More Some Thoughts on: Days w/ no TrekSmut...

[Asc...@aol.com]

From:
Asc...@aol.com
Date:
Sat, 31 Jan 1998 01:33:16 EST
To:
as...@earthlink.net
Subject:
More Some Thoughts on: Days w/ no TrekSmut...

<waves>

Anne here. The ASCEML List Mom (so much more friendly than Goddess,
don't you
think?>

This is an addition to Ruth's lovely post on the inner workings of
ASCEM.

ASCEML is a very different creature from ASCEM. Why? Because it is a
mailing
list <duh> Because it is a mailing list, you the reader have no control
over
the posts you receive. You, as an ASCEML subscriber, get each and every
post,
from chat to stories, whether you might be interested in them or not.
Wheras
the person who gets their Smut direct from the newsgroup can simply
pick the
posts he/she/it/whatever is interested in.

This is the main reason I have put an arbitrary cap of 50 messages per
send. I
wouldn't want more than fifty mesages a day to wade through. Frankly,
there
are days when I am amazed that there are people who want TrekSmut so
bad, they
are willing to do this.

There are also a few other differences between ASCEM the newsgroup and
ASCEM/L
the mailing list. Unlike Alexas or Ruth, I have the additional time
consuming
chores of any list owner. Handling subscription requests, requests for
info on
ASCEM itself, handling vacation requests and then there are all those
pesky
bounces and warning messages. Everyday, guarenteed, I get at least one
warning
and one bounce from the address list. That means every message is
returned to
me and has to be dealt with. One warning and one bounced addy can equal
one
hundred returned messages. Makes the mind boggle, doesn't it?

Here is how ASCEM/L works. I receive the messages from Ruth or Alexas.
These,
as well as the newsgroup messages, are downloaded from AOL. Why both?
Because
not once have the two matched. Which is no one's fault. It is simply
the way
cyperspace works. It is my method of making sure I get all the posts
for the
day and that you do too.

These messages are cut & pasted into my mail program. And then sent out.

Now, I am willing to stay up to 1AM CST USA. Maybe even 2. But, if even
I am
up later, I am not willing to do the group any later. Simply because it
is so
time consuming. If there are fifty mesages, that can take a minimum of
an
hour. Plus, an hour more, if cyberspace is slow, to send. That's two
hours.

Ruth, I am sure, isn't complaining. Neither am I. We volunteered to do
this
because we're crazy. I mean, because we love you all and want to
dedicate our
lives to the promotion of TrekSmut <g> And we wouldn't have volunteered
if we
didn't want to do this. (That and the glory, the name-recognition when
we walk
down the street, the crowds of acoyoltes willing to see to our every
whim <g>)

But we would like you to know some of what goes on behind the scenes.
Frankly,
like Ruth has said, I am astounded that it works as well as it does.

anne in chicago