Flames and Friendship

Thursday, August 6, 1998 by Dave Winer.

I'm very busy doing community relations work today, lots of writing, learning, interesting stuff. In the meantime, two brief followups on previous pieces.

Y2K in 1998? 

On Tuesday in Y2K Breakdowns in 1998? I asked if there had already been any serious Y2K outages.

I got back 34 interesting responses:

http://www.scripting.com/mail/mail980804.html

This is part of the normal flow on Scripting News. I write a DaveNet piece, receive a dozen or more interesting responses, do a light edit, and post them as they come in on a mail page.

An interesting community has gathered here. I almost never get flamed because the page is edited by a human being, flames don't pass thru. The group often beats the major publications, covering all the angles, with personal experiences and links.

Further, each participant's mail address is provided, so it's easy to ask for clarification, or a phone number for an interview. A few of the contributors have become regular interviewees for smart reporters who know good sources when they see them.

There are some subjects, like scripting and web development that they cover better than anyone else, and they do it for love, not money. It's an amazing group. I've never properly thanked them for their help in making Scripting News an interesting and informative website. Thanks!

No flames 

I thought it was noteworthy that The Emotional Age of the Internet didn't get a single flame in response. There's nothing more to say other than it's remarkable and unprecedented. Thanks again!

Friends 

I have one final thing to say, about friendship. It's actually a story.

Sometime in 1995 I sent an email to Chuck Shotton asking him about a web developer conference he had just participated in. He sent me back a sarcastic reply, or so I thought, and I flamed him! Hard and deep.

Then we talked on the phone. Then we emailed a lot. Then we did projects together. And eventually we became best friends. So, the moral of the story is, pay attention to those flames and who they come from. You might find new friends that way, especially if you like people with strong opinions!

Over and out.

Dave Winer