Remember:
There is a human being at the other end of that reply. Just because you cannot see the person who is receiving your nasty words does not mean those words don't carry an impact.
And Remember:
I believe with all of my heart that the greatest gift you can give yourself and others is to write. The Internet is a stunning venue for all that anyone has to say. I urge you to write even if you never allow another person to read it. It cleanses you. It keeps you sane.
And Remember:
Never let anyone change your voice. Listen to your teachers but if what they say may alter how you write, take it with a grain of salt. There are rules like correct spelling and grammar. What I am talking about here is your voice. I was told numerous times during my education that my writings were, "too conversational." Thank goodness I didn't listen.
And Remember:
You'll do better by helping people to learn a programming language or format (or any other thing) than you will by sending them a letter that tells them how stupid they are for making a mistake or not knowing as much as you do.
And Remember:
Complete privacy on the Web is an impossibility.
And Remember:
The single most wonderful thing about the Web is that it levels the playing surface. Everyone has an equal voice.
And Remember:
The single most terrible thing about the Web is that it levels the playing surface. Everyone has an equal voice.
And Remember:
The Internet is not wires and computers. The Web is communication in its more pure form.
And Finally:
Although some might feel it trite to end on someone else's quote, I feel it appropriate. Every now and then, when I received a particularly nasty reply, I would reply with this quote as the body of my message. The statement was made by Teddy Roosevelt in his "Citizenship in a Republic" Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris on April 23, 1910. It goes:
"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."