[BNU] Re: Admin's letter (please read): current state of the list andpossible resignation
- From: sammie clay <sammied1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: tcorson2@xxxxxxxxxx, joseph.lee22590@xxxxxxxxx, braillenote@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 22:48:42 -0500
I completely agree with the sentiments of this writer. Too many
of our younger listers are using this list as a social media and
not a list for learning. Joseph and Alex, I believe both of you
do a great job monitoring this list and the technical information
you provide is outstanding. I don't think you guys are being
hard on people who can't abide by the rules. And being alert
enough to recognize the repeaters who send messages designed to
crash other people's equipment, then warning them before removing
them from the list is more than fair.
If other commitments make it necessary for you to leave, then
I'm going to hate to see you leave and will miss your
professionalism as well as your technical knowledge.
Thank you for this list and the time you've dedicated to it,
Sammie Clay
----- Original Message -----
From: <tcorson2@xxxxxxxxxx
To: <joseph.lee22590@xxxxxxxxx>, <braillenote@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date sent: Mon, 17 Feb 2014 20:19:44 -0500
Subject: [BNU] Re: Admin's letter (please read): current state of
the list andpossible resignation
I sent this off list, but just decided to share it with all
members.
Oh please, do not resign. I joined this list not too long ago
and really need assistance but have been reluctant to ask for
help because of the tone of the list. I think it is very
important to set rules and force the participants to abide by
them. It seems as though many of the members are young and have
no concept of correct behavior in forums such as this. They need
to learn proper etiquette. There are many things I need to learn
about the BrailleNote and I hoped that this would be a place
where I could get help, but as far as administrators of the list,
you guys have been far too lenient. Just know that there are
those of us who appreciate what you do and will be very sorry to
see you go.
Donna
tcorson2@xxxxxxxxxx
From: Joseph Lee
Sent: Monday, February 17, 2014 8:00 PM
To: braillenote@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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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