Semi-OT: fP Room, focus, and "saving money"

[Fairlight]

> From: filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com
> [mailto:filepro-list-bounces at lists.celestial.com]On Behalf Of
> Jean-Pierre A. Radley
> Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 6:43 PM
> To: FilePro Mailing List
> Subject: Re: Box functions with PCL printer do not work
>
>
> Jim Asman propounded (on Wed, Mar 10, 2004 at 03:43:52PM -0800):
> | --------------- Original Message ---------------
> | At 05:31P Wed Mar 10 2004, Dennis Malen wrote:
> |
> | > Having started to use to use barcodes which requires the use
> of PCL I find
> | > that I can not use the box functions in filepro to draw lines.
> | >
> | > Is that the case or is there anything I'm doing wrong.
> | >
> | > Your comments would be most appreciated.
> | >
> |
> | The box functions are still "working", but because your barcode font
> | is probably a different pitch than the regular text, the box elements
> | are NOT likely to line up. The same is true if you put a few condensed
> | characters in the middle of the box.
> |
> | What you can do is to use the "tabs" printer codes in the hp-XXX tables
> | to anchor the box characters affected by the barcode.
> |
> | Give me a call at the office and we'll fix you up.
>
> Don't do that!  Visit the filePro room at www.tinyurl.com/yuag7, where
> Jim Asman is present more often than not, and thus avoid fattening the
> bank account of your telephone company. :-)

I have a problem with this, in all honesty.

For many moons now, several of us (including yourself, if memory serves)
have maintained that if we participate actively on our own initiative with
suggestions and help in a public forum, that is our prerogative.  We choose
to do so as a service to the community.  We have also maintained that if we
are contacted privately, or something is handled in private, it is expected
to be "business", and several of us have maintained that it is billable in
that case.

In short, there is a distinction between what one may be willing to do as a
public service, and what one may consider business, or if not business, at
least private.

Since Jim asked him to call, it may be business, it may be private.  That's
not my lookout at all.  But to me, the statement carried with it an
implication that this is not the venue in which to deal with the issue for
whatever reason.  The actual reason is irrelevant.

Since the fP Room is something I consider an extension of this
list/community, I should think the same general rules apply.

Have Nancy and I discussed -business- in the chat room?  Certainly...but
simply because we were both already there at the same time and it was
convenient to simply utter a few sentences there rather than ring
each other up separately just for that, when it didn't need to remain
confidential.  But we -don't- make appointments to go to the room to
broadcast our business to the world just to save money.

Which draws me to the final point I'd like to make.  Little sympathy as
I have for any telecom company with their attendant fat wallets, your
comments demean the efforts of both John's efforts with the chat room, and
Bill's efforts with this list.  The entire problem with spam originated
because of a (false) perception of zero cost.  It costs Bill to maintain
this list, and it costs John to maintain the chat room.  IMNSHO, it's not
your place to feel free to shift the burden of cost for what -could- be a
direct tech support issue, or at the very least a private issue, onto John.

I think that a comment like yours shifts the focus of such a great facility
away from public service and community sharing into an extension of 
business--some of which may not be anyone else's concern, and might require
a degree of privacy.  I really feel that the chat room should pretty much
have about the same standards as most have adopted here over the years.

Of course, it's John's room, and whatever he feels or does is the final
word on the matter.  I'm simply saying that I think this "recommendation"
was in poor taste at best.  Actually, it struck me as quite crass.

mark->
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