> This BIOSCI "miniFAQ" is designed to answer the questions that come up
> the *most frequently*. The main BIOSCI FAQ (Frequently Asked
> Questions) is accessible on the World Wide Web at URL
>http://www.bio.net/.>> If you can not find an answer to your question in this or other
> documentation, the BIOSCI technical support staff answers e-mail
> queries sent to
>>biosci-help at net.bio.net>> We can only answer questions about the use of the newsgroups and
> mailing lists. We unfortunately do not have the staff to do Internet
> information searches or answer scientific questions. Please post
> those to the appropriate BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups.
>>> Contents:
> --------
> 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!!
>> 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups.
>> 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc.
>> 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists.
>> 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory.
>>> 0) BIOSCI NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT!!
> ------------------------------
> BIOSCI's government funding has been expended, and we are now
> operating solely from advertising revenue that we have raised from our
> Web site at http://www.bio.net/. We need just a few minutes of your
> time to help us serve you.
>> You can do two important things which will take very little time for
> you individually and will immensely help us continue to help you.
>> First, please use our WWW system at http://www.bio.net/ to access the
> archives. You can post or reply to messages via your Web browser as
> described in item #1 below. Your usage helps attract sponsors. If you
> contact any of our sponsors, please be sure to thank them for
> supporting BIOSCI. It is critical for them to get this feedback if
> they are to continue their sponsorship for the long term.
>> Second, if you work for a company or organization that provides
> products or services of interest to the biology community, please pass
> this message on to your marketing or marketing communications
> department or other appropriate group. Please ask them to help
> support BIOSCI by sponsoring our Web site and explain the uses and
> benefits of the system to the biology community. If they are
> interested, they can then contact us for further information at our
> tech support address, biosci-help at net.bio.net.>>> 1) Using the WWW to access the BIOSCI/bionet newsgroups.
> --------------------------------------------------------
> As of 10 December 1995, all BIOSCI/bionet full newsgroups are
> accessible through the World Wide Web (WWW) at URL http://www.bio.net.> One can read and reply publicly or privately to both recent postings
> and archived messages through one's Web browser if it is configured
> properly to send e-mail. Each newsgroup is equipped with its own WAIS
> index. The main BIOSCI home page also has access to the BIO-JOURNALS
> Table of Contents database WAIS index and the BIOSCI user address
> database described in another item further below.
>>> 2) What to do about "spams," i.e., junk mail, ads, etc.
> -------------------------------------------------------
> BIOSCI is a set of parallel USENET newsgroups (the "bionet" groups),
> mailing lists, and a hypermail archive at URL http://www.bio.net/.> The same postings are distributed on all media (except for a small
> number of mailing-list-only groups at net.bio.net). Unfortunately it
> is becoming a despicable practice on the Internet (by a few people out
> to make a fast buck) to do automated mass postings to thousands of
> newsgroups and mailing lists. These attempts to grab free advertising
> are refered to as "spams" in the usual, somewhat boneheaded, net
> terminology. USENET is more susceptible to this practice, and many
> spams originate on the USENET groups and then are passed on to the
> mailing lists. However, spammers also get lists of mailing addresses
> and hit these too, so neither medium is immune.
>> What should you do personally if you get junk mail?
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Just delete it and move on without reading it further. Filing a
> protest is becoming increasingly useless because spammers are often
> disguising the addresses where the messages are sent from. Unless you
> really understand Internet mail systems, your attempt at protest by
> sending replies to the message will often end up being sent to the
> address of an innocent person that the spammer is victimizing.
>> What can BIOSCI/bionet do to protect its newsgroups?
> ----------------------------------------------------
> The only solution currently available is to moderate the newsgroup.
> If this newsgroup is already moderated, then you are in good shape.
> Moderation protects the USENET distribution from about 95% of the
> spams that are being sent to date and protects the mailing lists
> completely. Moderation means, however, that someone has to take the
> time to review each message before it goes out. We have set up
> software here that simply allows the moderator to forward to an
> address at net.bio.net messages that (s)he wishes to have distributed.
> This takes no more time than that needed to read the message and pass
> it on, say about 1 min. per message.
>> Most newsgroups currently have a discussion leader who is responsible
> for their newsgroup. The discussions leaders and their e-mail
> addresses are listed in the BIOSCI Information Sheet which is
> available on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. If a newsgroup is being
> hit with too many junk postings, please contact the discussion leader
> for that group and see if there is interest in moderating the group.
> Please do not assume that by simply posting a complaint to the
> newsgroup itself, anyone on the BIOSCI staff will act on your
> complaint. With close to 100 newsgroups to run, the BIOSCI staff has
> to rely on the discussion leaders of each newsgroup to report problems
> directly to us at biosci-help at net.bio.net.>> We will moderate any of our newsgroups if the discussion leader tells
> us that the readership of the group wishes to do so and if a moderator
> is willing to do the work. For most BIOSCI/bionet groups, this
> entails only a few minutes of work each day.
>> Moderating a newsgroup will resolve probably 95% of the junk postings
> on the USENET distribution. Unfortunately there are easy ways for
> determined spammers to override the moderation mechanism on USENET,
> but we can protect our e-mail subscribers from unwanted postings if
> the newsgroup is moderated. You can also access our newsgroups over
> the WWW at URL http://www.bio.net. While this Web interface will not
> stop spammers from trying to post to the groups, this will give you
> yet another way, besides using USENET news, to keep the junk out of
> your personal mail files. For those of you with local USENET news
> systems, the Web interface will also give you faster access to new
> newsgroups and recent postings.
>>> 3) Examples of subscribing and unsubscribing to the mailing lists.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> PLEASE NOTE: The BIOSCI management does NOT act on
> subscription/unsubscription requests that are posted improperly to the
> newsgroups and mailing lists. People who do this only bother everyone
> on the lists to no avail. Please be sure to follow the proper
> procedures below.
>> Gory details are in the BIOSCI Information sheets on the Web at
>http://www.bio.net. Below we give an example utilizing the
> METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list at both of our two BIOSCI sites:
>> Users in the Americas and Pacific Rim countries who use the BIOSCI
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> node at computer net.bio.net:
> ----------------------------
>> A) Determine the "listname" which is the <=8 character mail address
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> for the group. These can be found in the BIOSCI Info. Sheet. For
> the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS group the mailing address is
>methods at net.bio.net. The listname is the portion of the address to
> the left of the @ sign, i.e., "methods". The listname is used with
> the "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" commands illustrated below.
>> B) Mail all commands in the body of a mail message addressed to
>biosci-server at net.bio.net. Do NOT send commands to the newsgroup
> posting addresses! Leave the Subject: line blank, any text on it
> will be ignored.
>> C) In the body of your message put one or more of the following
> commands with an "end" command on the last line, e.g.,
>> subscribe methods
> unsubscribe methods
> end
>> Do NOT put your e-mail address or other text on these lines. The
> server only allows you to cancel your subscription if the address
> on your mail header matches the address on our mailing list.
> Please ask for help at biosci-help at net.bio.net if your address has
> changed, e.g., if you know you are on the list but the server tells
> you that you are not a member.
>>> Users in Europe, Africa, and Central Asia who use the BIOSCI node at
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> computer daresbury.ac.uk (also known as dl.ac.uk):
> -------------------------------------------------
>> To subscribe and unsubscribe to/from the BIOSCI lists, you need to
> specify the full USENET newsgroup name with "bionet-news." prepended.
> The USENET newsgroup names are listed in the BIOSCI Information sheet
> on the Web at http://www.bio.net/. For the METHODS-AND-REAGENTS list
> the USENET newsgroup name is bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts, thus the
> appropriate commands are
>> sub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts
>> unsub bionet-news.bionet.molbio.methds-reagnts
>> These commands are included in a message addressed to mxt at dl.ac.uk,
> NOT to the newsgroup mailing addresses. As usual, include the text in
> the body of the message as text on the Subject: line is ignored.
>> To unsubscribe from all the lists at the UK node, use
>> unsub bionet-news
>> Please note that if the address in the list is different than the one
> in your mail message header, you will not be able to unsubscribe by
> this method. If you have problems, please mail biosci at daresbury.ac.uk.>>> 4) The BIOSCI user address and research interest directory.
> -----------------------------------------------------------
> Please take this opportunity to add your name, address, and research
> interest information to the BIOSCI User Address Database if you have
> not already done so.
>> You can fill out the address form directly through our Web page at URL
>http://www.bio.net/adrform.html.>> The address database is reindexed nightly for WWW access (the URL is
>http://www.bio.net/). If you are not directly on the Internet but can
> reach it by e-mail, please use our waismail server to access the user
> directory. waismail use is described above. You can also request a
> user address form by e-mail from biosci-help at net.bio.net.>> Please check your database entry from time-to-time to see if your
> address information is still up-to-date. Because of our limited
> personnel resources, we ask that you resubmit a *complete* form to
> revise your entry; we only replace complete entries and do not have
> resources to edit old forms.
>> Sincerely,
>> Dave Kristofferson
> BIOSCI/bionet Manager
>>biosci-help at net.bio.net
