Good to see you're on-line, Horace... even if 'cloaked'. Just wanted to support your wise words about why the recent exchange got out of control... some people just can't keep their fingers off the keyboard.
To all Vorts, Personal attacks are specifically forbidden on this forum, and I would hope that one has the conscious self-awareness and restraint to reread your posting before hitting 'Send', and *PURGE* it of all forms of name-calling and veiled derogatory implications... especially when it comes to belief systems. That's not too much to ask of rational human beings, is it? -Mark Iverson -----Original Message----- From: Horace Heffner [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2012 2:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Vo]:List integrity On Dec 28, 2012, at 1:55 PM, Abd ul-Rahman Lomax wrote: > > These are positions that require integrity and some level of skill, > but mostly the former. > My two cents worth: The integrity required is the self control to not respond to trolls. I suggest that the blame for ridiculously long OT troll induced threads lies not as much with the initiator as with those who respond to the troll. If there is banning to be done the respondents should be banned also. Who is the bigger fool, a troll, or someone who argues with the troll? It is clearly an option to automatically trash emails from pesky people, or, if you are afraid you'll miss something to simply read you want, but - to respond to a troll shows an obvious lack of integrity, a lack of an appropriate level concern for what you are doing to other members of the list. One of the greatest things about this list, and the internet in general, is the freedom of speech. List moderation should only be used in extreme circumstances. A little self control by list members is often enough to discourage trolls. I think Bill Beaty's laissez faire attitude with regard to moderation is a good and even necessary approach for this list, which encourages free discussion of science anomalies. If a roll tries to bully, control what you post, the best response is to simply go ahead and post what you want, and ignore any responses from the troll or bully. If numerous members of the list object, then that is another matter. If you feel action is warranted by an ISP, such as Microsoft, Google, etc. then a few simple googles will show you sites to directly report abuse to ISPs. Also, I feel compelled to note the content of vortex has gone down hill since a bunch of fake email names have showed up. This is a weak shield for a coward to hide behind, but still it encourages behavior unbecoming a scientific list. There are many services that will provide reverse lookup information for email addresses, so it is ultimately an ineffective ruse. Sometimes merely googleing an email address will yield the identity. For example, google ([email protected]) quickly yields: http://www.voiceie.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi? ubb=print_topic;f=1;t=000124 http://tinyurl.com/cre6cfd which may or may not correctly identify Jojo Jaro as Joseph Hao in Atlanta. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "To visit this topic, use this URL: http://www.voiceie.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=000124 Posted by Joseph Hao (Member # 3289) on June 14, 2004, 02:42 PM: Any folks out there studying for CCIE Voice Lab in Atlanta? [snip] Joseph CCIE #9273 [email protected]" - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In any case it seems to me the response to a troll should be to not respond, the response to frauds the opposite, to expose every flaw, and warn off victims. To bullies the response should be to do what you want and ignore the bully. The response to truly disruptive and egregious or unlawful behavior should be to use the tools provided by ISPs. The response to bad behavior under fake identities is perhaps to expose the identity - which has worked well here in the past to eliminate nonsense from a guy from down under if I recall. 8^) That's my 2 cents worth, from a member of the list for over 15 years. Resuming lurk mode. Best Regards, Horace Heffner http://www.mtaonline.net/~hheffner/
