FFML - SFRC FAQ

This document is an effort to clarify some common questions about the operation of the Free Flight and Slow Flight Mailing Lists. The following topics are covered. More will be added as need arises. --------------

last updated September 3, 2006

List Hosting Appropriate List Content HTML Rich Text Attachments Quoting Previous Messages Subscribing / Unsubscribing Activating a Subscription Unexpected Unsubscribes Delivery Options Changing your Delivery Mode FFML - SFRC Archives Posting from other addresses Delayed posting Contacting a Human List Hosting: FFML was moved to Yahoo in April of 2006, and is known there as FreeFlightML. SFRC is hosted by SmartGroups. Both hosting services offer archiving, web access to messages, and gallery space for members to share images and files. The day to day administration tasks are being handled on a volunteer basis. When emotions heat up on the list, the necessary wrist slapping takes more time from an already busy day. The more civil the postings, the more modeling I can do. Appropriate List Content: FFML and SFRC are for the discussion of flying model airplanes and topics related to such. Discussion of model aviation, full sized aircraft and historical information is appropriate. Discussion of religion, politics, personal attacks and profanity is not. There are over 1200 subscriptions world wide, and not everyone will share the same ideas of modeling, let alone what is appropriate language or politics. Use common sense in your postings, and consider how you would feel receiving them through the anonymity and emotionless presentation email allows. Subscriptions are provided at the discretion of the list administrative staff. Occasionally we have had to forcibly remove or warn list participants for grievous deviations from polite discussions about model airplanes. Don't be the next person dropped or disciplined. FFML Content: All manners of Free Flight are discussed and are welcome within the FFML. Subscribers have experience with ultralight indoor duration as well as sport and scale FF models powered with rubber, electric, CO2, glow, diesel, compressed air and rocket motors. There are also messages about handlaunched, catapult and towline gliders. Model size or complexity is not important. SFRC Content: So as to not double up with other mailing lists, the SFRC list is for discussion of slow flying models suitably flown at larger indoor venues, as well as the local park, or even the driveway and yard. Most discussion is about electric models, though other power sources, such as smaller glow or diesel i.c. engines as well as CO2, are also welcome. HTML Rich Text: This is no longer an issue. the SG list servers strip all html code and send plain text only Attachments: The server hosting the FFML/SFRC lists can not accommodate any attachments. That's right, no attachments allowed, regardless of content or size. You can visit the list home pages though, and create a gallery for sharing your work. Quoting Previous Messages: Responding to previous messages will usually require some quoted text to help maintain continuity of the discussion topic. Please, oh please, limited this quoting to the absolute minimum necessary. All too many folks quote an entire message back to the list, often only adding one or two lines of additional content. For folks subscribed to the digest, this might mean resending an entire digest back to the list along with your response. How wasteful, especially when you remember that many subscribers pay for email by volume. Usually a requoted digest is too large, gets bounced to the list admin, and never arrives on the list at all. To subscribe to FFML or SFRC, send an email message to the appropriate address as detailed below. Subscribing / Unsubscribing: This is often a mystery for folks. To ease the pain, I have posted example messages for subscribing to the mailing lists below. They are the easiest way to subscribe and to control your delivery mode. If you want to subscribe, or unsubscribe, you will need follow these simple directions. All subscription requests need to be sent to freeflightml-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or sfrc-subscribe@smartgroups.com Check the address again. It is not that used for posting to the list. To unsubscribe to FFML or SFRC, the addresses are different. freeflightml-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com or sfrc-unsubscribe@smartgroups.com Delivery Modes: There are 2 versions of the lists available, both containing the same info. You must choose one or the other. You can't subscribe to both options from the same address. Option A, the regular mail list: With this option messages are delivered to subscribers as they are received by the list server. The main advantages of this format are that messages are delivered more quickly, and they can be sorted, sifted, saved, printed and deleted individually within your email application to suit your own needs and preferences. Option B, Digest Format: The digest option sequences many individual messages as they come in. They are grouped into a single larger message which is then sent out at least once a day or after a digest accumulates about 30K of text. This option is preferred by many modelers getting personal email at work. Changing your Delivery Mode: The list home pages have links to allow you to control your desired delivery options. Click to jump to the FreeFlightML. or SFRC home page. Unexpected Unsubscribes: The list software automatically deletes anyone whose address bounces mail back to the server as undeliverable. It does this as a self-preservation technique to keep the disks from filling up with bounced mail. They would fill up VERY quickly if it didn't do this. I cannot set the list not to do this. It is an integral feature of the software used. If your address bounces mail you're likely to get deleted. I have found that the 'free' e-mail services like hotmail.com and yahoo.com have more service interruptions than a server like AOL. People with mail accounts at these places tend to complain more often of getting booted. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but it's part of being able to make the lists continue to run smoothly. Archives: All list content since from January 2004 forward is archived at the list home pages. There are no official archives that predate 2004, though you might be able to find something with your favorite search engine. Posting from Other Addresses / Delayed Postings: These two issues are essentially the same topic. Only messages from subscribed addresses are allowed on FFML and SFRC. This is to prevent undesired spam from flooding the mailing lists. Any message from an unsubscribed address are rejected by the server. Usually these messages are from subscribers whose email addresses have changed, often without their knowledge. If your system admin changes your address you will not be able to post directly to the mailing list, despite continuing to receive mail. This usually occurs when software is updated or a new server is installed. If your address is you@host.com and it becomes you@mailserver.host.com, your ability to post will be compromised. Similarly, if you are using a second email service to forward your mail to another address, you will likely experience problems. I recommend that you subscribe any address from which you are likely to post messages. If you subscribe secondary addresses to the digest, you can easily delete them at will or maintain a personal archive. Contacting a Human: easily done, just email me at thayer@gryffinaero.com.

Thanks for your attention. - Thayer Syme FFML / SFRC List Admin

F.A.Q. last updated September 3, 2006

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