DISCLAIMER:

Everything written by robin-of-lox in the "Welcome to alt.discuss" articles is my own personal opinion. These may or may not be the opinions of WebTV, and nothing written here has any "official sanction" from WebTV Networks.

HOW TO GET THERE

There are a number of ways to access the groups.

From the Home Page, click on Community on the sidebar to the left. Once on the Community page, click on Discuss. When on the Discuss page, scroll to the bottom and type alt.discuss in the typing area.

This will take you to the Table of Contents for the newsgroups. Just click on the name of a group that looks interesting to you, and you will be transported to that group.

The Three Dots . . . on the right side of the Table of Contents mean that there are sub-groups within the main category.

Another way to access the groups is to hit Options and then Go To. Erase the http:// and type news:alt.discuss. This will also bring you to the Table of Contents page.

Alternatively, you can select this link news:alt.discuss which will take you to the Table of Contents.

Whichever way you choose to initially get there, once you are on the Table of Contents page you can save the page in a Favorites Folder (go here for instructions) and assign an "F" Key so you can get to the groups with one keystroke any time you want.

LURKING

This sounds like a bad word, but it is actually a good thing. To LURK is to spend time reading and getting the feel of a group. Once is not usually enough. Lurking every day for a week or so is recommended. Read numerous posts (the individual writings) and many threads (the combined dialogues between the posters with the same Subject titles) before attempting to post.

Also, check Penryn's Newsgroups HOME for the Charter and/or FAQ for the group. Reading the Charter prior to posting will help to prepare you before entering the group.

When talking about the Hierarchy of alt.discuss, the main place that comes to mind is alt.discuss.config .

Config is the group where the Newsgroup Creation and Voting Rules are posted every month. It is also the place where:

• the newly proposed groups are posted
• the passage of groups is posted
• the Daily Status List on groups being voted on is posted
• you can ask about how to create a group
• you can ask about what is and is not acceptable netiquette in newsgroups
• people discuss and give suggestions for changing the names of proposed groups so they will fit better within the existing Topic List.

It is also where Voting Fraud is exposed when someone finds proof of such.

At times, the group will be overtaken by people wanting to argue about different things that are almost, but not quite on-topic for the group. In this situation, one of the regulars will suggest that the discussion be moved to .config.newtons. Config.newtons was set up as a group for discussing some of the finer (and not so fine) points brought up in .config, so the normal business of .config can continue to roll along on a daily basis.

A perfect example of this happened in November '98, when a fraudulent voting button was posted on a Web page. There were two buttons, one marked YES and one marked NO. The NO button sent an angry and vulgar e-mail to about 30 people. The webpage was submitted to WebTV and the group's proposal was cancelled by them.

There was a lot of discussion in .config about this, and it became a bit tense, with name calling and off-topic posts. A perfect situation to move over to .config.newtons (unfortunatly, no one did and it took up a page of posts in .config).

Speaking of VOTING BUTTONS

Never, never use a voting button for voting on a newsgroup. If you want to make sure your vote is tallied correctly, there are two ways to do it.

1) Use the mail-in system outlined in the Newsgroup Creation and Voting Rules (archived for your convienience by ClubWebTV HERE).

2) Use TWWWW's Voting Page which is updated daily by 2 wonderful volunteers. This page's webmaster and the updaters are users like you and me, they are devoted and love the alt.discuss forum.

The reason that you should never hit a voting button is because unless you "bounce" the e-mail, post, or Web page that the button is on, you will have no idea what it is really sending out. Therefore, avoid all buttons (especially in emails).

There are some people out there who like to gather names from webtv.users and send them "hello new person" e-mails, and then ask you to click on some part of their email. DON'T DO IT. You have no idea where it will take you or if it causes you to send an e-mail somewhere.

And speaking of WEBTV.USERS

If you are new to the whole newsgroup thing, this is the first place to start. .webtv.users is a moderated group, run by WebTV for it's users. It is moderated by WebTV employees and is full of questions and answers and information that a person new to WebTV will benefit from. I spent a good amount of time there in the beginning, and I believe it made all the difference in learning how to use this wonderful machine.

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

With all the religious holidays that happen in December, I thought I would look at the Religion Groups. Getting time off this month? Taking a trip? Check out the Travel Groups. Working on the house? We have Home Groups. Just thinking about all the money you will be spending? Check out the Money Groups. I am covering all of them below.

RELIGION & PHILOSOPHY

.astrology
Discussion of all aspects of astrology.

.god-talk
Talk about religion.

.god-talk.agnostic
Often lively debate amongst believers and non-believers, and those who fall somewhere in between.

.god-talk.catholic
For discussion among Catholics and anyone who wants to learn about the Catholic faith and the teachings of the Catholic Church.

.god-talk.christian
Discussions of Christianity.

.god-talk.christian.music
Share information about contemporary Christian and gospel music.

.lifestyle.jewish
Quiet at the moment, but topics have been everything from Humor to the High Holy Days.

.mythology
Discussion of various Myths and Legends.

.native-american
A group for Native Americans as well as those who wish to learn more about the Native American people.

.openmind
Anything Metaphysical or New-Age.

.philosophy
Quiet right now but this group has been very active at times.

.religion.wicca
A place for all Wiccans and Pagans to talk about things pertaining to the craft.

HOME

.home.cooking
Cooking topics: grocery stores, prices, seasonal produce, etc. Not necessarily a recipe group, here they discuss concepts rather than cups.

.home.finance
Buying or selling a house. (empty)

.home.repair
Tips on fixing all kinds of things.

.misc.pest-eradication
A place to discuss the control and eradication of various pests.

MONEY

.forsale
Things for sale by WebTVers. This is like a giant Yard Sale.

.money.investment
This group has been taken over by SPAM.

.money.ripoffs
Warnings about ways to lose your money fast. But it's been taken over by SPAM at the moment.

.money.thrifty
Money saving tips. Some SPAM, some tips.

TRAVEL

.travel.avoid
Places NOT to visit. (empty)

.travel.destinaions.international
Going somewhere? Check it out here.

.travel.destinations.us
(empty)

.travel.questions
Questions about travel.

.travel.tips
Hints and tips for travellers here and abroad.

Now that you have a WebTV, are you considering buying a computer? Have you bought one, but are totally lost? The new group .computers.beginner is a great place to get your questions answered.

I just bought a used computer from a friend, and am totally illiterate when it comes to it's use. I have already had some great input from the people there who know what they are doing. It has been in simple English and easy to understand. There are some very informative links posted there too.

This is a new group, so there are not tons of posts yet (a couple of hundred at this writing) but by the time this is published, it should be a full group with 1500 posts. Everyone there is friendly and helpful, and no question is too dumb (which is good for me, because I didn't even know if I had a 486 or not, and it turned out I didn't, it's a 586, which just goes to show that it's a good thing I LOVE my WebTV and am not about to give it up!)

Question:
Some computer servers like AOL talk about making friends over the internet. Does WebTV have anything like this?

Answer: With WebTV we have access to Chat (click HERE for info on Chatting) and to discussion groups. We can get into Usenet (computer users and webtv users can access these groups) and we have our own alt.discuss groups.

I have made quite a few friends from posting in alt.discuss. It is an easy way to find people who share your interests. Day or night, people are posting, and when you find a few groups you are interested in, you will be amazed at how quickly you develop relationships.

Just remember to use proper Netiquette, read the Charters, and Lurk for a while before posting.

For the largest archive of Charters and FAQs go to penryn's Newsgroups HOME .

For info on Netiquette go HERE .