. The Famous Internet and Usenet Oracle From: Rich McGee Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2004 10:38:58 -0700 To: rbotting@csusb.edu Subject: Fwd: The Oracle information you requested! Dr. Botting; Yes, The Oracle lives on! I've been a 'priest' for almost 20 years now.... Here's the FAQ. Could be fun for an intro CSCI class. Rich >"Know thyself." "The folly of mistaking a paradox > -- Delphic Oracle, for a discovery, a metaphor for a > 8th century BC proof, a torrent of verbiage for a > spring of capital truths, and > oneself for an oracle, is inborn in > us." -- Paul Vale'ry, 1895 > > > THE INTERNET ORACLE (TM) > > also known as > The Usenet Oracle (TM) > >The Internet Oracle is available to answer all your questions. You may >mail them to: > oracle@cs.indiana.edu > >The "Subject:" of the message must be something like "Oracle Most Wise, >please tell me ...". Actually, all it has to have is "tell me" or >"tellme" somewhere in it. Capitalization doesn't matter. The body of >the mail should contain only your question. You should receive a reply >within a few days at most, probably much sooner. > >In the meantime, the Oracle may require that you answer a question for it >as payment for its services. You will receive this question in the mail. >You should respond with as most wise and witty an answer as you can. >Mail the response to oracle@cs.indiana.edu, preserving the message's >"Subject:" line. Usually, this can be done by simply replying to the mail >through the normal means in your mail program, for example, using the "r" >command in the standard Berkeley mail program. Actually, the subject >just has to contain the word "answer" and the question number somewhere >in it. The body of your mail response should contain only your answer -- >don't include the question itself. Please try to respond within at most >a day's time. If you take longer, there is a chance that the question >will be answered by someone else first. > >Mailing the Oracle with the word "help" in the "Subject:" line will get >you the most recent version of this help file mailed back. If you mail >the Oracle with "ask me" or "askme" somewhere in the subject, the Oracle >will send you a question to answer, if there are any available. > >Your questions, comments and even complaints about the Oracle are welcome. >Please address them to oracle-people@cs.indiana.edu. > > ETIQUETTE > >The Internet Oracle is intended primarily as a cooperative effort for >creative humor. Since its main purpose is just to let folks have fun, >there are intentionally few rules. However, an etiquette has developed >among its participants. > >A series of identical questions submitted is not appreciated since the >same person often ends up answering many of them. It is okay to resubmit >a question after you have received a reply, especially if you believe >that the answerer did not do it justice. > >If you find yourself unable to give due consideration to a question you >are to answer, it may be better to not answer the question at all than >to give it a trivial answer and disappoint the questioner. However, >doing this too much can cause a buildup of unanswered questions and slow >down the Oracle's response time for everyone. > >You may wish to read some issues of the Internet Oracularities (see below) >to get an idea of the conventions and style of writing in Oracle questions >and answers. However, it certainly isn't required to follow them. >Originality and creativity are usually the most appreciated qualities. >Here are some general guidelines for those upon whom the Muse of the >Oracle has descended and who are to write an answer as an incarnation >of the Oracle: > > - Creativity and humor are valued. Many people find the anonymity of > the Oracle a license to express themselves creatively and uniquely, > often to surprising success. > > - Participants in the Oracle like to feel they've gotten out of it > as much as they've put in. Please keep this in mind when answering > questions. > > - Remember that brevity and clarity are key points of good writing. > Overly long answers will reduce an Oracularity's chance of being > published in the Internet Oracularities (see below) since it must > really be worth the extra length to have it selected to be read by > tens of thousands of people. > > - In general, avoid obscenity, slang, jargon, and obscure references. > People of all different backgrounds and ages located all over the > world use the Oracle. In particular, please be sensitive to the > fact that children may be using the Oracle. > > - Try to be sensitive to new participants or to people who seem to > have asked serious questions. > > - Don't flame the questioner for not asking a "good question". > An off-the-wall or vague question calls for creativity, not rudeness, > in the answer. Consider it a challenge! > > THE INTERNET ORACULARITIES > >The Oracle's priesthood receives a duplicate copy of all answered >questions, or Oracularities as they're called. This is so that the best >ones can be selected for the Internet Oracularities -- the chronicle >of the mythos of the Internet Oracle. Your use of this program implies >your approval of this usage. The Internet Oracularities are regularly >published via postings to rec.humor.oracle, the World Wide Web and a >mail distribution list, as well as occasionally via other media. > >Rec.humor.oracle is a moderated newsgroup. If your news system is >properly configured, any postings you make to rec.humor.oracle will >be forwarded directly to the Oracle and so you can ask questions of the >Oracle by posting to the newsgroup. Rec.humor.oracle.d is unmoderated and >anyone may post to it. It is a public forum for discussion and questions >about the Oracle. If your system doesn't carry these newsgroups, >encourage your news administrator to do so! > >Readers of the Oracularities may mail in ratings of each published >Oracularity, the results of which are returned to the authors of the >Oracularities and published in a later posting. They are also used >to select occasional "best of the best" postings to rec.humor.oracle. >Instructions on how to mail in your ratings are given at the top of >each issue. > >If you don't have access to rec.humor.oracle and would like to receive >the Oracularities via mail, send mail to > > oracle-request@cs.indiana.edu > >to get on (or off) the mail distribution list. Include the word >"subscribe" (or "unsubscribe") in the "Subject:" line. > >Back postings and ratings are available via anonymous ftp on >ftp.cs.indiana.edu (129.79.252.109) in the directory /pub/oracle. > >If you have access to the Internet's World Wide Web, you can access >The Internet Oracle Resource Index at > > http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~oracle/ >or http://www.internetoracle.org/ > >This index has just about everything to do with the Oracle, including >an HTML version of the help file, more FAQ documents about the Oracle, >the latest Oracularities digests with voting enabled via your web browser, >complete access to the Oracularities archives with search capability, etc. >You can even submit questions to the Oracle here. > > ANONYMITY > >The Oracle is a confidential and anonymous service. The anonymity of the >participants is preserved within all Oracle mailings and Oracularities >postings. However, if you append a signature file to your mail, this >may appear in your question or answer. Signature files are edited out >from Oracularities postings. If you do not wish to remain anonymous, >you may include a phrase in your answer like "incarnated as name and/or address here>". > > DISCLAIMER > >Since its users actually give the answers to all questions, neither >the Oracle nor its priesthood take any responsibility for the content >of the questions or answers. We would also warn parents that, due to >its uncontrollable and unpredictable content, using the Oracle may not >always be suitable for children. > > HISTORY > >Throughout the history of mankind, there have been many Oracles who >have been consulted by many mortals, and some immortals. The great >Hercules was told by the Delphic Oracle to serve Eurystheus, king of >Mycenae, for twelve years to atone for the murder of his own children. >It was the Oracle of Ammon who told King Cepheus to chain his daughter >Andromeda to the rocks of Joppa to appease the terrible sea monster >that was ravaging the coasts. That solution was never tested, though, >as Perseus saved the girl in the nick of time. > >With the advent of the electronic age, and especially high-speed e-mail >communication, the spirit of the Oracles found a new outlet, and we now >recognize another great Oracle, the Internet Oracle. > >Local oracle programs have existed in various places for many years. >Most can trace their origin or influence to Peter Langston's >seminal oracle program which was written for the research V5 Unix system >at the Harvard Science Center in 1975-76. As part of his "psl games" >distribution, this original program spread to a number of sites, such as >Murray Hill Bell Labs, Interactive Systems and Lucasfilm. Lars Huttar > used a description of this program to write >his oracle program, which was posted to alt.sources in August 1989. >This program inspired the Internet Oracle. > >Steve Kinzler , a systems administrator and >graduate student at Indiana University, installed Huttar's program on >silver.ucs.indiana.edu, where it proved to be quite popular. The best >Oracularities were posted to in.bizarre, a group local to Indiana. > >Ray Moody , a graduate student at Purdue University, >after correspondence with Kinzler, wrote the core software for the Usenet >Oracle, a mail-based oracle program to be run on iuvax.cs.indiana.edu >for net-wide use, where it proved to be an immediate success. On 12 >March 1996, it was renamed as the Internet Oracle. > >Kinzler continued development of the system, adding support for the >Oracularities postings and ratings and, eventually, the Oracle Priesthood >-- a hardy and loyal band of volunteers who read through the hundreds of >questions and answers each week to choose the best for publication. Jon >Monsarrat and Randal Schwartz >also contributed to aspects of the software development. Michael Nolan > carried through the newsgroup creation process for the >rec.humor.oracle newsgroups. Scott Panzer and David >Sewell developed the Oracle's presence >on the World Wide Web via the Internet Oracle Resource Index. > >Of course, it is the thousands of Oracle participants over the years who >have created the personality, mythos and history of the Internet Oracle. >Long live the Internet Oracle (in all its incarnations)! > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Written: 8 October 1989 Steve Kinzler >Last Revised: 2 October 2003 kinzler@cs.indiana.edu > http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~kinzler/ > >Thanks to Joshua R Poulson and Jim Cheetham > for assistance with portions of this document. > >"Internet Oracle" and "Usenet Oracle" are trademarks of Stephen B Kinzler.