New Chat Room Software

[dusty]

It is true that the problems being discussed right now are with the chat room. HOWEVER

That is NOT to say that the web page has NO problems; there may be problems that we (the users) either can't see or are problems we have learned to live with.

[Nick]

"...there may be problems that we (the users) either can't see or are problems we have learned to live with."

Given all the belly-aching, second guessing, breast-beating, finger-pointing, and hand-wringing that has been going on for four pages, there's sufficient evidence that some of you may not be able to live with any problem, no matter how insignificant. All Drew, Doug, and I did was propose to run a test to see if we could improve an educational service and you'd think we broke into your homes and raped your pet turtles. Get a grip.

Addon Chat has a fairly extensive troubleshooting site. However, you must have an account to access it. To help those of you who are having problems, I've set up an account under my own e-mail address and I invite those of you who need help to use it. Go to http://www.addonchat.com and click on "My Account" in the upper right-hand corner. A login page will come up. Type in my e-mail address -- "nick@shopsmith.com." The password is "workshop."

Once you've logged in, look to the box on the lower right -- the one that says Support Resources. There's a Troubleshooter, Knowledge Base, and User Forum right there -- one of those may be able to help you either solve your problems or live with them. Please don't enter a support ticket without checking with me first.

Whatever your problems with add-ins, it's a fact that most of the chat room services and software that Drew, Doug, and I have found are written in Java. We cannot stay with PHP-based Lace Chat; it has caused our server to crash at least twice when we tried to open the sessions to more than two dozen participants. It's not likely that we will find another PHP- or HTML-based chat room that will serve; these languages really don't lend themselves to the type of tasks that chat requires. So grin and bear it. The tests are by no means complete; we haven't made any decisions; but if you want to attend future Sawdust Sessions, you may have learn to live with Java.

With all good wishes,

[a1gutterman]

Chuck:

I hope you will reconsider too. I personally know none of you on this forum but read it each day. I have contributed very little and usually don't say anything unless I really have something to say. Chuck, our generation came along at the wrong time to use computers. Some of us are better than others and have studied hard to understand the things. Personally, I am greatly intimidated by them and it disgust me that a 5 or 6 year old can sit down with no knowledge and do anything he or she wants to. They seem to be born with the genes to understand our electronic world.

Chuck, sleep on your decision to abort this forum because it is made from certain personalities that truly promote this "unselfish hobby" and you have always been one of the mainstays. If it were not for you and so many others, we would have no forum. There are a few thousand that belong to this forum but we rarely hear from them and your absence would definitely leave a dark hole.

Sometimes the simplest computer remedies can come in the wee hours of the morning when you suddenly wake up and say eureka! For days, I have been struggling to improve my potato gun ammunition and last night I had one of those eureka moments when I suddenly realised that I could turn wax on my lathe and make some rather high tech wax projectiles heehee. Yes, I'm a bit crazy too.

In closing, I hope that many of you after learning what the Chinese are doing to the olympics will reconsider furthering their economy which seems to be an on going discussion on this forum

Arno

Hi Arno,
Fear knot! Chuck is with us here for the long haul. He is referring only to giving up on watching the live Sawdust Sessions.

[SDSSmith]

Windows XP Pro and IE 6........All Okay.

AND BY THE WAY.......
Thanks for the sessions, the interludes, this forum and the responsiveness of all in the Shopsmith Family. It is greatly appreciated by this and many other Shopsmith users. Keep up the good work!!!

[charlese]

Ed and Arno - Don't take me wrong!!! I'm dropping out of ONLY live streaming broadcasts! It is only the Chat room crap that frustrates me.

The Chats may be a very good thing for other folks, and I don't want to throw cold water on them.

I only wanted to say that for me, the value of on-line-chatting, especially with mis-understood configurations, are not worth my effort to participate. I will continue to view the archived Sawdust sessions along with the Forum. I really want to see the portion of Saturday's session on drying lumber. Don't know if there will be anything particularly noteworthy, except the subject itself.. Selection, care a handling of lumber pre-machining is probably the most mis-understood and ignored part of home woodworking. I'm very glad the Sawdust Sessions are delving into this.

Actually, I'm not at all computer shy! I've had a computer on my desk since the Apple 2e first came out. I believe this was 1988. Had personal computers both at home and at work. When Windows '94 came out - I was able to reach the Internet for the first time. That said, I have always looked at computers as a means to accomplish an end. Nothing else!!!! I've never thought of it as entertainment. Never allowed myself to get involved in the inner workings between hardware and software. There-in lays the difference between the younger set and my crotchety, curmudgeonly old self.

I personally love this Forum and will only leave it when they pry my fingers off of the keyboard. Unless for some reason, the switch gets flipped off.

[dusty]

Whew. That's a relief.

[a1gutterman]

...I really want to see the portion of Saturday's session on drying lumber. Don't know if there will be anything particularly noteworthy, except the subject itself.. Selection, care a handling of lumber pre-machining is probably the most mis-understood and ignored part of home woodworking. I'm very glad the Sawdust Sessions are delving into this...

You know, Chuck, you can still watch the Sawdust Session and just knot worry about the chat.

[admin]

For those of you still having problems with the chat:

Is there anyone using the built-in AOL browser? If so, the built-in AOL browser could be causing the problem. Try IE or Firefox.

Another item that may cause problems is a firewall running.

And again, It is possible that your web browser has downloaded/cached an invalid copy of the chat software. Try clearing your browser’s cache (temporary internet files), then closing all instances of your web browser, and restart your browser again. If you need help clearing your browser's cache, let me know, and I can post instructions. You may even want to try rebooting your computer.

And for those who missed my previous posting, here is the link for the JAVA downlaod: http://www.java.com/en/
(AddonChat requires Java technology to run)

[dusty]

As stated before, I cannot get into the chat room. It looks like I almost get there but not quite.

I have a login screen (addonChat). It is located in the area where you would expect the chat room. The test video and blackboard are there and work.

My user name is diplayed and can be changed.

There is a login button.

When I login, I get the message: "Error connecting to server. Please try again in a few minutes".

Test video has now played and the screen has gone black.

Login button is still there and reacts the same way.

I can restart the test video. The login button is still there and it acts the same.

Which server is not allowing me in?

Am I not connected to THE SERVER while the test video is running?

Incidently, I have the same symptoms whether I come online through AOL or IE. While posting this, I am in through IE.

[dusty]

I took down all my protection (firewalls, anti hacker, etc) with no change in symptoms.

Now I just hope there is nothing (security measures) that I failed to put back.