<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: Patents and Professionalism</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <BLOCKQUOTE>Hello List<BR= > There's been a lot of acrimony lately in the List regarding what constitute= s a "patentable" item. I like to hope that, like other professions= , the Tuning Fraternity like to help each other to the benefit of that profe= ssion and the general public as a whole. Did Einstein patent his theories on= relativity? I know he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. I think we are i= n danger of barking up the wrong tree altogether. Regards Michael G.(UK) </BLOCKQUOTE> Hey, ladies and gentlemen---- I’d like to take a moment to stop the lobbing of faintly icy and disr= espectful smallish fragmentation bombs at each other and remember how incredibly small and arc= ane the world of high-end pianos is, and how much smaller and more fragile a= nd vulnerable the collegial bond between the men and women who work on these= pianos. Please, please do not muddy the clear waters of our little circle with need= less, cerebral, judgemental, arrogant debates. Exchange of info and ideas ar= e fantastic (like the current back-and-forth between Nossaman and Ford re: S= tring Seating) even when they challenge deep and long-held assumptions and b= eliefs. Dismissal and virtual ridicule of something out of hand, with no practical = experience of it, is foolish and disruptive, the sign of fear-based, cranky = iconoclasts rather than world-class, Golden Rule-based artisans. Besides, with my zero spatial intelligence and low level of theoretical und= erstanding, I don’t know what the hell Bernhard is talking about. &nbs= p;I’ll have to hear it on a piano, and/or see/hear it being done, before I pass judgement. Anyway, here we are on a Sunday, and I’m grateful to be alive and bre= athing, let alone able to tell whether a dang piannuh is in tune.  So t= here. My best to all--- David Andersen Malibu, CA </BODY> </HTML>