-=PCTechTalk=- RECENT EVENTS - A Message From Your Mod!

You know, what makes the net unique as compared to other forms of 
communication in our society is that many times the appropriate tone of 
the message cannot be fully relayed. I can post the message, "CHECK THE 
ARCHIVES", all in capital letters and it'll mean something different to 
everyone else. Some might take it that I'm unrudely yelling at the 
recipient, some might take it that I am just emphasizing the point to 
check the archives, and yet some will take it that I'm being an ass!

Why am I saying this? We have a lot of members here, and everyone is 
unique. Its what makes us human. Humans are unique of each other. You 
have the newbies to the net who aren't familiar with proper netiquette, 
and you have the veterans who each have their own style. We're all 
different. How one's message is interpreted is completely different 
amongst our community of members.

Bob posted a question and followed it with another post. To some it 
seemed a bit nasty, while others took it as nothing more than a simple 
post from a guy asking if anyone else was around. Close your eyes and 
envision his post coming out of his mouth. He could be saying it in a 
very sarcastic and angry tone, or he can be saying it with a Santa-style 
smile. Point is, again, how we interpret the message is not always the 
true interpretation.

Ok... Bob posted, was hit with a few negative responses, and then it 
turns into a flame war. What the heck, we even got a few mentions of 
meeting after school and having a fist fight! Come on, now. All this is 
not necessary.

I let it play out for awhile, as did the other mods, for the simple 
reason that usually things like this will calm themselves down. Overall, 
it did. Bob apologized for part... Ryan apologized for part. But, at the 
end it worked out. Should have never even gotten THAT far. Then, hours 
later, the topic is brought up again. More fuel on a dwindling fire. 
Again, temps start rising. It shouldn't have to go this far.

I'm not scolding anyone here, I'm not yelling, I'm not mad, angry or 
otherwise upset. You have members here that are old enough to be my 
father, and yet there's also members that are young enough to be my kid. 
I'm an equal as everyone else. But, myself and a few others run the list 
and run it with rules. The rules are there for a reason... to prevent 
posts from going too far off topic, to prevent immature conversation, 
and to prevent flame wars... in essence to prevent what people coming to 
this list do not want to get in their inbox. And, I think we (the mods) 
are decently lenient in these areas. Much more lenient than other lists. 
Heck, we're trying to run a nice little community here, not an 
after-hours bar.

In the future, please keep this short list in mind:

1. A post does not always accurately express the proper tone.

2. If a post is offensive, DO NOT REPLY TO IT! Feel free to complain to 
the mods about it, but DO NOT REPLY TO IT. If warranted, the mods will 
take their place and deal with it.

3. If you feel its your right to reply, do so via private email. Don't 
post to the list. We don't need war heroes here. That's cause for 
distraction.

4. And, the most important rule of all... no bashing. This one seems 
simple, but will probably be misunderstood. If your post is directed to 
another member, and is insulting or negative in any way, form or 
nature,  regardless of who's right or wrong, you've just broke rule 
number 4. That job is only reserved to the moderators! And, the 
reservation is to correct the issue at hand, not to bash.

And, last thing to mention. If you have 50 unread posts from the list, 
and the first one is the controversial one, do yourself and the list a 
favor... skim through all the other posts before posting. Chances are 
the issue has already taken care of itself. Don't restart the fire.

With that said... let's get back to basics... tech problems, solutions, 
news and anything else tech.

---Troth


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