> My own experience with such things is that on any mailing list > you can probably divide people into about four categories: > (a) Those who know everything, (b) those who know a lot, (c) > those who know a little, and (d) those who know nothing. Actually, I think one of the strengths of the PICLIST is a fairly large number of people would know something about X that they're willing to share, even though they're beginners at Y and have no interest in Z. I've quite enjoyed the philosophical discussions on small business practices, odd math algorithms, parts sourcing, and so on and on. I myself don't have much real experience with PICs, but am happy to pontificate on generic algorithmic, electronic, and random issues in the (perhaps misguided) opinion that perhaps my comments will be useful to someone. The "politeness" issue frequently boils down to the difference between "can someone solve my problem" and "here's an intersting problem that I'm wondering how others have solved." BillW -- http://www.piclist.com hint: The list server can filter out subtopics (like ads or off topics) for you. See http://www.piclist.com/#topics