Usenet 1994 October/usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk1.iso/answers/sf/groups-intro

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Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.announce,rec.arts.sf.misc,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Rec.arts.sf groups, an introduction
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Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.misc
Date: 6 Sep 1994 15:34:53 GMT
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Summary: Last modified Jul 29, 1994
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Archive-name: sf/groups-intro

Changes this version:
  Added the sf-lovers and smofs mailing lists.
  Added r.a.sf.tv.quantum-leap to the list of groups and charters.
  Corrected alt.books.asimov to alt.books.isaac-asimov.
  Added a new question 5 (renumbering the charters to question 6).  Question
     5 offers a list of URLs that have been given to me for SF-related
     material on the net.  Please feel free to send me more information
     if you know of any URLs I should add.

Send questions and updates or comments to: [e-mail].

1. What does the 'sf' in 'rec.arts.sf.*' mean?
2. What rec.arts.sf.* groups are available?
3. What other 'sf' groups are available?
4. What mailing lists are there for similar topics?
5. What other resources are available on the net (WWW, gopher, etc)?
6. What are the current charters for the groups under rec.arts.sf.*?

1. What does the 'sf' in 'rec.arts.sf.*' mean?
  The 'sf' means 'Speculative Fiction'.  According to the call for votes
that created the original hierarchy, this was defined as: Both science
fiction and fantasy, as well as that vast blurred mass of material in
between.

2. What rec.arts.sf.* groups are available?

Here's a short, one-line-per-group listing of the groups:

rec.arts.sf.misc    Replaces rec.arts.sf-lovers as the catch-all
rec.arts.sf.announce     Announcements (moderated: [e-mail])
rec.arts.sf.fandom    Fannish activities, cons, etc.
rec.arts.sf.marketplace    Personal for-sale notices
rec.arts.sf.movies    SF movies that don't have their own groups
rec.arts.sf.reviews    Reviews of sf/fantasy/horror works (Moderated)
rec.arts.sf.science    Science and theory related to sf
rec.arts.sf.starwars    Star wars, books, movies, etc
rec.arts.sf.tv        SF tv shows that don't have their own groups
rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5    Babylon 5 creators meet Babylon 5 fans.
rec.arts.sf.tv.quantum-leap    Quantum Leap TV, comics, cons, etc.
rec.arts.sf.written    Novels, stories, etc.


3. What other 'sf' groups are available?
  rec.arts.books.tolkien
  rec.arts.drwho
    Discussions about the movies, the show, and anything and everything
    related to Dr. Who.
  rec.arts.startrek.info.
    A distillation of news and information about Star Trek, including
    synopses of new episodes, convention reports, station airing times
    around the US and the world, and other tidbits of factual information
    about Trek.

    Moderated: send submissions to [e-mail]; questions or
        comments should be sent to [e-mail].
  rec.arts.startrek.current
  rec.arts.startrek.fandom
  rec.arts.startrek.misc
  rec.arts.startrek.tech
    Star Trek, all shows, movies, books, etc, related to the original
    show.  There's a monthly informational posting in those groups and
    news.answers and rec.answers which describes the groups in detail.
  alt.books.isaac-asimov
  alt.books.deryni
  alt.books.m-lackey
  alt.cyberpunk
  alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
    Virtual reality  via prose interaction.
  alt.fan.douglas-adams
  alt.fan.eddings
  alt.fan.pern
    McCaffrey's Pern; also some discussions of her other books.
  alt.fan.piers-anthony
  alt.fan.pratchett
  alt.fan.tolkien
  alt.fandom.cons
  alt.fandom.misc
  alt.galactic-guide
    An attempt to write a Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, inspired by
    Douglas Adams.  Ongoing for several years.
  alt.music.filk
  alt.tv.red-dwarf

4. What mailing lists are there for similar topics?

  Good question; I don't know, for the most part.  But I'll be adding them
as people tell me about them, and I believe there's a posting that lists
them, that I'll try to get permission to use.

[e-mail]
  Moderated, medium-to-high traffice.  I believe this is the one that is
  gatewayed from the newsgroups (although I'm not entirely sure how it's
  done these days; originally it was gateway to and from r.a.sf-lovers).

[e-mail]
  SMOFS deals with convention-running. A low-traffic list.

send mail to [e-mail] to get on either
  SMOFS or sf-lovers.

5. What other resources are available on the net (WWW, gopher, etc)?

Please feel free to send me any URLs you might have, and a description of
what's available at that URL.

The SF archive at Lysator:

    WWW:    http://www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf_main.html
    gopher: gopher.lysator.liu.se
    ftp:    ftp.lysator.liu.se, /pub/sf-texts

6. What are the current charters for the groups under rec.arts.sf.*?

Here's a list, in the same order as the groups appear in the list in question
2.  I use the word 'current' because, while most of these haven't changed
since the dawn of creation, the rec.arts.sf.reviews one has changed to
include a new submission address.

rec.arts.sf.misc
     Charter: Group rec.arts.sf.misc will be the general-purpose
              and spillover group for science fiction and fantasy
          discussions that do not find a more specific subgroup
          under rec.arts.sf.*, or that would otherwise require
          wide crossposting among the other subgroups.

rec.arts.sf.announce (moderated, <[e-mail]>)
     Charter: (moderated) Announcements of happenings in the
              SF world, such as cons, including calls for con
              participation, readings, deaths, honors, new SF
              mailing lists, periodic postings of rec.arts.sf
              subgroup charters and other administrivia,
              signings, TV specials, meetings, shop openings and
              closings, etc. Not for personal or commercial ads.
     Send submissions to: [e-mail]; questions to
    the moderator address above.

rec.arts.sf.fandom
     Charter: Discussions of fannish activities; meant to provide
              a new home for the SF-related part of the traffic
              currently posted to alt.fandom.* and similar
              postings current in rec.arts.sf-lovers.

rec.arts.sf.marketplace
     Charter: A place for personal wanted-to-buy and for-sale ads
              for SF related materials.  Personal ads only;
              commercial ads belong in comp.newprod or commercial
              advertising channels, not elsewhere on USENet.  Do
              NOT crosspost ads; those looking to buy or sell SF
              stuff will be reading this group and just annoyed
              by ads mixed in elsewhere.

rec.arts.sf.movies
     Charter: Discussions of all aspects of SF related movies not
              otherwise covered in more specific groups (such as
              the Star Trek group).  Specifically includes
              screenplays looking for producers, and discussions
              of novelizations as compared to the movie base;
              discussion of novelizations independent of the
              related movie belong in .written.

rec.arts.sf.reviews (moderated)
    Charter: Reviews and critical discussion of SF/fantasy/horror
         works.  Works include novels, short fiction, movies,
         music, periodicals, art, etc., that are of interest to
         the SF community.  Reviews are expected to conform to
         the guidelines in the FAQ "Welcome to rec.arts.sf.reviews"
         posted to the group periodically and available by
         anonymous FTP on the host net.bio.net [134.172.2.69]
         (file: sf-reviews/welcome).  Archives of the group are also
         available on net.bio.net in the directory misc/sf-reviews.
         Submissions should be sent to [e-mail];
         comments to the moderators should be sent to
         [e-mail].

rec.arts.sf.science
     Charter: A home for the spinoff discussion of real and
              speculative science and sometimes about how the
              laws of science could be used in creating new SF
              universes.

rec.arts.sf.tv
     Charter: A group for discussing general television SF, both
              live acted and cartoons.  Note that some tv shows,
          (such as Dr. Who and Star Trek) have their own
          specialized newsgroups as well.

rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5
     Charter: rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5 is to be an unmoderated newgroup
          dedicated to the following topics:

              * The plots and characters of "Babylon 5" episodes.
              * The possible ties between episodes in the 5-year story arc
              * The special-effects techniques and technology
              * Musings and speculations about where the show is going.
              * AND NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT story ideas and/or fan-fiction.

          J. Michael Straczynski, Babylon 5's creator, (hereafter: JMS)
          has stated flatly that for legal reasons that if any story
          ideas appear on a "B5" newsgroup he will be forced to leave the
          electronic forum. This would be, to our reckoning, a
          net.tragedy, and is to be avoided at all costs.

          Solutions such as forfeiture of copyrights to JMS with all
          postings, etc, have been considered, but ultimately rejected.
          This forum can only survive through the good will of its users,
          PLEASE do not destroy it for the rest of us.

          In the event of legal action in the future resulting from
          someone's disregard of this rule, I offer myself, Brian Badger,
          to be subpoenaed to testify as to the nature of this charter,
          and its prohibition.  It's an ugly job...

rec.arts.sf.tv.quantum-leap
     Charter: rec.arts.sf.tv.quantum-leap will be designed to create a specific
          forum for discussing the many aspects of the Quantum Leap
          television series, which is now in syndication on two cable
          networks.  The aspects that can be talked about are (but are
          not limited to) the television program, the comic book, QL
          conventions, the video releases, and whatever else can be found
          to talk about between the "Leapers."  Now, the group will be
          unmoderated to allow more freedom on what can be talked about.
          There has, as of late, been a considerable amount of QL traffic on
          rec.arts.sf.tv.  Perhaps the new newsgroup would allow more
          space for other discussion on rec.arts.sf.tv, and
          rec.arts.sf.tv.quantum-leap would be an exclusive place for
          Leapers to talk.  Also, many Usenet sites do not have Alt.ql
          creative as a group choice and, therefore, do not know of the
          existance of QL discussion.


rec.arts.sf.written
     Charter: A group for discussing the general SF which is seen
              by its audience in written form, whether printed or
              online.  Note that many more specific groups in
              rec.arts.sf.* exist to pull some traffic from this
              group, but in general, this is where new releases
              are discussed, informal reviews given, continuity
              topics discussed, authors compared, and is the
              starting point for many threads which should
              eventually be moved to more appropriate groups.
              (Please cooperate when the call is put forward to
              move a discussion to a more specific group.)


Leanne Phillips
"Do not meddle with the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick
to anger."  (I don't want to hear other versions.  I've heard them all before.)
Words to live by: "Violence is the refuge of the incompetent."
    (Yes, I know it isn't right; it's deliberate.)