Recently, we've received several complaints about insensitive comments in TidBITS. Unfortunately, it seems that every time we stray from the facts of an article, or point out in a non-serious way what we feel is an odd situation, someone writes to complain. These letters disturb us because, in almost every case, it's an issue with which we are completely cognizant, be it the plight of meat packers or the concern non-Caucasians have with faux-flesh tone beige gloves. We always respond to these complaints because we dislike being misconstrued, whether or not it's our fault for ambiguous wording. For the record then, if you're offended by something you read, remember that it's probably not serious and think for a moment before you send email. If we wish to rag on something, it will be obvious.

Some might say that we should avoid touchy subjects, but we won't self-censor TidBITS in that way. TidBITS is not a typical news offering, with every phrase pre-sanitized for your convenience. We've built a reputation for writing informally and will not stoop to antiseptic prose. There are plenty of places to find bone-dry writing, and we've always found that such writing makes excellent tinder. We like to think that Macintosh users have and prefer a bit more personality than that.