Anyhow we should, though, just recognise each others' views, opinons and strengths. Respect that some will feel negative and some will feel positive....that's the balance she spoke of I think. That's how you achieve pragmatism on this roller-coaster seti ride of ours.

My 2 cents worth albeit we don't have them here.

IMHO, it seems to me that you are all taking this BOINC thing a bit too seriously.

Face it, we signed up because we thought it would be fun. There's no harm in having a little passion for your hobby, but the way it seems for some people is that when it doesn't work, it's the end of the world...

When it doesn't work, that's all there really is to it, "it doesn't work". No one is harmed, no one is hurt. By all means, have your say and if others flame you, where is the harm in ignoring them. Please don't take it so seriously, it is after all, just a fun project. Isn't it?

Consider this lesson we all should have learned in our childhood.
Spinning around was fun and would make you dizzy.
Continuing to spin would make you throw up.

Did we learn anything from this lesson?
When you got sick, did you stop? If not, who did you blame and how did you justify it?

Negativity for its own sake is a problem, but some post about problems that they observe and get immediately blasted. A good example is azwoody: he has often commented (sometimes in a very untactful way) on problems with both BOINC and SETI, and he gets derisive comments and minuses for his posts--even in this thread he is automatically minused for speaking his mind. So many people who are new to BOINC post when they are not getting credit, or work, or a reliable connection, and again, they are jumped on for their negativity. What are these forums for if not for crunchers at all levels of experience to find out about what ails them, or their efforts to participate? I agree; do away with the pom-poms, stop saying it's all good when it isn't, start giving advice and help to those who ask for it instead of deriding their asking.

There are a few users who seem to take some indication or statistic and interpret it in the most negative way possible.

They then go on to generalize that this is precisely why SETI or BOINC is a complete and total failure.

... usually followed with personal attacks on the people behind the project.

For example, as I write this, there is a pretty big validation backlog, and it seems to be growing. If I post that I think this is a temporary situation, or comment that we don't know how many work units are being validated vs. work coming in, then I'm instantly labelled a cheerleader by those who predict only doom and gloom.

It is polarizing. Frankly, it's depressing too.

The cheerleaders may not be fully justified, but at least they have a positive outlook. They provide a counterpoint to those who say the project is a failure even as the user base and the amount of credit issued increases steadily.

My point exactly, Paul. Its peculiarly English humour, we thrive on sarcasm! my American friends are nonplussed by it. Its a cultural thing.

I entirely agree, but how can we sort this out?

At the risk of repeating myself, we have the so-called cheerleaders (the blind optimists, BOINC is great, OMG its all going right?), and the nay-sayers (doom-mongers - BOINC will never work. OMG its all going wrong?). There must be a middle ground between these two extremes?

In my personal experience, BOINC seems to be working quite well.

What are Pom-Poms?

Are they some form of USA Fetish?

Negativity for its own sake is a problem, but some post about problems that they observe and get immediately blasted. A good example is azwoody: he has often commented (sometimes in a very untactful way) on problems with both BOINC and SETI, and he gets derisive comments and minuses for his posts--even in this thread he is automatically minused for speaking his mind. So many people who are new to BOINC post when they are not getting credit, or work, or a reliable connection, and again, they are jumped on for their negativity. What are these forums for if not for crunchers at all levels of experience to find out about what ails them, or their efforts to participate? I agree; do away with the pom-poms, stop saying it's all good when it isn't, start giving advice and help to those who ask for it instead of deriding their asking.

Negativity for its own sake is a problem, but some post about problems that they observe and get immediately blasted. A good example is azwoody: he has often commented (sometimes in a very untactful way) on problems with both BOINC and SETI, and he gets derisive comments and minuses for his posts--even in this thread he is automatically minused for speaking his mind. So many people who are new to BOINC post when they are not getting credit, or work, or a reliable connection, and again, they are jumped on for their negativity. What are these forums for if not for crunchers at all levels of experience to find out about what ails them, or their efforts to participate? I agree; do away with the pom-poms, stop saying it's all good when it isn't, start giving advice and help to those who ask for it instead of deriding their asking.

(I've had serious problems with sarcasm in America, for example...)

Just to be devil's advocate, if you know sarcasm can get you into trouble, why use sarcasm?

(I've had serious problems with sarcasm in America, for example...)

Now for the rant on the negativity:

I have seen people whine every single time there was an upgrade/update for BOINC. I see people whine because there is an outage now and then. I see people whine because they can't up/download WUs. I see people whine about their credit not being updated. I see people WHINE, WHINE, WHINE.... My opinion of these consistant whiners is this: Take it somewhere else! If you're not happy going with the flow of Berkeley, SETI@Home, BOINC, etc., then why are you here in the first place? To whine? We don't need it!

One thing regarding "whining", we should think about:
Many people in the boards have not English as their native language. Maybe, the vocabulary is limited and to an native speaker it sounds like "whining", what these people have added to the board.
I have had this problems myself, sitting in front of that box, trying to write an answer and felt the frustration of not knowing the proper words to write "constructive critisim". Just imagine, the board language would be German or Russian or whatever lenguage. How many people can participate then?
Yet, people try to throw in their input and they have to use English for that.

So , try to get the meaning, not the exact wording

Now for the rant on the negativity:

I have seen people whine every single time there was an upgrade/update for BOINC. I see people whine because there is an outage now and then. I see people whine because they can't up/download WUs. I see people whine about their credit not being updated. I see people WHINE, WHINE, WHINE.... My opinion of these consistant whiners is this: Take it somewhere else! If you're not happy going with the flow of Berkeley, SETI@Home, BOINC, etc., then why are you here in the first place? To whine? We don't need it!

Arguing and bickering doesn't get anyone anywhere.

{much removed}

Jeremy

Well said, Siran.

Just my 2¢ to a nickle's worth:

I, for one, am also tired of the negativity on these boards.

.....

Let us all burn the pompoms, stop cheerleading and rid the boards of all this negativity. Let's bring back the fun again. Let's look for ET....

Ok, that was probably more like a $1.00s worth.... >:-) (-:<

"I'm trying to maintain a shred of dignity in this world." - Me