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        riddles >> suggestions, help, and FAQ >> Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact Info
        
(Message started by: william wu on Mar 9^th, 2003, 5:20am)

Title: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact Info
Post by william wu on Mar 9^th, 2003, 5:20am

I have received e-mails demonstrating interest in an online newsletter. The newsletter could be e-mailed automatically to forum members who would like to read it. Perhaps this newsletter could summarize the forum discoveries of the month, discuss novel solutions to old problems, analyze problem-solving on a meta-level, introduce newly authored puzzles, hold contests for solving new problems in a given time limit, or even have editorials on anything.

I would love to see this as well. However, I do not have the time / energy / competence to develop that much content alone on a monthly basis. Indeed, riddles can be exhausting. If we work together though, perhaps we could produce a great newsletter. I know many of you also practice computer science, and probably have the implementation know-how to make web publishing a snap. This newsletter would truly be a joint work, with all of us as co-authors.

As of now, the amount of time I can devote to such a project is very limited for many reasons, but I can provide some webspace, along with the e-mail addresses of almost 700 registered members -- although at least 25% of the addresses are probably fake. This is a goldmine of anxious communal potential that is sitting stagnant and should be taken advantage of. To think that you could know hundreds of people also intrigued by puzzles! A regular newsletter would keep these members from fading away, and generally strengthen our community.

Anyways, if you are interested in contributing, please let everyone know at this forum thread, and perhaps we can get some planning going. Also feel free to propose other suggestions on what we should do with all this contact information.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Matteo Fortini on Mar 10^th, 2003, 5:01am

I was one of those who looked for a newsletter... I think it would be very convenient for those who don't have in mind to check the site every from time to time.

It would also preserve bandwidth for the Wu's site

It could contain direct links to forums on problems, so that one could get details and solutions.

And thanks again to William for being such a nice person.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by aero_guy on Mar 10^th, 2003, 12:20pm

Sounds like a good idea. I guess what you need is a rockin comp sci guy to start it... too bad that isn't me. I am all up for helping though. The question is, how many people are going to read this thread. I myself don't get to the non-riddle topics very often.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Riddle fan on Mar 12^th, 2003, 7:07pm

William Wu,

Why not just have a free Yahoogroup (http://groups.yahoo.com), which I am sure you have used. Such a group would not only achieve your purpose, but also make riddles more popular.

HTH,
RF

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Luz M. Marin on Mar 24^th, 2003, 8:01pm

I think is a cool idea. sharing information make us smarted.

Luz M. Marin
Candidate of Bachelor's Degree
Cognitive Science Department
UCB

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Luz M. Marin on Mar 24^th, 2003, 8:02pm

I think is a cool idea. sharing information make us smarted.

Luz M. Marin
Candidate of Bachelor's Degree
Cognitive Science Department
UCB

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by WombatDeath on May 21^st, 2003, 12:56pm

It wouldn't really take much in the way of coding - give me a bit of web space that lets me run ASP scrips and a database for storing subscriber information, and I could knock something up quickly. And there are plenty of people with php/mysql skills if you don't want to run the M$ gauntlet ;>

The tricky part, I suspect, would be to find people with the commitment to create content on a vaguely regular basis. Mailing it out is the easy bit.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Barukh on Sep 16^th, 2003, 11:56pm

William,

I would like to join those who think that it's a very good idea to have a newsletter. In my deep opinion, this may give a huge satisfaction for both sides - those who write it and those who read it. I think that the newsletter may contain at least the following two sections:

1. An update of new, most attracting puzzles during the last period.
2. An article dedicated to a carefully chosen puzzle - with its history, solutions etc.

Of course, all this needs careful planning, but will be perfected once the project starts.

Personally, I am ready to contribute in any possible way, if my competence permits.

P.S. Probably, I will finally register after posting this :)

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by william wu on Sep 17^th, 2003, 12:56am

I would love that too! With a newsletter we may easily have hundreds of forum regulars at any given time. But the problem is, I have almost no time to single-handedly undertake such a project! :) Users have been wanting lots of things, but on this end it's just one graduate student with nearly no time to fool around. If some others are motivated enough to synergize and compose newsletter material regularly, I can easily and gladly send it -- mass e-mailing everyone who has registered on this forum is only one button click away -- and yet it's a button I've never pressed to date. If I'm going to send an e-mail to +1000 people, it better be a damn good newsletter that has something of appeal even to the lowest common denominator. If you're truly willing to devote the time required to write a high-quality newsletter, I'm more than willing to help organize and plan this out. Again though, based on my current life priorities, I think the majority of content will have to come from others. More help is needed to make this site as great as we want it to be.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Speaker on Nov 25^th, 2003, 2:02am

What we need is somebody to volunteer to be the head editor. Then some people to submit articles on a regular basis. The articles could be on specific topics like

Math
Logic
Rhyming riddles
Historical riddles
or
Whatever

Then, if somebody has an idea, they can write the article and submit it to the head editor. This way anyone can submit an article. The head editor can check it, and accept, reject or edit it for inclusion in the newsletter.

Hopefully this would create a pool of articles from which the editor could select articles. And, in a perfect world the editor might also be able to select articles that coincide with a particular theme.

I would like to try writing an article. Does anyone want to be the editor?

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by william wu on Nov 25^th, 2003, 11:03am

That's encouraging Speaker. I wouldn't mind editing; I just don't want to be the only one potentially writing :) Plus I might need some help verifying that arguments are valid along the way, for more complicated problems. I think it'll be worthwhile for me to make time for this newsletter project.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by cyballs on Mar 5^th, 2005, 8:18pm

hi all..
i am sundar rajan..
i am new to this group..
can u plz send me news letters to sundarrajan.g.s@gmail.com

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by Lozboz on Jun 22^nd, 2006, 4:03am

I think this is an awesome idea. I'd be really proud to write an article and have it read but:
a) I'm not good at riddles and can never get the answer so i like riddles with debatable answers,
b) I wouldn't know how to write an article about a riddle and my writing skills in general aren't wonderful,
c) I avoid hard riddles and would therefore seem lame/boring/etc. to superior members and,
d) I don't know many riddles.

Other than these things I'd like to write articles and under all cicumstances I'd love to read articles from other members.
If there was a guideline to follow on how to write an article about riddles I think I'd have a crack at writing one.
Perhaps others have these problems, I don't know but I hope I've helped.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by towr on Jun 22^nd, 2006, 5:01am

I don't think that after three years since its inception, much will come of this idea. William is too busy doing other stuff to organise a newsletter, even if there was a sudden renewed interest for it.
But if you do have an interesting article-like piece on puzzles you'd like to share, you can always post it in the general section.

Title: Re: Riddles Newsletter / What To Do With Contact I
Post by TenaliRaman on Feb 13^th, 2007, 12:01pm

Can we atleast have a compendium of interesting solutions that we have had so far. I mean, seriously, all this material could have potential research benefits. Ok, maybe i am thinking too much, but still i could not be that far off, non?

-- AI