The year is 2000. A struggle over control of the newsgroups fuels the organization of warring factions. Bitter infighting perpetuates a universe of unrest. Flaming is constant. Victory is temporary. Cease-fire is nonexistent. A pause in stream of ad-hominems is only a signal to reconfigure the newsreader and trim the killfiles. Time is scarce before the next unrelenting thread begins. For a Netizen, debate is life. And LART is the only true peace.
- WWWWolf, plagiarizing MechWarrior2
(The above doesn't really describe r.g.r.n in early 2000, but it would if the d00dz would be there more often - but they aren't, probably because of RGRNCA. =)
Nethack is a GAME! It's a dungeon-hack-en-slash game for yer rejoicement - Much more interesting game than many other modern commercial games. It's available for many major brands of computers, spanning zillions o' operating systems.
Oh, and it's character-based (yes, there is a graphics version...) Looks boring too... You won't like it... until you try it, that is.
rec.games.roguelike.nethack is an Usenet newsgroup, dedicated for discussion about Nethack.
Whee. We're scared. Heck, this is... bad. Whohohohoooo.
First, "Hacker" is not same thing as a "cracker". I'm a hacker, and I have never "hacked into" anything. Okay, if you think "hacker" is a bad word, call me an "UNIX expert" then. (I'm not formally qualified, but maybe you can.)
But, the truth is, many people cross-post (or deliberately spam) r.g.r.n with their cracker stuff. (Frankly, if you spam ads about "hacker equipment" the first thing I think of is a DEC Alpha machine.) Some people even send messages only to r.g.r.n, asking, for example, how to crack a web server (after all, the "nethack" probably stands for "network hacking"...). [We can only guess what types of web servers those poor sex-deprived nerds want to crack. Ah ah... n00ght1 b0yz...]
The lowlife that can't spot the "rec.games" part - the very beginning of the newsgroup name - are the bad guys. The scum. We are the good guys.
RGRNCA is the r.g.r.n CR3T1NZ Advisory. RGRNCAMU is the RGRNCA Mobile Unit, responsible for carrying on the attacks. RGRNCA is a VR-based paramilitary group whose job is best explained by our motto ("CR3T1Nism Must Be Eradictated") and our battlecry ("Wrong newsgroup, pal!").
In reality, I have sent these nastygrams about the scum for long time. Then, one evening, it dawned me: I wrote a few lines to my notebook, and went to sleep. The lines I wrote later become the offical RGRNCAMU signature.
We're not affiliated with S.P.U.T.U.M... But I do respect them quite a lot.
Your land is probably not my land. (But Finland is a pretty free land, too.) The Internet is a global network, never ever forget that.
The point is: Usenetting is not a right, it's a priviledge. If you can't behave yourself, that priviledge can be taken away. Spamming off-topic messages is generally not a good idea.
This has been a modern western democracy as long as I can remember... I visited the former Soviet Union a few times while it existed, but it didn't had much effect. Probably only positive effect - the inflation they had meant ubeliveably cheap shopping in the tax free shops.
I'm not even a political type. I don't care. Go away. =)
My main field of expertise includes |/|/3aZ3lZ. However, we will handle the little regular spam we get as well.
WWWWolf, The morphing wolf-morph, Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none, Master of Obscure References, Writer of useless code, Hacker of The Brighter Side, at your service. ::bows:: Mundies know me as Urpo Lankinen. And what can I do for you?
I am the current Commander of RGRNCA, and so far, the only one that admits being in our forces. However, I'm not alone; There are people - smart people - who also do this kind of stuff.
First I'll deal with the Nazi part: **BONNNNNG** Thanks for playing. Godwin issa God. ::snicker::
Then, I would like to quote gen. Colin Powell, who said in his commentary to Sun Tzu's The Art of War:
"Nobody in his right mind who has seen war, who has seen death and war, can like war or want war."
As you have seen, I'm not one who believes that pity is a sickness. I see d00dz I educate as a fools who need guidance, not idiots who harass us on purpose. (Well, if someone does that, it's a different case, of course...)
I also feel content when there are no d00dz to smash. I do this to keep the group clean, not to eradictate the d00dz from the face of the Earth. What comes to my ideas, everyone is free to d00d wherever they d00d (just don't cause damage to anyone, OK?), as long as they keep it out of r.g.r.n. There are appropriate groups for d00dings...
It is my duty. Work of love - for the love of Usenet. No really, I'm not making this up. I really love Usenet and all the wonderful people I've met there.
Why, no! If you post something... strange to our Newsgroup, I will just post a nastygram to the newsgroup, and mail you our standard response form. (Of course, if you breached the netiquette by spamming or doing something equally nasty, I will skip this step...)
However, if you offend us second time, I will get truly nasty. In that case, I will skewer your attempt further. You can expect to get LARTed with a bullet to chest with RK200 assault rifle. [The full name is Kewlashnikow RK200 - RK200bt, to be exact.] don't worry, I will give you a black hood if you want...
Ay, BOFHen, this makes things too easy for the poor cretins. Death is just simply too easy way to get rid of them... But I try to be ethical. Seriously (no, really), I read some of the BOFH things from alt.sysadmin.recovery and I almost vomited and fainted... Besides, in VR community, death is just virtual, at least what comes to the death penalty due to largish breach of the netiquette.
What comes to your third offense... there will be no third offense. But if there will... believe me, I'm not a BOFH. But I'm sure your ISP employs some of them. If you crosspost, I will probably cross-post back an formal reply (well, more or less formal, at least I use tone that doesn't amuse anyone). Lad, if you started a crossposting spamfest, I will be really angry...
Of course, if you spam us... you don't want to know what happens then. You know, most people will just avoid speaking of such things. For a good reason.
"The gaze of the wolf reaches into our souls."
- Barry Lopez, Of Wolves and Men
This raises another question: What do I see? Well, nothing extraordinary. D3aUdZ just have no Life, it seems. They just are really, really ignorant and misbehaving. They would have some hope if they would behave themselves. (Maybe I'm too optimistic.)
According to Non Sequitur, it means "Your Torturer". Of course, it might be wrong. But who cares, anyway. (I repeat: I might annoy you, but I'm still not as torturing as an average BOFH.)
Junnoo, I justa hadta wrrrite yntereschtin' schtuff dees days. Sumtims I dunt care if I liv or dai. Junou. Etcetra.
English is not my native tongue. Bear with me. (That gutter talk is the official language of RGRNCA. Bear with that.)
And please don't mind about the typos and thinkos. I'm but a mortal being. To err is human... to prey (preferably on CR3T1NZ) lupine.
The d00d gets one point for each part of the newsgroup name, and one for each part s/he understood. Max is 8 points, and that's the only score you can stay alive with.
Some examples how these points are awarded:
We don't have an offical theme song. S.P.U.T.U.M's "Game Over, Man!" is a good one, though, and I think that the Battlezone opening theme fits the mood quite well, too (Battlezone CD-ROM, track 12).
As for why Battlezone theme... hell, I don't know. It was the first great march I was thinking of. =)
You can always sing the songs from the song book.
'cuz I'm a wolf. (Oh, that logo? No, that's not my mug shot. Take a look at my explanation.) Any questions?
So, you want to be a Good Citizen, not just a civilian. Very well - now you might ask, "What do I need to do?"
Being a Good Citizen is usually enough. Once the CR3T1N gets 10 replies from the readers, he might thing twice before posting again. If his ISP will be notified, ... ::hums a tune:: hmm hmm hmmm hm-hmmm ::whistles::...
For example, "Jason's" case in Nov 3 1999 was first carried out by a neophyte RGRNCA trooper. I didn't quite find the homophobic approach fair myself. a) I've never found such things fair, b) I'm bisexual myself. I refused to archive that strike. My approach was, I think, a bit more interesting. =)
I also felt a bit irritated by Virgo's slash against wolfil. Okay, Windows is crappy, but there's no need to offend the hapless people who use it.
I try to have some raw 100% Understanding and distilled Forgiveness in reserves in case a fellow trooper manages to offend me or anyone else. I had the bottles ready in above case. Don't count on it, however. =)
Conclusion: The big idea is to make the d00dz to realize they have made a Grave Mistake and they should rethink their behavior. The idea is not to flame them to cinder and expect them to figure out the stuff afterwards.
Check your facts! Take a look at the advertised page! Read the offending article! Then when you're absolutely positive it's a d00d crap, utterly off-topic and the poster is in dire need of education, educate them!
I have noticed some people who do periodic/often repeated stuff by hand in Usenet are sometimes easy to mistake something as the Real Thing. Often seen in alt.lifestyle.furry as tendency to get greet-happy about whelpday reports and repostings of Furveys.
Case: sweb.com's Nethack server and StarChaser's misfire. I'm guilty of this myself, but that was before RGRNCA existed. =)
Yeah, it doesn't look like it though. (And I don't write humor. I just write.)
No, I don't roleplay. I am an anthropomorphic wolf. Too bad I happen to have a human's body...
The Nethack Cafe really exists - in FurryMUCK. I think it would be cool to really build this building. (Too bad there are no areas where there is always September.)
And before you ask, no, I'm not this violent in VR environment. Killing disgusts me, unless it's for getting food... well, cr3t1nz can always be killed. Anyway, I'm a nice wolf. If you happen to meet me online (FM or IRC), say hello. I will not bite.
Okay, I admit that RGRNCA strikes, too, are a little off topic... and some people just simply don't like these messages. (Especially those that don't like my rather unique sense of humor.)
I add X-RGRNCA-Activity: header to all RGRNCA
messages, and also add [RGRNCA] to the subject line. This should make
it easy to kill all RGRNCA posts.
[Dec 1998: I ceased adding that header to the articles. Your best bet is to kill the articles by subject.]
True.
But consider this: alt.binaries.slack is one of the spam-cleanest groups in Usenet. Spammers fear them. That's because they are really, really good at spam-trapping. Those who spam to that group will vanish like a bad smell to Sahara.
Let's give some Warning Examples. "If you spam to our group, you will be disemboweled, spindled, teared limb to limb, deleted, punched, twirled, whirled, pinched, deallocated, and oh, killed, as well." Regexpers might think twice before regexping - that is what I want!
I would just like one thing: If you don't like these posts, don't flame me. (What I need right now is a confirmation that I am doing good job and hey, while you are there, give me a hug too.) I know that there are people who don't like RGRNCA strikes at all. On the other hand, there are people who seem to like my rather odd sense of humor.
And hey, I send these replies just because the d00d spammed us first place. That's the D00Dz fault. Thanks to the d00ds I now have a reflex that makes me to reply to the d00ds immediately when I see them. I'm innocent. THE D00D MADE ME TO DO IT. No really. If the d00ds had not posted, I wouldn't had sent my replies. Got it? I don't do this just for fun, for Christ's sake, this is my duty. No, I'm serious.
Oh, sure.
First, I was very liberal about what to report and what not. Nowadays, I send TONS of abuse mail.
Besides, it might have been that my mail transport agent (or mail program, even) has been broken and the abuse mail had not been delivered correctly *for entire time I had been using Sendmail*, which means Hoki shall char the daemon happily for that merit only. Stupid "From" headers. They should get quoted automagically.
Anyway, expect more confirmed kills in the days coming.
Hell, I have even more of less RGRNCA-related questions with answers elsewhere. But hey, you can also ask me.
[Index] [Up] [Main] [Weyfour WWWWolf]
Last modified: Sun Aug 11 23:16:07 EEST 2002
$Id: faq.html,v 1.4.0.2 2000/05/19 05:44:17 wwwwolf Exp wwwwolf $