Old Weather Forum

Dean wrote:Sun Dec 04, 2016 1:49 pm Two Navigators ask 'Will anyone care about this in 100 years?!

Hanibal94 wrote:Tue Dec 06, 2016 7:08 pm

Annual meeting of all the PTB from all the Zooniverse projects.

(Not sure if this is really a thing, but I love the idea of them all gathering in their top hats to exchange tips, project results and other stuff...)

Hanibal94 wrote:Sun Dec 11, 2016 8:59 am

OW'er in the middle of transcribing: "Oh hello Moderator - is something wrong?"

Helen J wrote:Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:07 pm Where do I get a wonderful transcribing outfit like that?

Hanibal94 wrote:Sun Dec 11, 2016 6:16 pm You should have received your fancy outfit in the mail after passing the 100.000 mark, Helen - did it not come?

Helen J wrote:Sun Dec 11, 2016 7:05 pm No, absolutely not - I feel cheated!

Helen J wrote:Mon Dec 12, 2016 12:09 pm

AvastMH wrote:Sun Dec 11, 2016 9:33 pm It would certainly let you turn the heating down Helen - looks very snug

Indeed - I'm assuming this is the winter outfit, and there's another one for summer transcribing?

Randi wrote:Mon Dec 12, 2016 3:42 pm I love that robe!
Surely the moderators are entitled to them - and a summer version as well?

Think how much faster sea ice would get transcribed if everyone had one ;D

Helen J wrote:Mon Dec 12, 2016 5:01 pm Perhaps this should be part of the future of the project - splendid robes for moderators (of course) and top transcribers?

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:08 pm If I remember correctly, a few RN ships were really tough...



"How the heck am I supposed to edit this thing? I can barely READ it!"

AvastMH wrote:Wed Dec 14, 2016 8:59 pm

That awful moment when TWYS means finding a key that prints spider scrawl

Randi wrote:Thu Dec 15, 2016 2:14 am

leelaht wrote:Thu Dec 15, 2016 1:41 am what I want to know is, what's the sword for?

--- the log keeper
Just in case he finds a Tardis

Bob wrote:Thu Dec 15, 2016 2:01 am ...and what's with the well lit bare foot?

--- unlike some of our log keepers, he doesn't intend to walk on the log with his dirty shoes

Helen J wrote:Thu Dec 15, 2016 11:14 am My immediate thought was 'Patuca' where they definitely trampled on the log pages with gay abandon - so the bare foot is very meaningful.

Hanibal94 wrote:Tue Dec 20, 2016 7:42 pm Hip Hip Hooray!



Celebrating the completion of the USC&GSS Carlile P. Patterson, one of the longest and most notoriously difficult ships that Old Weather has ever had.

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:01 pm Here's who I think they are, left to right:

Women: Helen J., Joan, Janet Lomas, Silvia.
Men: Craig, Hanibal94 (because the captain must have the biggest beard!), Michael Purves, asterix135, Stuart, Bob, Zovacor.

Oh wait - Zovacor might actually be female too, but I can't remember ...

Hanibal94 wrote:Fri Dec 23, 2016 11:18 pm

Craig wrote:Wed Dec 21, 2016 9:53 pm Good choice for me with my bald spots (or should I say hair spots) ;D

I also have bald spots - in the painting and in real life!
Other than that: Michael gets the glasses because he wears glasses in real life, asterix135 gets the straw hat because he was the original captain, and Stuart gets a nice beard, also to match real life.
Helen gets to be at the head of the table because she transcribed the most of all the ladies, and Joan gets to be a kid because ... well, it fits her personality. (This is meant as a compliment!)
Then I just filled in the others.

AvastMH wrote:Sat Dec 24, 2016 6:28 pm

Hanibal94 wrote:Fri Dec 23, 2016 11:18 pm Joan gets to be a kid because ... well, it fits her personality. (This is meant as a compliment!)

Understood - and really quite correct

Dean wrote:Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:40 am The Moderators made sure that from now on he understood TWYS.

Hanibal94 wrote:Sun Dec 25, 2016 5:48 pm During a recent trip to Bamberg, I happened to spot this:



A perfectly normal day on Old Weather.

(This one fits so well, it's like it was commissioned for us!)

Hanibal94 wrote:Mon Dec 26, 2016 3:32 pm

Craig wrote:Sun Dec 25, 2016 6:44 pm The gender distribution is a bit skewed, though

Unfortunately, yes - or maybe it's a snapshot of a time when by chance, only males were online:

Left foreground: Me and Michael Purves (he's the one with the hat) discussing how long it will take to finish the remaining ships.
Left background: Paul Money quietly working on a ship history (probably a river gunboat).
Right foreground: Maikel with a very early version of Journey Plotter.
Right background: Bob watching everybody and making sure nobody does anything stupid - he's currently on moderator duty.

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Dec 28, 2016 4:59 pm

Moderator at the end of her shift.

Craig wrote:Wed Dec 28, 2016 5:13 pm Looks like she has things all sewn up

Tegwen wrote:Thu Dec 29, 2016 9:23 am Or possibly.

"Our Caro after spending many hours looking through almost all 300 ships histories for something interesting to put in her WW1 Centenary Update".

Fortunately HMS Ribble ran into the dock wall again!!

Caro wrote:Sat Dec 31, 2016 10:23 am The only similarity to me is that I'm often found asleep in my chair.

Hanibal94 wrote:Sat Dec 31, 2016 2:59 pm It's already 2017 in some places, so here goes:



As the sun rises on the first day of the year 2017 A.D., only five ships remain on OW Classic.

Hanibal94 wrote:Tue Jan 03, 2017 6:32 pm

OW'ers playing Shipopoly: "No, you were on Esquimalt when you threw that 7 - so instead of going to New York, you get sent to the Drydock!"

(The Drydock is the equivalent of Jail)

Hanibal94 wrote:Sat Jan 07, 2017 10:11 pm

Veteran OW'er hopes to attract newbies to the OW forum by showing them some of the cool things that can be found there.

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Jan 11, 2017 7:16 pm A follow-up to the previous one:



Veteran OW'ers train a newbie, who was indeed attracted to the forum by word of all the cool stuff it contains.

Hanibal94 wrote:Sun Jan 15, 2017 10:28 am

OW'er searching Geographical Help for very obscure Russian place names, with nothing to guide him but the completely outdated English names used by whalers.

Craig wrote:Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:15 pm You should have had the pleasure of doing the Moorhen on the Pearl River in China!

It was legible but that didn't help one bit. I think it was Janet who found an old map for me but the places named weren't on it.

The river itself got its name because of all the condemned milk the crew threw overboard.

Michael wrote:Sun Jan 15, 2017 5:04 pm

Helen J wrote:Sun Jan 15, 2017 4:59 pm I have to confess that after a brief attempt, I abandoned China. I did take on Iceland, the eastern Med (where names tended to change depending on who was in charge of the country today), and East Africa, where I think there was a lot of guesswork on the part of the logkeepers.

Figuring out names when sailing up and down the Yangste River was a challenge (some days reminded me of the river scenes in Apocalypse Now but without the surfing ) but Grafton in the Red Sea was the biggest challenge. The usual bad handwriting, spelling and name changes, but all the places on Google Maps displayed the names only in the Arabic script.

Tegwen wrote:Mon Jan 16, 2017 10:31 am Probably the most difficult I did was Mantis. She spent time in the Middle East, Russia & China, not to mention the trips between them.

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Jan 18, 2017 5:26 pm

Exhausted OW'ers at the end of another very productive day.

Michael wrote:Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:13 pm I see that the mods get pillows, sheets and a comfortable mattress while the rest of us have to make to with laying on rocks, roots and dead leaves!!!

AvastMH wrote:Wed Jan 18, 2017 9:26 pm When did you lot get promoted to rocks, roots and dried leaves? In my day it was beach mast and conkers (how I miss them!

Kevin wrote:Fri Jan 20, 2017 9:20 pm

Randi wrote:Wed Jan 18, 2017 6:37 pm I think that represents one of the mods watching over a transcriber and worrying about the new interface.

---

Or, a slightly different interpretation, the lady is the OW project personified, the mod is watching over OW, and the exhausted transcribers are sound asleep (perhaps dreaming about holystoning decks).

Consequence of a first encounter with the grid tool?

Randi wrote:Sat Jan 21, 2017 12:05 am VERY good Kevin!

Hanibal94 wrote:Sat Jan 21, 2017 9:14 pm

This is what happens to your eyes when you transcribe way, way WAY too much in one go with no breaks.

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:21 pm

When you are forced to quit OW Classic because all the remaining ships are already taken.

Hanibal94 wrote:Sat Jan 28, 2017 5:09 pm

Never try to cook anything while working on OW.

Randi wrote:Sat Jan 28, 2017 5:21 pm I recognize that one!!!!!

Michael wrote:Sat Jan 28, 2017 7:35 pm Me too!

AvastMH wrote:Sat Jan 28, 2017 8:39 pm And me!

Dean wrote:Sun Jan 29, 2017 12:36 am Been there, done that, soot to prove it!!

Helen J wrote:Sun Jan 29, 2017 2:24 pm Yes, that's familiar - good one, hanibal!

Hanibal94 wrote:Wed Feb 01, 2017 7:07 pm

OW'ers gathering round to read Philip Brohan's latest blog post.

AvastMH wrote:Thu Feb 02, 2017 1:00 pm I am currently without internet access at home. This has been the situation for the last few days and will certainly not improve until tomorrow at best.

This is what I'm feeling like just now...no access to OW is about as bad as it gets.... (my piano disagrees - it has not been so well polished in a lot of years)

Hanibal94 wrote:Mon Feb 06, 2017 8:06 pm

OW'er resting after finishing his work for the day.

Craig wrote:Tue Feb 07, 2017 12:42 am or he's thinking, "Zut, I've been entering the temperature in the Fahrenheit rather than centigrade! I can't let anyone see this."

AvastMH wrote:Tue Feb 07, 2017 8:22 pm Connectivity has been restored to Chez Moi .... and I can say that being out of contact was a remote place to be...very happy to be back