Endnotes

for Netiquette by Virginia Shea
published by Albion Books, San Francisco

Endnote #1 (Page 19)

William Gibson invented the term cyberspace -- and this definition for it -- in his book Neuromancer, the original cyberpunk novel.

Endnote #2 (Page 20)

Quarterman's book The Matrix: Computer Networks and Conferencing Systems Worldwide is an excellent overview of the net (Digital Press, 1990).

Endnote #3 (Page 20)

The great John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and lyricist for the Grateful Dead.

Endnote #4 (Page 21)

Vaporware: Software that exists only in the imagination of the marketing department.

Endnote #5 (Page 23)

Flames are angry letters or discussion group postings, usually sent in response to an offensive letter. A bozo filter (also called a kill file) allows a reader to avoid seeing mail from anyone he or she considers a bozo.

Endnote #6 (Page 25)

This definition is cribbed from Quarterman's The Matrix, p. 278.

Endnote #7 (Page 26)

For an excellent guide to Internet and other cyberspace resources, pick up NetGuide, from Random House Electronic Publishing.

Endnote #8 (Page 40)

For readers who don't remember carbon paper: It's like the black stuff they put between the sheets of your Visa receipt, only in 8 1/2" x 11" pages. People used to put it between sheets of typing paper and make their copies at the same time as the original. It saved a lot of time at the copier, which was an especially good thing given that hardly anyone had copiers.

Endnote #9 (Page 41)

Actually, there's a controversy on the net -- not exactly raging, but ongoing -- over how important these issues are. Some people believe that electronic communication should be spontaneous and from-the-hip. They don't think anyone should worry about spelling or grammar. Others feel it's worthwhile to think before you post, and that bad spelling and grammar make a bad impression. Obviously, I belong to the second group. However, spelling and grammar flames are always bad form. See Rule 7.

Endnote #10 (Page 41)

23 or older, or out of school for two or more years.

Endnote #11 (Page 47)

The text may also be incomprehensible gibberish, but that's a separate issue.

Endnote #12 (Page 54)

See "Emoticons" on page 59 for explanation of this symbol.

Endnote #13 (Page 55)

Wall Street Journal, November 29, 1993, "Manager's Journal: Robert's Electronic Rules of Order" by Michael Schrage.

Endnote #14 (Page 71)

Someone actually did this in the aftermath of the 1994 LA earthquake. The net responded with reams of flameage, an utter waste of time.

Endnote #15 (Page 74)

Thanks to Desiree McCrorey, Jim Graham, Kay Klier, David Wren-Hardin, and others on rec.pets.cats.

Endnote #16 (Page 78)

If you're looking for legitimate places to adver... I mean, post product information, check out the USENET "biz" hierarchy, comp.newproducts, and various "*.forsale" groups.

Endnote #17 (Page 82)

Remember:
A host is a host
From coast to coast
But always connect to the host that's close.

Endnote #18 (Page 93)

"A Reporter at Large: E-Mail From Bill" by John Seabrook, in the New Yorker, Jan. 10, 1994.

Endnote #19 (Page 96)

From the classic TV show "The Odd Couple."

Endnote #20 (Page 97)

Cover Your Ass.

Endnote #21 (Page 101)

The disclaimer is often embedded in a "sig file" that automatically appears in every note you send. In fact, the standard disclaimer may have been the reason the sig file was invented.

Endnote #22 (Page 110)

Printed in TECHNOS: Quarterly of Education and Technology, 3(1), pp. 22-26.

Endnote #23 (Page 111)

You can retrieve Yurman's report, entitled "Email Courtesy," from the Red Rock Eater information archive maintained by Phil Agre. Just send email to rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu with the subject line "archive send courtesy".

Endnote #24 (Page 112)

To retrieve Agre's article "The Art of Getting Help," send email to rre-request@weber.ucsd.edu with the subject line "archive send getting-help".

Endnote #25 (Page 115)

In The Official America Online Membership Kit & Tour Guide, by Tom Lichty, p. 249.

Endnote #26 (Page 116)

"Love Over the Wires" by Paulina Borsook, in Wired magazine vol. 1.4, September/October 1993.

Endnote #27 (Page 117)

"He went to the WELL too often," San Francisco Examiner, July 13, 1993.

Endnote #28 (Page 118)

"The Strange Case of the Electronic Lover" by Lindsy Van Gelder, Ms., October 1985.

Endnote #29 (Page 118)

Statistic from "Gender Issues in Computer Networking" by Leslie Regan Shade, McGill University.

Endnote #30 (Page 120)

Rot13 encryption can also be used when posting a "spoiler" -- a note that reveals the ending of, for example, a movie or novel.

Endnote #31 (Page 126)

However, the last thing I want to do is cast aspersions on system administrators as a group. In general, sysadmins are overworked and underrecognized. Be nice to your system administrator and she'll be nice to you.

Endnote #32 (Page 126)

Any UNIX sysadmin worth his salt can use the grep command to concoct a simple script to search all incoming and outgoing mail.

Endnote #33 (Page 129)

"Privacy Act would force firms to inform their employees about E-mail monitoring," in PC Week -- Special Report on Workplace Privacy, June 28, 1993.

Endnote #34 (Page 130)

For an explanation of how all this works, see Bruce Schneier's Applied Cryptography (NY: John Wiley & Sons, 1994).

Endnote #35 (Page 131)

Phil Zimmerman created PGP, or "Pretty Good Privacy," an implementation of the public-key encryption concept for personal computers. PGP is currently embroiled in a patent dispute and availability of its freeware version is limited.

Endnote #36 (Page 131)

You can contact the EFF at info@eff.org or 202-347-5400.

Endnote #37 (Page 133)

Connect with server rtfm.mit.edu and look for the directory called /pub/usenet/news.answers/law/Copyright-FAQ, files part1-part6. Or try ftp.cni.org, in directory /CNI/forums/cni-copyright/other/FAQ. You can also obtain a copy via email. Start by sending a message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu with the command "help" in the body.

Endnote #38 (Page 138)

Some FAQs and related documents can be copied electronically but not printed without paying a license fee. Erik J. Heels' wonderful "Legal List" works this way. (It's available via FTP at ftp.cni.org, directory /CNI/forums/cni-copyright/other/FAQ/legallist.txt).