My Rant on the Internet

[Gerwin]

Ok,
its time for me to get real, with my shoot it as I see it advice, on buying stuff and the internet
First you have to figure out why you think you need something,
then you should get a 2nd opinion from a trusted source. Now for some folks that might be the internet, where you read awesome things about all kinds of stuff, it seems no matter what you want to do(good or bad) you can find someone out there that will side with you only thing is you rarely know the author, his/her past experience, is he a hobbyist, breeder, retailer, wholesaler? all of the above? for how many years? maybe a Marine Biologist...who never owned a fish tank but has a degree in marine life "on a world scale". Maybe this is the guy who cheated to get his degree , or the author maybe a genius! ya never know I'm pretty good at figuring those folks out as I have a sound knowledge of the hobby etc but for me and my hobbies,
I like going to someone who has done it or used it and has experience on his/her side, then if I want some back up I go to the net or books and get that as my 2nd opinion, not vice versa
For example: Some know this some don't, but I shoot competitively, I got into it just over 1.5 years ago, I went to the www. to get a idea of what the hell I was getting into and found a place to go try it, after that I found me a guy that shoots, *that was good and then I bled his mind (and continue to do so), because with him I saw the knowledge at work, I saw the passion in his eyes and heard it in his voice, with him I could brain storm ideas and work them out, you can't get that over the internet! I did not go read some yahoo's post on how to shoot and what to buy then enter a match! and because I found that person, I have been to 8 Major events and have placed 1st , 2nd or 3rd at every one of them,and I have been invited to Nationals this year.
So let me think.. wonder who meets those criteria in your immediate area oh well,
Ask me first, get my thoughts, think about it yourself, need back up go to the www. I'm sure there is some idiot that will agree with me
But beware,
I like being a winner at everything, I can accept loss but I will take something from it each time, to ensure victory the next time Having me be the 2nd opinion for your internet travels puts me in second place..

Hope this was a good read

[bluwtr]

That was so well said that I can't come up with a wise crack--damn you!

[Redfish]

That was so well said that I can't come up with a wise crack--damn you!

When you placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd at these events,,, was this in your age bracket, with or without glasses? JK Congrats to you The best way that I have found to learn about our hobby online, weed out the good info from the bad, is to join several online forums and then read, read and read some more. After you have done all of the required reading, you will be able to start to form your own ideas on how to do things and then be able to figure out on your own, who knows what they are talking about and to give credence in what they say. You will find just about all of the issues that could come up with keeping saltwater tanks, and get view points from multiple people in the discussions of these issues and this will give you a better knowledge base, to form an opinion on the best way to do things. Of course this will only be a reading knowledge, you still have to set the tank up and put all of this reading to some good use, I am sure errors will be made, but with all of the back ground reading, hopefully, the errors won't be costly errors to either your pocket book or your corals. Anyway, the bottom line,,, read everything you can get your hands on.

[Gerwin]

I knew my midnight crowd we respond for me..hahaha
Its a dangerous thing to give me a outlet after a long day of attempting to counter and battle the WWW. , some folks just dont realize that maybe , just maybe the guy in front of them may know what the hell is is talking about, been doing it longer, has more brain power and experience to draw from the the WWW., so when I hear crazy things that are taken for gospel that are read on a public forum where anyone can put there thoughts down...well lets just say it zaps my energy

After a solid 8hours od sleep, I remembered what my English teacher use to say in class after she wrote down the rules of sentences structure and spelling etc. "there is a exception to every rule", for some reason that has stuck with me and all the rules kinda got forgot..lol explains my poor spelling and grammar fo sho.
The net and book AND.... PEOPLE in your face are great to form ideas and thoughts, then when you have them I am merely suggesting you find a Person in your community IF you are lucky enough to have, to actually figure out next step, unless that person is just insane, stick with it until he know longer has the ability to help you on the journey, for that you have to seek more knowledge else where and then you must rummage through the pages of the Net, (which has gotten better as forums are moderated and more knowledge has come into the mods), or books. But where I differ from Redfish is in his statement he gives no merit to the local person, his whole thought just then is from reading, and when you find X amount of people that agree on something then its got to be right? and to some extent thats ok and have used it myself to figure some things out.

Look the internet is great, I love it, without it I could not run this forum for us to speak. I just want whom ever reads this, no matter where they live in this world to check around with locals that enjoy your hobby, ask where they go, then ask yourself...does their tanks look good, does the place seem like they know what they are doing and have cool stuff? if so what is wrong with that being your main source of info?

If we are not careful at some point in the future there will be no local place, we will all be crowding the pages of the net with info both accurate and false, tons of carp to be figured out what is wrong, or right or both,
and when we want to talk to someone to help us understand, WE will go though a gauntlet of phone generated options, our ears will be hot from the cell phone battery burning it, and you will end up with some broken English person from another country that you cannot understand attempting to figure out what you are asking, why because we trusted the internet and a sentence from "buzkill", or "reefworm" more than Gerwin at that little run down mom and pop fish store, that managed to help enough folks keep fish alive and help them grow that they stuck with the hobby after decades, that he explained himself and taught beginners how to be good stewards of the hobby and done all of it well enough to stay in business through all the bad times, economic and others, done it well enough to see kids that came with their parents when they bought fish come in now with their kids to get the next generation to be not only aquarium lovers but more disciples of this little old Blue Fish Store on Pass Road

Its my story...I'm sticking with it!
Peace

oh and Petie Poo, its a dog eat dog competition, the blind have to compete against the old and the young in their class, only yet proving that a old guy can still out smart the youth and out maneuver those blinded by their computer screens

[bluwtr]

So you're saying that just because someone writes it on the internet it may NOT be true!!! Bull!!! If it's on the net it is true!!! I guess next you'll say there is no Santa Claus!

Seriously though. Here is how I approach it--Start at either spot; the net or a local (Ger for ex). Then I will research the other side and see what I come up with. If they don't agree you talk and question and research more. I've done that a couple of times with Gerwin; gone in with a question about something I've read online and just wasn't sure about. I picked his brain and if I was satisfied with his answer/ reasoning I made my decision, but if I was still not sure or had lingering questions I have gone back to the net and tried to learn more. You can never research too much or gather to much knowledge. We've all heard the adage "learn something new every day". I try to regardless of what it concerns. I agree about staying in business that long and doing something right. It would be a different story if for example Gerwin was still saying use under gravel filters and power heads for reef tanks, but as long as the local source keeps up with advancements as a whole, you should be safe. Having said that, it never hurts to get second opinions (we do with Dr's and mechanics) so it is only smart to do it with your aquarium as well. One has to remember that the person on the other end of the chat/forum/blog could be a 10 year old who is pissed at his parents because they didn't give him a pony and he is just being a jackass and typing the opposite of the truth. Also though, people do get set in their ways and will argue against changing things because "that's not the way I've always done it" etc. Those are people to avoid regardless of where you meet them--online or locally. Generally the harder someone opposes a new idea the more likely the new idea is the way to go. It's human nature.

Also, each tank is different. What works in one may not in another.

Bottom line is use any and all available resources, but 99% of the time, the ones who have been doing it for the longest generally know better.

And those are my deep thoughts for the MONTH.

[Redfish]

I didn't say and didn't mean to imply that one shouldn't give the local person his just do on any of the issues that may arise in ones tank. I was trying to key in on just the learning part of our hobby on the www.com , and I am not saying that the consensus of opinions on any given subject, has to be the correct answer. What I was and am trying to imply is the web can be a great place to further ones knowledge of our hobby. What I have learned in the past two years online would have taken me years of hanging out at out favorite LFS. I feel that everything that I have read on line makes me able to ask our local guru smarter questions.

[Gerwin]

Perfect!

this is exactly the direction I wanted the post to go,
read it grasp it make good decisions from it, both Red and Blu make great points, and it is how it should be approached!

[bluwtr]

Cuz' we all so damn smart!!!

[Tyler]

Look at it in perspective of watching your new channels ( fox, CNN, abc, etc...). Sometimes you have to watch all of them and then do some research of your own just to see who is telling you what you want to hear, who is feeding you a load of bull, and who is telling you the truth. If you always believe the first thing you hear you just might become as ignorant as the person lying to you.

[Bud]

I know this is an old post, but it's message is still on point. Here's my thoughts:

OK, let me get this straight, if a post I'm reading on the "internet" tells me not to trust the internet, do I believe it? All I know is I don't take Gerwin's advice I can't blame him later and everything that does wrong must be his fault.

[Scott Allen]

Mything the Point Part 1: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-11/eb/
Mything the Point Part 2: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-12/eb/index.php
Mything the Point Part 3: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.php



Everyone should read these before going into the aquarium forum world.

[Gerwin]

All I know is I don't take Gerwin's advice I can't blame him later and everything that does wrong must be his fault.

absolutely right Bud! and thats how I like it!
but you see I am pretty safe,
as no one can stay pure Gerwinian, except me....so I can usualy still blame someone else thanks to the internet