For my 2c worth I must say that I too very much appreciate OLO both in its capacity of "MicroCosm" and also becoz of some of the highly entertaining and gracious Souls that frequent this place.

[Brief Note] Some gay friends co-incidentally are "threatening" a visit from France. Their internet price SING -> DENPASAR Euro500. I booked their tickets for them from inside Indo, approx $AU100 each.

Why? In no small part because of their IP address. Yes, IP herding and economic control. The solution, in part, scramble yr IP and jump into a different zone with a local IP number. Some example sw:
http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/downloads/proxy_hide_ip_info/

Also effective when u get IP banned from this place. The security here is lame. Once u've been chucked out, u can create a new account under a scrambled IP and once done, can continue to enter OLO on yr old banned IP number. Great crowd, but the SW seriously sux inc no smilies, can't post pics and can't research and buddy specific individuals. Of course, the above has legitimate uses and is not necessarily only for "wicked rogue poppets" such as mySelf.

...Adam...

P.S.
Why is that U remind me of someone very dear 2 us RObert?
It was perhaps the:
"Yet yr Yes b Yes & yr No b No" line me thinks.
ms.cr.as.+RO
So gentle, so refined .. but a curious co-incidence only no doubt?

P.P.S.
Only grave news from Indo I regret to inform. Best perhaps though I retire back into obscurity an bcome an impartial observer.

P.P.P.S.
!The Solution: GreenBrowny 4 President!

Morgan: << comoared >>

Erk, that's simultaneously what happens to unreconstructed Marxists who find themselves in a tinny under my command (which doesn't happen exactly all that often), or a nice example of one of my pet hates about OLO: i.e. the inability to correct typos that inevitably occur, despite the sensible requirement to re-read a comment before posting. But that's quite piffling, really - particularly in light of DreamOn's fascinating post above, which explains much to me.

I'd suspected that something like that was up, but any particular professional expertise I used to have in computing and the Internet ended about a decade ago. It explains alot about the various shifting and multiple identities that pervade OLO, but fortunately those who play those games seem to be less prevalent at OLO than elsewhere.

I'm more interested that some people have quantified their OLO participation in terms of labour hours. For me, it's most definitely a diversion, an engagement with the world outside where I actually am. I have a very nice life in a lovely ittle country town, which includes owning a small business that makes enough to pay the bills and providing my partner with a modest income, while I do the managerial side and run the place a couple of days a week. The rest of the time I'm busy mowing, slashing, pruning, spraying - fishing, as often as possible - cooking, cleaning, painting etc etc

[cont]

[cont]

What I mean is that OLO is a very valuable pastime and engagement with the wider world for me, but it in no way equates to "work", and also that I don't pretend that I can possibly change any of the wider world via my participation. If I really wanted to do that, I'd get my act together and publish something.

Having said that, and taking on board particularly R0bert's comments, in general terms over several years, OLO hasn't changed significantly any of my core values and beliefs. However, through interaction with various OLO members (of whom R0bert and Ludwig are excellent examples, among many others) I've developed empathy and insights into perspectives that I hadn't considered before.

My opinion is that Graham Young and his associates have created an excellent Internet forum for expression of ideas and opinions, that overall does very well when compared with other sites. Goodness knows I've fallen foul of Graham's standards of argument more than once (and at least one time was justified, in retrospect...), but it still remains my favourite site for Internet interaction.

Of course, it has nothing to do with the fact that I'm an eccentric old fart living in the bush.

I successfully resisted ending the last sentence with a smiley.

I like a grin, and that can be found in this forum.
But C J Morgan has explained another reason I like the forum.
My small town is smaller than yours CJ betcha.
But only 40ks from holiday center.
I do not except us old blokes and gals are stuck in the mud.
I harvest new ideas daily and drive constant change at work and in life.
Every forum I was ever in was not unlike this one, one was as good, but most highlighted the worst in too many posters.
Age?
Why does it matter? I see the very young and the very old in print here you can some times see it as clearly as body language but not always.
Had no idea CJM was an old bloke.
One thing we must confront in any forum is some will always need to push ideas we can not except, we are not forced to read them or reply to them but I often forget that.

Thanks for the kind words Foxy, Oly, dickie, Belly, Arjy, Hassy, pelly and Banjy.

I’m humbled.

For me, one of the really great things about OLO is the feeling of respect that I get from many fellow posters. It comes at a time when I badly need it – I seem to have lost respect or failed to gain it in from my peers the first place in my work environment, and gained some pretty deep disillusionment as a result, for my efforts to achieve higher levels of effectiveness in our core duties, which revolve around environmental care, sustainability and good biological science.

Another great part of OLO is the entertainment value.

Polycarp: “That was about 12 months ago.”

CJ: “But Porky, you've only been on OLO for just over 4 months...”

Aaaahh haaa hahahaha!

Happy third OLOversary as of yesterday, Ludwig.

Let me tell you, GrahamY's surprisingly early observation in the second (un-hard-numbered) post was not correct. Only pressure of other commitments prevented me from being the first respondent to your opening post. Graham's blake dog must have been pestering him at the time.

One of course seldom knows, amongst OLO users who (quite legitimately) use aliases, with whom one may be exchanging views. Perhaps that is one of OLO's great strengths. The quality of argument and written expression is more important than reputation or public image. These two features of OLO enable a potentially productive exchange of views without the constraints of conventional political debate imposed by such things as the demands of party loyalty, or an order of government business as determined by a dominant few.

With thousands of hours on the OLO clock, Ludwig may indeed himself be a political 'plant', but he is certainly no vegetable. He does display an abiding concern with two possible certainties: environmental death, and taxa.

Ludwig asks:

"Do any of our country’s decision-makers take any notice at all?"

I suspect some may. I believe I have seen a former Prime Minister viewing, and both a former Governor-General, and a serving High Court Justice, posting under aliases on OLO. Maybe even a former State Premier, but I'm not quite so sure about that. On the assumption that such persons still have social contact with serving politicians, you would have to think some notice would be taken of at least some of the issues raised, or views expressed, on OLO.

OLO also lets such people blow whistles, if so inclined.

Ludwig is really forcing us to ask ourselves 'What do we see the function of OLO as being, and how well does it fulfil that function?'.

An answer to Ludwig's final question might well be both yes and no, for it is a multi-dimensioned question. I think, on balance, the typical and safe Australian response to most dimensions of the question would prevail, and be 'no'.