Polls; Hiatus timing difficulties and a possible solution (was: What Price Success?)

[Tammy Rizzo]

> Tonya:
> Would it be possible to set up a poll and ask everyone to vote on a 
> short list of ways to handle the boards after the release of HBP?? I 
> am sure someone already thought of that, if so I am for it!!

Tammy Rizzo:
I had thought about a poll, but I think that, in all fairness, the ideas being polled should first 
be explained to the list in general, in as glowing, advertising-blitz terms as possible.  For 
instance, in trying to 'sell' the two-week break, we could emphasise the fact that people 
could certainly use the time off from posting to read, RE-read, and digest the book, and that 
they should take notes of interesting thoughts that strike them at first read, and again at 
second read, and that they can use the time off to thoughtfully compose their impressions 
into text files, ready to cut and paste to the list on re-opening day.  Also, and this would be 
the MAJOR point, I think, it would level the playing field between fast readers and theorisors 
and slow ones.  I know I was crushed, nay, DEVASTATED to log in, ready to send in my 
wonderful theories after OOP, only to find that they'd all, *every* *single* *one* of them, 
already been posted and picked to pieces before I'd even had the chance to finish my book.  
That's just not right.  Three days into this HUGE book's release, NEW canon, EVERYBODY 
is on unfamiliar ground, and I log in and already I'm a mere, worthless, 'me-too' wannabee?! 
I read as fast as I could!  Three days and it's all old hat?!  Giving everyone the same 
amount of time to thoroughly ponder their ideas, to research if they will, to take notes and 
expand and expound upon them, to write, re-write, polish and perfect their thoughts and 
theories, can ONLY be beneficial to all.  It is certainly not discriminatory against anyone, 
and is definitely not a penalty against faster readers -- in fact, they'll benefit by having even 
MORE time to craft their posts!  Also, it would allow new members joining up immediately 
after HBP to wander through the archives and the Humongous Big File and the Fantastic 
Posts and all those wonderful things, and get a feel for the group without being FLOODED 
by fresh posts right off the bat.

As for the proposed hiatus' timing and it's impact on our southern members, whose 
schedules are so reversed from ours (especially Australia/NZ/etc, who are practically 
opposite GMT) . . . well, there's a wonderful little freebie program called 'iOpus BEEE' (for 
Windows; Better Email-Enable Everything, by iOpus software company, with whom I'm NOT 
affiliated) that can send text files to selected email addresses on a timer, so you could type 
up your posts and set the program to mail your messages right out as soon as the list is re-
opened, and you wouldn't have to stay up until 0-dark:30 to post to the list, or suffer for it in 
class the next morning.  You could even set this timer several days ahead of time, and not 
have to worry about missing the re-opening at all.  I've used this program myself, for such 
things as 'email your vote every hour' polls, and it works fine.  BEEE even opens a dial-up 
connection if needed, and closes it afterward, and can use its own smtp sevice as well, if 
required.  Wonderful little timesaver.  I think it would be just the thing, along with everyone 
pre-writing their posts, to remedy the 'left out' feelings from down under.  I mean, I'm 
positive that all these well-thought-out, painstakingly constructed, wonderful posts from 
Shaun and others aren't COMPOSED on the website posting page.  They MUST have been 
written as a text file first -- my Yahoo login doesn't LAST long enough for me to compose 
such posts before it logs me off and I lose everything in the posting page.

It's simple, it's fair, and with BEEE (found at http://www.iopus.com/freeware/beee/index.htm)  
there would be no time difference to really worry about. 

***
Tammy Rizzo
ms-tamany at ...
Check out my site:  http://pageswirl.com/rotate.php?user=trnetworks



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