!a.tv.r-d Primer! New here? Read this!
Raz
Posting-Frequency: weekly
URL: http://www.mushroom.demon.co.uk/red-dwarf/primer/primer.html
Maintainer: Raz <r...@mushroom.demon.co.uk>
WELCOME to ALT.TV.RED-DWARF! The group for Red Dwarf related chit-chat!
| Last update: 10 Sep 98
Lines starting with a "|" denote changes from the last update through to
this one.
[-- 1. Introduction ---------------------------------------------------]
Firstly, a huge sloppy 'Thanks!' for reading this!
Secondly, if you're new to the Internet, you could do a lot worse than
check out the "news.announce.newusers" group, which will tell you about
Internet Ettiquette (nettiquette).
Thirdly, now you're here, please read this right through, it *will*
save you scorn later =). Think of this as a little manifesto doodah, to
bring you up to speed on what goes on here, and make you aware of certain
things, like...
[-- 2. The Red-Dwarf Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list ------------]
Try to read the FAQ before doing anything - you might very well find
your answers in there, and posting old questions will make you look a
silly-billy =).
2.1 Obtaining the FAQ
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You could...
a) Wait for it to appear here, it's posted every two weeks.
b) Point your favorite Web browser to:
http://home.interpath.net/pat/rd/faq.html
c) FTP it, if you can FTP - from:
rtfm.mit.edu /pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/red_dwarf/faq
| | ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ |
|The site |The directory path |The file!
d) Send an email message to... mail-...@rtfm.mit.edu ..with the
following line in the message body:
send /pub/usenet/news.answers/tv/red_dwarf/faq
..and a post pod will deliver the FAQ to you, in considerably less time
than 3 million years...
[-- 3. Newsgroup Policies ---------------------------------------------]
We try to sound grown-up and important, but really we only have five
steadfast rules:
%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&% &%
a) *PLEASE* DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, POST BINARY FILES! %&
%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%&%
A 'Binary' includes .wav/.gif/.jpeg/.mpeg or any other sound or
graphic file that you UUencode or use MIME to post to newsgroups.
DO NOT POST THEM! YOU WILL *NOT* BE THANKED! WE *REALLY* MEAN IT!
This is *very* important! Some people have to pay (like, with
*money*) to get news, many grabbing the day's postings in one go to
read later off-line. Binaries make the download very much longer, so
please be considerate of other users.
If you want to make a Red Dwarf picture or sound file available,
post it to one of the following newsgroups:
alt.binaries.pictures.misc (for piccies)
alt.binaries.sounds.tv (for sound files)
..and then tell everyone. If possible, try and quote the Message-ID's of
your posts; this enables those who can't access the groups to pick out
your articles without subscribing.
b) Horses for courses
Some people like 'nit-picking' and discussing inconsistencies. This
may not be your cup of noodles, but remember that it's their show as
much as it's yours - if you don't like it, just ignore them and start some
good topics of your own!
c) Don't "Spoil" things for others.
(The August Amendment) Accepted 26/8/96
RD is British, but this newsgroup is global, so when the time comes
for new material to appear, there'll be various delays before everyone on
the group has a chance to see it.
Letting out details of an episode or book *before the readers of your post
have had the chance to see it themselves* is called "Spoiling". Giving out
"Spoilers" is something that some people will thank you for, but for which
everyone else will *despise* you!
Maintaining the status quo is easy, though. If you want to talk about
such stuff, just do the following simple things:
1. Write "[SPOILERS]" at the start of your Subject line, followed by
the subject text. Remember not to put any Spoilers *in* the
Subject line itself!
2. Leave about 25 lines (about a screenful) at the top of your post,
as some software automatically opens each post. Don't rely on
<Control-L> to clear the screen, as this won't work on all software
setups.
And that's it, the two-step guide to safety when spoiling =)
d) Don't post personal flames
It will make you look like a smeghead and everyone will call you nasty
names in the playground afterwards. If you *have* to slag someone off, be
an adult: do it through personal e-mail. :)
e) Finally, as a group, we never fall for flame-bait, trolls or spams.
In other words, messages saying "RD is crap!", or advertising
meaningless rubbish, or anything that's likely to offend you and get
you to write a scathing reply that the troller can laugh about.
Well, okay, we do - but if you *really* can't stop yourself following up,
at least try and be funny =).
It's also worth noting that spams are often "crossposted" (posted to
lots and lots of uncaring newsgroups). If you're going to follow up
the post, its usually best to edit those other groups out.
[-- 4. Common-sense Ettiquette ----------------------------------------]
Here's a little guide to making life here absolutely peachy:
a) Don't post test messages... Send them to the misc.test or alt.test
groups instead. You get automatic acknowledgements, that way, and it
saves you being murdered in a variety of interesting ways.
b) Don't overquote. Why, say, quote an entire 100 line message just
to add 'I agree', at the bottom? Old arguments are boring: people
wanna see your juicy *new* stuff!
*One exception here is Spoiler space. There's no problem in quoting
*the minimum ammount of Spoiler space from a previous post.
c) Keep line length around the 70-75 character mark, as it is here.
Apart from being viewed on various machines, your posts will get
quoted, so space is needed to fit the quoting symbols in.
d) DON'T WRITE ENTIRE MESSAGES IN UPPERCASE - IT'S A BUGGER TO READ!
Uppercase indicates shouting. Do it occasionally by all means but
not too much, it'll lessen the effect =).
e) Use something to show your humour, sarcasm, etc. It's easy to be
misinterpreted, otherwise! Smileys are the most common form of
shorthand expressionism... :-) =) :) :-(
f) Be interesting, charming, witty, incisive, sexy... you get the
idea, and if you really *have* to play the guitar, please put on a
spacesuit and do it outside. :)
[-- 5. More stuff we do! ----------------------------------------------]
If you somehow find yourself feeling at home here in alt.tv.red-dwarf
and even want *more*, then don't fret, the fun just doesn't stop!
5.1 alt.tv.red-dwarf Live!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The a.tv.r-d'ers invaded IRC some time ago, and regular get-togethers take
place on Sunday nights around 20:30, UK time, and at many other times
during the week, either in #atvrd on Dalnet or on the EFNet/ IRCnet
#starbug channel.
It's worth noting that what used to be EFNet has now split into two
seperate networks, IRCnet and EFnet. Check which network your server will
connect you to!
For the temporally challenged =), here's a little table.
Continent : North America : Europe : Australia
----------:-----------------------:------------------:----------------
Time code : PST EST : GMT CET : WST EST
Example : Los Angeles New York : London Paris : Perth Sydney
Time* : 12:30 15:30 : 20:30 21:30 : 05:30 07:30
From GMT : -8hrs -5hrs : --- +1hr : +9hrs +11hrs
* Times may be wrong, but, well... they're close, okay? Mail Raz =)
For lots of spiffy information on accessing and using IRC, look out
for the fabby FAQs posted in the "alt.irc" newsgroup, or hop on the
Web at "http://urth.acsu.buffalo.edu/irc/WWW/ircdocs.html"
5.2 alt.tv.red-dwarf on the Worldwide Web
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As part of a longstanding tradition, the official alt.tv.red-dwarf
Newsgroup Webpages have recently moved house once more!
The current URL (and this *replaces* the old site at Cobalt) is:
http://www.atvrd.barnsley.ac.uk
Talk to Chris (ch...@cgis.co.uk) or Raz (r...@mushroom.demon.co.uk)
for more info or to offer contributions (badly needed!).
5.3 Post Of The Month
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It's back!
Something which you may not be aware of is the monthly awards ceremony
that goes on peacefully in darkened corners of the group. If you see a
post that particularly tickles your fancy, either for comedic value,
information content, or sheer hard work =), why not nominate it as Post Of
The Month?
It's easy; just forward the post by email to Epideme at:
...you don't even have to say *why* you're nominating, though it might
help 'Deme to tell him in the Subject line why you're sending him email...
=)
At the end of each month, Epideme will re-post all the nominations he has
received, giving each a number. Mail him again, telling him which number
post you think is best. The votes are tallied, and the winning post and
the runners-up receive immortality on the newsgroup webpages! Yay!
5.4 alt.tv.red-dwarf UK meets
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Chris has brought back into existance the mailing list created to help
organise meetings for UK members of the group to generally slob around and
have a few laughs.
Details of how to subscribe are on the website.
[-- 6. And that's it... -----------------------------------------------]
...yup, it certainly is. If you have any problems or queries regarding this
newsgroup or this little Primer, or if you are unsure about anything, please
feel free to email one of the Agony Droids below:
Raz - r...@mushroom.demon.co.uk
Friday - fri...@starbug.nu
Annette - mcin...@netlink.com.au
Charles Daniels - char...@calweb.com
Obviously, if you have a country-specific query, pick an appropriate
chap or chappess.
The above are not netcops, honest, just the kind of hard-living
flatfoots who get the job done by cutting corners and bucking authority;
people who have volunteered to help you, the new lifeform, into this
newsgroup.
Thanks, and see you in the drive room...
The boys and girls from the Dwarf.
_____________________________________________________________