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1997-10-18
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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!faqserv
From: Kevin Atkinson <kevina@clark.net>
Newsgroups: alt.internet.services,news.misc,news.admin.misc,news.groups,news.answers,alt.answers
Subject: Usenet Info Center FAQ
Supersedes: <usenet/info-center-faq_873971575@rtfm.mit.edu>
Followup-To: poster
Date: 17 Oct 1997 10:17:42 GMT
Organization: Clark Internet Services, Inc., Ellicott City, MD USA
Lines: 223
Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU
Expires: 5 Dec 1997 10:16:41 GMT
Message-ID: <usenet/info-center-faq_877083401@rtfm.mit.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: penguin-lust.mit.edu
Summary: The FAQ for the Usenet Info Center. The Usenet Info Center is
your source for Information on Usenet. This service contains pointers to
many useful Usenet FAQ's and the Newsgroups Info Center -- what the
project is really about. This FAQ gives you some basic infomation on
the project.
X-Last-Updated: 1995/08/07
Originator: faqserv@penguin-lust.MIT.EDU
Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu alt.internet.services:110088 news.misc:26580 news.admin.misc:64165 news.groups:304617 news.answers:114676 alt.answers:29656
Archive-name: usenet/info-center-faq
Posting-Frequency: every 35 days
Last-modified: 1995/08/07
USENET INFO CENTER FAQ
This is the FAQ for the Usenet Info Center. The WWW version of the FAQ
can be found at
http://www.clark.net/pub/usenet-i/www/info-center-faq.html and the
text version at ftp://ftp.clark.net/pub/usenet-i/info/info-center-faq
This document is designed to tell you what the Usenet Info Center is
all about. Suggestions and/or corrections are always welcome. Any
comments except direct submissions should be sent to kevina@clark.net,
NOT usenet-b@clark.net.
This Usenet Info Center Launch Pad (the starting point for the www
part) can be found at http://sunsite.unc.edu/usenet-i/. Various other
information can be found at
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/docs/about-the-net/usenet-info-center.
This is a brand new version on the FAQ, certain information, that was
a hang over from when the project started, has been dropped. The old
FAQ should be available soon at the history archives.
Copyrighted 1995 by Kevin Atkinson. You may redistribute this FAQ in
any way as long as the content is not changed and this notice stays on
it.
_________________________________________________________________
1. The Project:
1. What is the Usenet Info Center?
2. What is the Newsgroups Info Center?
3. So what's available? (and where is it?)
2. The Web Pages:
1. My Goto Group Link doesn't Work!
2. Do you know of any good news servers? (and the related
questions)
3. Why are there no pictures on your pages?
3. Helping Out:
1. With Spelling and Grammar
2. By Submitting:
1. Short Descriptions
2. Long Descriptions
3. Other Ways.
4. Misc
1. Were to get more info.
2. Credits!
_________________________________________________________________
The Project:
1.1) WHAT IS THE USENET INFO CENTER?
The Usenet Info Center is a starting place for your information on
Usenet. I choose this more general name, rather then Usenet Newsgroups
Info Center, so that I would not limit my self to just information on
the Newsgroups.
1.2) WHAT IS THE NEWSGROUPS INFO CENTER?
The Newsgroups Info Center is the main part of the Usenet Info Center,
the area where most of the effort is. The WWW version contains a
heritage browsable list of the newsgroups and a way to search for a
group of interest. The Newsgroups Info Center is one of the first big
attempts to gather all the useful information on a group in one
location; including a long description.
Specifically Newsgroups Info Center contains:
* A Short Description of the group.
* A Long Description of the group
* Any FAQ's that go with the group
* The Moderators name and e-mail address if moderated
* Where and how the group is archived, if at all.
* Its average volume
* Its average number of readers
* Any mailing lists it is gatewayed to
1.3) SO WHAT'S AVAILABLE? (AND WHERE IS IT?)
Lots! To name a few:
* Pointers to posts on Usenet to help the new and old alike users
out. (http://sunsite.unc.edu/usenet-i/usenet-help.html)
* A browsable and searchable WWW version of the Newsgroup Info
Center that is designed to give you detailed info on every usenet
group (http://sunsite.unc.edu/usenet-i/, to get you started)
* Plain text versions of the Newsgroup Info Center that you can
download and have available off line for your own use.
(ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/docs/about-the-net/usenet-info-center
/report/txt/, ftp://usenet.eel.ufl.edu/usenet/info-center/report/txt/)
_________________________________________________________________
The Web Pages:
2.1) MY GOTO GROUP LINK DOESN'T WORK!
The most likely reason is that you don't have a news server set up. To
set up a news server check the docs for your browser. If you still
can't figure it out check any FAQ's that might have the answer. It
could also mean that your news server doesn't offer that group.
2.2) DO YOU KNOW OF ANY GOOD NEWS SERVERS? (AND THE RELATED QUESTIONS)
NO! Not off hand. Check out the "How to Receive Banned Newsgroups FAQ"
for some light on this topic at http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext
/faq/usenet/usenet/banned-groups-faq/faq.html or http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk
/internet/news/faq/archive/usenet.banned-groups-faq.html for some
light on this subject. Please DO NOT ask me about this. The only answer
I will give you, if any, is to check out this FAQ.
2.3) WHY ARE THERE NO PICTURES ON YOUR PAGES?
Well, because I don't have any. My pages would serve no real benefit
to having pictures (other than making it more attractive) so it is a
rather low priority. If you know of any good graphics or would be
willing to create some I would be more than willing to look them over.
If I like what I see there is a good chance of them be incorporated
into my pages in the near future.
_________________________________________________________________
Helping Out:
3.1) WITH SPELLING AND GRAMMAR
As you have probably figured out by now: I am a horrible speller. I
would appreciate any corrections you may have. I honestly don't mind
corrections, in fact I greatly appreciate them. I do however hate it
when people just give me a list of words that need corrections with no
clue as to where the mistake was.
If you do send corrections to me PLEASE at very least include:
1. The Title or URL of the page with the mistakes
2. The word or phrase that needs corrections
3. The correction.
Send the corrections to kevina@clark.net NOT usenet-i@clark.net.
3.2) BY SUBMITTING:
Short Descriptions
I now have a way to overrule the descriptions I get for alt.* groups
or any of the other groups in the " Alternative Newsgroup Hierarchies"
post to news.lists.
If you are unhappy with the description for any of these groups send
the corrected descriptions to me a kevina@clark.net and if I like the
new desc. better I will add it to the database. (There is no special
format you need to use, for now.)
Long Descriptions
Due to a problem at clark.net I lost all my scripts. If you have a
great description you are dying to send me send it directly to me at
kevina@clark.net for the time being.
The former instructions will appear when the scrip is back on line.
3.3) OTHER WAYS:
If you can think of some let me know...
_________________________________________________________________
Misc:
4.1) WERE TO GET MORE INFO.
This FAQ only gives you the very basic information. The following
information pages are also available.
* History Archives (The Best thing available until I get a History
FAQ together)
http://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/docs/about-the-net/usenet-info-center/
history/INDEX.HTML, or
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/docs/about-the-net/usenet-info-center/history/
* Detailed Information on the format of the individual group data
http://sunsite.unc.edu/usenet-i/info/format.html, or
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/docs/about-the-net/usenet-info-center
/info/group-data-info
* Information on how it is all done, the guts
Coming soon!
4.2) CREDITS!
People who submitted a good number of descriptions:
Neil Pawson <Neil.Pawson@Smallworld.co.uk>
Daniel Barrett <barrett@astro.cs.umass.edu>
Mirroring my site / letting me use it:
Jonathan Magid <jem@bittyblue.oit.unc.edu> (WWW pages &
(sunsite.unc.edu)
Mahesh Ramachandran <rr@eel.ufl.edu> (usenet.ufl.edu)
Giving me some sound advice:
Robert E. Maas <rem@btr.com> (desc-have, desc-still-needed)
Jeff Dege <jdege@winternet.com> (Suggesting change of name)
Steve Fenwick <scf@w0x0f.com> (Suggesting change of name)
Jim Jewett <jimj@eecs.umich.edu> (making me aware of news.g'.reviews)
Cameron Laird <claird@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> (pointing out 'g'_arc'.h')
All those people who corrected spelling and grammar errors
The authors of the Post on news.lists:
*.answers moderation team (List of Periodic Info' Postings, Part *)
David C Lawrence <tale@uunet.uu.net> (Mailing Lists Avail' in Usenet
List of Moderators for Usenet,
List of Active Newsgroups, Part *, &
Alternative 'group Hierarchies, Part *)
Brian Reid <reid@decwrl.DEC.COM> (USENET Readership report for *)
Gene Spafford <spaf@cs.purdue.edu> (Original author of List ' Mod',
List of Active 'groups, & Alt' 'group Hier')
John Gilmore <hoptoad!gnu> (Another Original author of
Alt' 'group Hier')
Other:
Thomas A Fine <fine@cis.ohio-state.edu> (faq's via WWW)
Jose Marques <Jose.Marques@las.ox.ac.uk> (faq's via WWW)