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32. I have a school report due in the morning. Can you send me everything you know about goldfish?
No. Feel free to cite this web site as a reference source in your report and you can write me if you are curious about something you didn’t find on the web site. But I will be very cross if you write me and ask me questions that are answered here because you don’t want to take the time to try and find the information.
You need a topic for a report? Biofiltration and the nitrogen cycle is a good one.
33. Can I use your pictures and some of your info on the web site I am creating?
No. Absolutely not. All information on this site is copyrighted and I only allow reuse by others in very specialized cases. Setting up a goldfish web site is not one of these cases. There is nothing to be gained by having the same information in multiple places. There are a lot of topics I don’t cover in any detail here: history of goldfish varieties, color genetics, specific disease diagnosis, product evaluations, hobbyist interviews … create a web site that makes new information available!
I also write as part of my job and as one of my main hobbies. I publish many goldfish articles, including some for remuneration. So I have no interest in furnishing any of my photos, graphics, or text to others for their reuse. If you are interested in a joint effort, where we share the work and the payment, that is possible.
35. Could you add a link to my web site, join my web ring, can I link to you?
Anyone can link to me; you don’t need to ask. I periodically do searches (using HotBot) to see who has linked to me and I usually add these sites to my links page. My criteria for adding someone’s web site to my links page are pretty simple. The site should have something to do with goldfish and any care advice has to agree with my notions of what is the right way to keep goldfish. I don’t link to sites that I think have erroneous advice.
I am not interested in web rings. Don’t bother asking. Not because I am crabby and unsociable, but because the format gives me no control over who I am associated with, thus potentially violating my linking standards.
My usual reason is that I just don’t have time; I have a demanding job, a young child, and all the rest. So I apologize in advance if you don’t get a timely or thorough reply, but most of the time I’m just really busy.
(Let me expand on the above: as of March 2000, I have 700 unanswered emails in my inbox, some dating back to September. Over 150 of these emails I haven't even read yet. I feel bad about this, as I like helping people out if I can, but it is just an activity I can't make time for at the moment. So I apologize again! The one thing that makes me feel better is that there are a number of newsgroups and mailing lists now available where people can turn if they need a more responsive resource.)
I also tend to leave hard to answer notes sitting around in my mailbox. What makes a note hard for me to answer? Either (1) it is a question that has been asked of me many times before that is just hard to type out an answer again (this FAQ should help with that!) or (2) the question has so little background information that I have to type up a lengthy speculation that covers all possibilities. In the latter case it is often hard for me not to be curt, particularly when it is apparent the person has not made a good-faith effort to find the information on this web site.
Notes that are easy for me to answer: health queries with thorough background information on all aspects of the care regime, questions about specific traits of a particular goldfish variety, this sort of thing.
One thing I will not furnish is contact information for my travel hosts or people that I have gotten goldfish from. This is out of respect for their privacy. However, if you provide your contact information, I will forward it to them … they can decide if they wish to follow up with you.
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