zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) (02/06/91)
If you advertise something here, you stand a good chance of selling
it.
If this happens, do NOT post a message saying "item such-and-such is
sold, stop bothering me."
Instead, simply cancel your original message. Most newsreader
programs have a built-in command to do this, usually "C". This uses
less bandwidth, and is more effective, since it keeps people from
seeing your message in the first place.
Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240
Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers.brian@sky.COM (Brian Pelletier) (02/07/91)
In article <8322@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) writes: >If you advertise something here, you stand a good chance of selling >it. > >If this happens, do NOT post a message saying "item such-and-such is >sold, stop bothering me." > >Instead, simply cancel your original message. Most newsreader >programs have a built-in command to do this, usually "C". This uses >less bandwidth, and is more effective, since it keeps people from >seeing your message in the first place. > How does this solve anything? The problem with for_sale messages posted on the Net is that some sites receive the message faster than others, sometimes by several days. Cancelling the original message is useless in that case, since the 'cancel' message travels via the same path, and will arrive after the first message by the difference in time that you sent the original and cancel messages originally. The only thing a cancel message prevents is someone reading the original message a LONG while after it gets to a site, and *then* trying to respond to it. This is pretty silly anyhow, IMHO. Also, if you've sold *some* of the things you were selling, you have the choice of (1) sending out an updated list or (2) sending a cancel message *and* sending a new list of the remaining items. Now who's using less bandwidth? :-) > Dan Zerkle zerkle@iris.eecs.ucdavis.edu (916) 754-0240 > Amiga... Because life is too short for boring computers. Brian Pelletier, Hardware guy | Disclaimer: These are MY opinions, not SKY's. Sky Computer Chelmsford, MA | Amiga! UUCP: pelletier@grove.uucp (home) UUCP: brian@sky.com (work) | Plink: TACK
barrett@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU (Dan Barrett) (02/08/91)
>In article <8322@ucdavis.ucdavis.edu> zerkle@iris.ucdavis.edu (Dan Zerkle) writes: >>...do NOT post a message saying "item such-and-such is >>sold, stop bothering me." >>Instead, simply cancel your original message. In article <765@sky.COM> brian@sky.COM (Brian Pelletier) writes: >How does this solve anything? [Discussion of propagation delays.] It is still better than posting a "sold" message to hundreds of thousands of people. IMHO, people who post things for sale should realize that they are getting essentially "free advertising" for their product. Without the Net, they might not be able to sell it, or they'd have to pay for classified ads in a newspaper or magazine. With this in mind, if you sell something, but people keep writing to you (for a few days, until your "cancel" command takes effect everywhere), just DEAL WITH IT and send personal e-mail to these buyers, telling them the thing is sold. Is this more trouble than posting a "sold" message? Yes, it is. But remember that you got free advertising; in return, you have to deal with the e-mail. IMHO. Followups are redirected to comp.sys.amiga.misc. Dan //////////////////////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ | Dan Barrett, Department of Computer Science Johns Hopkins University | | INTERNET: barrett@cs.jhu.edu | | | COMPUSERVE: >internet:barrett@cs.jhu.edu | UUCP: barrett@jhunix.UUCP | \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////////////////////////////