Well, the big rule for me is related to what effect it has, which is not a
fair rule at all, I understand, but the goal is to have stimulating,
informative exchanges without anyone being offended.

Now, what will offend someone is impossible to guess, of course. But it is
possible to look at probabilities. Saying something that is controversial is
more likely to cause a problem, but more important is the way it is said.
For example "..that was stupid!" compared to "...that is unlikely." or
"...are you sure about that?"

As far as sig lines go, I just see them as a way to say something (a very
little something) off-topic inside an on topic post. Or to explain something
about yourself, or advertise your company or website, etc...

I would object to a sig line that read "Skinheads unite!" or even "do the
forest a favor, plant a sierra clubber" or "pro choice is pro death" because
they all carry a message of hate. It has nothing to do with whether I agree
or not with that cause, but rather with the association of it with violence.
For example, "Support life, adopt!" would be just fine. Or "Womens rights
are right." If you want to propagate the Arian Nation put down "SWM seeking
blond blue eyed lady to start family." 

Does that make sense? Sadly, I guess it is sort of like pornography. One
persons art...

But really it is about the feeling behind the message. If you really felt it
would do someone good to be told that they were stupid, you could say
something like "Hey, I like you, and I think you are a good guy; I wish you
all the best, but from what I can see, you just really don't have what it
takes to make it as an embedded engineer. Some people are just too stupid to
do this and it looks like you are one of them. I really think you would be
better off in a career as a plumbers assistant or helping on a sewage truck.
You can make good money and you don't have to be as technically gifted. I
really hope you aren't insulted, but you need to hear this loud and clear
before you waste a lot of time. You probably have a lot of other positive
attributes; hard worker, good looks, etc... And you can do well by focusing
on those."

But that should be said off list rather than in front of thousands of people
on an email list. I don't know, it seems easy to me.

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: piclist-bounces@mit.edu 
> [mailto:piclist-bounces@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Philip Stortz
> Sent: 2004 Oct 14, Thu 23:58
> To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
> Subject: Re: [OT] Looking for a few good... moderators
> 
> before i get into trouble, what are the rules regarding 
> signatures on email?  on many other list i'm on i use polite 
> but sometimes political or otherwise controversial sig lines, 
> which do occasionally irritate some (though whenever i get 
> complaints from some i get support from many more, and i do 
> try hard to minimize any induced noise and i'm always more 
> than happy to change them when and if a nanny wants me to). 
> obviously there have to be rules, and i'm glad to follow 
> them.  i don't remember seeing this addressed on the sign up 
> page etc. that i read a couple of months ago, but perhaps i 
> missed it in which case i apologize.
> _______________________________________________
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