New list server [RE-wrenches]

[Michael Welch]

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Has everyone weighed in on this that wants to? Please contact me off list at michael.welch at homepower.com if you would like to comment.

>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
  
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"When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world."
                                -John Muir
        
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

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