See the FAQ for further details of the mailing list management software, but here are brief instuctions for joining the list.
• To subscribe to the 'digest' version
  If you have a modern, MIME compliant, Email package, or are unsure, send an email to:
  [email protected]

  If your Email package cannot understand MIME, send an email to:

  [email protected]

  In either case, the BODY of your message should contain just one word:

  subscribe

• To subscribe to the non-digest / regular version
  Send an email to:
  [email protected]

  containing just one word in the BODY of your message (NOT the Subject):

  subscribe

• No flaming or posts of an argumentative nature.

• Do not post chain or "spam" messages (including "make money fast" messages) to the list. If you do, you will be unsubscribed permanently. Chain messages of a charitable nature MAY be acceptable but MUST NOT be posted directly to the list. Send any such messages to the list owner, who reserves the right to edit the mail before posting to the list or reject it entirely.

• This list is not moderated. This means that messages do not have to be approved before they are posted. It does not mean that "anything goes" here. Please adhere to the above mentioned rules. Occasionally, posts will be send to the list admins BEFORE being sent out to the list. This is a feature of the software used and is intended to flag up certain posts which may have been posted in error. This feature may also be used to prevent lengthy off-topic discussions or flaming, in which case the owner will either post the message on to the list, reply to the author directly or ignore it completely.

• The prefix 'MD:' is automatically added to each subject line when mails is sent to this list. This aids people with simple 'filter' facilities, or those who receive all email in the same mailbox, to see which are mails from the MD list. You should not add the prefix manually. New topics should will look like this : Subject: MD: New topic whereas replies to that topic will look like this : Subject: Re: MD: New topic.

• Advanced filtering can be done using either the 'special' RFC2369-compliant list headers such as the List-Post: <mailto:[email protected]> header, The envelope sender/From [email protected] header or if neither is possible using your mail software, searching for MD-L in either the To: or CC: headers should suffice.

• If you are replying to a previous message on the list, only quote enough of the original message to ensure your answer makes sense. Excessive quoting is signified by an automatic header added to the message, or in extreme cases, by the message not appearing on the list at all.

• Ensure your software does not generate or request 'return receipts' or 'disposition notifications'. Although the software will filter out many standard cases of such receipts and requests, sending such items may result in you subscription being cancelled.

• Do not send attachments of any kind to the list. That includes mailer-generates attachments (eg TNEF or WINMAIL.DAT), HTML conversions, richtext, pictures, sound files, etc. Such messages will usually be blocked and trashed without comment.

• There is one administrator/owner for this list (or list admin) - Nick Perry. To contact him, please send mail to [email protected]

Digests are a common feature of Internet mailing lists. They are an alternative to the 'regular' or 'non-digest' form of a list. The main difference is that instead of each message sent via the list arriving on your computer separately, throughout the day, several messages (the number is determined by the list owner) are grouped together into one large message which is then delivered to your computer at less frequent intervals. Although this not reduce the total size of the mail you will receive by very much, it does mean you will effectively receive fewer 'emails'. This can be handy if you pay for each email you receive, or if you prefer not to have a constant flow of emails arriving throughout the day.
1. Does the digest contain different messages to the 'regular list'?

   No, all messages sent to the list address go out to both the regular list members and digest list members, so you need not be a member of both types of list.

2. How do I join the digest list?

   First you must determine which of the two digest list to join. The digests can be sent to you in either MIME or non-MIME format. Newer mail software can take advantage of the MIME format for digest that allow 'multipart' digests to be 'expanded' into individual messages on the computer, so the messages look just as if they were sent via the regular (non-digest) list on screen, but were only sent as one 'email', thus reducing network traffic.

   The non-MIME digests are sent out in a simpler format, which all email packages can understand. 'Digest expansion' extensions and software are also available that give non-MIME users some of the feature available to their MIME counterparts.

   MIME digests are the preferred type, if your mail software can cope. If you are unsure which to use, try the MIME digest, and if the first MIME digest you receive is unsuitable or causes problems for your software, switch to the non-MIME digest.

   Once you have determined which type of digest is best suited to your set-up, send an email to one of the following addresses:

   [email protected]

   [email protected]

   for the MIME and non-MIME digests respectively. In either case the body of your message should contain just one word:

   subscribe

   Remove any 'signature' appended to your message before sending it. The subject of your message is ignored.

   Some time later you should either receive further instructions which must be followed to complete the subscription, or confirmation that you have been accepted.

   Once complete, you should unsubscribe from any 'regular' or non-digest version of the same list you may belong to.

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