Writing A Story About AutoPuzzles

[Bi-Polar Bear]

I am starting a new endeavor, writing for Examiner.com about auto related subjects. It occured to me that AutoPuzzles was a good subject. After all, its pretty unique and has a diverse membership.

So tell me....what shoud I tell the world about AutoPuzzles?  What features would other people want to know about? What about the site is your favorite thing? I appreciate any and all input/feedback.

Btw, you can view the articles I have published to date at this link:  http://www.examiner.com/x-21840-Providence-Automotive-Examiner

[pnegyesi]

I am a newcomer, having been here for only a few weeks, but I love the site for various reasons:

- a group of really nice folks gathered here together. It's like a decent "members only" club
- somewhere it was said that AutoPuzzles one day will be considered the Internet's Beaulieu Encyclopedia of Automobiles. Though I first dismissed this idea as nonsense as many puzzles are straight out of books (no research involved), but having spent a lot of time here it starts to make sense. There are a lot of one-off, custom creations, coachbuilt exotics which are not covered in books - or there are better description of those available somewhere on the internet. So AutoPuzzles serves as a guide for really obscure cars, which are my favorites. And those who provide us the puzzles, pick us our brain and point us to highly interesting new sites.
- you can learn a lot. Not just about cars. I have found a series ouf extraordinary books, courtesy of AutoPuzzles.

Well, this is just from off the top of my head and I am sure there are more dedicated folks here, but I hope this gets the ball rolling.

[Ray B.]

I'd say search for the unexpected. Read pages on the site at random, read when puzzlers act as monomaniacs, but also show some wit, sometimes bark at eachother, when they start talking about music, films or horses (if they ever did that). That's what i did first when I came, and I've read your posts too, under another name, when they spoke of anything but cars. Autopuzzlers' brains could be turned into a mass of jelly by their obsession, except that they have that curiosity and love of endlessly digging who saves them, definitely.

[Otto Puzzell]

I agree with those guys. 

BiPoBe / MG - you know I'd be happy to share everything I can to help with this story (minus personal info - I'm a privacy freak!)

[neilshouse]

It's the collective automobile knowledge that in my opinion makes Autopuzzles such a great site, the diversity of the members enthusiasm for all things car related.

Each of us has a different area of expertise whether that is for Veteran, Vintage, American, European, Asian, concept cars, kit cars, racing cars, hot rods, or whatever, I don't think there is anywhere else on the internet that has the variety that we have here.

[motorcar1]

Ray B,
The guys here stay on course, many sites allow the topics to wander off into discussion that has nothing to do with the topics at hand, good point.

Neilshouse, yes, the vast knowledge of worldwide thought, this site is an archive of genuine knowledge.
This site is truly targeted to the preservation of all known automobiles.

Otto puzzle, I understand what you are saying about privacy, everybody stays on track and looks at and for  knowledge and fact, not information about one that posts. One site I have participated in is actually requesting personal information in a topic area, sooooo wrong.

A point was made herein about the research into the Harris Car, the point , Interesting perspective about the sports car heritage, stopped the release of the story.
The point was well taken and apreciated.
We have went back to researching >>> so we can display the timeline, past to present, of sports car heritage, quite the added job, but it most certainly helps and is beneficial to the entire story.

Interestingly enough, the side references to other books and the posts herein AutoPuzzles, contained 90% of what we needed to search out, great point for your articles Bi-Polar Bear.
PJ's research and gathering of the pictures of past history (re) tear drop & Futuristic designs helped us for the article being written to display the evolution into streamlining, which brings itself all the way to current 2010 vehicles.

We are of the opinion, All great designers and builders of whatever, copied and/or borrowed from one another, it is no different from the Wright brothers, to Gates, to Mercedes, to Ford's assembly lines, Television and basicly "everything" known to man.

Only at Autopuzzles can one get correct and strong documented viewpoints on Automobile History, >>>as it is a true archive of gentleman and automobile History, the only site we have ran into since the advent of our research.
When we first started researching the Harris car, 23 years ago, the Internet, as we know it today, did not excist, our research called for hundreds of phone calls, letters, personal meetings and faxes.

What a great site and group of guys, deserving to be writen about in your articles Bi-polar Bear.
Ultra, with the help of all collectively,  has built a Historical Site 2nd to none in the World !!!!!!!

John

[Bi-Polar Bear]

Thanks to all for your input. It is much appreciated. I can see some of your ideas being quoted directly in the article. And when it is done and published (hopefully in the next few day) I will provide you with a link so you can view it at your leisure.

And to Neilshouse, great avatar!  An XK-E without headlight covers is an abomination, imho!   

[Bi-Polar Bear]

Well, the story is online. I hope you like it. If you have negative comments, send them to me directly via PM at this site. If you have positive comments, well, feel free to post 'em up!

Here's the link:  http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-21840-Providence-Automotive-Examiner~y2009m9d13-AutoPuzzles--a-place-for-people-who-like-cars

There is one thing I would ask of you all. There is a place with in the page that allows you to become a "follower". This will keep you in the loop for updates to this story and advise you of new stories as they are posted.  This Examiner.com thing is an experiment in viral marketing. The more hits my stories get, the more money I make. Simple, huh? So anything you are willing to do to spread the word will be gratefully appreciated.

I will add a slide show at some point. The editors like slide shows. But right now, my beloved Red Sox are on and my fingers are tired.

Hasta luego, amigos!   

[faksta]

Seems that I missed something interesting here. Well, anyway, thanks for the story 

[MG]

Time to put my alter-ego back in the closet, so to speak, and come forward as the brains behind the Bi-Polar Bear persona.

My thanks to Ultra and Otto Puzzell, aka, Otto Weak,  aka Karn Utz, for deciding to feature a  link to my current written offerings on the home page. Thanks guys. I hope I am worthy of this.

At the moment, my drivel and diatribes are primarily for my own amusement and satisfaction. There's some money involved, but its a pittance, so far. But if I develop a following, I might actually earn a little pocket money, which would be nice.

The Examiner.com model is an interesting attempt to address the steep decline in print newspapers and magazines recently. At Examiner.com, they seek out the advertisers and keep current with how to optimize their rankings in the various search engines, principally Google. As a writer, you get to share in that revenue. The more people click on your articles and the longer they stay after they click determines how much the writer gets paid. Seems quite fair to me. If you bring just a few people to their site, you paid a little. If you bring LOTS of people to their site, you may actually be able to make a living at this. So, linking to my articles is huge for me, because it may boost my stats. Which means I will owe you all a beer next time we meet.



Hope you enjoy my stuff. 

Steve, aka, MG, aka Bi-Polar Bear, aka Jack Cass, aka Zaphed Beeblebrox!   

[Ray B.]

Welcome back, sir MG!