![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 2 to 26 of 26. Go back in thread:
Posted by Greg on January 21, 2002, at 17:38:01
In reply to Posting of email addresses, posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 16:31:52
Hi Rick,
Many months back we had a poster (the old-timers will know who I'm talking about) who was constantly bombarding us with his viewpoints, and more to the point, slamming us for ours. At that time I was still posting my e-mail address. I started receiving on the average of 6-8 e-mails per day form this person, all unsolicited. I posted about flying from the SF Bay Area to Utah to visit a sick friend. That evening I rec'd an e-mail from this person telling me what a heartless bastard I was for flying in a jet that would cause further damage to our failing ozone layer and that by doing so, my sick friend deserved to die. This is a true story Rick.
I immediately changed my e-mail and have not made it public since except for a few rare occasions in the body of a post. This is why I don't post it, I'm sure you'll get numerous reasons from the others.
I hope this finds you doing well and I hope you get a lot of responses. I'm interested to see what the others have to say.
Greg
> I considered adding this post to an email-address related thread above, but my question is more focused on one aspect of the issue.
>
> Specifically, it seems as if so many fewer people post their email addresses on this board than a year or two ago (Dr. Bob, please correct me if I'm wrong), and I don't understand why. Even longtime posters who used to post email addresses have stopped doing so. I'm perplexed, since one can (and I do) retain anonymity by setting up a free web-based account primarily for posting here and/or elsewhere. Yes, maybe there's some way to personally track you down, but who's going to go to all that trouble even if it IS possible? I haven't received any harassment, ads for Psychiatric medicines, and in fact have received virtually no spam of any kind on the address I set up to use with P-B. I'm perplexed.
>
> Since I sometimes go a month or more without visiting the site, I'm wondering if something came to light that started discouraing posting of email addresses. Perhaps it had something to do with publcation of the Dr. Bob's P-B research study?
>
> On a simliar note...A year ago I used to receive a large portion of replies to my posts via email, but now I receive 100% on the board. I guess this is in synch with the increased reticence over being contacted directly, but I still don't get why that reticence increased - dramatically.
>
> Any explanations/thoughts anyone can share?
>
> Thanks,
> Rick
Posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 19:02:51
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by Greg on January 21, 2002, at 17:38:01
Greg -
Yikes! I can understand why you and others wouldn't want to encourage that kind of cyber-abuse.
I do believe many email programs allow you to block incoming mail from specific addresses. In fact, I can try out the feature if this person is lurking and starts harrassing me. (Not that I'm expecting this to happen, but I'll report back in the event it does.) Of course, I suppose all a harrasser has to do is set up a new email account.
In general, unless I'm in the midst of one of those approx monthly periods where I'm doing a lot of Psycho Babble Dabbling, I won't see any questions/comments directed to me unless they're either emailed or posted to a thread I had participated in (I always request the auto notifications).
BTW, I'm doing OK now. Thanks for asking, and thanks for your input on this topic.
I'll be interested to see what others have to say, too. Thanks in advance to any future particpants in this discussion.
Rick
> Hi Rick,
>
> Many months back we had a poster (the old-timers will know who I'm talking about) who was constantly bombarding us with his viewpoints, and more to the point, slamming us for ours. At that time I was still posting my e-mail address. I started receiving on the average of 6-8 e-mails per day form this person, all unsolicited. I posted about flying from the SF Bay Area to Utah to visit a sick friend. That evening I rec'd an e-mail from this person telling me what a heartless bastard I was for flying in a jet that would cause further damage to our failing ozone layer and that by doing so, my sick friend deserved to die. This is a true story Rick.
>
> I immediately changed my e-mail and have not made it public since except for a few rare occasions in the body of a post. This is why I don't post it, I'm sure you'll get numerous reasons from the others.
>
> I hope this finds you doing well and I hope you get a lot of responses. I'm interested to see what the others have to say.
>
> Greg
>
> > I considered adding this post to an email-address related thread above, but my question is more focused on one aspect of the issue.
> >
> > Specifically, it seems as if so many fewer people post their email addresses on this board than a year or two ago (Dr. Bob, please correct me if I'm wrong), and I don't understand why. Even longtime posters who used to post email addresses have stopped doing so. I'm perplexed, since one can (and I do) retain anonymity by setting up a free web-based account primarily for posting here and/or elsewhere. Yes, maybe there's some way to personally track you down, but who's going to go to all that trouble even if it IS possible? I haven't received any harassment, ads for Psychiatric medicines, and in fact have received virtually no spam of any kind on the address I set up to use with P-B. I'm perplexed.
> >
> > Since I sometimes go a month or more without visiting the site, I'm wondering if something came to light that started discouraing posting of email addresses. Perhaps it had something to do with publcation of the Dr. Bob's P-B research study?
> >
> > On a simliar note...A year ago I used to receive a large portion of replies to my posts via email, but now I receive 100% on the board. I guess this is in synch with the increased reticence over being contacted directly, but I still don't get why that reticence increased - dramatically.
> >
> > Any explanations/thoughts anyone can share?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Rick
Posted by susan C on January 21, 2002, at 21:43:14
In reply to Posting of email addresses, posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 16:31:52
Hello, Rick.
I have the same attitude, in that my email is an anon why mouse free mail...However, I try always to reply publicly to share. One of the strong points of this board, to me, is, as drdashbob says, it is as good to give as well as receive.
There are times, I admit, that I would like there to be an email, so i could just respond to that person. Often that is after I have read a number of that person's posts and feel that I know them. Often, as you have observed, there isnt an address. Part of that may be due to how the privacy statement is worded, noticing that others don't post emails, and, of course, what Greg experienced. I have used Open Chat to exchange email, as that is not archived. But not everyone goes there, or I miss the person I am looking for...then there are the "members" email addresses listed in the Yahoo Open Chat...so, I guess, putting my address on this message would be more direct...hmmm, this has gotten me thinking...
In some ways, I look at PB and PBS as similar to standing in a public park, with a sign saying "LOOK HERE< > I AM BIPOLAR AND WILL TALK TO ANYONE"
mouse who has trouble dialing a rotary phone with four legs
Posted by jane d on January 21, 2002, at 23:40:59
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Greg, posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 19:02:51
Rick,
The change in how many people post their email addresses may be due to a change in the default settings about a year ago. http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20001124/msgs/720.html I don't know if this change was also a result of the harassment that Greg and some others experienced. I think with experience people are also becoming more sophisticated and more cautious generally about how they use the internet.
Like you, I set up an anonymous account for posting here just in case there were problems. I started posting after the last incident and decided to include my email address in part to see what happened. Happily I haven't yet had any problems. I've gotten a few marketing emails whose connection to this board I still can't figure out, and a few, very welcome, emails from people on the board.
Despite my good experience I won't be posting my main address any time soon and I don't recommend that anyone else do it either.
Jane
Posted by mair on January 22, 2002, at 7:57:16
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by jane d on January 21, 2002, at 23:40:59
> Rick - for the most part it never occurred to me to post my email address. I would have a hard time presuming that anyone would want to communicate with me other than on the Board. On one occasion I had a problem that I couldn't discuss on the Board and I solicited an email response. That has resulted in a fruitful email "friendship" with one poster, which continues.
Beyond this, I have a problem with the yahoo account I set up really for the use on this Board, although I use it for most of my personal email. When I set it up, I gave yahoo all of the information they requested including my name. I didn't realize, stupidly, that yahoo would include that information next to my address in all of my emails. This means that anyone I email automatically learns my real name, thereby destroying the confidentiality feature. I've been trying without success to change this. It doesn't seem to be one of the standard edits that can be self-completed for my yahoo account, and it isn't included in any of the standard FAQs. I've emailed yahoo, but I'm not sure this is going to yield results.
If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. It might make me much less paranoid.
Mair
Posted by tina on January 22, 2002, at 9:11:31
In reply to Posting of email addresses, posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 16:31:52
It's basically a "cover my butt" policy for me Rick. If I say something offensive, which I sometimes do, I don't want anyone to be able to find me. *LOL*
Actually, I guess it's my anxiety disorder that keeps me from being that open and trusting of people I don't know. Not to mention other mental illnesses that affect that kind of decision like paranoid personality disorder, MPD, panic, OCD. I think all of these could make one very wary of sharing that kind of info with a public forum.
regards
tina
Posted by fi on January 22, 2002, at 9:55:17
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by tina on January 22, 2002, at 9:11:31
My reasons are:
1. I dont have the time/interest/tech ability to set up another email account that is anonymous.
2. There are *millions* of people out there with access to the messages we post on the Board. This will be helpful for some, but remember not all are nice people.
Heard about the 13 year old whose mother worked in ER? She managed to get her mother's login/password to access hospital records, and rang up various ex-patients, pretending she was from the hospital, and told them they were HIV positive (they werent)?
Once someone gets a message with an email, they can use that in both directions: its often easy to find out a lot about someone once you have an email address, and if they bother to read all the messages an individual has posted to the Board in the past, they will gather some very personal information.
I'm not saying this *will* happen with a non-anonymous email, just that it is a risk.
I liked Dr Bob's idea (if I have understood it) that there could be some way of setting up something so you could be emailed by Board members, whilst staying anonymous. The alternative would be emailing him to ask him to send an email address to someone, but I see that's not fair as he has enough to do already.
Fi
Posted by NikkiT2 on January 22, 2002, at 15:21:29
In reply to Posting of email addresses, posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 16:31:52
I simply forget!!! All the other boards i frequent have auto posting of email adresses, so I just forget to tick the box here!!! And I figure if someone wants to contact me bad enough, they'll find my email addy somewhere!!!
Nikki
Posted by Fi on January 22, 2002, at 16:44:03
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by NikkiT2 on January 22, 2002, at 15:21:29
I cant see how they could? The *most* any of us have said (at least recently)is a first name and the city we live in. Even Google couldnt do much with that!!
Fi
> I simply forget!!! All the other boards i frequent have auto posting of email adresses, so I just forget to tick the box here!!! And I figure if someone wants to contact me bad enough, they'll find my email addy somewhere!!!
>
> Nikki
Posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 18:21:47
In reply to Problem with Yahoo, posted by mair on January 22, 2002, at 7:57:16
>I didn't realize, stupidly, that yahoo would include that information next to my address in all of my emails. This means that anyone I email automatically learns my real name, thereby destroying the confidentiality feature. I've been trying without success to change this.Not so stupid...I did the same thing - twice. They should tell you that the default display name will be your registered name.
> If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. It might make me much less paranoid.
All you have to do to change this is log onto your Yahoo account, the click Options on the left, then click Mail Preferences under "Personalization." Then change the "From Name" at the top to whatever you want people to see next to your address (I just deleted my last name), and click Save at the bottom right. To make sure it's working right, you can send yourself an email.
>I've emailed yahoo, but I'm not sure this is going to yield results.
Emailing Yahoo is unfortunately a waste of time. They used to provide personal replies, but now they'll either just email back a part of the Help section (which doesn't usually answer the question in my experience), or they'll fail to reply at all.
What I *can* tell you if you're concerned about privacy is to NOT use the "auto-forward" feature that will forward all your Yahoo mail to a different address you select (I'll call this your "final" address). Just two days ago, I was shocked to learn that if, for some reason your final address rejects one of these forwarded messages, Yahoo will shoot back an error message to the original sender that just happens to divulge both your final address AND your IP address! I couldn't believe it! Using Yahoo's POP3 feature is a much safer way to go if you don't want to have to keep checking a particular Yahoo address on the web. And be sure to read the full privacy policy.
Rick
Posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 19:06:12
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by fi on January 22, 2002, at 9:55:17
> There are *millions* of people out there with access to the messages we post on the Board. This will be helpful for some, but remember not all are nice people.Greg could apparently attest to that based on the experiences he recounted. Maybe I've been lucky. Back when I used to actually get a fair number of email responses to posts the worst was a poster who developed an unreasonable expectation for me to write every few days to provide her encouragement and support. At first it was OK, but then it became burdensome. I kind of got myself into that mess. Also, I was sent a few unexpected articles by a particular individual who used to post here. Odd, but not offensive.
Other than that, all of the e-mail exchanges have ranged from very positive to "neutral".
> Once someone gets a message with an email, they can use that in both directions: its often easy to find out a lot about someone once you have an email address
Is this true if one sets up, say a "throwaway" Yahoo account that never gets used except for offline discussion-board one-to-one communication, and that is set to display only the first name or a made-up name?
>and if they bother to read all the messages an individual has posted to the Board in the past, they will gather some very personal information. I'm not saying this *will* happen with a non-anonymous email, just that it is a risk.
In the scenario I gave above, they might learn a lot about "fi", but how would they know who fi really is? For that matter, I don't know if you're the same person as the "Fi" (capital F) who posted a little further down. AOL got in a boatload of trouble a couple years ago for telling the *U.S. Army* who owned a particular chat handle when they wanted to prove this military man was gay (the horror!). If AOL got whipped for confirming the guy's name at the request of a government agency, why would they give out an email holder's actual name and address to anybody except maybe the FBI? (Unless the privay policy specifically allows it -- that's why I warned Mair about reading Yahoo's privacy policy.)
I don't know, maybe even a "throwaway" email address that's never used with my full name presents a small risk than I'm unaware of, but at this point I don't feel very concerned. (Although the "forwarding" surprise I described in the response to Mair does give me pasue...)
> I liked Dr Bob's idea (if I have understood it) that there could be some way of setting up something so you could be emailed by Board members, whilst staying anonymous.
That would be a great way to offer people more of a sense of security for 1:1 communications.
Rick
Posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 19:21:53
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by tina on January 22, 2002, at 9:11:31
> Actually, I guess it's my anxiety disorder that keeps me from being that open and trusting of people I don't know. Not to mention other mental illnesses that affect that kind of decision like paranoid personality disorder, MPD, panic, OCD. I think all of these could make one very wary of sharing that kind of info with a public forum.
I see what you're saying. Even when P-B had more email addresses, many of those who *didn't* provide them were probably thinking/reacting similarly.
A couple more theories about the decline in providing addresses come to mind as well:
-- Earlier adapters of the internet were more accustomed to traditional newsgroups which are actually based on an email platform and encouarged 1:1 email exchanges. Earlier adapters were probably earlier P-B users as well.
-- Highly publicized security glitches/hacker successes over the past few years heightening the public's security concerns, which would tie back to fi's concerns.Rick
Posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 19:24:11
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by jane d on January 21, 2002, at 23:40:59
> Despite my good experience I won't be posting my main address any time soon and I don't recommend that anyone else do it either.
Posting one's main address a DEFINITE on-no!
Posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 19:26:45
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by susan C on January 21, 2002, at 21:43:14
>then there are the "members" email addresses listed in the Yahoo Open Chat...so, I guess, putting my address on this message would be more direct
That would seem a lot more direct to me
Posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 19:39:09
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by Fi on January 22, 2002, at 16:44:03
Remember, Fi, Nikki said she posts elsewhere as well. So as long as the name used and the topics are similar, it's possible -- if not *probable*. But as a rule I don't think anyone should try to directly contact somebody who didn't post their email address.
Rick> I cant see how they could? The *most* any of us have said (at least recently)is a first name and the city we live in. Even Google couldnt do much with that!!
>
> Fi
>
> > I simply forget!!! All the other boards i frequent have auto posting of email adresses, so I just forget to tick the box here!!! And I figure if someone wants to contact me bad enough, they'll find my email addy somewhere!!!
> >
> > Nikki
Posted by jane d on January 23, 2002, at 0:35:22
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by fi on January 22, 2002, at 9:55:17
> My reasons are:
>
> 1. I dont have the time/interest/tech ability to set up another email account that is anonymous.
>
> 2. There are *millions* of people out there with access to the messages we post on the Board. This will be helpful for some, but remember not all are nice people.Fi - I'm afraid I can't really buy your arguments. If you are going to take responsibility for your health by coming here you also need to take the time to learn the tools of how to access the information. In this case, basic internet skills. Refusing to do so seems to me similar to refusing to learn the route to your doctors office and insisting he must come to you instead. I'm not saying that this is easy for everyone but then, none of the other skills required here, from understanding how medications work to keeping cool when someone says something offensive, are that easy either.
I agree that it is important to keep in mind that anyone can read what's posted here. It worries me greatly sometimes when I think that someone has forgotten that. But, IMO, the best way to deal with that is to choose carefully what you say here, not to move entirely to a private medium (and email has its risks too). I think of it kind of like the difference between what you tell to your best friend in private and what you would say to that friend when in a group of people. When someone in the group may be a huge gossip. You can refuse to talk at all in the group but then you lose out too.
Just my opinion. - Jane
Posted by fi on January 23, 2002, at 9:26:50
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » fi, posted by Rick on January 22, 2002, at 19:06:12
Hi Rick
I dont have the technical knowhow to answer your question properly -sorry! I have been to a talk by an internet security person who demonstrated how with an email address (but maybe not the kind you mention- I dont know) you could find out more. It wasnt by contacting the ISP, and unfortunately I cant remember the precise details.
With *my* bog stanard unanonymous email, I can see that putting it in Google would give lots of identifying information about me, as my email is on the webpages I author. My surname and initial are also in my email address, so if I lived in a smaller place it would be possible to use the town listed on my work website, and use directory enquiries to get my home phone no.
I cant say that anyone would actually bother to do this, or that its possible with all types of email. Just its a risk with some.
Our names on PB seem pretty consistent, and different from each other, so I think its a reasonable assumption that ones with the same 'name' are from the same person.
There is a large element of possibility rather than experience in this discussion, of course. I'm pleased that people who've put up their email havent had problems as a result.
Fi
Posted by mist on January 23, 2002, at 13:10:21
In reply to Posting of email addresses, posted by Rick on January 21, 2002, at 16:31:52
One thing I've wondered about is if someone has your ISP email address can they use it to hack into your system from a remote location (and gain access to the files on your hard drive, etc.)? Either by figuring out your password or some other, more technical way? -mist
Posted by Dr. Bob on January 23, 2002, at 18:54:45
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Rick, posted by fi on January 23, 2002, at 9:26:50
> I liked Dr Bob's idea (if I have understood it) that there could be some way of setting up something so you could be emailed by Board members, whilst staying anonymous.
Right, that's on my "to do" list. Think of it as email going to a posting name rather than an email address. It would be "from" the server. Also:
1. The server would automatically include the sender's posting name, so the sender wouldn't be *completely* anonymous. The sender and the recipient would each know the other's posting name.
2. Everyone would have the option of not receiving such emails. The default, in fact, would be not to receive them.
3. If anyone abused this feature, they would be blocked from sending such emails.
How does that sound?
> > If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. It might make me much less paranoid.
>
> All you have to do to change this is log onto your Yahoo account, the click Options on the left, then click Mail Preferences under "Personalization." Then change the "From Name" at the top to whatever you want people to see next to your address (I just deleted my last name), and click Save at the bottom right. To make sure it's working right, you can send yourself an email.Thanks for explaining that. Hmm, would you mind spelling out exactly how to set up, from scratch, an anonymous Yahoo account that forwards to another account? That might be nice to include in the FAQ...
> Our names on PB seem pretty consistent, and different from each other, so I think its a reasonable assumption that ones with the same 'name' are from the same person.Capitalization doesn't matter in posting names. Once you register a name, you can capitalize it however you like, and no one else can register any of those names. There have been two Bobs, but the first one was before there was a registration system.
Bob
Posted by Rick on January 23, 2002, at 20:48:35
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by Dr. Bob on January 23, 2002, at 18:54:45
> > I liked Dr Bob's idea (if I have understood it) that there could be some way of setting up something so you could be emailed by Board members, whilst staying anonymous.
>
> Right, that's on my "to do" list. Think of it as email going to a posting name rather than an email address. It would be "from" the server. Also:
>
> 1. The server would automatically include the sender's posting name, so the sender wouldn't be *completely* anonymous. The sender and the recipient would each know the other's posting name.
>
> 2. Everyone would have the option of not receiving such emails. The default, in fact, would be not to receive them.
>
> 3. If anyone abused this feature, they would be blocked from sending such emails.
>
> How does that sound?Sounds like a great system to me.
>
>
> > > If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know. It might make me much less paranoid.
> >
> > All you have to do to change this is log onto your Yahoo account, the click Options on the left, then click Mail Preferences under "Personalization." Then change the "From Name" at the top to whatever you want people to see next to your address (I just deleted my last name), and click Save at the bottom right. To make sure it's working right, you can send yourself an email.
>
> Thanks for explaining that. Hmm, would you mind spelling out exactly how to set up, from scratch, an anonymous Yahoo account that forwards to another account? That might be nice to include in the FAQ...Three days ago I would have said "yes", but as I mentioned in another post I can no longer recommend the auto-forwarding option since I just recently discovered that it can end up compromising one's privacy. Specifically, I learned that if for some reason the final-destination server bounces an email Yahoo forwarded, then Yahoo sends an error message back to the *original sender*...complete with the intended forwarding address AND IP address!! I immediately switched the account to POP3, wich of course is more complicated.
Ironically, I discovered this when my ISP bounced one of Psycho-Babble's thread-update notifications back to P-B (probably because the ISP's spamguard was activated after I received a lot of the thread-update notifications in a single day). The bounce notification Yahoo sent back to P-B included both my intended forward-to address AND my ISP address!!!!
Too bad, because the forwarding option is such a nice, simple and convenient one.
I could explain how to set up the anonymous Yahoo account, sans the forwarding option, but Yahoo pretty clearly walks you through all the steps. Just go to www.yahoo.com, click Check Mail in the upper left, and then click Set Up New Account and follow the instructions. After the account is set up, go into Mail Preferences and make the simple change I described above to prevent your full registered name (which is supposed to be your real name) from being displayed in emails.
Rick
Posted by Fi on January 28, 2002, at 17:09:43
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » fi, posted by jane d on January 23, 2002, at 0:35:22
I just need to say explicitly that I dont think anyone should be excluded from what the internet offers or judged not to be 'trying hard' enough on the grouds that they dont know how to set up an anonymous email account.
I would see part of the Board as it being openly accessible to anyone who has any email address and can cope with the registration procedure. I would never use this Board again if it had a condition of a beyond-basic level of internet literacy. That would just be *so* wrong in this context.
If it was a webmasters list, maybe. But not PB.Am I alone on being stunned by this response?
Fi
Posted by mist on January 28, 2002, at 19:48:19
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by Fi on January 28, 2002, at 17:09:43
Fi,
The way I see it, you and anyone else who wants to has a right to post here or anywhere regardless of level of internet skill or knowledge. If you're capable of posting, you can post.
Personally, I use the internet for what I want to use it for and learn as much as I need to for that and no more. There are other things I'm more interested in. -mist
> I just need to say explicitly that I dont think anyone should be excluded from what the internet offers or judged not to be 'trying hard' enough on the grouds that they dont know how to set up an anonymous email account.
>
> I would see part of the Board as it being openly accessible to anyone who has any email address and can cope with the registration procedure. I would never use this Board again if it had a condition of a beyond-basic level of internet literacy. That would just be *so* wrong in this context.
> If it was a webmasters list, maybe. But not PB.
>
> Am I alone on being stunned by this response?
>
> Fi
Posted by IsoM on January 28, 2002, at 20:14:01
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by Fi on January 28, 2002, at 17:09:43
If starting new e-mail addresses was part of a computer literacy course, then I could see a person having to meet certain requirements to post here, but when one is depressed, anxious, or whatever, their mind is not working at its best & "trying harder" isn't going to help.
Fi, you're just fine. Don't worry about not being competent enough for this forum. Sometimes just managing to type the words reasonably correct is enough to hope for.
Posted by jane d on January 28, 2002, at 23:44:27
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses, posted by Fi on January 28, 2002, at 17:09:43
Fi - I think you have misunderstood my post. I didn't object that you didn't know how to set up an email account. But I was a little "stunned" myself that you said that you didn't have the time to or interest in doing it but then went on in the very same post to argue for programming changes to the site that would take someone else's time to make and ongoing time to maintain. It seemed to me that you should be willing to expend as least as much time on your own behalf as you ask of others.
I am also a little surprised that you would even hint at technical snobbery given the patience with which all your questions have been answered.
But the main point that I feel you missed is that is doesn't matter what happens on this site. Soon, anyone who cannot manuever successfully around the internet is going to be as handicapped as people who can't read are today. There will be people who can't learn and I'm sure that organizations will try to make allowances for them much as they try to make basic information available to non readers. But I doubt it will be that effective. If you can't read today it costs you in every part of your life - housing, work, healthcare. Unless you are a lot older than I am I think you will see a day where not being able to use the internet will handicap you the same way.
One way to protect yourself from that happening is to use places like this one to learn what you can. Doing it now, while all the rest of us are still learning too, will probably be much easier than doing it later. This next generation of kids coming up isn't even going to be able to imagine what it is like to not understand this stuff so they aren't likely to put a lot of effort into explaining things.
Jane
Posted by fi on January 29, 2002, at 12:14:13
In reply to Re: Posting of email addresses » Fi, posted by jane d on January 28, 2002, at 23:44:27
This is the end of the thread.
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