Jory,

I am responding to you privately regarding the commercials on the PIC list
because:

- I think enough has been said that I don't think I can add significantly to
        justify the bandwidth.
- Some people might missuse the following comments.

I think the Paralax thing was appropriate - especially with it being a new
product which is of general interest to the entire group.

The follow-on posting apologizing for the quality of the documentation was
NOT appropriate for a general posting IMHO because it was directed to a
specific individual about a specific problem with no solution offered - all
it did was advertise Parallax's email address, that they have a hobby pack,
that quality might not be there - but documentation being fixed, AND new
products are on the way.  To me this was an advertisement.

BUT HERE IS THE KICKER - we know that this was from a commercial company,
however you cannot say that about unsolicited endorsements from others - they
may be "selling" for their company.  For example:  if you saw a posting such
as "jon.poland@central.sun.com writes:  I just bought Sun's new widget - it
works great and only costs $99 plus the service was great."  Everyone would
be extremely suspicious.  But if you saw the same posting from me from my
*other* email address:  poland@michelob.wustl.edu, you would have no idea
that I was hawking my employer's product.

The best I think you can do as moderator of this group is to say thank you
to Parallax, tell them that this will now be put in the FAQ, and please
refer future quieries to the FAQ.

Good luck!

Jon Poland
Sun Microsystems Inc.
St. Louis, MO
(314) 569-4716
jon.poland@central.sun.com