|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
plebiscite ['plɛbýˌsaýt, -sýt]
noun
1 a direct vote by the electorate of a state, region, etc., on some question of usually national importance, such as union with another state or acceptance of a government programme
2 any expression or determination of public opinion on some matter
See also: referendum
[ETYMOLOGY: 16th Century: from Old French plebiscite, from Latin plebiscitum decree of the people, from plebs the populace + scitum, from sciscere to decree, approve, from scire to know]
plebiscitary [plə'býsýtərý] adjective
I would appreciate a "plebiscite" reflecting members' feelings about a request I have had from sjmax that I
cease and desist from posting above the middle of the fora.
In doing so, I have carefully avoided using the popular
fora. AwAD in Schools has only six hundred posts. Nobody
ever posted in Weekly Themes until I started doing so
My aim has been to post as many words as I could find that
might interest members, in hope of increasing participation.
I hope all members who share Max's objection will add their
voice to his, so that I may know the pleasure of the Board.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 3,230 |
In reply to:
I would appreciate a "plebiscite" reflecting members' feelings about a request I have had from sjmax that I
cease and desist from posting above the middle of the fora.
My only comment will be to correct the above misstatement. I made no such request. I simply asked why you had begun posting your wordlists "above the fold", and asked you to consider exercising restraint. I did not ask you to "cease and desist posting", either in those words, or by any other phrasing. The alacrity with which you took a private correspondence public, and willfully distorted it in the process, is enlightening. Salaam alaikum, goodbye.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear sjmax: It appears that we do not use the same
interpretation of "use restraint".
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Personally I feel that any forum with low traffic should be fair game for you, Dr Bill. A quick count shows that in the past year the AWAD in schools forum has had 10 active threads in the last year, not counting your recent posts, and the last one was in November. My only concern would be that your style of single posts for single words has the effect of pushing other threads to page two where they get ignored. Perhaps you could delete posts that get no response. Those that do get responses tend to generate intersesting discussions, but those that don't just seem to clutter the place up.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Faldage: thank you for your views.I wish I knew how to
tell which words will be interesting, and which will not
And words get spurlos versenkt in only a few days, anyway.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I say, go ahead and post them. If they get no responses within a couple of days you can delete them by clicking on the edit button next to the reply button and choosing Delete this post instead of Change this post.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Faldage: Please forgive my being lazy about deleting.
The old order changeth, ever giving way to the new.
And just recently, there have been oldtimers coming back
reading all the old posts. I'm amazed by their energy.
How about as an alternative, having members PM me when they
wish I would delete a post?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
I'm not sure deleting the post will make it go away. Won't it still show up with "Post deleted by.." in the subject header, with the same effect of pushing other threads down? Since you asked, Dr Bill, I prefer the conversations here to the word lists -- they make my eyes cross. But if you continue to refrain from swamping the more popular fora then I see absolutely no problem with it: there are some folks who enjoy reading them as much as you enjoy posting them and that's certainly in the spirit of a word-themed message board. Meanwhile, I agree that it is not courteous to make a private correspondence public without the consent of both parties. But you already knew that. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
I believe that any post that has not been responded to can be deleted without a trace. I'll give it a try.
Edit:
Yup. I just posted a new thread and deleted it It has probably incremented the post count to this forum but no more is it there.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear AS: I did not quote any of max's words. How could I ask
for a plebiscite, without stating the issue. And as I said,
indicating that a member of Max's stature raised the question seem only fair to mention, to encourage any timid
members from abstaining. I'm sorry my facetious use of
"cease and desist" sounded like an attribution to Max.
Everything I have done on the Board has been motivated by
a desire to increase participation.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
I doubt if anyone would want to see you stop posting, Bill. And that most definitely includes sjmax. Some of your posts do attract replies, and that is well and good and what the Board is for. I think what sjmax was alluding to was you posting words or lists of words in the popular fora above the fold (i.e. Q&A, I&A, Miscellany etc.). I sometimes cruise through your lists below the fold myself and make comments, although I no longer have the time I used to to do this. Obviously, if you wish to get comments/information about a particular word from other members, then Q&A is the place to post, but just posting a word there without an underlying question is confusing to new people and has attracted some adverse comment from some of the regulars. I reiterate, NO ONE WANTS YOU TO STOP POSTING YOUR LISTS. It's just a matter of where.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
I just posted a new thread and deleted it It has probably incremented the post count to this forum but no more is it there.
I never met an "increment" which was not a noun (except when it was masquerading as an adverb or an adjective by adding -al or -ly). I can imagine no reason why it ought not become a verb; I just never met it in those clothes.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear Father Steve: I'll increment that sentiment by an
infinitesimal.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065 |
My own feeling (though not a strong one) is that for the most part the word lists should stay below the fold, not because I don't appreciate them -- I do and respond when they spark off something in my mind and no-one else has got in first.
Weekly Themes seems the obvious place to discuss each day's word, and I hope Dr. Bill will keep posting his thoughts on each day's word or message from our leader there.
Although AWAD and Schools is little used, the discussions there have been interesting and it would be unfortunate for them to be pushed back where they might not be noticed because of the word lists. On the other hand the word lists are equally deserving of more attention and I would urge members who rarely venture below the fold to do so more often.
Bingley
Bingley
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
My sentiments march exactly in step with Bingley's. In particular I enjoy Dr Bill's brief extracts containing the word of interest as these quite often remind me of books I have or should have read, prompting me to find and read them.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
as you know Dr Bill, i regularly go 'below the fold' to check on new post there, and while i only comment on about 1 word in ten, i do look at most of them.
i think we need to look at Max's concerns. i get on line with a local call ($0.12 or so) and local calls only cost me a connection fee-- 1 minute or 1 hour, $0.12 cents is all i pay.
the are many 'plans' like this in US.
other countries have different telephone systems.
DSL is widely avail here... and not outragously expensive. not so else where.
for many, connecting to the internet is an expense. One they budget for. i don't know the ins and outs of Max's phone/internet connect system. but i think he speaks for everyone who doesn't have the same ease connecting as we do and take for granted in US.
You paraphrased him, and took umbrerage with him-- i have found in my dealing with Max he is always a gentleman. Not a wishy-washy fop, but a principled man, who acts with concern for others feeling, but one who will take a stand for what he thinks is right.
if he hurt your, it was inadvertant.
It's not so hard to slide below the fold...
and we can always post an announcement to an interesting discussion that might be missed by those who don't often go below the fold-- that gives us the best of both world.
List of words that don't generate much attention stay below the fold, any that do spark lively discussions can be announced. (with a link!)
anyone who is concerned about each minute (that they pay for, dearly!) can avoid posts they don't want to see.. but they still won't miss out on interesting discussions.
this is perhaps not the answer you hoped for.. (you offered only 2 choices, i am presenting a third!) but i think you both have wonderful things to offer this board, and i want both of you to be happy here!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear of troy: I think you are the fourth member to feel that
I should not have posted above the fold. But nobody has
explained how using AWAD in Schools deprives anybody, since
there has been so little use of it.
But since I can easily find space enough below the fold,
it won't deprive me to avoid use of AWAD in Schools.
Again though, nobody has explained how my using it
deprived anyone else.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
My only concern would be that your style of single posts for single words has the effect of pushing other threads to page two where they get ignored.that was from one of Faldage's early replies, and I took it's meaning as it applied to AWAD in Schools. I think folks are just worried that that could happen to other posts above... I, for one, read all posts, whether they are above or below, so it's not much of a nevermind to me... they really ought to make you your own category, Bill!!
formerly known as etaoin...
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear etaoin: My posts on AWAD in Schools is not going to
affect anybody else's posts, nobody else posts there.
But I cheerfully promise to post there no longer.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Plebiscite call on another topic, namely, the extent to which private messages are inviolate.
I have had one member sent me 3 PMs clearly intended to
hurt, hitting below the belt. Another member has done so
more than twice. That same person was able to make two
ladies cry for several days.
I have had several members tell me about their health
problems. That information I would never reveal.
I have had members tell me things that would embarrass them if repeated. That too I would never repeat.
I see no reason for the member who prompted this discussion to object to my revealing his objection, since
I counted on his prestige to encourage others to agree with
him if they shared his views.
Let's see if we can get a concensus about the intended
hurtful posts. Do any members feel that they may not be
revealed? Must cowardly hurtfulness be privileged?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
i tend to treat email, and PM's as public.. they are really--they are stored on a server (somewhere in the sky!) and while they are password protected... there is a long history of supposedly secure sites being penitrated.
my email, my PM are safe --for the same reason a fish in a school is safe.. there is some safety in numbers. 99% of the email that go through the AWAD server are only of interest to the sender (and sometimes to the recipients!) they are on the internet--which means-- they are too some degree- public--but they are so insignificant when there are so many more intersting things to hackers.. (like charge card numbers, or bank information... or what ever!)There is safety in sheer volume!
i think--though-- if you are going to make PM/private emails fully public.. you should do that.
it is unfair to paraphrase (and to name the writer) if you paraphrase-- you are editing and changing the words, and perhaps the ultimate meaning.
every once in a while-- i will send Jackie a post--and say--Hey- did you read this? I think this post is total unfair and hostile! Am i being overly sensitive?
mostly the answer is --Helen, did you check it threaded mode? do so.. you'll see that the comment that seems so hostile is really about another post, and just happens to fall after yours in flat mode.
and once again, i say.'Oh, yeah'-- and realise i am just overreacting!
other times-- Jackie will gently point out.. that the comment seems neutral, or even complimentary... (in a way i hadn't thought of. and sometimes, by the time i have finished my back and forth with Jackie- the post in question has either been clarified.. or buried!
I recognize that i tend to be thin skinned about certain subjects. i have also learned to delay reacting to things that peirce my thin skin.
Dr Bill, i think this is a thin skinned subject for many.
many here do not want their PM and email made public. (its still going to happen sometimes anyway!)
but i do think is very unfair to paraphrase and attribute.
if you want to quote and attribute.. well... maybe sometimes.. but if you are going to paraphrase-- don't mention any names!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear of troy: I have already acknowledged that my facetious
"cease and desist" paraphrase was subconsciously epicaricactic, and again, I regret it. I suggest that nobody
is entitled to say anything intentionally hurtful and expect it to be privileged.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,318
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
775
guests, and
1
robot. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
