JMS also available on rastb5m

[B5JMS Poster]

Subject: JMS also available on rastb5m
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 No. | DATE        |  FROM
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+  1: Aug 19, 1996: Charles Gregory <charles at freenet.hamilton.on.ca>
+  2: Aug 19, 1996: denebeim at marvin.deepthot.cary.nc.us (Jay Denebeim)
*  3: Aug 19, 1996: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)

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From: Charles Gregory <charles at freenet.hamilton.on.ca>
Lines: 56

>     12-Aug-96  17:53:32
> Fm: MICHAEL  ZITAGLIO
> 
> Hi Joe,
> 
> Quick question.... Id like to cancel my compuserve account in favor of a local
> internet provider. Trouble is I don't want to lose the connection with this
> great forum and with you. Are you also available on the B5 newsgroup for
> questions, etc??

>     12-Aug-96  20:43:15
> Fm: J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
> 
>       Yes, you can find me over on rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated.  It's a
> fun place to hang out.

Find you? Sorry, but I have posted to that group several times, yet I 
have never seen any indication that you have personally noticed (or at 
least responded) to any of my questions.

Due to time constraints, I don't subscribe as a reader to the newsgroup 
directly, but pick up Brent Barrett's listserver "b5jms". There is a 
faint possibility that each of my questions was somehow answered by 
another fan with great detail, but I have seen very "trivial" mesages, 
just natter and fun that you have answered, yet some questions which ONLY 
you could have answered went completely unnoticed. According to test 
postings I've made, other people appear to get the messages on the group, 
so I ask with all sincerity, do you "skip over" messages on rastb5m, or 
is there some "personal" affront that is associated with my name?

Given your tendency to shred offensive people and not just ignore them, I
tend to think that somehow you don't see my messages. Would you be kind
enough to let me know if my "idle commentary" and "dumb questions" are
being read by you? I don't necessarily need an ego scratch every time I
post - the benefits of your "being busy" are wonderful, so I don't mind if
you don't have the time to respond to everything - but some indication
that you are at least *seeing* what I post would be nice. Thanks. 

Hmmm. As an example, I am extrememly concerned that the final episodes of 
season three may not air in Canada because of the switch in broadcasters. 
Could you please officially confirm whether a special arrangement has 
been made to have the new station(s) air the eps at the same time as the 
rest of the world gets them? I have e-mailed the station, but have 
received no response. I've seen the speculation on various web pages, but 
would like an official word from you.

Thanks again.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Charles Gregory
E-Mail: charles at freenet.hamilton.on.ca
Home Page: [J]ump to "http://www.freenet.hamilton.on.ca/~ab801/Profile.html"





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From: denebeim at marvin.deepthot.cary.nc.us (Jay Denebeim)
Lines: 47

In article <Pine.SOL.3.91.960819100006.25150C-100000 at james.freenet.hamilton.on.ca>,
Charles Gregory  <charles at freenet.hamilton.on.ca> wrote:

>Find you? Sorry, but I have posted to that group several times, yet I 
>have never seen any indication that you have personally noticed (or at 
>least responded) to any of my questions.

Look, you have to realize that this is a very high traffic group.
Very few people read everything on it, I doubt that jms does.  Even
the moderators have been unable to keep up with the load when new
episodes are going on, that's why there's nine of us.

Joe responds to what he wants to respond to, just like the rest of
us.  I assume it's the same way on CI$ as well.  If not, the traffic
must be REALLY low over there.

Now, to maximize your probabilities of having jms read your post, make
a new thread, and put ATTN jms at the beginning of the subject line.
Joe has said that he tries to read the ATTN jms posts first, and that
he usually bails out of a thread when it has gone on for a bit and no
longer holds his attention.

Being brilliant, funny, and female also helps :-)

Now, that being said, many people know this, so there is generally way
too many attn jms posts for him to read.  There shouldn't be more than
10 or 20 of those a day for that to work well.  This has not been the
case, unfortunately.

Also, one more thing, think of Joe's carpal tunnel if nothing else.
Go to hyperion and look to see if he's said something on the subject
before.  In all likelyhood he's said as much as he's willing to say.

Don't bother asking about season 5, Joe isn't talking, there's been a
ton of rumors about it, a bunch of worried fans, and nada from Joe.
He has to have seen them, and since he hasn't said anything, the only
conclusion is that he CAN'T.  Besides, if he knew, he'd be bouncing
off the walls.

Jay
-- 
* Jay Denebeim, Moderator, rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated   *
* newsgroup submission address:   rastb5 at solon.com             *
* moderator contact address:      rastb5-request at solon.com     *
* personal contact address:       denebeim at deepthot.cary.nc.us *



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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Lines: 94

"Due to time constraints, I don't subscribe as a reader to the newsgroup
directly, but pick up Brent Barrett's listserver "b5jms". There is a faint
possibility that each of my questions was somehow answered by another fan
with great detail..."

It's possible.  If it's an informational request, and someone gets to it
first and answers accurately, there's not much point to my stating the
same thing twice, when there are 500 more messages waiting.

"...but I have seen very "trivial" mesages, just natter and fun that you
have answered, yet some questions which ONLY you could have answered went
completely unnoticed."

Some, yes; many, however, *do* get answered.  Sometimes I choose to "not
see" a question if it's something that, if I answer it, will give
something away, or if I don't have a good answer, or I just don't know, or
if I get caught up and I'm just unable time-wise to reply.  

I'd point out to you and another poster who said that a reply from me on a
given issue was "required" that I'm not on salary or retainer here; there
is no obligation in my part to answer ANY questions.  I do as much as I
can keep up with, and there's a lot TO keep up with.  I'm dancing as fast
as I can.  But telling me that an answer is required, or busting my chops
because you're not satisfied that I haven't answered every single question
put to me isn't going to help.

"According to test postings I've made, other people appear to get the
messages on the group, so I ask with all sincerity, do you "skip over"
messages on rastb5m, or is there some "personal" affront that is
associated with my name?"

Given that I don't have any idea who you are, and have no memory of your
name, it seems unlikely that there is any affront.  I haven't noticed you
before now.  

"Given your tendency to shred offensive people and not just ignore them, I
tend to think that somehow you don't see my messages."

It's altogether possible.

"Would you be kind enough to let me know if my "idle commentary" and "dumb
questions" are being read by you?"

Why?  First, you'll note that you're calling them dumb and idle, not me,
so don't attribute that to me.  Second, should I sit here and do this for
every user on this system?  Or just you?  For every message posted, should
I say, "Hello, User, I just saw this message, hello..."

"I don't necessarily need an ego scratch every time I post - the benefits
of your "being busy" are wonderful, so I don't mind if you don't have the
time to respond to everything - but some indication that you are at least
*seeing* what I post would be nice. Thanks."

See above.

"As an example, I am extrememly concerned that the final episodes of
season three may not air in Canada because of the switch in broadcasters.
Could you please officially confirm whether a special arrangement has been
made to have the new station(s) air the eps at the same time as the rest
of the world gets them? I have e-mailed the station, but have received no
response. I've seen the speculation on various web pages, but would like
an official word from you."

I don't have one.  I don't know what the situation is in that regard.  If
that was youre question, and I didn't have any information, I likely
would've passed it by until I did have accurate information...assuming I
saw it all, and I don't recall doing so.

There's a tendency some can fall into of thinking they're the only ones on
the net, and thinking, "well, he can respond to me, or do this one thing
for me, it's not like everyone else is doing it," when in fact lots of
other people have exactly the same outlook.  I've asked, repeatedly, that
people not send private email with story questions best put in public
forums...but every day I have 30 or more of them, each thinking, "well,
it's just me."  

I answer as many questions as I can out of the 500+ that float in front of
my eyes every day.  If there's not a reply, don't assume I'm "affronted,"
I don't take affront out of the ether or arbitrarily.  And when there IS
affront, the person involved knows about it pretty fast.  

There's a certain wisdom here about "the perceived center of the
universe," but it's too obvious....



Thanks again.



 jms



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