As Bill points out, I didn't reopen this thread. I haven't locked it either, because it doesn't violate any of our policies and that is what the archives are for (we could otherwise delete threads after say six months or so, but most readers here do not want that). I find it humurous however that someone would dig down in the message archieves this far AND POST to a response to it, when the original message is almost three years old. Archives are for reading, not really responding to (IMHO). It is kind of akin to finding an ancient papyrus that states "Turn left at Ahmed's place and go 20 paces and you will find the best cuscus and olives in the neighborhood", and then today's reader writes on that papyrus; "Followed your instructions; they sucked. Ahmed's place appears to be a BP Gas station and 20 paces to the left is a used camel harness stand. You don't know what you are talking about!". :)

Roadkill is a handle I adopted almost 15 years ago and I use it in every forum in which I post, largely from habit or convenience. It is something that just came to me in a moment of whimsey. I believe the fact that I also use my nickname shows I am not striving for anonymity. I'll gladly change it, despite the bother that would entail, if you really think that will make a difference in the dialogue here.

>Roadkill is a handle I adopted almost 15 years ago and I use>it in every forum in which I post, largely from habit or>convenience. It is something that just came to me in a moment>of whimsey. I believe the fact that I also use my nickname>shows I am not striving for anonymity. I'll gladly change it,>despite the bother that would entail, if you really think that>will make a difference in the dialogue here.Well, if you want to be taken seriously and not as a figure of whimsy then I think you might consider it. It would also go toward being part of this experiment, now that museum-piece threads are being re-visited by delvers. What is funny is that in three years NOTHING has changed in the forums, so actually whats the point? Might just as well get on with it.I can only tell you from my personal perspective that given the throughput of this forum I almost always skip over threads from aliases like `Roadkill`. Allcott

Youre joking right? Youd skip over a post because of someones alias on a forum board? Thats about the most small minded ignorant thing Ive ever read on these forums and its obvious if youre that close minded and or high and mighty in your preconceptions about someone based upon their login at AVSIm that you skipping over their posts wont mean much.

Great post. We need a wake up call. Thanks for all the hard work you guy's have done. To the nit pickers only you know why you go on and on we sure don't. Tearing apart all the work people have done. Please get out of flight sims if its causing you this much pain.:-mad

You know Randy I was just thinking the same thing....consideringthat about 80% of the folks seem to use a log in other than thierfull name.:-eek Also kinda wonder what allcott is an acronym for?:-lol

>Roadkill is a handle I adopted almost 15 years ago and I use>it in every forum in which I post, largely from habit or>convenience. It is something that just came to me in a moment>of whimsey. I believe the fact that I also use my nickname>shows I am not striving for anonymity. I'll gladly change it,>despite the bother that would entail, if you really think that>will make a difference in the dialogue here.Your username doesn't concern me in the slightest. I've seen worse - "Poonutz", "RabbitCancer", "Bob######", and others :-lolI rarely post to avoid being flamed. I've been around here since 1999, and I have noticed an increase in the number of "medium" level flame wars. There have always been big arguments on here, but the number of snipers and SHILLS has increased many fold!"USE THE SEARCH FACILITY :-mad" is a popular one. Search engines are imperfect, and people should realise that!

>You know Randy I was just thinking the same>thing....considering>that about 80% of the folks seem to use a log in other than>thier>full name.:-eek >> Also kinda wonder what allcott is an acronym for?:-lol >> :). I don't think it has a meaning. it's a name. You are probably aware what randy means in the UK, too? :) Allcott

>Youre joking right? Youd skip over a post because of>someones alias on a forum board? Thats about the most small>minded ignorant thing Ive ever read on these forums and its>obvious if youre that close minded and or high and mighty in>your preconceptions about someone based upon their login at>AVSIm that you skipping over their posts wont mean much.Obviously upset you Randy. Sorry, but like many I don't have a huge amount of time to spare in these forums. I ###### views during the day and dip in during the evenings when I can. And there is plenty to read, even ignoring the childish aliases, threads about FSX, hardware support in the wrong forums, and the like. Threads like this that complain about the rudeness to other simmers by being rude to other simmers are interesting and complex enough. Could you point out some of the more interesting and informative threads I may have missed? You can ignore any that contain posts from me, as I must have seen those. Or else you have no basis for your judgment of me, or for what you just said!Glad to know you have that much time to spare to assess each and every contribution from each and every contributor Randy. Wish I had the time! Another ten years and I will! Perhaps you should compile a league table based on effective posts by your criteria and then we could see whether your comment is valid. Allcott

Absolutely agree Staffan, and somebody else mentioned it further up too. This "nobody knows who I am so I can say what I like" mentality is only helped along by forum anonimity.I remember this was one of the things that we insisted on at Project Freeware's forum (the use of real names only) and if my memory serves me well, it was at that time that Avsim went down the anonumus route and PF had to find it's own forum.Back to the original post, has anyone heard from Brent lately?Dreamfleet Project ManagerGreatest Airliners - DC-8Greatest Airliners - 727 Whisperjethttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/F...BANNER_PAUL.jpg

"Someone who uses the alias `Roadkill` has a thin skin? Are you being ironic, Bob? Perhaps a more civilised `handle` might be a way to represent you believe you have something to contibute?In fact,if we are going to talk about anonymity and the problems in forums why not do away with these childish aliases altogether?Allcott"I'm sure Bob can defend himself, Allcott, even though you belittled him - but I believe your response - and many of your past comments about others' posts - is precisely the kind of "poison" that Tom's concerned with. It certainly turns me away from any input, comment or question I may have.Paul JohnsonOntario, Canada

Personal responsibility and internet anominity are not mutually exclusive. One cannot allow what others say or do to determine their actions, only the individual can do that.I would never deny myself the benifits of a product, service, forum etc simply because a few people act like idiots. I do the same thing I do in 'real life', ignore them.The interent is a great tool, I wish we had it when I was growing up, I'm 58 now. It is also a demon, in that it allows anyone anywhere to be anything they want, usually without fear of any penality. Unfortunalty, of some, mostly the younger generation, it is also affecting their social skills. They spend a lot of their time on the net, and not interacting will people in the real world. This is becomming more apparent daily. It's scary to think that some of these folks are tomorrows leaders of our society.These are wonderfull times we live in, but on the net as in real life, there will always be the minority of abusers. In short, it's our own choice to deal with it or not, but there is no way to stop it. You can use some available 'tools' to minimize it, but even with those, there are ways around any controls.

Regarding the old thread:Digging into those archives!Regarding anonymitity:Can we as a community *really* be certain that the real name your account is associated with is in fact a real person? Even if a rule was implemented to sign posts with a real name won't do much for the actual problem. Those who prefer anonymitity on messageboards will simply just use a false "real" name. Yes, there will be a psychological effect on those who aren't inclined to hide behind anonymitity to act more appropriately, but those who actively seek and use it won't be deterred. Rather than all sorts of handles and such, we'll end up with a slew of aliases. Just a thought,-Sam Tourangeau(aka:Greg)

>>Youre joking right? Youd skip over a post because of>>someones alias on a forum board? Thats about the most small>>minded ignorant thing Ive ever read on these forums and its>>obvious if youre that close minded and or high and mighty in>>your preconceptions about someone based upon their login at>>AVSIm that you skipping over their posts wont mean much.>>Obviously upset you Randy. Sorry, but like many I don't have a>huge amount of time to spare in these forums. I ###### views>during the day and dip in during the evenings when I can. And>there is plenty to read, even ignoring the childish aliases,>threads about FSX, hardware support in the wrong forums, and>the like. Threads like this that complain about the rudeness>to other simmers by being rude to other simmers are>interesting and complex enough. >Could you point out some of the more interesting and>informative threads I may have missed? You can ignore any that>contain posts from me, as I must have seen those. Or else you>have no basis for your judgment of me, or for what you just>said!>>Glad to know you have that much time to spare to assess each>and every contribution from each and every contributor Randy.>Wish I had the time! Another ten years and I will! Perhaps you>should compile a league table based on effective posts by your>criteria and then we could see whether your comment is valid.>>>>>>>AllcottThe only childish posts Ive seen in this tread originate with one poster.

"This may be a reflection of the current trend in American society whichs seems to be that everyone must follow the party line and those that don't are lamblasted and pillified. Not good! IMHO"Oh My, Larry...I really wish you hadn't said that.:-) I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend you right to say it.In reading these forums I don't see that the stuff is confined to one certain geography. We are a "world" community and unfortunately we all have our share of idiots who can't see the forest for the trees."No man is an island", and "Every man's death deminishes me" applies in this case. When our good people quit, the only ones left are the bad. I for one don't want to lose anyone who may be able to help me one day.The question has been asked..."What can we do?" the answer is simple. "We can do something."We all have values that we have been taught since we were young. Y'all know..."Please and Thank You"....If you can't say something good, say nothing."...Y'all know the ones. Use them. Refuse to be a part of the problem. Be part of the solution.Part of our problem is that we have too many extremely large egos out there who want us to know that they are there. We tend to forget that when all is said and done this is a toy. It has no consequence of it's own. We provide the consequences, therefore we have the control.I personnally cannot control what a person may say in favor or against something. I can control what I say. We who want or need something good of this hobby or forum should help defend our ability to play here. Sure, we have Moderators, but we should moderate ourselves. 33,000 to 10 (or however many staff members there are.) is an unfair advantage. Sometimes we are spoiled children. We take things for granted and whine like the dickens when what we lose what we have. Then we holler that "It wasn't my fault."Tom, It scared me a little to learn that you almost pulled the plug on this thing before due to your frustation. What bothers me now is that those things that frustated you to that point in the past, are still present. Some have said we should become more "thick skinned".You shouldn't have to.People, we can control our destiny. When we can say something bad, or throw our log on a fire...DON'T!!And by the way, Larry, I hope that you don't think that this is in any way directed toward you in any way. I just cringed a little when I read your statement. I agree with almost everything you said...but dang, Man!!Give a brotha a break:-)LaMonte Crenshaw Best regardsJan1,KINDWhen I push the button and it works, I'm happy:-)