----- Original Message -----
> <snip> And included 5 screens worth of garbage? </snip>
Is the "5 screens of garbage" a bunch of text quoted from other messages, or
does it have a lot of html tags (stuff in enclosed in brackets like <this>
and </that>)?
If it is poor quote skill:
It usually improves with experience. The list's homepage encourages good
quoting practices: "Delete the text which is at the end of the mail, and the
unnecessary text included from the mail you reply to" but it stops short of
assigning any NetPolice to watch over us. Seems like a no-brainer for
cooperation. Everyone is going to slip from time-to-time. Newbies will learn
at about the same rate that newer ones join and begin learning. Experts
forget or sometimes get lazy. Seems to be the norm.
If it is html tags then:
1. People COULD voluntarily turn off html encoding (as I have done) in
consideration of users who don't have html capable email programs yet. (The
list's homepage does NOT say anything about forbidding html rich messages.)
I would guess that html rich email content is already the "norm" so maybe
everyone dummy'ing down our email client isn't the real solution.
[If you are using Outlook and would like to turn off sending html enhanced
email, click on "Format" then "Plain Text" in the menu. Doesn't cause any
problems reading any kind of message--html enhanced or not. You can switch
it right back just as easy.]
2. People with older email packages SHOULD upgrade older readers. Download
or buy a newer version. If your service provider doesn't allow for html
enabled readers--get a REAL provider or email complaints to them. If the
email reads fine in the subscription mode but the digest trashes the html
messages out, ask the list maintainer if they can get a utility that will
strip out all the html tags before building the digest. (Do ALL digest
members have this problem or just a few?)
If it is Off-Topic Messages:
Everyone is going to post an off-topic [OT] message from time-to-time. True,
maybe the OT stuff doesn't follow the "This mailing list is supposed to be
used for discussing Olympus related topics." guideline to the letter--but
it adds a little life to the list. Maybe someone wants to post a joke, or
ask what it is like living in a certain location or photographing an area. I
don't think the occasional off topic message hurts at all if it fits with
the OM community.
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