Moderation needed.

[Bob Horton]

BIOSCI Administrator wrote:
> 
> The problem with trying to eliminate crosspostings is that USENET is a
> decentralized system.  Somebody on machine X decides to put 15
> newsgroups on the Newsgroups: header in their message and then sends
> the message out.  It does not usually come straight to net.bio.net but
> branches out in several directions.  How does one eliminate the
> crosspostings then?  We can protect the mailing lists which are
> localized here at net.bio.net and daresbury.ac.uk, but can not do much
> to stop intrusions from USENET.  This is why moderation is really the
> main solution here.
> 


Couldn't you use the existing system, but replace the moderator by a
computer program that applied some rule, such as "eliminate all 
cross-posted articles"?

Call it a robo-moderator, or "Boterator". Set up an e-mail account for 
the Boterator, and have all prospective postings sent there via the 
normal moderation system. Then the Boterator script reads the mail, 
filters it, and sends on the acceptable ones to be posted. No effort, 
short turnaround, etc. The Boterator never sleeps or has to write a 
grant.

You could make it semi-automatic: posts failing the criteria could be 
sent to the human moderator to double check before they were eliminated. 
Or any posting NOT vetoed by the human within a certain time frame would 
get posted by default, so as not to slow down the process too much at 
those times when the poor human has to engage in earning a living. Or 
the Boterator could be turned on only when nescessary (grant writing 
time). A Boterator script might be something moderators could take care 
of themselves.

I thought computers were supposed to *save* time...    :)

-Bob