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Paul Davis and other Lurkers:
On the subject of flaming, I confess that I have been very guilty of that sin, and apologize to all for the times I have let anger overpower discretion. Paul's point is well taken: the intent of the list is not well served when available information doesn't get communicated as the result of rudeness.
I'll certainly make a strong effort to refrain from derogatory postings in the future. In the interest of promoting the spread of useful information, I would ask those who are reluctant to post to reconsider their position.
Regarding the following comment from Paul Davis' posting of 11/5:
<<<...The first few times I posted questions to the list I got as many or more answers off-list as on and even a few direct phone calls...>>>
I agree that the off-list responses may be indicative of an unwillingness to expose one's thoughts to hostile
criticism. However, I would suggest that perhaps the phone responses might be a manifestation of the phenomenon I call "the inefficiency of significant communication via email".
By that, I mean that in order to communicate a complex set of thoughts clearly and unambiguously by written means takes a relatively HUGE amount ot time when compared to verbal communication. I can communicate far more information in 5 minutes of conversation than I can in 5 minutes of typing.
An example of that is the fact that I have several half-finished email postings on technical issues, which have been sitting in the "waiting to be sent" bin for some time. (One is quite large, in response to some of Gary Casey's thoughts.) I can't begin to plan when I'll have the time to finish them into a well-enough developed form to be posted.
Bottom line: I think lots of potential correspondents simply don't have enough time to engage in recreational correspondence. (How do George Braly, Brent Regan, Hamid Wasti, and others find the time to contribute so much?)
Jack Kane
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