From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!eagle!mhuxt!mhuxj!mhuxi!mhuxv!mhuxm!pyuxjj!rlr Newsgroups: net.news.group Title: Re: Re: net.music.dead Article-I.D.: pyuxjj.417 Posted: Fri Feb 11 09:33:58 1983 Received: Sat Feb 12 03:56:50 1983 References: hao.430 Net.wobegon is a perfect example of a 'piddly little frivolous' newsgroup. Minimal traffic, limited topic. The problem was that the PHC (Prairie Home Companion?) or whatever the radio show is called did not seem to fall exclusively into a broad category (like music, tv, etc.). Perhaps a net.humor newsgroup should have been created to accommodate net.wobegon, net.tv.sctv, etc. (net.humor as distinct from net.jokes, which contains netnews readers' [attempts at] jokes). [I think] The work of the Grateful Dead can be considered music, and should probably be discussed in net.music. The motive to 'spare' us non-Deadheads the agony of sifting through the volumes of Dead-oriented stuff doesn't hold water, because, as I've already said, to date, that 'volume' consists of a few ticket requests (reasonable for net.wanted or net.music) and a request for info on how to find a record by Jerry Garcia (probably belongs in net.records--which relates to buying/selling/caring for the actual physical records that music, comedy, etc. may be contained on). Be a little more sociable, people. Join in on discussions about new wave, heavy metal, classical music, as well as dead music, in a newsgroup devoted to music. I realize that a group can be created at anyone's whim through the magic of netnews software, so no one can stop the creation of net.music.gdead. So, if it is created, I hereby propose a contest. (which can probably be applied to all new so-called 'frivolous' newsgroups). In the one month following the original posting of the first article, how many articles will be posted that 1) are not announcements of the new group, 2) are not discussions about the nature of the group itself (its charter?), and 3) could not have been posted to some other newsgroup with the same effect (topic discussed, audience reached)? The contestant with the number closest to the actual number of useful articles posted to the newsgroup /and/ the earliest postmark wins... uhh, a Grateful Dead album. (I'm tempted to say that the second place winner gets /two/ Dead albums, but I won't say that... whoops, I just did!----just kidding). Since I currently don't own any Dead albums, and I probably should own /one/, I'll kick off the contest with my entry---ZERO. The only problems: who runs the contest, and who provides the album? (I'm just proposing, not volunteering.) I think since Greg Woods had the original idea for the group, and since he surely has some old Dead albums that have been worn through to the other side, he is a candidate for both posts (JUST KIDDING!!!). I'll leave it to someone more qualified than me to explain why a proliferation of sundry newsgroups all over the place is bad for transmission of news over the net. Rich