Re: Archives are Back

Hi Andreas,

Good to see you (all) again. Thanks for the info. I'll take up my
search for the Holy ASCII-Grail again :) and --if results...-- report
later.

> Read <2lvpa6$jc...@Mercury.mcs.com> (from Jorn Barger in 1994), do a
> little research, find <2cgc8e$g5...@Notwerk.mcs.com> (again Jorn)
> and learn that a.a-a was born in September 1993. Since some
> news-admins were not happy with it's creation it took some time
> to travel trough the system, i.e. to become visible on most
> servers.

That's what struck me most, reading some of those old (well, 1993
isn't that oalde) posts... People in rec.humor weren't (at) all
pleased with those "typewriter pictures" and threads about "the
socio-Freudian meaning of the smiley". I reckoned ASCII-art (the fun
part) was as old as the Usenet, but that's probably not the case.
Though Vint Cerf and other ARPA-pioneers drew tables and simple
diagrams and occasionally sprout poems in their RFC's, they weren't
(yet?) into Mickey and Donald.

Was ASCII-art more popular on BBS's (DOS) than on the Usenet (Un*x)?
And in what area's of Usenet (in a niche in the alt.* hierarchy? or
earlier in one of the big7?) was ASCII-art accepted first?

> So I believe that the start of the archive in Google
> (Deja) actually does mark a good starting point: it's the second
> Novembver 1993. Depending on your news server you may have been
> able to see the group a couple of weeks earlier. 

Who RFD'd alt.ascii-art? Bob Allison?

> [linewrapped pic]
> Is it just me or are you out of practise? :)

Definitely out of practice :)

mic

obASCII found on wuarchive.wustl.edu after reaction to
<268...@sactoh0.UUCP> Chris Behrens

Anonymous FTP ASCII poster locations :

ux.acss.umn.edu tolsun.oulu.fi
   2) wuarchive.wustl.edu  -  In the pub/graphics/lpr_art 
subdirectory
      there are 200+ files with neat pics and other items within them.
      Most of what is here is different from the other sites, but as 
      with all good things, some is copied here also. A better
      collection of pics and pieces.


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