On Tue, Dec 7, 2010 at 2:50 PM, Virgilio A. P. Machado vam@fct.unl.ptwrote:

I forgot at least one of the rules (probably more) of this list, and (almost) always addressed my comments to the person who made the comment. The exchange went well, was mostly good humored, but that's not how things are supposed to happen here. I apologize for so blatantly disrespecting that list rule, and any other one, that I might not be aware at the moment. I appreciate the patience and understanding of all directly involved, and all the readers who had to endure my misbehavior.

That said, there's no excuse for the overblowing of my comments and hyperbolic references to "personal attacks," by now a concept so overused that it has lost any credibility whatsoever.

[...]

To call the attention of ALL participants in the discussion to "Please focus on the comment, not the person making the comment." is absolutely right and appropriate. To make it in a message addressed to me smacks of "personal attack," and since it was made by a list moderator, I would say that is a very serious offense. We all should be aware of our responsibilities. We all have duties and rights here. One wrong, does not justify a worst one. Any moderator that fails to perform his duties appropriately, should take a leave of absence, graciously submitting a request to be relieved of his responsibilities.

From them on, an exemplary participation in this list would be the best and only argument to ask to be reinstated as a moderator.

Sincerely,

Virgilio A. P. Machado

This comment slipped by the first time, but I want to bring this up to illustrate a point. Virgilio is referring to an e-mail I sent to him, asking him to cool down in a somewhat heated discussion earlier this week. I sent the e-mail while sleepy and probably could have phrased it better; I also sent the e-mail to Virgilio only, rather than to all the participants, who also could have used a reminder. I've apologized to Virgilio for handling the issue poorly, but this is another example of why it's a bad idea to send an e-mail when not in the right frame of mind!

Proof that we all make mistakes.

-Ryan