It would probably be best to use this thread only for the directory, not for questions, which would be better served offline. Perhaps you could rate your expertise as professional, advanced amateur, or amateur (or something else meaningful).

After awhile, if there is interest, this list should be combined and inverted.

Proposed Principles of Use:
1. the expert does not owe you an answer, but might help if time allows.
2. the expert will not fix your story (unless s/he is a writing expert and agrees to).
3. thank you, expert.

WouldBe:
software engineering and development (professional)
telecommunications (professional)
photography (advanced amateur)
granddaughters (got the best, ever)

[This message has been edited by WouldBe (edited September 04, 2007).]
 

Jayson Merryfield
 

Pretty good in Astronomy too.
 

- Computer Science of all kinds, with emphasis in computer vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence research

I cower in anticipation.

 

Non-award-winning:

Musician - amateur Guitarist (rhythm/lead 18 yrs experience), Drummer (four yrs.), and Bassist (10 yrs.)
Logo Designer
Comic Character Design (penciler, inker, color separation. Professionally apprenticed.)
History Enthusiast
mixed martial arts

Not what most people need help in.

(Surprisingly unmentioned) Like most Hatrackers: aspiring writer.

[This message has been edited by InarticulateBabbler (edited September 04, 2007).]
 

But meanwhile - trouser, cool! I have an MS in CS w/emphasis on AI. I sneeze acronyms. LOL

Program/Project Management (boring business stuff, many different industries) - professional
Breastfeeding - professional
User Interface Design and Human/Computer Interaction - professional
Corporate culture in the US, big corporations - professional
Online learning/instruction - professional

Parenting/Mothering - umm, can one claim professional status on this? Sure, I'm a pro. But also have written on and researched many parenting and mothering topics.

Photography - amateur
Gardening - amateur
Vegetarian - uh, amateur? I have been vegetarian for 5+ years. LOL
Piano - rusty amateur

Interesting that writing this list has given me all kinds of ideas of things I could write about.
 

Photography, including color darkroom (advanced amateur)
Woodworking (amateur, advanced to the point of making furniture)
20th century military history (interested self-study)

Writer - lots of fanfic. Not an expert, but I have opinions

 

Other interests
Alexander the Great
Ancient history
Latin (language and Roman culture)
Japanese language

 

How does Gravity work? (Now I wish I had paid attention to physical science in 9th grade but I was more of a English student. /shrug)

OK first let me explain my question a bit better. If I had a ball and I put water on it, in the weightlessness of space. Now I start to spin it, the water would be flung off. Right? If that ball was super dense, with the center denser than the surface, the same ratio as our planet just smaller. I would assume it would do the same thing regardless of its density.

So at some point, I assume, mass of an object generates gravity, but how? And, does the centrifugal(sp?) force of the planet repel us away from the surface to an extent that we aren't squished like ketchup packets under a bike tire, or is the centrifugal force creating the gravity that holds us in place? If it is the centrifugal force creating the gravity why aren't we flung from the planet?

(repost from a diffrent thread)
 

Software engineering
Telecommunications
Management

Amateur:

Digital photography
Industrial history
How to fluff jazz guitar

I think this is a good idea. How about a separate forum for it, so that each question gets its own thread?

Pat

[This message has been edited by TaleSpinner (edited September 05, 2007).]
 

See, it's like this. Contrary to popular belief, it's similarity that attracts, not opposites. Almost every fat married guy I know has a fat wife, for example, and you'd never see Brad Pitt going out with someone like Julia Roberts, who has a freakishly wide mouth and is therefore u-u-u-gleee.

So these fat bodies in space are naturally attracted, and, just like in humans, this follows an inverse-square relationship with distance, scaled by both bodies' masses. (This is why fat people bump into each other more often than thin people do.) Further, planets are generally androgynous and quite promiscuous by nature, finding themselves attracted to not only each other, but also to people, dust, comets, and even television satellites.

"Ah hah!" you say. "I've discovered a hole in your theory! What's the planetary analogue for thin people?"

You silly person. Whoever heard of a thin planet?

Ahem. I did that because the real answer is even sillier. According to general relativity, a mass curves the space around it. In this curved space, things actually move in a straight line (because it takes the least energy to do so), and mapping the linear trajectory in curved space back to normal, non-curved space makes the trajectory curved.

I told you it was silly. It's only one theory, anyway, but it tests very well. The biggest problem is that it's inconsistent with quantum mechanics, which also tests very well. Some physicists actually laugh themselves to sleep over this.

(BTW, KayTi: 'grats on the degree. I'm working on the thesis right now... or, um... I should be.)

[This message has been edited by trousercuit (edited September 05, 2007).]
 

Piano (Amateur)

 

Autism
Proofreading
Psychics
Writing
Life (if it can happen, it has happened to me)
 

Law things I know about or can get answers reasonably quickly
Criminal Defense
Guardianships
Immigration (little but know the people to talk to)
Domestic
Trademark

Horses/riding
English and a bit of Western
Training amd care
Tack and equipment
Riding for the disabled

Theatre (techie side)
Wreath making and other misc. crafts
Gardening
Canning

Psychological testing (I use to administer and score the tests)
ADD - raising and living with children who have
Bi-Polar or manic depressive disorder
- dealing with friends, family and clients who are

Blackjack
Florist

LOTS of experience with:

pets of many kinds - care, illness and such
Greek and Roman Mythos

Things I do well or a lot:
Mother
Autism advocacy
Violinist
Organization Systems (versus actually maintaining an system in an organized state)
Vocal performance
Teaching
Genealogy/Family History
 

• Integration (making systems talk to each other)
• Business Intelligence (making systems talk to people), including reporting
• Business-to-business marketing (i.e., business applications, not iPods, which would be consumer marketing)
  

Prior professional lives:

Programming:
• Programming big mainframe systems (COBOL, stuff like that)
• Some taxation systems
  Military:
• Signals intelligence
• Joint (i.e., multiservice) operations
  

Real life and dabbling:

• Large families (growing up in one, having one of my own)
• Autism (sounds like some of us should form a group!)
• Typography and graphic design
• Classical music theory, applied to both appreciation and composition
• Some philosophy
• Catholicism (my own perspective on it as well as other Catholics' opinions)
• Some ancient astronomy
• Some mythology, including comparative mythology, with better-than-average knowledge of Arthurian legends
  

Not that there aren't better resources out there, but I might be able to help with any of the above.

[This message has been edited by oliverhouse (edited September 05, 2007).]

[This message has been edited by oliverhouse (edited September 05, 2007).]
 

I have experience in:
breastfeeding,
childbirth
rasing kids
yoga
and firearms.
I love the Chinese and Japanese culture but by no means am an expert at enything but making eggrolls.
Not much, but my kids have been my life up untill now.....
~D

No jokes, please.
 

Also I suggest you make a list of everyone below with their listed fields of expertise as part of the firt post for quick refernce.

[This message has been edited by Zero (edited September 05, 2007).]
 

Serious Hobbies:
History, specifically ancient and medieval, world-wide
Martial arts - staff (beginner), sword (beginner), Aikido (Advanced)
Blacksmithing (Journeyman)
Lampworking [small-scale glass working in a flame] (Advance Beginner)
Stock Market trading (Advanced)

Past Skills:
Violin (Medium, hobby)

I also know a bit about:
Foster Parenting
Working with 'at risk' kids as a mentor
Prison ministry

[This message has been edited by DebbieKW (edited September 05, 2007).]
 

Underground medical practice; Optometry, Proctoltry, Lobotomy, and Dental. Buy 1 and get 4 free.

Rommel Fenrir Wolf II
 

semi profectent combat life taker.
 

I could not find a job as a pert.
 

As for me:
I'm in the middle of an internship as a technical/layout editor.
General troubleshooter
Grand Master of the Sticks
Full Pokedex
Professional Pants Presser (Also known as Slacker)
Vacuum jockey, porcelain polisher, duster.
Attention Deficit Disorder (not a professional, but diagnosed fourteen years)
Strategist
And I have seen a live Dik Dik.
 

[This message has been edited by annepin (edited September 07, 2007).]
 

Amateur and interests:
* The Mozilla Project (including the documentation and accessibility groups)
* Autistic spectrum disorders (autism, aspergers, PDD-NOS, etc).
* WWII (mostly European Theater from Normandy to Berlin)
* Physics, Linguistics, Statistics
* Portuguese, Latin (and related Roman history), Braille

I second the request to make this sticky, or at least find some more permanent home for it; also, can whoever started this thread edit the first post to include an alphabetical list by topic, with names or those who are experts/interested? (I'd be willing to compile the list from these posts, I just couldn't add it the top since my first post (this one) is clear down at the bottom).
 

Professional:
-Law (particularly patent, copyright, trademark, contract)
-Chemistry
-Public Speaking

Amateur:
-hunting
-firearms/marksmanship
-archery
-boxing
-dog training
-U.S. history

 

Some knowledge:
photography (there seem to be a lot of us)
astronomy (that is, looking through telescopes)
mathematics (PhD but not professional... getting a degree is easy, getting a job is hard)
biological science/chemistry/biochemistry (not an expert)

Fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Probably won't help anyone unless they want characters to swear in Chinese.

 

Proficient:

Verb tenses *grins*
Horseback riding - both English and Western
The Care and Feeding of Horses
Swordfighting (Eurpoean not martial arts style)
English Literature - history of it (I guess-have a couple of degrees so I might be proficient in it)

 

In the past, well, my whole life, I've gotten interested in:

science fiction
the Beatles
popular music 1955-1980 (the "rock 'n' roll" era)
Buddy Holly
polar exploration
the Civil War
American History in general
Warner Bros. cartoons
"The Simpsons" TV show
"Daria" TV show
contemporary American politics

I wouldn't limit it to that: there are doubtless things I've forgotten. And some of them interconnect as well. I may not know the answers, but I know where to look for them.
 

I'm not an expert at much yet. Give it time.
 

Other than that, I'm a sciolist. I have dabbled in archeology, paleontology, ancient languages (Egyption, Greek, Latin), modern languages (Japanese, Navajo, German, Spanish), Philosophy, Pedagogy, and many religions.

I have a pretty fair knowledge of many thing Catholic, too. (Doctrine, history, practice, etc.)

I also have a very short memory, so if you want input on any of the above, you better act fast...
 

But temporarily, it's useful to see where people have their expertise.

For myself, I've worked as:
--Print shop manager
--Graphic designer
--Web designer
--Advocate for victims of domestic violence
--Violence prevention advocate
--Salesperson - business to business and cold-call residential
--Worked in a large church with a variety of well-known visiting speakers.
Volunteer
--Volunteer with a non-profit agency serving the homeless
--Co-founded a Montessori school
--History of the Pacific Northwest (on the board of the Fort Dalles Museum)
Kicking and Screaming
--Survivor of oral cancer
Life Experience
-- Raised 2 kids as a single mother.
-- Went from 0 to 5 grandchildren over the course of this past summer.

 

History
Topics:
History of medicine (Hippocrates to 19th century with knowledge focus between 14th and 18th centuries, primarily Western - advanced amateur; Eastern - amateur)
History of sexuality (European and Asian, not so much middle eastern - advanced amateur)
Art history (primarily European - amateur)
Over-arching trends and developments in education, travel, technology, social mores, philosophy, religion, urbanization, daily life - anything other than detailed politics and military history - (advanced amateur)
Area focus: Europe (advanced amateur), England (slightly lesser advanced amateur), China & Japan (decent amateur)
Time Periods: 800CE - 1850CE overall; 14th-18th centuries focus (advanced amateur)

University/student life (professional)
Video games (professional player, not professionally involved :p)
Japanese language (advanced amateur)
Modern Japanese culture (advanced amateur)
Research (advanced amateur)
Library work (advanced amateur)
Journalism (advanced amateur)
Organic/health food/green living and products (advanced amateur)
Photography (amateur)
Music - composition, violin, guitar, voice (amateur)
Mixology (amateur)
Food - past and present (amateur)

I know stuff about:
cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience
the postal industry
proofreading/editing
yoga
why the English are wacky
avoiding chores, especially dish washing
San Diego

edited to add the Ferengi Rules of Aquisition

[This message has been edited by brainie (edited March 05, 2008).]
 

-Martial Arts (Soo Bahk Do, Tae Kwon Do, various others)
-Military History & Tactics
-Ancient Weaponry (bronze age to arquebus)
-Modern Weaponry (small arms on up)
-Hunting/tracking
-Psychology
-Philosophy
-Western Civilization (History)
-Weight Training
-Acting/Theatre
-British Literature
-Writing (speculative fiction, primarily)
-Filmmaking
-Technical Director (TV), Assistant Director (TV), Stage Manager (TV), etc.

Professional:

-Industrial Supply Inventory Management & Database Entry
-Computer Upgrade/Repair
-TV Camera Operation
-Special (Visual) Effects Creation - Digital
-Digidesign Protools Audio Editing
-Video Editing
-Grocery Store Ops
-Distribution Center Ops
-Copyediting

Inkwell
------------------
"The difference between a writer and someone who says they want to write is merely the width of a postage stamp."
-Anonymous

[This message has been edited by Inkwell (edited March 05, 2008).]
 

Fine dining(all customs of service)
Botany
Animal husbandry
Agriculture
Nutrition
Food and culinary history

Intermediate

Aquaculture
Astronomy(with emphasis on the moon)
ASL
Biology
Primitive camping

Interests

Insanity
Anthropology
writing sci-fi(all-consuming hobby)

Weaknesses
Physics
Math
grammar!
mechanics/engineering

 

*homeschooling (semi-pro)
*natural childbirth (pro)
*black and white photography, including early methods (advanced amateur-ish--own a BFA in photog.)
*stay-at-home mom (pro)
*drove tourist carriages for a couple of years

 

Public Policy Analysis and Development
Environmental Policy Assessment
Environmental Behavioral and Psychology
Evaluation Design and Planning
Constitutional History and Administrative Law

Personal/Amateur:

Gardening/Landscaping
Glassblowing
West African history/culture/food

 

Zoo Keeper: Colchester Zoo, UK. 77-81
Lion Country Safari, Irvine CA. 81-84
Journeyman Plumber: Orange County, CA. 84-86
Construction Management: Project Superintendent, CA. 84-91
Irrigation systems specialist: Self-employed, CA. 91-present

Interests.

Audio-file equipment/listening (bankrupting hobby)
Computers
Bibles. Translations vs. Versions, etc
Sci-Fi, reading, writing.
Wife husbandry.
Parenting.
Impossible to predict dynamics of “Survivor”

 

JAPANESE (conversational)--Fluent
I can also pick out the better word to use from a dictionary, if you want help with something more technical

JAPAN'S CULTURE--rural day-to-day stuff. Lived in a city amid an agricultural area with its own dialect.

AMATEUR ANTHRO with the angle of pre-adult culture shock and the resulting bi-cultural perspective.

YA Fantasy I'm quickly covering like few others, I think. ^_^
 

[This message has been edited by Christian (edited March 12, 2008).]
 

what mos?

and where are you staitined.

RFW2nd
 

[This message has been edited by Christian (edited March 12, 2008).]
 

Hobby:
DeLoreans
Cave exploration
Throwing parties
Automobiles made in Cleveland from 1897 through 1929.
Writing prose

 

Others:
Wasting time
Russian
Medical things
Melee combat

 

Internationlly collected, multiple award-winning Sculptor (in plastilene [oil based clay]) producing bronze, resins and papercastings, as well as jewelry. One of my bronzes is a world-championship trophy as well as being in a coffee table book.

Trade show vendor (for my art and books)

Lecturer on sculpting and equine photography

Writer (non-fiction how-to book on sculpting just sold out its first edition; novel is on Amazon)

Owner of a small business (Whimsy Hill Studio LLC) for over 10 years.

Singer (many years in the past - 7 years operatic training, but again, many years in the past)

Mother of a multiple-mentally-handicapped child (ADHD, PDD, OCD, ODD, etc., Tourettes, Bi-polar, you name it)

Horse show mother to a now-adult rider who's working her way up to the Pan Am Games and Olympics (eventually) in dressage - but she started out in 4-H, then Pony Club, so we've seen the whole spectrum.

Former riding instructor (forward seat, then hunt seat and western). Still ride, English and western on a Quarter Horse. Used to ride hunter/jumpers in my youth. Know a bit about driving horses too. Also bred horses for a while.

Amateur:

Award-winning photographer (film camera - digitals came in when I got bifocals, so I'm not as good as I once was - and I never developed my own film)

Numerous crafts, including stained glass, macrame, counted cross stitch, needlepoint - all long in my past, but I sold a lot of them when I was doing them.

 

Other stuff that I may know something about:
Dinosaurs
Evolution
Video Games

FYI if you are looking for answers to astronomy questions, check out this site (which I contribute to): http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/
 

RFW2nd
 

Serious Hobbies (Advanced Amateur)
Belly Dancing
Metaphysical Beliefs with emphasis on Divination (most specifically tarot)
Writing and Reading (who here doesn't have those as hobbies though?)

Other Areas of Interest
Psychology
Pathophysiology
Philosophy
Charity Organizations
Astronomy
 

This place might help you

http://www.vintagev12s.com/home.htm

Your welcome

RFW2nd

 

Computer graphics
Animated film production
Fine art
 

Lets see..

The "Homeschooling/Unschooling" movement: I was "homeschooled" my entire life, and my family was very active in various homeschooling groups in South Florida when I was younger.

Homebirth/Midwifery: My brother and I were both born at home, and my mother was for some time considering becoming a midwife's assistant.

Breastfeeding.

Anti-immunization issues

I have the personal experience of growing up/living gay in America, including growing up gay in a predominantly Christian household.

I have family members with severe OCD, and have lived with a person diagnosed/in treatment for social anxiety disorder and previously depression.

My father is a musician, and I have considerable knowledge of the music and artists of the 60s and 70s.

Considerable knowledge/trivia as far as movies and television in the fantasy/horror/sci fi genres. Also know a lot about Anime, and a good bit of Japanese culture/religion/mythology/non anime cinema.

In particular I'm extensively familiar with the works/fictional worlds/lives of various writers and shows/series/movies: Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Ursula LeGuin, Babylon 5, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marvel Comics, etc.

Tarot

Some Kabbalah, occultism in general.

Some astrology

Paranormal/cryptozoological/Fortean studies.

Bit of religion and philosophy, and of course mythology/legends/folklore/fairy tales from all over the world, especially European.
 

[This message has been edited by EP Kaplan (edited June 07, 2008).]
 

RFW2nd

 

Professional:

mother (eleven years)

I can teach:

sharing
self-control
kind words
time out
and rage management

*I'm also a professional artist (pencil is my preferred medium)

 

I'm a watercolor artist, mostly landscapes. Haven't shown/sold in awhile. (I'm writing more than painting these days)

Organic gardens, herbs, veggies, nutrition, dabbled in Macrobiotics.

Theatre - mostly scenic art, a smidge of costumes.
 

RFW2nd

 

How to make, where to get, authentic replicas, etc.

I am looking for a pair of new WWII A-3 leather bomber pants, and A-9 bomber flight gloves.

To complete my MAD BOMBER PILOT look. And to wear when I move to Alaska during the winter.

RFW2nd

just hit me up on e-mail

[This message has been edited by Rommel Fenrir Wolf II (edited July 28, 2008).]
 

Mining engineering
History
Education and Educational theory

Hobbies:
Model building
chess (both North American and shogi)
geology

Languages spoke:
English
Japanese
 

Avocations:
Airstream trailers
Land Rovers
classic british cars
modern home remodeling
social networks

 

Geology
Environmental Science
Consulting Project Management

Experienced/Advanced:

Jungle Warfare
Jungle Survival
Latin America
Spanish
Horses (Paso Fino)
Knife Throwing
Technical Writing
Raising Bi-polar Children
Sailing Small Craft
Panama Canal Zone
Offshore Oil Drilling
Broken Bones (34 at last count)

Hobbies?
this is my hobby, writing and reading

Languages: Slovenian

[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited July 30, 2008).]

[This message has been edited by MartinV (edited July 30, 2008).]
 

Things I think I know lots about but probably don't:
castles & their architecture
medieval costume (made/designed a few things)
medieval art and stained glass
horse riding (did for 8 years, sadly don't any more)
pets, especially cats and fish

Hobbies and interests (other than writing):
singing (classical, folk songs, all sorts)
cooking, especially baking
greeting card-making
pencil drawing & Photoshop
classical guitar
history of medicine
archery
cartography

Languages:
English
French (fluent - so if you need any help, Rommel...)
Spanish (un poco)
Medieval Latin (patchy)
Scottish Gaelic (just started teaching myself)
I'm also very interested in etymology and conlanging. If anyone else builds languages I'd be happy to chat about it, just drop me an email.
 

Thanks anyway.

RFW2nd

 

That would depend entirely on the cave system. If it was a dry system (ie no running water), the storm would make no difference whatsoever, and the cave would be a safe refuge if you needed one.

Caves are formed by running water, though, and many of them do have streamways within them. These are often liable to flash floods. If you've got half the sense you were born with, you don't go near a system like that in bad weather! People do, though. Sometimes they get cut off for a couple of days before the water goes down and people can get to them. Other times they aren't so lucky.

The last time I went caving with the university Caving Club there were some guys trying to show off what hard cavers they were. They'd been at it for some time, and everyone was sick of them and their silly clique. They were in a stream passage when three feet of water suddenly came down, and were lucky to get out. I had a quick look on Amazon, and there are loads of caving books there; a bit of reading would soon show you what I'm getting at.
 

quote:

---

If you've got half the sense you were born with, you don't go near a system like that in bad weather! People do, though.

---

That's the point though, Robert. This bad weather was totally unexpected. That IS what I said. I mean do you usually expect the end of the world?

These are mature, responsible cavers who expected good weather. Something cateclysmic happens while they're down there.

And unless I have to I frankly don't want to have to read half a dozen books on the subject looking for the right information for something that only involves the first chapter. Of course, there are books on Amazon. But wasn't that the point of this expert thread? But thanks anyway.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited August 01, 2008).]
 

I suspect that the cavers' response would be based upon how much room they had to maneuver. Some caves I have been in leave absolutely no room for maneuver or the unexpected. In that case you cannot do anything about it. On the other hand, some rooms are large enough to let you scramble about.
 

quote:

---

That's the point though, Robert. This bad weather was totally unexpected. That IS what I said. I mean do you usually expect the end of the world?

---

However, you did not place the 'unexpected weather' in context. Rather than coming across as notably exasperated at RobertB's answer, you could have responded in more detail (hence, providing context) or been appreciative of RobertB's attempt to help.

This brings up a good point, I think, that we can all keep in mind when dealing with 'experts'. We should expect to provide sufficient information to give the expert a reasonable chance to answer, or not ask.
 

However, the cause of the severe weather didn't make any difference in what happened while they were in the cave.

I wasn't "notably exasperated." I thanked Robert although he wasn't able to help. I'm sure he would have if he could have. That is the point of this thread, after all.

I simply wanted to know how deep in the cave they would have known something was going on outside and if rain water would flood cave passages as well as what the reaction of the cavers would be other than "none of the weather reports said this would happen." None of the books I glanced at on caving had a thing about extreme weather so I think it would taking a lot of looking to find that. I doubt that's a common occurance or I certainly hope not. I'll make my best guess and get blasted by cavers when I get it wrong. Such is life. The majority of us who think going around in dark caves is a bit insane won't notice.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited August 02, 2008).]
 

As far as caving, I wouldn't consider writing a novel on the subject. They are in the cave for part of the first chapter.

I understand that you can't help. That's ok. Thanks anyway.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited August 04, 2008).]