The case for the Defence

Hi,i`m Emack2/aka/Alan age 71,Anglo-Scot and All Blacks supporter since 1953-4.
I came late to Pcs have few Pc skills and as already mentioned PC dyslexic.There
are 3 things you cannot help in life,where your born,when your born,and the colour
of your skin.
Since 2003 have appeared on Freeserve,Rugby Rebels,606,and 606v2 I was bought
up in the age of reality in Rugby,when anything goes as it still does.Home town
referees etc. when if things illegal happened in scrum/lineout/maul/ruck it mean`t
rough justice.
Tactics used then don`t work as well now due to law changes/squad systems etc.
Since joining here I have been reviled for supporting the All Blacks as well as my
native countries,being a human computer spouting stats.and now my prose syle
AGAIN and my age.
I used to think I was among friends here I always treated others with respect
and there treated there opinions that way as well.
ANYONE here deserves that even me recently that seems to have changed
just because I`m old doesn't mean patronizing or talking down to me.
I don`t speak on things I`m not aware off club rugby,don`t rubbish
other peoples teams.
Try to treat every match viewed and commented on objectively,I don`t
do WUMS.
Once 6 months ago I was approached to do a series of articles from
historical aspect.Something taking months of research and still
continueing.
I doubt anyone is still interested in them now still your loss.
I am not arrogant or naïve enough th think my opinion is
any more valid a one than any one elses.
But at least I should be able to voice it without being
treated with contempt.

Well said Alan. I've tidied it up a bit to make it a bit more readable (I know you've had formatting issues, as do I). Sorry you feel that way. I think the vast majority of us read your posts. I suspect that much of the irritation you face comes from from frustration. Any topic that heads down a debate line ends up with people putting forwards their views. You get some of the cross fire if you posted. Even if your intent was completely honorable (which I have not doubt it is).

Hi,i`m Emack2/aka/Alan age 71,Anglo-Scot and All Blacks supporter since 1953-4. I came late to PCs have few Pc skills and as already mentioned PC dyslexic. There are 3 things you cannot help in life,where your born,when your born,and the colour of your skin.

Since 2003 have appeared on Freeserve, Rugby Rebels,606,and 606v2 I was bought up in the age of reality in Rugby,when anything goes as it still does.Home town referees etc. when if things illegal happened in scrum/lineout/maul/ruck it mean`t rough justice. Tactics used then don`t work as well now due to law changes/squad systems etc.

Since joining here I have been reviled for supporting the All Blacks as well as my native countries,being a human computer spouting stats.and now my prose style AGAIN and my age. I used to think I was among friends here I always treated others with respect and there treated there opinions that way as well.

ANYONE here deserves that even me recently that seems to have changed just because I`m old doesn't mean patronizing or talking down to me. I don`t speak on things I`m not aware off club rugby, don`t rubbish other peoples teams.Try to treat every match viewed and commented on objectively,I don`t do WUMS.

Once 6 months ago I was approached to do a series of articles from
historical aspect. Something taking months of research and still
continuing. I doubt anyone is still interested in them now still your loss. I am not arrogant or naive enough to think my opinion is any more valid a one than any one elses. But at least I should be able to voice it without being treated with contempt.

Unfortunately that's the internet in a nut shell, you never really know who you'll come across.

For what it's worth I've read a lot of your articles Alan, genuinely can't comment on them most of the time as they're well before my areas of knowledge but they make for interesting reading.

There'll always be Wums and people that disagree with you, they aren't the same thing though and on a forum a difference of opinion is a good thing, no?

This directed at me among others? Think it's unfair if it is as the majority of comments back aren't anything to do with putting people down but debating a few sections of it. Don't confuse people disagreeing with you as having a go at you. It'd be pretty boring if we all thought the same.

Alan - I have read many of your posts and find them informative. You need a thick skin to engage in forums where opinions are strong and unpleasant characters can hide behind their keyboards. I hope you continue to post for a long time to come.

I read your posts with interest emack. Always found them informative. Would be sorry if you stopped posting.

By sheer volume, good posts and good posters far outweigh the nasties. But if you have a jobbie in a bunch of roses, you don't smell the roses... I have one person on ignore. It helps.

Regarding your pc issues, I didn't know about them. Might have mentioned it at some point but wouldn't have meant it badly if I did. Have enough issues of my own with computers not to mock others...

There is nothing age specific to having issues with a computer keyboard.  It happens.  Some of the most proficient journalists, authors etc are still hesitant 'two finger' warriors on the keyboard and make plenty of spelling mistakes - sliding over keys, pressing the wrong ones, endlessly having to recheck what they've written and virtually always seeing little things they've missed.

It's nothing to do with age.

The best way to survive here is to never show weakness.  If people think you lack confidence, then of course that attracts buzzards - just like in nature.  If you look vulnerable then some buzzards will show up looking for a meal.

So, the best thing would be to just keep contributing without even acknowledging the buzzards.  Don't defend youself on age terms or PC dyslexic terms or on any terms.  You got a right to be here, use it.  Ignore the azzholes.  Keep going.

Anyone with common sense knows when people are having issues with spelling and grammar - and anyone with a brain can still extract the intention of the comments.  Sometimes a typo will get a comic retort from people here and there - but that's no harm either.  It's just fun and we all get them from time to time when our fingers slide across letters and we end up saying things we didn't exactly mean to.

But most people understand when posters are having keyboard issues and ignore those issues.  The buzzards who don't? - well you just ignore them.

Agree with Fly, I have to check every post I type as my four finger approach is prone to many mistakes

so you must type twice as fast as me Biltong.

Biltong wrote:Agree with Fly, I have to check every post I type as my four finger approach is prone to many mistakes

You forgot the period (.) at the end there, Bilt

oops...so did I.

Nil illegitimo in desperandum carborundum.    

Taylorman wrote:so you must type twice as fast as me Biltong.

There is a saying in Afrikaans "Hoe meer has hoe minder spoed"

Meaning, the more haste the less the speed.

Biltong wrote:

There is a saying in Afrikaans "Hoe meer has hoe minder spoed"

Meaning, the more haste the less the speed.

I'm reminded of the old Latin rugby phrase "Vino veritis emptium citius"

Meaning: drink faster, it's your round   

All this sudden esoteric use of different languages makes me think of the old Irish phrase "Póg mo Thóin"

That's a direct quote from Tolkein oops, Tolkien isn't it, Fly?

SecretFly wrote:All this sudden esoteric use of different languages makes me think of the old Irish phrase "Póg mo Thóin"

Strange... that reminded me of an old English saying...



When the devil dumps in your pint, you've just got to sip around it or spoon the fecker out.




This translates into... sometimes you just have to get on with it and make do.

I thought this thread was going to be a historical overview of how defences have changed, Alan.  

When you go to bed, you go with the knowledge that you share them with bed bugs. That is an unsettling thought so you block that from your mind. But one day you wake up with an itch. Your first thought is vengeance. But if you sh it all over the bed to get at the bed bugs, you only end up with sh it all over yourself. If you torch the bed, you kill the bed bugs but you end up with no bed. So the only sensible course of action is to wash the sheets regularly and accept that your bed is infested with nasty little critters and there's not a rucking lot you can do to change that.

No 7and 1/2 it wasn't you just find it tedious trying to explain my pc /prose problems
over and over again.
As to opinions every one has one that's what this site is all about differing views.

 

Metal Tiger wrote:

SecretFly wrote:All this sudden esoteric use of different languages makes me think of the old Irish phrase "Póg mo Thóin"

Strange... that reminded me of an old English saying...

When the devil dumps in your pint, you've just got to sip around it or spoon the fecker out.

This translates into... sometimes you just have to get on with it and make do.

Mate, you live in a rougher neighborhood that i do.  

Alan, regarding the disrespect you refer to, I agree with most people above, there will always be a bunch of melon-heads who get off by being sarcastic or downright morons.  Unfortunately that's life - they are out there.  On a forum like this we never really know each other.  It is the reading between the lines of people's writing which sometimes offer glimpses into their personalities, which I find fascinating.  As to age being an issue, I believe Portnoy is not so far from you in age.  I am 100% sure he and I will forever disagree about expansion of the Premiership and the value of the playoffs (he is clearly wrong, of course), but I enjoy his posts more than many because I know he is passionate about his Rugby and knows what he is writing about.  We have had some very enjoyable discussions. I believe this forum is pretty well controlled and moderated, even if I don't agree with every decision.   It is a good place to be, at least in my opinion.  

(author's note:  author was complimentary towards Portnoy, a notorious Tigers supporter.  Please do not infer any generalisations about presonal preference for the Tigers as a team.  Portoy was used for illustrative purposes only.  I refuse to mention London Tiger because his Rugby analysis is always better than mine no matter how much I think it through, and I am jealous).

Go on doc. We all know you want to call him a ...

The good thing about opinionated people is that they offer you an insight into a view to which you might well have otherwise been blinded.

When it gets personal or petty though, there is no exchange of ideas. Only Neo can stop bullets and we unfortunately all took the blue pill even though, ironically, we find ourselves in a virtual world.

Neo prefers to dodge them rather, he only stops them when he is too lazy to move.

I heard that, doc.

I actually like the Saints and the East Midlands ought to declare independence from the RFU. We'd win the 7Ns every year...   

Portnoy's Complaint wrote:I heard that, doc.

I actually like the Saints and the East Midlands ought to declare independence from the RFU. We'd win the 7Ns every year...   

I was hoping to sneak that one by you, but as I suspected the Tiger have eyes and ears everywhere.............

That said, I am 100% on your bandwagon - Freedom for the East Midlands! We would absolutely make a damn good run at the (newly formed) 7 nations each year. And let's not even get to the RWC...............

we live in the age of immediate gratification.

so long posts, or hard to read posts, may not always get read in full by everyone.

i dont think you should feel disrespected by it, but on the other hand, i dont think you should be surprised if people occasionally comment on it as this is, after all, the internet. and people like things to be easy and, as i mentioned, immediately gratifying.

..in other words - twitterising of thought processes is all the rage in hip social media cultcha, innit.

SecretFly wrote:..in other words - twitterising of thought processes is all the rage in hip social media cultcha, innit.

If it can't be said in 140 characters then it's not worth sayi








  

doctor_grey wrote:

Metal Tiger wrote:

SecretFly wrote:All this sudden esoteric use of different languages makes me think of the old Irish phrase "Póg mo Thóin"

Strange... that reminded me of an old English saying...

When the devil dumps in your pint, you've just got to sip around it or spoon the fecker out.

This translates into... sometimes you just have to get on with it and make do.

Mate, you live in a rougher neighborhood that i do.  

Alan, regarding the disrespect you refer to, I agree with most people above, there will always be a bunch of melon-heads who get off by being sarcastic or downright morons.  Unfortunately that's life - they are out there.  On a forum like this we never really know each other.  It is the reading between the lines of people's writing which sometimes offer glimpses into their personalities, which I find fascinating.  As to age being an issue, I believe Portnoy is not so far from you in age.  I am 100% sure he and I will forever disagree about expansion of the Premiership and the value of the playoffs (he is clearly wrong, of course), but I enjoy his posts more than many because I know he is passionate about his Rugby and knows what he is writing about.  We have had some very enjoyable discussions.  I believe this forum is pretty well controlled and moderated, even if I don't agree with every decision.   It is a good place to be, at least in my opinion.  

(author's note:  author was complimentary towards Portnoy, a notorious Tigers supporter.  Please do not infer any generalisations about presonal preference for the Tigers as a team.  Portoy was used for illustrative purposes only.  I refuse to mention London Tiger because his Rugby analysis is always better than mine no matter how much I think it through, and I am jealous).

 
I've met Portnoy a couple of times at various Tiger related drinking dens.... and you are in the ball park on age. And he still has the mischevious twinkle in his eye, on or off this forum.