You know, Rob, I guess I just can't agree with you. You can say something here at Mudcat, and I can respond in plain English with no "bells and whistles," and the message get across just fine. If I want to post a quote, I can use quotation marks, or I can use italics with no effort at all because I know how to do that. But either way, I can type what I think, and people will understand what I'm saying. And if I want to share a link, I can just post the URL [https://play.spotify.com/]. Or, if I use the blickifier or have taken the to actually learn how to post links, I can post a link [https://play.spotify.com/] . Either way, I have conveyed the information and expressed my thoughts.

Yes, we can have all those other features - and all the glitches that come with them - but would it really make this place a more effective venue for the exchange of ideas? As I see it, the lack of "bells and whistles" forces people to communicate actual ideas in actual English. I realize that's a novel concept. Maybe you should try it sometime.

Another advantage of the lack of "bells and whistles," is that the fancy stuff has not overcome the original purpose of this Website, and we are still able to do serious folksong research without being crowded out by the mindless chit-chat.

If you want to know what Mudcat is all about, try studying a song sometime. You'll find no better place in the world for folk music research.

That being said, I have to say that the Mudcat has been abominably slow the last few weeks, and that makes it difficult to get productive work done. I don't care about the fancy stuff - I just want the darn thing to work.

-Joe Offer-