Earlier I suggested that Mr. Hughes had put me in his kill file. I actually had misinterpreted another message from another eminent cypherpunk (involved in MacPGP developement) who quoted Mr. Hughes and then his own indication that he was putting me in his kill file in my mail. Sorry for the confusion. Quite to the contrary, as recent events demonstrate, Mr. Hughes has had the great courtesy and kindness to continue to listen to my posts, even though I'm obviously very personally rattled and these postings obviously upset him a great deal. A true model of humanity and compassion to a troubled soul. My personal and humble thanks, Mr. Hughes. You've been a guiding light and an inspiration to me these last few weeks. For everyone else who can't stand me, let me suggest that putting me in your kill files will save you lots of exasperation. I certainly believe it is a far more mature and sensible approach than a puerile stunt like mini-mailbombing me. I fear that others are escalating a sensitive but frivolous situation to rather extreme and inappropriate levels, with a lot of intense emotionalism. BTW, there is no need to inform me that I am in your kill file. That would be rather pointless and defeat the purpose of defeating communication! ===cut=here=== --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The following has nothing to do with writing code, but hopefully posting this will get me back on track.... I wrote this several weeks ago and have been sitting on it ever since. L. Detweiler's contributions of late have made me re-examine my feelings on a variety of email- and cyberspace-related issues. I very strongly believe that everyone has an inaliable right to express themselves, as long as that expression doesn't harm others or impede their ability to express *themselves*. Up to now the amount of trash-mail (as I determine it) has been less than ten percent of my mail, an amount I equate with the real-world equivalent of billboards and junk-mail. L. Detweiler's uncanny ability to craft flame-bait and get the CypherPunks to respond has increased the trash-mail percentage to the point where it's entered my awareness. Torn between respect for someone who has a reputation for having made contributions, worry about someone who seems to have a slim grasp on the reality I'm experiencing, and annoyance at getting scores of ranting incoherent messages, I've made a decision that I've never made before: to put someone (L. Detweiler) into my kill-file. This bothers me a great deal. But there it is. ---------------- To L. Detweiler: I'm sorry, but your style, content, and quantity values have gotten to the point where it seems unrewarding to deal with you. The decision to banish you bothers me a great deal, but not as much as reading your mail does. If you're sincere about the biblical amount of pain you are in, I gently suggest (in my capacity as an EMT with some crisis-intervention experience) that you talk about your pain to a qualified person, perhaps an MFCC. If you're doing all this to get a reaction (for maybe a book) like Don Novello's Lazlo character of the last three decades (and several books), then congratulations.