I don't think people are any less personable, it is just the impersonal nature of bulletin board conversations and e-mails.

When driving a car it is easy to get mad at the other driver and start to think of them as a car instead of as a person. How many of us have acted towards another driver in a rude fashion which if we knew the other driver we wouldn't have done...cutting in front of someone or not allowing someone to cut in front of you for an example. I saw two guys at a StL game coming down the merge ramp where each lane was alternately letting one car go through in the other lane. These two though refused to give up their turn and each edged forward a few inches at a time towards the opening until ...BANG...fender bender. Then they both jump out and start yelling at the other guy for being so stupid.

It is easy to use bulletin board posts the same way and difficult not to. In fact, the last sentence in Rob's posts 2 posts up could be construed as the same personality attack he complained about from Brian. That he perhaps didn't mean it like that is lost by the impersonal nature of bulletin board posts.

I don't have a solution and I plead guilty...both on the road and on the board. I'll try to do better.

Dave