I posted this on the community board but could not read it due to the bug discussed below. I'm posting it here as well to be on the safe side.

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Robert or Justin,

From Netscape for Linux I tried to access:

http://www.habitablezone.com/community/messages/14.html

and got a white screen with nothing readable. I then tried accessing the
same URL from the latest release of Mozilla for Linux (not on my machine at
home) and got something readable.

Mary Anne produced a link implying the various problems of the Internet
are urban legend. The following URL demonstrates the problems of the
Internet are indeed real:

http://www.websense.com/management/stats.cfm

Who's information is correct? This is probably an example of "Liars,
damned liars and statisticians". Mary Anne and I are probably both correct
depending on how the statistics are slanted. However I believe my point
still stands that the Internet is slowly failing. My wife and co-workers
are getting too much porn site spam for this not to be true. Also it is
amazing how many people want to break into my computer at work. We got
several network gurus who work full time just to keep bozos out of our
local network (your tax dollars at work).

Responding to some points made by Robert:

"Long before the Internet came along, a wise man observed: "99% of everything
is crap".

I believe it was Theodore Sturgeon who said "90% of everything is crap". I
think 90% is closer to the truth than 99%.

Robert then said:

"The sky, and civilization as we know it, aren't going to fall because
EP Grondine has a borderline case of Tourette's syndrome. I observed that
allowing him to express himself his way provided a valuable insight into
his mind. I'd generalize that, and say that the Net does a valuable service
by bringing the dark side of human nature into the light, where we can keep
an eye on it."

I think Robert's observation that Grondine may have Tourette's Syndrome
is insightful. Under that assumption, Grondine's behavior becomes
understandable. "The sky, and civilization as we know it, aren't going
to fall..." is a correct statement. All Grondine can do is make a minor
pest out of himself. However the legions of pests out there on the Internet
are like a river of slime eroding granite. I have seen countless discussion
groups like Habital Zone fail because of the mistaken notion that the
freedom of speech for scumbags is something sacred.

Robert offered the following jocular response to my earlier comment:

>The lunatics and sociopaths are driving the rational and decent people
>from the Internet.
>>
>>If so, what does your continued presence say about you? ;-)!

You know what, Robert? I've been patient but this is slowly wearing me
out. I've been doing Space discussion groups off-and-on since 1987.
These groups always start out with a hard core of serious, enthusiastic,
intelligent people who want to talk about Space Exploration. Then the nuts
slowly trickle in. The nuts are never content with being amongst their own.
They seek validation from rational people. Consequently the flame wars
begin, the discussion shifts over to flying saucers, the face, NASA
conspiracies, etc. The bright people quietly leave and the discussion
forum dies. This process is as predictable as the Sun rising. I've given
up on MSNBC. After Habital Zone bites the dust, I think I'll give up on
Internet Space Exploration discussion groups altogether.

Gary