Is there any interest in a Mendel90 Google+ Community?

Hi All,

We like buying Mendel90s... we like building Mendel90s... we like using Mendel90s... we like enhancing Mendel90s!

This forum is great for Q+A purposes and we show each other our efforts but would anyone be interested in contributing to a dedicated Mendel90 Google+ Community?

I am suggesting things like showcases of our aesthetic and functional work, integration of YouTube videos etc. I often see questions like "Which is the best RepRap for me to build?" appearing so why not show folks the best one in action?

Of course, Chris will curse me for suggesting this because it will bring him lots of extra work (and maybe a Ferrari, Yacht or newer manufacturing facilities) - no retirement for you yet!

Opinions solicited.

Regards,
Neil Darlow

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

Personally I hate Google+. It's too fragmented.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

I'll take that as a No then!

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

I check Google+ far more often than this forum simply because it's integrated into my phone. When I'm on my laptop, I'm usually working and don't have as much time to engage here. Nophead is pretty responsive on the 3D Printing community and has always piped up when I've posted Mendel90 questions there. If you set one up, it must be moderated and I'd be happy to help.

The upside might be to get more people interested in and contributing to Mendel90 development. G+ has better media integration and likely a much wider reach than this forum. The Mendel90 is such an excellent machine and it pains me every time I see some promotion for the latest, "greatest" FDM printer costing updwards of $2000 (e.g. LeHeWe, Witbox, Tinkerine). Fools and their money...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2014 02:24PM by ashleywebster.

I see most things on the web that mention Mendel90 because I have a Google alert for it. I don't use G+ but if someone mentions +nop head I get an email. Note +nophead is not my G+ account. It is created by Google because they hijacked my youtube account and forced it to have a G+ name.

I hate the fact that when I post on my blog it now posts on G+ because Google has hijacked blogger. So instead of all the comments being on my blog they are spread all over G+ as people comment on the re-shares or whatever they are called. Then when somebody looks at the post they don't find the comments.

I can get the forum on my phone with feedly but as it is only a watch with tiny screen I tend not to.

I used to read this forum with Google reader but they pulled that so now I have to use Feedly. That doesn't update in real time so I see these posts about two hours later than I used to do. Another reason why I now hate Google more than Microsoft and Apple.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Hi Neil,
In response to your question, I would be interested in a Mendel90 G+ Community, and would join it. It is a different animal to what we have here though. This is a solid Q&A/Discussion forum, where as G+ posts tend to have shorter shelf-lives as people move on to view or comment on the next post quite quickly. G+ is more media rich/friendly and more suitable to quick show-n-tell posts. It could be a focus for that type of posting. It would give additional visibility to the Mendel90, which it truly deserves. I think it would be a positive thing on balance.
Ivor

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[numbersixreprap.blogspot.com]

Hi All,

That's looking more positive. I know Chris has a dislike of things Google but we have to accept some intrusion of their business model in consequence of the vast free resources they provide.

I know that Spam is becoming a problem on these groups and I would like to draw in committed moderators from around the globe so we can have 24 hour removal of nuisance posts. Let's give a little more time for responses and we'll collectively make a yes/no decision on whether it goes ahead.

Regards,
Neil Darlow

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

I have yet to get involved in G+, mainly because the multiple accounts I previously had with various services have now been subsumed into the Google collective and made my life much more complicated. I really don't need another social network but if it's easy and unobtrusive to use (and someone is willing to describe it to me) then I'll certainly investigate. Whether I continue to use it will depend on how useful a resource it becomes - I find this forum to be a good enough source of info, though the search functions leave a lot to be desired.

@QuackingPlums:

If you already have a GMail or YouTube account then you have the login credentials for a Google+ account.

An initial login to Google+ will create your account and you can customise your profile (as you would with any forum software). You can then browse the groups and join those that interest you.

The rest is just reading the posts and commenting on them or making new posts to share with others. The interface is simple and intuitive - probably simpler than this forum (I can say this because I was once a member of the Phorum Development Team).

Regards,
Neil Darlow

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

Yeah, my problem is that my YouTube, GMail, GoogleApps, Docs, Drive, Chrome, etc accounts were all created before the consolidation of the Google SSO architecture so now I have multiple accounts to everything, with multiple notifications and total confusion over which things I've already read/been notified about. Every time I access a Google service I have to remember which particular account I used to create it, otherwise I risk increasing the notification spam even further. Even the "which account do you want to use with this service" dialog is annoying...

The "initial login to G+" is probably the hardest part, because each account has already got circles attached to it and there are many overlaps between my various accounts. I could probably tidy it all up if I can be bothered to spend the time but so far there hasn't been a compelling reason to do so.

Quote
neildarlow
This forum is great for Q+A purposes and we show each other our efforts but would anyone be interested in contributing to a dedicated Mendel90 Google+ Community?

I am suggesting things like showcases of our aesthetic and functional work, integration of YouTube videos etc. I often see questions like "Which is the best RepRap for me to build?" appearing so why not show folks the best one in action?

Why can't those things happen here? If we want to have a showcase, just create a showcase thread that anyone can go to. Sticky it if you want it to be seen by everyone.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/01/2014 11:22AM by cdru.

@cdru:

Showcasing was just one suggestion. There are limitations on what you can do here in respect of number, and size, of images per post. Google+ supports user galleries which is more useful.

Also, this being a support forum, there is a lot of material which might be confusing to casual browsers interested in the general capabilities of the Mendel90.

So far, the forum contains no sticky threads. While they are useful for reducing repeated posts they do also impose an additional management burden for the administrator.

Regards,
Neil Darlow

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

Just to wind me up even more Google decided to add the birthdays of virtually everybody I have had an email conversation with to my calendar. Hundreds of Mendel90 users mainly.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

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[numbersixreprap.blogspot.com]

Just looked at my Google profile and found that I cannot remove my birthday. I have changed it to a setting which says "Only you" which may avoid the same thing happening to other folk but if Mr. Nophead already has my birthday in his calendar ...... can't wait until the Xth/Xst/Xnd/Xrd of X this/next year .... if only to see what effect this Google policy has on me as an individual!

:-)

Alan

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2014 05:36PM by Alzibiff.

Your birthday was in my calendar but it has disappeared now and I didn't make a note of it, sorry.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

So, what about a mendel90 facebook group?

Good Lord no! We are techies not fashionistas!

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

Neil, that's so funny a response, but, honestly, I couldn't have put it better! (still laughing!)
No offence Dawa, but facebook isn't my scene either.

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[numbersixreprap.blogspot.com]

It's probably a generational thing, but I don't do any social media either.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

ROFL

Alan

No problem, I don't take offense :-)
Of course FB has many limitations, but it could be a complement for fun and picture sharing, etc.
I am member of a few 3d-printing related FB groups (3D printing DIY for instance, with a lot of techies), and only very few people there seem to be aware of mendel90. Prusa i3 seems far more established. I think more people should take a look at mendel90.

@dawa: I think, unfairly, the RepRap community pushes the Prusa i3 over the Mendel90. I suspect this might have something to do with a N.I.H. Syndrome on the part of some in the RepRap hierarchy.

N.B.: For non-english speakers unfamiliar with the term N.I.H, it means "Not invented here".

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

Quote
neildarlow
... the RepRap hierarchy.

What's that then?

Alan

@Alzibiff:

There is a long tradition of openness in the RepRap community which is reflected in areas like the RepRap.org Wiki but this seems to be complimented by statements like Josef Prusa being an Official RepRap Developer. I don't know whether that came about as a result of some affiliation or association with RepRapPro or through some implied governance of RepRap activities.

Maybe I am seeing something that's not there but I know for a fact that the RepRap.org affiliated IRC channel recommends, in its channel topic, that anyone unsure of which RepRap machine to build should take the Prusa i3. Someone must have made a conscious decision to push the i3 otherwise they could have just linked to the machines page of the Wiki in an unbiased manner.

I like to think that anyone wishing to build a RepRap machine will perform their own research and choose what suits their circumstances best but I also believe it should be a level playing field. Perhaps I am displaying a little New Year paranoia

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I try to write with consideration for all nationalities. Please let me know if something is unclear.
Printing with Mendel90 from fedora 25 using Cura, FreeCAD, MeshLab, OpenSCAD, Skeinforge and Slic3r tools.

Hmm. But mendel90 is clearly a RepRap printer, so what does "here" mean then? (is is clearly in the RepRap community already)
There are a lot of interesting ideas and printers out there.
Maybe things just happen to turn out in one way or another?
Anyway, mendel90 deserves more attention, it seems to me, so the word should be spread :-)
Do you know any good pointers to comparative discussions/sites that take mendel90 into account?
Before I added this sentence, my message was rejected with the message "The data that you have submitted to the server have been rejected, because it looks like they were posted by an automated bot."
Strange...

The Mendel90 has its own subforum here. The i3 shares with other Mendel variants. Prusa variants have been around longer and have many kit vendors.
I don't think that there is a general vested interest bias. Google+ seems harder to manage than FB. Groups are easy to create so why not.