i think between us we've hammered out all the controversial parts on the
ng.  please *email* me with any comments;  i'll post any concerns to the
ng if general debate seems warrented.

i'll also be posting the fandom half tonight, and asking for a lot more
feedback on that piece.

--cmshaw, your new keeper of the FAQ

=====

The ATS FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions for Alt.tv.sentinel
Version 1.3
Last modified December 23, 1999
(c) 1999, 2000 by cmshaw and Sabrah n'haRaven

Table of Contents : Newsgroup information

*  New for version 1.3

1.0  About the Newsgroup
   1.1  What is alt.tv.sentinel?
   1.2  How can I participate in alt.tv.sentinel?
       1.2.1  My server doesn't have alt.tv.sentinel!  What do I do?
       1.2.2  What can I post to alt.tv.sentinel?
       1.2.3  What shouldn't I post to alt.tv.sentinel?
       1.2.4  What if my ad is Sentinel-related?
     * 1.2.5  What about fiction?
          * 1.2.5.1  When will alt.tv.sentinel.creative be newgrouped?
          * 1.2.5.2  But I see an alt.tv.sentinel.creative in my list of
                     newsgroups!
          * 1.2.5.3  So if I want to post fic here, how do I do it?
              * 1.2.5.3.1  How do I format the story itself?
              * 1.2.5.3.2  What do I put in the subject line of my post?
              * 1.2.5.3.3  What do I put at the top of my post?
              * 1.2.5.3.4  Isn't this insanely complicated?
          * 1.2.5.4  Can I post slash here?
              * 1.2.5.4.1  What is slash, anyway?
          * 1.2.5.5  What if I put my story on a webpage?
          * 1.2.5.6  I don't have a webpage for my fic!
     * 1.2.6  When should I use keyword headers?
       1.2.7  My posts are on-topic and tagged correctly, so why is
              everyone annoyed with me?
   1.3  What should I do if a message on the newsgroup is inappropriate?
 * 1.4  What do all these acronyms mean?
   1.5  Where can I find the a.t.s charter?
     * 1.5.1  Wait a sec, the bit about fic looks different from what you
              said in section 1.2.5!
2.0  About the FAQ

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

1.0     About the Newsgroup

1.1     What is alt.tv.sentinel?

Alt.tv.sentinel is an unmoderated USENET newsgroup for discussion of the
television show The Sentinel.  Newsgroups are not mailing lists, and do
operate within different parameters. If you're new to newsgroups, please
review the information in news.announce.newusers or at the
news.newusers.questions website at
http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/8211/ before jumping in.

1.2     How can I participate in alt.tv.sentinel?

1.2.1  My server doesn't have alt.tv.sentinel!  What do I do?

If you're reading this on the web and alt.tv.sentinel isn't available on
your news server, send a brief, polite note to your news admin or ISP
support personnel and request that they add it.  In the meantime, you can
read newsgroups via the web at http://www.deja.com/ or
http://www.jammed.com/~newzbot/.  If your ISP remains uncooperative, the
Newzbot site can also help you find another server.

1.2.2   What can I post to alt.tv.sentinel?

On-topic posts include discussion and interpretation of past or future
episodes, character interaction, theories behind what we see on the screen,
and general drooling.  Episode spoilers are welcome, but please be
meticulous about using spoiler warnings.  USENET is international, and
that episode you saw a year ago may be brand new to fans outside the US.
News about the show and about other projects that the cast and crew are
involved in are welcome; however, speculation about the cast's private
lives is frowned on.  Discussion of Sentinel fandom and fan activities
are also on-topic.

USENET newsgroups reach thousands of servers with potentially millions of
readers, and unlike a mailing list, no one keeps a registry of who's lurking
and who's not.  Your neighbor's children, your niece, and your boss could be
reading your words.  Remember that when deciding whether something is
appropriate to post.

1.2.3   What shouldn't I post to alt.tv.sentinel?

Binaries of any kind are not welcome on alt.tv.sentinel -- even if they're
Sentinel-related.  They clog up the servers and many readers won't be able
to download them properly. If you have Sentinel image files or sounds that
you'd like to share, your best bet is to put them up on a webpage and
include a very brief note about the site in a longer, on-topic message.

Please do not post html or MIME-encoded documents to alt.tv.sentinel.  Many
newsreaders can not handle these formats properly, and your message, no
matter how relevant, will only cause frustration.

Advertising, website announcements, and other "public service announcements"
which do not directly relate to the Sentinel are not welcome here, nor are
messages which have been cross-posted to more than three newsgroups.

Do not cross-post or carbon copy messages between the newsgroup and any of
the mailing lists.   If you need to reach both audiences, send two separate
messages.  Cross-posting or CC:ing is likely to result in the mailing lists
being flooded with follow-ups from non-members.

Never post or forward an email message unless you have the explicit
permission of the sender.  This includes messages which you have received
from a mailing list.  The mailing lists, while large, are still private
discussions.   Likewise, messages posted to alt.tv.sentinel should not be
forwarded elsewhere without the explicit permission of the original poster.
Popular mythology to the contrary, messages posted to the Internet are not
public domain.  They are copyrighted material, whether marked as such or
not.

Don't post personal messages to one or a few people to the newsgroup, where
it will take up space on thousands of servers, time on thousands of phone
lines, and annoy thousands of people.  Use email instead.  If your email is
bouncing, first check to see that you haven't missed any spam-blockers in
their address. If you're sure you have the right address and it's still not
working, try contacting a mutual friend instead.

Don't post your (or anyone else's) phone number, snailmail address, or other
personal information to the newsgroup.  It would be safer to take out a
billboard, or maybe skywrite it.  If someone you know and trust needs the
information, email them privately.

1.2.4  What if my ad is Sentinel-related?

Ads for Sentinel-related merchandise such as zines or conventions are
allowed, but should not be posted more than once per month and must be
labeled with the [AD] keyword in the subject header.  Please do not post
solely to make a website announcement unless the contents are relevant
to on-going discussion; instead, include your URL in your signature file
or mention it as an aside in a longer, on-topic message.

1.2.5  What about fiction?

Snippets (defined as fiction 200 words or less) are welcome on
alt.tv.sentinel. Fiction longer than 200 words is welcome only until such
time as alt.tv.sentinel.creative is established.  This newsgroup is not
the primary posting site for most Sentinel fiction -- see the fandom FAQ
for information about the fiction mailing lists and archives -- but fic
from "locals" is welcome (until such time as alt.tv.sentinel.creative is
established).

Despite the disproportionate attention given in this FAQ to questions of
fic, most of the traffic on alt.tv.sentinel is nonfictional discussion.
Questions of fic are answered here at length because answering them at
length in the newsgroup itself has nearly led to flamewars on two
occasions.  Please read the following questions and answers carefully.

1.2.5.1  When will alt.tv.sentinel.creative be newgrouped?

Not for a while yet.  Because there are two well-established fiction
lists (see the fandom section for Senfic and SXF), fic traffic is not
particularly high, certainly not high enough to support an entire
newsgroup.  (If you can ask whether or not traffic is high enough, it
isn't.)

1.2.5.2  But I see an alt.tv.sentinel.creative in my list of newsgroups!

Actually, you don't.  A true alt.tv.sentinel.creative would have to go
through the standard proposal-vote-configuration process, and this has
not yet happened.

What you may be seeing is a local illusion.  You might post to it, and
perhaps even a few people might see your post, but most ISPs will not
carry it.

1.2.5.3  So if I want to post fic to alt.tv.sentinel, how do I do it?

1.2.5.3.1  How do I format the story itself?

The text of the story must be saved in ASCII, ie "plain text", format.
Accented characters, smart quotes, bold and italic fonts, and other
word processor frills don't translate well onto USENET.  For specific
help, see http://www.mcs.net/~chaomath/fandom/survival_guide/sgstart.html

You should keep the length of each post down below 500 lines of text.
Longer stories should therefore be broken up into part 1 of 3, part 2
of 3, part 3 of 3 (for example).  Occasionally you will see a part 0
of 3;  part 0 will normally contain spoiler information for the story.
If you post part 1 before you're certain how many posts long your
story will be, begin by marking part 1/?, 2/?, and so forth, until the
end is in sight and you can post the next piece as, eg, 15/18.

1.2.5.3.2  What do I put in the subject line of my post?

The following elements are required:
 * FIC - to indicate that this is a fanfic.  This replaces the previous
melange of FIC/STORY/SLASH/SLASHFIC/TSFF.
 * Title - to identify the story;  please keep it short enough that
generic newsreaders don't have to truncate, which means around 25
letters.
 * part X of Y (or just X/Y) - to order the parts of a story;  each part
should be no more than ~400 lines long, again to avoid newsreader woes.
One-part stories should still indicate 1/1.
 * Rating - this is only *required* if the rating is R or NC-17 (for any
reason:  sex, violence, etc.).

At the author's discretion, the following elements may be included:
 * Rating - a movie rating from G to NC-17, strongly requested for
longer stories but optional for quickie fics.  (Note that R or NC-17
ratings must be given if applicable.)
 * Pairing/Slash/Het - If romance is a "significant" part of the
story (the word "significant" is left to the author's discretion),
then it is strongly requested that the author indicate such in the
subject line of the post.  This can be done by pairing the initials of
the characters involved (J/B for a Jim/Blair romance, B/f for a
Blair/other woman romance, and so on) or by using the keywords "slash"
(for same-sex such as J/B) and/or "het" (for opposite-sex such as B/f).

Except for the part numbers, stories posted in multiple parts should
have identical subject lines.

1.2.5.3.3  What do I put at the top of my post?

At the top of each part of a story, please give the title of the story,
the author's name and email, and the story part (part X of Y, as in the
subject line.).

Before the beginning of the story, either at the top of part 1 or in a
separate part 0, place the following elements:
 * Archive information - This is the place to request or announce that
this story can be or has been archived on the web.
 * Pairing/Slash/Het - If the central characters of the fic are involved
in any romance, even one not worth mentioning in the subject line, such
should be indicated here.
 * Labels - Stories involving death or rape of a character must bear a
label indicating this (if this information is a spoiler for the story,
place it in part 0 with preceding spoiler space for those who don't wish
to be spoiled).  It is highly recommended, although not strictly required,
that categories such as A/U, crossover, high angst, high smarm, high
violence, lots of sex, etc., also be noted.
 * Rating - A rating of R or NC-17 must be reiterated here if applicable.
It is optional, but recommended for longer stories, that a rating from G
to NC-17 be provided.
 * Disclaimer - Although it is legally rather meaningless, tradition
demands a statement attached to each story in which the author denies
any legal claim to the copyrighted material used.
 * Summary - It is optional, but once more recommended, that short blurb
about the story be given here to draw readers in (something along the
lines of the back cover of a paperback book).

If you use a part 0 to provide spoiler information for your story, you
should state this at the top of part 1.

1.2.5.3.4  Isn't this insanely complicated?

Not really;  nothing here is particularly counter-intuitive, and most
people find that once they get the general idea down it all becomes just
another part of the posting process.

1.2.5.4  Can I post slash here?

Yes.

1.2.5.4.1  What is slash, anyway?

In fic, a story which supposes that two characters who are the same sex
are romantically involved.  In Sentinel fandom, usually the two are Jim
and Blair.  Some people really like this idea and some people really
don't;  here on alt.tv.sentinel, we try not to argue about it.

1.2.5.5  What if I put my story on a webpage?

You're welcome to announce it here (until we have a .creative group),
but why not post it?  More people will read it that way, including those
who don't have good web access, and you can include your URL with the
story for reader who would prefer to read on the web.  Posting also
encourages discussion on the newsgroup.

1.2.5.6  I don't have a webpage for my fic!

There are large archives, Guideposts (for gen and for het rated R or
below) and 852 Prospect (for slash and (occasional) het stories).  All
Sentinel authors are invited to archive their fic at these sites:
 * Guideposts: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Academy/5307/
 * 852 Prospect:  http://www.squidge.org/archive/ (this is the mirror
site for http://b-b-t.mit.edu/SXF/, which is down indefinitely for
repairs)

There are also a number of smaller fic websites which host for a select
group of writers.  You may ask (or be invited) to join one of those.

1.2.6   When should I use keyword headers?

Including keyword tags in your subject headers is an important way to help
readers with limited time choose which threads they want to download or read
first.  As already mentioned, fiction and Sentinel-related ads are
borderline topics and should always be prefaced with the [AD] or [FIC]
tags.  Posts that have more to do with One West Waikiki than with The
Sentinel should be marked with [OWW].  Off-topic posts should be kept to a
minimum, and prefaced with [OT] when you do send them.  Messages that
contain episode spoilers should always have the [SPOILER] tag and should
also identify the episode being spoiled in the subject header.  Failing to
mark these types of posts appropriately can generate a lot of ill will
toward you.

Other subject headers are an extra courtesy rather than an expected custom.
The [META] tag is used to mark discussions about the functioning of the
newsgroup itself.  Tags like [SW], [DC], or [AUS] can be used to mark
threads that are of regional interest only, such as party announcements.

The FAQ will always be posted with a [FAQ] keyword.

1.2.7  My posts are on-topic and tagged correctly, so why is everyone
annoyed with me?

Think of the possibilities -- instead of bugging only your close friends,
with USENET you can annoy thousands, perhaps millions, of complete
strangers!  Not to mention dozens of people who you might have become
friends with it if you hadn't made a bad impression on them first.

The best way to annoy people on USENET is by posting off-topic messages or
anything in the off-charter formats listed in section 1.2.3.  But even if
you're careful to keep your posts on-topic and plain text, you'll still have
plenty of options for annoying people.

One good way is by typing in all capital letters.  This is the online
equivalent of shouting, and is guaranteed to irritate your readers, as well
as making your post difficult on the eyes. Another is using multiple
exclamation points, although this won't annoy quite as many people as using
all caps.  Since spammers use multiple exclamations so frequently, many
readers have their systems configured to ignore all messages with !!! in the
subject header, and they'll never even see your terribly important message.
Which may be a good thing for your public image -- small children, kittens,
and Blair may be cute jumping up and down in excitement, but very few other
people are.  

You can waste people's time and contribute to the overall slowness of the
net by asking redundant questions or making redundant replies.   How do you
know if it's redundant? Well, if you're new to alt.tv.sentinel and are
looking for information, check the FAQs first.  Chances are someone has
asked your question before, and the group has heard it too many times
already.  Even if you've read the FAQ in the past, look here anyway -- it
may have been updated to include what you're looking for.   When someone
else is asking the question and you're answering, be sure to read through
the whole thread before replying and make sure someone else hasn't already
answered it. Messages show up on different servers at different rates, so
you can't guarantee that no one else has responded, but it's still worth
checking.  When responding to any thread, make sure you have something
unique to add.  No one likes downloading 200 words worth of headers just
to read "me too!"

Make sure your signature file is less than five lines.  If the actual
content of your post is only a few lines, don't include your signature at
all.  Long signatures or ones that are longer than the body of the message
are another good way to waste bandwidth.

By far, the most common way to annoy people these days is by quoting long
messages unnecessarily.  Please, if your software has an automatic "quote
when replying" feature, turn it off.  Many many people will breathe sighs of
relief.  If you're intentionally quoting something, include only the parts
of the original message that are directly relevant to your reply, and never
include quotes-within-quotes.  Again, make sure there's more original
content in your message than there is quoted material.

1.3     What should I do if a message on the newsgroup is inappropriate?

First, take a deep breath.  Go away.  Do something else for fifteen minutes
-- or 24 hours, whatever it takes.

Next, look carefully at their message.  Is it off-topic? Is it in violation
of the charter?  Not do you wish it were in violation, but is it? And is it
really worth your time and energy to respond?

If it is in violation of the charter or listed in the "things I shouldn't
post" section above, a quiet, polite, private email to the poster will
usually do the trick.  Don't even get into the politics of it; just refer
them to the charter or FAQ, diplomatically point out where they're in
violation, and leave it at that.  If someone continues to send verboten
posts after you've sent them mail, a public (emailed and posted) but still
diplomatic message may be appropriate.  In extreme cases, a polite note to
the offender's ISP may be called for, but this should be used only when
someone is severely disrupting the newsgroup over a matter of time.

If it's not off-topic and it's not in violation of the charter -- breathe,
remember?  Is it really worth responding to?  If it is, may I suggest
repeating "I'm letting this go..." ten times before you start typing?  The
neighbor's children and your boss, remember?

1.4     What do all these acronyms mean?

Nothing has done more to increase the use of acronyms in common
conversation than USENET.  Some of the ones you're most likely to run
into on alt.tv.sentinel are:

ATS or ats or a.t.s. -- alt.tv.sentinel
TS -- The Sentinel
RB -- the actor Richard Burgi
GM -- the actor Garett Maggart
BAY -- the actor Bruce A. Young
AG -- the actress Anna Galvin
DB -- Danny Bilson, producer of The Sentinel
PD -- Paul DeMeo, also producer of The Sentinel
S2/S2P1/S2P2 -- the episode "Sentinel Too" / part one / part two
TSbyBS -- the episode "The Sentinel by Blair Sandburg"
SOS -- Support Our Sentinel, a fan coalition
SXF -- not an actual acronym;  the slash fiction list
TSFF -- The Sentinel fanfiction
TPTB -- The Powers That Be, usually referring to network executives
A/U -- Alternate Universe (a story radically different from show canon)

AFAIK -- As far as I know
AOL -- America OnLine, a popular ISP
BTW -- By the way
FYI -- For your information
IDIC -- Infinite diversity in infinite combination (variation of YMMV)
IIRC -- If I recall correctly
IM(H)(NSH)O -- In my (humble)(not so humble) opinion
IRC -- Internet Relay Chat
ISP -- Internet service provider
NG -- Newsgroup
OT -- Off-topic (not On-topic!)
YMMV -- Your mileage may vary

G -- grin (also <g> or *g*)
G,D,RLH -- grinning, ducking, [and] running like h***
LOL -- laughing out loud
LMAO -- laughing my a** off
ROTFL -- rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLMAOWTIME -- rolling on the floor laughing my a** off with tears in my eyes
...you get the idea

For more information on these and other fannish vocabulary words, see
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/6930/#def .

1.5     Where can I find the a.t.s charter?

Alt.tv.sentinel was originally proposed in alt.config on February 14, 1998
and newgrouped on March 12, 1998.  The charter as posted in the control
message reads as follows:

Alt.tv.sentinel is for discussion of the science-fiction detective show,
"The Sentinel" and related topics, including fan activities and other
projects in which the cast and crew of "The Sentinel" are involved.
Discussion of One West Waikiki (a show in which the star of "The Sentinel,"
Richard Burgi, played in) is welcome as long as no more appropriate forum
exists and message subject headers are labeled with the OWW keyword. Fan
fiction for "The Sentinel" is welcome only until such time as
alt.tv.sentinel.creative is created; message headers should include STORY in
the subject line, as well as a movie-type rating: G, PG, PG-13, R or NC-17
to indicate which audiences the story is appropriate for, and if the story
is a romance, the first initials of the characters involved in the romance,
such as J/B (Jim/Blair) or J/f (Jim/female) or S/B (Simon/Blair) H-C
indicates the story involves hurt-comfort. Ads for Sentinel-related
merchandise such as zines are allowed, but should not be posted
more than once per month and must be labeled with the AD keyword.
Advertising, web site announcements, and  "public service announcements"
which are not directly related to "The Sentinel" are not welcome; nor are
messages cross-posted to more than three forums.  Please do not post
binaries of any kind to this group. Adult binaries for "The Sentinel" may be
posted on alt.binaries.startrek.adult

1.5.1  Wait a sec, the bit about fic looks different from what you said
in section 1.2.5!

The guidelines for fic laid out in the FAQ are the ones which have evolved
over the years that the newsgroup has been active;  we believe that they
remain true to the spirit of the charter while reflecting the community
standards in use today.

2.0  About the FAQ

This FAQ is posted to alt.tv.sentinel once a month and may be found on the
web at the ats website, http://www.his.com/~journey/ats/.  Comments and
suggestions for improving the FAQ, as well as requests for clarifications
on any of the questions, may be sent to cmshaw at cms...@lambda.net.
Comments and suggestions for the website may be sent to Bagheera at
jour...@his.com.  Version 1.3, copyright 1999, 2000 by cmshaw and Sabrah
n'haRaven (Bagheera Sappire-Eyed).