Hello, a long time ago I suggested on the cypherpunks list that people be limited in the tentacles and anonymous IDs they be permitted to use in Internet mailing lists and groups dedicated to serious subjects and goals such as project development. This fell on deaf ears at the time but perhaps the atmosphere and climate is more suitable at this time for both groups to consider ideas that will prevent their being tormented by troublemakers. One of the best ideas I have I like for its utter simplicity. The idea is this: the mailing list software tracks how long someone has had their email address subscribed. When they post, a field added by the list software broadcasts to the world how `old' they are. This is an interesting measure of their `wisdom' on the group. In the real world, we defer to people based on their age all the time; it is a basic aspect of our human interaction. Now, I know that there are objections to this kind of tracking, but it seems to me they come mostly from people who like to invade others attention with tentacles and anonymous posts. (Note that under the scheme, all anonymous posts or for that matter anything from `outsiders' gets a rating of 0 days old.) Nevertheless I think that this is a very reasonable measure of `credibility' and would be appreciated by everyone who is interested in building their own filtering tools. We need to get more information to individuals to make logical choices about filtering; today it is `every man for himself.' The second idea is this: let the list software track how much that certain people's postings are *replied* to. In a sense, this is a measure of their `relevance'. If I am continually posting messages that get no response at all, I am probably doing something wrong, like asking annoying newbie questions or posting on topics that are outside the charter. On the other hand, if I consistently get huge chains of interesting feedback on the list started, it suggests that what I am writing about is inherently interesting to everyone on the list. Now, when I post and an extra header tells everyone how `interesting' I am by this criteria, they can judge for themselves if I have a personality that is `irrelevant' or `fascinating' and reply to the list or privately based on that. The `reply tracking' has some extra considerations. One of the problems is that people tend to respond to posts that they think are irrelevant with further flames. But this just tends to start a chain reaction of meta-postings in which all the regular topics are buried in. I think that this suggests a fundamental frailty and deficiency in human nature: the inability to `turn the other cheek' when offended. Imagine! In cyberspace, all you have to do to neutralize a troublemaker is to delete his messages! But people cannot even do that. They believe that in cyberspace, as in all other realms of their life, justice is an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and a flame for a flame. If someone makes you miserable, the only justifiable response (so it goes) is to make them miserable themselves. So, I think this new list software that tracked *responses* to messages would be very valuable in encouraging people to take the `Christian' approach of not counterattacking a tormenter but absorbing their hatred. Because, if you *did* respond to them with flames, it would actually aid their `reply count' rating, and you don't want to aid them in any way whatsoever, of course! So perhaps these new rating systems will actually encourage *real* `moderation' and forbearance. Once again, I urge everyone `out there' to experiment with new systems to encourage responsible and courteous Cyberspatial interactions.