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-
- Going Up in a Ball of Plasma or
- the alt.books.david-weber FAQ
-
- Last Revision by: Daniel Bernstein (Deputy Mad Archivist)
-
- Mirrors are available at:
- http://weberfaq.thefifthimperium.com/ courtesy of Joe Buckley.
- http://www.nimitz.net/weberfaq.html courtesy of Randy and Anne
- Kaelber.
-
- There is a non-US mirror site available with the generous
- assistance of Mike Richards. The URL is:
- http://www.z9m9z.demon.co.uk/weberfaq.htm.
-
- Hi there and welcome to alt.books.david-weber!
-
- Table of Contents
- 1) Introduction (history, partial cast of characters, general
- guidelines)
- 2) Books, series, and other published miscellany
- 3) When, oh when, is the next book coming out?
- 4) Is David doing book tours?
- 5) In what order should I read his books (by series)?
- 6) Basic Netiquette or How to Save the Weapons for the Fictional
- Enemy
- 7) The Thread that Cannot/Will Not Die: Casting the Honor
- Harrington Movie
- 8) Spoiler Protection
- 9) Other Authors
- 10) Other DW Resources on the Net/Web
- 11) Miscellaneous Stuff
- 12) The Filks
- 13) The Great ABD-W Typo Hunt
- 14) Frogs and Buzzards and Tortoises, oh my!
- 15) ABDW Acronyms
- 16) Thanks/Acknowledgements for FAQ help
-
-
-
- 1) Introduction (history, partial cast of characters, general
- guidelines)
-
- * 1.1) History
- I'm willing to court graser fire, missile pods and other
- flamage and release a FAQ for the new recruits. Please feel
- free to email me with suggestions and corrections at the
- address given at the beginning of this article.
-
- Through the benevolence of the Usenet Deities, abd-w was
- formed in June of 1997 (June 12th to be exact, and the
- person who initiated the ng creation was David Ball) so that
- Weber fans wouldn't have to wade through the masses of
- postings in rec.arts.sf.written looking for tidbits. Of
- course, that hasn't stopped many of us from lurking and
- posting in rasfw, but now we have a place in cyberspace to
- call our own. It seems that abd-w is actually fairly high
- traffic for a group in the alt.books hierarchy, we are a
- chatty bunch, even when there's no new stuff out. Right now,
- it happens to be one of the busiest groups on my watch list!
-
- Also, abd-w has been blessed with the presence of the
- Master of Honor's Universe himself (aka Big Wizard Dave,
- Himself, MWW, HWKABSM (see ABDW acronyms), etc.) when he's
- not working on his next anxiously awaited release. Other
- members of Dave's family or friends have been known to post
- as well, and are sometimes privy to and allowed to give out
- tantalizing little news releases (news releases that aren't
- allowed are a form of snerking (see section 14 for a link to
- the ROMANCE web page, which explains the concept)).
-
- 1.2) Other Important People
- Family and friends of David Weber who play in our
- cybersandbox include:
-
- o Mike Weber-yes, they're related. Mike's four years
- older than David and doesn't let his younger brother
- the author forget it.
- o Sue Phillips-David's sister-in-law.
-
- New recruits may wonder who Navbuoy was:
-
-
- David Weber delurked briefly just after the release
- of Echoes of Honor to tell us all that his good friend
- Richard Maxwell, who used the screen name Navbuoy and
- was a prolific contributor to abd-w, had been killed in
- a skydiving accident on September 17th, 1998.
-
- Richard had recently won an official red shirt when
- his namesake character was killed off in Echoes of
- Honor; David told us that Richard was laughing his butt
- off in the spring when he saw the manuscript. He also
- cheerfully bore the brunt of all the lawyer jokes
- thrown at him for being our resident legal eagle and
- gave us the background on how he earned the nickname of
- the Man Who Dropped the Spanner in real life.
-
- Richard also had done some postings on Baen's Bar,
- but abd-w was his major hangout. Navbuoy's posts were
- universally considered worth reading for their wit and
- skill. His contributions to our portion of fandom are
- sorely missed by all of us in the newsgroup as well as
- by the denizens of Aegys' discussion board.
-
- To absent friends, Richard! And his Ranger comrades
- remind us that Rangers always lead the way....
-
- * 1.3) General Guidelines
- Discussion of the Weber books, especially when a book
- comes out, can come at a fast and furious pace and often
- features attention to minutiae. Some of us have found typos
- to nitpick, and as a reward, it has been suggested that the
- nitpickers get the proverbial red shirt (remember the
- anonymous Classic Trek person who inspires the phrase, "He's
- dead, Jim") and become part of the casualty list of the
- inevitable death ride or shootout in the next book (a
- practice also known as Tuckerization in fannish lore).
- There's a section later on in the FAQ that has the most
- egregious typos found to date. Happy hunting, hope you look
- good in red!
-
- * 1.4) Fanfic
- Note to the newsgroup: A recent inquiry about the
- implications of posting fanfiction and story ideas in the
- group brought up some serious issues that needed to be
- addressed promptly. David Weber himself was kind enough to
- delurk at the behest of some of us and gave me a prompt
- response to the ramifications of fanfiction and story idea
- postings on his work. Since this comes from the author
- himself, I believe that David's wishes ought to be respected
- and that we should not post fanfiction and story ideas to
- abd-w. Failure to abide by these guidelines could make it
- more difficult for David to continue with the stories we all
- enjoy so much and we would no longer have the pleasure of
- his company when his schedule permits. Let it be written,
- let it be so. Ken Nixon suggests that "In case someone
- didn't read the FAQ, and DID post fanfic, I suggest that you
- recommend that EVERYONE IGNORE IT! It will make it much
- easier for DW to ignore it if there aren't 10 million
- complaint posts from others....." Probably a good guideline
- to work from, we haven't had a real problem yet, but it's
- better to be safe.
-
- David's message follows:
-
-
- For general information (ie, YOU decide what to do
- with the info, Oh Archivist), fanfic poses all sorts of
- problems for an author, and not just of the "how dare
- you publish in MY universe" sort of hurt feelings.
-
- As Mike pointed out in his post, it leads to a
- situation in which an author can be accused of "ripping
- off" someone else's idea, which can both impugn his/her
- honesty and even lead to ugly courtroom scenes as some
- non-pro attempts to sue because his or her original
- idea was "stolen" by a pro. (This has actually
- happened.) It would also be possible for a pro actually
- TO rip off an idea, perhaps without even realizing that
- he or she has done so. (I have never seen any actual
- documentation of such an event, but I HAVE seen a
- couple of stories, by authors who shall remain
- nameless, in which I personally suspect that that is
- precisely what happened.)
-
- Even more importantly, the publication (even in
- electronic form) of fiction based on a writer's work,
- without the specific, documented permission of said
- writer (on a case-by-case basis) can void the writer's
- copyright. This has actually happened, and does not
- represent mere paranoid fantasy on my part. Nor am I
- the only writer concerned about it. Misty Lackey, for
- example, has a legal contract form drawn up which
- anyone publishing fanfic in her universe(s) is required
- to sign and return to her before they may use any of
- her material. (I have a copy of it thumbtacked to my
- wall for use as a model if I ever decide to go that
- way.) Anyone who publishes WITHOUT said signed contract
- is in violation of her copyright and she will, if it
- comes to her attention, take legal action against them.
- (Mind, I suspect many authors in such a position might
- take some pains to avoid having the unapproved fanfic
- come to his/her attention if he/she believes the fans'
- intentions were pure, but there is a limit to how many
- times someone can look the other way and still convince
- a judge, at need, that his/her ignorance was genuine.)
-
- I deeply regret that this should be the case, as
- fanfic is often at least as imaginative and enjoyable
- as anything the writer who created the
- character/universe/whatever is likely to turn out. It
- is also rather flattering to an author to know that
- other people want to come over and play at his house,
- as it were. Unfortunately, the situation has become
- such that a writer cannot allow the free use of his
- universe without risking the loss of his own rights to
- it, and so I must regretfully ask that no fanfic appear
- on this group. Should that happen, I would have only
- two choices: (a) to take legal action (which I would
- hate to do and would endeavor to make as painless as
- possible for all concerned), or (b) leave the group and
- not return, as the only way I could avoid taking legal
- action NOW and still be in a position to defend my
- copyright down the road at need would be to avoid
- learning that the fiction was being published,
- electronically or otherwise. Since I would like to lurk
- and keep an eye on what's happening whenever projects
- (and things like weddings and house buying expeditions)
- allow me the time, I would very much appreciate it if
- it didn't happen here.
-
- Again, my sincere regrets at having to take this
- position. I checked with my attorney when the matter
- first came up for me a couple of years ago, however,
- and he confirms what Baen, Misty, Roger Zelazny, Fred
- Saberhagen, and several other pros had all told me on
- previous occasions. With that much experienced opinion
- on one side of the question, I see no choice but to
- believe they know what they're talking about.
-
- Take Care,
- David
-
- 2) Books, series, and other published miscellany
- David Weber's published books to date (all are available
- through amazon.com or bug your local bookstore). Hardback
- editions are specially flagged, all dates are for US/Canadian
- releases only.
-
- * 2.1. Book info
- o 2.1.1. Honor Harrington
- + 2.1.1.1. On Basilisk Station (Baen, 04/1993, ISBN
- 0-671-72163-1, special paperback reprint 10/1998,
- ISBN 0-671-57772-7(out of print as of 09/1999),
- hardback release 02/1999, ISBN 0-671-57793-X)
- + 2.1.1.2. Honor of the Queen (Baen, 06/1993, ISBN
- 0-671-72172-0)
- + 2.1.1.3. The Short Victorious War (Baen, 04/1994,
- ISBN 0-671-87596-5)
- + 2.1.1.4. Field of Dishonor (Baen, 10/1994, ISBN
- 0-671-87624-4, hardback special edition 10/1999,
- ISBN 0-671-57820-0)
- + 2.1.1.5. Flag in Exile (Baen, 09/1995, ISBN
- 0-671-87681-3)
- + 2.1.1.6. Honor Among Enemies (Baen, hardback
- 06/1996, ISBN 0-671-87723-2, paperback 06/1997,
- ISBN 0-671-87783-6)
- + 2.1.1.7. In Enemy Hands (Baen, hardback 08/1997,
- ISBN 0-671-87793-3, paperback 10/1998, ISBN
- 0-671-57770-0)
- + 2.1.1.8. More Than Honor (anthology with David
- Drake and S. M. Stirling, Baen, 01/1998, ISBN
- 0-671-87857-3)
- + 2.1.1.9. Echoes of Honor (Baen, hardback 10/1998,
- ISBN 0-671-87892-1, paperback 10/1999, ISBN
- 0-671-57833-2)
- + 2.1.1.10. Worlds of Honor (anthology with Linda
- Evans, Jane Lindskold, and Roland Green, Baen,
- hardback 02/1999, ISBN 0-671-57786-7)
- + 2.1.1.11. Ashes of Victory (Baen, 03/2000
- hardback, ISBN 0-671-57854-5, 03/2001 paperback,
- 0-671-31977-9)
- + 2.1.1.12. Changer of Worlds (anthology with Eric
- Flint, 03/2001 hardback, ISBN 0-671-31975-2,
- 02/2002 paperback, 0-7434-3520-6)
- o 2.1.2. Dahak/Fifth Imperium
- + 2.1.2.1. Mutineer's Moon (Baen, 10/1994 reissue,
- ISBN 0-671-72085-6)
- + 2.1.2.2. The Armageddon Inheritance (Baen,
- 10/1994, ISBN 0-671-72197-6)
- + 2.1.2.3. Heirs of Empire (Baen, 03/1996, ISBN
- 0-671-87707-0)
- o 2.1.3. The Lay of Bahzell Bloody-Hand
- + 2.1.3.1. Oath of Swords (Baen, 02/1995, ISBN
- 0-671-87642-2)
- + 2.1.3.2. The War God's Own (Baen, 05/1998
- hardback, ISBN 0-671-87873-5, 02/1999 paperback,
- ISBN 0-671-57792-1)
- o 2.1.4. Path of the Fury (Baen, 12/1992, ISBN
- 0-671-72147-X)
- o 2.1.5. Starfire (books written with Steve White)
- + 2.1.5.1. Crusade (Baen, 03/1992 reprint, ISBN
- 0-671-72111-9)
- + 2.1.5.2. Insurrection (Baen, 03/1993, ISBN
- 0-671-72024-4)
- + 2.1.5.3. In Death Ground (Baen, 05/1997, ISBN
- 0-671-87779-8)
- + 2.1.5.4. The Shiva Option (Baen, 02/2002 hardback,
- ISBN 0-671-31848-9)
- o 2.1.6. The Apocalypse Troll (Baen, 01/1999 hardback,
- ISBN 0-671-57782-4, 01/2000 paperback, 0-671-57845-6)
- o 2.1.7. The March Series (books written with John Ringo)
- + 2.1.7.1. March Upcountry (Baen, 05/2001 hardback,
- ISBN 0-671-31985-X, 05/2002 paperback,
- 0-7434-3538-9)
- + 2.1.7.2. March to the Sea (Baen, 08/2001 hardback,
- ISBN 0-671-31826-8, 08/2002 paperback, ISBN not
- yet known)
- o 2.1.8. The Excalibur Alternative (Baen, 01/2002
- hardback, ISBN 0-671-31860-8)
- o 2.1.9. The Warmasters (anthology with David Drake and
- Eric Flint, Baen, 02/2002 hardback, ISBN 0-7434-3534-6)
- o 2.1.10. Other Short Stories
- + 2.1.10.1. "Miles to Go" in Bolos anthology #3, The
- Triumphant (Pocket, 09/1995, ISBN 0-671-87683-X)
- + 2.1.10.2. "The Traitor" and "A Time to Kill" in
- Bolos anthology #4, Last Stand (Baen, 03/1997,
- ISBN 0-671-87760-7)
- + 2.1.10.3. "The Captain from Kirkbean" in Alternate
- Generals, (Baen, edited by Martin Greenberg,
- Roland Green, and Harry Turtledove, 08/1998, ISBN
- 0-671-87886-7)
- + 2.1.10.4. "A Certain Talent" in The Williamson
- Effect, (Tor, edited by Roger Zelazny, 1996, ISBN
- 0-312-85748-9, out of print as of 09/1999)
- * 2.2. Subject header tags (got any better suggestions, let me
- know!)
- It's not always convenient to write out the entire title
- when referring to a book. These are the abbreviations that
- have been picked up by the members of the group. It has been
- suggested that both the series number and title abreviation
- be used for easier remembering, although where it's not
- ambiguous, the title alone is usually used.
- o 2.2.1. Honor Harrington
- + 2.2.1.1. HH1/OBS for On Basilisk Station
- + 2.2.1.2. HH2/HotQ for Honor of the Queen
- + 2.2.1.3. HH3/SVW for The Short Victorious War
- + 2.2.1.4. HH4/FoD for Field of Dishonor
- + 2.2.1.5. HH5/FiE for Flag in Exile
- + 2.2.1.6. HH6/HAE for Honor Among Enemies
- + 2.2.1.7. HH7/IEH for In Enemy Hands
- + 2.2.1.8. HH/MTH for the anthology More than Honor
- + 2.2.1.9. HH8/EoH for Echoes of Honor
- + 2.2.1.10. HH/WoH for the anthology Worlds of Honor
- + 2.2.1.11. HH9/AoV for Ashes of Victory
- + 2.2.1.12. HH/Changer or CoW for Changer of
- Worldsfs
- o 2.2.2. Dahak
- + 2.2.2.1. D/MM for Mutineer's Moon
- + 2.2.2.2. D/AI for The Armageddon Inheritance
- + 2.2.2.3. D/HoE for Heirs of Empire
- o 2.2.3. The Lay of Bahzell Bloody-Hand
- + 2.2.3.1. O1/OoS for Oath of Swords
- + 2.2.3.2. O2/WGO for The War God's Own
- o 2.2.4. Path of the Fury
- + 2.2.4.1. PotF or Fury-it's short, sweet, and to
- the point
- o 2.2.5. Starfire
- + 2.2.5.1. S/C for Crusade
- + 2.2.5.2. S/I for Insurrection
- + 2.2.5.3. S/IDG for In Death Ground
- + 2.2.5.4. S/TSO for The Shiva Option
- o 2.2.6. The Apocalypse Troll
- + 2.2.6.1. AT or Troll for The Apocalypse Troll
- o 2.2.7. The March Series
- + 2.2.7.1. M/MU for March Upcountry
- + 2.2.7.2. M/MttS for March to the Sea
- o 2.2.8. The Excalibur Alternative
- + 2.2.8.1. TEA. Thirsty, anyone?
-
- 3) When, oh when, is the next book coming out?
-
- * 3.1 All of the early HH books are being re-released in
- hardback. Rumour (based on the December issue of Locus) has
- it that the next one is The Short Victorious War, due in
- June 2002.
- * 3.2. The next HH book, tentatively titled War of Honor, is
- rumoured to be coming out about July 2002.
- * 3.3. David has said that the next book on his schedule will
- be in Norfressa with Bahzell -- but he hasn't yet started
- writing it, so he may get sidetracked. Let's hope he
- doesn't...
-
- 4) Is David doing book tours?
-
- * 4.1. The book tours happen when David isn't writing. David's
- doing a lot of that now, so don't expect much.
- * 4.2. David was the Guest of Honor (apt title, yes?) at
- CopperCon in Scottsdale, AZ in September of 1999.
-
- 5) In what order should I read his books (by series)?
-
- * 5.1. Honor Harrington
- o 5.1.1. Order of publication seems to be the best way to
- do this. This series really does need to be read in
- order, because there are *tons* of references to past
- events in the later books.
- o 5.1.2. The anthology More Than Honor should probably be
- read after In Enemy Hands, the 7th novel. Even though
- there are no stories featuring Honor herself, one of
- the stories (S.M. Stirling's) would be a spoiler for
- parts of In Enemy Hands and the subject of Weber's
- novella was first alluded to in Field of Dishonor.
- o 5.1.3. The second anthology Worlds of Honor is less
- spoilerish for the books, but perhaps waiting until
- after Field of Dishonor would be best.
- o 5.1.4. I wouldn't read the Changer of Worlds anthology
- until after Ashes of Victory. One of the stories David
- wrote there is a story that's skipped over in AoV, and
- gives away significant events in that book.
- * 5.2. Dahak/Fifth Imperium
- o 5.2.1. I suggest reading them in order of publication,
- Mutineer's Moon, The Armageddon Inheritance, then Heirs
- of Empire.
- * 5.3. Path of the Fury
- o 5.3.1. There is just one book to date in this universe.
- * 5.4. The Lay of Bahzell Bloody-Hand
- o 5.4.1. Oath of Swords, then The War God's Own.
- * 5.5. Starfire
- o 5.5.1. Dan Cannata the Offog suggested that following
- the chronology in this universe instead of publication
- order is the way to go....makes sense to me, so here
- goes: Crusade, In Death Ground, The Shiva Option, and
- then Insurrection.
- * 5.6. The March Series
- o 5.6.1. March Upcountry, then March to the Sea.
-
- 6) Basic Netiquette or How to Save the Weapons for the Fictional
- Enemy
-
- * 6.1. Navbuoy was a master at wittily disagreeing with
- people's points without resorting to personal attacks; we
- can do well to honor Richard's memory by emulating his
- style.
- * 6.2. Kate Collins recommends visiting alt.callahans and
- reading their FAQ on flamewars.
- * 6.3. Flame War Prevention aka Do Not Feed The Trolls 101
- o 6.3.1. Basic Definition
- + 6.3.1.1. Flame wars are nasty, brutish things.
- They clog up the incoming message spool and
- distort the meaningful signal to noise ratio
- beyond recognition. Old friends get frustrated and
- leave, possible new friends get scared away and
- never come back.
- + 6.3.1.2. They are not to be confused with
- spirited, yet polite, arguments. If we couldn't
- debate various aspects of the Mad Wizard's works
- or even have fun with off-topic discussions, what
- good would the newsgroup be?
- o 6.3.2 What characterizes a flame war?
- + 6.3.2.1. Most of the time, they are abetted by a
- troll, who is a person who absolutely delights in
- escalating responses to real or imagined slights
- and insists that he or she absolutely, positively,
- has to get the last word in edgewise.
- + 6.3.2.2. Often, the use of profanity reaches
- critical mass, and even people who aren't usually
- bothered by those words observe that things have
- gone too far.
- + 6.3.2.3. In heated arguments, one participant
- forcefully objects to another participant's
- arguments and opinions. In flame wars, the insults
- are directed at a person, rather than at a
- person's opinions (thanks to the Wombat Woman for
- this definition).
- o 6.3.3. So, how do you put out a smoldering or worse
- yet, rapidly burning flame war?
- + 6.3.3.1. Watch your language in your postings.
- Some groups tolerate a certain level of profanity,
- but abd-w since its inception has been a newsgroup
- where George Carlin's seven words and other
- related invective have not been put in play very
- often.
- + 6.3.3.2. Unless you modify the header in your
- message with something like "X-no-archive = yes",
- your posting gets archived by DejaNews and/or
- related search engines. Do you *really* want all
- of cyberspace who's curious enough to search out
- read your profile to note you as a person to be
- avoided because your messages are so filled with
- nastiness? Should electrons be diverted to
- enshrine your incoherent screeds?
- + 6.3.3.3. If you're the recipient of flamage,
- you've got a much harder job than the troll who is
- wasting bandwidth in the attack. You've got to
- *not* respond. Bite your lip. Sit on your hands.
- Close your newsreader, turn off your computer, and
- walk away if you have to. Trolls thrive on the
- quickly dashed off response filled with emotion.
- They aren't susceptible to elegantly reasoned out
- appeals to amend their bad behavior.
- + 6.3.3.3.1. Think of this as a high-tech
- adaptation of the Amish practice of shunning.
- You ignore the offender until one of two
- events occur. Either the troll moves on to
- more flammable newsgroups, or somewhat less
- likely (but a ethically superior event),
- notices that its bad behavior has cost it the
- companionship of its former comrades. If by
- some happy chance, the recovered troll goes
- back to posting interesting and enjoyable
- messages, welcome it back by responding in a
- similar fashion. It knows it crossed the
- line, and it has paid the price.
- + 6.3.3.4. I've noticed several instances in my time
- online where newcomers to groups do something that
- violates the group's norms, get *plonked* by the
- regulars, but sit back and figure out where they
- messed up. They amend their styles and become
- welcome members of the group.
- + 6.3.3.5. As for the unrepentant trolls, no big
- loss if they leave. Really. They may or may not
- get a clue, but you don't have to invest any
- psychic, spiritual, mental, or electrical energy
- on them. Only time will tell for them.
- + 6.3.3.6. Killfiles (if your newsreader supports
- them) and marking the offending thread "to be
- ignored" are good things. Use these features. If
- you don't smell the smoke, you won't get upset and
- fan the flames higher.
- o 6.3.4. If you find yourself on the sidelines watching,
- you've got to follow the guidelines in 5.3.3 too. If
- you want to support the person or persons attacked, a
- brief email off the group, especially if you respect
- how the person is not making matters worse, will
- probably encourage them and help them persevere.
- Publicly taking sides against the troll ends up feeding
- its sense of "me against a cold cruel world" and things
- get worse.
- o 6.3.5. Don't think that we are advocating mindless
- conformity and sycophancy here, because we're not.
- We've had truly free- wheeling discussions, and people
- have been quite passionate in defense of their views.
- The goal should be always to avoid personal attacks and
- accept the fact that not every person in the group is
- in complete alignment with your world view. We're all
- brought together here because we enjoy the Mad Wizard's
- works, and while we're on this common ground, we're all
- welcome to pitch our tents and stay a while.
- * 6.4. Wombat Flinging
- o 6.4.1. In a past flame war, Wombat Woman flung herself
- into the fray as a warning to the group that things
- were going too far. Her commentary about this series of
- events is as follows:
- + 6.4.1.1. I admit to a bit of concern about wombat
- FLINGing. This is something that apparently
- started in jest while I was off the NG for a
- couple of weeks. My return and resulting discovery
- of the thread coincided with the recent flame war,
- and so the wombat was flung. Now what? While I
- don't have an objection to playing referee, I'd
- rather not become a NG nazi--or a self-righteous
- troll.
- + 6.4.1.2. In the most recent situation, I did not
- FLING myself into the fray until two separate and
- non-flaming NG members suggested it. I limited
- myself to a single posting in which I attempted to
- define non-acceptable behaviour. I attempted to
- inject a little bit of humor in hopes of dampening
- the flame.
- + 6.4.1.3. *If* I ever resort to FLINGing again, I
- will again wait until other NG members suggest it.
- I will only post once. I will attempt to use humor
- to defuse the situation. My purpose in posting
- will be to let the troll(s) know that such
- behaviour is not accepted on abd-w and to remind
- other NG members Not To Feed the Trolls.
- o 6.4.2. If someone on the ng mentions flinging the
- wombat, this is where we came up with this tactic.
- Flamewar DEFCON protocols are as follows:
- + 6.4.2.1. Five is peacetime
- + 6.4.2.2. Four is be alert
- + 6.4.2.3. Three is be worried
- + 6.4.2.4. Two is wombat lock and load
- + 6.4.2.5. One is Wombat Attack Inbound
- o 6.4.3. Wombat Woman is honorary captain of the
- FLINGers, but any member of the ng should be able to
- take up marsupials in defense of the collective peace.
-
- 7) The Thread that Cannot/Will Not Die: Casting the Honor
- Harrington Movie
-
- * 7.1. Every newsgroup has its version of the endless thread,
- ours seems to be casting of the Honor movie/miniseries.
- * 7.2. There is a website set up for voting on the casting
- call at http://www.nimitz.net/honor_harrington/. Thanks to
- Randy and Anne Kaelber for putting this all together.
- * 7.3. There's a new runner-up to this category -- the gun
- thread. Several threads seem to degenerate into either
- arguments about carrying guns or comparisons between the
- weight of metal different people carry. This may be part of
- what makes us such an unusually civil newsgroup.
-
- 8) Spoiler Protection
-
- * 8.1. Not all of us in the newsgroup are able to get (and
- devour) David's latest works promptly (e.g. if you live in
- small towns or outside of the North American book
- distribution system). Others wait until the hardback books
- get released in paperback before they can join in the
- discussions.
- * 8.2. Many of us participate in other newsgroups and mailing
- lists where spoiler protection is invoked. With Baen's
- practice of posting a substantial number of sample chapters
- online well before release of the books, the possibility of
- inflicting spoilage on people who want to devour the book
- all at once upon release or are waiting for paperback
- release has now gotten too high. If you want to share
- spoilerish commentary with the newsgroup, it would be
- appreciated if you to note that clearly in the subject
- header with a [spoiler] tag and include 25 blank lines and a
- control-L before any of your comments or quotes of other
- people's postings.
- o 8.2.1. Someone recently quoted some material found on a
- web site without clearly noting spoilage content and
- many of us were not happy with the result. Con reports
- seem to be especially suspect.
- o 8.2.2. And of course, all the spoiler tags and blank
- lines are useless if your subject heading is a blatant
- spoiler! Discretion is the better part of valor.
-
- 9) Other Authors
-
- * 9.1. Who is Lois McMaster Bujold, and why are so many folks
- in a newsgroup dedicated to David Weber talking about her?
- o 9.1.1. Lois McMaster Bujold is another of Baen Books'
- top authors and a Hugo and Nebula winner for
- installments of her Miles Vorkosigan saga. There seems
- to be a fairly large overlap between Bujold fandom and
- Weberphiles, so even though Bujold discussions are
- technically off-topic, the newsgroup consensus seems to
- be tolerating them with the addition of a [bujold] tag
- in the subject line to allow folks to filter or
- killfile those discussions. Further Bujold fannish
- information can be found at http://www.dendarii.com.
- * 9.2. Who is John Ringo?
- o 9.2.1. John Ringo is an a.b.d-w/Baen's Bar mustang.
- He's been a regular contributor both in our newsgroup
- and on Baen's Bar for quite a while. Then he published
- his own first book, A Hymn Before Battle, with Baen in
- August 2000. He has, as of this writing, four books
- published, including two co-authored with David, and
- more on the way. John also remains an active
- participant in a.b.d-w. John's novels are considered
- on-topic in abdw. You can find more information about
- John on his web page at http://www.johnringo.com/.
-
- 10) Other DW Resources on the Net/Web
-
- * 10.1. Scott Deering's Unofficial David Weber Fan Club Page
- http://www.movie-trailers.com/weber/ was one of the very
- first fan sites, but seems to be rather out of date.
- * 10.2. The Baen Books Website has sample chapters and a
- discussion board for addicts of Baen products (large
- Weberphile contingent) and a separate board for virtual
- mercenaries to play in at http://www.baen.com/. They also
- have a free library online of several published books,
- including a number by David Weber at
- http://www.baen.com/library.
- * 10.3. Mike Weber's webpage is chock full of stuff that the
- Family Weber is up to. Go to
- http://weberworld.virtualave.net/ for the website
- * 10.4. Cool Renderings of Ships (Check them out! The artists
- are part of the newsgroup.)
- o 10.4.1. http://www.ibfs.demon.co.uk/nojay/nike/
- o 10.4.2.
- http://www.home.earthlink.net/~captruss/RMN.html
- o 10.4.3. Some drawings of missiles are at:
- http://www.ameritech.net/users/jmrobert/shipkill.jpg
- and at
-
- http://www.ameritech.net/users/jmrobert/shipkill2.jpg
- * 10.5. Aegys's Hall of Honor
- (http://www1.jump.net/~fearless/)is another good starting
- point for fans of the Honor Harrington books and contains
- portions of the Royal Manticoran Encyclopaedia. This site is
- a great addition and very helpful to fans of the series.
- There's also a discussion board that is rather busy with
- Weberphiles. The chat board URL is
- http://disc.server.com/Indices/4096.html. Many of these
- folks do online chat on Thursday evenings (6 PM Central US
- time). Aegys also set up the Honor Harrington webring with a
- listing of current sites at:
- http://www.webring.org/cgi-bin/webring?ring=honor_h;list.
- * 10.6. Ed Hogg has created a website for the People's
- Republic of Haven that counteracts the propaganda put forth
- by the Manticoran Alliance. For another side to the story,
- see: http://www.equus.demon.co.uk/peeprep/index.html.
- * 10.7. Joe Buckley hosts Dahak's Orbit, which usually carries
- chapters of upcoming books, among other interesting info
- (such as this FAQ), at http://dahak.ne.mediaone.net/.
-
- 11) Miscellaneous Stuff
-
- * 11.1. Other odd topics of conversation have included: the
- relative merits of the cover art for the Honor books, one
- fun thread that started out wondering what would happen if
- Weber characters crossed over into the Star Trek universe,
- then it cascaded to encompass other universes and inspire a
- filksong, and comments about other books, TV shows, and
- movies that newsgroup members enjoy. Note: spoiler
- protection probably ought to be added to these discussions
- out of courtesy. "Babylon 5" spoilers, especially, are
- liable to result in your introduction to a certain gang of
- bat-wielding Narns. You don't want that to happen, trust me!
- * 11.2. Here's a question that needed an answer: "I see a lot
- of references to E. E. "Doc" Smith and the Lensman universe
- in the newsgroup....what's the connection to David Weber?"
- Mike Richards wrote a very good capsule summary, enjoy!
- o 11.2.1. Who is E.E. "Doc" Smith?
- + 11.2.1.1. Edward Elmer Smith, Ph. D., was a writer
- of SF novels from the late twenties until his
- death in the mid sixties. He was perhaps the first
- author to write recognisable "Space Opera" novels,
- with his Skylark and Lensman series
- ("Triplanetary", "First Lensman", "Galactic
- Patrol", "Grey Lensman", "Second Stage Lensman",
- "Children of the Lens" and "Masters of the
- Vortex"). The latter books in particular featured
- not-implausible science (based on what was
- believed at the time it was written), a
- meticulously detailed plot spread over several
- self contained stories, characters changing and
- developing, space battles on a galactic scale and
- truly awesome weaponry. It was a source of
- inspiration for the "Green Lantern" comics, and
- was also one of the first SF series to portray any
- strong female characters, with Clarissa MacDougal
- (the "Red Lensman") and her daughters fully the
- equal of anyone they met.
- + 11.2.1.2. Now, fifty years on, the books look
- dated (particularly some of the science), but the
- stories remain popular. They were among the SF
- works that David (and Mike) Weber grew up with,
- and favourable comparisons have been drawn in the
- newsgroup.
- + 11.2.1.3. Most of Smith's work went out of print
- in the early eighties, but the Lensman series has
- just been reissued ("Ripping" in the UK, "Old
- Earth Books" of Baltimore, Maryland in the US) and
- the other books can often be found in second-hand
- bookstores. The anime version bears little
- relation to the stories other than some names.
- + 11.2.1.4. A "Lensman FAQ" is posted occasionally
- on rec.arts.sf.written by Gharlane of Eddore.
-
- 12) The Filks
-
- * 12.1. Mike Richards' Ladies Night on Argo can be found at:
- http://www.z9m9z.demon.co.uk/filk/ladies.txt, and all of
- his space-related filks are at
- http://www.z9m9z.demon.co.uk/filk/space.htm.
- There's a filk there about Path of the Fury as well and
- the libretto to his generic do-it-yourself space opera at
- http://www.z9m9z.demon.co.uk/filk/opera.txt.
- * 12.2. The Gilbert and Sullivan filks from the newsgroup
- filking challenge are at
- http://www.warriorgoddess.org/weberfilk.html
- * 12.3. There are also some terrific filks posted on Aegys'
- discussion board, and Jonathan Cresswell has compiled them
- on his own website at
- http://www.netrover.com/~jcresswl/filkpg/filkpage.html. He's
- got the most extensive collection of filks.
-
- 13) The Great ABD-W Typo Hunt
-
- * 13.0. Note from the Deputy Mad Archivist: This section has
- not been updated with this version of the FAQ. We've had
- several new books published, and plenty of new typos found,
- since the last version of this FAQ was created. However, all
- of these are stored away somewhere in the secret depths of
- the Mad Archivist's computer, which is currently
- inaccessible since Cap'n Cynthia's ISP has just gone under
- at this point.
- * 13.1. Joe Buckley calls them Weberisms in his recent
- compilation of the spoils of the Typo Hunt [Archivist's
- Note: This is not to be considered a blanket indictment of
- the quality of work the proofreaders are doing (Kate
- Verleger gave a most impassioned defense of that most
- thankless job) but when a writer like TOWiDW creates such
- detailed universes, Deity alone knows that there are plenty
- of opportunities for gremlins to do their will and have
- discrepancies show up in the final product.] The top
- offenders so far are:
- o 13.1.1. Honor Harrington Series
- + 13.1.1.1. When Honor is knighted at the end of
- Honor of the Queen, Sir Anthony Langtry says his
- authority to do so is as Her Majesty's Ambassador
- to Haven, not Grayson. Whoops! (attribution is
- unclear, John Moreno and Splifford had this
- discussion on both abd-w and rasfw recently, but
- this could also have been brought up in the
- infancy of the newsgroup)
- + 13.1.1.2. Sir Lucien Cortez, head of the RMN
- BuPers, gets called Lucius several times. (Jeanne
- Hedge posted about this one)
- + 13.1.1.3. Another contribution by Jeanne Hedge...
- In HAE, at the Steilman-Wanderman Captain's Masts
- (pgs 442-446 of the US hardcover edition):
- Steilman's charges include violation of Article 35
- (assaulting a fellow crewman). Wanderman is
- charged with violating Article 36 (fighting with a
- fellow crewman, with aggravated circumstances).
- Yet when Captain Harrington passes punishment on
- Wanderman, she says it is for violation of Article
- 35, with aggravated circumstances.
- + 13.1.1.4. The first paperback printing of Flag in
- Exile gives the Gregorian equivalent date of 3919,
- the second printing is corrected to 4019 and is
- consistent with the time line in More than Honor.
- (I caught that one in late 1997)
- + 13.1.1.5. Joe Buckley recently found this in his
- re-reading of the saga: "One I spotted the other
- day was during the scene when McKeon, Harrington,
- and her Guard are in _Prince Adrian's_ lift after
- Honor's arrival aboard and McKeon was discussing
- the 'burn-before-reading' secret multi-stage
- missiles and mentions that he worked on the first
- field trials of the FTL coms when he was with
- _Madrigal_. Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but
- he's only had _Troubadour_ and _Prince Adrian_. He
- may well have worked *with* _Madrigal_ before he
- showed up in Yeltsin in the same short squadron as
- her, but it was when he was CO of _Troubadour_.
- (In Enemy Hands)
- + 13.1.1.6. In Enemy Hands also provided additional
- fuel for Joe's musings: "Then we have a section
- that several rereadings has failed to illuminate:
- About the time when _Prince Adrian_ is about to
- translate out of hyper, we get a discourse on the
- relative lack of sophistication of the _Prince
- Consort_ class ships' accomodations. I have yet to
- sort out what he means when he jumps from
- discussing _Prince Consorts_ to _Crown Princes_ to
- _Star Knights_. The _Prince Consorts_ and the
- _Star Knights_ are easy enough to see, but where
- do the _Crown Princes_ fit into that discourse?
- Unless the _Crown Princes_ were supposed to have
- had the squadron flag accomodations before the
- _Star Knights_ rolled out.
- + 13.1.1.7. And Joe found the following in the
- prologue to Echoes of Honor: Something that stuck
- out at me when I first read the prologue to
- _Echoes of Honor_ was during Boardman's mention
- the _Sirius_. Well, correct me if I'm wrong (and
- I'm sure *someone* will!), but in _On Basilisk
- Station_, she was designated PMSS _Sirius_." Joe
- suggests "If you want some more fun with _tHotQ_,
- reread the section where the Grayson/Manticore
- task force gets spanked. Particularly where it
- discusses the engagement envelope for _MSN
- Principality_/_PNS Breslau_. ( Re: closest
- approach of Graysons to _Breslau_ being one
- hundred million kilometers.)
- + 13.1.1.8. Jack Tingle found a rather serious
- timeline problem: "As an exercise, I put together
- a simple timeline from the HH books. Frankly, it
- doesn't hold water. There's a 0.52% error in the
- long term time line, and all of the events in
- "TSVW" had to have taken no more than 2 days.
- That's the time between HH assuming command of the
- Nike and the final battle as reported in Lord
- Young's court martial. (RE: Honor assumed command
- of _Nike_ on 6/21/282 and White Haven stated at
- the courts' opening that the events in question
- took place on or about 6/23/282.)
- + 13.1.1.9. Navbuoy noticed the following
- discrepancy: Honor got an elevation in rank from
- Knight Companion to Knight Commander between THotQ
- and tSVW.
- + 13.1.1.10. Brom O'Berin has the following inquiry
- about the Manticore wormhole termini... OBS
- paperback version pg 52 describes the Manticore
- wormhole as having 'no less than six additional
- termini' ... plus 'the survey readings suggested
- there should be at least one more undiscovered
- terminus' ... and the diagram at the front of OBS
- shows and names six (Basilisk, Republic of Haven,
- Phoenix, Solarian League, Mazapan and Anderman
- Empire) termini ...However the MTH appendix
- (Universe of HH) ... in (4)(B) on the Manticore
- Junction - pg 350 - has the junction connected to
- _five_ additional termini (names all but Mazapan)
- plus possibility of one, maybe more undiscovered
- termini ...Which one is canon ... or blooper, etc.
- + 13.1.1.10.1. Joe Buckley replies: "I'd
- imagine that _MTH_ was in error, since Book 1
- (_OBS_) mentioned the six and named them, as
- well as all of the subsequent Junction Maps
- showed all six. (Unless, of course, this is a
- further example of letting the treecat out of
- the bag early like his FTL-comm pulse rate
- fiasco.) Just my two bits.
- + 13.1.1.11. Brom O'Berin also had the following
- question about the number of Honor's hyper-capable
- commands: "How about where Honor in uniform is
- described as having _six_ gold stars ...
- representing 6 hyper-capable commands. Unless I
- have Alzheimer's, shouldn't that be five ... for
- 'Hawkwing' (DD), 'Fearless' (CL), 'Fearless' (CA),
- 'Nike' (BC), and 'Wayfarer' (AMC)?
- + 13.1.1.12. An unknown contributor found the
- following discrepancy between On Basilisk Station
- and the technical appendix in More than Honor
- (thanks to Joe Buckley for finding it for me):
- "Well, IIRC, the Honorverse forts are *not*
- driveless. They can maneuver slightly. I seem to
- recall a mention of their being able to pull about
- 100g's (perhaps in OBS?), but that was negated by
- the acceleration tables supplied in MtH."
- + 13.1.1.13. Scott Powers caught the following, and
- Navbuoy confirmed that this is a major typo in the
- series: In "On Basilisk Station" the forts are
- described this way: "The smallest fortress out
- there massed close to sixteen million tons, twice
- as a superdreadnaught" (Chap. 5, pg. 55). Later in
- that same chapter, is this: "the 'forts' in the
- outer ring had to be able to move to fill in the
- gaps and mass upon an attacker. Their maximum
- acceleration rates were low, well under a hundred
- gravities, but their initial position had been
- very carefully planned. Their acceleration would
- be enough to intercept attacking forces headed
- in-system, and their engines were sufficiently
- powerful to generate impeller wedges and sidewalls
- to protect them." (pg. 57) In "More Than Honor",
- at the back of the book, in the section titled
- "The Universe of Honor Harrington" 8,500,000 tons
- is the limit of a warships size, with maximum
- acceleration dropping rapidly. An SD has an
- acceleration of 420 gees, a ship of 9,547,500 tons
- would have an acceleration of 1 g. (Pg.309-310) By
- this, we can assumethat the 16,000,000 ton forts
- would have an acceleration of effectively ZERO
- gees. Either I missed something, or DW did.
- + 13.1.1.14. Casey Lazo says, "My favorite is in
- Honor Among Enemies (I think): the one with the
- reference to the *Sky* Kingdom (of Manticore).
- IIRC, it appeared in both the hardcover and
- paperback releases.
- + 13.1.1.15. Casey also found the following in the
- online version of Chapter 14 of Echoes of Honor:
- "[Honor] stepped closer, moving slightly to one
- side to get the sunset out ofher *eyes*..." ?!?
- Unless she's developed a third eye, that ought to
- have been in the singular, ne?
- + 13.1.1.16. On page 6 of Field of Dishonor, TZ
- found: "The heaviest Manticoran units were 6
- battlecruisers, 3 of them already circled by the
- flashing yellow bands of combat damage, and 6
- superdreadnoughts led the Peeps charging up their
- wakes." However, Admiral Chin's heaviest unit was
- a dreadnought and not a superdreadnought.
- + 13.1.1.17. Thomas Ambuehler points out a German
- typo in Honor Among Enemies: "When the Andermani
- Admiral Rabenstrange challenges the Q-ship, he
- firstly uses German, and he says "Gutten Morgen,
- Kapitain!" This really struck me like a bolt. It
- should be "Guten Morgen, Kapitön!" But that is
- only because he used my mother tongue." That just
- goes to show that typo hunting is an international
- and multilingual pastime!
- + 13.1.1.18. Here's a typo that Miguel Velez had to
- remind me about after an eleven-month lapse (my
- bad): In IEH, there's a line about Haven being
- over 1800 light-years from Earth which justifies
- not recalling the Foreign Secretary and making him
- take a six month trip back home. However, Miguel
- noted that the appendix of MTH states that Haven
- is 667 LY from Earth (155 LY more than Manticore).
- David confirmed that it is a typo, but that the
- six month transit time is about right. DW
- elaborated further: "Assume the distance is 620
- LY; to make the trip in 6 months, you'd have to
- average around 1,240 times the speed of light
- which is just about right for a "fast" merchant
- ship. Given that merchies don't go above the Delta
- bands, where the maximum attainable effective
- velocity is about 1,100 cee (don't have the tech
- manual in front of me), even at 6 months, you'd
- have to assume a merchie in the Epsilon bands (max
- effective V = about 1,400 cee) to get a 6 months
- turn around. Now, if they put him on a courier
- boat and ran him home clear up in the Zeta bands
- (which they wouldn't normally do with an important
- diplomat), they could cover 620 LY in about 3.5
- months, which is still a pretty long time.
- Assuming your 667 LY figure is right (and it
- probably is) a merchant ship in the Epsilon bands
- should take about 5.6 months--still close to the 6
- month transit figure. A courier boat would take
- about 3.7 months for the same trip. Yes, I suppose
- you can go ahead and post it with Cynthia. As I
- said, I'm not sure how it got in there in the
- first place. Sigh."
- o 13.1.2. Dahak/Fifth Imperium
- + 13.1.2.1. Just to show you that we're not just
- picking on the Honorverse for typos, Jason found
- the following in Mutineer's Moon: "In the October
- '94 edition, p156, when Colin is getting ready for
- the fighter strike. Sentence reads "He hung his
- gray gun on his suit webbing" As that's the only
- mention of gun color that I've come across, I
- presume it's supposed to read "grav gun"."
- + 13.1.2.2. Joe Buckley found this as well: "Another
- little glitch that I always trip over is in "Heirs
- of Empire", just after _Isreal_ (spelling?) is
- unceremoniously ejected from _Imperial Terra_ and
- the kids are doing their systems checks: Harriet
- refers to her brother Sean during her part of the
- brief as *Colin*.
- + 13.1.2.3. And another goodie caught by Joe's eagle
- eyes: "When Gen. Hatcher is discussing recent
- developments of the Siege with (I believe) Horus
- and the Achuultani use of Iapetus as a bludgeon,
- he mentions that the current orbital position of
- Saturn puts it 1.5 *trillion* kilometers from
- Earth."
- o 13.1.3. The Lay of Bahzell Bloody-Hand
- + 13.1.3.1. Daniel Bernstein found this in Oath of
- Swords: On page 192, when Bahzell and Brandark are
- counting their money, it says "...and Bahzell sat
- back to let Brandark count it." At the bottom of
- the same page, though, we have "Bahzell finished
- counting..."
-
- 14) Frogs and Buzzards and Tortoises, oh my!
-
- * 14.1. Kate Verleger, our Judge Advocate General, and
- resident chief of amphibian artillery has described the
- tradition of lobbing frogs at punsters. Other abd-w denizens
- have adapted this tradition recently to include other
- members of the animal kingdom such as buzzards and
- tortoises. Look out Below! We've got a whole group of folks
- (ROMANCE) who are the chief flingers of animalia and their
- preferred target are snerkers who publicly gloat about
- privileged information online. Check out
- http://members.aol.com/gwynedd/beatrice/index.html#top for
- the history, including a contribution by the Mad Wizard
- Weber himself.
- o 14.1.1. As requested, here is a short history of the
- role of Frogs in mechanized warfare. (edit it as you
- see fit: I decided I'd better err on the side of
- caution and be as complete as possible).
- o 14.1.2. The tradition of Frogs in Warfare is a long and
- honorable one, whose origins date back approximately
- twenty years to Bryn Mawr College, outside of
- Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania.
- o 14.1.3. At this college is a dormitory called Denbigh
- Hall, and in this dorm is a common room called a back
- smoker. The point of back smokers, originally, was to
- provide students a place in the back of the dorm where
- they could smoke in peace and not disturb anyone, and,
- not so coincidentally, burn down the building (again).
- o 14.1.4. As time progressed, a particular sort of people
- tended to collect in the back smoker: among the more
- illustrious Denbigh Back Smoker (DBS) alumnae is the
- author Caroline Stevermer (Bryn Mawr '77), and to whose
- denizens her novel, _A College of Magics_, is
- dedicated. As the people collected in the DBS, so did
- the books they tended to read[0]
- o 14.1.5. The inhabitants of the DBS developed two means
- of communicating with one another: face to face
- conversation, and a sort of bound bulletin board,
- called the DBS Diary. In the Diary, the Mawrtyrs would
- write anonymously, under pseudonyms, or under their own
- names, messages to one another or the group at large.
- + 14.1.5.1. For example, "May 5, 1995: Calamity is
- happy to announce the birth of a Senior Thesis (52
- pages text, 6 pages endnotes, 5 pages
- bibliography), at approximately 3 am this morning,
- "A Spectrum of Characters: Religion, Love and
- Responsibility in _The Brothers Karamazov_".
- Viewing upon request, IBM WP 5.1 or paper only."
- + 14.1.5.2. Alternatively, "Cheat session for Spring
- Ball Erd Liv Rm 12 pm Sat. --Amy L."[1]
- o 14.1.6. In approximately 1980, someone left to the DBS
- as a May Day Gift (gifts are traditionally given by
- upperclasswomen to younger students on the morning of
- the College's celebration of May Day), a stuffed green
- frog. The frog was of convenient size, approximately
- 8x8x8, slightly understuffed, and was a fading green.
- + 14.1.6.1. No one knows the first time that it was
- thrown in outrage at a particularly bad pun,
- however the idea quickly caught on and spread to
- the other major backsmoker on campus in Erdman
- Hall. Further, when one was with one's fellow
- denizens but away from the DBS (thus without the
- frog), and a particularly bad pun was uttered, one
- could say to the offender "Frog!" and the frog
- would have been considered thrown.
- + 14.1.6.2. This extended to the diary: when a pun
- was posted to the diary, the first responder to
- the pun would be likely to write as his/her post
- "frog," "thwap" (the sound the frog makes when
- impacting a target), or draw a frog into the
- diary, and the frog would be considered duly
- thrown. Bad jokes were equally considered worthy
- of frogging.
- + 14.1.6.3. I adapted this practice to the 'net to
- express my responses to the epidemic of viral
- punning online.
- o 14.1.7. Frogging 101
- + 14.1.7.1. Definition
- + 14.1.7.2. Frog: noun. 1. any of numerous tailless,
- chiefly aquatic amphibians of the order Salienta,
- and especially of the family Ranidae, having a
- smooth, moist skin, webbed feet, and long hind
- legs adapted for jumping. 2. A projectile punning
- mechanism, with a selector switch for automatic /
- semiautomatic. [2]Users are advised to chamber the
- frog before firing. (The projectile gives a
- satisfactory "thwap" sound as described by
- manufacturer's spec that way). Available in a
- variety of projectile sizes, from amazonian tree,
- through green Clemens, up to and including Denbigh
- Stuffed (recommended only for
- targets at least 6 feet from user).
- + 14.1.7.3. No incantation required prior to
- depressing trigger (see "sending messages"),
- though specifying size of projectile would be an
- amusing read.
- o 14.1.8. PLEASE! Practice good research habits! If
- you're going to start frogging on an ng without an
- active Bryn Mawr Alum on it (who ought to be able to
- explain the tradition), CITE YOUR SOURCE for the
- tradition.
- o 14.1.9. The appropriate citation if you're relaying the
- tradition on to someone else--in person or on the
- net--is: Denbigh Back Smoker, Denbigh Hall, Bryn Mawr
- College, Bryn Mawr, PA,c. 1980.
- o 14.1.10. That's really all there is to it, with one
- caveat: Remember to tell your frogs to look before they
- leap--they've got better odds of hitting their targets
- that way.
- o 14.1.11. May the Frogs be with you, Kate Verleger,
- Igor--sorry, that's Graduate Assistant, Department of
- Economics, Indiana University; Ars Bacheloris, Russian,
- Bryn Mawr College, 1995; Fearless Leader, Doublestar
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Club, Bryn Mawr and
- Haverford Colleges, 1993-1995.
- + 14.1.11.1. Notes:
- + 14.1.11.1.1. [0] This is how Homer got
- shelved next to McCaffrey.
- + 14.1.11.1.2. [1] It is interesting to note
- that the DBS Diary, likewise the Erdman Back
- Smoker Diary (also of Bryn Mawr), both behave
- in a -very- similar fashion to a ng today.
- Even anonymously, flaming other writers was
- severely sanctioned, threads of conversation
- developed and were quickly lost as you had to
- flip through page upon page of "posts" to
- find out what "happened" since the last time
- you wrote, and the more stressed out the
- posters were (such as during finals or
- midterm exams), the more they wrote.
- + 14.1.11.1.3. [2] Period methods of lobbing
- frogs are available: by hand, long bow,
- recurve, javelin, and crossbow, for period
- use.
- * 14.2. Jack Tingle also notes another use of the FROG acronym
- that would be of interest to a fair number of the group (the
- technology and tactics mavens) which is not related to
- Kate's tradition: "WRT FROG, note also NATO designation for
- light Soviet-made, land-based, ballistic artillery rocket;
- "Free Rocket Over Ground", which the US semi-copied as the
- MLRS.
- o 14.2.1. This weapon class dates back to the Congreve
- rockets used by the British in the Napoleonic wars.
- They were eventually superseded by large guns in
- European warfare, but Russian and later Soviet doctrine
- never gave up on them. Naval equivalents were also
- never abandoned, since rocket bombardment of land
- emplacements from barges were often useful during the
- ramp-up to amphibious assults (or even amphibian
- assaults).
- o 14.2.2. One of the more famous Soviet relatives of the
- FROG was the light, infantry-carried Katyushka
- bombardment rocket, used by the Viet Cong in the war in
- Indochina."
- * 14.3. The members of ROMANCE have expanded this to include a
- wide variety of amphibians, even going so far as to borrow a
- concept from Terry Pratchett and use eagle-launched
- TORTOISEs (see _Small Gods_ by Terry Pratchett).
-
- 15) ABDW Acronyms (send me ones I've missed!)
-
- * 15.1. TOWiDW = The One Who is David Weber
- * 15.2. HWKABSM = He Who Knows All But Suggests Most (David
- Weber)
- * 15.3. MWW = (the) Mad Wizard Weber
- * 15.4. SWMBOiG = She Who Must Be Obeyed in Greenville (Sharon
- Weber)
-
- 16) Thanks/Acknowledgements for FAQ help
-
- * 16.1. My thanks to "AmyCat" <amy_c@efn.SPAM-SUCKS.org> ["You
- know what to delete if you want to e-mail me!" <g>] for
- proofreading and being my beta reader on the original
- version and to all the past and current members of the
- newsgroup for keeping me honest and nudging me to do the
- updates.
- * 16.2. Contributions to future versions of the FAQ are
- gratefully solicited in advance. I will advise the RMN
- Bureau of Personnel that all FAQ contributors should be
- considered candidates for the RMN Medal of Gallantry and my
- own personal order, the Mad Archivist's Thanks.
- * 16.3. Past recipients of the Mad Archivist's Thanks are (in
- no particular order): Ken Nixon, Kate Verleger, David Bell,
- Mike Richards, Carmold, Captain Button, Dan Cannata, Brom
- O'Berin, Joe Buckley, Jeanne Hedge, Scott Powers, Casey
- Lazo, Navbuoy, John Moreno, Splifford, Jason at
- concentric.net, Jack Tingle, TZ, Miguel Velez, and Wombat
- Woman.
- * 16.4. Recipients of the Deputy Mad Archivist's Thanks are:
- Marten Kemp, Robert Woodward, Michael Dolbear.
- * 16.5. Recipients of the Cashew Cluster to the Mad
- Archivist's Thanks are: Daniel Bernstein, Linda Fox.
- * 16.6. And of course, profuse thanks go to David Weber
- himself, who provides us all with a reason to get together
- in the virtual world.
-
-
- --
- Daniel
- "These terrorists aren't out for a new kind of coexistence with
- us. They are out for our non-existence."
- - Thomas L. Friedman, NY Times, 5 Oct 2001
-