ALT.BINARIES.PHOTOS.ORIGINAL Official FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) last revised 3 July 2006 ============================================================ Q: What is the purpose of alt.binaries.photos.original? A: ABPO is a newsgroup for the posting of and discussion of original photos, and for discussions relating to photography. It is intended to be a free and open forum for personal expression through photography. ************************************************************ Q: What exactly is meant by "original photos?" A: It means that only photos taken by the poster or by a family member or personal friend of the poster should be posted here. Scans from books or photos gathered from the Internet or elsewhere should not be posted. ************************************************************ Q: What are the rules here? A: There are currently only three rules in ABPO: 1. Original photos only (see above). 2. No nudity. 3. No spam or posts promoting for-pay web sites. The original creator of the group wanted this to be a nice place, but didn't want to have a lot of rules that posters had to follow. So far people have been respectful of this and have, for the most part, refrained from causing problems. ************************************************************ Q: What's the reason for the no nudity rule? What do you guys have against nudity? A: We don't have anything against nudity, in fact, we're nude ourselves sometimes ;-) The reason for this rule is that there are already a LOT of places on Usenet for posting nude and pornographic photos and if nudity is allowed in ABPO it will gradually become just one more. We think it's nice to have a place on Usenet where people can post and discuss original photos that are suitable for the whole family. ************************************************************ Q: OK, so if I can't post my nude photos here, where can I post them? A: For tasteful artistic nudes, the best place is alt.binaries.photos.nude-art. For other types of original erotic photos, try the alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.amateur.* hierarchy. ************************************************************ Q: What types of photos should I post here? A: Anything you want! One of the best features of this group is that any subject matter that adheres to the rules above is on topic. Some posters choose to specialize in a particular subject such as travel or portraits or nature photography, but what you post is up to you. ************************************************************ Q: Do I have to be a great photographer to post here? A: No, not at all. Photographers of all levels are welcome to post in ABPO. We have professional photojournalists who post here and we have posters who just bought their first camera. Those who are still learning gain knowledge by rubbing shoulders with the more experienced. ABPO is a very egalitarian place and all who enter with good intentions will find themselves welcome. ************************************************************ Q: What things can I do to make my posts well-liked by the group? A: Here are a few suggestions: - Don't post your photos too big or too small. A minimum size of around 640x480 and a maximum of around 1024x768 seems to be about right. - Use JPEG compression to reduce the file size of your photos. This will generally not affect the appearance of your images but will reduce the file size dramatically. A good free program to do this is IrfanView 32 (see next question). - Don't post more than 15 images per day. If you have a big batch of files to post, break it up over several days. - If you are posting more than 5 images at once, then please post an index along with those images. These make it easier for the people who follow this group to deal with the large volume of posts. - Don't attach more than one photo to each message you post. Multiple photos per message makes the message seem large, and will most likely be avoided by those with slower connections. Also, having a single photo per message gives people more opportunity to comment directly about each photo. - Adjust your messaging software so each post results in a single message, rather than having a single attachment that gets split across multiple messages that must be combined and decoded. Keeping your photos at a reasonable size will help in this too. Sometimes part of a message will remain on the server while parts have already been spooled off, making all parts invalid. - Use a descriptive name for your photos in the subject field or file name. A few words in the message body that tell something about the photo are good too. This can often make an otherwise dull post interesting. - Don't be offended if someone suggests ways to improve your photos, they're just trying to be helpful. - Rude or vulgar photos, even if not "nude," are generally not appreciated. - Be nice. Remember the things in this section are not "rules," just suggestions. They're your posts, you may do them however you want. ************************************************************ Q: When people post big files, I have to scroll them around my screen to see them. How can I correct this? A: The best way to view images on a computer is with a type of program called an "image viewer" which is specifically designed for this purpose. All good image viewers have an option to shrink the image to fit on the screen so you don't have to scroll around. The exact wording of this feature varies, but in must programs it can be found in the options section. Make sure this option is checked in your image viewer. The most popular image viewer is called ACDSee and is available here: ACD Systems http://www.acdsystems.com/english/products/acdsee/acdsee-node.htm An excellent free program for viewing images and doing many other things called IrfanView 32 can be downloaded from this site: IrfanView 32 http://www.irfanview.com These programs are both for Microsoft Windows. ************************************************************ Q: Should I post in HTML? A: It's up to you, but you should be aware that posting in HTML is widely disliked on Usenet. To those who don't use an HTML compatible newsreader, your post will appear as gibberish. ************************************************************ Q: The use of yEnc encoding is popular in a lot of other binaries groups, but not here. Is it OK to use yEnc encoding to post pictures here? A: This falls into the same category as posting in html. It is up to you, but be aware that some newsreaders cannot decode yEnc encoded posts without an external decoding application. To those who don't use a yEnc decoding newsreader or external decoder, your posts will appear as gibberish. Until the popular newsreaders are updated by their respective designers, UUencoding should be used to ensure a wide audience. If you do wish to post using yEnc, please state the use of yEnc encoding in the subject header, to avoid inconveniencing those who cannot or choose not to download and decode them. Having an easy, simple method for a large audience to view the pictures in the group will help contribute to a wider array of contributors. ************************************************************ Q: I posted some photos and didn't get any comments, should I just quit posting? A: No, please don't! Your posts are wanted and welcome, but if you're new it may take some time for people to notice your posts and begin to comment on them. It may help if you make some comments yourself on other poster's photos so people will get to know you. You can also try asking for comments or critique in your subject line. ************************************************************ Q: The posts I see are often incomplete or they are gone from my server before I have a chance to view them. What can I do? A: Most ISP servers now days have very poor retention and completion. If you can afford it, I recommend subscribing to a premium news service. Giganews is the best one I have found: Giganews http://www.giganews.com/ There are also some free servers that carry ABPO. The following site may help you find one: NewzBot! http://www.newzbot.com/ ************************************************************ Q: I see there are many postings with the word "Challenge" in the subject. Is this some sort of contest? A: In order to stir the creative juices of the photographers participating in this newsgroup, the idea of a bi-weekly challenge was created. For more information on challenges, and to find out what the current challenge is, visit http://www.throughalens.net/abpochallenge.htm ************************************************************ Q: Who owns this FAQ? A: My name is Anthony and I wrote the original version of this FAQ, however, I have donated it to the group so it does not belong to anyone. It may be reposted and distributed by anyone who wishes to do so. ************************************************************ Q: If the FAQ doesn't belong to anyone, how are changes to be made when necessary? A: I suggest that anyone who feels there should be a change to the FAQ should post a message to the group containing the complete text of the proposed change and asking for a vote of yea or nay. The proposal should have an attention getting subject line, so that everyone sees it, like this: ***ANNOUNCEMENT*** PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE TO FAQ It would be the responsibility of the person who makes the proposal to tabulate the votes and announce the results, and then, if the vote was successful, to modify and repost the revised FAQ. ************************************************************ Q: Is this group moderated? A: No. ************************************************************ Q: Are there any additional sources of information about this group? A: Yes. Please feel free to check out the group's website at: http://www.abpo.net ************************************************************ Q: Anything else? A: Yes, have fun and welcome to the group! :-)