I understand the problem with the signal to noise ratio, but there are
easy ways to solve the problem. I handle the issue as follows:
1. Get a threaded mail reader, such as outlook, Netscape, or "the
Bat".
2. Filter your messages so that each mailing list goes to a different
folder.
3. Set the mailer to remove mail messages older than one month from
the folders that are used for lists.
4. Get a mailer that supports the "kill thread" or "mark thread as
read" function. This is useful for thread that have gone past the car
information state. Killing a thread means any new messages that are
part of that thread are automatically deleted or marked as read.
5. The "kill" function can also be applied to people's who's messages
you don't want to read.
6. Learn the keyboard short cuts, or better yet, map function keys to
execute the kill thread and mark thread commands. This will allow you
bypass unwanted mail very quickly. For example I can mark an entire
thread as read by using "Ctrl+Shift+M". Very quick and effective.
7. Learn the keyboard short cuts to move to the next un-read message.
8. Get rid of the mouse and use the keyboard, it is much, much faster.
If you spend some time setting this up and the investment is very small
you wind up with a mail reader that will be great. If you follow
these steps you can read the Spridget and MGs list once a day in about
10-20 minutes. You might miss something, but most likely not. It is
worth the effort to set this up and then it is all under your control
and you can manage the volume very effectively. It is really worth
the effort. Any good mail reader will support most of these features
(I have yet to find one that does it all well.)
And it is not just useful for mailing list. Let the computer
work for you, not the other way around.
I mean it is a shame to lose a member for a problem that has a
simple solution.
--
Later,
Bill mailto:w.gilroy@verizon.net
"Facts are the enemy of truth"
77 Midget
90 Shar-Pei
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