Not signed in (Sign In)

Vanilla 1.1.9 is a product of Lussumo. More Information: Documentation, Community Support.

Etiquette: private message

Bottom of Page

1 to 5 of 5

  1.  
    • CommentAuthorrgrig
    • CommentTimeAug 14th 2010
     
    I posted a comment that I believe is off-topic for mathoverflow, but useful for the person who asked the question.
    http://mathoverflow.net/questions/35563/best-algorithm-to-use-for-a-bus-train-transport-route-planner

    I would have rather sent a private message, such as an email.
    1. Is there a way to send private messages on mathoverflow?
    2. If not, should I delete my off-topic comment?
  2.  

    @rgrig:

    1. No, there is not. This is presumably by design: the communication between users on MO is restricted to that of the question / answer / comment variety.

    2. The etiquette here seems to be that one get away with some off-topic comments, as long as (i) they are not disagreeable or negative and (ii) they take a firm second place to one's on-topic comments. Your particular comment looked pretty innocuous and not part of a larger pattern, so it's certainly okay by me.

    • CommentAuthorWill Jagy
    • CommentTimeAug 14th 2010 edited
     
    rgrig, I did not notice any unusual comments, so perhaps you deleted it already. About offsite contact, I really like the idea. I can offer a forwarding service, based on the fact that I make my identity open and my email address easy to find (just click on my name back in MO). Something like this: you leave a comment directly under the main question of paddydub, which is then fairly likely to be seen within 24 hours, to the effect that both of you email me. In the simplest circumstance I just forward each to the other. And, to complete things, as in user "anweshi" you may even use new email accounts with pseudonyms in order to keep your identites as superheroes intact, even from me. But inform me on MO what the second-order pseudonyms are. My preference is for no extra identities and you trust me to keep addresses and identities secret. Then after offsite contact is up and running you can leave me out of it because you now know how to reach each other.

    The following was the first instance that was fairly organized, it worked with no trouble, it was Gerhard's idea really. I believe I got email from Jon Bentin first, but of course I already knew some addresses for Gerhard which is why he made the suggestion:

    http://mathoverflow.net/questions/31016/a-sequential-optimizing-task

    @Gerhard: Thanks for your continuing interest. Your previous reply stimulated me to look further. I still think that the optimal sequence is irrational, and that you can't be on the optimal track if you are getting rational terms. I conjecture now that the first term and minimal supremum are both ln 4 (approximately 1.3829436112); I haven't started to look at the second and later terms. My argument won't fit into this box. If you email me at Yahoo's UK domain, with my name unpunctuated, I will be able to let you have some more details. – John Bentin Jul 12 at 21:3


    I attempted an email to @yahoo.uk. If that did not work, point out this comment to Will Jagy and ask him to forward your email address to me. I will then respond with my email. Gerhard "Ain't this E-Mail Stuff Fun?" Paseman, 2010.07.13 – Gerhard Paseman Jul 14 at 0:23
    • CommentAuthorrgrig
    • CommentTimeAug 15th 2010
     

    Pete, thanks for your opinion. I guess that members who want to be reachable can fill their profiles with the relevant information.

    Will, thanks for your offer. However, given that there's a link to a FaceBook page at the site HitTheRoad that I mentioned, I believe paddydub should already have enough information to contact the right people. (I am not the right person. I have only briefly discussed a small part of the algorithm with a friend who implemented it for HitTheRoad.)

    • CommentAuthorWill Jagy
    • CommentTimeAug 15th 2010
     
    rgrig, you're welcome.

1 to 5 of 5

  1.  
Back to Discussions Top of Page