Subject: sci.virtual-worlds Introduction FAQ
Date: 20 Feb 1996 16:58:33 GMT
Summary: This admin faq is meant to assist the new user

Posting-frequency: monthly
URL:http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/knowledge_base/virtual-
worlds/readfirst.html

sci.virtual-worlds introduction Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Introduction FAQ

The latest edition of this FAQ can always be retrieved from
<ftp.hitl.washington.edu/pub/scivw/readfirst-faq>

Subject: -1- Introduction

This admin faq is meant to assist the new user is posting to sci.virtual-
worlds.  Basic questions such as how to post, rejecting policy, and how to 
subscribe and unsubscribe from virtu-l, the mailing list mirror is covered.

This FAQ is written as an introduction to the newsgroup sci.virtual-worlds.  
It is meant to be posted monthly on the 13th.  It is therefore written to be 
short and informative regarding subscribing  and posting to this particular 
newsgroup.  If you are a newbie to Usenet, please take time to look at all 
the wonderful FAQs posted on news.announce.newusers.  There are 
FAQs posted frequently there that should answer any basic USENET 
question you should have  For a list of all USENET FAQs found in 
news.answers see: <http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/>

Questions, comments, or suggestions should be sent to:

.<scivw-faq@hitl.washington.edu>

Snail-mail may be sent to:

.Sci.virtual-worlds
.c/o Toni Emerson, HITLab
.University of Washington,
.Human Interface Technology Laboratory
.PO Box 352412
.Seattle, WA, 98195-2412
.USA

Subject:  -2- Table of Contents

Topics covered in this FAQ:
---------------------------
-1-Introduction
-2-Table of Contents
-3-What does the newsgroup cover?
-4-How do I post?
-5-What is rejected?
-6- Is is okay to post commercial announcements?
-7- Can I submit to more than one newsgroup on sci.virtual-worlds?
-8-What are the subject tags?
-9-What are the digests?
-10-Is there a sci.virtual-worlds mailing list?
-11-Where are the sci.virtual-worlds posting archives?
-12-Where is the sci.virtual-worlds ftp site?
-13- Is there a sci.virtual-worlds WWW site?
-14-Credits

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject:   -3- What does the newsgroup cover?

sci.virtual-worlds is a USENET newsgroup dedicated to the discussion of 
virtual worlds discussion.  The group is considered to be a top level 
discussion group on virtual reality.  Discussions and announcements on 
hardware, software, human factors, computer graphics, online resources 
are all welcome.  However, the boundary is that it must be VR related.

-----------------------------

Subject: -4- How do I post?

Postings should be submitted to scivw@hitl.washington.edu.  They 
should contain information, discussion, announcement and replies 
regarding virtual reality technology. Basic information requestors should 
consult the FAQ, check our ftp site or submit the posting to Info Booth 
Digest (with the subject tag, INFO:, see SUBJECT: -9- What are the 
digests?).

-----------------------------

Subject: -5- What is rejected?

We will not post:  articles that are not coherently related to virtual reality, 
flames (any posting that directly attacks person and/or idea without 
objective, analytical content),  comments directed to the moderators, 
multiple postings expressing essentially the same idea, the first posting 
will be accepted the others will be rejected, postings considered to be 
personal comments, not of group interest and short commentaries 
consisting of personal opinion (1-3 lines...this newsgroup is adverse to 
one-liners, they add little to discussions and just clog up our readers).  If 
a submission is rejected, a message will be sent to the author indicating 
why it is not being posted.

Note:  Another possible area for rejection is length.  Because sci.virtual-
worlds is mirrored by the list VIRTU-L, lengthly postings are frowned 
upon.  It is better to archive it at our site and then post an announcement 
of availability.

-----------------------------

Subject: -6- Is is okay to post commercial announcements?

Usenet newsgroups are _not_ to be used advertising bulletin boards. 
Usenet is pretty firm on this issue.  Up until this point, I have tried to tag 
postings that are in the advertising vein with a disclaimer:

[MODERATOR'S NOTE: Commercial postings are offered on this 
newsgroup as a public service.  Their appearance here does not indicate 
endorsement by the moderators or by the USENET or its administrators.]

Postings used as advertising, but phrased as "Re:" to discussion and/or 
announcements _will be rejected_.

sci.virtual-worlds encourages _informative_ discussion regarding 
products (PROD:), new product announcements (NEW-PROD:), press 
releases (ANNOUNCE:), and information and software available online 
(ONLINE:).

Submissions will be rejected on the following criteria:

1.  Lacking  _sufficient_, relevant information
2.  Flames at competitors, etc.
3.  blatant advertising
4.  replies to "Announcement" postings

-----------------------------

Subject: -7- Can I submit to more than one newsgroup on sci.virtual-
worlds?

No.  Cross-posting between sci.virtual-worlds and other moderated 
newsgroups is not accepted (this is due to a limitation in the way the 
Usenet handles moderated newsgroups).

Please do not cross-post copyrighted material (such as articles from the 
ClariNet News Services) or excerpts submitted to other newsgroups or 
mailing lists without proper permission. You may, however, submit a 
summary of, review of, or pointer to such material.

-----------------------------

Subject: -8- What are the Subject-line Tags?

Subject line tags make the postings easier to screen and read.  The tags 
are broken up into two major categories:  Announcements and 
Discussions.  The announcement category is meant for informational 
postings, not to stimulate discussion.  Therefore, replies are not 
necessary in this category.  Discussion, on the other hand, is meant to 
advance newsgroup commentary and debate.

Announcements 
ADMIN:.Related to newsgroup administration.
ANNOUNCE:.Miscellaneous.
CONF:.Conference descriptions, dates, deadlines, etc.
CFP:.Call for papers (for conferences/journals).
EDUC:.Description of educational opportunity.
EPUB:.Electronic publications, reports, papers, etc.
EVENT:.Descriptions of various, non-conference events.
JOB-OFFERED:.Employment opportunities.
JOB-WANTED:.Shameless self-promotion.
NEW-PROD:.New product announcements (commercial ads).
ONLINE:.Online services, ftp sites, etc.
PUB:.Books, journals, etc.

Discussions 
APPS:.Applications of virtual worlds in various domains.
DESIGN:.Human factors, standards, and other design issues.
ENTERTAIN:.Entertainment/game applications.
INDUSTRY:.Where the industry is, or is heading.
MISC:.Items that don't fit into any other category.
PHIL:.Philosophical musings about reality, etc.
PROD:.Discussion of products
REV-PROD:.Non-commercial reviews and evaluations of products.
REV-APPS:.Review of experience with an application.
REV-CONF:.General review or report on a conference.
REV-ENTERTAIN: .Review of experience with an entertainment app. 
REV-EVENT:.General review or report on an event.
REV-ONLINE:.Reviews of online services, publications, etc.
REV-PUB:.Review of books, journals, etc.
SCI:.Scientific issues such as health, physics, etc.
SOC:.Social phenomena and culture.
TECH:.Hard technology, data, software, hardware, etc.

-----------------------------

Subject:-9- What are the Digests?

sci.virtual-worlds has two separate digests of postings:
 "Virtual Interface Marketplace" and "Virtual-worlds Info Booth," are 
weekly posts containing a collection of related messages (posted 
Monday and Wednesday respectively).  A skipped issue means that 
there were no relevant postings for that particular week.

.The first part of each digest will include a list of the subject lines 
from the posts contained in the digest, allowing for a quick check to see if 
the digest contains anything of specific interest to you.

.These digests may be plodded through on your newsreader or 
you may use your mailreader to read each message in the digest 
separately (assuming your mailreader can read folders in 'mailbox 
format').

Digest Subject Tags are as follows:
DIGEST:.Weekly digests containing related messages.
DIGEST:.Virtual Interface Marketplace
.FOR-SALE:.Products/items for sale/re-sale.
.MARKETING:.General marketing announcement.
.WANTED:.Entities wanting to obtain hardware/software.
DIGEST:.Virtual-worlds Info Booth
.INFO:..General information requests/answers.
.TERMS:..Questions and answers about terminology.
.WHO:..Searching for people involved in the field.

The digests are archived at our ftp site at 
<ftp://ftp.hitl.washington.edu/pub/scivw /Digests/>

------------------------------

Subject: -10 - Is there a sci.virtual-worlds mailing list?

Yes, its called VIRTU-L:
.VIRTU-L is the mailing list mirror of sci.virtual-worlds. Greg Newby 
<gbnewby@uiuc.edu> is the administrator.  He can be contacted if you 
experience problems with the automated system.
.To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail message to the automated 
list server < listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu >, with the following text in 
the body of the message:
.subscribe listname Your Full Name (of course you need to replace 
"listname" with "virtu-l" and you need to replace "Your Full Name" with 
your actual name, do not use quotes and do not use your userid).

For anyone out there who receives sci-vw by the e-mail listserver, 
and who prefers individual postings rather than the "digest" format,
just send a note to listserv@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu with a blank subject 
line, and the following in the body:

                  set virtu-l nodigests

  For more information consult the lists' FAQ in the sci.virtual-worlds ftp 
site:

/pub/scivw/faq/other/FAQ_virtu-l.

Note:  VIRTU-L is NOT a moderated group, submissions mailed virtu-
l@postoffice.cso.uiuc.edu > are posted directly to that list.  Sci.virtual-
worlds _is_ moderated and does_not_ post automatically.  Hence, 
posting to virtu-l is automatic and posting to sci.virtual-worlds might take 
longer (moderator must read and post).  Also,  sci.virtual-worlds posting 
contain subject tags in the subject heading and might contain comments 
by the moderator.  Submissions that are posted (in other words, 
accepted)  to sci.virtual-worlds are also mailed to the VIRTU-L mailing 
list.  However, VIRTU-L postings are not always accepted to sci.virtual-
worlds.

------------------------------

Subject: -11- Where are the sci.virtual-worlds posting archives?

The postings are archived in tarred and compressed files by year.  You 
can ftp them at:
<ftp://ftp.hitl.washington.edu/pub/scivw/postings/>.

A great way to find current postings is to use WWW search services for 
USENET like:

Deja News Research Service
<http://dejanews3.dejanews.com/dnhome.html>

Stanford Information Filtering Tool (SIFT)
http://sift.stanford.edu/
------------------------------

Subject: -12- Where is the sci.virtual-worlds ftp site?

Currently, the ftp site is at <ftp.hitl.washington.edu> in the directory 
</pub/scivw/>.  The directories are: 

/pub/scivw/www/
* WWW directory is the WWW HTML documents

/pub/scivw/cheap-vr/
*   cheap-vr directory contatins information on homebrew VR

/pub/scivw/citations/
*   citations directory contains bibliographies and citation lists on various 
topics

/pub/scivw/conferences
*   conferences directory contains call for participations and conference 
programs and reviews

/pub/scivw/commercial
* commercial information on VR-related hardware and software

/pub/scivw/faq/
*  faq  directory contains current scivw FAQs and also other relevant 
FAQs.  It also contains the commercial directory with loads of product 
information. 

/pub/scivw/papers/
* papers directory contains VR-related papers.

/pub/scivw/postings
*  postings directory contains the sci.virtual-worlds postings archives

/pub/scivw/pubs/
*  pubs directory contatins reviews and information about VR-related 
books and periodicals.


------------------------------

Subject: -13- Is there a sci.virtual-worlds WWW?

Not yet, sci.virtual-worlds doesnt have an HTTP server.  However, there 
is a guide to the ftp site located at:
<ftp://ftp.hitl.washington.edu/pub/scivw/WWW/scivw.html>

------------------------------

Subject: -14- Credits


  Comments about, suggestions about or corrections to this posting are 
welcomed.  If you would like to ask me to change this posting in 
someway, the method I appreciate most is for you to email me the 
proposed change.  Make sure to indicate the section; preferably 
attaching the original text that you propose to change as well.

  The following people assisted in the creation of this article:

Aaron Pulkka for his work in writing the _MetaFAQ_.
Mark DeLoura for his work on the original sci.virtual-worlds FAQ, 
_TheRealFAQ_.

This article was written by:
        Toni Emerson, <temerson@hitl.washington.edu>.
<http://www.hitl.washington.edu/people/diderot/>
