ok, let's refresh. we had 8 years of having me preach z.m.l -- zen markup language, originally known as zero markup language -- on this listserve, during which time it was discussed often, and usually in a quite contentious manner, at least until i proved beyond any doubt that it works. so all my antagonists, who were telling me all along that it would never work, then lost all their credibility in our little poker game. and yes, they're still very bitter about that. then roger, who has been around for a while, waltzes in, announcing he has this new idea, which he calls "zero markup language" (and abbreviates to "zml"), and he parrots back the explanation i have been giving for years, seemingly without any awareness that what he is talking about is the exact same thing that i've been preaching for the last 8 years. i'm amazed that no one even _tells_ roger, and make weekly posts after that, asking if anyone is ever going to tell him, or not. finally, after an "update" from roger on his work on his idea, i break the news to him... *** let me begin by saying i don't care if roger decides to work on z.m.l. i think it's great. i would even guide him, if he wanted that... or if he prefers working independently, fine. i don't even care if he doesn't want to give me any credit for the idea. he wouldn't be the first guy here to be so small-minded... almost no one has told me that i was right, on anything, even as they adopt my ideas, quietly, and without creating much fanfare. but still, i was amazed by this brazen act of roger coming in and parroting my idea... and i was puzzled as well... did he know what he was doing? how could he not know? did he really not know what z.m.l. is? again, how could he not know? but he seemed not to know! well, if he really didn't know, then he couldn't have been giving me any _credit_ for the idea, and if he wasn't giving me any credit for that, how could he diss me in general, which he did, on many occasions? (not as bad as some guys on this listserve, it's true, but _he_still_did_... don't deny it, roger, or i'll dig out examples.) it just seemed _bizarre_. and it still seems bizarre, because roger still hasn't said, straight-out, if he realized that he was just parroting back my idea, or if he truly thought he came up with it on his own. *** instead, what roger _did_ say was this:
Technology that a developer won't release might as well not exist.
what a big pile of b.s. this is. it's very typical of the blaming-the-victim double-bind tactic that's commonly used by the perpetrator in an abusive relationship. here's the truth of the matter: i _have_ "released this technology". indeed, i thrust it into the face of this listserve over and over again, when no one here wanted to hear it, even as i was punished severely because i persisted, and my message repeatedly ignored... because i was right, and i knew i was right, and i wasn't gonna let a wolf-pack of know-nothings chase me away, no matter how vicious they got. then, over the years, i showed demo after demo, proving the proof and tightening the noose, until nobody in that wolf-pack could deny i was right. oh, they still ignore me. and they still want to claim that -- because they have _ignored_ it -- that i've never "released" anything. yeah, right. you can't have it both ways, folks. i have offered stuff, time and time again, and you won't say that you want it, _so_you_don't_get_it_. -bowerbird