Yamaha DTXpress/DTXplorer/DTXtreme

I am one of the more "casual users" who only occasionally becomes 
active, but would welcome this forum going to a more professional 
location. I think that consolidation of other Yamaha groups could be 
great. Let's have a united voice and show Yamaha we mean business.

Stephen

--- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "liberatusvirus" 
<liberatusvirus@y...> wrote:
> Vern,
> 
> Thanks for addressing my concerns (and more). I have absolutely no 
> trouble seeing them eroded. I would be surprised if anyone had 
> enough of an allegianace to Yahoo per se to think that an upgrade, 
> even if only in technical terms, were outside the realm of 
> possibility. Nor can anyone feel anything but gratitude to you for 
> donating your skill, time, and resources to this humble 
enterprise. 
> I also believe that your personal background and interests are a 
> valuable asset to this group, wherever it winds up. The intention 
of 
> giving the group a more professional air speaks directly to how I 
> envision it in its most effective form. Obviously, it should be 
fun 
> to belong, but if more serious ends can be accomplished in the 
> process, all the better. 
> 
> That said, if you want to formally propose a move, why not set up 
a 
> poll with a finite time frame (I'm not talking about a time frame 
> that would try your patience), stipulating the advantages (not 
> unlike your recent post), and see what kind of response you get? 
> Then, if the numbers are good, maybe we could pick up stakes 
without 
> further ado. If the numbers are poor, either in turnout or in 
favor, 
> then you could further address members' reluctance directly. At 
the 
> very least, alerting the membership to the poll might help to 
rally 
> those who do not regularly pay attention to the posts (I'm sure 
that 
> quite a few of the 600 are casual readers, but we need them; 
today's 
> casual reader is tomorrow's activist if someone steps on his/her 
> toes or if his/her module starts smoking).
> 
> This is simply a suggestion, purely to mitigate the splintering 
> effect of leaving abruptly. If you consider it unnecessary, then 
so 
> be it. I'm also wondering whether an invitation might be extended 
to 
> those in the DTX and the DTXtreme groups (the vdrums forum, for 
> instance, does not discriminate by Roland model at all; it even 
has 
> some Yamaha members.) What a unified front that would be. Think of 
> the announcement to Yamaha: The Yamaha e-drum web community would 
> like to announce its consolidation at . . . .
> 
> Ed
> 
> --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Vernon Graner" <vern@t...> wrote:
> > Thank you for spending the time to illuminate your position on a 
> new
> > vehicle for a DTXpress forum. I understand your point(s) and can 
> see the
> > reasoning is well grounded.
> > 
> > I would like to submit that moving from a "generic" forum 
> structure (like
> > yahoo-groups, which contains all sorts of.. um.. "questionable" 
> forums
> > i.e. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unholybarnyard/) to a 
dedicated
> > domain, would show a step UP in professionalism. The drawbacks 
of 
> the
> > yahoo groups are many:
> > 
> > They embed advertising
> > 
> > They redirect you to advertizing before showing you new messages 
> (from
> > web interface)
> > 
> > Want to download a file? have to read an ad.
> > 
> > Want to search old messages, guess what? time to read an ad.
> > 
> > They use your Personal information for marketing (Read: SPAM!)
> > 
> > They track your usage for demographic/marketing data (read: more
> > *accurate* SPAM!)
> > 
> > They do not guarantee any uptime, or database content 
preservation 
> (all
> > files and old posts can go bye-bye at any time, don't belive me? 
> Read
> > their AUP!)
> > 
> > Anyone and his Dog can make a yahoo group, there are many 
amateurs 
> with
> > ridiculous groups on Yahoo (do a search sometime) so the 
neighbors 
> we
> > have  aren't exactly the intellectual elite (i.e.
> > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Village_Of_Idiots :)
> > 
> > What I propose is that we move UP to a *dedicated* forum, with
> > *dedicated* access on a *dedicated*, easy to remember domain 
like:
> > 
> > DTXpressions.com
> > 
> > not
> > 
> > http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeDrumAmaJig
> > 
> > 
> > I really feel this would take the seriousness and profesionalism 
> of our
> > forum and our membership up a level. I would hope to turn over 
the
> > moderation/creation/management to the more active members (such 
as 
> you)
> > to guide the progress of the board and to help to grow our 
> community.
> > 
> > I have been in the ISP business since 1996 (have a look at
> > http://www.archive.org to see how long my servers have been 
> around!) and
> > have a stellar uptime record for the commercial servers we host 
> here in
> > Austin Tx, and I am willing to donate the server time and space
> > (honestly, about $129/month would be the normal commercial rate 
> for the
> > site like the one I am offering!) as well as the domain name 
> (already
> > registered and up!) and associated administrative time if you 
guys 
> are
> > interested in moving up to a more professional level.
> > 
> > In fact, I would even be willing to formalize this by placing 
the 
> domain
> > name into the ownership/assets of a non-profit corp so no one 
> would get
> > ancy about the site being run/owned by one person (me at this 
> point).
> > Once we get the new area stabilized, we could make an official
> > announcement (that would include the Yamaha folks), and then 
place
> > redirectors (messages with the new address) on the Yahoo list to 
> help
> > people find our new home and to show off our new digs. :)
> > 
> > Let me be clear, the *last* thing I want to do is dilute the 
> membership
> > and/or split the group. Your concern is quite valid, but I think 
> handled
> > correctly this could be a way to improve our image and to make 
our 
> group
> > more condensed/cohesive/respectable/valid/powerful (oh I don't i 
> know,
> > pick one! :)
> > 
> > So, what do I get out of this? :) I get to see the group move up 
> to a new
> > level by offering a commercial system to everyone for free since 
> a) by
> > lucky coincidence I happen to own an ISP and b) I have the same 
> interest
> > as  the folks on the list  and I'd like to help contribute to 
the 
> group.
> > And to help convince people I'm not a looney, I'll be really 
brave
> > here... Want to know who I am and everything about me? Go here:
> > 
> > http://www.graner.net/resume (even has pictures of me on stage 
> with an
> > Octapad MIDI'd to a TR-505 and some Synares! Yikes! :D
> > 
> > To be honest, this group is *very* informative, the signal to 
> noise ratio
> > is spectacular and I do not make this kind of offer very often or
> > lightly. The fact is that this will make more work for me, but I 
am
> > willing to do the work if it would help out the community. But, 
if 
> the
> > community wants to uh, "yahoo!", who am I to stand in the way? :)
> > 
> > Comments? :)
> > 
> > Vern
> > 
> > -- 
> > Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE     | "If the network is down, then 
you're
> > Senior Systems Engineer     | obviously incompetent so why are we
> > Texas Information Services  | paying you? Of course, if the 
network
> > vern@t... www.txis.com  | is up, then we obviously don't need
> > Cell 507-7851 Desk 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" VLG
> > 
> > 
> > liberatusvirus said:
> > > Vern,
> > >
> > > Your proposed alternative to the Yahoo board would undoubtedly 
> be an
> > > improvement in many important respects. It's much more along 
the
> > > lines of the unofficial vdrums forum, which is a very 
> informative,  and
> > > classy setup. My sole concern is this: Yamaha is aware of 
this  
> group.
> > > Just months after it was established in late 1999, it
> > > achieved a certain credibility with the company because of the
> > > intelligent questions and comments that emanated from it.
> > > Apparently, Dave Jewell has been known to check it out from 
time 
> to
> > > time, especially, shall we say, in times of stress. I'm not 
> claiming
> > > that the board has the undivided attention of Yamaha's 
> management;
> > > it's definitely well on the peripery. But it does have a 
> presence,  and
> > > our recent telephone foray into the hierarchy has given it
> > > renewed notoriety. I doubt very much that the vdrums forum has
> > > anywhere near the contact with Roland that this one has with 
> Yamaha.
> > >
> > > The Yahoo board is now 600 strong. If there's an exodus, some 
> people
> > > will undoubtedly stay behind. I don't know how many, but it 
> always
> > > happens. That will mean that the membership of 600 will get 
> diluted.
> > > Some of us would like to see this group, or whatever group 
takes 
> its
> > > place, become even more significant in Yamaha's e-drum plans. 
If
> > > that is ever to happen, the numbers will matter. Also, the 
more 
> we
> > > become a moving target, the less chance we may have to 
solidify 
> our
> > > position.  Would it be unthinkable for Yamaha to search out a 
new
> > > group if it forms, or to file the new web address away 
somewhere 
> in
> > > case they want to check it out? No, but I'm not sure that even 
so
> > > seemingly innocuous a change as a splintered board wouldn't be 
an
> > > excuse for them to lose any interest that they might have now. 
> As I
> > > said, we're on the periphery. These are delicate times for e-
> drums,
> > > especially Yamaha, which has discontinued two of its three 
> lines. I
> > > would like to see this group become a testing ground of sorts 
for
> > > Yamaha's ideas. I don't know if it will happen, but I don't 
want 
> to
> > > risk anything that might diffuse its input. As a related case 
in
> > > point, we managed to get Visu-lite, a small company, to make a
> > > product solely for owners of Yamaha modules. This was no meant 
> feat,
> > > and it happened, in part, because we could point to a large 
> number  of
> > > possibly interested people in one place who would become aware 
> of  it
> > > in one fell swoop.
> > >
> > > Your proposal is enormously tempting, but I think these points
> > > should be taken into consideration.
> > >
> > > Ed
> > >
> > > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "Vernon Graner" <vern@t...> 
> wrote:
> > >> Just turn OFF HTML when reading your messages. It makes it 
> (barely)
> > >> bearable. :)
> > >>
> > >> I've been thinking about adding a mailing list or message 
board 
> to
> > > the
> > >> DTXpressions.com website to offer up as a replacement since 
I'm
> > > not a big
> > >> fan of Yahoo anyway... How many of you think the embedded ads 
> are
> > >> intrusive enough to justify a move?
> > >>
> > >> Vern
> > >>
> > >> PS: to see a prototype of the message base I'm talking about, 
go
> > > here:
> > >>
> > >> http://www.dtxpressions.com/phpbb
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE     | "If the network is down, then 
> you're
> > >> Senior Systems Engineer     | obviously incompetent so why 
are 
> we
> > >> Texas Information Services  | paying you? Of course, if the 
> network
> > >> vern@t... www.txis.com  | is up, then we obviously don't need
> > >> Cell 507-7851 Desk 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" 
> VLG
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> hairytrigger said:
> > >> > Yes, I get those messages too. Lately, a long, horizontal 
one 
> is
> > >> covering the text.Somebody screwed something up.
> > >> > Scott
> > >> >
> > >> > --- In DTXpress@yahoogroups.com, "leffelejon" <gadda@k...> 
> wrote:
> > >> >> Anyone else get those advertisments all over the text in
> > > messages?
> > >> >> Its really annoying
> > >> >
> > >> >
> > >> > Community email addresses:
> > >> >   Post message: DTXpress@onelist.com
> > >> >   Subscribe:    DTXpress-subscribe@onelist.com
> > >> >   Unsubscribe:  DTXpress-unsubscribe@onelist.com
> > >> >   List owner:   DTXpress-owner@onelist.com
> > >> >
> > >> > Shortcut URL to this page:
> > >> >   http://www.onelist.com/community/DTXpress
> > >> >
> > >> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> > >> > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> > >
> > >
> > > Community email addresses:
> > >   Post message: DTXpress@onelist.com
> > >   Subscribe:    DTXpress-subscribe@onelist.com
> > >   Unsubscribe:  DTXpress-unsubscribe@onelist.com
> > >   List owner:   DTXpress-owner@onelist.com
> > >
> > > Shortcut URL to this page:
> > >   http://www.onelist.com/community/DTXpress
> > >
> > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
> > > http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/