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Creation of the newsgroup rec.games.mahjong
(Initiated message 12 Feb 1997 - Mahjong Mailing List / File [maiarchives001])

From ???@??? Wed Feb 12 20:34:08 1997
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From: Zuwei Thomas Feng <ztfeng@math.Princeton.EDU>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 18:22:52 -0500 (EST)
Message-Id: <199702122322.SAA26164@coffee.Princeton.EDU>
To: group-mentors@acpub.duke.edu
Cc: mahjong@real-time.com, P.Ivory@ais.gu.edu.au, hirokun@best.com,
        cofatsui@aicom.com, jon@atdesk.com, clay@cs.utk.edu,
        a3geffen@globalxs.nl, delfosse@stat.cs.wvu.edu, kenk@li.net,
        PungChow@aol.com, mitsuya@stat.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Subject: Want to create rec.games.mahjong
Content-Type: text

Hello,

I think that we need a newsgroup for mahjong-related discussions. I've
come up with a draft Request for Discussion (RFD), which I include below.
I would appreciate comments and suggestions, especially if someone could
guide me through the process. Thanks in advance!

Tom

--
Zuwei Thomas Feng       ztfeng@math.princeton.edu    `,`,`,` ,-._;^7 `,`,`,
        http://www.math.princeton.edu/~ztfeng          `,`,`, <     `\   ,`,`,
   -=- Check out the Internet MahJong Servers: -=-     `,`,`,   `-^>__/, ,`,`,
http://www.math.princeton.edu/~ztfeng/mj_servers.html `,`,`,` CHINA '   `,`,`,

---8<---

REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
unmoderated group rec.games.mahjong

This is a formal Request For Discussion (RFD) for the creation of a
world-wide unmoderated Usenet newsgroup rec.games.mahjong. This is
not a Call for Votes (CFV); you cannot vote at this time. Procedural
details are below.

Newsgroup line:
rec.games.mahjong Mahjong related discussion and posting.

RATIONALE: rec.games.mahjong

The rec.games.mahjong newsgroup is for discussions and announcements
related to Mahjong, an 4-player game that originated in China and has
widely spread to Asia, America, Europe, and other parts of the world.
Note that Mahjong is not the solitaire game also known as Shanghai.

Aside from a large player base in homes, local clubs and tournaments,
there are also many people who play Mahjong with computer software.
In particular, since the Internet Mahjong Server went on-line, it has
attracted more than 1,000 players who came from different Mahjong
communities.

Mahjong is becoming a more visible international phenomenon. The
first international Mahjong tournament to be held this year, will
bring together top-notch Mahjong players from around the world and
hopes to bring to Mahjong participation and prestige of games like
Bridge, Chess, and Go. Such efforts will naturally be welcomed by
Mahjong fans everywhere, and discussion of Mahjong rules, playing
styles and skills will be key to their success.

Mailing lists for various local Mahjong clubs and the Internet server
already exist. Creating a big mailing list would however create too
much traffic and scare off people who just want to participate in
casual discussion.

Popular games such as Bridge, Chess, and Go all have their respective
newsgroups. Mahjong is arguably as popular as these games, and still
gaining momentum. Unfortunately, there is no group within the
rec.games hierarchy in which Mahjong postings are appropriate.

CHARTER: group.name

rec.games.mahjong is an unmoderated group for the discussion and
announcements related to Mahjong and its variations. The group
welcomes all postings of the following kinds:

1. Discussions of Mahjong rules and play.
2. Announcements of club meetings and tournaments.
3. Advertisements of Mahjong related products.
4. Private "for sale" or "want to buy" notices.

The above guidelines are preliminary and open to discussion during
the RFD phase.

END CHARTER.

PROCEDURE:

This is a request for discussion, not a call for votes. In this phase
of the process, any potential problems with the proposed newsgroups
should be raised and resolved. The discussion period will continue
for a minimum of 21 days (starting from when the first RFD for this
proposal is posted to news.announce.newgroups), after which a Call For
Votes (CFV) may be posted by a neutral vote taker if the discussion
warrants it. Please do not attempt to vote until this happens.

All discussion of this proposal should be posted to news.groups.

This RFD attempts to comply fully with the Usenet newsgroup creation
guidelines outlined in "How to Create a New Usenet Newsgroup" and "How
to Format and Submit a New Group Proposal". Please refer to these
documents (available in news.announce.newgroups) if you have any
questions about the process.

DISTRIBUTION:

news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, rec.games.misc, rec.games.go,
rec.games.chinese-chess, rec.games.playing-cards, rec.games.board,
rec.games.chess.misc, rec.games.bridge, rec.gambling.misc,
rec.gambling.other-games

Proponent: Zuwei Thomas Feng <ztfeng@math.princeton.edu>
*************************************End of message

From ???@??? Wed Feb 12 20:34:27 1997
Return-Path: <grobe@netins.net>
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Wed, 12 Feb 1997 18:14:44 -0600 (CST)
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 18:16:56 -0600 (CST)
From: Jonathan Grobe <grobe@netins.net>
Reply-To: mentors@acpub.duke.edu
To: Zuwei Thomas Feng <ztfeng@math.Princeton.EDU>
cc: mentors@acpub.duke.edu, mahjong@real-time.com, P.Ivory@ais.gu.edu.au,
        hirokun@best.com, cofatsui@aicom.com, jon@atdesk.com, clay@cs.utk.edu,
        a3geffen@globalxs.nl, delfosse@stat.cs.wvu.edu, kenk@li.net,
        PungChow@aol.com, mitsuya@stat.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp
Subject: Re: Want to create rec.games.mahjong
In-Reply-To: <199702122322.SAA26164@coffee.Princeton.EDU>
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.94.970212181157.27736B-100000@worf.netins.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

It looks pretty good.

It should be CHARTER: rec.games.mahjong

You might add a ban on binaries in the charter.

You should include a limit on frequency of reposting in the charter
section about advertising--some people repost ads every day.

Have you counted exactly how many characters are in your Newsgroups:
line? There is a limit of 200 (including "Newsgroups:"). It looks very
close; is it too long?

Jonathan Grobe <grobe@netins.net> Note: All my comments on the
group-mentors list and alt.config are simply my opinion.

On Wed, 12 Feb 1997, Zuwei Thomas Feng wrote:

> [ snipped ]
>
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From: Zuwei Thomas Feng <mahjong@real-time.com>
To: ztfeng@math.Princeton.EDU, mahjong@real-time.com
Subject: [IMS] Please vote for rec.games.mahjong...
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Dear friends:

I'm writing to ask you all a favor, namely, to help me in my effort to
create a newsgroup rec.games.mahjong devoted to -- you guessed it --
Mahjong.

For the impatient, here's what I hope you'll do:

1) Send an e-mail to voting@hut.fi, and include the following 2 lines in
the message body:

I vote YES on rec.games.mahjong
Voter name: (your name)

2) Ask your friends to do the same!

In order for the group to pass the votes and be created, (a) there must
be 100 more YES votes than NO votes and (b) at least 2/3 of the votes
must be YES. The voting period is roughly 1 month. I need all your help!
In return, I express my sincere gratitude :-)

For the curious, I've enclosed a copy of the CFV (call for votes), which
has been posted to news.announce.newgroups by the vote-taker.

Thanks again.

Tom

---

From: Jani Patokallio <jpatokal@alpha.hut.fi>
Reply-To: voting@hut.fi
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,rec.games.chinese-chess,
rec.games.go,rec.games.playing-cards,soc.culture.china,soc.culture.hongkong,
soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: CFV: rec.games.mahjong
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Usenet Volunteer Votetakers
Archive-Name: rec.games.mahjong
Date: Sat, 12 Apr 1997 19:37:09 GMT

FIRST CALL FOR VOTES (of 2)
unmoderated group rec.games.mahjong

Newsgroups line:
rec.games.mahjong Mahjong related discussion and posting.

Votes must be received by 23:59:59 UTC, 3 May 1997.

This vote is being conducted by a neutral third party. Questions
about the proposed group should be directed to the proponent.

Proponent: Zuwei Thomas Feng <ztfeng@princeton.edu>
Votetaker: Jani Patokallio <jpatokal@alpha.hut.fi>

RATIONALE: rec.games.mahjong

The rec.games.mahjong newsgroup is for discussions and announcements
related to Mahjong, an multiplayer game that originated in China and
has widely spread to Asia, America, Europe, and other parts of the
world. Note that Mahjong is NOT the solitaire game also known as
Shanghai.

CHARTER: rec.games.mahjong

Rec.games.mahjong is an unmoderated group for the discussion and
announcements related to Mahjong and its variations. There is no
"standard Mahjong", so all versions, including Chinese, Japanese,
Jewish, the Taiwan 16-tile variant, and some 3-player variants, etc,
are covered by the group. The group welcomes all postings of the
following kinds:

1. Discussions of Mahjong rules, play, and strategy.
2. Announcements of club meetings and tournaments.
3. Advertisements of Mahjong related products, with a repost frequency
of at most once every month.
4. Private "for sale" or "want to buy" notices, with a repost frequency
of at most once every month.

The group accepts NO binary postings.

END CHARTER.

HOW TO VOTE:

Follow these instructions *exactly*! Votes are counted by computer.
You should send E-MAIL (posts to a newsgroup are invalid) to:

voting@hut.fi

Please do not assume that just replying to this message will work.
Check the address before you mail your vote. Your mail message
should contain one and only one of the following vote statements:

I vote YES on rec.games.mahjong
I vote NO on rec.games.mahjong

Voter name:

If your mail software does not indicate your real name (for example, AOL and
Delphi do not), include _exactly_ the statement above on a _separate_ line
and add your name after the colon. Having your name in your signature line
is NOT enough! Do NOT join the lines together or remove the words
"Voter name"!

You may also vote ABSTAIN (which records an empty vote) or CANCEL (which
removes any earlier votes). ABSTAIN does not affect the final vote count
in any way but is listed, whereas CANCEL is not.

If these instructions are unclear, please consult the Introduction to
Usenet Voting or the Usenet Voting FAQ at http://www.hut.fi/~jpatokal/uvv/.

IMPORTANT VOTING PROCEDURE NOTES:

Standard Guidelines for voting apply. One person, one vote. Votes
must be mailed directly from the voter to the votetaker. Anonymous,
forwarded or proxy votes are not valid. Votes mailed by WWW/HTML/CGI
forms are considered to be anonymous votes.

Vote counting is automated. Failure to follow these directions may
mean that your vote does not get counted. If you do not receive an
acknowledgment of your vote within three days contact the votetaker
about the problem. It's your responsibility to make sure your vote
is registered correctly. Duplicate votes are resolved in favor of
the most recent valid vote. Addresses and votes of all voters will
be published in the final voting results post.

The purpose of a Usenet vote is to determine the genuine interest of
persons who would read a proposed newsgroup. Soliciting votes from
disinterested parties defeats this purpose. Please do not distribute
this CFV. If you must, direct people to the official CFV as posted
to news.announce.newgroups. Distributing pre-marked or otherwise
edited copies of this CFV is generally considered to be vote fraud.
When in doubt, ask the votetaker.

DISTRIBUTION:

In addition to the groups named in the Newsgroups: header, the CFV
and the eventual RESULT posts will be mailed to these mailing lists:

Mailing list name: Mahjong server mailing list
Submission address: mahjong@real-time.com
Request address (optional):

Pointers directing readers to this CFV will be posted in these groups:

rec.gambling.misc
rec.games.misc
soc.culture.jewish
soc.culture.singapore

This CFV was created with uvpq 1.0gamma (Mar 28 1997).
PQ datestamp: 970324

--
Voting address : voting@hut.fi
Voting information: http://www.hut.fi/~jpatokal/uvv/
*************************************End of message

From ???@??? Mon May 12 23:14:22 1997
Return-Path: <tanner@warrior.real-time.com>
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Message-ID: <19970512210520.52972@wizard.real-time.com>
Date: Mon, 12 May 1997 21:05:20 -0500
From: Bob Tanner <tanner@real-time.com>
To: mahjong@real-time.com
Subject: [IMS] newgroup rec.games.mahjong y created tale@uunet.uu.net
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It is official!

Look for the mahjong newsgroup.

Tom, you going to to a mail2news gateway thing?

-----Forwarded message from News Administrator <news@real-time.com>-----

rec.games.mahjong is an unmoderated newsgroup which passed its vote for
creation by 210:16 as reported in news.announce.newgroups on 4 May 1997.

For your newsgroups file:
rec.games.mahjong Mahjong related discussion and posting.

The charter, culled from the vote result announcement:

The group accepts NO binary postings.

-----End of forwarded message-----

--
Bob Tanner <tanner@real-time.com> | Phone : 612.943.8700
http://www.real-time.com | Fax : 612.943.8300
Key fingerprint = 6C E9 51 4F D5 3E 4C 66 62 A9 10 E5 35 85 39 D9
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