RE: [OT] WTF is happening to ukha_d?

["Mark Harrison" <Mark.Harrison@xxxxxxx>]

Julian,

You wrote:

> send me an educated, and thought out email=20

I'm sorry, but you have brought this into the public domain, including
several insulting comments about a group of people I respect and some of
whom I consider good friends. As such, I am responding _to the group_
which what I hope you will, at the least, consider educated and thought
out ;-)

I agree with you that the volume of messages on the group has become too
large, and that the majority are related to non-HA matters. Indeed,
during the last "big public debate" on the subject, I both stood
up as a
voice saying this, and contacted some of the "higher-volume"
posters
directly to have a one to one conversation.

I must, however, disagree with two of the things you say in your email:

1: About the "Group regulars"

Your description of us regulars as "Neanderthal" is offensive. I
am a
regular on this group, indeed I have been on this group for 4 years. In
the last few days I have posted about a dozen messages:

- Several in response to a question about integration of X-10 PIRs with
HomeVision
--- This is, as I hope you'll agree, exactly what the group should be
used for

- Several in response to specific queries about the legal framework
within which eCommerce businesses operate
--- This is an area in which many questions, and some misinformation was
being posted, and as an eCommerce professional, I could not let this
pass. I should, however, stress that I am _not_ one of those who
attempted to purchase a Camera at =A3100.=20

- One, clearly marked as OT: (off-topic) asking about TFT monitors
--- This elicited the infomration I was after, and generated about 3
replies. My apologies if this is also wasted bandwidth.

As such, your desciption of me as "Neanderthal" is, at best, a
symptom
of how strongly you feel about this, but does not help to strenghten
your case as the portrayer of the "educated and well thought-out"
response.

2: About Mark McCall

Your comment about Mark McCall posting "a crock" is possibly the
second
most offensive thing I have heard on this group in 4 and a bit years.
(The most offensive was what sparked the last "big debate" about
this
group getting too off-topic.)

I should mention that I co-moderate another group, on a topic unrelated
to HA, which has a significantly HIGHER message volume than UKHA_D, so I
am aware of the kinds of issues that Mark faces in running this group.

Mark has, in my view, done an exceptional job in creating both interest
in a fairly unusual topic, and in creating a community of friends who
have gone well out of their way to help out fellow "UKHAers".=20

- I think of, for example, Graham Howe, who spent man-WEEKS of his time
put together a bulk purchasing deal on the DDARs, and then even flying
out to the States to box them up rather than let the deal fall apart.

- I think of, for example, James Hoye, Paul Wooton, and Phil Harris who
gave up weekend(s) of their time to help me cable my house, asking
nothing in return.

Any debates about things like message volumes are, by definition,
dominated by those who will stand up and talk. However, behind the
scenes I know that Mark has worked tirelessly to try to calm down the
loudest, most off-topic, posters, while keeping the benefit of their
experience within the group.

To accuse Mark of either incompetence in running a group, or lack of
integrity - which are, to my reading, the only two possible explanations
for posting "a crock" - is offensive in the extreme.

Regards,

Mark Harrison
Head of Systems, eKingfisher

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