RE: Off Topic Posts (Again) - LONG!

["Brendan" <jbh@xxxxxxx>]

Think these are excellent suggestions.

While I have not been able to contribute much, I also find the Group both
very friendly and
always ready to help and to provide answers to any query.

If I may offer one tiny addition to Paul's list  -  please change the
Subject line when the
subject matter alters.  Been side-tracked by a number of instances where,
e.g. I am going
thru 100's of accumulated mails and find that a "Cat5" thread has
migrated
>from
"Projectors" ...... all without
change of the Subject.

Thanks

Brendan




-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Gordon [mailto:paul_gordon@xxxxxxx]
Sent: 31 October 2001 13:14
To: ukha_d@xxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ukha_d] Off Topic Posts (Again) - LONG!


I'll chip in with my 2-penne'th worth then, as I guess I'm qualified to
comment, having been probably one of the worst offenders (until
recently)...

I still believe "self-regulation" is the way to go, - since the
last time
this came up, prompted by Phil's & my drunken exchanges, I have
conciously
considered every post I have made on-list. - I trust you will have noticed
the difference! - I now conduct a great deal of "chat" with other
UKHA'ers
by private email or by instant messaging.

The trouble comes with determining what can be considered to be
"on" topic
for HA, as it is a very diverse area, and means a lot of different things
to
a lot of different people... Some people use a Windows PC as their HA
controller (myself included), and to them, any discussion surrounding the
performance, reliability, useability, etc. of either the hardware or the
software is very relevent, - (as in most cases, the HA PC, is probably the
most important one in terms of those criteria.) However, to those people
who
use a Homevision, all that stuff is just "noise".

I believe we ought to be able to agree a wide enough range of topic areas
that can be considered on-topic for 95% of HA related discussion, and to
include the majority, I think that ought to include at least the following:

- All dedicated Home automation controllers
- PC based Home automation controllers
- PC based Home automation hardware - including communications ports,
relays, IR, audio, wireless devices inc. mice & keyboards, interface
discussions, etc. - basically any item of hardware that connects to, or
installs in, a PC which may play a role in a HA system...
- PC based Home automation software
- MS Windows (all versions)
- Linux and Linix based HA software
- AV components
- AV distribution, including discussions of AV signal types etc.
- Environmental sensing - including security systems, weather, temperature,
light level, movement, occupancy, etc..
- Whole-house Audio, including MP3 jukeboxes
- PVR, including video capture hardware and software
- Infrared Distribution
- Interface devices, including remote controls, webpads, etc. - anything
which might be employed to input a signal to a HA system.
- Feedback devices, including TTS, LED's, LCD's, etc. - anything which
might
be used by a HA system to signal feedback to the operator.

This is not an exhustive list, just a starter for 10, to get the creative
juices flowing.

Having established a list of broad subject areas, I still feel that OT
posts
should not be "banned", but merely that users are
"encouraged" to take the
thread off-list, once the initial dialog has been established. We keep
revisiting the subject of the high signal to noise ratio on this list, but
I've never seen any formal guidance on the matter.. If new users who
subscribe to the list were automatically sent a "welcome" email
that
included some guidance notes, then there might be both a marked
improvement,
or at least grounds to politely remind the offenders not to abuse the list
too much. (after all, how can you berate a subscriber fo OT posts when
he/she has not been told what is considered on or off-topic, and how to
behave when submitting OT posts?)

Similarly, in must be possible to establish some broad subject areas that
are considered definately off-topic, such as:
- Food & Drink (including cheesy chips!)
- Cars
- Holidays
- Women
- Sport
- Relationship counselling

.... and so on....

I personally would like to see the guidance to go along the following
lines:

1: Any post relating to any of the defined subject areas designated as
on-topic are fine.
2: Any post relating to any of the defined subject areas designated as
definately off-topic are discouraged.
3: Any post relating to any subject area which is not covered by either of
the above rules are OK, but should be indicated in the subject line as
off-topic, unless and untill the category list is expanded to include it.
4: Off-topic posts should always be indicated as such in the subject line.
5: Off-topic posts are permitted, but should be considered carefully,
before
submission. Where OT posts are requests for help, then the thread should be
moved to private mail once a dialog has been established between interested
parties.
6: replies to posts should be edited to only include the required parts of
the preceding post in the thread.
7: Replies to posts should ideally include the question to which the answer
is given, for the benefit of people who may not have read the thread from
the start.

That's my take on the matter anyway, - if a set of simple
"guidelines" (not
rules) were issued to both existing members, and all new subscribers, then
if even only half of them bother to adhere to them, the OT chat situation
will improve.

I'll add that in total agreement with several other people, I also
immensely
value the collective depth and breadth of experience of people on this
list,
and I would hate for anyone to feel restricted in making use of that. - it
is after all, the best resource this group has!

I'll shut up now...

Paul G.





_________________________________________________________________