From: dona@bilver.uucp (Don Allen)
Subject: Re: FILE: HUFON report on Underground Base in Calif
Organization: W. J. Vermillion - Winter Park, FL
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 02:20:19 GMT

In article <1992Dec28.022203.336@ringer.cs.utsa.edu> sbooth@lonestar.utsa.edu (Simon E. Booth) writes:
>In article <15231.2b3bb93c@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu> vancleef@ohstpy.mps.ohio-state.edu writes:
>>In article <72389@cup.portal.com>, John_-_Winston@cup.portal.com writes:
>>> Dear Folks: I wouldn't recommend that you all go to sleep too soundly
>>> yet. The battle is not won yet.
>>> John Winston.
>>
>>This idiot's replies have all the ingenuity of a C- AI class project. Winston's
>>ramblings would probably make a decent random number generator.
>>
>>It is time to moderate this group to get this shit out the group. He
>>contributes *nothing* except weird cryptic messages that mean nothing to
>>anyone. I used to enjoy this group earlier this year.
>>
>>Just today this idiot has posted over 15 2 or 3 line posts of meaningless
>>drivel.
>>
>>-Garrett
>I enjoy alt.alien.visitors but have the same complaint.  This Winston person
>floods the newsgroup with his one-liners, and they aren't even relevent
>to anything else that has been posted.
>
>I've seen the AI-experiment theory put forth as an explanation to many of the
>more stupid things posted on the net.
>Simon
>

[ long quoted section kept intact to maintain proper context ]

I have such a user on the Fido UFO echo..he is called "John Walkin" . But
the difference is that on the echo, I'm the Moderator and I regularly
post the echo rules. An infraction of those rules will get you a warning
notice from me, 3 and your feed gets cut. Mr. Walkin has recv'd one such
notice already.
 
I don't post much on alt.alien.visitors any more because the noise level
is so high it isn't worth my time or effort. I've halfway monitored the
attempts by some users of aav to either moderate that newsfroop or split
it altogether into separate groups. Because these are "alt*" newsgroups,
you're going to have a certain level of anarchy right from the beginning.
 
Based upon my recent lurks in aav, I've made the determination that the
Fido UFO echo  (largest backbone UFO echo in existence) is NOT going to
be run like the chaos on here. On ParaNet, or MUFONET, such behaviour
of twits is -not- allowed. While much of a case can be made for having
such wide open access in the alt* groups, unless you have strong individuals
who are willing to take on the initiative themselves to make attempts
at direction of topics (and there are a few) and also to remind people
that access doesn't give them license to ABUSE other users, then you
can pretty much expect to continue wading through all the garbage,
and putting up with the antics of people like John Winston. Only when you
have _order_ in a newsgroup can the genuinely interested users begin
to have some semblance that the flamers,idiots and twits will not
interrupt discussions and detract from the topic at hand. Idiots who
login to post meaningless and otherwise non sequitor remarks SHOULD
be taken on by peer pressure, for that is the closest thing that you have
here to a "moderator".

While a *moderated* UFO newsgroup(s) would significantly reduce the noise,
I have tremendous compassion for the individual who would undertake such
a job for it will be a full time endeavor and his mailbox will be full
at all times. It also saddens me that IF such a thing does come to pass,
then a loss of sponteneity will, I think happen to a degree. But that
is the price you pay for a minimum of noise and a maximum of user
enjoyment. No one wins in a pointless flame war; it eats up way too much
bandwidth and usually makes fools out of the people involved. This is
why Rule #1 on a Fido echo is "No Flaming".

Anyways, those are just a few of my ramblings, for what it's worth :-)

Don



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