Our dying newsgroup

Hello anyone:

Although I rarely posted, I did read this newsgroup every day and
enjoyed meeting the people who posted here quite regularly. I
enjoyed reading their opinions and cruise reviews and found a lot of
very helpful information. Now there is nothing left but dueling press
releases from two seemingly desperate travel agents. Where has
everyone gone? Is there another group that fills the need for the
exchange of cruising news? If so, I'd love to know about it.

M'zie

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:04:32 -0400, Mackenzie wrote:

Hello anyone:

Although I rarely posted, I did read this newsgroup every day and
enjoyed meeting the people who posted here quite regularly. I
enjoyed reading their opinions and cruise reviews and found a lot of
very helpful information. Now there is nothing left but dueling press
releases from two seemingly desperate travel agents. Where has
everyone gone? Is there another group that fills the need for the
exchange of cruising news? If so, I'd love to know about it.

M'zie

There seems to generally be a decided downturn in the newsgroups I'm
subscribed to. I think in the "younger" newsgroups this sort of
communication has largely been replaced by Twitter and that sort of
thing. This will give you an idea:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=&...oyal+carribean
Then you find people that you like what they have to say and become
one of their followers and you'll get their "tweets".

In the other newsgroups I think it is a combination of spam and
posting monopolization that is driving people away. In this
particular newsgroup the two factors are one and the same.

Wouldn't that be funny? Having the people that are trying to get work
out of a newsgroup be the death of it. Could you imagine the horror
of running a business and actually having to _pay_ for advertising?!
It would probably signal the death of the world as we know it!

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:28:26 -0400, Linton Yarbrough wrote:

In the other newsgroups I think it is a combination of spam and
posting monopolization that is driving people away. In this
particular newsgroup the two factors are one and the same.

Wouldn't that be funny? Having the people that are trying to get work
out of a newsgroup be the death of it. Could you imagine the horror
of running a business and actually having to _pay_ for advertising?!
It would probably signal the death of the world as we know it!

John Sisker realizes he's not going to make any business off this
newsgroup. He just can't stand that anyone else might. So he tries
to be as much of a nuisance here as he can be. He probably doesn't
want to be welcomed. He just wants to rain on other parades.

--Tom

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:36:55 +0000 (UTC), Tom K wrote:

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:28:26 -0400, Linton Yarbrough wrote:

In the other newsgroups I think it is a combination of spam and
posting monopolization that is driving people away. In this
particular newsgroup the two factors are one and the same.

Wouldn't that be funny? Having the people that are trying to get work
out of a newsgroup be the death of it. Could you imagine the horror
of running a business and actually having to _pay_ for advertising?!
It would probably signal the death of the world as we know it!

John Sisker realizes he's not going to make any business off this
newsgroup. He just can't stand that anyone else might. So he tries
to be as much of a nuisance here as he can be. He probably doesn't
want to be welcomed. He just wants to rain on other parades.

--Tom

Pretty common on Newsgroups. There are always a few people who thrive
on being a PITA for no apparent reason. We have had quite a few of
them over the years. It isn't just r.t.c. but all newsgroups. I'm
sure psychologists have a reason for why people do this, but
understanding annoying people doesn't make them any less annoying. I
figure they are insecure in real life so they over-compensate on
Usenet... puffing themselves up or putting someone else down.
Personal attacks are much easier than rational, adult conversation.

I'm getting better at ignoring much of this stuff but when someone
outright lies or misrepresents a part of the travel business or posts
incorrect information, I try to offer a counter-balance.
--
George Leppla

****ryside Travel http://www.****ryside-Travel.com
www.yobt.com/fat.html

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:36:55 +0000 (UTC), Tom K wrote:

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:28:26 -0400, Linton Yarbrough wrote:

In the other newsgroups I think it is a combination of spam and
posting monopolization that is driving people away. In this
particular newsgroup the two factors are one and the same.

Wouldn't that be funny? Having the people that are trying to get work
out of a newsgroup be the death of it. Could you imagine the horror
of running a business and actually having to _pay_ for advertising?!
It would probably signal the death of the world as we know it!

John Sisker realizes he's not going to make any business off this
newsgroup. He just can't stand that anyone else might. So he tries
to be as much of a nuisance here as he can be. He probably doesn't
want to be welcomed. He just wants to rain on other parades.

--Tom

Assuming you have accurately diagnosed the situation from afar, why
do you then go so far out of your way to help him along. It would
seem the best bet would be to ignore him so he doesn't get the
attention you feel he wants. We call this "reinforcing the wrong
behavior" in the psych biz. See this a lot on Usenet.

For reasons lost in the mists of NG time, two or more factions develop
that just HAVE to snipe at each other. Of course, the better action
would be to just ignore them. Cuts down on messages, really such as
this one, that aren't of great interest to anyone outside the groups
involved, do nasty things to the signal to noise ratio, and just
generally screw up the NG (usually more than the person(s) who incite
the unrest).

Past history from the Berman Wars on alt.vacation.Las-vegas
indicate that this heresy will be met with another round of blather
about how important it is to the NG and Humanity in General that some
person not be allowed to do whatever it is that ****es off the poster
and that they (the poster) will continue with their Holy Mission.

I'll sigh, vow never to try to get people so heavily invested in
arguing with someone else to stop, and go my way until the pressure
builds up again and I have to give it another try.

Synopsis: Let it alone, Kanitra.
--
Need a Travel Agent that can't spell, put together a simple,
grammatically correct English sentence, self promotes himself
shamelessly across Usenet and lives in a trailer? John Sisker

I agree with you that this group does seem to be dying. However I
don't mind the posts by Ray as many are of interest to me. And he is
respectful even when some ridicule him. As for the other fellow
Sisker.......well, I could just skip over the posts that I find dull
(maybe someone likes them) but I think his behavior is most
unprofessional. He corrects, chastises and speaks "down" to anyone
that disagrees with him. I get the impression he thinks this is HIS
group and he must keep everyone in line.

The other thing I find annoying is an attitude I sense of only HE is
right and only HE knows best. Yet I suspect he has very limited
cruise experience and therefore offers info that mostly is copied
from others.. Sigh.......there is always one in a crowd like that.

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 22:43:56 +0000 (UTC), Lee Brickey wrote:

I agree with you that this group does seem to be dying. However I
don't mind the posts by Ray as many are of interest to me. And he is
respectful even when some ridicule him. As for the other fellow
Sisker.......well, I could just skip over the posts that I find dull
(maybe someone likes them) but I think his behavior is most
unprofessional. He corrects, chastises and speaks "down" to anyone
that disagrees with him. I get the impression he thinks this is HIS
group and he must keep everyone in line.

The other thing I find annoying is an attitude I sense of only HE is
right and only HE knows best. Yet I suspect he has very limited
cruise experience and therefore offers info that mostly is copied
from others.. Sigh.......there is always one in a crowd like that.

Well said, Lee..having been here for nearly 11 years, it was not
until the "other" person that you speak of (whom I had to avoid by
killfiling him) came, that the popularity of this newsgroup started
to decline. Other TAs post here and are respectful and informative
without that silly obsessive competitive attitude. Sisker sucks.

The best thing for newbies to do is to killfile him, at least until he
decides to grow up. As long as people respond to him, unfortunately
his posts will still appear. His only allies are the one who posts
here under many aliases, whom we all hold in contempt and have
killfiled. But it really amuses me when he is SO elated by "Its"
support!

He doesn't even realize how foolish they are making him look with that
support. That is the only time It appears...never shares any cruise
experiences, you notice, just stirs the pot. There are several people
that I hear from who tell me they don't read rtc because of this
immature competitiveness..I miss them here as they always provided
interesting information. However, if we continue to share our
experiences and ignore all this childish behavior, we can still
remain an active and interesting group.

--Jean

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:04:32 -0400, Mackenzie wrote:

Group is dying due to long-winded gasbags using it as if it were a
chat room. Send e-mails if you want to gab!!!

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:04:32 -0400, Mackenzie wrote:
On Jun 27, 9:30 pm, "John Sisker" wrote:

I respectfully disagree with those who encourage others not to respond, for
every time they do, a little more business comes my way. There are obviously
some out there who can indeed see the truth in spite of the excuses by
others, as to why this newsgroup may or may not be declining. As for those
who want to blame me, and/or others, then so be it. Some people will just
never get it. But that's alright. After all, this is suppose to be an
unmonitored newsgroup. Yet why do some keep drawing a lines in the sand
anyway?

As usual, you are mixed up. This is not an unmonitored group, it is
an _unmoderated_ group - it is self-monitored. When people tell you
you are a spammer posting redundant stuff just to see your own name,
that's one example of the monitoring.

You can DAGS on netiquette. Indiana University's Department of
Computer Science is a good place to start.

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/docproject...0_6.html#SEC44 This
seems to be the pertinent passage for you,

"Usenet is not a commercial network. Many Usenet sites are academic or
government organizations; in fact, Usenet originated in academia.
Therefore, there is a Usenet custom of keeping commercial traffic to a
minimum. If such commercial traffic is generally considered worth
carrying, then it may be grudgingly tolerated. Even so, it is usually
separated somehow from non-commercial traffic; see comp.newprod."

Since you are a TA, and ostensibly travel, the phrase "Usenet custom"
should be easily understandable. When in Rome and all that. Just as
you wouldn't argue with a local custom - such as a guard outside a
mosque in Oman blocking you from entering due to your short pants and
tank top - it is equally offensive to many that you ignore Usenet
custom/convention in furtherance of your financial benefit and equally
pointless to argue the point. You're simply in the wrong in this time
and place.

Hope this helps. Crawl off and die.

On 6/27/10 6:36 PM, Tom K wrote:
On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 18:28:26 -0400, Linton Yarbrough wrote:

In the other newsgroups I think it is a combination of spam and
posting monopolization that is driving people away. In this
particular newsgroup the two factors are one and the same.

Wouldn't that be funny? Having the people that are trying to get work
out of a newsgroup be the death of it. Could you imagine the horror
of running a business and actually having to _pay_ for advertising?!
It would probably signal the death of the world as we know it!

John Sisker realizes he's not going to make any business off this
newsgroup. He just can't stand that anyone else might. So he tries
to be as much of a nuisance here as he can be. He probably doesn't
want to be welcomed. He just wants to rain on other parades.

--Tom

not posted from me... check the header.

--Tom