[Reader-list] A REMINDER: How to tackle spam on the reader list

[TaraPrakash]

If you are using e-mail clients like outlook express, you can create message 
rules and prevent messages from certain addresses from being downloaded. The 
option for message rules can be found in the tools section of the menu.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vivek Narayanan" <vivek at sarai.net>
To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 12:23 PM
Subject: [Reader-list] A REMINDER: How to tackle spam on the reader list


> Dear readers of the reader list,
>
> Please note, first of all, that I speak as an individual and not as a
> member of any organisation.
>
> As many of you know, there have recently been many attempts to hijack
> and dumb down the discourse of the reader list. This has been done by a
> small palmful of individuals ---- some of whom post as many as five
> times a day, with comments that are, by turns, inane, shallow, offensive
> or agressive.  These individuals may have a right to their right-wing
> politics, although they are far from representative of our 1000+ mostly
> quiet or pertinent members.  However, it has become very clear to me, at
> least, that this small group of hijackers with knives is not interested
> in nuanced or complex debate, merely in sloganeering and various forms
> of aggression and sabotage.
>
> This upsets me, since the reader-list is normally used to a very high
> and nuanced level of discussion, as evidenced in the patient, detailed
> and endlessly fascinating postings of independent research fellows,
> whether formally funded by Sarai or not, or in the recent exchange of
> different views that began with Yousuf Saeed and Sadan Jha.  That was a
> discussion where the answers were not necessarily clear, and where the
> discussants weren't merely interested in beating down their opponents'
> views with a concerted barrage of emails.   It was the kind of
> discussion where people think carefully before they write.
>
> This new phenomenon of windbags and Hindu terrorists hijacking the
> reader list not only upsets me, but it also bores me.  And it seriously
> clutters up my inbox.  I have a feeling that many on this list feel the
> same, and that the recent upsurge has simply meant that people
> eventually do not read any mail from the list, missing the good stuff.
>
> At the same time, deep in the spirit of the reader list is the idea is
> that no one should be excluded from membership or from posting.  I
> understand, and stand by that.
>
> Those who wish to continue receiving postings from the saboteurs are, of
> course, welcome to do so.  And to respond to them, too.  I however, am
> no longer interested in reading mails from some individuals whose
> postings I don't find productive or instructional. Even if there is much
> mail on the reader list that I do want to read.
>
> I would like to remind all of you who feel the same way that there is a
> very simple solution for individuals who would like to declutter their
> inbox from some of the unnecessary emails that drown out the valuable
> voices of the reader list.
>
> The solution is: you can use the message filters in your email client to
> block email from certain senders, filtering by name.  This means that
> any emails from a certain name will be filtered.  Check your help files
> on how to do this.
>
> In Gmail, click on  "create a filter", next to the search bar at the top.
>
> In Yahoo, click on options --> filters
>
> In Thunderbird, simply right-click on the email id at the top of the
> message and click on "create filter from this message".
>
> If anyone else wants to give a quick tutorial on how to use filters on
> other mail programs, please do so as part of this thread.
>
> You can set it up so that messages from all the people you don't wish to
> read or spend time deleting go straight into your "trash" folder; or you
> can create a new folder--called "bullshit", for instance-- and have
> those messages alone go directly into that folder.
>
> No doubt the aggressors will try to respond to this message by sending
> one or twenty abusive emails.  Unfortunately, I will not be replying to
> these messages because I won't see them.  They will be in my "bullshit"
> folder.  Why not make your reader list experience simpler and less
> cluttered in this way?
>
> And now-- I'm off to read Partha's reply to the complex, ongoing thread
> started by Yousuf Saeed in response to the Hindustan Times' article on
> "The New Muslim".  Not to mention important recent research postings by
> Jenny Chitra, Zubin Pastakia, Harilal Madhavan, Raman Chima, and many,
> many others.
>
> With regards,
> Vivek
>
> _________________________________________
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