Bristol Aerospace Sub-Aqua Club

Online Resources

Our club’s primary source of information is the club notice folder which is present at our weekly meetings, as not all members may have regular access to the internet.

However, a large proportion of our membership are now online so we do have our own private Email mailing list that can be used by any club member. Our mailing list is operated free of charge by Google, Google Groups. All new members are encouraged to sign up as this is an excellent means of communication for organising those last minute dives!

A similar service exists for the BSAC South West region. This is an open mailing list of interest to all clubs in our region.

To register for our BASAC Google Ggoup, you must either be a current or an ex-club member. Further instructions and information about the group will be forwarded to you on joining.

To register for the BSAC-SW list please follow these instructions on their website.

Online Etiquette
A divers’ guide to etiquette and social graces online. Or, what not to do.
Sunday 16 February 2003, by Paul Morris

Online mailing lists and forums are an excellent way for groups to keep in touch. However with any large group there can be a lot of traffic, and what is interesting or relevant to one person may not be to everyone else. Aside from minor annoyances, distributing offensive or obscene content can be extremely distressing and in some cases illegal. This article is intended as general guidance in obtaining peace and inner harmony on the web.

SPAM

One of the biggest annoyances is SPAM. Not the luncheon meat kind, though there are some similarities in the definition.

The biggest cause of this for us is Google Groups itself. When replying to a message on Google Groups the default reply is to the whole group, so please ensure you really mean to reply to the whole group, or substitute the recipients email address instead. Example:

I send an email out asking who would like free dive kit.
You hit reply and say "Yes Please".
Your reply goes to 50+ group members.

As well as being irritating, some of us actually have to pay telephone charges to download this uneccessary mail. So to discourage spamming we operate a penalty scheme. New spammers will receive one warning, then they will be fined £1 per spam. All funds will go towards the club’s current fundraising project (Boat, Compressor etc.).

For clarity, SPAM is..
  A reply to an individual which is addressed to the whole group.
  An email which has no relevance or interest to the dive club as a whole. An example of this kind is virus hoax emails (see below).
  Replying to the group to report a spammer! Report spammers to webmaster@aerodivers.com and copy to the guilty.

SPAM is not...
  General posts to the group, intended for everyone.
  Replying to a post on a general discussion that is of interest to everyone.
  SPAM when the webmaster says so.

You will not be ritually punished for breaking the SPAM policy. It is enforced in a lighthearted but ruthless fashion, and of course the webmasters decision is final. Remember you’ve just made a donation to the club after all. Appeals to webmaster@aerodivers.com

Some serious rules

These are largely common sense, but please adhere to them as some may result in very serious consequences.
  Do not post any obscene or offensive material. Remember, what may not be offensive to you may be considered offensive by others.
  Do not post programs or executable files. These consume a lot of network bandwidth and can take a long time to download. In the worst cases, these may spread computer viruses.
  Do not post large attachments such as pictures, video, audio. These consume a lot of network bandwidth, take a long time to download and may fill up members email stores.

Anyone who abuses this mailing list may be barred from posting

Above all, be nice to each other. Please don’t be scared to post to either our own group or the South West list. As long as you are polite, no one will mind the odd mistake (though SPAM may cost you a quid).

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