What's Okay on the ATM list?

[I added the bolding and changed the line breaks in order for the note to appear pleasing in an HTML format. However, the contents of the note have not been changed from the original posting. - Tim]

Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 11:39:24 -0700
From: Mel Bartels 
Subject: ATM a message from the list owner

A gentle reminder to stay on topic.

Any discussion relating to amateur telescope making is 
appropriate for this list.   Other discussions belong 
elsewhere.  Luckily the 'net is so vast that one can 
almost always find the right place to post a message.

Examples:
1.  not ok: general observational reports; I know it's
exciting to report the night's viewing (you will not 
believe what the upside down couple through the apartment
window were doing last night), but not here.

2.  ok: I could only see Mars' polar cap through 
* wave scope, but could see Sytis Major through * wave 
scope and could see Martians waving hello through 1/1000
wave scope.

3.  not ok:  what eyepieces should I get; so and
so eyepiece is the best!

4.  ok: analysis of eyepieces via ray tracing; why
does  that Huygens eyepiece not work on my f/4 scope?

5.  ok: discussion of visual perception as long as
it helps us design/build more useful telescopes.

6.  not ok: requests to unsubscribe (re-read the 
atm list FAQ, or send them to me privately).

7.  not ok: private messages intended for a single
recipient.

It's easy to view lists as social clubs, and when those 
fingers are hotto type, it's so easy to fire off a reply
without much thought.  But, keep telling those hot 
fingers how much more they will be appreciated if they 
fire off a message in the appropriate forum!

I see it as a class situation: you're in a physics class
and some student starts a biology discussion with the 
prof, pretty soon it's a debate on evolution and religion.
Don't you at some point want to stand up and point out
that there is a biology class next door, and the religion
class is meeting down the hallway, and can we please get
back to talking about physics?

- -- 
Clear skies, Mel Bartels    Programmer/Analyst, amateur astronomer
Eugene, Oregon, USA         homepage: http://www.efn.org/~mbartels
mailto:mbartels@efn.org     atm, atm-digest list-owner
Motorize A Dob: http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~mbartels/altaz/altaz.html

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