ultracycling@googlegroups.com is now live
Joe Gross
It appears that the link from the ultrac...@topica.com to
ultrac...@googlegroups.com has been severed by the Topica list
owners a few days ago, meaning that the new Topica messages are no
longer being archived on the ultrac...@googlegroups.com list.
Much as it pains me to create yet another list and potentially further
fracture the ultracycling membership I feel it necessary to give the
community an independent place for discussion after the Topica list is
shut down.
I have turned on subscriptions for the ultrac...@googlegroups.com
list. You can join the independent list at
http://groups.google.com/group/ultracycling/about
This list contains the entire searchable archive from the Topica list
all the way back to 1999. All the existing wisdom from the community
will not be lost after the Topica list is shut down by the existing
owners.
The Google list is run by me and I will get a few others to help. It's
not in any way affiliated with the UMCA. You can talk about whatever
you want as long as it's topical and you're civil to each other.
You may ask why I've done this when there's already two new UMCA
list. I have several reason for doing this:
- Independence
A discussion group for the sport should exist independently of any
one organization. The ultracycling list is used by cyclists from
many countries and it shouldn't be bound by any rules that one
organization imposes.
- Open is better than closed
The group I set up contains the 7-year archived and publicly
available history of the old Topica list, is open to the public,
searchable on Google and other sites, and you don't need my
permission to join the list as long as you're a human cyclist.
- Open charter
It should be up to the members to decide what they wish to discuss,
provided that the discussion is topical to the list and they remain
civil to each other.
- Service to the members
My motivation from the very beginning was to keep the ultracycling
list and online community alive by moving it from a failing provider
to one that works well. I don't believe this is the same motivation
behind the two new UMCA lists.
My background and full disclosure:
I've been involved in ultracycling for about 10 years. I'm personally
an untalented and undertrained cyclist who gets out and does a bunch
of doubles and brevets each year. I've ramped up my training this year
in hopes of doing PBP for the first time.
I've crewed for The 508, RAO, RAAM, and last year was a RAAM race
official for the Enduro category, manning many time stations along the
route. I've also done SAG for a whole lot of local events as well. I
care deeply about this sport, the community, and its members.
I've successfully moved the "wattage" and "randon" lists from Topica
to Google without a hitch. Of course, this was done with the
cooperation of the original list owners so I was able to move the
entire list membership over. In this case I don't have the current
list membership so I can't execute a seamless move.
I was one of the people that helped build eGroups (sold to Yahoo! to
become Yahoo! groups). There are few people anywhere that know email
and list management as well as I do.
I'm a Google employee via the YouTube acquisition. I'm not personally
involved in Google Groups but I have previously worked with the lead
developer for Google groups at eGroups. I have no affinity for Google
Groups other than knowing that it's the best service of it's kind out
there, and much better than Topica.
Thanks,
Joe
Joe Gross
>
> We have two distinct lists with two different purposes - let's not add to the
> confusion with yet another list. The only difference between the old Topica
> list and the new Yahoo list is that personal attacks and foul language won't
> be tolerated. If you think it's important to attack people, etc then please
> join Joe Gross' listserv.
This is clearly an unfair and inaccurate characterization.
I wasn't in charge of the Topica listserv and had no role in the
venomous discussion that occurred recently. Any listserv I manage will
not tolerate a lack of civility toward others in public. If I *were*
in charge of the Topica listserv I can guarantee that the public
attacks would have been allowed to continue.
> As far as the Topica "owners" severing the link to the Topica archives, to
> the best of my knowledge that's not been done. Perhaps Joe could work with
> Terry Brown, the Yahoo listserv manager, to see that the archives are properly
> linked to the new listserv.
I have repeatedly offered to work with John and Terry to properly
migrate the Topica list to ultrac...@googlegroups.com. John
initially agreed but then apparently decided to do things on his own.
The entire Topica archive has already been transferred to the
ultrac...@googlegroups.com group. The Google list is and will
remain independent of any official organization.
You can join the ultrac...@googlegroups.com at
http://groups.google.com/group/ultracycling
As I said, I care a great deal about the worldwide ultracycling
community and want to make sure this great online resource remains
independent and available to all.
Joe
Joe Gross
>
> I wasn't in charge of the Topica listserv and had no role in the
> venomous discussion that occurred recently. Any listserv I manage will
> not tolerate a lack of civility toward others in public. If I *were*
> in charge of the Topica listserv I can guarantee that the public
> attacks would have been allowed to continue.
That should be, "would *not* have been allowed to continue.", of
course. Funny how one word can dramatically change the meaning of a
sentence.
Cheers!
Joe