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pianotech -- a forum for piano technicians
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The "pianotech" list is intended for technical discussions among piano technicians. Other topics of general interest to piano technicians do come up, but the main focus is on sharing technical information. It is an "open" list, allowing anyone to subscribe and submit posts.
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To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to visit the archives, go to:
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ptg-l -- a list for PTG related discussions
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The "ptg-l" list is intended for discussions about the PTG itself (policies, politics, announcements, etc.). It is for PTG members only.
YOU MUST BE A PTG MEMBER TO SUBSCRIBE!
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to visit the archives, go to:
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caut -- a forum for College And University Technicians
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The "caut" list is intended for College And University Technicians (abbreviated CAUT). It is an "open" list, allowing anyone to subscribe and submit posts.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to visit the archives, go to:
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humor -- humor for piano technicians
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The "humor" list is an open list. Anyone can subscribe and post to it.
To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to visit the archives, go to:
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2. How to I subscribe or unsubscribe?
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The easiest way to subscribe, unsubscribe, or adjust your configuration options is to use the web-based interface. The web page address for a given list has the list name on the end of it like this:
For example, here are the most common lists and their web pages:
It is also possible to subscribe, unsubscribe, and do other things by sending email. For a list of email commands, send the word:
to the address:
For example, here are the most common lists and their administrative email addresses:
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3. What is my "list password?"
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The web pages allowing you to modify your list options and unsubscribe require you to provide a list password. You are assigned a password for each list you are on, in order to prevent others from changing your configuration against your wishes.
PTG Members: These mailing list passwords are unrelated to your membership ID and password used to access the PTG members-only area.
The list passwords are mailed out in a "reminder" message once a month, but you may also have a reminder sent to you by email any time you like. To have the reminder sent, go to the information page for the list at the web address:
For example, here are the most common lists and their web pages:
Scroll to the bottom of the page, enter your email address, then click the button labeled Unsubscribe or edit options. The resulting options page will offer to email you a password reminder (look for the button labeled Email My Password To Me).
Finally, once you have your password, you may use the same options page to disable the monthly password reminder if you so desire.
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4. What topics are allowed and disallowed on each list?
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Anyone can post anything. But each list does have its intended purpose and everyone will be happiest if we all try to stick to topics appropriate for each list. Sending a PTG political discussion to pianotech or a completely non-PTG related message to ptg-l are guaranteed ways to get flamed.
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5. Why aren't the lists moderated?
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The lists are meant to be open forums. Moderating these lists would be a big job and it would be tricky to filter these lists in a way that everyone agrees is fair. If someone wants to step up to be a moderator, we can introduce a moderated version of any of the open lists we have. So far nobody has wanted that role (and it doesn't seem like much of a problem).
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6. How do I tell the list server to send me my own posts?
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Whether or not you receive your own posts is a configurable option for each list. To change your configuration, go to the information web page for the list at:
For example, here are the most common lists and their web pages:
Scroll to the bottom of the page, enter your email address, then click the button labeled Unsubscribe or edit options.
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7. How do I tell the list server to send me digests?
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Whether or not you receive individual posts or groups of posts in a digest message is a configurable option for each list. NOTE: There is no longer a separate "-digest" list like there was when we used majordomo. To change your configuration, go to the information web page for the list at:
For example, here are the most common lists and their web pages:
Scroll to the bottom of the page, enter your email address, then click the button labeled Unsubscribe or edit options.
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8. I'm going out of town, how do I suspend delivery?
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Whether or not message delivery is suspended is a configurable option for each list. To change your configuration, go to the information web page for the list at:
For example, here are the most common lists and their web pages:
Scroll to the bottom of the page, enter your email address, then click the button labeled Unsubscribe or edit options.
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9. Why can't I post to the list?
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If you are receiving rejection notices when you try to post to the list it is probably because the list software does not think you are subscribed. You must be subscribed to post to most of the PTG mailing lists. This restriction cuts down very heavily on unwanted SPAM posts. If you think you are subscribed and need help, send mail to:
If you were hoping to post to the list without subscribing, you might consider subscribing as described in answer #2 above, and then disabling message delivery as described in answer #8 above. Note that you can choose to hide the fact that you are subscribed from others (using the options page).
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10. Is there a way to search the on-line archives?
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All of the on-line archives are searchable. Use the form at the top-level of the archive. For example, here are the most popular archive pages:
The search index is re-generated every night, so you may not be able to search for messages that were posted the same day.
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11. Why did my message take so long to be sent out on the list?
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Several things could cause delays. The two most likely delays are:
- some machine or network is temporarily down
- your message required approval by the list manager
Messages require approval by the list manager if they contain words like "subscribe" or "unsubscribe" at the top. This avoids the very common annoyance of someone sending these requests to the entire list. Once the list manager determines the message should really go out on the list, it is approved.
If you think your message has been dropped or delayed an unusual amount of time, DON'T SEND MORE MAIL OUT TO THE LIST! This just causes a wave of "is the list working?" messages. Be patient! You can always contact admin@ptg.org for more detailed status.
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12. Why did I receive a virus from the list?
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The list software disallows any posts which contain "executable" attachments. These are attachments with names ending with .exe, .bat, .pif, or any others from a large list of dangerous suffixes. Since this is the most common way for an email-virus to spread, it is unlikely (but not impossible!) you got the virus from the list. Keep in mind that email worms and virus programs are pretty clever about digging up addresses they find on your machine. They look through your Inbox, mail archives, etc. and glean addresses from those places. Anyone can set any return address they like on an email and email worms take advantage of this fact to forge messages from other people and mailing lists.
So obviously any filtering we try to do to the lists is not foolproof. The best solution is to run virus protection software on your machine and keep it up to date!
If you believe you received a virus from a PTG mailing list, send mail to admin@ptg.org and we will promptly look into it. Please forward the offending message to us, complete with all headers if possible.
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13. Why did I receive SPAM from the list?
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Forcing posters to be subscribed to the list, and forcing a "confirmation" step to subscribe to a list has greatly cut down on SPAM posts. In addition, we filter out many of the most common SPAM patterns and addresses. The amount of SPAM sent to the lists, and rejected, each day is huge, but of course some SPAM may still get through. Please just delete it, and know that the list administrators are monitoring the lists and adjusting SPAM filters as appropriate. Don't give the spammers the satisfaction of a reply or a conversation on the list about their post.
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14. What happened to "majordomo?"
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For approximately five years, the PTG server used the majordomo list management software. It served us well for many years but in September of 2002 we switched to Mailman to take advantage of the web interface and distributed management features.
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15. Why are there strange dates in the archives?
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Some of the archives show strange dates (like the years 2011, 1954, 1904, etc) because people actually posted mail with those dates in the Date: header. All new posts are sanity checked so that strange dates are ignored. Fixing the dates in the old posts is a labor intensive process and will be done little-by-little as time permits.
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16. Who do I contact for list administrative issues?
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Contact admin@ptg.org for administrative issues. The day-to-day management of the PTG server is handled by the Electronic Communications Committee of the Piano Technicians Guild.
