response 1 of 55:

Feb 22 13:12 UTC 1997

Change the backgound color in backtalk to a more "calming" mood? :)

response 3 of 55:

Feb 22 18:44 UTC 1997

Coop is a walk in the park atmosphere wise compared to many policy confs.
Go back and read mnet's policy and arbornet confs from a year or two ago,
now *those* were cases where the rhetoric got too extreme.  Here, other
than Janc, there is no name-calling and there are no threats.  Idont mean
to alienate people, I dont try to getpersonal here.  I am just opinionated
and argumentative, plus I type fast.  Those of you who organized this
place should be glad there are users like me who care enough to come to
this conf and try to contribute.  

I resent my posts being characterized as "rantings"  I make reasoned
judgements that I believe in.  I was vehemently opposed to Valerie's
compromise proposal in item #27 and I took the time to point out the flaws
in it every time it was re-worded in attempt to get it pushed through.
And I wasnt out in left field on that issue, it was overwhelmingly
defeated, so maybe some of what I and others were saying got through.

My posts stand out because this, like most of grex'sconfs, isnt
particularly active.  So anyone like me who might post here a couple of
times a day when most might only post a couple of times a week, is going
stand out more.   Is it mmy fault that I care enough about this conf to
come here more often than many of you?

And why cant one be opposed to another person's views without being
opposed to that person?  Some of my closest friends are republicans, and
we have heated political arguments, but thats all they are, it doesnt
reflectpersonal feelings.  

When grex decided tobe open access, it decided to open itself to the real
world.  It seems like what Valerie wants is not the real world, but some
lovefest where everyone wears rose-colored glasses and wears kid gloves.
That attitude doesnt help grex...grex's future is predicated on dealing
with real-life issues and dealing with them with our eyes open.

Iwouldnt come to this conf if I didnt respect grex and I didnt respect
everyone involved with it.  WE all have our faults and I know I get
carried away sometimes, but mostly my contributions are substantive (Mary
gets on my case, but read our posts...she agrees with me on 95% of the
issues here...funny)

This conf doesnt work if users like me dont come here.  Maybe Valerie
wants a coop conf where only the ten or twenty people who show up
regularly at board meetings are involved.  Maybe then itwould be a love
fest.  But I dont think it would be in the best interests of grex.

response 5 of 55:

Feb 22 19:50 UTC 1997

Jenna is exactly right.  We should all have a common committment and realize
we are not enemies.  There is notrhing wrong with having differingviews on
the same issues.  I never get attacked for my contributions in other confs
here.  But in Coop, I am led to feel discriminated against, as if my views
arent as valid as anyone elses's because either Im not a member, or Im not
local to Michigan or I type too much or maybe just because Im blunt, and when
I have an opinion, I state it.   Yet none of that reflects my committment to
grex or reflects what I have in common with the rest ofy ou, which is that
I care about this place and I come here a lot.

Those of you who perceive personal attacks where none exsist, are WAY too
sensistive.  Give me and any other user who comes here the benefit of
thedoubt, accept our sincerity, and maybe this conf willbe more active in the
future.  The fact that I continue to come here in spite of the perpetual
attacks on meshould prove my sincerity.  I honestly believe that if Davel 
leaves Coop and I stay, that I care more about Grex thanhe does.  He may have
been or is a member, but would be choosing to withold his ideas and his
thoughts, and those should be more important that dollars.

If you value grex, you value the people who comprise it.  I do.  If I didnt,
I'd be like Davel and go away.  Question my methods or whatever, but dont
question my motives or call menames.  That isnt what Grex is all about. 
Mutual respect.  Thats where it starts and ends.  

response 7 of 55:

Feb 22 21:29 UTC 1997

I don't richard too much.  I do think it would be much more considerate to
limit responces to maybe 1 screen, and only 1 or 2 responces per item per day.

response 9 of 55:

Feb 22 22:11 UTC 1997

(I'm glad you clarified, I was puzzled trying to figure out what
"I don't richard" meant...)

response 11 of 55:

Feb 22 22:51 UTC 1997

Richard, with the exception of number 10 above, the majority of the posts I've
read from you since Monday have caused my 24-line pager to "Press spacebar"
to see the rest of it. in more than one case, it came up twice.
Now, Richard dear, as I can tell you from the female point of view, remember
that size doesn't matter ;} . .just what you do with it.
Try better technique. (Me? FW of Sexuality? nah..)

response 13 of 55:

Feb 23 16:42 UTC 1997

Richard is a cucumber.

response 15 of 55:

Feb 23 16:47 UTC 1997

I hate to say this but, Richard, you act a lot like I did when I was known
as vidar here - and I don't even have to read your entire responses to infer
that.  The not necessarily the flame level, but rather just the attitude.
I don't usual respond in coop, and I don't intentionally flame unless I have
really good reason, but I still thought I should bring this up.  Please, stop
reminding me . . . of me!
I used to respond in coop more often though . . . .

response 17 of 55:

Feb 23 19:00 UTC 1997

        There are 2 ways, both bad, to "fix" a conference which is
afflicted with a "problem user."
        1.  Ban the user from the conference.  I *think* Grex has the
ability to do this.  
        2.  Publicize a "twit filter" which people can use so that they
never see items/responses entered by the designated twit(s).
        I would oppose both.  I think that we simply have to "relax
to the logic of the situation."  As Grex (and Coop) attract an
increasingly diverse group, we can expect to see more dissensus here.
        One drawback of conferencing is that negative materials (unlike
negative oral remarks) hang around forever and exert an undue influence.
        For whatever reason, negativity comes in cycles.  The M-Net
Policy Cf, which is the counterpart (and forerunner) of the Grex
Coop Cf, is now relatively quiescent and non-negative.
        So it goes.

response 19 of 55:

Feb 23 19:15 UTC 1997

There's no way to ban a user from a public conference on a
system with an open newuser, so "fix" number 1 is not available.
Grex does have a twit filter, which is publicized now and then,
so people can choose "fix" number 2 on an individual basis, and
I believe some do. I've tried that now and then to filter
people who were getting on my nerves, but I've always ended up
turning it off -- the disadvantages seem to outweigh the
benefits.

The best "twit filter" I know of is in my own brain. If a user
has conditioned me through frequent repetition to the idea that his
or her responses are of little value, I tend not to read the person
but just let their responses scroll by until the next person's comes
up. I make no apology for ignoring certain people in this way.
Life is too short to invest time and energy in reading and
responding to valueless text.

response 21 of 55:

Feb 23 23:36 UTC 1997

#18...I think Davel is the dysfunctional one.  He doesnt have the patience
to deal with people he doesnt agree with.  He'd rather go away than accept
that everyone, even people whose methods are different than his, can have
important or relevant things to say.  I dont see how a person like him
conferences at all, because in any conference there are going to be people
you dont agree with.  

It really hurts me that I keep being brought up as subject matterhere. 
REpeatedly I have asked for people who want to debate my methods to email me,
so that it doesnt end up in the conf.  I see no reason why Valerie entered
this itemn other than she wanted to hurt me.  She seems lke a nice person so
I dont know why she does this.  All I want to do is come here and participate
in the discusson of how to make grex a better place, because it is something
that I care about.  My ideas arent really terrible, I just dont always know
ahat can be coded or doe practically, but in this environment you are going
to have peopleparticipatin who are not software experts and cantbe that
tedchnical.

Because you dont agree with an idea doesnt make it "terrible", it just means
you dont like it.  Anytime you brainstorm, which is what we do in tihs conf,
you are allowed to throw out ANY ideas, they dont have to be good or practical
as long as they lead somewhere.  As long as they provoke constructive
dialogue.

I embody the spirit of grex.  I come here even when Im criticized and even
when I know items like this are ut there.  Davel and Valerie want cliques.
They dont want to deal with personalities too different from their own.  I
will never enter items about either one of them, and their behaviour, even
though I think they have been mean and rude to me.  It is not my style, it
s not what this conf is about.  

This is coop.  It isw about Grex.  Grex needs people who put in the time and
emotional committment to its confs that I do.  It doesnt need people like
Davel who leave every time they cant handle the debates.