<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "> <div>Thank you very much Tom,</div><div>I've been away for some time but it is nice to be back.</div><div>We're all getting older, and hopefully wiser.</div><div><br></div><div>Indeed, 'the list' is a treasure.</div><div><br></div><div>André Oorebeek</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><br><div><div>On Jul 4, 2008, at 9:09 PM, Tom Servinsky wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0; "><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">Will</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">Agreed.</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">We all need to remind ourselves that this list has to remain a civil, congenial place in which we must remind ourselves that we are responsible for the content. I for one, came down hard on her due to the fact that this had gotten way out of control and that I simply had enough of ugly insults. The tone of the emails were getting nastier and nastier and the list was starting to resemble a extreme hate forum. That being said, I was reminded by Kent that all personal comments should be dealt with privately, in which I quickly responded to her( privately) and apologized for making a public forum for my frustration.</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">Newcomers to the list sometimes resemble a bull in the china closet. They come to the list with a lot of energy and sometimes with ill-conceived notions of the technical industry. The list is generally pretty good at trying to channel that energy and add helpful perspectives. Most of the advise is usually welcomed and appreciated. However, every once in awhile, the advice is miss-understood as a personal attack and an extreme defensive posture ensures. Which is what has happened.</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">My take on all of this is yes, we all let this get the best of us. We were all trying to add constructive criticism in a forum that had gotten heated and way out of control.</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">So Alicia, understand where most of us come from. Most newcomers to the list are completely humbled at the thought of having their ideas debated by the techs on this list. The combined years of experience here is mind-boggling. Most of the techs who participate do so because they enjoy adding their 2 cents and have a sincere interest in helping others. That's what makes this list so unique.</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2"></font> </div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2">Tom Servinsky</font></div><div><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2"></font> </div><div><br><font face="Century Schoolbook" size="2"></font></div></span></blockquote></div></body></html>