daestrom wrote:

Well, you have criticised me for posting about waste-water heat-exchangers
in alt.solar.thermal...

I don't recall that. Sorry. Altho it's not exactly on-topic here, ie not a
"practical use of the sun's heat." It's an interesting subject, but unless
it's a part of a solar water heater or a solar-heated house, it seems to me
that there are more appropriate groups, eg MCFL or sci.engr.heat-vent-ac or
alt.energy.renewable. BTW, PE Drew Gillett and PE Howdy Reichmuth and I will
have an article on solar water heaters in the Nov/Dec issue of Solar Today,
which will appear in Border's and other fine bookstores on about October 15.

Is that what you mean by 'gatekeeper' in unmoderated newsgroups?

No. The few bullys in sci.engr.heat-vent-ac are quite different. I'd like
to see more science and engineering there. IMO, it's a disgusting place at
the moment. I don't see a need for profanity, twisting the truth, personal
insults (except for Toby :-), or threats.

Or are you an official moderator of alt.solar.thermal??

No. I created alt.solar.thermal, but there is no moderator. I try to keep
it on-topic, which isn't easy at times. For instance, the turbine-blade
position sensor discussion showed up in alt.solar.thermal for a long time.
Yes, sun causes wind, but IMO, it's a stretch to call that a practical use
of the sun's heat.

Nick