To what extent my browser version is really relevant?
To any extent, and it is not tea Ladies' topic! Most of the users think: «Hey after all why should I care to get a new release just to view one more animated gif or a niftier interface? After all what matters are the contents, and any browser is able to parse the basic contents». So the main assuption is: companies release new versions just for the sake of it or for keeping hold on the market.
Actually the situation is as follows:
- You should not care of subversions. If you still have Netscape 4.08 you do not necessary need to upgrade to Netscape 4.61; if you have explorer 4.01 you do not necessary need to update to Explorer 4.72.
- But if you have Netscape 3 you DO need to upgrade to Netscape 4.x, and if You have Netscape 4.x it is vital to upgrade to Netscape 5.x when released.
If you have Explorer 3 you do need to upgrade immediately to Explorer 4, and if You have Explorer 4 you should upgrade to explorer 5.
Normally it is widely known when a major version of the most used browsers gets available, and you do not need to read particular magazines to get informed about that. Normal information will broadcast its way to you sooner or later within a reasonable span of time.
Major versions do not include engines merely able to perform some useless or marginal additional task: major versions take care of:
- Fixing security. Each year takes new threats, hackers find every month a new way to access your space or to gather information about you when you're quite unaware of it and that naughty site you were browsing can keep track of your behaviour also when you've left the site. This alone is sound basis enough to upgrade for any major release.
- Implementation of the standards. When standards for programming a web page are set, only the new version will parse them correctly. This mean that with an old browser you could cheerfully browse a site thinking you are viewing it correctly and you're not at all!! It is possible up to 50% of the information and facilities available are completely hidden to your eyes as the old browser's parsers haven't any clue about how to interpret those new strings of code: in such case browsers simply do not parse the code!!!
So please remember: Companies are there to serve you as they need your money. But in change of this money they also provide you with some really useful tools. You can consider it this way: a 14,000Kbs/sec modem is able to crawl the internet: is this sound basis for not upgrading to 50,000Kbs/sec?
Of course money is an issue, but guess what: unlike modems, major browsers are freeware!
And if you think you don't have enough disk space, well I can assure you that any hd whose dimensions are 3Gb and any pentium I 200Mhz is perfectly capable of installing and handling new versions for the following 10 years. The only requirement could be: don't browse when you're using the pentium 120 of the administrative office, and when at home on your own pc (yeah, I am assuming you have some pc!) get rid of that 490Mb folder named "my cute pics" *smile*. Does it make any sense to you?
What is an emailing list? How does it work?
An emailing list is:
- A group of person that share some common interests, normally highlighted in the subject of the emailing group.
- They chose to share their thoughts on the subject.
- They find a good way for doing so using emails.
- In such case the emailing list works as follows:
- A person subscribes to a list by sending a request (if authorization is needed. On our list it is not).
- When the request is accepted (in the case of our list by simply entering eGroups -see more faqs if needed) the user is able to interact with other users.
- The interaction happens as follows:
- You get the email address of the list.
- When you send an email to that address, the server reproduces so many copies of it as many subscribers to the list are there at that moment, and automatically redirects any copy to the email address of each subscirber.
Thus all the subscribed people will receive a copy of your email and will read it.
- It works in the opposite way as well: any time an user sends an email, a copy is forged for you and automatically sent to your email address (the one you provided when you subscribed).
When I subscribe to an emailing list I have to provide my email address: what than about my privacy?
Yes, for subscribing to an emailing list providing an email address is nothing less than crucial!!! How could you exchange and/or receive emails without providing yours???
There are two kinds of email addresses:
- Server based: are those emails that the very same provider that gives to you the connection to the internet itself has made available to you.
Of course by any of those emails you're fully recognizable, as the server stores all the data you subscribed when you signed the contract and paied them or got connected some way.
I use my server based email for subscribing to lists: I do not feel like having anything to hide, which means : when I have something to hide I do not post it on an emailing list!!!
- Web based: are those free services on the net that can provide you with a free email inbox. Among them: , , , , and some other millions of websites...
They normally provide you with a lifetime lasting inbox (normally you just have to log in at least once in 3 months to keep the account alive) , and in their quite useless and pointless form fields when subscribing you can get fun fillin' in any sort of lies you prefer, even if the answers are preformatted (who checks that you selected the true one? Where's the file on your pc that stores such information, that can be located by standard cross-platform means, and monitored to see whether you declared your true income?): sort of
So you see: it is not at this stage that your privacy can be affected!
When You're subscribed to an emailing list your privacy could get affected in three ways:
- By eGroups: eGroups stores a small file in your browser cache named cookie when you log in. This is a bit invasive actually, but cannot be turned off or you cannot log in. This temporary file simply assigns to your machine a temporary random number. Any time you browse a new page within eGroups, the server checks if your cookie assigned number is still the same.
Of course it is, but if it would not it would mean that someone else is inside your account, namely is spying you and entered with you by stealing your password when you typed it.
In such a case eGroups receives back two cookies' numbers that match: this means that two machines are in the same account. The result is that eGroups will prevent both of the machines storing the same cookie by further interacting with eGroups by redirecting them to an error page.
This is made to grant your security within huge database like eGroups's, but of course can also be perceived like invasive, as it monitors for how long you're online.
Cookies expires automatically after 6/8 hours. They do not give to the server any personal information: they only tell the server that the same machine visited some pages in a certain order. Whose machine is that (less than less who's running it at the moment) is something the server cheerfully ignores!!!
- By voting a survey: eGroups will store the vote that you give in the following way:
- You can vote only if you log in
- This means that you can vote only after you've provided the username you chose when you subscribed
- If you've still voted, eGroups stores in a file that:
- Username XXYY
- Still voted for the survey
- In this way: Answer 3=yes, Answer 18=yes
This means that eGroups can recognize if you vote twice preventing you from doing so (it is a good thing indeed, as otherwise Surveys could be falsed in many ways and never attain any statistical relevance).
But it can recognize it at the level of the username: this means that it cannot in any fashion detect that you're John Smith, but that you are that Eileen Brown that you declared when subscribed...
Got it? *smile*
- By the so called moderator: The moderator of a list, who is simply the person that started the list, has some account privileges: can monitor the list of the subscribers (=emails addresses), ban some of them, and gets notified of new subscriptions/unsubscriptions. He cannot have the slightest clue of what users are doing. he can only see if someone is subscribed or unsubscribed, and can set the list to moderated to preview the messages before sending them through the list, and can set it to restricted to approve a pending subscription request if he thinks that's such cool a move.
So the moderator has no idea about your identity but that AVeryCoolGuy@hotmail.com email address is subscribed.
Free-Masonry@eGroups.com is run unrestricted and unmoderated. If something like flaming happens or commercial ads get posted, I would simply run it moderated for a few days to cool off. So far it happened for 4 days out of 350.(today's Sept.9, 1999)
Conclusion: provide your email address without any concern.
How can I subscribe to eGroups? How I do log in than?
As follows:
- Be sure you have an email address you want to use for receiving some posts a day.For knowing how to get email addresses read also .
- Go to;
- When there, about on the left upper corner you will see a written, that can change slightly over time, saying "New user? Subscribe"
Obviously enough, click on that link.
- You will thus access to a fairly simple form. For privacy concerns about it. For concerns about forms . Fill in the form and provide the email address you thought of. Than provide also a password (feel free to choose any).
- Follow the procedure. There should be buttons saying confirm or register or similar. The track is really easy but can changes once in a while. You will encounter no difficulties, as the procedure is built in order to assist you and not to puzzle you.
- Once finished, wait about 5 minutes.
Than do check the email address you've provided for your subscription.
You will receive a confirmation email by eGroups wondering if you really mean to subscribe. You have to reply to it!! This is made for security concerns in order to avoid that someone subscribes your email address without you being aware of this!
The email will provide you with some simple instruction like: reply without inserting anything in the body or similar. Do it.
- Wait 5 minutes
- It is done: You're now entitled to all the eGroups features, like subscribing to lists (more than 100.000!!).
- Anytime you re-access the main page at eGroups, you will have to locate the slot where it says log in.
There type in username(which will be the same as your email address) and password.
Anytime you need to manage your profile at eGroups (for instance for managing your subscriptions and un-subscriptions, taking out new ones or deleting old ones) you will have to insert first your username and your password one time for each session at the log in page located exactly at the front page of the site: .
How can I unsubscribe and remove from the list?
Unsubscriptions are not reviewed via email and are not performed by the moderator. The user himself/herself has to do it by him/herself, which actually gives you much more independence from the list. To unsubscribe from any list on Onlist you just have to
- Log in at eGroups as .
- Once your profile at eGroups gets loaded you click on the link that says Free-Masonry
- At the next page you will be presented with your subscription options related to this list. Among them you will find a button asking "Unsubscribe"? Click it. Confirm the choice at the next page.
- It's done. You're unsubscribed, removed.
How can I vote a survey?
eGroups allows any list to run one survey at one time for as long as we prefer. Members of the list are freely entitled to vote it. Current survey topic is: «Under what circumstancies Have I been disappointed by Free-Masonry?»
Votes for the surveys are:
- Entirely anonymous. No one knows who voted how. Only eGroups server knows that the profile corresponding to some username (ie: Mr. CoolNickName@hotmail.com) voted once, thus avoiding a second vote from the same username. Of course, this is so little invasive that if you have a second subscription to eGroups and to our list with another email address, you could than vote twice, actually, with your second nickname: Mr. EvenCoolerNickName@somedarnfreemail.com unless you finish all the available on the net. eGroups recognizes nicknames, can do nothing to recognize identities!
- You have 25 possible answers to the question.
- You can check multiple answers.
To vote a survey you need:
- First to be subscribed (to subscribe see section above) to eGroups.
- Than to be subscribed to Free-Masonry@eGroups.com (section above)
Subsctiption is required as eGroups does not allow any different choice. The reasons for this are basically two:
- Avoid to burden the eGroups database with the votes of any possible surfer
- Check whether the subscribed user votes twice, so avoiding calculating twice the vote of the same user. This does not diclose a bit about your identity and is performed in the way . Being performed in that way, by subscribing you simply allow eGroups to check your username, not your identity, and if the same username votes twice, eGroups does not accept the second vote. To perform such a check it is necessary to be subscirbed to the list first. I repeat: it reveals nothing about your identity. Once again: .
- Once subscribed, log in (see section above) and once logged in you will see your profile. It will include a list of the list/s you're subscribed to. Click on the link that says Free-Masonry@eGroups.com. You will thus access your profile subscritpion to the list. On the left you will find a link that says "Survey". Click it and you can view the survey and provide your vote.
- Note: The link Survey is active only if you're subscribed. If you're just browsing the profile of the list but you're not subscribed yet, you might find the link to the survey as well within the page that describes our list, but it will be inactive.
- You can subscribe/unsubscribe within a few minutes any time, maybe even just to vote!
Why are these archives online? Could I get my posts deleted?
The archives are online just to allow you to get your posts deleted!!
Many users ask, and actully asked, about our archives. That's rather normal that a surfer before subscribing would prefer seeing how the discussion goes on to assess whether the list deserves his/her attention and subscription.
eGroups would allow to upload automatically the archives at eGroups. Namely, I could also not take care of converting all of the posts into html files because eGroups allows to automatically post the archives at eGroups itself. As the so called moderator, I turned this feature off. Why?
- Originally, archives uploaded at eGroups did not delete the email addresses from the headers. This would mean that malicious users could browse archives hence and there simply to collect huge amounts of valid email addresses and use them for spamming commercial purposes.
On the website I could delete any reference to email addresses. The situation changed: at eGroups email addresses on the archives are now hidden.
- But there is one thing left: What if a user would prefer not to show on a public forum his/her automatic signature (in a masonic case it often involves Lodge names!) at the end of the email or for any reason would delete one email from the archives? At eGroups there is no feature that would allow the moderator to delete a single post unless he does not delete the whole of the archives.
Hence the utility of a web site!!!
What are the list policies?
Actually, none. Let's say a couple:
- No commercial ads on the list: Commercial ads are:
- Ads whose content is about items that can be purchased. Please note that this includes as well masonic rings and any other similar stuff: the list cannot be used to sell something under the coverage of brotherhood...
- Ads whose unique content is an url or an email address.
- Ads whose unique content is an url and one or two lines advertising it.
- Ads whose unique contents is an url and one or two lines saying that more about the subject can be found there. This is automatically handled as a potential attempt to entice clients towards some commercial source, regardless to its actual contents.
- If you want to advertise a site, namely posting an url, you should either be a member who normally takes part into debates, or you should introduce it in a comprehensive way in the email so that to bring in some contribution to the list and not merely exploiting the email addresses of the subscribers.
- Please do refrain from sending private messages such as «Hallo tomorrow I go visit my dad so I will not read my emails, bye»
- No repeated abusive language. This means that one bad word can drop in, but if it gets an habit it won't be tolerated.
- The use of the list is not meant just for masonic oriented topics. Feel free also to discuss some other topics from time to time. That's ok!!
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