Well, I think I've mulled about this sufficiently, and waited long enough to get clear perspective. My earlier opinion hasn't changed. Michel is removed for two weeks. After that time he can contact me about the situation.
Michel clearly doesn't take the past week's events very seriously, but I do. As I said before, I see the whole thread as a classic example of the misbehavior known as "trolling." Trolling is hard to define, but people know it when they see it in others. (Harder to detect in onesself! That's why we must be very wary of rejecting criticism from fellow users.) Essentially trolling is "intentionally filling a forum with argument for its own sake, with unnecessary drama thrown in." The concealed intent of the troller, as perceived by other forum members, plays an enomous role. People can plainly see what the troller is trying to do, and trolling triggers nausea in onlookers. It's upsetting to watch. But onlookers will always fail to find specific evidence to which they can point as an explanation for their response. Trolling is very similar to the Wikipedia concept of "acting like a dick." See: Don't Be A Dick http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Don't_be_a_dick Or much less kindly, don't be a member of the "anti-social" population: Don't be a FH http://amasci.com/weird/fckhead.html Michel does make positive contributions here, but in my opinion the negatives very significantly outweigh the positives. (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty http://staff.washington.edu/wbeaty/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] Research Engineer [EMAIL PROTECTED] UW Chem Dept, Bagley Hall RM74 206-543-6195 Box 351700, Seattle, WA 98195-1700
