X-Message-Number: 922
Date: 23 Jun 92 17:41:55 EDT
From: Charles Platt <>
Subject: Cryonet Digest

Having recently joined the online community, I am struck by 
the large amount of interesting material on Cryonet that is 
receiving only a limited circulation. I would like to be 
instrumental in disseminating some of this material to a 
wider audience. My motives are threefold: 1) People who are 
interested in cryonics should be more involved in current 
issues. 2) I would like to encourage more people to get 
online. 3) I am a writer by trade, gathering material for a 
book on cryonics, and it is in my own interests to be in 
communication with as many people as possible. 

I have produced several little magazines over the years, 
especially in the science-fiction community. I have the 
equipment and the experience to produce a little magazine for 
the cryonics community with minimum trouble. I feel that 
print media still offer many advantages: portability, 
permanence, instant accessibility, loanability, and so forth. 
Thus, I would like to do a CRYONET DIGEST. 

This would contain a selection of email, set in decently 
readable type, probably reproduced in 5-1/2" by 8-1/2" format 
(stapled down the spine). Publication might be every six 
weeks, depending on the supply of interesting material. 

I would expect to run the Digest in such a way that it 
should cover its own costs, without actually making a profit. 
I would hope to distribute the first issue free to all Alcor 
members, enclosed with "Cryonics" magazine. (Carlos Mondragon 
made a tentative offer of this kind re a slightly different 
project that I suggested to him. I don't know if he would 
still feel inclined to offer that much support for this 
project.) I might take out small ads in a couple of cryonics-
related publications (ideally, I would swap ads with them). 
Anyone who wanted to continue receiving the Digest would have 
to pay maybe $1 or $2 per issue. The Digest would be 
available to anyone who wanted to read it; I don't believe in 
restricting the printed word in any way. I would deal with 
most of the production myself, though I might solicit local 
volunteers to help with collating, folding and stapling. 

The only way I could handle this project efficiently would be 
if I had the right to select which email to include in the 
Digest. I don't know whether some people would object to 
this. They might get miffed if they were not included. Other 
people might be unhappy if they *were* included. 

Ideally, I would like everyone on Cryonet to state their 
position, as follows:

1. "I am happy for any of my Cryonet email to be reprinted in 
a Digest magazine. You do not need to ask my permission in 
each instance. However, I understand that if you edit my 
email to fit available space, you will send me the 
condensation for my approval." 

2. "I may be willing to have *some* of my Cryonet email 
reprinted in a Digest magazine. I need to be consulted on a 
case-by-case basis."

3. "I wish to keep all of my email in Cryonet only. I do not 
want any of it reprinted." 

I leave it to Kevin to decide how best to handle this 
situation. Possibly, I should assume that all Cryonet people 
fall into class 3) unless they state otherwise. On the other 
hand, it would be helpful to me to know in advance if a 
reasonable number of Cryonet participants would be willing to 
have their material reprinted. I don't want to start a 
magazine, only to find that no one wants to be in it! Also, 
it would be inconvenient if a good discussion gets going 
online, but half the material is "off limits" to the Digest. 

--Charles Platt 

[ Charles, thank you for the offer to publish a Cryonet Digest!
  Your suggestion to assume, by default, that people fall into
  class 3) is certainly the most conservative, but perhaps a
  default of class 2) would be better because it would still
  respect people's wishes but not require everyone to email to
  you in advance what those wishes happen to be.  Thus, if you
  like someone's posting and request permission for publication,
  you can find out at that time what the author wishes.  Since the
  number of people reading Cryonet is continually increasing, you
  will not be able to maintain a list of preferences for everyone
  anyway.  In particular, if the vote for a USENET sci.cryonics news
  group succeeds, the number of readers is likely to increase
  dramatically.
  But will enough of the writers of Cryonet messages agree to be
  published to make Charles' offer to create a digest worthwhile?
  My guess is that many people are in classes 1) and 2) and few
  people are in class 3).  (After all, it will be an honor to
  write a message good enough to make it into his digest!)
  If my guess is wrong, please let me know!  If we do NOT hear of
  a lot of class 3) folks, then we will conclude that most people
  are indeed in class 1) or class 2) and that Charles' offer to
  create a Cryonet Digest should go full speed ahead.
  By the way, Charles, you can put me in class 1, even though I don't
  expect many of my administrivia messages to make the cut. - KQB ]

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