[From Bill Powers (2001.12.26.mst)]
Rohan Lulham (2001.12.26) --
Hello,
I may not be aware of the reasons for doing this, so I wonder why this is a
good idea to get people to re-subscribe. No other list I've been a member
has done this. Is it a test to actually see who is still controlling their
memberships to the list, and thus loose those who may have at one time been
controlling for their membership but are not now controlling for the
membership? Or is a computer functioning issue?
Curious,
This list has been active since 1990, and some people's subscriptions
remain the same as they were at the start. It doesn't seem likely, for
example, that an address at a graduate school in California is still valid
for someone known known to be working in New York. If people forget to
unsubscribe when they change locations, they may have no way to do so from
the new location because to unsubscribe they have to send the message from
the same address they used when they subscribed. So we could have a lot of
subscriptions which are actually abandoned and don't reflect an interested
person. I, for one, would like to know how many people are still actually
interested in PCT.
To resubscribe, all you have to do is sent a message to
listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu (note lack of final "e" on listserv)
The message must say
subscribe CSGnet <identifying info>
Where the part in angle brackes should consist of your last name, your
first name, and your affiliation, all in 40 chanacters or less (no angle
brackets, of course). The list server will pick up your return address from
the post you send. No Subject is necessary.
For all I know, the list will be the same before and after the big cleanup.
To see who is on the list now (or any time) send a message to the same
address as above:
review CSGnet (country
The "(country" part (with no closing parenthesis) is an instruction to sort
the names by the country of origin, if the computer can figure it out. If
you leave off "(country", the names are sorted by email address in one long
list. You will get two automatic posts, one with a Subject saying "Output
of your job" (which does NOt contain the output of your job), and the other
containing the file showing the list.
I just did a review -- got the results 5 minutes later. There are 133
subscribers in 15 countries, 99 subscribers having USA addresses, 1
"concealed" (you can tell the list server not to reveal your information,
if you like -- send a message to the "listserv:" address
help CSGnet
to get lots of instructions including the one for concealing your address
and name).
Looking over the list, I see that most of the entries look convincing, but
I can't really tell for most of them. A cleanup sounds like a good way to
start the new year, anyhow, doesn't it?
There will probably be more activity on the net soon, as some of us who
have been working up a beginning economics model off CSGnet will probably
start using CSGnet so others who are in a position to understand and (/or)
contribute to Pascal coding can participate.
Best to all, and happy new year,
Bill P.