As a well-known AFW resident busybody, I've periodically taken it upon
myself to post courtesy reminders. Mark's post re trolls has spurred me
to once again post a reminder.

First of all, some very good info can be found at the group FAQ,
http://www.virtual-ink.com.au/=ADafw-faq/guide.htm,


A few thoughts (mostly derived from previous courtesy posts):

1) This is Usenet , a tool for discussion. Don't expect to post
something w/o
possibility of someone refuting it.

2) Please keep in mind that many of the contributors to alt.food.wine
do not speak English as their first language. Also even for some of us
who do, it's easy to mistake the tone of written communication. If
there's 2 ways to take a
post, be easy on yourself and decide the least offensive perception is
the
correct one.

3) Let's try to avoid personal comments. If you don't like someone,
filter their posts. The details of how to do that vary according to
newsreader software, but tutorials exist on the Web for employing
filters in all the popular newsreaders.

4) If you realize someone's intent is to provoke and annoy (in other
words, a troll) , please just ignore. Every time you argue with them,
or invoke their name, you're stroking their (IMHO somewhat warped) ego.

http://www.onlinenetiquette.co=ADm/courtesy9.html

If you feel compelled to respond,I can't stop you. But please don't
quote trolls , it puts their words in front of those who have
kill-filed them

5)New Folks: you're here to learn, right? So if someone who has been on
AFW for years and serious about wine for 30+ corrects you, learn from
it, don't get your feelings hurt.

6) Old folks : remember you were new (to wine and AFW) at some point,
too. Correct if need be, but let's try to do so graciously.

7) Personally, I find it less than helpful to make generalizations
about people based on where they live, what they do outside wine, etc.
People who invoke offensive off-topic subjects on a regular basis
deserve to be killfiled, period.

8) No one is superior (In My Humble Opinion) based on either the
simplicity or elegance of what they eat or drink. Isn't this group big
enough for someone to have Shiraz with BBQed chicken and another to
have rack of lamb with a fine Pauillac? Does it somehow offend you to
read about a meal you wouldn't eat yourself? If someone says that they
will not drink certain types of wines,
don't waste your time worrying about their opinions of those wines,
listen to those that do.

9)Newbies: we welcome your participation (this is speaking as someone
who has participated for a few years, I'm neither a true old-timer or a
newbie). But as in ANY social situation, whether on or off line, it is
wisest not to attack a
respected member of a community while a newbie, it really won't win you
any points. It is a time-honored tradition that one should lurk for a
while before posting to get a feel re tone of a group.

10)Most of the people here use their real names Some use a pseudonym,
but do include a valid email address. As to others, I personally don't
feel that it's wise to put too much energy into conversations with
those who are unaccountable
and unreachable. As they say,YMMV.

So there. As usual, I'm sure I've offended a couple of old-timers and a
couple of newbies, but hope the rest of you can take these remarks to
heart. I don't claim to be immune to digression ;all I'm asking is that
we try to keep these guidelines in mind.=20

best wishes,=20

Dale

DaleW wrote:

Hello Dale,

Nice work.


> 10)Most of the people here use their real names Some use a pseudonym,
> but do include a valid email address. As to others, I personally don't
> feel that it's wise to put too much energy into conversations with
> those who are unaccountable
> and unreachable. As they say,YMMV.
>

As for this, I don't know what YMMV means. And I don't post my email
address and full name for a number of reasons.

> best wishes,
>
> Dale
>


Mat.

Mat <Ask@me> wrote in :

<snips>

>> As they say,YMMV.
>>
>
> As for this, I don't know what YMMV means. And I don't post my email
> address and full name for a number of reasons.
>

Means "Your mileage may vary".

d.
yes, it's a valid email address...lord knows I get enough spam in it :P

Mat,

As Enoavidh points out, it means Your Mileage May Vary (Americanism,
meaning you might have different opinion). I certainly don't check the
validity of poster's emails in most cases, I was just pointing out when
someone comes out of nowhere with controversial opinions, if they don't
have a a more concrete persona than a Usenet tag it might not be worth
arguing with.
As an aside, it is a time-honored tradition of Usenet in some
circumstances to "take it to email'. Your choice, but you might chose
to set up a free "public" address (yahoo, hotmail, etc) in case anyone
tries to communicate offgroup. Or not, if you prefer.
In any case my comments re real names and addresses were mainly
directed at troll-like posters.

DaleW wrote:

Hi Dale,

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't upset or anything.

> Mat,
>
> As Enoavidh points out, it means Your Mileage May Vary (Americanism,
> meaning you might have different opinion). I certainly don't check the
> validity of poster's emails in most cases, I was just pointing out when
> someone comes out of nowhere with controversial opinions, if they don't
> have a a more concrete persona than a Usenet tag it might not be worth
> arguing with.
> As an aside, it is a time-honored tradition of Usenet in some
> circumstances to "take it to email'. Your choice, but you might chose
> to set up a free "public" address (yahoo, hotmail, etc) in case anyone
> tries to communicate offgroup. Or not, if you prefer.
> In any case my comments re real names and addresses were mainly
> directed at troll-like posters.
>

I understand. Given the freaks I've come across in usenet I usually
don't reveal my identity unless absolutely necassary or I trust the ppl.
That excludes 99% of ppl in here [ie not freaks] but it is still a
public group.

That's why my address is "ask me" or whatever.


Okie dokie, cheerio,

Mat.

In ,
Mat <Ask@me> typed:
> DaleW wrote:
>
> Hi Dale,
>
> Don't get me wrong, I wasn't upset or anything.
>
>> Mat,
>>
>> As Enoavidh points out, it means Your Mileage May Vary
>> (Americanism,
>> meaning you might have different opinion). I certainly don't
>> check
>> the validity of poster's emails in most cases, I was just
>> pointing
>> out when someone comes out of nowhere with controversial
>> opinions,
>> if they don't have a a more concrete persona than a Usenet
>> tag it
>> might not be worth arguing with.
>> As an aside, it is a time-honored tradition of Usenet in some
>> circumstances to "take it to email'. Your choice, but you
>> might chose
>> to set up a free "public" address (yahoo, hotmail, etc) in
>> case
>> anyone tries to communicate offgroup. Or not, if you prefer.
>>
>> In any case my comments re real names and addresses were
>> mainly
>> directed at troll-like posters.


I too don't provide an E-mail address in my postings (although I
use my real name), both here and in other newsgroups, for a
variety of reasons. But anybody who wants to contact me by E-mail
can; my address isn't hard to find (at least a few people here
know it) and almost anyone who doesn't know it and wants it can
get it simply by asking me for it.

--
Ken Blake
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