| [M] Hello; welcome to afp #1/2 [FAQ] [message #264722] |
Mi, 17 Mai 2006 05:13 |
|
Last-modified: 7/7/05 (7/7/05 for merkins)
------------------------------------------------------------ ---
[M] hello: welcome to alt.fan.pratchett #1/2 [FAQ]
it's long, but it does explain many of the things you may not
have met before, if you're new to afp, or to the 'net; or which
you may have forgotten, and you're not;
and which you may find it helpful at first to print out, to be
able to refer to it, whilst doing other things on, or with <g>,
your computer; that's fine, so long as you print it out in full -
or, if there should only be some bits you need, those bits, plus
where to find the whole faq, & the acknowledgements (& the copy-
right bit) at the end.
the wording, phraseology, opinions, and descriptions are my
own personal observations and interpretations and, in some cases
more-or-less devout wishes - but afp's ways, although they have
a fair amount of inertia, do change over time: they are not cast
in stone; so this document is subject to correction upon any and
all of the above grounds (and more, besides).
if you wish to reply to me directly, please use the e-address,
afpfaq [at] i-m-t.demon.co.uk, first changing the first "f" to a "g",
as both e-addresses given in full, which are valid and do exist,
are set up to *not* *accept* mail.
& please trim any quotation of the faq to the bit(s) to which
you make reference: i already have the full thing! *g*
- thank-you. ppint.
Contents
PART 1:
1.0 * net etiquette - "netiquette" - how we behave on the 'net -
1.1 + what is it, and _why_ is it ?
+ smileys
1.2 + trimming quotation when posting to afp
(or when e-mailing); problems with google groups
+ starting your reply; tidying up intro lines
+ one-line follow-ups
1.3 + replying: when to follow-up, e-mail, or both ?
+ sending cc.s ("carbon" or "courtesy" copies)
+ quoting from e-mail: [almost always] don't!
1.4 + line length
1.5 + subject lines & afp's "[X]" keycode letters
+ google groups "loses" afp's "[X]" keycode letters
1.6 + changing a thread's subject line & [X] letter
1.7 + the sig.file [and where to find elfin's oefix]
1.8 + don't post binaries, or ascii "art", or in html
+ how to post large text files
1.9 + afp is an international newsgroup - implications
+ spoilers +'net privacy - or rather, the lack of it
1.10 + posting for other people
1.11 + other afpers' netiquette
1.12 + cancelling articles
1.13 + afp and the laws of slander, and of libel
+ use of the words "plagiarise" [or "plagiarize"],
"plagiarisation" on afp, abp (and other groups)
PART 2:
2.0 * tolerance
3.0 * technical matters
(3.2 + unsolicited commercial e-mail, spam & killfiling
including:+ how to killfile this article (# 1&2)
[<fx: chop>: contents - see "[M] hello: welcome to afp #2/2 [FAQ]]"
____________________________________________________________
1.0 * net etiquette - "netiquette" - how we behave on the 'net -
1.1 + what is it, and why is it
despite its somewhat arch name, netiquette _matters_: whilst
some afpers do get to meet up in real life - at afpmeets, and
signings, and the odd (some very odd) conventions, the type-
written word (& "smileys") are the only way most of us have to
get to know each other, and understand what's being said.
there's no tone of voice on the 'net, almost no way of indicat-
ing the expression on your face, when you post (or e-mail), and
none whatsoever of seeing how your words are received, at the
time they're read - all things that are important parts of our
conversations in real life ("IRL").
it's not always easy to tell, whether someone's being funny,
ironical, or sarcastic - or deadly serious - and sometimes it
may seem as though they are, when they did not intend to be...
...re-read what you've written *before* you post it, not just
for typos, spelling mistakes & literals, and whether you could
trim a bit more re-quotation from above your contribution; but
also to read what you've actually said, as others may read it.
+ smileys
"smileys" - typographical "pictures" which you need to turn
your head sideways to view - are an attempt to indicate this -
the basic ones are :-) [smile, happy]; :-)) [big smile]; etc;
:-( [sad, unhappy]; :-(( [very sad/unhappy]; etc; <g> or *g*
[grin] (not strictly a smiley, but then nor are _sad_ faces);
plus ;-) [wink]. [there are many complications and variations,
but the above're enough to get by on]
some people don't like them very much, but if you think using
one will make clearer what you mean, then use it. (scattering
_lots_ around will tend to make your article, and your meaning,
harder to read, though, rather than easier.)
but smileys _can't_ tell you, or anyone else, what anyone's
expression truly is, or was - just what you're told it was.
there're also a whole host of abbreviations, such as "IRL",
that include expressions of emotion, inter alia - see my afp
"[FAQ] Acronymphomania!", which is "afposted" every week by
courtesy of leo [1/99: this faq is now maintained by karen].
most of the "rules of netiquette" are about making it easier
for people to read & understand everyone else's words; we're
all "here" by choice, and if it gets unpleasant, or too much
like hard work, most of us'll stop reading, and maybe go away.
some of the rules are essential to follow, if your words're
going to reach the right places; some are helpful to others
using different readers from yours, or even different ways of
obtaining newsgroups, and some are "only" rules of polite and
courteous behaviour.
all of them, together, help everybody to handle newsreading
with a minimum of fuss and frustration, and a maximum of fun.
if you make them your normal afp posting habits, you'll also
increase the chances of your words getting read, and thought
about & responded to - people with poor netiquette are likely
to gather complaints by e-mail, or on afp, or sometimes - but
usually for repeated offence - abused or even flamed; though
abuse and flaming are fairly rare on afp, and are not exactly
generally encouraged [there is an art to flaming in style, of
which some are afficionados; but in which, very few are fine
artists. search google newsgroups on "festering pox-bottle" *g*].
but please note that "criticism" *isn't* the same as "flaming";
not only is criticism normally friendly-enough meant, & polite-
ly and temperately expressed - it may even be constructive...
eventually, though, persistent misbehaviour will get people's
attempted contributions to a newsgroup widely kill-filed (that
is, *automatically* ignored by newsreaders) and maybe even get
their e-mails automagically bounced by most, too.
1.2 + trimming quotation when posting to afp (or when e-mailing);
when following up to an article, it's usually helpful to quote
some of the article to which you're responding; but please trim
everything except the specific points to which you are replying
(& trimming the quoted person's sig.file - the bit from the line
containing only "-- ", almost at the end of their article);
(optionally replacing it, if the attributions at the top've been
lost, with their name in (brackets).) most afpers reading the
thread won't want to read it the whole thing all over again, but
just to be reminded of the salient points relevant to your words.
the default reply from Google Groups is seriously broken, but
all you have to do is click on the "Show Options" link beside the
name of the person to whom you're responding. Use the "Reply"
shown in the expanded header, and then trim what you're quoting
in the normal way.
+ starting your reply
always leave one blank line between the end of a quotation and
the start of your contribution: although it looks like "a whole
blank line" on your screen, that extra carriage return is only
one character, almost no difference to the message's length, and
it makes it *much* easier for all readers to see where you have
started "talking".
the reason for placing follow-ups after the articles to which
they refer (or, if split, after the relevant paragraphs), which
is the 'net-wide convention, is that it means that threads of
debate, or argument, develop in chronological order as articles
are naturally read: if you place your contribution above, as is
unfortunately the default of some shoddy web-browsers, you will
disrupt this, irritate readers (until they learn to skip every-
thing you write) and invite correction that is terse - or worse.
quoting the previous article in full, including paragraphs you
are not addressing, is also liable to attract adverse reaction -
and this, too, is arguably encouraged by the default settings of
such shoddy web-browsers.
tidy up the intro lines identifying the previous posters who
are being quoted, if need be; and also the quoted text: whether
these've got into a mess, or because they will do so, very soon
(i.e. some lines are approaching column 80, and so are about to
fragment into "widows and orphans"); or because some quotations
have been further trimmed - or completely cut out.
if the name at the bottom is different, the attribution line
at the top needs modifying (some people who share accounts are
not allowed unlimited different mailboxes at no further charge,
as e.g. demon permit <g>...), to make it as clear as possible,
who has written the article to which yours is a following-up.
but "fix your headers" needs to be graven in highly disturbed
electrons upon every afp new bug's screen (<g>) (- "default" is
not a valid entry in any headerline or message id) together with
"make the use of any spam/uce traps _clear_, and *_above_* the
.sig file separator" (- many newsreaders can be - and are - set,
to chop .sig files from the articles displayed to be read...)
when a thread has gone on at some length, with people answer-
ing bittily, it can sometimes be necessary for clarity's sake,
for attributions-in-brackets to be inserted along the way -
this seems to be most commonly done before their words, rather
than after: not immediately intuitive, perhaps, as we sign off
letters rather than sign on; but certainly, don't _cut_
attributions (save perhaps trimming a cascade...[see 1.5 "[C]"]).
where a thread is mainly banter, most people find it annoying
to see old, and now dead, minithreads within quoted articles -
they have to be re-read in case they've been quoted to provide
context for some of the latest contributor's words: and _then_
it's discovered there are *none* - they've just been wasting
everyone's time: so trim them, if they've got as far as you.
where a thread's mostly informative, or discursive, & either
making, or debating an argument, it's generally better to trim
the quotations (and requotations) to the points being replied
to; and then either write the follow-up article at the end; or
at the end of each discrete argument's section.
it's far easier to follow an argument, when it's clearly made
and all in one place; you are more likely to be read and your
point of view understood, if you don't present it chopped it
into bits that are interspersed throughout re-quotations of
other peoples' bits & pieces:
an article that's difficult to follow isn't an effective article.
many people read afp via relatively slow modem lines, paying
for the phonecalls by which they download the articles in bulk,
and then reading them off-line. excessive quoting costs people
both time and money, over many articles: please remember this,
and behave considerately even if you're lucky enough to have
free-of-charge or "always-on" (adsl, dsl) access to newsgroups.
+ one line follow-ups
it can be *extremely* annoying to read through half a page or
more of quoted text, to discover only one or two original lines
at the end of the quoted article: this grossly disproportionate
and unecessary over-quotation, combined with having very little
to say, is the essence of the dreaded OLF "netcrime": abjure it.
(a sharply witty, or very silly, OLF can be enormously funny:
but only if the amount of any quotation has been reduced to the
*_absolute_*_minimum_* that's *_necessary_* to establish the
OLF's point).
*don't* post extra lines simply to avoid what would otherwise
be a perfectly good one-liner: if you believe it needs excusing,
you've implicitly determined that it isn't worth your posting.
1.3 + replying: follow-up post to afp, or e-mail a reply ?
before you start to post a follow up, ask yourself whether an
e-mail mightn't be better. a private e-mail has advantages: it
allows a more personal message to the addressee, than might be
suitable in "afpublic" - and it also helps reduce the traffic
level on afp to articles that truly are of general afpinterest.
e-mail replies are especially appropriate for short, simple
messages of congratulation, or commiseration, for personal
events, or welcomes to new bugs, or answers to many requests
for help:
it's also a good idea to post an olf - with the very minimum
of quotation or pr‚cis, to establish the context: to say that
you have replied to a request: elsewise the person who's asking
may receive dozens and dozens of replies:
e.g:
the attribution line [afper [at] somewhere.co.uk/wherever]
(+ their sign-off name, if different)
wrote: [Does anybody have Terry's US tour dates?]
reply emailed - [you, who know, giving url if you know one]
--
[your .sig file]
+ sending cc.s ("carbon" or "courtesy" e-mail copies)
usenet - the big eight hierarchies, plus well-established
alt.<whatever> news-groups - propagation is now mostly com-
prehensive and reliable, and it is rarely necessary to send
a cc. to the author of an article to which you've followed-
up; indeed, these are increasingly liable to be seen as an-
noyances, especially if they're not clearly indicated as be-
ing copies of articles posted to a newsgroup (and sometimes,
even if they are) [less true of afp to west coast merkia].
it is therefore rarely advisable to send courtesy copies,
unless you know, or have strong reason to believe, that the
person to whom you're responding would otherwise miss your
article _and_ would probably wish to reply; or if you've made
reference to someone else, who would otherwise be unaware of
this, and who should be made aware they have been mentioned.
in any case, do not cc. even the wittiest olf or similar
frivol, unless overweeningly proud of it, and always state
that a cc. _is_ a cc. of an article you're posting to (e.g.)
afp, in its first couple of lines;
don't send cc-s to anyone you learn is annoyed or confused
by such, or just plain doesn't want to receive cc.s of any
news articles, and has said so privately, or in their sig.
("overweening pride" is not a _good_ reason to send a cc. -
but it is, by definition, overweening...)
also, check not just what you've said, but also that you are
doing what you intended do, whether it be post, post with cc,
or e-mail, *before* you press the "send" key (- <rueful <g>>).
*_especially_* if you are composing whilst online.
another thing to consider before responding, is that somebody
may already have said what you're about to say. this can often
be the case if someone asks a question with a specific answer.
it's a good idea to mark any posts to which you might want to
reply, read through to the end of the thread's articles, and
more recent threads that have a similar subject, and _then_ go
back and answer them, if no-one else has done so.
+ don't quote from e-mail
mail-list items and commercials, etc, aside, e-mail is private
mail. it should no more be publicly quoted without both seeking
and receiving its author's permission for this, than should any
private mail that is hand (or type) -written.
there may sometimes be occasions when this universally agreed
point [of general etiquette, as well as of netiquette] must be
broken, in order to prevent a greater crime or injustice being
committed, or repeated: this is a matter of personal judgement,
and necessarily so - but such occasions are the rare exception;
in general, don't quote e-mail, privately or in public.
however, it is equally unrealistic to assume that aught you
tell anyone will remain behind sealed lips, forever unacted
upon; information you give people is information that _will_
spread.
"the only secret that is kept is the secret that's never told."
1.4 + line length
when you type your posts, please hit the return key before you
reach the end of each line of text. most monitors display lines
which are 80 characters in length, so you should include returns
at around the 68-72 character mark. if you do not do this, then
some people will be unable to read anything which extends beyond
the 78th character of each line, as soon as your words've been
quoted even once, and others will be presented with an ugly mess
of "widows & orphans" creating a comb text effect of alternating
full lines and their stubs: these are extremely difficult to
read and many people simply won't bother - as, if it wasn't worth
your while formatting it readably, it _can't_ be worth their time
struggling through it, and certainly not reformatting it !
(- it may not be a problem on the screen you use, but this does
not mean that it won't be on *many* others.)
my own recommendation is to aim to start a new line around col.
65; this allows for some overshooting...<g>...- some people say
to use 70, but don't overshoot it...
if your news/mail editor can be configured to automatically
return as you reach the end of a line, set this to around 70:
check the manual, or helpfile, to see if you can do this.
(don't confuse this with word-processors which do line-wrapp-
ing - this doesn't actually insert returns, in at least some
wppsers; whatever you use as your news/e-mail editor, always
remember to use hard [real] returns, typing them in if needs be.)
problems with using outlook express include that it tends to
impose the line-length you choose upon text you re-quote, but
without properly reformatting the text - i.e, without removing
the original hard returns; this is another way of producing the
mess of alternating long and stub lines known as "combing", and
is extremely unpleasant to read; and again, many people simply
won't bother, but will skip your entire articles, as entirely
too much like hard work.
the work-around is to set your line-length at 78 [reformatting
the trimmed text you're requoting for context, if necessary], &
to type in your own "hard" returns to move to each new line,
according to the "aim for 65, accept 72" thumbrule: but outlook
express is in fact "broken" as a newsreader in other ways, and
the generally expressed informed advice is to use another news
reader/browser (cue elfin's defence *g*).
[see 1.7 re sig files, for more of oe's brokenness].
1.5 + afp's subject line keycode letters
as you may have noticed, alt.fan.pratchett can be a fairly
heavy-traffic newsgroup. in addition, the denizens of afp are
only occasionally observed to be constrained to restrict their
contributions to matters strictly to do with terry pratchett,
and his writings - which is part of what makes afp what it is.
to make it possible for afpers short of time, or patience, or
both, to visually select threads likely to be of greatest inter-
est to them - or, conversely, to avoid threads liable to annoy,
or to (in their minds) constitute a waste of time, the a.f.p.
[X] letter-in-square-brackets key-coding of threads has evolved.
n.b. the afp key-code letters are upper case: unix systems, and
linuxes ("linuces" ?) discriminate between upper & lower case.
it also enables automatic selection, or kill-filing, for those
with readers that are capable of it. [kill-filing is covered in
section 3.2, see "hello: welcome to afp #2/2"; this includes a
guide to killfiling on the afp keycode letters.
a step-by-step guide to killfiling in the dos shareware news,
e-mail (etc.) 'net suite available by ftp to
<ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/demon/ibmpc/dos/files/dis221.exe>
which is particularly friendly to poorly-sighted and to blind
"denetzens" dependent on announcers to read out from the screen,
in the absence of an afp guide for the blind & visually impaired,
is available upon request to karen <afp-help [at] lspace.org>.
please _don't_ introduce use of a new key-letter without first
discussing it on afp and gaining *general* support for it - nor
modify the "[X]" format; else, this voluntary system breaks down.
the currently recognised keycode letters are:
[A] - annotation - articles commenting upon, or explaining, ref-
erences in terry pratchett's novels and shorter stories.
leo uses [A] keycoded articles, from which to select the
additions, elaborations & elucidations for the awesome
annotations file. please _use_ the apf, to check that your
proposed gem has not already been spotted (this should not
be taken as ruling out any corrections, modifications or
elaborations), and [A], when making, suggesting, discussing
- or objecting to - annotations on afp.
[current apf is apf9.0.1, which may be obtained by ftp from
ftp.lspace.org + mirrors.
ascii: <ftp://ftp.lspace.org/pub/pratchett/words/apf/>
html: <http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/>
[C] - cascade - content-free, or near-content-free, "articles"
deliberately building up a "cascade", or visual (or other,
largely content-free) effect; arguably including partial
answers to posted quizzes.
please have regard to the general prevalence of cascades
upon afp as well as quite how irresistible the particular
provocation, before starting a fresh cascade; and when
cascading, please *trim* quotation to the bare references,
plus the cascade itself.
successful cascades seem to be started more accidentally,
than by design, so the keycode letter tends to be added
after one has started: once it is, keep any and all addit-
ions to the cascade to the keycoded thread - _please_.
[F] - fan - details of afp fan activity, normally "in real life"
(or as close as afpers get to the same), frequently invol-
ving hostelries and other establishments serving alcoholic
beverages, soft drinks and/or curries...
also, reports on such activities (and where to find all
the incriminating evidence, in all its gory detail), and
proposals for repeating the experience(s), once the perpet-
rators of the previous outrage have recovered sufficiently.
[G] - game - articles about the discworld computer games and, by
extension, about earlier discworld games, and those as-yet
unwritten...- whether board-, computer-, jigsaw- or fantasy
role-playing- games... TCoM is on ftp.lspace.org + mirrors...
[I] - irrelevant - threads whose subjects aren't directly related
to terry's works, publications, theatrical productions and
other similar activities, or other "spin-offs", nor to afp
fan activity.
[M] - meta - discussion of afp the newsgroup, the way it works
(including, e.g., these key-codes and whether a new key-
code letter is needed...), itself.
[R] - relevant - articles that are directly related to terry & 's
works, publications, theatrical productions, films and other
activities that are based upon them, including the companion,
maps, art & craftwork - other than annotations articles.
[announce] - not an afp key-code letter, obviously, but indicates
an article cross-posted from alt.fan.pratchett.announce, and
also cross-posted to alt.books.pratchett; plus follow-ups to
such. may be [F], [G], [M] - or even [R] !
[abp] - not an afp keycode letter, but indicating a thread cross-
posted from, or to, alt.books.pratchett. liable to be - or
to have started off - [R] - please remove the cross-posting
to abp in the "Newsgroups: " header line, if it's veering
far from [R]elevance, and change the letter (and probably
the topic, too: in the "Subject: " header line).
n.b. alt.fan.pratchett is NOT a dumping-ground for all
that's off-topic on alt.books.pratchett: if you are not
interested in following a thread there, and contributing to
it, as it hares off into the wilder reaches of Irrelevance
(or whatever) please don't post setting Newsgroups: to
cross-post nor to send the thread to afp; by all means ask
whether people following it wouldn't do better taking it
thither, or to e-mail, or elsewhere...
[FAQ] - not an afp key-code letter, but indicating an article with
information of perrennial interest or importance to afpers,
and the smooth running of afp, such as "Hello: welcome...").
the letters stand for "Frequently Asked [or "Answered"]
Questions", but these articles are not necessarily couched
in question-and-answer format. they may be [R], [F], [M] or
[G] and should bear the appropriate afp key-code letter at
the start of their Subject: lines, to allow selective mail-
killing or selection by this classification system as well.
+ Google Groups "loses" the afp "[X]" keycode letter
Google Groups is broken, automatically dropping the afp keycode
letter (unless a character is inserted between it, and the rest
of the Subject: line, or the space is elided); you have to retype
it in, to retain it in your follow-ups posted via this service,
and therefore maintain articles' threading in some newsreaders,
and visibility to afpers who killfile on the keycode's absence.
1.6 + changing the subject line
much of the time when you follow up to a post, there'll be no
need to change the subject line: if someone's posted an article
in the thread, "[I] Fruited Bread Products", _don't_ change the
the threadname to "[I] More Fruited Bread Products", as this
will wreck the threading in many newsreaders. they'll "think"
the articles are totally unconnected, and not thread them to-
gether - and the chances are good that your words won't be seen
by afpers reading the first thread, and so they'll be ignored.
however, if your article takes one theme from the "[I] Fruited
Bread Products" thread, and concentrates upon it to the exclusion
of such items, turning say to a discussion of Sexy Food, it's a
good idea to change the subject line to reflect this.
you'll need to edit a line in your follow up article's headers:
from: "Subject: [I] Fruited Bread Products"
to: "Subject: [I] Sexy Food (was: Fruited Bread Products)"
this is being considerate to people who aren't interested in
sexy food, but who like fruited bread products (& vice versa).
n.b. add the afpropriate keycode letter if none has been used:
just put in the suitable [X] before the threadname if this was
o.k. - this will break the threading, but only with the one
article, and the rest of the thread will follow on properly (if
lots of follow-ups are made to the original article, all adding
the appropriate afpkeycode letter, in the same way:
"Re: [X] <old subject: line>"
these followups will all be threaded together in most readers.)
when the afp keycode letter that's appropriate changes, as the
actual subject of the thread drifts - say from [R] to [I], add
the new keycode letter and thread name and drop the old letter -
or make a change from the system's square brackets around it -
there's no consensus as to whether this should be to the use of
curly brackets "{X}", or asterisks "*X*", but these are the two
most common deactivated keycode forms; elseways, the system for
selecting by keycode letters breaks down.
1.7 + the sig.file - over which, major wars have been fought...
most newsreaders allow you to write and save a signature file,
which is appended to all your posts after the sig.file separator
(-- <cr>). [hyphen hyphen space <enter>]. a lot of people use
them to say a little about themselves, but it is important not
to go overboard! *remember* - most people are going to see it
*every* time you post ['til you get round to changing it; which
may be months, or even _years_ on].
as a general guideline, sig.files should be kept to roughly 4 -
or fewer - lines in length.
go too far above that number and you're likely to receive an e-
mail reminder or two from the kinder afpers who care about this -
and maybe shorter warnings from others - and serious flaming, on
some newsgroups.
some newsreaders allow the automatic chopping of sig.files from
all articles displayed, so don't put information in them which it
is essential others see, in order to reply to you, such as how to
remove any uce-trap from your address as given.
outlook express is in fact "broken" as a newsreader in this, as
in other ways: it automatically strips all trailing spaces from
line ends, including from the .sig separator [- versions through
OE5 new in 1999 :-(( ]. elfin kindly offers a fix for this -
URL <http://www.elfden.freeserve.co.uk/dload/oefix.zip>
[n.b. this now works on OE5, which is *still* broken - elfin,
my dear, might you be so good as to correct me when i'm only a
few months behind on the existence of your oefix for OE6 ? *g*]
the generally expressed informed advice is to use another news
reader/browser [see 1.4 linelength for more of oe's brokenness].
1.8 + Posting Large Files
once in a blue moon, or a little more often, you may have a
particularly large file of some sort which you want to share.
it may be ascii graphics or a binary, maybe a sound file.
if you have any such files,
*_don't_*_post_*_them_*_on_*_afp_*
+ a) binaries + ascii art + html
*never* post a file which humans cannot easily read.
they are almost invariably huge, and provoke howls of anguish -
at the very least; maybe also cabbages - aimed in your direction:
lots of people around the world have to pay their telephone com-
pany for the duration of the time they are connected, and you are
effectively e-mailing everyone on the group who downloads news to
read it, and compose replies, off-line this unreadable rubbish -
and, to add to the insult, forcing them to pay for it !
there are newsgroups especially designed for binary posts, and
they form the only exceptions to this rule; find them under the
hierarchies, alt.binaries.* and comp.binaries.*.
_don't_ post in html, etc: human beans don't yet come equipped
to translate this (sfaiaa), the commands get printed in amongst
the text of the article, rendering it more difficult to read,
and unpleasant to try: most people simply won't even bother.
similarly, keep microsoft, netscape, and anyone else's binary
"calling cards" ("v card", etc.) & just about any other binary
attachments, for e-mail [save only afp or purity codes - *if*
these latter be fitted into your standard c.4-line sig. - and
pgp public keys].
+ b) long text files
if you have a long text post, you should split it into parts,
with each part 400 - 600 lines long. this is a rough guideline,
and can vary a bit either way. [general 'net wisdom, however,
is that people rapidly lose interest in posts over c.200 lines
long (- like "Hello; welcome..." <wry <g>>... -) and i doubt
whether, aside of FAQs (files providing information of general
& permanent, or recurring interest), there's often an occasion
when posting a longer article to afp's a good idea.
_either_ way, post an afparticle announcing that you have such
a file, describe it, & then say that you'll send it on e-reqest,
or have uploaded it to such & such an ftp site, or web page, and
give the address [the URL]. this is both the considerate - and
the safe <g> - way to do it. ("practise safe binary/fission" ?)
1.9 + afp is an international phenomenon [1]
afpers have been noticed posting from RL places as far afield
as merkia, canadadada, xxxxia, kiwiia, scandawegia (whether or
no this includes more than the scandawegian peninsula gets afp-
debated every eighteen months or so), the island of ireland,
and south africa, singapore, malaysia, hong kong (now china)
and hawaii, cyprus and croatia, iberia and israel, as well as
taiwan, russia, france, germany, scotland, wales, holland (and
other parts of the netherlands), belgium, spain, switzerland,
poland and even england (and i've almost certainly missed out
*someone*)...
although the language of afp is english, not everyone "here"
is as fluent in this, or possessed of so wide a vocabulary, as
(e.g.) our leo, who puts to shame many a native speaker of the
tongue - or should do; and even jove nods...
please make allowances for this, and take the time to explain,
where it becomes apparent there may have been a misunderstanding.
everything posted here is for world-wide distribution. if your
newsreader defaults to something other than "world", please re-
member to edit the headerline before you post.
this is true even for news of local afpmeets & similar fannish
RL activities, as we like to hear the gory details/what fun our
friends are getting up to in our absence (<grrrrr...>), or have
indulged in, and where the bodies are buried; and 'cos occasion-
ally, some afper will happen to be visiting the right country at
exactly the right time to join in, if they know in advance; this
has happened, and will do so again, and ever-more frequently, as
afp grows: indeed, the visit of an afper from "forn parts" is in-
creasingly deemed sufficient cause of afpmeets, as friendships
arise.
+ spoilers
one consequence of this, is that afpers' (including the most
devout lurkers) discworld/pterryhabits are served by different
publishers, who are not all anywhere *near* up to date with the
uk publishing schedule, and in some cases appear to have missed
out, or allowed to fall out of print effectively (if not always
technically), almost *any* pterrytitle you can think of; added
to which, people are everincreasingly coming to afp, having only
ever read one or two discworld (or nomes, or the johnny maxwell)
books in their lives so far, thanks to the weird and wonderful
world of the book trade [and sometimes, 'cos they "aten't" been
*born* long enough ago, to have read 'em all, first time around].
*please* therefore, whenever you start a thread that will, simply
because of the things of which you are talking, _inevitably_ give
away plot twists, key details (or almost anything that you'd have
not wanted to be told, before reading the book, or books), signal
clearly that this thread contains "spoilers for [these titles]"
both in the subjectline and right at the beginning of the article,
followed by a clear page (c.24 lines) so as to help minimise the
risk of anyone reading any spoiler there might be in the starting
paragraph; and *don't* remove the warning *or* the spoiler space
in a thread, unless the discussion (and the quotes) 's drifted
so far, that there's no chance of any spoiler remaining. (- but
the chances are the thread subjectline and keycode letter'd need
changing by then.)
similarly, if you're afposting an article in which you're risking
giving away crucial scenes or details in a book or story by some-
one other than pterry, please give a clear spoiler warning first:
don't risk diminishing or even ruining, a fine piece for everyone
who happens to read your article, who hasn't already read it.
many readers may be unfamiliar with your local slang, jargon,
customs, commercial products, politics, sport, tv programmes,
adverts, etc. quite how much of our regular life is foreign and
exotic to people in other countries - especially those with whom
we supposedly share a language - can come as a shock !
be prepared to explain things to curious questioners who want
to learn about your culture, and maybe even volunteer explanat-
ions before you are asked, if you're aware of the obscurity of
what you're posting (- unless it promises to be funnier not to
do so...<g>). but bear in mind people may not know what you are
talking about if you refer to something cultural, unless it's
from inspired old uk comedies, or children's t.v. programmes,
the truly *direst* of *dire* xxxxian soaps, or the teletubbies...
+ 'net privacy - or rather, the lack of it
another consequence of this is that absolutely anyone, any-
where on the 'net, may download news articles and quote from
them - now, or at any time later; and there are sites, such
as deja.com, where all postings to newsgroups they carry are
held in publically availably archives (deja.com honoured the
optional header line, "X-Do-Not-Archive: Yes" - but not all
such sites do): so don't post what you know you won't want
half-remembered and dug up at a later date to your great
discomfort; or personal details you wouldn't want published
locally, never mind world-wide. see also 1.13 below, on afp
[& the 'net in general] and the laws of slander and libel.
1.10 + posting for other people
when afposting an article for someone, at their request (or
e-mail, with their permission), don't alter it without first
checking with them, and getting their o.k. to the changes you
want to make.
1.11 + other afpers' netiquette
sooner or later, everyone forgets, and leaves a subject line
unchanged when they go off on a complete tangent, or afposts
quoting three screenfuls of text, without even _one_ line of
their own added, accidentally, or uses a keycode letter wrongly...
it's not "afpropriate" to post just to point out such mistakes
on afp (unless you do so entertainingly and in a friendly manner)
(though merely noting it in passing's fine). otherwise, if you
wish, send a polite e-mail to point out the error; but do it
tactfully, and don't send such a reminders when someone's pretty
obviously been very upset when they posted.
if you don't think you can do it tactfully, leave it to someone
else ["how not to be a Gotdamerell"...<g>...] - though _do_ bear
in mind also, that this loose system of control by peer pressure
depends on everyone _sharing_ the load - one reason the gotdamm-
erell got that way was almost certainly from feeling that he was
having to try to do it all singlehanded... (- gid's rota always
needs fresh blood - volunteer settled afpers always welcome ! -)
if you can, let the afper, be they new bug or old lag, know,
reasonably tactfully, that something they're doing really gets
up your nose (or "gets on your wick", etc.); _think_ about it,
before you e-write to them, but _don't_ keep it all bottled up
inside until it explodes in your being far angrier - nastier,
maybe - than you otherwise would've been. e-writing to complain
about an afper's 'net "hand" _can_ lead to an involved corresp-
ondence, and both of you learning more about each other; or, it
must be allowed, a short and somewhat rude reply, on occasion.
but if a major blunder's been perpetrated by some afper around
long enough to know better - or a truly gross blunder by anyone -
we're rather more likely to post a brief scream of pain, and a
more or less terse instruction to cease & desist forthwith from
such behaviour, as this also serves as a general reminder - and
may prove the more salutory. and nothing *whatsoever* to do with
the [alleged] fact that we're all human [2], and can lose our
tempers; no, not at all, o best beloved...).
at the other end of the degree of offence, if following-up any-
way, something along the lines of "[excessive quoting snipped]",
rather than a normal "[snip]" will hopefully prove sufficiently
inoffensive that none will be hurt - while still getting the
message across.
1.12 + cancelling articles
if the miscreant who committed the major blunder was yourself,
you should issue a cancel control message for your article: this
is a post to the same newsgroup(s) with header lines of the form:
Path: <same-as-the-Path-of-your-mistake>
From: <same-as-the-From-of-your-mistake>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.pratchett, alt.books.pratchett
Subject: cmsg cancel <Message-ID-of-your-mistake>
Message-ID: <cancel.Message-ID-of-your-mistake>
Control: cancel <Message-ID-of-your-mistake>
Date: <whatever-it-is>
Lines: <however-many-lines-the-cancel-message-is>
the above example assumes the article concerned was crossposted,
from alt.books.pratchett and alt.fan.pratchett.
this control message doesn't need a body, but you might want to
explain - briefly - why you're cancelling, all the same; upload
the article in the usual way.
do not cancel, nor attempt to cancel, other afpers' messages;
this is for them (or their ISP, or one of a dedicated band of
spam cancellers), to do - if they will not, a forward of the
offending afparticle, with its full headers, together with a
brief explanation of why you consider it should be cancelled,
to postmaster [at] <their ISP> should do the trick unless they are
their own ISP, or posted from a rogue: in which case, a fwd to
postmaster [at] lspace.org would be advised for gross mis-postings
to the pratchett newsgroups. if someone has forged an article
so as to make it appear to be from yourself, issuing a cancel
giving this as the reason for cancellation is completely cor-
rect behaviour.
n.b. cancel messages do *not* automatically cause the deletion
of posted articles from archives; and some isps (e.g. freeserve)
do not honour cancels from outside their own domains, because of
(e.g.) having previously received malicious cancellings in bulk;
however, most archives and most such (public) archives and isps
do respond to polite and coherent direct requests. google used
not to honour cancel messages, though they responded to direct
contact; they appear to've been honouring _all_ cancel messages
they received since some time in the second half of 2005: this
is by no means necessarily an improvement (they are said to be
looking into the matter).
1.13 + afp and the laws of slander, and of libel
the legal implications of the 'net are still largely unexplored;
so whether any particular jurisdiction applies to afp is in doubt.
but *everything* posted here has been made public, and remains so
indefinitely (even if later cancelled, "the scratchmarks remain").
whether the uk laws of slander, or libel, might apply, or whether
someone might bring a case for damages in a merkin court, is one
thing that hasn't yet been tested - sfaiaa - and i hope it never
will - but i'm sure that lawyers the world over will be only too
happy, to take the money of anyone who thinks they've been so mal-
igned - and defending yourself against such a case could bankrupt
you, however unlikely the grounds might be.
there has (7/97) been a case in which Norwich Union, a large uk
pensions/insurance/life assurance company has had to pay out a
_seriously_ large sum of money (ukL 450,000 - c. us$ 750,000) in
damages to Western Provident Association (another such), for NU
allowing defamatory rumours and stories about this competitor to
circulate upon their intranet - their *_private_internal_* net -
[sources: PCWeek 22 Jul 97; Computer Weekly 24 Jul 97; Computing
24 Jul 97][3]; and newsnet is very definitely a _public_ network,
*not* a private, internal net...
it has now been established (3/2000) that the uk laws of libel
*do* apply to items posted to newsgroups, for uk residents and
legal persons such as companies, who may have actions brought
against them, and for isps and others providing newsfeeds, at
least, and n.b. that this includes providing www-site space for
aught that is later determined to be libellous, *and* providing
the URL of any copy of the same, and possibly also its message-
id on a newsgroup (or in e-mail, though this latter might be a
tad difficult to prove), as so doing is accounted a repetition
of the libel. "ianal" - "i am not a lawyer" - and would not pre-
sume to advise whether this is the case if one has not been put
on notice that the material concerned is, or that there is a
prima facie case that it is, or may be libellous, or no; but if
there is any doubt in your mind as to whether or not the matter
is serious, search on dr. laurence godfrey vs. demon internet
ltd/thus plc (formerly scottish telecom; now owners of demon);
they're reported as having settled out of court with mr. godfrey
for ukL 15,000.00 plus his costs, which have been reported as
circa 30,000.00 [roughly equivalent to us$ 67,000.00 in toto].
+ use of the words "plagiarise" [or "plagiarize"], "plagiarisation"
"to plagiarise" is "to steal" - period.
understand this.
to state that anyone has plagiarised someone else's work is an
accusation of an offensive nature that is actionable under laws
of slander or libel, as may be appropriate, in all jurisdictions
of which i am aware. i strongly advise that you do not use these
words in afpublic of *anyone* - and certainly not, without your
thinking long and hard about the possible consequences.
that an author may, or may not have drawn upon any particular
source material, or the general body of tradition of their, or
any other culture [cf. "Tree" by j.r.r.tolkien], is a *totally*
different thing: it is virtually impossible for any author to
write in a vacuum, and debate over whether & whence particular
elements (or elephants) have their derivations, references and
antecedants will occupy afp, abp and eventually learned tomes
for generations to come, and justice is done to them <g>.
[1] - doop-doop, di-di-doop-doop... (sorry)
[2] - save for the .net.goddess (aka the boojette) -
and also rats, cats, supermice, dragons.. (etc.)
[3] - thank-you, gareth.
- end of part one.
(c) copyright ppint., ppint at lspace.org (p.pinto)
Last-modified: 7/7/05 (7/7/05 for merkins)
permission to print out copies for purely personal use explicitly given.
permission to store electronically until expiry date given above in
header lines so long as full credits are retained explicitly given.
____________________________________________________________ _____
my thanks to: kitten, Margaret Gibbs, Alfvaen, Nicarra, Jason
Magnus, John Palmer, /*, John Ockerbloom, David Mar, and John
Barnstead, of alt.callahan's, upon whose "Guide to New Patrons"
this article was, with permission, modelled; and also to the
bellinghman, and to karen, and to tamar, and any other afper
whose name i've forgotten, and to nearly all of afp, for being
a truly friendly 'net place well worth working to help maintain.
____________________________________________________________ _____
"hello, welcome" is now also on my web page: and zipped, too;
eventually it'll also have those funny <html> </html> thingies,
even :-) - that is, on:
<URL: http://www.i-m-t.demon.co.uk/afp/hello1.txt>
<URL: http://www.i-m-t.demon.co.uk/afp/hello2.txt>
<URL: http://www.i-m-t.demon.co.uk/afp/hello1.zip>
<URL: http://www.i-m-t.demon.co.uk/afp/hello2.zip>
the most up to date revision should be available from my web page
as well as periodically cross-posted to the two newsgroups. ppint.
i've been advised that at least one isp censors its newsfeed
for length, as well as "naughty" words. should you know anyone
so unfortunate, who might wish to have the hello: welcome to
alt.fan.pratchett (or the bibliography) (non-)FAQs emailed to
them, please let them know that this service is available, upon
their request to me.
autoposted to alt.fan.pratchett weekly, on saturdays, by myself.
many thanks to Leo Breebaart <leo [at] lspace.org> who has autoposted
this faq to afp hitherto. [ppint.]
- <g>: o.k, what have i missed out this time - or plain got wrong ?
[new, and relatively new bugs' and lurkers' reactions & opinions
are especially welcome, though it's open season for all...]
- love, ppint. <$af$ppint [at] i-m-t.demon.co.uk> BUT:
please use afpfaq [at] i-m-t.demon.co.uk, first changing the first
"f" to a "g", to e-mail me directly about "hello, welcome", as
"v$af$ppint [at] " & "afpfaq [at] "(both of which e-addresses exist, and
are legal) are set up to *not* accept e-mail in order to help
reduce the rate at which junk e-mail gets through. i trust this
causes you no inconvenience.
- and please trim quotation of the faq to the bit(s) to which
you make reference, as i already have the faq in full! *g*
- thanks. ppint.
--
interstellar master traders 33 north road, lancaster LA1-1NS england
lancaster's sf, fantasy & horror book & role-playing game shop
10(ish) - 19:00 gmt mon - saturday (+1.00 summertime)
<http://www.i-m-t.demon.co.uk>
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