In a message dated 4/27/2003 6:30:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, zoecomnena@yahoo.com writes:
Not a problem. I have no interest in performing
anything other than the minimal creation of brand new
articles. Henceforth I will be blocking no one,
reverting no vandals, editing nobody else's articles.
There. All of the people I have ever blocked are now
unblocked
Since this was in response to my email, I think I should respond.
Zoe, in no way was my email meant as an attack against you. Rather, it was pointing out a fundamental problem with blocking users. I am not against blocking users. Michael should be blocked. Ark (remember him?) should have been blocked. The problem I have is that occasionally the blocking affects other users as well. On two occasions, it has affected me: when Isis blocked someone, and when you blocked Michael. As I understood your answer, I would have to wait till Michael was unblocked. To me that is not a solution. Imagine yourself in a similar situation--being blocked because your happen to share an IP address with Lir.
Of course, I am not blaming you for the problem. I am simply bringing to the attention of the list that this problem exists and should be addressed. By all means block vandals, but let's try to find a better way to do it, so that other users are not blocked too. LittleDan has made a suggestion on how that can be done. I am too computer illiterate to understand the ramifications, but it seems that there are alternative ways. I hope we can explore them.
I've been at Wikipedia for a relatively long time--long enough to remember many of the characters that have done their damage here. On a more positive note, I've even been here long enough to remember new users, including you, testing the waters, so to speak, and turning into some of our top contributors. In the time I've been here, I've contributed quite a few articles myself and I even did all the president tables. I hope to continue contributing for a long while to come. If I am blocked, however, I will not be able to do so. Maybe that is a major part of the part of the damage that vandals do--having other contributors with something to add tossed off the project for computer-related problems.
If my posting to this mailing list offended you, I apologize. It was certainly not meant in that way. All I wanted was to find an alternative way of blocking vandals, so that real contributors, such as me, are not forced out.
Danny
Wikikarma: [[ney]]