In article >,
blake murphy > wrote:

> On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:22:42 -0700, Dan Abel wrote:
>
> > In article >,
> > blake murphy > wrote:
> >
> >> On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:29:12 -0500, Sqwertz wrote:
> >
> >>> I don't have any trolls killfiled since they change their names so
> >>> often. I killfile their whole domain - usually Google, aioe, and
> >>> the various remailers.
> >
> >> i still thinks that's using a meat-axe rather than a scalpel, but to each
> >> his own.
> >>
> >> but i also 'mark read' rather than kill 'em outright. i'm such a pussy.
> >
> > What's the difference? Now, my newsreader doesn't save posts, so maybe
> > that's it.
>
> with 40tude dialog (and others, i'm sure) the 'delete' action means you
> don't see the post at all - it's not downloaded from the news server.
> 'mark read' means when you do the 'read next' option, it skips over a post
> marked read. it just treats the post as something you've already read and
> skips over it. so if you want to check and see, say, whether andy's off
> his meds again you can take a deliberate action to read his posts by
> clicking on them.
>
> i hope that's clear, but i fear it's not. if it's not, ask about what's
> unclear and i'll try again.

I think I have it clear now. There appear to be three things involved:

1. the headers
2. the actual posts
3. the file that keeps track of what has been read

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA