Need help from technical divers...

[Blackwood]

I hear what you're saying... explain from a vaccuum and without pre-formed opinions. But how can one explain an opinion someone else holds?

Everyone would have to tell Joe Notadiver why they do/think x, y and z, and then we have essentially a web forum with a middleman doing data entry, no?

I don't see how it could work, but I'll defer to your understanding of education on this one.

 

[TSandM]

Well, I think one can research and present the various arguments without necessarily subscribing to them. I spent some time over the weekend talking to someone about the pros and cons of back-mounted, manifolded doubles, versus sidemount, versus the UTD Z-system. The proponents of each maximize the positive aspects and minimize the negatives, but both aspects exist, and it is possible to recount them dispassionately and let the reader draw his own conclusions.

 

[boulderjohn]

I hear what you're saying... explain from a vaccuum and without pre-formed opinions. But how can one explain an opinion someone else holds?

I think it happens all the time in the world in general, but it is very hard to do if one holds a passionate opinion in opposition to it. In that case, someone else needs to do the writing.

Speaking for myself in technical diving, the instruction I have had has been quite varied indeed, and on a number of issues I am thoroughly on the fence. I have trained and dived with divers who passionately embrace Position A and ridicule those who hold Position B. I have trained and dived with people who not only hold Position B, they did not know Position A existed. (Seriously.) On some of those positions, I am either totally neutral or totally befuddled. There have to be others like me.

 

[LM]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll go through and reply in order, as far as stuff that might need a reply

This is something you wish to create without even having a basic open water certification?

First advice is to not link a technical dive site back to Scubaboard. That would be a give away that you don't have any knowledge of the subject.

Lastly: I am genuinely curious why, if these domains were so easy to acquire, do you feel they have value?

Yes, this is something I will create and create quite well. I'll do so by listening to those who know and executing the things they suggest. A classic example of this methodology would be Leo Fender, creator of Fender Guitars. Most people don't realize that Leo Fender couldn't play guitar worth a damn. What he could do, though, was listen to guitar players and create an instrument they want, by executing what they said.

I'll link back to the Tec diving section here, but will not shut out linking to other, more specialized forums as well.

As far as category defining domains having "value", that isn't my personal 'opinion' and it would take a book to articulate that phenomenon here. Me trying to explain that to you would be like you trying to sum up technical diving in a paragraph or two, to me.

Domains are quite easy to acquire. You can go to Godady and register AmazingWorldOfTechnicalDiving.com right now for $8.00. There is only one TechnicalDiving.com, or Diving.com, or Scuba.com; those category defining domains were all registered years ago and have value to a great many people. If you don't understand the difference between Diving.com and e-DivingSiteOnline.com, it wouldn't make sense for me to try and explain it.

DNJournal.com Year to Date Domain Sales Charts
Happy reading

 

[LM]

I hear what you're saying... explain from a vaccuum and without pre-formed opinions. But how can one explain an opinion someone else holds?

Everyone would have to tell Joe Notadiver why they do/think x, y and z, and then we have essentially a web forum with a middleman doing data entry, no?

I don't see how it could work, but I'll defer to your understanding of education on this one.

Someone without stone-etched opinions is probably going to be a lot more open to having both sides of an issue articulated, rather than someone who has already become dogmatic and set in their ways. After a while, there are some smart, experienced people who stop being critical and exploring new methods, since they've found a way that works for for them. Some of those people take it a step further by insisting that their way is the only way and all other ways are inferior. This isn't a phenomenon unique to diving- it's that way with anything. If there are two sides to a particular coin, the goal of the site would be to have both sides articulated and let the audience decide.

Bear in mind, there are going to be fully qualified advisors intimately involved with vetting and creating the content. This is precisely why I'm here, and will examine other venues to find these people. Yes, I own the web property and I handle the tech side, but the information itself will be furnished by people fully qualified to talk. Again, that's why I'm here, asking you guys.

Sadly, the typical "content" model for a lot of enterprises like this is to hire $5 an hour content writers from India, who scour Wikipedia, forums and other online sources to write credible appearing articles that work well in search engines, but are otherwise garbage in terms of quality of information. Pathetically enough, it can be a profitable model, but I hate "made for search engines" trash content, so I'm not going to go down that road. I want to build something relevant to the community.

We're going to involve a lot of guys. Rather than using the site as a platform to speak, we're going to use it as a platform to listen.

 

[LM]

This thread did inspire an idea, though...

A section on the site called "Different Ways To Skin A Cat" where varied methodologies are presented in a side-by-side column format.

 

[LM]

How much time are you willing to put into maintaining the site?

Do you want a set-it-and-forget-it site, or are you willing to continually update and improve?

Static content, continually updated and improved.
We're going to be migrating to a Joomla content management system so adding new, fresh content is easy. Probably involve a few admins drawn from the tec diving community. The goal is for the site to be a varied and comprehensive info base- above a Wiki, but not dynamic like an eZine, forum or active site. We might stream through some youtube videos.

 

[Blackwood]

Cool. It's a coin toss whether two people will agree on the definition of a "technical dive."

I'm imagining in column format answers to "what makes a dive 'technical'"

>130 ft | > NDL | Staged Decompression | multiple gases | hard overhead | soft overhead | closed circuit | there is no such thing as a tech dive | etc.

So again, good luck. I look forward to your product. If I'm qualified to contribute, I'd be more than happy to.

 

[boulderjohn]

Cool. It's a coin toss whether two people will agree on the definition of a "technical dive."

They don't have to. An article called "What is Technical Diving?" could include different opinions and be very informative. There is no need to arrive at a definition that everyone agrees with.

Look at all the silly threads we get about whether or not scuba is a sport. It always comes down solely to whatever each person's definition of sport might be, and the threads could have simply been worded, "What is your definition of sport? We can't come close to agreement on the definition of sport, but we find it a useful term anyway.

 

[Blackwood]

John - I agree. I'm simply daunted by the variety and combination of opinion for these types of topics. Assembling an objective, informative, non-biased library of information will be quite an undertaking.