Welcome to the Pno-Ped-L FAQ [Frequently Asked Questions] The purpose of this site is to orient users to the email list Pno-Ped-L,
1. What is the purpose of this list?
Pno-Ped-L, a public, unmoderated mailing list devoted to discussion of issues in the field of Piano Pedagogy. Any topic of concern in the field of piano teaching from A to Z would be appropriate and welcomed on this list. Topics such as teaching methods and materials, repertoire and technical exercises, both in general or at specific levels (beginning through advanced), learning styles, educational philosophies, even studio policies and procedures would be welcomed on Pno-Ped-L. Discussion of the history of piano pedagogy, various schools of piano playing, famous pedagogues of the past and present would be highly appropriate. Ideas, announcements and information of a non-commercial nature which would be of concern to those interested in the field of piano pedagogy would be most welcomed.
2. Who should subscribe to this list?
Participation of the following groups is encouraged: professional teachers and pianists, university piano pedagogy and performance majors, university piano literature classes, and others seriously interested in the field of PIANO TEACHING & PEDAGOGY.
3. How do I subscribe, unsubscribe or resubscribe to the list?
In order to subscribe or resubscribe to the list, send the following message in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
subscribe pno-ped-l
In order to unsubscribe from the list, send the following message in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
unsubscribe pno-ped-l
Keep in mind that the final character of the above commands is a lower case letter "l" and not the number "1".
4. How can I access the archives of the Pno-Ped-L list?
The Archives of the proceedings of PNO-PED-L, from its inception can be found at: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu The Pno-Ped-L archives are organized into monthly files. Archive file names use only lower case letters and they appear as follows:
pno-ped-l.9704
The above file name refers to the Pno-Ped-L archive file for the month of April, 1997. Please note: The ninth character in this file name is the lower case letter "l" not the number "one". Individual archive files may be obtained by using the "get" command, followed by the name of the list, followed by the name of the archive file.
| <command> | <listname> | <filename> |
| get | pno-ped-l | pno-ped-l.9704 |
For example: A request of the Pno-Ped-L archive file for the month of April, 1997 should appear as follows:
get pno-ped-l pno-ped-l.9704
This is not a typographical error. Both the list name and the archive file name contain the same letters. Therefore, "pno-ped-l" must appear twice in an archive request. The file name differs from the list name in that it also contains an indication of the year (97) and the month (04). Also, please do not forget the "." dot. Computers love these little things and will not cooperate without them.
Similarly, your request of the archive file for the month of May, 1997 would appear as follows:
get pno-ped-l pno-ped-l.9705
Archive requests should be sent to the following address: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
One final note about the archives: Some of these files are rather large (400-500K), so they may take a few seconds to come up on your computer screen.
5. How do I go about posting mail to the list?
IT IS IMPORTANT to understand the proper usage of email addresses. In matters of administration (subscribing, unsubscribing, digest, archives, etc.), address your mail to:
majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
To post a message to all the list subscribers, address your mail to:
Pno-Ped-L@lists.colstate.edu
6. What is digest mode and how do I switch to it?
Postings may be received from PNO-PED-L in either, or both, of two modes. In "regular" mode, where individual messages are posted throughout the day and with "digest" mode, where messages are collected and posted periodically as one large message.
A) In REGULAR mode, you may post and receive the postings of others throughout the day. To subscribe to this list in regular mode, if you have not already done so, send the following message in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
subscribe pno-ped-l
To "unsubscribe," or remove your name from the list, send the following message in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
unsubscribe pno-ped-l
B) With DIGEST mode, subscribers periodically receive one large email message of approximately 40,000 characters (about 10 pages of text) containing the entire proceedings of the list for that time period. Because of the large size of the digests, an index is provided with each issue. The digest index is complied from the "subject" fields of each message contained in that issue.
If you decide to switch to the Digest mode, send the following message in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
subscribe pno-ped-l-digest
If you choose to subscribe to Pno-Ped-L in digest mode, you should also consider unsubscribing from the list in regular mode unless, of course, you want to continue receiving regular mail in addition to the digests. To unsubscribe from the list regular mode send the following message in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
unsubscribe pno-ped-l
If, at some later time, you wish to rejoin the list in regular format, you must then resubscribe to the list as outlined in FAQ question number 3 above and unsubscribe from digest mode by sending the following command in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
unsubscribe pno-ped-l-digest
Note: Some subscribers prefer receive the list in both regular and digest modes at the same time.
7. What is the list policy on attachments?
One of the most appealing features of an Internet mail list is that, even though we all employ different software clients for email, through the TCP IP protocol suite software of the Internet, we can still find compatibility for communication. A basic underlying assumption of communication on an Internet mail list should be that all other subscribers will be able to understand what you have to say, or at least be able to read your post. Furthermore, subscribers to an Internet mail list rightly have a natural expectation that list traffic will be conducted in a common, compatible format.
When posting to Pno-Ped-L, one should assure themselves that all other subscribers will actually be able to convert your post into a readable format. With normal email messages this is not a concern, but it is an important consideration when contemplating the use of email attachments. The reality of attachments is that they are simply not compatible with all email clients and absent complete assurance in the matter of compatibility of an attachment, a post with an attachment should be reconsidered.
Even if a portion of the list subscribers might be able to convert an attachment into a legible format, others can not, and communication with a portion of the list obviously presents numerous problems for our common list dialogue. It follows, therefore, that use of attachments significantly complicates communication on the list and tends to reduce the value of the list for everyone.
If you feel strongly that the list could benefit from one of your files, you might consider two approaches. Take the time to paste it into your own email client, manually fix up the formatting, and then send it to the list as a normal email message without attachments. Another approach might be to post your file to a web page and then send the URL for your file in an email message to the list so we can view it independently through our browser clients.
Another concern which immediately comes to mind with the first approach outlined above, would be the problem of sending an extremely large file to the list. If your message turns out to be very large, please consider breaking it down into several postings. This would be appreciated by all, especially those who are connecting at slower download speeds.
One final thought regarding attachments are their effect on the list archives and the issues of Pno-Ped-L digest. Pno-Ped-L is a fully archived list with subscriptions also available in digest mode. Typically, attachments take up lots of space and appear only as "gibberish" in the list archives and in issues of the Pno-Ped-L digest. The negative effect of a attachment on the value of the list archives and Pno-Ped-L digests is considerable.
Therefore, with the above considerations in mind, please refrain from sending attachments of any kind to the list.
8. Why did the lengthy message I sent never make it to the list?
In attempting to assist in blocking viruses [most of which are at least moderately large in size] from being transmitted through the list, to help prevent large unwanted postings [spam] from being sent to the list membership and in an attempt to facilitate handling of individual messages and digest issues of Pno-Ped-L; the Pno-Ped-L list software has been configured in a manner which blocks posts larger than 9000 characters from reaching the list.
As a rule of thumb, 9,000 characters amounts to a little over two full 8.5 x 11 pages of single spaced text at 10 point font. Well above 99% of messages sent to Pno-Ped-L fall under this limit, however, some clearly some do not. One of the most common reasons for exceeding the 9,000 character size limit is the inclusion of too large a quote from the original message. Please do keep in mind that all subscribers have already received the original message and try to limit your quote to only those exact portions of the original message to which you are specifically responding. Experience shows that adoption of this approach would solve this problem for the majority of the messages which exceed the 9,000 character size limit. If this remedy is not acceptable to you or if you determine this approach would still not bring your message under size limit for messages, you might consider breaking your message down into two or more smaller messages, such as a Part I & II.
If neither of the above strategies applies in your case, perhaps you should consider whether a posting to an email list is actually an appropriate vehicle for your thoughts. Often times such in depth, extended ideas are best suited to a web page format and the address of such a web page can then be posted to the list so that those who wish to read extended remarks may do so.
Finally, the purpose of configuring the list software in a manner that blocks very large size postings is not to limit dialogue, extended discussion or in depth treatment of any topic. The intention is simply to offer such protection as is possible to the Pno-Ped-L list membership and to make the list work better for us all.
9. What is netiquette and what does it mean on this list?
When posting to this mail list, it is good to keep a few things in mind, which may make your stay at PNO-PED-L more pleasurable for yourself and others.
1) When referring to another posting, please quote only the portion of that message which is relevant to your discussion. We've already read the original message in its entirety. Make sure, also, to strip out all header information from the previous posting; it is a waste of space, it may confuse the computers and the repetition adds unnecessarily to the volume of the list archives.
2) Conclude your message with your name and complete email address. This has two benefits: 1) we will all know your name, and 2) your address will allow us to respond directly should the need arise. Headers usually provide this information, but not always.
3) Be nice. We all goof up occasionally or express ideas that may, unknowingly, be obvious to everyone else. There's no need to "flame" someone for this. If a response is necessary at all, send mail to the offender directly.
4) Take special care in wording the "subject:" line. This may be your one shot at attracting attention to your posting.
10. Why did my message to the list bounce as a "Non-Member Submission"?
In an attempt to save us all from mountains of unwanted email, the list software which runs Pno-Ped-L has been configured to block postings that originate from addresses that are not officially subscribed to the list.
By far, the most common reason resulting in a non-member submission bounce is attempting to post to the list from a second email address [one which is not officially subscribed to the list] or from an alias that is connected to an account which is officially subscribed. It is common mistake for subscribers to forget which of their email addresses they used to officially subscribe to the list and the mistake is often made of trying to post to the list from another email address. Unless the email address in the outgoing email header is an exact match in every way with the list roster, a non-member submission bounce will result. If you suspect this is the case there is no need to read further. Simply repost your message to the list from your email account which is officially appears on the list roster.
Also, from time to time and for reasons all their own,
outgoing email headers [email addresses] are changed by Internet Service Providers and
University Email Administrators. These changes are typically minor in nature such as:
John_Doe@xyz.com to John_Doe@mail.xyz.com
or
John_Doe@StateCollege.edu to John_Doe@machine.StateCollege.edu
Such changes are often effected without notification or explanation to subscribers who are often not even aware of the change because email routing to the former address is still provided. Generally speaking, this practice rarely creates difficulties, but problems do arise when email is sent to a mail list from an email address which has been changed. No matter how close to the original address or how obvious the connection between the two, the slightest difference between an address and the list roster will cause the list software to bounce a message as a "non-member submission" and that email will not be forwarded on to the list.
The non-member submission bounces can be remedied in a couple of ways. With regard to attempting to post to the list from a second email account or from an alias connected to an officially subscribed account, subscribers should simply try to remember to post to the list only from accounts or aliases that are officially subscribed to the list. There is nothing preventing subscribers from having multiple addresses that are officially subscribed to the list, but since that will result in receipt of multiple copies [one to each account or alias] of each post sent to the list, most subscribers prefer simply to remember to post to the list only from a single account or alias - the one which is officially on the list roster.
The solution is a bit more complex with regard to email address that have been changed. The new address must be officially subscribed to the list and the old address deleted from the list roster. Complete directions for subscribing and unsubscribing are contained in FAQ question Number 3 above. Those who run into trouble unsubscribing an old account should contact the list owner for assistance. See FAQ question Number 11 for contact information for the list owner.
11. How do contact the list owner?
The Pno-Ped-L list owner is Steve Clark, member of the piano faculty of Columbus State University. Should you need to contact him for any reason he may be contacted as follows.
12. Why was my non-text only message not forwarded on to the list and what can be done about that?
Choice of email software varies widely among subscribers to the Pno-Ped-L mail list, but messages formatted in "text-only" or "plain-text" format are the only ones that are legible by all subscribers. In fact, text only [.txt] is the only format available on the Internet that is supported by virtually 100% of email programs in use today. Therefore, text only should be the format of choice in communicating with others, on this list or elsewhere, unless one can be completely sure that all parties involved have access to programs that support more advanced types of formatting. So if you're trying to communicate with the others through the Pno-Ped-L email list using some type of rich-text [.rtf], web-based [.htm or .html] or other format other than simple plain text [.txt] your messages are going to wind up looking something like this to others on the list:
--=_87DD1E27.A8C9873E
Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Description: HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charset=3Diso-8859-1"=
<META content=3D"MSHTML 5.50.4522.1800" name=3DGENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY style=3D"MARGIN-TOP: 2px; FONT: 8pt MS Sans Serif; MARGIN-LEFT: =
2px">
<DIV><FONT size=3D1>Here's the message. Can you see how hard it is to pick it
out of
the stuff that surrounds it? = . </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D1></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV></BODY></HTML>
This is nothing against all the wonderful programs out there that do such a marvelous job with advanced features of formatting, but simply to inform you that none of that formatting comes through in tact to others on the mail list. Subscribers should, therefore, de-select all rich-text or web-based formatting options in their email software before sending mail to the list.
Attempts to make use of advanced formatting options available in many email clients such as MS Outlook, not only make it frustrating for others on the list who are trying to figure out what you are saying, but all these extra, meaningless characters also clog up the list archives and make them of less value to users.
So when communicating with the list please chose the "text-only" option available in whatever email client you are using. In MS Outlook the text-only formatting option is activated as follows: From the "Format" drop-down menu at the top of your screen choose "plain text" before sending your message to Pno-Ped-L. That's all there is to it and this action will save all us on the list lots of time and trouble figuring out what you have to say and make it so much easier to respond to your messages. If you are not sure how to select the "text-only" option on software other than MS Outlook, please contact your Internet service provider or local computer guru or if all else fails perhaps even the software manual!
We all appreciate your consideration in this regard and I'm sure your experience on Pno-Ped-L will be all the better for it.
13. Why is it taking, or why did it take, so long for my message to be sent out to the list?
While your own individual experience may vary, under good conditions it takes about only about 10 minutes to get a message through to the 400 plus members on the roster of Pno-Ped-L. This length of time assumes average traffic on our server and favorable conditions on the Internet between your email address and our server. Please do not be alarmed if a message you send to the list does not get out in less time than this. However, if you feel a message you sent to the list may have been unduly delayed in reaching the list there may be at least couple of reasons to account for this. Please read further.
Technical Troubles: Since moving to a new server in summer of 1999, the reliability of our list has been almost completely without glitch. This is a great tribute to the Computer Information and Networking [CINS] staff of Columbus State University. While mechanical failure on this end is certainly not completely outside the realm of possibility, our experience since 1999 has proven the probability of this to be quite slim. On the other hand, complications are often found on the Internet as a whole. Many times, I have experienced delays or other problems with my own personal dial-up connection from home. Therefore, if you are experiencing a problem receiving mail, before assuming the problem is here, please check things out on your own end. This can be done by contacting your own local Internet Service Provider [ISP] or your local email administrator for a status update.
Taboo Words: In an effort to reduce or eliminate unwanted email [advertising, non-essential messages or other annoyances] and to provide whatever protection [albeit, minimal] possible from viruses, the list software has been configured in such as way as to bounce messages which contain certain words [referred to as "taboo words" in list jargon] for manual approval. As you might well imagine, this process will never be as fast as that described above. In cases where I am on the road, it might even take days for a message containing a taboo word to come to my attention.
I hasten to add that you should never allow yourself to conclude these measures provide any kind of a fool-proof level of protection against unwanted email or viruses. They do, however, block an amazing number of messages that were mistakenly sent to the wrong address from ever reaching your email account and should therefore considered as an extremely important contributing factor to smooth operations on the Pno-Ped-L mail list. For example: remembering to send administrative commands to the list administrative address instead of to address for list mail address [refer to question 4 above for discussion of this] is very difficult because we typically use the administrative address for a mail list so infrequently. As a consequence, subscribe and unsubscribe messages appear with frequency on other mail lists, but they are blocked on Pno-Ped-L? While these occurrences may appear relatively minor in nature, over time downloading hundreds of these type messages can contribute to growing sense of frustration on a mail list. More importantly, since the use of attachments are strictly against list policy on Pno-Ped-L, the list software also screens for attachments in two ways. The answer to question number 8 above describes one way that attempts have been made to protect against large sized files. The other way is to simply check for the occurrence of the word "attachment" [which appears in many, if not most messages containing and attachment] in all messages which are sent to the list.
The downside of efforts of this nature is that subscribers may experience delays in messages getting to the list if their messages inadvertently make use of words which have been designated as "taboo" words in the list software. I offer my apology for this in advance, but I continue to feel these measures contribute far more positively than the occasional inconvenience they create. Furthermore, since these measures are intended to provide only a minimal level of protection against inadvertent or mistaken use of these words, savvy subscribers who are intentionally intending to use these words in a positive manner can find perfectly acceptable ways around guards of the software without having to compromise their meaning. The first, most obvious, way would be to employ a synonym for a "taboo" word and another way would be to embellish "taboo" words with other characters, thereby indicating your awareness, acknowledgement and compliance of the intent list policies and still allow you to use these words under those special circumstances. For example, instead of your subject line reading: "Please offer help with this situation" it could be changed to read either: "Please offer assistance with this situation" or "Please offer _help_ with this situation".
Just so you know, almost all the available administrative commands [subscribe, unsubscribe, help, etc] are protected as "taboo" words. So if synonyms will not do and you need to use these words in your legitimate messages to the list, do so and resort to embellishment of some type as described above. This is particularly important to keep in mind with regard to choice of subject line for your messages because all replies you receive to such a message will also contain the same wording in their subject lines. Other sensitive words are also included in the list of "taboo" words. Subscribers who employ these words will be notified where possible of reasons for the delay in their message reaching the list and the situation explained as far as possible.
14. What is the list policy on business advertising on the list?
No advertisement of products or services of any kind unrelated to the field of piano teaching is permitted on the Pno-Ped-L mail list. Advertisers that attempt to violate this policy should be advised that list subscribers are aware of list policy with regard to advertising of this kind [spam] and look with special disdain on companies that engage in practices in violation of this policy. So much so that actions taken in violation of list policy are, in fact, counterproductive from a business standpoint.
Companies whose products or services relate to the field of piano teaching are allowed to post to the list under the following stipulations:
1] Posts to the list that contain advertisements must contain "special" offers that extended only to members of the Pno-Ped-L mail list only. "Special" offers means one that is above and beyond any other offer available anywhere else. In other words, the list should not be contacted with an announcement that members will see anywhere else. In taking advantage of the special offer, Pno-Ped-L list members should be required to identify themselves. This can be accomplished by either presenting a printed message from the Pno-Ped-L list or by another a means of the companies devising which does not require the list member to provide additional personal information other than that which would establish their list membership.
2] Established list policy expressly forbids the use of attachments of any kind on the Pno-Ped-L mail list. Therefore, communication of information to the list must not make use of attachments. Furthermore, the upper size limit for messages to the Pno-Ped-L mail list is set at 9,000 K. As a rule of thumb, 9,000 characters amounts to a little over two full 8.5 x 11 pages of single spaced text at 10 point font. If discussion or description of products and special offers extends beyond this limit, hyperlinks to web sites where more complete information can be provided should be included within the message.
3] A strict limit of three special offers per year, per company may appear on the Pno-Ped-L mail list. This limit helps protect the list membership from abuse with regard to advertising on the list and can serve to help an advertiser's message from becoming too diluted.
4] Finally, since all list members are extremely sensitive to unwanted advertising appearing on the list, it is highly recommended that advertisers initially send information to the list owner for approval and forwarding to the list. This does not mean that the list owner will edit information in any way, but simply that list members can know that information contained in the message meets with established criteria for appearing on the list.
The list owner reserves the right to amend list policy on advertise without notice. All questions regarding Pno-Ped-L policy on advertisements should be directed to the list owner, Steve Clark, at: Clark_Steve@ColState.EDU
15. What should I do if my email address is changing or has changed?
If you know in advance that your email address is going to change and you do not want to miss any of the emails from the list, you should take the following steps to change over your official list subscription address.
A. As soon as your new address becomes active send a subscribe command to the list from your new address.
Send the following command in the body of email to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
subscribe Pno-Ped-L
B. You should follow this up immediately with an unsubscribe command sent from your old address in order to deactivate your old address.
Send the following command in the body of email from your old address to: majordomo@lists.colstate.edu
unsubscribe Pno-Ped-L
Note: If it so happens that your old address becomes inactive before your new address is up and running please follow step A above and instead of step B above, simply send an email to the list owner [Clark_Steve@ColState.EDU], asking to have our old email address manually unsubscribed from the list roster. Please include a listing of your old email address with your request.
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