Topband: Boring moderator message

[Tree]

All - just a few notes from Boring moderator.

First off - I wish you all a happy holiday season and new year.  Maybe the
next year be full of rare openings and new countries in your log.

As you might have noticed - the list has gone back into full moderation for
the time being.  It wasn't something I really wanted to do - but based upon
comments sent directly to me - it was time to do it again.

When I worked at Intel - we had this "value" called constructive
criticism.  Basically - it encourage the somewhat passionate discussion of
ideas.  I think that describes some of the debates or discussions we have
recently had here on Topband.  However, it is a fine line when these things
go "too far" and become too personal.

Recently - I was accused of being a control freak with regard to how I run
this list.  I found this to be almost funny.  I try to take a "laissez
faire" approach to running this reflector.  I only tighten things up when
it becomes obvious that something needs to be done.  SO - this is one of
those times.  I do not enjoy having to read through all of the messages
before they get posted - looking for any hint of personal attack - but that
is my job for the time being until everyone can calm down and act a bit
more responsibly.   I picked that word "responsibly" on purpose.  In a way
- the moderation job can be done by EVERYONE here on the list - if we
decided to help out that job - and apply the ideas below to our own
postings.  That way - I don't have to do it.  Seems simple enough to me.

1. Debate the issue - not the person.  When you find yourself saying things
like "Mr. Tyree has obviously never taken a ground conductivity measurement
in his life" - you are no longer talking about the issue - but rather the
person.  Instead - frame your message such as "I think that a very valuable
piece of information is to take an accurate ground measurement.  These can
be tricky to do.  It is covered very well on N6LF's web page (URL)".  Is it
that hard?

2. There are still some of you who think EVERY SINGLE MESSAGE you send to
someone who is on this list needs to be cc'd to the list.  I FIND IT REALLY
ANNOYING that this continues and people aren't smart enough to do two
simple things:

 - Realize that when they start a message off with someone's name - likely
this message is really of interest only to that person - not the whole list.
 - Understand the difference between REPLY ALL and REPLY.

Also - when you start a message off with someone's name - I feel that is
just setting you up to make the message more about the person than the
facts.

If you want to make a post to the whole list about something that someone
else posted - the BEST WAY (and least used way) is to do this:

Herb -- KV4FZ writes:

>  Quote the part of the message you want to discuss.
>  Don't put the WHOLE message here
>  Put this at the start of your message instead of tacking the WHOLE post
at the END of your message.

Put your attempt at value add here.

YES -- THIS TAKES MORE TIME THAN JUST PUTTING your few comments at the top
and hitting send - but the QUALITY of your message will be greatly
improved.  If you can't take the time to do this - then you are not doing
your part to make topband a quality place to come.  It makes it much more
likely that your message will not be forwarded when in moderation mode.

3. As far as banning anyone - it appears that some people have good days
and bad ones.  I am willing to let them make posts on their good ones.
Sometimes - they have good points.   These people will be on my "special
list" and always be moderated - however, if I miss eomething - don't get
all upset at them or me.  Just use the delete key and move on.

4. In general - if you find yourself making more than two or three postings
a day on this list - you are using it wrong.  You are either cc'ing the
list on messages that should be only sent to one person - or you need to
slow down and combine your thoughts into one message.  There are very few
subjects that need to be resolved THIS INSTANT - and you might find the
motivation to post quickly is more to defend your honor than to move the
technical discussion forward.  That sounds like fuel to make something more
personal. If you find yourself just needing to reply to every message that
comes up within three minutes of it being posted - then you really do need
to cut back on the caffeine and spend more time listening on the band (yes
- even in the daytime).

5. Some issues have been beat to death and only two or three of you are
really interested in it any more.  I would say that any discussion about
FCPs probably falls into this category.  If you have come up with some
revolutionary way to model FCPs - I encourage you to write a "white paper"
about it - put it up on a URL somewhere for all of mankind to observe and
put a SHORT message about it here on topband - with the URL for anyone who
is interested.  I recently didn't post a VERY LONG message that just kind
of went on and on about this - and really was not something anyone was
going to read.

6. I know some of you feel angry about your message not getting posted
during the time I have put the list back on moderation.  I apologize.
Sometimes, my criteria might not do the "right" thing.  It is often done
without reading every word and doing a full analysis of the message.  It
also might depend on other things - like how many other messages I have
squelched for similar issues - or not.  When sending letters into a
magazine - yours often doesn't get published when other similar letters
do.  It happens.  And I am probably not going to spend the time to fully
understand your specific case either.  I just don't have the energy to do
this right now.

Well - that's about all that I wanted to get off my chest - thanks for
reading this far.  This has been a tough month for my family - and I really
wish I didn't have to put the time into moderating you guyz.  Hopefully, we
can get back to letting things run free soon.

See you in the Stew - even if it isn't a major contest (which is actually
part of its charm)

Tree N6TR