Oz-Trance FAQ v1a

Oz-Trance FAQ v1.3

What is the oz-trance mailing list ?

The oz-trance mailing list was created in September y2k to bring together trancers within Australia in time for the Summer of 2000. It’s intention is to bring trancers in Oz together as a collective so that we are are not segregated from folks with similar interests whilst spending out time not at parties or similar social environments, which happens to constitute on roughly an average 98% of our time in our lives (which excludes sleeping).

Are there rules ?

It is requested that you follow a few basic principals on E-Mail netiquette. Other than this, the list is free.

The list currently has a default reply-to address going to the list, which means that when you hit "reply", the whole list will be reading what you have to say. . . . Remember that when sending any email to the list, it is like grabbing the microphone at a party and 160 people listening to your jibe. For people with web accounts such as Hotmail, Yahoo, this can be a bit of a pain.. so at the least be thoughtful about your mails.
Hint: Top quoting is difficult to read and messy for digest readers. "Top quoting" is when you reply to an email and leave the original E-mail as reference below your comment. When replying to something, cut out all the meaningless stuff and quote only the necessary bits, so that it is understood in a more readable fashion what it is that you’re replying to. Most English speaking people read from top to bottom, and in so doing composing a reply will show that you are not an ignoramus tit. Also, for people using the digest, it is difficult to sort through mails when there are long chunks of useless bits... just as you clip your nails, on a mailing list, it's a good thing to clip your mails! J
This list does not currently have functionality to strip attachments, so viruses may, at seldom times, leak through to the list. Be wary of any attachments that you receive. Check the virus information center for info on this, and use software such as Norton Anti-virus for further protection on these threats.
Please refrain from using HTML E-mails, since the digest cannot interpret HTML. Attachments are not allowed. If you have something to show to the list, put it up on some free webspace and send a mail with a pointer.

How many posts does this dish out?

At the moment there is an average of about 10.2 posts a day, and this tends to vary from time to time during the year.

For people using webmail and those with little time to download many emails, but (may) enjoy being on the list, but don’t know how to cope with the amount of mails, here are some tips :

If the service you're using has the capability to add directories or folders into your account, make use of these, and add an email filter which directs all emails with a subject of [oz-trance] into this directory. This will help shed the load between oz-trance related mails and other mails, and keep your inbox neatly organised J On some accounts, email filters are called "mail rules"

Use E-mail subjects as a guide to find mails that interest you. Not everything is of interest to everyone, and it is not neccessary to follow every single detail as generally 90% of what is being said on mail lists is crap ;) That 10% that is a worthwhile read may well turn out to be a gem... or even not, as in the case:

well, no, you're right, the music is not touching my inner chakra nor
flowing with my chi nor helping me ride Shiva's back across the mighty
elephant trapeze in the sky.

When the context of the subject has changed, change the subject, so people that rely on these don’t miss out on that 10% J

If a particular person comes across as being consistantly annoying, add them onto your filters so that all mails from this person will be deleted, or complain about their actions. It’s not advised filtering peoples emails out, but if it’s the choice you make to reduce the amount of mails you receive it can come in handy. If you don't like the way things are running, show some humility and change the subject J

Feel free to bring up any subjects / thoughts that have been plagueing you. We're always up for a discussion.

What’s this "archive" all about ?

All the intros that peeps have sent in will be available on the website. Point your browser to http://oz-trance.hivemind.net/who/

If I feel that a rule should be added or changed, what can I do ?

Firstly, present it to the list. If the idea gets one or more votes in favour of having a vote on the topic, then this will be proposed to the list.

Voting should take place off the list – there is currently a polling service on the oz-trance web site with a fairly arbitrary question. You can find this by clicking on the "More Oz-trance polls " link on the oz-trance 'reception'. Any pro and con arguments can be submitted to the list for approval. A wait period of a week is necessary to count all votes to give everybody a chance to have their say. One vote in favour of changing the rule is necessary to change / add any ‘rule’.

Last vote we had asked what most people would prefer the default-reply to address to be - to the list, or to the person who wrote the email Most people voted for 'reply directly to the list', and this is the way we've carried it since.. although this may be up for a revote at any time if you so think it needs that chance J

Virtually anything can be added to the polling booth, however, it's functionality is currently limited to the basics.

How can I get to know the other list members ?

A few of us have met one another before and know each other in person, but we can expect the numbers to rise after arranging successful meetups. There have been a few unsuccessful attempts at parties before, but you are welcome to make suggestions on how we can improve this, such as including an oz-trance camp with a banner at some events or ‘look out for the girl with short blonde hair and a butterfly on her cheek’. Wearing bells can be very useful, and tooting your whistle to the beat is another promising idea that still has not been proposed ;).

Over the year(s) many of us have gotten to know who each other are. Simply asking one or two people to show you the way can open you up to a room-full of friends!

Have fun J

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