Welcome to the newsgroups, we've got fun and games...

Have any of you stumbled across this training and certification forum we set up a little bit ago? Different from our public newsgroups that many of you use. The new forums are nice because they weed out spam; you guys can be moderators; you can rate questions, tag, get recognized for your contributions; and it looks more 2008 than 1998; etc. so I'm curious what you think of it.

And I’m curious if everyone's being nice in there.

Some of you might know that our public newsgroups have had a reputation for being kind of intimidating, due to a group of quick-witted certified professionals who have enjoyed taunting* anyone brave enough to post something. I know this first hand; I remember when the first thing I posted was greeted with something along these lines:

>> Get out!
          >>Wait. r u a girl? R U hawt?" 
                    >>WHat is Trika, is that a p0rn st*r?

 

So, that was welcoming.

Always a professional environment, certainly.

Actually, I think it has been a lot better** lately, do you? Thanks for that, quick-witted certified professionals. In any case, we now have this one general forum I just pointed out, and the many certification-specific newsgroups we hope you're still finding helpful. Your thoughts?

 

* I still picture these aggressive posters as little online Hell's Angels, speeding between the newsgroups—like little roadhouses—on their hogs, in leather jackets, tiny flask of Jack Daniels in hand; hoping to pass a naïve, new test taker waiting in the heat with a polite inquiry, only to roar past in a cloud of mocking laughter, dust, and noise...

** Perhaps the Certification Newsgroup Hell’s Angels are softening? Retiring to a little newsgroup-version of Phoenix, maybe, to drink pina coladas and have their tattoos removed?