Amiga Plus 1995 #2/Amiga Plus CD - 1995 - No. 2.iso/internet/faq/englisch/alt.callahans-allabout

Text File | 1995-04-11 | 39.1 KB | 798 lines

Archive-name: callahans/allabout/part1
Last-modified: 1995/01/19
Version: 2.5
Posting-frequency: Monthly

[If you don't want to see this post every month, please program your KILL
file to search for "Allabout Callahan's". Do NOT kill the keyword "ADMIN".]


== The alt.callahans Allabout ==

This file contains information Allabout the newsgroup alt.callahans.  If
you just want to find out what the group is about and what sort of posts
you might see, you only need to read the first section, which is not too
long.  Most of this file is extra information which you might find
interesting, but is not essential to understanding the group.


*** What the Newsgroup is All About

Well, this is not really straightforward.  A good way to understand what
we do here is to take a guided tour.  If you just look over by the
fireplace you'll meet your tour-guide...

The Unicorn in the corner by the fireplace tips his hat to ye in
greeting.

"Welcome to alt.callahans, traveller.  I'm Taldin, resident Blue Unicorn
and eternal Patron.  Basically, the Place here on the Net is loosely
based on the Callahan's Place books by Spider Robinson; it used to be
more like the books, but has changed in the course of over four years of
operation.  Like Callahan's in the books, we have a few customs; these
are customs to work with, not rules to live by.  You don't HAVE to read
the books before saying anything; even I hadn't read them before joining
in the fun."

He gets up and walks to the bar, putting a dollar on the bartop.  "All
drinks are a dollar, or some other single currency unit depending on
where you're from, though some people like to pay a bit more just for
style."  Mike, the Irish bartender, nods at the unicorn.  "Spiked Apple
Juice, Mike," Taldin orders.

"You can get just about anything you want; Mike's the universal
bartender and there's almost nothing he can't build for ya."  Taldin
picks up his glass, and sips it while walking to a chalk line about ten
feet (or three metres) away from the fireplace.  "If you like preserving
glass, you can leave the glass on the bar and collect fifty cents change
from the cigar box at the end of the bar.  But most people toast."

He raises his empty glass towards you.  "To strangers; friends we've
just met."  And hurls the glass into the fireplace, where it breaks with
a satisfying smash.  A few other glasses hit the fireplace right after
Taldin's.  "If you agree with someone else's toast, feel free to pitch
your glass right after.

"Please keep in mind, though, that there are lots of postings within the
group; you might have noticed the noise level when you walked in.  If
your pitch is just a pitch and nothing more, you might want to consider
showing your support in e-mail to the poster, instead.  This has been a
message from the Bandwidth Conservation Society.

"Toasts can be about anything; happy, sad, angry, troubles, thoughts and
feelings.  A toast can be private, too; you don't have to talk about it;
but we're listening as best we can, if you do.  And we're here for
support, advice, and a bit of fun - and many, many puns.

"Sometimes we might refer to Patrons who don't seem to post, like Jake,
Fast Eddie, Long-Drink, Doc Webster, or Tom Hauptman.  These are
characters from the Callahan's books, and are as much a part of the
Place (if not more) than we are.  A longer description exists elsewhere
in the Allabout, and if you're really interested, we recommend the books
themselves highly.  Again, as I said, knowledge of the books does not
constitute a requirement to be here."

He smiles, and gives up the line.  "I'll let someone else have the stage
f'r now.  Oh yes.  What name do you go by?  And what'll you have?"  He
winks conspiratorially.  "You might want to let people know what your
birthday is, too; birthdays tend to be big things around here."

As he heads back to his shadowy corner (Taldin tends to 'semi-lurk', or
not post too often) he walks by one of the tables, with a peculiar
looking lamp hung above it.  The effect of the light is to blur the
humanoid unicorn form about him, leaving a young man in the same clothes
in its place.  "Whups.  That reminds me; this thing here is the Light of
Reality, or LoR.  This Place is a virtual space, yes, and open to
flights of fancy and fantasy, but the key thing to remember is that it
is mostly for reality.  Real live people with real life thoughts."  The
young man looks back at you.  "Be yourself, be what you feel you should
have been, had you had a choice, but above all, be considerate of
others, in this special Place, as well.  Danke."

With that, Taldin retires to the seat where you first saw him...

And really, that's about all you need to know to start participating in
the group.  To put it perhaps a little more succinctly:

alt.callahans is a newsgroup which operates under a Virtual Reality (VR)
conceit.  Many of the people who post here do so in present tense, third
person descriptions of themselves (or themselves as some fantasy
persona), interacting with the other people in a bar called Callahan's
Place.  None of this VR stuff is really necessary, and some posters use
a more 'normal' posting style.  After a while you will get used to
reading posts in different styles.  For your own style, just pick
something with which you feel comfortable.

So what do we talk about in Callahan's?  Well, anything really.  There
are no restrictions on topic, with the single exception that insults,
abuse, slander, and similar things are not tolerated.  If there is
anything on your mind at all, you will almost certainly find people here
willing to talk about it.  Just keep in mind that if it's something
controversial, not everyone will agree with you (although they should
respect your right to your own opinion).  Another common conversation
topic is the sharing of puns and other jocularities.  The puns stem from
the Callahan's books and they're kind of tree-ditional; you'll find they
branch off from any topic imaginable - sorry, I should leaf it there.

There are other things we do here, which rely more heavily on the VR
nature of the Place.  Every so often there is a big tickle, or pillow,
or custard pie fight, and the Place gets really messy for a while.  And
sometimes there will be a big birthday party for one of the more well
known or popular Patrons.  A lot of other things happen in the bar as
well - it's a pretty lively place!

Just one more thing... If you've been to other newsgroups you may have
been called a 'newbie' at some stage.  That's generally not a very nice
experience, and we think of 'newbie' as kind of offensive here.  So here
we have _newcomers_ instead.  Newcomers are not 'clueless newbies',
they're just friends we haven't known for long yet.

That's about it, really.  You'll learn a lot more with experience, or by
reading through the rest of this file.  Welcome to Callahan's!


*** What Callahan's Is, and What Callahan's Isn't

One of the most important concepts borrowed from the Callahan's Place
books by Spider Robinson is the axiom (as paraphrased by Aahz):

"Shared pain is lessened, shared joy increased; thus do we refute
entropy."

This forms the basis of much of the interaction in the group.  Patrons
often make a toast when something sad or happy happens in their life.
The sharing seems to do just what the axiom says - it makes the pain
more bearable, or makes the joy more wonderful.  Patrons have shared
many significant events in the past; everything from losing jobs, pets,
or close relatives, to falling in love, graduating, or having a baby.

The shared joy comes pretty easily, but the shared pain can be more
difficult.  Often a Patron will simply make a cryptic toast and not wish
to talk about it any more.  That is fine.  A very important thing about
sharing pain in Callahan's is that we do it voluntarily.  People will
always listen if you want to talk, but they should never pry.  In
Spider's books there is a character called Fast Eddie, who is quick to
use his blackjack on anyone who asks a prying question.  We think that's
reasonable - so prying into other people's business here is strongly
discouraged.

Sometimes, however, a Patron does want to talk about something painful
in detail.  While we can almost guarantee that people will be willing to
listen and sympathise, we CANNOT make any claims that we will be able to
help in any other way.  We are a group of relatively normal people; we
have no magic powers to make people's lives better.  The Callahan's of
Spider's stories could weave a certain magic, and the stories always had
happy endings.  But this Callahan's is just a newsgroup.  This is
reality, not a story.

We try very hard to listen to people.  If someone has a real problem, we
even offer advice.  But advice is not always right, and it's often worth
exactly what you pay for it.  The important thing to remember is not to
harbour false expectations about the power of Callahan's.  Some people
have, and have been sorely disappointed.

Having said that, however, it is also easy to underestimate the good
things and emotional support which can come from sharing.  It is easy to
be cynical and say that Callahan's is just a bunch of weepy pathos
groupies.  That is just as much a mistake as overestimating the power of
the Place.

In summary, alt.callahans is just a newsgroup.  But it's a newsgroup in
which the Patrons make an honest effort to be real friends with one
another.  We _are_ a friendly bunch, in general, and if you need some
friends, we're always here.  But we can't do anything which a more
normal sort of friend can't do.


*** Some VR Traditions

The Virtual atmosphere in Callahan's can take some getting used to.
There are several traditions and bits of Virtual scenery which are often
mentioned.  The long-time Patrons know these from familiarity, but
newcomers can probably do with an explanation.

But first, a brief technical note.  You've probably already noticed how
busy the Place is.  In order to make finding the sort of posts you're
looking for a little easier, we have an informal _keyword_ system to
label specific types of post.  Most posts don't have any keyword, but
those which do are labelled in the Subject line with an upper-case word,
such as TOAST.  Some of these keywords are mentioned below in
association with their appropriate VR traditions; all of them are listed
and described fully in the Guide to Keywords post, which is posted to
the group every two weeks.

Okay, with that out of the way, here's a list of Callahan's traditions:

The Toast:
As already mentioned, this is the usual method of sharing some big news
in your life, whether it be good or bad.  Basically, you buy your drink
from Mike (no, it doesn't have to be alcoholic), walk to the chalk line
which is marked on the floor in front of the fireplace, declare your
toast, drink, and throw your glass into the fire.  If you want to keep
talking after the toast, the floor is yours, so go ahead.  If not,
that's okay too.  Toasts are usually labelled with the keyword TOAST.

Hugs! (and Backrubs!):
A lot of the folks in Callahan's are pretty affectionate, and what
better way to display the way you feel towards your friends than to
share hugs?  Hugs are very comforting and therapeutic in Real Life, and
can be in VR as well.  Being greeted with a Magda Wolf-Attack Hug (tm),
or a Very Big Beth Hug (tm), or whatever other style of hugs folks are
offering when you're feeling a bit down is sure to make you feel better!
Well... some people _are_ a little nervous about physical contact, so we
should keep that in mind too.  Hugs in Callahan's are always _offered_,
never given against someone's will.  And ditto for backrubs, which are
even better than hugs, 'cause they last so much longer!

Peanuts:
The traditional missile weapon of choice to be used against inveterate
punsters.  A hail of peanuts has ended the rain of more than one
pretender to the pun-throne.  Ouch!  Who threw that?
Oh, while on this topic, although it doesn't really involve peanuts,
be wary of buying drinks by saying "Drinks are on me".  A lot of people
often take this literally, and you will probably end up dripping!

Soapboxes:
Sometimes a Patron will make a long, opinionated speech, which espouses
personal views which might not necessarily agree with someone else's.
When this happens, the speaker often finds him or herself standing on
top of a pile of spontaneously appearing soapboxes.  This follows the
venerable English tradition of making public speeches while standing on,
you guessed it, a wooden soapbox.  People in Callahan's will also often
use the word 'soapbox' as a synonym for 'pontificate', though in a
good-natured way.  Soapbox posts can be labelled with the keyword
SOAPBOX.

X-Windows:
You may be familiar with this as an operating environment on some
computer systems, but in Callahan's an X-Window is more like a normal
window.  The X-Window is on a wall and you can look through it.  But
sometimes it displays different things to what you might expect - a bit
like a film screen.  Patrons who wish to describe events or places from
Real Life usually do so by looking into the X-Window.  An X-Window post
will usually contain some beautifully detailed descriptive prose.  Such
posts are often labelled with the keyword WINDOW.

The Danger Room:
Callahan's is generally a peaceful sort of place, but we recognise that
anger is a valid emotion and a lot of good can often be done by venting
it in a safe way.  If something really frustrating happens to you and
you feel like smashing some furniture, you can go into the Danger Room
and be as violent as you like.  All we ask is that you don't take others
in there and be violent to _them_.  Danger Room posts should have the
keyword DANGER ROOM in their Subject header line.

The Rafters:
There are quite a few people who like to read Callahan's, but who never
post.  These people are known as 'lurkers', and in the VR of the Place,
they sit up near the vaulted ceiling on the rafters.  Okay, for the
architecturally minded they are technically joists (rafters are higher
up, snug against the roof), but most folks just call them rafters.

The French Doors:
The French Doors were introduced by the Didi-Sprite, as a way of opening
a portal out of the Place and into whatever magical setting she designs
for the extravagant parties she organises.  They are sort of like
X-windows, except that Patrons are able to step through them and take
part in whatever lies beyond.  Other people have used them for special
celebrations as well.  Often the Doors lead directly into Didi's Meadow,
which is the perfect place for a picnic.

The Lounge:
The Lounge was a gift to The Place on November 7th, 1993 in a post by
Jezebel, the Didi-Sprite, Draco, Tink, and kitten.  It was constructed
as a space for respite - a place to let go of our cares.  Postings from
the lounge are often quiet stories or threads, usually denoted with the
keyword LOUNGE in the Subject line.
The lounge is a large sunken pit located near the fireplace and the bar,
ringed by open rails and wide polished wooden steps and ramps which lead
down from all sides.  It is carpeted with a plush white woollen rug
adorned with an intricate fractal dragon pattern.  The area is also
decorated with overstuffed chairs, footstools, tables, lamps, pillows,
Libby the Lounge Lizard, and George the stool pigeon.  The NULL Sound
(tm) equipment built into the railings diminishes the usually raucous
Callahan's hubbub to a soft soothing murmur, like the gentle crash of
ocean waves.

Aurora's Herem:
This is something fun for the females in the Place (although many males
seem to enjoy the attention!), begun by Aurora.  She has assembled a
'herem', which is like a harem, only full of able-bodied men and for the
entertainment of the women.  Any females are welcome to join in the fun,
and any males are welcome to apply for a place in this most prestigious
collection.  Herem posts are designated with the keyword HEREM.
Occasionally things will get a little bit sensual, but never beyond the
bounds of good taste.

Firelizards:
These beautiful and affectionate flying dragonets abound plentifully in
Callahan's.  Originally brought in from Rukbat 3 aka P.E.R.N.c, the
telepathic firelizards have established well hidden breeding grounds
throughout the nooks and crannies of The Place.  On occasion, clutches
of eggs are presented to those people who choose to impress one for a
lifetime of deep friendship.  The eggs usually hatch on Valentine's Day,
February 14, so most of the firelizards in the Place share that
birthdate.
Firelizards sometimes hang out in the rafters, but more often they stay
cozily wrapped around their life-mates who speak for them.  If you wish
to speak for them, secure permission first.  For more information on
firelizards, see Anne McCaffrey's "The Dragonriders of Pern" (c) series.
Those who are already familiar with the Pernese firelizards might note
some of them have unusual colourations and patterns like mauve, grey,
stripes, and flecks.  These hybrids were the union of a Pernese
firelizard and an enchanted dragon named Ace, from Gian-Paolo's Dragon
Poker card deck.  Their capabilities are not fully known.  And some of
the small dragons seen in Callahan's are not Pernese at all, most
notably DragonRose and DragonOrder, who were introduced to the Place by
Chauntilly Lais and Tink respectively.

Lamplighter's Almanac:
The Lamplighter posts an Almanac page each day.  This lists interesting
events and happenings for the day in question, as well as any Patrons
whose birthday it happens to be.  The Didi-Sprite keeps the birthday
list - more about that later.  The Almanac uses the keyword BOARD,
indicating the bulletin board on the wall of the Place where it hangs.

Those Virtual items seem to be in fairly regular use.  There are also
some other things which used to be popular in the past, and which get
referred to once in a while these days:

The Hot Tub:
If you need to relax your muscles, there is a magical hot tub (always
the right temperature) to climb into.  It's always the right size, too,
for either one person, or a huge hot tub party.  Bathing costumes are
optional, but please keep your hands to yourself unless granted
permission to give a backrub.

The VPM:
The Virtual Pizza Machine was introduced by Nicarra for the 1990/91 New
Year's Pizza Party.  It is voice activated and can produce anything with
a dough crust and a filling or topping.  So it can make pizzas, and also
calzones, pies, spring rolls, spanakopita, apple turnovers... use your
imagination!  Ingredients are not a problem; the VPM once made a small
birdseed pizza for a hamster.  The VPM has made regular reappearances
every New Year's Eve, though it is available for round-the-year use.

Radio Free Colorado:
RFC is a radio station which Mike sometimes tunes into for the
entertainment of the Patrons.  It will play any song you request (as
long as you supply the words!).  You can request favourites, or perhaps
something with words relevant to your feelings.  Requests are usually
made by calling the station on the phone at one end of the bar.  If you
make a post with the words of a song, please give credit to the artist.

Warm Fuzzies:
These were introduced by Gilly Rosenthol way back in 1989.  A warm
fuzzy looks like an animate ball of fur, rather like a tribble, although
with feet and hands if they need them.  They are the embodiment of
caring and are freely given to others in friendship.  They hum when they
are happy - which is most of the time!  And they come in any colour or
combinations of colours imaginable.

VAX:
VAX is an animated, mobile vacuum cleaner, brought into the Place by
Nick Chopper.  He cleans up any errant glass by the fireplace, and gets
the Place looking respectable again after any particularly feathery or
custardy play-fights.

The Floating Dance Floor:
If RFC plays a song which gets your feet tapping, you can take to the
dance floor.  The dance floor floats above the normal floor, of course,
so people who don't want to dance don't have to walk around it.

The Folx Room:
This is a non-sexist bathroom, complete with a shower in case you need
to clean up for any reason.


== continued in Part 2

- Danger Mouse.
Archive-name: callahans/allabout/part2
Last-modified: 1995/01/19
Version: 2.5
Posting-frequency: Monthly

== continued from Part 1

*** Parties and Things in Callahan's

We've already mentioned the New Year's Pizza Party, which is held at the
appropriate time each year.  It was started because the newsgroup used
to be a pretty empty place over the holiday season, with people on
vacation and all, and it's a nice way for the ones left behind to share
some holiday spirit.

There are also birthday parties occasionally.  The Didi-Sprite keeps a
list of Patron's birthdays, and newcomers who want to be on it should
post their birthdays.  Since there are so many Patrons, every day is
_someone's_ birthday, so parties tend to be held only for long-standing
or very well-known Patrons.

What happens is: Someone contacts a large bunch of the victim's friends,
collecting birthday greetings and Virtual mayhem from them in e-mail,
then formats it all together and posts a humongous birthday party built
from everyone's messages.  It's quite an honour to have such a surprise
party thrown for you, but the sheer number of Patrons means nobody
should feel bad about not getting one.

Party posts are often quite long, and the threads can go on quite a
while, so the keyword PARTY should always be included in the Subject
line of any party post.  And if you want to get weekly reminder
messages on upcoming birthdays, contact Didi at [e-mail] .


*** Callahan's and Real Life

Since Callahan's is full of real people, they sometimes find they live
close enough together to meet up in Real Life (RL).  This has led to the
idea of the RealSpace, in which a bunch of Callahanians get together and
have a great time.  There are several groups of people who met in
Callahan's and now get together regularly in RL.  A few romances have
started this way, and even a marriage or two!

There are other ways in which Callahanians can share RL experiences.
People have posted invitations to open parties, and stage performances
in which they appear, and to events like science fiction conventions.
The keyword REALSPACE is sometimes used to announce, organise, or report
on any such gatherings.

And when a Callahanian travels, well!  There are often other
Callahanians scattered around the destination and this makes a great
excuse for a get-together.  Several Patrons have had dinner or attended
parties with people from other countries, and many a Patron has given
free travel accommodation to a visiting Callahanian from across the
country or across the world.


*** Callahan's Books by Spider Robinson (and others)

The alt.callahans newsgroup, as mentioned earlier, is based on some
books written by a fellow called Spider Robinson.  Here is a list of his
Callahan's books:

Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, 1977, ISBN 0-441-09043-5.
Time Travellers Strictly Cash, 1981, ISBN 0-441-80713-5.
Callahan's Secret, 1986, ISBN 0-441-09074-5.
The Callahan Touch, 1993, ISBN 0-441-09075-3.
Off The Wall at Callahan's, 1994, ISBN 0-312-85661-X.

Spider has also written two books about Lady Sally, Mike's wife and
proprietor of a very classy bordello...

Callahan's Lady, 1989, ISBN 0-441-09072-9.
Lady Slings the Booze, 1992, ISBN 0-441-46929-9.

All of the above books are published by Ace Books of New York. They are
not the easiest books to find, and you may have better luck perusing
second-hand book stores for some of the earlier ones.  Spider has also
written several science fiction books which have nothing to do with
Callahan's, including a few with his wife, Jeanne Robinson.

The Callahan's Place books are collections of short stories (except for
_Off_The_Wall_, explained below), whereas the Lady Sally books are
novels.  All of them (plus his other books) come highly recommended by
most of the Patrons who have read them, although some of us don't like
them - hey, we encourage diversity and nobody ever said you have to
think any particular way to post here!

The Callahan's Place described in the books is quite similar to the one
in the newsgroup in some respects, but quite different in others. The
general philosophy is pretty much the same, but the decor and traditions
vary a bit.  In the books, the characters indulge in regular pun
contests every Tuesday night, Wednesdays are for tall tales, and Monday
is Fireside Fillmore night, in which some of the characters jam with
their musical instruments.  There is a counter-clock (a mirror-image of
a normal clock) on the wall, an ornate iron spiral staircase leading up
to the roof, no bar stools, a free lunch of ham sandwiches on the
bartop, and no mirror behind the bar (the wall is covered with scrawls
of some of the best (worst?) puns from Tuesday contests - and _this_
stuff comprises the _Off_The_Wall_ book).  Much of this has never made
regular reference in the newsgroup, but occasionally someone might
mention some of it.

And if you're curious, yes, Spider _does_ know about the newsgroup.  He
does not read it, though (at least as far as any of us know), and he has
never posted anything here.  A few of us have met him in person (at
science fiction conventions, for example, where he is sometimes a guest
of honour), and the reports are that he is quite a nice guy.  If you
happen to meet him, please be considerate and don't pester him with
questions about this newsgroup!

There are three stories which may explain why Spider doesn't hang out
here:
1) Chris Davis met Spider once at a Boscone convention, and he said he
   didn't have time for the Net because he was worried about getting
   sucked into it.  (Fair enough; we know how addictive it can be!)
2) Taldin met Spider at I-Con IX, where he said he didn't want to read
   any fan-fiction about Callahan's, because he was leery about getting
   sued for copyright violations if he sees an idea and then later
   accidentally uses it.  This could possibly be extended to include the
   sort of things people write in alt.callahans.
3) Hearsay from an unknown source says that Spider once saw a printout
   of some of alt.callahans and didn't see much of a resemblance to how
   he envisioned the Place.
So, it could be that Spider is actually a little tired of hearing about
us already.  As we just said, _please_ don't bother him about the
newsgroup if you happen to meet him.

There is another book related to Callahan's - it happens to be a source
book for the role-playing game GURPS by Steve Jackson Games.  It was
written by Chris W. McCubbin, with help from Spider:
GURPS Callahan's Crosstime Saloon, 1992, ISBN 1-55634-221-7.

And if you turn to page 73 of this book, you will see alt.callahans
mentioned specifically.  As a Patron of this Place you are therefore, in
some small way, famous.


*** Other Callahan's Resources on the Net (and off)

The Callahan's Round Table:
Apart from the newsgroup alt.callahans, there is a #callahans channel on
Internet Relay Chat (IRC).  At the moment it only operates on Wednesdays
and Sundays (USA time) and mostly during the US evening, or late
afternoon on Sundays.  If you know how to use IRC, simply join the
channel #callahans at the appropriate time and you should find a few
other Callahanians on-line and willing to chat.

The VR space used in IRC is a big, round, oak table situated at the bar.
The people there do all the things they do in alt.callahans, except that
it all happens instantly instead of posting messages and waiting for a
reply.  At the moment, the conditions there are much less crowded than
in the newsgroup.  The Callahan's Round Table is ideal for anyone with
access to IRC and who feels the volume of posts in alt.callahans is just
too overwhelming.  As it grows, the Round Table will eventually expand
to other days of the week, to help keep things small and manageable.
The Round Table was set up and is administered by Elana Beach.  If you
have any questions about it you can e-mail her at [e-mail] .

Here is a quick time conversion chart for the Callahan's Round Table:
US Eastern Time: 18:00 - 00:00
US Pacific Time: 15:00 - 21:00
UK (Greenwich) Time: 23:00 - 05:00 (next day)
Australian Eastern Time: 09:00 (next day) - 15:00 (next day)

If you don't know how to use IRC, then you should either check your
on-line help or ask a local expert on your system.

HoloMUCK:
HoloMUCK is a multi-user game running on a machine in Montreal.  Many
current and ex-Callahanians have characters on HoloMUCK, and logging in
is another way of meeting up with them in real time.

The telnet address for HoloMUCK is  132.206.78.1 (port 5757).
The e-mail contact is Sjade, at these addresses:
[e-mail]    for information;
[e-mail]                   to set up a character.

If you want to have a look at Holo first, telnet to the above address
and connect as a guest.  Instructions appear when you open the telnet
connection.  If you don't know how to use telnet, either check your
on-line help or ask a local expert.

Callahan's on the World Wide Web:
Several people maintain World Wide Web pages with Callahan's related
information.  Here are the URL addresses and brief descriptions.

Danger Mouse ([e-mail]) maintains the original Callahan's
WWW page (originally produced by John Ockerbloom).  The page contains
links to several Callahan's documents, and also a few classic posts
from the past.
http://www.physics.su.oz.au/~mar/callahans.html

Tink ([e-mail]) has a Callahan's page with links to home pages of
several other Patrons and even a few pictures!
http://www.rpi.edu/~tinkha/callahans.html

Ceallach keeps a Callahan's Portrait Gallery, with Patron photos.
http://www.clark.net:80/pub/ceallach/patrons.html

Signe has another small Callahan's page, with links to various things.
http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~signe/callahans.html

As usual on the Web, these pages all contain numerous links and
cross-references.  A bit of searching, and who knows what you will find!
If you don't know how to access the Web, ask a local expert about it.

The Callahan's FTP Sites:
Danger Mouse ([e-mail]) maintains a small Callahan's
anonymous FTP site at suphys.physics.su.oz.au (129.78.129.1), in the
directory /pub/mar/callahans .

This site contains the latest copies of all the regular informational
posts, and some other stuff of interest.  If you do not know how to use
FTP, check your on-line help or ask a local expert on your system.  If
you have any problems accessing the site, send e-mail to DM.

frood ([e-mail]) maintains another Callahan's FTP site at
bach.cs.columbia.edu (128.59.28.19).  This site contains an archive of
Callahan's posts, as well as a copy of the Callahan's Cookbook (see
sections on the Cookbook and Archives below).

DO NOT try to log in (via TELNET) to these sites as "guest" or
"anonymous".  No such accounts exist on either machine, and your
request will be denied.  These sites are for anonymous FTP only.

The Callahan's Cookbook:
Danger Mouse has compiled a collection of recipes from Callahanians.
Most of the recipes have been posted to the group, and DM collects any
new ones which appear.  The current version is 2.1 (June 23, 1993),
which contains 57 recipes, contributed by 32 different Patrons.

The Cookbook is available from the Callahan's FTP Sites and the
Callahan's World Wide Web Page.  It exists in three formats: Plain
ASCII (a text file like this), LaTeX (a text formatting language), and
PostScript (a graphics format suitable for laser-printing).

On frood's FTP site, the appropriate directory is  /pub/cookbook .
The files there are in GNU zip compressed format, with file names:
cookbook.asc.gz, cookbook.ps.gz, cookbook.tex.gz .  Patrons in the USA
should grab the book from this site, to save trans-Pacific traffic.

Each format is available from DM's FTP site both normally and Unix
compressed.  Here are the file sizes in bytes:
125001  cookbook.asc    (ASCII)
 57257  cookbook.asc.Z  (ASCII, Unix compressed)
301200  cookbook.ps     (PostScript)
121449  cookbook.ps.Z   (PostScript, Unix compressed)
135166  cookbook.tex    (LaTeX)
 60063  cookbook.tex.Z  (LaTeX, Unix compressed)

The Callahan's Coffeehouse:
This is a collection of songs performed by Callahanians and compiled by
John Ockerbloom in 1991.  It contains songs by the Mandelbear (Steve
Savitzky), Windsinger (Rhodri James), The Green Tiger (James Birdsall),
and Taldin (Jeff Young), all original compositions.  The recording
quality is not very good, but the songs are fun.  Getting a copy of the
tape for yourself these days may prove difficult, however.  Please don't
bother John for a copy - he hasn't the necessary equipment to make new
copies.  If you want a copy, the best way is to find another Patron who
has a copy and ask nicely for a duplicate.


*** Other Regular Informational Postings in Callahan's

In addition to this Allabout file, there are a few other regular posts
which appear in Callahan's.  The reason they are separate from the
Allabout is that they contain information which is either posted or
updated much more frequently than the information here.  You will see
them posted every so often, or you can grab them from the Callahan's FTP
Site or the Callahan's World Wide Web Page.  The files are:

Flames:
Probably the most important regular post, this describes the action to
take (or not to take) when people start getting insulting or abusive in
the newsgroup.  To summarise: ignore the flamer and e-mail or post
friendly support to the victim.  Posted weekly.

Callahan's New Patron's Guide:
This gives a rundown on net-etiquette and technical information on
posting to newsgroups for new Net users.  Posted every two weeks.

Callahan's Keyword Guidelines:
This post describes the practice of labelling posts with Subject line
keywords (to assist readers) and lists all the keywords in common use.
Posted every two weeks.


*** Related Newsgroups to alt.callahans

Several people have thought that Callahan's is such a good idea there
should be more newsgroups like it.  Some of them went out and created
some!  There are now a few groups which were inspired by alt.callahans,
most of them under the alt.pub.* hierarchy.

The first such group was an attempt to create a bar like the Chatsubo in
William Gibson's novel _Neuromancer_.  The group alt.cyberpunk.chatsubo
is now a bit of a mix of that plus a lot of people posting cyberpunk
style stories.

Another such group, alt.pub.dragons-inn, began as a place similar to
Callahan's but with a strong fantasy theme.  It and its sister group,
alt.pub.cloven-shield, have now become places for building fantasy
stories in a VR environment.  The next group, alt.pub.havens-rest,
continued the idea in a science fiction theme.

More like Callahan's is alt.pub.coffeehouse.amethyst.  It shares much of
the same philosophy as Callahan's, but is not so heavy on the VR.


*** The Growth of Callahan's

The newsgroup alt.callahans was created in November 1989 by Chris Davis.
Since then there have been over 80,000 posts to the group.  (The number
listed at your site may be smaller, since many sites did not receive the
group until much later.)  Nobody really knows how many posters have
contributed, but it must be several hundred, perhaps over a thousand.
Many of those have since disappeared, but now there are about a hundred
'regulars' and perhaps a similar number of semi-lurkers who post
occasionally.

It is impossible to tell exactly how many people read the group, but the
last official estimate (February 1995) was 61,000.  So it seems that
lurkers outnumber regular posters by quite a margin!

With the explosive growth of the Net, these numbers have been increasing
constantly, and it is likely they will continue to do so.  And even
today, the volume of posts in Callahan's can be quite daunting.  A
report from February 1995 listed alt.callahans as the 151st top
newsgroup by number of bytes, and 172nd top by number of articles, with
3100 articles, totalling 6300 kilobytes, posted during January 1995.
It is also interesting to note that Callahan's propagates to 60% of all
Usenet sites, which is very high for an alt.* group.

A few times people have suggested a split of alt.callahans in order to
make the group more structured and hence manageable.  Each time there
was a lot of discussion and a general consensus that splitting the
group would rob it of one of its chief virtues - diversity.  The great
range of topics and cross-linking of conversation threads is probably
the most important thing in maintaining that special and somewhat
magical atmosphere which seems to pervade the Place.  And that same
conclusion will almost certainly be reached any time someone ever
suggests that a split might be a good idea.

But a positive attitude did come out of all those discussions.  And that
attitude was that, if more people want to participate in a group like
Callahan's, we should simply create more such groups!  Then all the
newcomers can spread out over several new groups, and the size of each
will remain reasonable.  In the words of Nick Chopper, "Colonise
Cyberspace!"  The group alt.pub.coffeehouse.amethyst was the first of
these, and there will probably be many more to come.


*** Archives and Databases

There is no single collected archive of all Callahan's posts.  Taldin
has an archive of the first 14 months or so (November 1989 to about
February 1991), but not in an easily accessible form.

frood has an archive of all posts received at his site since August 1991
to the present.  This archive numbers about 40,000 posts, and is well
over 100 megabytes in size - and obviously growing.  You can FTP single
month's worth of articles from  bach.cs.columbia.edu (128.59.28.19).
The files are in GNU zip compressed tar format, and have names like:
       /pub/callahans/Y-<yyyy>/<Mmmyy>.tar.gz
e.g.   /pub/callahans/Y-1992/Aug92.tar.gz
Individual articles or Subject threads cannot be searched for or
retrieved.  If you have any questions about this archive, send e-mail to
frood at  [e-mail] .

If anyone has the resources to set up a better article retrieval system
(including search facilities, for example) from such a large archive,
please contact frood to arrange details.

Red Bear ([e-mail]) has collected a database of as many
Patrons as he can find.  He makes a regular post, requesting information
from new Patrons for inclusion.  His database is in Paradox/dBase
format, and you can get a copy by contacting Red Bear.  The database
includes Patron names, e-addresses, RL location, favourite drink, and a
few other things.  You will _only_ be included in this database if you
send information directly to Red Bear.  For privacy reasons, he does not
collect information about people without their full consent.


*** Dedication and Credits

This Allabout is dedicated to:
Caeilte - The first to leave us.
The Artful Dodger - May you forever roam the deserts you loved so much
  and which you shared with so many of us.
Viola - Life was a stage - may the intermission be short.
Tony Kidson - Ever thoughtful, always wise, the words from your Bromley
  cat-warmer will be sorely missed.
None of you are forgotten.

The original Allabout file was written by Taldin the Blue Unicorn.
Nick Chopper maintained and upgraded the information for several years,
with the help of many un-named Callahan's Patrons.
This version was compiled by Danger Mouse, with much help and input of
text from both Taldin and Nick, as well as Firehawk, the Didi-Sprite,
kitten, /*, Jezebel, Draco, Elana Beach, Nicarra, Big Al, Aurora, frood,
Tink, John Ockerbloom, Rowan, and Red Bear.

If you have any suggestions for additions or changes to this file,
please send mail to Danger Mouse at [e-mail] .

- Danger Mouse.