- Three -  The Master

The Wanderer has gone to look for Noor.  I sit under The Tree, legs
straight like the Nyanga demanded,  my lazy eyes gaze into the darkness
longing for their shadows and memories.  The Longing has been hard.  I
slowly lower my eyelids until they close.  I repeat The Way to myself
lest I should forget.  How often did we gather by The Well?  How
intense was the thirst?  How overwhelming was the Passion?  Oh,  the
Longing! Ha!

We never wanted to keep them outside the Walls Of Fire.  The
battalions,  nevertheless,  came over the horizon.  They scaled The
Walls and strangled The Fire.  We retreated to The Cave.

First,  came the people of The Tower.  They were all about common
standards and free exchange.  Then came the Twirly Bits people and
filled the atmosphere with flash,  clever things and designer sites. 
Soon after that,  The Corporate Net began to impose its ugly Law on
everything.  They called it Order.  The same old tired Order that has
replaced The Way when that was lost.  Now it is all broken:

Neon signs and plastic.  Shell suites and 3-beat songs.  Candlewick
gowns and polyester.  Dirty trains and mean streets.  Trimmed hedges
and matching dinner plates.  Net curtains and Shabitat.  M&S uniforms
and snooker.  Shoulder pads and Lamisil.  Acid arcades and pierced
bodies.  Suburban Lands.  Boiled sweets,  boiled peas,  boiled potatoes
and boiled pigs feet!

Mediocrity breeds horridness.  The dark blocks out the Eye of the Sun. 
The Order is bankrupt and the Pig makes the sty.

How do I hope to return?  How do I hope to dwell these dreary damp
houses and roam these tormented pages?  Oh,  Noor!  How I long for your
return.

One day I shall tell you about The Way and The Language but you shall
hear not for the Order is deafness.

Amidst the rubble,  In the dust,  I found their own Book of Craft, 
trampled and forgotten.  Three leaves I found,  the forth was missing. 
Here they are:


-  "Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they
will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above
all accurately so they will be guided by its light." (Joseph Pulitzer)

-  On Web site design

	*  the site must have a personality,  a character
	*  the site must have a purpose
	*  the site must hold its own end of the conversation
	*  the site must have the right information in the right place
	*  do not let your audience get lost
	*  do not use twirly bits just for the hell of it
	*  do not do anything just because you can
	*  less is more

-  On e-mail:

	*  write to people,  not machines
	*  understand the limitations of text,  understand the
	   limitations of words
	*  use your language appropriately and correctly
	*  at the same time,  do not criticise others misuse
	*  be sensitive and tolerant
	*  do not reply to a message in 2 weeks,  do it now
	*  do not quote entire message in reply and add one line of
	   your own
	*  do not reply if all that you want to say is "I agree"
	*  separate your input from quoted texts so that your audience
	   know which is which
	*  mark quoted text
	*  learn selsctive quoting
	*  do not saddle your message with unwanted and un-necessary
garbage
	*  do not use techno-wonders for the hell of it
	*  promote yourself,  but subtly
	

-  On browsing:

	*  seek and you shall find
	*  understand the 'best effort model' on which the Internet
	   relies
	*  that means that resources are controlled by the end user
	*  that means we all have to share the bandwidth voluntarily
	*  that means if you open multiple simultaneous connections: 
	   you are greedy and unjust
	*  congestion is caused by people,  not machines
	*  hold your own end of the conversation
	*  do not believe everything you see
	*  learn from what you like,  learn from what you do not like
	*  understand your routes,  gates,  way marks and mile stones
	*  if you like something,  do it again
	*  let others know what you know
	*  let others see what you see
	*  protect the vulnerable









________________________________________

Dr Ahmad Risk
http://mednetics.org
home: +44 1273 724866
work:  +44 1737 240022
fax:     +44 1737 244660









________________________________________

Dr Ahmad Risk
http://mednetics.org
home: +44 1273 724866
work:  +44 1737 240022
fax:     +44 1737 244660




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