Turnbull China Bikeride/Turnbull China Bikeride - Disc 2.iso/STUTTGART/NEWSOFT/AUGUST/NEWSBASE/!Newsbase/Support/new_news/bin,FFF

Text File | 1997-02-05 | 79KB | 1,685 lines

#! rnews
Path: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu!newsstand.tc.umn.edu!newshub.tc.umn.edu!mr.net!arclight.uoregon.edu!panix!news.gw.com!news.deshaw.com!do-not-use-path-to-reply
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:01:22 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Subject: Rules for posting to Usenet
Newsgroups: newsbase.announce.newusers
Approved: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Lines: 353
Xref: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu news.announce.newusers:762

Archive-name: usenet/posting-rules/part1
Original-author: [e-mail] (Mark Horton)
Comment: enhanced & edited until 5/93 by [e-mail] (Gene Spafford)
Last-change: 23 Sep 1996 by [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Changes-posted-to: news.misc,news.answers

This message describes some of the rules of conduct on Usenet.  The rules
vary depending on the newsgroup.


Some newsgroups are intended for discussions and some for announcements
or queries.  It is not usually a good idea to carry on discussions in
newsgroups that are designated otherwise.  It is never a good idea to
carry on "meta-discussions" about whether a given discussion is
appropriate -- such traffic mushrooms until nobody can find articles
that belong.  If you are unhappy with what some user said, send him/her
mail, don't post it.


Before posting, think about where your article is going.  If it's posted
to a "comp", "humanities", "news", "misc", "soc", "sci", "rec" or "talk"
newsgroup, it will probably go to the sites on every continent with an
estimated audience of more than 3 million potential readers.  Certain
articles are only of local interest (e.g. used car ads) and it is
inappropriate to post them to the whole world.  Use the "Distribution"
feature to restrict distribution to your local area.  If you don't know
how to use this feature, read the "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions
about Usenet" in another article in news.announce.newusers. (Note,
however, that some sites have broken software or improperly configured
news systems, so sometimes use of a "Distribution" header may not work.)


Be considerate with your use of network resources.  Your individual
usage may not seem like much compared to the net as a whole, but in
aggregate, small savings in disk or CPU add up to a great deal.  For
instance, messages offering thanks, jibes, or congratulations will
only need to be seen by the interested parties -- send these by mail
rather than posting them. The same goes for simple questions, and
especially for any form of "me too" posting.

To help minimize some transfer load and disk usage throughout the
Usenet, consider not only how many groups should carry your posting
over what distribution area, but also how long it will be useful. Many
kinds of postings -- such as those making announcements or offers --
have an obvious useful lifetime. Posted questions that aren't answered
within a decent interval probably won't be answered at all, and
announcements will have a limited lifetime. All such postings will be
using bandwidth to no purpose after a certain time.  When making such
postings one should determine what that time interval is, based upon
the nature of the posting, the volume of articles on the newsgroup(s)
involved, and the habits of the audience, if known. Then include an
expiration date in the posting. This will mark the date after which
the article should not be retained at each site.

To include an expiration date in an article, when posting insert a
line in the header below the "Newsgroups:" line with the expiration.
For instance, type "Expires: 5 Feb 92" to have the article expire
after Feb 5, 1992.  Most news software will also accept expiration
dates of the form "Expires: +5days".  Please do NOT set expiration
dates far into the future simply to have the article stay around.
Many sites expire old articles no matter what the header indicates, so
you are unlikely to achieve much other than clutter the disk on a few
sites.  Default expiration is normally in the range of 7 to 21 days,
depending on disk space at each site.


Don't post announcements regarding major news events (e.g. the space
shuttle has just exploded!) to news groups.  By the time most people
receive such items, they will long since have been informed by
conventional media.  If you wish to discuss such an event on the net,
use the "misc.headlines" newsgroup.


Announcement of professional products or services on Usenet is allowed,
provided suitable restraint is exercised. Since someone else is paying
the phone bills for this, it is important that it be of overall benefit
to Usenet.  One of the few groups where such information is appropriate
is comp.newprod.  comp.newprod is a moderated group; you can get the
submission guidelines from the article "Welcome to comp.newprod", posted
periodically to comp.newprod and news.answers.  You can also get this
article by sending a mail message to [e-mail] with the
single line:
    send usenet-by-group/news.answers/newprod

If your posting is really relevant to some other newsgroup, particularly
one of the *.announce newsgroups, you may consider posting it there; some
moderators allow product announcements in the *.announce newsgroups. e.g.
an announcement about an Amiga product could go in
comp.sys.amiga.announce.  Before you post any such announcements, make
sure that you carefully read all of the administrative documents for the
group.  Also, read the regular messages in the group itself for at least
a week to make sure that your announcement is consistent with what other
people post.  Of course, this is true for *any* post, but especially true
for commercial announcements.

General guidelines: Clearly mark your article as a product announcement
in the subject.  Never repeat these -- one article per product at the
most; preferably group everything into one article.  Advertising hype is
especially frowned upon -- stick to technical facts.  Obnoxious or
inappropriate announcements or articles violating this policy will
generally be rejected.  This policy is, of course, subject to change if
it becomes a problem.

There exists an alternative hierarchy called "biz" specifically for
commercial postings.  See the articles "Alternative Newsgroup
Hierarchies, Part ...", posted periodically to several newsgroups,
including news.lists.  You can also get these articles by sending a mail
message to [e-mail] with the lines:
        send usenet-by-group/news.answers/alt-hierarchies/part1
        send usenet-by-group/news.answers/alt-hierarchies/part2


Some newsgroups are moderated.  In these groups, you cannot post
directly, either by convention or because the software prevents it.  To
post to these newsgroups, send mail to the moderator. Examples:

Newsgroup        Moderator        Purpose
---------        ---------        -------
news.announce.important [e-mail]    Important announcements for everyone.
comp.std.unix        [e-mail]    Unix standards discussion.
rec.food.recipes    [e-mail]    Sharing favorite recipes.

Some newsgroups have special purpose rules:

Newsgroup        Rules
---------        -----
news.announce.important    Moderated, no direct postings, important things only.
misc.wanted        Queries, "I want an x", "Anyone want my x?".  No
            discussions. Don't post to more than one xxx.wanted.
            Use the smallest appropriate wanted (e.g. used car
            ads to nj.wanted.)
            Requests for sources, termcaps, etc. should go to the
            "comp.sources.wanted" newsgroup.
rec.humor        Clean humor only; anything offensive must be rotated;
            no discussions -- humor only.  Discussions go in
            rec.humor.d
rec.arts.movies        Don't post anything revealing part of a movie
            without marking it (spoiler) in the subject.
rec.arts.*        Same as movies -- mark spoilers in the subject line.
news.groups        Discussions about new groups: whether to create
            them and what to call them.  Don't post yes/no
            votes, mail them to the author
misc.test        Use the smallest test group possible, e.g.
            "test" or "ucb.test".  Say in the body of the
            message what you are testing.


If you're thinking of posting anything that was written by someone else
(eg. article, song, picture), make sure that you are familiar with the
copyright issues.  If you're not sure about the copyright issues, then find
out before posting.  For instance, you must not post anything that you were
allowed to see only because of a confidentiality agreement, such as a UNIX
source license.

It is generally considered rude to post private e-mail correspondence
without the permission of the author of that mail, and furthermore, it's
likely a copyright violation as well.

All opinions or statements made in messages posted to Usenet should be
taken as the opinions of the person who wrote the message.  They do not
necessarily represent the opinions of the employer of that person, the
owner of the computer from which the message was posted, or anyone
involved with Usenet or the underlying networks of which Usenet is made
up.  All responsibility for statements made in Usenet messages rests
with the individual posting the message.


Posting of information on Usenet is to be viewed as similar to
publication.  Because of this, do not post instructions for how to do
some illegal act (such as jamming radar or obtaining cable TV service
illegally); also do not ask how to do illegal acts by posting to the
net.


If you have a standard signature you like to append to your articles,
and you are running a form of news software that supports automatic
inclusion of a signature file, it is usually enabled by putting it in
a file called .signature in your home directory.  The posting software
you use should automatically append it to your article.  Please keep
your signatures concise, as people do not appreciate seeing lengthy
signatures, nor paying the phone bills to repeatedly transmit them.  2
or 3 lines are usually plenty.  Sometimes it is also appropriate to
add another line or two for addresses on other major networks where
you can be reached (e.g., CompuServ, Bitnet).  Long signatures are
definitely frowned upon.  DO NOT include drawings, pictures, maps, or
other graphics in your signature -- it is not the appropriate place
for such material and is viewed as rude by other readers.


If you post an article and remember something you've left out or realize
you've made a factual error, you can cancel the article and (if canceled
quickly enough) prevent its distribution.  Then you can correct whatever
was wrong and post a new copy.  In "rn", "trn", "nn" and "readnews", (and
probably most other newsreaders) an article that you posted can be
canceled with the "C" command.  In "tin", use "D" (delete) to cancel an
article.  Newer newsreaders typically offer "Cancel" from a menu.  Be
aware, however, that some people may have already read the incorrect
version so the sooner you cancel something, the better.


Before posting a question to the net (especially one that you think
will be easy for experts to answer), consider carefully whether
posting is the most appropriate way to get the answer.  There are many
ways to find answers without using up network resources and forcing
thousands of people to read your question (and several helpful
volunteers to spend time responding).  Many newsgroups have a
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list that is posted periodically
(usually every few weeks), and they are also usually cross-posted
to news.answers.  They usually have explicit expiration dates set, so
they shouldn't be expired until a new version has been posted, so if
you can't find the FAQ in either the newsgroup or news.answers, there
probably isn't one (thus, it's probably not useful to post a question
asking whether there is one).  If you have local experts (or simply
more experienced users than yourself) at your site, try asking them
before posting.  If you're trying to find where you can FTP software
or a newsgroup archive, try using the Archie service; see postings in
news.answers for details.  Many newsgroups are also archived in Wide
Area Information Service (WAIS) databases; WAIS client software may be
FTPed from ftp.think.com, or you may use WAIS by telnetting to
quake.think.com and logging in as "wais".  Finally, you should also
check the manuals for your system; if you don't, and you post a
question that's answered there, you'll likely receive a number of
responses that scream "RTFM" (Read the F*ing Manual).


Usually, it is sufficient to post any article to a single newsgroup; the
one that's most relevant to the subject of your article.  If the article
is really relevant to multiple newsgroups, then "cross-post" to the
relevant newsgroups by posting the article only once with all newsgroups
named on the "Newsgroups" header line.  For example:

    Newsgroups: comp.fish,misc.sheep,talk.ketchup

would cause an article to be posted to comp.fish, misc.sheep, and
talk.ketchup simultaneously.

If you are using TIN, please do not use the "crosspost" function to
accomplish this.  This is a misleadingly named command that really should
be called "repost."

By posting a single article to all the newsgroups you wish to reach, the
news software is able to transfer a single copy.  Furthermore, users with
"smart" newsreaders will see the article only once.  Making separate
postings of your article for each newsgroup you wish to reach tends to
annoy readers rather than emphasize the message content as well as waste
computational resources.


All newsreaders should have two ways to post a news article.  First,
there is an original posting; this is used whenever you are starting a
new topic.  Second, there is a "followup"; this is used when you are
posting a response to another news article.  In several newsreaders,
including "rn", the "f" command usually generates an original posting
if your current position is at the end of the newsgroup, but a
followup when you have a current article; you can also use the "Pnews"
command outside of rn to make an original posting.

The news posting software does special things in the second case that
indicates to the news system that this article is "related" to the
article to which you are following up.  First, the newsreader adds
"Re: " before the existing subject line to tell people that this is
"regarding" a previous article.  Second, the software adds a
"References" line that contains the Message-ID of the article you are
following up.  This header is used by threaded news readers such as
"trn" to follow "threads" of discussion.

It is important that these two posting methods not be confused.  Don't
follow up to articles without using the newsreader's "followup" mechanism.
Conversely, don't use the followup mechanism to post an article that is
an unrelated thread.  Violating this convention sometimes leads to
confusion and annoyance of users with threaded newsreaders.

When posting a followup, be careful about newsgroups.  The article
that you're responding to might have been cross-posted to several
newsgroups, and by default your followup will go to ALL of those
newsgroups.  Or the article might have a Followup-To line in its
header, and in that case, by default your followup will go where the
Followup-To line says -- which might not be the newsgroup where you're
reading the article.  You should ensure that your article is posted
only to newsgroups where its actual content is appropriate.  Sometimes
it's better to leave the newsgroups on your own article the same as
they were, but put a Followup-To line in its header to confine
followups to an appropriate group.  In any case, it's best for
articles that have a Followup-To line to be posted to whatever groups
are mentioned in that line, and to mention in the text of the article
that followups are redirected.  The idea is for the threads of
articles to make sense in each newsgroup where the articles appear,
for people who don't read the others.


If you don't see your posting immediately, don't assume it failed and try
to repost it at once.  Some sites have set up the local software to
process news periodically.  Thus, your article will not appear
immediately.  If you post again, you will have multiple copies of the
article in circulation.


If the news system rejects a followup due to "more quoted lines than
new text," please do not use "filler" lines to make up for this.
Instead, if after careful editing, you have more to quote than to
write, change the citation character.  For example, in the display
editor vi, you could use the incantation:
    :%s/^>/</
Be careful not to do the very similar:
    :%s/>/</
which will affect >'s that are not being used as the citation
character.  (In particular, it will damage the "References" line in the
article header.)


In preparing an article, be aware that other people's machines are
not the same as yours.  The following is a list of things to keep
in mind:
 * Keep your lines under 80 characters, and under 72 if possible (so that
   the lines won't get longer than 80 when people include them when
   responding to your postings).  Most editors have a fill or format mode
   that will do this for you automatically.  Make sure that it
   actually puts ("hard") newline characters into the file, rather
   than just wrapping the displayed lines on your screen.
 * Right justified text may look "prettier" in some sense, but it
   is almost always harder to read than leaving ragged right
   margins; don't justify your articles.
 * Most special control characters will not work for most readers.
   In fact, the  space character is about the only one
   you can be sure will work consistently. Even tabs aren't always
   the same from machine to machine, and should be avoided.  Many mail
   agents will strip or remap control characters.
 * Pictures and diagrams should not use embedded tabs.
 * Refer to articles by Message-ID, and never by article number.
   Article numbers vary on every news system, Message-IDs are always
   preserved throughout the network.
 * What you think is the previous article is unlikely to be so elsewhere.
 * Submissions in a single case (all upper or all lower) are
   difficult to read.


In general, when a mailing to somebody fails, DON'T post a message
about it!  Think for a moment: you are trying to send something to
someone on ONE system.  Your message might go through (at most) TEN
systems on the way there.  Posting a message in the news sends it to
many tens of thousands of systems throughout the world!  There is no
way to justify adding to the news load of all those machines simply
because you cannot determine how to get your mail through.

If your message is important, contact someone who knows more about the
mail system and who might be able to help you get your message
through.  Your local system administrator, for instance, or the admin
of the next site "upstream," might be able to help. You can also send
mail to "postmaster" at one of the major Usenet sites.  Almost all of
these people would rather see an occasional plea for help in their
mailbox than read another broadcast in the news system.  If your
message is *really* important, pick up the phone and try to call the
other person.

#! rnews
Path: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu!newsstand.tc.umn.edu!newshub.tc.umn.edu!mr.net!netnews.com!howland.erols.net!panix!news.gw.com!news.deshaw.com!do-not-use-path-to-reply
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:00:36 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Subject: A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
Newsgroups: newsbase.announce.newusers
Approved: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Lines: 432
Xref: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu news.announce.newusers:758

Archive-name: usenet/primer/part1
Original-author: [e-mail] (Chuq Von Rospach)
Comment: enhanced & edited until 5/93 by [e-mail] (Gene Spafford)
Last-change: 23 Sep 1996 by [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Changes-posted-to: news.misc,news.answers


              A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community
                             Chuq Von Rospach



  *** This message describes the Usenet culture and customs that have
  developed over time.  Other documents in this newsgroup describe what
  Usenet is and manuals or on-line help on your system should provide
  detailed technical documentation.  All new users should read this
  message to acclimate themselves to Usenet. (Old users could read it,
  too, to refresh their memories.)  ***

  It is the people participating in Usenet that make it worth the effort
  to read and maintain; for Usenet to function properly those people must
  be able to interact in productive ways.  This document is intended as a
  guide to using the net in ways that will be pleasant and productive for
  everyone.

  This document is not intended to teach you how to use Usenet.
  Instead, it is a guide to using it politely, effectively and
  efficiently.  Communication by computer is new to almost everybody,
  and there are certain aspects that can make it a frustrating
  experience until you get used to them.  This document should help
  you avoid the worst traps.

  The easiest way to learn how to use Usenet is to watch how others
  use it.  Start reading the news and try to figure out what people
  are doing and why.  After a couple of weeks you will start
  understanding why certain things are done and what things shouldn't
  be done.  There are documents available describing the technical
  details of how to use the software.  These are different depending
  on which programs you use to access the news.  You can get copies of
  these from your system administrator.  If you do not know who that
  person is, they can be contacted on most systems by mailing to
  account "news", "usenet" or "postmaster".


           Never Forget that the Person on the Other Side is Human.

  Because your interaction with the network is through a computer it is easy
  to forget that there are people "out there." Situations arise where
  emotions erupt into a verbal free-for-all that can lead to hurt feelings.

  Please remember that people all over the world are reading your words.  Do
  not attack people if you cannot persuade them with your presentation of
  the facts.  Screaming, cursing, and abusing others only serves to make
  people think less of you and less willing to help you when you need it.

  If you are upset at something or someone, wait until you have had a
  chance to calm down and think about it.  A cup of (decaf!) coffee or
  a good night's sleep works wonders on your perspective.  Hasty words
  create more problems than they solve.  Try not to say anything to
  others you would not say to them in person in a room full of people.

        Don't Blame System Admins for their Users' Behavior.

  Sometimes, you may find it necessary to write to a system administrator
  about something concerning his or her site.  Maybe it is a case of the
  software not working, or a control message escaped, or maybe one of the
  users at that site has done something you feel requires comment.  No matter
  how steamed you may be, be polite to the sysadmin -- he or she may not have
  any idea of what you are going to say, and may not have any part in the
  incidents involved.  By being civil and temperate, you are more likely to
  obtain their courteous attention and assistance.

      Never assume that a person is speaking for their organization.

  Many people who post to Usenet do so from machines at their office or
  school.  Despite that, never assume that the person is speaking for the
  organization that they are posting their articles from (unless the
  person explicitly says so).  Some people put explicit disclaimers to
  this effect in their messages, but this is a good general rule.  If you
  find an article offensive, consider taking it up with the person
  directly, or ignoring it.  Learn about "kill files" in your newsreader,
  and other techniques for ignoring people whose postings you find
  offensive.

            Be Careful What You Say About Others.

  Please remember -- you read netnews; so do as many as 3,000,000 other
  people.  This group quite possibly includes your boss, your friend's
  boss, your girl friend's brother's best friend and one of your
  father's beer buddies.  Information posted on the net can come back
  to haunt you or the person you are talking about.

  Think twice before you post personal information about yourself or
  others.  This applies especially strongly to groups like soc.singles
  and alt.sex but even postings in groups like talk.politics.misc have
  included information about the personal life of third parties that
  could get them into serious trouble if it got into the wrong hands.

                  Be Brief.

  Never say in ten words what you can say in fewer.  Say it succinctly and
  it will have a greater impact.  Remember that the longer you make your
  article, the fewer people will bother to read it.

         Your Postings Reflect Upon You -- Be Proud of Them.

  Most people on Usenet will know you only by what you say and how well you
  say it.  They may someday be your co-workers or friends.  Take some time
  to make sure each posting is something that will not embarrass you later.
  Minimize your spelling errors and make sure that the article is easy to
  read and understand.  Writing is an art and to do it well requires
  practice.  Since much of how people judge you on the net is based on your
  writing, such time is well spent.

               Use Descriptive Titles.

  The subject line of an article is there to enable a person with a limited
  amount of time to decide whether or not to read your article.  Tell people
  what the article is about before they read it.  A title like "Car for
  Sale" to rec.autos does not help as much as "66 MG Midget for sale:
  Beaverton OR." Don't expect people to read your article to find out what
  it is about because many of them won't bother.  Some sites truncate the
  length of the subject line to 40 characters so keep your subjects short
  and to the point.

             Think About Your Audience.

  When you post an article, think about the people you are trying to
  reach.  Asking UNIX(*) questions on rec.autos will not reach as many
  of the people you want to reach as if you asked them on
  comp.unix.questions or comp.unix.internals.  Try to get the most
  appropriate audience for your message, not the widest.

  It is considered bad form to post both to misc.misc, soc.net-people,
  or misc.wanted and to some other newsgroup.  If it belongs in that
  other newsgroup, it does not belong in misc.misc, soc.net-people,
  or misc.wanted.

  If your message is of interest to a limited geographic area (apartments,
  car sales, meetings, concerts, etc...), restrict the distribution of the
  message to your local area.  Some areas have special newsgroups with
  geographical limitations, and the recent versions of the news software
  allow you to limit the distribution of material sent to world-wide
  newsgroups.  Check with your system administrator to see what newsgroups
  are available and how to use them.

  If you want to try a test of something, do not use a world-wide newsgroup!
  Messages in misc.misc that say "This is a test" are likely to cause
  large numbers of caustic messages to flow into your mailbox.  There are
  newsgroups that are local to your computer or area that should be used.
  Your system administrator can tell you what they are.

  Be familiar with the group you are posting to before you post!  You
  shouldn't post to groups you do not read, or post to groups you've
  only read a few articles from -- you may not be familiar with the on-going
  conventions and themes of the group.  One normally does not join
  a conversation by just walking up and talking.  Instead, you listen
  first and then join in if you have something pertinent to contribute.

  Remember that the Usenet newsgroup system is designed to allow readers to
  choose which messages they see, not to allow posters to choose sets of
  readers to target.  When choosing which newsgroup(s) to post in, ask
  yourself, "Which newsgroups contain readers who would want to read my
  message" rather than "Which newsgroups have readers to whom I want to
  send my message?"

             Be Careful with Humor and Sarcasm.

  Without the voice inflections and body language of personal
  communications, it is easy for a remark meant to be funny to be
  misinterpreted.  Subtle humor tends to get lost, so take steps to make
  sure that people realize you are trying to be funny.  The net has
  developed a symbol called the smiley face.  It looks like ":-)" and points
  out sections of articles with humorous intent.  No matter how broad the
  humor or satire, it is safer to remind people that you are being funny.

  But also be aware that quite frequently satire is posted without any
  explicit indications.  If an article outrages you strongly, you
  should ask yourself if it just may have been unmarked satire.
  Several self-proclaimed connoisseurs refuse to use smiley faces, so
  take heed or you may make a temporary fool of yourself.

              Only Post a Message Once.

  Avoid posting messages to more than one newsgroup unless you are sure
  it is appropriate.  If you do post to multiple newsgroups, do not
  post to each group separately.  Instead, specify all the groups on a
  single copy of the message.  This reduces network overhead and lets
  people who subscribe to more than one of those groups see the message
  once instead of having to wade through each copy.

          Please Rotate Messages With Questionable Content.

  Certain newsgroups (such as rec.humor) have messages in them that may
  be offensive to some people.  To make sure that these messages are
  not read unless they are explicitly requested, these messages should
  be encrypted.  The standard encryption method is to rotate each
  letter by thirteen characters so that an "a" becomes an "n".  This is
  known on the network as "rot13" and when you rotate a message the
  word "rot13" should be in the "Subject:" line.  Most of the software
  used to read Usenet articles have some way of encrypting and
  decrypting messages.  Your system administrator can tell you how the
  software on your system works, or you can use the Unix command
    tr '[a-m][n-z][A-M][N-Z]' '[n-z][a-m][N-Z][A-M]'
  Don't forget the single quotes!)

            Summarize What You are Following Up.

  When you are following up someone's article, please summarize the parts of
  the article to which you are responding.  This allows readers to
  appreciate your comments rather than trying to remember what the original
  article said.  It is also possible for your response to get to some sites
  before the original article.

  Summarization is best done by including appropriate quotes from the
  original article.  Do not include the entire article since it will
  irritate the people who have already seen it.  Even if you are responding
  to the entire article, summarize only the major points you are discussing.

            When Summarizing, Summarize!

  When you request information from the network, it is common courtesy to
  report your findings so that others can benefit as well.  The best way of
  doing this is to take all the responses that you received and edit them
  into a single article that is posted to the places where you originally
  posted your question.  Take the time to strip headers, combine duplicate
  information, and write a short summary.  Try to credit the information to
  the people that sent it to you, where possible.

              Use Mail, Don't Post a Follow-up.

  One of the biggest problems we have on the network is that when someone
  asks a question, many people send out identical answers.  When this
  happens, dozens of identical answers pour through the net.  Mail your
  answer to the person and suggest that they summarize to the network.  This
  way the net will only see a single copy of the answers, no matter how many
  people answer the question.

  If you post a question, please remind people to send you the answers by
  mail and at least offer to summarize them to the network.

      Read All Follow-ups and Don't Repeat What Has Already Been Said.

  Before you submit a follow-up to a message, read the rest of the messages
  in the newsgroup to see whether someone has already said what you want to
  say.  If someone has, don't repeat it.

       Check your return e-mail address and expect responses.

  When you post an article, make sure that the return e-mail address in its
  From: or Reply-To: headers is correct, since it is considered
  inappropriate to post an article to which people are unable to respond by
  e-mail.  If you are unable to configure your software to include a valid
  return address in your article header, you should include your address in
  a signature at the bottom of your message.

  When you post an article, you are engaging in a dialogue, and others may
  choose to continue that dialogue by responding via e-mail.  It is not
  courteous to post if you are unwilling to receive e-mail in response.

            Check the Headers When Following Up.

  The news software has provisions to specify that follow-ups to an
  article should go to a specific set of newsgroups -- possibly
  different from the newsgroups to which the original article was
  posted.  Sometimes the groups chosen for follow-ups are totally
  inappropriate, especially as a thread of discussion changes with
  repeated postings.  You should carefully check the groups and
  distributions given in the header and edit them as appropriate.  If
  you change the groups named in the header, or if you direct
  follow-ups to a particular group, say so in the body of the message
  -- not everyone reads the headers of postings.

          Be Careful About Copyrights and Licenses.

  Before posting to Usenet or reproducing something that has been posted to
  Usenet, make sure you read the accompanying posting "Copyright Myths FAQ:
  10 big myths about copyright explained".  At the very least, note that by
  posting to Usenet, you are requesting that a copy of your document be
  automatically distributed to computers all over the world and stored on
  various disks for a long time (forever on some archive media).

  Further, some people will quote parts of your article without permission
  or forward it to other people or use it in other ways that you might not
  know about.  If this bothers you, put an explicit copyright notice on
  your posting.  On the flip side, even if you are sure of the legality of
  reproducing something from or on Usenet, it would be courteous to ask for
  permission before doing so.

            Cite Appropriate References.

  If you are using facts to support a cause, state where they came from.
  Don't take someone else's ideas and use them as your own.  You don't want
  someone pretending that your ideas are theirs; show them the same respect.

            Mark or Rotate Answers and Spoilers.

  When you post something (like a movie review that discusses a detail of
  the plot) which might spoil a surprise for other people, please mark your
  message with a warning so that they can skip the message.  Another
  alternative would be to use the "rot13" protocol to encrypt the message so
  it cannot be read accidentally.  When you post a message with a spoiler in
  it make sure the word "spoiler" is part of the "Subject:" line.

             Spelling Flames Considered Harmful.

  Every few months a plague descends on Usenet called the spelling flame.
  It starts out when someone posts an article correcting the spelling or
  grammar in some article.  The immediate result seems to be for everyone on
  the net to turn into a 6th grade English teacher and pick apart each other's
  postings for a few weeks.  This is not productive and tends to cause
  people who used to be friends to get angry with each other.

  It is important to remember that we all make mistakes, and that
  there are many users on the net who use English as a second
  language.  There are also a number of people who suffer from
  dyslexia and who have difficulty noticing their spelling mistakes.
  If you feel that you must make a comment on the quality of a
  posting, please do so by mail, not on the network.

              Don't Overdo Signatures.

  Signatures are nice, and many people can have a signature added to
  their postings automatically by placing it in a file called
  "$HOME/.signature".  Don't overdo it.  Signatures can tell the world
  something about you, but keep them short.  A signature that is longer
  than the message itself is considered to be in bad taste.  The main
  purpose of a signature is to help people locate you, not to tell your
  life story.  Every signature should include at least your return
  address relative to a major, known site on the network and a proper
  domain-format address.   Your system administrator can give this to
  you.  Some news posters attempt to enforce a 4 line limit on
  signature files -- an amount that should be more than sufficient to
  provide a return address and attribution.

           Limit Line Length and Avoid Control Characters.

  Try to keep your text in a generic format.  Many (if not most) of
  the people reading Usenet do so from 80 column terminals or from
  workstations with 80 column terminal windows.  Try to keep your
  lines of text to less than 80 characters for optimal readability.
  If people quote part of your article in a followup, short lines will
  probably show up better, too.

  Also realize that there are many, many different forms of terminals
  in use.  If you enter special control characters in your message, it
  may result in your message being unreadable on some terminal types;
  a character sequence that causes reverse video on your screen may
  result in a keyboard lock and graphics mode on someone else's
  terminal.  You should also try to avoid the use of tabs, too, since
  they may also be interpreted differently on terminals other than
  your own.

         Do not use Usenet as a resource for homework assignments.

  Usenet is not a resource for homework or class assignments. A common
  new user reaction to learning of all these people out there holding
  discussions is to view them as a great resource for gathering
  information for reports and papers.  Trouble is, after seeing a few
  hundred such requests, most people get tired of them, and won't reply
  anyway. Certainly not in the expected or hoped-for numbers. Posting
  student questionnaires automatically brands you a "newbie" and does not
  usually garner much more than a tiny number of replies.  Further,
  some of those replies are likely to be incorrect.

  Instead, read the group of interest for a while, and find out what the
  main "threads" are - what are people discussing? Are there any themes
  you can discover?  Are there different schools of thought?

  Only post something after you've followed the group for a few weeks,
  after you have read the Frequently Asked Questions posting if the group
  has one, and if you still have a question or opinion that others will
  probably find interesting.  If you have something interesting to
  contribute, you'll find that you gain almost instant acceptance, and
  your posting will generate a large number of follow-up postings. Use
  these in your research; it is a far more efficient (and accepted) way
  to learn about the group than to follow that first instinct and post a
  simple questionnaire.

                Do not use Usenet as an advertising medium.

  Advertisements on Usenet are rarely appreciated.  In general, the louder
  or more inappropriate the ad is, the more antagonism it will stir up.
  The accompanying postings "Rules for posting to Usenet" and "Advertising
  on Usenet: How To Do It, How Not To Do It" have more information on this
  subject.  Try the biz.* hierarchies instead.

                   Avoid posting to multiple newsgroups.

  Few things annoy Usenet readers as much as multiple copies of a posting
  appearing in multiple newsgroups.  (called 'spamming' for historical
  reasons) A posting that is cross-posted (i.e lists multiple newsgroups
  on the Newsgroups: header line) to a few appropriate newsgroups is
  fine, but even with cross-posts, restraint is advised.  For a
  cross-post, you may want to set the Followup-To: header line to the
  most suitable group for the rest of the discussion.

               Summary of Things to Remember


       Never forget that the person on the other side is human.
       Don't blame system admins for their users' behavior.
       Never assume that a person is speaking for their organization.
       Be careful what you say about others.
       Be brief.
       Your postings reflect upon you; be proud of them.
       Use descriptive titles
       Think about your audience.
       Be careful with humor and sarcasm.
       Only post a message once.
       Please rotate material with questionable content.
       Summarize what you are following up.
       Use mail, don't post a follow-up.
       Read all follow-ups and don't repeat what has already been said.
       Check your return e-mail address and expect responses.
       Double-check follow-up newsgroups and distributions.
       Be careful about copyrights and licenses.
       Cite appropriate references.
       When summarizing, summarize.
       Mark or rotate answers or spoilers.
       Spelling flames considered harmful.
       Don't overdo signatures.
       Limit line length and avoid control characters.
       Do not use Usenet as a resource for homework assignments.
       Do not use Usenet as an advertising medium.
       Avoid posting to multiple newsgroups.

(*)UNIX is a registered trademark of X/Open.

-----------
      This document is in the public domain and may be reproduced or
      excerpted by anyone wishing to do so.

#! rnews
Path: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu!newsstand.tc.umn.edu!newshub.tc.umn.edu!mr.net!newsfeeds.sol.net!newspump.sol.net!howland.erols.net!panix!news.gw.com!news.deshaw.com!do-not-use-path-to-reply
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:01:52 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Subject: Hints on writing style for Usenet
Newsgroups: newsbase.announce.newusers
Approved: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Lines: 114
Xref: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu news.announce.newusers:763

Archive-name: usenet/writing-style/part1
Original-author: [e-mail] (A. Jeff Offutt VI)
Comment: enhanced & edited until 5/93 by [e-mail] (Gene Spafford)
Last-change: 24 Nov 1995 by [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Changes-posted-to: news.misc,news.answers

I would like to take a moment to share some of my knowledge of writing
style.  If you read the suggestions below, remember: it's easy to agree
that they make sense but it's much harder to apply them.

References:
 Cunningham and Pearsall, "How to Write For the World of Work"
 Strunk & White, "Elements of Style"

The above references are both excellent books.  Cunningham is a standard in
tech writing classes and won an award for the best tech writing book from
the Association for Teaching of Technical Writing.  I was lucky enough to
take a class from him as an undergraduate.  Strunk is a standard in college
composition classes.  Thanks to Columbia University, Academic Information
Systems, Project Bartleby, Strunk can be accessed on the World-Wide Web as:
    <http://www.columbia.edu/acis/bartleby/strunk/>

Other ideas here come from my own experience on the net and hints from
other people.

This is a "long article." The rest of it is simply a list of pointers.

               Writing style:

 * Make your writing easy to read.  Keep it simple.

 * Keep paragraphs short and sweet.  Keep sentences shorter and sweeter.
   This means "concise," not cryptic.

 * White space is not wasted space -- it greatly improves clarity.
   A blank line only adds a byte to the article length, so don't be
   stingy if it will help make your meaning clearer.

 * Pick your words carefully.  Writing with precision is as important
   here as it is in any other kind of discourse.  Consider carefully
   whether what you have written can be misinterpreted, and whether
   that is something you wish to have happen.

 * People can only grasp about seven things at once.  This means ideas in a
   paragraph, major sections, etc..

 * Avoid abbreviations and acronyms, if possible, and define the ones
   you use.

 * There are several variations on any one sentence.  A passive, questioning
   or negative sentence takes longer to read.

 * "Cute" misspellings are difficult to read, especially if the reader
    is not fluent in the language involved.


               Net style:

 * Subtlety is not communicated well in written form - especially over a
   computer.  Remember, most people who will read your posting do not
   know you.

 * The above applies to humor as well. (rec.humor, of course, not included.)
   Smileys :-), frowns :-(, winks ;-) can sometimes avoid confusion.

 * When being especially "flame-boyant", I find it helpful to go to the
   bathroom before actually sending.  Then, I often change the tone
   considerably. :-) Take a break before posting something in anger or that
   might hurt or anger others.

 * Subject lines should be used very carefully.  How much time have you
   wasted reading articles with a misleading subject line?  The "Subject:"
   header line can be edited in all the various posting programs
   (as can the "Distribution:", "Newsgroups:" and "Followup-To:" header
   lines).

 * References need to be made.  When you answer mail, you have the original
   message fresh in your mind.  When I receive your answer, I don't.

 * Do not include the entire article that you are replying to.  Cut down
   the part that you include to the absolute minimum needed to provide
   context to your reply.

 * It's *much* easier to read a mixture of upper and lower case letters.

 * Leaving out articles (such as "the," "a," "an," etc.) for "brevity"
   mangles the meaning of your sentences and takes longer to read. It saves
   you time at the expense of your reader.

 * Be careful of contextual meanings of words. For instance, I used "articles"
   just now.  In the context of netnews, it has a different meaning than I
   intended.

 * Make an effort to spell words correctly.  Obvious misspellings are
   jarring and distract the reader.  Every news posting program allows
   you to edit your article before posting, and most systems have some
   kind of spelling checker program that you can use on your article.

 * If your article goes over one screenful, use subheadings to organize it.
   Numbering your paragraphs is rarely helpful.

 * Just before you post your article, re-read it.  This will ensure that
   you actually wrote what you intended to write.

 * Remember - this is an international network.

 * Remember - your current or future employers may be reading your
   articles.  So might your spouse, neighbors, children, and others
   who will long-remember your gaffes.

Enough said.

These suggestions are all easily supported by arguments and research.
There's a lot more to say, but....

#! rnews
Path: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu!umn.edu!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!lamarck.sura.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!deshaw.com!do-not-use-path-to-reply
Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 09:00:15 GMT
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
From: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Subject: Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
Newsgroups: newsbase.announce.newusers
Approved: [e-mail] (Mark Moraes)
Lines: 532

Original-author: [e-mail] (Brad Templeton)
Archive-name: usenet/emily-postnews/part1
Last-change: 13 May 1995 by [e-mail] (Brad Templeton)
Changes-posted-to: news.misc,news.answers

**NOTE: this is intended to be satirical.  If you do not recognize
  it as such, consult a doctor or professional comedian.  The
  recommendations in this article should recognized for what
  they are -- admonitions about what NOT to do.


            "Dear Emily Postnews"

    Emily Postnews, foremost authority on proper net behaviour,
    gives her advice on how to act on the net.

============================================================================

Q: Dear Miss Postnews: How long should my signature be? -- verbose@noisy

A: Dear Verbose: Please try and make your signature as long as you
can.  It's much more important than your article, of course, so try
to have more lines of signature than actual text.

Try to include a large graphic made of ASCII characters, plus lots of
cute quotes and slogans.  People will never tire of reading these
pearls of wisdom again and again, and you will soon become personally
associated with the joy each reader feels at seeing yet another
delightful repeat of your signature.

Be sure as well to include a complete map of Usenet with each
signature, to show how anybody can get mail to you from any site in
the world.  Be sure to include Internet gateways as well.  Also tell
people on your own site how to mail to you.  Give independent
addresses for Internet, UUCP, and BITNET, even if they're all the
same.

Aside from your reply address, include your full name, company and
organization.  It's just common courtesy -- after all, in some
newsreaders people have to type an *entire* keystroke to go back to
the top of your article to see this information in the header.

By all means include your phone number and street address in every
single article.  People are always responding to Usenet articles with
phone calls and letters.  It would be silly to go to the extra trouble
of including this information only in articles that need a response by
conventional channels!
                ------
Q: Dear Emily: Today I posted an article and forgot to include my
signature.  What should I do?  -- forgetful@myvax

A: Dear Forgetful: Rush to your terminal right away and post an
article that says, "Oops, I forgot to post my signature with that last
article.  Here it is."

Since most people will have forgotten your earlier article,
(particularly since it dared to be so boring as to not have a nice,
juicy signature) this will remind them of it.  Besides, people care
much more about the signature anyway.  See the previous letter for
more important details.

Also, be sure to include your signature TWICE in each article.  That
way you're sure people will read it.

                ------
Q: Dear Ms. Postnews: I couldn't get mail through to somebody on another
site.  What should I do? -- [e-mail]

A: Dear Eager: No problem, just post your message to a group that a
lot of people read.  Say, "This is for John Smith.  I couldn't get
mail through so I'm posting it.  All others please ignore."

This way tens of thousands of people will spend a few seconds scanning
over and ignoring your article, using up over 16 man-hours their
collective time, but you will be saved the terrible trouble of
checking through Usenet maps or looking for alternate routes.  Just
think, if you couldn't distribute your message to 30,000 other
computers, you might actually have to (gasp) call directory assistance
for 60 cents, or even phone the person.  This can cost as much as a
few DOLLARS (!) for a 5 minute call!

And certainly it's better to spend 10 to 20 dollars of other people's
money distributing the message then for you to have to waste $9 on an
overnight letter, or even 32 cents on a stamp!

Don't forget.  The world will end if your message doesn't get through,
so post it as many places as you can.

                ------
Q: What about a test message?

A: It is important, when testing, to test the entire net.  Never test
merely a subnet distribution when the whole net can be done.  Also put
"please ignore" on your test messages, since we all know that
everybody always skips a message with a line like that.  Don't use a
subject like "My sex is female but I demand to be addressed as male."
because such articles are read in depth by all USEnauts.

                ------
Q: Somebody just posted that Roman Polanski directed Star Wars.  What
should I do? - [e-mail]

A: Post the correct answer at once!  We can't have people go on
believing that!  Very good of you to spot this.  You'll probably be
the only one to make the correction, so post as soon as you can.  No
time to lose, so certainly don't wait a day, or check to see if
somebody else has made the correction.

And it's not good enough to send the message by mail.  Since you're
the only one who really knows that it was Francis Coppola, you have to
inform the whole net right away!

Using the most confrontational and impolite language you can, don't
forget to point out the folly of the error made by the person.

                ------
Q: I read an article that said, "reply by mail, I'll summarize."  What
should I do?

A: Post your response to the whole net.  That request applies only to
dumb people who don't have something interesting to say.  Your
postings are much more worthwhile than other people's, so it would be
a waste to reply by mail.

                ------
Q: I collected replies to an article I wrote, and now it's time to
summarize.  What should I do?

A: Simply concatenate all the articles together into a big file and
post that.  On Usenet, this is known as a summary.  It lets people
read all the replies without annoying newsreaders getting in the way.
Do the same when summarizing a vote.

                ------
Q: I saw a long article that I wish to rebut carefully, what should I
do?

A: Include the entire text with your article, particularly the
signature, and include your comments closely packed between the lines.
Be sure to post, and not mail, even though your article looks like a
reply to the original.  Everybody *loves* to read those long
point-by-point debates, especially when they evolve into name-calling
and lots of "Is too!" -- "Is not!" -- "Is too, twizot!" exchanges.

Be sure to follow-up everything, and never let another person get in
the last word on a net debate.  Why, if people let other people have
the last word, then discussions would actually stop!  Remember, other
net readers aren't nearly as clever as you, and if somebody posts
something wrong, the readers can't possibly realize that on their own
without your elucidations.  If somebody gets insulting in their net
postings, the best response is to get right down to their level and
fire a return salvo.  When I read one net person make an insulting
attack on another, I always immediately take it as gospel unless a
rebuttal is posted.  It never makes me think less of the insulter, so
it's your duty to respond.

                ------
Q: How can I choose what groups to post in?

A: Pick as many as you can, so that you get the widest audience.
After all, the net exists to give you an audience.  Ignore those who
suggest you should only use groups where you think the article is
highly appropriate.  Pick all groups where anybody might even be
slightly interested.

Always make sure followups go to all the groups.  In the rare event
that you post a followup which contains something original, make sure
you expand the list of groups.  Never include a "Followup-to:" line in
the header, since some people might miss part of the valuable
discussion in the fringe groups.

                ------
Q: How about an example?

A: Ok.  Let's say you want to report that Gretzky has been traded from
the Oilers to the Kings.  Now right away you might think
rec.sport.hockey would be enough.  WRONG.  Many more people might be
interested.  This is a big trade!  Since it's a NEWS article, it
belongs in the news.* hierarchy as well.  If you are a news admin, or
there is one on your machine, try news.admin.  If not, use news.misc.

The Oilers are probably interested in geology, so try sci.geo.fluids.
He is a big star, so post to sci.astro, and sci.space because they are
also interested in stars.  And of course comp.dcom.telecom because he
was born in the birthplace of the telephone.  And because he's
Canadian, post to soc.culture.Ontario.southwestern.  But that group
doesn't exist, so cross-post to news.groups suggesting it should be
created.  With this many groups of interest, your article will be
quite bizarre, so post to talk.bizarre as well.  (And post to
comp.std.mumps, since they hardly get any articles there, and a "comp"
group will propagate your article further.)

You may also find it is more fun to post the article once in each
group.  If you list all the newsgroups in the same article, some
newsreaders will only show the the article to the reader once!  Don't
tolerate this.

                ------
Q: How do I create a newsgroup?

A: The easiest way goes something like "inews -C newgroup ....", and
while that will stir up lots of conversation about your new newsgroup,
it might not be enough.

First post a message in news.groups describing the group.  This is a
"call for discussion."  (If you see a call for discussion, immediately
post a one line message saying that you like or dislike the group.)
When proposing the group, pick a name with a TLA (three-letter
acronym) that will be understood only by "in" readers of the group.

After the call for discussion, post the call for flames, followed by a
call for arguments about the name and a call for run-on puns.
Eventually make a call for "votes." Usenet is a democracy, so voters
can now all post their votes to ensure they get to all 30,000 machines
instead of just the person counting. Every few days post a long
summary of all the votes so that people can complain about bad mailers
and double votes.  It means you'll be more popular and get lots of
mail.  At the end of 21 days you can post the vote results so that
people can argue about all the technical violations of the guidelines
you made.  Blame them on the moderator-of-the-week for
news.announce.newgroups.  Then your group might be created.

To liven up discussion, choose a good cross-match for your hierarchy
and group.  For example, comp.race.formula1 or soc.vlsi.design would
be good group names.  If you want your group created quickly, include
an interesting word like "sex" or "activism."  To avoid limiting
discussion, make the name as broad as possible, and don't forget that
TLA.

If possible, count votes from a leaf site with a once-a-week polled
connection to botswanavax.  Schedule the vote during your relay site's
head crash if possible.

Under no circumstances use the trial group method, because it
eliminates the discussion, flame, pun, voting and guideline-violation
accusation phases, thus taking all the fun out of it.  To create an
ALT group, simply issue the creation command.  Then issue an rmgroup
and some more newgroup messages to save other netters the trouble of
doing that part.

                ------
Q: I cant spell worth a dam.  I hope your going too tell me what to
do?

A: Don't worry about how your articles look.  Remember it's the
message that counts, not the way it's presented.  Ignore the fact that
sloppy spelling in a purely written forum sends out the same silent
messages that soiled clothing would when addressing an audience.

                ------
Q: How should I pick a subject for my articles?

A: Keep it short and meaningless.  That way people will be forced to
actually read your article to find out what's in it.  This means a
bigger audience for you, and we all know that's what the net is for.
If you do a followup, be sure and keep the same subject, even if it's
totally meaningless and not part of the same discussion.  If you
don't, you won't catch all the people who are looking for stuff on the
original topic, and that means less audience for you.

                ------
Q: What sort of tone should I take in my article?

A: Be as outrageous as possible.  If you don't say outlandish things,
and fill your article with libelous insults of net people, you may not
stick out enough in the flood of articles to get a response.  The more
insane your posting looks, the more likely it is that you'll get lots
of followups.  The net is here, after all, so that you can get lots of
attention.

If your article is polite, reasoned and to the point, you may only get
mailed replies.  Yuck!

                ------
Q: The posting software suggested I had too long a signature and too
many lines of included text in my article.  What's the best course?

A: Such restrictions were put in the software for no reason at all, so
don't even try to figure out why they might apply to your article.
Turns out most people search the net to find nice articles that
consist of the complete text of an earlier article plus a few lines.

In order to help these people, fill your article with dummy original
lines to get past the restrictions.  Everybody will thank you for it.

For your signature, I know it's tough, but you will have to read it in
with the editor.  Do this twice to make sure it's firmly in there.  By
the way, to show your support for the free distribution of
information, be sure to include a copyright message forbidding
transmission of your article to sites whose Usenet politics you don't
like.

Also, if you do have a lot of free time and want to trim down the text
in your article, be sure to delete some of the attribution lines so
that it looks like the original author of -- say -- a plea for world
peace actually wrote the followup calling for the nuking of Bermuda.

                ------
Q: They just announced on the radio that the United States has invaded
Iraq.  Should I post?

A: Of course.  The net can reach people in as few as 3 to 5 days.
It's the perfect way to inform people about such news events long
after the broadcast networks have covered them.  As you are probably
the only person to have heard the news on the radio, be sure to post
as soon as you can.

                ------
Q: I have this great joke.  You see, these three strings walk into a
bar...

A: Oh dear.  Don't spoil it for me.  Submit it to rec.humor, and post
it to the moderator of rec.humor.funny at the same time.  I'm sure
he's never seen that joke.

                ------
Q: What computer should I buy?  An Atari ST or an Amiga?

A: Cross post that question to the Atari and Amiga groups.  It's an
interesting and novel question that I am sure they would love to
investigate in those groups.  In fact, post your question at once,
to as many technical groups as you can think of, concluding your
request with the line "Please reply by mail, as I do not follow this
group."  (No one will find such a statement impertinent; remember,
the net is a resource to help you.)

There is no need to read the groups in advance or examine the
"frequently asked question" lists to see if the topic has already
been dealt with.  Any such warnings are for people without your
innate sense of netiquette, and whose uninspired questions are bound
to be repetitive.  Your question is sure to be unique; no point
checking the list to see if the answer might be there already.  How
could it be, when you only just thought of the question?

                ------
Q: What about other important questions?  How should I know when to
post?

A: Always post them.  It would be a big waste of your time to find a
knowledgeable user in one of the groups and ask through private mail
if the topic has already come up.  Much easier to bother thousands of
people with the same question.

                ------
Q: Somebody just posted a query to the net, and I want to get the
answer too.  What should I do?

A: Immediately post a following, including the complete text of the
query.  At the bottom add, "Me too!"  If somebody else has done this,
follow up their article and add "Me three," or whatever number is
appropriate.  Don't forget your full signature.  After all, if you
just mail the original poster and ask for a copy of the answers, you
will simply clutter the poster's mailbox, and save people who do
answer the question the joyful duty of noting all the "me (n)s" and
sending off all the multiple copies.

                ------
Q: What is the measure of a worthwhile group?

A: Why, it's Volume, Volume, Volume.  Any group that has lots of noise
in it must be good.  Remember, the higher the volume of material in a
group, the higher percentage of useful, factual and insightful
articles you will find.  In fact, if a group can't demonstrate a high
enough volume, it should be deleted from the net.

                ------
Q: Emily, I'm having a serious disagreement with somebody on the net.
I tried complaints to his sysadmin, organizing mail campaigns, called
for his removal from the net and phoning his employer to get him
fired.  Everybody laughed at me.  What can I do?

A: Go to the daily papers.  Most modern reporters are top-notch
computer experts who will understand the net, and your problems,
perfectly.  They will print careful, reasoned stories without any
errors at all, and surely represent the situation properly to the
public.  The public will also all act wisely, as they are also fully
cognizant of the subtle nature of net society.

Papers never sensationalize or distort, so be sure to point out things
like racism and sexism wherever they might exist.  Be sure as well
that they understand that all things on the net, particularly insults,
are meant literally.  Link what transpires on the net to the causes of
the Holocaust, if possible.  If regular papers won't take the story,
go to a tabloid paper -- they are always interested in good stories.

By arranging all this free publicity for the net, you'll become very
well known.  People on the net will wait in eager anticipation for
your every posting, and refer to you constantly.  You'll get more mail
than you ever dreamed possible -- the ultimate in net success.

                ------
Q: Emily, how can I put out my billboard on the information
superhighway?

A: The best way to do it is to perform a spam.  It's called that
because everybody loves it as much as the customer in the Monty Python
"Spam" sketch loves his spam.

The best way to do this is to find some naive programmer and ask it to
write a script that posts your message to every newsgroup.  You'll
start by getting as big a list of newsgroups as you can find.  The
members of Usenet, hoping to see your ad, have prepared these lists
just for you.  It doesn't really matter what your product is.  If
people on the net might use it, they'll be happy to read about it in
every group.

Now create a message promoting yourself.  Be bold, be daring, and be
sure to provide info on how to contact you in ways that people on the
net can't shut off.  (More on that later.)

Because the reaction is going to be so overwhelming, be sure to take
the following steps:

a) Unlist your phone number.  The networking public is going to want to
contact you so much to talk about your product or service that they'll
even try to call you at home.  If they get your home phone or address,
they'll be sure to share it with all the other people seeking to send
you their admiration, and your fame may prove too much.  You want
business, of course, but do you want to take orders all night?

b) Get an account with some other internet account providers.  For
reasons not quite certain, your provider probably has a clause in their
contract with you saying not to do a spam.  Even if they don't, they
will probably delete your account a few hours after you announce your
product, so be sure to get other accounts under assumed names so you
can follow what's going on.   This is the reason that expecting E-mail
replies to your ad won't work.

c) Be sure you've lead a clean life.  You and your product are going to
become as famous as Gary Hart and O.J. Simpson!  But, as you know, such
fame has its downsides, as your eager fans will research every tawdry
episode from your past history.  So be sure there are no skeletons in
your closet.  (Unless your product is skeletons!)

d) Due to the Brady Bill, you may want to file your firearms
acquisition request a few days in advance of your ad.  Soon you're
going to be rich, and you'll need to protect that wealth.

e) Load plenty of fax paper in your fax machine.  Hire extra staff to
load the rolls.  There may be orders in all the faxes you will get.

f) Resign any memberships you may have in any professional associations
you may have joined relating to your business that might have something
as pesky as a code of ethics.  Why put them through the trouble of
handling all the calls from your adoring fans, looking for somebody to
talk with about you?


Ok, now you're ready.  Unleash the posting program.  Have it send your
message once to every group.  There are thousands.  Now picture in your
mind the prospective customer.  She starts her day, perhaps, reading a
group about her hobby.  And right there is your ad!  The title is
curious so she reads it.   Your name is now inserted into her mind --
you've got mindshare.  It's true your product didn't have anything to
do with her hobby, but the net is there to find customers for you, not
for people to share their thoughts.

Then she goes to her next group, perhaps about her brand of computer.
There's your ad again!  You've sneaked into the great demographics of
the high-tech world.  As she goes on, she sees your ad again and
again.  Imagine her joy as she sees your now familiar headline
everywhere she goes.  "Wow, they must be really big and important,"
she'll think.  "They're as famous as IBM." Soon that joy will be so
much that she'll be ready to buy, buy, buy.

Now comes the bad news.  Usenet is unreliable, and postings don't
always work.  So, for unknown reasons, a few hours after you make your
postings they will all have disappeared.  Normally you would just post
them again, but by this time your internet mail access will have been
deleted, as I said above, so you'll have to just sit back and bask in
the adulation and orders.  There is a theory that some people, who
don't like your ad, will have a smarter program than your posting
program root around the net and stamp it out, but I hardly think it's
likely anybody would do that.

There will be some people annoyed, it's true.  But the net has at least
10 million people on it, and you'll probably only *really* annoy
perhaps 3 to 4 million of them -- a minority!

Others who have tried this have reported not only that a mere minority
show displeasure, but that vast numbers of people take the time to send
back inquiries and orders just so you can have more to read.
Unfortunately, they rarely actually pay.  Some theorize that those in
the vocal minority who don't like you are sending in pretend positive
responses, to waste your time.   Who would bother to do that?  Perhaps
just 1% out of the 3 to 4 million annoyed people, at most.  That
shouldn't bother you too much.  A similar percentage may try to phone
you, or fax you, or send bricks postage due, or subscribe you to
magazines.  Ignore them.  They're just 40,000 or so of the lunatic
fringe, communist element you find on the net.  They're just upset
because you're making money and they're not.  In fact, suckers that
they are, they actually ended up paying to transmit your ad
everywhere.   Learn to ignore them.  (That's not advice, it's just
something you'll have to do.)

Now at this point you probably have to stop answering your phone, but
keep those faxes coming in, and of course get ready for the mail.  If
you ever do get to see some of the E-mail you got sent -- wow, what a
flood!

When it settles a bit, threaten to sue anybody who didn't like you.
That should put some fear of God into them.  They should have known
better than to build a system so open.  Sure, they built the network as
a cooperative effort, but if they didn't want your ads, why didn't they
put in protections against them or enact laws to stop them?  What you
did was probably legal, so what's their complaint?   They're like
people who leave their keys in their cars and whine when they get
stolen.  Really, like they didn't deserve it.  They just don't see the
wonderful new purpose to which their network can be put, to help small,
exciting firms like yours get famous.  That's the American dream, after
all, and you're living it, or will, when the time comes to come back
out of your bunker and reconnect your phones.

                ------
Q: What does foobar stand for?

A: It stands for you, dear.

---
This FAQ can be found on the World Wide Web at

    http://www.clari.net/brad/emily.html

Christian_Paulus <[e-mail]> has a French translation of
''Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette''.
This translation (posted in fr.news.misc and fdn.misc monthly) is available at:

    ftp://ftp.fdn.fr/FDN/Doc/Emily-Postnews-repond-a-vos-questions

or on the World Wide Web:

    http://www.fdn.fr/fdn/doc-misc/Emily-Postnews.html


! rnews
Path: mnhep1.hep.umn.edu!newsstand.tc.umn.edu!newshub.tc.umn.edu!mr.net!arclight.uoregon.edu!panix!news.gw.com!news.deshaw.com!do-not-use-path-to-reply
Date: Tue, 28 Jan 1997 09:01:22 GMT
Message-ID: <x@mnhep1>
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Listing of Acorn-related Mailing-Lists
Newsgroups: newsbase.announce.newusers


Archive-name: acorn/mailing-lists
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: 23-Jun-1996
Version: 0.22

                Listing of Acorn-related Mailing-Lists
                          Maurice Hendrix
                       [e-mail]

        PLEASE USE AN UP-TO-DATE COPY OF THIS OVERVIEW

This overview is maintained by Maurice Hendrix <[e-mail]>.
Please send your suggestions, updates, remarks to me.

 Up-to-date copies of this overview are available by sending email to
<[e-mail]> with the Subject: SEND FAQ.Acorn.MailLists
Other Acorn related FAQ's are available here too. Send email with the
Subject: SEND INDEX to retrieve a listing of available files.

 In this overview angle-brackets <> are used to indicate that the text
within them is an email-address.

 This overview lists all known mailing-lists concerned with the
discussion of Acorn computers or software for these computers in
alphabetical order. The format of the listing is as follows:


-ListName-      -email-address for submitting articles-

   -Charter-

   -Subscription information-

******************************** POLICY ********************

 Adding or removing the entry of a mailing-list to this overview is
based solely on requests from the list-owner. If you own/moderate a
mailing-list and you want it added to/remove from this overview please mail
me directly.

************************************************************

NOTE: - BBC-LIST has moved.

-----------------------------

ACORN-L         <[e-mail]> or <[e-mail]>

   This list is used to discuss all Acorn related topics.

   To subscribe send email to: <[e-mail]> or
   <[e-mail]> in the body of the message enter the
   command:

   SUBSCRIBE ACORN-L <your-full-name>

   E.g. SUBSCRIBE ACORN-L John H. P. Doe

-----------------------------

BBC-LIST        <[e-mail]>

   The bbc-list is basically for anyone interested in
   anything associated with the 6502 based BBC micro.
   Traffic is light, but it's still running, and there are
   some good people who can answer most technical questions.

   Admin info should be sent to [e-mail]. That's
   handled manually.


-----------------------------

FORTHMACS       <[e-mail]>

   FORTHMACS is a forum for all RiscOS Forthmacs users
   discussing all matters concerning Forthmacs. bugs,
   updates and new tools/applications are announced in here.

    To subscribe send email to: <[e-mail]>
    with the SUBJECT: subscribe FORTHMACS
    There is a human on the other side.

-----------------------------

NEWSBASE-L      <[e-mail]>

   Discussion forum for the RISC OS news/mail manager
   package Newsbase, and any supporting applications.

   To subscribe send email to: <[e-mail]>
   with the SUBJECT: SIGNON NEWSBASE-L
   The rest of the message will be ignored.

-----------------------------

MAILLIST-L      <[e-mail]>

   MAILLIST-L is a mailing-list concerning the discussion of
   bugs and features of the application !MailList. The
   mailing-list is aimed at host-owners (who are using this
   application on their machine) and list-owners (who are
   managing mailing-lists with this application) !MailList
   is an application which provides a mailing-list and
   mail-server robot and a simple mail/news scheduler to
   users of the Acorn range of RISC computers and requires
   the RiscOS v3.10 platform.

   To subscribe send email to: <[e-mail]>
   with the SUBJECT: SIGNON MAILLIST-L
   The rest of the message will be ignored.

-----------------------------

PHOTODSK-L      <[e-mail]>

   PHOTODSK-L is a mailing-list concerning the discussion of
   techniques, features, new releases and technical support
   related to Spacetech's  !Photodesk.

   !Photodesk is an application designed for Photo
   Re-touching and Artwork Generation on the Acorn range of
   RISC machines (specifically the Acorn Archimedes and RISC
   PC).

   Please note that this mailing list is not officially
   mandated by Spacetech.

   To subscribe, send the mail to:
       [e-mail]
   with the Subject: SIGNON PHOTODSK-L
   The body of the mail will be ignored by the robot.

-----------------------------

RISCBSD         <[e-mail]>

   This list is for the discussion of RiscBSD: the
   NetBSD/ARM32 port for the RiscPC. NetBSD is a
   cross-platform public domain UNIX.

    To subscribe send email to: <[e-mail]> with the BODY:

        subscribe port-arm32

-----------------------------

RISCOSTEX       <[e-mail]>

   This is a RISC OS TeX mailing-list for people to discuss
   problems/ideas or anything else related to TeX/LaTeX and
   their extended family running under RISC OS.

   To subscribe, send the mail to:
       [e-mail]
   in the body text put: subscribe riscostex

-----------------------------

TAYLOR          <[e-mail]>

   TAYLOR is a mailing-list concerning the discussion of
   bugs and features of the application !uucp (Taylor UUCP
   1.04) by Thomas Aeby. The list is aimed at users of this
   application.

   To subscribe send email to: <[e-mail]>
   There is a human on the other side.

-----------------------------

With thanks to all the contributors.

________________________________________________________________________

  Copyright (c)1995,1996 by Maurice Hendrix, all rights reserved.
  This overview may be distributed freely on a non-commercial basis.
  When doing so this overview must be distributed as-is, with no changes
  made to it and this copyright notice included.
  This overview may NOT be included in commercial collections or
  compilations without the express permission from the author.

  This article is provided as is without any express or implied warranties.
  While every effort has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the
  information contained in this article, the author assumes no
  responsibilities for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from
  the use of the information contained herein.

--
Maurice Hendrix

   Gel naq qrpevcg guvf: Lly u muok!

- The only difference between a rut and a grave is their dimensions.