Re: Posting guidelines for SeeSat-L
Larry Klaes (larryk@ns.village.com)
Wed, 3 Jul 1996 09:41:32 -0400 (EDT)
On Tue, 2 Jul 1996, Bart De Pontieu wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> As SeeSat-L maintainer, I would like to remind you of one of the
> 'unofficial' posting guidelines, which is that technical or background
> information about payloads, rockets, etc... is only welcome on SeeSat-L
> in as far as it is tied in with the broad theme 'visual observations'.
> With 'tied in' I do not mean 'vaguely applicable to visual observations'.
> Long texts with technical info should be avoided, instead a reference
> to the source should be given (such as a URL, ftp-site, etc...).
I hope this list will be more than a bunch of dry numbers and cryptic
names. I have often asked that satellites be identified as to their
purpose, etc. I for one find reading what John Pike and others have
to say about the spysats quite fascinating. I also don't know of many
other lists which record the latest in space news. I can't believe
that taking the time to explain a few things or having text that goes
beyond the latest orbital elements will drag SeeSta down. If anything,
it will make it more valuable and useful.
Science - especially space science - are generally looked upon by the
public as the realm of the asocial technonerds. Let's try and dispel
that notion a bit via the net - even if it tends to be true. :^) :^)
(note the 2 smileys.)
> On an another note, I've heard some comments by various newcomers (all
> in private messages) that SeeSat-L isn't very responsive to newbies. We
> *are* working on a FAQ for SeeSat-L (join us at UseSat-L if you want to
> help us), but until it's finished, I would hope some of the 'old hands'
> on SeeSat-L reply to frequently asked beginners questions (by private
> mail).
No offense, but shouldn't a user-friendly guide have been the first
thing done? Forgive me, but I have a background in both the humanities
and sciences with a great deal of documentation writing.
> And newbies: don't dispare. The people on Seesat-L really are nice and
Newbies sounds too much like babies. I have a 3 month old son and he
don't know nothing about satellites yet. So we have to be doing something
right if we do know about them. :^)
All I ask is that this list be vamped up a bit. I don't want anyone's
observations to be affected.
Larry