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( |\ /| / od@P bdOO+++~ `+++OOOb Y@b `-| `--',',d@@@P dOOO+++' ~++++OOOb Y@b \\nn //@@@@P dOOO++++~ ~++++OOOb ~@@@@\`-'/@@@P~dOOO++++~ ~++++OOOb Y@@@@@@@@@~dOOO++++~ ~++++*OObo@@@@@@@odOO*++++~ ~~++++*OOOb|dOOO*++++~~ ~~+++++*|*+++++~~ ~~+++++~~ ascii art: ~ Sean Gugler ______________________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION Welcome to alt.tv.animaniacs! A.t.a is an unmoderated Usenet newsgroup devoted to the discussion of Steven Spielberg's popular "Animaniacs" cartoon show and related topics--and we're glad you're here! A.t.a has been around since July 1993 and has many regular posters from around the globe. With its relatively high bandwidth (sometimes as many as a hundred articles a day), as you can imagine, a lot of ground has been covered. While any person is always encouraged to post on whatever (related!) topic they wish, meaningless repetition *is* discouraged. This document--the NRG--is *NOT* the FAQ. It is, instead, a "primer" for those unfamiliar with a.t.a, Usenet, and perhaps the Internet in general. A copy is available in Hypertext at http://nyx10.cs.du.edu:8001/~tmadden/nrg.html or in plain ASCII text at http://nyx10.cs.du.edu:8001/~tmadden/nrg.txt If you don't have access to WWW, you can receive a copy by sending mail witha subject of "<>" to jbp3@Ra.MsState.Edu. The NRG is is also posted to the alt.tv.animaniacs, alt.answers, and news.answers newsgroups biweekly and is available via anonymous FTP from the rtfm.mit.edu news.answers archive, in the /pub/usenet/alt.tv.animaniacs directory. ______________________________________________________________________ HELP! Finding your way around the Internet can sometimes be a daunting task. A number of frequent posters to alt.tv.animaniacs have volunteered to take responsibility for answering any questions you might have about Animaniacs, a.t.a, finding the various reference documents on the Internet, or life in general. *Please*, don't hesitate to email any of us if you have a problem... we want to help! * Ron O'Dell * Jay Parker * Tom Madden (Me!) * Bob Repas * Steve Kramer * Robert "TMM" Armstrong [MIA] * Bill Bereza [MIA] * Andrew "Wolfboy" French [MIA] Note #1: The designation MIA or "Missing in Action" means that these people have not been spotted in the newsgroup for quite some time, and my no longer be members of the internet community. They may soon be removed from the list. Note #2: The original system of AnswerManIacs has pretty much crumbled. If you wish to add yourself to the above list, you may do so and you will be added at my discretion. (You pretty much have to prove yourself in the fields of a.t.a) You may wish to help out some of the new folks on a.t.a and in fact, its somewhat encouraged. However, flaming the clueless newbies is highly discouraged. ______________________________________________________________________ BASIC SURVIVAL Alt.tv.animaniacs is one of thousands of Usenet newsgroups. "Usenet" is, by definition, undefined. A newsgroup is a collection of articles written by people all over the world and distributed for public viewing. People reading these articles can write a reply to something they read and distribute this reply with the original articles, or distribute an article on an entirely new subject. This is known as posting an article. There is no central control or distribution of Usenet articles; they just "trickle" around until everyone has a copy. Quite often, a number of days can elapse between the time a post originates and it arrives at your site. This effect, known as propagation delay, can lead to confusion if not taken into account. A highly inflammatory response to an article is known, quite appropriately, as a flame. Many people participating in an exchange of flames is a flamewar. Each newsgroup has its own policy regarding flames--in some, they are regarded as a high art form; in others, they are disallowed completely. A.t.a falls somewhere in between these two extremes... we get along without flaming the majority of the time, so if you post a flame, it had better be creative and for a *good* reason! Many newsreaders (software for reading articles posted to newsgroups) keep track of which articles were replies to which previous articles; this feature makes it *much* easier to keep up with an on-going discussion. An article on a certain subject and all the responses to it, and the responses to those responses and so on, is called a thread. Often, a given thread will be composed of thirty or more posts. As different people respond, it sometimes occurs that one branch of the thread will lurch wildly off on a slightly (or completely) unrelated topic. When making a topic change in the middle of a thread, try to change the "Subject:" header line to reflect the shift in discussion. Also, Most newsreaders allow you to attach a little tag at the end of every message you post. This is known as the .signature or ".sig" file. In most cases, people use it to let other readers gain just a little insight as to who you are. In light of recent events, it is recommended that you keep the size of your .sig file four lines or under (although most of the time, six lines are tolerated). Anything more is generally considered a waste of space, time, bandwidth, etc. Many people who enjoy reading the articles posted to a particular newsgroup never post an article of their own; this is known as lurking, and people who do so are lurkers. It is a *very* good idea to lurk for a while in a new newsgroup before posting in order to pick up on the local customs, in addition to reading the FAQ (see below). (I lurked for about four months before my first post, and was able to then merge smoothly into the a.t.a community, without any difficulty or complaints... some were surprised that I was a newbie! - tmm) Usenet newsgroups are arranged in a hierarchial format that is basically self-evident from their names, with the most general element coming first and the most specific element, last. For instance, the newsgroup rec.arts.sf.written.robert-jordan is for the discussion of the written science-fiction work of Robert Jordan, and is in the arts subdivision of the main rec hierarchy. The main hierarchies are: * alt -- "alternative" (groups outside the "formal" hierarchy) * comp -- "computer" * misc -- "miscellaneous" * news -- newsgroups related to Usenet itself * rec -- "recreation" (hobbies and the arts) * sci -- "science" * soc -- "social" (social issues) * talk -- discussion groups on various topics For a more in depth discussion, see the news.announce.newusers newsgroup. There are a number of *highly* informative documents there. Three I particularly recommend are: * "A Primer on How to Work With the Usenet Community", * "What is Usenet?", and * "What is Usenet? A second opinion." ______________________________________________________________________ THE ALT.TV.ANIMANIACS FAQ Most Usenet newsgroups have a FAQ, or list of Frequently Asked Questions. Before posting to *any* group, it is wise to read the FAQ. If an appropriate mechanism were in place, it would likely be *required* that you read the FAQ before posting. In the mean time, do it for wisdom's sake. The Alt.tv.animaniacs FAQ is also known as the Nifty Animaniacs Reference File, or the NARF!. Current ingredients include: * A basic introduction to Animaniacs * Some _Really_ frequently asked questions * Some questions and statements that shouldn't be brought up again * A sampling of Animaniacs Merchandise * Where to get and what's on the two Animaniacs CD's * The Cast * Other frequently asked questions * Some frequent observations made about the show * Frequently Requested Lyrics * Frequently Disputed Lyrics * The Translation Department (Yakko's Japanese) * Official and Local Terminology * Where to write for more information * The Warners vs. the Two Tones * Related Files * Animaniacs Resources (FTP, Finger, WWW, E-mail, etc.) * The Warners * Acronyms * Related Newsgroups The FAQ is now maintained by Will Bell, who posts it periodically to a.t.a and news.answers. It is also available via FTP at the Usenet FAQ archive at rtfm.mit.edu. If you are unable to find a posted copy and do not have access to FTP, send mail to jbp3@Ra.MsState.Edu with the string "<>" somewhere in the subject, and an autoreply filter will send the most recent copy of the FAQ back to you via email. ______________________________________________________________________ OTHER REFERENCE DOCUMENTS The denizens of a.t.a have, over the course of time, compiled a vast array of information about Animaniacs. With very few exceptions, all this information is freely available on the net. For specific details on how to obtain all of these documents, see the alt.tv.animaniacs Net Resources Guide (also available from a.t.a, news.answers, rtfm, or by sending mail to jbp3@Ra.MsState.Edu with a subject of "<>") or ask an AnswerManIac. Updated copies of several of the major reference documents are also available on the A.t.a WWW Reference Page, at . The Cultural Reference Guide for Animaniacs (CRGA) One of the most endearing qualities of Animaniacs is the vast number of cultural references it contains, to everything from opera to ancient history, from the Marx Brothers to current events. The references range from oh-so-subtle to in-your-face... and every notable reference we've seen in every episode is listed in the CRGA. The CRGA is maintained by Will Bell , who also automagically posts to the newsgroup each weekday and Saturday morning the appropriate excerpt from the CRGA dealing with that day's episode (as broadcast in the US). Check out the CRGA for answers to even the most obscure questions about any given episode, as well as "random ramblings" from the newsgroup. Will is constantly taking submissions of as-yet unmentioned references for inclusion in the CRGA, so if you catch something that's not in there, let him know! Better yet, post it to the group, and let us all argue about it... . However, to quote Will, you need to "[k]eep in mind that we're currently on about the 4th [more now] trip through the 65[+] shows; you can bet that the really obvious things have been noticed before and beaten to death here." Before you assume that you're the first person on Earth to notice Jean-Luc Picard sitting in the spaceship in "Space Probed"... check the CRGA. (Hint: You aren't.) The Animaniacs Future Episode List (AFEL) The AFEL is the Fox Kids' Network upcoming broadcast schedule of Animaniacs episodes. It is obtained and posted by Paul Hendry to the newsgroup periodically, and can also be obtained by fingering his account. The Animaniacs Mega Lyrics File (AMLF) The AMFL, maintained by Ron O'Dell , contains transcriptions of all the songs, ditties, and otherwise musically inclined segments of the broadcast episodes, as well as those from the Animaniacs CD's that are presumably part of as-yet unreleased episodes. The Alt.tv.animaniacs Current Events Digest (CED) "Newcomers to a.t.a. often get the feeling they've arrived in the middle of long joke and have missed critical setup lines. Other newcomers believe they have arrived to witness the main portion of a flame-filled exchange of slanderous slicing sarcasm filled with arcane references. In most cases, they have simply become entangled in one of the many legendary Running Gags of this newsgroup. With a gleeful eye towards the SIMPLE NETIQUETTE rules (Yes! Read Them!!), We produce a Current Events Digest (CED), that is intended to give the casual reader a possibly apocryphal view of current events and people in the world of alt.tv.animaniacs. It should be read prior to posting any "What's all this then?" articles that would quite probably be regretted very quickly... The CED is fed, watered, maintained and periodically released to run amuck by The Really Cranky Dragon The Dragon uses only the finest journalistic sensibilities of The Weekly World News and William F Buckley for his inspiration. Suggestions or demands will be given all the attention due. No warranty implied or offered." The CED is posted semi-weekly to a.t.a, and can also be obtained by sending mail to jbp3@Ra.MsState.Edu with the string "<>" in the subject. (note: Brad Branham has been having some complications with his "real" life and the CED is not as regular as it once was.-tmm) ______________________________________________________________________ ANIMANIACS RESOURCES ON-LINE Here are a few resources to get you started: Web Sites: The recent boom of the World Wide Web has caused a plethora of information become available to users of it, and Animaniacs info is no exception here are some URLs to a few of the main Web Pages: For information, docs, and links to other sites: * Jay Parker's Animaniacs Page: A semi-official web site... it's grown to be pretty big. It's at: http://www2.msstate.edu/~jbp3/animx/animx.html * Tom Madden's Home Page [PLUG!]: One of the newest sites. Has around 800K of documents, and links to most of the other sites. It's at: http://nyx10.cs.du.edu/~tmadden/home.html Ftp Sites: * Brendan Dunn's Rasputin Site: rasputin.caltech.edu in the /pub/animaniacs directory. E-Mail: * You can get most files via E-Mail from Will Bell's Mail server. To get a list of what's available, send Mail to wbb@netcom.com with a subject of SENDME index Note: The subject must be typed exactly as SENDME index (SENDME is in all caps, index is in lowercase) or nothing will happen! IRC (Internet Relay Chat): There are usually a few other Animaniacs fans on the IRC channels #animaniacs and #anvilania at all times of the day. For more info on IRC in general, point your World Wide Web broser at: http://www.wnst.fr/~pioch/IRC/IRC.html Note: If you are looking for screen grabs or digitized sounds, you're probabily out of luck, as much of this stuff has been removed pending communication from Warner Bros. legal department. ______________________________________________________________________ SIMPLE NETIQUETTE Bad posting habits can discredit your opinions as much as, or perhaps even more than, having really stupid opinions. If you want to be taken seriously, bear in mind the following points: 1. Use email abundantly! Post sparingly! Responses to an article do *not* have to be posted! Email is a higly acceptable--and in *many* cases preferable--means of communication, especially if your response is of interest primarily to the original author. Before sending a followup post to be read by the entire globe, ask yourself: Is this really important, insightful, or witty enough to justify adding to the *huge* mass of bandwidth consumed by a.t.a? Be especially cautious about posting short, one- or two-line replies. Very often, these would be more appropriately sent as email. (note: One of my newsreaders posts this message: This program posts news to thousands of machines throughout the entire civilized world. Your message will cost the net hundreds if not thousands of dollars to send everywhere. Please be sure you know what you are doing. Just a little something to think about) 2. Quote context! When following-up to a post, quote relevant pieces of the post to which you are responding to make sure your readers know the context of your article. Most newsreaders have this capability built in. *However*... 3. Edit! Edit! Edit! When quoting relevant pieces of a preceding post, always, *always*, trim the quoted material down to what is absolutely necessary for your response. This is *especially* important in a high-bandwidth group such as a.t.a. 4. Get your attributions right! Also when quoting, check and double-check the attributions at the top of your quoted material. Asserting that someone said something which they did not is a Bad Idea (tm) . 5. Don't quote .sigs! Again when quoting, delete the .signature from the previous post unless its content is relevant to your response. If your attributions are correct, the .sig should not be needed to identify authors of previous comments. Other newsgroups are known to have different conventions; when in Rome, however, it is best to shoot Roman candles. 6. Keep your brain in gear. Lastly, keep a sharp eye out for sarcasm and humor, which are sometimes marked by the "smilie" or one of its many variants: :-). A.t.a is a den of subtle, deadpan humor, and many posters feel the glaring addition of a smilie is worse than smearing lipstick on the Mona Lisa. Be warned, and try not to misinterpret wit (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) as simple obnoxiousness. By the same token, avoid posting obnoxiously and later claiming it to be wit. ______________________________________________________________________ REALLY, REALLY FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (answered here to hold you off while you get the FAQ) * The "...while Bill Clinton plays the sax..." line in the theme song *has* been replaced in the newest episodes. The new line is "We've got wisecracks by the stacks", and was dubbed over old animation from "Taming of the Screwy". * Despite currently abounding opinions to the contrary, the Warner Brothers (and the Warner sister) are decisively *not* dogs. To quote the FAQ, "The Warners do not fall into any general species category. They are not dogs, cats, llamas, puppy-children, or even skunks. A complicated explanation is that they are styled after the 1930's characters which were not meant to be any species at all, only a humanized `inkblot' of sorts. If you want the simple explanation, they're Warners (or just plain cute)." Anyone persisting in believing that the Warners are dogs will be subjected to intense ridicule in their next incarnation. * There is one person who hangs around the newsgroup whom we call "Goddess." We call her that, because no one can spell her name right. So watch out for her.... she's quick and is armed with an arsenal of bad puns. ______________________________________________________________________ IN CONCLUSION... Alt.tv.animaniacs has few ground rules, none of which amount to more than customs developed from common courtesy. Our readership is highly varied and includes many young readers--excessive obscenity is generally frowned upon, as are most patently offensive remarks (if you're into general obscenity and explicit stuff, you may want to check the newsgroup alt.tv.tiny-toon.fandom, just keep it off of a.t.a!). As mentioned, there is no "No Flaming" rule in effect, but without a good reason you are likely to find yourself vastly outnumbered. A.t.a has developed a rich and creative heritage since its creation in July of 1993, and we're looking forward to an equally rewarding future. Get a copy of the FAQ, and jump right in! Originally and Mostly Written By: +------------+---, | Jay Parker | _/ \----------/-' _)________(___ |______________| jbp3@Ra.MsState.Edu Now Maintained by: Tom Madden | From Troy, MI |Home Page: (home of the a.t.a folks picture arc) tmadden@nyx10.cs.du.edu | http://nyx10.cs.du.edu:8001/~tmadden/home.html aa401@detroit.freenet.org |A!(JW2.0) YK++I WK++I DT+++ BR+ P++ D++ $+++ A241 I need something that says'I want to destroy you,'but with a sense of fun -Dot -- ====Send=mail=with="<>"=in=subject=for=A.t.a=New=Reader's=Guide!==== Jay Parker jbp3@Ra.MsState.Edu | "But I have promises to keep, | Robert http://WWW2.MsState.Edu/~jbp3 | And miles to go before I sleep." | Frost