It's straightforward, really: Bob's got a column to do. He's merely doing his job, which is to produce snappy, juicy tidbits, gossip, biting remarks, whatever else makes readers happy. Just like some journalists do film reviews, TV reviews, etc, Bob is doing "Internet reviews", and I have no doubt that he receives vast amounts of supportive mail. It's a psychological thing, Joe Public liking to see somebody telling somebody some "truths" on their behalf -- "Yes, you tell them Bob! Good work!" -- and is merely a result of the Internet becoming part of Joe Public's life. It can't be any other way, and if it wasn't Bob doing it, it would be somebody else. And there isn't really any reason to be too concerned about it; it's an achievement of sorts to have people spending time criticising you. Some people believe that Bob's past somehow should influence what he's doing now. It doesn't, it won't, and it never will, because he's not doing the things now that he did many years ago. He's doing something completely different. Bob is actually quite funny at times, I liked the thing about wearing a tie. Can we get somebody to send a reminder on the IETF announcement list, for people to bring ties and testboot their laptops before turning up in Montreal? -- ------ ___ --- Per G. Bilse, Mgr Network Operations Ctr ----- / / / __ ___ _/_ ---- EUnet Communications Services B.V. ---- /--- / / / / /__/ / ----- Singel 540, 1017 AZ Amsterdam, NL --- /___ /__/ / / /__ / ------ tel: +31 20 6233803, fax: +31 20 6224657 --- ------- 24hr emergency number: +31 20 421 0865 --- Connecting Europe since 1982 --- http://www.EU.net e-mail: bilse@EU.net