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From: [e-mail] (Tim Skirvin)
Newsgroups: uiuc.general,news.answers
Subject: There Is No Need...: the uiuc.general FAQ, v1.3825 (updated 4/16/97)
Supersedes: <[e-mail]>
Followup-To: uiuc.general
Date: 16 Apr 1997 19:21:19 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Lines: 268
Approved: [e-mail]
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Reply-To: [e-mail]
NNTP-Posting-Host: symcom.math.uiuc.edu
Summary: This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions for the local
    newsgroup uiuc.general.  I wrote it in a fit of insanity, and
    why stop now...
Originator: [e-mail]

Archive-name: usenet/uiuc/general-faq
Last-modified: 1997/04/16
Version: 1.3825
URL: http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/tskirvin/general.faq

    There Is No Need For You To Refer Us To Your Lame Homepage
                the uiuc.general FAQ
              maintained by Tim Skirvin
                last updated 4/16/97

    This document is the Official List of Questions Asked Frequently
on uiuc.general.  The denizens of the group aren't always appreciative
when the same things come up over and over again; this ought to answer
half of 'em, and the rest are ignorable anyway.  Before posting, read
this.  Thanks.


Table of Contents
===== == ========
1) What is uiuc.general?
1.5) How did it get a FAQ?
2) What is UIUC?
3) How do I post here?
4) What is CCSO?
A) How do I make a new newsgroup?
B) What's up with the modem pool?
C) What is {Ken Chen|Plesko} complaining about?
D) What happened to cso.test?
E) I missed an episode of Babylon 5!  Where can I get a copy of the tape?
F) Why are all those {drivers|bikers|pedestrians} so stupid?
G) What's CCSO's problem with chain-mail?
H) Here's my Social Security Number...
I) Why don't all you people just GET A LIFE?
J) Why don't *you* just get a life?
K) Aborti...
L) What are CCSO's policies?
M) How do I get extra quota space on the students cluster?
N) How did this thing become official?
O) How did we have so many discussions here about things which the FAQ
  thing says everyone is tired of?
X) What's up with the numbering?
Y) Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?
Z) How do I contribute to this wonderfully crafted FAQ?
AA) Is there anything else you'd like to say?
PS) Hey, wait a second, what the hell was that in your .sig?

Questions
=========
1) What is uiuc.general?

    uiuc.general is a general newsgroup for UIUC.


1.5) How did it get a FAQ?

    I wrote one.


2) What is UIUC?

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  I suppose I
actually have to answer that question, now that I'm really submitting it
officially.  Scary; this group may make the big-time...


3) How do I post here?

    Unless you're from UIUC, you don't; CCSO is smart enough to block
your postings.  If you're from around here, figure out your newsreader,
it's not that tough.


4) What is CCSO?

    Computing and Communications Services Office.  They used to be
CSO, prompting the slogan "Service used to be our middle name, now it's
next to last."


A) How do I make a new newsgroup?

    You issue a newgroup for it, and hope that people accept it.
Vixen, our news-server, will not.  'ph usenet' at a command prompt for
instructions on how to make Vixen create a new newsgroup.  If you're on
Prairienet, mail [e-mail] with your request.


B) What's up with the modem pool?

    There's far too many people logged into far too few modems far
too much of the time.  The University has started charging a small
fee for people that are on the term servers more than twenty hours a
week, $0.30 per hour beyond the first twenty.  Users of the dormitory
networks get less hours; other restrictions may apply.  Deal with it.


C) What is {Ken Chen|Marguerite Plesko} complaining about?

    Ken Chen is an UIUC graduate, having gotten his Bachelor's in CS
with High Honors.  He also hated the school, especially for having given
him the "scarlet letter of High Honors."  He still hangs around flaming
CCSO on uiuc.general occasionally, though he lives in Texas; he recently
claimed that he wasn't going to post to uiuc.* anymore, but nobody
believed him, so he changed his mind.  His sole claim to fame is the
coining of the phrase "There Is No Need..." - which he doesn't want to
be associated with anyway.

    Marguerite Plesko is an ex-UIUC student who got kicked out for
some reason that I personally don't understand.  She used to hang around
uiuc.general and post rants against the University in general, cancel them,
post them again, and confuse the hell out of all of us.  She seems to be
gone now, but...


D) What happened to cso.test?

    cso.test used to be the place to post test messages, as opposed
to uiuc.test.  Unfortunately, some administrators showing a remarkable
lack of foresight removed cso.test, thus condemning all test messages
to be incorrectly posted to uiuc.test.  There is currently a movement to
re-create cso.test, in order to bring uiuc.test back to its former glory.
For more information on Tasmanians for Exchange of Subversive Thoughts,
see the TEST FAQ, at http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/tskirvin/test.faq


E) I missed an episode of Babylon 5!  Where can I get a copy of the tape?

    Yes, we feel your pain.  Nobody should have to miss an episode of
the Official Best Show Ever.  To combat the horror, some kind people
have begun setting up a group to show or lend episodes to those in Great
Need.

    So far, there are a few volunteers for Babylon 5 (most of which
I've forgotten, but I've got everything) and one volunteer for Twin Peaks
([e-mail]).  If you have any other shows you'd like
to volunteer, by all means contact me.

    Oh, and don't try to defraud us.  It's not worth it.


F) Why are all those {drivers|bikers|pedestrians} so stupid?

    Let's put it this way:  all drivers think that bikers and
pedestrians are stupid, all bikers think that drivers and pedestrians
are stupid, and all pedestrians think that drivers and bikers are stupid.
Of course, all drivers, bikers, and pedestrians are right.

    It does make for a good flamewar.

    Hints for all involved: look where you're going, stay on the
right part of the road, and don't be stupid and get killed.


G) What's CCSO's problem with chain-mail?

    The same as the rest of the world's: chain-mail, sent through
their systems, is bad.  It's a waste of system resources, really
annoying, and nothing they want to deal with.  Do _not_ send mail that
asks that it be re-sent; it's a Bad Thing.


H) Here's my Social Security Number...

    Look, folks.  Giving out your SS# for virtually anything is a
Generally Bad Idea.  It's not a good thing to put it on your driver's
license or student ID, it's a bad thing to tell it to anyone not
officially affiliated with the University, and, for Gods' sake, just
don't put the thing in your .sig!

    If you want proof, check the Social Security FAQ, at http://www.
cpsr.org/cpsr/privacy/ssn/ssn.faq.html


I) Why don't all you people just GET A LIFE?

    Easy: it's so much more fun to torture the people that have time
to ask that question.


J) Why don't *you* just get a life?

    I think I do.  I might be mistaken, though.  Some think I don't
(http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/tskirvin/docs/skirvin.faq), some think I do
(nobody's written a FAQ about that yet), the rest either don't know I'm on
Usenet or don't care.  *shrug*

    (For the record, this is a frequently asked question.)


K) Aborti...

    Stop right there.  Take it to uiuc.org.pro-life or uiuc.org.choice.
Thank you.


L) What are CCSO's policies?

    CCSO has policies, it just doesn't publicize them very well.  They
are at http://www.uiuc.edu/ccso/pubs/cnp presently, and hopefully will
stay there for a while.


M) How do I get extra quota space on the students cluster?

        If you're a student, you don't - and you also don't get extra quota
space on the Engineering Workstations, on the CSIL cluster, or on just about
any other of the various networked systems on campus.  If you really need
extra quota space, buy yourself an account at an ISP somewhere (they're
cheap), set up Linux (if you're in the dorm/have ISDN), or get a job
somewhere quota-less.

        (Slight correction: if you're a Registered Student Organization, you
can get some more space on the CCSO registered organizations server; see
http://www.uiuc.edu/ccso/services/ro_webspace.html for details.)


N) How did this thing become official?

    By submitting a FAQ to news.answers, you can pretty much get your
FAQ to be considered official by most of Usenet.  Then again, you probably
want to take any claims that I make about this thing being official with a
grain of salt, if for no other reason than because it's me.


O) How did we have so many discussions here about things which the FAQ
  thing says everyone is tired of?

    *Never* underestimate the ability of a bunch of bored college
students to have protracted conversations about useless topics.


X) What's up with the numbering?

    I'm far too lazy to renumber things as they come in.


Y) Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ?

    http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/tskirvin/general.faq.  Updates
will be posted to uiuc.general periodically.


Z) How can I contribute to this wonderfully crafted FAQ?

    Find a frequently asked question, write a one-paragraph answer
to it, and mail it to [e-mail].  I'll get around to throwing it
in some time.


AA) Is there anything else you'd like to say?

    Yes.  There is.  First of all, don't quote an entire message
when you're just replying to a short section of it.  Second, please
write your posts with less than 75 columns, preferably about 65.  Third,
don't crosspost to hell and back.  And finally, remember the important
rule, "There Is No Need For You To Refer Us To Your Lame Homepage."

    You're welcome.

                - Tim Skirvin ([e-mail])
--
<a href="http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/tskirvin">Skirv's Homepage</a>
<a href="http://www.uiuc.edu/ph/www/tskirvin/daemons/">The Daemons</a>


PS) Hey, wait a second, what the hell was that in your .sig?

    It was a referral to my lame home page.  Bite me.