Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 23:07:48 -0800
Reply-To: Jim Arnott <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Jim Arnott <jrasite@EONI.COM>
Organization: WetWesties <http://wetwesties.org>
Subject: HELP WANTED - Bus Resource List - Fwd from T2 List
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From Ken Hooper - Listmeister Emeritus - Type2 List
Respond to him please <mailto:bighouse@type2.com>
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Subject: [VB] HELP WANTED: Bus Resource List
Date: Thu, 28 Dec 2000 00:07:16 -0600
From: Ken Hooper <bighouse@type2.com>
To: type2@type2.com, vintagebus@type2.com
Okay, here is the short version:
Somebody got caught downloading articles off our web site, printing them
off, and then selling them on Eb@y as "information packets" and "repair
packets". The real author of the articles has put a stop to it now but it's
been going on for quite some time.
It was inevitable, really, in fact the surprising thing is that it took
this long to happen.
The other surprising thing is that this...er...[vendor] managed to find
three different people who would pay him $10.00 for something we will
gladly give you for free (and no shipping charges neither). Yeah, the wages
of sin is about thirty bucks. Doesn't seem worth it, does it?
But the real puzzler is that the three people who bought this thing didn't
know they could find the information on the web, easy and free--they were
dealing with a lack of information twice over. First they needed to know
how to fix their cars (their gas heaters in this case) and second they
needed to know that the information was already there for the asking.
Proposed: We need somebody to maintain and POST REGULARLY a bus resource
list. That means a list of sites and a synopsis of what they offer.
Hopefully type2.com would make the list but that's not what it's about,
there are many outstanding sites--Thom's vintagebus.com, Everett Barnes'
thesamba.com, et very cetera. I even heard from Jim Thompson a while ago
and his distributor page is still out there. The point is not merely a list
of links, it is an edited list of outstanding technical resources posted
often.
This needs to be posted to all the VW lists that touch busses (if it's okay
with those lists of course) and to the newsgroup, regularly. I would think
once a week is not excessive. The important thing is to find somebody who
will actually DO it, if you all think it's a good idea. It is notoriously
hard to get somebody to follow through on these things.
Note One: Check out vintagebus.com for a new VW auction site that doesn't
charge a dime (and probably will take a dim view of plagiarizing our site
too). It was written by the rather brilliant Thom Fitzpatrick and it lives
at what is surely the busiest bus site on the planet. Three good
reasons to
list.
Note Two: This message is not intended to start a thread on the
virtues/horrors of auction sites, especially eB@y. Not allowed on
type2 at
all, restricted on vintagebus, deadly dull in any case, bah.
--Ken Greasy Fingers Smearing Shabby Clothes
type2.com Webmaster