LL-L "Administrativia" 2005.06.24 (09) [E]

Sat Jun 25 05:15:40 UTC 2005

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 24.JUN.2005 (09) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
=======================================================================

From: R. F. Hahn <lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net>
Subject: Administrativia

Folks,

Three days ago I wrote:

<quote>
In order to make it harder for "address miners" to collect email addresses
for SPAM purposes, and to prevent other sorts of mischief, I will in the
future not publish the part behind @ in your addresses (at least I will try
to remember not to do so).
     The down side of this is that it will prevent you from writing to each
other
unless you already know each other's addresses.  In such cases, please write
to me stating your intent, and I will pass your request on to the other
person.  If that person agrees I will connect you with each other.  I know
it's a lot of bother, but caution is a good thing.
</quote>

And earlier today I wrote :

<quote>
The LINGUIST Server people seem to have instituted a change.  Apparently the
administrators now get approval requests when a non-subscriber tries to post
a message to a list.  (Good idea, because we don't want the spammers to
flood us.)  Just now inadvertently I approved one of them when I tried to
find out what it was.  Apparently this caused a spam message to get through
to the List.  Sorry about that.  Now that I know what this is about I'll try
hard not to let that happen again.
</quote>

Mysterious things seem to have happened since then.  It looks like our good
hosts' little elves have been busy making service improvements.  I rather
suspect that these are unrelated to my recent decision to mask email
addresses, that all this is coincidental, or "psychic" ...  (Rumor has it
that I follow my mother's side of the family with a succession of relatives
that supposedly have _dat tweyde gesicht_ "the second face" ... also known
as _spoyken-kykers_ "spook seers" ...)

I just discovered that the new archive interface automatically masks all
email addresses with the label "[log in to unmask]".  I take this to mean
that only subscribers can see them when they log in online.  I furthermore
suppose that those of you that read our issues in email form will still see
all email addresses.  So it's now all strictly within the family.

Now the question is whether we should leave it like this or whether I should
still mask addresses.  I suggest this: I will leave all addresses intact for
inside purposes but will mask any addresses if their owners so request.  To
request it, all you need to do is write something like "[Mask my address]"
somewhere at the top.  I will then mask it and remove the request.  I hope
this is to everyone's satisfaction.  Furthermore, I hope that, given this
option, some of you lurkers will now decide to join our verbal and verbose
fellow Lowlanders.

Now all I have to do is find a way of automatically rejecting all submission
confirmation requests, because these seem to pertain to outsiders'
submissions, and we won't have any of that.  I don't even want to see those
requests.  If all else fails, I'll route them to a junk folder.

But wait! There's more ... from our LINGUIST elves!  There are some slick
new utilities.  One of them shows the current number of subscribers.
Another one makes our Ingmar's dream come true: it lists the countries from
which current members joined us, and it tells you how many members there are
from each country.  (I don't understand how it can do that given that at
least 50% of addresses don't have country extensions.)

This is what we have as of this moment (bearing in mind that subscriber
numbers abruptly drop as soon as summer begins and abruptly rise as soon as
autumn begins in the Northern Hemisphere):

   *  Country:  Subscribers
-----------------------------------------
   *  Australia:  8
   *  Austria:  2
   *  Belgium:  17
   *  Brazil:  6
   *  Burundi:  3
   *  Canada:  8
   *  Costa Rica:  1
   *  Croatia:  1
   *  Czech Republic:  2
   *  Denmark:  6
   *  Estonia:  1
   *  Finland:  1
   *  France:  5
   *  Germany:  36
   *  Hong Kong:  2
   *  India:  1
   *  Japan:  3
   *  Libya:  1
   *  Luxembourg:  1
   *  Netherlands:  34
   *  New Zealand:  2
   *  Norway:  1
   *  Peru:  1
   *  Poland:  3
   *  Singapore:  1
   *  South Africa:  5
   *  Spain:  2
   *  Switzerland:  1
   *  United Kingdom:  16
   *  United States:  289
   *  ???:  1

"???" refers to our only "concealed" subscriber (whom only the administrator
can see), for whom you may add one under "Australia."

I'm not totally convinced of the accuracy of the list.  For instance, I
thought we had at least two subscribers in Luxembourg (one English and one
American), but only one is listed.  Perhaps it depends on the location of
the email access provider.

Anyway, I surely hope that all these are good news for everyone and that it
will make all of you feel safer and more encouraged.

Kind regards,
Reinhard "Ron" F. Hahn
Founder & Administrator, Lowlands-L
lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
http://www.lowlands-l.net

==============================END===================================
Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l")
are  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
======================================================================= 