From sherman@trln.lib.unc.edu Wed Jun 30 10:45:34 1993 Return-Path: Received: from naucse.cse.nau.edu by sunset.cse.nau.edu (5.65c/1.5-nau) id AA01931; Wed, 30 Jun 1993 10:45:33 -0700 Received: from sunset.cse.nau.edu by naucse.cse.nau.edu (5.65c/1.5-nau) id AA28013; Wed, 30 Jun 1993 10:45:31 -0700 Received: from trln.lib.unc.edu by sunset.cse.nau.edu (5.65c/1.5-nau) id AA01926; Wed, 30 Jun 1993 10:45:23 -0700 Received: by trln.lib.unc.edu (MX V3.3 VAX) id 30126; Wed, 30 Jun 1993 13:46:55 EDT Date: Wed, 30 Jun 1993 13:46:52 EDT From: "Dennis R. Sherman" To: andrew@bransle.ucs.mun.ca, WEW@naucse.cse.nau.edu Message-Id: <0096ECD5.7A4DB2E0.30126@trln.lib.unc.edu> Subject: sca-faq/part04 Status: OR Newsgroups: rec.org.sca,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: rec.org.sca / Rialto Frequently Asked Questions - part04/04 From: dennis_sherman@unc.edu Followup-To: poster Summary: FAQs with Answers for the Rialto - rec.org.sca and mailing list sca@mc.lcs.mit.edu. The Society for Creative Anachronism is an organization that studies the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and recreates those parts we find most interesting. Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu Archive-name: sca-faq/part04 Last-modified: 05/11/1993 rec.org.sca and sca@mc.lcs.mit.edu FAQ or Questions Frequently Asked on the Rialto ---------------------------------------- This article is part 4 of the complete Frequently Asked Questions posting for the Rialto. An introduction and table of contents are included in part 1. The complete Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list is available via FTP from rtfm.mit.edu in directory /pub/usenet/rec.org.sca. Those without FTP access should send e-mail to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with "send usenet/news.answers/finding-sources" in the body to find out how to do FTP by e-mail. For more complete introductions to the SCA, see the recurring postings "Come on in -- the water's fine" (by Hal Ravn [whheydt@pacbell.com] ) and "Life in the Current Middle Ages." (by Arval Benicour [mittle@watson.ibm.com] ). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Guide to Posting Style Each line of text posted to the Rialto is stored on thousands of Usenet machines, and is also processed through the digestifier software and mailed out to every recipient of the digest. Many of the readers of the Rialto must pay for disk space and connect time. Keeping this in mind, here are some common-sense guidelines for polite use of the Rialto. These are just suggestions: there are no rules. However, following these guidelines would be a courtesy to your fellow Rialtans, and to the good and generous institutions whose machines support our communication. Many of these suggestions are adapted from regular postings on news.announce.newusers, notably "Rules for Posting to Usenet," "What is Usenet?", "A Primer on How to Work with the Usenet," and "Hints on Writing Style for Usenet." If you have access to that newsgroup, please take the opportunity to read these postings. * Keep it short. Say what you have to say, but in the fewest words possible that make your meaning clear. Brevity that obscures meaning is not very useful. * Quote only what you must from previous articles. - Don't quote someone's entire signature, or blank space. - Don't include an entire article in order to append a single line of text. - Often a paraphrase will be clearer and more succinct than a quote. * Use white space as necessary for clarity in your posting, and no more. * Use a signature, but keep it short. People appreciate knowing who and where you are (SCA and modern). Include your email address in your signature, and enough of your name, titles, location etc. to ensure an unambiguous identification. People do not appreciate paying phone bills to transmit over-large signatures, and Usenet etiquette frowns very strongly on many-line signatures or signatures with graphics. * Reply by mail, unless your message is going to be of general interest. Of course, the Rialto is eclectic enough that a serious discussion of almost any relevant topic will interest some people. Use your best judgement to balance the level of general interest against the cost of posting your message to the Rialto. Postings whose content amounts to "you're an idiot" or "I demand you apologize for ..." are most emphatically *NOT* welcome. * If you have a problem reaching someone by e-mail contact your system administrator, write to postmaster at your correspondent's node, or ask someone on the net who seems to know a lot about e-mail. Please avoid posting a message about it - you are trying to send something to someone on ONE system. Posting sends it to all the thousands of systems throughout the world that make up the Rialto - which is going to cost someone, even if not you, a lot of money. * Please don't post local event announcements. This is another "balance the general interest value against the cost" issue. Local event announcements probably will be of interest to only a small fraction of the readership of the Rialto. A brief mention of an event in a signature, or a 2 or 3 line summary with "email for more information" is perfectly in order. * Write carefully. People reading your postings can't hear your tone of voice or see your expression, and probably don't know you well enough to know whether you are serious or joking. Sarcasm is guaranteed to be misunderstood by someone. It is better to avoid it entirely, or at least clearly mark it with something like ...sarcasm... . * LOTS of people read the Rialto, and the newsgroup is completely public. Don't post anything you wouldn't want to say in a room filled with complete strangers, your boss, your parent's relatives, reporters from the National Enquirer, the peerage and royalty of your kingdom, etc. They might well be reading. Take the time to re-read your posting, and to think whether you *really* want to say that. * Don't get offended, and don't offend others - most of the people reading the Rialto are SCAdians, and would prefer being your friend to the alternative. Treat people well and they will assuredly respond in kind. If someone appears to be offended by a posting of yours, especially if the offense is unintended, the best response is to apologize via email. Also, note that "I'm sorry you took it that way" is inadequate as an apology -- better is "I'm sorry I offended you." The first implicitly shifts the blame to the offended person, while the second does not. * Use the subject line. If you can describe your topics in the subject line of your posting, please do so. Posting with Subject: Various is pretty pointless, isn't it? :-) If you are replying to a previous posting, and you have shifted the topic, please correct the subject line. Some people will make note of the previous subject like this: Subject: Two-sword technique (Was Re: Pennsic) ---------- End of Rialto FAQ ---------- ======================================================================== Thanks to all who have contributed to this article. This article is a work in progress. If you have other topics you'd like to see included, send me email with the question(s) and your suggested answer(s). If you have comment on the items included, please send me (polite) email. PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE RIALTO! ! ! The whole point of this effort is to reduce traffic. I will summarize comments sent to me, if it seems necessary. -- Robyyan Torr d'Elandris Kapellenberg, Windmaster's Hill Atlantia Dennis R. Sherman Triangle Research Libraries Network dennis_sherman@unc.edu Univ. of North Carolina - Chapel Hill