163 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
163 lines
7.3 KiB
Plaintext
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>From the desk of:
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S t e v e n E B a k e r
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Editor of:
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Public Announcement
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October 8th, 1994
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"The Mailing List Problem"
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1.1 : The Good News First
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I made a promise to myself and a lot of other people that the
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first issue of The Internet Informer would be delivered to each and
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every subscriber before the 1st of October (the official release
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date). On the evening of September 30th, 1994 I went through my
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normal routine of preparing for the graveyard shift at the chemical
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plant I work at. The only deviation from my established routine
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was just before I left my home, I walked into my office and booted
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up the ole' 486. I called my Internet access provider and sent a
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rather lengthy message (The Internet Informer October 1994) to a
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computer at North Carolina State University. That computer was
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running Majordomo software and it accepted my email with open arms,
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sending exact copies to all of the people that had subscribed to my
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magazine. Within a few hours the first issue of The Internet
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Informer had been distributed all over the world.
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The next morning my mailbox was full of email messages from
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happy and unhappy readers (you will see most of the interesting
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ones in the December issue) who had finished reading it. The
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number of subscription requests skyrocketed to around 200 a day and
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I enthusiastically sent sample issues to all who had requested it.
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These events kept unfolding everyday as I scanned my mailbox after
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work until Wednesday, October 5th.
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Around 5am in the morning my pregnant wife Tiffany went into
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labor with our first child. We left for the hospital and we stayed
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there until the evening of October 7th, Friday. I am happy to
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report we are the proud new parents of Brooke Savannah Baker --
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a happy, healthy child of 7 pounds and a full head of hair. My
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wife did well, but had to go on special medication to offset her
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blood pressure rise. I stayed by her bed and read magazines and
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books on the Internet between holding my new daughter and sleeping.
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In seven days I had moved into a new house, published an
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electronic newsletter, and coached my wife through her breathing
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cycles as our daughter was being delivered. As draining as those
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events are, I still managed to check my email when I got home
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Friday evening.
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1.2 : Then the Bad News
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Basically, The Internet Informer grew too fast too quick.
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Problems arose with a small percentage of the new subscribers --
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some of the addresses were not working well with the mailing
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program. The mailing list grew extraordinarily fast and
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NCSU-Internet staff members became alarmed. The system
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administrator pulled the plug on the entire list and sent me a
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quick note in the mail telling me and my ever-growing mailing list
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goodbye. I have a partial record of the people who currently were
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interested in subscribing, and a lot of people writing me
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personally asking why my listserv doesn't work. The night before
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Tiffany went into labor I had hit a few Usenet Newsgroups with
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posts detailing how to subscribe to my magazine. Great timing,
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wouldn't you say?
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I am left without an efficient means of distributing my free
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magazine, other than manually mailing it to everyone.
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Disappointing as this is to me, I will still publish the Informer.
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I just have to adjust my methods a little, and hope for the best.
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I do not want to sound like a self-help book, but life is a series
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of changes and how well you adapt to those changed is related to
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how well you do in life. With that philosophy driving me, I came
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up with an idea.
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1.3 : More Good News
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I am encouraged by the number of people that have sent in their
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donations, and would like to thank each and every one of you for
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doing so. The only reason I ask for donations is so that I can pay
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the writers. That's it. In fact, I have a standing offer to
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distribute my magazine for $100 down, and $17.00 per 1,000
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subscribers per issue and I refuse to consider it. If I get a few
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hundred dollars in the mail, I will pay the writers what they are
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worth. With over twenty writers hacking at this newsletter, $1,000
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in donations means $50 to each writer. I assure you I am no where
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near $1,000 in donations, so think about that when you see how
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much effort went into these articles. In order to serve the
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people who took the time to donate to this project and support the
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writers I have made some adjustments to subscription
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qualifications. The new guidelines are as follows:
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[1] Only donating readers will be included on the new mailing
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list. Donations can be of any amount -- no minimum,
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maximum, or donation frequency requirements.
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[2] The Internet Informer, being a free publication, will
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still be available on Alt.Zines, FTP aql.gatech.edu, and
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various other places around the Net/Usenet and BBS/Online
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world.
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[3] Individual back issues (October 1994) can be requested by
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mailing me at StevenBaker@Delphi.Com with the month in the
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subject line.
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Donating readers will get the current issue about a week or so
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before it is available elsewhere.
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Donations should be mailed to:
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____ ____
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Make Checks { )-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-( }
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Payable To The | : : |
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Editor: : | The Internet Informer | :
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| : P.O. Box 262 : |
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Steven : | Hitchcock, Texas | :
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Baker | : 77563 : |
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: | | :
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{____)-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-(____}
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1.4 : Business as Usual!
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The December issue is in the works, with a few changes, a few
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additions, and a few deletions. Charles Deemer (Wild,Wild,Web!)
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has left the ranks to pursue a higher paying position and I am
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replacing him with a more technical column about Information
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Brokering and the Internet. Not many people are interested in
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America Online and Compuserve columns, so they might fade away.
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People want to know how to use the Internet for work and play --
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not the user friendly online services. You will also see changes
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in the ascii graphics and the overall layout -- all from reader
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suggestion.
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I apologize about the change in the subscription methods, and
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I hope to see you on the list. I depend on many people to make
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this thing work, the writers, the readers, and our supportive
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friends. Thank you for your interest and your support. Look for
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us in December!
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See you on the Net,
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Steven E Baker (Dad)
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