Thanks to the kind folks at Dolphin computing services, we have a discussion forum which we can use for both relevant news and irrelevant twaddle (less of the former, more of the latter). This is a monthly posting about how to use the mailing list. While we won't ask you to read this every time it comes out, please do read it your first time so you don't get yelled at or smacked around later. Just a brief outline:

To submit anything to the list as a whole, simply mail your message to

"oxymoron@dolphin.upenn.edu". Your message will reach each of the approximately 100 members on the mailing list. Aliases for the list that point to oxymoron include theroost@dolphin.upenn.edu, sheepnet@dolphin.upenn.edu, and pennband-dave@dolphin.upenn.edu.

If you would like to subscribe, unsubscribe, have problems receiving mail from the mailing list, or have any questions in general, please mail them to "oxymoron-request@dolphin.upenn.edu".

Do *NOT* send mail to any person on the list specifically if you want to subscribe, and do *NOT* send anything to help@isc.upenn.edu.

As of September 15, 1993, any subscription or change of addresss requests not sent to the address "oxymoron-request" will not be honored (this means you Nicole Kaplan).

Also, don't mail problems to the "oxymoron" address, or else everyone will know that you're a doddering idiot who doesn't know how to follow instructions.

Please do not subscribe to this list unless you read mail on a semi- frequent basis (once a day is usually good). If you know you're not going to be able to read mail for a while (i.e. summer vacation), PLEASE make sure you've unsubscribed over that period.

It's no big deal to unsubscribe, you can always resubscribe later, however, large quantities of unread mail may anger system administrators.

Don't send attachments to the list. While the file may have only taken 5 seconds for you to download on your spiffy fast connection, some of us live in the dark ages and actually use modem to connect to the internet. Instead of mailing the attachment out to everyone, put it on a webserver somewhere and send a link to it.

If you're going to include a previous message with your message, it's a good idea only to include the relevant parts. Edit out everything else.

Before responding to someone's post, read through all the postings. Someone else may have already said what you were about to say. (The Adam Sherr Clause)

Keep the subject lines of your email rated ‘G’ – many of our subscribers check their email from work and public places. No one should get fired or blackballed because of oxymoron email (of all things!). (The Al Hemmingsen Clause)

If you're thinking about sending forged mail to the mailing list, forget about it, because a) it's a violation of most machine's policies and procedures (including all CETS machines) and usually ends in suspension of computer privileges; and b) it can and will be traced. In a similar vein, please don't use throwaway hotmail/etc. accounts to post to the list anonymously. If you are not brave enough to say it with your own name, it probably shouldn't be said.

Please don't send messages saying, "so-and-so has an account, put them on the list." It's rude (as well as illegal) to put someone on a mailing list such as this without their consent, especially because not everybody reads mail on a regular basis. One needs to explicitly state that he/she wants to be on the mailing list.

Pet peeve: when responding to someone's post, the group reply feature is nice, but it means that the person who you are replying to gets at least 2 copies of your message (the first copy from having their address on the To: line, the second copy from being on the mailing list which is also listed on the To: line). Please try and make sure that your replies only go to the list and not to the person who sent the message (the easiest way to do this is to use the group reply feature, and then remove all the recipients listed except for the mailing list itself. YMMV)