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

[TaraPrakash]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "TaraPrakash" <taraprakash at gmail.com>
To: "Vivek Narayanan" <vivek at sarai.net>; <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2007 1:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] A REMINDER: How to tackle spam on the reader list


> 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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>