No, not a headmistress, just one who feels that if you volunteer for a project you understand and read the guidelines and rules and do not try and hijack the project to your own aims. They are not my rules but commonly called for requirements of any project. You just have to know there are protocols and rules to follow if you sign up. It's generally a basic premise that if you join a conversation you make an effort of some sort to find out what happened prior to you joining in. The problem is that this conversation has been going so long that it is difficult for newbies to know where it started and some oldies to recognise when the conversation topic died. The internet has gone a long way to killing that art. Having sat in on this conversation for some time, on and off, and watched the players I get a feeling about what some people say. Being a watcher of some lists gives you an insight into how some people operate. I often drop in on different genealogy based newsgroups to see the current tone and conversation, quite often I drop back out again. Observation has led me to say the things I have. You may not agree with me, but then I may not agree with you either. I was new to this not so long ago but feel 8 years of watching lists and getting to know how the players operate has flavoured my opinions. I am not saying this list is 8 years old but many of the players have been around for quite a while and their same words can be found in many of the usual lists. The way they operate can also be observed. One fellow explained his lack of any punctuation on his recently broken arm - I advised him he should change doctors as he had the same complaint since 1998 or so (and was well known for his style which he regarded as uncharacteristic) Helen Castle Shellharbour NSW -----Original Message----- From: Steve Gaunt [mailto:steve@email.hinet.hr] Sent: Sunday, 7 September 2003 7:23 PM To: helen.castle@telstra.com; FREEBMD-DISCUSS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: FULL STOPS >So feel free to discuss away, after checking what the project rules are, >what previous discussion has been and how many times it has been discussed. Really? I have your permission if I abide by the rules you set? Are you a headmistress perchance? Steve Gaunt ----- Original Message ----- From: Helen Castle <helen.castle@telstra.com> To: <FREEBMD-DISCUSS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, September 07, 2003 10:53 AM Subject: RE: FULL STOPS > There is discussion because people are new and dont realise and there is > discussion which you know has been brought up by the same people over and > over again in one way or another. > > After 18 months away from the project I see the same people bringing up the > same discussion that I saw done to death 18 months ago... This general > conversation has been going on for upwards of 4 years and if you walk in on > the middle of a conversation it is generally accepted that you may have > missed what went on before, unless of course you have been in on the > conversation many times before and just keep bringing up the same old > things. > > So feel free to discuss away, after checking what the project rules are, > what previous discussion has been and how many times it has been discussed. > > Far be it for me to limit free speech. > > Helen Castle > Shellharbour > > -----Original Message----- > From: Lucille Hambling [mailto:l.hambling@ntlworld.com] > Sent: Sunday, 7 September 2003 12:21 AM > To: FREEBMD-DISCUSS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: FULL STOPS > > > Do I understand from Helen and Loraine that we should not have an opinion or > just not voice it? Should we be mindless drones who transcribe day and > night and not take time to do other things on the computer such as read > e-mails, write messages or anything else we choose to do, when taking a > break from transcribing. > > If the subject of 'full stops' bothers some people then why open the message > > > Lucille > > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >

Good day. May I please make a plea? This is a list for discussion of the FreeBMD project - its policies, its methods and betterment of both of those. I subscribe to the list, and take enough of an interest in the project to read all mails that come from this List. I have been on the list long enough for the Full Stop discussion ongoing at present to appear to me as its third incarnation. If I was fed-up with the topic, I would automatically delete those mails with FULL STOPS in the subject line. Mail programs have filters to enable me - or you - to do this, it doesn't even have to be a manual problem. What I find intolerably rude is for mail ostensibly from this List and about this project with the subject line FULL STOPS to be in fact a tirade of a personal nature against individual or groups of individual members of this great project. As a matter of common politeness I believe that if someone feels strongly that another member should be admonished, then a private mail is the only decent way to do this - i.e. hit Reply, not Reply All. And an even better alternative is to take a deep breath, count to a full day away from the PC and only then decide if you ought to send that PRIVATE mail or if DELETE and forget is a better option. If we, who are "united" in our aim to complete this project, cannot stop becoming that famous typo "untied", then I fear that the mailing lists will become _moderated_ mail lists, with its concommitant Big Brother feel and accusations of censorship flying, to further detract from our task of getting the transcriptions done. The plea? FreeBMD matters in public, personal matters in private, please. Thank you for reading to the end - I guess in some ways this mail contravenes everything it purports to be requesting! Best Wishes -- Anne