On 5 Jan 2005 at 12:14, Richard Patefield wrote:

Henrik Gistvall wrote:

This is an american list...


Richard interjected:

No it isn't.

I assert:

Well, if you snipped apart all of the membership addresses, and
put them into a balance -- USAians in one side and everyone else
in the other -- I'm afraid that the balance _would_ tilt to the
USAian side.

It certainly would tilt to the side of members for whom English
is the primary language.

That said, it is the only mailing list/newsgroup (organization)
with a truly international membership. (I know of Italian-,
Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking bonsai lists, and there
probably are others. But they're quite a bit smaller than the
IBC.)

And, since it is directly connected to a USENET news group, we
on the mailing list just have to put up with the occasional
"troll" (troublemaker) who drifts by with the sole purpose of
causing trouble by crossposting to as many newsgroups as
possible.

You usually can spot these by the subject line and if you only
want to talk bonsai you can delete those which are not on that
subject without opening them. And Henrik, you CERTAINLY do not
have to look at any web page they point you at. (That could be
a dangerous move, anyway, since that page could be filled with
all kinds of viruses and other nasties.)

But, as Henrik says, you certainly should NOT respond on the
list because those people will only laugh. They check in to the
news group occasionally to laugh at the trouble they cause (and
if they were very successful, that encourages them to post
AGAIN). Respond to them directly if you MUST, but that also
only encourages them -- assuming they use a real address.

The best bet: IGNORE them. Hit DELETE and go on with your life.

The list managers sometimes warn you not to respond, but that
just clutters things up too and is the same thing as responding.
So usually, you never heard from me, as you don't hear from
Shelly now. We just hope(ed) that common sense would prevail.

If they (the trolls) keep on trying, the list manager can keep
those messages from reaching the list -- unless someone from the
newsgroup responds.

If we behave, however, they'll learn that we're too smart for
them and won't bother. (hint)

Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - List
Manager emeritus

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