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Animation-1 /Bee off /Dnd off /Ech off /Mgr off /Mor on /Rep on /Uid off /Wra
on
CBix version: 1.26
Copyright (c) 1986 Creative Computing.
All Rights Reserved.
System manager status is now on.
Animation is now active.
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Alias |Chan|Priv|Disc|Dnd
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‘Bob C’ * 1 | | |
‘DaveM.’ * 1 | | |
‘Emru’ * 1 | | |
‘hmccracken’ | 1 | | |
‘Robair’ * 1 | | |
[Emru]* Eat at Joe’s!
[DaveM.]* Good. Hope it’s not setting you guys back too much.
[Bob C]* Folks, iffen you ever get to London, I found this neat store over
near Covent Gardens that specializes in Tintin. Even got a pic (gotta find a
scanner).
[DaveM.]* Hi, Emru!
[Robair]* Emru! Hello!
[hmccracken] One of the virtues of where-I-worked shutting down, as it did, is
that I bought a *great* chair to sit in at my computer for fifteen bucks. This
CBIX is its inaugral use for that purpose.
[Bob C]* Hiya Emru! How’re the moving images?
[hmccracken] Welcome, Joe! er, Emru!
[DaveM.]* Gee, Harry, we’re absolutely… honored. 😉
[Robair]* Dave: how do you mess again?
[DaveM.]* /msg DaveM.
[Robair]* Ok.
[Emru]* Hi, Bob! — they move, but not as much as I’d like 🙂 (Filming in two
weeks…)
[hmccracken] A Tintin store? Wow!
[Emru]* There’s a Tintin store or two here. But that’s to be expected…
[hmccracken] I am, I hope, going to London sometime before this year is out —
that’s a must-see in my book.
[Bob C]* Harry, I’ve been wanting a good computer chair for a long time.
Still haven’t found one, but a *great chair is necessary for long sitting
periods.
[Emru]* I expect to be getting my Great Computer Chair this fall, when I move.
[Robair]* East 127, West 118, final in NBA All-Star.
[hmccracken] My old chair was an extremely uncomfortable wooden job that
someone gave to me rather than throwing out.
[Bob C]* Harry, I’ll find the info again and I’ll send it to ya.
[kipw] Hi, gang!
[DaveM.]* Hello, Kip!
[Robair]* It’s Kip! Hello, sir.
[kipw] ‘Allo, Robair.
[hmccracken] I also bought another nice chair and a bookshelf. But they won’t
sell me my LaserJet IIIP I’ve been using. *sniff*
[hmccracken] Welcome, Kip!
[Emru]* Hi, Kip!
[davecolton] Hi
[hmccracken] Dave!
[Emru]* How are ya, Dave?
[davecolton] Nice to be here
[hmccracken] Seems like we have a quorum — Two Daves, Two Bobs, a Kip, an
Emru, and a Harry.
[Bob C]* Now, Harry, where was it that you worked?
[Robair]* Hello, Dave C!
[DaveM.]* Pretty good, Emru. Buried under a foot of new fallen snow.
[DaveM.]* Hi, Dave
[davecolton] Hi Bob, Hi Dave
[DaveM.]* (Of course Newark got the most snow. 19 inches.)
[hmccracken] Bob C. <-- I worked for InfoWorld, on a supplement for
direct-channel buyers which was ill-fated from the start and finally died last
month.
[Robair]* Two Daves, Two Bobs, Two Mackeys...help!
[Bob C]* "Daves and Bobs" rulez!" Sorry, felt like yelling something dumb
there for a moment. It's passed.
[Emru]* We got some snow too, but we've certainly had worse.
[DaveM.]* Daves and Bobs from the same family yet.
[Robair]* It's not the 19, but the 8 we had already...
[kipw] It snowed a couple of times lately, and a friend who's lived here for
years...
[kipw] ...says it snows too much here.
[Bob C]* I thought you were still press oriented. Now what?
[Emru]* We've still got a lot of the ice from two weeks ago.
[Robair]* I shoveled snow for about 12 hours this weekend, where is as needed.
[DaveM.]* Once my back works again, after shoveling the driveway, I may get to
work on some research.
[Robair]* Gee, I could've melted some of that with our rented kerosene
heater...
[hmccracken] Bob C. <-- I am free-lancing full-time for InfoWorld, Multimedia
World, PC World, and others. And looking for a new staff gig somewhere, since
that's what I really enjoy.
[DaveM.]* Oh lord. It's Shaq: The Movie.
[Robair]* Called, "Shaq Can Aq."
[kipw] Anybody else die today that I haven't heard about yet?
[DaveM.]* It's a blast. Now what's all this I hear about an Inter Knot?
[Emru]* What the heck is Shaq?
[kipw] It's really been a bad week.
[Bob C]* Harry <-- I can imagine. Must be nice to play with the things you
really like and call it work.
[hmccracken] Yup -- Kirby, Scott, Conrad, Soule...
[kipw] Emru, it's a jock.
[Emru]* Ah.
[hmccracken] ...and I'm not feeling so well myself!
[Robair]* Gawha? Inner Nets?
[DaveM.]* Please, no more obits! I'm up to six so far in my next zine, if you
count Pepe Ruiz and Hal Smith!
[DaveM.]* Don't worry. I work without a net.
[davecolton] It must be the stars or something
[Emru]* Yup. The _fps_ obits section is once again threatening to take over
Newsreel.
[hmccracken] Well, should we get started?
[Bob C]* I just saw the blurb about Kirby! Man, that bummed me! I met him
once and got a signature at a 3D show in Detroit about 10 yrs ago.
[Emru]* >Depressing.
[hmccracken] We will not see his likes again.
[kipw] At least Kirby didn’t die, you know, neglected and unloved or anything.
[Robair]* Bill Conrad…that staccato delivery…those things he was forced to
say like Wossamotta U and Kurward Derby.
[DaveM.]* Just love those big wide faces… just love those ironing board
knees.
[kipw] I didn’t even know Scott was alive!
[hmccracken] That’s true. He lived to a relatively ripe old age, and was
financially secure as far as I know.
[DaveM.]* Don’t worry, Kip. Even HE didn’t know he was alive.
[Bob C]* No, he had lots of adoring fans, some new books, and a wonderful
wife, Roz.
[davecolton] Can’t ask for more
[Bob C]* It’s better than the alternative.
[Emru]* Most things are.
[hmccracken] I must be crazy, but one of my favorite Kirby books was
“Kamandi.” Also “The Eternals” and his 1970s Captain America comics. Can you
tell I grew up in the 1970s?
[kipw] regular name, so I can send him a msg.
[kipw] –Kip
[kipw] .
[davecolton] The 1970s weren’t all that bad as I recall
[Bob C]* Now, you just threw out the names. How about a quick review?
[Emru]* Yup. I thought _Kamandi_ was great. Only one of mine survived,
though.
[kipw] –say, is that me? Ghack.
[Robair]* Yeah. Something had to be between the 60’s and the 80’s…
[davecolton] I still have an eight track somewhere
[kipw] The 70s was when I really started to respect old Jack.
[Bob C]* Kamandi – man, I thought the revival was – okay – but I missed
Kirby’s version.
[Emru]* Never read the revival. But that’s okay 😉
[hmccracken] Maybe we can start by taking an informal poll to see who among us
is actively reading Internet comics/cartoons stuff already?
[kipw] alias Kip
[Bob C]* Dave C <-- Any bell-bottoms or platforms? How about some print
shirts?
[DaveM.]* I'm trying to, Harry. Sticking mostly to the WB-related groups, and
rec.arts.animation for general stuff.
[Emru]* None here, Bob.
[Emru]* Harry – well, you know I’ve been active for some time.
[Robair]* Yes, I do read the messages.
[davecolton] Harry – I’m in rec arts anime tooo
[Emru]* (And wish I could stop! 🙂
[Bob C]* Yeah, I think my Mom threw all my stuff like that away along with the
rest of my childhood. Do ya think that’s why so many adults collect things
comic-related? We’re trying to get back all the things that we had when life
was simpler? I dunno, call a
[Bob C]* psychiatrist!
[davecolton] Bob C. <-- definitely.
[Emru]* My problem is I have too much of my childhood stuff -- that's why I'm
trying to sell 1/3 of my comics collection 🙂
[Bob C]* News stuff. Haven't read too much. But I know how to get there!
[linkster] hola.
[hmccracken] Welcome, Link!
[hmccracken] who all
[kipw] I try to get rid of comics from time to time. After you sort for an
hour or so,
[Robair]* Hello, Link!
[DaveM.]* Hi, Link
[Emru]* Hi, Link!
[hmccracken] Whoops!
[kipw] your brain turns to jelly.
[Bob C]* Emru - is this the "good" stuff or the "drek" stuff?
[davecolton] Hi link
[Emru]* Kip - My problem with sorting through stuff is that I invariably start
reading half of it. That's why it usually takes about a week.
[Emru]* Bob < Both.
[hmccracken] Only a week? I've been sorting my collection since 1978!
[DaveM.]* I think the line count helps me determine which messages are worthy
of my time. You cannot read it all.
[Mr.Scott]* Hi folks
[DaveM.]* Hello, Scott!
[hmccracken] Welcome, Scott!
[Robair]* Hi Mr. Scott!
[Bob C]* Harry, I agree, a week of sorting means you've barely got any books!
[Emru]* No, no, Harry, a week each time I do my annual sorting.
[davecolton] Howdy Sir.
[Robair]* When you get more, you have to sort them, if you get a lot that's
lots of sorting...a vicious cycle.
[Bob C]* Okay Emru, how many boxes you got?
[davecolton] Emru-speaking of which, I must mail you to get the AD Police
stuff...
[hmccracken] I actually have a small (maybe 300) collection of comic-book
comics. Much of what I want, I either have or can't afford (Walt Kelly, John
Stanley, Carl Barks, etc.)
[kipw] Right, Emru. Then after that, I start putting things back I'd already
decided to can.
[hmccracken] My nightmare is my collection of book-books about comics.
[Emru]* Bob < 14 boxes, at this point (sold one box already)
[Emru]* Dave C < Didja get the manga I sent back to you?
[Bob C]* More books about comics than comics, Harry?
[Emru]* Kip < There's that other problem. 🙂
[hmccracken] Well, that includes books reprinting comics, books about
animation, etc. etc. etc.
[davecolton] Emru -- will send you email later . .
[Bob C]* I only wish I had as few as 14 boxes.
[Emru]* My nightmare is just my stacks of unread books 🙂
[Emru]* Bob < Then again, you've been around longer, no?
[linkster] long or short boxes?
[Bob C]* Emru < I compare my unread stack to the Everyready battery, "It just
keeps growing and growing..."
[kipw] Well, at least I've read everything I have. Except I never could finish
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1.
[hmccracken] In fact, my comic book collection is in storage at my parents'.
Most of my comics here are reading copies I bought to populate my "Hey Kids!
Comics!" spinner rack.
[Robair]* I had one of those once but it didn't have a base.
[Emru]* link < All but two are long. Then there are the 8 magazine boxes...
[DaveM.]* He really has one of those. I've seen it. The ultimate showpiece for
any comics collection.
[Emru]* Kip < Which TMNT #1? The original?
[davecolton] The problem with purging is that inevitably later I want one so I
never do it.
[kipw] Yeah. Pretty boring stuff.
[hmccracken] Not only do I have one, but it's the one I bought many comics
from as a lad. My sister got it for me when our neighborhood newsstand closed.
[Robair]* It has the sickly red and yellow tin signs with Spiderman, Richie
Rich and
[Robair]* Archie, I bet.
[Bob C]* Then this weekend, I just gave my dealer a chunk of change during his
50% off sale for some DC reprints and Marvel Masterworks...
[hmccracken] No pictures of characters, Bob. This is an older model, probably
dating from the 1960s.
[kipw] It's hard to go wrong with DC reprints. Especially the 80 and 100 page
titles.
[Emru]* Of course, comics were cheaper then, even adjusting for inflation
(i.e. the relative prices between a comic and a chocolate bar)
[hmccracken] Yup, Kip, I have lots of 80-page Shazam! and -- I admit it --
Jimmy Olsen reprints.
[hmccracken] In fact, I'm Turtle Boy Olsen's #1 fan.
[kipw] Yeah! Olsen the Giant Turtle Man rules!
[Robair]* Emru--if in 1953 a comic book was a dime and a candy bar a nickel,
if the
[hmccracken] Obviously, Kip, we're on the same wavelength!
[Bob C]* I got Batman 3, All Star Comics 2 and Justice League 2. Missing
Legion 2 and 3, though.
[kipw] Also, anything with a focus on Krypto or Lois Lane.
[Robair]* candy bar is now 50 cents the comic should be a dollar, not $1.95 or
more.
[kipw] My personal favorite is the Legion of Super Canines.
[Bob C]* These are the hardbacks in case you're wondering...
[Emru]* Exactly, Bob.
[DaveM.]* It now costs $2 for an Archie Giant Series. And they are bigger
these days.
[linkster] I've seen candy bars as high as .65 so that makes 1.30 which covers
a few Marvel books out there but that's trying hard:
[linkster] )
[Robair]* Yes, Dave M., I recently saw the latest Josie issue which is a
64-pager. Tons of reprintts and two new stories.
[Bob C]* The one with Krypto and the dogs of other heroes? (What was GA's
dog'sname?)
[DaveM.]* Ah, yes. Josie And The Pussycats No. 2.
[hmccracken] I remember going into shock when comics went to a quarter. But I
also remember when they were fifteen cents.
[Robair]* Archie-wise, the digests have doubled in pice and halved in size.
[Emru]* Of course, chocolate bars here are almost a buck (Canadian) unless you
go to the right stores, where they're 50 cents.
[Robair]* Or three for a dollar.
[kipw] This one had Krypto and a bunch of dogs from outer space. Tusky Husky,
Paw Pooch, and one memorable mutt with a giant, fortune-telling head.
[davecolton] Emru -- why the price swing?
[Robair]* But then it's old candy...
[Emru]* Harry < I remember my outrage when comics went up to 45 cents. I also
remember when comics didn't have separate US/Canadian prices 🙂
[Robair]* I couldn't handle 12 to 15! That was traumatic. Then it was the great
[Emru]* Dave < Jean Coutu and Pharmaprix -- two major Quebec pharmacies --
sell chocolate bars at 2 for a buck. Elsewhere, it's 92-95 cents, including
taxes.
[Robair]* price hike of the 1970s.
[Bob C]* Now, wasn't there a legion of Super Pets? With Krypto, Sparky, the
horse and that monkey...
[hmccracken] Anybody else here a Bizarro World fan?
[kipw] Oh yes, there was such a legion. Every possible combination...
[davecolton] The early 1980s were killer on prices too.
[Emru]* Where did my Superman trivia book go?
[hmccracken] "Me *hate* beauty! Me *love* ugliness!"
[kipw] Me am Bizarro fan.
[DaveM.]* I read once someone thought "15c in Can." referred to a version in
alternative canister packaging. Like Pringle's.
[Bob C]* Rob < yeah that took books from 8 for a dollar to 6! Bleh!
[kipw] Me hear Bizarro am back.
[Bob C]* Me iz Bizarro fan. Me not like Bizarro.
[DaveM.]* I always liked the Legion of Substitutes.
[Bob C]* DaveM < Polar Boy!
[kipw] I used to envision two members for the Substitute Legion. Boy Howdy,
the super-salesman...
[DaveM.]* Infectious Lass.
[kipw] ...and Love Lass, the "make love not war" super-heroine.
[Emru]* Ha! Someone should do that.
[Robair]* Boy Howdy is a registered trademark of Creem Magazine and Motormouse.
[DaveM.]* You have to buy the rights to "Boy Howdy" from Creem magazine and
Motormouse.
[linkster] I gotta run and make some calls.
[DaveM.]* Nite, Link.
[hmccracken] Anybody else here read _Omega the Unknown_? I loved that.
[Robair]* Dave M. stop stealing my lines!
[Emru]* See ya, Link!
[hmccracken] 'Night Link!
[Robair]* See ya, Link!
[davecolton] A call of nature? I could do that too. Too much coffee.
[Bob C]* Unlink, Link!
[DaveM.]* (glaring at Robert) 😉
[Mr.Scott]* Bye, Links
[kipw] I can't believe BH went behind my back to Creem...
[davecolton] bye link
[hmccracken] Well, are we having fun, or do we want to get down to brass tacks
and talk about the net?
[Robair]* Chi-co-ree! He surenough did, writing reviews of the new Heart and
Johny Thunders albums.
[DaveM.]* Yes, the Net. Why we're here.
[davecolton] Lets
[Bob C]* Let's talk about the net. Whay not? Everybody else is doing it!
[Robair]* Right.
[Emru]* 1993: the year the online world became trendy.
[Bob C]* Net. Talk. Right.
[davecolton] This sounds like Python
[hmccracken] Emru knows more about the net than I do, so perhaps he should
preside.
[Emru]* Okay, let me get my World Domination Chair.
[Robair]* (Emru whistles for his Emruettes, who bring on his W.D.C.)
[hmccracken] Why isn't there an alt.fan.bizarro, anyway?
[kipw] We always talk about Annette. Let's talk about Cubby this time.
[Bob C]* Hah! Ve Vill only let you tel-net into East Chumanny und no vere
else!
[DaveM.]* There is. It's one of those Hidden newsgroups.
[Emru]* (All settled.) So.
[Emru]* (Acutally, the World Domination Chair is exactly the same as the
Ordinary Computer Chair, but it has better rubber feet.)
[DaveM.]* E.T. is in da house.
[Bob C]* Harry < there is! rot13 alt.comics.superman!
[davecolton] Is that for real?
[Zacory]* Uh huh huh huh Hello?
[DaveM.]* Me very much interested in boring Bizarro world!
[DaveM.]* Hi, Zacory.
[davecolton] Hi
[Emru]* Hi Zac!
[Robair]* Hello, Zacory.
[hmccracken] Welcome, Zacory!
[Bob C]* Hi Zac!
[Zacory]* what do you you do here?
[kipw] Yo, Zac.
[DaveM.]* We toniight discuss aniamtion resources on the Internet.
[hmccracken] Talk about comics, cartoons, related and unrelated topics, and
whatever else comes to mind!
[Emru]* As for bizarro newsgroups: never seen one. But it doesn't mean one
doesn't exist, of course; just that there's none here or at myother Internet
resource.
[davecolton] Supposedly ... :=)
[DaveM.]* (Yes, I can spell animation. But not at blinding speeds.)
[Emru]* Has anyone tried looking it up through one of the gopher Usenet
resources?
[Emru]* Dave C < 🙂
[Emru]* (And just what can Dave do at blinding speeds?)
[Bob C]* Dave, switch to ludicrous speed!
[Emru]* This calls for hyperspeed!
[DaveM.]* Check.
[Zacory]* Not ludicrous speed AAAGGGHHHH!!
[DaveM.]* No thanks. I stopped doing speed after I crashed into a brick wall
at 90.
[davecolton] Can we have a domination Emru?
[hmccracken] Has anyone here (changing the topic again) seen _Mrs. Doubtfire_?
[kipw] Not I.
[Emru]* Dave < Only one world domination per customer. You can have Mercury.
[Zacory]* Yup!!! was pretty good..
[Robair]* No, not yet...
[DaveM.]* No, sir, I haven't. Last movie I saw was :The Joy Luck Club:.
[Bob C]* Why, yesz! And it was such a delightful little film, dearie.
[hmccracken] I hear tell it has a Chuck Jones cartoon (a new one) incorporated
into it somehow.
[davecolton] Er, what I meant was it would be nice to get on topic
[kipw] Robin Williams IS a Chuck Jones cartoon.
[Emru]* Oh, right.
[DaveM.]* The Internet now!
[DaveM.]* Emru, dominate McCracken back onto topic.
[Bob C]* In the beginning, Robin Williams is doing the voiceover work for
several characters, an "off" Tweety and Sylverster clone.
[hmccracken] Sorry, folks!
[davecolton] This could get twisted fast. . . .
[Emru]* So: has anyone tried using gopher to find a Bizarro newsgroup?
[Robair]* No, Williams is a tribrid: Avery, Clampett and Tashlin. And now back
to the Internet.
[Bob C]* Dave C < TOo late!
[Bob C]* Emru, no.
[Zacory]* But he quitsd becvause the writers have no morals on smoking
tweetys..
[hmccracken] Maybe we can start by letting people ask specific questions. Are
any of us using the animation conference gopher yet?
[davecolton] The joys of random thinking and typing !!
[DaveM.]* I have not tried looking for comics -related newsgroups. I know
they're out there, but my interest in comics these days doesn;t warrant it.
[DaveM.]* Not really, Harry. I'm doing all my Internet work these days with nn.
[davecolton] HArry -- what exactly are your referring to?
[kipw] Yeah, back to the Internet.
[hmccracken] Emru <-- Explain the gopher, which I've only begun using recently
myself, please.
[Emru]* Okay.
[Zacory]* Bye All I gootta go Bye!
[DaveM.]* Nite, Zacory.
[Mr.Scott]* OK, a net qestion: how do I tell nn to do a skip to last on
everything?
[Robair]* I’m still very gopher dependent and I find myself using different
gophers to search the same newsgroups because each one is different in the way
they organize and receive information.
[hmccracken] Thanks, Zac!
[Emru]* Good night, Zac!
[davecolton] G;nite
[Robair]* Goodnight, Zac.
[Bob C]* Say goodnight Zachary!
[DaveM.]* Scott — I think you have to type in a X.
[kipw] Ciao, Z.
[hmccracken] Goodnight, Zacherly — er, Zacory!
[Emru]* Scott < you mean after you started reading? Hit "X" (has to be
uppercase)
[davecolton] I use nn now. What are thre advatanges of a gopher
[Emru]* Anyway, gopher.
[Emru]* Gopher is a menu-driven system to allow access to various Internet ftp
and telnet services. But rather than having to know site numbers and
addresses and so on,
[Emru]* it's all arranged by topic or geographical location.
[Mr.Scott]* brb
[davecolton] Off the Bix main internet menu, where are the animation/comics
gopher?
[Emru]* So if you want to play Backgammon, rather than having to find a telnet
site for it, you just go into gopher, find games, and then get into backgammon.
[DaveM.]* Much easier than having to know names. Back when BIX first offered
Internet stuff, you had to telnet to specific computers, read messages with
gophers, and reply with e-mail.
[Emru]* DaveC < You join animation gopher the same way you do animation cbix.
That is: join animation/gopher.
[kipw] And, if your gopher sees its shadow...
[davecolton] I shoot the pesky cirtter
[Emru]* Animation/gopher can be thought of as being divided into three
sections: your personal favourites, the Animation Gopher, and general BIX
gopher.
[davecolton] Serioulsy, then after this cbix, all opine has to do is join
animation gopher?
[Bob C]* You'll have severe static electricity problems for the next 6 weeks!
[hmccracken] Emru, what is "Veronica?" If ever an Internet service should be
used by animation and comics folks, that's the one...
[Emru]* DaveC < Yup.
[DaveM.]* I find it amusing that all these Gopher tools are named for Archie
characters. I think there's a Reggie and a Jughead too, besides our ould pal
Archie.
[Robair]* And there's also Archie...explain that too?
[Emru]* I've gone through the animation gopher (at great personal risk 🙂 and
picked out items that I think are relevant to the animation conference. Those
can be found in if you go into the Animation Conference Gopher.
[Robair]* Veronica or Archie is an acronym, isn;t it?
[kipw] Archie is derived from "archivist," and the rest followed.
[davecolton] What can one find with gopher?
[Robair]* A lot of people have trouble breaking into the archives (ftp)...
[Emru]* Kip's right. And archie is specifically designed to find files on ftp
sites. Veronica is for finding resources available through gopher.
[kipw] Oboy! Do I win?
[Emru]* We've lost Harry...
[davecolton] Anyone know how to do virtual CPR?
[Emru]* Dave < Gopher is rich with resources. Dictionaries, research tools,
newsgroups, ftp sites, games, you name it -- it's all there.
[Bob C]* Rob < what trouble with ftp? Through gopher or otherwise?
[davecolton] How does Archie differ?
[Robair]* Basically, through gopher. I think I have most trouble with
anonymous sign-ons,
[Robair]* and passwords.
[DaveM.]* Do you try logging in under various names like "gopher" or "guest"
or "anon"?
[Emru]* Bob < The annoying thing about ftp sites is that you have to know
where a site is (its address) before you can access it. F'rinstance, you'd
have to know you want to get to wuarchive.wustl.edu before you can use it.
[Emru]* With gopher, you go from menu to menu, and there's probably an item
called
[DaveM.]* The BIX gopher takes care of that stuff for you in some cases.
[Emru]* "WU Archives" or somesuch. And you'd just select the menu number.
[Robair]* Most of the ftp sites I have visited require some combination of
user ID and "anonymous" to break in.
[Emru]* Yep. "anonymous" would be the userID it asks for, and
us******@bi*.com would be the password.
[Emru]* *phew*! So did that make sense?
[Emru]* Hey, Harry’s back!
[DaveM.]* Harry has returned.
[Robair]* Yes, I am leaving off the “@BIX.com” when I try to sign on.
[hmccracken] Back and listening intently, Emru!
[davecolton] Emru – how do you know about Harry– 6th sense?
[Bob C]* Now, I have had problems with the Bix ftp echoing back the “Name:”
prompt, which it usually has a default response for “anonymous”
[Emru]* Rob < Put it on. Many sites prefer it.
[Emru]* Bob < Yeah. Just hit Enter.
[Emru]* DaveC < Sort of. I just know when to hit my /where macro.
[Robair]* Will remember that.
[Emru]* 1/msg hmccracken
[Bob C]* Rob < most sites look for a username@IPaddress just one or the other
won't cut it.
[davecolton] well that count's as sixth sense
[Robair]* Right.
[Robair]* Thanks for the tip. I can now mess up with confidence!!
[Emru]* Rob < Go to it :]
[Bob C]* NowEmru, I haven't uised gopher all that much (er, used). Do you
have to know of a gopher site to go to or are they sorta automatically
connected?
[davecolton] A quick question -- is our animation conference open to ftping or
gophering from afar?
[hmccracken] Maybe we can discuss some of the specific newsgroups that we
like. One of my favoerites is alt.animation.warner-bros., which, alas, is not
available on BIX's nn last time I checked (but can be gotten to by other
means).
[DaveM.]* Provided you have an account on BIX, you should be able to get in by
telnetting to bix.com
[Emru]* Bob < Try the animation/gopher. Some of the more interesting sites
are already listed under option 1 or 2. (The one labelled "Animation
Conference Gopher.")
[davecolton] DaveM -- what I meant was can someone at upper.wash.edu call up
our rocks
[Bob C]* DaveM, isn't there a surchange for that?
[Robair]* Call up our rocks? Man, that's low...or semi-low.
[Bob C]* dang it! I meant surcharge. I really did!
[DaveM.]* I think so, Dave. Of course they would need a BIX account.
[Emru]* Dave C < No, not as yet. The conferences probably won't be available
through the 'net; our files maaaaay be, but I doubt that'll be anytime soon.
[davecolton] Emru<- good. I like the idea of this community being somewhat
private
[Emru]* Harry < I regularly read rec.arts.animation and rec.arts.anime, though
the latter's signal-to-noise ratio has dropped sharply in the last six years.
[Emru]* DaveC < Me too 🙂
[kipw] Wait a minute; why would they want to call up our rocks? ??
[DaveM.]* I gave up on alt.tv.tiny-toon, possibly because the show is out of
production.
[Robair]* That's what I like about the animation conference...it's just 7 or 8
people and not the massive crazy herds like on rec.games.video.arcade.
[Emru]* Harry < I find that good selection skills are essential on Usenet, not
only of groups but of messages.
[davecolton] Robair -- Exactly. And when someone recommends something, it
means a great deal
[hmccracken] Rec.arts.disney is a mixture of great info and "I'm going to
Disney World next month; where should I stay? messages.
[DaveM.]* Liek I said, Emru... line count. And headers make a difference too.
I try to steer clear of those that are slugged MAKE MONEY FAST.
[DaveM.]* Well, Harry, that's what FAQ's are for.
[Emru]* Yeah. Has anyone here started using kill files? I think they're
pretty important.
[davecolton] Harry -- what is in the warner bros stuff?
[hmccracken] What *are* kill files?
[Bob C]* Well, DaveM, I just wish more people would RTFs!
[Robair]* Some messagers are worth reading everytime, in most conferences, but
when you read a newsgroup for sometime you gradually know who posts great
messages ands a psychobabbler.
[davecolton] Just like here
[Mr.Scott]* (back)
[hmccracken] Some of the folks who post good animation-related stuff: Timothy
Fay, David Gerstein, Gary Hoo...
[DaveM.]* Can you use a kill file on nn? That is, can I filter out just
messages on one specific soap in rec.arts.tv.soaps? Other readers do allow it.
[Robair]* that is, messages and who's a psychobabbler.
[Emru]* Yep.
[Emru]* A kill file is a utility for filtering out unwanted messages are
people from your Usenet newsreading.
[Emru]* re, Scott!
[Emru]* F'rinstance -- let's say you're tired of seeing those annoying "MAKE
MONEY FAST" messages. You can set your kill file so that you never have to
see them again.
[davecolton] How?
[hmccracken] OK, how do you do it?
[Robair]* How?
[DaveM.]* And if you have knowledge on a subject in a newsgroup, don't keep it
to yourself. E-mail or reply to the FAQ editor and he may include it.
[Emru]* From nn at just about any point, hit "K" (uppercase) -- it's a
double-purpose function --
[kipw] Say you are Elmer Fudd, and you don't want to read any more messages
about "The Wabbit." Do you just say "Kill the Wabbit," or what?
[davecolton] I like that
[Emru]* it can either be used to hide messages from view or to automatically
select certain messages.
[Emru]* Ha!
[DaveM.]* But do you have to do that every time, if you want certain groups of
messages permanently filtered out?
[Emru]* Using K will allow you to choose: (a) if you want to hide or select
messages; (b) if you want to hide/select by words in the subject or by author;
(c) if you want that particular filter set for only that newsgroup or all
newsgroups, and (d) how
[davecolton] Sounds powerful
[Emru]* long you want the hide/select to be effective, from 0 days (that day
only) to permanently.
[DaveM.]* I'll have to give that another try. I think I was just using S=.
[Emru]* DaveC < It is. It's a big help when there are certain people who just
won't be quiet or when there's an active thread you don't care about.
[Robair]* So to filter out MAKE MONEY FAST, you can kill by selecting just the
word MONEY or the whole phrase?
[Emru]* Rob < Either.
[Emru]* Oh -- if you've already started reading and you want to skip the rest
of the thread, hit "k". It won't add it to your kill file, though.
[kipw] Best select the whole phrase, or you may lose messages you don't want
to kill.
[Bob C]* Rob < be careful that you delete only what you want to delete.
Suppose a "Make Money with Warner Bros." message came out?
[DaveM.]* How do you know it's not another chainletter jerk?
[Emru]* K doesn't seem to be case-sensitive, BTW.
[kipw] Some guy jerking your chainletter?
[DaveM.]* I keep my chain wide open all the time.
[Robair]* You can title your message anything you want, but the courtesy is to
title it as to what it pertains to.
[DaveM.]* "...because you're mine... I yank the chain"
[Bob C]* I keep my letters chained.
[kipw] Good heavens; it's a chain reaction.
[Bob C]* Buncha jerks
[Bob C]* 😀
[kipw] (Chain gang...)
[Robair]* TCN is now doing the ad for "Fleetwood Mac: The Chain". Thought
you'd like to know...
[DaveM.]* Thanks for the tpis, folks, but I Must go, as BIX is a toll call
from here.
[Emru]* One warning: BIX doesn't let you edit your kill file as yet.
[Bob C]* Nyt Dave!
[hmccracken] 'Night, Dave!
[Emru]* Good night, Dave!
[DaveM.]* Bye, Bob!
[Robair]* Dave! Not you too!
[davecolton] Bye Dave
[DaveM.]* Nite, Emru
[kipw] Dave, how's the apa coming?
[Robair]* Night, brethren.
[DaveM.]* Good night, Bob, keep Mother warm.
[hmccracken] You mean, you can't change your mind later (like if you decide
you want to get rich quick)?
[kipw] Night, MAckeys everywhere.
[DaveM.]* Did you get it yet, Kip? It was sent out a week ago.
[Robair]* I wanna see a copy, Dave!
[davecolton] I think I'll go gopher too.
[kipw] Yeah, I got it Monday. Looks great.
[DaveM.]* You could have asked today, Bob.
[Bob C]* Dave, what apa?
[davecolton] Bye
[Robair]* DArn...
[Robair]* Bring it by and we'll swap WOF and APAtoons for Big Reel.
[kipw] Dave--got the music, too. Thanks! !!
[DaveM.]* Oh, you did. I thought you were asking about 72 and not 73. 73 isn't
started yet.
[DaveM.]* <-- central mailer of APATOONS
[Emru]* Dave < Not here yet.
[DaveM.]* You're welcome, Kip.
[Bob C]* Ah! Cool!
[DaveM.]* Hang in there, Emru. You should get it very soon.
[kipw] I've already started trying to make it sound more like the show.
[Robair]* 73 will be the Jim Carroll memorial "These are People Who Died"
issue.
[DaveM.]* Nitel, all!
[davecolton] Emru -- you mean we can't do it yet?
[kipw] Nite! (Dave, that is)
[Robair]* brb--fetching cold drink
[davecolton] /monitor
[Emru]* Dave < you can use kill files, but you can't take something back if
you make a mistake. Not yet, anyway.
[hmccracken] Well, any other questions from the floor?
[kipw] I haven't explored much on the net because of time.
[kipw] I'm spending it arterially as it is.
[Emru]* There's a heck of a lot out there. And gopher is the best way to do
it.
[hmccracken] Rec.arts.comic.strips is a good news source, too.
[Emru]* Oh yeah! Gotta rejoin that group.
[kipw] Harry--that reminds me: our paper finally dropped the Jerry Scott
"Nancy" travesty.
[hmccracken] YES!
[hmccracken] Somewhere, Ernie Bushmiller is smiling.
[Bob C]* Yo, back! Little line problem
[hmccracken] Welcome back, Bob!
[Emru]* Hi, Bob!
[Bob C]* Have we gone elsewhere, topic-wise?
[kipw] Not to any great extent, Bob.
[hmccracken] We were just discussing NANCYH, as I am often wont to do.
[hmccracken] er, NANCY
[Bob C]* Bushmiller or Scott?
[kipw] There is only one True Nancy.
[hmccracken] Bob, there is oly one NANCY. Bushmiller, of course!
[Bob C]* But of course! It's just that we only have Scott at the moment.
[kipw] Yeah, I need to get my Nancy page framed and up on the wall again.
[Robair]* retuned
[Robair]* returned
[hmccracken] (Actually we *were* discussing the Scott version, which was
recently dropped from Kip's local newspaper, the Newport News News.)
[kipw] He's back! Quick, talk about something else!
[hmccracken] Welcome back, Bob!
[Emru]* Hide everything!
[hmccracken] Did Sluggo live by himself? Was he an orphan?
[Robair]* Jerry Scott should keep doing Baby Blues and just let Nancy die a
nice peaceful spiky-haired death.
[kipw] Act natural!
[Robair]* Gee, I can scroll up and see what happened when I let the room...
[Bob C]* Actually, I prefer his Nancy to his Baby Blues. It's just that I
sorta get tires of the one-note song in Baby Blues.
[kipw] I never saw Scott's own strip, but his was one of the worst takeover
job I've seen.
[Emru]* Boy, I haven't read a black-and-white strip in ages.
[hmccracken] BABY BLUES is better than NANCY. But not by a whole lot.
[Robair]* Well, the only thing BB has going for it is realtime.
[Bob C]* Who did Nancy before Scott? Scott is actually an improvement.
[Emru]* I think I'll have to subscribe to Strips when I get a reasonable
paycheck next month.
[hmccracken] Mark Lasky did Nancy, in an approximation of Bushmiller's style.
[kipw] I was disappointed when The Curse of Nancy panned out before claiming
Scott.
[Robair]* Our paper stacks Family Circus and BB on the same page, and today
they both happened to be about childish scrawl Valentines. Hard to say which
was better...
[Robair]* Lasky I believe was Bushmiller's assistant, and may have done strips
while Bushmiller was still alive (Sundays?) Am I correct here?
[hmccracken] Well, Al Plastino did the Sundays for awhile, often redrawing
Bushmiller gags.
[kipw] I had the impression Al Plastino was doing it for a while. And quite
well, of course.
[Robair]* Right! Plastino was Bushmiller's assistant.
[hmccracken] Lasky was Mell (Miss Peach) Lazurus's assistant, but I'm not sure
if he worked with Bushmiller.
[hmccracken] I don't think Plastino assisted Bushmiller, although he may have
ghosted for him.
[hmccracken] As well as drawing Ferd'nand.
[Robair]* I have not seen a Nancy strip in about 7 years, and I don't think
I'm missing too much.
[kipw] Plastino was doing a bunch of strips for dead creators when he died.
[hmccracken] At one time it was said that UFS was grooming Plastino to be
Charles Schulz's replacement, should he die or retire.
[Robair]* I'll have to get my Kitchen Sink books out and reread the history.
[kipw] Yeah, Chuck Rozanski told me (back in the 70s) that UFS had a drawer
full of Plastino Peanuts strips...
[Emru]* ? I'd thought Schulz had planned to have the strip stop when he dies.
[kipw] ...which they held over Schulz's head.
[Bob C]* Emru, yeah, I thought so as well.
[Robair]* Given the current quality of Peanuts, I don't think a post-death
continuation would hurt the strip too badly...
[hmccracken] I think that Schulz has arranged that, but only in recent years.
[hmccracken] Or maybe Jerry Scott should take it over.
[Robair]* NO!
[Bob C]* While we're interfacing via computers and talking comics, did any
read today's Doonesbury?
[hmccracken] I did, and got a chuckle or two out of it.
[Robair]* Yes, they seem to like to mess around on Sundays and today was no
exception.
[kipw] "Peanuts... the Pod People"
[Emru]* Same here. I preferred Calvin.
[hmccracken] Gee, what if Scott took over Calvin and hobbes?
[Robair]* Calvin looked like an older, very structured early Sunday page,
rather than the freeform Sunday C&H's we get now.
[hmccracken] Or Mak Trail? Or The Jackson Twins?
[kipw] Or Prince Valiant?
[Bob C]* Now, wait a minnit Harry! Nancy's fine, but Calvin's sacred. Gee, I
sound just like a Bushmiller fan, don't I?
[hmccracken] Somehow, I suspect that C&H will never be done by anyone other
than Watterson.
[Robair]* Doonesbury would be a natural comic strip to make the transition to
CD-ROM.
[Bob C]* Mark Trail. Now's there's a strip he can take on. Gee, I wonder how
many years we'll have to wait 'fore Cherry to get preggers? Took 'em long
enough to get married, dinnit?
[Robair]* Watterson is amazing. So protective of his characters in every
respect. He could walk away for good while the strip is still on top.
[kipw] Hmmm... how about a CD-ROM full of classic Nancy?
[hmccracken] 600MB of Nancy?
[Emru]* I want those Wayzata CD-ROMs. NOW!
[Emru]* Grrrr.
[hmccracken] I wonder how many strips you could fit on a disk, compressed?
Probably tens of thousands.
[Robair]* Interactive NANCY...sorted by subject matter, like Bad Dreams,
Sluggo peering through fence holes, etc...
[Bob C]* That I could go for. There's already scores of GIFs out there
violating copyrights, might as well have the real thing. Not scores of Nancy,
but comics.
[kipw] Mix and match your own punch lines.
[hmccracken] Emru <-- "Quicktoons II: What's Up Disc?" is kind of
disappointing. Not all that great from a technical standpoiont.
[Robair]* Was that the one that replicated cartoons in a multimedia style?
[hmccracken] Still, it's neat to be able to watch "Falling Hare" and "Parlez
Vous Woo" on my PC screen.
[kipw] That's the one you reprinted bits from, right?
[kipw] (In the Apa, that is)
[hmccracken] Right. Actually the reprinted bits were from Disc 1.
[Bob C]* Well, Harry, I get annoyed at the "graininess" of the scanned in
strips. I'd rather have quality strips on disc.
[hmccracken] Someone, I don't rememver who, is putting superhero comics out on
CD ROM.
[Robair]* Most multimedia animations I've come acrossas demos have been
grainy...
[Bob C]* I think that CD-ROM ought to be explored for archival purposes as
opposed to microfiche, even though, microfiche does limit unwarranted copying
and distribution.
[Emru]* Yeah :p
[Bob C]* I haven't seen the Cerebus anim demos, although I know that they're
out there.
[kipw] CD-ROM has the advantage that it won't get wiped by mishap.
[Robair]* Would like to see more CD-ROMs replace microfiche/microfilm because
the film media are so volatile, scratching, melting, scraping...
[kipw] Bob--is that based on the Animated Cerebus portfolio Sim did?
[hmccracken] Kip: I thought so too, but I just had a CD ROM (Grolier's
Encyclopedia) go bad on me somehow.
[Bob C]* Kip: Yup.
[Robair]* Bad? Data dropouts? Scratching? Or was this the 1988 version? 🙂
[kipw] All the facts started going wrong?
[Emru]* Harry < How is Grolier's, anyway? My dad is gonna get a CD-ROM one of
these days.
[hmccracken] It was new and working fine, but now acts like a damaged floppy
disk or hard drive. I don't know why.
[hmccracken] Kip <-- Ask me next month, when I'm finished doing my review.
Grolier's is good. Microsoft's Encarta is the slickest from a multimedia
standpoint.
[Bob C]* Any scratches on back?
[kipw] Tried it in another drive?
[Robair]* Encarta doesn't look half bad.
[hmccracken] Maybe some slight ones, but that's true of other discs I have
that work fine.
[kipw] Emru, we have Grolier's, and it's kind of clunky. The art is scanned
paintings,
[Bob C]* Yeah, but sometimes, all it takes is just a scratch in the wrong
place!
[hmccracken] Kipw <-- No, although I could (I just upgraded to a new drive).
But what I;m going to do is call for a new copy tomorrow.
[Emru]* Harry < Encarta is good from a multimedia standpoint? How so?
[kipw] Sounds like the thing to do. Some of my CDs won't work on one of our
players, so that's why I asked.
[hmccracken] Kip: do you have the new, 1994 edition?
[kipw] Looks like the 1991 version.
[hmccracken] Emru <-- The interface is very slick.
[hmccracken] (On Encarta, that is.)
[Emru]* Harry < So which would you recommend?
[hmccracken] Kip <-- The new 1994 edition is probably much better than the '91
one.
[hmccracken] I need to do some more research on the topic, and haven't looked
at Compton's, the other big contender, yet.
[kipw] I used to like our set of Comptons, which was from the 50s. It had a
great article on animation, with Disney illustrations.
[Emru]* Bah. I'm not sure I'd want to give Compton's the money.
[Robair]* Gang, thanks for the help! I've gotta be going now.
[kipw] Night, Robair!
[hmccracken] Yup. The company that thinks it invented multimedia. Are they
going to take credit for the wheel and fire next?
[Emru]* Okay Rob! G'nite!
[hmccracken] 'Night, Rob'!
[Robair]* See ya.
[Bob C]* Night Rob!
[hmccracken] Well, maybe we should be winding up?
[hmccracken] We seem to be sort of talked out.
[Emru]* Sounds like a plan.
[Bob C]* I figure I'm not going to give Compton's any money. Besides, I think
market forces will invalidate that patent, since I don't think even Compton
has the pockets to go after evrybody.
[kipw] I think their attempt to co-opt all multimedia will be as successful as
Apple's claim to their modified Xerox interface.
[hmccracken] Less so, even.
[hmccracken] Still, that doesn't mean they don't do a good multimedia
encyclopedia.
[kipw] Okey doke. I'm feeling less than witty at the moment.
[hmccracken] Good night, all!
[Emru]* What did my gaming buddies say in high school, again? "Greed kills."
[Emru]* Nitol!
[hmccracken] See you all next month!
[kipw] Night, Harry, Emru, Bob. Cripes, that's everyone!
[Bob C]* Night harry!
[kipw] Nexmo it is.
[Bob C]* Night Emru!