Date   : Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:48:23
From   : heyrick.beebsoc@... (Rick Murray)
Subject: [BeebSoc] Do we need an off topic ban on this list? :-)

On 22/11/2010 08:57, Rob wrote:

> Which is how I see it.

Perfectly fair enough.


> but I wouldn't mind personally if it stays here (or there!).

Great - no flames about on-topic posts. ;-)


> God knows, there aren't that many of us that we can afford to lose so
> many members as have said goodbye recently.

Indeed. This is the best solution to the off-topic fraternising, versus 
the... attitude... of certain people.

Still, I recall a comp.sys.acorn regular who told me not to munge my 
email address because it shouldn't be up to him to remember to delete 
"nospam" and in that case I can take my email address, insert it 
somewhere, and he just won't ever mail me.

Right... so I expose myself to spam and rubbish on account of one 
person's laziness? That's logical. I guess some people just have 
difficulty seeing beyond their little sphere.

The deep irony? nospam-at-heyrick-dot-blahblah was actually a *valid* 
address. No munging required.


> This is my thought.  It's the people I liked being on the list for,
> not the topics.

Awwwww.... Thanks!!! <grin>


> and that thread evolved back into on-topic for the main list.

As frequently happens. Some topics are off topic and they run awhile and 
die out. Some topics are off topic and they run awhile and stray back 
into being topical. I mean, we could be talking about something really 
dopey-sounding like automatic cat stroking machines when invariably 
somebody will raise the issue of "would the user port have enough 
outputs to drive this?" and then we'll start talking about the best ways 
to run fairly chunky motors from the user port. Relay? Darlington? Both? 
Things move in cycles.

I will admit that while I am not the biggest OT poster, I frequently 
stray. Why? It's called "thinking outside the box". For every question, 
there is often more than one solution. Some ideas are nutty, while 
others are interesting. And I believe in the principle that 
microprocessors are sufficiently powerful that clever stuff ought to be 
done in software, with the hardware only as complex as is necessary to 
get the job done. This opens up the arena somewhat.

I write a largish section here, but in reflection I have posted it as a 
new topic (here). Better that way.


>> That said, Rob's the guy in charge.
> OK, having been dropped into the hot seat (thanks Rick!)

You're welcome. I didn't feel comfortable giving rules when it is not my 
list to administer. ;-)


> as far as I'm concerned it's any topic goes, within reason.

Damn, that's the "where to find the cutest seifuku pictures" thread shot 
then. <giggle>


> setting up the list were to allow small attachments up to 40K ..
> however people should certainly exercise restraint - does everybody on
> the list *need* that attachment right now?

I think it would be best reserved for small (and I mean *small*) code 
snippets (compiled, that is). Like 1K absolute tops. For anything else, 
a website (or megashare (etc)) link would probably be the best approach.


> I can't actually see any need for them on a mailing list, TBH so would
> disable that if it becomes an issue.

There seem to be a fair few bits of nonsense attached to some people's 
messages, like that "Part 1.2" that crops up every now and again.


Perhaps, in addition:

1. Please, no HTML/richtext messages. ASCII art is an art. Try it.

2. Please, as much as possible, don't write a shortish reply and then 
quote the *entire* original message underneath - though some slack here 
as there are mobile devices with, frankly, horrible UIs where such a 
simple operation as "select this bit of text and delete it" requires 
blood sacrifices to unholy spirits... and even then it's just as likely 
to keep the selected text and throw away the rest. ;-)


Best wishes,

Rick.