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skip@large
Copyright Skip Ploss and Acorn Press Newspapers.
IN DEFENSE OF "YANK TANKS"
Nestled in among the many separate entities that, as a whole,
make up the Internet are the "Newsgroups". These have little
to do with real honest to god, CNN
type news but are in actuality "discussion rooms", also called
"chat groups", "discussion areas" and "talk groups". Some
can get kind of weird (or so I'm told) but many are great
sources of information and or fun.These talk areas can exist
in different forms.
There are talk areas within specific websites and the stand-alone
areas, those not connected with a website. These groups can
be moderated, where someone reads your message first and decides
whether or not it should be posted to the group, or unmoderated.
Moderated are usually the "kinder gentler" talk areas.
Talk areas that lurk within websites can also be of different
types (in addition to those above). One would be "bulletin
board like", where you would post (enter) a comment or statement
and it's stored until the time, preset by the webmaster, when
new messages are posted (usually the middle of the night).
This is ok for posting things that don't require immediate
response, the date of a tag sale for instance. Another type
is "live" where your message is posted immediately and where,
by hitting the reload button on your browser, you can see
whatever responses there are. My favorite"chat group" of this
type is at CAR Magazine
[http://www.mpn.com/eol/car/] in London.
CAR is to the UK what Car
and Driver [http://www.caranddriver.com] is to The States,
an automotive enthusiast publication chock full of news, reviews
and spy photos of upcoming new vehicles. What sets the CAR
site apart from Car and Driver's site is it's talk group.
Please Tune to Channel One
CAR has, as part of it's site, "live" talk groups. They
are separated into three "channels" (the original graphics
let you choose them from a "car radio"). Channel One for general
talk, Channel Two for bulletins and Channel Three for contacting
the staff of the magazine. At least that's the way it is supposed
to work. In actuality all three are used for general talk.
Discussion ranges from "where can I find parts for my old
Saab" to "not all American cars weigh 4000 pounds and are
covered with chrome, `Yank Tanks' as it were" (that is my
usual topic).
Among other things, this particular group is a great example
of "global communications on a personal scale". When I am
there taking part in a discussion, or just trying to make
a point, I am communicating with a truly world wide audience.
For example, current denizens of Channels One through Three
(in no particular order guys) are: Paul, a 30 year old computer
network specialist, in New Zealand with a penchant for les
Autos Francaise, Alec, 23, an engineer for an aircraft electronics
manufacturer in Scotland and the defender of all things Mercedes,
Homer, a UK resident studying in Finland, Dominic, a resident
of Australia with a rabid love of Alfa Romeos, others known
by name only, and yours truly, a 35 year old graphic designer
from Connecticut who talks about old cars to much.
You may be wondering why I made reference to the order in
which they were listed. "Like they are going to be getting
the Wilton Bulletin (or other appropriate Acorn Press newspaper)
in New Zealand!" I can hear you saying. The thing is, they
can. This column, along with the others is available online
(with functioning links) at "http://www.spav.com/skip/columns.html"
and they've asked for the address.
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