Allan asks "What's with the compost tea list?" It moved from Ibiblio.org to YahooGroups.
This seems like a simple matter, but it is actually quite a change that is less user-friendly and functional. Ibiblio email lists, which include Permaculture, are true listserv-style email lists with accompanying web archives. Ibliblio.org is hosted by a public institution which promotes information technology and resource sharing. YahooGroups is a WebMail-style email list. It has archives, yet it is based on WebMail-style archiving and access. This means you have to wade through the *very* slow load time at Yahoo to view each entry. Yahoo loads up with Java, and Java causes many computers to freeze up and crash. Also, you have to "register" with YahooGroups. Well, Compost Tea at YahooGroups exists, so it is still there. Yet, I voice opposition to bland-thinking when it comes to blanket adoption of corporate-hosted electronic web forums. Here are some examples of web archives: BD-Now - Biodynamics Now! [archives at CSF] http://csf.colorado.edu/biodynamics/ CSF hosts a number of lists. The beauty of this web archive is the simple web address assigned to each email posting. You can easily use this link as a referral to a previous posting of merit. BD-Now through The Mail Archive: Date Index http://www.mail-archive.com/bdnow@envirolink.org/maillist.html BD-Now through The Mail Archive: Thread Index http://www.mail-archive.com/bdnow@envirolink.org/index.html The Mail Archive is another way to access BD-Now, and it has the additional *power* of a search engine. However, The Mail Archive version only goes back to a certain point in time... May 2002? Permaculture Archives at CSF http://csf.colorado.edu/perma/lists/ The Permaculture Archives at Ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/permaculture/ Compost Tea List at Ibiblio.org http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/compostteas/ The old site, fast loading with easy access. Compost Tea at YahooGroups http://groups.yahoo.com/group/compost_tea/ The new site, slow loading with not-too-easy access. You get the idea. Fascinating, I just tried the YahooGroup webmail archive and clicked on a single message. Instead of loading the message, a web page opens with a a large ad banner. Above the banner it says: "Yahoo! Groups is an advertising supported service. Continue to message" So, you have to click twice to read one message. To get back to the list of email messages, you also have to click twice. Each time, you have to wait for the webmail page to load. Is that what ecological agriculture is coming to? Instead of enhancing and facilitating the flow of information, we are constrained to corporate web hosts and their advertisements? Steve Diver
