Have there really been insults ? only thing i have read that people including me have wondering how come no info has come up in a long time if the light will even be made, but it seems afterall it will even if it takes time, i hope u dont take that as insults.
Start reading 27 or so posts backā¦ā¦
Yes. Itās fairly common. A lot of the worst have been deleted though.
Iāve seen quite a few going around over time, across many threads, and even across forums. Some were pretty severe. Some were aimed at me. Many were part of heated arguments. A few even make fun anecdotes at parties.
Mostly though, theyāre utterly forgettable. Trying to remember them is like trying to remember dogs barking. I mean, itās a common occurrence when one goes for a walk, but how often is it really memorable? With that sort of thing, do we remember even five minutes later? Often times it doesnāt even register; thereās just some noise for a few moments and then itās gone and I was too lost in thought to even notice.
Soā¦ yes. But I donāt think we need any special rules about it. If someone is in a position of power, even a minor thing like being a group organizer, it seems like a bad idea to shield them from criticism. The people who need protection are the ones who donāt have power, not the other way around.
Youāll get your chance again on 21 January. And it will be total this time.
Tom Tom, will it be visible in itās totality in Texas? My luck it would be but raining, and 33Āŗā¦
And Tom Tom is correct in his statements about Neal, I have said it before and because Tom Tom stepped out on the limb here Iāll say it again, if Neal is involved it is a SNAFU scenario. Iāve been involved in too many of the group buys that had all sorts of issues due to his relation to the project. Including sending him a couple of quads I built on the X5 platform (the first mysteriously went missing in China, totally my loss) so they could make the S43 or whatever. In that one, despite the time and expense I personally went to, I was left out of the testing loop on their new light. Some folks griped about that and a light arrived with zip explanation after these complaints. I gave it away, had already made my own Ti/Cu quad that I still carry every day. So yes, I too feel like if Neal is involved I do not want to be. It is what it is. (after some run around, surprise, I was reimbursed for the DHL on the second light, which cost $67 to ship to China with a 30% discount as a first time DHL userā¦ yes it was going to be a flat $100 to ship the small quad X5 to Neal!)
And to extrapolate, when the D1S was coming out and Neal had em first ā¦I ordered from him so I could review it, among the first, I thought, that would receive one. He forgot to ship it. Took among the longest to receive of any light Iāve ordered. Others on that deal got wrong lights, wrong emitters, all sorts of mix ups. Like the GT shipments. And on and on and onā¦
ā¦like the serial numbered X6/X5 sets that immediately went on sale without the serial number, nullifying the collector value of the set. They even sold the āspecialā boxes! And me and ToyKeeper were the spokespersons on those sets, convincing a great many to buy them when the other team members were absent without leave. Left a seriously bad taste, that one did. And of course, the Cometa SNAFU. I sent Neal a list of the exact components on specific drivers, drivers Iād built by the hundreds with full success, he agreed to use these for accuracy, then of course the components were not used. And glitches occurred. And then there were tubes that were too short. Wrong threads. Mismatched anoā¦ all of this certainly canāt be hung on Nealās shoulders and Iām sure he played he trying to get things right, but nonetheless he was involved and things went awry. After the X6 group buy I was sent 6 extension tubes and hosts to build lights for the team members of the X6, requiring an MT-G2 emitter. Neal sent the Astrolux X6 hosts and the extension tubesā¦ the tubes were too short by 4 mm and the MT-G2ās turned out to be 9V and wouldnāt work on 2 cellsā¦ And on and on and onā¦ The team members never got those special āThank youā lights as the battery tubes never did get correctedā¦
It hasnāt been one or two simple things, itās a long ongoing list of issueā¦. pretty much like how long this particular āgroup buyā has been lasting and the shipping errors (omissions) to the obvious right peopleā¦
I know all this is beating a dead horse, but does that mean all the folks tied into this are supposed to be kept blind as to how Nealās deals have worked in the past? Like, do yāall really, even for a second, think I can shut up? Iāve tried, really I have, but Tom Tom is right on this, as well as on some other things. (I know, I know, heās rarely right, but hey, it can happen! 
)
Hereās to hoping Nealās wife has gotten him straightened out and all that bunk up above is just that, ancient memories. Good Luck!
Wow Tom Tom! A Supermoon, in full eclipse, with a 5 hour and 11 minute spread from start to finish and a total eclipse of an hour and 2 minutes! This will take some planning!
Nope youāre not making any insults to me but if you read some of the messages directed at Neal and also Martin, neither I know personally, there are some rather personal comments and allegations that were directed their way. Quite frankly I find it irritating reading through some of these negative insulting posts offering advise that clearly is not required or is only really 20/20, add no value and only serve to make bad feelings for the team working on the project.
Maybe this is just a difference in culture, but if the topic at hand brings up some negativity towards an individual or a group that could impact me, I would rather hear it out, and then draw my own conclusions. I donāt hear about the troubles behind the scenes of these group buys. But when projects take extremely long, items donāt get shipped, or people lose money, I would appreciate a ātread with caution.ā
I do believe the opinions should be made VERY objectively with little to no speculation. But unnecessarily censoring people who have inside knowledge and/or kicking them off of a topic sounds like a slippery slope to me.
Regardless, Iām thankful for the members that are keeping this project moving forward! :+1:
Just because youāve had problems -
and Neal was involved, that doesnāt automatically mean Neal was the cause of the problems. It is convenient and natural to place blame on a common denominator. I canāt fault you on that. Is it accurate, though? Probably not.
For every person who doesnāt like Neal, there are 100 who do. If you want to bow out simply because he is involved, that is you prerogative. I think itās a bit silly, but to each his own. Iām sure you will be able to buy a FW3A after the group buy from Banggood or Lumintop or whoever is selling it. So no worries. Itās all good. 
I learnt something today
noun
noun: snafu; plural noun: snafus
a confused or chaotic state; a mess.
āan enormous amount of my time was devoted to untangling snafusā
adjective
adjective: snafu
in utter confusion or chaos.
āour refrigeration plant is snafuā
verb
verb: snafu; 3rd person present: snafus; past tense: snafued; past participle: snafued; gerund or present participle: snafuing
throw (a situation) into chaos.
āyou ignored his orders and snafued everythingā
If youād like to continue your education, its actually an acronym. Iāll leave it as a link because its not exactly family-friendly in its fully explained state: SNAFU - Wikipedia
I never said I didnāt like him Jason, Iāve had multiple Personal dealings with him that he skewed. Direct dealings, no way to blame it on anyone but Neal. Believe how you wish.
I wonāt be buying one period. My initial interest was in support of Fritz, that light no longer exists. If I still want it, Iāll make it myselfā¦ I bowed out a long time ago when the original light diedā¦
I live near a military installation. Seems like Iāve heard SNAFU all my lifeā¦ Situation Normal, All Fād Up. ( we can call that fracked if you wish, close enough for government work)
Edit: sorry, I was thinking in terms of oil extraction and wasnāt aware of modern translation. To me it means broken, fractured, messed up virtually beyond repair. But yes, itās a vulgar term coined by frustrated disgruntled soldiers.
A difference in culture? Iām quite sure my original post does not call for censorship, and yes you are definitely entitled to a ātread with cautionā warning, but it need not specifically insult certain individuals based mostly on opinion. Iām not suggesting anything contrary to western culture, basically treat your Neighbour as you would want to be treated yourself, nothing more.
The way most logical arguments are rebuffed these days seems to be to push their logic all the way to the most extreme version possible to make the original argument seem illogical
The first time I heard it was in the movie āSaving Private Ryanā. They went to a lot of trouble making that movie more historically accurate than any WWII movie had ever been before, so I am quite confident the term dates back at least as far as the 40ās.
FUBAR
Dammit, youāre right, itās my memory that is SNAFU (and FUBAR)
Both seem to date back to WWII though As per this nice summary
In for two please
Please remove me from the list. The list in the TLF is now updated.
Thank you very much for your efforts and apologies for the chaos caused.
1717: leo l.
1718: leo l.
1719: leo l.
1720: leo l.
can you put me down for one please? Thanks for doing this