I'm new to Halfbakery and am loving what I am seeing so far. Top work everyone.
One thing I can't work out is why there isn't a general chat area incorporated into the site. (I'm sure it's been commented on before but I see no harm in a bit of hassle and some heavy reasoning. Also, external chat rooms just don't cut the mustard.)
Halfbakery has some brilliant minds but they are only currently linked by weak threads under particular topics. (give me a bun for the flattery at least). I think it would be very productive to have general threads for members to talk about inventions, drinking, girls, the weather and to get to know each other on a different level. (ok, maybe not girls) Who knows what connections and collaborations might be made, Collabortion between Halfbakers might spawn The Next Big Thing.
On another level, I'm sure there are a few potential investors poking their heads around here on occasion and I assume a few Halfbakery members are looking for investment for undisclosed inventions. (They show they have great ideas on here but don't give the best ones away) A general chat thread would allow a potential investor to participate in the discussion of an idea and "feel around the edges" of a prospect without making a one on one communication commitment etc etc.
I may or may not have an interest in looking at potential investment opportunites...-- Obeardedone, Sep 23 2005 Flattery aside, whilst a chat area could be useful for some of the reasons stated, such as investing in ideas or collaborating on inventions, this isn't really a social site. It is a site for inventions and I don't think that using someone else's bandwidth for chatting to each other is a particularly good idea.-- hidden truths, Sep 23 2005 Some Hbers leave email addresses on their profile pages, so if you like the look of their ideas then you can mail them directly. There are lots of other sites dedicated to more viable ideas, though, which would be better places for investors to hang out.
As to why there isn't a catroom - I don't think [jutta] can be bothered. Can't blame her, really. Cats aren't very good at internet, they tend to repeat themselves a lot. Generally with just the one letter. Oh sorry, a _chatroom_ .Oh well, you should've said. Well, see above, really.-- moomintroll, Sep 23 2005 we're far too busy thinking of new inventions and writing 'em down in correctly spelt and punctuated prose, researching other people's ideas and pulling them to pieces with scientifically challenged logic, drinking beer, swearing and arguing, dragging back bakers who try to escape, to...
what was it again?-- po, Sep 23 2005 Collabortion, n: trashing a bad idea together?
The reason we don't have a chat room is that I absolutely loathe chatrooms and chatter. I don't want to run a social hub, I want to run a user-edited database of poorly thought-out inventions.
There are already systems devoted to being online social hubs, as well as the invisible networks of email and instant messaging. Just use those. Feel free to publish your contact details on your user page, or to create #halfbakery IRC channels or online 3-D models of bakeries cut in half, or whatever strikes your fancy. Once they exist, I'll happily point to them from the "Spinoffs" section of the links page.-- jutta, Sep 23 2005 fair enough. Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I'll just chat to myself then... Which is always mightily interesting of course but sometimes quite tedious and just a little sad.-- Obeardedone, Sep 24 2005 like moom said, there are plenty of people here to email etc.-- po, Sep 24 2005 random, halfbakery