Path: sn-us!sn-xit-03!supernews.com!194.159.255.21.MISMATCH!dispose.news.demon.net!news.demon.co.uk!demon!mail2news.demon.co.uk!not-for-mail From: Mark Goodge Newsgroups: uk.net.news.announce,uk.net.news.config,uk.net.news.management Subject: Result: CFV - Creation of uk.net.news.beginners FAILS 86:23 Followup-To: uk.net.news.config Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 09:29:04 +0100 Sender: Charles Lindsey as Deputy Control Approved: Charles Lindsey as Deputy Control Message-ID: X-Trace: mail2news.demon.co.uk 1017659564 mail2news:11244 mail2news mail2news.demon.co.uk X-Complaints-To: abuse@demon.net X-Mail2News-Path: news.demon.net!curlew.cs.man.ac.uk!clerew.man.ac.uk!clw.cs.man.ac.uk Lines: 347 Xref: sn-us uk.net.news.announce:2890 uk.net.news.config:135982 uk.net.news.management:32133 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- ====================================================================== RESULT: CFV - Creation of uk.net.news.beginners FAILS 86:23 SUMMARY The proposal to create an unmoderated group, uk.net.news.beginners was defeated by 86 votes to 23. The alternative option of Re-Open Discussion was also defeated, by 53 votes to 46. ====================================================================== Voting closed at 23:59:59 GMT, 21st March 2002 Proponent: John Townsend Votetaker: Mark Goodge Distribution: uk.net.news.announce,uk.net.news.config,uk.net.news.management ====================================================================== The full results follow below in the following order: 1) Information on the ballot 2) Results 3) Individual Vote Details 4) Votetaker's Comments 5) Voting and Appeal Guidelines 6) Rationale and Proposal ====================================================================== INFORMATION ON THE BALLOT Voters were asked to vote on a proposal to create the group, uk.net.news.beginners Option A: Create group Option B: Re-Open Discussion Option C: Status Quo (Do not create group) ====================================================================== RESULTS Multi-option group creation votes in the uk.* hierarchy are decided by a two-stage procedure. All options are first compared with votes for the status quo (Do Not Create Group), and any which are not preferred to SQ by the required margin of 12 votes are eliminated. The remaining options, if any, are then evaluated by the Condorcet method. Stage 1: Option C was preferred to Option A by 86 votes to 23 Option C was preferred to option B by 53 votes to 46 The proposal therefore fails. A full Condorcet count was not required, however the tables are included here for reference purposes: Absolute Preferences Grid A B C Option A: [ \ ] [ 24] [ 23] Option B: [ 82] [ \ ] [ 46] Option C: [ 86] [ 53] [ \ ] Relative Preferences Grid A B C Option A: [ \ ] [-58] [-63] Option B: [ 58] [ \ ] [ -7] Option C: [ 63] [ 7] [ \ ] ====================================================================== INDIVIDUAL VOTE DETAILS Notes: 1. Voters were asked to rank the options from 1 (highest) to 3 (lowest). Equal rankings are allowed, and any unranked options are considered to be ranked below all ranked options. 2. Voters used a variety of different marks (or lack of them) to indicate unranked options. Irrespective of the actual character used, all unranked options have been represented in the table by '-' (dash). 3. The votes column shows the ranking given by the voter to each option. For example: A B C voter 1 1 2 3 voter 2 - 2 1 Voter 1 ranked option A first, then B, and then C. Voter 2 ranked Option C first, then B, and left the other option unranked. Name Email A B C - ---- ----- ----- Adrian Simpson adrian?ffoil@org@ku 3 1 1 Alan Fleming af?etrigan@gro - 2 1 Alan LeHun ukvote?lehun@clara@co@ku 3 1 2 Alex D. Baxter alex-news?oenone@demon@co@ku 2 2 1 Alex Holden voting?alex-holden@co@ku 3 2 1 allen allen?allen@sa 1 - - Andrew Black andrew?black1@org@ku 1 2 3 Andrew Gierth andrew?erlenstar@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 Andrew Wheatley andrew@wheatley?union@org@az 3 2 1 Barry Dorrans barryd?idunno@gro 3 1 2 Bill Muskett billn?musketts@org@ku - 2 1 Bob Scott bob?bobandaileen@co@ku 3 1 2 Brett Paul Dunbar brett?dimetrodon@demon@co@ku 3 1 2 Brian Brian?bjforster@force9@co@ku 3 1 2 Brian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk?dsl@co@ku 3 2 1 Carl Inglis carl?yoshiwara@demon@co@ku 1 2 3 Carl Sagen sagen?catholic@gro 1 2 3 Charles Lindsey chl?clw@cs@man@ac@ku - 1 - Chris Croughton chris?keris@ten 3 1 2 Chris Hunter chris?monrepos@gro 3 2 1 Clive Martin clive?cmartin@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 Colin Murphy SpudULike?blueyonder@co@ku 1 3 3 Dave Fawthrop hyphen?hyphenologist@co@ku 3 2 1 Dave Hillam brillig?dsl@pipex@moc 3 1 2 Dave Johnson requiem?freeuk@moc 3 2 1 Dave Mayall david@mayall?ukonline@co@ku 3 1 2 Dave Millard dave?focus3@uk@moc 3 2 1 Dave Roberts dave?studio-33@co@ku 3 2 1 Dave Williams dave?clues@moc - 1 1 David Mahon dmahon_vote_unnb?amigo@co@ku 3 1 2 David Uri daviduri?bigfoot@moc 3 1 2 Denis F denis?withypool@ten 3 2 1 Denis McMahon denis?pickaxe@demon@co@ku 3 1 2 DG dickg?dickalba@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 dilton dilton?tiscali@co@ku 1 - - Don Aitken don-aitken?freeuk@moc 3 1 2 Eddie Bernard usenet?ebernard@greatxscape@ten 3 2 1 egg sarny eggy?sarnie@org@ku 1 2 3 fred fred?fredc@demon@co@ku 3 3 1 Fred Barber fredb?frolix8@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 Geoff Berrow $$bl?ckdog@co@ku 3 1 2 George r13?tesco@ten 1 2 3 Gerbil voting?stevey@demon@co@ku 3 1 2 gizbon gizbon?higs@co@ku 3 3 1 Glenys Pople gkp?howfen@demon@co@ku 3 1 2 Graham Drabble graham@drabble?lineone@ten 2 3 1 hugh simmons unnbvote?st-ronan@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 Iain iain?deepsea@force9@co@ku 1 2 3 Iain Bowen alaric?alaric@org@ku 3 2 1 Ian Kitching i@m@kitching?anglia@ac@ku 1 3 3 IanDunbar iandunbar?thegap@fsnet@co@ku 3 1 1 itsjustmee itsjustmee?btopenworld@moc 3 2 1 Jack Howard jack?stormshadow@co@ku - 1 2 James Coupe james?zephyr@org@ku 2 1 1 James Farrar londonstatto?yahoo@co@ku 3 2 1 jamps jan@par?ntlworld@moc 1 - - Jasongnome jasongnome?lineone@ten 3 1 2 Jeff jeff?maerdy@gro 3 1 1 Jeffrey Goldberg jeffrey?goldmark@gro 3 1 2 Jezza jezza?hotwells@freeserve@co@ku 1 3 2 John the R T t_e_n_e_s_u?hotmail@moc 3 1 3 John Townsend luckynewjohn?yahoo@co@ku 1 3 2 Jon Thomson jon?jonthomson@freeserve@co@ku 1 2 - Jonathan Wheeler J@F@Wheeler?rl@ac@ku 1 2 3 Keith Willoughby keith?flat222@gro 3 1 2 Kevin Andreoli kevin?andreoli@co@ku 3 1 2 King Queen kq?kingqueen@org@ku 1 3 2 Malcolm Mladenovic unb?tinc@org@ku - 2 1 Mark Chater mark?chater@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 Mark Tyndall mrt102?york@ac@ku 3 2 1 Mike Bristow mike?urgle@moc 3 3 1 Mike Fleming mike?tauzero@co@ku - 2 1 Mike Henry {$usenet$}?mrtickle@demon@co@ku 3 1 1 Molly Mockford molly?mockfords@clara@co@ku 3 2 1 mysteron mysteron?zetnet@co@ku 1 2 3 ned alan@dale?lineone@ten 3 2 1 Neil Ellwood cne?netmatters@co@ku 1 3 2 neil.horlock neil@horlock?mcmail@moc 1 2 3 Owen Rees owenrees?waitrose@moc 3 1 2 paul {voter}?watman@clara@co@ku 3 2 1 Paul Carpenter paul?pcserv@demon@co@ku - 2 1 Paul Copsey paul?hectortd@demon@co@ku 3 2 1 Paul Cummins paul?cummins@ie@eu@gro - 2 1 Paul Leake p@j@leake?durham@ac@ku 1 2 3 Pedt pedt?pkuatb@ten - 2 1 Pete The Gardener pete_the_gardener?hotmail@moc 3 2 1 Peter G Sheppard peter?petersheppard@moc - - 1 peter parry peter?wpp@ltd@ku 3 1 2 Peter Robinson pmrobinson?mail@moc 3 1 2 Peter Smyth psmyth?gmx@ten 3 2 1 Phil Wade phil?pooters@org@ku 1 2 3 Philip Powell philip?blencathra@org@ku 3 2 1 Puc Ouajio jim?javery@demon@co@ku 1 3 2 {R} {R}?semolina@gro 3 2 1 Richard Clayton richard?highwayman@moc 3 2 1 Richard Kennaway jrk?sys@uea@ac@ku - 1 2 Richard Kettlewell richard+unnb?sfere@greenend@org@ku 3 1 2 Richard Letts richard-vote?illuin@gro - 1 - robbie robbie?arrakis@un - 1 1 Roger Hayter roger?hayter@gro 3 1 2 Simes simes?raunds@demon@co@ku 3 3 1 Steph Peters steph?sandbenders@demon@co@ku - - 1 steve steve?rawlinson@demon@co@ku 3 1 2 Steve Firth vote?malloc@co@ku 3 2 1 steve peake spam?puppet-head@co@ku 3 2 1 Sue H SueH?hossackhouse@co@ku 3 1 2 Tez Burke burkesworks?lineone@ten 3 2 1 Thomas Lee tfl?psp@co@ku 3 1 2 Tim Miller tim?economic-truth@co@ku - 1 2 Tony tony?darkstorm@co@ku 2 1 1 Tony Towers tony?cats@tele2@co@ku - 2 1 Tony Walton tony@walton?uk@sun@moc 1 - - Wm tcnw51?tarrcity@demon@co@ku - 1 - Invalid Votes (see votetaker's comments) rory stockman rohrstock015?aol@moc (wrong password) Dave Sparks Dave@Sparks?sisyphus@demon@co@ku (vote failed) Andy Mabbett andy?pigsonthewing@org@ku (vote failed) Discarded Votes (see votetaker's comments) uklocaltroll klocal?hotmail@moc (voted via anonymising proxy) ====================================================================== VOTETAKER'S COMMENTS Note: This vote was conducted using an experimental automated system, which appears to have worked with no major difficulties. As there are no doubt various questions which may be asked about the working of the system, a more detailed report will be posted separately to uk.net.news.management following publication of the results. The rest of these comments relate only to issues arising within the vote itself. A few people had problems getting the automated system to accept their vote - - on checking, all of these were caused by mail clients (or their users) deleting or mangling a crucial part of their ballot paper. Most of these managed to get it to work by correcting the error or requesting a fresh ballot paper, but there were three exceptions. One of these contacted me directly, and after much dialogue between us (and repeated failure of his mail client to send the message in a readable form), I agreed to enter the vote manually. This is included in the list of counted votes. Of the other two, one person contacted me, and I replied pointing out the error in the ballot paper and asking for it to be resubmitted. However, no such resubmission was received. Another vote failed with the same error, but the voter neither attempted to resubmit it nor contact me. Both of these votes are listed under Invalid Votes as "vote failed". One other vote failed due to an incorrect Personal Verification Code (password) on the ballot paper. This is also listed under Invalid Votes. All of the votes with invalid votes were sent standard rejection messages pointing out that their vote had not been counted. One otherwise technically valid vote was discarded as it was emailed via an anonymising proxy, in breach of rule 3 of the standard voting guidelines. It should be noted that the invalid and discarded votes would not have affected the result, had they been counted. ====================================================================== VOTING AND APPEAL GUIDELINES This vote was conducted by a neutral third party member of UKVoting. UKVoting is a group of independent votetakers who count votes on behalf of the uk.* hierarchy and other 3rd parties. The rules under which votes for the uk.* hierarchy are taken are posted regularly to uk.net.news.announce or can be found at the following URL: The UKVoting web pages can be found at There is a five day discussion period after these results are posted to uk.net.news.announce. Allegations of irregularity should be sent to control@usenet.org.uk. ====================================================================== RATIONALE AND PROPOSAL FROM THE CFV RATIONALE Every day people discover newsgroups and there is little or no information readily available to them about how things work. A newsgroup within the uk.* hierarchy where a FAQ or series of FAQs can be posted, and where reasonable questions can be answered reasonably, is something that seems like a good idea. The group should also have an everyday word in its title which is the reason for picking "beginners" instead of "newusers" or similar semi-jargon terms. I see it as a natural group for Mentors to keep a weather eye on. CHARTER The group offers to newcomers to newsgroups, particularly those in the uk.* hierarchy, a resource where they can ask reasonable questions about newsgroups and the way that they work, and reasonably expect to receive reasonable answers. Contributors should bear in mind that many people are not as conversant with the Internet as others and it will be helpful if you can keep the use of jargon down to an absolute minimum. This is not a technical newsgroup and genuinely technical questions can be handled reasonably well in uk.net and other more appropriate groups. Advertising Advertising is forbidden. Binaries & Formatting Encoded binaries (e.g. pictures, compressed files, etc.) are forbidden. Such material belongs on a web or FTP site to which a pointer may be posted. Cryptographic signatures (e.g. PGP) may be used where authentication is important and should be as short as possible. Posts must be readable as plain text. HTML, RTF and similarly formatted messages are prohibited. To see how to make some common newsreaders comply with this, read . Warning Anyone posting contrary to this charter may be reported to their "postmaster" and/or Service Provider. END CHARTER -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 5.0i Charset: noconv iQCVAwUBPKgaWWOfGXkh8vHZAQEB5wP/QPhrdRXVvyUAryJhLWLsbmTJg0G1AEFE Dzof6dERCuF/xFu07qrtM/BpC+DE05oMmF7YH8SWqYVcGTXdwsms/e2QRmufZIzV nv6gXAo823D6OHBWiizxflHH5grkRtKFyEXGXg7LrR6p69gC0xByXbhAgCUEPO1r UFLYddKJWUE= =berh -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----