UK Astronomy Buy & Sell

Did the guy bother to ask Chris H if he minded
if his resource was troffed for email addresses for targeted spam? (It
may well be that Chris doesn't mind.) Why, if he wanted to be open and
above board, did he not just place an ad on UKAstroAds advertising his
alternative site?

I agree with you . Chris has done a great job over the years and it was bad
form to contact his advertisers in that fasion.

"Geoff Smith" wrote in message
...
Did the guy bother to ask Chris H if he minded
if his resource was troffed for email addresses for targeted spam? (It
may well be that Chris doesn't mind.) Why, if he wanted to be open and
above board, did he not just place an ad on UKAstroAds advertising his
alternative site?

I agree with you . Chris has done a great job over the years and it was
bad
form to contact his advertisers in that fasion.



I disagree. I think Chris site is acceptable but far from "great" - probably
lots of effort but poor result.
One example for all: when you send your advert you can wait up to 5 days
(average is 2 or 3 days) to be listed.
He did not bother to improve the site even when asked to.

** Every ** new site is very welcome!
Thank you Paul for let us know and for your great job!
Let us know if you need private sponsorship.

"Geoff Smith" wrote in message
...
Did the guy bother to ask Chris H if he minded
if his resource was troffed for email addresses for targeted spam? (It
may well be that Chris doesn't mind.) Why, if he wanted to be open and
above board, did he not just place an ad on UKAstroAds advertising his
alternative site?

I agree with you . Chris has done a great job over the years and it was
bad
form to contact his advertisers in that fasion.



I disagree. I think Chris site is acceptable but far from "great" - probably
lots of effort but poor result.
One example for all: when you send your advert you can wait up to 5 days
(average is 2 or 3 days) to be listed.
He did not bother to improve the site even when asked to.

** Every ** new site is very welcome!
Thank you Paul for let us know and for your great job!
Let us know if you need private sponsorship.

I disagree. I think Chris site is acceptable but far from "great" -
probably
lots of effort but poor result.

I said he has done a "great job over the years" so your quotation is out of
context as well as wrong.

I disagree. I think Chris site is acceptable but far from "great" -
probably
lots of effort but poor result.

I said he has done a "great job over the years" so your quotation is out of
context as well as wrong.

Stephen Tonkin wrote in message ...
Chris.B wrote:
Had there been a grain of commercialism then by all means cry foul.
[...]
No advertising whatesoever except for the astro equipment ads
themselves.

What do you make of the commercial adverts that appeared on the root
page after the site had been up for a few months? (www.astrobuysell.com)

Best,
Stephen

Stephen,
I have never told anyone in the UK to go to the root address! Please
go only to www.astrobuysell.com/uk - there are no commercial adverts
there.

The site found in the root address is specifically for Canadian
amateur astronomers. It has been running since January 1998 (as a
simple text based web page) and in July 2001 it transition to its
current database format. The majority of the telescope shops that
advertise there are friends of mine whom I have known for many years.
These friends help me offset the cost of web hosting, software,
computer equipment, etc. Since I had one remaining database
available, I thought I'd put it to good use and set up the exact same
service for the UK. However, I don't feel very welcome, so perhaps I
should shut it down and set it up for another English speaking
country? So far this experience has been nothing but a headache
(because of this "witch hunt"), and I have enough headaches in my
daily work!

So I am wondering, what can I do to make ammends?
I already sent you a private email apologizing for emailing you
direclty, and admitting I should have been more careful. I already
apolozied to the entire NG. And I said I would not email anyone else
about my web site.

I am quite sure if you met me in person you'd probably like me, but
unfortuantely we got started on the wrong foot. And perhaps you'd
relate to me better if you'd knew that, like you, I enjoy writing
about astronomy. In fact I have written many articles on deep sky
observing and I have a written a section for the RASC Observer's
Handbook. My current project is a presentation at my astronomy club
this Wednesday where I will do a review of the SkyWatcher 10-inch
Dobsonian.

As you can see I really am a true amateur astronomer and not a
spammer. This whole buy & sell stuff is a labour of love... something
to keep me busy on cloudy nights.

I am not out to upset anyone and I really dislike having people hate
me. I hope your response will be more friendly and that the "witch
hunt" will stop.

Best Regards,
Paul.

Stephen Tonkin wrote in message ...
Chris.B wrote:
Had there been a grain of commercialism then by all means cry foul.
[...]
No advertising whatesoever except for the astro equipment ads
themselves.

What do you make of the commercial adverts that appeared on the root
page after the site had been up for a few months? (www.astrobuysell.com)

Best,
Stephen

Stephen,
I have never told anyone in the UK to go to the root address! Please
go only to www.astrobuysell.com/uk - there are no commercial adverts
there.

The site found in the root address is specifically for Canadian
amateur astronomers. It has been running since January 1998 (as a
simple text based web page) and in July 2001 it transition to its
current database format. The majority of the telescope shops that
advertise there are friends of mine whom I have known for many years.
These friends help me offset the cost of web hosting, software,
computer equipment, etc. Since I had one remaining database
available, I thought I'd put it to good use and set up the exact same
service for the UK. However, I don't feel very welcome, so perhaps I
should shut it down and set it up for another English speaking
country? So far this experience has been nothing but a headache
(because of this "witch hunt"), and I have enough headaches in my
daily work!

So I am wondering, what can I do to make ammends?
I already sent you a private email apologizing for emailing you
direclty, and admitting I should have been more careful. I already
apolozied to the entire NG. And I said I would not email anyone else
about my web site.

I am quite sure if you met me in person you'd probably like me, but
unfortuantely we got started on the wrong foot. And perhaps you'd
relate to me better if you'd knew that, like you, I enjoy writing
about astronomy. In fact I have written many articles on deep sky
observing and I have a written a section for the RASC Observer's
Handbook. My current project is a presentation at my astronomy club
this Wednesday where I will do a review of the SkyWatcher 10-inch
Dobsonian.

As you can see I really am a true amateur astronomer and not a
spammer. This whole buy & sell stuff is a labour of love... something
to keep me busy on cloudy nights.

I am not out to upset anyone and I really dislike having people hate
me. I hope your response will be more friendly and that the "witch
hunt" will stop.

Best Regards,
Paul.

"Geoff Smith" wrote
Chris has done a great job over the years

to which Steve M. responded:
I disagree. I think Chris site is acceptable but far from "great"

Two points:

#1. You are misrepresenting what Geoff wrote.
#2. Whatever your personal feelings about the usability of Chris's site,
it *still* carries more adverts than any of the pretenders and is
probably still the place where you are most likely to sell your kit or
find what you want.


Best,
Stephen

--
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ Stephen Tonkin | ATM Resources; Astro-Tutorials; Astro Books +
+ (N51.162 E0.995) | http://www.astunit.com +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

"Geoff Smith" wrote
Chris has done a great job over the years

to which Steve M. responded:
I disagree. I think Chris site is acceptable but far from "great"

Two points:

#1. You are misrepresenting what Geoff wrote.
#2. Whatever your personal feelings about the usability of Chris's site,
it *still* carries more adverts than any of the pretenders and is
probably still the place where you are most likely to sell your kit or
find what you want.


Best,
Stephen

--
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+ Stephen Tonkin | ATM Resources; Astro-Tutorials; Astro Books +
+ (N51.162 E0.995) | http://www.astunit.com +
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

Stephen Tonkin wrote in message ...
Chris.B wrote:
Had there been a grain of commercialism then by all means cry foul.
[...]
No advertising whatesoever except for the astro equipment ads
themselves.

What do you make of the commercial adverts that appeared on the root
page after the site had been up for a few months? (www.astrobuysell.com)

Best,
Stephen

Stephen,
I have never told anyone in the UK to go to the root address! Please
go only to www.astrobuysell.com/uk - there are no commercial adverts
there.

The site found in the root address is specifically for Canadian
amateur astronomers. It has been running since January 1998 (as a
simple text based web page) and in July 2001 it transition to its
current database format. The majority of the telescope shops that
advertise there are friends of mine whom I have known for many years.
These friends help me offset the cost of web hosting, software,
computer equipment, etc. Since I had one remaining database
available, I thought I'd put it to good use and set up the exact same
service for the UK. However, I don't feel very welcome, so perhaps I
should shut it down and set it up for another English speaking
country? So far this experience has been nothing but a headache
(because of this "witch hunt"), and I have enough headaches in my
daily work!

So I am wondering, what can I do to make amends?
I already sent you a private email apologizing for emailing you
directly, and admitting I should have been more careful. I already
apologized to the entire NG. And I said I would not email anyone else
about my web site.

I am quite sure if you met me in person you'd probably like me, but
unfortunately we got started on the wrong foot. And perhaps you'd
relate to me better if you knew that, like you, I enjoy writing about
astronomy. In fact I have written many articles on deep sky observing
and I am a contributing author to the [Royal Astronomical Society of
Canada] Observer's Handbook. My current project is a presentation at
my astronomy club this Wednesday where I will do a review of the
SkyWatcher 10-inch Dobsonian.

As you can see I really am a true amateur astronomer and not a
spammer. This whole buy & sell stuff is a labour of love... something
to keep me busy on cloudy nights.

I am not out to upset anyone and I really dislike having people hate
me. I hope your response will be more friendly and that the "witch
hunt" will stop.

Best Regards,
Paul.