125 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
125 lines
6.7 KiB
Plaintext
The Usenet Oracle
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oracle@cs.indiana.edu
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History
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Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many Oracles who have been
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consulted by many mortals, and some immortals. The great Hercules was told by
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the Delphic Oracle to serve Eurystheus, king of Mycenae, for twelve years to
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atone for the murder of his own children. It was the Oracle of Ammon who told
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King Cepheus to chain his daughter Andromeda to the rocks of Joppa to appease
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the terrible sea monster that was ravaging the coasts. That solution was never
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tested, though, as Perseus saved the girl in the nick of time.
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What is the Usenet Oracle?
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The Usenet Oracle is a fun way to write humorously and creatively. It is a mail
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program, which you can send questions, and will be answered by the Oracle (i.e.
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other people sending in questions).
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The "Subject:" of your message must be something like "Oracle Most Wise,
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please tell me ...". Actually, all it has to have is "tell me" or "tellme" somewhere in
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it. Capitalization doesn't matter. The body of the mail should contain only your
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question. You should receive a reply within a few days at most, probably much
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sooner.
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In the meantime, the Oracle may require that you answer a question for it as
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payment for its services. You will receive this question in the mail. You should
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respond with as most wise and witty an answer as you can. Mail the response to
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oracle@cs.indiana.edu, preserving the message's "Subject:" line. Usually, this can
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be done by simply replying to the mail through the normal means in your mail
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program, for example, using the "r" command in the standard Berkeley mail
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program. Actually, the subject just has to contain the word "answer" and the
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question number somewhere in it. The body of your mail response should contain
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only your answer -- you don't have to include the question itself. Please try to
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respond within at most a day's time. If you take longer, there is a chance that the
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question will be answered by someone else first.
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Mailing the Oracle with the word "help" in the "Subject:" line will get you the
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most recent version of this help file mailed back. If you mail the Oracle with "ask
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me" or "askme" somewhere in the subject, the Oracle will send you a question to
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answer, if there are any available.
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Etiquette
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The Usenet Oracle is intended primarily as a cooperative effort for creative humor.
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Since its main purpose is just to let folks have fun, there are intentionally few
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rules. However, an etiquette has developed among its participants.
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A series of identical questions submitted is not appreciated since the same person
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often ends up answering many of them. It is okay to resubmit a question after you
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have received a reply, especially if you believe that the answerer did not do it
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justice.
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If you find yourself unable to give due consideration to a question you are to
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answer, it may be better to not answer the question at all than to give it a trivial
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answer and disappoint the questioner. However, doing this too much can cause a
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buildup of unanswered questions and slow down the Oracle's response time for
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everyone.
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It's probably worthwhile to read some issues of the Usenet Oracularities (see
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below) to get an idea of the conventions and style of writing in Oracle questions
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and answers. Here are some general guidelines for those upon whom the Muse of
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the Oracle has descended and who are to write an answer as an incarnation of the
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Oracle:
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Creativity and humor are valued. Many people find the anonymity of the
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Oracle a license to express themselves creatively and uniquely -- often to
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surprising success.
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Participants in the Oracle like to feel they've gotten out of it as much as they've
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put in. Please keep this in mind when answering questions.
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Remember that brevity and clarity are key points of good writing. Overly long
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answers will reduce an Oracularity's chance of being published in the Usenet
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Oracularities (see below) since it must really be worth the extra length to have
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it selected to be read by tens of thousands of people.
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In general, avoid obscenity, slang, jargon, and obscure references. People of all
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different backgrounds located all over the world use the Oracle.
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Try to be sensitive to new participants or to people who seem to have asked
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serious questions.
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Don't flame the questioner for not asking a "good question". An off-the-wall or
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vague question calls for creativity, not rudeness, in the answer -- consider it a
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challenge.
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Anonymity
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The Oracle is a confidential and anonymous service. The anonymity of the
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participants is preserved within all Oracle mailings and Oracularities postings.
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However, if you append a signature file to your mail, this will appear in your
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question or answer. Signature files are edited out from Oracularities postings. If
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you do not wish to remain anonymous, you may include a phrase in your answer
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like "incarnated as <insert your name and/or address here>"
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The Usenet Oracularities
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The Oracle's priesthood receives a duplicate copy of all answered questions, or
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Oracularities as they're called. This is so that the best ones can be selected and
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posted to rec.humor.oracle and a mail distribution list as the Usenet Oracularities --
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the chronicle of the mythos of the Usenet Oracle. Your use of this program
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implies your approval of this usage.
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Rec.humor.oracle is a moderated newsgroup. If your news system is properly
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configured, any postings you make to rec.humor.oracle will be forwarded directly
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to the Oracle and so you can ask questions of the Oracle by posting to the
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newsgroup. Rec.humor.oracle.d is unmoderated and anyone may post to it. It is a
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public forum for discussion and questions about the Oracle. If your system doesn't
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carry these newsgroups, encourage your news administrator to do so!
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Readers of the Oracularities may mail in ratings of each published Oracularity, the
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results of which are returned to the authors of the Oracularities and published in a
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later posting. They are also used to select occasional "best of the best" postings to
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rec.humor.oracle. Instructions on how to mail in your ratings are given at the top of
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each issue.
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If you don't have access to rec.humor.oracle and would like to receive the
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Oracularities via mail, send mail to oracle-request@cs.indiana.edu.
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Back postings and ratings are available via anonymous ftp on cs.indiana.edu
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(129.79.254.191) in the directory pub/oracle, or via mail -- send the word "help" in
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the body of a mail to mailserv@cs.indiana.edu for more details.
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(This information was copied from a information file by Steve Kinzler.)
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Send your Oracularities subscription requests to
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oracle-request@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu. Include the word "subscribe" (or
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"unsubscribe") in the "Subject:" line.
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