Ok, I'm not entirely against adding a new tag. I do have several issues that
need to be addressed:

1. The name of the tag needs to be as short as possible. I'm happy with
Byron's [OE] suggestion, [SCI] is a close second and [TECHNO] or even [TECH]
is just too long.

2. Some CLEAR means of delineating what goes in each topic tag must be found
and descriptions that EVERYONE, including the most basic newbie or ESL can
understand. Keep in mind this means being able to describe clearly what
belongs and does not belong in each of the following PIC, EE, OE, OT not to
mention BUY and AD and the little used AVR, ARM and SX tags. 

3. The descriptions must not only be clear, they must be SHORT and use SMALL
words. People will just not take the time to read long descriptions.

4. Someone OTHER THAN ME or the other existing admins must volunteer to
become an admin, (this includes reading a rather lengthy manual) and take
their own time to POLICE that new topic. I am NOT willing to do it.


Given all of that, here is my best try at a clear and concise description of
the forest of tags that a new poster must take the time to understand.


[PIC] Only questions or comments about PIC microcontrollers. If it doesn't
include a PIC part number or PIC family, do not post it with [PIC]. Do not
try to advertise or buy anything in a [PIC] post.

[SX] Items specific to the Scenix/Ubicom/Parallax SX microcontrollers 

[AVR] Items specific to the Atmel AVR microcontrollers 

[ARM] Items specific to ARM microcontrollers

[EE] Electronic or Embedded Engineering only. Posts with [EE] may not be
about a microcontroller, but must include something with electrons running
around in it.

[OE] Other Engineering. Posts related to science, theories, technology, or
news. Don't use [OT] if it isn't techie. *

[OT] Other topics such as humor, travel, advice, etc...  *

* NEVER post your opinions as if they are statements of fact without
independently verifiable evidence or clinical studies to back them up. E.g.
religion, politics, or other contentious subjects are never allowed.

[AD] advertisements of a commercial product or service including your
opinions or experiences. Don't spam, do post [AD]!

[BUY] People looking for parts, equipment, or consultants will use this
topic.



I personally think that is ridiculous. Asking people to understand and
correctly use all those tags is beyond hope. Scott Dattalo and others have
expressed that they will not take the effort to turn off the tags other than
PIC and possibly will not participate or even leave as a result. Since the
ENTIRE point of having the other topics was so that the people who wanted to
yak on and on could do so without disturbing the people like Scott who are
busy and have only the time for PIC related post, I don't really see the
point in continuing here. 

Not to mention the fact that I'm about totally freaking sick of it. The
effort that I put into policing PIC for Scott et all is apparently wasted. I
don't have the time, energy, or desire to enforce a "PIC and nothing but PIC
list" for the purists. The other tags are there as a relief valve to allow
those who simply MUST yak on about non-PIC issues to be able to do it
without disturbing the purists, but if the purists can't allow that...

Atlas shrugged.

--
James.

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