All About Alt.Syntax.Tactical FAQ (Monthly Posting)
Bastard who drank your last beer
(or, Know Your Jerk)
Monthly Posting
Contents -
1) What is this FAQ about ?
2) What is alt.syntax.tactical ?
3) How are these "invasions" conducted ?
4) How do they claim their "victory" ?
5) Why do they do this ?
6) What does a typical alt.syntax.tactical post look like ?
7) How do I recognise an alt.syntax.tactical post in general ?
8) What can I do about stupid a.s.t posts ?
9) Where do a.s.t reside, usually ?
10) Who are the members of a.s.t ? (The Bestiary of Idiots)
________________________________________________________________________
1) What is this FAQ about ?
This FAQ is for new users who enter the wonderful world of
Internet only to be dissapointed by stumbling upon gigabytes of
stupidity and old timers who know that idiots tend to hang around
in groups. The subject here are a bunch of infantile losers known as -
Alt.syntax.tactical
2) What is alt.syntax.tactical ?
Taken from the alt.syntax.tactical FAQ as posted by:
jpd...@netcom.com (john kordic)
>> Although not exactly a FAQ, this file is more of an explanation of
>> why alt.syntax.tactical and the Tactical-List were created. It also
>> lays down the foundation for the structure, strategy and protocol of
>> usenet invasions.
>>
>> * Invasion *
>>
>> Each of us brings our own reasons, backgrounds and motivations into
>> this scheme. What is important is that each individual brings into
>> this their own brand of inspired mischief. In someways it is completely
>> innocent.
>>
>>In someways it is completely destructive.
>>
>> Anyone can walk into alt.sex and post that pornography should be
>> banned. Anyone can walk into rec.sport.baseball and say "baseball
>> sucks".
>>
>> It takes unbelievable skill and discipline to cause a PROLONGED
>> flame war.
>> That is what we do. But it can only be done with talent, and numbers
>> to match that talent. We only bring into the fold people who have the
>> knack to use smarts to incite chaos, not stupidity to incite being ignored
>> when people see a post and know what you're up to.
Just substitute "talent" with "bullet-headed idiocy" and swap "smarts" and
"stupidity" around in the last sentence, and there you have it in a nutshell.
A.s.t can claim the dubious honour of being the only group that even
alt.flame can look down upon.
3) How are these "invasions" conducted ?
Again taken from the alt.syntax.tactical FAQ as posted by:
jpd...@netcom.com (john kordic)
>> * Waves of Invasion *
>>
>> Flames and wars between groups are as old as Usenet. What we do is
>> in many ways fundamentally different from what is or has been done
>> in this area.
>>
>> After picking a site, we call for an invasion on that site. There are
>> a number of phases to an invasion. Each person can volunteer for
>> which wave they want to be in, but more times than not, it is a first
>> come-first served policy. It is always important that no one jump the gun
>> and go in before we have time to prepare and bounce ideas off each
>> other. It's also important that people don't switch waves without letting
>> everyone know.
>>
>> Flexibility is the key, as is communication.
>>
>> Typically, we use between two and five Waves of attack. Waves will
>> generally break down into this kind of structure:
>>
>> a: Reconnaissance (RECON):
>> These people will go in early and usually set
>> up camp as "friends of the newsgroup". They will
>> become trusted and participate by joining previous
>> discussions or starting non-controversial ones
>> themselves. They will also act as "double-agents"
>> to counter-flame the other waves as the invasion
>> progresses. They key is building a bit of credibility.
>>
>> b: Wave One: Wave one will usually be what starts the flame war.
>> Those involved in this wave can go on and each have
>> a different flame, or go on and flame in unison.
>> They can bring in a subject of their own or flame a
>> previous discussion. What matters is that this
>> initial wave will be the one that the invaded newsgroup
>> will have their attention on. This wave calls for
>> extreme subtlety. The quality of the flame MUST be at
>> its highest point here.
>>
>> c: Wave Two: Wave Two will consist of tactics to attack the people
>> who were sent in as recon and attempt to start totally
>> new flame threads. The key here is that even if we
>> attack a group of people restrained enough to resist
>> our flame-bait, wave two will stir things up and get
>> others to join in.
>>
>> d: Wave Three: Wave three will generally change depending on the
>> campaign, but will generally be added to push the
>> confusion and chaos over the top. Flame the recon,
>> flame the first wave, flame the second wave. These
>> guys are our balls out, rude SOB's. Mop up and clean
>> out.
>>
>> Sometimes (usually with bigger groups) Wave three
>> will simply be along the lines of a wave two. We will
>> call for a wave four (or five) to be the balls out
>> routine. We will sometimes add a wave or two because
>> depending on the size and intelligence of a newsgroup.
4) How do they claim their "victory" ?
Again taken from the alt.syntax.tactical FAQ as posted by:
jpd...@netcom.com (john kordic)
>> * Victory
>>
>> Ideally, signs of victory are the following:
>>
>> o Our names appear in killfiles
>> o Majority or ALL threads in invaded newsgroup were started by us
>> o Regulars/legit people abandon invaded newsgroup
>> o Receiver much hate mail - as does our SysAdmin
>> o Recruit the untrained to become talented flame 'artists'
Apparently this is meant to be satisfying. Don't ask me why.
5) Why do they do this ?
Beats me. Seems like an awful lot of boring, repetitive rote work with
the only reward being regarded as an electronic cockroach plague
by the rest of the net community.
6) What does a typical alt.syntax.tactical post look like ?
This is a typical post -
Subject: Can I bring my cat to Hell with me?
Newsgroups: alt.flame,alt.spleen,k12.chat.teacher,alt.bigfoot,alt.tasteless,
alt.gathering.rainbow,alt.evil,alt.bigfoot,alt.sex.cthulhu,k12.chat.senior,
alt.satanism,rec.pets.cats
Date: 26 Jun 1994 23:41:48 -0700
From: ant...@phakt.usc.edu (Ron Shmet)
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
I am aware that I can't take my "stuff" with me when I die (or lose my edu
account), but if I rape and brutally murder my cat at one of the Rainbow
Gatherings (btw the National Rainbow Gathering's in Wyoming this year...call
the US Park Rangers and DEA), then kill myself, does the cat's soul go
down to Hell with me? If the cat's on it's last life I mean.
Ron Shmet
sh...@ucla.edu
7) How do I recognise an alt.syntax.tactical post in general ?
From the above example we can see a number of typical characteristics
of your average a.s.t post -
- Cross posting to a large number of groups. Attention seeking
exercise.
- The "flogging a dead horse" syndrome. Taking topics that have
been done to death and rehashing them. In this case, trying to
start another alt.tasteless/rec.pets.cats flame-war (ho-hum). This
is likely due to the article detailing the original flame-war appearing
in WiReD magazine, so probably seeking attention again.
- General lack of interest, humor and a lame attempt to be offensive,
in this case, by crossposting to rec.pets.cats, the two K12 groups
and alt.gathering.rainbow.
Other general characteristics -
- a.s.t posters are in the habit of following up there own articles
if the original was (wisely) ignored.
- reposting complete articles or flame/counter flames with one
line comments, thus maximising bulk.
- endless flame/counter-flames between the various a.s.t
invasion wave members when the real newsgroup members
(wisely) ignore them.
As a rule of thumb, if it is boring, pointless and inane, you can bank on
it being from a.s.t.
8) What can I do about stupid a.s.t posts ?
The golden rule is ignore. If someone farts in a room, the smell will
eventually go away. Likewise, if a.s.t is largely ignored, they too will
go away.
Resist all urges to reply. You'll be bashing your head against a brick
wall and only giving them satisfaction. Learn to use your kill-file, ask
someone you know how if you don't know.
9) Where do a.s.t reside, usually ?
There originally was an a.s.t group, and it still gets used occassionally.
Mostly, they hang out in alt.bigfoot, which was probably originally a
sasquach interest group which they invaded and decided to keep, and
in alt.flame.
10) Who are the members of a.s.t ? (The Bestiary of Idiots)
OK, here is the listing. If any body has any other addressess, e-mail,
and we'll add them.
Name and/or handle Address Distinguishing Feature
______________________________________________________________________
Robert Trent tr...@vertigo.helix Jerk
Supreme commander har...@vertigo.helix
Shafik Harmoni tr...@mprgate.mpr.ca
Antebi ant...@scf.usc.edu Jerk
Rev. Antebi ant...@ucla.edu
Ron Shmet ant...@phakt.usc.edu
ant...@chaph.usc.edu
sh...@ucla.edu
Wilf wi...@doe.carlton.ca Jerk
Bulldog bul...@achilles.net
wi...@sce.carlton.ca
Dewme sd...@charlie.usd.edu Jerk
Charlie Dew sdew.nyx.du.edu
sd...@tulip.usd.edu
Wild Bill trav...@teleport.com Jerk
Bill Travis bi...@suntan.vid.ilstu.edu
Doug Weber gro...@netcom.com Jerk
Grossy
Lisa Park bro...@netcom.com Jerk
Yzer-GOD
Luke do...@ucbeh.san.uc.edu Jerk
jjd...@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu
John Kordic jpd...@netcom.com Jerk
Dave
Lefty le...@iastate.edu Jerk
? rbo...@mcvax.csusb.edu Jerk
St. Bob slis...@ncdcr.ncdcr.gov Jerk
Jon-Boy dtr...@netcom.com Jerk
Flat4 lyn...@NeXTwork.Rose-Hulman.edu Jerk
Christopher Hooten nc-...@equalizer.cray.com Jerk
masc...@ucssun1.sdsu.edu
James Knowlton j...@netcom.com Jerk
Joan Tine not known Jerk
not known mos...@harpo.acc.iit.edu Jerk
not known zh...@julian.uwo.ca Jerk
not known rb0...@uhura.cc.rochester.edu Jerk
not known amarc...@aol.com Jerk & AOL'er
not known Puf...@kaiwan.com Jerk
not known Jul...@kaiwan.com Jerk
not known spb...@chaph.usc.edu Jerk
Alex EOCZKO#!@MAINE.CAPS.MAINE.EDU Jerk
Paul Baulch
>>> It takes unbelievable skill and discipline to cause a PROLONGED
>>> flame war.
>>> That is what we do.
From two years of experience,
That is just NOT FUCKING TRUE !!!!
P.S. Flame away, I won't be here. Just think about what I have said.
--
-sh...@zikzak.apana.org.au--------------rec.toys.lego forever!!!-------------
-----Paul Evan Baulch------Reality is by far the most impressive simulation.-
DEWME
>
>Name and/or handle Address Distinguishing Feature
>______________________________________________________________________
>
>Robert Trent tr...@vertigo.helix Jerk
>Supreme commander har...@vertigo.helix
>Shafik Harmoni tr...@mprgate.mpr.ca
>
>Antebi ant...@scf.usc.edu Jerk
>Rev. Antebi ant...@ucla.edu
>Ron Shmet ant...@phakt.usc.edu
> ant...@chaph.usc.edu
> sh...@ucla.edu
>
>Wilf wi...@doe.carlton.ca Jerk
>Bulldog bul...@achilles.net
> wi...@sce.carlton.ca
>
WOW!!! That's almost as long as the list your mother gave for the "Father"
line on your birth certificate. Of course that was a bit more up to date.
As far as she could remember that is...
And Time, a maniac scattering dust,
And Life, a fury slinging FLAME.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1809-1892
***************************************************************************
dEwMe<------(((sd...@tulip.usd.edu #The University of South Dakota
or sd...@nyx.cs.du.edu #has no opinions I hold valid
Yet another RAVEing lunatic!!! #so why would I speak for them?