I was brought up in a way different time , a time called "If you don't have anything nice to say , don't say it !!" I try my best to follow that one . HOWEVER , When the badmouthing is aimed directly at me OR someone I consider a friend , ALL BETS ARE OFF !!!
I fail to understand why some people have to nit pick others . I personally have had a member or 2 that I've gotten into it with .
I've said it before and I'll say it again , I'm here to learn , share what I've learned share photos and most importantly, RELAX !!! If I want drama , I'll go to work !!!
My thoughts exactly, Tim. Now let me address this from a personal (not an admin) viewpoint. That thread got out of hand, and perhaps I shouldn't say anything at all, as I took part, although I hope I wasn't out of order in what I personally said and if I was I apologise, as does Sammi.
We don't like unwarranted destruction. We find it tasteless and unnecessary. Lamps to us are more than just things that give light, they are history in the making. Look at James Hooker's amazing site Lamptech. He has put together an incredible collection of lamps and describes their history and that of the people who designed and made them.
That's what LG should be about, not petty squabbling.
Ok, so maybe lamps aren't sentient beings, but they are to us more than just objects, it's why Sammi and I name some of them, like Gemma, our Gamma 6 SOX post-top, and Johnny, our Beta 5. Then there's Freddie, a 1000W mercury lamp (get it..? Freddie Mercury..?

)
Is that a gender thing..? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, I don't know. But to us, all lamps are important, and even a lowly incandescent lamp or small T5 tube deserves more at the end of its life than just being thrown out or wantonly destroyed to amuse someone.
That's us. Sammi didn't intend any offence and neither did I

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Perhaps I should say something from an admin point of view, but again it's just my view and not necessarily that of any other member of the team.
As regards the incident under discussion, @ WigWag - I should in particular address your concerns. I think we do have to take care with what we say, people do get offended, rightly or wrongly, and all of us, especially the admins, have to tread a fine line. This site
isn't a free-for-all, it's not, whatever anyone may think, a democracy. It's a privately owned site, and without Patrick in particular it simply would not exist. He can't run it entirely on his own, he has a life, so he has us, the admin team, for support and day-to-day management. We take decisions, we have to, and not everyone likes all of them. Some people might call it censorship, but I think that's potentially unfair. Any society or community has to have rules, or it will fall apart. Those rules have to be defined by someone, which is what we recently did. That list is not a completely new one, in fact there is very little that is new there. It is mostly a collation of what has been posted over the 15+ years since Lighting Gallery was founded.
That's it, basically. Take care and try and enjoy the site for the reasons it was founded all those years ago.
Ria
