Re: Administrative: Top 10 List
Bruce Harper (bharper@VT.EDU)
Fri, 8 Dec 1995 11:32:10 +0900
An item to add to the list is DON'T SPREAD RUMORS!!!! We have seen many
off-topics posts about Neiman-Marcus cookies, the dying boy who wants to
set a world's record*, and various items about e-mail viruses. Just about
all of these "I heard this from a friend, who heard it from the friend of
someone who knew someone it happened to" items are "Urban Legends." There
have been several books written about them and there is a whole heirarchy
of newsgroups on Usenet that deal with urban legends and their related kin.
About all these posts do, in addition to adding nothing to SCOUTS-L, is
perpetuate FALSE RUMORS. The only virus in the "Good Times" virus is
"diarrhea of the keyboard" as all the Chicken Littles clog the networks
spreading the word about this horrible program. Anyone who have been
active on almost any list or newsgroup for about six months has already
seen these messages, along with the wave of followups debunking the rumors.
If the members of SCOUTS-L are typical computer types these days, they
are active on several lists and read Usenet newsgroups and will be exposed
to these various messages several times. While one may think he or she
is "doing a good turn" by telling SCOUTS-L about the dying boy/virus/cookie
rip-off, the better turn is to just delete the message you just received
from a "friend of a friend" (FOAF in urban legend speak).
However, if you do have a confirmed hit from a virus and can document
where it came from, please do let the list know. If you do know personally
of a Scout or Scouter who is in dire straits and could use a lift from
the list, please let the list know.
Bruce in Blacksburg Webelos II Den Leader, Pack 56
*Craig Shergold, the boy from England who was dying of a brain tumor and
wanted to get in the Guiness Book of World Records for receiving the most
get well cards, is cured. He was brought to the University of Virginia
Medical Center in Charlottesville, Va. through the kindness of John Kluge.
The operation several years ago was a success. Craig recently paid a visit
to the doctors who performed the surgery, who termed the now-strapping
teenager as being totally free of the tumor that afflicted him.
Bruce B. Harper (540)231-4360
Distributed Information Systems bharper@vt.edu
Virginia Tech Computing Center
1700 Pratt Drive Region Director for
Blacksburg, Virginia 26060 New River Valley Chapter of DPMA
Check out the DPMA WWW Page at http://negaduck.cc.vt.edu/DPMA
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City |
