[BNU] Re: Admin's letter (please read): current state of the list and possible resignation
- From: Tom Lange <lange85@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <joseph.lee22590@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 21:39:52 -0800
Hi Joseph,
I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks for all the great work that you
and Alex have done on this list and for all of the great information that you
both have provided. I'd hate to see you guys leave, but if you do, I wish both
of you the best in all of your future endeavors, whatever they may be.
Best regards,
Tom
----- Original Message -----
From: Joseph Lee
To: braillenote@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 5:00 PM
Subject: [BNU] Admin's letter (please read): current state of the list and
possible resignation
Dear BrailleNote users, HumanWare staff and other supporters around the world:
The below letter may come as a shock and a surprise (in a way, it is meant to
be that way), but please read it till the end:
When I first received my BrailleNote in 2004, I considered this computer a
potential for blindness community in many areas, including connectivity,
braille support and others. With this belief, I spent countless hours exploring
the heart of KeySoft, changing system sounds, upgrading and downgrading KeySoft
and what not. Back then, I hoped I would find a brailleNote users list where I
can learn and share my experience using a BrailleNote, and I found one in
October 2005 (the old version of this list, which was managed by HumanWare
then). Fast forward nine years, and I stand before you as a list administrator
and a webmaster, a job which I was entrusted to by many of you for the benefit
of this community. But now, it appears that I'm slowly fading away from view,
and am standing on this podium (alongside Alex Hall, the other administrator of
this list) with the words I thought I would not say but may have to say it
shortly: there is a possibility that I'll pass on my baton to someone i.e. I
might resign from this post of administrator given recent events and other
interests.
First of all, it appears we the moderators will need to discuss the current
state of the list with you. If we're to give an honest grade on the list
quality, we'd say C- (C minus, or border-line). In our honest opinion, we would
give D or F to the list quality, but since we have excellent contributors and
since this list is one of the well-known channels of information on
BrailleNote, we'll give a border-line grade. For the past few months, the
quality of the posts coming through this list has (if I may say) declined - not
just spam we've seen, but we've seen certain content that may not reflect the
overall theme of the list. Because of this, I believe it's time that we think
carefully about what we post on the list and see if what we're posting does
really reflect what the list is for.
Second, I'd like to say thanks to those who've helped us and criticized us on
our conduct as admins. There were times when we went too far, and times we
asked for your help in running this list and other events. In times of good and
bad on this list, what helped us was your continued support.
Third, this might be a bit hard to swallow but we (personally, I) feel you
need to be informed: we have a report that a former list member will report I
and Alex to Freelists staff over our conduct of the list. Furthermore, this
report and its evidence suggests that the aim of our friend (won't say who) is
to make us unsubscribe from this list in the hopes of ". helping us understand
what this friend is going through .". Those who're involved with the thread in
question knows that I and Alex did what we told that person: this person was
banned to set an example to others, and the person asked about coming back here
after several days. Then I advised this person to not come back due to the
quality of the list. At the same time, I told this person that I forgive this
person, but given the list rules, we have to remove this person (as said
above). Our hope is for this problem to be resolved quietly. But in the event
that we do need to step aside, we will (possibly, but it's becoming clearer
that we need to soon).
Lastly, speaking of resignation, it's becoming clearer that our time as
moderators is numbered. As some of you know, I and Alex are moving onto other
things, and in my case, I need time to study for my college courses. Thus, in
the event that we do announce our resignation, we believe that there will be
people who'll step up to take on the role of moderator and organize events such
as chat for years to come. We should add that our decision wasn't light - we do
understand what our decision (if final) means to the rest of the BrailleNote
user community, HumanWare staff and potential users out there who're reading
our email posts and archives, thus, like you, we feel uneasy about our
decision. But please understand this decision as a way for both of us saying,
"thank you and we love you for supporting two of your friends manage this list
for the past few years."
Thank you.
In prayers,
Joseph Lee
University of California, Riverside
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