* TIPS, TRICKS, AND SHORTCUTS

- INCOMPLETE POSTS?

Often, MT-NW or YA-NW will not display all of the available posts on
a server, but will instead display however many articles you have told
it to fetch in the "Maximum number of articles to fetch" preferences
setting. Before requesting a repost from the uploader, there is a
simple search that you can perform to determine whether the segments
are available on the news server that you're using.

Select the ABMA newsgroup in the Full Group List window. Use the menu
choice "Special->Search..." (or Command-hyphen: that is, hold down
Command and press the "hyphen" or "minus" key) to perform a search for
the post that you want. Specify what you are searching for by typing
a substring that is likely to occur in the Subject header of the posts,
and make sure that "Subject" is selected in the pop-up menu. (Or you
can search by a poster's nickname if you want, and select "From" in the
pop-up menu.) A window will open displaying the number of posts that
match your search. Double-click the result displayed in the window,
or just press Return. Newswatcher will retrieve all the items and
display them in a subject-list window.

Please try this before making repost requests; it can save everyone,
including you, a lot of time and effort! If you are using a reasonably
good news server, then you will often find (by searching) that the
complete post that you are looking for is on your server after all;
it merely doesn't show up in your newsreader using the default
settings.


- HIDING YOUR SERVER

One of the ways that THEY find you is by your IP address (posted with
your message) and your ISP. If they have both pieces of that
information, they got ya. So, use an ISP that does not post your IP
address (a number like 133.34.200.12), AND hide your server. Your
server is identified at the very top of the message header in the
"Path". Every time you post, your post travels (propagates) from
server to server, in a path. That path is stamped on your message,
with the originating server at the very end of the path. Server names
are separated by exclamation marks in the path. YA-NW lets you add
anything you want to the Path. Open up several posts, randomly copy
some of the server names from the posters' paths, and paste them into
a new "Path: foo!bar!baz" line in the 'Extra Header Lines' of your
message. You will have something like this:
Path: newsfeed.cwix.com!extra1.newsguy.com!newsp1.newsguy.com!
dca1-hub1.news.digex.net!intermedia!feed1.news.rcn.net!rcn
(all on one line).

[Later editor's note: That is a very lame way of veiling your ISP
or news server. Please be aware not only that the name of your actual
server will show up in the Path header regardless, but also that
your posts may be very easy to trace even without the Path header.
The best way of being reasonably anonymous is to use a commercial
Usenet service that will protect your anonymity and will not put
nasty headers like X-Trace or NNTP-Posting-Host in the articles
that you post. Any article with one of those headers is completely
traceable and will lead right back to you, regardless of what
tricks you play with the "Path" header.]


- BE GOOD (SORT OF)

The golden rule here is to BE RESPECTFUL when at all possible,
especially to the newbies asking for help and the posters freely
upping the binaries. Part of what makes ABMA so special is how
easy it is here to get help, to have information freely given.
There is no place like that for the PCs. The "regs" who post are
often risking their asses to post. They are taking a big risk for
nothing except the fun of posting and helping people out. That's
really what makes ABMA what it is. Be kind if you can. Remember
that on the other side of your screen are actual people, just like
you. They have feelings, thoughts, and lives that are important
to them. We all do. It is very easy to forget that when all you
see about a person is a nickname and a line of text.

Do not demand, threaten, or harass anyone about posts (or anything
else). Just don't do it. It never gets results. The thing to
remember about this group is that everything here is FREE. For that
price, you get what you are given. It is OK to ask for something,
but do it respectfully and accept "No" for an answer if it comes.
You will save yourself a lot of grief. No one OWES anyone anything
in this group, except basic respect!

If you want something, be patient. If it is incomplete, corrupt, or
otherwise unavailable to you, it is only a matter of time before it
shows up again. I guarantee it. Stuff is always being reposted here.
If you keep your eyes open, you will find it. Don't assume that if
you want a program, it has to show up in the next 24 hours. Post your
requests, be polite, and WAIT. If no one posts what you want within
a few days, then wait a week, or a couple of weeks, and try again.
On the other hand, if you absolutely, positively need a particular
piece of software by noon tomorrow or else the world will end, then
by all means go out and *buy* it.

This is a co-op, NOT a place to trade! If you have lots of stuff to
upload, great! Do it without strings attached. Don't come here and
try to extort posts from people with all the great software you have
(just remember that anything that you might have is bound to come
through here without you). You can always make a request, which is
usually much more successful when accompanied by a post, but remember
that it may or may not be fulfilled. That's just the way it goes.

If you don't have stuff to contribute, that's OK. In no time you will.
You can always help with reposts. (That is a big help! When you need
something you will be much more likely to get it.)

Being respectful and contributing to the group in some way is not just
so you can be more like Mother Teresa. If you are generally helpful
and friendly and make contributions, others will really go out of their
way to help you. That means when you really want something, you can
request it and you'll pretty much be assured of getting it.

If you really want all the stuff here, GET A DEDICATED NEWS SERVER.
I cannot emphasize this enough. Most of the regs use Supernews or
Altopia or Newsguy. There are a bunch to choose from. The advantage
to having a commercial news server is that the segments are almost
always complete (no missing parts) and the posts are retained for
many days. For more information about commercial Usenet servers,
take a look at the group
if your current server carries it. (If not, try deja.com or
remarq.com on the web.)


- MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

One thing to remember is that no news provider is going to protect you
from the Law. Period. When it comes to their ass or yours, who are
they gonna choose? The news providers are there to make money from
you. It sounds cynical, but it's true. The best way they can do that
is by providing a great news service, unedited and unfiltered. It is
not their job to monitor or censor what goes through the pipe. BUT if
a court or a Lawn Forcement official says that what is going through
the pipe (either to you or from you) is illegal, then the news
providers are quite obligated to cooperate with the law. It is not
your constitutional right to break copyright law. That means that
fessing up your account information and your activity is something
that an ISP or a news provider will most certainly do if handed a
subpoena. That's how it works. Do not forget that. COVER YOUR ASS.

bye :)

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

[Part IV] XXX-rated "Do-be's for newbies"

(This section was provided by xxx.)

Do be polite in all aspects of ABMA: uploading, downloading,
posting requests, responding to requests, etc.
Do not SHOUT (keep caps lock off).
Do not make excessive requests for postings.
Do thank posters for fulfilling your requests.
Do not ask for a repost until you are sure that all parts have arrived
at your server.
Do subscribe to a dedicated news server: e.g., Supernews, Newsguy,
Giganews.
Do use YA-Newswatcher to upload, MT-Newswatcher to read and download.
Do learn to use filters, especially regular expressions and your own
nickname.
Do learn to save files as text, before using the "Extract Binaries"
command.
Do use the "Search" command to locate missing parts prior to making
requests for reposts.
Do make sure that every segment you download has one and only one copy
of every part, in the right order.
Do trim unwanted messages with "Mark as Read" and "Remove Read"
commands.
Do re-arrange out-of-order parts with "Extract Binaries Manually", or
save individual parts as text with their corresponding part numbers
and then combine parts off-line using Chunk Joiner or BBEdit or
uucd.
Do use StuffIt Expander 5.5 or YA-Decoder to decode/expand/join.
Do not ignore error warnings.
Do learn to check CRCs for large downloads, and to provide them for
large uploads.
Do use BBEdit for examining failed downloads or comparing CRCs.
Do not mix segments created by different StuffIt sessions.
Do freely mix different BinHex sessions of the SAME StuffIt segments.
Do include version numbers and a brief description of all uploads:
what it is or what it does; does it include the full CD, installer,
docs, serial #, k's, etc.; whether it is a beta version, with a
possible expiration date.
Do combine and compress all pieces of binary posts as a StuffIt archive
or a compressed disk image for collections of small files (pix,
fonts, ...).
Do test all uploads extensively (apps, cracks, serial numbers) before
posting them to ABMA.
Do keep archive names short to avoid problems rejoining segments.
Do lock all Toast images before posting [by not doing so, you'll
damage the contents when mounting the image].
Do compress Toast images inside a DiskCopy image before posting.
Do keep segment size under 5 MB, part size between 300 and 500 KB.
Do encode ALL binary posts before uploading.
Do use BinHex, not UUencode or Base64 encoding for uploads.
Do download and decode your own uploads to make sure they work.
Do use or for test
posts, NOT ABMA.
Do not use special characters (tm or copyright) in naming your posts.
Do remember that ALL Usenet posts are traceable.
Do not use real names, email addresses, etc., or the world will
beat a path to your door.
Do not use someone else's identity.
Do learn to read backwards and the meaning of rot-13.
Do learn how to add the header "x-no-archive: yes" to your posts.
Do your part with tech help, reposts, filling requests, and
upping original binaries.
Do read the ABMA FAQ at .
Do put the poster's name in the subject header of all messages
for a faster response.
Do keep the group informed about your uploads: if you have to abandon
an upload temporarily or completely, please let us know.
Do smoke 'em if you got 'em.

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

[Part V] Honor Roll of Recent ABMA Uploaders

The uploaders make ABMA the great place that it is; without them, the
group would not exist. Many thanks to all of these folks, from all
the rest of us. This is *not* a complete list! If your nickname is
not included here and it should be, then I apologize for the oversight,
and no offense is intended. This list will also go out of date pretty
quickly... it's merely a snapshot of who has been helping the group
the most in early 2000.

8fingers