Conference 7.286::space

    A few notes about using VAXnotes:
    
    1) If you enter a note or reply that isn't quite right, you can
       type DELETE, followed by WRITE/LAST or REPLY/LAST.  You will
       then be able to correct the note and enter it again.
    2) Stick to the subject of the base note, and use WRITE rather than
       REPLY if you want to make a significant deviation from the topic
       being discussed.  If you are no longer sure what the topic was,
       re-read the base note by typing ".0" and see if you reply fits
       givin the context of that note.
    3) SEND/AUTHOR will allow you to send the author of a note a private
       message that won't be entered into the conference.  If you see
       a reply to a note that should have been a separate note, please
       use SEND/AUTHOR to tell the author your feelings.  If enough
       people agree, I am sure that the author will get tired of all
       the mail and create a new note for the topic.
    4) SEND/AUTHOR should also be used when the author of a note is
       offering literature, and you would like to get in the act.  Please
       don't clutter up the file with "I would like to get a copy..."
       types of replies.  Use SEND/AUTHOR instead.
    
    I want to encourage the contributers to this conference to police
    themselves, as I don't have the time to spend policing this conference.
    I think this conference serves a useful purpose, and I want it to
    remain that way, but it can only happen with the cooperation of
    all of the contributers.  For the most part everyone has been doing
    a good job, please keep it up.
    
    							Thank you,
    				  			-Dave

    Keyword creation is now unrestricted.  I am doing this as an experiment
    in this conference.  If successful, I may do the same for the other
    conferences.  Please don't go wild with keywords, and be sure to
    correct any spelling errors.
    
    						Thanks,
    						-Dave (the moderator)

    re: note 651 -  "IS THIS TRUE"
    
    I hope Rick won't mind if I use his note to illustrate a couple of
    points for new contributors to this conference.
    
    Point 1 - Relevancy...  It's not clear, to me anyway, what this note has
    to do with space exploration.  There are other conferences such as
    Astronomy etc. for this kind of topic.  I'll take it as an action item
    to open a topic here on related conferences.
    
    Point 2 - Redundancy...   As it turns out, this topic has been discused
    before in note 530 et al.  I turned that up with a DIR /title=asteroid
    so it's really not that hard to look before starting a new base note.
    Keeping related items under one topic reduces the clutter and makes it
    easier to find stuff.  People post a lot of good information here and
    it would be a shame to turn off new readers by confronting them with a
    lot of redundant notes.
    
    Point 3 - Note titles...  "IS THIS TRUE" is absolutely useless as a
    title, besides setting a kind of tabloidy tone it says nothing about
    the contents of the note.  Base notes in particular should have titles
    describing their contents.  Before hitting <return> to enter the note
    imagine yourself trying to find this note later using the DIR/TITLE=
    method, then title your note as appropriate.
    
    In general this stuff is common sense.  Different conferences have
    different cultures. All I'm really saying is please read and think
    before writing.
    
    Thanks,
    
    Mike H

    re. 490.24 by Dave Griffen,  Petition to get NASA Select on PBS
    
    Let me propose a general mechanism for petitions and such.  The
    proposition can be posted under the appropriate topic in this
    conference.  Those individuals interested in signing can send E-Mail to
    the author who can then assemble a mailing list.  The petition is then
    circulated with the mailing list via inter-office mail.
    
    Since the petition is also available over the net it can be printed out
    and taken 'round for more signatures by those with time and interest.
    In this example, the issue might be of interest to teachers and school
    administrators.
    
    Guidelines - The purpose of the petition has to be in keeping with the
    goals of the conference- ie the advancement of Space exploration. 
    Absolutely no solicitations for funds.  Propositions can be filed only
    by employees of Digital.  
    
    Be sure the proposition is clear and include a cutoff date for
    accepting replys.  It would be nice to post a follow-up note to let us
    know the outcome.
    
    Be sure and give your e-mail address since your moderator has been too
    busy to get netupdate working on the host system and noters are often
    identified only by number.
    
    
    Mike H

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