Paul et al,
I think I brought up the posting problem at least to you, Paul, about 2
years ago. And, no, there has never been notification that something has
not gone through. In fact, I think I once questioned at the beginning of
one VA BIRD message "where do all these messages go that never see the light
of day" or something like that.
ISP? Maybe. MS Outlook? Maybe. Of course, MDOsprey does not have the
problem. So I think the Freelists listserver sits in the "maybe" category
too.
Symptoms? Copied messages from previously composed MS Word documents often
do not go through. Switching to plain text sometimes works, esp. if you
type something first. Bypassing MS Outlook and going straight to your ISP
composer almost always works, although you may lose complete control over
font and some punctuation (take a look at some messages with question marks
peppered throughout the document).
Looking at messages over the years, it appears to happen to many people. I
think it would be worthwhile to develop a solution. So... how much does
another list server provider cost? And, perhaps the birding clubs and
organizations throughout this state should consider taking on this burden as
a community?
Why? The payoffs for a well-running listserver (especially one that is not
fragmented into regions) are the many unusual species that are found and
reported from time to time. And those are the species that grab people's
attention and lead them on a path that heads towards "conservation".
Species such as Black Rails, Brown Boobies, Sandhill Cranes, Western
Kingbirds, White Pelicans, Mountain Bluebirds, Ash-throated Flycatchers,
Harris's Sparrows, Clay-colored Sparrows, (inland) Nelson's Sharp-tailed
Sparrows, LeConte's Sparrows, Red-necked Grebes, Brewer's Blackbirds,
Lapland Longspurs, Common Teal, Swainson's Hawks, MacGillivray's Warblers,
Long-eared Owls, Cave Swallows, Buff-breasted Sandpipers, Painted Buntings,
Western Tanagers, Northern Shrikes, Mississippi Kites, California Gulls,
Heerman's Gulls, White-winged Doves, winter hummingbirds, Townsend's
Warblers, Red Crossbills, and many, many other species that have shown up in
the last few years and which many, many VA BIRDer got to experience because
of VA BIRDs.
I suggest that the time is right to develop a dialog on this subject amongst
the various Bird Club leaders. Is there interest?
Kurt Gaskill
-----Original Message-----
From: va-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:va-bird-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of P R Mocko
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2006 2:07 PM
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [va-bird] Email problems - posting problems
Dear VA-Birders,
From the Freelists webmaster, sent to me last night after I asked about the
VA-Bird posting problems:
"There are many reasons a message wouldn't come through, but someone's
always notified of the cause -- eventually, at least -- that part depends on
the cause of the failure. There's really nothing you can do from a list
admin point of view."
I have never had a posting problem so I don't know if the notification part
is true.
Freelists is a free hosting service, and VA-Bird has been on Freelists since
1999, set up by the previous listserv owners. I looked into other hosting
options during the three day outage of VA-Bird in 2004 (2005?) and they all
involved $$$.
I will assist anyone willing to re-host VA-Bird, except financially. Topic
for the VSO Board?
"No posts" have occured from the first month I took over VA-Bird three and a
half years ago. This is by far the most time-intensive part of my "job".
In almost every case, if a person changes email services the problem goes
away. Brenda Tekin sent her posts from the UVA mail server, which has and
continues to have problems. Posting problems may be caused by an ISP email
service or by an individual's PC.
So, I feel bad when I cannot resolve your posting problems, but see the
first paragraph.
BTW, does your PC have virus protection constantly updated, and do you run
an anti-spyware program, and (if it is a Windows PC) do you install
Microsoft updates when they are issued?
If you have something to contribute to this discussion, please post (if you
can). Solutions and alternatives are welcome.
Maybe we are witnessing the tip of the iceberg of net neutrality problems?
;-}
Please join me at the OBNWR for the NVBC trip starting at 8:00 AM tomorrow,
August 26.
Good birding,
Paul Mocko
Co-owner, VA-Bird Listserv
"Always look on the bright side of life" from Spamalot
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