The xrn mailing list.

• ex- pref. out of
• re prop. in reference to; concerning
• net n. a system of computers, interconnected to share information

The owner of the list--and author of this little missive--is Bruce Umbaugh. I send via the list things I think are interesting. They mostly come out of, and are generally about, the Net, and I hope they sometimes provide a sort of X-ray of it. The topics of messages include academic uses of computing technology, Net culture and ethics, and businessy items relevant to the evolving information infrastructure.

I don't endorse everything I send, I sometimes comment on it, I sometimes ask for subscribers' thoughts, I occasionally send messages describing my own thinking.

A look at recent posts shows that the two lists that turn up most frequently are Steve Gilbert's AAHESGIT list and Phil Agre's Red Rock Eater. I also rely on CPSR's NetAction newsletter, Steve Talbott's NetFuture, Seidman's Online Insider, the IAS-CR4 list, Declan McCullagh's politech, The Internet Tourbus, items in the RISKS Digest, several less frequent discussion lists, the newsgroup comp.org.eff.talk, and other sources in cyberspace--including recipients of xrn mailings.

List traffic is modest. First, although I may forward to the list a comment from a subscriber, the list is designed as a "filter list," not a discussion list. Second, if I'm about to send a third item to the list in the same day, I stop to ask myself whether it really needs to go. I don't think I've ever sent more than four items to the list in one day, and days may go by with no traffic at all. (In a spell or so, I'll look it over and report what it has in fact been.)

A note on privacy: it's the nature of the beast that address info of subscribers is available to me as list owner. I vow not to sell, trade, or otherwise share the mailing list with others, and I vow not to disclose who is on the list. The majordomo software is supposed to be set so that others on the Net cannot retrieve or review the mailing list, either. Still, things can go wrong, and the list has to be stored on our system and available to the people who run it, so I can't offer a guarantee. But, I do what I can do to maintain the anonymity of subscribers.

To subscribe:
Send e-mail TO: Majordomo@lists.webster.edu

With the body of the message:
subscribe xrn

That's it. The Subject: line doesn't matter; it gets ignored by the program that does the work. Sending that message will generate a confirmation message to the address from which you sent it. (That's to make sure that nobody can arbitrarily sign you up for mailing lists against your wishes.) Reply to it according to the instructions and, there you'll be!

If you ever want to remove yourself from the mailing list, you can send mail to Majordomo@lists.webster.edu with the following command in the body of your e-mail message:

unsubscribe xrn

I hope you find yourself possessed of valuable things for having subscribed. I hope you enjoy your subscription and get your money's worth from it. I hope you will send my way things that other subscribers should know about, too.

Onward and upward.