"[EMAIL PROTECTED]" wrote:
> 
> Hey I got banned from posting on the OTHER list, not you!
> 
> Your still welcome at starmax-talk, but I am a little touchy on the subject.
> Just so you remember correctly, it wasn't me who started the thread. I was
> the third listmate to remind you about standard netiquette.  ;-)
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------


KO,

I intend to ask Dan to unban you--if there's a word like that. I have no
interest in any forum or list that censors people. We are mostly adults
and have a capacity for self-control, if that fails us sometimes, I can
be patient as a reader and wait till the moment is over.

I've run forums for years that are completely uncensored. I do not
limit, restrict or dictate what can be written. I've had only one guy in
four years who sent in a post with a link that took the reader to a site
that froze their machine in some unending loop. I know because it tried
it. He thought it was funny. I thought it was irresponsible since
someone might have had work in progress on their machines and their
efforts could be lost.

I sent his message intact with the dumb URL to what I called "the Zoo,"
a little subset forum where people could still read it, but they were
warned it was dangerous. That way I kept my promise to have a free and
uncensored place for people to write--because that's what you need to
grow as a writer--and I still protected my readers from what I thought
was an unfair and hidden stupidity.

If someone took off after a young or aspiring writer for punctuation,
spelling, or the like and it was heavy-handed, I generally gave that
critic a good what for. Not that I disagreed with the importance of
those skills, but because we all could be patient while someone learned.
What was more important; the correctness of a few kbytes of transient
prose, or the intent, confidence, and content of a young author who may
someday say remarkable things?

We are all young and aspiring writers; there would be no reason to read
these lists and forums if there weren't someone who wrote in answers and
thoughts as we do. And we all have a lot to learn on the best ways to
shape and offer our contributions.


I understand about feeling touchy. That is often the natural consequence
of learning a lesson that didn't occur the way one wanted or expected. I
feel the same way in this incident, but I'm sure that same pain will
occur again and again if I choose to express myself in public and in
front of an audience who can write back.  



You're entitled to your opinions of what's too long and what's
appropriate. After all, this place wouldn't exist without you. It will
be a profoundly better place perhaps if you relax and trust your
authors. They may come here first for just the nuts and bolts of a
Starmax, but they're really looking for help in getting out of their
frustrations over a dumb machine that's not working. Why can't they get
that and also enjoy the common humanity of people searching for answers
that others can provide?



Whoops, I must be getting perilously close to a 10k limit on a
non-technical pontification. I'm going to post this over at Dan's as
well and ask his personal consideration of simply letting you back
again. I suspect we'll both be more careful, you and I, in not letting
the frozen roast fall on our foot.

____________

I did have to ask someone what the hell YMMV and IMHO meant, so what
does ;-) mean? See, what I mean about learning--it is sometimes
embarrassing. You go all through that and then you die. Damn, it's
enough to make me write shorter.



Bob Wulkowicz

_______________

 
> "My high school CS teacher, now gives his students the rule of thumb that
> at least half of the lines in an email message should be their own."
>                                                    --Dan Knight,lowendmac
> "A Beginner's Guide to Effective Email", Kaitlin Duck Sherwood
> <http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.html>.)o

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