I'm glad things have started to quiet down today, but please remember
that we are still in pre-season and off-season topics have tended to be
quite different than in-season topics over the past years of HOCKEY-L.
 
The following comes from Rob Slade (address at end of this article).
I hope you find it interesting and useful...
 
cheers,
 
Wayne Smith
The College Hockey Discussion List administrator
Systems Group - CAPS              BITNET/CREN:  wts@maine
University of Maine System        internet:     [log in to unmask]
 
Enc: ("Roberts Rules of Internet Order" by Robert Slade)
 
As part of a presentation for a conference, I was asked to make up a
quick handout to be given out to all registrants.  Given the subject, I
thought there might be some interest in it here.
 
                        RobertS Rules of Internet Order
                             (by [log in to unmask])
 
1. Keep your cool.
 
2. Understand that bandwidth, the space for information to travel in, is
a shared resource, held in common by all.  Respect other people's right
to use bandwidth, as they respect yours.  This has several corollaries:
    - keep it short
    - Keep it relevant
    - be as clear and concise as possible.
 
3. Keep your cool.  Don't waste bandwidth by sending out public messages
chastising people who, in your opinion, are wasting bandwidth.
 
4. Broaden your understanding of the net.  Understand the different
types of systems that people use.  Understand that just because *your*
system allows you to send file attachments, doesn't mean that everyone
can, and that the garbage attached to your message may just be an
annoyance to them.  Understand that most people see messages on a
maximum 80 character wide screen, but that "quoting" an 80 column wide
message makes it more than 80 columns wide.  Understand that a lot of
people come into the net through BBS or commercial online services and
may have no idea what ftp, telnet, gopher and WWW are.  (If you don't
know what these are, understand that a lot of people use them every day,
and may send you instructions and advice assuming you know how to use
them.  "Finding It On the Internet", by Paul Gilster, is a good book for
finding out how to access resources using only email.)
 
5. Keep your cool.
 
6. Depending upon who you believe, there are between three million and
fifty million people on the Internet.  That is somewhere between the
population of BC and twice the population of Canada.  Many of those
people are nice.  Some of them can be short tempered at times.  Some of
them are old, some young.  Some are downright nasty and evil.  As you
explore the net, you will run into all kinds.  Bear this in mind.
 
7. Keep your cool.  Remember, as the saying goes, it's all just ones and
zeros.  They can only hurt you if you let them upset you.
 
8. You *can* do business on the Internet.  But remember that email
provides the recipient with an automatic "caller ID".  Don't waste
bandwidth.  Don't waste people's time.  Net people respect information,
but *hate* hype.  Respect the topics in public discussions.
 
9. Keep your cool.
 
10.  Humour can be very easily misconstrued.  Sending messages is easy,
and it can be tempting to toss off a quick quip in reaction to an email
message or posting.  Be careful.  Your quip can easily be read as an
insult, particularly if the original poster feels deeply about what they
wrote.  Especially in a public discussion, it is likely that the
receiver takes something more seriously than it might have been meant.
And remember that nobody who has been on the net for any length of time
is impressed by a really insulting message that ends up with the
sentence: "For the humour-impaired: insert a :-) every three words."
 
11.  Keep your cool.  Even if you have been flamed publicly, anyone with
any brains will be able to see who the idiot really is.  If you maintain
a dignified silence, you may find that others will defend you.  Always
more satisfying.
 
12.  You will see some odd markings on online messages that you don't
see in normal text.  This is because online text generally can't support
boldface, italics, underlining or any other form of emphasis.  Emphasis
is most often marked by *asterisks* on either end of the word or phrase.
(This is akin to italics.) Some people use _underscores_ to denote that
a word or phrase should be underlined.  (This is fairly rare on the net,
and mostly used for references.) Text that is typed ALL IN CAPITAL
LETTERS stands out, and is referred to as "shouting".  (Messages typed
completely in capital letters is the sign of a newcomer not used to net
behaviour.) The "smiley" or "emoticon" typed with a colon, hyphen and
right parenthesis :-) is a sort of sideways "happy face", and is used to
denote humorous intent.  (There are endless variations on the smiley: I
have a collection of about 800 entries.) You will also see the most
absurd acronyms on the net: btw (by the way), fwiw (for what it's
worth), imho (in my humble opinion) the use of these acronyms is much
more likely to confuse and annoy people than to promote effective
communications.
 
13.  Keep your cool.  Communicate effectively, and help others keep
theirs.
 
14.  When sending a message, please use a subject that clearly indicates
what the topic is about.  Many net workers receive hundreds of mail
messages in a day: a complete and accurate subject line is very helpful.
Also, when "replying" to a message or posting, be sure that your reply
still pertains to the subject.  If your reply isn't along the same
lines, then don't "reply";  send a new message instead.
 
15.  Keep your cool.  Be specific.
 
16.  Read carefully, especially if you think you disagree with
something.  People tend to read email and postings too quickly, and to
fail to understand the real intent behind a message.  Especially if you
want to reply to something, read it three or more times before you start
to write.
 
17.  Keep your cool.  Read it again.
 
18.  sPeling kountz.  Too does syntax grammar and.  A number of Internet
posters feel that, since the medium is ephemeral, messages do not need
to be composed with care.  This shows a lack of respect for those who
will spend time trying to read and understand the message.  Remember the
Usenet warning: "This message will cost the net hundreds, if not
thousands, of dollars to post to all machines.  Are you sure you want to
do this?" If it is not worth the time to correct your spelling and
grammatical errors, it isn't worth posting.  Read the postings of others
forgivingly, but your own harshly.
 
19.  Keep your cool, D00DZ!
 
20. There is *NO* rule 20.
 
21. Keep your cool.
 
copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994   ORDER.INT   941004
 
======================
DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters
Editor and/or reviewer [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], Rob Slade at 1:153/733
Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Oct. '94) Springer-Verlag