[IRCServices Coding] Mass memos

[Andrew Church]

>Can we reconsider adding a Mass memo function for the next release?

     No, for all the reasons others have mentioned.  I'll also draw an
example from my experience with cellphone mail in Japan, which is
remarkably similar to Services memos:  Automated messages are annoying,
period.  The primary use for cellphone mail is to communicate with friends;
having automatic messages interfere with that is annoying in the extreme.
Yes, 10% or 20% of your users might be willing to accept mass memos, but
the remaining 80% or 90% will get quite upset with you.

     I might also point out that people who care about what happens on the
network will actively check that information, whether you make it available
through logon news, through a website, or whatever; and people who don't
care will ignore anything you send them.  The method you use to inform them
won't really make a difference.

>If not, or even if so... one thing puzzles me:  In the /ns list *  command,
>the listings have occasional punctuation... a ! or ? in front of the nick.
>There is nothing in the docs anywhere that seems to address this, and I'm
>curious as to what those mean.... an explanation would be helpful there too.

     This should be available through /ns help list, but there appears to
be a bug there.  I'll fix it for the next version.

>on that note, a possible suggestion for Logonnews... How about something I
>saw on Dalnet once: When new news is added, you get a notice.  Until you
>read the news, it keeps bugging you when you log on.  After you read it, it
>stops.  Some sort of flag so users know when there IS new news would be
>useful... the main reason nobody read the logonnews is that 90% of the time
>for them, it is unchanged........

     This is an interesting thought; I'll think about it for a future
version.

  --Andrew Church
    achurch at achurch.org
    http://achurch.org/