Message from list manager...

Archiver

On Wed, 17 May 2000, Jeff Martin wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In response to all the messages expressing concern about the list:
>
snip^

Did everyone get three copies of this mail ? Just kidding (-: I agree
with Jeff. The list is what you make it. Some questions are better
answered with a "book suggestion" rather than someone typing out the
contents of the book to the list.

Thanks to all that post !



Dale Harwood [noparse][[/noparse] N4VFF ]

internet> dale@h...

ax.25> n4vff@n4vff.#cha.tn.usa.noam

#include <std_disclaimer.h>

Archiver

Hi,

In response to all the messages expressing concern about the list:

1) This list still appears normal and healthy to us. Having helped
maintain these lists for over 3 years, I can tell you from experience that
the traffic on the list rises and falls with the change of the seasons, the
start and end of the school year/semesters/quarters, economic changes, and
perhaps even the phase of the moon. [noparse]:)[/noparse] It is perfectly natural for a flood
of emails on a daily basis to and from the list is followed by a trickle of
emails sometime afterwards. Chaos theory applies to this just like it does
to weather patterns.

I have checked a number of items relating to the list and have found no
problems. I will continue to do so until there is nothing more for me to
test. It is possible that there has been a fault in some major systems
somewhere that has disrupted service from other parts of the
country/world... I know of some major ISPs and backbone providers that have
had problems in the past... no system can claim to be 100% fault tolerant.

2) To those of you who are upset at the "crappy" list: This list is
maintained by Parallax, Inc and is hosted by egroups.com, however, the
content of the list is only what it's subscribers make it. There have
always been many more subscribers to the list than those that post messages
to it. There is always a vocal minority that provides the content (good or
bad) and a silent majority that just listens and learns, or simply ignores,
the content. If your curious about numbers... there are currently 1154
subscribers (only 58 of which are unreachable by email at this
time). Though I haven't the time to gather the actual data on those that
have contributed, I can say from experience that it is likely that less
than 115 participate on average (less than 10%). Everyone has their own
reasons for remaining silent (some are shy, some are afraid, some don't
know how, some don't know what to ask, some don't really need help, some
are too busy, some just archive the mail for future browsing, etc, etc).

Again, chaos theory applies here... there will always be times that your
questions get a number of excellent responses from qualified individuals
and there will be times where you go no answers, or you get some
time-wasting bloke responding with some defamatory response that sparks
email wars (religious or otherwise) in a place that was meant for peaceful
learning and self improvement. This is your community and it will continue
to look attractive or it will look repulsive almost entirely based on the
cooperation or non-cooperation of it's residents.

Sorry for such a the long message. If you wish to reply to this, please
don't waste other's time by flooding the list with your emails in response
to this message. Send your replies to me instead.

Thanks.
--Jeff Martin
Tech. Support
Parallax, Inc.
All Products: http://www.parallaxinc.com
Educational BASIC Stamp: http://www.stampsinclass.com
Educational SX Tools: http://www.sxtech.com

Archiver

Good afternoon,

I've been on this list for a few years; I conquer with Jeff that
the list is not "crappy" and still normal.
Those who think the list is either unproductive or too low in
volume should be patient, it _is_ normal to encounter all sorts of
patterns or fluctuations on any list.

Those who are annoyed by others recommending books should keep in
mind that books can give a wealth of information not possible to trasmit
over email. The suggestions to read a particular book is to save the
inquirer much time and trouble. Not because we don't want to help, but
because it might be the best action.

This is just to give you an opinion outside of the list manager's.
Of course, in this case it's the same[noparse]:)[/noparse]

Have a pleasant day,
Paul





On Wed, 17 May 2000, Jeff Martin wrote:

> Hi,
>
> In response to all the messages expressing concern about the list:
>
> 1) This list still appears normal and healthy to us. Having helped
> maintain these lists for over 3 years, I can tell you from experience that
> the traffic on the list rises and falls with the change of the seasons, the
> start and end of the school year/semesters/quarters, economic changes, and
> perhaps even the phase of the moon. [noparse]:)[/noparse] It is perfectly natural for a flood
> of emails on a daily basis to and from the list is followed by a trickle of
> emails sometime afterwards. Chaos theory applies to this just like it does
> to weather patterns.
>
> I have checked a number of items relating to the list and have found no
> problems. I will continue to do so until there is nothing more for me to
> test. It is possible that there has been a fault in some major systems
> somewhere that has disrupted service from other parts of the
> country/world... I know of some major ISPs and backbone providers that have
> had problems in the past... no system can claim to be 100% fault tolerant.
>
> 2) To those of you who are upset at the "crappy" list: This list is
> maintained by Parallax, Inc and is hosted by egroups.com, however, the
> content of the list is only what it's subscribers make it. There have
> always been many more subscribers to the list than those that post messages
> to it. There is always a vocal minority that provides the content (good or
> bad) and a silent majority that just listens and learns, or simply ignores,
> the content. If your curious about numbers... there are currently 1154
> subscribers (only 58 of which are unreachable by email at this
> time). Though I haven't the time to gather the actual data on those that
> have contributed, I can say from experience that it is likely that less
> than 115 participate on average (less than 10%). Everyone has their own
> reasons for remaining silent (some are shy, some are afraid, some don't
> know how, some don't know what to ask, some don't really need help, some
> are too busy, some just archive the mail for future browsing, etc, etc).
>
> Again, chaos theory applies here... there will always be times that your
> questions get a number of excellent responses from qualified individuals
> and there will be times where you go no answers, or you get some
> time-wasting bloke responding with some defamatory response that sparks
> email wars (religious or otherwise) in a place that was meant for peaceful
> learning and self improvement. This is your community and it will continue
> to look attractive or it will look repulsive almost entirely based on the
> cooperation or non-cooperation of it's residents.
>
> Sorry for such a the long message. If you wish to reply to this, please
> don't waste other's time by flooding the list with your emails in response
> to this message. Send your replies to me instead.
>
> Thanks.
> --Jeff Martin
> Tech. Support
> Parallax, Inc.
> All Products: http://www.parallaxinc.com
> Educational BASIC Stamp: http://www.stampsinclass.com
> Educational SX Tools: http://www.sxtech.com
>
>
>
>