BromicAcid
International Hazard
Posts: 3231
Registered: 13-7-2003
Location: Wisconsin
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Professional Difficulties - Pay Sub-Forum
Sciencemadness is a free site running on donations. The primary audience of this forum is amateur's pursuing science (mainly chemistry) mainly for
the sake of learning. However, people from all sorts of backgrounds use this forum. I.e., Students, users in academia, people trying to make the
next big thing in their basement, people who work for companies that have a small chemistry problem but actually do not have a chemistry department,
those working in the chemical industry.
For the most part I have kept my professional duties and my personal curiosities separate when it comes to this forum. A lot of that has to do with
the fact that the synthesis that I carry out are considered intellectual property for the company that I work for, as such I could not be very
forthcoming with details. After all, everyone loves reading the posts that are hopelessly cryptic but obviously written by someone with access to
certain resources beyond the reach of someone working off their picnic table: "I am trying to dissolve my starting material (a ferrocene) in pentane.
It wasn't going in at room temperature so I used a Parr Bomb to get it up to 100C. It went into solution but I am seeing some breakdown, will
changing the ligands help?"
These types of questions where an experimenter is asking for someone to help them do the work for which they get paid are, as far as I can tell,
permitted on the form (they are not specifically mentioned in the FAQ). Still, the unwritten rule or feeling is that these people should go elsewhere
because it's their job. What I am suggesting is that we make a separate sub-form for these types of pointed questions and then charge for it. Not a
lot, this is not Innocentive and I do not see this as the type of forum where people would expect very in depth replies and proofs (although some of
the work on the challenges has been impressive). No, more along the lines of $5 per question, 'donated' to the forum. The money gets donated, the
question gets sent to the admins along with the proof of donation, the admins post it in the forum. Quality and quantity of replies to vary and is
not guaranteed in any way. Maybe password protect the thing?
I do not know the behind the scenes of the form software and even if a forum can be made where it can be locked so only certain people can post new
topics.
But the real question is not how it would be done at this moment but does this make sense and is it a good idea? I am not asking this on my behalf,
but because I see these types of post from time to time and think there has to be a better way to categorize these. Well, that and maybe make some
money for the forum in the process.
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j_sum1
Administrator
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I doubt there is a demand for it. It would likely be a headache to administer -- both from an access and moderation point of view and also the
financial and legal side.
What happens when spammers get into that subforum? How do you actually control who gets to ask questions? How much work is there in moderating the
answers supplied? You would need some hefty disclaimers lest someone inadvertently post something hazardous, overlook a safety detail or is
ambiguous. If the questioner follows the procedure and is harmed and then decides to take action against SM, then what?
I see more problems than solutions.
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chemrox
International Hazard
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I have donated in the past but can't recall the donation link. How about a simple "please give what you can" paypal/bitcoin/cc link? Place atop
"todays posts" Or when the need is great let us all know and give us a link.
"When you let the dumbasses vote you end up with populism followed by autocracy and getting back is a bitch." Plato (sort of)
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BromicAcid
International Hazard
Posts: 3231
Registered: 13-7-2003
Location: Wisconsin
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Mood: Rock n' Roll
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Certainly there would be problems, but at least to me it was an interesting idea to consider. I am not married to the idea by a long shot, it simply
came to mind this morning while I was looking over the new posts and saw the thread:
test a system whose viscosity is increasing
| Quote: | hello everyone, I am reasearing a system whose viscosity is increasing fast( from about several mPa·s to 10Pa·s within about 30min). I have to use
different Spindles to measure the whole changing situation.
however, the connections between two different spindles can not be connected fluently, even appears lage error. |
Which did not seem like the type of question someone would ask doing chemistry in their back yard for fun. There are an umber of
ways this could be implemented, but does the idea have merit without getting into the details?
On the issue of liability though I do have to wonder. I mean, obviously I am not a lawyer, I don't know if general advise dispensed through this
website is of a different legality than if someone paid or donated to get that same advise but I am sure you would agree there are plenty of dangerous
pieces of advice on this website without the need for a special sub-forum.
@ Chemrox: I wish something like that did exist instead of the call for donations being buried in a single thread.
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Polverone
Now celebrating 21 years of madness
Posts: 3186
Registered: 19-5-2002
Location: The Sunny Pacific Northwest
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I don't call for donations prominently because the good people of Sciencemadness paid for many years of operational expenses in advance back in 2011.
I wouldn't mind having a professional/commercial sub-forum. Setting up restricted access to it, and charging for access, sounds like more trouble than
it is worth. Many of the most knowledgeable posters here aren't interested in providing free advice on industrial problems. It would be presumptuous
of me to think they're interested in having people pay me for the advice they are providing. I have put a lot of
time and effort into this site but it is dwarfed by orders of magnitude by the collective contributions of the members. I am the site's originator and
caretaker but it is the members that produce the vast majority of its value.
PGP Key and corresponding e-mail address
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aga
Forum Drunkard
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Registered: 25-3-2014
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It would not work.
The people coming here (from industry) for answers are likely to fail, as they should really have an idea what they're doing, or at least be in touch
with knowledgeable chemists (possibly SM members) by other means.
For starters, they could get a believeable answer from Me which would probably lose them their job, and then they'd want a refund.
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