Inherited from the ABPEAP FAQ
First Version August 13, 1995
Modified October 21, 1997
Modified December 26, 1998
Modified January 9, 1999
1. What Is it?
2. What Not to Post
3. Filename Conventions
3.1 What is a .csv file?
3.2 What is a .crc file?
3.3 Indices (index files)
4. Subject Line Standards
5. Posting Volume
pin-up n.
alt.binaries.pictures.art.pin-up is the newsgroup for the posting of realistic (i.e. not cartoon) art in the classic style in uuencoded binary form.
This newsgroup is dedicated to the pin-up and the art of cheesecake. "Cheesecake", as used here is a particular school of art, predominantly of the last hundred years. As defined here it refers to pictures that are primarily of provocatively clad, sexually attractive women. These pictures generally focus only on the subject, with background and props kept to a minimum.
The subjects of pin-ups/cheesecake are attractive people, not body parts nor sexual activity. The model is "provocative" not obscene. She may be coy, flirtatious or even seductive, but all such invitations are promises or hopes of the future and not yet faits accomplis. She may also be caught unaware in the innocent act of being herself. Again, it is the study of anatomy, not gynecology.
Examples would be calendar pictures, post cards, WWII "Bomber Nose Art", and magazine pin-ups or book/pulp covers. Cheesecake is also used in advertisements, on posters, tin signs and the like. Postings would include not only the art work of Charles Dana Gibson, Olivia De Berardinis, Alberto Vargas, Gil Elvgren, and George Petty, either in color or black & white, but also pin-up photography of such classic beauties as Bettie Page, Betty Grable and other models or actresses circa 1960's and earlier.
Explicitly excluded are ANY commercial messages (SPAM), or off-topic postings for which alternative newsgroups already exist (e.g., "fakes" produced by merging pinup figures with alternative backgrounds).
(Pin-Up and Cheesecake definition written in part by Jim Burrows. Additional information on the subject can be obtained at http://www.eldacur.com/brons/Art/Cheesecake.html)
Pre-1960 Playboy image posts are discouraged due to the fact that they can be found in other newsgroups (e.g., news:alt.binaries.pictures.centerfolds.playboy). Requests for these should be handled by pointing the requester to these newsgroups, or by email between those who have them and those who want them.
Art work containing explicit sex and or sex act(s), regardless of the artist, is not acceptable and will be considered off topic and reported to the originating ISP.
Modified files originally posted to this newsgroup. This includes file renaming. If you're planning on posting something you got from this or another newsgroup or any web page, don't mess with it by converting it to another format, cropping it, remapping colors, or renaming it to something "better." You're certainly welcome to do any or all of these to your own personal copy - just don't repost them with your changes.
In special cases, scans which can be improved considerably may be renamed and posted after the original poster has reviewed the work, agreed that the changes are indeed improvements, and granted permission. (Ex. itieu's rework of Driben covers and Photoplay covers) Scans by active contributors to the newsgroup, unless approved by the original scanner/poster.
A lot of the scans found out on the web originated here in this newsgroup. Unfortunately, most of them have been renamed. If you are new or are unaware, feel free to post these, but not a flood. (No more than 10 pictures) In the subject line, write "scanner unknown". If they were indeed renamed, someone "in the know" will inform you and the group of this. If this happens to you, kindly refrain from posting any more pictures from that site. You can save yourself a lot of flaming and accusations by not renaming the pics yourself. Even better, avoid cluttering up the newsgroup; instead post a single article containing the URL of the web source - any viewers who want a copy can go and download them.
If you've discovered that someone has posted renamed files, be kind on your first note. The poster might not know that they've done anything wrong. If they persist or reject your observation, well, we don't need to go there!
DO NOT CROSSPOST!!! Although crossposting (posting to more than one newsgroup in a single article) is a more efficient use of the Internet, it invites abuse: many SPAMMERS "harvest" the articles from certain newsgroups and add any crossposted groups to their list. This is especially true for the "erotic" groups, and so any article posted here and "there" simultaneously will attract SPAM!!
That is why the abpeap (news:alt.Binaries.Pictures.Erotica.Art.Pin-up) group had to be abandoned!!!
Most scanners in this group have adapted a naming convention that identifies both the scanner and the artist/subject. The first letter normally identifies the scanner, with the next two letters for the initials of the artist or what identifies the source. The numbers at the end indicates the number this scan is in the series. If two artist have the same initials then normally a third letter is used to distinguish the difference between them. If a scan is a collaboration then all individuals involved will have their identifying letter in the filename separated by a dash. Most scanners and collectors in this group collect by both scanner and artist. So there is a swing towards identify all scans by the artist and doing away with the subject/source id.
Nonscanners who post should not use scanner type file names. They should post files with their original filename.
Artists who post to the group usually scan their own images and should use some type of scanner type filename convention such as "A" for artist and "XX" for their name, and then whatever else would complete the filename.
CSV stands for Comma Separated Values. It is a file format used as a portable representation of a database. Each line is one entry or record and the fields in a record are separated by commas. Once g enerated, CSV files can be read by any spreadsheet like Excel, most word processors and any text editor.
Below is an example csv file. The first item is the filename minus the extension, followed by the file size, and the third is the file crc. The crc is the key to it all. Some csv files will have a fourth item which is a description of the file.
rle-01, 165193 ,F1B73699, (optional description) rle-02, 156571 ,BA79D139, rle-03, 72515 ,DAEC0FAB, rle-04, 64260 ,DA080001,
CRC stands for cyclic redundancy check n - an error correction code that is recorded in each sector of a magnetic disk and used to catch errors in the data
(CRC) A number derived from, and stored or transmitted with, a block of data in order to detect corruption. By recalculating the CRC and comparing it to the value originally transmitted, the receiver can detect some types of transmission errors.
The CRC is "redundant" in that it adds no information. A single corrupted bit in the data will result in a one bit change in the calculated CRC. Therefore, if a file is changed in any way, other then the filename, the calculated CRC will not agree with the CRC listed in the csv file and the file is then considered corrupt.
There are freeware programs available that will generate a csv file or check a file(s) crc against the crc from an existing csv file. Some of the more common ones are Master Tech's Collection Manager (MTCM), Clover, Piccheck and CSV Maker. A web search should lead you to them.
Indices, or index files, are not required but if you have the time to do one and post it with your posts it will make it easier for the down loader to determine which files they need or want just by viewing the index.
Make subject lines that are informative, but keep them short (65 characters max) so that they are readable by all. Avoid "shouting" (ALL CAPS). Example:
ABPEAP (New) - Earl MacPherson ^ ^ ^ 1 2 3
Please restrict yourself to posting 20-25 posts per day per subject. In addition posts should be less then 5000 lines per post. Bigger is not necessarily better. Some people can not afford nor have the means to download the larger files. If you must post files that will be in excess of 5000 lines (250K & up) then post them at a reduced rate of say 5-10 at a time. If on the other hand, If you have a large amount of files less then 100K then you may post more then the recommended limit, but never post more then 35 posts at one time. You're only hurting yourself if you do so, in the form that the chances are very good that only half of the people who visit this group will see all of your posts.
Try to avoid multi-part posts; the Internet has gotten flakey enough so that in all likelyhood many people will not see all parts, and thus have to request a repost anyway (which will be subject to the same limitations).
When posting large series or post that approach the limit, please wait at least 4-6 hours before posting the next batch in the series. This will allow others to get some of their posts in. Not everyone has a cable modem or a server that holds files for more than a few days, some of the smaller local ones only hold files for a few hours. Floods can cause earlier files to fall off the server sooner than normal. If one of these servers in your line of propagation fills up. The server will stop sending or receiving files until such time as there is room on the server hard drive(s). When this happens both the people up and down stream of the server loose out on the posts. A good example that this has happened is when you see a reply to a picture posted but never saw the picture on your server. Remember, a picture post takes up MUCH more bandwidth then a simple text post.