Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2006 15:00:42 -0500
Reply-To: JD Erskine <sailargh@VICTORIA.TC.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: JD Erskine <sailargh@VICTORIA.TC.CA>
Subject: Re: Vanagon Science Degree - list archive/FAQ => Wiki
In-Reply-To: <15635A80-7414-44B8-83E0-6001AD42AC24@earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed
Daniel Erlandson wrote:
>>
>> Date: Sat, 25 Feb 2006 22:53:54 -0600
>> From: John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
>> Subject: Re: blinking coolant light with full coolant
>>
>> For everyone who owns a Vanagon based vehicle - ownership is like
>> going
>> to college and studying for a degree. You read, read, read, and then
>> read some more. Since the degree is in Vanagon Science, nothing is
>> to be
>> left unread just because it has no immediate application. Sooner or
>> later you will need every bit of the information you have read
>> about -
>> and hopefully digested. At the very least you should have references
>> that trigger the brain as to where to go to find information for
>> troubleshooting. The Vanagon List is some of the best "Reference
>> Material" you can get in pursuing that Bachelor's in Vanagon
>> Science. So
>> read, read, read.
>>
>> The final exam is a practical test that will take place on a dark and
>> rainy night on a back road half way between Nowhere and Anywhere USA.
>> Guaranteed!! You want to be knowledgable enough to have the right
>> answers to the questions and finish the test fast, and get on down the
>> road. :-)
>>
>> John Rodgers
>> 88 GL Driver
>
[First post]
Okay, this now may go to the list instead of just Daniel.
Hullo,
I was going to snip most of John's post, then left it in since it
underscores the need to read the material on VL as 'reference'. However
to read, retain and possibly recover pointedly useful material it works
better if codified, organised and not diluted with the rest of the
community exchange that goes on here.
Who am I? Just a guy who likes Westies enough to consider one now that
my '90 V6 Izzy Trooper is dying from having lived in salt country for
too long. I'm working out what I want, what I can study to work on, what
I know I can't work on, what the vehicle/model classic problems are,
what to accept, what to avoid... I'm also an info junky and _would_
read the whole of the list material however I'd love it to be
categorised some.
Enter the Wiki. One aspect of Amateur Radio (Ham radio) that I'm
involved in has a regional list. Beside the e-mail list we use, and the
supporting web site, we added a Wiki to the web site a year ago and it's
use has really taken off for organising, publishing and editing useful info.
Some folks know of on-line editable information web sites, Wikipedia is
a well known one. The one I already mentioned is a more focused,
accessible example http://wiki.ampr2.net/nwaprs/FrontPage
The help/how-to is at http://wiki.ampr2.net/nwaprs/HelpContents
that has links to the original Wiki and it's use and history.
A Wiki allows for someone to take a piece they've just written for the
list, say in response to a repeat question, and easily post it. As an
example some one might post on wheel rims. Someone else might add info
on studs. Someone might edit, without removing, the bit on studs with a
bit on a specific year/models' studs.
The beauty of this approach is that it remains the community effort that
the collection, communication, distribution and some archiving of
Vanagon info this list effects. No one person has to accept, organise,
code, post and maintain all the data, yet it may be organised,
searchable, readable, etc.
Thanks for reading. Now, gas/diesel, synchro/2wd, pop-top/wkndr, engine
not replaced/replaced (as in prep for Subaru engine?... :{)
Cheers, John
'JD' Erskine
Victoria, BC
VA7OTC / VE0JD
Vanagon lust err, longing
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