OT stuff, archives

[Andrew & Rebeca Anderson]

Dean has a good point here.  We can ban off-topic discussions and it will 
work for a while.  But we techies are round, not square, and we will 
inevitably get sociable and talk like real people about all the things on 
our minds.  If we filter we can reduce the amount of stored off-topic 
stuff, or dump it into a "social-history" archive that we can later view 
for our own amazement. ;-)

Just a thought or two,
Andrew
Las Cruces, NM

At 09:27 AM 2/12/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Since the archives filter out porn/Spam already, couldn't the filter be
>extended to also exclude posts that contain OT in the subject line from the
>archives?
>
>Dean
>
>Dean May             cell 812.239.3359
>PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272
>Terre Haute IN  47802
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org]On Behalf
>Of Andrew Rudoff
>Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 9:10 AM
>To: Pianotech
>Subject: Re: OT stuff, archives
>
> >     Is there still a monitor / screener / editor -type person for the
> > archives?
>
>When I converted the list to the new server a few years back I wrote
>a program to flag help me refine the existing archives and I removed
>hundreds of SPAM and erroneous posts from them.  But it was very
>labor intensive.  I spent a couple days on it, checking whether the
>program had made the right decision in each case.
>
>These days the archives are much larger and the list software is much
>better about keeping out SPAM and virus posts.  The fact that posting
>is restricted to list members is responsible for filtering out a large
>amount of junk.  OT posts are the big exception.
>
>The list FAQ says "Anyone can post anything. But each list does have
>its intended purpose and everyone will be happiest if we all try to
>stick to topics appropriate for each list."
>
>We say that because editing the lists is a huge job and would require
>someone who reads the lists in a timely fashion (several times a day)
>and has a thick skin.  Most of us are too busy to commit to that.  Editing
>the archives after the fact is less time sensitive, but still a big job.
>
>Lately it seems that adding "OT" is an excuse to post anything.  I feel
>this has really lowered the quality of the list content.  Yes, it *all*
>goes into the archives so when someone (including one of us) comes to
>search the archives of the piano experts, they get the off-topic stuff
>as well.  That's a big shame in my opinion.  The occasional off-topic
>post will always happen but there are literally thousands of lists
>available on the Internet for every topic imaginable -- posting to
>the appropriate list will make everyone happier, will reach the people
>who want to read the post, and will not clutter our archives.
>
>I'm on several lists for the several topics I'm interested in.  When I see
>a post on pianotech that is off-topic, I'm either not interested in it
>or it is on a topic and I've already seen on other lists.  Sure, I delete
>the post and wish I had just spent the last few seconds reading something
>interesting about pianos.  But it goes into our archives just the same.
>
>-andy
>
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>
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