<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;font-size:10pt"><div><br></div><div>Friends,</div><div><br></div><div>Great discussion, taking stock of kictanet. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Personally, I have found discussions here most informative; in a way, kictanet offers the idealism (free ideas sharing, focus on problem-solving and openness to new ideas, etc.) <br></div><div><br></div><div>Adapting to the changing times in terms of how we communicate, issues of the day, changing attitudes, and the like is key. <br></div><div><br></div><div>I found the following interesting; written in 1995 as the Internet was about to take off in earnest, it is worth reading and consideration. I am sure the kictanet (in one form or other) is one of those that would live "happily hereafter".</div><div><br></div><div>Enjoy.</div><div>-----------</div><h3 class="entry-header" style="font-weight:
bold; margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; color: rgb(0, 102, 153); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: medium; text-align: left; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The Natural Life Cycle Of Mailing Lists, revisited</h3><div class="entry-content" style="position: static; clear: both; margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Verdana, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal;
font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: small; "><div class="entry-body" style="clear: both; "><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Online tools and places have changed enormously over the past ten years, not least with the development of personal blogs to complement community forums... to the extent that these have been<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://partnerships.typepad.com/civic/2004/03/online_communit.html" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); ">labelled 'old skool'</a>. One old tool that has survived and grown is the mailing list, with systems like<span
class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); ">Yahoogroups</a>and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.smartgroups.com/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); ">Smartgroups</a><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>offering anyone free add-on facilities far more sophisticated than we enjoyed in 1994 (calendars, file stores, polls, picture galleries and so on).<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>I'm finding lists less inviting these days, with more than enough mail, and the shift of many hitherto list contributors to blogging. I'm unsubscribing, or checking the web interface occasdionally. But what new? Enthusiasms wax and wane. Here's a reminder from that earlier age.<br></div></div><div class="entry-more" style="clear: both; "><div
style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; "><strong>The Natural Life Cycle Of Mailing Lists by Kat Nagel, December 1994</strong></div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Every list seems to go through the same cycle:</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Initial enthusiasm (people introduce themselves, and gush a lot about how wonderful it is to find kindred souls).</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Evangelism (people moan about how few folks are posting to the list, and brainstorm recruitment strategies).</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Growth (more and more people join, more and more lengthy threads develop, occasional off-topic threads pop up).</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Community (lots of threads, some more relevant than
others; lots of information and advice is exchanged; experts help other experts as well as less experienced colleagues; friendships develop; people tease each other; newcomers are welcomed with generosity and patience; everyone -- newbie and expert alike -- feels comfortable asking questions, suggesting answers, and sharing opinions).</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Discomfort with diversity (the number of messages increases dramatically; not every thread is fascinating to every reader; people start complaining about the signal-to-noise ratio; person 1 threatens to quit if *other* people don't limit discussion to person 1's pet topic; person 2 agrees with person 1; person 3 tells 1 & 2 to lighten up; more bandwidth is wasted complaining about off-topic threads than is used for the threads themselves; everyone gets annoyed).</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;
">Finally: Smug complacency and stagnation (the purists flame everyone who asks an 'old' question or responds with humor to a serious post; newbies are rebuffed; traffic drops to a doze- producing level of a few minor issues; all interesting discussions happen by private email and are limited to a few participants; the purists spend lots of time self-righteously congratulating each other on keeping off-topic threads off the list).</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">OR</div><div style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; ">Maturity (a few people quit in a huff; the rest of the participants stay near stage 4, with stage 5 popping up briefly every few weeks; many people wear out their second or third 'delete' key, but the list lives contentedly ever after).</div></div></div><div><br><span></span></div><div><span></span></div><div> </div><div><font size="2"><span style="font-family:bookman
old style, new york, times, serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><br style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"></font><font size="2"><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;">Matunda Nyanchama, PhD, CISSP; mnyanchama@aganoconsulting.com</span><br style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;">Agano Consulting Inc.; </span><a rel="nofollow" style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;" target="_blank" href="http://www.aganoconsulting.com">www.aganoconsulting.com</a>; </font><font class="Apple-style-span" size="2">Twitter: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://twitter.com/#%21/nmatunda"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1298476732_5" style="color:rgb(54, 99, 136);">nmatunda; </span></a></font><font
class="Apple-style-span" size="2"><span style="text-decoration:underline;"></span>Skype: okiambe</font><font size="2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse:separate;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;orphans:2;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"></span></span><br style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><span style="font-style:italic;font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"></span><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"
lang="EN-CA"></span></font></div><style><!--filtered {font-family:"Book Antiqua";panose-1:2 4 6 2 5 3 5 3 3 4;}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";}p {margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";}filtered {margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}div.Section1 {}--></style><i style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"><br>Be prepared to face ICT Security failures & know how to respond when they happen! <br>Call: <span style="font-weight:bold;">+1-888-587-1150 </span>or <a rel="nofollow"><span style="font-weight:bold;">info@aganoconsulting.com</span></a><br> </span></i><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;">----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------</span><span
style="font-style:italic;font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"></span><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;" lang="EN-CA"></span><style>filtered {font-family:"Book Antiqua";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {margin:0in 0in 0.0001pt;font-size:11pt;font-family:"Book Antiqua";}p {margin-right:0in;margin-left:0in;font-size:12pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";}filtered {margin:1in 1.25in;}div.Section1 {}</style><div><i style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-size:10pt;"></span></i><br><font style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;" size="2"><span style="font-style:italic;">"A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk I have a workstation…" - Anonymous</span></font><br style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times, serif;"><span style="font-family:bookman old style, new york, times,
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