joe said:
>   Good natured or not, I, for one, would appreciate your 
>   not responding to any post on THIS list 
>   unless you have something positive to add.

good-natured comments _do_
"have something positive to add",
a light-heartedness that is appealing.

much like the gnome's comment:
>   see - watching sports damages your brain :-)

except i think an impartial judge (or a list mom) would rule 
that my back-handed comment that only good programmers
comment their code is more on-target than the gnome's post.
(or yours, joe, for that matter.)


>   Positive also includes criticisms 
>   as long as they are accompanied by
>   suggested alternatives.

yes, and even criticisms which are _not_ accompanied by
suggested alternatives are worthwhile, if they are on-point.


>   You tend to bring out the worst in others at the same time. 

as i appear to have done with you.
or maybe you just don't know what a smiley means...      :+)

nonetheless, thanks for your feedback, joe.
it's good to know when someone is misunderstanding me...

-bowerbird