[continued from previous message]

* The better solution, though it will require some investment of time: tell
your news administrator to "update his/her active file with moderated NGs
properly marked." Mention c.b.c by name. Active files list all newsgroups
on a news server. If it's inaccurate, your newsreader will never know.
This will probably fix other moderated newsgroups on your server, and your
fellow users will greatly appreciate it, I'll wager. You may have to be
persistent about this, in the same way that Ken Starr is persistent about
White House interns.

* The half a solution: tell your ISP to jump in a lake.

| If you are trying to post to Spiro's mailing list (1.1.4), it won't work.
| Try posting or direct-mailing your submission instead (2.1.3).

2.3.2 'You keep saying my post is garbled'

If we said that, your post *is* garbled -- you probably mailed it and your mailer ate it. We have a picture of Eudora Welty on our dartboard. I hit
a bullseye last week after someone sent their uucode as an attachment, and Eudora promptly made "intelligent" [sic] formatting decisions that ruined it.

Do the following check list:

* NEVER POST OR MAIL yENC!!!

* If you have a MIME-enabled NEWSREADER, then you MUST MAIL YOUR POST.
If you don't, then post it UUencoded.

* If you have a MIME-enabled MAILER PROGRAM, then you MUST SEND THE BINARY
AS AN ATTACHMENT. If you don't, send the UUcode in your message body.

Most of the time, someone forgets to UUencode the program, or they sent
the UUcode accidentally as an attachment, and this is easy to reconcile.
If we complain about your post, we want it again. Please, resend it!

2.3.2.1 'But that didn't work!'

Failing that, you might have a peculiar program that just decides to chomp
your messages to death. We don't archive all the mailing programs in the
world to test your message with. I use Elm, and Elm exclusively, because
Eudora is Moloch and Microsoft Exchange is Satan. You might have different opinions about the demonic potential of these mailer programs, but the
fact of the matter is any good mailer will have options to turn off its
special formatting and to do sane attachments. If it doesn't, get a new
mailer.

We are aware that CompuServe OldMail destroys postings en-route, and have
a semi-reliable way of rescuing them. Just mention you're using OldMail in
your message body, and we can probably save it.

Is anyone still using OldMail?

2.3.3 'I can't read old postings in the group'

This is something you should take up with your ISP. Old news articles are
kept on your ISP's news spool for only a limited time, and most local ISPs
only keep posts less than a week old. I'm spoiled by Concentric, which keeps posts up to a month. Odds are if you can't see prior postings, or get 'Cancelled or expired' messages, your ISP does not archive postings very long and you should have a nice friendly chat with them involving physical harm.

| You can also browse old postings in the group in Spiro's mailing list
| going back to the list's creation date. See section 1.1.4.

2.3.4 'I can't read this group at all!'

Your news administrator may have decided, for whatever reason, not to allow binaries groups on his/her server. Usually this is a space consideration;
just think of how much space alt.binaries.erotica.extremely.big.jpgs takes
up on a news spool.

In such a case, you're pretty much left with two options: dropping by their office with a cannon (illegal except in Libya), or telling them to allow comp.binaries.cbm on their server or you'll find a new ISP. Vote with your dollars -- it's your money.

2.3.4.1 'I can see some posts, but not all'

You have a flaky news spool, and your news administrator needs to get their caboose in gear. Drop by this URL:

http://www.floodgap.com/comp.binaries.cbm/

and select What's playing on c.b.c this week. Confront them with this list. Threaten pets or allege unspeakable acts with their next-door neighbor. Most news administrators are guilty of that. You may also consider checking out
a new provider because if their news link is flaky, other things are probably subpar in their service offerings as well.

3. Seriously

3.1 Disclaimer

Because of the sue-crazy nature of these United States, Bill Ward felt compelled to write a legal disclaimer into the previous FAQ. So do I.

The use of programs posted on c.b.c is at your own risk. c.b.c moderators cannot be held legally liable if a program published on this group, or the (im)proper use of such a program, causes damage of a monetary, property or personal nature. You agree to indemnify and hold blameless the moderators
in such an event. c.b.c cannot be held liable in the unlikely event that a copyrighted work is distributed to the detriment of the copyright owner, nor can the moderators carry personal responsibility for the content or nature
of postings. c.b.c takes no legal liability, and neither can you assign liability to the group or its moderators, either collectively or individually.

If you do not agree with these terms, you must not use programs posted here. Your use of programs on c.b.c and your subscription to this newsgroup constitute your complete and binding acceptance of these policies without restriction. This FAQ, and the policies and legal disclaimers therein, is subject to change without notice. The terms of this FAQ and the legal disclaimers therein shall be interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California, United States of America.

3.2 Computer Workshops' relationship to c.b.c

Even though I run CWI, and I also do a lot of operations on c.b.c, CWI has
no relationship to c.b.c, and vice versa. This is the official word.
Computer Workshops has nothing to do with this group.

** END OF FAQ **

--
Cameron Kaiser * ckaiser@floodgap.com * posting with a Commodore 128
Floodgap Systems: http://www.floodgap.com/
personal page: http://www.cameronkaiser.com/
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: Agency HUB, Dunedin - New Zealand | Fido<>Usenet Gateway (3:770/3)