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

[Cecil Acuff]

Barry.....as usual you crack me up!!!  What a Hoot!

I think anyone that spends any time at all in the archives will also
discover Barry's sense of humor archived there as well and not get the wrong
idea about this list....

I have discovered over the last several years that this list seems to have 3
modes:

1)    Informative mode....where technical and/or historical questions are
answered in a very professional and authoritative fashion!

2)    Idle mode.....where humor and general chit-chat is enjoyed by
most...silly?  Probably...but no different than what we would do if we were
all to show up in
        a room together for a day to fellowship with one another over a few
beers!  (sounds like fun...we should plan that!)

3)    DEAD mode....where the heck did everybody go?

Modes 1 & 2 are what have formed the "Personality" of this list over the
years and made it one of the best lists on the reflector.

Mode 3 is what the list resorted to after the last spanking everybody got
because of the complaints of a few who felt there was no place for Mode 2.

Personally I would much rather cruise along with Mode 2 and keep the Mode 1
flowing as demand presents itself than have it resort to Mode 3 which is of
no use to anyone!  We have been there!

Frankly with today's technology the "Bandwidth" argument is moot!  If you
are still getting this list through a 9.6K dial-up it's time to invest in
something other than radio parts.....namely some computer technology
upgrades.  Cable or DSL is well worth the cost  (around $30-$35 per month
for T-1 rates..1.544MB).....but if that is still out of reach...unlimited
56K dialup is only around $11 now a days....as advertised on TV.

And yea I know you checked the archives for the last decade and didn't find
much contribution from me either (check the R1051 list)....but what you
should also note was no complaining either....I don't consider myself an
R390X guru due to my limited experience. (fixin to change somewhat)

I wade through all the posts too and what it does do for me is gives me a
feel for the personality of the individuals who frequent the list.  A new
piece is plugged in each time an individual posts while in mode 2.
Personally the people side of this business is as important as the technical
side....

This list stuff is not all about "Cherry Pickin".....it does have an
important social side as well!

Try walking into a mechanics shop and asking a technical question about a
problem you are having with your 1957 Chevy and want to fix yourself and see
what you get...but hang out a while and develop a social relationship with
the shop and maybe drop by with some doughnuts one Saturday morning and next
thing you know you'll probably have all the information you need....

Maybe a bad analogy but same principal.....nobody owes us anything on here
but you are likely to get anything you need if you rate high marks on "Works
and Plays well with others"....

Just some thoughts....

Cecil Acuff
WB5VCE

Too many radio's to list!


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Brannigan" <jbrannig at optonline.net>
To: "Barry Hauser" <barry at hausernet.com>; "Clay Curtiss W7CE"
<w7ce at curtiss.net>; <R-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 7:44 PM
Subject: Re: [R-390] RANT: The Delete Key and Unwanted Threads


> Hi there Barry,
> Your response to Clay might be considered snotty or obnoxious by some.
> This is a technical reflector and many people ( including myself) have
> learned a great deal about our R-390 radios.
> I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge and helpful character of the
> members.
> A person who was merely browsing the digests or achieves might be turned
off
> by the adolescent (juvenile?) humor (sic) that seems to permeate this
> reflector.
> While the delete key is useful, each posting needs to perused to determine
> if it contains useful information.  After a 100 or so "Humorous" postings,
> one tends to delete ALL....and much useful information could be lost....
>
>  best and sincerest regards
> Jim
> > 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
>
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