Help:GoogleGroup

Introducing the concept

We will use a mailing list for announcements and to discuss course-related issues. In particular, you'll receive assignment related information in a timely manner if you join the list and receive list traffic into an e-mail account that you access regularly (daily!).

Rather than use a locally installed list, this course uses the services offered through GoogleGroups, to familiarize you with the pros and cons of this type of free Internet service. This is not a particular endorsement of Google products; rather their services are used paradigmatically for similar offerings by Microsoft, Yahoo, and many others. Such community groups are an example how the Internet is promoting and facilitating social interaction networks, in the non-professional world at sites such as G+ and Facebook, and which may have interesting perspectives for professional interactions on multiple geographic scales as well.

Organization

For a limited time I (as the course coordinator and group "owner") will allow students to subscribe themselves to the group. Later, to ensure the group is not abused by third-parties (especially spammers), the group can be joined by invitation only.

Of course, in order to subscribe you, we need a working e-mail address for you. You should know that your high-school hotmail account might not be a very professional looking calling card for your academic communication needs. If a fourth-year university student wishes to be known as prettykitty1983 or thunder_Jim to their peers (I'm not completely making this up btw.), they are certainly allowed to do that. I would suggest using your utoronto.ca account instead. However, if you have a Gmail account, then, for technical reasons this is the account you should subscribe with.

Whatever you do, concentrate your e-mails into one account through forwarding and check that regularly.

Once you have joined the list, take a moment to read the Netiquette page on this Wiki. In particular, before you reply to a message on the list - and also before you post - please think whether your comments are meant for everybody, or whether you should actually e-mail only the course coordinator.

Common Problems

• If you subscribe with your Gmail account and then attempt to post from a different e-mail address, the post will be rejected. Of course. The system has no way of knowing that you are the same person.

• Make sure your personal preferences are set so that you will actually receive mail. I strongly recommend receiving mail immediately and not setting your preferences for abridged, digest, or Web-only communication; the list is really not that high-volume.