dww@stl.UUCP (David Wright) (10/03/85)
RE: From: bll@mhuxt.UUCP (Barbara Levin)
Newsgroups: net.general
Subject: Hurricane Gloria Update
Date: 26 Sep 85 23:01:24 GMT
Date-Received: 3 Oct 85 03:57:15 GMT
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill
Weather Service (tel. no.: (201) 976-1212)
reports "heavy rain and winds starting approx. midnite tonight,
visibility 1-3 mi. winds currently 25-40 knots. Gloria expected
to hit this area full force approx. 12 noon tomorrow (sep. 27).
For more detailed info, call number given above.
Time of this update given as: 4:05 p.m.
Well folks this answers (confirms the answers to) a lot of questions about
how the net should be used, doesn't it?
1 - The new ISN'T for real, public news.
We read/saw on TV all about Gloria days ago. Even in the UK.
2 - The net isn't for URGENT news. Looks at the dates above.
3 - The world doesn't ALWAYS want to know the everything that the USA (or
even Murray Hill) knows. This posting should have been sent, if at all,
to a distribution so local that it would still be useful. So local, in
fact, that it would maybe have been better to get AT&T's security officer
to announce it over the PA.
4 - AT&T may have a big stake in UNIX, but why must their UNIX users behave
as if they own USENET too? (so many of the wide distribution local items
seem to come from AT&T).
5 - Think twice - then once again - before posting to net.general. Does
EVERYONE really want to know your latest <whatever>?
No, Barbara, AT&T isn't the same as the USA, USA isn't the same as The World,
and USENET is for information, not a news wire service. Maybe we really
should DROP those words 'news' and 'net' - howabout 'postinfo' to
'world.general' ?
P.S. rn here says "Do you really want to post to thousands of machines
all round the world?" before it lets me post to net (with similar
questions for eunet (Europe), uk and even local). I admit to
answering "N" if I'm not sure. AT&T systems please copy!!!
PPS. I still think net.general (or world.general as I'd like it to be
called) is a good thing ... in parts.