The Rio Linda Elverta (email) mailing list was established in July, 2000. As of June 2005, we have 154 members in our on-line community.

To prevent unwanted email from reaching our subscribers, the mailing list is set up so that it will only accept messages from subscribers.

A subscriber list, including names and email addresses, is sent out to list members on infrequent intervals. To assure privacy, the confidential subscriber list is ONLY sent to those who are on the list.

Do you live here, do you work here, or are you an individual who owns property here? We would like to add you to our mailing list.

Please read the "Welcome" message below that provides even more detail. "How to subscribe" follows the welcome message.

Subject: WELCOME to the Rio Linda Elverta Net!
From: Jay O'Brien
To: New Subscriber to net@riolinda.info
You have been added to the Rio Linda Elverta Internet Mailing list, also known as the "Rio Linda Net". This is either as a result of your request to be added or because someone has asked that you be added to the mailing list, presuming that you want to be included in our on-line community.

If you would prefer to not be included, please let me know by email to jayobrien@att.net and I'll unsubscribe you.

Here's what it is all about.

I feel that open communications is essential in our community, and that we should communicate with each other quickly, easily, and often.

With that in mind, I've established an email mailing list for Rio Linda and Elverta residents. It is for everyone in our community. This mailing list is intended to be a "bulletin board" which can be used by "leaders" to reach the community, and can be used by the "community" to reach the "leaders" (and to reach the rest of the community).

Here's how this works. If you send email to net@riolinda.info, the "majordomo server" at that address will immediately send your email to everyone who is subscribed to the email list.

Here are the "list rules" we live by.

1. You must live here or work in Rio Linda or Elverta to be accepted as a subscriber to the list, or be an ex-resident who owns property here.

2. You must be tolerant of others with different viewpoints, maintaining civility and avoiding profanity, remembering that children (or your mother!) may read what you type.

3. You must conform to generally accepted mailing list guidelines. Some of these are:

• Don't cross-post to multiple mailing lists or newsgroups.
• Don't quote more than is absolutely necessary; in general the text of your reply should be more than the text you quote. Quote once.
• Don't "SHOUT" excessively, using capital letters.
• Do use descriptive subjects.
• Don't dominate the mailing list.

Some references are:
http://obri.net/rl/mlnotes.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbser=1141
http://www.albion.com/netiquette/introduction.html

4. Send your messages in plain text, not in html or rich text format. The mailing list will convert such into plain text, and any format may not be maintained.

Some references are:
http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/listadmins/plaintext.html
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05397
http://obri.net/aol (AOL V6.0 and some 7.0)
http://www.geocities.com/econ_10330/encoded_email.html

5. Do not send attachments with messages to the Net. The mailing list will strip attachments from messages.

Who will administer this mailing list and what will that cost? Well, folks, you are stuck with me (Jay O'Brien) as your administrator (ListMom). The good news is that my time costs you nothing; the bad news is that you may have to suffer my rantings from time to time.

What about costs? There are none for you. It is my contribution to the community.

And, please send me names and email addresses of your friends, neighbors, and associates (who live or work in Rio Linda and Elverta) who you think should be added to this list. I'll do it!

A subscriber roster is sent to the list on occasion; use it for your own information only. To maintain the privacy of our on-line community, please don't divulge the subscriber list to anyone who is not a subscriber. And, I shouldn't have to say this, but experience teaches me otherwise: DON'T USE THE SUBSCRIBER LIST FOR ANY KIND OF ADVERTISING OR SOLICITATION! (If you have something to say to everyone, including advertising or solicitation, send it to the Net.)

Every message has the characters [RL] inserted into the subject line. This is to identify the messages for you and to provide an easy way for you to automatically place incoming messages from the Net into a separate mail folder if you wish, using your mail program's "rules" or "filters".

To send messages to the mailing list, send them to the list address, riolinda@lists.vrx.net. This address is included at the bottom of each message sent on the Net. I suggest you add the list address to your address book so it is automatic for you in the future when you wish to initiate a message.

For administrative actions, such as address changes, to unsubscribe, for temporary vacation mail suspensions, and to add new subscriptions, please send email directly to me detailing your request. For your convenience, my address is included on the last line of each message sent to you by the Rio Linda Net. Unsubscribe requests will be accepted from the address being unsubscribed.

A comment: This effort is counter to most Internet-based activities. Internet activities are NOT based in any specific geographic location as Internet communities transcend all political boundaries and are world-wide. What we are doing here is different; this is an effort to use a worldwide accessible media, the Internet, to benefit a specific area, Rio Linda / Elverta. Welcome to this concept in the use of the Internet! Please do your part to make this media useful to us all.

Welcome to the Rio Linda Net!

Jay O'Brien

ListMom, Rio Linda Elverta Mailing List, riolinda@lists.vrx.net
See http://obri.net/rl/rlemailinglist.html to review this message.
See http://obri.net/rl/mlnotes.html for more details on these items.

PS: If you aren't a regular user of mailing lists, be prepared for some flurries of discussion and some days when nothing happens. It's just like "real life".  And, just like "real life", if something makes you mad and you respond while still seeing red, save the message as a "draft" for a day before hitting the send key. You might temper it a bit, or even delete it. This has always been good advice for those "real life" letters; it also applies to email sent to a mailing list.