New list server [RE-wrenches]

[Frank Fowler]

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Michael,
I have no idea what your private email address is!
SUNcerely,
Frank Fowler
Crystal Pines Alternative Energy
4408 Pine Cluster Ln. Yankee Hill, CA. 95965
530-532-1972
www.solarenergy-alt.com
cpae1 at direcway.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Michael Welch" <michael.welch at homepower.com>
To: <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2004 12:07 PM
Subject: New list server [RE-wrenches]


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Hi gang. Please respond to this **off list,** to me directly.

I have come up against a couple of things that I am not fully comfortable
with, and want to know if any of you feel these are **deal killers** for the
new list software or have other things to share.

I have been preparing about 15,000 past messages to go into the archival
mailbox that is associated with our list on the new listserver. (Yes, the
RE-Wrenches list has been successfully busy.)

As I was doing this, I realized a couple of things that are GREAT about
Topica which we will no longer be able to do.

1) The Topica archives HIDE all email addresses associated with the
messages, both in the headers and in the message body. If you go to their
site and read a message, what you see is an unusable form of an email
address, so that spammers cannot mine addresses out of Topica lists. For
example, my address shows up as
michael- at homepower.com

The only way to use those email addresses is to click on them, which brings
up a Topica message-sending dialogue box to send to the address without you
ever actually seeing the real address.

So, even though our Topica archives are set up for anybody to see them, they
can never get to our individual addresses. This is a fantastic security
feature, and has kept spam and other unwanted messages at bay for millions
of Topica list members.

Unfortunately, with our new listserver the archives fully display the From:
email address and any address that shows up in the body of the message. That
means that any non-member can see and use our addresses directly. And, if a
spammer's address-gathering software manages to find the web home of our
list archives, it will be able to parse out every From: address and the
addresses in the body of the messages for every message in the archive. Spam
address-gathering software cruises the net, following link to link, just as
search engine software does. So if anyone ever publishes a link to our
archives, we stand a chance of being found.

What does this mean, in practical terms?
As for spam, you **may** notice a very slight increase if your address is
already out there on the web somewhere. If you have managed to keep your
address private and off of the web, you will probably notice an increase, if
and when the spambots find our archives.

As for folks that view the archives (here I mean real people, not spambots),
they will be able to send you email by grabbing your address and writing you
from within their normal email sending methods. So, you may receive more
"legitimate" mail from folks real email programs (whether it is unwanted
questions from newbies or legitimate potential customers, that is for you to
figure out).

I probably can figure out a way to password protect the archive, though not
securely, with a single password that would be available to all wrench list
members. But that would mean that non-wrenches won't have access without it.
And from what I can tell, many, many folks in and out of the industry use
and follow our posts, and I for one believe it is important that they do so.
They learn about you and your knowledge and capabilities, and the
do-it-yourselfers and non-Wrench dealers learn good stuff as well.

2) With the new listserver, folks will no longer be able to log onto the web
site to respond to messages online or change their settings online. All
Wrench list correspondence will have to be done via standard email messages,
and all delivery changes (like switching to Digest Mode) will need to be
made via commands within email messages sent to the listserver. As far as I
can tell, there may be only one or two of you that like it this way, the
rest of you are receiving all of the emails.

Michael Welch

------------------------
"Never give up, but know when to quit."
unknown

Michael Welch, michael.welch at homepower.com
     Home Power magazine
     www.homepower.com
     To reach me: 707-822-7884
     To reach Home Power: 800-707-6585

===========================================================
Your opinion counts! We're conducting a survey for a
computer service/repair company. When you complete our
survey, you will also be entered into a drawing for one of
ten $100 prizes. Just click
http://click.topica.com/caab6PVbz8Qcsbea789f/ Val Rad
===========================================================
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