I’m traveling today, and my ability to connect to the Internet will be hit and miss. Therefore, I’ve decided to run an open thread along with this question: What Could We do Better?
This applies to WUWT, it’s readers, moderators and guest contributors. Constructive criticisms and feedback are welcome, but for my blog spawn and detractors, your feedback is welcome too, but please leave your rants, vitriol, and hate mail at the front door.
For contributors with posting privileges, feel free to publish today if the mood strikes you.
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What I value on this site is the comments section. Most seem to all educated like, unlike just about every other site out there.
If anything, opening it up to topics other than climate (as you sometimes do) would be even better.
They can also express an idea. It is as though WUWT is self-filtering. Which means it tolerates some degree of informed digression.
It would be nice to be able to like comments. I agree, the comments are always fascinating and often highly educational.
270,187,359 views as of today!!
Does any other science blog even come close???
And more than 1,760,000 reader comments! All alarmist blogs put together don’t have that many interested readers.
Are you counting the comments that they’ve deleted?
/grin
#B^)
Here’s what I’d like to see MORE of:
(1) Clear, concise “Abstracts” at the top of articles on the science refuting AGW, backed up by the more technical info. and references down the column for those who want to know more.
(2) Publicize the many climate fluctuations that have taken place in the pre-industrial past, both warmer and colder. This information is being suppressed in the models and MSM, we need to get it out there.
(3) Continue to pound the message that warmer is MUCH BETTER than colder for ALL living things.
(4) Continue debunking outdated Malthusian catastrophizing at every opportunity. DO support sensible environmental initiatives on actionable issues like habitat destruction, species adaptation, etc.
I’d like to see LESS of:
(1) Silly/hysterical alarmist articles, especially from “junk” sources like The Guardian. While fun for us to laugh at, the less people read them, the better. Don’t prolong the shelf life of junk via WUWT!
(2) Less ad-hominem political mudslinging. Don’t sink to their level–keep WUWT factual and focused ON THE SCIENCE, which will ultimately stand on its own merit. Debunk the models, expose the financing sources, etc. but let THEM look desperate and shrill. Having the facts on our side, stay professional and dignified. That alone will make WUWT stand out in a world that increasingly sounds like one big toddler’s tantrum.
(3) Troll-feeding in the Comments section. By definition, one can’t have a rational debate with an irrational person. I’d put most True Believers in that category, along with the ignorant and the virtue-signaling. The data stands for itself–those who want information, not an argument, will certainly find it here!
Keep up the good work, this blog is the best!
Please consider providing simple summaries of the more technical posts for those of us without scientific backgrounds.
Also, proofreading for punctuation errors might help prevent the proliferation of same.
For example, “it’s” = “it is.”
+1 to simple summaries
Some of the technical detail is lost on my feeble mind. I think I would get more out of these lengthy posts if they had a concise summary of the argument, including the conclusion, in lay-speak at the top!
Support simple summaries but only if doesn’t turnoff the valuable heavyweight contributions. If part of the aim is to enlarge the sceptical community then somewhere to lodge and have questions answered would be useful.
Actually I like a site that isn’t written for 7th graders. Challenge the mind a little and look up what you don’t understand.
I often find that I pick up greater understanding from the comments section. I thoroughly enjoy the discussions that take place here and I learn a lot from them. A big Thank You to all who contribute. 🙂
+1 for simple summaries
The comments will usually fill in more detail on some of the more technical posts. I know that on the more complicated posts, I sometimes spend several hours trying to absorb as much as I can of what is being stated. I like the exercise.
“Simple summaries” would be nice but I think that would mainly be up to the author of a particular post and not WUWT in general.
Also WUWT can’t do anything about a commenter hitting the “Reply” button to soon
(But “is’t” really that important?8-)
For clarity and preserving what’s (what is) left of the English language, yes, I am convinced it is.
When reading a book, post, etc., my eyes come to a dead stop when I see its in the context of it is, or vice-versa, it’s as a possessive. It slows me down and makes me wonder about the detail orientation of the writer. To avoid confusion, I think it’s (it is) important to follow accepted usage.
Donna, WUWT is the egghead equivalent of a man cave. I don’t think they much care about punctuation here…
Yes, it is. Also, that should be “too soon”.
With all the degradation of language done by texting abbreviation and the like, I would like to see better care taken with language use here, particularly since this is supposed to be a science site and should reflect precision; not the sloppy use of “science” seen in the alarmist realm. Sloppy language use is indicative of a poorly educated person or simply of carelessness or apathy.
“With all the degradation of language done by texting abbreviation and the like, I would like to see better care taken with language use here, particularly since this is supposed to be a science site and should reflect precision; not the sloppy use of “science” seen in the alarmist realm. Sloppy language use is indicative of a poorly educated person or simply of carelessness or apathy.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-3nnht-b40
I agree Donna.
But it’s not simple typos that slow me down so much as errors that betray a failure to learn a language in the first place, to the extent of failing even to follow one’s own thought patterns while typing or speaking. Those who claim English as their native language should at least be aware of the following common errors.
“should of” instead of “should have”
“capitol” (a building) instead of “capital” (a city)
“irregardless” instead of “regardless”
“could care less” instead of “couldn’t care less”
“seperate” instead of “separate”
“loose” instead of “lose”
“for free; for cheap” instead of “free; cheap”
“cheaper prices” instead of “lower prices; cheaper goods”
“then” used consistently instead of “than”
Beyond that there’s the failure to differentiate subjective and objective pronouns, and to discern possessive case both in the choice of pronouns and use of apostrophes. Those who argue that nothing matters are simply too lazy to learn.
Thank you. Actually, I’m quite forgiving of occasional typographical errors. It’s other language errors that distract me from the meaning of the post, article, or book. Sometimes the omission of proper punctuation affects the meaning of the thought the author is attempting to present.
You might want to add to your list:
affect: to influence: Solar activity may affect climate.
effect: n. result; v. cause. The effects of ENSO vary in different parts of the world.
To effect change, it is necessary to question the status quo, then convince others that one’s conclusions are correct.
Donna K. B, do those “slow-downs” also make you wonder about the religion, race, culture, nationality and/or country of origin that the aforesaid “writer” is directly associated with?
I think it would be much easier if you re-nurtured your subconscious mind to “ignore” those minor infractions in the correct usage of the Queen’s English ….. than it would be for you to re-educate 70% of the US population and/or 99% of the remaining world population ……. to conform to and abide by your vocabulary “standards”..
Our knowledge of the science of the physical world is constantly changing ….. and thus the verbiage we use to define, explain or question said “changes” also has to change either via the coining of new “words” or the assigning of an additional definition to an already defined word.
It’s best to listen to what a person has to say ….. before making a rash judgement as to whether or not said persons knows anything about what he/she is talking about.
As long as we’re being insufferably picky, I’d add the newly emerging “bored of.”
“I’m bored” of climate change alarmism. Please don’t.
I think you are doing quite well, particularly in the management of the comment section. It is contentious, very political, very informative, but avoids dissolving into a total food fight (unlike several other sites).
Have you tried reader ratings on comments, I think they are valuable on sites that I’ve visited
I’m not sure popularity contests reflect well on skeptical outlooks.
Dave Fair
They have done that several times over the last 4 years. I have come to see why they do not use a rating link. Note that readers sometimes give a rating with a +1, or +10, etc, added into their comment.
I’d like an amen button . Says a lot with a click .
Also , at least some chance to clean up typos . With a brief time limit , retains the archival nature of the blog .
Newsvine allows 5 minutes to edit a comment. That was a reasonable time limit for double checking one’s comment.
I thought the mandatory up-vote was +97?
A very amusing site.
Enthusiasm is contagious!
How about a means to track those that are funding their careers or gaining from consistent use of ‘if, might, could, may, likely or those that slander, threaten and dismiss anyone that doesn’t agree with Human Caused Globule Warming (HCGW).
Have the data base capture name, position, employer, grants, ranking article wise, ranking money scored.
It would be interesting knowing how much taxpayer dollars have been spent by HCGW person or how much a group has collected like National Wildlife Federation.
Likewise, paranoia should be avoided to maintain neutral skepticism.
Dave Fair
Kevin Angus stated:
Kevin, here is a list of expended taxpayer dollars that was posted on another thread, …. enjoy, to wit:
Evergreen Solar ($25 million)*
SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
Solyndra ($535 million)*
Beacon Power ($43 million)*
Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
SunPower ($1.2 billion)
First Solar ($1.46 billion)
Babcock and Brown ($178 million)
EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
Amonix ($5.9 million)
Fisker Automotive ($529 million)
Abound Solar ($400 million)*
A123 Systems ($279 million)*
Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($700,981)*
Johnson Controls ($299 million)
Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
ECOtality ($126.2 million)
Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
Range Fuels ($80 million)*
Thompson River Power ($6.5 million)*
Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
Azure Dynamics ($5.4 million)*
GreenVolts ($500,000)
Vestas ($50 million)
LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ($151 million)
Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
Navistar ($39 million)
Satcon ($3 million)*
Konarka Technologies Inc. ($20 million)*
Mascoma Corp. ($100 million)
Cash for Klunkers ($4 BILLION)
Obama-care Website ($600 MILLION & COUNTING).
OBAMA-CARE (1.5 TRILLION & COUNTING).
ILLEGALS (114 Billion per year to taxpayers).
MICHELLE’S Wardrobe ($200,000)
Obama vacations (4 billion & counting)
I was worried that Purple Rain was a reference to Acid Rain or something worse, but it’s not thank goodness.
This site is the best as is. I think more and more are referring to it, including political leaders and some presidential candidates…
anyway I had a hard time finding this (with the lyrics) on YouTube – no reference to climate change thank God::
“… I had a hard time finding this …”
If you can find the Wall Street Journal for Friday, April 22 — ARENA section, D1 — there is an article called The Singular Legacy of Prince. Therein “Prince aggressively policed the web for unauthorized use of his music … “
I found a lot of “covers” of the song – this (original) will probably be removed soon…
Who ever did the lyrics doesn’t know how to spell “SHAME” ..They put ” Such a SAME our friendship had to end ” !! LOL
And Mean’t when meant would be correct.
But even SHAME is wrong. The word should be PITY.
Well, Prince took it down. He must be alive somewhere like Elvis…
And there I was thinking this would be the one place there’d be no mention of the purple midget…
Yep. Prince removed it. I don’t know how he did it…
Thanks for this opportunity Anthony.
I’d like to ask Dr. Leif S., our resident expert on solar matters, a question. Likely a dumb question but here goes nonetheless. In reading about how scientists like to observe the sun’s corona during an eclipse, wonder if they couldn’t have a satellite that would mimic this in a way that would lend more time to being in a ‘eclipse’ mode, thereby getting in lots of time to study as much as possible. Instead of waiting for an eclipse to happen and hoping for no clouds.
PS I love this site, wouldn’t change what’s not broken, but improvement are simply a matter of tastes to me as this is THE resources site for me. Indexing is great, relevant info, articles and posts always seem so timely. Only thing I can come up with is getting Guest bloggers writings’ in the index tabs, so for example Willis’s work would be all in one spot for easy ref, even though search works well enough, my memory, when working seems to sputter along in a sporadic manner- so if I know he wrote about something specific but all I can recall was that it was in 2012 – then I could look there.
The Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) is one of a number of instruments aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory satellite (SOHO). LASCO consists of three solar coronagraphs with nested fields of view. (From the Wikipedia article Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph)
I am a sustaining contributor to The Wikimedia Foundation
As Doug noted, we have such a satellite, actually more than one.
Thanks for that Doug and Leif – I hadn’t heard of LASCO although I do know about SOHO of course.
I have sometimes tried to locate a comment I have made in reply to someone and searched for my moniker because I can’t remember which thread it was. The search will locate a story but not a contributor.
That means hunting down the threads one by one. A ‘global search’ button would do the trick. I use multiple devices to attend the site and can’t always leave tabs open even on one.
Sometimes a brilliant comment is needed for a friend and it can’t be located from the main menu three months later.
Yeah, Global Search and Search as it is now.
Thanks
I like it Crispin, a global search might be the better solution; as yes there are often brilliant comments on threads that I bookmark right at that spot, so I don’t lose them.
I use Google advanced search and add the WUWT URL to the “site or domain:” input. Works well most of the time.
If you create a WordPress account, it tracks all of your posts as long as you’re logged in when you do them.
I would love an edit button.
We should be able to create a WUWT account, so we can see all the comments we have made in one click. It’s makes life much easier. Most other websites have such a system. I do think that the current WUWT comment system keeps things clean and orderly, and prevents trolls from taking over, but it could use an upgrade behind the scenes.
I agree with Crispin, though. We need a way to easily search comments. For myself, the comments have been almost as valuable as the article. Please update.
Here’s how I search in Google. Type in, say,
site:wattsupwiththat.com “Crispin in Waterloo”
and then a date range, using search tools, say 1 Jan 2016.
It returns just one comment made by Crispin, who actually was in Waterloo that day. Usually there would be a more generous date range and some topic words to help.
Yes I was thinking along the lines of search functionality too.
I have an incredible knack of wanting to find a great bit of info from a post or comment a few days after I’d read it here, only to not be able to find it.
The advanced Google search should do it but it would be nice to have something site specific. A few searchable keywords relevant to each post would do it.
Apart from that, great site. A true beacon of sanity amongst the dogmatic drivel perpetuated by those driving along the wrong road.
You can see a list of Willis’ posts at a few places, all different:
https://wattsupwiththat.com/author/weschenbach/
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2011/05/15/an-index-to-williss-writings/
http://wermenh.com/wuwt/cat_willis_autobiography.html
When you want to scan titles by month and year, use the “Archive” tool on the right side Nav bar or try
http://wermenh.com/wuwt/monthly.html
Hint to all: Today is a good day to review the nav bars decorating each page here. Worth doing a couple times a year, there are a lot of good things there.
e.g. coming to mind
Kaizen
The Big Idea – Create a culture of continuous improvement where all employees are actively engaged in improving the company. Nurture this culture by organizing events focused on improving specific areas of the company.
WHAT IS KAIZEN? THE DUAL NATURE OF KAIZEN KAIZEN EVENTS KAIZEN PHILOSOPHY
______________________
but 1st of all:
– listen
– think
then 2nd:
– trust your contribution is welcome
_______________________
for 3rd:
– every quest starts with the first step
I Second the comment on the investigation of monies being used to promote AGW research, and would welcome also, a comparison of approximately how much funding goes towards the possibility that Man is NOT the only source of change on our planet, One of my pet peeves is the amount of Taxpayers monies being used at our Universities to promote Political agendas, aquisition of like Grants and the amount of tax money being spent on the PR of these projects. We can no longer trust Any research coming out of these Institutions due to the undue Political influence of who funds the research and for what gain.
I also like the idea of summarizing some of the data into Layman speak, Cliff notes, so to speak, so that articles can be forwarded to those without deep understanding of phenomena being reported on. Maybe of summary every so often on various topics (Sea level rise, poalr bears etc.) that have recent of current postinsgs.
Other than that, love the site. Thank you all for your efforts!
Kevin Angus –
‘Have the data base capture name, position, employer, grants, ranking article wise, ranking money scored.’
____________
You are not here for Stalin/Dsershinsky – are You – no offent ment. – Hans
..Gotta work on that English Hans…… : )
Marcus –
– no offent meant. – Hans
Gee – can’t wait for that climate swindles done and gone: just waisted time and having other interests.
Find a way for graphs to update on the reference pages. Apparently the wordpress plugin currently being used to get those images caches them and does not refresh when the graph changes. There might be a different plugin available to cache those images that does check the source periodically or maybe a configuration item in the current plugin.
Maxx on April 23, 2016 at 10:31 am
I Second the comment on the investigation of monies being used to promote AGW research, and would welcome also, a comparison of approximately how much funding goes towards the possibility that Man is NOT the only source of change on our planet, One of my pet peeves is the amount of Taxpayers monies being used at our Universities to promote Political agendas, aquisition of like Grants and the amount of tax money being spent on the PR of these projects.
______________________
Maxx,
You are asking for ‘investigative journalism’.
Investigative Journalism has lost its financial base min. 20 years ago to internet, Wikipedia, …
Thankfully there still are platforms like WUWT.
Let’s make the best of it.
1. Get rid of threading.
2. Get back to the basics from time to time. (examples: Ira Glickstein, RGB, Steel Greenhouse)
3. Get rid of threading.
One vote for keeping threaded comments.
I vote Keep.
Hmm…Threading keeps the topic of a comment and the replies to it in one place. That’s good. The downside is that a reply to a comment made yesterday may never be seen.
If it’s possible with WordPress, if it’s not then a suggestion to WordPress, keep the threads “bunched” but also add a link to all recently made comments (ie https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/04/23/open-thread-saturday-what-could-we-do-better/comment-page-1/#comment-2197879) at the bottom of the comments.
Agreed. I used to read every comment, now I can’t (but I got used to that). Notification doesn’t take you to where the comments are so I gave up on that – too many notifications anyway.
When an article is excellent – lots of those – I will sometimes delay reading the comments until they have grown to a good number. That way I catch most of them. My own comments, then, are lost to most! Generally, however, mine aren’t so important, so it doesn’t matter. 🙂
This is for the commenters: we tend to make sweeping and dismissive statements when describing the CAGW crowd. In this way we lower ourselves, the standard for many of us could be much higher. In my experience, the moment we launch our arsenal of insults we stop listening. And this is amplified when some brave soul enters this site with an argument. We aught to encourage argument.
I have found that the vast majority of commenters here are polite and express themselves with a huge degree of patience. Compared to the battering skeptics get elsewhere, I find this outstanding. I enjoy the discussions here because they are discussions, not shouting matches. Agreed, there are always some, but none of us are saints. Most insults expressed here come from the believer’s camp.
I mostly agree. I’ve read my share of dogpiles and dismissive comments on this site. We like to think we’re above the fray somehow, and compared to diametrical sites we might appear that way. However, I really enjoy a science battle, and I want to encourage a fair fight. Thank opponents for taking the time to visit hostile ground etc
I consider WUWT to be similar to your home. I respect your right to paint the front door the color you want, and to have solar and LEDs as you want. So I thank you (and others) for this fine site.
For those making comments, I suggest realizing English is not the first language of many others, and that spelling** and grammar are easy to read-over. Various input devices are used, including voice to text. So, relax, chill, whatever.
Note in the screen image of the Purple Rain Lyrics (10:14 am) there is a wrong word in the last line – beginning “Such A … .”
_ _ _ _ _ _
[**”I respect a man who knows how to spell a word more than one way” – Mark Twain and others similar wording.]
😎
I’m all for correct spelling and grammar. (Believe it or not for those who have read my comments over the years!8-)
But to dismiss someone’s thought just because of a typo, mistake or an unfamiliarity with, what is to them, a second language?
Or in my case a fifth…
Without edit, one must excuse typos.
Simple typos can be overlooked, especially in the comments. Even Chinese grammar is acceptable if you’re Chinese. Dismiss someone’s thoughts? No, it takes real talent to convince me that education is absent.
Donna K. Becker on April 23, 2016 at 9:57 am
Please consider providing simple summaries of the more technical posts for those of us without scientific backgrounds.
Also, proofreading for punctuation errors might help prevent the proliferation of same.
For example, “it’s” = “it is.”
________________________
Donna – to whom regarding.
Maybe crankup WUWT-TV interviews again?
My only complaint is that as the pace of articles has gone up, I can’t keep up anymore. I now have to choose what articles to read, and which comment threads to follow. I once read all…
Might be nice to have an article asking what the impact of Obama signing the Paris Lunch Money Steal, er deal… is likely to be, and how to get in front of that… and why Congress can’t stop him giving away our money…
Keep multiple pages open..I use 10 across my screen..
Marcus
I use three screens with three computers. I still need more screen room.
BTW, it is 87deg here in Texas right now. But we are already preparing for what is about to happen this coming winter.
When you can’t take the frozen north any more, Com’on down.
Lee
That raises the interesting proposition that commenters could make predictions for a particular season but would have to give reasons for making that prediction and what area it covers.
Tonyb
Is this a photo of you reading WattsUpWithThat, Lee?
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.tuaw.com/media/2007/05/algorerotw.jpg
TonyB
You mean like predicting something like “freezing weather encroachment” south of Dallas?
Or, FROZEN north of US-Can border. I am pretty sure that any predictions such as that will come from the Weather divisions rather the Climate division. After all, everything that is predicted must be caused by Changing Weather Patterns. Surely, if it gets really bad, they will warn us (maybe not ahead of time tho.
Yeah, E.M.Smith, one thing that would be nice is for posts to be put into different categories. Say, science, politics, etc. That way the posts will stick around for a while in each category. As it is, a post can come up in the morning and by night fall it’s so far down that people stop reading. This affects the commenting on each post. People are more likely to answer a reply if the post is still relevant (meaning that it’s not so far down the page)…
Please can it be a rule that the first time an abbreviation or acronym is used by a writer , it is defined.
Amen
You mean define a FTA?
Yes. ASAP, PDQ, please! 😉
I think we all should be careful about using “their” language to describe things. A good example is using the term “fossil fuel”, instead of calling it “petroleum”, which is what it is: “Rock Oil”. It is formed at great depth at high pressure and temperature by a chemical reaction of carbonaceous minerals and water. There are no fossils involved. The use of the “fossil” designation was a trick to make the second most abundant liquid resource on Earth (the first is water) seem rare and pricing it far above its intrinsic value.
Watch this short clip and see what I mean (Col. Fletcher Prouty):
Oil Peak is a lie! It’s not a “fossil fuel”. – YouTube
Also, if you want a broader, very thorough scientific treatise on the subject, read Thomas Gold’s “The Deep Hot Biosphere”, which also discusses coal, to get another slant on it.
By using their terminology, we lose points before the discussion even begins.
+10
WUWT is a great place to exchange views and ideas.
I have grudge against the WordPress, I just realise that they operate graphics cache with net prefix https://i0.wp.com/www….
So if I accidentally make a spelling error on a graph, and I make lots of them, it is not possible to replace it under the same name-link.
I suppose there is nothing anyone can do about it, so it is a more of a warning, than a plea for a change.
p.s. Unfortunately I never fully mastered English spelling, learned English in a haphazard way in my mid twenties; my native language as far as I know is only 100% phonetic language, 30 written characters 30 sounds, no diphthongs etc, practically impossible to miss-spell any word.
Don’t kid me. Phonetic spelling lets you know how to spell basic vocabulary, but it doesn’t mean you’d perform well. There are number of issues, like names, borrowed spelling, dialects, spelling errors related to performance and not competence, which may occur with a spelling system designed for simplicity.
Bud speling duznt matr, wee awl kan reed awful gramr.
Hi Hugs
In addition there are no equivalents for ‘the’ and ‘a/an’ so I often either omit it or use a wrong one. All foreign names or locally non-existent words are ‘fonetised’, result often they may be just about recognizable, normally written in Cyrillic alphabet, but here are some examples in the Latin equivalent.
e.g. Einstein becomes Ajnstajn, Albuquerque = Albekerki, Gloucester = Gloster, differential = diferencialni, aesthetic = estetik
Give me a geographic name with complex spelling, I will instantly ‘fonetise’ it.
The indigenous language of my country is also phonetically spelled. Most languages with recently devised writing systems are. ( there is no “only” in that sentence.)
Writing was devised in the 8th century, when my distant ancestors took lands over from Byzantines and was mixture between greek and roman alphabets. It had some extra signs which would turn sounds for c, d, n, s and z into softer sounds, then in 19th century a literary expert reject those and added extra letters making it 30 in total. Sometimes western translators add ‘h’ to indicate this, as in Milankovi-ch (Milanković), I don’t bother with it a keep it simple vukcevi-c ( Vukčević), but it has the same end sound.
How about a ‘Hate Mail of the Week’ post? I trust there’s no lack of material.
I miss the “how not to measure temperature” posts.
New study claims fossil fuels could be completely phased out in 10 years !!
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/read/35187