Tamson-House Posting Guidelines
Introduction
This message is a semi-monthly reminder of the rules and policies of tamson-house.
My goal is not to restrict the content of discussion, but rather to ensure the
discussions can flow freely.
Information about unsubscribing, resubscribing, and digests is sent in a separate
message.
Volume Issues
Consider the list members who may download e-mail over a slow link, or have
limited storage space.
Length
Before sending a long message, ask yourself if it needs to be that long.
Many people will see the size, and immediately skip it. Also, it may be delayed
because the majordomo mailing list software sends messages over a certain
length to me for approval before sending to the list.
Replying to the list
Consider the audience of your reply. Would the list in general be interested,
or is the reply intended only for the the writer of the original message?
Quoted Material in Replies (Editing)
When replying to a message, it is important to leave enough of the original
so the reader has a context for understanding your reply. However, leaving
too much (or all the message) is
an unnecessary waste of space, and can be harder to read. I think we've all
seen messages with ten pages of quoted material followed by "me too!"
Forwards
Someone sends you an e-mail: it might be funny, it might be a call for political
action, it might warn of safety issues, or it might promise riches. Should
you send it to tamson-house? First, check that it is not on the forbidden
list, then decide if it is in the general interest of tamson-house. Finally,
if you do decide to forward it on, clean it up! We don't want to see the e-mail
headers of the last ten people who've sent it. Remember though, that many
of us Internet oldtimers have seen it several times. I don't want to discourage
forwarding (I've seen some good stuff), but what we really want is to know
what you think about whatever.
News Articles
If possible, send the URL to the article rather than posting the text. Also,
give us a hint as to what it is about. Finally, let us know what you
think.
Technical Issues
Not everyone's mail client is the same, or has the same features.
Attachments
Not all mail clients can open attachments. For some, the attachment just
doesn't seem to be there. For others, they see pages and pages of random text.
Many attachments (such as Word documents) cannot be looked at unless the reader
has the right software. Also, some attachments may carry viruses (although
you are safe unless you open it). Also, attachments are big (and have all
the problems long messages do).
If you would like to make photos or other such files available, there are
a number of free web hosting sites, such as GeoCities. Simply place your pictures
there, and mail the URL to the list.
No Rich Text/HTML
Traditional e-mail doesn't have options for pretty colored text and fun
fonts. If you are using features like this, then a good number of tamson-housers
are seeing nearly unreadable messages, simply because their mail client isn't
the same as yours. In Microsoft Outlook Express, Rich Text is turned on by
default; you will want to disable it.
Forbidden Messages
My goal is not to forbid messages based upon content, however there are some
messages that float around that are urban legends, hoaxes and/or scams. These
have no place in tamson-house.
Off-topic Commercial Messages
You've started selling vacuums or vitamins? Great, wonderful, good luck.
We don't want to hear your sales pitch. Have a spare copy of the hardback
edition of Moonheart? Let us know!
Make Money Fast
If the message promises quick and easy riches then it is a scam. Many of
these types of messages are illegal pyramid schemes.
Chain letters and Forward Me Messages
There are many hoaxes that implore you to forward the message on to all
the people you know and Instant Messenger will stay free, or Bill Gates will
pay for a Disney vacation.
Virus warnings
There are viruses out there, however most virus warnings are hoaxes. Good
virus information (including hoaxes) may be found at
For more information about hoaxes and urban legends check out:
A Note On Flaming
I don't want to tell you how you may or may not express yourself. However,
flames beget flames, and tend to cause more problems than they solve. Yes, they
will bring about fresh discussion. But that discussion is focussed on the flame
and who said what and how, rather than cool books and music.
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