Rules for the
Email Forum
Run by Mike Librik
updated 7/00, 10/03, 01/04, 04/05, 11/05,
2/07
What it's for
The forum is an email discussion list for those
using & promoting bicycles as alternative
transportation.
It is NOT a forum for recreational or sport
cycling.
To keep the email traffic reasonable, please note that
we have a two posts per person
per day maximum rule.
Digests
If you want to reduce the number of emails you
get from this list, you can get the posts in digest
format. That way, every day you get one big email with
all the day's posts, instead of getting each post
separately. To switch your subscription to the digest
format, click the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any
message to the list. (That same link works for switching
your subscription to Digest format.)
Whether you're getting the digest or not, please keep
quoting to a minimum when replying to other people's
posts. For example, don't include the original two-page
post when sending your two-line reply about it.
Otherwise, the digests fill up quickly with stuff that's
already included.
Unsubscribing
If you decide to get off the list in the future,
click the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of any email
that goes to the list, or visit the front page of
BicycleAustin.info. When you want off the list you
must take care of it yourself as just explained.
There are too many people on this list for us to
personally subscribe/unsubscribe everybody. When you want
off the list, you should unsubscribe yourself.
Posts are public
This is a public forum, and all posts are
archived on the web. Don't say anything that you wouldn't
want everyone to see, until the end of time.
Also, realize that anything you post is fair game for
reproduction in online or print-based publications.
What's on-topic
You can post anything relating to
bicycles, as long as it doesn't exclusively deal with
sporting events or paid rides. Tech talk is fine as long
as you're not discussing how to shave 4 oz. off your
bike's weight so you can save 3 seconds in a race. You
can post bicycles and related equipment for sale, too.
Beyond bikes, posts that relate to transportation in
general are fine if they're of interest to bikers &
alternative transportation junkies. Use your best
judgement.
Freedom of speech
Anything that is on-topic is acceptable and
doesn't insult other listmembers is fair game. We won't
warn or remove someone for simply expressing their
on-topic opinion on the list, even if that opinion is
ridiculous, inflammatory, or unpopular.
Off-topic posts
Anything that's not "on-topic" as listed above
is NOT ALLOWED. This includes posts about:
* ADMINISTRATION. Don't post to the list about someone
breaking the rules (more than one post per day, off-topic
post, etc.). And don't write to the offending person
directly, either. That's the moderators' job. If you've
got a complaint about the list or a list member, send it
to a moderator, not to the list, and not to the other
list member. Most importantly, don't send an
unsubscribe request to the list itself.
* VIRUS WARNINGS. Almost all virus warnings are
hoaxes. Even if they're not, this email list is not the
forum to communicate warnings about them.
* CHAIN LETTERS. Any email that tells you to forward
the email to everyone you know because then you'll get a
check from Bill Gates or because some organization will
get donations if you do, is obviously phony. Don't insult
our intelligence by sending out this crap.
* PETITIONS. Nearly
all email petitions are invalid. The authors usually
have their email accounts shut down by their ISP's right
away when the ISP's mail systems get flooded with
returned petitions, slowing down mail access for all the
other users on the system. Plus, most petitions are
continually circulated YEARS after the issue they were
supposed to address has long since passed. Any valid
Internet petition will have a WEBSITE where you can sign
it.
Quote only what you're replying to
Please quote only the specific bit you're
replying to when making a reply. Lots of people on this
list get the digest and it's annoying to them when
someone quotes an entire three-page post when adding
their own comment. In most cases you should never need to
quote more than five lines. If you're doing a
point-by-point rebuttal, then quote each point you're
responding to as you answer it.
Mail other audiences separately
When mailing to the Forum and to somebody else
at the same time (another list, the media, government
officials, etc.), send TWO emails, one to your other
audience, and one to the Forum. If you include all the
recipients in the same email, then people on the Forum
may do Reply-All's and bombard your other audience with
more mail. Including them on every short mail in a long
thread (which they don't have time to read) will make it
LESS likely that they'll pay attention to us when we have
something important to say to them. If they wanted to be
members of this list they'd join it, so let's not force
them to be de-facto members of this list.
Similarly, when you see someone break the rule and
mail external audiences at the same time they're posting
to the list, DO NOT do a Reply All! Doing so makes people
de facto list members of this list when they never signed
up, which is the whole point of not mailing external
audiences in the first place. If someone breaks the rule,
then don't exacerbate it by doing the same thing with a
Reply All. Incidentally, the list rules are linked from
the very front page of BicycleAustin.info.
No harassment of other list members
It is never appropriate to send insulting or
harassing messages directly to members of this list about
something they posted to the list, even if you do it
outside the list. If you feel this infringes on your
right to do what you want off the list, you're absolutely
right. This list is a private club, and to be in this
club you have to play by its rules. If you don't like
this restriction then you don't have to remain on the
list.
Don't send person-to-person messages to the
list
When your email is intended for a specific
person, don't send it to the whole list. Any post that
begins with a person's name (e.g., "Bob: ...") should
probably go to that person, not to the whole list.
Thank you very much for your kind cooperation. :)
Changes:
Feb. 2007: Clarified that insulting other listmembers
isn't allowed.
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