Bhamwiki talk:Messageboard/Archive 2006

This is an archive of previous discussions. For current discussion, see Bhamwiki talk:Messageboard. If you wish to expand on a topic here, its best to open a new topic and link to prior discussion here.

Technical difficulties

BhamWiki is hosted by Dreamhost.com, which came highly recommended when I signed up, but has had a difficult summer and is apparently still having issues keeping our site humming. I am willing to consider alternatives to Dreamhost if other users have strong recommendations. My own technical knowledge is paltry. --Dystopos 07:38, 20 November 2006 (PST)

I talked to a friend who runs another site I frequent and he uses GoDaddy for hosting services and doesn't have any problems. I can't vouch for anyone though. Another wiki that I foray into (Lostpedia) uses Jupiter Hosting and I have never had a problem accessing that site. --Wheresdib 14:24, 22 November 2006 (PST)

I don't know what standards to set. At least Dreamhost is responsive, communicative to the point of even being friendly. I just wish I didn't have to communicate with them so often. I guess I'll come to a decision by March when my 1 year contract is up. --Dystopos 15:31, 22 November 2006 (PST)

ed. note - my hosting account has been renewed at Dreamhost for 2007. --Dystopos 07:04, 16 March 2007 (PDT)

BhamWiki Meet-up?

To all interested...

What does everyone think about maybe trying to have a get together on the day after Thanksgiving? If any of y'all are in town and available, it would be nice to meet some of y'all in person and explore our fair city. I leave this open for discussion... --Patriarca12 07:42, 31 October 2006 (PST)

• I'll be in Lower Alabama that day... probably driving back Sunday after church. --Dystopos 07:48, 31 October 2006 (PST)

• I will be around that day, I have to work. My office is downtown in the John A. Hand Building, we could meet for lunch somewhere nearby, maybe Scott's Koneys. I am also off the next Monday 11/27. --Wheresdib 08:06, 31 October 2006 (PST)

• I'd love to meet you guys, but I have other commitments that day. My forays to B'ham these days are sadly infrequent. --Lkseitz 09:41, 31 October 2006 (PST)

Lol, I'd also like to meet everyone, but, unfortunately, I don't know where I'll be spending Thanksgiving, either Gadsden or Geneva, but, either way, I won't be able to make the trip from Decatur. :~( AlabamaGuy2007 20:19, 1 November 2006 (PST)

Is anyone still interested in meeting this Friday? I will be around the office all day, and it shouldn't be busy. Let me know if interested either here or on my talk page. --Wheresdib 14:21, 22 November 2006 (PST)

Birmingham News article

It is likely that the Birmingham News will profile BhamWiki over Thanksgiving weekend. User:Lkseitz and I have been interviewed by staff writer Erin Stock who found us while Googling Legion Field and thereby got the scoop. She would like to hear from anyone else involved in the project that is interested in helping her with the story. You can contact her through the newspaper or ask me for contact info.

I expect that it will be a positive review, but she did get me speculating on the nature of truth and the trustworthiness of wikis, on which I can wax philosophic without grounding. I hope I have not misrepresented any of your work.

It is possible that, as a result of this publicity, we will see a lot of new editors. This has me both excited and nervous. I will greatly appreciate the help of our experienced contributers with welcoming newcomers and gently correcting any abuses that might manifest themselves. Please let me know if you observe any problems that need my attention. I expect to have a high tolerance for rookie mistakes, but a low tolerance for troublemaking. --Dystopos 19:06, 16 November 2006 (PST)

Happy New Year!

• I hope all my fellow BhamWiki editors have a great 2007! I would like to get together with ya'll, though I understand that many of the contributors don't actually live in Birmingham any longer. --Wheresdib 10:46, 31 December 2006 (PST)
  • Been fun in 2006, and '07 will be even better! Happy new year to all involved in this great project! - Patriarca12 15:19, 31 December 2006 (PST)

• Happy New Year everyone. I was out of pocket over the holiday and will be busy at work the next week or two, so I might be scarce. I am planning to host an anniversary party on or around March 15 for all registered editors. I'm open to meeting up before then, but I wanted to go ahead and let ya'll know. --Dystopos 18:49, 2 January 2007 (PST)

• Can I suggest it be on a weekend? Weekdays will generally not be good for me and, I suspect, others. But don't do it soley on my account. Belated happy new year, everyone! --Lkseitz 10:08, 9 January 2007 (PST)

Messageboard location

P.S. perhaps this messageboard should be on the Discussion tab so we have the handy "+" tab to add new topics with?

• Done --Dystopos 11:59, 9 January 2007 (PST)

Thursday March 15

• Anyone who is free for dinner on Thursday, March 15 is welcome to join me in celebrating the 1st anniversary of BhamWiki. Location to be determined (I'm leaning toward Chez Fon Fon). Note: we can move it to the weekend (16th, 17th or 18th) if more folks will be able to come.--Dystopos 13:31, 9 January 2007 (PST)

• I want to make plans to be there, even if it's on Thursday. Right now, I'm thinking of using Friday to go around taking pictures for some of the articles I've written. I'm not picky about the where, I just need to know a definite when so I can schedule time off. Who else is coming? --Lkseitz 06:57, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• So far it's just us. If you want to go ahead and schedule the time off, we can cast the date in stone. --Dystopos 07:45, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• I should be able to show up on just about any night. The only other meetings I have during the week is a monthly meeting and I normally organize it, so I have control of it. I didn't see this earlier but I should be able to make it. I have never been to Chez Fon Fon so I hope Dystopos is buying! :-P --Wheresdib 10:30, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• That depends on the turnout. I'll at least spring for wine. --Dystopos 11:56, 18 January 2007 (PST)

• I will be there. I have scheduled time off on March 16th and plan to leave work a little early on the 15th. I probably won't be able to make it before 6:00 p.m., though. --Lkseitz 08:43, 20 February 2007 (PST)

• I will send out an email this week to all registered editors who have contributed to more than one article, and maybe some cool ones that haven't. --Dystopos 10:01, 20 February 2007 (PST)

Location

• I just found out that Chez Fon Fon is closed for dinner on Thursdays and Fridays. So... that means the location of our 1st anniversary dinner is up in the air. I'd like to stay in the southside/lakeview area. Here are my suggestions:

1. Cantina (pepper place, casual latin-american, best in good weather)
2. Surin West (good mild thai, casual)
3. Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q (large menu, casual)
4. Cobb Lane Restaurant (business casual, classic)
5. Sol y Luna (business casual, latin-american)

Discuss here, and I'll send out a new e-mail with the location and directions as soon as we make up our minds. --Dystopos 10:55, 7 March 2007 (PST)

• I vote Jim 'N Nicks though I am not sure where the one is now since they closed the one in Lakeview. --Wheresdib 11:09, 7 March 2007 (PST)

• It's next door to Surin, in the space formerly occupied by Jim N' Nick's 11th Avenue Grill, which used to just be 11th Avenue Grill, which was Breckinridge Brewery before that. --Dystopos 11:16, 7 March 2007 (PST)

• Oh, OK, I know exactly where that is. I didn't realize there was one there. Jim 'N Nick's will be the only one I'll be able to talk my wife into.  :) --Wheresdib 11:57, 7 March 2007 (PST)

• I just ate lunch, but looking at all those menus made me hungry again. I prefer something casual, so my preferences are Cantina, Surin West, or Jim 'N Nicks. Of those, Jim 'N Nick's is the only one I've been to before. --Lkseitz 11:26, 7 March 2007 (PST)

• OK, we'll do it at Jim 'N Nick's on 11th Avenue South at 5 Points. I'll call ahead to see about getting a large table. Based on what I've heard, we might have 8 to 12 folks. --Dystopos 14:08, 7 March 2007 (PST)

2000

If anyone was sheepish about adding the 2000th article, that's out of the way now and you can get back to work ;) --Dystopos 10:30, 10 March 2007 (PST)

• I started to do Highland Avenue as the 2000th but got distracted by looking at all the pics of Highland Ave on Flickr.  :-P --Wheresdib 12:29, 10 March 2007 (PST)

365 days!

• Congratulations, Dystopos, on a great first year of BhamWiki. The site ends the year with over 2,000 articles and (as far as I can tell) close to 10 regular contributors, without any advertising. This is the Internet at its best. I am proud to be a part of this project and hope to meet you and others tomorrow night at Jim 'N Nicks! --Wheresdib 08:09, 14 March 2007 (PDT)

• Thanks. I'm pretty happy with it. At this point, the site is even useful to me as a resource, and we have dozens of articles I don't even remember seeing before. --Dystopos 10:19, 14 March 2007 (PDT)
  • Here's to another great year! Missing the 'Ham from the NC... Chris 12:11, 14 March 2007 (PDT)
• I look forward to seeing you tomorrow night. I'll be the one in the Alabama Theatre t-shirt. --Lkseitz 18:40, 14 March 2007 (PDT)

• I'll call them during the day to reserve a table for 8-10 and when I get there I'll ask for a few red balloons. --Dystopos 19:57, 14 March 2007 (PDT)

• I'll probably be wearing a bright red Superior Bank golf shirt.  :) --Wheresdib 20:08, 14 March 2007 (PDT)

• What time is this shindig tonight? Happy birthday Bhamwiki! --Wheresdib 05:53, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

• 7:30 PM CDT --Dystopos 06:15, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

BhamWiki Birthday Party

Photo from anniversary dinner

Another photo from dinner

• I had a great time tonight! It was nice to meet Dystopos and Lee, finally. And what a bonus to get to meet and talk to Jim Bennett and his wife, Andrea! We probably could have spent the entire night talking. I can't wait until Mr. Bennett's new book is out, it sounds like it is going to be a great resource for us here. I hope we do this again sooner than next year. --Wheresdib 20:18, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

Next meeting

• That was fun. I think what we need to do is pick a weekend for Jim to give us a tour of the Tannehill Museum at the earliest feasible date. I'm free on March 31... --Dystopos 21:09, 15 March 2007 (PDT)

• I will be in east Tennessee that weekend. And in Michigan the two weekends after that. I don't think we'll be free until the end of April :-( --Wheresdib 07:11, 16 March 2007 (PDT)

• I'll try to arrange something for the weekend of April 28, if that's ok. I'd also like to invite the Magic City Flickr Group. --Dystopos 10:05, 16 March 2007 (PDT)

• I'll check with my wife and will probably list it as a Geocaching event as well, since there are a number of caches at Tannehill (all of which I haven't found). Plus it will be interesting. That date sounds good for now though. --Wheresdib 11:18, 16 March 2007 (PDT)
• OK, I went ahead and listed an event for April 28 at Tannehill on Geocaching.com. I didn't list a time, but I would like to do it around noon if that's ok with ya'll. And of course anyone is welcome. GC.com doesn't like to "piggyback" events, so in order for me to list it I had to take out any mention of BhamWiki or MCF, but that doesn't mean it isn't still "our" event. --Wheresdib 15:53, 25 March 2007 (PDT)

New server

• We're moving today to a different server at Dreamhost. One with "lower load and higher uptime." Please let me know if you detect an improvement in performance. --Dystopos 06:41, 20 March 2007 (PDT)

BhamWiki mentioned in the Birmingham Weekly

• I just picked up last Thursday's (March 22) Birmingham Weekly and we are mentioned in the "Eight Days Weekly Picks/Calendars" under (ironically) today's section. I don't think the link will work after they publish the next edition, so here is the blurb verbatim:

GET TO KNOW YOUR CITY:

Without even venturing outside (though, please, please, get outside in this 75-degree weather and see what you read about later) you can learn a ton about our tortured, beloved, conflicted, potential-rich and angst-ridden Birmingham. How, you ask? By consulting Bhamwiki – the Wikipedia-inspired site about all things Birmingham. Part of the Project to Document the Birmingham District (that also includes the snap-happy, camera-totin’ fiends at the “Magic City Flickr Group”), www.bhamwiki.com includes entries on everything from city history to the latest news on downtown landmarks – info all submitted by locals. Chronicling history as it happens, essentially. The site just passed the 2,000-entries mark (a posting about the Adamsville community of Docena) and is growing by the minute. Of course, democracy is not always perfect (SEE: “United States, current president”), so double-check the facts you find on Bhamwiki – you can always send in corrections. And let us know what you find!

--Wheresdib 13:18, 26 March 2007 (PDT)

• No warning about that one. Cool. For what it's worth we saw a mild bump in traffic on March 22, serving 9,498 pages compared to a daily average of about 6,000-7,000. --Dystopos 17:34, 26 March 2007 (PDT)

April 28 at Tannehill

• As noted above, we're planning to invite everyone from here and the Magic City Flickr Group, as well as the local geocaching community to meet up at Tannehill Historical State Park on Saturday April 28 to learn more about ironmaking in Roupes' Valley, to have a chance to meet each other, to share interests (history, photography, geocaching, etc) and to take photos of the site. No specific time yet, but most likely between the 12:00 and 4:00 window-of-opportunity. --Dystopos 17:39, 26 March 2007 (PDT)

• The Geocachers will be meeting at 1:00 at a picnic area near the Iron and Steel Museum. Check out the geocache description for directions and other info. The park does charge admission and there is another charge to tour the museum. I will be hosting a "Geocaching 101" class if anyone is interested in learning more about this GPS-based scavenger hunt style hobby. We will be cooking hot dogs (courtesy of Clay Rickles, the assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 321 in Hueytown and co-owner of Rainbow Paint and Decorating in Bessemer). Clay will also provide us with some tables and chairs, but if you have a camp chair, please bring it. Anyway, hope to see you all there! --Wheresdib 10:12, 12 April 2007 (PDT)

• (as posted to MCFG) The Magic City Flickr Group and BhamWiki are joining the Alabama Geocachers Association for a fun filled afternoon at the Tannehill Historical State Park on Saturday, April 28. We'll meet and greet with the geocachers and [not] steal all their hot dogs at 1:00 PM outside the Iron and Steel Museum. Then those who are interested can tour the museum and visit the restored furnace site. Be sure to bring your cameras to document the park for the MCFG.

For those interested in geocaching, there are six or more unclaimed caches in the park and the association will have everything they need to introduce you to the hobby. --Dystopos 06:18, 24 April 2007 (PDT)

• For the record, when you find the cache, the idea is to leave it there for the next person to find, you just sign your name to the logsheet, and there are sometimes trinkets inside the cache container you can trade for... but yes, we will have a "Geocaching 101" class that will teach you the basics, then we'll have tour guides who can help you find your first cache. Now we'll just pray for good weather! --Wheresdib 06:45, 24 April 2007 (PDT)

• Can I get a headcount of how many people are going to come? We need to figure out how many hotdogs to bring. Right now I am counting about 30-40 Geocachers (including kids and spouses). We're being conservative (hah!) and bringing 100 hotdogs, so if the count from BW and MCFG is more than 10 we might need to rethink that. --Wheresdib 18:13, 24 April 2007 (PDT)

• Flickr-ites are notorious for not RSVPing. You needn't plan on feeding them. If I had to guess, I'd say between 5 and 10 might show, but I haven't heard from anybody. Personally, I'm planning to get some Bob Sykes before I come. --Dystopos 20:21, 24 April 2007 (PDT)
• I'm afraid I won't be able to make this trip, which is a shame because I'd really like to try my hand at geocaching. (Like I need another hobby.) --Lkseitz 23:13, 24 April 2007 (PDT)