Subject: [cabalnet] Joel Furr (very long) To: Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 18:04:29 -0700 (PDT) Cc: jfurr@acpub.duke.edu In-Reply-To: <199506200449.AAA15959@bio4.acpub.duke.edu> from "Joel K. Furr" at Jun 20, 95 00:49:09 am I understand that Joel's no longer on the list. However, someone (Scotty?) pointed out that Joel was, to a point, right. I intend to find out if this is true. En una epistola previa, Joel K. Furr escribio: Craig Dickson wrote: ->Did you donate your sense of humor for medical research or something? Of ->course it's a joke. I never know, on matters like this, when to assume people are joking; people are having a fine time playing gods here and as is often the case in such situations, people don't always think things through. Oh, and you would know about that, wouldn't you, Joel? [note: i'll probably be using this often throughout the letter, so i'll just use ** as a substitute.] ... what you call it and what people associate it with are *crucially* important. Since so many people thought that the us.* hierarchy was being created under the same rules as the Big 7 hierarchies, we were flamed *extensively* for not abiding by the Big 7 guidelines. It didn't matter how many times we told people "THIS IS NOT THE SAME." They simply refused to accept that. Accordingly, it's absolutely critical that no name get associated with the new system that, if leaked out, gave people the wrong impression. You are right. However, i am of the opinion that you are exaggerating. If news of this list happened to leak out, i believe the last thing to float out would be a pet name we were tossing about or our "project". Now, let's analyze all the names we've put out for this so-called deal: Usenet 2 - implies it is a sequel. Bad. Polaris - submarine-launched nuclear missile. Phallic. Bad. HappyNet - those DAMN Kiblogistas!!! Uselessnet - a banal, empty pursuit. Why are we bothering? NeenerNeenerNet - implies we are thumbing our collective noses at the general USENET populace. LemurNet - implies it belongs to Joel Furr. Very bad. AmberNet - could mean anything bad. XXX .GIF network ("Hi, big boy, i'm Amber."). Jurassic Park reference. Forces users to switch monitor to amber monochrome for the sake of compatibility. Hope i didn't forget anyone else's suggestion. So, as you can see, Joel, they're ALL BAD. We should just shut this damn thing down and go home and wank, i say. Except for Paul, `cause he has a GIRLFRIEND. Subject: Re: [cabalnet] Minutes of the First Distributed Happynet Meeting, in , progress... Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 01:49:34 -0400 (EDT) Bad move, Paul. ** As I said, it's important that no name be used that, if leaked out, would give people the wrong impression. Given that some of the people on the CABALNET mailing list are regular contributors to alt.religion.kibology, you can be absolutely certain that long before anything is finalized, people will be making wrong assumptions about what the system contains based in large part on the name. IF LEAKED OUT? God, Joel. That's like expecting to get Hepatitis B because an infected blood droplet leaked out onto your pastrami sandwich. Let's get real. Even jovially referring to the system as 'HappyNet' is a catastrophically bad move that I *guarantee* will have bad repurcussions down the road. If you really can't accept this, then I'd better resign from the list *now*. Ring up another nickel for Ser Phillips. Not to mention that Joel sounds like a used car dealer ("I GAH-WRON-TEE it.") Subject: Re: [cabalnet] Commercializing HappyNet Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 02:16:20 -0400 (EDT) Paul, You let too many people onto the list too soon. Now it's getting out of control. Which is why i'm strapping everyone in. This reminds me of the early days of the usa@byu.edu mailing list, where Please don't go into old fart mode. Richard Sexton is an older fart and has the routine down pat. I'll ask him to emote if i feel the urge to listen to tales of UUCP glory. The reason I've spoken up only to admonish people not to pick a stupid or bad name is because that's about all I care to contribute at this time; Which says a lot about your motivation. If you can't find anything more worthwhile to contribute, maybe you SHOULD leave. Oh, right, you did. Never mind. All I know from my experience as a District officer in Toastmasters and from my academic background (Master of Public Administration degree, Virginia Tech, 1990) DEGREE-SIZE WARS, KIDS! It doesn't get any better than this. All i know from my experience as a high school prodigy, a college flunkout, and a mama's boy is that you gotta learn when to shut the hell up, sit down, and let someone else drive. My recommendation, offered freely before I either resign from the list for the time being or simply go back to lurking, is this: get people to compose short lists of the issues they feel ought to be considered in the development of the new system. Concatenate, condense, and compile these into one list of 10 or fewer action items. And all we get is "David Letterman's Top 10 List for How To Improve the Net" as written by several people. Discussion is vital. Things are NOT out of hand. Not by a long shot. Then, bring up ONE ISSUE AT A TIME and forbid people from jumping ahead to other issues or jumping back to previously discussed issues. Discuss *one* issue, reach consensus, write down what that consensus is, and then (AND ONLY THEN) move on to the next issue. Maybe you're so simple that you can only handle one thing at a time. But if we hashed out only one thing at a time, we wouldn't get anything done, because one issue is linked to a few others, and solving it simply isn't a cut and dry thing. Issues evolve (i know evolution is a tough concept for you, but bear with me). We gotta work on them as things roll along. That's my advice. Take it or leave it. That's a dime. Subject: [cabalnet] Incidentally... Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 02:32:24 -0400 (EDT) Lest you think that I'm attacking the participants of the list for playing God, it's not that. I couldn't care less about elitism. Someone's got to take the initiative. ** No, what bugs me is that discussions are so unfocused and full of incredibly stupid assumptions and impractical talk. It reminds me of ... the days when you ate strained peas and carrots? In other words, people are so into building castles in the air that no one's paying attention to building a solid foundation one brick at a time. This castle flies, Joel. We don't need a foundation, we need landing gear. That's all. Subject: Re: [cabalnet] Minutes of the First Distributed Happynet Meeting, in , , progress... Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 02:54:13 -0400 (EDT) Paul Phillips wrote: ->On Thu, 22 Jun 1995, Joel K. Furr wrote: ->>Even jovially referring to the system as 'HappyNet' is a catastrophically ->>bad move that I *guarantee* will have bad repurcussions down the road. If ->>you really can't accept this, then I'd better resign from the list *now*. ->I really can't accept this. I refuse to adopt a name I'm not pleased ->with just because there are confused boogeymen in the closet. Now, as I ->said, I would like to see this issue dropped. If you want to discuss it ->further, please send me email directly. Good! Good attitude, Paul. "I refuse to vary my course in the slightest even though that course will without alteration lead me directly over the precipice." ** In any case, I did not tell you what name to adopt; I cautioned you repeatedly not to adopt a name with existing connotations. There is quite a large difference. And why the hell are YOU such an authority and WE such fucking clueless peasants? Can you explain that to me, Joel? Can you please pretty fucking please with sugar on top tell me what exactly it is i'm lacking that does not allow me to understand just how much more knowledgable and wise you are? I was thinking, maybe i should tell you to calm down, think it out, and come back. No way. You might have had a point, but you can't drive it home without a hammer. Bang away with your head if you want. I'll go look for a nailgun. 5150 i apologize to the members of the list for... well, everything -- A heart makes for a poor metronome. rone@netcom.com