lwv@n8emr.UUCP (Larry W. Virden) (03/24/89)
I would like to point out a very interesting phenomena (I know, I cannot spell... sigh) going on in this group. For many years this group had sat at a particularly low level of activity from my view point. But something in the last few months has happened and I am not sure what it is. But for many many months as I watched the usenet statistics being published I watched this group sit about around 33-35th most active group. This was out of several hundred groups which isnt bad. Then about 200 more groups were added (due to the inet distribution) and we moved down a place or two, but typically stayed in the top 50 groups. Last month we were number 23! there was a HUGH amount of activity and volume. As volume increases, the cost of carrying this group increases. This brings us more and more into the limelight in other groups which discuss load balancing of news, how to handle large groups etc. So far we have been relatively contrained in our discussions (believe me - you should see some of the stranger groups!) Let's try to keep our heads about us when reading these articles. For instance, if possible, perhaps we can read thru the articles, marking in some way the ones we would like to reply to, but holding our replys until we are finished reading the new messages. If we dont do this, then we take the chance that our golden pearls of wisdom appear to be just ramblings which are repeats of already written words. Likewise, if we have personal attacks that we feel we MUST initiate, please do so in private mail, so that we can make fools of ourselves in private and not embarass ourselves and others in front of the world. I mean, do you want to call Apple a fool and then find at the end of school or after you get fed up at your job that you have to interview with one of those 'fools' for a job? Just a few words of hopeful restraint. I enjoy reading the technical discussion, and even a few of the more rational flames. Thanks for joining in. -- Larry W. Virden 674 Falls Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068 (614) 864-8817 75046,606 (CIS) ; LVirden (ALPE) ; osu-cis!n8emr!lwv (UUCP) osu-cis!n8emr!lwv@TUT.CIS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (INTERNET) The world's not inherited from our parents, but borrowed from our children.
abc@BRL.MIL (Brint Cooper) (03/25/89)
Larry Virden's comments on responsible use of this "group" make sense to me. Let me emphasize a few, mixing in some of my own: 1. BE RESPONSIBLE. "Speak" rationally; avoid namecalling. 2. Think before responding. Compose carefully. 3. To help lower the volume of traffic (which is really characters, not messages) shorten "signatures" and get rid of the silly ones. 4. Remember that some of this traffic is carried on computers owned by the United States Taxpayer. This person takes a dim view of tax subsidies to commercial activities and even discourages selling your own personal stuff on his/her machines. 5. Do we really need to continue to predict the death of the Apple II? Does it add anything to our collective understanding of Apple computers and software to have dozens of messages and tens of thousands of characters weekly devoted to arguing about the state of Apple's corporate mind? 6. You folks generally take the "high ground" in this group. There's no tolerance for "pirating" software, for example! Good for you! Keep up the good work. _Brint (aka info-apple-request)