hallettj

Stardate, 2024-08-30T06:34:17.993Z

Aw, thanks! That's high praise!

I used to organize a meetup for Javascript programmers. It was more about sharing information than about debate, but I think there might be overlap with what you want. The format was a regular meeting schedule once a month where 2-3 people would give presentations to show off what they've been working on, teach how to use a new framework, or whatever they were interested in. So in a way it has handing out information from on high, but I think because we had different people each meeting sharing their perspective there was a good element of exchange of ideas between peers.

Now it turns out that people need lots of leadership energy to create room for exchange of ideas. At the beginning I'd get about 6 people at each meeting, few of whom volunteered to step up in front of the group. So what I did was to show up every month, and talked about whatever topic I could come up with. At most of the meetings it was just me talking. When I did get other people to present it was through prodding and hassling. But people were interested enough in the material, and found enough value in just being in the same room with other people with similar interests that people kept coming back. It stayed small like that, growing slowly for maybe 2 years. But then we hit a critical point where there were enough people coming, and people were inspired enough that suddenly we were getting 30-50 people each month, and I had no problem finding volunteers to present. And it wasn't the same volunteers either - we had a good rotation of different people interested in sharing their ideas. That continued for another 6 years before I moved and passed organizer responsibility over to the next generation.

My point is that a club like this needs a lot of energy and attention. It's going to grow slowly. But it will grow if you keep at it, and put in the work. We reached that point where the group became sort of self sufficient in that I didn't need to be the one making presentations anymore, and I didn't need to actively seek out volunteers to present. But I still had to put in the work to make sure we had the meeting space available every month, show up to let people in, work out the meeting schedule, get food. Anything like this will die if there isn't someone holding it together through force of will. But it's worth it! It was a great experience!

I know you said you want your club to self-manage. But people need structure. If you ask people to show up and have stimulating discussion they're going stand around awkwardly not knowing what to talk about. Something like a presentation followed by discussion gives structure that helps people to open up, and explore their own thoughts. Or since you want multiple perspectives maybe a debate or a panel format would work better for you. Get 2 or more volunteers to talk about a specific topic. I highly recommend lining up panelists ahead of time - you'll have a rough time getting volunteers on the spot. If you prep your debaters ahead of time by asking them to present different views they might be less likely to simply agree with each other. Once your scheduled panelists get ideas flowing it will be easier to encourage attendees to step up to speak. You might have a debate or panel followed by open discussion, or rotating panel seats that people can step up to and leave as they feel inspired. But again, based on my experience I suggest being ready to be the one person standing up and debating yourself for maybe many meetings before the club finds a self-organizing energy.

I'm quite happy with Thunder.

Oh dear... the other day I was encouraging my 12-year-old to join the cross country team. He said the only sport he's interested in is badminton.

#7 is my goal owl

It seems that "fully" 3D printed is an overstatement. The article says, "there’s 3D printing whenever possible". That includes printing the frame as a single piece, and the hubs. Some pieces are specified to not be 3D printed like the crank and saddle. The article doesn't mention bearings.

Zed invented tree-sitter which is a great feature. But since tree-sitter is open source it's also available in neovim and helix.

When you get stuck you explain your problem to the turkey, and that helps to understand the problem better.

Inefficient compared to batteries? I found another article saying this company hopes that the energy dome will cost ⅔ the cost of a lithium-ion battery installation with the same energy capacity. https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/energy/a61572150/carbon-dioxide-energy-dome-plant/

After seeing this comment I had to check how Disney is involved if they don't own the restaurant. The restaurant is in Disney World (specifically Disney Springs). https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8jl0ekjr0go

IIUC that does put the restaurant in the special tax district that gives Disney the authority of a county government. But my very cursory search seems to indicate that restaurant safety oversight is managed at the state level.

It seems like only one side of the ancient rivalry is represented in the comments here. No worries, I'm right there with you.