[sci.misc] ambiguous newsgroups

hofbauer@csri.toronto.edu (John Hofbauer) (05/05/91)

> Now, either mathematicians shouldn't be allowed within two yards of a
> computer, or mathematicians should realise that uw.general is not, I repeat
> *not* a maths newsgroup.
>
> I can see how this might confuse some mathematicians, but uw.general is a
> University of Warwick general newsgroup. Not a maths forum in disguise.

Well, well, and I thought only University of Toronto had this problem.
ut.* is the structure of local University of Toronto newsgroups, as well as
the University of Texas. Sometimes unwanted Texas postings show up on our
system. It nows seems that uw.* (Waterloo and Warwick U.K.) has the same
problem. It's time someone gave the Internet some artificial intelligence.

machman@milton.u.washington.edu (the machman) (05/06/91)

hofbauer@csri.toronto.edu (John Hofbauer) writes:

>> I can see how this might confuse some mathematicians, but uw.general is a
>> University of Warwick general newsgroup. Not a maths forum in disguise.

>Well, well, and I thought only University of Toronto had this problem.
>ut.* is the structure of local University of Toronto newsgroups, as well as
>the University of Texas. Sometimes unwanted Texas postings show up on our
>system. It nows seems that uw.* (Waterloo and Warwick U.K.) has the same
>problem. 

probably moreso, as the Universities of Wisconsin and Washington are also
included.

>It's time someone gave the Internet some artificial intelligence.

perhaps all that is necessary is some real, human intelligence in the posters 
to restrict the distribution of their posts to a geographical region in which 
such ambiguity is avoided.

drdan@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Dan Johnson) (05/08/91)

In article <1991May6.070840.4331@milton.u.washington.edu> machman@milton.u.washington.edu (the machman) writes:
>hofbauer@csri.toronto.edu (John Hofbauer) writes:
>...
>>Well, well, and I thought only University of Toronto had this problem.
>>ut.* is the structure of local University of Toronto newsgroups, as well as
>>the University of Texas. Sometimes unwanted Texas postings show up on our
>  ...
>>It's time someone gave the Internet some artificial intelligence.
>
>perhaps all that is necessary is some real, human intelligence in the posters 
>to restrict the distribution of their posts to a geographical region in which 
>such ambiguity is avoided.

It's not that simple. We started getting cross traffic on
"hi.general" (Honeywell, Inc.) in Minnesota because someone crossposted to
"hi.general" (Hawaii) and "rec.arts.star-trek". (We have since renamed
our hierarchy to "honeywell.*".)

Daniel P. Johnson                 Honeywell Systems and Research Center
e-mail: drdan@src.honeywell.com   phone: 612-782-7427
office: 2433                      fax:   612-782-7438
Mac Mail: "Johnson Dan"           voice: "Yo, Dan!"
US mail: MN65-2500, 3660 Technology Drive, Minneapolis, MN  55418

hanche@imf.unit.no (Harald Hanche-Olsen) (05/10/91)

In article <1991May8.135949.22296@src.honeywell.com> drdan@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Dan Johnson) writes:

   It's not that simple. We started getting cross traffic on

What's this thread doing in sci.math?  Follow-up to the concerned
parties only, please.

- Harald Hanche-Olsen <hanche@imf.unit.no>
  Division of Mathematical Sciences
  The Norwegian Institute of Technology
  N-7034 Trondheim, NORWAY