If you use Internet Explorer you have a feature that can be used to eliminate OT noise. Simply double-click on the offending message, then hit reply. Copy the senders name or email address. Go to tools on the top menu bar and select menu rules. Select mail. Make a mail rule and paste in the whacko's name. Once you have this in place it is easy to simply add a persons name as they earn that distinction. I started doing this when the Apollo program was being called a fake.
By the way, Mike, I want to thank you for the time and effort you put into hosting this list. You are obviously a very nice person. You would, however, make a terrible judge. Best Regards to All, Arnold ----- Original Message ----- From: "M. G. Devour" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 11:36 PM Subject: Re: CS>Please stop ruining the CS list! > Hi all! > > Steve's message, below, is typical of the kind I get off-list when we > go through periods of high traffic and lots of off-topic discussions. > > I prefer folks send such comments to me directly, but since Steve > sent it to the list *and* did such a gracious job, I'll respond here > for everyone's benefit. > > Steve wrote: > > Tonight I sampled 295 recent entries to the list to see what > > percentage even mentioned CS. The result was dismal - only 8.5% > > even mentioned CS, silver, or electrolysing water!! > > Read it and weep, folks. That's the outcome of all this unbridled > enthusiasm we've been seeing. > > I see in the most recent batch of messages that some CS related > threads have actually emerged. Thank you, folks!!! > > > Moderator Mike Devour has asked to keep the list submissions on > > topic. I am surprised he allows so much non-topic stuff on his list. > > Lets review the standards for list topics... > > CS related discussions, basic or technical, are always on topic and > may be discussed as long as there is interest. > > If somebody asks a health related question, you are welcome to reply > with information not directly related to CS if you judge that it is > likely to be helpful to them. > > Such off-topic discussion should carry on just long enough to satisfy > people's initial curiosity *and* direct them to other resources, > sites, forums, publications, etc. After that the topic should fade > away or be taken off-list by those still interested in it. > > If this is the third or fourth message you've sent to an off-topic > thread... That should be a clue you're going too far. > > Politics not *closely* related to CS or important alternative health > issues should simply be avoided. *All* politics should be limited to > the least necessary to direct people to other resources off-list. > > Religious topics should be limited to the occasional passing remark or > words of encouragement or thanks, and not be permitted to devolve into > preaching, outright evangelism or doctrinal debate. > > Vendors, distributors, or practicioners are asked to limit their > on-list activities to comments of general interest from the point of > view of a knowledgeable individual helping others. Commercial > activity or self promotion must be conducted off-list unless > expressely approved of by me, in advance. > > No SPAM, chain letters, or urban legends, please. No personal > attacks, aggressive behavior or gross or obscene material will be > tolerated. <hint hint> > > > A lot of the messages are personal from one person to another, and > > really should have been sent directly to the individual instead of > > to the list. > > I have the default reply-to address set to the list posting address > and not to the original author. > > The result of this is that nearly *all* comments end up back on the > list, including thank you's and you're welcome's and the occasional > personal comment that was meant to be sent privately. > > Most folks simply won't keep track of who their message is going out > to, so if I set it up to reply to the original author most topics > would end abruptly as they rapidly migrate off list, leaving many > questions unanswered for the rest of the members. > > > I fear the serious researchers and users of CS will be driven off > > the list because of the 90 plus percent of off-topics. It is too > > time consuming to wade through all the OT stuff which is not > > supposed to be on the list in the first place. > > This has happened to some extent already, and we are the poorer for > it. Also, the folks who come to us who are dealing with illness of > their own or a loved one often do *not* have the time or stamina to > cope with extensive off-topic posting. These folks deserve our > consideration and courtesy. > > In contrast, however, we see that there is a real need and ample > demand for just the kind of chit-chat and diversity that gets things > going so heavy here sometimes. For that reason I will continue to > allow other topics to continue as an undertone. > > I would just ask you to ask yourself whether the message you want to > send is really important enough to consume the time of 350 people... > or if it's worth cutting and pasting the address of the original > author in place of the list address in the To: field before hitting > 'send'. > > > I am grateful Mike owns and moderates this list. It must be a time > > consuming task. Again, please respect his request to keep the > > list on the topic for which it was created - CS. 100% on topic is > > not realistic, but 70% or so should be achievable if we all > > cooperate. > > > > --Steve Young > > I agree. Lately, even 50% would be a welcome change! > > As our newer members learn the boundaries and find a niche for > themselves, I'm sure we'll get back to a more comfortable traffic > volume and content quality. I've been a little slow responding, but I > am asking folks to ease off. Be patient a little longer, please. > > Be well, > > Mike Devour > silver-list owner > > [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] > [[email protected] ] > [Speaking only for myself... ] > > > -- > The silver-list is a moderated forum for discussion of colloidal silver. > > To join or quit silver-list or silver-digest send an e-mail message to: > [email protected] -or- [email protected] > with the word subscribe or unsubscribe in the SUBJECT line. > > To post, address your message to: [email protected] > Silver-list archive: http://escribe.com/health/thesilverlist/index.html > List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
