Re: Off Topic? (which topic?)

WSN,

First, there is another worm traveling the net right now. It is not
hitting as hard as the I Love You virus, but it is causing a great deal of
damage. It was the subject of several news stories. It is not only a worm
but it also morphs itself, thus being able to evade anti-virus software.
It would be the ideal manner of travel to hide in a shell labeled as an
anti-virus warning. Alan's warning was very important, and I, too, never
open attachments (nor do I use software that makes it easy to open
attachments or is targeted by viruses and worms).

Second, while there are lots of different sorts of people who join
listservs one set of groupings I have noticed are those let stray-topic
posts roll off their back, and then there are those who fill up the
mailboxes with complaints about stray-topic posts. One of the
characteristics of those who complain about post content (and they
typically complain in an unproductive way about the content of on-topic
posts, too) is their usual failure to contribute anything of substance
ever. They are like the hall monitor - all you remember them for at high
school reunion is their asking you where your pass to go to the bathroom
is. Lately the WSN listserv has had more of the nitpicky complaints than
posts of purpose - at least it seems this way.

Why would having an off-topic post move some people to complain, but posts
advocating we use a racialist-scientistic frame or defending the
conclusions of sociobiologistic research result in their silence? Is the
best that can be mustered in the form of a complaint only to concern
innocuous, mundane anti-virus and conference announcement postings? It
seems to me that there are more important things to spend energy on.

Andrew Austin
Knoxville, TN