Re: [cobalt-users] Posting to the list In General

[Jim Popovitch <jimpop@xxxxxxxxx>]

Carrie Bartkowiak <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> [snip]
>
> At this point, I'm tired of proving myself to assholes like Jim, so

I doubt it, your arrogance controls you too much to allow you to give
up.  Hell, look at the crap you posted below.  Since you're waving your
hypothetical dick around, I'll let you know that I started with an
Atari before moving on to the Commodore and then the Commodore64, years
before you did.

-Jim P.

--- Carrie Bartkowiak <ravencarrie@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> The threads going on tonight has made me want to state a couple of
> things.
> 
> -There are no stupid questions.
> -When posting a question, there is never such a thing as giving too
> much information - with the exception of posting details that people
> can use to find your (possibly insecure) machine on the vast realm of
> the internet (ie: ip addresses, domain names).
> -When responding to a post, there is never such a thing as giving too
> much information.
> -If you can't genuinely help, don't answer. Tossing your "knowledge"
> around does nothing but piss off list members. No matter what your
> experience, education, "knowledge", assumptions, or concept of
> self-importance, there will always be people who know more than you
> do
> and people who know less.
> 
> I don't know. Maybe I don't know jack about customer service and
> helping people. Maybe I don't know jack about running a Cobalt or a
> web hosting business. Maybe I don't have a foot to stand on. Let's
> see.
> -My hosting company is making pure profit - all operating expenses
> are
> more than taken care of and my corporation is turning a profit.
> -My clients generate an average of three emails per week total (not
> each), thanks to the comprehensive answers that I give them anytime
> they ask a question. After the first week in which they're getting
> used to the Cobalt and my level of personal service, all of their
> questions have to do with the programs that they are using
> (Dreamweaver, FrontPage, WS_Ftp, CuteFTP, etc.) - and they all get
> answered.
> -Not only do they all get answered, they're all answered by me
> personally.
> -100% of my clients are referred from friends who are current
> clients.
> I do not advertise. To this point I have only needed to rely on
> word-of-mouth advertising.
> -To date, I have administrated three different RaQs - all RaQ4
> machines, both "i" and "r".  There's my Cobalt experience, no
> siss-boom-ba about it. As for total Linux experience, I've got two
> Redhat boxes here at home. Whoopee. On my home network I've got
> various Windows machines, the two linux boxes, and a couple of Macs;
> utilizing one IP and two routers, and growing all the time (I'm a
> hopeless parts-assembler.)
> 
> On a personal level...
> I hold a 5-star, 100% customer approval rating at ExpertCity.com. I
> held that rating *before* they lowered the standards - at which
> point,
> I stopped taking questions there.
> I am an editor for the Computer:Webmastering ezine at BriefMe.com,
> and
> I get paid for it.
> Before it went debunk, I was a featured author (one of about a dozen)
> at Themestream.com with over 250,000 pageviews to my computer
> articles, that were featured in (that I know of) more than 10
> nationally syndicated ezines, at least 30 different web sites, and
> recommended to customers by the ExpertCity.com corporate team. I got
> paid for those articles, too. Quite well, might I add.
> I'm also a freelance writer for PageWise, Inc. - doing
> computer-related topics as well as personal interest articles. I get
> paid for that, too.
> I have managed a national DSL installation company; expanding its
> workforce from 10 installers to over 300, its reach from a few
> counties in southern Florida to having successful branches in 5
> states, raising the successful installation rate from 56% to 95%,
> bringing the monthly debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars to a
> pure profit level of over a million per month, and expanding our
> whopping one contract from BellSouth.Net to a list of contracts from
> Ameritech.Net, Telamon, Covad, Digivision, and Hughes.
> I've done 13 1/2 hour shifts with headphones on my ears convincing
> people that they really *can* handle those fancy new Gateway
> computers
> with all of the bells and whistles - and while doing that, I
> maintained a 9-minute call time average, and a 100% customer approval
> rating.
> I've run and managed my own chat site, featuring (for those of you
> that remember) the iChat software (Yahoo used this before switching
> to
> their own java applet). I created a community that (even though the
> chat site is gone now) is still going strong, 5 years later, has at
> least 3 small "chatters meetings" per year, and has had two "national
> meetings" - one in Indiana at a chatter's home, and the last in Las
> Vegas. At the height of the site's popularity, our only competition
> was iVillage and Yahoo itself. CheetahChat was begging us to be their
> main partner - before I found out what a jerk the owner was and
> summarily sent him on his way. The community still maintains 3 active
> mailing lists.
> I have been designing web sites by hand since 1997 (with clients
> including HBO and the Smithsonian Institute); and currently along
> with
> my hosting business, work from home while raising my two sons; still
> writing HTML by hand, programming PHP and CGI scripts - the most
> recent PHP script and database being worth $120,000 - along with all
> of my various little projects.
> I've written an ebook titled HTML by Hand. All of its readers write
> me
> glowing reports on how much they love the book, and proudly send me
> URLs of the sites they've designed from what they've learned with the
> book.
> Along with helping out on this list when I can for the past 10
> months,
> and fielding at least 20 questions directly emailed to me each week
> from list members, I moderate 22 other mailing lists ranging from
> bloody political debates to bloody homebirthing.
> 
> I started with a Commodore64 when I was 9 (I think?) and I'm 30 now.
> No paper certificates, no fancy letters after my name. Dropped out of
> college to do the "married" thing, so no degrees. I'll be going into
> Unix classes next month and I'll have my CCNA by December. I own my
> own corporation that's operating in the black, and until a week ago,
> was one of 4 owners and 7 board members of another corporation that
> was also operating in the black, with branches in 3 states and having
> pulled its first national installation contract after one month of
> existence (we decided to split the 3 branches into 3 smaller
> corporations).
> 
> At this point, I'm tired of proving myself to assholes like Jim, so
> I'll just stop here. I hope I've helped you determine whether or not
> I'm "worthy" to be answering questions here, whether or not I know
> jack about customer service and helping people, running a web hosting
> business, and administrating a Cobalt. If I haven't, too damn bad.
> 
> I don't purport to know it all. I admit when I'm wrong. I say what I
> mean, without hiding behind double entendres or answering questions
> with questions. I help when I can, and try my best to give clear,
> understandable, helpful posts - especially to newbies.
> I try to be nice whenever possible, but I'm a Scorpio and I have my
> limits as well as a vicious temper. Basically, I give what I get.
> 
> So if you think I'm a rude bitch, most likely I've either caused you
> to go on the defensive or you're taking my words the wrong way. If
> you
> think I don't know what the hell I'm talking about, read this letter
> again and you'll know for sure whether I do or not. I don't claim to
> be something I'm not, I don't wag my attitude in people's faces.
> Above
> all, I never look down my nose, because I am secure in who I am and
> humble enough to know that there will always be people who know less
> than me, and people whose "little finger's worth" of knowledge puts
> the total extent of my knowledge to shame.
> 
> My point with all of this rambling? Simple.
> Don't act as if you're better than anyone on this list. You have no
> idea who you're talking to, or who you're surrounded by. There's no
> use in starting an argument over semantics, because there are always
> multiple ways to solve a problem no matter what operating system
> you're using. Err on the side of caution, assume nothing, and
> over-explain... it never hurts.
> Oh yeah... leave your attitude/ego at the door. We've no use for it
> here. I don't care if you're Bill Gates - if you're an asshole,
> you're
> an asshole, and no one gives a good shit about how good *you* think
> you are. If you can't help, don't open your mouth.
> 
> 
> Now I'm gonna go vote in the now-infamous 4th Congressional race here
> in VA, and then turn in for the first segment of the 4hrs per day
> that
> I get to sleep.
> I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with hugs and kisses from
> children and spouses, and lots of personal satisfaction in what
> you've
> accomplished during the day. That's what I'll have, and I wish the
> same for all of you.
> 
> CarrieB
> 
> 
> 
> 
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