The Suzuki GSX1400 Owners Club

Help - Mailing List
 

What's the mailing list?
The Mailing list is the primary communication method for the club. All announcements will be posted there first along with general club/bike chat.

Why not just use the Message Board?
The Message Board  relies on people to go look for info whereas the mailing list comes to you. On top of that, the mailing list is far more efficient at sending out data, plain text on a list is minute compared to HTML and graphics on the website.

Why do I have to join the list before I can join the club?
The reason for wanting to join the club should be to share info, not just to take advantage of discounts. If collecting a few Kb of email is too much hassle then that doesn't show a great deal of commitment to the club. Also, if you join the list then decide that the kind of thing the club members go on about isn't for you then you can just unsubscribe without actually joining the club - saving everyone time and effort.

How do I join the Mailing List then?
All the instructions are detailed on the Membership page, but in brief you send an email tolistserv@gsx1400.org with the subject: Subscribe gsx1400 - You will then receive a confirmation email to which you MUST reply (don't add anything just hit REPLY and send it). The reason for this confirmation is to validate your email address and stop you signing up on behalf of other people.

Then what?
You will receive a welcome email (which also contains details on how to join the club). From then on you will also receive mails sent to the list by other members.

How do I post to the list?
Address email to listserv@gsx1400.org and it will go to the list.

How does it work?
When you send a mail to listserv@gsx1400.org it arrives at the GSX1400.org mail server just like regular mail, however the server recognises the address and sends a copy to everyone else who has subscribed to the list

I have this excellent picture of my granny's pussy, can I post it for all to see?
NO!!!! Don't post ANY pictures - not even little happy faces or pictures of your beloved bike. No exceptions!

Why not?
because if you post a 500k picture which doesn't seem like much to you, the mailserver replicates that 200-300 times (once for each subscriber) and sends it back out to the net. That's about 100Mb and it takes a lot of shifting, even on a broadband connection. Also, people have to download their email and on a regular modem you'd be looking at 5 minutes to grab that picture, not much fun if it's something that isn't really interesting except to your granny. If you do post a picture and it manages to get past the twat filters on the server then sit back and relax and watch your own mailbox fill up with "Wanker" and "Tosser" mails from pissed off members who really couldn't give a fig about granny's cat.

So what about granny's cat then?
On the Message Board  there is specifically a section for posting this sort of thing. Look for the Forum called Snap Happy in the Any Other Business section and post what ever pics you like in there. If it's a GSX1400 then by all means post it in the Pictures forum in the GSX1400 Discussion section. If it's a picture of a GSX1400 that looks better than anyone else's then send it into thegallery@gsx1400.org and it can take pride of place in the gallery on the website.

And jokes?
To the Message Board where there is a place for that.

And incoherent bollocks?
Yup, got that covered on the board too!

What can I post to the list then?
Questions about the bike, requests for info, biking related chatter, handy hints and generally anything bike and or club related.

I don't like the list and don't want to join the club coz you're a sad load of knob heads - how do I get off the list?
On the same membership page that you found instructions to join there are, very clearly, instructions on how to leave.

I can't be arsed to read that again, I'll just post a message to the list or <insert random name here>@gsx1400.org and say "Please take me off the list". That should do the trick.
Be my guest, it won't get you off the list though.

I've changed my email address and now I can't get the list.
Just re-subscribe to it but don't go and complete another membership form. You might want to let me know though so I can change your membership details.

What is good protocol on the list?
Copied from the Mailing List page.........

• Don't post binaries (pictures, pdf's, .docs etc) - it REALLY pisses everyone off and you'll only get a slagging for it.

• Don't post commercial ads - the club is not here for anyone to make a quick buck, take your ads to the message board where there is a section for traders

• DON'T TYPE IN CAPITALS - It looks like you're shouting and people think you're an idiot

• Trim your replies - don't re-quote the whole 100 line message only to add "Me too" to the bottom.

• Don't use the list to get my attention - I read everything sent to david@gsx1400.org but I do not search the list for suggestions, moans, hurry-ups, requests to be removed from the list etc etc

• Don't post binaries (pictures, pdf's, .docs etc) - just in case you missed it the first time

• Don't Request or honour Return Receipts - They are annoying and not useful in this environment. (see below)

What's the problem with HTML posts - I think they look kewl?
Microsoft have pretty much cornered the market as far as "the net" goes. Internet Explorer accounts for the majority of web browser use (stats on the site show about 5-1 ratio of IE vs Nutscrape). Bundled in with IE (and the default on any new PC) is Microsoft Outlook Express (affectionately known as Outhouse Express) which isn't a bad email client, unfortunately Microsoft decided to have a go at re-writing the standard for Internet email and by default Outhouse will post mail in HTML which is still NOT, as of this writing, the accepted standard for Internet email. HTML is the language that web pages are written in and many email clients do not understand it (why should they, they do email not web browsing), the result being that if you post in HTML and the receiver doesn't support it they will get a mail that looks like this:

Which is pretty hard to read, or worse still one that looks like this:

Which is harder still to read. So please turn it off.

Point taken, how do I switch it off in Outhouse Express?
Click on the FORMAT menu and select Plain Text. It's that easy.

To turn it off permanently go to the Tools -->Options menu of the mail Outhouse screen and click on the Send tab. From there you can select the Mail Sending Format, choose Plain Text.

What are all those Return Receipts that end up on the list?
Some mail clients can be set to send out Return Receipts when the mail reaches its destination. These show the sender that the message got through OK, however if a Return receipted mail goes to the list and the other list subscribers honour the receipt then we get a whole load of them dumped on the list.

How do we stop it?
The biggest offenders are Lotus Notes and Outhouse Express.

To stop sending them in Lotus Notes look in the Delivery Options when you compose a new mail - there is a tick box for a Return Receipt, make sure it is UNTICKED.

For Outhouse Express you need to go to Tools--> Options and click on the Receipts tab. Select these options in Outhouse Express to stop return receipts (and make sure you aren't requesting them or returning them)....