Re: Joke, and no joke (was RE: Feathered Dinosaur Specimen (joke - again))

[Brett Booth <brettbooth@worldnet.att.net>]

Please don't take any offense to this but if it was so important it
shouldn't have been put up on the web at all until the public unveiling. At
the very least it should have been password protected.

I'll now venture back to the shadows.

Brett

I
> 
> Now, more serious things:
> What went on on the list over the last day or so could have seriously
> jeopardized the paper in question coming out.  In fact, if the issue hadn't
> already been printed, there is every reason to suspect a high-profile (for
> science...) leak of this sort would have been necessary and sufficient
> reason to pull the paper from the schedule.
> 
> I know some people might argue that if it is on the web, it is fare game.
> However, that is sort of like saying "But officer, the door was unlocked, so
> they must have wanted us to take their television".  Journals get a lot of
> prestige for publishing high profile papers; authors get a lot of prestige
> for publishing in high profile journals; we all benefit because the paper
> comes out sooner rather than later.
> 
> Let us not gunk up the works in future incidents: if you find something
> sequestered away on somebody's website, maybe you could ASK THE GUY for
> permission to post the URL?  Maybe they'll let you; maybe they'll ask to to
> wait.