How much of your time do you allow for this forum and why?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

It is 3AM, I final get out of bed at 3:34AM and I am typing this question, and it is threefold:

1.) How much TIME per day do you allow yourself to use (a)for this forum, and (b)other computer related Internet sites?

2.) How does the time you spend per day relate to (a) your Y2K awareness level, and (b) your present level of preparation?

3) Your methodology when you are in this Forum. I mean by this, in the interest of the time you have allowed yourself to spend here per day, what method works best for you?

My answer. In the interest of time I will be brief.

1) TIME: About 1 to 1-1/2 hours per day, total, for Internet work, including this FORUM.

2) The time I use per day for Internet work is directly related to my level of awareness and my preparations. In the beginning, I spent an average of 6-8 hours/day becoming informed. Add time given to this for reading material I printed out during my stops along the information highway on the Internet, 10-12 hours/day. As my awareness level increased, my preparation level began to increase, and my time used for Internet work decreased. This brings me to methodology on the Internet.

3) Now that my time is very limited, I find that I now have a methodology when visiting this FORUM and other "favorite Internet sites."

I rely heavily on short, terse comments to help me determine whether the long posts are worth my time. Even the well known names on this forum receive this same treatment. I want to know ahead whether it will be worth my valueable time. So I scroll down the responses, read the shorter comments to get a "feel" for the subject/debate. If it seems important, then I either begin to go back and read the longer posts, or I save it for a later time that day or the next, and print the thread, to save to read then or some other time.

How about you? Time? Level of awareness/preparation? Methodology?

-- Joe (jba@there.com), December 01, 1998

Answers

I avoid the long posts, many are too wordy, and if I want to know about a specific thing, I go to the source. I avoid the very tehnical posts only because it's out of my field of knowledge. I've been preparing for well over a year now, and my level of awareness is right up there with all of you who get it. You reach a point however where you become immune to all the hoopla of Y2K. I'm bored with the same scenarios, same questions, and same answers, I avoid those posts too. So I guess I spend very little time on it.

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), December 01, 1998.

1) TOO D@#M MUCH (Acording to Tari the spousal unit)

case in point: I ran a late Pittsburgh trip last night and it is now 0825 AM-----Not bad for going to work at 1430 Monday, and PBRG at 2330.

CR

OFF TO BED!!!!

-- Chuck a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 01, 1998.


I think that the best thing about this forum is that if you want up- to-the-second info about what is happening on Y2K, this is it. Anything even remotely related gets "full coverage".

And so, indeed, time does become a problem, especially at the mushrooming rate of new threads and new posters. Personally, I tend to look here more, but read less (especially if I know that it has already been covered before, with nothing really new being added).

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), December 01, 1998.

Time: About 3-4 hours per day. In the beginning of my "starting to get it" phase it was more like 6-8 per day. This includes updating web sites and web-surfing for info.

Method: I generally read about 90% of the posts. The very technical ones I forward to dear husband to read at his leisure and then explain to me. I must say I enjoy the humorous ones every now and then; acts as sort of a "relief valve" for me.

-- Bobbi (volfnat@northweb.com), December 01, 1998.


I scan a lot; practical information gets a more thorough perusal than theory or speculation. I occasionally cut and paste the stuff that I know I can use later, like energy values of wood or URLs to good sites.

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), December 01, 1998.


Karen - me too.

Use the [END] button to go straight to the bottom of the thread.

Parallel process:

Check "latest" things as drawings are loading or other batch processes running. Let the browser "refresh" when you get a cup of coffee. Scan things during lunch. Use the screen capture (I like HyperSnap-DX, others might work too) to print specific info, or [Print] to get the whole thread - if technical. If you give an answer - push the [Submit] button, then the browser [Back] and [Stop] buttons to return, don't bother waiting for the scrolling list of names to go by, or previous screens.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), December 01, 1998.


In the beginning 2 months I spent as much as 8 - 10 hours a day learning about y2k - really no differnet than if I was taking some college courses to learn a new trade or just to brush up on my lacking education. I now spend about 3 hours or so, split morning, afternoon and evening reading the forums and I "always" make myself contribute to the food storage or stockpile in some definite way each day. There is so much to learn and so many things to learn how to do properly so that in the case of food storage, when we open our food buckets in 13 months, the food is still good so I don't consider even one minute a waste of time.

-- Ellen (kjwood@worldnet.att.net), December 01, 1998.

In the beginning 2 months I spent as much as 8 - 10 hours a day learning about y2k - really no different than if I was taking some college courses to learn a new trade or just to brush up on my lacking education. I now spend about 3 hours or so, split morning, afternoon and evening reading the forums and I "always" make myself contribute to the food storage or stockpile in some definite way each day. There is so much to learn and so many things to learn how to do properly so that in the case of food storage, when we open our food buckets in 13 months, the food is still good so I don't consider even one minute a waste of time.

-- Ellen (kjwood@worldnet.att.net), December 01, 1998.

1a) Maximum of 15 minutes per day on this forum. It used to be higher, but the signal to noise ration has gotten pretty low here, so it goes faster despite the increase in volume. Also, so much of what is said here repeats what has already been covered here and elsewhere that it reduces my time spent on *all* Y2K forums.

1b) Maximum of 1 hour per day total. I might spend more, but I have many other things to do and I have to be carefull about how I allocate my time.

2a) Outside of current news items, my Y2K "awareness" level hasn't changed in months, so time spent here doesn't affect that. BTW, the Peter DeJager site is the best one I regularly visit for following current news items.

2b) I'm as "prepared" as I plan to get. Search the archives for what that means to me as well as thousands of words in response to my position that, to paraphrase Paul Milne, amount to "You're a butthead."

3) People on this forum are usually pretty good about giving the threads titles that relate to the subject matter of the thread. If the title doesn't sound interesting to me, I skip it. It's a great time saver.

-- Paul Neuhardt (neuhardt@ultranet.com), December 01, 1998.


Down to less than 2 hours a day on this forum, although I have not caught up yet since I took a week off. Too many new posts lately. I'm not as interested with the serious Y2K and technical stuff anymore as I am with the funnies and philosophical ones, since I've "got it" as much as I'll ever "get it", have printed out all the goodies for preparation and references for others DGI's. I'm a solid 10, don't care what anyone else says about the details now, and I firmly believe the government is encouraging disinformation. I'll get interested in serious Y2k again when Paul Milne, Infomagic, Cory and Bennett turn around and tell me it's going to be a 2 and show me the proofs. In the mean time, I use this forum as a sort of moral support, being around people who get it.

-- Chris (catsy@pond.com), December 01, 1998.


I was spending 3-5 hours per day on the net looking for information until I found this forum. I have nearly stopped going to the othr old haunts since someone here seems to always keep up with what is currant and they usually include the reference. My questions are answered when I ask and I am grateful for that. Total time on the net for Y2K daily is about 2 hours. My husband also frequents this forum and between the two of us we read most posts (and learn something)

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), December 02, 1998.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ