This is how it works: You write a letter (anything pertaining to magic or IBM) and send it to ring2100@ring2100.org
It, along with other letters, will be combined into one document and mailed out to all our members. You are then welcome to reply to anything you see written there. Pretty easy, huh?

Please, use only plain text in your mail. Any setting that uses html, attachments, mime, etc will not work here. We will try our best to help get your mail program to work here, but ultimately it's up to you.

This is a private list for IBM members worldwide to share thoughts and ideas. YOYOW applies here. This means simply, You Own Your Own Words. This is a double edged sword. You are responsible for what you write here. Don't expect us to edit, spell check, or do anything else. This is an unmoderated list. Anything you say or quote from the received message will be repeated unedited. This is your chance to speak your mind.

This also means, as an unmoderated list, the list owner and web site will not be held liable for anything written here. You write it, it's yours. Deal with it.

This is a place for discussions that are of importance to IBM members worldwide. Think of this as an online magazine. If your message has limited interest, or is directed to an individual, then leave it to e-mail.

All letters are posted in their entirety with a few exceptions. In the past, we've had people send entire lists (all the mail) as a quoted reply. Needless to say, this caused a bit of flack over all the duplicate mail. We have a few protective measures in place to keep this from happening, but nothing's perfect. Learn how to use your "delete" key. Your Webmaster retains the right to "edit" such files (along with any "spam" or other questionable material) from our permanent archive, but there is no way to prevent these mistakes from being sent to everyone. Remember, you're the final editor of what you write. To protect all of us, abusers will be removed from the list.

What this isn't:

This is not the place to settle arguments, or get in the "last word." If you must debate something into oblivion, take it to e-mail and spare the rest of us. Abusers will be removed from the list.

This is not the place for commercial advertisements. This is a non-commercial site, and is supported and operated entirely by a few dedicated members of Ring 2100. An occasional announcement of an upcoming event is okay. If you have something to sell as an individual, that's okay too. If you own a magic shop and wish to advertise something here, don't. It's that simple. That's why we created RingMart. If somebody asks the group where to find a certain item, and it's available from you, a brief reply is permitted. Abusers will be removed from the list.

PLEASE use the "Subject" line to give us a brief idea of your message. This is much better than just repeating the title of the digest.

Religion and Politics:

The discussing of Religion (other then a real application as it relates to a magical effect Example: Gospel Magic) is strictly Prohibited. The subject is simply too subjective, and more often then not leads to emotional responses and a lot of hurt feelings and/or resentment.

Because Ring 2100 has a worldwide membership, Politics is another area that is best not discussed here. We are, after all, a magic group.
Postings that do not comply will be removed with no reason given.

Don't get carried away. Each message file size is limited to 8K bytes. This is enough for just about anything you have to say. If you are trying to say everything to everyone in one message, this might be a problem, and separate messages might be better. If you have something like a shopping list of items, it might be better if you just announce the availability of that list and have people e-mail you for a copy.

Signature lines and tag lines are great, but can take up a lot of time and bandwidth if they're overdone. A line or two is all that's really necessary. Also, the thing known as ASCII art is not welcome here. Most of the time it gets distorted by the proportional fonts currently in use by most computers, and your picture gets trashed anyway. In any event, common sense, discretion and brevity is preferred. Abusers will be removed from the list.

Changing your settings is easy. Just write to ringadmin@ring2100.org and ask to be changed.

Q: I'm on AOL. Is this a problem?
A: The digest method gives AOL members some problems as the file size is larger than AOL can deliver, so they have to convert everything into file attachments. Just download and save the attached file as you would any other file attachment, then open it with your favorite text browser. AOL also insists that you send HTML formatted mail instead of the preferred (required) plain text. That leads us to:

Q: I just got a message that my letter was rejected for being in the wrong "format" What are they talking about?
A: Our mail server can only "digest" mail that is written as "plain text" That means no HTML formatting of any kind can be tolerated. The special codes used to format text into special fonts or colors cannot be translated by our mail server, so the result is a mess of formatting codes that makes the message nearly unreadable. Your mail program gives you the choice of how you wish to send mail. It should be set to "Plain Text" and MIME Encoding to "none." AOL members who can't get around this are advised to either use AOL for their connection and use a "standard" mail reader like Outlook Express, or visit our web site and write mail directly from there.

Q: I'm going on vacation. What should I do?
A: Currently there is no good way to temporarily suspend your mail. If you write to ringadmin@ring2100.org we can remove you from our mailing list until you return and ask to be added again.

Q: I'm getting "Spam" messages from magic dealers. Why?
A: Spam is such a harsh term, especially when directed against our own members. At the request of our members, we have an e-mail roster on our Web site. Part of the risk of this is that your address is available to other 2100 members, some of them are magic dealers as well as members. As a service to our members, sometimes they send out special  "magic related" offers. Most of the time it's a welcome announcement of an item or service that directly benefits our members. Sometimes it just gets annoying. The solution is simple. Write a polite letter (remember they're people too, and fellow magicians) and they will remove your name from their mailing list. If it is determined that the spam came from a non-magic site who has no ties to us other than harvesting our e-mail we will take the necessary action with their ISP.

If you would like to have your name removed from our Web roster, just let us know.

If you find yourself restricted from posting to this list and honestly believe you did nothing wrong, we will be glad to listen. Any IBM member in good standing can be a member of Ring 2100, and being restricted from posting to this list is not to be mistaken as being "banned" from Ring membership. This is a service provided to Ring 2100 and is not in itself the Ring.

I hope you have fun with this,

David VanVranken
President, IBM Ring 2100