Sinister: Tweet

[Honey]

Sweeties,

I've just changed the way that Sinister sends out its mails by using
something called a bulk mailer which bundles them up a bit more
sensibly and sends them out in parallel - that's because people near
the bottom of the list were getting Sinister mails two Tuesdays too
late.  Initial seems to suggest it's "faboo" - please let me know if
it makes things worse or you see problems or your auntie spills her
tea or something.

What else?  Did someone mention the FAQ?  Let's keep the list clean
of junk (and I don't mean "clean" or I'd have banned Chris Leonard
months ago).  The ghost of Cliff Richard is taking control of my
hands and making me attach bits of the set of Frequently Asked
Questions again for those who obviously can't digest the whole
thing.  I am going to feed it into your little birdy twittering
mouths until it's firmly absorbed.  For those nice birdies who have
read it already, a pat on the back and a nice worm pie for supper.

Dr HoneyP xxx


***********************

Sir Cliff Richard says:


12. So what can we talk about on the list?

Anything vaguely connected with the band or with life as a fan of
Belle and Sebastian, is OK.  The list is the place where you'll hear
any real news about Belle and Sebastian first, but it is also a place
where people will tell stories about what's happened to them, if they
think they're funny or relevant. Try and remember this: it's a list
for Belle and Sebastian but more importantly about the lives of
People Who Listen To Belle And Sebastian.  If you want a low-volume
news-only list for the band then don't join.  You will get a lot of
mail that isn't about latest releases, gigs, appearances etc., but
instead about ourselves.

The list goes right when it's lively, funny, interesting, touching,
and sometimes even useful. The list goes wrong when people post
irrelevancies, not-so-funny "clever" quips, or long discussions take
place which would be more suited to another list (like discussions of
the relative merits of a band unrelated to B&S).

I may step in if we get a long long conversation about something
interesting to only a tiny minority of the list - some people pay
handsomely for their email and would not be pleased to receive a
thousand messages about an obscure band from Wigan who once sounded a
bit like the intro to one of Belle and Sebastian's songs.  If you do
receive a mail from me which asks you to stop posting to the list on
a particular subject, or in a particular way, please don't be
offended - I am just trying to keep this list running ok - but please
do something about it.  I have seen too many lists die as a result of
losing sight of what they are for and why people liked them in the
first place, and don't want the same to happen here, if it can be
avoided.

Please try and be sensitive to the majority of listeners (over 500 at
the time of writing) and do not continue long threads on an unrelated
subject - if you wish to divert widely from the issues related
specifically to the band, then go to a more general list or pop along
to www.liszt.com and join another list as well!  Pet theories about
whether Elvis is a cat or indeed a brussel sprout are however
tolerated for a long time because they amuse your list
administrator.


15. He/she's really winding me up, I'm going to slag them off
    something rotten...

DO NOT FLAME PEOPLE OR BE ABUSIVE!  I take this very seriously and
will act accordingly - too many mailing lists have been ruined by
arrogance or a quick temper by people who consider themselves "real
fans" - a rather pathetic term.  This mailing list is setup for
everyone, especially new enthusiastic listeners who do not need to be
abused and belittled.  Please be helpful and if you can't think of
anything nice to say go and do a jigsaw.  Anyone who is consistently
a real pain will be permanently removed.   I am a naive kitten and I
don't like fights on my list and I'll stop them - there are plenty of
angry lists to go to if you want.

If anyone feels they are being unfairly mistreated or have any other
problems with the list please mail me rather than the list.  I will
sort out any such problems offline.

This of course doesn't mean you can't express strong feelings
strongly - in fact it's mandatory.  But don't attack people, attack
things.


16. What else do I have to remember?

Please read these and remember.  If someone consistently ignores
these you might get a bit of a growl and in extreme cases I'll stop
people posting if the happiness of the majority on the list demands
it.

   * Don't send warnings about viruses to the list!  You might be being
     friendly but 99.9% of these "virus warnings" are hoaxes - the only
     "virus" is the fact that you are passing it on, and everyone who knows
     will groan.  If you see one of these and aren't sure then mail me and
     I will check for you.
   * Don't send lots of replies to separate messages on the list one after
     another.  This doesn't seem to go down well.  Proper behaviour is to
     hold back, read a few messages and bundle up your replies to them all
     in one big message for the day.
   * If you are replying to someone, take the time to edit the bits you are
     quoting from their message carefully and just quote a few lines.  If
     you can't be bothered editing the message you are replying to, don't
     bother sending - laziness on your own part equates to over 500 people
     having to page through stuff they've read before.  If you are adding
     fewer lines than you are quoting it's probably not worth sending
     either.
   * Don't send number games/quizzes/jokes to the list if you can help it
     please.  Put a bit of yourself into your posts.
   * If you really need some information on something that other people may
     not want to know, please make sure  you remember to tell people not to
     mail back to the list, but to you personally.  If you think others
     might be interested, say you will post a summary of the mails you
     received.  And, erm, do it.
   * Don't use the list for private mail to 5 people you know.  Please help
     my server stay unclogged so this list can survive.
   * People will talk about a book or film or song or sandwich filling they
     love or hate.  That's fine - but please don't just say "it's great" or
     "it's crap".  Say why.  Just because a lot of people tell me they get
     fed up with these.
   * Please don't send messages with attachments to the list.  This may not
     be junk to you but there's still lots of people out there who don't
     use mail programs that know how to deal with anything but standard
     text.  And please remember some of us use Unix etc. as a principle
     platform and so attachments in proprietary formats (like Microsoft
     Word) will just be plain unreadable. If anyone wants to share material
     that isn't in standard text format, or that's of significant size,
     that's fine - just send it to me and I will post it up on the WWW
     site.  That way people get to choose to download it...
   * Don't fling any old message to the list or treat it like email to a
     few friends - it just doesn't translate on a massive scale and people
     will get irritated.  Think before you send.  The drill is: compose
     your message - hover your hand over the send button for 10 seconds -
     think: "would Cliff Richard send this?" - send.



20. Who provides this list?  Who says I can't do what I want on it?

The resources to run this list are provided by my employer and it is
not a guaranteed public service - I will do whatever is necessary to
ensure its continued existence.  If you want a completely
unrestrained list where anyone can talk for weeks about anything, or
a more constrained list that is moderated or band news only, then I'm
afraid you'll have to go elsewhere.

Hopefully (sorry) Belle and Sebastian won't become quite as popular
as Take That so I will be able to keep it going on borrowed resources
- but if it impacted too much I might have to withdraw it one day.
To ensure it continues therefore it isn't a public resource in quite
the same way a newsgroup is.  So please be nice.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------
.     This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list.
.        To send to the list please mail "sinister at majordomo.net".
.  For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see
.             http://www.majordomo.net/sinister
. For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister at majordomo.net
.             Listen, this is pish, I think I'll leave
-----------------------------------------------------------------------