Part Two of Two Parts - If any part is missing, email me, I will
respond.
A.s.s., a.s.s.d. FAQ Copyright 1996 by [email protected], all
rights reserved.
10) Labeling Stories
With one news group for various sexual preferences, there will often
be some subject matter that readers would not like to read.
For this reason, many of us would like to see that certain keywords
are put in the 'Subject' line to identify the basics of what occurs
in the story, plus other information that is helpful when making a
decision to download, read, or skip.
The point of a subject line is to convey information to potential
readers.
The story title, author, genre, number of parts, the fact that it is
an archivists that is reposting the story, etc., are all valuable
ways of communicating with potential readers.
Many authors are willing to post with a standard subject line, many
are not.
If an author declines to post a standard header, others might decide
to do a Re: posting and put in the missing information that might
look like this:
Re: Taming of the Shrew --> Shakespeare [1/1] M/F Rom d/s
Where the --> clearly shows added information.
This is a touchy point. Some authors might get upset. There are
valid arguments pro and con as to whether or not this practice would
or would not be Acceptable Use.
Keep in mind the following details should you be tempted to label a
story when an author fails to do so.
There are several reasons for NOT labeling stories.
Some authors do not label their stories because they feel the stories
should be read for their literary value, and that literary value
should not be limited to what kind of sex occurs in the story.
Some authors do not label their stories because they simply don't
want to.
Some authors do not label their stories because they don't know how,
don't want to learn, are new, or whatever.
Some stories occasionally contain plot twists, such as in "The Crying
Game", where foreknowledge of what's to come can spoil a surprise.
Stories posted from an archive may not have the information
available, and the archivist may not want to take the time and
trouble to label the stories. This is a very weak argument.
However, it is considered bad form to post stories with the following
unlabeled subject matter:
Non-consensual, pedophilia, rape, bestiality, necrophilia,
corprolagnia, water-sports, same sex relationships, religious
overtones, or any other type of erotica other than plain old adult
male-female relationships.
Therefore, at the risk of offending contributing authors who do not
like to label their stories, certain categories should be labeled,
and if the author doesn't want to, there should be no objection to
someone else supplying the information as a courtesy to readers.
It boils down to judgement. If an author gets mad, they might quit
posting stories. That is bad. On the other hand, an author who
posts misleading subject headers, or no headers at all, for stories
that offend some segment of the most hard core of the readership
group, should probably go find another forum for their duplicitous
activities.
One possible compromise might be the following:
Taming of the Shrew - Shakespeare [1/1] [NS Genre]
This label could be used for those cases where the author has no
intention of labeling his or her story, is a signal that you download
the story at your own risk, and further, the author doesn't want
anyone touching his or her story. NS stands for non-specific.
The following are certain common keywords that are most often used in
headers. Sometimes there are variations of these, but most of them
are usually easy to figure out.
This is the original list from Josh Laff's FAQ. A more complete
reference is in Dr. Bob's FAQ. I will included his posting schedule
and any archive sites for his FAQ upon receipt.
anal: anal penetration/fisting
animal: bestiality and animals (animal is archaic)
bond: bondage (physical restraint)
fantasy: non-science based other worlds
fdom: domination by females
f-solo: female masturbation and other solitary activities
ff: female-female contact
furry: sentient non-human characters ("Journal Entries")
gothic: vampires and other Gothic subjects ("Night Music")
group: group sex and threesomes
heavy: "heavy" forms of bdsm
hist: historical/medieval pieces
humor: amusing stories ("Barbeque of Doom")
incest: incestuous relationships
m-solo: male masturbation and other solitary activities
mc: mind control
mdom: domination by males
M/F: Adult male-female contact
mild: "mild" forms of bdsm
M/M: Adult male-male contact
mutual: mutual "whatever" depictions
nc: non-consensual situations
oral: mouth-to-genital contact
pedo: pedophilia (pre-pubescent) ("Misty")
poem: poetry - more information should be included
rape: rape scenes/violent non-consensual sexuality
rom: heavily romantic pieces
rough: rough sex that is consensual but not precisely S&M
scat: scatology and coprophilia (corprolagnia)
series: long stories split into sections ("Marie") [1/x]
sexless: no overt sexual depiction
sf: speculative fiction:
sm: sadism and masochism
teen: consensual sex involving teens
tg: transgender (all stages)
tv: cross-dressing, feminization
violence: violent, not necessarily sexual/sadistic
water: watersports and urolagnia
Note that 'heavy' and 'mild' are usually used as modifiers for the
following keyword, e.g. 'MF mild dom heavy sm'
11) Anonymous Posting
The following anonymous posting sites are available, including how to
get more information on those sites:
1. anon.penet.fi - Send mail to '[email protected]'.
Keep in mind that when posting through anon.penet.fi, an equals sign
(=) will cause problems. Certain text editors through in an equals
sign for reasons I do not comprehend. Anon.penet.fi will delete all
that follows the equals, then forward either a blank document, or the
material that preceded the equals.
2. csua.berkeley.edu - Send mail to [email protected] with
Subject: remailer-info
3. More sites will be listed as information is sent to the editor.
12) Let's Split a.s.s into Smaller Groups - NOT.
It has been suggested just a few million times that a.s.s be split up
into sub-groups based on sexual preferences, such as a.s.s.hetero,
a.s.s.homo, etc. This has actually happened, and the groups have died
on the vine, with the exception of the gay story group, which does
attract a fair number of stories, and more than a few slings and
arrows.
There are two main "reasons" for people wanting to do this; to
eliminate the endless flaming that goes on toward certain people that
prefer particular preferences, and to accommodate people who don't
care for those activities.
Below is a summary (taken almost verbatim from an article posted to
a.s.s.d), of why a large percentage of people do not want a.s.s split
into other groups:
The proper means to avoid a topic you don't like is to either kill it
(based on keywords in the Subject line), or skip the article.
This is much more practical than creating a new news group.
Separate groups will not stop flaming. Just as separate groups will
split up where stories about certain topics go, separate groups will
also split up where flames about certain topics go.
Many authors have declared that they will boycott any group which is
begun for the sake of either supersensitive or hate monger types.
Having separate groups will allow sys-admins to censor other material
more easily.
Starting such a group may begin a ridiculous splintering effect for
each and every sexual preference.
It is not always easy to compartmentalize and/or categorize the sex
in a story; some authors have all kinds in a single story.
This may make it very difficult to "confine" stories to a particular
group.
13) Kill Files
Kill files enable news readers to kill posted articles matching
certain subjects (or parts of subjects), or matching the names of
certain posters. Thus, you will not see these files when you go to
read the news group. The problem with kill files is that you risk
killing actual stories, but a proper setup can minimize the
likelihood of this.
You should read the main pages or help files for instructions on how
to use kill files for your particular news reader. In general, you
can filter out a good portion of the garbage by having your news
reader kill all follow ups, and anything with "request" or "wanted"
in it.
Most readers use a consistent pattern for their kill files, so you
can add more entries as you see fit.
See the addendum for detail instructions on how to use Gravity (a
news reader) to operate an effective kill file in a Win95 environment
The original Unix based material from Laff's original FAQ is also
included as an addendum.
If someone else has kill file instructions, please send them on.
14)How to contribute if you are not a writer.
Some figures indicate that as many as 50,000 people take a look at
a.s.s., each and every day. This is obviously a lot of people.
Yet even a well written - mainstream - near novel, scarcely draws a
handful of comment, much less a thank you or two.
This is criminal.
When you go into a store and buy a book, the author is amply thanked
by that coin-of-the-realm. When you download a story and read it for
free, the author doesn't even know it. So without some feedback,
where is the incentive for a person to continue the laborious task of
creating written entertainment?
At least four really good writers have quit within the past two
months (July 1996). All mentioned lack of support and comment as
their main reason.
Two simple words - Thank You.
With most news reader programs it takes scarcely 10 seconds to email
a simple thank you to an author. When you think about how many
hours, days, and weeks it takes an author to create a good story,
plus the time you spent reading it, then the amount of time it takes
to send a thank you becomes trivial.
Don't be a passive and ungrateful wretch. The very next time you
read a good story, email a simple thank you to the author, plus
whatever else you feel compelled to say. I assure you, a thank you is
enough.
15)Celeste801
Roughly twice a week, the readers of a.s.s., are treated to something
called "Celestial Reviews." Written by a lady who selected the alias
"Celeste801" because she liked the name, Celestial Reviews consists
of a synopsis of a variable number of currently available stories,
editorial comment by Celeste, and a three part rating. Emphasis is
placed on grammar and the level of writing skill displayed in the
story, how much Celeste liked it, and other values.
Sometimes funny, always informative and never dull, Celestial Reviews
has become a part of the group culture, to the point where it is
impossible to imagine this group without her.
New authors - and a selected group of established ones - should be
aware that she runs a proofreading and editing referral service.
You will not go wrong reading Celestial Reviews as a guide to current
stories, and to preview/screen selections you might want to read for
yourself.
For more information, see the Celestial FAQ as periodically posted.
16) Charter considerations
As stated elsewhere in this FAQ, there is no such thing as a formal
Charter for an alt group. At least that is what I have been lead to
believe through reading various things on the subject. If someone
knows something I should know to present a more factual explanation
of this process, please let me know.
That said, a FAQ can provide answers to questions about how the
group operates. Often, site administrators will use the FAQ to
determine what is and is not Acceptable Use.
17) Suggestions
Send any and all suggestions to [email protected].
Consideration will be weighted as follows:
Established authors, Celeste, Dr. Bob, posting archivists,
proofreaders, editors, those who post rational comment, those who
chase abusers away, service providers, and last but not least,
thoughtful people who provide frequent comment to authors, will all
receive a personal reply and a thank you for each and every
suggestion submitted.
Complainers, whiners, and other such ilk will receive all the respect
they deserve.
18) Credits
Note: The FAQ is based on my interpretation of Usenet policy,
my understanding of what is and is not acceptable on the groups, and
my interpretation of suggestions sent in. None of the following have
any copyright interest in this FAQ. There is a legal reason for this
notice that is too complex to be explained here. E-mail me for the
reason I had to so state.
I thank each and every one of the following persons for their input:
Phil Phantom, Karl Ewald, Leigh Melton, Frank Castle, Steve Fellows,
Tim Pierce, David Huberman, Richard Shetron, Mike Muise, Stasya, Dan
Agin, Robin Roberts, Thomas Baetzler (2), Silas Dunsmore, Christine
M. Faltz, Bill Harvey, Steve McAndrew Smith, Paul Dickie, and the
original author, Josh Laff.
19)
The following caution from the previous keeper of the FAQ is included
as both a matter of historical record, and a comment upon the state
of the Usenet system.
*******
I will warn anyone wishing to take on this endeavor: there are a lot
of REALLY DUMB, VINDICTIVE people in the world. Much dumber, and much
more blinded by their morals than you would think. [add IGNORANT -
ls]
Because of this FAQ, I was "assumed" by the author of an article
published in a major British magazine (I think it's called the
Observer) to be the person who solely decides what is and isn't
allowed to be printed in a.s.s. Anyone who knows the first thing
about the Internet knows that isn't true, but facts like this would
have discredited the author and removed a potential scapegoat from
the picture.
As a result, I actually received a death threat by postal mail from
someone writing on hotel stationary in Kenya, from someone that
believed me to be into snuff and rape of children.
When congress was discussing the restrictions they wanted to place on
the Internet, said article, with my name in full, was included in the
congressional record. All because I simply wanted to try and provide
some assistance in improving the signal-to-noise ratio of this group.
Anyway, I'm obviously still alive (or someone has written a hell of
an AI program :), so the threat probably wasn't too serious, but the
point should be well taken - something that seems so harmless, and
strictly meant to be helpful, can be VERY wrongly taken by people on
this planet...
Joshua A. Laff [email protected]
*******
20) Current Editor's remarks.
I write stories under several aliases. I edit stories for a couple
of authors. I chase abusers, and send comment to authors whose
stories I read and like. From time to time, I post comment to
a.s.s.d, and rarely to a.s.s.
Josh Laff was unfairly attacked. That happens in life. If it
happens to me, I will deal with it at that time.
While I have no intention of getting into a fight with someone who
buys ink by the barrel, or a politician with a big mouth (same
thing), I am not without resources to defend myself should the need
arise.
If anyone has the original reference to the article that appeared in
the British newspaper, I would appreciate a copy, along with the
editorial reference and addresses of the publisher.
[email protected]
Addendums:
Addendum A. Free Archive service.
If you do not like the following part of the FAQ, simply don't read
it. It is information about how to get free return stories from a
story archive. There is also information on how to join the BBS that
performs the service. I think this is an acceptable trade off. A
free ad that is on topic, in exchange for a free service on the off
chance that some people will join. I have no commercial connection
with the service.
This simply meets my own definition of Acceptable Use, and I have
told the owner that I will back him up if he wants to post an ad once
a month to a.s.s.d., discussing what he does.
I will continue to post the complete information here for some period
of months, then edit it down somewhat, and refer people to the help
email address.
Here is how to get free return by email stories from the listed
archive.
The BackDrop Club
File Requester Help File
The "[email protected]" service has been designed to fill
a specific need: to help people who are looking for a specific file;
story; or a chapter or section of a story. This service is provided
as a free service by the Staff of The BackDrop Club to all adults of
the InterNet community.
We are not an FTP site: we act as an Archiving BBS. We download
and store thousands of files from books, UseNet Groups, CD-ROMS's,
Authors, books and magazines, and other BBS's.
If you know the name of the file you wish, send a request using
the following format:
===============================================================
TO: [email protected]
SUBJECT: (the name of the file you wish as a single word)
===============================================================
If the story or file you want is an adult-oriented file, you MUST
state your age in the body of the message.
If you don't know the name of the file, place "ARCHIVE SEARCH" on
the Subject: line, and give as much information as you can about the
file (author, first line of story, file size, creation date, or any
other information available) in the body of the message.
Due to the high amount of traffic, we currently limit each person
to three file requests per person per day. (This does not mean three
files per account per day!) If you are wish to build a library, log
onto any BBS, or look into purchasing a CD-ROM.
We currently have over 450,000 files available for "E-mail FTP".
Our catalog file is dynamic so we do NOT publish an "AllFiles.ZIP"
We have six directory/file listings available for on-line download:
Drive-G.ZIP -- 22,000+ stories, utilities, adult faq's
Drive-H.ZIP -- Bondage and X Rated Pictures
Drive-I.ZIP -- R-Rated Pictures
Drive-J.ZIP -- Bondage & Private Photo Collection
Drive-L.ZIP -- Bondage & Private Photo Collection
CDROMINF.TXT - Information about ordering CD-Roms.
We have also compiled these files into five 600M CD-Roms. For
more info on CD's, send e-mail with "CDROMINF.TXT" as the only
word on the Subject: line. Preferably, you may anonymous login to
ftp.backdrop.net or www.backdrop.net and then download files and/or
information directly.
The word "HELP" on the Subject: line will get the help file;
"PLEASE" will get a human being (instead of our auto-responder)
to handle your request.
Besides the usual news, story, picture and catalog files, several
special interest files about our bbs and club are listed below:
cal-1996.txt 1996 Calendar of BackDrop Club Events
catalog.inf How to obtain on-line/hardcopy catalogs
clubinfo..zip Information about BBS and/or Club Membership
newscurr.txt Current Monthly Newsletter
Direct access can also be made by calling our BBS at 415-964-3100.
Although our board is not a "free bbs", we do allow people a chance
to log on and "check out" our board.
*************************** W A R N I N G **************************
We are providing a free service. It is a "privilege", not a right.
We will ignore all requests unless you indicate that you are an
adult.
********************************************************************
I guess this means that you must state your age as part of any
request.
Addendum B. How to format using Word Perfect
I use Word Perfect 7, which is a little easier than WP6 or WP6.1 in
that the print file is easier to access.
The first thing you do with any Word Perfect program is change the
smart quotes to ASCII standard.
Go to Quick Connect under the Tools menu. Click on options. Click
the cursor on each window under single and double quotes. With the
cursor blinking in a window, hit ctrl w to bring up the Word Perfect
Character Set Window. Go to ASCII and insert either a single ASCII
character or double, as the case may be. If you do not do this, your
quotes will not convert when you download or print to a text file.
For WP7, select the generic text file printer, and print to file.
For WP6.0 or .1, you will have load the ASCII WP printer driver and
that process is too cumbersome for me to detail herein.
Set the margin to .2 on the left, and about 1.8 on the right. You
will have to play with this to get it right. I use the .2 because I
want two spaces on the left as indenting. The 1.8 should give you 80
characters, but this can vary, as I have found. So you should
experiment with the right margin setting.
If you want paragraph indenting, go to Format, paragraph, and format,
to get a window that allows you to set the first line of a paragraph
as indented.
Use Courier, 10 point, 12CPI.
Print to a file. You have to name the file and location. Use a 8/3
naming convention, and make the /3 TXT. Example, Story.txt. Go to
DOS and edit the file using the DOS editor Edit.com. Erase all of
the page breaks.
If you see a problem with the right hand margin, go back to WP and
try again.
Edit.com allows you to look at your file exactly as most text readers
will see it when someone downloads and reads your story.
Import the file you have created into your favorite news reader using
the import function that is there. Many will not import over about
600 lines.
Any Questions? Email me.
Addendum C. How to format using Word.
I haven't a clue. I tried Word, and finally gave up and went back to
Word Perfect. Word kept creating documents that looked terrible when
converted to ASCII for posting.
Addendum D. Kill files using Gravity.
How to filter using MicroPlanet Gravity, a news reader program.
All of the filtering in Gravity is done through the Rules System.
To kill a simple phrase like "John Spamm", you can use the Bozo Bin
Go to the Tools Menu and choose Bozo Bin...
Type in "John Q. Spam", without the quotes
Click the Add Name button
Click OK to leave the dialog box.
Gravity will search incoming articles for "John Spamm" in either the
From line or the Subject line and automatically mark them read.
The Bozo Bin is actually a simplified way to make a rule. The main
Rules dialog box is more complicated, but also gives you more choices.
Here's how you make a rule to kill all articles with the subject:
"FAST CASH"
Go to the Tools Menu
Click the Add Button
Type in a name for this rule: "kill FAST CASH"
You will see a 3-tabbed dialog box
We want this to apply to all newsgroups, so leave the tab as it is
In the Conditions Tab, choose the first radio button and type in
"FAST CASH" for the phrase.
It should read: Subject does contain phrase FAST CASH
Click the Add Condition button
Move to the Actions Tab
check "Throw Away"
Click the OK button to accept the rule; you will return to your
list of rules.
Gravity's rules can run manually or automatically. If you want
this rule to run automatically, select "kill FAST CASH" and click the
Enable/Disable button. This will allow the rule to apply to article
headers as they are downloaded.
Click OK to exit the rules dialog.
Addendum D. Kill files using Unix.
Extract from Josh Laff's original FAQ.
Following is a list of various news readers, where the kill file is
located, and how you can kill the above recommended entries. (Anyone
who
wants to convert these to other news readers and send them to me,
feel
free to do so). Under some of the news readers listed below are also
instructions on how to add articles of entire current subjects so
that you
won't see them, or any of their follow ups (also useful for a.s.s.d).
A) NN (~/.nn/kill)
alt.sex.stories:!>s/:.
alt.sex.stories:!s:wanted
alt.sex.stories:!s:request
To kill a particular subject, while in the main menu (the one where
you press
the letter of the article you want to read), hit 'K', followed by a
return
(assuming you want to kill a subject for the default period). You
will then be asked what article you want to kill. Press the letter
of the article you want to kill, and you won't see any more articles
with that subject (for the default period of days).
To kill a particular author, you can use the following line:
alt.sex.stories:!n=:name of author as appears in the subject listings
B) TRN (~/News/alt/sex/stories/KILL)
/.*Re:/:j
/wanted/:j
/request/:j
Also, the following entry will kill all posts with less than 10 lines
total:
/^Lines: [0-9]$/HLines:j
The following line can be used to kill posts from a particular
author:
/address@host/h:j
End of Part Two of Two Parts - If any part is missing, e-mail me, I
will respond.
///End of FAQ - August 26, 1996