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Original Usenet thread from alt.ascii-art, started 8 Aug 1998.
 _   _                     _        _             _     _           
| | | |___  ___ _ __   ___| |_     / \   _ __ ___| |__ (_)_   _____ 
| | | / __|/ _ \ '_ \ / _ \ __|   / _ \ | '__/ __| '_ \| \ \ / / _ \
| |_| \__ \  __/ | | |  __/ |_   / ___ \| | | (__| | | | |\ V /  __/
 \___/|___/\___|_| |_|\___|\__| /_/   \_\_|  \___|_| |_|_| \_/ \___|
ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!

ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!

alt.ascii-art · 20 messages · 8 Aug 1998 - 30 Oct 1998
Martin Atkins <zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz> ASCII art 8 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> If you can`t see what a picture is, take a read through this...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

First check... do the following two lines look the same length:

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM|
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|

If they don`t, you are using the wrong font... use one of these, making
sure you have the right list for your system:

Windows:  FixedSys                                 (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier New                              (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier                                  (Supplied with Windows)
          Lucida Console             (Supplied with Microsoft Win95 Plus!)
          Topaz New
          Monotype.com
          Terminal
          Lucida Sans Typewiter
          OCR A Extended
          OCRB

Amiga:    Topaz                                                   (In ROM)
          Courier                             (Supplied with WorkBench 2+)
          Pearl
          Siesta
          XEN                                         (Comes with MagicWB)
          XCourier                                    (Comes with MagicWB)
          ascii
          tiny

AppleMac: Courier
          Monaco
          ZTerm

Acorn:    Corpus                                            (in Resources)
          Homerton                                          (in Resources)
          System                                            (in Resources)

                                                  [Taken from the MiniFAQ]

If you can`t find any of the fonts listed, just try different fonts until
the MMM line and the III line above line up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second Idea: Are you using Outlook Express?
Microsoft, in their infinate wisdom, decided that noone ever needs a
single space at the start of a line, so they made Outlook Express zap it
when the message is displayed. In the following examples, assume the line
of 'i' is the left margin, as if I used the true margin outlook express
would just zap the lines!

With a 'normal' newsreader:
   i |||||
   i| o o |
   i|  >  |
   i| \_/ |
   i \___/

With Outlook Express:
   i|||||
   i| o o |
   i|  >  |
   i| \_/ |
   i\___/

Which of the above does the following look like to you?

 |||||
| o o |
|  >  |
| \_/ |
 \___/


If you _are_ using Outlook Express then I`m afraid there`s not much you
can do about it... it`s hard coded that way. You`ll have to copy it to
Notepad and put all of the spaces back in by hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next: Does it have lots of words in pointed brackets, like <HTML> and <B>?

If so, it`s an HTML Rich Message, and since your newsreader doesn`t seem
to support HTML, you`ll need to copy everything from the <HTML> to the
</HTML> into a text editor or wordprocessor, and save it in plain text
format with a filename ending in .HTM and view it in a web browser.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does every other line look sort of ok to make a pic? It`s possible that
you or the poster are experiencing Word Wrap, where long lines are
continued on the line below... causing effects like this:

Assuming the word wrap limit was set to eight (which is not likely, it is
usually set to about 80)

...this:
    |||||
   | o o |
   |  >  |
   | \_/ |
    \___/

would become this:

    |||
||
   | o
o |
   |  >
  |
   | \_
/ |
    \__
_/

because when the lines reach column eight, they are 'wrapped' onto the
next line.

You may or may not be able to fix this. If it is *your* word wrap settings
that are at fault, you can probably either turn off or increase the word
wrap limit in your newsreader.  However, if the wrapping was done by the
newsreader of the poster, unfortuately there is nothing you can do and
everyone will be seeing it this way.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next possibility is what we call 'Tab Damage', where the artist has
used the TAB key instead of pressing space repeatedly.
The reason this causes a problem, is because everyone can usually set
the size of their tabs to any number, so if I made this picture with TAB
setting of 8 characters, (and only used TAB on some of the lines)

         |||||
        | o o |
        |  >  |
        | \_/ |
         \___/

it may come out like this with a tab setting of 4:

         |||||
    | o o |
        |  >  |
    | \_/ |
     \___/

Yet again there`s not a lot you can do, apart from go through the pic and
change all of the TABs into the correct amount of spaces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The artist may have used 'extended ascii' characters, or some sort of
control codes.  This is not the place to go into detail of what these are,
but all you need to know is that these differ from system to system and
can cause all manner of problems, from strange looking pics to crashed
newsreaders.
There is no fix, and if it crashes your newsreader, just delete the
message. :o(

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If all of these things don`t apply to you, then you need to post a plea
for help, stating which picture you are having problems with (if it is a
specific pic) and make sure you say you have read and tried this file, or
you will probably be told to read it. The final possibility I will suggest
is that it is not your fault at all... and It`s just a bad picture! If
this is the case, it`s the creator`s fault... you could have a go at
improving it for them! Note that if you do, It`s common practice to add
your initials/name to the picture in addition to that of the original
artist`s, for example if you were jms and you were diddling a pic by
mga, you would change the 'mga' to 'mga/jms'.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
             PICTURE VIEWING HELP, WRITTEN BY MARTIN ATKINS
                  LAST UPDATED THURSDAY JULY 13th 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

Spunk1111 <spu...@aol.com> ASCII art 9 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
>Message-id: <35c...@news.vossnet.net>

This is nice Martin--
good information!

This is the first time I've seen it posted  (at least at my end)
How many times have you ran this?
Nice work!  Let's hope that people read it!

-joan
-- 
    joan stark  <spu...@juno.com>                              .--')
                                     _,.--""--.,,_              .' .-'
             ,       ,   _,,_ _,.--''             `""-._       / .'
             \`'-""-' |-"    `           ,     _.-.,_   `-, _.' /
              | e  e        ,    .      /    ';-..._ `'-,_ ` _.'
           _..\      /       )    \ _,.-'.     \    `)  | ```
  __,.--"'`   _\_Y_ /.___,.-'   _.'`      `>   /    /  /
(((_.--'--""``  '--'__.-'  __.-'      .---'   / .--' .'
           jgs    (((_..--'          ((_(_.-'` ((_(.'

           ASCII ART GALLERY:  http://www.ascii-art.com

Redhead <Re...@head.nut> 9 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
On Sat, 08 Aug 1998 21:34:09 GMT, zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz (Martin
Atkins) wrote:

>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                  ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
(snip)

THANKS!!  I will save this article to send when people e-mail me,
"What was that mess you sent".  You explain it all in lay terms.
Again, THANKS.  (Yes! I will leave your sig in-place)

Redhead

Colin Douthwaite <cfb...@southern.co.nz> ASCII art 9 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
Martin Atkins <zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz> wrote:

>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>                  ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>>> If you can`t see what a picture is, take a read through this...

>--------------------------------------------------------------------------


I _did_ read through it all...


           /(                                   )\
          ( -||    ||                           ||
           \( \\  //  ()  |\                    ||
                ||    ||  ||  //  /))   ((=/)   ||
                ||    ||  ||=<<  |//     \\     )(
                ||     \) ||  \\  \_(( (\=))    <>


If you can see _any_ of that stuff then damn-well scrap your
existing Newsreader and/or Web-browser and get a decent one instead.


 /(                        )\
( -||  ||          (\      ||
 \(||  ||          ||      ||
   ||==||  //[=\\  ||==(\  ||
   ||  || ||   ||  ||  ||  )(
   (/  (/  \\==\(( ||  ||  <>

             /(                                                      )\
            ( -||  ||                                        (\      ||
             \(||  ||                                        ||      ||
               ||==||  //[=\\  //[=\\ (|   |) |)\,/(| ||=]\\ ||==(\  ||
               ||  || ||   ||  ||     ||   || || I || ||  || ||  ||  )(
               (/  (/  \\==\(( |(      \\==(( ||   || ||==|/ ||  ||  <>
                                                      )|

Bye,

.----- On 9 Aug 1998 00:33:58 GMT, Spunk1111 posted:
|This is nice Martin--
|good information!
'-------------------
Thankyou :o)

.-------------------
|This is the first time I've seen it posted  (at least at my end)
|How many times have you ran this?
'-------------------
This is the second time I have posted it, although last time it was for
suggestions.

.-------------------
|Nice work!  Let's hope that people read it!
'-------------------
Yes, I hope they do!

-Martin
|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

.----- On Sun, 9 Aug 1998 02:32:48 GMT, Redhead posted:
|
|THANKS!!  I will save this article to send when people e-mail me,
|"What was that mess you sent".  You explain it all in lay terms.
|Again, THANKS.  (Yes! I will leave your sig in-place)
'--------------------------
Thankyou for the nice comments.
I hope that the people you send it too will find it wan easy read!

Bye,
Martin

|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

Martin Atkins <zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz> ASCII art 13 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
.----- On 9 Aug 1998 07:57:49 GMT, Colin Douthwaite posted:
|
|I _did_ read through it all...
|
|
|           /(                                   )\
|          ( -||    ||                           ||
|           \( \\  //  ()  |\                    ||
|                ||    ||  ||  //  /))   ((=/)   ||
|                ||    ||  ||=<<  |//     \\     )(
|                ||     \) ||  \\  \_(( (\=))    <>
|
|
|If you can see _any_ of that stuff then damn-well scrap your
|existing Newsreader and/or Web-browser and get a decent one instead.
|
|
| /(                        )\
|( -||  ||          (\      ||
| \(||  ||          ||      ||
|   ||==||  //[=\\  ||==(\  ||
|   ||  || ||   ||  ||  ||  )(
|   (/  (/  \\==\(( ||  ||  <>
|
|             /(                                                      )\
|            ( -||  ||                                        (\      ||
|             \(||  ||                                        ||      ||
|               ||==||  //[=\\  //[=\\ (|   |) |)\,/(| ||=]\\ ||==(\  ||
|               ||  || ||   ||  ||     ||   || || I || ||  || ||  ||  )(
|               (/  (/  \\==\(( |(      \\==(( ||   || ||==|/ ||  ||  <>
|                                                      )|
|
|Bye,
'------------------------

Er, um, *shrug!*

What are you getting at ??

Intriegued...
Martin

|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

Colin Douthwaite <cfb...@southern.co.nz> ASCII art 14 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
Martin Atkins <zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz> wrote:
>.----- On 9 Aug 1998 00:33:58 GMT, Spunk1111 posted:

>.-------------------
>|Nice work!  Let's hope that people read it!
>'-------------------

>Yes, I hope they do!


                       /\_/\             _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
                      |     |          /                        \
                 \.___;;;;;;;___./    |   THAT'LL BE THE DAY!... |
                  \_____________/     |                          |
                    `|  -  - |'     /  \ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _/
                     |    J  |    /
                      \  == /  -
                _ _ _ /~ () ~\ _  _
               /   ; / / "' '\) ;   \
              /  / ;(/  |  |    ; \  \
             /  /  ;    |  |    ; |  |
            /  /   ;    |  |    ; |  |
            |  |   ;    |  |    ; |  |
            |  |   ;    |  |    ; |  |
            |  |   ;    |  |    ; |  |
            |  |   ;,,,,|  |,,,,; |  |
             -..   |            | |  |
             :,,(\_,|||||[]||||| _/)-.
              ''/~~|:    /\    :|~~\,,'
                |  |:   :  :   :|  |''
                 \_|:   :  :   :|_/
                 ;  :   :  :   :  ;     JOHN WAYNE
                 `  :   :  :   :  `
                    :   :  :   :
                    :   :  :   :
                    :   :  :   :
                    :   :  :   :
                   /:   :  :   :\
                   /:   :  :   :\
          -cfbd-   /\_ _/  \_ _/\
                     | |_   | |__
                     ((__)  (_- _)



Most of 'em can't read...they just point 'n' click...didn'tcha know?

Bye,

Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land> wrote:
>Colin Douthwaite wrote:
>>...
>> Oh damn! Here we go again having to explain my jokes/messages/
>> Shafts of Wit etc. <sigh>

>That's not an HTML <sigh> I see there, is it Colin? Surely not ...

Yes it is but it was ASCII long before the HTMLists started using
the arrow brackets for control codes which apparently trigger
the underline function on some so-called newsreaders ( AOL has
that problem for one).

Not to worry though because it's in your message header too!  *8-)

> From: Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land>
> Message-ID: <35D...@spamfree.land>

If something in messages triggers your newsreader then get yourself
one that it doesn't get triggered.  Hah!  :-)

[...snip..]

> Colin, keep in mind that a `new and better newsreader and/or
> web-browser' is *more* likely to give them problems, not *less*.

Not if they get the right one...one that they can understand instead
of just clicking and pointing and saying " Oops, messed up again,
sorry folks! "

> Me, I never had any trouble with Netscape News 3.0, but Netscape
> Mail and Discussions 4.5 required some careful preference-setting.

But your postings since you arrived in this newsgroup show that you
are far from being a Clueless No-Hoper or an unsupervised infant.

[...snip...]

> So I suppose you never were a newbie, Colin? Hmm? Dear, oh dear, ohdear.

Yes I sure was...and a real pain in the backside too. That's why I can give
such critical and pithy advice to others here, and still continue to be a
real pain in the ass!  So bite me!  *8-)

> The newbies come back to haunt Colin in the middle of the cold
> southern winter night ...

Nope, they post here almost every day AND every night...they just enjoy
posting kewl messages for the sake of posting something...who cares what
it is or how it looks?  It's fun fun fun, HeHeHe!

Do they ever read the FAQs or is it...as I suspect...that they
cannot even read...only gawp at the screen, point and click the
mouse, and hope for the best.  " Oops, sorry...I goofed again can
sumone pleze help me?".

Toodles,

Pete Casso <pet...@sympatico.ca> ASCII art 15 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
e        /
t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
e   _==_        /
C   ( ">      oo.
a  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
s   ^^        " "          <" )
s                         <( <),
o 980815                    ^^  )

================================================================
[]                                                            []
[]   /(      )\     Visit the Gallery of the 'steins!         []
[]  ( ">    <" )   http://www3.sympatico.ca/petecasso/        []
[]   (> )><( <)   Woodpeckersteins dancing the boogie-woogie  []
[]     ^^  ^^                                                 []
================================================================

Colin Douthwaite <cfb...@southern.co.nz> ASCII art 15 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
On Thu, 13 Aug 1998 18:39:49 GMT, zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz (Martin Atkins)
wrote:

>.----- On 9 Aug 1998 07:57:49 GMT, Colin Douthwaite posted:
>|
>|I _did_ read through it all...
>|
>|
>|           /(                                   )\
>|          ( -||    ||                           ||
>|           \( \\  //  ()  |\                    ||
>|                ||    ||  ||  //  /))   ((=/)   ||
>|                ||    ||  ||=<<  |//     \\     )(
>|                ||     \) ||  \\  \_(( (\=))    <>
>|
>|
>|If you can see _any_ of that stuff then damn-well scrap your
>|existing Newsreader and/or Web-browser and get a decent one instead.
>|
>|
>| /(                        )\
>|( -||  ||          (\      ||
>| \(||  ||          ||      ||
>|   ||==||  //[=\\  ||==(\  ||
>|   ||  || ||   ||  ||  ||  )(
>|   (/  (/  \\==\(( ||  ||  <>
>|
>|             /(                                                      )\
>|            ( -||  ||                                        (\      ||
>|             \(||  ||                                        ||      ||
>|               ||==||  //[=\\  //[=\\ (|   |) |)\,/(| ||=]\\ ||==(\  ||
>|               ||  || ||   ||  ||     ||   || || I || ||  || ||  ||  )(
>|               (/  (/  \\==\(( |(      \\==(( ||   || ||==|/ ||  ||  <>
>|                                                      )|
>|


>Er, um, *shrug!*

>What are you getting at ??

>Intriegued...
>Martin

Oh damn! Here we go again having to explain my jokes/messages/
Shafts of Wit etc. <sigh>

I'm not getting at you, or your posting, but at the people for
whom it regrettably has to be written...those  who do not get a few
clues before they start posting their "priceless gems" to newsgroups
and repeatedly stuff things up with malposted garbage et al. Bleah!

What I tried to convey was that if the people reading your excellent
advice are seeing all the things you suggest they might be seeing then
those people should go away and get themselves a new and better
newsreader and/or web-browser and trouble us no more until they find one
and test it out in the newsgroup "alt.test".

Alternatively, if they choose not to do that, then they should
"Go fry their heads!"  Hah! Harumph!


                                              @@@@@@
              \\\|///                       @@@@@@@@@
              )/////(                      @@C@@@@@D@@
              C/////D                       @@\@@@/@@
 O====\________\   /-_________      __________ )_( ________/====O
        \___________________/        \___________________/

                )                              )
               ) (                            ) (
             )('))\)\                       )('))\)\
            (.) (.').')                    (.) (.').')
        ///'/';\;\;;\\;;\\             /'/'/';\;\;;\\;;\\\

        Couple of Clueless Newbies frying their own heads!


Bye, 

Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land> ASCII art 15 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
Colin Douthwaite wrote:
>...
> Oh damn! Here we go again having to explain my jokes/messages/
> Shafts of Wit etc. <sigh>

That's not an HTML <sigh> I see there, is it Colin? Surely not ...

> I'm not getting at you, or your posting, but at the people for
> whom it regrettably has to be written...those  who do not get a few
> clues before they start posting their "priceless gems" to newsgroups
> and repeatedly stuff things up with malposted garbage et al. Bleah!
> 
> What I tried to convey was that if the people reading your excellent
> advice are seeing all the things you suggest they might be seeing then
> those people should go away and get themselves a new and better
> newsreader and/or web-browser and trouble us no more until they find
> one and test it out in the newsgroup "alt.test".

Colin, keep in mind that a `new and better newsreader and/or
web-browser' is *more* likely to give them problems, not *less*. Me, I
never had any trouble with Netscape News 3.0, but Netscape Mail and
Discussions 4.5 required some careful preference-setting.

> Alternatively, if they choose not to do that, then they should
> "Go fry their heads!"  Hah! Harumph!
>
>[pic]
>...
>         Couple of Clueless Newbies frying their own heads!

So I suppose you never were a newbie, Colin? Hmm? Dear, oh dear, oh
dear.

The newbies come back to haunt Colin in the middle of the cold southern
winter night ...


        Whoooo, Colin! Whooooooo! Whoooo! Whooooooooo!
                    /
                          Oh, shut up, Fred.  @@@@@@
              \\\|///                    \  @@@@@@@@@
              )/////( Sorry I spook ...    @@M@O O@T@@
              C/O/O/D /                     @@\HHH/@@
 O====\________\HHH/-_________      __________ )_( ________/====O
        \______/___\________/        \________/___\______/cfbd+mt-2
           _,-'     `-._                  _,-'     `-._
       _,-'             `-._          _,-'             `-._
      /     |        |      \        /      (       )      \
      |/|   |        |    |\|        |/|    |       |    |\|
            /   '    /                      \   `   \
           ,  ,  ,  ,                        .  . .   .


-- 
   .._o  Matthew Thomas (mpt26 @ student . canterbury . ac . nz)
 ..://\/ http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/ (Site for sore eyes)
..:_/\   ASCII ART FAQ: http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/art/ascii/
  ..:/   Linux. Because life is too short to reboot.

Colin Douthwaite wrote:
> 
> Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land> wrote:
> >
> > Colin Douthwaite wrote:
> > >...
> > > Oh damn! Here we go again having to explain my jokes/messages/
> > > Shafts of Wit etc. <sigh>
> 
> > That's not an HTML <sigh> I see there, is it Colin? Surely not ...
> 
> Yes it is but it was ASCII long before the HTMLists started using
> the arrow brackets for control codes which apparently trigger
> the underline function on some so-called newsreaders ( AOL has
> that problem for one).

I don't think that the idea of using < and > to enclose quasi-HTML tags
(eg
----
<rant>
  Bah, humbug!
</rant>
----
) dates from before HTML. Before HTML, people used things like * (eg
*grin*) and [] (eg [whispers]), and many people still do use these other
ways of formatting their emotional expressions (along with emoticons
:-).

Your belief that all HTML tags `apparently trigger the underline
function' probably originated a couple of months ago, when one picture
posted in a.a-a happened to include the sequence of letters <u> (just to
put the AOLers out of their misery, I'll put a </u> here).

This sequence of characters in particular is the HTML tag for
underlining, and AOL for some reason decided to treat it as an HTML tag
(even though the message in which the picture was included was not in
HTML), so the <u> was rendered invisible, and the rest of the picture
was underlined, because there was no </u> included.

AOL would presumably treat other tags, eg <h1>, <em>, and <i>, not as
underlines, but in their respective HTML meanings. (Here's a
</i></em></h1>, for the AOLers' sake -- I'm too kind to them really ...)

> Not to worry though because it's in your message header too!  *8-)
> 
> > From: Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land>
> > Message-ID: <35D...@spamfree.land>
> 
> If something in messages triggers your newsreader then get yourself
> one that it doesn't get triggered.  Hah!  :-)

No, not even AOL would be silly enough to think that mail *headers* were
in HTML.

>...
> > The newbies come back to haunt Colin in the middle of the cold
> > southern winter night ...
> 
> Nope, they post here almost every day AND every night...they just
> enjoy posting kewl messages for the sake of posting something...who
> cares what it is or how it looks?  It's fun fun fun, HeHeHe!

Wow, and I thought that fun was the whole point of a.a-a ...

<sigh type="quasi-HTML" onClick="message.end">
-- 
   .._o  Matthew Thomas (mpt26 @ student . canterbury . ac . nz)
 ..://\/ http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/ (Site for sore eyes)
..:_/\   ASCII ART FAQ: http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/art/ascii/
  ..:/   Linux. Because life is too short to reboot.

Spunk1111 <spu...@aol.com> ASCII art 15 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
>Message-id: <35D...@spamfree.land>

Thanks Matthew--
  that was a real treat!  LOL

-joan
--
                 ___
               .'   '.__
              (    o {__)
               \  ._.'              joan stark
        /\      )  (        mailto:spu...@juno.com
       |  ``'"'`    \
       \  {`'-       }           ASCII Art Gallery:
  jgs   '. '-._     /        http://www.ascii-art.com
 ``^^`^`^`^^`^^^``^`^``^```^^^^`^^^`^^^`^`^^^^^``^^^^`^^^^^^^^

HEHEHE

--
On Sun, 16 Aug 1998 14:33:21 +1200, Matthew Thomas
<mpt...@spamfree.land> wrote:

>Pete Casso wrote:
>> 
>> P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
>> e        /
>> t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
>> e   _==_        /
>> C   ( ">      oo.
>> a  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
>> s   ^^        " "          <" )
>> s                         <( <),
>> o 980815                    ^^  )
>
>But ... but ... Frogstein's not clapping! Urgent rediddle required
...
>
>P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
>e        /
>t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
>e   _==_        /
>+   ( ">      oo.
>m  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
>t   ^^        `'"          <" )
>-                         <( <),
>2 980815+980816             ^^  )
>
>Ah, much better.
>
>PS: Pete, have you realized that your cartoon dating system is going
to
>suffer from the Year 2000 Bug? On behalf of the readers of a.a-a, I
>request that you notify us of all steps you have taken, or are
planning
>to take, to ensure Y2K compliance.
>
>In earnest concern

**************************************
* please reply to acu...@seanet.com *
**************************************

On Sat, 15 Aug 1998 15:05:37 +1200, Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land>
wrote:

>Colin Douthwaite wrote:
>> 
>> Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land> wrote:
>> >
>> > Colin Douthwaite wrote:
>> > >...
>> > > Oh damn! Here we go again having to explain my jokes/messages/
>> > > Shafts of Wit etc. <sigh>
>> 
>> > That's not an HTML <sigh> I see there, is it Colin? Surely not ...
>> 
>> Yes it is but it was ASCII long before the HTMLists started using
>> the arrow brackets for control codes which apparently trigger
>> the underline function on some so-called newsreaders ( AOL has
>> that problem for one).
>
>I don't think that the idea of using < and > to enclose quasi-HTML tags
>) dates from before HTML. Before HTML, people used things like * (eg
>*grin*) and [] (eg [whispers]), and many people still do use these other
>ways of formatting their emotional expressions (along with emoticons
>:-).

Well I read and post to many newsgroups and from my earliest days on
the Net whenever <sigh> or <groan> were used (just those two expressions)
they always apperaed in the <> brackets. The other brackets were, and are
used in various ways but none of them specific as in the case of the
expressions <sigh> and <groan>. So I've always followed that format for
those two words and perhaps <howl>, <sob> and <sniffle> where (sob);
[sob]; or {sob} might not be so distinctive. 

The square brackets [ ] seem to be used for comments like [...snip...] or 
[ newsgroup line trimmed ]. 

The standard brackets ( ) look to be used as in conventional inclusions. 

[...snip...]

>> Nope, they post here almost every day AND every night...they just
>> enjoy posting kewl messages for the sake of posting something...who
>> cares what it is or how it looks?  It's fun fun fun, HeHeHe!

>Wow, and I thought that fun was the whole point of a.a-a ...

It depends who is having the fun.

Bye,

Matthew Thomas <mpt...@spamfree.land> ASCII art 16 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
Pete Casso wrote:
> 
> P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
> e        /
> t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
> e   _==_        /
> C   ( ">      oo.
> a  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
> s   ^^        " "          <" )
> s                         <( <),
> o 980815                    ^^  )

But ... but ... Frogstein's not clapping! Urgent rediddle required ...

P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
e        /
t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
e   _==_        /
+   ( ">      oo.
m  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
t   ^^        `'"          <" )
-                         <( <),
2 980815+980816             ^^  )

Ah, much better.

PS: Pete, have you realized that your cartoon dating system is going to
suffer from the Year 2000 Bug? On behalf of the readers of a.a-a, I
request that you notify us of all steps you have taken, or are planning
to take, to ensure Y2K compliance.

In earnest concern
-- 
   .._o  Matthew Thomas
 ..://\/ http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/ (Site for sore eyes)
..:_/\   <-- If this looks a mess, change your font to Courier
  ..:/   Linux. Because life is too short to reboot.

Pete Casso <pet...@sympatico.ca> ASCII art 16 Aug 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
Matthew Thomas wrote:
> 
> Pete Casso wrote:
> >
> > P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
> > e        /
> > t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
> > e   _==_        /
> > C   ( ">      oo.
> > a  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
> > s   ^^        " "          <" )
> > s                         <( <),
> > o 980815                    ^^  )
> 
> But ... but ... Frogstein's not clapping! Urgent rediddle required ...
> 
> P         Frogstein, did you notice the lengthy arguments?
> e        /
> t       /        Clap, clap, clap!
> e   _==_        /
> +   ( ">      oo.
> m  (> )>     (-  )          ,, ?  Frogstein is evil ...
> t   ^^        `'"          <" )
> -                         <( <),
> 2 980815+980816             ^^  )
> 
> Ah, much better.

LOL! I award 3 Frogsteins!

   .oo    .oo    .oo
  (  -)  (  -)  (  -)
   " "    " "    " "

> PS: Pete, have you realized that your cartoon dating system is going to
> suffer from the Year 2000 Bug? On behalf of the readers of a.a-a, I
> request that you notify us of all steps you have taken, or are planning
> to take, to ensure Y2K compliance.

Hey, thanks for the kind words, but I think I will simply date my cartoons
like this

20000101 = January 1st, year 2000
20000201 = February 1st, year 2000

================================================================
[]                                                            []
[]   /(      )\     Visit the Gallery of the 'steins!         []
[]  ( ">    <" )   http://www3.sympatico.ca/petecasso/        []
[]   (> )><( <)   Woodpeckersteins dancing the boogie-woogie  []
[]     ^^  ^^                                                 []
================================================================

Martin Atkins <zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz> ASCII art 26 Oct 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!
                   LAST UPDATED THURSDAY JULY 13th 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> If you can`t see what a picture is, take a read through this...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

First check... do the following two lines look the same length:

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM|
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|

If they don`t, you are using the wrong font... use one of these, making
sure you have the right list for your system:

Windows:  FixedSys                                 (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier New                              (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier                                  (Supplied with Windows)
          Lucida Console             (Supplied with Microsoft Win95 Plus!)
          Topaz New
          Monotype.com
          Terminal
          Lucida Sans Typewiter
          OCR A Extended
          OCRB

Amiga:    Topaz                                                   (In ROM)
          Courier                             (Supplied with WorkBench 2+)
          Pearl
          Siesta
          XEN                                         (Comes with MagicWB)
          XCourier                                    (Comes with MagicWB)
          ascii
          tiny

AppleMac: Courier
          Monaco
          ZTerm

Acorn:    Corpus                                            (in Resources)
          Homerton                                          (in Resources)
          System                                            (in Resources)

                                                  [Taken from the MiniFAQ]

If you can`t find any of the fonts listed, just try different fonts until
the MMM line and the III line above line up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second Idea: Are you using Outlook Express?
Microsoft, in their infinate wisdom, decided that noone ever needs a
single space at the start of a line, so they made Outlook Express zap it
when the message is displayed. In the following examples, assume the line
of 'i' is the left margin, as if I used the true margin outlook express
would just zap the lines!

With a 'normal' newsreader:
   i |||||
   i| o o |
   i|  >  |
   i| \_/ |
   i \___/

With Outlook Express:
   i|||||
   i| o o |
   i|  >  |
   i| \_/ |
   i\___/

Which of the above does the following look like to you?

 |||||
| o o |
|  >  |
| \_/ |
 \___/


If you _are_ using Outlook Express then I`m afraid there`s not much you
can do about it... it`s hard coded that way. You`ll have to copy it to
Notepad and put all of the spaces back in by hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next: Does it have lots of words in pointed brackets, like <HTML> and <B>?

If so, it`s an HTML Rich Message, and since your newsreader doesn`t seem
to support HTML, you`ll need to copy everything from the <HTML> to the
</HTML> into a text editor or wordprocessor, and save it in plain text
format with a filename ending in .HTM and view it in a web browser.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does every other line look sort of ok to make a pic? It`s possible that
you or the poster are experiencing Word Wrap, where long lines are
continued on the line below... causing effects like this:

Assuming the word wrap limit was set to eight (which is not likely, it is
usually set to about 80)

...this:
    |||||
   | o o |
   |  >  |
   | \_/ |
    \___/

would become this:

    |||
||
   | o
o |
   |  >
  |
   | \_
/ |
    \__
_/

because when the lines reach column eight, they are 'wrapped' onto the
next line.

You may or may not be able to fix this. If it is *your* word wrap settings
that are at fault, you can probably either turn off or increase the word
wrap limit in your newsreader.  However, if the wrapping was done by the
newsreader of the poster, unfortuately there is nothing you can do and
everyone will be seeing it this way.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next possibility is what we call 'Tab Damage', where the artist has
used the TAB key instead of pressing space repeatedly.
The reason this causes a problem, is because everyone can usually set
the size of their tabs to any number, so if I made this picture with TAB
setting of 8 characters, (and only used TAB on some of the lines)

         |||||
        | o o |
        |  >  |
        | \_/ |
         \___/

it may come out like this with a tab setting of 4:

         |||||
    | o o |
        |  >  |
    | \_/ |
     \___/

Yet again there`s not a lot you can do, apart from go through the pic and
change all of the TABs into the correct amount of spaces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The artist may have used 'extended ascii' characters, or some sort of
control codes.  This is not the place to go into detail of what these are,
but all you need to know is that these differ from system to system and
can cause all manner of problems, from strange looking pics to crashed
newsreaders.
There is no fix, and if it crashes your newsreader, just delete the
message. :o(

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If all of these things don`t apply to you, then you need to post a plea
for help, stating which picture you are having problems with (if it is a
specific pic) and make sure you say you have read and tried this file, or
you will probably be told to read it. The final possibility I will suggest
is that it is not your fault at all... and It`s just a bad picture! If
this is the case, it`s the creator`s fault... you could have a go at
improving it for them! Note that if you do, It`s common practice to add
your initials/name to the picture in addition to that of the original
artist`s, for example if you were jms and you were diddling a pic by
mga, you would change the 'mga' to 'mga/jms'.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
             PICTURE VIEWING HELP, WRITTEN BY MARTIN ATKINS
                  LAST UPDATED THURSDAY JULY 13th 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

Martin Atkins <zne...@ovtsbbg.pbz> ASCII art 30 Oct 1998 00:00 · permalink · report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  ASCII ART NOT LOOKING RIGHT? READ THIS!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

>>> If you can`t see what a picture is, take a read through this...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

First check... do the following two lines look the same length:

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM|
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII|

If they don`t, you are using the wrong font... use one of these, making
sure you have the right list for your system:

Windows:  FixedSys                                 (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier New                              (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier                                  (Supplied with Windows)
          Lucida Console             (Supplied with Microsoft Win95 Plus!)
          Topaz New
          Monotype.com
          Terminal
          Lucida Sans Typewiter
          OCR A Extended
          OCRB

Amiga:    Topaz                                                   (In ROM)
          Courier                             (Supplied with WorkBench 2+)
          Pearl
          Siesta
          XEN                                         (Comes with MagicWB)
          XCourier                                    (Comes with MagicWB)
          ascii
          tiny

AppleMac: Courier
          Monaco
          ZTerm

Acorn:    Corpus                                            (in Resources)
          Homerton                                          (in Resources)
          System                                            (in Resources)

                                                  [Taken from the MiniFAQ]

If you can`t find any of the fonts listed, just try different fonts until
the MMM line and the III line above line up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Second Idea: Are you using Outlook Express?
Microsoft, in their infinate wisdom, decided that noone ever needs a
single space at the start of a line, so they made Outlook Express zap it
when the message is displayed. In the following examples, assume the line
of 'i' is the left margin, as if I used the true margin outlook express
would just zap the lines!

With a 'normal' newsreader:
   i |||||
   i| o o |
   i|  >  |
   i| \_/ |
   i \___/

With Outlook Express:
   i|||||
   i| o o |
   i|  >  |
   i| \_/ |
   i\___/

Which of the above does the following look like to you?

 |||||
| o o |
|  >  |
| \_/ |
 \___/


If you _are_ using Outlook Express then I`m afraid there`s not much you
can do about it... it`s hard coded that way. You`ll have to copy it to
Notepad and put all of the spaces back in by hand.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next: Does it have lots of words in pointed brackets, like <HTML> and <B>?

If so, it`s an HTML Rich Message, and since your newsreader doesn`t seem
to support HTML, you`ll need to copy everything from the <HTML> to the
</HTML> into a text editor or wordprocessor, and save it in plain text
format with a filename ending in .HTM and view it in a web browser.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does every other line look sort of ok to make a pic? It`s possible that
you or the poster are experiencing Word Wrap, where long lines are
continued on the line below... causing effects like this:

Assuming the word wrap limit was set to eight (which is not likely, it is
usually set to about 80)

...this:
    |||||
   | o o |
   |  >  |
   | \_/ |
    \___/

would become this:

    |||
||
   | o
o |
   |  >
  |
   | \_
/ |
    \__
_/

because when the lines reach column eight, they are 'wrapped' onto the
next line.

You may or may not be able to fix this. If it is *your* word wrap settings
that are at fault, you can probably either turn off or increase the word
wrap limit in your newsreader.  However, if the wrapping was done by the
newsreader of the poster, unfortuately there is nothing you can do and
everyone will be seeing it this way.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next possibility is what we call 'Tab Damage', where the artist has
used the TAB key instead of pressing space repeatedly.
The reason this causes a problem, is because everyone can usually set
the size of their tabs to any number, so if I made this picture with TAB
setting of 8 characters, (and only used TAB on some of the lines)

         |||||
        | o o |
        |  >  |
        | \_/ |
         \___/

it may come out like this with a tab setting of 4:

         |||||
    | o o |
        |  >  |
    | \_/ |
     \___/

Yet again there`s not a lot you can do, apart from go through the pic and
change all of the TABs into the correct amount of spaces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

The artist may have used 'extended ascii' characters, or some sort of
control codes.  This is not the place to go into detail of what these are,
but all you need to know is that these differ from system to system and
can cause all manner of problems, from strange looking pics to crashed
newsreaders.
There is no fix, and if it crashes your newsreader, just delete the
message. :o(

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

If all of these things don`t apply to you, then you need to post a plea
for help, stating which picture you are having problems with (if it is a
specific pic) and make sure you say you have read and tried this file, or
you will probably be told to read it. The final possibility I will suggest
is that it is not your fault at all... and It`s just a bad picture! If
this is the case, it`s the creator`s fault... you could have a go at
improving it for them! Note that if you do, It`s common practice to add
your initials/name to the picture in addition to that of the original
artist`s, for example if you were jms and you were diddling a pic by
mga, you would change the 'mga' to 'mga/jms'.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
             PICTURE VIEWING HELP, WRITTEN BY MARTIN ATKINS
                  LAST UPDATED THURSDAY JULY 13th 1998
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
|\/| _..__|_o._   /\_|_| o._  _   mart.atkins@--
|  |(_||  |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_>            --bigfoot.com

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