Message: #12593 (Read 9 times, has 0 replies, 4276 bytes)
Date   : Thu Oct  2 22:54:02 1997
From   : Moderator of fidonet#1:124/9005
To     : All
Subject: Echo Guidelines 1/2

The International Doctor Who and British Science-Fiction TV Conference
Last updated:  6/19/97

Why are we here?
================

Of course, the main focus is upon the long-lived British SF program Doctor
Who, but discussion of other popular British SF shows such as Red Dwarf,
Blake's 7, The Prisoner, The Avengers, et al, is not only permissable but
also ENCOURAGED.  These are some great programs, so spread the word!

Also permitted here is discussion of British comedy, with the sole
exception being Monty Python's Flying Circus.  Monty Python is a great
show, but it is very very likely that the echo would be deluged by
Python-wannabes if the show was included here.  Besides, there is already
a backboned echo called MONTE [sic]:  That echo will whet the appetite of
those of you who are eager to impress the planet with your knowledge of
the Latin bits from "The Holy Grail."  In the meantime, by all means feel
free to discuss shows like Are You Being Served?, Black Adder, Benny Hill,
or whatever else you've seen on PBS or BBCx.

Some hints and tips, as well as some rules and regulations
==========================================================

FIDONET, FREQ, POINT, NODE, NODELIST:  These are terms that apply to the
computer network that carries this and many other conferences.  Ask your
sysop to clarify these terms for you if you think "FREQ" refers to
streaking through the streets of Dallas.

NETMAIL:  You may often see references to netmail.  Netmail is private
mail between X system and Y system, and is seen only by you and your
target. Ask your sysop about the availability of netmail on the system to
which you belong.  Note that this conference is an ECHOMAIL conference,
meaning that each and every message is "echoed" to other nodes all over
the world. Private mail should not be entered into the conference unless
you want the entire planet to see what you're doing. :)  Note that
personal chit-chat should ALWAYS be done through private netmail:  Nobody
in the echo really cares that you're asking if X user was the person with
whom you went to Miskatonic U back in '36.

MODERATION:  Let's leave all affairs related to the moderation of the echo
in NETMAIL.  If you have a problem, a question, or a suggestion, by all
means, contact me.  I'm open for discussion.  If you do not have access to
netmail, please either call the BBS from which I post or leave me a way to
contact you, and I will try to do so.  DO NOT DISCUSS THE MODERATION OF
THE ECHO IN THE ECHO.  The BBS from which I post runs 24 hours per day,
and the number is 214/412-8457.  If you should route your netmail, be
aware that Fidonet may eat it somewhere along the line.  If you are unable
to connect to this system for whatever reason, please host-route any
netmail through 1:124/0.

WEIRD ASCII:  The use of visible (control) characters ASCII 32 and below
is a Bozo no-no in this echo because you could conceivably jam someone's
software somewhere.  Use of eight bit characters above ASCII 127 are
permissable, provided that they aren't used to create wasteful quote boxes
or multi-line signatures.  And please, let's keep those long-winded
Internet-style signatures to a minimum, eh?  Folks, if you want to use
those, go to the Internet.  Keep your signatures short (three lines at the
very most), and bear in mind that if someone needs to know how to reach
you on the Internet or on whatever service, they can ASK you how to get
there.  Bear in mind also that this echo is being shipped overseas, and
someone other than you is paying to pass that excess baggage around.

HANDLES:  I have no problem with handles so long as they aren't used for
malicious purposes.  However, I wouldn't mind seeing you aliased folk sign
your messages with your real name every once in a blue moon so I know who
you are.

QUOTING:  This is important, as this echo is distributed overseas to areas
outside of North America, on someone's long-distance nickel:  We are
currently seen in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South
Africa. Because of this, it's important to not be shipping excess baggage
around, so here are two guidelines for quoting:

1)  When you reply to a message, please use the quoting feature of your
BBS to quote a few lines of the original poster's message so as to refresh
his or her memory about what you were talking.  Remember that some folks
carry on multiple conversations, and when you out of the clear blue sky
say "Yeah, I've got some information on that...want me to dig it up?", the
target probably has no idea about what you're talking.  If your BBS
software has no quoting feature, please say something like "Yo!  We were
talking about X or Y" and then add your text.

2)  Overquoting is a big problem out in Fidonet.  There's no need to quote
an entire message, because by doing so, you're wasting bandwidth and
you're sending a new copy of the entire message around the world. 
Remember that someone somewhere pays for this, and we need to trim the
excess fat out of our messages so as to keep those costs as low as
possible.  Please be certain that you do not quote the tagline (those cute
'bumper sticker' messages at the bottom of a message), the tearline
(You'll see one next to "Via Silver Xpress" in some messages), or the
origin line (You'll see the text "Origin: <cutesy saying or BBS ad here>". 
Neither do you need to quote any lines that say "X said to Y on such and
such date."  In the case of tearlines and origin lines, besides being
unnecessary when quoting, these may bomb someone's software somewhere.  In
the case of taglines or headers, these are plain unnecessary.  Just quote
whatever you need to jumpstart the other guy's memory.  As a general rule
of thumb, IF YOU'RE QUOTING MORE THAN A HALF SCREEN FULL OF TEXT AT A
TIME, YOU'RE OVERQUOTING:  Try to include more of your own message than
the other guy's message.

TAPE SWAPPING:  I have no problem with tape swapping, but I prefer that
the finer details of tape exchanges be taken to netmail if you're going to
be wheeling and dealing for a while.  If you don't have netmail access,
either leave a number or an address at which you can be reached, or make
your deal short and sweet ("Here's what I want, here's what I'll send."). 
However, let's obey the law here:  You may ONLY exchange tapes that were
made from off-air broadcasts, and you may NOT make a profit from it.  This
means that you should not be offering to dupe THE TROUGHTON YEARS for
anybody, but if someone needs a copy of INFERNO for his collection and you
were fortunate enough to tape it from PBS or whomever, you may talk
business.  Offers for recompensation as far as tape costs and shipping and
handling are acceptable. I have no problems either with "I'm looking for
_____" messages so long as you don't get ridiculous about it.

[Also, FYI, the CBS/Fox videotapes contain copy protection, so if you're
going to be duping those behind closed doors, your copy will look
terrible.]

Note also that disk swaps should follow the above criteria.

TREK TALK:  OK, OK, so you think the Borg remind you of the Cybermen or
the Daleks.  You know that Patrick Stewart once expressed an interest in
playing the part of the Doctor.  There are some DW references in a few of
the Star Trek novels.  If you can carry on a conversation about these
issues while sticking to the WHO-related angle of things, beautiful.  But
let's avoid the Trek angle:  There are Trek-specific conferences for this
kind of discussion.

VHS/Beta Wars:  This is totally off-topic.

ENJOY THE ECHO:  Unless you're here to be a jerk, please don't take any
moderator messages personally, and of course, there's no need to reply to
them.  There are some exceptionally wise people in this echo who can just
talk your ear off about certain British SF-related topics, and this is a
great place to chat about how much you enjoy X or Y program while learning
a bit about it.  You might even find out about some OTHER "must see"
program:  Many people have become hopelessly addicted to Red Dwarf after
becoming involved in conversations about it here in this echo.  And of
course, the usual Fidonet rule applies:  Do not easily annoy, do not be
easily annoyed.  Be sure to treat others as you would have them treat you.

FLAMING:  Excessive foul or obscene language, ad hominem attacks, or "My
show's better than yours" rants will not be tolerated.  Wanna flame?  Go
to the BITCH echo (Or whatever they're calling it these days.).  If
there's some guy who's bugging the pants off of you but not breaking any
rules, you may wish to consider using a "twit filter" if you're using an
offline reader.  Of course, there are those of us who may take a jab at a
pal of ours every so often...this is fine, but if it gets out of control,
I'll step in.

FRAZER HINES:  The spelling of Frazer Hines's first name is "Frazer",
without an 'i' like "Frazier".

GATING:  It is expressly forbidden to gate this echo to the Internet or
any other network.

FINALLY:  Leave all moderating to the moderator.  If someone breaks an
echo rule, let ME take care of it.  Personally, "Sysop-Wannabes" become
tiring after a while, so put away your ducks, torches, and pitchforks, and
do your damnedest to resist the temptation to get in a jab before I see
the message.

If someone comes out and posts fifty ads for Evil Ed's BBS, you're only
going to make things worse by saying "You jerk!" out in the echo, because
if everybody does that, you've got more "You jerk!" messages than
WHO-related messages.  If you must reply, PLEASE reply in netmail, and be
kind:  Mistakes happen.  Rest assured, though, that I will track things
down and wake up the sysop of the offending node.

If someone comes out and says "Doctor Who is a show unworthy of my
piranha! LOVE BOAT RULZ!", -ignore him or her-.  I'll take care of him,
and again, you only add to the bandwidth by saying "You jerk!"  And for
Pete's sake, don't go out into the LOVE_BOAT conference and say "Doctor
Who rulz!" to get even with the poor bugger:  He's got enough problems as
it is.

Let me answer all test messages.  Some poor soul will occasionally have
his system set up incorrectly, and you'll see some sort of "This is a
test. Am I getting through, Myron?" message.  Please ignore these,
although you have my blessing to send NETMAIL to the effect of "Yes,
you're being seen in Tanzania!" so he doesn't think he's beaming his
messages to the moon.

Likewise, please ignore messages that are obvious garbage, or that are
improperly placed.

Of course, there is no Rule #3.

And as I said, enjoy the echo!  It's yours...I'm just the cat-herder whose
job is to keep discussion reasonably on topic and within the bounds of
good taste and common sense. :)

Mary Sinclair, Moderator WHO "la mod"
Steve Quarrella, Retired Old Fart Moderator (1:124/9005)

Special Guest Stars:

Dave Macfarlane (2:259/41), who pulled the echo into Zone 2 on his dime
until such a time that the echo was on the Zone 2 Backbone again.  Thanks,
Dave!

Lewin Edwards, who pulled the echo into Zone 3 (on his dime) until such a
time that the echo was on the Zone 3 Backbone.  Thanks, Lewin!

Henk Wolsink (Zone 5 ZC) who pulled us through the Z5 zonegate into
Africa.

--- GoldED 3.00.Alpha5+ - Spank Our Wombats!
 * Origin: Valencia:  "Smarter than the average bear." (1:124/9005)