iMech

I just noticed a new problem with imechanica: when a blog entry has received too many comments, additional comments will be placed on a second page but not linked properly. For example, the comment, "Work-free isochoric deformation", has a link node/5014#comment-10406 , which leads to the original blog entry rather than the comment. One can find the comment either by scrolling all the way down to the bottom of the page and then clicking "Next" or by a direct link, node/5014?page=1.

From time to time people ask if I know other websites like iMechanica but focusing on different branches of engineering.  This morning I saw a recently compiled list of Top Engineering Blogs, and was delighted that iMechanica was ranked close to the top.  I'm aware of the widespread cynicisms among iMechanicians about rankings of all kinds.  But, heck, ranking is good if you are ranked high.  As Freeman Dyson would say, being consistent is a weakness of mind. 

Early this week the number of registered users passed 6000.  Our growth rate remains nearly a constant, about 10 new users per day. In January Teng plotted some basic statistics of iMechanica. 

The number of registered users of iMechanica exceeded 3000 today, three months after iMechanica welcomed its 2000th user.  The number of posts has exceeded 1700, and the number of comments, 3800. The growth of iMechanica has been stable and amazing, leading to a natural question: why do people register at iMechanica? iMechanica is open:  evevryone can read everything without registration.  You can post anything of interest to mechanicians once you register for a free account. 

On Wednesday morning, I received an email from Anastassia Paskaleva. She was unable to create an account on iMechanica, because CAPTCHA kept telling her that she typed the letters wrong. Lesley Lam, iMechanicia user number 1, has just fixed the problem. Now new users can register once more. We apologize for the inconvenience that this problem might have caused you, and thank Anastassia for letting us know the problem.

iMechanica was lunched on 9 September 2006. It took about five months for iMechanica to see its 1000th registered user. Today we are welcoming the 2000th registered user after only another two and half months.

In this blog entry, I'll maintain a list of books, essays and websites that have influenced me in developing iMechanica. I'll also list my notes on them whenever available. Because iMechanica shares many common problems with other online communities, it is natural that we find solutions discovered by other online communities helpful. At the same time, iMechanica is unique in some respects, and has its own unique problems, so that we cannot adopt any methods or viewpoints without adjustment.