clues for the clueless

[cellio]

If you find yourself writing, on a mailing list, "I know this is off topic, but", stop right there. That "but" is trying to tell you something. Abort the message and move along with the rest of your day. Really. It'll be fine. Even if you weren't about to propegate an urban legend or the billionth copy we've seen of some actual news item, it takes a fair bit of either cluelessness or hubris to believe that if you don't spread your dire warning about some gardening problem to a mailing list about renaissance music, the people who need to know won't find out.

Edit: Posting this to the mailing list in question would, of course, have been off-topic, so I have to content myself with griping about it here. :-)

Comments

[dr4b]

Seriously. I've had to watch so many baseball bloggages turn into arguments over people being off-topic that at this point, half the time I don't even feel like commenting on something if I'm *on topic*.