End of Break

After two weeks rest, I will now be starting to post again on this blog.

However I’ve decided that in future I will limit my contributions to the blog itself, and will not be replying to comments or taking part in the discussion forum. Apart from anything else, this will mean that my writings about various aspects of SuperFocus are all in one place, and not spread around in a way which is difficult to trace.

Comments

[TijlK]

Hi Mark! Welcome back :).

Will you still be *reading* the forum? I.e. can we expect a small selection of the problems, ideas or questions that we post in the forum to infiltrate some of your blog posts once in a while for the benefit of your audience? Or are we really only talking from user to user on the forum?

Regards,
Tijl

[jens]

Hi Mark,
good to have you back again. I'm looking forward to your writings...

[Daouda]

It seems like Mark has reassessed his priorities and redefined his commitments.... Of course it's perfectly understandable since answering to all of the questions and ideas from all the crazy prolific minds in the forum is waaay too much work to be a retired man's hobby... heck it even seems like more work than any single man could handle working full time on it ! Could it be that the unusual amount of excitement and expectations generated by SF3 have taken him somewhat by surprise ?

Unfortunately this probably also means that we don't have any way to communicate with Mark anymore... That we dont have any possibility to ask any question or advice, nor request any kind of help or clarification regarding some aspects of his systems, or suggest anything anymore...

TijlK, in my understanding of Mark's post, he won't even answer to your comment... It's kind of awkward and very unfortunate, but I guess we'll have to live with it.

I still have hope that he will exceptionnaly answer to your question, because it would be nice for us to know what to expect when writing comments or contributing to the discussion forum.

And to Mark, if you happen to read this, I would like to thank you for your work which is pretty much saving my life right now... You deserve to be taking it easy at this point in your life.

[Seraphim]

Welcome back Mark!

At times, I've taken the same approach on discussion boards -- don't get caught up in the 1-on-1, back-and-forth, I quote you and respond, you quote me and respond. It tends to turn into drivel after awhile... Instead, get a sense of the overall direction of the posts, identify any issues or concerns that need addressing, and then write something coherent and substantial in response -- as a new thread, or a new blog post. I have found that approach to be very satisfying, and ultimately more useful, especially for future visitors. Blog posts have much greater longevity and significance than discussion comments. Sometimes to make sense of a comment you have to have read the entire thread with all its rabbit trails.

In the end Mark's new approach should make for site comment that has much greater permanent value -- with articles that can be revisited year after year and still hold their value.

I'll miss Mark's excellent and concise answers to direct questions, but I'm betting he'll incorporate answers to the most important and persistent questions into his blog posts.

Thanks again Mark for all your insights and for this great site!

[Alison Reeves]

Nice to 'see' you back Mark - I hope you are feeling well rested. I am looking forward to reading your blog posts.

[Bob]

Very good to see you back Mark. Thank you for SF. It was fascinating, impressive and heady to watch the to and fro of comment as it evolved. But I did wonder how you could possibly carry on doing that! A very heavy load. Will look forward to your future posts. Agree with Seraphim above: I'm sure that your new approach will add extra and long-lasting value. Thanks again for your generous work.

[Bernie]

Welcome back, Mark!

[Bliss149]

I too am glad you're back. Sounds like a good plan and I'll look forward to your blog posts.