real quiet

External Since: Feb 11, 2007 Posts: 19

On Feb 12, 8:19 am, Wilko <look....TakeThisOut@my.sig> wrote:
> Moby Dick wrote:
> > On Feb 11, 9:56 pm, "Moby Dick" <Dick.Roches....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> On Feb 11, 6:26 pm, John Fereira <j....TakeThisOut@cornell.edu> wrote:> "Moby Dick" <Dick.Roches....TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote in news:1171238268.607939.4800
> >>> @h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
> >> I'm dictating anything. I was responding to your condescending tone.
> >> Now, I think I see why membership is down.
> > Wow. I must have stepped on some nerves. I use Google and I used
> > keywords to find this group. If usenet doens't support that, then it
> > must be primitive. Furthermore, Google asked me to "subscribe" hence
> > my notion of membership.
>
> Usenet is indeed primitive, in some respects, in that it existed and was
> very popular way *before* the world wide web and serch machines like
> Google became popular. Google Groups happens to have a big archive of
> usenet posts over the years (depending upon which group you look at),
> but it is in no way the only (or the best) way to participate in
> newsgroups. Also, just because you use Google Groups to post in this
> group doesn't mean that you need a Google user ID to post in newsgroups
> or participate in usenet.
>
> On the other hand, newsgroups are seeing a revival through the binary
> newsgroups, because a lot of illegal software, movies and music is
> posted there nowadays. So primitive is a relative term in this respect.
>
>
>
> > I have no idea what "top posting" is. Am I doing that?
>
> It's posting above the text of the ones you are replying to... and yep,
> you do that.
>
> > In my own defense, I thought I was being helpful. The thread was
> > bemoaning the lack of postings. I observed that perhaps the group
> > needed more members and suggested two possible ways to do that *which
> > apparently is not allowed unless you've been in the group "since
> > 1985."
>
> The amount of posts on this newsgroup have been on the decline since a
> couple of nasty individuals decided to turn this newsgroup into their
> private playground, with them basically being the local bully. Since
> newsgroups aren't moderated and the basic "rules" of netiquette aren't
> being enforced, it's pretty easy for those who want to damage a
> community to wreak havoc here. Since many other forums outside usenet do
> provide moderators, admins or whatever they are called, this kind of
> behaviour is pretty rare there in comparison to usenet, which is part of
> the reason why so many people moved from usenet groups to other forums.
> So yes, there may be some nostalgia involved, but by and large, this
> newsgroup still has some helpful individuals hanging around on it, some
> of which have met in real life and some of which are even friends.
>
> > I am truely a newbie. I don't own a kayak but would like to. That's
> > why my other postings. My wife and I kayaked on our last vacation. We
> > rented.
>
> Everyone started out as a newbie once... Smile

>
> Try to see a community for what it is, and if you are willing to help it
> change, participate.
>
> Imagine walking into a pub for the first time, and yelling from the
> doorway: hey, why aren't your seats pink, why don't the barmen stand in
> front of the bar and shouldn't you have a sign outside that says
> "welcome to men and women, truckers, bikers, motorists, those with or
> without a job, anyone with or without a hobby and people with and
> without disabilities" instead of "highway 99 pub"?
> On top of that, you call the establishment a bit primitive since they
> don't serve fine wines and the toilets are missing seats...
>
> Now imagine the response from some of the bikers or truckers in there,
> who have been coming there for decades, after hearing you say that. Smile

>
> --
> Wilko van den Bergh wilko<a t)dse(d o t>nl
> Eindhoven The Netherlands Europe
> ---Look at the possibilities, don't worry about the limitations.---http://kayaker.nl/

Thanks for the explanation. This is my first time NOT top-posting
which I think makes it harder to read from Google groups but here
goes...

I did not intend to be a troublemaker. Sorry if I was/am perceived as
such.

I like your metaphor but I think it changes a little bit from my point
of view. I think your metaphor should be.....

Imagine walking into a pub for the first time, and sitting down to
have a drink when you overhear the few patrons there start complaining
that not enough people come into the bar anymore or, at least, they
don't want to converse like they used to. Wanting to become part of
the group, I say that the bar owner should put up a sign and do a
little advertising since that's what other bars do. Then thay say I
have no right to criticise since I haven't ever been in the bar and
they've been patrons since the dinosaur age. Hmmm. Ok I'll shut up and
I'll also probably not ever come back.

Cheers.

BTW, I think we've beaten this to a pulp. I don't intend to add to
this thread anymore (unless severely provoked).

External Since: Aug 12, 2003 Posts: 214

"Moby Dick" <Dick.Rochester DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in
news:1171256172.937166.230590@h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

> On Feb 11, 6:26 pm, John Fereira <j... DeleteThis @cornell.edu> wrote:
>> "Moby Dick" <Dick.Roches... DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in
>> news:1171238268.607939.4800 @h3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:
>>
> I'm dictating anything. I was responding to your condescending tone.
> Now, I think I see why membership is down.

There is no membership involved. Rec.boats.paddle is an open forum that can
be accessed numerous ways. Many use a usenet newsreader application such as
Forte free agent, Xnews, and for the really old school types, a program
called "trn". Google groups and Yahoo groups merely provide web based front
ends to the group and may provide keyword searching capabilities but all
they're really searching is the content of the posts. As is the case for
most usenet groups the content focus is defined by a charter which is voted
on when the group is initially proposed. In this case, the charter
describes a group for discussion of topics related to boats that can be
paddled, though there have been past discussions about whitewater rafting
(with uses oars rather than paddles), and the use of sails on kayaks. As is
the case for most usenet groups, topics do appear or drift outside the
scope of the original charter but most try to relate their content, even if
tangentially to paddling boats. To confuse things even more, in the UK they
call kayaks a "canoe" and when we start talking about traditional kayaking
alternative spellings appear (Qajaq) or specific types of kayaks (Baidarka)
might show up. Thus, a thread on the merits of a bifurcated bow on a
Baidarka might never contain the words kayak or canoe but it is very much
about paddling a kayak.

As I said, I (nor I doubt) anyone else here has any intention of
discouraging you or anyone else from participating in this group. The
questions that you ask regarding the materials used for kayaks are good ones
and at least a couple of people have taken the time to provide answers.
There is a vast amount of knowledge available here about kayaks, canoes, and
related topics and, for the most part, the atmosphere is quite civil. From
time to time, people do show up that only seem to want to be argumentative
and disruptive, but that's the nature of usenet.
>
>> > Thanks Mike. If the group is for more than kayakers (and that's
>> > fine), then use all the dang keywords: "kayaking", "canoing",
>> > "paddling". That way people searching for any of the above will
>> > stumble upon the group.
>>
>> This group isn't a Google group or Yahoo group in the same sense that
>> you may be familiar with. It's a usenet newsgroup and doesn't have
>> any associated keywords. Usenet was around long before Google or
>> Yahoe or any other web site (I've been participating on Usenet since
>> 1985). This group has been around for well over a decade (that's how
>> long I've been participating and there are several here that were
>> around long before I). I don't want to discourage you from
>> particpating but it's not wise to jump into a group that's been around
>> for a long time and dictate to those that have been partipating in it
>> for many years how to use the group.
>
>