being on the list : was RE: [sdiy] help needed: thermal equations to RC networks analogy

[jhaible]

> E-Mail is a nice invention, but also dangerous. The danger lies in the
> fact that people have not much time, and use telegram style.
> This would be different in a letter or telephone call.
> This can shorten things until the opposite of the wanted statement
> comes out. Also this makes statements more cynical, sneering etc.
> as the sender really wanted. And we certainly have a language
> problem, too. Sometimes no response simply means consent, because
> of time.

Amen to that.

Speaking for myself, if someone has answered one of my own questions
directly, I try to say thank you. But if it's a general thread in which I've
also participated, or if a question of mine has been transformed into
a more general thread, I will not comment everything - *especially*
when I agree. In fights - which we rarely see here, thank god - not
having the final word is often considered defeat (which it often is not).
And in friendly, constructive talk, no response to a good mail may
look impolite, but often it's just consent, and the feeling that adding
something would be unnecessary, redundant, you name it.
Also, some responses go beyond my / our scope at the moment, but
will be saved for later, for the thorough evaluation they deserve.

Please, all you good people, be assured that this our diy community
is a genuinly friendly one, and nobody wants to harm each other. (;->)
Meanwhile, somebody may get the impression that his published
circuits don't get the much response, another one may think that
he types his detailed mathematical explanations in vain, and someone
may think his latest CD gets less interest than it deserves.
Actually, it's not as it may look. Timing is odd
sometimes: At one moment everything seems quiet, next moment
you get drowned in interest and requests.

When I answer technical questions in private emails late at night,
it's often either to be extremely short, or to postpone it (and possibly
forget it). Normally I opt for being short, but hopefully providing
the requested information, even if this means just typing two lines
of component values in response to a letter that fills a whole page.

JH.