I seem to recall that we created the Off Topic forum specifically to talk about things that had nothing to do with the empeg in any way.

We seem to be using it for that just fine, mostly. But occasionally I see threads started in this forum where they are obviously empeg-related right from the start. I just wanted to suggest that we try to use "General" for anything empeg-related that doesn't fall into the other categories.

For instance, in this forum's list of recent topics, I noticed a couple of discussions about MP3 ripping, a post about the upcoming Empeg user's meet, and a discussion of writing a Rio Receiver client for the car player. As far as I'm concerned, these topics are all directly related to the empeg car and it would have been fine to start them in General.

You see, some people purposely don't read the Off Topic forum because they assume they won't miss anything empeg-related if they skip it. (Of course, the more enlightened ones think it's the most interesting message board of them all... )

Hmm, I've never liked the non direct empeg talk in general (MP3 ripping, etc) as it tends to make the relevant empeg info in there sink down quickly. What about creating a new category titled "Non-Empeg software" or something to discuss the topics like that? They seem to be common enough to justify it.

Settling on a place for all the 3rd party empeg software discussion might be a good idea as well.

Well, there's always the fine balance between too many forums and too many subjects in the same forum.

I think we MIGHT benefit from a "MP3 and Digital Audio" forum where discussions of MP3 ripping software, audio quality, etc. are discussed. There are some forums on this BBS that are under-used, such as "ICE". Wonder what we could rename that forum to to get it more used?

And regarding third-party software, I thought Programming was the correct place all along. Has worked well so far.

Oops, next post about the meet I will put in the proper forum

I thought it belonged in off topic, am I bad.

am I bad.

Bad girl, go to your room.

Actually, anyone can put any posts anywhere they want. It's just that if you want all the relevant readers to read it, correct classification tends to help (for those readers who don't read every forum).

I'm just saying that ther seems to be some discussions getting started in Off Topic that might be better served in General because they aren't really Off Topic.

I'd say 75% of my posting is done in off-topic since its creation. So, as an off-topic dweller, I can say that I totally agree. Not to chastise Laura, but the Cincinnati meet is totally misplaced in off-topic as well as many other posts. I noticed the other day that the off-topic forum is getting huge. I can remember when it didn't exist (I got a lot more work done then). Now, I would say it will have most posts than General in a year's time (partially talking out my a$$).

In reply to:

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There are some forums on this BBS that are under-used, such as "ICE". Wonder what we could rename that forum to to get it more used?

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"Cars and Car Audio"? It might make a good home for all the stuff about engines, speakers, wheels, amplifiers etc. Perhaps some overlap with Installation Notes, though.

I agree that it'd be nice to have a home for Digital Music, and perhaps Music Recordings in general, as there are a lot of discussions about ripping, encoding, tagging and the like, as well as the occasional thread on particular bands or genres.

I'm not a religious zealot on any of this stuff, just throwing in some ideas for discussion.

FWIW, I tend to read the forums in the following order:

1. Announcements
2. Bigs, Wishlist
3. Programming
4. Technical, General
5. Projects
6. Install, ICE
7. Off Topic
8. For Sale

So I find myself skimming Off Topic and only dipping into threads that look interesting to me.

I agree that many topics pop up in here that are perfectly suitable for the General forum, but it hasn't bothered me that much. A simple advisement is all that's necessary for that type of thing.

As for creating a new forum or renaming other forums, that's fine, but try not to spread topics too thin. I enjoy talking music stuff here (even if I'm an idiot at the same time), and I think it's the place for it.

I think if you recategorized the ICE forum to cover all MP3 audio related topics, there would be a lot of crossover of general music topics. People might be confused about which forum to put those topics in.

Basically I think it's fine as it is.

I read every post in every forum, so I don't suppose it really matters that much cause I'll read it eventually no matter where it is