Is it possible to add a live chat room on this forum? Might be quite useful and would make discussions faster.

Chris

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....'we were on the edge of the desert, 100 miles from Barstow, when the drugs began to take hold'...HST

Well, Facebook chat is already available.

Clau

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"Every moment can be as good as you want it to be."
"Experience is the ultimate teacher."

> http://soprano.com <

o yeah but can you get people in one room and can you share virtual biscuits?

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....'we were on the edge of the desert, 100 miles from Barstow, when the drugs began to take hold'...HST

I thought about it before, and I think it will be a great addition to the board.

Is it possible Ted?

Google have some great tools. We can use Google Wave and create a group, if we won't have a chat here.

Claudio

_________________
"Every moment can be as good as you want it to be."
"Experience is the ultimate teacher."

> http://soprano.com <

To All,

I have been waiting for some more consensus thought to develop here first before commenting. I would still like to hear from more board members about how they feel about this and whether they would find it of value and use it. Not everyone must think it is a marvelous idea before it is done but this is not enough input yet. One of my first thoughts was that I do not see the lack of a chat room from inhibiting chatting between board members as it is, just tacked onto and spread throughout the regular board. That is in fact one of the intended functions of 'Wud I say' but formal efforts are not made to keep it there. I don't know if a real chat room can be made a function of the BB system software or not. I will look into that and have some sources of information available. If anyone has technical knowledge and experience covering this, please let me know. If there is desire for a more formally "designated chat area" as a real chat room among the board contributors, and if this reduces chatting in more serious discussion areas, then this is of potential value. I would hate to find that the functioning of the board as a place for serious questions and answers, extended discussions of the content and concepts of MBT is reduced in any way as the real purpose of the board in existing.

For your general information, I see the board organization and development as there are more members and more posts, as requiring 3 areas as things are developing.
1) The present first area for discussions of the Books of Tom Campbell, just like it says now.
2) The present second area for discussions of the particular aspects of reality as now with potential additions.
3) The present third area as a reference forum where the most important information from the BB as searched out by members is archived and available for ready reference by those new to the board and with specific questions.

As there are more members and posts, and there is growth going on, following the board and managing it will be more and more of a problem. Tom is and will apparently remain busy on the talk circuit and hopefully with some more writing and still doing consulting work. I can keep up with things for a while yet. What will a chat room do in terms of board management. This is generally a pretty well behaved group most times, but I am not familiar with chat rooms and how much of a behavior problem they can become as I do not use them. I want things to improve, including self discipline, rather than have new problems and what I hear is that chat rooms can be a problem. How are chat room privileges normally managed and what options are there. Can they be consensus managed in some way so that I don't have to read every word or wait for complaints? I presently read everything although that can be hard to keep up with at times. I only contribute when I think I have a contribution and know something of value to the discussion that is not being brought out. I could trust the consensus of this membership to collectively manage a chat room, I think, but most have made no comment on this subject and I have no idea of their interest and if they will participate. A chat room that only a few want will be more of a problem in my thinking.

I have brought this to Tom's attention but no decision has been made. I need a lot more input as mentioned above before a decision is made. Do we have the software at present or not? Is it available and will it cost money? I will not be making this decision, or certainly not alone, but a lot more input is needed by a wider spectrum of the membership of the BB giving their opinions.

Ted

Just my perspective:

Any two people can already arrange any form of chat they want making arrangements through IM and can go to any of the IM systems already in place, yahoo, AIM, the telephone, or even NPMR communication, for that matter. It would be handy for brain-storming or just socializing. But it is not obvious what other value it might have.

That said, It would be easy to create a specialized 'club' on yahoo and I assume other sites as well. I recommend that it not be called a name directly related to MBT though, as such groups tend to have their sensabilities, messages and objectives migrate, mutate, go off in different directions etc. Call it "The Frog Pond" or something.

But, probably no one here wants to be bothered with nuturing and policing another site. And sometimes, they take a lot of policing.

The bulletin board as it is is already a form of slow chat, and there is a record. Things said worth the saying will remain for others to see.

But all that is just my opinion.

-Montana

As you have asked for views Ted, mine is rather 'neutral', in the sense that I wouldn't have a problem with a chat room if others thought they wanted one, but that I doubt much that I would use one myself. I don't use chat rooms elsewhere, so it's not something of importance to me, though the little insight I have had inclines me to think they can be open to abuse and need vigilant monitoring.

I have thought that eventually local MBT groups would be a good idea, to help overcome the feeling of 'isolation' that I know I feel, and others perhaps also. But we are as yet presumably too few and too scattered worldwide for anything practical to be possible along those lines yet. Something for the probable future!

Arthur

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"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Hi,

In my opinion, it is always good to have options and I'm sure members would use it. One thing to consider...
We often speak first without thinking. Would some start to type first without thinking?

Currently, i like the way this BB does not seemed rushed. You have time to digest what you read before you respond.
Peoples responses are often well thought out, sometimes they might even go into another thread or MBT book or interview to retrieve an answer for another member.

Chat rooms to me, seem light on content and deeper thought. I wonder if, due to the 'live' pace if some of the deeper meaning and intention behind the communications would diminish.

Most times, slower and more consideration into our responses leads to higher quality posts. Would we be sacrificing some quality for convenience?

Steve.

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Be the difference.

To the contrary, based on my experience, I am positive that a chat will be valuable addition to the board. It does not lower quality, it often heightens it. They can often be used as a communication of deeper thoughts, there is a dynamic between the persons communicating directly, that can open one up. Because the communication is different in nature, information will be shared on the board in more diverse ways, some things wouldn't be shared if the chat didn't exist.

We can all get the know more of each other, and thus will the relationships strengthen, which leads to a simply better and interconnected community.

If some people wouldn't want to join it, it would be no problem.

The chat would have to be integrated with the board, an external chat program wouldn't cut it.

I used to really enjoy this chat program called "ICQ" like "I seek you." One could drag and drop multiple people into chats, it was fun. It still exists, http://www.icq.com/download/icq/.
Love
Bette

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All That Is
what is?
Consciousness.

Well then why not just link a skype address and intergrate the skype available icon next to our online status?

Then we can not only do messenging, but live voice for free (up to 15 callers at a time i think)
and soon up to 5 video callers at a time (but that service will have a small fee attached to it.)

I think hotmail is already doing this, you can see the availability status of all those in your email list who have skype accounts.

Skype is free by the way. (from one skype user to another)

Steve.

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Be the difference.

How about an integrated Chat Room function with the forum, where we schedule specific topic discussion nights and times; record the session, and post it afterward in the thread we create for that specific Chat Night topic. That way, we can both enjoy quicker, focused discussion and still archive the information shared for others who could not attend, etc.

Thoughts?

JWG

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Believe Nothing. Explore Everything.

Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick.
Then you can move toward health
-Lao Tzu

JWG, that is probably the best idea

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....'we were on the edge of the desert, 100 miles from Barstow, when the drugs began to take hold'...HST

My perspective:

Chat rooms CAN be a great tool for furthering relationships between board members. BUT...the sword cuts both ways. Chat rooms can also instigate contentious relationships, precisely because it is a looser and more rapid-paced format. Perhaps the generally higher level of maturity on these boards would lend itself to a more peaceful chat environment, but moderators will still have to be selected, and if the room is running 24/7, that means 24/7 moderation.

It should be possible to secure the chat so that only forum members can join, if that is a consideration.

I personally think JWG's idea is an excellent one.

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I am, because I choose to am! Wait, I mean be. I AM BE!! Wait, that's not it either... ;_;