Disclaimer: Everything written by robin-of-lox in the "Welcome to alt.discuss" articles are my own personal opinion. They may or may not be the opinion of WebTV, and nothing written here has any "official sanction" from WebTV Networks. August, 1998

Newsgroup Basics

Paragraphs

Even though there is a Tab key on the remote keyboards, it is primarily used for moving the cursor around the screen instead of indenting. To get the normal indentation that we were all taught to use on a typewriter, you must hit the space bar five times. The problem with this is that once you send a post, it doesn't always look exactly like it did when you wrote it.

Therefore, the acceptable way to indicate a paragraph in cyberspace is to hit Return twice, leaving an extra line space between each paragraph. You can choose to indent the first line or not, it's a personal preference.

The purpose for wanting to separate your paragraphs is for ease of reading. A long post that needs to be scrolled through is easy to get lost in. If you are taking the time to write a long post, you want it to be read. Many people will read partway through a seemingly never-ending post and give up. If there are paragraph breaks, though, they'll be more likely to read the whole thing, and that's what you want (this also works for email).

Proofreading

Prior to hitting the send button, it's a good idea to scroll to the top of your post and doublecheck your spelling. Many times the remote keyboards send weird messages to the box and you can have typos that you didn't necessarily type, but are there anyway.

I am guilty of hitting send at the end of a post and finding later that I have mistyped words, and been embarrassed by the outcome. Correct spelling and punctuation, along with a reasonable flow of ideas, makes a post more enjoyable for everyone. Proofing your post before sending it may take an extra moment, but it can help to make your point come across in a clearer fashion.

The alt.discuss Hierarchy

How The Groups Are Listed (and why they're listed that way)

It would be a wonderful thing if the alt.discuss newsgroups were listed like the Yellow Pages. That way, if you wanted to find a group on a particular subject, you would go to that subject and see if there were any groups there. Usenet is set up in this way, and it makes locating a group very easy.

Unfortunately, not all groups in alt.discuss are proposed with that in mind, and as you can see from The Groups section this month, many of them do not follow any kind of order or system. Remember, it's the responsibility of the proposer to name the group.

Part of this problem was due to the lack of foresight by many of us who asked for groups during the "w" period (see the History section for more about this). In those days there were a handful of groups and they all fit on one Table of Contents page, so being "up front" and "out in the open" made a difference. Now, it just makes things confusing. There is no system for changing the names of the existing groups. Once they've been made, they are "carved in stone."

Another part of the problem is that some people just don't seem to care, and propose groups outside of an existing hierarchy. An example of this is alt.discuss.titanic, which could have gone into either alt.discuss.history or alt.discuss.entertainment.movies.

When a group is proposed, it is posted in alt.discuss.config. After the post comes up, various posters will suggest alternate names if the group could fit within an existing section of the hierarchy. Until the group is voted in, the proposal can be withdrawn (by the original proposer) and re-proposed with the new name.

There are many groups on the voting list that are getting "no" votes for the simple reason that they could fall into an existing section, but they don't with their current name. In these cases, the "no" votes are rarely personal. Many of the regular posters in the alt.discuss newsgroups would welcome a number of these groups if they were re-proposed with different names.

When proposing a group, it is a good idea to first post a charter (what the group will be about) and what the intended name will be in alt.discuss.config and alt.discuss.announce. Then the proposer can consider the received feedback prior to proposing the group.

OK, has all this talk about proposing a newsgroup got your gears turning? I suggest you look around the alt.discuss groups and see if your interest is already being covered. If not, next month I will explain how to propose a group and solicit votes.

The Groups

Reminder: Always lurk a while and read numerous posts and entire threads before posting in any alt.discuss or Usenet newsgroup.

Politics, History & Cultures

.conspiracy
The name pretty much says it all, a group about conspiracies.

.enviroment
This is not a typo, this is how the group was proposed. It's a group to discuss our environmnet.

.filipino
Mostly empty, a place for people of Filipino descent.

.genealogy
For searching out your roots.

.history.american
Discussion of American History.

.history.civil-war.us
Both sides of the American Civil War are looked at here.

.inthenews
Interesting and odd things found in the news.

.languages
Quiet (empty) but possibly a place to get info if you post and check back later.

.mythology
This group is empty at the moment, but if someone starts posting about mythology, others will probably follow.

.native-american
A very informative place where people discuss everything from history to belief systems of the Native Americans.

.north-ireland
A place for those of Irish descent to talk about everything from Celtic history to the War and everything in between.

.openmind
The "new age" group, covering everything from alien abduction to out-of-body experiences and more.

.philosophy
Sometimes deep, sometimes fun, if you enjoy discussing philosophy this might be the group for you.

.politics
A place to discuss (and argue) politics in America.

.titanic
Talk of not just the movie, but the history of the Titanic.

.urban-legends
Ever wonder about those emails that claim that the Cancer Society will pay three cents for every time a letter gets re-sent? Or how about crocodiles in the sewers of New York? These are urban legends, and here is a place to talk and learn about them.

.us-events
Current events in America.

.victorian-era
Discussion of the 19th century.

For the charters and FAQs of some of these groups, see penryn's Newsgroups HOME. Group leaders, don't forget to submit your information to penryn.

History

Since I am spotlighting the History Groups (among others), this seems to be the perfect time to talk about the history of the alt.discuss groups.

In early June, 1997, WebTV opened the "w" groups, which later became the alt.discuss groups. They were overseen by "Usenet honcho" David Mack, fondly known as DMack. Where the posters came from and why these groups came about will be in next month's "pre-history."

The night before the "w" groups opened, DMack stayed up late and answered questions and fielded newsgroup requests. The people he talked with asked for specific groups, gave their reasons for them, and the next day, there they were. The "w" groups had been born. The groups were behind the WebTV firewall, but not directly associated with WebTV except that DMack quietly oversaw them. If someone wanted a new group, they would post a proposal in w.config and it was usually created within a week or so. After a little while, the regular posters in "w" would post a yea or nay vote, but DMack would usually make the group even if it got only one yea vote.

It seemed that WebTV wanted nothing to do with "w". The groups were never allowed to be mentioned in the moderated webtv.users. The only way to find out about them was if someone emailed you with information of their existence. That's how I found out about them.

After a few weeks, people started putting the addresses of specific groups into their signatures, so the newsgroups would be seen when they posted in webtv.users. Slowly but surely the groups began to grow.

Suddenly, with no more than two days warning, we were informed that "w" was going to be closed. Shocked and angry, we all wrote DMack begging for intervention, and to WebTV begging for the groups to be kept open. To this day no one knows why the "w" groups were closed.

Through some kind of magic and many concessions on DMack's part, he convinced them to allow us the alt.discuss groups. DMack was no longer allowed to be our "intercessor," so we would be on our own. An automated system was devised for proposing and voting on the groups. So, on November 15th, 1997, the alt.discuss groups were born.

Pick of the Month

There is a new group that is still in the voting process, but would be a wonderful addition to our community. It is alt.discuss.disability.learning. The charter is posted in alt.discuss.config and when the group is created it will be available at penryn's Newsgroups HOME

This will be a group where the learning disabled will not have to worry about spelling. It will be "a social and support group where we can share resources and strategies on overcoming our disabilities." I personally know many people with different learning disabilities, and everyone is looking forward to this group.

If you want to vote for (or against) it, the information on how to vote is located in a number of places. You can go to last month's article or to alt.discuss.config and scroll until you get to the Newsgroup Creation Rules posted by nobody@nowhere.com or re-posted by Javelin. Finally, you can go to Anthony S's page called Voting Info where the Newsgroup Creation and Voting Rules have been archived.

Vote for Your Favorite Group

You can still vote in Yankeefan1's Poll through August 15th. A valued member of our community since the very beginning, Yankeefan1 posts the top 50 groups in alt.discuss.announce on a weekly basis. But the "top" groups are judged by a numbers count, and we are all curious if the numbers really reflect the preferences of the posters in alt.discuss as a whole. The results of the poll will be posted in alt.discuss.announce shortly after August 15th. Keep an eye open for it, it may be very revealing!

Q&A

Question: I want to read a group that is out in Usenet, but I can't find it on the list. What can I do?

Answer: Unfortunately, the Usenet groups we have available are propagated by a third party, not WebTV, so we are stuck with what they give us. At this time there is no way to gain access to specific groups that are not on the list. More groups are added from time to time, so one can hope that the group they want will be added sooner or later. I know this is not the answer anyone wants to hear, but at least now you know why you can't access all the Usenet groups.

robin-of-lox is not an employee of WebTV, but an owner/user who has been online since August '97. She has built two newsgroups from scratch, and is very active in the alt.discuss.config newsgroup. She is a member of WebTV Experts, her expertise being the alt.discuss hierarchy and procedures.