VERANT RESPONDS - IN OTHER NEWS, GABRIEL'S TRUMPET ANNOUNCES INCIPIENT APOCALYPSE, LUM IS NICE TO PEOPLE, AND KILLCREEK POSES NUDE FOR PLAYBOY

Must say, I didn’t expect this.

You know.. It’s been an interesting read the last day and a half. I actually have learned quite a bit from it. I’m not a real big “rage against The Man” kind of person, but I can see a lot of that going on here, and I suppose that’s inevitable.

I believe it’s always good to try to do things nicely the first time. A bit stronger the next time, then get harsh if it’s warranted. I’m more than willing (as you have seen) to skip a step if I get a flack from someone (as in this case). If that comes off as Draconian then I guess that’s life. I much prefer the gracious approach… there have even been times when I’ve had to bite my lip while writing emails telling people to stop what they are doing, because a part of me actually understands it and maybe even agrees with it but it still has to be done. In the end though had I recieved a response asking just “why.. what’s wrong with this?” I would have been more than happy to explain, but still firm about the end result.

Is my writing that email going to get the Guide Manual taken down from everywhere? Of course not.. but it is important to protect Copyrighted material. Read thru the manual again and you will see a lot of the same information that’s up on our website. There are also some things that frankly I would have prefered stayed internal.. most of which are commands guides use, etc. The last thing I want is everyone asking to be “/buff/index.html”ed. I’m quite sure most of you could understand this if you think about it logically.. I also don’t want every hacker in the world to have any starting points, because we have better things to do with our programmers time.

At the end of the day, I don’t send out a lot of emails like that exchange with Lum. If that 2nd email seemed harsh, well.. guess what I’m human too and just maybe spending time chasing down stuff like that can get frustrating. It would be nice if people like Lum would maybe send an email saying “Hey.. someone just sent me this and I’d like to post it, but I’m not sure if I should.. it kinda seems a bit confidential” he would have gotten a really nice response from me asking him not to and explaining my reasons.

But, That’s the way it goes…

My email address for replies is jsmedley@verant.com.

John Smedley
President and CEO
Verant Interactive, Inc.