RE: Is this SPAM?

Dave,

Thanks for your views...!  See inline.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com
> [mailto:midrange-nontech-admin@midrange.com]On Behalf Of
> David.X.Kahn@gsk.com
> Sent: Thursday, November 22, 2001 5:20 AM
> To: midrange-nontech@midrange.com
> Subject: RE: Is this SPAM?
>
>
> jt, you wrote:
>
> > I've been banned from two or three lists and websites.
>
> Maybe this is a pointer that, however justified you feel, the way you go
> about things occasionally gets people upset. You may not care particularly
> about being banned, but once you're on the blacklist you've lost a voice.

This is a good point, but not one I'm unaware of...  I was also banned from
writing IBM executives, for (more-or-less) the same reasons.  I don't intend
to offend people, as I don't /want/ blacklist myself.  I do not post
everything I write, for this reason.  Obviously, I go too far, on occasion.
But that's also in the eye of the beholder...  The reason I rarely write
anything is that these are tough choices, for me to try to make...

So I evaluate each and every post against this criteria:  Does it add
/sufficiently/ to the discussion...?!?  I was born and bred to be a
journalist, although I've never gotten any formal training.  So I
/*normally* evaluate each and every sentence/ against this same criteria.
(That's why I write, but don't speak much, BTW.)  Obviously, I didn't do
that in my posts last weekend.  The results speak for themselves, depending
on the reader's POV...


>
> > But, given that this list is not the best forum to present, what
> > are essentially short "articles"..
>
> I think you've hit the nail on the head. If you feel the need to put your
> thoughts down at article, essay or even book length, why not set up your
> own web site and publish them there for a wider audience?

I have considered this...  Portal's post caused me to re-visit the issue...
Right now, it's more of a commitment than I want to make.


> Anything of
> publishable quality deserves a less transient medium than a list server in
> any case. I'm sure no-one on the midrange lists would ever object to a
> brief note along the lines of "Guys, you can read my thoughts on
> this topic
> at http://www.jt400.com/yyyy ". (jt400.com is available BTW) Then
> those who
> want to can go and read your stuff and maybe give you some feedback on it,
> and those who don't have the time, or are not interested, won't. At least
> that way your work will stand or fall on its own merits and not lose its
> potential audience simply through silly wrangles over netiquette.
>

I will probably do this, in the near future, if health permits...  Just for
these reasons you've cited.  I started mentally mapping out the project,
over this past weekend, and have a vague idea for the contents and format.

I'll probably charge for the article and/or book.  I could use the money,
and I think if people don't pay something, they won't take the full
responsibility for choosing to read the stuff.



> I wish you success and happiness.

Thanks, Dave...!  I wish same to you and yours...!  I don't always agree
with your views (although you may not have noticed...;-) but sometimes, like
in this post, "you get it extremely right"...:-)


However...:

I think it was Gandhi who said something like, the surest way to getting
rich is eliminating your desires, one by one.  I called myself semi-retired,
in a recent post.  Not because my finances improved.. they've pretty much
stayed the same over the last couple years...  But because I think we could
budget our expenses a little tighter, and pick up enough contracts to earn
some "walking around money".  So I just decided, more-or-less arbitrarily,
that I'm successful enough.

Personally, I've given up on happiness.  All efforts result in both good
effects and bad effects, AFAIK...  This comment, for example...  Some may
take offense at including "philosophy" in a reply such as this...

I make the choice to write it, anyway.  Not because I /want/ to offend
anyone, but because there are some that won't be offended...


One thing I didn't post was that I was experimenting.  I was essentially
writing a weblog.  (If you're interested in the subject of weblogging Mr.
Dave Winer basically invented the thing... (www.scripting.com)  BTW, he
posted some excellent insights into the fooed-up theories of RMS and ESR
today.. one of the best posts I've ever seen.) The forum was probably not
the best choice for doing this, however, for the reasons you cited in the
first paragraph.

But there was a method to this madness...!  There was ***a solid business
justification*** for this experiment:  More and more communication is going
to be between people, over the Net, who have never met in person.  Mr. Winer
posted a link, earlier this week, to a weblog titled "Why Virtual Offices
S*ck". (http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/873)  I was
experimenting to debunk that theory...  I've never met a single person on
this list...

I think that, in spite of this fact, I "connected" with some folks, and feel
like I've "shared a beer" with them (or rather an e-beer...;-)...!  And this
was ONLY possible over the Net, in my case (because I very rarely drink and
don't drink beer, and am uncomfortable socially...)


Anyhoo...  Have a GREAT Turkey Day, Dave, and the rest of y'all...!  (And,
of course, a better one tomorrow~~~! :-))


jt...:-)

"You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing."  Psalm
145:16-21
Nov. 22 http://www.gospelcom.net/woh/devotionals/woh.html



>
> Dave...
>
> "The sooner we get behind schedule, the more time we will have to make it
> up." -- Anon Construction Superintendent
>
> =======================================================
> The opinions expressed in this communication are my own and do not
> necessarily reflect those of my employer.