Hi. If you've visited one of my other sites, you'll find that this is a good deal different from them. The most obvious difference being the conspicuous listing with the search engines. But the most basic is that at the other sites, I'm talking about the things I do enjoy. Math, Engineering, The Physical Sciences, Literature, Cooking, ... etc. This page is a little different. This is my web presence, when I've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning. It's the page I wish I didn't need to write, but know I do.

Still here ? Cool. The idea of this page began, when I noted that certain people I had argued with online, were fond of responding to reason with defamation, and never stopped. There was a need to put up a response that wouldn't scroll off after a week or two, owing to the sheer persistance of these people. But, if that was where it ended, there'd be no reason for you to read this page, unless you're the kind of person who actually enjoys Tim Skirvin's Killfile page.

Yes, you're going to see some historical accounts of some odd behavior, and the record will be set straight on a few points, but the main focus of this highly incomplete page will not be on the documenting of Usenet's dysfunctional nature. We know it went wrong. The real question is why. What did the designers of this forum do wrong, and what can we do to avoid walking in their footsteps. I focus on the cases that I'm personally familiar with, not only because secondary objectives are thus achieved, but because they are the ones I understand most intimately, and can thus best use to illustrate some of what I have to say.

Let us understand, though, that as I talk through bad things, and offer ideas about how to deal with them, that having done so, I like to put them behind me. There is no feedback to this site, and very few links between it and my other sites. Usenet, and the unbalanced people I met on it, are primarily in my past, and I'd like to put them entirely behind me, as soon as possible.