Subject: comp.home.misc Welcome and FAQ
Supersedes: <home_request-070994160234@mac2.psl.ku.dk>
Date: Fri, 13 Jan 1995 12:10:40 +0100
Expires: Mon, 28 Aug 1995 00:00:00 GMT
Summary: This posting contains a list of Frequently Asked
.Questions (and their answers) about comp.home.misc.  It
.should be read by anyone who wishes to post to the
.comp.home.misc newsgroup.

Archive-name: comp-home-misc-faq


                         WELCOME TO
                       comp.home.misc
Media, technology and information in domestic spaces. (Moderated)


WHAT IS COMP.HOME.MISC ?

comp.home.misc is a USENET newsgroup devoted to discussions of perspectives
and options in research, development and use of information-technology, 
telecommunication and automation for the private home.

It covers questions spanning across the levels of

.* consumer hard- and software
.* network infrastructure
.* storage and distribution-media
.* teleservices and
.* socio-cultural & economic structures.


WHICH ARE THE MAIN PURPOSES OF THIS GROUP ?

It shall function as a forum for researchers and developers, who are 
concerned with the problems, conflicts and constructive potentials cutting 
across the main areas of home-oriented technology research and development,

i.e. bridging between the main areas of 'Advanced Home Technologies', 
'Communication and Telematics', 'Economic and Politics of Home-oriented 
information technology' and 'Cultural and social Impact on everyday life'.
It shall serve also as a forum to announce and prepare inputs for relevant 
conferences and serve as forum for further discussions on topics
highlighted 
on such occasions.


SOME OF THE THEMES FROM THE OUTSET EXPECTED TO BE TREATED IN THIS GROUP:
 
*.The social construction of new domestic technologies
*.The changing position and importance of households in the new social 
 .and economic structure of the global information and communication 
. society
*.Strategies for creating professional, public and political awareness of 
. the converging potentials and implications of constructive Home-
 .oriented technological innovations for everyday life and for social, 
 .cultural, educational, health-, energy- and economic policies.
*.Ways of organising relations between sufficiently cross-disciplinary 
 .research and sustainable product development. 
*.Relevance for developing countries and cultural diversities 


HOW COME, THAT THE NAME OF THE GROUP IS SO GENERAL AND BROAD? 

We feel the need to have a crossdiciplinary research oriented forum cutting

across all home-related issues related to information technology.
On the other hand we are aware of the very wide spectrum of different 
interests pertaining to narrower, more specialised and practical issues. 
The formation of comp.home.misc will make it possible to discuss the
further 
structuring of the domain, and to locate potential moderators for parallel 
groups. We expect to expand the set of groups as the volume of use grows
and 
as the usage patterns emerge.

This may prove the need for future new groups with names like: 
comp.home.ai, comp.home.education, comp.home.energy, comp.home.medicine,
comp.home.multimedia, comp.home.telecom, comp.home.work etc. But we think
it will be important to ensure an internal structure between such groups,
so that there will continue to exist a forum, where the total electronic
situation of the private home in its social informational embedding is kept
in view.


Specific technical discussions of topics related to home automation should
be directed to the unmoderated group:

.comp.home.automation

which is primarily a nuts & bolts, how-to, discussion group.


 
MODERATION

Comp.home.misc is moderated by Kresten Bjerg, Psychological 
Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, with an advisory panel from IFIP 
WG.9.3.

The moderator can be reached via e-mail to >home_request@axp.psl.ku.dk<


WHY IS THE GROUP MODERATED ?

With the very general title, it must be expected that quite a few postings 
will arrive, which are of little relevance to the purpose of the group. 
Moderation makes it possible to re-direct such postings to other, and more 
relevant fora, while also accumulating empirical evidence concerning the 
needs for new "home groups".

The moderator will also attempt to establish conventions concerning the use

of the subject line, i.e. insertion of flag-strings to permit ease of 
orientation, establishment of systematic threads and development of 
preliminary internal domain structures. 


CAN I POST TO THE GROUP WITHOUT HAVING ACCESS TO A NEWSREADER ?

Yes, you can submit your text by e-mailing to : >comp_home@axp.psl.ku.dk<


CAN I FOLLOW THE DISCUSSIONS IN THIS GROUP WITHOUT HAVING ACCESS TO A 
NEWSREADER ?

YES, all approved postings will be gatewayed to a mailing list:

In order to subscribe to this list, send email to:

    >listserv@coco.ihi.ku.dk<
    
The subject line of the message is ignored; simply place the command:

    subscribe HOME-L <your name>

in the first line of the body of your message. Then send the message. 
You will receive an automated reply from the list server confirming 
your subscription and providing details on ordering from archive, 
unsubscribing, etc.

-- 
Kresten Bjerg
Psychological Laboratory, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
