Conference noted::sf

I just started it up again -- in fact, I was just getting ready to put
an entry into this notes file, so I guess this response will be it.

It is going out even as I type.

Additions, deletions, and changes should be sent to

	CASTOR::SF_LOVERS_REQUEST

I hope to be able to send the digests out the night after I receive
them.  Submissions will be sent in directly to the moderator via
the gateway.  See the DEC-ADMINISTRIVIA entry at the beginning of
the digest.

SF-Lovers has been going out regularly for a week and a half now.

There have been very few submissions seen from people within DEC.
Before, there was a good excuse -- with the digest weeks old and
your submissions taking a week or so to get in, it was rather hard
to be part of the discussion.

That's not the case any more.  You'll have the digest the same morning
everyone else does, and with the gateway, your responses will reach
the moderator within hours after you send them.

So let's get serious about it.  And anytime you enter something into
this notes file, consider sending it on to the digest as well!

RSX users can send to RUTGERS::SF-LOVERS.  VMS users can put a DEFINE
into their login.com so they don't have to type the whole RHEA::DECWRL::
"SF-LOVERS@RUTGERS.ARPA" each time.

I read it about once a week.

As Steve said,  there are too many notes files and too much "junk"
to read through.  Note files should be more specific so that I can
choose just the ones that interest me. You will recall that I ori-
ginally proposed a notes file to talk about Boskone (in some notes
file on VORTEX), but that you set up a general SF file instead.  I
particularly don't want to read about fantasy or Dr. Who.    But I
read this file  regularly,  because I don't want to miss the occa-
sional gem that might appear.    I also dislike having to read the
exact same message in here and in SFL.     (Especially if it's the
world's most general question -  like What's your favorite movie?)

As far as  contributing  -  I'll  contribute something when I have
something to say.  If I have nothing useful to say, I'll submit it
to TRIVIA.NOT.

These notes  files can be  a great  boon and time-saver to us all.
They can also be a time sink.   So use them wisely.   Submit some-
thing here if you have something serious to  say about SF that you
think a majority of the readers will be interested in.  Don't just
use this notes file to gab.			       <flame off>

I disagree with your statement that only "serious" SF contributions should
appear here.

What is "serious"?? My serious may well be your frivolous.

Notes files like this one and trivia are exactly designed to be places to
"gab"...If you want serious, go read the VMS or other such files.

Since you are one of the main contributors to TRIVIA (one of the great
"time sinks" of all time...), I find your criticism hollow.

<Since I didn't turn my flame on, I won't turn it off>

Let's just enjoy this (and the other non-serious Notes files) and not get
up-tight about the content. As with TRIVIA, if you don't like the note
you are reading, move on and find something else more to your taste.

Enough of this, on to SF...

-- Bill

Also, about duplication in this file and SFL...

At first I agreed with you but then I thought, "Pluck the duck, people
outside DEC don't see this file, so why not make the points in SFL as
well..."

If everyone who read SFL read this file and vice versa, your point would
be well taken.

      Posted with the permission of the current SF-LOVERS redistributor
      within DEC.
      
      Dave C. 

From:	EVETPU::GOUN "Would Sidney Biddle Barrows drive an Escort?  28-Oct-1988 0928" 28-OCT-1988 09:28
To:	DSSDEV::CANTOR
Subj:	Feel free to post this if you wish

DEC-ADMINISTRIVIA

Welcome to the DEC redistribution of SF-LOVERS Digest.  SF-LOVERS originates
on the Internet.  I redistribute it to the one-hundred or so people at DEC who
read it, in order to avoid clogging DEC's Internet gateway with all of those
individual messages.  I generally get digests in batches of three to ten
issues, so that's the way you'll tend to get them, too.

I've written a DCL command procedure that's intended to make redistribution
less time-consuming, but it may not be perfectly debugged, so your indulgence
will be appreciated.

I maintain an archive containing an average of one and one-half month's worth
of SF-LOVERS back issues.  The archive files are located at
EVETPU::USERA$:[GOUN.SF-LOVERS]iii.SFL, where iii is the issue number of an
individual digest.  Earlier issues are only available if you have the ability
to FTP them from the Internet (I don't).

Send messages intended for inclusion in SF-LOVERS Digest directly to the
moderator at DECWRL::"SF-LOVERS@RUTGERS.EDU".  The case of the address is
unimportant, but you must type the punctuation characters exactly as shown. 
You can use NMAIL (if it's installed on your system) by sending messages to
NM%DECWRL::"SF-LOVERS@RUTGERS.EDU".  Do not send messages regarding
distribution problems to the moderator; send them to me.  Likewise, do not
send me messages intended for the digest; I only work here. 

Please send additions, deletions, and changes to the DEC distribution list to
LOIOSH::SF-LOVERS-REQUEST (or SF_LOVERS_REQUEST -- we're flexible).

					-- SF-LOVERS Redistribution Central

       Are there two sources for sf-lovers for those of us in DEC? 
    I get mine from ROLL::USENET, but .19 seems to describe yet another
    method for subscribing.  Is one more reliable than the other?
    
    ASP

    re:.20
    
    The SF-LOVERS DIGEST and rec.arts.sf-lovers are basically the
    same thing, one originating on the ARPA Internet, one on
    Usenet. Messages are ported back and forth between the two,
    so any messages from people on the Internet get passed to the
    Usenet side, and vice versa.
    
    The advantages of rec.arts.sf-lovers:
    
    	(1) You get a daily dose (assuming the distribution hasn't broken).
    	(2) You see every message.
    
    The advantages of SF-LOVER DIGEST:
    
    	(1) Groups of messages on a single subject are batched together,
    	occasionally a whole Digest is taken up by one subject. This
    	is good if you don't happen to like the subject.
    	(2) It's not subject to the just-frequent-enough-to-be-a-pain
    	failure of the Usenet distribution system.
    	(3) Redundant messages are often eliminated. So, if someone
    	asks for the title of a book with a given plot, and 50 people
    	answer, the editor of the Digest will select a few of the
    	most informative answers, and then give a "we also heard from"
    	list.
    
    --- jerry

LOIOSH::SF-LOVERS-REQUEST has gone away due to the consolidation of our
department's workstations into a VAXcluster.  Please send requests for
additions, deletions, and changes to the DEC redistribution list to {EVETPU,
DDIF}::GOUN.

Thanks to Andy Kirschbaum for pointing me at the obsolete information in .19.

					-- Roger

I'm looking for a volunteer to take over the job of redistributing SF-LOVERS 
Digest at Digital.

Requirements are an account on a VMS system with a reliable connection to
DECWRL and the rest of the Easynet, preferably one with NMAIL installed, an
accepting system manager, and some familiarity with mail and DCL command
procedures.  I'll gladly pass on to the new redistributor my collection of DCL
command procedures and related cruft that automates most of the work, including
maintenance of the archive.  There's obviously no reason that SF-LOVERS can't
be redistributed from a UNIX system or any other platform, if the new
redistributor doesn't mind writing from scratch whatever supporting code he or
she desires.

					-- Roger

    I have moved a copy of this note here, because it is easier to find.  I
    just looked for this note for over an hour to find this information.
    
            <<< NOTED::DISK$NOTES4:[NOTES$LIBRARY_4OF5]SF.NOTE;5 >>>
                             -< Arcana Caelestia >-
================================================================================
Note 1029.11              Boskone XXIX Feb 14-16, 1992                  11 of 11
TORRID::lee "I have no speech"                       28 lines  20-MAR-1992 13:42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


	To get added to the mailing list for SF-LOVERS, send mail to
	DECWRL::"SF-LOVERS-REQUEST@RUTGERS.EDU" 

	Remember to give them your mail address, which, for VMS mail users,
	is generally of the form  username@nodename.enet.dec.com
	(i.e. hyatt@lmoadm.enet.dec.com)


	An alternative is to use VNEWS (on VMS) or Xrn (on ULTRIX)
	to read the sf related newsgroups (and any of a bazillion others)
	from a news server (kind of like notes, but different)

	Related notesfiles include CLO::VNEWS, UFP::XRN, and 
	UPSAR::NEWS-BACKBONE



	And, in general, internet addresses can usually be mailed to using
	the format DECWRL::"<internet-address-here>"  The quotes are necessary,
	and case may be significant...  See Notesfile UPSAR::GATEWAYS for more
	details.




	*A*