Hi All, I didn't read my email over the weekend as I was out updating my portfolio of local prostitutes, but I see that the whole survey question has spun off to several threads. Even though I think it's a fun idea, I'm not going to pursue it for the following reasons;
1. Technical As I have said, I don't know how to gather the information anonymously, but with authentication. I could learn how to, but as this is the only time I could ever imagine using the skill, it doesn't seem worth it. As a manager I just have the ideas and get my staff to do them. This is a mailing list, so it would be up to someone to volunteer to produce it. 2. Motive Some members of the list who I respect have suggested that the only use for the information would be for nefarious purposes. I completely disagree, but even if there's the perception that the data was being collected for less than salubrious reasons, it'd rather not be involved. Australians seem to love reading survey and poll results. Our tabloid newspapers and magazines are full of them - many of which is are of questionable value, and certainly not statistically reliable. Still, they are veraciously read by the public. Maybe this interest isn't so for the rest of the world. 3. Deciding on the wording This list constantly amazes me - what I though of as a simple question relating to sex/gender spawned a whole thread. The capacity for PDML members to argue and discuss the most arcane topics both baffles and amuses me, whether it be LPMM or Bokeh or Art (I think a good definition of art is "The PDML has raised the level of picayune discussion to a fine art"). Now don't get me wrong - I mostly enjoy a lot of these threads. So if the first question was a problem, where does that leave the more complex questions. For Pet, I though of "Dog/Cat/Other" as there have been many posts about these animals. I'd hazard a guess that there'd be some argument over even that (and Cotty probably has some sort of home made FrankenPet, half Persian grey, half Alsatian with a K-Mount at one end and a Canon L at the other). So if anyone else would like to set up a survey I'd be a willing and keen participant, but for now I'm going to start on my PUG comments. Cheers, Simon
