ftp.pasteur.org/FAQ//ftp-pasteur-org-FAQ.zip/FAQ/news/rec-humor-funny/intro

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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!xmission!newsfeed.direct.ca!news.netfunny.com!funny-request
Newsgroups: rec.humor.funny,rec.answers,news.answers
Subject: Introduction to REC.HUMOR.FUNNY -- Monthly Posting
From: [e-mail] (Funny Guy)
Approved: [e-mail]
Followup-to: rec.humor.d
Keywords: monthly administrivia
Message-id: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sun, 2 Jan 2000 6:35:00 PST
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.humor.funny:7863 rec.answers:54956 news.answers:174063
Lines: 150

Archive-name: usenet/rec-humor-funny/intro

Web version: http://www.netfunny.com/rhf/rhfint.html

[Note: Any news of importance will be posted in a general message.  If
you have read these before, there is no need to read them again.]

Welcome to rec.humor.funny, USENET's daily on-line humour magazine
of the netwaves.

Rec.humor.funny (RHF) is a "moderated" newsgroup.  This means that only
one person, the editor/moderator, is allowed to post directly here.  If you
want to post here, you send electronic mail to [e-mail].  If
the editor decides that you have sent in a new and funny joke that fits
the submission guidelines, it gets sent out to the RHF audience.
Anything that's not an actual joke submission goes to
[e-mail].

RHF is read (they say) by >700,000 people on USENET, the web and Fidonet,
plus many more on peripheral networks and other systems.  It is read in
the USA, Canada, Australia, NZ, Japan, Indonesia, Chile, Israel, Brazil,
Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Iceland & Eastern and Western Europe and
many other places.  We hear somebody even forwards it down to the USA's
South Pole research station. (Hi folks!)

RHF works on a quality, not quantity basis.  You'll usually see
only 1 to 3 jokes per weekday in this group.  These are culled from
around 20 to 30 daily submissions.  We hope that what you see gives
you some amusement to start, or finish your newsreading day.  Those
submissions come via email, from other Usenet newsgroups like rec.humor,
and other sources.

RHF specializes in jokes, although anything funny can show up here.
In particular, topical jokes on the latest news are particularly
popular.  RHF is, in fact, one of the ways these jokes spread around
the world so fast.  Original jokes by netters and computer jokes are
also a specialty -- in fact, there are awards given every year for
original jokes with cash prizes!

If you wish to submit, read the posting after this, which gives the
submission guidelines.

There is another newsgroup, called rec.humor.funny.reruns, which contains
the best of past material from rec.humor.funny.   (Rec.humor.funny
publishes only new material, so you won't see many old standards and
classics in it.)  If you haven't read RHF since it started in '87,
you will want to read rec.humor.funny.reruns too.

You will also want to check out the RHF web pages, which have the
archives, searching and more at http://www.netfunny.com/rhf

Most RHF postings are categorized with "keywords."  Some of these
keywords give the editor's opinion of the joke's quality, on a
scale that goes (doubt it, maybe, smirk, chuckle, funny, laugh, sidesplit).
Of course, your sense of humour may vary.  Check dealer for terms
and conditions.   Other keywords warn readers about potential offensive
content in jokes, and can be used in kill files.  We try to warn about sexual
context, sick jokes, swearing, bathroom humour, the odd pun and the use
of stereotypes, particularly racial or sexual ones.

Other keywords give general information.  Self-explanatory ones include
"original" and "true."  "Administrivia" is a keyword for postings like
this, that aren't jokes, but administrative information.  "heard it" means
a joke is judged good but moderately well known.

Why do we get to judge what's funny and what isn't?  Well, it's a
dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it.  Seriously, not everybody will
agree with our sense of humour, but then, nobody is forced to read the
group.  As long as the unmoderated groups rec.humor and talk.bizarre
exist, we hold no power to censor or suppress anything anybody wants to say.

Most of the selection of RHF is done by Jim Griffith, who works as a
volunteer.  RHF is sponsored by Brad Templeton, who is also executive editor
and founder of the newsgroup.  Do not send mail regarding this group to
anybody's personal mailbox -- use only the [e-mail] address.

As you'll read in the 2nd following posting on possibly offensive jokes,
this is a no-holds-barred newsgroup.  Like a letters to the editor
column in a paper, we don't judge what a joke says, just how well (funny) it
says it.  Jokes that we suspect may go way beyond some people's
thresholds of offense are actually encrypted with a simple letter-
substitution cypher, so that you have to go out of your way to read
them.  WE WILL NOT EXPLAIN THIS TO YOU.  If you dare to read these jokes,
ask a neighbour (not the net) how to do it.

We do not maintain any RHF mailing list or keep track of those who do.
Do not send drop/add mailing list requests to us, please.

If you see an error, or have a comment on an RHF posting, MAIL TO THE POSTER,
not to us.  Doing a "reply" in your newsreader does this for you.  Ask
the poster to forward the comment to us if it's a question of attribution
etc.   This avoids our getting duplicates on these.

System Admins: If you can, please extend the expiration date of RHF to
something nice and long.  At 2-3 msgs/day, you can keep a month of it
without consuming significant disk space.  This cuts down on back joke
requests.  (Which we reject due to our We're-not-a-joke-server policy.)

The collection of E-mail addresses from postings to rec.humor.funny and
subgroups is prohibited.  These E-mail addresses may be used only for
individually composed replies relevant to the posting in question or
by associates with a pre-existing relationship with the poster.

Back jokes from RHF are collected into the RHF "TeleJokeBooks."
The older books are no longer available, however you can get the best
of the first four years in "The Internet Jokebook," published by
Peer to Peer Publishing and available from Computer Literacy Bookshops,
amazon.com and others stores.  There is also a CD-ROM with Science Fiction
and the joke archives.    Check the web page for details.

Now, a few special administrative notes:

        Rec.humor.funny newsgroup joke stream & collection

    Compilation Copyright 1987 ... 2000 by Brad Templeton

You can copy and distribute the rec.humor.funny stream/collection in whole or
as it is published in electronic form, as long as you don't try to make
money off it, or pretend that you are the one who put it together.

(A "compilation copyright," by the way, is a special form of copyright that
covers editing and compiling the work of other people -- i.e. exactly what
a moderator or editor does.  There is NO claim on the copyright of the
individual works.  These are either public domain or still owned by their
authors or authors' assignees.  A compilation copyright means you can't
distribute most or all of the compilation, or use it as a significant
source for your own compilation.)

    This newsgroup sometimes contains material some consider
    offensive, and material that may not be suitable for some
    minors.  As such, all redistributors should make sure that
    nobody reads the group other than by personally requesting it, and
    all redistributors must take whatever precautions they feel are
    necessary with regards to newsgroup access by minors.

The warnings and keywords placed on jokes are for the reader's convenience
only.  The editor makes no assurances that such warnings are complete or
correct.  It is up to each reader to decide whether to be guided by these
keywords and/or warnings.

Submitters to RHF grant the editor the right to unlimited electronic
distribution of their submission to USENET and other networks, and unless
explicitly stated otherwise, rights are also granted for the inclusion of
the submitted joke into the printed Jokebooks.  The moderator also has the
right to make edits which, in the moderator's sole opinion, improve the joke.
The moderator will note whenever substantial editing has taken place.

(Sorry, but it turns out all this legal schmazola is necessary.  we want
this group protected if it ever comes under attack again.)