As has been said, the download times, even at busy times, equates to a few seconds even for me (56kps dial-up) so the cost is probably a lot more for those nice Spam emails offering to double the size of your HG or make you irresistible to the opposite sex (pretty useless. As G players we already are). Now we all have different interests in different aspects of the HG. I could just as easily say "please direct all USA meeting mails to somewhere else" as, being in the UK, I will never get to them not do I have an interest in the fact that there is a player in Ohio that will give lessons in Kansas. I'm sure the same can be said for those in the States about meetings etc in Europe. I personally feel that the list should encompass ALL aspects of the HG - whether they are interest to me or not.
Once the mails are downloaded, most people will remain on-line until they have read them all (and replied to some). If the cost of being on-line is worrying, surely all you need to do is download them, disconnect, then reconnect after you have typed out the replies and send them from your Outbox. The uninteresting/unwanted stuff can be deleted off-line as well. That's what I did when I was on Pay-as-you-go. It's not the downloading but the time taken reading them that costs the money. Some subjects may be of limited interest but, for those like me, still interesting. I'll never make a HG but I enjoy reading the technical stuff (plus the essential stuff like cottoning which is old news for most but essential reading for some). I feel it would be very difficult to agree on what should or should not be posted to the list. Maybe there is a case if the mail is directed at one person rather than for us all but those are few and far between and usually a last resort when someone is out of touch. I would hate to see our community split into techies and general proletariat There, that's at least ten dollars worth. Colin Hill ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Nogy" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 21, 2006 9:06 PM Subject: Re: [HG] List etiquette: Subjects of limited interest? > I am a hobbyist player, a more than interested builder. > > If I was forced to take only one thing from this list, and not get any of the rest, I would rather get the tech discussions and not the other stuff, if I had to choose. > > I don't know if there is a 'pure' focus to this list, and several 'less pure' alternate topics it discusses. Would probably be a hard thing to get a consensus on, as there are as many primary interests as there are people on this list. > > Some may want record reviews, some may want event listings and synopsis, some may want music and playing tips, mechanical tips, building information. > > Who do you exclude, or move to a secondary, private discussion? Until there is a definite 'on topic' list, I can't see any fair way to go about segregating topics. And since there isn't a real problem with inbalance (besides, some of my lists deliver 400 messages a day, we get what here, 10-20 on a good day?) I think that it should remain what most people seem to think is OK - a general discussion list about all things HG, art, science, or combination thereof. > > Just my $.02 worth > > Chris Nogy > > > *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** > > On 7/21/2006 at 2:28 PM Matthew Szostak wrote: > > >I know that this has been touched on before, but I would like to try to > >get > >a sense of the group's feeling. > > > >As we all know, not all subjects of discussion on this list are of > >interest > >to all members. I was going to ask a question of a technical nature which > >may be of great interest to those who make hurdy-gurdies (for themselves > >or > >for others), but of very little interest to everyone else. Personally, I > >have always been happy to receive all list messages: hopefully the subject > >line is representative of the discussion and I can choose to read it or > >just delete it. > > > >However... I have been told that some list members, especially those > >*not* > >in North America, must pay for internet access by the minute and therefore > >might not want to download every list posting only to end up deleting many > >of them. A respected list member has suggested to me that topics of > >limited interest might be discussed "off-list", adding all interested > >parties' addresses to the "To:" heading. This way, those on the list who > >aren't interested won't have to download and sort through these "esoteric" > >discussions. > > > >In my opinion, this idea actually excludes people, and this concession to > >those who must pay "by the message" counteracts the purpose of this email > >list. However, I am willing to make an effort to follow this suggestion > >if > >there are many who agree. > > > >I suspect that most members would rather keep involved in all the > >discussions (or at least retain the option of reading or deleting), but I > >was hoping to get a sense of how people feel about it, somehow *without* > >generating a great number of replies, which would in effect cause just the > >problem I'm describing. Perhaps the first step is to wait to hear from > >Alden about it before starting a long exchange - I believe his opinion as > >the listmaster carries the greatest weight. > > > > Apologies if this subject doesn't interest anyone! > > > >~ Matt > > > > >
