Tuesday 7 September 2021

BESSLER WHEEL FORUM

The recent disappearance of the wonderful facility at Besslerwheel.com  has caused great despondency and alarm.  Besides providing an excellent discussion forum for all things ‘Bessler’, it holds a huge archive of excellent postings, comprising suggestions, possible solutions, ideas and facts about the inventor and his books. Many expert alternative translations have been posted and the whole archive forms an invaluablecstorehous which we cannot afford to lose.

Scott Ellis is doing his best to find a solution to the current problem but as is so often the case these days the solution will probably involve a large increase in the money demanded to continue this amazing service.

We have had several offers of help and I have passed them on to Scott but if anyone has the technical know-how to help him and has a direct method of contacting him I urge them to message him directly in whatever format they can use.

Fingers crossed the forum reappears.

I have recently hit the same problem, my book sales just about covered the cost of running several web sites, the money coming in was no longer sufficient and I had to let some go.  I still have the following ones, but I’m considering losing them too.

Mostly they are not really active any more but I like to keep the information available until I eventually publish my book which has been on a long, long time coming!

JC

48 comments:

  1. I'm battling financially myself at the moment but, to save and keep the Bessler Wheel Forum, I'm totally willing to pay a $5 to $10 subscription.
    We only need about 10 to 16 people willing to do this to keep it alive.
    I hope we have as many committed members, especially if Scott is unable to continue with the current site.

    Zhy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. i think a fiver a month is not a great deal to ask and would be more than happy to subscribe. If we had a rough idea of the number of members willing to contribute at x a month we would know, how much it would need to be, to reach Scott's estimated needs.
      Many of us find his site to be the most valuable for collecting facts, theories, opinions and beliefs regarding Bessler's wheel, and feel that it would be a great loss should it be discontinued.
      Fletcher, JC, Zhy and RH46 would need to pay 20 a month. An additional 4, doesn't sound to be too enthusiastic and it would then only be a tenner.
      Maybe Scott could send an email to all the current members asking if they would be prepared to contribute monthly or yearly, so as to have an idea as to how much exactly we are talking about. 20 members willing would be only 50 quid a year. I'm in.
      RH46

      Delete
  2. I think that is an excellent idea Zhy. I'd be happy to pay an annual subscription that is fair, also. Say to gain an 'all access' member status of the members forum above the general forum.

    I think the problem with allowing adds to earn income like over at overunity.com as suggested earlier is that Stefan Hartmann's site is so much larger, covering much more than gravity powered devices, than BW.com. Therefore has much more foot traffic potentially, and ability to earn far greater revenue. I like it that BW.com is more targeted, trying to solve just one riddle at a time. Therefore an annual subscription would be more attractive to me. And if the numbers were there that might only be a handful of dollars per year each. One less takeaway ;7)

    I guess this won't suit everybody but I think you have given a practical and workable solution if Scott has to move hosts etc to the more expensive option to save the site.

    -f

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve suggested Scott read what’s being said here, it might encourage him to consider. I know he’s trying to solve the problem himself. Can anyone else make contact with him, if only to let him know we would like to help.

      JC

      Delete
    2. Could it be he shut the site down intentionally? It doesn't make sense; if he really needed donations, why not just ask for them-----------------------Sam

      Delete
  3. John, You're probably right, what do I know----------------------------Sam

    ReplyDelete
  4. Maybe everyone needs to face an unpleasant fact of reality. Sooner or later ALL websites, blogs, and forums will just become more p*ss to be flushed down the internet drain. The only real way to give one's precious thoughts any chance at survival into the future is to enshrine them in the form of a published book. No, not an ebook you download, but an actual book that one can hold in his hands and will still be around in case the entire internet collapses someday for some reason no one ever expected. If it was not for a few dozens of Bessler's physical books that managed to survive through the centuries, none of us would ever have learned about him!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I went through a list of links I have in my favorites file recently to webpages that were like ten years old or more. I think about maybe one quarter of them returned "file not found" or "this domain name for sale" messages. They were all gone but you can probably still find them somewhere on that archive.org site if you can remember the name of the site. I tend to agree with you that "saving" stuff on the internet is like writing it in the wet sand on a beach between the waves coming in. The next wave can wash it all away! But writing a book is not easy or something the average person will be able to do. All he can do is take his chances with the internet and hope for the best.

      Delete
  5. FWEIW,

    I submit that the three most important clues ever written as to how Bessler's wheel was constructed, are printed at or near the bottom of page 90 of John Collins's book.

    1. The weights remain out of the center of gravity. I.E., not straight down. This infers pendulums.
    2. The weights gain force from there own swinging. This is exactly what pendulums do, the farther they swing the more force they have.
    3. The weights come to be placed together. This clue must mean that two pendulums are placed close together some way------------------how I do not know.
    If, or when, you figure out, you'll probably have a working wheel-----------------------Sam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Replies to your three points:
      1) I think all this means is the weights are not balanced as a whole.
      2) This could point to the fact that a swinging (or dropping) weight at the end of a lever generates CF independent of its movement, and therefore the CF can be harnessed and used to raise other weights.
      3) This could mean the weights come together either near the rim of the wheel on the descending side, or closer to the axle on the ascending side.

      Delete
    2. AA 21:44, These clues make a lot of sense, because pendulums are the only way to return weights back to the top of the wheel; nothing else will work-----------------Sam

      Delete
  6. The Besslerwheel forum is back up but at the moment I can’t log in. Told Scott.

    JC

    ReplyDelete
  7. Just heard from Scott, “ I made some changes to get a basic connection to the database working, but there is still a whole lot that is completely broken”.

    JC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And then, “ I might try and installing the latest version of PHPB3, and see if I can at least import the posts and attachments from the old database. We would lose a lot of things like the wiki, blogs, reputations, etc, but maybe if we could preserve the posts and attachments that would be enough”

      JC

      Delete
    2. And don’t forget Scott has to work for a living - “ I have to do my real job today though, will try that approach when I find some time”.

      JC

      Delete
    3. My hosting provider stopped supporting PHP 5.2 and is forcing everyone to upgrade to PHP 7.3 for all shared hosting services. This is true across the industry. This completely breaks the forum in many ways. To stay on the old version would bump the cost from $10/month (shared hosting) to $80/month or more (virtual private server).

      Delete
    4. ..willing to pay an annual sub here, always felt guilty for not contributing yet.

      Delete
  8. It would be useful to pay $80 for the time of the conversion and then go back to $10, with general participation.
    Conversion is not guaranteed with so many version differences, that's the biggest problem.

    A++.

    ReplyDelete
  9. https://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/download.php?id=3842&sid=2a70d1335b213187e2e4037e700ebf15

    ReplyDelete
  10. En faisant une recherche par image sur google, on retrouve des post du site.
    En sélectionnant ces image on retrouve un accès à une partie du site
    J.B

    ReplyDelete
  11. https://www.besslerwheel.com/forum/index.php?sid=4c5aaf5edab5c3e64c9dd348dfe17e67

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m not sure anyone can see your link, thx4, as we can’t login.

      JC

      Delete
  12. If you build a working wheel then the forum will come back on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AA 9:13, or be gone for good-----------------------Sam

      Delete
  13. He shut the whole thing down for $80 Those guys make $80.00 an hour-------------------------Sam

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why would he shut it down, if he was making $80 an hour?

      JC

      Delete
    2. Sam, I think you misread my post. I said the cost to stay on the old version would change from $10/month to $80/month in perpetuity. Not a single $80 charge. So my cost to run the site would change from $120/year to $960/year. Forever. That is hardly insignificant. And I did not "shut it down." My hosting provider upgraded the PHP version and completely broke the forum.

      Delete
    3. Sam, I have borne the hosting costs of the forum for 20 years now. I get a small donation now and then but not much, nowhere near the $120/year that it costs. You sure are being rude for someone who's never made a donation toward the hosting costs.

      Delete
    4. Scott Ellis, I trust John Collins. He defended you, so I must be wrong-------------------------Sam

      Delete
  14. That's a good question John. However, that's the current salary for software engineers, and I assume he is a good one-----------------------------------------------Sam

    ReplyDelete
  15. Maybe they got to him and ---------------------------------

    ReplyDelete
  16. I wondered what the cause was. Now I found it here, thank you John. I understand it was the new PHP upgrade/version 7.3 that isn't compatible with the older database version? I also understand that if Scott downgrade back to PHP 5.2 on another physical platform) the database should be compatible and running again, or at least a working 5.2 database or a compatible backup exist? I work in the IT business still, but this ins't my field of expertise. I may know some people that I would have to pay, but I don't know at the moment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Øystein, good to see you. Hopefully Scott will come and read this but I don’t know if he will. He may get in touch with you or another and get some helpful advice or perhaps he may sort it out himself, fingers crossed.

      JC

      Delete
  17. When you place the momentum of a spinning wheel into a small mass the energy of the system is increased greatly. Bessler may have used this: but certainly energy producing wheels can be made. I would like to make contact with people that are open minded enough to experiment with this phenomenon. Some videos are on Delburt Phend on youtube

    ReplyDelete
  18. MOI - CoAM - the trick is to reset at little energy cost - pequaide.

    ReplyDelete
  19. If it finally turns out that the Besslerwheel.com forum problem is dependent on $ (to hire someone of expertise) to fix it. Scott can contact me. oystein (a) bragedata.no. I'm willing to pay for getting the forum fixed! One way or the other. It is an important basic platform when doing steady work on Bessler.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree entirely that Besslerwheel.com forum is an important platform. By far the best on the net, in my opinion. I am more than willing to help financially by participating a small amount monthly or yearly but i am unable financially to pay someone to fix the current problems. I hope that Scott takes you up on your generous offer and it allows him to realise that for many of us, we are all in this together, and our only desire is to get these problems sorted for everyone's benefit.
      RH46

      Delete
    2. Actually the end of BWforum is probably the best thing that could happen for this blog! Notice how those who used to incessantly babble away over there are all now suddenly showing up here. They need a place to keep babbling and this blog will provide it. That will then boost the lagging reply counts here which then will draw in more unique visitors. As soon as they arrive they will be hit with ads for John's books and that can boost his sales so he can then grab back more of the money he spent on them years ago. He may sound like he's heartbroken over the demise of that forum that he only rarely posts on nowadays, but inwardly he could actually be jumping for joy over it!

      Delete
  20. This is the forum.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lampblack will be needed soon, keep the soot when getting the chimney cleaned.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ok I have successfully installed a brand new version of phpBB3 and imported all of the posts and attachments from the old forum. You will need to delete all besslerwheel.com cookies from your browser in order to login.

    If your old password does not work it is possible it did not migrate properly. Just request a new on with the password reset option.

    We lost a lot of bells and whistles because the old forum was so heavily customized (reputations, blogs, wiki, etc.), but at least the posts and attachments are preserved.

    It is very bare bones for now but I can extend and customize the new forum over time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks John. Another benefit, it works a whole lot better on mobile now.

      Delete
    2. Just logged in and all looks great. Thank you Scott, great to have the forum back.

      Zhy

      Delete
  23. Brilliant Scott. U da man.

    -f

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The inevitable has once again been delayed for a while. Let the babblings continue!

      Delete
  24. This is John Collins Blog!

    ReplyDelete

The True Story of Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

On  6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had s...