Launchpad: Click on items.

• 31 August 04 -- Yahoo Groups now archives the new DV-L

• 20 July 04 -- DV-L reopens on Google Groups Beta.  Yahoo Groups Archive does not yet work.

• 21 June 04 -- DV-L is down: server crash.

• 17 Apr 02 -- DV-L is back in business

• 16 Apr 02 -- testing new server and discussion software from Lyris.

• 12 Feb 02 -- DV-L is down due an unrecoverable server crash.

• 23 Jan 01 -- DV-L Doings by BS.  Required reading for DV-L members.

• 22 Jan 01 -- DV-L now has its own domain name:  DV-L.org, goes straight to this page.

• 9 Oct 00 -- Set up DV-L archiving at Egroups.

• 22 Feb 00 -- DV-L is now 3000 people large and growing.

• 30 Jan 98 -- Simpson's DV-L Chat Room.
  Thanks to David Simpson of Mining Company, DV-L chat room opens its doors.

• 17 Jan 98 -- New web-based subscription/ unsubscription method.

• 26 Nov 97 -- message size is now limited to 10K, to filter out possible Spam and Worms.

Flying Pigs Ranch hosts a List for users of in:sync's Speed Razor.  Speed Razor is one of the top non-linear editing applications for Windows NT, soon to be available for DV-Master.

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August 31, 2023
DV-L's Yahoo Archive now works

July 20, 2024
DV-L has moved.  Re-subscribe here.

Join: DV-L (new subscribers):

Important: If you are not sure if you want to join, browse the archives first, and then decide.

DV-L is an Internet-based discussion board for free exchange of information and ideas about DV, FireWire™ and related technologies.

If you are not sure if you want to join, browse the archives first, and then decide.

How it works.  To browse through the messages, you need to do nothing - just browse.  If you do plan to post messages, you need to subscribe first.  You can do it in immediate or a digest mode.  In immediate mode, you will receive all list messages into your e-mailbox individually.  In digest mode, you will get one large file, usually around midnight PDT, with all messages of the day included.

Why not a newsgroup?  On a newsgroup, one can get swamped in off-topic messages, including commercial and private "FS" (for sale) posts.  No protection against uncivilized behavior either. We, the list-police, try to closely guard the list against uncivil behavior.

Topics normally revolve around matters DV and FireWire, but can be quite diverse, covering NLE, camcorders, computers, and new technologies in general, but then again - anything goes as long as it is interesting and civilized.  After all, we are only humans, although participation of any form of life and intelligence is welcome, viruses excluded.

The list is only as good as its contributors.  Our contributors are fantastic and include representatives of many major players in the industry, prominent industry watchers, news gatherers, video gear dealers, and simply wonderful people who share their knowledge and experience on DV-L.

Feel free to introduce yourself to the list and describe what brought you in, express your suggestions and ideas.

This is a free list in a free country.  All we ask is to follow general netiquette rules.  Please don't stray too far from the topic of this list. (What's "too far off" is, of course, in the eyes of the beholder.)

DV-L started in May 1997 by Alexei Gerulaitis and Bertel Schmitt, when the first DV-based editing products started to arrive, such as DPS Spark and Fast DV-Master.  The idea of DV-L was spawned from the speed razor list (list of users of in:sync's Speed Razor, hosted by Flying Pig Ranch), where it received a very enthusiastic response.

The list would not have been the same without Bertel Schmitt who devoted efforts of biblical proportions into building and supporting DV-L and this web site.

The list is currently operated by Alexei Gerulaitis and Bertel Schmitt.  It is hosted by Alexei's company DV411, a Digital Video Systems Integrator in Los Angeles.

See Join_DV-L

There will be a confirmation sent to your E-mail address, along with a confirmation number. Use this number to confirm your request. Instructions will be given in the confirmation message sent to you. This procedure may seem cumbersome, but it is a very good measure against unwanted "3rd party" (un)subscriptions.

Google Groups Beta is now the official host and archive of DV-L.

Yahoo: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DV-List.  The good news is that it is searchable and easily browseable by anyone who can point a mouse straight.  The bad news is that Yahoo has size limits and does not archive indefinitely.

The server automatically unsubscribes addresses that generate a number of bounced mails. There could be several reasons for that. Your ISP may reject some or all of the incoming mail because the mailbox is full, or because it assumes that the list mail is SPAM and filters it out, or because it is set to reject messages above certain size. Besides the ISP, sometimes a major Internet backbone could be down and cause the mail to be rejected.

In any event, we don't have any control over automatic unsubscription and the only remedy is to re-subscribe and possibly to work with your ISP to sort out possible causes of frequent unsubscriptions.

The gory details of automatic unsubscriptions.

Our list server unsubscribes a subscriber automatically if it receives a message from, say "[email protected]"   that says something like

"This is the Postfix program at host mail.yourmail.com.
I'm sorry to have to inform you that the message returned
below could not be delivered to one or more destinations."

This usually is an indication that the account has been closed, so our list server closes the subscription automatically at it's end. (It also receives a lot of messages in foreign tongues, which it cannot understand, and it just ignores them, which results in thousands of messages getting back & forth, but that's another story).

Sometimes, the message above  is triggered when a mailhost is temporarily down. Our list server tries for a while, and then it gives up. The longer the down period and the heavier the list traffic, the better your chance of getting unsubscribed because of your ISP. The solution is to resubscribe. And your troubles should be over.

If you are being unsubscribed all the time.

This  points to a bigger problem, and here are some possibles:

-  We often see that digests are rejected by mailhosts because of their length or because of the stinginess of the mailhost. Your mailbox at the ISP could also be full and you don't know it, because your mail reader is set to not delete messages which you have read. It then marks them as read and doesn't show them to you. Eventually your mailbox fills up without you knowing. The large messages get rejected first.

Try this:
- Check you mail reader settings.
  In Eudora, Tools>Options>Incoming Mail>Leave Mail on Server should be unchecked.
  In Outlook Account Properties>Advanced>Leave Copy of messages on server should
  be unchecked.  (Use corresponding settings for other mail programs)

If that setting was checked, you have to empty your mailbox at the ISP first. This can be done by leaving the "Leave Copy of messages on server" (or equivalent) option  checked, then check "Remove from server when Deleted from Deleted Item" (or equivalent) and then "Empty your Trash" or "Delete deleted Items" (We know, it sounds gaga, but that's the way it is ..).  Once this is done uncheck "Leave Copy of messages on server" and your mailbox at the ISP will be cleaned out when you check your mail.

- Check you mailbox often. It may be small and it overflows quickly, especially when the digest comes along. Did we mention that the digest is big?

- If all of the above doesn't help, change your DV-L delivery options to "Immediate Delivery" and see whether that changes things. If it does, there definitely is an overflow/bounceback situation like the above. If it does not, your ISP has a mailhost which is down often. If you have frequent problems accessing your mailhost for a while, then our list server usually has the same problems. Ours is less patient than you, because it's a program. Ours will give up on your ISP's mailhost after a number of unsuccessful tries. At some point, you may want to do the same and look for a more reliable ISP.

So your attempts to write to DV-L return with "sorry, you are not allowed to post".  That means that DV-L server does not recognize your email address among all of the subscribers.

There are two possible reasons for that.

One: you are really not subscribed.  Only current subscribers can post.

Two: your email address does not match the email address you subscribed to DV-L with.

Either way, it's really not our problem: please do try and figure it out yourself.  We maybe can help you, but we have neither time nor resources.  If you need help urgently (hooked on DV-L or something), call DV411, explain that you need help with your DV-L subscription and prepare to part with US$25, and then if we can, we will help you.  If we can't, you will not be charged.

You can help yourself.

If it's "one", check if you are still subscribed, by trying to re-subscribe with the same email address you did it last time.

If it's "two", it could be your server, or your email configuration, or a number of other issues.  Email yourself with a test message.  Once you receive your own test message, examine the envelope, i.e. a bunch of tracking info that comes with each email message.  See if your "reply-to" or "from" field matches exactly the email address you used to subscribe to DV-L.

Don't remember that email address?  Tough luck, buddy.

Remember, you have to post from the same address you are subscribed to DV-L with.

Good luck.

Snail-mail to:

DV Central
3767 Overland Ave., Suite 103
Los Angeles CA 90034

Remember.  There is no guarantee that you will get any response either way.  We try hard but DV-L is a free service with all the consequences.

Support Your Local List-Police.

For those who need policies, here are the unofficial policies of DV-L as pertaining to Common DV-L Law, subsection 3, part IV.

1. The Numero Uno Rule.  One does not have to be a DV professional to be a member of DV-L, but keeping a professional attitude is called for.  The list is a community, and to make it an inhabitable one, respect, courtesy and professionalism are all required accessories.
2. Commercial messages are allowed if they contain a modicum of interesting information for all members of this list.  Ads with prices are specifically not allowed. Exceptions are made for messages which announce  a very special quantity at a very special  (normally below cost) price. Or even simpler: If it sounds like an ad, if it talks like an ad, then it doesn't belong on the list.
3. No spamming, invitation to chain letters, get-poor-quick schemes, "Hi, I just found this bitchen site, come join me and my girlfriends," and the like.  List administrators will lock out offending accounts in the blink of an eye.
4. No platform wars.  Those other people on those other platforms (powered by Mac, PC, SGI, Amiga, Atari, SCSI, EIDE or internal combustion engine) may be not very  lucky in their choice, however any expressed hints of inferiority of that choice are considered very rude, very unprofessional, very un-DV-L, and may result in immediate banishment from DV-L. If a list member posts a problem, don't offer "Buy a ..." (insert opposing platform here) as a solution -  unless you are willing, ready and able to buy the recommended machine with your own money and ship it to the original poster at your own expense. If you don't want to be generous with money, at least be generous with useful advice.
5. Off-topics.  If you feel that your post is off-topic (not related to DV), but you still experience an insatiable desire to share it with all other DV-L members, please mark it so by including "OFF:" or "Off topic:" in the beginning of your post's subject line, e.g.: "Off topic: gone fishing".
6. Subjects.  Make sure your subject reflects the topic of your post.  If the topic changed - change the subject.
7. Quotations.  Responding to a message and quoting the whole thing is bad manners.  Clip it, leave only the relevant stuff.
8. Bland responses like "Read all about it on my web site" are not a polite way to keep a conversation.  Such posts are considered commercial or simply rude.
9. More than 3000 people all over the world are subscribed to DV-L . They have their own customs, beliefs, political and cultural convictions.  Please respect them.  Disrespect or personal attacks may result in banishment from DV-L.
10. The decisions of the list managers are final. To protect us from undue stress, we list managers prefer a hands-off policy and a list that polices itself. Should list managers intervene, please observe their decisions. Arguing with the list managers will get you somewhere: Off the list. Think of DV-L as a party of people interested in Digital Video. Guests are invited to stay and converse. But if some guests spoil the party, then the hosts will show them the door.

In short:  We welcome the input of professionals.  We ask for your help to keep it professional. And always remember: Whatever you say on DV-L will be recorded on Yahoogroups for the world to read, analyze and quote.

Written mostly by Bertel Schmitt.  Maintained by Alexei Gerulaitis.

Copyright © 1997-2007 DV Central.  All trademarks recognized.

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