The F.M.L.

Freemasonry-List Welcome (revised 12/08/07)

Welcome to the Freemasonry email list (fm-list@lists.colorado.edu). The following tells who we are, explains how to subscribe and unsubscribe, offers some pointers and advice for getting along with list mail on the internet, points you to some resources, and explains how the list-manager deals with problems.

While the length of this welcome will likely result in you NOT reading it, I STRONGLY recommend you read this entire article, print a copy as well as file it on your disk for future reference.

WHO WE ARE:

This "forum" is intended to provide an opportunity for Freemasons and persons interested in more information about Freemasonry to get together and discuss their interests and share information. You will find non-Masons, Prince Hall Masons, Co-Masons, F&AM Masons, AF&AM Masons, Women Masons (yes, they DO exist), people from all over the world representing Freemasonry in one form or another, and people who are just plain curious about this wonderful order to which many of us belong.

We DO NOT discuss Masonic secrets or provide any forms of "recognition" which are official Grand Lodge positions since there are just too many jurisdictions and opportunities for problems. What we do provide is an open forum for polite discussions between members of the list. If you like, we invite you to post a short introduction so we can get to know you, but if that's not your style, just be comfortable with our forum. The only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked, so if you have one, ask it. If you have information to share, please do. This list is a “closed” list, meaning only subscribed members can post messages to it. The list is NOT “moderated” – in that no one reads your inbound email before it is distributed – so, do not ask a moderator to stop your email from going out. In other words, think first, push “send” later.

SUBSCRIBING, UNSUBSCRIBING, POSTING, and CONTACTING THE LISTOWNER
POSTING TO THE LIST:

To post to others on the list, send your message to: fm-list@lists.colorado.edu

SUBSCRIBING / UNSUBSCRIBING:

Send a message to listproc@lists.colorado.edu from the address they want to use for mail. In the text (use PLAINTEXT ONLY (no HTML):
subscribe fm-list YOURLASTNAMEINCAPS YourFirstNameInNormalType

Example: subscribe fm-list SMITH John
(the system will automatically pick up your email address, so DO NOT use that name.)
If everything goes as planned, you should receive a "welcome" message within a few minutes.

(2) You can send a message to me (See below) requesting to be added, but I prefer you use the automated version. If you have problems I can always intervene.

To unsubscribe: (Sent from your original email address you subscribed with)
Example: unsubscribe fm-list SMITH John

To subscribe or unsubscribe manually if you have a problem, send a message to: wahickey@earthlink.net (The list manager) with your real name and a general statement that you’d like to subscribe to or participate on the list – or be removed from the list. Likewise, if you change your email address, let the manager know. You do NOT need to send that message to the entire list, and indeed if you do, the manager may or may not pick up on it and make the change for you. The manager does NOT know all of you by name, so remember to make life easier, include your entire name, not just “Joe” in a signature line.

CONTACTING THE LIST MANAGER:

If there is a problem with the list processor which should be brought to the attention of the list manager, you should address your message to: wahickey@earthlink.net and NOT to the list at large. Please be patient, this is a volunteer job for the manager and administrators. Sending multiple requests will merely delay the process of resolving a problem. Sending requests to the list at large will accomplish nothing except broadcast to the entire list that you didn't read the instructions.

HOW TO GET ALONG ON THIS LIST:

Personal flames are unwelcome on this list. One may argue ideas or concepts, one may discuss alternative approaches, but we DO NOT tolerate personal attacks in any form. If you MUST indulge in this kind of activity, please do so privately and DO NOT involve the entire list.

Computer wars are also a waste of time and list bandwidth. Arguing that MAC's are better than PC's or SUN's, or whatever, is on the whole, rather pointless. Likewise with system or software upgrades. If you need to discuss these items, we ask you to do so privately or in another forum.

Return Receipts and Confirmation messages (sent by certain mail software) are also highly annoying; please ensure that these options are turned OFF in your mailer before posting to the list. Remember, INTERNET service is not FREE for everyone, and some services still charge by the message sent or received and sometimes by the length of the message as well. Do your part to make participating in this list's activities as cost-effective as possible for everyone else.

Many new members, in their zeal, attempt to post documents that they may have acquired via Masonic Bulletin Boards or other sources. DO NOT DO THIS! It is extremely wasteful of resources, and the sudden overload in traffic can cause major mailing delays as well as annoy other list members to the point of them leaving the list because they cannot handle the overload of information. Some members simply ignore ANY message with an attachment, whether it be a picture, a file, or a signature card – this is a self-protection measure to avoid the possibility of a virus payload being inadvertently loaded. PLAINTEXT messages are the only way to ENSURE that you don’t create a problem for anyone.

If you feel you MUST do any of the things we've discussed above, we MAY have no other reasonable alternative except to remove your address from the subscriber files.

The listmanager or a list administrator will TRY to advise you in private email of infractions with a polite request to drop the subject. If this advice is ignored or your ISP is blocking email from the manager/administrator, a public warning may be posted to the list, which can be embarassing. If the problem continues, or is disruptive to the list at large, you will be removed as a last resort.

Regarding the volume of mail you can expect on this list, here is a brief summary of some important points to remember:

Those who subscribe to mail servers have to realize that there may well be a LOT of mail. Old Internet hands know you subscribe, weigh the amount of mail against any benefits and then unsubscribe if you don't like it or don't think it's worth your time and money. But, it is rather difficult to tell list members what they should or shouldn't post, so you may well be the recipient of threads (discussions) to which you have absolutely no interest. The DELETE key is an invaluable asset and is more useful than messages disparaging the content of a thread.

There are more and more Grand Lodges from all jurisdictions coming on-line all the time. We are ever mindful that postings by individuals should not and can not represent any official position of a Grand Lodge or private lodge.

Enjoy your membership in freemasonry-list, and be sure to PARTICIPATE -- that's where you'll find the most benefit.

ERRORS, WARNINGS, PRIVACY AND STUFF:

WARNING! This can be a HIGH volume list. In some cases we can see more than 50 messages per day. Some days you won't see any messages. Be advised that the list manager is agressive about error messages; if a large number of errors appear from your site – and this can be errors associated with an anti-spam filter pretending you don’t exist, it can be from a full mailbox because you don’t check email for whatever reasons, and it can be because your ISP is blocking email from a single user or perhaps the entire list in general. You will be dropped from the list until the problem is resolved, and most of these issues MUST be dealt with by the subscriber, not by the list manager because he is not a customer of your ISP.

This list IS available in DIGEST mode; see the instructions below on how to set your subscription to Digest mode.

Warning: some ISP's limit the size of incoming messages, and some digests can be rather large. If you stop receiving digests, ask your ISP about the size limitations to incoming messages.

If your address changes, advise the list manager as soon as possible. "Unknown User" error messages usually get you unsubscribed pretty quickly.

This is a PRIVATE mailing list, NOT a newsgroup. We ask that messages posted to this list NOT BE REPOSTED elsewhere, either to other lists or to the net, without prior permission from the originator. If you think something on this list will help others and you would like to distribute a particular mail message to another list, or other people, please ask the originator(s) for their permission and respect their wishes. Above all, DO NOT post to multiple lists in one email posting -- it causes untold problems for list-owners and some subscribers.

From time to time on the Internet and elsewhere, you may come across information which you think that will help someone who has a problem or warn someone of a dangerous situation. However, many of these items are myths, hoaxes or downright frauds. Before you are tempted to post one of these items to the list, please check out the following WEB page to see if the item is indeed a fraud:

http://www.nardis.com/~twchan/afu.html (Urban Folklore web information)
http://www.snopes.com (Hoaxbuster web page)

There are MANY places to check out hoaxes BEFORE you embarrass yourself by forwarding them on to “everyone in your addressbook.”
Please DO NOT post documents created or edited in Microsoft Word or other word processors unless you extract the document to ASCII (Plaintext) first. Not everyone will be able to read the resulting file, and there is also the capability of possibly spreading a Microsoft Word virus to those people who can read such a document.

To recapitulate the rules:

  • DO NOT send "test messages" to the list.
  • DO NOT send virus information or warnings.
  • DO NOT indulge in partisan religion/politics statements or feuds.
  • DO NOT indulge in computer hardware or software brand name wars.
  • DO NOT cross-post a message to multiple lists in one message.
  • DO NOT send "chain letters" or indulge in any kind of "get rich quick", pyramid or other "multi-level marketing" solicitations.
  • DO NOT attempt to send ASCII copies of graphics files: they are very large and may not pass through many gateways properly.
  • DO NOT send MIME or UUENCODE encoded messages to the list. Not everyone has a MIME or UUENCODE capable reader, and the usual result is garbage that most people cannot read.
  • DO NOT send binary files, such as executable images, screen savers, etc. to the list. The resulting message files are apt to be very, very large and cause problems with mail gateways and mail quotas. In fact, attachments of *any* kind are frowned upon.
  • PLEASE make certain that your mail agent is set to create messages that are less than 80 characters wide. If they are wider, some people may not be able to read them easily.
  • DO NOT turn on "Return Receipt" when sending mail to the list. The list owner receives a copy of every return receipt, and he will not be amused...
  • DO NOT send a message to the entire list when you only mean the message to go to one or two people. This is extremely wasteful of system and network resources. Also, do not use “reply-all” when you mean to “reply”.
  • PLEASE be civil with each other. DO NOT openly take the hard-line approach to someone because you don't agree with them.
  • Remember, the Masonic Customs in their jurisdiction may be different than yours.
  • PLEASE check your mail regularly if you use Compuserve, AOL, or other service that places a restriction on the number of messages that you can have in your mailbox. Also, if you don’t see list email for a while, check your anti-spam filter settings and defaults to make sure you’re not inadvertently blocking list email.
  • PLEASE DO NOT send SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE messages to the list itself - the proper procedure is listed earlier in this document.