[R-390] RANT: The Delete Key and Unwanted Threads

Tue Jul 6 20:19:45 EDT 2004

Hi there, Clay --

I get 100's of emails a day.  Can't rely on the spam filter software.

With this list, it seems to be feast or famine.  Even with all those on- and
off-topic posts, I noticed that some previously frequent contributors were
absent.  Maybe on vacation.  I suspect the extra activity was due to the
vacation day.  Rest assured, the list will return to its previous state very
soon.

The simple and wonderful fact is: You don't have to suffer the inconvenience
of high volumes of mail -- OT or otherwise.  You have the option of changing
to digest or no-email mode.  It's easy to go to the qth site and read the
posts right there, at your full convenience.

You needn't even be subscribed to read the posts on the site -- only if you
want to post something.  However, a quick check of the archives shows that
your two posts the last day or two --  complaining about the OT's --  were
the only posts you made at least since January.  (I didn't check before
that.) If you change to no-mail mode, or unsubscribe altogether, you'd be
liberated of the burden of all that deleting -- and, it would seem, have no
apparent remaining reason to post anything here anyway.

True, nowadays, a crowded inbox is highly problematical.  There is a lot of
spam filter software out there, but I've tried three and had problems will
all of them.  In my case, it's too time consuming to use the delete key.
Periodically, I archive my entire inbox and create an empty one.  But, the
thing is, as far as the lists are concerned, you can control what comes in
and and save that 8 minutes of your life that this list wasted -- projected
to an onerous 50 hrs per year.

(Incidentally, this is not a moderated list in the sense that each post has
to be approved by the moderator.  Some lists are run that way.)

So, very sympathetic to your plight, and particularly sorry if some of those
burdensome deletables were from me.  However, all the foregoing considered,
if your plan is as stated:  "I'll go back into reading mode and wait for
something interesting to show up."  (i.e., you're unlikely to contribute
anything), then your original impulse to unsubscribe was probably an
excellent idea.   And, by unsubscribing, you will reduced the bandwidth
burden on the QTH reflector at the head end.

Just trying to do my bit to spare you the needless tedium.  I do agree with
you wholeheartedly -- this is not a library -- not a good analogy.  The idea
of a list is something more interactive, otherwise it doesn't really make
much sense.  However, the archives, various websites, pearls of wisdom and
so on -- DO make for a convenient online library.  So, there's really no
need to wait for someting interesting to show up here.  Most of the
interesting stuff has been done, written up, categorized, compiled.
Sometimes all that's left is kielbasa.

Hope this helps,

best and sincerest regards,
Barry

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Clay Curtiss W7CE" <w7ce at curtiss.net>
To: <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 5:10 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] RANT: The Delete Key and Unwanted Threads

> I delayed deleting myself from the list hoping things would settle down.
>
> I enjoy a LITTLE humor and OT conversation as much as the next guy, but I
> received EXACTLY ONE HUNDRED (yes, that is 100) R-390 list emails from
> 12:40PM yesterday to 12:40PM today and most of them were OT.  With the
> subject line changing every few hours, its not always simple figuring out
> what is junk and what is interesting.  Maybe most of you are retired and
> have nothing better to do with you life than sort through the email that
> makes your life somehow more interesting.  Personally, I'd hoped that a
> moderated group would save me some of that headache.  Even at 5 seconds
per
> email, deleting this list accounts for over 8 minutes of my life in the
last
> 24 hours that I can't get back (that annualizes to over 50 hours per year
of
> delete time).
>
> The library analogy was really quite poorly thought out.  When I go to the
> library, I don't wander aimlessly up and down every ailse looking at every
> book for the topic I'm interested in, and then cursing those that don't
> apply.  I learned the Dewey Decimal system and card catalogs in elementary
> school and find they save me a lot of time (kind of an early spam filter).
> Using the same principles, I subscribed to an R-390 mailing list rather
than
> a complete collection of OT mailing lists hoping that most of the material
> would somehow apply to the R-390 and related topics.
>
> Now that I've increased the the bandwidth requirements of this group way
too
> much, I'll go back into reading mode and wait for something interesting to
> show up.  Although I suspect that I have helped to make some of your lives
> just a little fuller and certainly more interesting because you received
one
> more email.
>
> Sigh, now I assume the ranting and flaming will begin.  Oh moderator,
> moderator, wherefore art thou moderator?
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Tom Norris" <r390a at bellsouth.net>
> To: <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 12:52 PM
> Subject: [R-390] RANT: The Delete Key and Unwanted Threads
>
>
> > I apologize in advance for being disrespectful to several of
> > those on the list. This is a very sincere apology, and I hope
> > it will be taken in the manner it is meant.
> >
> > I subscribe to over a dozen mailing lists. When I see a subject
> > line that I know I don't want to read, I simply hit the delete key
> > and don't read it. No one is holding a gun to my head and forcing
> > me to read any message message on any list. Even if the list
> > comes to me in digest form, I just skip over things I have
> > no interest in reading. There are those on nearly every
> > list that instead of simply deleting the message before reading
> > will yell loud and long about how bad that message is.  Some will
> > say "By Jove, look what this group has turned into, I'm
> > un-subscribing post-haste!" even on groups that have not seen
> > posts in months. (I'm not talking about this group!) If I got
> > upset over message threads I didn't want to read, I wouldn't
> > be subscribed to any lists now. I simply use the delete key.
> >
> > It's akin to going to a library. Lets say you hate books about
> > sewing. Do you simply *not check out the book*, or do you
> > go to the library board and demand they remove all
> > books with any reference to sewing from all branches
> > else you will never let your shadow cross the threshold
> > of any library ever again? Me, I'd simply not check out
> > the book. *shrug*
> >
> > I know this silliness about ballast tubes and kielbasa
> > and wet sheep has been going on for about a day now.
> > (just a day, maybe two now) There will most likely me
> > more posts come along that don't mention wet sheep
> > as  tube substutes. In fact today there was at least
> > on post about the use of the URM-25 and yesterday
> > several about SP-600's.
> >
> > If any of you have defective keyboards with a non-functioning
> > Delete key, I have quite a few spare keyboards around
> > and will be glad to send you one gratis. I've got several
> > types of PC keyboards, Mac keyboards, maybe one
> > or two for DEC or Sun machines so I may very well
> > have one that will work for you.
> >
> > Delete Key, just say yes.
> >
> > Tom
> > _______________________________________________
> > R-390 mailing list
> > R-390 at mailman.qth.net
> > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/r-390
>
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