Re. How to define what's off topic

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

     Michael Priestley hit the nail on the head when he mentioned that you
     can get many answers elsewhere. To make this more explicit, how about
     using the following filter: If there's a specific mailing list (or
     other non-internet source) that will answer your question, use it
     instead. (No, this doesn't solve all problems, but it's a good
     starting point.) Here's a practical example:

     How do I use PageMaker to produce booklets? Ask the PageMaker list,
     Aldus/Adobe technical support, or your local printshop.

     Have any of you techwhirlers used PageMaker to produce booklets? Ask
     away... that's writing, not a "how do I do it" question.

     If I want to market a booklet produced in PageMaker, how would I do
     this? Ask the marketing list, contact a relevent trade association,
     send Jeff Slaton e-mail, etc. <grin>

     You'll note that requests for information should always be relevent to
     this list: as I've noted before, the best thing about the Internet is
     the people. If you don't think it'll interest the list, ask for a
     private reply; if you get lots of responses, summarize to the list. Is
     this a step in the right direction?

     --Geoff Hart    @8^{)}
     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

     Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of
     our reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.