From: prembone@excitebitespam.com (Prembone) Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: TildeFAQ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 16:54:39 GMT X-ELN-Insert-Date: Tue Jul 20 10:05:20 1999 X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.11/32.235 Organization: The Rescue Frodo SWAT Team X-Posted-Path-Was: not-for-mail Lines: 141 NNTP-Posting-Host: sdn-ar-003mnminnp067.dialsprint.net X-ELN-Date: 20 Jul 1999 16:57:34 GMT Message-ID: <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net> Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!isdnet!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!nuq-peer.news.verio.net!uunet!lax.uu.net!ffx.uu.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!nntp.earthlink.net!posted-from-earthlink!not-for-mail Many thanks to all who complimented my humble efforts in compiling this FAQ. Don't forget to check out the web version with the snappy tilde graphics. If the Tilde Club is interested, maybe I'll make some Tilde Graphics available for web pages. ******************************** The r.a.b.t TildeFAQ ******************************** This FAQ also appears at the following URL: http://freez.com/prembone/tildefaq.html Q: Why do some of the subject lines on rec.arts.books.tolkien have a Tilde ~ at the end? A: The Tilde was instituted in response to concerns over posts discussing sexual matters in a frank, free manner, a situation which arose, as often happens in newsgroups, as a gradually off-topic slide from an originally (though marginally) topical thread. Q: Why would anybody discuss sex in a Tolkien newsgroup? A: The same reasons they discuss sex anywhere else: it's interesting, it's fun, it's universal, it touches many, if not all, areas of life, and, finally, the very fact that JRRT barely alluded to the subject in his works is in itself reason to discuss sexuality vis-a-vis Tolkien and his writings. Q: I don't go to a Tolkien newsgroup expecting to find people talking about sex. A: Not everybody shares that expectation. That's why the Tilde was adopted. If discussion of a sexual nature offends you, simply screen out (via your newsreader's filtering mechanism or via deleting without reading) posts with a Tilde in the subject header. If, on the contrary, discussion of a sexual nature interests you -- especially when the discussion of sex ties into the subject of the newsgroup, e.g., the influence of certain sexual values on Tolkien's work -- then the Tilde will tip you off that Here Be The Interesting Stuff. Q: I think the whole Tilde idea sucks. A: You are not alone. However, as mentioned above, it has proven to have its advantages for all of us, not only the ones seeking to screen out the sexual topics. Q: How can we possibly anticipate what might or might not offend someone? A: That is a difficulty. Caveat emptor: The Tilde reflects only that the author of a post has deemed the post potentially offensive. There may yet be posts lacking a Tilde which individual denizens may find offensive, because the person posting them did not consider them to fall within the bounds of offensive. Q: Why pick on sex? I think violence (racism, sexism, homophobia, capitalism, religion, fill in the blank) is far more offensive than frank discussion of, or whimsical references to, sexual matters. A: Again, that is the difficulty with attempting to screen "offensive" material: We all have different ideas of what is or is not offensive. We "pick on sex" because, well, as the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. But remember, there are no guarantees. The Tilde, like a condom, reduces the risks, it does not eliminate them. Q: I don't like the idea that offensive material might slip through un-Tilded. How can we enforce this? A: Short of draconian measures, we can't. Those who employ the Tilde do so voluntarily, and rely on their own best judgment in employing it. The only sure way to screen material **you** believe to be offensive is by using your own eyes, mind, and judgment. Those who have children and are concerned about what they might encounter thereon are, we would presume, taking an active role in supervising their use of the Internet. Q: What is the Tilde Club? A: Denizens of rec.arts.books.tolkien who proudly proclaim themselves to be Tilde Bearers, i.e., people who post freely on sexual and other topics that certain others might find offensive. Members of the Tilde Club are generally opposed to anything smelling faintly of censorship, favorable to maximizing free speech, consider the benefits of maximizing free speech to outweigh the drawbacks, and have strong, healthy libidos and aren't afraid to use them. Q: How can I become a member of the Tilde Club? A: There is only one requirement: Jump in and proclaim yourself as such! Don't forget your Tilde! Woo-hoo! Q: Are there any other ways of identifying oneself as a member of the Tilde Club? A: Here are some suggestions: Put a Tilde-related slogan (e.g., "Tilde Power!") in one or more of your .sig files. Express your approval of a really randy post in terms of a "Tilde" rating, from one to five, a "Five-Tilde" rating being Totally Tilde, a "One-Tilde" rating being Not At All Tilde-worthy. Proudly proclaim yourself at every opportunity to be one of the Prurient, not at all Prudish, Priggish, or Prissy. Make little innuendos that don't merit a Tilde but are clearly Laden With Meaning (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) to Those In The Know. Add a favorite double-entendre quote from LOTR to one or more of your .sig files. "It doesn't need a Tilde; it's Tolkien." And above all, don't forget to exclaim "Woo-hoo!" at every opportunity. No doubt the highly-imaginative minds of Tilde Club members will invent many more ways to express their Inner Tildes. Q: What's all this talk of honey? A: Woo-hoo! Enlightenment may be found by going to: http://nettrash.com/users/tolktrash/ Caveat: It's definitely Tilde material. If that offends you, do not go to the above web site. Q: Why do I get the impression that the Tilde has been Subverted to the Prurient Interests? A: Because it has been. Woo-hoo! Q: I have a question that doesn't appear on this FAQ. A: Send it to prembone@excite.com, and I'll do my best to answer it and include it on future editions of the TildeFAQ. Woo-hoo! ~~~~~ The above FAQ is authored by an admitted, practicing member of the Tilde Club. Amazingly enough, I look just like an ordinary person. You'd hardly know I'm Tilde, if I hadn't told you. ~~~~~ "Fish to fish, chips to chips, fish to chips and chips to fish; each to its own, as each desires, and may all be well fed! Jolly good." The Prembone Pages http://www.geocities.com/~prembone ~~~Where the Tildeful People go~~~ ###### From: rlv6@my-deja.com Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: [?] TildeFAQ Date: Tue, 20 Jul 1999 19:03:59 GMT Organization: Deja.com - Share what you know. Learn what you don't. Lines: 81 Message-ID: <7n2h6m$55q$1@nnrp1.deja.com> References: <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.78.156.242 X-Article-Creation-Date: Tue Jul 20 19:03:59 1999 GMT X-Http-User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows 95) X-Http-Proxy: 1.0 TELECON, 1.0 x30.deja.com:80 (Squid/1.1.22) for client 212.78.156.242 X-MyDeja-Info: XMYDJUIDrlv6 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!bignews.mediaways.net!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.nacamar.de!newspeer.monmouth.com!nntp2.deja.com!nnrp1.deja.com!not-for-mail In article <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net>, prembone@excitebitespam.com (Prembone) wrote: > Many thanks to all who complimented my humble efforts in compiling > this FAQ. Don't forget to check out the web version with the snappy > tilde graphics. If the Tilde Club is interested, maybe I'll make some > Tilde Graphics available for web pages. > > ******************************** > The r.a.b.t TildeFAQ > ******************************** > > This FAQ also appears at the following URL: > > http://freez.com/prembone/tildefaq.html <~snippetty~> > Q: Are there any other ways of identifying oneself as a member of the > Tilde Club? > > A: Here are some suggestions: Put a Tilde-related slogan (e.g., > "Tilde Power!") in one or more of your .sig files. Express your > approval of a really randy post in terms of a "Tilde" rating, from one > to five, a "Five-Tilde" rating being Totally Tilde, a "One-Tilde" > rating being Not At All Tilde-worthy. Proudly proclaim yourself at > every opportunity to be one of the Prurient, not at all Prudish, > Priggish, or Prissy. Make little innuendos that don't merit a Tilde > but are clearly Laden With Meaning (nudge-nudge, wink-wink) to Those > In The Know. Add a favorite double-entendre quote from LOTR to one or > more of your .sig files. "It doesn't need a Tilde; it's Tolkien." > And above all, don't forget to exclaim "Woo-hoo!" at every > opportunity. Well, I would put a half-hearted quarrel with the "Woo-hoo" requirement, but otherwise I agree the whole lot. And it made me LOL! > A: Woo-hoo! Enlightenment may be found by going to: > http://nettrash.com/users/tolktrash/ Mmmmm! Honey.... > Q: Why do I get the impression that the Tilde has been Subverted to > the Prurient Interests? > > A: Because it has been. Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! (this time it is appropiate! :) > Q: I have a question that doesn't appear on this FAQ. > > A: Send it to prembone@excite.com, ^^^^^^ You confess: you chose that on purpose! > and I'll do my best to answer it > and include it on future editions of the TildeFAQ. Woo-hoo! > > ~~~~~ The above FAQ is authored by an admitted, practicing member of > the Tilde Club. Amazingly enough, I look just like an ordinary > person. You'd hardly know I'm Tilde, if I hadn't told you. ~~~~~ > > "Fish to fish, chips to chips, fish to chips and chips to fish; > each to its own, as each desires, and may all be well fed! Jolly good." > > The Prembone Pages http://www.geocities.com/~prembone > ~~~Where the Tildeful People go~~~ Hahahaha!!! R.L.V. ~~#~~~ "Tilde Power!" (founding member, and proud of it! ;-) Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't. ###### From: softrat@pobox.com (softrat) Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: TildeFAQ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 05:55:06 GMT Organization: Posted via RemarQ, http://www.remarQ.com - The Internet's Discussion Network Lines: 25 Message-ID: <37975f18.53747198@NEWS.SUPERNEWS.COM> References: <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net> NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 05:55:41 GMT X-Trace: 932536541.877.7 GPQZYTJZG00000000 qube-03.us-ca.remarq.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@remarQ.com X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news1.sunrise.ch!news.imp.ch!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.he.net!remarQ73!supernews.com!remarQ.com!remarQ69!news.remarQ.com!not-for-mail On Tue, 20 Jul 1999 16:54:39 GMT, prembone@excitebitespam.com (Prembone) wrote: >Q: Why do some of the subject lines on rec.arts.books.tolkien have a >Tilde ~ at the end? > >A: The Tilde was instituted in response to concerns over posts >discussing sexual matters in a frank, free manner, a situation which >arose, as often happens in newsgroups, as a gradually off-topic slide >from an originally (though marginally) topical thread. 'in a frank, free manner' seems to be Tilde Patrol code for 'rude, crude, coarse, and salacious manner'. 'sexual matters' appears to be code for 'pornographic fantasies'. In general the material discussed and cooed over had no relationship to Tolkien except the names used and the forum selected. the softrat ------- "Much of the same sort of talk can still be heard among the orc-minded; dreary and repetitive with hatred and contempt, too long removed from good to retain even verbal vigour, save in the ears of those to whom the squalid sounds strong." JRR Tolkien, "The Return of the King", Appendix F, "On Translation". ###### From: Jereeza Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: TildeFAQ Date: Fri, 23 Jul 1999 15:43:37 -0700 Organization: FFR Lines: 9 Message-ID: <3798F019.E5B@dessin.beaux-arts.com> References: <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net> <37975f18.53747198@NEWS.SUPERNEWS.COM> NNTP-Posting-Host: ar1-p100-ri.tel.hr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: as102.tel.hr 932737170 19111 195.29.232.100 (23 Jul 1999 13:39:30 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@tel.hr NNTP-Posting-Date: 23 Jul 1999 13:39:30 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 2.02 (Win16; I) Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!iol.ie!diablo.theplanet.net!newsfeed.esat.net!EU.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.cwix.com!205.219.255.8!argos.tel.hr!not-for-mail softrat wrote: > 'in a frank, free manner' seems to be Tilde Patrol code for 'rude, > crude, coarse, and salacious manner'. 'sexual matters' appears to be > code for 'pornographic fantasies'. In general the material discussed > and cooed over had no relationship to Tolkien except the names used > and the forum selected. If it bothers you, simply ignore. ###### From: prembone@excitebitespam.com (Prembone) Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: [?] TildeFAQ Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 16:33:59 GMT X-ELN-Insert-Date: Sun Jul 25 09:45:03 1999 References: <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net> <7n2h6m$55q$1@nnrp1.deja.com> X-Newsreader: Forte Free Agent 1.11/32.235 Organization: The Rescue Frodo SWAT Team X-Posted-Path-Was: not-for-mail Lines: 33 NNTP-Posting-Host: sdn-ar-006mnminnp224.dialsprint.net X-ELN-Date: 25 Jul 1999 16:36:56 GMT Message-ID: <379b3bbe.5504539@news.earthlink.net> Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!iol.ie!news-out.cwix.com!newsfeed.cwix.com!204.59.152.222!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!panix!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!lsanca1-snf1!news.gtei.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!nntp.earthlink.net!posted-from-earthlink!not-for-mail On Tue, 20 Jul 1999 19:03:59 GMT, rlv6@my-deja.com wrote: >In article <3794a953.147710755@news.earthlink.net>, > prembone@excitebitespam.com (Prembone) wrote: >> A: Send it to prembone@excite.com, > ^^^^^^ >You confess: you chose that on purpose! No, actually, "Prembone" is just a stupid nickname one of my sisters bestowed upon me. My youngest sister rendered "Karyn" as "Premmon" when she was just learning to talk, and the sister in question turned "Premmon" into "Prembone" and insisted on calling me by this idiot moniker. I always hated it because to me it sounded vaguely obscene (this was in my pre-Tilde Club days, mind you), but when I needed a unique internet handle I thought, oh, what the hell, I'll use Prembone. It's different. And I can call my web page "The Prembone Pages;" nice alliteration. The rest, as they say, is history. And it only now occurred to me how "prembone" must look in juxtaposition with "excite.com"...WOO-HOO!!! indeed. "I've better things to do with my eternity than further your prurient interests." -- Frodo's Ghost ~~~Woo-hoo!!!~~~ The Prembone Pages http://www.geocities.com/~prembone/ ###### From: aorel1@aol.com (Aorel1) Newsgroups: rec.arts.books.tolkien Subject: Re: [?] TildeFAQ NNTP-Posting-Host: ladder06.news.aol.com X-Admin: news@aol.com Date: 26 Jul 1999 02:53:16 GMT References: <379b3bbe.5504539@news.earthlink.net> Organization: AOL http://www.aol.com Message-ID: <19990725225316.25873.00001876@ng-bg1.aol.com> Lines: 6 Path: chonsp.franklin.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!iol.ie!colt.net!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!news.maxwell.syr.edu!howland.erols.net!portc02.blue.aol.com!audrey03.news.aol.com!not-for-mail >And it only now occurred to me how "prembone" must look in >juxtaposition with "excite.com"...WOO-HOO!!! indeed. And ya know, I wouldn't have even thought about that tilde version of your address until you mentioned it (or whoever mentioned it)! Awesome name story, though. I was wondering where you got your "internet" name!