Heh - yeah, about ScubaBoard...
I completely agree with both of you guys.
I don't know of a larger resource online for scuba in general... But since everyone there has an equal voice, that doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting information from a reliable source. There are a LOT of self-appointed Navy SEALs and college roommates of Jacques Cousteau there, if you know what I mean. Thankfully, they're usually not too hard to spot. I do have to agree, though, that there's a lot there that makes you think - so overall, I think it's a good place to be.
I was a pretty visible member over there for years... And met with many members across the country, doing dives with them from coast to coast and from the Great Lakes to the Keys. Overall, I believe people are good.
That said, I became involved with a young lady who later did quite a bit of damage to my finances and my reputation... Truly, evil incarnate. I simply moved on, after taking quite a beating. Scubaboard, for me, was one of the damages. Somehow, I ended up banned from the site - I still don't know why. However, I can tell you that she was dating one of the moderators... In fact, I believe more than one... Which is why she and I never worked out in the first place.
Banned and clueless after years of building great relationships? Confused and hurt, I was left only to believe that it all had something to do with her. That explanation made sense anyway, since there were more obvious attempts at similar damage by her in my face-to-face relationships.
Thankfully, no personal friend of mine ever doubted me for a second, and she became the laughingstock of the town. However, I have never been able to return to ScubaBoard. I could simply create a sockpuppet, but that's not my style. I never did anything wrong in the first place, so I'm not going to do something wrong to fix damage that someone else did.
...But yeah, there's a lot of people there with double ignorance - they don't know, and they don't know that they don't know.
You know?
That said, I do miss it - and find a lot of value in the fact that they're the largest online scuba forum in the world... Which brings with it all that you guys are both saying.
Getting back to rort's original post (sorry for the apparent hijacking) - asking, "Is there anything else I should know..." is kinda like a new driver asking a veteran motorist what else he needs to know other than red means stop and green means go.
I hope that doesn't sound smartass - but getting your first C-card is simply a license to learn. Yes, there is as much new information as you could ever possibly want. In fact, some places are literally creating the knowledge as you read this - places like Duke University's Hyperbaric Facility. There is still much we don't know about the ocean and dive physiology. We humbly suggest that you move to the head of the class, get right up front and see what you can make of this new information. New minds are always fresh and full of good ideas.
One of the first things I always tell people new in diving is to avoid gear purchases for as long as possible... Rent for a while until you've tried it all, for when you finally decide what's right for you, you will no longer try anything new and will always instead use your own gear that you're familiar with. This is a good thing, really, but use this time to your advantage and try EVERYTHING first. Take the money you were going to spend on your gear and get your own mask fins and wetsuit, then rent the rest and go diving... A lot. Nobody ever became a better diver by buying gear - better divers are made from people who dive a lot and use their ears and voice in proportion to the way they were designed - listening twice as much as they speak... Particularly when it comes to listening to someone who dives more than they do. Much can be learned, no matter your age or experience level, and remember, somewhere, someone always knows more than you do.
Okay, off my soap box now... Put off the gear purchases as long as possible and come up only when you have to change tanks.
http://media.imeem.com/m/8GrBycU3NP
Here's a couple more great online forums:
http://www.direxplorers.com (The DIR group tends to be highly controversial, but their information is accurate, precise, practical, and physiologically correct - very trustworthy. No BS on this site.)
http://www.thedecostop.com (Not viewable unless you create a username and password, but a common haunt for more advanced types of diving, including scootering, staged decompression, cave, wreck, and overhead diving - really, just a ScubaBoard for advanced divers).
There's a handful of others, but add this site (great people, friendly atmosphere and distinct lack of Navy SEALs) and ScubaBoard (literally, the entire planet is over there - all of it's good and bad), and you could disappear into cyberspace for months and not come up for a breath of air.
http://www.deepsouthdivers.org/old/songs/walkontheocean.mp3
