in Nov. 2003 and Coincidentally you had seen and increase in traffic because of the suicidal finnish chemistry student. I actually had never even herd of that story, but mabey thats why EW was starting to show up on google. Thats how I became turned on to these sites. I must say I like this site a lot, it is much more laid back than E&W. I've been planning on studying engineering for some time now and I almost have a degree in manufacturing. At first I was initially going to go on and study mechanical engineering, but i'm seriously reconsidering and thinking of studying chemical. Hopefully one day I will become a wealth of knowledge and will be able to share some excellent information to this site. More than likely I will be studying materials engineering because its somewhere between mechanical and chemical. congrats on the sucess of your site. I like how this site is home to a diverse crowd, and is home to many europeans, I like to think of myself as a european minded individual.

[Edited on 29-3-2004 by tom haggen]

muted applause

Hermes_Trismegistus - 28-3-2004 at 16:44

() () () () () () () () () () () () () () () ().....

Blind Angel - 28-3-2004 at 19:23

i'm almost crying, this forum has brought me love for chemistry, which i had lost at the depen of informatic during my first teenager year, it also helped me to find what i really want to do in life. I think it's pretty sad that we've lost some great members like madscientis and Ph Z (some other that i can't think of right now but that you can find if you use the member list), but some good one got added, i'm thinking about Chemoleo, who literaly brought life to this forum, axehandle, Bromic Acid, Blaster....

I'm actually proud of being a members of this board, and to be here to celebrate this milestone.

Huzzah!

BromicAcid - 28-3-2004 at 19:53

I think the administration here deserves a huge round of applause. Polverone, Madscientist, Vulture, Chemoleo, you all deserve to take a bow, you've done a wonderful service with this forum!

Since I started here, posting seems to have almost doubled. The activity is intimidating to be honest, the subjects, people researching, developing, racing against one another with opposing ideas for a common goal, getting out and experimenting, then hypothesizing and revising, editing and fixing. This is as close to the pioneering days of chemistry as I could ever imagine coming. Chemistry is the true language here. This forum, our forum, everyone here keeps it together, it truly is a wondrous thing. "The art and science of amateur experimentalism" Those words are at the top of every page and regardless of our inattention to them they are still the bottom line here.

We rediscover the past, looking through methods of manufacture that are barely a footnote leading to a faded book on some far away library shelf that in all likely hood we have no acess too, but we make due. I mean, I'm building a Castner cell, people here have made nitric acid with the arc method, the contact process of H2SO4 manufacture is being worked out on a civilian scale and so many other experiments are being reborn, retrofitted from their deathbed fifty, or even a hundred and fifty years ago. I know I'm rambling but I'm just so proud to be a member of this forum.

Everyone, we are all as diverese in some way as the subjects we broch, continue that and this forum will continue to be a most miraculis thing on the world wide web, a uniqe and lasting experience that will better each and every one of us.

Oh, and what about member 153 with no name? Creepy....

The forum helps us all

Quantum - 28-3-2004 at 20:14

While I am still a newbie this forum has helped me learn about chemistry. My granddad is happy for me. He told me about making D salts in college, working as and EE in the navy and other things. Right now he is building potato cannons. I was just on the phone with him and he is delighted that I am using safety equipment and the level of responsibility he said I'm showing. However its not just me; the great people on this forum have shown the right, safe way to do things.

In a world quickly becoming mass produced, in a can and people becoming more like sheep; fearing the unknown or that burst of sunlight over the next hill this forum shines out as a radiant lamp of chemical knowledge. My granddad is a 'Modern Renisonce Man'. Thank god-or-whatever that there is a place on the web where chemistry and science in general is not shut up in the stuffy walls of college but available to anyone with a willing mind and a few household chemicals.

All it takes is a used textbook and a trip to the local drugstore to experience the fun of chemistry. While my granddad remembers the days when he could buy nitric acid at the local drugstore and mercury by the flask much has changed in the years after the 1920's. I can carry on my granddad's love of science(chemistry and electronics) into the next century.

Chemical knowledge has shaped nations, started or won wars and changed history all because of the position of one tiny little atom. We have come a long way from the days of the Greeks but there lies in the future many more discoveries to be made. It is wrong to keep chemistry locked away from the common man, to keep knowledge of the world around us from people. Sadly the government is doing just that, spurred on by the masses of sheep.

Take Blaster for example. He is one of the few people on the earth to make Ethyl Perchlorate outside of a real lab. His bravery and talent has helped the home chemists around the world by inspiration alone.

A forum about chemistry for the sake of chemistry is a thing of beauty in a word so concerned about instant gratification and profit. The hive concentrates on honey and E&W on explosives but SM stands out as one of the few places home chemists can gather and discuss their art.

Edit: It was Ethyl Perchlorate not Ethyle Peroxide but hey at least someone read my post!

[Edited on 29-3-2004 by Quantum]

Blind Angel - 28-3-2004 at 20:26

Ethyl Perchlorate i think

The_Davster - 28-3-2004 at 22:37

Well I guess I'm still a newbie here as well but to say the least its been inspiring here. Before I found this wonderfull place I was at totse for about a year but pure chem was not very popular there. The moment I found this place totse was basically dead to me. I am now addicted to this place, almost all free time I have I spend here(when I'm not in the lab

). Thanks to this place I have done procedures I never would have thought of a year or two ago. Thanks all.
Now how about that round of applause Bromic acid sugested for the admin; Polverone, Madscientist, Vulture, Chemoleo. *clap* *clap* *clap*

I am a fish - 29-3-2004 at 01:31

Quote:

Originally posted by Polverone

In October 2003, a Finnish chemistry student named Petri Gerdt killed himself and seven other people, wounding more than 70, in a shopping mall near Helsinki with a homemade explosive device.

It was October 2002, not 2003.

Saerynide - 29-3-2004 at 01:38

This forum has been one of the best places on the net to socialize. I mean, it's diverse, friendly and full of smart people with interesting ideas. I've never seen such a large forum that was not filled with lamers or that didn't flame and scare away every newbie. The willingness of helping others here is really something worth commending.

Another thing that strikes me here is the ambition in the pursuit of knowledge and interests. With so many interesting ideas, suggestions and help floating around, this board has really helped me change my opinion on a subject I dreaded.

Most importantly, not only is this forum friendly, but I am amazed by how much people here truely care for others - amazed at how they always take safety into account first, warning about unforseen hazards. If not for them, Im sure some members may not be around anymore.

Thanks alot everyone

Edit: Ooooohhhh!!!! 250th post!

[Edited on 29-3-2004 by Saerynide]

Tacho - 29-3-2004 at 03:33

Thank you for this place.
You guys who put this place together have something to be proud of. Certainly has changed the life of many people.

I agree with saerenyde completely. We are lucky to have found a place where we can share our passion with people who think like us.

Thank you guys

Esplosivo - 29-3-2004 at 04:09

Well I have that I've found no other forum like this before. I've been with E&W forum and their interest in chem is totally different (if one can all that chemistry discussion). The way new guys like me are treated here is wonderful. I've come to love this place. Thanks a lot all of you guys. You should be proud of creating and managing such a forum. Keep it up.

hodges - 29-3-2004 at 16:47

I would like to thank everyone responsible for creating and maintaining this board!

I was very interested in chemistry during my high school years, after finding and reading my father's chemistry books when I was in 8th grade. This was in the late 1970's. I remember the first thing I tried to do was blow up a balloon with hydrogen, made with hydrochloric acid and an aluminum can. I never had much luck because the solution would boil and fill the balloon with HCl instead. I made soap, which was successful, and even ended up making a tiny chunk of sodium by electrolysing NaOH. Inside the house, no less! I got special permission to take chemistry a year earlier than most people do in high school. My chemistry teacher was sympathetic of my desire to learn and was able to get me a few chemicals that the school was going to throw away. Later on in high school and college I did some pyrotechnic stuff. Pretty low-tech from a pyro standpoint (mostly stuff with black powder), but I liked to come up with weird ways of setting off the fireworks. I once put on a show at night that started automatically at a set time while I just sat and watched, and later allowed people in the audience to "ignite" various fireworks by simply shining a flashlight on a photocell from a distance.

After I graduated from college, I didn't think about chemistry too often. Until late in 1991, when I found rec.pyrotechnics on Usenet. I decided to order some chemicals to play around with. I was pretty naieve about ordering things. At the time there was no internet (for the masses anyway), so companies still put out paper catalogs. I made a list of the chemicals I wanted, and gave the company a call. After carefully taking my entire order and getting all my personal information, the clerk informed me that since I had ordered some chemicals that are considered dangerous, I would have to talk with their chemist to ensure that I knew how to handle them. I was greeted by a gruff man who said "So, I see you've ordered some dangerous chemicals here, is that right?" I agreed, but said I had experience with chemistry and could handle them safely. At that point he said something like "Well that's just fine then! In order for me to ship these chemicals to you, I need a letter signed by your local fire department saying they are aware that you have these chemicals, because they're the ones that will have to respond and deal with them the first time you have an accident." And that was about the end of my interest at that point. I went on to other things - radio, electronics, microcontrollers, etc.

It wasn't until late last year that I ran across the idea of "ordinary citizens" experimenting. I obtained a CD that had reprints of the all the Scientific American magazine's Amateur Scientist articles for the 20th century. I was looking for boards to discuss these articles on, and ran across both MadScience and E&W at about the same time. Meanwhile I found that I could buy various chemicals on E-Bay.

I also read E&W from time to time. I like energetic materials, but that's certainly not my only chemistry interest. At E&W, it seems that the main interest is (as the name would imply) explosives and weapons. Chemistry is secondary. I'm only interested in chemistry, and have little interest in explosives/weapons "for their own sake". Nothing wrong with that interest - its just not mine. So I am glad to have MadScience, where the focus stays on chemistry.

t_Pyro - 29-3-2004 at 19:23

About a year or two back, I had been in a crisis: I was doing pretty well in math and physics, but my chem scores were lagging behind. What I really needed was some motivation to study the subject, and out of the blue, I stumbled across two places which were brimming with ideas and the "fun" part of chemistry: The E&W Forum, and of course, this forum. Well, I was bitten by the chem bug, and since then, it's been occupying all my free time (and my finances!). Today, It's hard to believe that at some point of time, I actually detested chem!

I'd like to thank all those who have made this place what it is today.

thank you!

Magpie - 29-3-2004 at 19:58

I would like to thank the administrators and members who make this forum so successful. It has done a great deal to revive and sustain my natant interest in chemistry - plus it is just a lot of fun!

The internet provides an ideal mechanism for this I feel. We have formality in that contributors usually give some thought before posting - not like those live forums on TV where everyone is talking on top of each other. We have worldwide participation which I think greatly enriches the contributions.

We have an esoteric subject apparently as we really don't have that many members when you consider our potential audience - it must be in the millions. Why is it that chemistry - the central science - has so few dedicated amateurs?

I joined this forum a few months ago and already I can see how it has become more sophisticated. Yet it is still retains its welcoming and helpful attitude to newcomers.

Thanks especially to Polverone, Madscientist, and vulture who had the resolve to stick with this in the early years. Also much thanks for their considerable time and effort that is often transparent to the members. But mostly thanks for your vision of what this forum should be and is.

blip - 1-4-2004 at 18:12

Aww, now you've gone and made me get this warm fuzzy feeling inside. I love you gals and guys. [HUG] This place seems so fragile, I am surprised to see that it <i>hasn't</i> been overrun by kewls and lamers. I truly appreciate the excellent work the mods and admins have done, quite outstanding to say the least.

I realize that I haven't contributed nearly as much as I hoped to have, but perhaps a couple of my dumb posts will answer a few of the questions of new newcomers. Sadly I haven't been able to keep up with my chemistry self-education counterintuitively due to school. That place is my state's central sheep factory. I am determined to contribute <i>something</i> during the summer, no matter what. I couldn't have said it better than Magpie.

Clap clap clap clap

Iv4 - 2-4-2004 at 23:21

Back in my BS days i came here just for an argument but then I looked around and the place really grw on me.

Talk about easy going,I have one of the highest postcounts and still contributed like next to nothing, yet I'm still here.

IMHo this will for some time keep it's homey feel, not many people even know about this board, thats prolly a good thing

vulture - 3-4-2004 at 06:28

Vulture has sometimes been accused of having a heart of stone and the mercy of a snake in his dealings with unruly members, but I assure you that is completely backwards.

A stone? A snake? Don't you guys know vultures are birds? You know, those things that can fly without kerosene?

Anyways, I'm honoured to be able to moderate this board and I'd like to thank Polverone for his (financial) efforts to keep this place up and running.

I know I can be a real ass sometimes. Sometimes I judge people too fast, but I usually minimize my friendly fire ratio.

I'll drink to that!!

froot - 3-4-2004 at 11:40

Well done to the pioneers of this forum. My contributions here have been somewhat limited and I almost feel guilty. What I know came from here. I was in the shadows for part of the story you told us Polverone and feel proud I even played that little part. Thanks for that, and the normal people you all are. If any of you want to visit my weird country, please look me up, in return I'd be honoured to help out, besides playing with chems.

I pledge my allegence with this forum.

[Edited on 3-4-2004 by froot]

Organikum - 3-4-2004 at 16:16

I just like it.

As soon the local telecom (still monopol) is able to provide me with an (working) ADSL line - or another highspeed connection is available to me I will be able to help a little more. And I will be glad to do so.

open minds & open hearts & teasing the vulture

the journey has just begun.

Cheers to Polverone

chemoleo - 4-4-2004 at 11:13

I think Polverone does indeed deserve a humble bow and words of immense gratitude for supplying us with the tools to engage in our interests...
Not only for the work/time he put in, but importantly also, for the continued financial effort that is required to keep this site going!
Thank you very much!

The same goes for Vulture, who can be a bit rough at times (dont we all know

), but maybe that is what's just required - so thanks for putting the kEwls in their place, and keeping this place tidy, despite the antagonism you may at times receive.

Then of course, a forum would be nothing without its valuable members - so cheers for widening our chemical horizons!

You would not believe my delight once I stumbled across this forum! I started off experimenting many years ago, obtaining scraps of information here and there, not ever having anyone to discuss thoughts and ideas (well apart from a few less chemically inclined friends). The prime source was the library, which, by being in a smaller town, was somewhat limited. My foremost source of information was Roempp, plus a few other text books. Any more than superficial knowledge relating to energetic materials was unattainable. Chemicals were collected over many years from various OTC products, in fact I alwys took great pride in isolating certain compounds from certain household products.
Then the internet, and later the forum, came. Suddenly I had huge resources at my finger tips, collective ideas on amateur experimentalism, and link lists such as that from I_am_a_fish which finally enabled me to obtain various materials that I tediously had to make myself previously, or that I simply never thought I would lay my hands upon.
With the forum, I have to confess, my interest in amateur chem has fully reignited, after having had several years of less activity (partially I was too preoccupied with my studies). I check this site more than any other, more than the news, or my email.
I think that says it all

vulture - 21-4-2004 at 05:45

Found this while wading through the stats:

Quote:

59.28% of all members have posted.

Looking at roguesci and my own dutch chemistry board, this is an unusually high ratio.

That also means the board still has a huge growth potential and that we can speak of a real community spirit.

Organikum - 21-4-2004 at 10:29

Quote:

That also means the board still has a huge growth potential and that we can speak of a real community spirit.

Vulture can you explain me the logic path which led you to these conclusions? I cannot follow....

Nevertheless - the ratio of active members to inactive ones shows that we are on the right way. The plain number of registered members isnt important at all IMHO.

btw. what does the next 5-years plan say vulture? I know world domonation is termed for 2020 but what is to do in the nearer future? And have we any internal regulation concerning jesuits?

vulture - 21-4-2004 at 10:36

Well, if you consider that the contributor/member ratio is usually 10%-20% that means we can expect alot of "lurker" registrations so to say.

Quote:

Nevertheless - the ratio of active members to inactive ones shows that we are on the right way. The plain number of registered members isnt important at all IMHO.

Exactly, 60% active membership is an astonishing number.

The 5 year plan for now is graduating in chemistry and making sure this forum stays as good as it is. Better would be nice, but I'm not a fan of utopia.

Organikum - 22-4-2004 at 05:28

vulture wrote:

Quote:

Better would be nice

Na....
.... I got used to you vulture and would miss you badly! Lets just hold the level and you stay - yes?

Yes!
Thats fine!
ORG

Theoretic - 22-4-2004 at 07:52

When I joined this forum I was a |<8w|, like innumerable scores of other bored Internet coasters. Vulture missed me... because I had rudimentary knowledge of chemistry. Now I know more than I ever could coasting Google search results and scavenging the few bits of information I could find. I was denied membership of the British library (a place in London that's the biggest library in Britain) because I was under 18... so I would most likely remain a kewl if it was not for this site. And yes, I too visit this site more often than everything else combined.
Thank you all!

*bear hug*

vulture - 22-4-2004 at 12:45

Quote:

Vulture missed me... because I had rudimentary knowledge of chemistry.

Not quite. Your first 40 posts were kinda wiseguyish and I almost banned you back then. The only thing that stopped me from doing it was indeed your rudimentary knowledge.

Glad to see you improved since then.

PHILOU Zrealone - 24-5-2004 at 15:38

Blind Angel...take a good look arround...we are stil there.
No we are no ghosts and you can't see dead people...do you?

"I think it's pretty sad that we've lost some great members like madscientis and Ph Z (some other that i can't think of right now but that you can find if you use the member list), but some good one got added, i'm thinking about Chemoleo, who literaly brought life to this forum, axehandle, Bromic Acid, Blaster.... "

Home...

Semtexium - 13-11-2006 at 06:24

Greetings my old friends... I feel again like I am home, a place with familiar souls if unfamiliar handles... I had long feared some sort of global LE persecution of our beloved knowledge keeper. After reading this post I can see why what was done was done, I'm saddened only by the fact it took me so long to find this place. ..

I am in a word stunned, but in a much appreciative way. You'll never understand what this place and you people mean to me, or perhaps YOU are the only ones who can fully understand... I have been lost in the fog for some time now, I hope to be able to once again contribute to and for this wonderful community...

Many thanks go to the admins and mods for not only keeping this community going, but no doubt sacrificing in more ways then we can imagine, in order to do so...

Hope I can be of some assistance, or at least not get in the way too often... ;-p

BromicAcid - 17-6-2007 at 07:03

I figured that since our five year anniversary came and went that I would ping this thread to bring it back to the forefront. It's always a good thing to appreciate sciencemadness and everything that it has given us,

Thank you so much Polverone and all you other mods/admins out there!

Nerro - 17-6-2007 at 11:44

I would like to express my thanks to the mods and amins for making and keeping such a great forum. I also started out reading E&W as a high-schooler. There I saw the link to Vulture's Dutch chemistry board and I went from E&W to his Dutch board for a while before I found this one. I liked it right off the bat, I read topics about subjects that meant nothing to me and I loved every minute of it!

Now I study chemistry in university (halfway through my BSc right now) partly due to the inspiring reading I've done here. Keep up the good work!

(I also like that this board has a lot of Dutch members ;P)

[Edited on 17-6-2007 by Nerro]

woelen - 25-6-2007 at 13:22

I stumbled across this thread and I also want to express my thanks to Polverone and all the others, who are keeping this board alive and kickin'.

I was directed to sciencemadness almost 2 years ago by Taaie Neuskoek (also a Dutch member) and since the first reads, I have enjoyed it very much, and I immediately registered as a member. This is the place, where real chemistry can be discussed and also other sciences, without being nannied by some supervisor.

What I particularly like is the combination of a friendly admosphere, while at the same time there is large freedom in what to post and what to tell. Also newbies are welcomed here, and that is a good thing. Everyone needs to learn from scratch and that is something which is supported and encouraged over here.

Sciencemadness now exists for just over 5 years. Well ... I hope that a large multiple of 5 years will be added to this!

froot - 26-6-2007 at 02:06

Quote:

Originally posted by Polverone
In May 2002, I acquired webspace and a domain name, and launched the message board. Madscientist is member #1 because he read the setup directions for the board software before I did and logged in first, afterward creating my account for me. At first it was very slow going. Madscientist and I were pretty much "talking out loud" to each other, while a handful of people we'd known from the E&W Forum sometimes visited or contributed. I remember being excited the first time we started seeing a new post on the board almost every day.

Are the oldest posts still on the board? Would be interesting to see what you guys were rambling on about in the beginning.

sparkgap - 26-6-2007 at 07:44

Quote:

Originally posted by froot

Are the oldest posts still on the board? Would be interesting to see what you guys were rambling on about in the beginning.

As it seems, this is the oldest existing thread.

I remember it being said before that the board was hosted someplace else before it was moved (twice now, right?), but the posts of the earlier MSDB no longer seem to exist.

sparky (~_~)

madscientist - 3-11-2010 at 12:38

Quote:

I remember it being said before that the board was hosted someplace else before it was moved (twice now, right?), but the posts of the earlier MSDB no longer seem to exist.

That is correct. Initially we set up a free forum called the "Mad Science Discussion Board" (MSDB) at EZBoard, on February 11th of 2002. (Not sure how I remember the exact date.) It wasn't long before we tired of dealing with the ads, especially since it mostly just the two of us, with an occasional second, third, etc. coming of the great PhZ. We closed it down, and briefly even considered moving to email - glad that we didn't! I set up Ultimate Bulletin Board with a free Prohosting account, and manually migrated as many posts as possible. Unfortunately, the quality of the host was terrible - posts kept vanishing, files getting corrupted. It wasn't very encouraging to new members when they found their posts garbled or destroyed. It was then that Polverone made the move to get paid hosting for the site (thank god) and set up ScienceMadness.org. We migrated as many posts as possible from the "pro"hosting site, which is why if you look really far back, you'll see entire threads with every reply posted on the same day.

It is you that have made this a great community - thank yourselves and each other! We are mere catalysts. You are the reactants.

Edit: On a nostalgia trip, browsing ancient threads, and found this: http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=2061

KABOOM posted an attachment containing the acetic anhydride thread from the EZBoard days... if you're curious to see how far the board has come.

Those old posts of mine are embarrassing.

[Edited on 4-11-2010 by madscientist]

BromicAcid - 23-3-2012 at 20:20

Time to bump the thread, Feb 11, 2012 marked the 10th anniversary of Sciencemadness from its inception and May 19, 2012 is on the horizon. Who thought this would last 10 years?

peach - 23-3-2012 at 21:24

A quick glance at some of the view counts on the threads and how prevalent the site is in the search engine results, it being referenced in a journal entry and so on makes me suspect it is on it's way to (has already?) become a leviathan.

The forum is open in my browser tabs everyday. Life would be a dull affair without all the interesting ideas, approaches and results this site's members have to offer.

To complete the look with the Wiki idea, two new sections:

Inorganics <--- stunned it's not already a section...
Youtube <---- I think this would be a good addition because it has boomed since the forum opened and is becoming something the BBC news reference.

It's been said before, but an IRC would be fun. <---- I seem to recall it's been tried before, but again, the forum does evolve over time and it may be quite different now.

Perhaps, like some other forums, we could have an introductory period. During which members can't post to the other forums (I have also noted the spam bots appearing in my mail box). This might also help with those who are banned, reappear, are banned, reappear, are banned...

[Edited on 24-3-2012 by peach]

bahamuth - 23-3-2012 at 22:30

Quote: Originally posted by peach

A quick glance at some of the view counts on the threads and how prevalent the site is in the search engine results, it being referenced in a journal entry and so on makes me suspect it is on it's way to (has already?) become a leviathan.

The forum is open in my browser tabs everyday. Life would be a dull affair without all the interesting ideas, approaches and results this site's members have to offer.

To complete the look with the Wiki idea, two new sections:

Inorganics
Youtube <---- I think this would be a good addition because it has boomed since the forum opened and is becoming something the BBC news reference.

It's been said before, but an IRC would be fun.<---- I seem to recall it's been tried before, but again, the forum does evolve over time and it may be quite different now.

Perhaps, like some other forums, we could have an introductory period. During which members can't post to the other forums (I have also noted the spam bots appearing in my mail box). This might also help with those who are banned, reappear, are banned, reappear, are banned...

[Edited on 24-3-2012 by peach]

I was a lurker for several years on this forum without an account since I felt I had little to contribute with, but was suggested by a seller on Ebay to join since he/she and I obviously shared a common goal of a grand chemistry forum for amateurs and professionals alike.

One of my posts was on one of the methyl iodide threads reporting my results oblivious of the way to do things around here, my first forum and all, and felt I did something not quite according to correct etiquette (by feed
back) and as such I was "put" off for awhile before I picked up the "thread" and started posting my experiences and though limited knowledge about chemistry.

An introductery period is not such a bad idea, perhaps (force) link new members for awhile to the various threads about forum etiquette and such as a learners introduction (In this case it is bad to learn the bad way as it scares off the genuine minds and attracts the bad ones)....

Anyways, I must also show my concern on the recent ( the last year or so in my experience) flow of spambots and stupid requests for spoonfeeding (though I probably have asked to be spoonfed too..) and support such a introductery period suggested by peach.

An IRC function would be nice, perhaps it would remove some of the redundent flaming occuring in the threads and giving it/them a chance to be put where it's supposed to be, between the people involved and not filling the "other than flaming" useful threads...

As I am a molecular biologist (at heart atleast, with next generation sequencing as a speciality..) and as such I miss a forum for this field of science since it is probably one of the fastest growing (and most important???) fields today and it incorporates most schools of chemistry/physics (could write on and on about the fields it touches) and as such I believe SM would benefit to have such a (partial) focus. I know there is alot of other forums dealing with just this but none where the amateur is welcome and able to speak freely.

As an endnote I would like to say that I love this forum and visit several times a day to pick up on, and hopefully be part of the discussions going on be them scientific of social in topic.

PS. Piss drunk when I write/wrote this so please no unconstructive critics...

Bot0nist - 23-3-2012 at 23:13

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=12475#...
Even entropy complimented your write up bahamuth! That isn't what I would call a bad reception at all.

Thanks to everyone. I am on SciMad several times a day. It is the only forum I visit.

bahamuth - 23-3-2012 at 23:52

Quote: Originally posted by Bot0nist

http://www.sciencemadness.org/talk/viewthread.php?tid=12475#...
Even entropy complimented your write up bahamuth! That isn't what I would call a bad reception at all.

Thanks to everyone. I am on SciMad several times a day. It is the only forum I visit.

It was not that I got a bad reception, just that I did not know the "proper " way of doing things, not reading the OPs post properly and sciting the references and so on, which is probably the most important thing to do in science.

But really, at that time I felt the urge to post what I had done and basically brag about it without reading thouroghly every thread (on this forum) concerning the subject and as such I felt a little stupid when it was pointed out to me that the OP actually posted the ref. and I did not scite it.. (I am actually really shy and probably too proud of what I do so it kinda put me of that I myself did a bad job in researching the subject..) ..

PS. google is a godsend in spellchecking for us drunk non-english mother toung bastards out there.., only wish everybody would use so I could understand all posts...