Computer consultants with an Ebola FAQ?!?!?

[David Ornstein]

Stephan Spencer's posting really pisses me off.  But I think that's 
just because of the personal nature of his attack.  On the other hand, 
it also gives me some real joy as I know that I'm not doing anything wrong. 
In general, the facts speak for themselves.  Responding to postings like  
his usually just fan a flame war.  As such, I don't expect to post more  
than this one response.  
 
Even though I am, frankly, hurt at Stephan's reactions, I understand  
them, too. I have been quite aware during all of my work on this subject  
that I am not a trained virologist (epidemiologist, etc.).  I point this  
out many times.  In particular, you might want to read my credits page  
which talks a bit about why I'm doing this: 
(http://ichiban.objarts.com/ebola/friends.html). 
 
A few of the more cynical suggestions in the original posting seem 
to warrant specific responses: 
 
*** I expect to make no money from my work on The Ebola Page 
 
In fact, I am losing money because I have been spending almost 16+ hours 
every day working on this material.  The only income I have right now is 
from consulting in the software development world and my work has nothing  
to do with anything Web-related.  In fact, I wouldn't take a job authoring 
material for the Web as they pay a small fraction of what my 12 years  
developing software allows me to charge.  Furthermore, I recently  
curtailed almost all of my consulting work to start a company and  
to develop software development tools.  In the last 8 days I have  
spent not a single moment working to help my startup succeed.  Yesterday  
I woke at 9:00am and went to sleep at 4:30am after responding to the  
last mail message from Africa. 
 
*** By many people's standards, my work is *not* a misuse of the net  
 
I have received *many* messages from people around the world, both  
lay-folk (many) and professionals (some) stating that they have found  
what I'm doing to be very valuable.  The issues surrounding the  
publishing of information on the Net are complex.  I feel, though, that  
making information available to people is a very important activity.  I  
was stunned to find no substantial information about the outbreak available  
on the net when I looked on 5/10.  As many newspaper readers in the world  
will tell you, structuring, filtering and generally presenting raw  
information adds real value to the world. 
 
*** Re: the suggestion that my lack of biology training makes me dangerous 
 
An advanced degree is not necessary for clear, logical and critical  
thinking.  It is primarily these skills which I am using.  When there  
seems to be any danger of making an error, I defer to a direct quote (e.g.,  
from WHO statements).  In the FAQ I specifically list questions which have  
been asked that I haven't felt qualified to answer.  I am working very hard  
to be vigilant about these issues and, as I point out in a variety of places  
in my materials, I want feedback, suggestions and corrections.  As many who have  
sent me such things will tell you, I respond in very short order.   
The suggestion that I might provoke "millions" to "hysteria" is very  
unreasonable.  Many *other* things might.  Including: published newspaper  
articles, pictures of the suffering in Zaire, WHO reports, flames on the net, etc. 
 
*** Re: the suggestion that the professional community not contribute to my pages 
 
It's a free world. 
 
-------------------------------------------------------------------- 
If you'd like to correspond with me by email about this, I'd love to. 
 
David Ornstein 
The Ebola Page 
Form your own opinion: http://ichiban.objarts.com/ebola/ebola.html