> From: Dan Minette <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > But then again, i would really much rather be discussing science
fiction
> > or something else directly Brin-related, and not middle-eastern
politics.
>
> Well, there was a thread going on a related topic, you could contribute
to
> that or start a new one. I think part of the problem is that there are
only
> so many reasonable posts that can be written on science fiction works.
I
> don't think we want to be as anal retentive as the Jordan lists are,
getting
> into flame wars over every single plot element.
There's only one Jordan list that matters, rasfwr-j, which maintains a
much stricter standard of posting and etiquette than Brin-L:
from the rasfwr-j FAQ:
Section 3: GENERAL COURTESY AND NEWSGROUP SPECIFIC CONVENTIONS/POLICIES.
Section 3.1: General Courtesy:
Before you post, please read the newsgroup for a while. This is
the best way to see how things are done, and you'll probably find
that whatever question/point you wish to pose has already been
discussed before. You will want to take this into account if and
when you bring it up.
We urge all readers to follow these few points of "netiquette" to
avoid irritating people and to increase the likelihood that people
respond to your ideas. The idea behind these recommendations is
two-fold. First, to make the newsgroup run as smoothly and
pleasantly for all concerned, both old-timer and new user.
Second, to help the new user communicate efficiently, because
communication is the prime goal of Usenet. The idea is NOT to
stifle discussion or add unnecessary restrictions.
It should also be noted that all of these maxims can and should be
applied to every Usenet newsgroup, not only this one.
Section 3.1.1: Read the Wheel of Time FAQ.
Before posting your brilliant new idea (e.g. "Hey! I think Shaiel
= Tigraine," or "Hey! Maybe Slayer = Luc + Isam!"), make sure it
has not been discussed to death months before. The collected
wisdom of the jordan discussions is available in the form of the
Wheel of Time FAQ. It is a huge document, and even if you don't
feel like reading it all at once, you should read it at some
point, and at least search it for keywords before bringing up
something that has already been discussed. Details on how to get
the Wheel of Time FAQ are found in in section 5.1 below.
Note that just because a topic is covered in the Wheel of Time
FAQ does not mean you cannot post to the newsgroup about it.
However, it would be a good idea, and the polite thing to do, if
you check the WoT FAQ first so that you can consider previous
discussion of your idea and hopefully discover something we all
missed.
Section 3.1.2: Keep quoting to a minimum.
Only keep as much of the previous post post as is necessary for
people to know what you are talking about. Summarize wherever
possible (i.e. instead of 20 lines of included text, summarize it
in a sentence). Make sure you attribute the right things to the
right people, and ALWAYS DELETE .sigs WHEN QUOTING. On the same
token, don't post a reply to a specific post without quoting or
summarizing at least some of it. The idea is to include *just
enough* context for people who have not seen the article to which
you are replying (which can happen quite frequently) to be able
to understand your comments.
Section 3.1.3: Use descriptive subject headers.
If you want to discuss the intermarriages of the royal houses in
Andor, use a subject line like "Royal Lineage in Andor". Threads
(lines of discussion) often drift from their original topic.
When this happens, subject lines might have little to do with the
content of the articles. Try to avoid this situation by using a
new title when you start a new thread, and try not to drift from
the topic too much within a thread. Drift is inevitable, though,
and when it happens, it's usually appropriate to rename the
thread. To continue the example above, if the topic shifts from
royal lineage to Rand's parents to intermarriages in the Two
Rivers, you might rename the thread "Two Rivers Genealogy (was
Re: Royal Lineage in Andor)" or simply "Two Rivers Genealogy".
If it shifts to non-book related material, include TAN in the
Subject line (see Section 3.3).
Section 3.1.4: Avoid incendiary language and unconstructive
criticism.
Words like "rip-off," "crap," and "semi-literate, brainwashed
fools" will irritate people, even if that was not your intent.
If you disagree with someone, tell the group why you disagree;
don't just call that person names.
Section 3.1.5: Legibility, readability and other miscellenia.
Usenet is a media designed to facilitate communication, and the
rasfwrj newsgroup is a fairly busy newsgroup, with many articles
streaming in every day. A good way to encourage people to read your
articles is to present them in a format which makes them pleasing to
as many eyes as possible. The following are a few helpful hints
on how to keep your articles legible.
Make a paragraph form by introducing a blank line between each
paragraph, and a blank line between quoted text and your own text.
Put "quote marks" in front of each line of quoted text. Many
newsreaders do this automatically, by putting a '>' symbol at the
beginning of each line.
Keep your line lengths to below 80 characters, preferably
somewhere in the range of 70 to 75 characters, so that people
reading news on standard 80 column terminals (that is, most of
us) can both read and quote your text easily.
Finally, make some attempt to follow the dictates of English
grammar. It is a given that people will make mistakes,
mispellings and the occasional gaffe. No one claims to be
perfect (for very long). Likewise, we all have our own style.
But in general, posts which are written in good English, with
proper capitalization and punctuation are the easiest to read.
And we all want people to read our posts with the minimum
possible effort.
Section 3.1.6: Don't Post Fucking Binary Files.
Don't post binaries here.
In an ideal world, this section would not be needed, as
people would already know not to post binaries anywhere
not dedicated to them. Don't post them here because you
will make some people mad, and the rest of the people will
never see them, as they will be removed by cancelbots at
most sites.
Section 3.1.7: Don't Crosspost.
Crossposting is, in the vast majority of cases, unecessary.
More than that, in many cases, it will actively annoy the members
of the newsgroups to which you are crossposting. Please don't do it
here.
Section 3.2: Spoiler Policy:
NOTE: This section is left in so that people can see what the policy
was last year, and what it will likely resemble for Book Ten.
However, it is NOT CURRENTLY IN FORCE.
When a new book comes out, some people obtain and read it before
other people do. People who have read parts of the book want to
talk about them, but people who haven't gotten that far don't want
you to spoil the surprises for them.
After long discussion prior to the release of _Winter's Heart_,
there was consensus for the following policy:
1) Try to enforce spoiler protection for _Winter's Heart_ for two
or three weeks after the release of the book. Trying to enforce
anything for any longer than that simply turns out to be unfeasible,
and very annoying.
2) Therefore, in the subject header, make people aware of the
content by adding either the prefix tag WH: to the subject, or the
word "Spoilers!" to the subject. Preferably both.
Additionally, do not use a title that is, itself, a spoiler. For
instance, if it turns out that Tam al'Thor killed Asmodean, then a
subject of:
WH: Tam killed Asmodean!! (Spoilers)
Doesn't really help up.
3) Finally, once you've done that, then in the body of the
message, insert either a page break or a screen of whitespace
before your actual spoilers. While not all newsreaders accept
page breaks, neither are all terminal sizes limited to 24 lines.
It is the opinion of this FAQ writer that newsreaders that do not
accept page breaks are broken by implementation. It is also the
opinion of this FAQ writer that anyone who braves a post marked
"Spoilers!" in the header gets exactly what he or she deserves,
whether through a broken newsreader failing to implement a page break,
or through a post with insufficient whitespace for his screen
settings.
Section 3.3: The "TAN:" Subject Header
It is inevitable that there will be threads that do not directly
pertain to the books, and it is inevitable that this sort of thing
will annoy some people. In order to keep things civilized, it is
suggested that such discussions be labeled "TAN:" for
"tangential." For example:
Subject: TAN: Warder Applications
Subject: TAN: Plot Contest
Subject: TAN: What did Lanfear give Roy for his birthday?
Please note that this is as official a sanction as is
feasible regarding tangential, or off-topic discussions.
This document makes such a sanction because, on observing the
newsgroup since day one of its inception and having canvassed
the newsgroup members publically, the FAQ maintainer firmly
believes the regular participants of the newsgroup prefer
it this way. Therefore, please do not complain about the
amount of off-topic conversation; especially during the
long periods between books, it is a fact of life.
However, as always, the first rule of newsgroup etiquette (as
pointed out in Section 3.1 above) is "please read the newsgroup for a
while." Analogizing the newsgroup to a sports bar, you can be sure
that striking up an on-topic conversation (about a current basketball
game, in the sports bar; about Robert Jordan, here) is going to be
safe and well-received. Trying to branch out into off-topic
conversations will probably not be well-regarded (in fact, will
probably be ignored) if begun before you have gotten a feel for the
personalities around you, and vice-versa. It's human nature.
This is not a call for drive-by postings, as it were, and it is
MOST CERTAINLY NOT a sanction on SPAM. Thinking back to the
sports bar concept, no one likes people who walk in off the street,
shout something and leave, or try to address the whole bar about, say,
Tolstoy, when that person has never set foot in the bar before. And
annoying salesmen are ejected swiftly and painfully.
