[meteorite-list] "Netiquette"

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:07:05 2004
Message-ID: <20021031015634.76034.qmail_at_web80310.mail.yahoo.com>

Just to give you an idea what life is like on other
Lists:

-------------- Forward Message ----------------

Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 13:43:37 -0500
From: "Lew Gramer" <lew_at_upstream.net>
Subject: (meteorobs) PLEASE READ:
Posting guidelines for 'meteorobs' ("Netiquette")

[This message was first posted last December: the
rules here are ones we have followed on 'meteorobs'
since we started in 1996...]


In response to some private suggestions from readers,
I thought I should mention a couple of quick
"netiquette" rules which we try to maintain for our
list, so that everyone enjoys participating.

Here they are! Comments are welcome, but PRIVATELY (to
our "List Elf" address of owner-meteorobs_at_atmob.org).
Those wishing me to forward or summarize their
comments to the list at large, please just state that
wish in your private comments email to me...

In summary:
1) During busy times, stay on topic: meteors
2) During quiet times - NOT the Leonid peak! -
secondary topics (i.e., meteorites, comets,
mosquitoes, sleeping bags, ...) are OK.
3) Be decent to others
4) Limit quoting in your replies
5) Please do NOT post in HTML format
6) Have fun, and ask questions!


In detail:

1) During busy times of the year, such as the peak
weeks of the Leonids, Geminids, Perseids, etc. please
REMAIN ON TOPIC! If you have any doubts about what is
on topic, a message which I sent out last August
[August 2000] should be helpful:

    http://www.meteorobs.org/maillist/msg22686.html


2) During quieter times of the year, feel free to "go
out on a limb" and discuss less meteor-specific
topics. But PLEASE keep these to a reasonable (low)
volume of posts, and as near our area of mutual
interest as you can. (This is hard sometimes.)

[NOTE: The month of the 2002 Leonid storms (we hope)
is NOT a "Quieter time of the year"! So please stay
very on topic with your posts to 'meteorobs' over this
next month or so...]


3) Do NOT use derogatory or inflammatory language on
our list.
We are a diverse community, of individuals from ALL
age groups, nations, and cultures, and such posts
cannot be tolerated. You will be removed, and very
possibly banned for good.


4) When you REPLY TO ANOTHER POST, please *do not*
include the entire text of that previous post! Try to
limit your "quoting" to only the paragraph, sentence,
or even just the *phrase* in the original post to
which you are specifically replying.

This last act of common courtesy is particularly
important to our *200* digest users, who must wade
through all posts, line by line - and have no desire
to read the same message 4 or 5 times, because it was
quoted over and over again in replies.


5) Whenever possible, do NOT send HTML to our list.
Basically, if your email looks pretty to you - lots of
nice color, fonts, etc. - it will also look pretty to
about 1/4 of the people who read it on 'meteorobs'...
But to the other 3/4 of your readers, your message
will just look like incomprehensible gibberish!

And for our many subscribers in places around the
globe where Internet connections are slow, like
Irkutsk, New Caledonia, or even more exotic spots, the
extra size of your HTML can really interfere with
their use of 'meteorobs'... Please don't do it.

If you need help to figure out how to tell your email
program NOT to send HTML messages, just email us
"Elves" privately at:
    owner-meteorobs_at_atmob.org
We'll help you do this in Yahoo, Hotmail, Eudora,
Outlook, etc.


6) That's all there is to it! Otherwise our most
important rules are simply:
(A) HAVE FUN and
(B) Do not ever be afraid to ask a meteor-related
question at any "level"! That's why we're here. :)


Clear skies to all for the Leonids!


Lew Gramer (GRALE), IMO, NAMN
owner-meteorobs_at_atmob.org
Webmaster: http://www.meteorobs.org
Webmaster: http://www.visualdeepsky.org
Assistant: http://www.namnmeteors.org

The archive and Web site for our list is at
http://www.meteorobs.org
------------------------------


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Received on Wed 30 Oct 2002 08:56:34 PM PST