Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site nsc.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!nsc!chuqui From: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) Newsgroups: net.news.group Subject: Re: Keyword based news Message-ID: <3189@nsc.UUCP> Date: Sun, 29-Sep-85 01:54:59 EDT Article-I.D.: nsc.3189 Posted: Sun Sep 29 01:54:59 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 30-Sep-85 01:21:52 EDT References: <16460@watmath.UUCP> <1419@utcsri.UUCP> <132@mck-csc.UUCP> Reply-To: chuqui@nsc.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach) Organization: Ninja Ewok Training Grounds Lines: 40 In article <132@mck-csc.UUCP> bmg@mck-csc.UUCP (Bernard M. Gunther) writes: >> I also am coming to believe a keyword based system is correct. > >I have been hearing about people wanting a keyword based system and I would >like everyone who advocates this to try a little experiment. Today, write >out a list of all the articles which you would like to read in TOMORROWS >newspaper. Just try it and you will see why I advocate newsgroups. Going to the keyword list allows you to define a list of all the things you DON'T want to read, which is a very different proposition. For instance, I can easily drop out classified, the sports section (except possibly for browsing) and anything having to do with religion. Being able to build exclusions lists is quite simple -- every time you find something you don't want to read, you add it to the exclusion list. You could also set up a 'must read' list as well (consider it a clipping service). Also remember that having a computer around means that you don't need to worry about reading the things you don't want to read -- if I was going through a paper manually I'd probably just toss the sports section (unsubscribe to net.sports) but if I have a computer around I can throw out the car ads, the basketball, football and baseball stuff and still be able to see the cricket and bike racing stuff. As it currently stands, I have to wade through a lot of paper (or messages) because of the problems of the newsgroups. Keeping to the newspaper analogy, usenet currently does its first cut using newsgroups, which translates well to the major newspaper sections (news, weather, business, sports, opinion). This, unfortunately, creates ambiguities, since a sports medicine article might go under sports or medicine, and if it is in sports I'll miss it, but if it is in medicine I'll read it. Going to the keyword system means that the primary piece of available information is the subject line, which is analogous to being able to scan the paper based on the headlines instead. Now, are you more likely to decide to read an article because of the headline or because of the section of the paper it is in? For me, at least, the section it is placed in is a lot less important than what the article is about... -- :From under the bar at Callahan's: Chuq Von Rospach nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA {decwrl,hplabs,ihnp4,pyramid}!nsc!chuqui If you can't talk below a bellow, you can't talk...