> to follow up on what Danny R. Faught said:
>
> > I'm seeing people move to mailing lists as an alternative. See my
> > article "Usenetters Leaving the Homeland" at
> > http://www.august.com/dfw_uug/newsletters/1997/newsletter_9707.html.
Mail lists can be a valueable tool, the trick is finding the information
_about_ the mailling list that you want. Depending on the topic that can
co-exist with news. The higher threshold needed to post to a list, (Most
lists that I am on these days will "question" posts from non-subscribers)
can cut down the noise.
Perhaps we are seing the "CB" radio all over. CB radios were one time
rare, and then the were played up in the media. Result - chaos. Now
years later, a CB is just as good as it was at the start... The mass has
moved elsewhere. Perhaps (I hope) the flames and SPAM will die out as
folks get bored, then the usenet will settle back.
> >
> > Someone mentioned the web as an alternative, and for reference
> > material (like FAQs), I think most of us agree it's superior to
> > Usenet. But for interactive discussions, web chat groups haven't
> > taken hold.
> >
>
> In the Usenet context, a lightweight version of this is a
> combination voting/spreading server. If you thing that a given
> post indicates an individual needs speaking to, you forward the
> post to the voting address of the server. If enough people
> complain, the server issues a "please talk to this person" message
> to a rotating-selection pick from a broad pool of journeyman
> participants.
One mail list that I was involved with set up a "group of List Elves" who
chated on a Meta-list about the day to day problems of the list, and sent
e-mail to some posters who just did not get it..
> Draw them
> out. Let them know that in the NewsGroup they are dealing with
> people. It can make a radical change in their behavior.
Or a least some people, You will not do anything about the alpha-betical
spammers
Charles MacDonald Stittsville Ontario cmacd@achilles.net
--- Just beyond the fringe ---
<a href="http://www.achilles.net/~cmacd/">homepage</a>
Canada is good! - SOMEONE should stand up for it!