In a message dated 05/02/2001 11:04:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time,

<< We don't use any newsgroups with our Internet service - I was unaware that
the messages stay on the server as someone else pointed out. I can see how
that would save some clutter, not having to download every message.
Although once deleted, that don't take up much space at all :-)

Anthony J. Kroes >>

Anyone who wants access to old posts on MAPUG can retrieve old digests back a
few years. Instructions on this, as well as subscribing/unsubscribing,
various archives kept by others, and other list-usage topics are at
mapug.com, but I'll post them at the bottom of this for people who don't have
Web access. The link to the list-usage stuff is
http://www.mapug.com/AstroDesigns/MAPUG/Subscrbe.htm

At least with AOL, newsgroup posts roll off of their server after about a
month. It's also a pain in the butt to save messages after reading them,
without also saving ones you don't want. I wind up hitting "mark all read"
before starting to read sci.astro.amateur, then click each individual thread
which I'd previously saved, and re-save them one at a time. Then I read
whatever other threads I want to, and save the ones I want. Then they'll
appear at the top of the list next time, but will need to be re-saved again,
unless I don't "mark all read". If you don't "mark all read" then you have
the opposite problem of new threads you're uninterested in hanging around
until you delete them. All in all, much more of a pain than just using email
and saving what you want once and for all. It would help if my newsgroup
reader allowed selection of multiple threads (namely the top several which I
had previously saved) to mark as unread or otherwise save. I'm sure there
are better newsgroup readers out there, but I doubt they're a panacea.

Anyway, here are the instructions for getting "back issues" of MAPUG digest.

---------------------------------

Subject: Mapug Archives: How to Get Back Issues

Per a private request after someone had a problem finding recent posts in
online archives, I'll give instructions on how to retrieve posts directly
from the list server.

Certainly web searches and a visit to <http://www.astroarchive.com/> are also
helpful for finding specific posts, but I'm not certain of the state of
various online archives which may have MAPUG messages. Using the search at
astroarchive.com, I found many recent posts, but failed to find some specific
ones via a text search.

Anyway, here's the direct method. I recommend it for anyone building a new
archive now or in the future. To get back issues of Mapug, the easiest way is
to actually get the stored digests sent to you. Here's how:

In the body of the message say: index mapug-digest
It will return a long email to you, showing all of the stored digests
available to be sent upon request.
In the body of the message, say (for example) get mapug-digest v01.n1780 get
mapug-digest v01.n1781 get mapug-digest v01.n1782 (Be sure to use lower case
just as in the index.)
I've pared down the returned index which I obtained tonight, to eliminate
fields of no interest, standardize the date format, and only show the first
digest of each calendar month (plus the last available digest as of tonight,
June 23, 1999.) You'll notice that 39 months worth of digests are available
now.

10666 Apr 21 1996 v01.n001
30464 May 1 1996 v01.n014
30353 Jun 3 1996 v01.n047
20042 Jul 1 1996 v01.n080
16879 Aug 1 1996 v01.n124
20194 Sep 1 1996 v01.n157
29058 Oct 1 1996 v01.n195
22422 Dec 1 1996 v01.n281
30008 Jan 1 1997 v01.n335
21571 Feb 1 1997 v01.n386
12042 Mar 1 1997 v01.n424
15447 Apr 5 1997 v01.n475
15927 Jun 1 1997 v01.n558
30217 Jul 1 1997 v01.n604
42427 Aug 1 1997 v01.n654
15398 Sep 3 1997 v01.n692
6634 Oct 1 1997 v01.n747
33972 Nov 1 1997 v01.n812
24084 Dec 1 1997 v01.n865
16431 Jan 1 1998 v01.n918
30399 Feb 1 1998 v01.n967
33411 Mar 1 1998 v01.n1012
25524 Apr 1 1998 v01.n1072
22071 May 1 1998 v01.n1141
13647 Jun 1 1998 v01.n1208
22784 Jul 1 1998 v01.n1253
14516 Aug 1 1998 v01.n1299
19239 Sep 1 1998 v01.n1353
22927 Oct 1 1998 v01.n1405
27496 Nov 1 1998 v01.n1453
12343 Dec 1 1998 v01.n1507
31750 Jan 1 1999 v01.n1554
40156 Feb 1 1999 v01.n1602
15370 Mar 1 1999 v01.n1643
37958 Apr 1 1999 v01.n1686
18945 May 1 1999 v01.n1738
31858 Jun 1 1999 v01.n1780
1542 Jun 23 1999 v01.n1809
Update 10/99:
We're currently at around MAPUG digest #1227 (6/98; now at #1916 in 9/99),
and with the recent lapse (as of 6/98) of one archive site, and the firing up
of a couple of others, I thought I'd remind everyone that they can directly
access the digests at the list server for download without having to use or
abuse archive sites at all. For example, to get Digests 976, 1221, and


In the Body, put exactly the following:

get mapug-digest v01.n976
get mapug-digest v01.n1221
get mapug-digest v01.n1890
get mapug-digest v01.n1891
get mapug-digest v01.n1892

I believe they're all still available from v01.n001 dated April 21, 1996,
presumably when Todd moved the list to shore.net, although at some point my
ISP will probably want to roll some old ones off or charge me more.

To see the whole list of available digests (pretty boring, as they're
sequentially numbered...but it gives file size and date in addition to name)


index mapug-digest

If you're braver than me, you might also try "index mapug" although I bet the
list is pretty long if it kept all the individual posts!

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