Amiga ISO Collection/AmigaDemoCD2.iso/ASCII/TEXTE/c.s.a.reviews/doc/Introduction

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Path: news.uh.edu!barrett
From: [e-mail] (comp.sys.amiga.reviews moderator)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Subject: MONTHLY POSTING: Introduction to comp.sys.amiga.reviews
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga.misc
Date: 1 Apr 1994 12:00:09 GMT
Organization: The Amiga Online Review Column - ed. Daniel Barrett
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Expires: 1 May 1994 05:00:00 GMT
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Summary: How to write, submit, and request reviews
Keywords: monthly posting
Originator: [e-mail]


              AN INTRODUCTION TO
            COMP.SYS.AMIGA.REVIEWS

This document was last updated on:    February 1, 1994

    Welcome to comp.sys.amiga.reviews!  This is a moderated newsgroup
for reviews of products related to the Commodore Amiga computer.  All
reviews are written by YOU, the wonderful readers of USENET, and I invite
you to send me your opinions of any Amiga hardware, software, books, or
whatever else you believe is interesting and relevant to the Amiga.

    This document describes:

    I.    How to write your review.
    II.    How to submit your review.
    III.    Special help for non-native English speakers.
    IV.    How to get copies of previous reviews.
    V.    Finding new reviews quickly ("mirrors" please note!).
    VI.    Policy on vendor responses to reviews.
    VII.    Disclaimer and legal stuff.

    This is one of several documents describing comp.sys.amiga.reviews.
The others are:

    o    An index of all reviews.
    o    A "fill in the blanks" template for writing a review.
    o    Some guidelines for review writers.
    o    The newsgroup's charter.
    o    A list of requested products that need reviews.

You can ftp these from math.uh.edu in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/doc,
or request them by e-mail from [e-mail].  (Note
that this is not a "ListServ" but a live human -- me. :-))


I.  HOW TO WRITE A REVIEW FOR COMP.SYS.AMIGA.REVIEWS

    You do not have to be a "great writer" in order to write a review.
All you need is enthusiasm and some experience with the product you are
reviewing.  If English is not your best language, you can arrange to get
special help with English grammar and style (see Part III).

    Everybody loves a good review; and by writing one, you are doing a
great service for all your friends in the Amiga community!  In addition,
when your review is posted in c.s.a.reviews, its usefulness doesn't end
there.  Your review is archived (saved) on a publically accessible computer,
so anybody on USENET can retrieve it and refer to it in the future.

    There are three kinds of reviews that you might write.  They
are the MINI-REVIEW, the FULL REVIEW, and the SURVEY.

    (1)    The mini-review

        Did you just get a program that, on first impression, looks
        really good?  Or really terrible?  A mini-review is for
        exactly this:  first impressions.

        Write down 2-4 organized paragraphs (or more, if you like)
        about the product, describing it briefly, and stating what
        you like and don't like about it.

        Later, when you know the product better, please consider
        writing a full review.  After all, your impressions might
        change after you have used the product for more time.

    (2)    The full review

        Just like in the magazines, only better... because YOU
        wrote it!

        You should feel familiar with the product before writing a
        full review.  It can be in any format you like, and any
        length, as long as it is organized and readable.  If you are
        having trouble organizing your thoughts, I encourage you to
        use the "comp.sys.amiga.reviews Full Review Template", which
        appears in a separate article posted every month.  This is a
        "fill in the blanks" form with instructions and hints on how
        to organize your review.  (You may request a copy from
        [e-mail] any time.  Note that this
        is not a "ListServ" but a live human -- me. :-))

        Even if you don't use the Template, I encourage you to look
        at it because it might give you ideas about what to write.

        Most importantly, remember that your review is going to be
        read by thousands of people.  Some of them will base their
        buying decisions on your review.  So, be as careful and
        accurate as you can, and try to make your review interesting
        to read.

    (3)    The survey

        Once in a while, a reader will ask USENET for opinions about
        an Amiga product.  Sometimes, the reader even collects all
        the responses and posts a summary.  This is a great idea...
        but a few months later, the summary is gone and forgotten.

        This does not have to happen!  After you collect the
        responses and organize them, send the results to
        comp.sys.amiga.reviews, so they can be archived and made
        available to future readers.

        I have only a few guidelines for the survey article.  First,
        make sure you inform everybody (in your original posting)
        that you will be making their responses public.  Second,
        when you write your survey, don't just append everybody's
        responses and send it out.  Try to summarize and organize
        the information in useful ways, perhaps using tables,
        or grouping similar pieces of information.  Then, at the
        end of the survey, you can append everybody's responses if
        you like.

        If you would like to see an example of a finished survey,
        send a request to the "amiga-reviews-requests" address
        listed in section II.

    No matter what kind of review you write, always include the
following information at the top of the review:

    o    The name of the product.

    o    The name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address
        (if applicable) of the author or manufacturer.  If the
        telephone number is an "800" number (toll-free in the USA),
        please call it and ask for a non-800 number for our
        international friends.

    o    The list price.  Be sure to say what currency units (US
        dollars, francs, etc.) you mean, since USENET is
        international.

    o    A short description (1 or 2 sentences) of the product.

    o    Whether the product is copy-protected and/or installs
        on a hard drive.

    o    Whether or not the product works with accelerated CPU's
        (68030, etc.) and the latest version of the Amiga operating
        system, if you know.

In addition, please:

    o    Proofread your review.  Run it through a spelling checker
        and re-read the whole thing before submitting it.

    o    Keep all your lines of text shorter than 80 characters.

    o    Remember to use proper capitalization.  For example,
        "RAM" and "ROM" are in all capitals because they are
        abbreviations; use "MB" for megabytes, not "Mb" nor "mb"
        which mean megaBITS (same for K=Kilobytes, k=kilobits);

    o    Try to avoid abbreviations and slang that are unique to your
        country.  Remember that people all over the world will read
        your review.

    o    Make program names noticeable.  For example, the sentences

            I did a list on devs.
            Double-click on edit to invoke se.

        are more clear if you write:

            I did a List on DEVS:.
            Double-click on "edit" to invoke "se".

    o    Use tabs, not spaces, for consistent indenting.

    o    Put 1 blank line between paragraphs.

    o    Put two spaces, not just one, at the end of each sentence.

    A complete set of helpful writer's guidelines is available in the
"Writer's Checklist" article posted every month.  It is also available on
our ftp site in the "doc" subdirectory.


II.  HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR REVIEW TO COMP.SYS.AMIGA.REVIEWS

    comp.sys.amiga.reviews is a "moderated" newsgroup.  This means
that you cannot post anything in the newsgroup directly.  Instead,
you send it to the moderator (me) who can accept or reject the review.
When the review is accepted, the moderator posts it.

    Mail your completed review to:

        [e-mail]

    In addition, if you want to discuss something with me about a
review, send mail to:

        [e-mail]

    Do not worry whether your review will be accepted or not.  As long
as your review is accurate and clear, it will almost definitely be
accepted.  My job is really to help make the reviews look "standard" (in the
Subject: line, for example) and readable, keep non-review material out of the
newsgroup, and avoid biased commercial announcements.


III.  SPECIAL HELP FOR NON-NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS

    If English is not your first language, don't be afraid to write a
review.  Try it anyway.  And when you submit your review, include an extra
note to me at the top of the letter, asking for help.  I will read your
review, make suggestions and corrections, and send it back for you to check.


IV.  HOW TO GET COPIES OF PREVIOUS REVIEWS

    An index of all previous reviews is posted on the first day of every
month in comp.sys.amiga.reviews.

    If you have ftp access, you can download reviews from the following
machines:

    Location:    USA        (the "real" archives)
    Machine:    math.uh.edu
    IP address:    129.7.128.1
    Directory:    pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews

    Location:    Europe        (a "mirror" site)
    Machine:    nic.funet.fi
    IP address:    128.214.6.100
    Directory:    pub/amiga/misc/reviews

Use the login name

        anonymous

and use your own e-mail address as the password.  The reviews are in the
directory given above.  Administrative information, such as this
"Introduction" article, are in the subdirectory "doc".

    As an example, to get a reviews from math.uh.edu after you are
logged in, type at the "ftp>" prompt:

        ftp> cd pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews
        ftp> ls -C
        (a list of files and subdirectories is shown)
        ftp> cd software/text
        (pick the one you want and use the "get" command)
        ftp> get Name_Of_Review
        ftp> get Another_Review
        ftp> cd ../../doc
        ftp> get Introduction
        ftp> cd ../hardware/graphics
        ftp> get Yet_Another_Review
        ...
        ftp> quit

If you need help using ftp, please ask a user consultant or systems
administrator at your site.

    If you do not have ftp access, send mail to

        [e-mail]

ask for a copy of the review, and I will mail it to you.  BE SURE TO
INCLUDE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS.  For faster service (probably) by e-mail,
you can use the mailserver at lists.funet.fi to request reviews by mail.
Send the word "help" (no quotes) on a line by itself to

        [e-mail]

Note that this address is a "ListServ", but all the "math.uh.edu" addresses
reach a live human -- me.

    If you would like to see a review of a particular product that is
not in the index, send a request to [e-mail].
Every month, I post a list of all requested reviews and ask for volunteers
to write them.  There is no guarantee that anybody will do it, but at least
I will provide this service.


V.  FINDING NEW REVIEWS QUICKLY ("MIRRORS" PLEASE NOTE!)

    The main ftp site, math.uh.edu, has files that contains the names of
all reviews modified in the last 1, 7, and 30 days.  They are called

        pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/new/NewSince1Days
        pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/new/NewSince7Days
        pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews/new/NewSince30Days

and are updated automatically every day.  If you set up a "mirror" site, it
will save you lots of time if you transfer ONLY the reviews listed in
these files.


VI.  POLICY ON VENDOR RESPONSES TO REVIEWS

    Sometimes, the author or company ("vendor") who created a product
will submit comments about someone's review of their product.  Here is my
policy of what to do with these comments:

(1)    Factual corrections

    These include corrections in address, telephone number, list price,
    reports of bug fixes completed or in progress, and other matters
    that the vendor would know best.

    I post these corrections in c.s.a.reviews and insert them directly
    into the archived copy of the review.

(2)    Statements about the product's operation

    The review author says the product does something, but the vendor
    disagrees.  Essentially, these are statements of fact that I, as
    moderator, cannot verify.

    If these statements are well-organized and non-commercial in nature,
    I post them in c.s.a.reviews.  Then, if the reviewer has no
    objection, I may insert them into the archived copy of the review.
    They are CLEARLY MARKED that they were not part of the original
    review and came from the vendor.

(3)    Differences of opinion, and commercial information

    These include disagreements with the review author's opinions,
    advertisements, product "hype", announcements of products and
    services that are not yet on the market, and anything else that
    concerns opinions rather than facts.

    Essentially, I do nothing with these.  The reviews newsgroup is not
    for discussion of products.  The vendor is welcome to post opinions
    about the review in any other Amiga newsgroup.  (Every review has an
    appropriate newsgroup listed in its "Followup-To:" line.)

Under no circumstances will I act as an arbitrator between the reviewer and
the vendor.


VII.  DISCLAIMER AND LEGAL STUFF

    In the following conditions, the "reviewer" is the person who wrote a
particular review.  The "moderator" is the moderator of the newsgroup
comp.sys.amiga.reviews.

(1)    All opinions stated in a review are those of the reviewer, and
    not necessarily those of the comp.sys.amiga.review moderator,
    nor the organization whose computers are used to post the review.

    Neither the moderator, nor the organization whose computers are
    used to post the review, will be held liable for the accuracy or
    content of the review material, nor for any errors of omission
    the moderator may make when editing or posting the review.

(2)    All reviews remain the property of the reviewer.

    By submitting a review, the reviewer agrees that his/her review
    may be posted on USENET and included in:

        1. Newsletters and other printed matter available freely with a
           copying and distribution fee of not more than $2.00 an issue;
           and,

        2. Newsletters on magnetic media and other forms of magnetic
           distribution such as the USENET summary disks available
           freely with a copying and distribution fee of not more than
           $6.00 per floppy disk (2 MB and under).

        3. The Fred Fish "Fresh Fish" CD-ROMs, the Walnut Creek "Aminet"
           CD-ROMs, and any other CD-ROM of freely distributable material
           with a cost of not more than $30.00.

        4. Electronic network distributions, either by the standard
           USENET distribution or on a commercial information system
           (e.g., the Portal System) charging no more than $6.00 per
           hour of non-prime time 2400 baud connection not including
           local access charges (e.g., Telenet or Tymnet access charges).

All currency units above are in US dollars.  These monetary amounts may be
changed slightly in the future by the moderator to reflect inflation and
fluctuations in the price of paper, disk media, and connection charges.

    The above notwithstanding, articles appearing in the newsgroup
comp.sys.amiga.reviews may NOT be included in any distribution over which a
compilation copyright is enforced.

    Articles to be included cannot be edited nor modified in any way
except to remove the standard news headers and the MODERATOR's network
signature.  The original AUTHOR's signature must not be removed.  The
original author is to be credited with authorship.  Excerpts may be used
according to the Fair Use Laws of the United States.

    If anyone wishes to use a review in any way that would violate the
above conditions, he/she should contact the original author of the article.
The moderator of comp.sys.amiga.reviews will not act as arbitrator in this
situation.

    If you disagree with any of these conditions, you are welcome to
discuss them by sending mail to [e-mail].  If you are
not willing to abide by these conditions, then do not submit a review.

---

   Dan Barrett, Moderator, comp.sys.amiga.reviews
   Send reviews to:    [e-mail]
   Request information:    [e-mail]
   Moderator mail:    [e-mail]
   Anonymous ftp site:  math.uh.edu, in /pub/Amiga/comp.sys.amiga.reviews