Posted by billy on 11/11/05 16:27

| I appreciate your advice and will try to adhere to it.
| It certainly sounds reasonable.
|
| I also read the replies to your post, specifically
| about cross-posting and multi-posting. I know what
| cross-posting is (I think - to multiple newsgroups) but
| what exactly is multi-posting ??

multi-posting is worse if your post is the same for each receiving ng. in
that case, it is identicle to cross-posting except each intended ng is
posted to individually...you copy your question to the clip board, then go
to ng 1 and post it...go to ng 2 and post it...ad nausium. people do this
because MOST of us out here will not bother to respond to cross-posted
messages. so, if i only peruse one ng it looks like a perfectly normal
post...however, if i visit another ng to which you've posted the same
message...i become bitterly hostile! ;^) what makes this worse is that it
wastes everyones time and NONE of the responses (which may have helped
others) are ever seen by the other groups. plus, just as in cross-posting,
you have duplication of effort among those who try to respond.

it's just another abuse of everyones' time and energy.

the only good way to multi-post is if a subject (i.e. question) spans
multiple areas of expertise, and NONE of the ng's give a rip about the
other's, you should seek to discuss the subject but lean the discussion
mainly on the specialities of the current group to which you are
posting...this is right and good...but no one EVER takes the time to do this
properly.

people are lazy! that's why these types of correspondence proliferate. don't
be one of them. gosh, i can usually find an answer to very complex problems
in under 5 minutes just by googling! but most people like to
post-n-run...reminds me of trot-line "fishermen"...throw it out there and
come back later to see who we've got hooked.

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