As per the request of one of the DanceNet readers, here are copies of the past ramblings of the DanceNet Webmaster.
When sending me information for inclusion in this website, *please* do not send me content in Word files (or any other format). All that achieves is a longer process time because it requires an application to open up and I have to worry about having the right version of the program *AND* it has to go through my antivirus program first. If it takes longer to read and process, I'll move it further down the pile of mail I get every day.
Also, please just don't point me to your website for the information. I don't get paid to look at other people's websites for information. Oh, wait! I don't get paid at all for this website. I will just assume that if it's not important enough for a venue promoter to type the information in a message to me, it's not important enough for me to look at the website. Include the URL if the URL itself needs to be included on my website.
And, one more thing: long excerpts of prose with regard to dancing, especially regarding the virtues of a particular dance venue, tend to make my eyes glaze over. I don't know why I have to repeat this since I've already stated this many times. Duplicate messages don't help, either. Long promotional email sent to the general public get a very low priority on my reading list, just slightly above spam, since it's often repeat information for me. Email that is addressed to me directly *and* is short and concise gets my highest attention. Something that can be cut-&-paste'd is perfect.
Please remember that I get a lot of email every *day* for this website. You can do something to get your mail pushed to the top of the pile. Of course, all of this is irrevelent if your information isn't sent to me in the first place.
Special thanks go to all the dance venues who link back to this website before/after asking for a link to their website. These people have helped make DanceNet one of the most linked-to dance websites.
By the way, hello to all the nice people I met at the New England Swing Dance Championships. Of course, I didn't pay much attention to the guys. :-P
Today I received what must have been my tenth internet hoax about the attack on New York and future acts of terrorism. At least five of them came from people in the dance community with large mailing lists. It is a great thing that we are part of a community capable of sharing information. It is wonderful that people care enough to warn others of potential danger. However, all the claims I have received from well-meaning friends have been proven false (or at the very least, "unsubstantiated") by internet security agencies. I urge anyone inclined to pass potentially disturbing information around the internet to check the validity of the claim before inadvertently spreading confusion, unease, or panic. Here are some terrific websites devoted entirely to debunking false claims on the internet:
Urban Legends
and Folklore
Symantec's Hoax List
HoaxBusters
Remember -- when there is an ACTUAL threat of danger, the FBI won't be relying on a bunch of emails "passed along to everyone you know" to inform the American public.
Leanne Coyle
Hey, Leanne! Don't hold back. Tell us how you really feel. :-)
If you are using special formatting for your mail (for instance, using Outlook), that special formatting takes up space (HTML encoding). I recently got some piece of mail (bad joke of the day) that took up 6697 bytes of space in a file. I decided to edit out all of the HTML encoding and get the message down to its bare ASCII essence. The real message only took 574 bytes.
Remember that most people are still using dial-up modems for their email; not everyone has DSL, cable, or T1 lines. You can help people download their mail faster by not having all the extra fancy encoding in the message.
While you're at it, consider turning off your formatting or changing the default font size to 12pt in your mail program. Some of you have the font setting at 10pt which shows up as very small text on some people's computers (like mine!).