Q0: I am new to sci.fratals. What should I know about being online?
A0: There are a couple of common mistakes people make, posting ads, posting large binaries (images or programs), and posting off-topic.
Do Not Post Images to sci.fractals. If you follow this rule people will be your friend. There is a special place for you to post your images, alt.binaries.pictures.fractals. The other group (alt.fractals.pictures) is considered obsolete and may not be carried to as many people as alt.binaries.pictures.fractals. In fact there is/was a CancelBot which will delete any binary posts it finds in sci.fractals (and most other non-binaries newsgroup) so nearly no one will see it.
Post only about fractals, this includes fractal mathematics, software to generate fractals, where to get fractal posters and T-shirts, and fractals as art. Do not bother posting about news events not directly related to fractals, or about which OS / hardware / language is better. These lead to flame wars.
Do not post advertisements. I should not have to mention this, but people get excited. If you have some fractal software (or posters) available as shareware or shrink-wrap commercial, post your brief announcement once. After than, you should limit yourself to notices of upgrades and responding via e-mail to people looking for fractal software.
If you are new to Usenet and/or being online, read the guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) in news.announce.newusers. They are available from: