[BNU] Re: Admin's letter (please read): current state of the list and possible resignation
- From: Alex Hall <mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Joseph Lee <joseph.lee22590@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2014 17:47:25 -0500
Everyone,
As the other moderator of this list, I would like to add my comments. I ask you
to read this message in full, and to respond to myself only, or to braille
note-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, with any comments or questions. I know some,
perhaps many, of you will take issue with some of my below statements. You are
welcome to do so, but understand that they are my opinions and are here only to
help explain my thoughts. I mean no offense to anyone on this list, and I
apologize in advance if I hurt anyone's feelings. Again, please read my
*entire* message.
First, Joseph and I have talked privately, and we both feel that our lives are
moving away from involvement with Humanware products. I cannot speak for
Joseph, but I barely use my Braillenote, I see major bugs persisting for many
years in keysoft (some that can and do erase user data), and an overall
lowering of the quality of the Braillenote. Is the Braillenote a bad device?
Not at all, and many students find it very helpful, especially with the recent
9.4 update that brought us Nemeth and .pptx file support. That said, it has, in
my view, become an increasingly niche-oriented device, with iOS and Android
devices taking larger and larger amounts of users away. Certainly, my iPhone
has nearly removed the need for the Braillenote from my life - it does far more
than my BN ever could, and it usually does it better and faster.
Daisy books? My Braillenote chokes on most of them, can't do searches, can't
erase them without erasing the entire folder they are in, and still has me
manually unzip them. Between Bard Mobile and Voice Dream Reader on my phone, I
have amazing Daisy/mp3/text/pdf/epub support for reading books, with none of
the problems I get from a device made by a company devoted to assistive
technology. That is just one example of how a mainstream device and an
independent developer have gone far beyond an AT company in terms of features
and stability. I could give more, but my point is to illustrate why I no longer
see the Braillenote as a good option for most users.
I say all that to explain the following: my passion for the Braillenote is
gone. I do not see it as a viable option for most users, I rarely use mine and
so am out of practice with keystrokes and new features, and how can I moderate
a list that centers on a product I never use anymore? Those in charge of this
list should be passionate about the Braillenote, not to mention regular users,
and I am neither.
Nothing is happening immediately, and Joseph and I will keep you all informed
moving forward. At this time, we are not looking for people to submit their
names to be considered for becoming new moderators, and for now, Joseph and I
remain the moderators on this list. Those asking what a moderator needs to do
will be informed in time, as we move closer to a transition and finalize
details.
I want to second Joseph's words of thanks. Most everyone on this list, and some
members who are no longer subscribed, have been nothing but patient and helpful
in the past years. Lists like this are the sum of their members, and nearly all
the people who have been on here since Joseph and I started this have been
great. I don't want anyone to take our (the mods') decision personally, or feel
that you are to blame in any way. The simple fact is that Joseph has less and
less time in his schedule and is focusing on different projects, while I am
also focusing on new areas that are, I feel, much more relevant in today's
technological world (specifically Mac and iOS app development). As I said, my
Braillenote mostly sits on a shelf, and Humanware continues to underwhelm with
its lack of bug fixes in each update. I no longer feel I can give the necessary
energy to supporting a device I view as obsolete, and I am so out of practice
that the questions I can answer are basic, or I give incorrect information.
This is hardly the stamp of a moderator for this list, and so I feel it may be
time for me to step aside.
Yes, recent traffic has played a part in my decision. Between being spammed
every few months by one or two people who see crashing screen readers as "fun",
and having to send frequent emails to remind people to stay on topic and avoid
pointless posts… well, it all takes a toll. In fact, when I sent a mod note a
couple weeks ago asking that people stop using this list as a social network,
guess what the very first response was… It was two words: "who cares". Clearly,
some list members will obey the rules, while others simply disregard them and
do what they want. When we (the mods) step in, we get people who feel our
decisions are unfair and decide to take out their frustration by trying to
crash everyones' machines or screen readers, or we get people pretending to be
other people to cause trouble, or we get blown off and have to re-send the same
notices over and over. Again, it takes a toll on the morale of those in charge.
This is why I said "most" in the previous paragraph. Most members have been
great, and put up with decisions they thought were too harsh, too lenient, or
plain pointless. It is the few who decided to get back at imaginary insults,
the few who see amusement in other peoples' lost work, the few who simply don't
understand why off-topic and pointless messages are so bad… It is they who have
influenced my decision.
Again, the afore mentioned few are only part of it; the major factor is that I
can't continue to care about a device I don't use and that has been replaced by
so many better alternatives. It isn't fair to all of you, or to Joseph, and I'd
rather see someone take my place who loves their Braillenote and wants to help
others use their units. Do I not care about others? Of course i do, but I
cannot encourage the use of a device in which I no longer believe.
Once more, please address all your comments directly to me, or to
braillenote-moderators@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. Please also hold all questions related to
what happens next, or what we might be looking for in a moderator, until we
issue announcements detailing the immediate future of this list. Thank you for
your attention, and thank you to those of you who have sent us messages of
support in the last day. It is heartening to know that so many of you value
this list and our work on it. Please understand that it is for exactly that
reason - that people get so much out of this list - that I want to ensure it is
in the best hands, even if those hands are no longer mine.
--
Have a great day,
Alex
mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx
> On Feb 17, 2014, at 8:00 PM, Joseph Lee <joseph.lee22590@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> 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
Other related posts:
