- 1. Who may join?
Anyone, everyone.
- 2. Who may send messages to the list?
Subscribers only.
- 3. What topics are discussed in the list?
-
Anything related to stone, but most of all topics that focus on stone as a material that people
work with. We are especially keen on topics that straddle disciplines, as one of the motives for
establishing the list was to encourage exchange of ideas and information between people who work
with stone in different ways.
For example, it is our experience that sculptors can learn from geologists, who can learn from
stonemasons, who can learn from quarry workers, etc. However, ultimately the content of this
mailing list is determined by its members.
This list is strictly non-commercial. However, if you have a commercial service that might
interest other subscribers (eg: stone supplies), you are welcome to post a brief message drawing
attention to your existence.
Announcements of new web sites, exhibitions, symposia, workshops, training facilities, etc, are
always acceptable.
- 4. How do I send a message to the list?
Just email it to stone@freelists.org
Please make sure the subject line of your message is appropriate and descriptive.
- 5. How do I reply to a message to the list?
-
Just hit the ‘Reply’ button in your email program, edit your message
(delete any superfluous text), then send it.
- 6. Who will get the messages I send?
Everyone who has subscribed. And thousands more who read the messages in the web archives.
- 7. Can I send images to the list?
No. Sorry — we tried it and it didn't work out. Attachments are not allowed. If
you have images that you would like members to see, you can offer to email them to people
who request them, or put them somewhere on the World Wide Web, and tell the list where
they are.
- 8. Do you have any way of preventing junk email?
Yes. First, messages from non-subscribers are discarded. Spam can never get through to subscribers.
Second, anyone who abuses the list may have posting privileges revoked (it's never happened).
- 9. How many messages get sent to the list?
Stone Conversations is intended as a low-volume list, but it varies a lot. There are often
long gaps with nothing happening — then someone will send in a message that sparks off
a flurry of replies. The chart below shows the current rate of stone posts.
The average seems to be about 5 messages per day.
- 10. Is there a digest version of the list?
Yes. Subscribers get full details when they join.
- 11. Is the list archived on the Internet?
Yes. Our recommended access to the archives is
gmane.culture.stone, which seems to be wholly
reliable and easy to search and navigate.
Starting September 2004, list posts appear on the
news.gmane.culture.stone newsgroup.
The list archives from June 1998 until 21 September 2004 are no longer available.
- 12. I've just joined — what next?
-
You can lurk for a while, or you can dive straight in — it's up to you. Some people like to
start off by sending in a very short personal or professional introduction — in 50 to 500
words, say who you are and how you work with stone — message subject should be 'Introducing
myself'.
- 13. How do I unsubscribe?
Send a blank email message to the list management address: stone-request@freelists.org
with the word UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject.
- 14. What about my privacy?
-
We take your privacy (and ours) very seriously, and we do nothing that might compromise it.
The only information that is required to join this list is your email address. If you disclose
any other information when joining, we don't receive it.
Your email address will be used solely for the stated purpose — distribution of Stone Conversations
messages. We will not use your email address for any other communication.
Stone Conversations is a hidden list — access to subscribers' email addresses is restricted
to the list administrator. Subscribers have no access to the email addresses of other
subscribers. The Ecartis command WHO has been disabled for this list.
Subscription email addresses are never divulged in any circumstances to any third party,
individual or organisation.
Subscribers' email addresses are stored safely in a database on the mail server. No other copy is made.
When a subscriber leaves the mailing list, the email address is immediately deleted from the
database. There are no records of former subscribers.
Stone Conversations messages are also archived by FreeLists, and
like all other lists, may be archived elsewhere on the World Wide Web. Our own archiving software removes
email addresses in message headers to prevent abuse. Most other archives do the same, but of
course, we cannot guarantee that this will always happen.
- 15. Is there a web interface to this list?
Yes. You can use the Freelists ‘stone’ interface
to subscribe, and to manage your subscription.
- 16. Can I post messages from the Internet?
Yes. If you are a subscriber, you may post to the stone list from the
news.gmane.culture.stone newsgroup
or the gmane.culture.stone
web interface. You will get details when you subscribe.
- 17. Was this once known as the ‘Learning Stone’ list?
Yes. From 1997 until October 2004, this was Learning Stone. On 6 October 2004 we transferred
the name and the learningstone.net domain (now unused) to the
Portland Sculpture & Quarry Trust so they could use
it for their new Learning Stone Centre. Our current domain aboutstone.org was already an
alternative name at that time. We just changed our templates and carried on as usual.
About Stone still functions as a support site for the Trust.
