XPost: alt.usage.english, alt.english.usage   
   From: peter@pmoylan.org.invalid   
      
   [rec.puzzles deleted, since it seems to be irrelevant to the topic. But   
   alt.english.usage added, on the grounds that some of the people there   
   remember the good old days.]   
      
   On 13/04/24 18:34, Aidan Kehoe wrote:   
   > Ar an dara lá déag de mí Aibreán, scríobh HenHanna:   
      
   I'm still struggling with the Irish number system (second day ten =   
   12th), but I guess I'll get used to it eventually.   
      
   >> Was PTD more of a Presence in Sci.Lang or in AUE?   
   >   
   > I was never active in alt.usage.english so I can’t comment.   
   >   
   >> Was he a   BIG FISH  in  other groups?   
   >>   
   >> When did he come to Usenet?   
   >   
   > Google Group suggests about 1997.   
   >   
   > He doesn’t appear to be active anymore, not a great use of your time   
   >  to obsess about him.   
      
   I'm always a little nervous of responding to a HenHanna question, but as   
   the oldest living member of AUE I'd better give an answer.   
      
   PTD originally was an inhabitant of sci.lang, but he appeared in AUE via   
   crossposts complaining about crossposts from AUE to sci.lang. Over time   
   he appeared more and more often in AUE, possibly because sci.lang seemed   
   to be in its death throes. (Not his fault, I gather.) He was a bit of a   
   misfit in AUE because he got into so many disputes, usually because of   
   an inability to admit when he was wrong.   
      
   Most recently, he disappeared from all newsgroups, possibly because he   
   was one of the many who were unable to adapt to the disappearance of   
   Google Groups from Usenet. But this is not certain, because he   
   disappeared some time before Google pulled the plug.   
      
   The BIG FISH comment reminds me of a Master's thesis, I forget where,   
   that analysed roles of people in newsgroups. It caused great amusement   
   here (AUE) because it so badly miscategorised the roles of the regulars. In   
   particular, it concluded that PTD was the most-respected of the AUE   
   regulars, because of the many responses to him. It's true that he did   
   start the most arguments.   
      
   --   
   Peter Moylan                         http://www.pmoylan.org   
   Newcastle, NSW   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)