Web forums?

also has news and advocacy.http://prisuonline.com is perhaps duplicative but the interface is a bit simpler

For technical news and discussion of green transport of all kinds see

is a good source of links to stories on transport in the popular media. Useful blogs include

Okay, what I'm about to write is off-topic for this group but relevant to your post.

The person who creates an alt.* group determines whether the group is moderated or not, as I learned when I created this group, at Michelle Steiner's suggestion. I had no intention of putting in the effort to be a moderator, so that's why this group is unmoderated. Presumably the same is true of most all other alt.* groups.

As for the trolls, and now this is _WAY_ off-topic, but I see you're posting from a Mac using MacSOUP, as I am, and that newsreader excels at killfiling. Not only can you use its "autokill" feature, to filter all followups along with the original posts, you can autokill individual thread and even, my favorite, subthreads.

The version I'm running has an adequate killfile capability although I would prefer the ability to use "AND" and "OR". I've tweaked my kill file and if our little friend comes back, I have no problem tweaking it again. I understand 'thunderbird' (???) might have the advanced reader logic that would work. But back to my original question.

My interest in mapping the other forums is two fold. First, personal since I enjoy reading about what folks are doing with their Prius and hybrids. But the second has to do with helping newbies find a sensible place to ask questions but by accident of history, show up here only to get slammed by sociopathic trolls.

We've had a similar problems in other forums including my favorite, 'hsv.*" groups. Only in "hsv.*," the problem has been the ditto heads who took Newt's admonitions to heart only to reveal they can't take what they love to dish out. What is sad is the degree that trolls eventually tire, move on, only to be replaced by new sociopaths.

Bob Wilson

Bob Wilson

Do not feed the trolls and they will move on to greener pastures.

- Piper

. . .

One of the better aspects of MacSoup is the ability to review the postings of 'trolls', to see if they ever had any sane moments. Sometimes they do but sometimes you can mark a point where 'a switch is thrown' and they become sociopathic. But trying to make sense of their behavior is pointless and some of them are quite persistent.

One amusing approach is to use their nonsense as lead-in to technical postings or quality content. Simply trim out their nonsense and reply with something useful.

It is a shame because some of them actually have some ability to deal with reality. But literally, it is as if 'a switch was thrown' and they go off the deep end. So I'm content to let them self-destruct.

Talking about sociopaths, "CNW Marketing" released this graph of "new-shoppers who would consider buying a hybrid:"

The graph shows the Katrina gas hikes really impacting buyer interest. But I'm also thinking about the wholesale price of oil being over $90/barrel. I read one report that the refineries have been cutting their margins and keeping the price of gasoline modest. But this can only go on so long. When the price of gas once again follows the barrel price, we'll see sustained, Katrina prices.

Bob Wilson

That's where a kill file becomes so useful.

The world is full of nut cases, be it real life or Internet.

Isn't that why so many auto manufactures are producing hybrid or electric cars? I'll bet there's more of a demand from consumers wanting to save money on fuel than there is wanting to be "green". There's probably a survey somewhere.

- Piper