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Introduction

This is the second revision of the Netraver FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). As always, any feedback, corrections or contributions for the FAQ would be greatly appreciated.

This FAQ is currently archived at the following locations, but some of these links may refer to the previous version of the FAQ (version 1.0):

• http://www.ravesafe.org.za/netraver.faq
• http://www.netraver.org.za/faq.html

The Netraver FAQ is dedicated to all of the wonderful people I've met through Netraver and to all the future Netravers that I have yet to meet.

PLUR to all of you!

Ant.

Contents

The Netraver FAQ is split into six sections.

A: The Netraver mailing list: This section covers the very basics of the Netraver mailing list. If you are a non-Netraver looking for instructions on joining, start here.
B: The Netraver meme: This section has some deeper (this just means more obscure) background info on the Netraver meme, including a brief history of the list and information on the Netraver web sites.
C: How to Netrave: The definition of PLUR and some instructions on practical Netraving.
D: Netraver events: Information on the famous M&M parties.
E: Recurring topics: A brief primer on some of the more common threads on the list.
F: Tell me more about...: A collection of related info that might be of interest to Netravers and non-Netravers alike.

A: The Netraver mailing list

A.1: What is Netraver?

A simple explanation:
Netraver is a mailing list for discussion of the South African rave scene. The list includes reviews of raves and other parties, announcements of upcoming rave events, discussions of raving and society and pretty much anything else.

A more esoteric explanation:
Netraver is a tribe or clan of people who enjoy "raves" and rave-culture. The Netraver clan are all addicted to the drug "mailing list" and cannot survive for extended periods of time without it. Members of the tribe gather ritually in groups at "rave" events and perform tribal-dances for many hours. The tribe follows the precepts of PLUR – a sacred code of life which they continually teach and learn from each other. The Netraver tribe regularly welcomes new people into its fold and occasionally loses others. Old members of the tribe are remembered fondly and sometimes participate in the tribal dances.

A.2: What are Netraver's vital statistics?

On 6 March 1998 there were 134 Netraver subscribers (a drop from the 170 subscribed on 17 November 1997). Between 50 and 60 people post regularly (more than twice a month), the rest all seem to have been abducted by aliens since subscribing because they never say a word. (Maybe they are aliens?) Speculation is that at least one subscriber is a narcotics officer. If there is, he (or she) is a very lucky person. I want that job. He actually gets paid to read Netraver – how many of the rest of us can say that?

The Netraver mailing list generates between 40 and 120 mail messages a day during the week, and slightly fewer on weekends. The average numbers of posts per day has climbed from 35 in June 1997 to 55 in November 1997. Following a dip during the 1997-1998 festive season, traffic climbed back up to an average of 62 messages a day in February 1998. Most of Netraver's subscribers are South Africans, but there are occasional visitors from other lands.

A.3: How do I join Netraver?

If you are reading this and not already part of the Netraver tribe, you may want to join the list. The tribe's joining ritual is to send an email message to majordomo@netraver.org.za. The aliens employed to process these messages hate subject lines, so leave the subject line blank and just put the following line in the body of your message:

subscribe netraver your@email.address

A.4: What should I do once I've subscribed?

Once you've subscribed to Netraver, you'll realise that you need to rapidly get to grips with the filtering facilities of your mail package (these could also be called "rules", depending on the mail package you use). Setting up filters will let you sort all of your Netraver mail into a separate folder so it doesn't completely swamp your regular mail. If you are using Netscape Messenger or Microsoft Outlook to read your mail, refer to the "Help" files for information on filtering mail. If you are using a UNIX-based mail reader, the following web site may be of some assistance:
http://www.best.com/~ii/internet/faqs/launchers/mail/filtering-faq/.

Before posting, it is probably a good idea to spend at least a few days just following the list threads to get some idea of who the regular posters are and what they are talking about at the moment. (Threads are series of mail messages with the same subject line.) You might also want to have a look around the Netraver web site.

After you've followed the list for a few days, feel free to leap right in and post something. You might make mistakes and say something stupid, but the Netraver tribe is a very forgiving one. If in doubt, PLUR (see question C.1 later in this FAQ) is probably as good a guide for posting as anything.

A.5: How do I post to the list?

To send a message to the list, mail it to either netraver@netraver.org.za or all@netraver.org.za.

A.6: What are the list rules?

Originally the Netraver list had only one rule, but because I wrote the FAQ, I added another one. The second rule is based on some suggestions made by FrankE on the list, and Dimitri's guide to netiquette on the web site. Here are the two rules:

Franz's first rule of Netraver: "Don't bug us with adverts". Announcements for rave events are welcome, but no product or service advertisements are allowed.

Anthony's second rule of Netraver: "Format your mail properly" To put that another way, I think everyone who sends me mail with lines that look this this:

YWlsKSBpZCBPQUEwOTg0NCBmb3IgPG1heGluZV9rZXVuZ0Bub24taHAtc291dGhhZnJpY2Et b20xLm9tLmhwLmNvbT47IFdlZCwgMTIgTm92IDE5OTcgMTQ6MTA6MTQgKzAzMDAgKFNBRFQp

should be lined up and shot . To avoid such a tragic end, please try to follow a few guidelines:

• Don't include the whole of the last person's message if you don't need to. A few lines selectively quoted should be enough.
• Don't send huge bitmaps to the list – they will be sent to everyone on the list and many people don't like downloading large files. Send a URL (web site address) to the list instead.
• DON'T SHOUT. Uppercase letters are a real pain to read. Please don't use them except where you really need to.
• Don't post virus warnings – almost all of them are hoaxes. Please visit one or all of the following web pages before posting a virus warning, or risk making a fool of yourself: http://ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/CIACHoaxes.html, http://kumite.com/myths or http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
  The only way you can get a virus via email is if you open an attached file which contains the virus. You cannot get infected by reading the mail normally.
• Try to make sure that your mail package is set up properly and that it doesn't send weird attachments (or those really annoying winmail.dat files ;) with every message. If you are having trouble solving the problem, there might be someone on Netraver who can help – please ask.

A.7: What should and shouldn't I talk about on Netraver?

Netraver doesn't really have off-topics – pretty much any subject material goes as long as you don't make senseless personal attacks (people just seem to react badly when that happens ^shrug^). One word of caution though – you might want to think twice before posting anything potentially incriminating; remember that Netraver is a public list and anyone could be reading it. Please also steer clear of really, really complicated explanations with lots of cogs. Those hurt my head.

A.8: Who do I contact if something goes wrong?

The current administrator of the Netraver list can be reached at anthony@netraver.org.za if you have any administrative problems. Very special thanks to the previous list administrator, Sir Wobin, Knight of Inti, who looked after Netraver from close to its birth until March 1998.

A.9: How do I unsubscribe?

To excommunicate yourself from the Netraver tribe, send mail to majordomo@netraver.org.za with NO SUBJECT, and the following line in the body of the message:

unsubscribe netraver your@email.address

B: The Netraver meme

B.1: How and when did Netraver start?

In mid-1996, Franz was maintaining RaveSafe's events page. Each time the events page was updated, Franz sent mail to a manually maintained list of interested people. Because the list of recipients was visible to all the people getting the mail, some of them started to use the list of names as an informal mailing list, and Netraver was born. Shortly afterwards [does anyone have the exact date?] an automated mailing list was set up and Netraver begin life in its current, automated, form.

Here is a copy of the very first Netraver message, sent on August 2, 1996; courtesy of the Inzanity web site (http://inzanity.rave.org.za):

From:             "Franz - franz@aztec.co.za" 

Organization:     aztec.co.za

To:               mbarnett@botzoo.uct.ac.za, amason@cs.uct.ac.za, franz@aztec.co.za,

                  schwann@aztec.co.za, lunatik@iafrica.com, OAD@rkw.rau.ac.za, 

                  freddie@iafrica.com, comblitz@gem.co.za, denalomo@gsb2.uct.ac.za

Date sent:        Fri, 2 Aug 1996 22:51:30 +1

Subject:          NETRAVER Database

Send reply to:    franz@aztec.co.za

Priority:         normal



Hello Ravers 



I have started a 'NETRAVER' database to distribute South

African Rave Information.



It is here to inform you when the 'South African Events

Page' at: http://www.pcb.co.za/usrs/ravesafe/events.htm is

updated and with other info that may be interesting for

Ravers.



If you are unhappy with being on the list, write to me and

I will take you off.  I don't really think I will bombard

you with mail though...:-)



Cheers, Franzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz



____________________________________________________

NETRAVER - franz@rave.org.za

http://www.pcb.co.za/users/ravesafe/

B.2: What are the correct forms of the word "Netrave"?

Correct is whatever you are most comfortable with . As an indication though, Franz (see above) uses the words as follows:

• "The Netraver list" or just "Netraver": This is the actual mailing list, as in "I am addicted to Netraver".
• "A Netraver" or the plural "Netravers": A person or people subscribed to the Netraver list, as in "Netravers are really cool people".
• "Netraving" (a form of the verb: "to Netrave"): Used to describe what Netravers do. (That's a pretty vague definition, but you should get a good idea of what it means to Netrave from the rest of the FAQ anyway.)

Netraver is spelt with a capital throughout this FAQ, but not everybody writes it like that. You say "potato"; I say "potato" :P.

B.3: Is there a Netraver web site?

Franz's original Netraver web page is located at http://www.ravesafe.org.za/netrave.htm. The original web page is part of RaveSafe's web site. The page contains instructions for joining the Netraver mailing list and links to several other related sites. It also has links to other useful parts of the RaveSafe site. A more extensive Netraver web site, created by Dimitri, is located at http://www.netraver.org.za. The web site contains a selection of zany pictures, reviews and previews of events and information on the Netravers themselves. There is a section all about PLUR and information on purchasing a PLUR sticker. The web site also has instructions for joining the list and links to the official Netraver home page and many other useful places. An extremely useful feature of the site (at least for those who ravE) is the Smart-E page. This is a collection of pill reports extracted from the Netraver mailing list. The pills are not professionally tested, so the author of the web site makes no guarantees on the accuracy of the reports. Nonetheless, knowledge is power, and ravErs are well advised to check it out.

B.4: Who are the Netravers?

There are a few ways to find out more about individual Netravers:

• The best way to find out who the Netravers are is to hang out on the list for a few weeks and learn. Each member of the Netraver clan has his own unique style of posting and her own distinctive views.
• The Netraver web site has some general statistics on a selection of Netravers, and some links to the web pages of some Netravers (and a cool group picture). The Inzanity web site also has some older information on Netravers. Unfortunately, some of the people listed there are no longer subscribers to the list.
• Physical Netraver meet-ups are often organised on the list, either for upcoming clubs and raves or for more social events like picnics and theatre visits. Watch out for those if you are new to the list and want to meet some of the tribe in person. It is often easier to keep track of all the names on the list if you have some faces to fit them to.

B.5: What is it like to be a Netraver?

Being on Netraver is like standing in a room full of people where every word spoken by every person is heard by everyone else in the room. There are anywhere between two and ten conversations running at the same time on Netraver and these conversations can change direction or split up into multiple conversations at any minute of the day or night. The psychology gets a little odd sometimes <grin>.

B.6: What are the technical and spiritual specifications of the Netraver listserver?

The Netraver listserver (Myrtle) is a 166MHz Pentium, with an ASUS SP97-V mother board, 64 Mb of RAM, 3 Gb of disk space. Myrtle is part of the Proxima network and handles everything except graphics, which are provided by Foible (another machine on the same network).

It is traditional for names at Proxima to assonate with PHYRQL, which is a made up word, meaning an extreme rip-off, whose nature can only be admired by all with the forgivable exception of the ripped off person. Myrtles are rather small berries, black and seldom sweet, growing in bushes.

B.7: What are the Netraver totems?

Netraver's totems are an inflatable bat and a dead horse. They are both available for hire at discount rates to all Netravers. For further details, contact Colin N. or Charlie respectively.

B.8: Who holds the longest sentence record on Netraver?

This record was first set on May 22, 1997 by Clive Hassal. Independent judge Ashton Mason gave the "longest sentence of the week award" to the following 96-word creation:

"But, at the same time, the group, its resources, inspiration, responses and my interpretation of its purpose, one of entire transparency, freedom of thought, expression, understanding and a whole lot of other things, whether they be academic, emotional, purposeless, frivolous, humorous, curious or blasphemous excite me beyond expression and that's perhaps why rave, and the group as a microcosm of it, as I see it, defies interpretation and gives me the incredible opportunity, for right or wrong, to express myself honestly and sincerely, as a caring member, equally for my own gratification and as a benefactor."

On January 12, 1998 Drew shattered Clive's record with the following 132-word monster:

"I can't comment on the green nun's party as such seeing as I've been back in Pta since last week sunday but on the subject of very hard psy-trance in the morning's I found that the hardness in the morning set's of both the Alien Safari on the 27th of December & Synergy aswell was a very nice change from the usual chilled out tune's that normally get played at the S'n'C's down here during the morning set's & due to the hardness & the very happy vibe in the morning's meant that no matter how tired out I was feeling I still returned to the dance floor & danced or should I rather say tranced well into the morning hour's which if I think of it hasn't happened since desert storm :-))))))))))) "

Hement Gopal served as independent judge for Drew's record attempt.

C: How to Netrave

C.1: What does PLUR stand for?

As the Netraver web site says, PLUR is the essence of raving:

Peace: Is the core of energy found within ourselves when we let go of all our fears. We have a loss of interest in judging ourselves and those around us. We tend to think and act spontaneously, enjoying each moment as we appreciate everything and smile through the eyes – from the heart

Love: We all long for love, understanding and acceptance. We can only truly give and receive love once we have gained acceptance and peace within ourselves. Our actions of love towards others all stem from the love we have for ourselves.

Unity: Is what happens when a group of people, who have peace, experience their love for themselves and each other, creating a oneness within the group.

Respect: The attitude you reach because of Peace, Love and Unity. This allows an environment of freedom of choice. You allow yourself the freedom to be yourself as you allow others the freedom and space to be themselves.

(This text was written by Cath)

C.2: Why do Netravers sometimes end messages with "PLUR & say …"?

Short answer: Aliens started this trend.

Long answer: According to Freddie's extensive Netraver archives, the first historic occurrence of "PLUR and say" is in an April 11, 1997 post from Anthony Steele:

PLUR and say "Well, sometimes I resist the cravings until they go away. But how do I know that I'm not kidding myself that the cravings have gone away just so that I can satisfy them?"

This was follow by another post from Anthony on April 18:

PLUR and say "Oh look! a normal person! wow!"

Colin N. took up the habit <evil grin> on April 19 with the following post:

PLUR and say "floccinaucinihilipilification"

Thus was a tradition born.

Postscript: You may have noticed that the short answer ("Aliens started this trend") at the beginning of this section has absolutely nothing to do with the real explanation. Originally the long explanation had "PLUR & say…" first occurring in a thread about aliens. This turned out to be incorrect and was replaced by the above less alien-related text. This has made the short answer confusing and irrelevant. The FAQ compiler wishes to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

C.3: Why do people sometimes use capitals in strange ways on nEtrAvEr?

In general, the use of capital letters is pretty normal on Netraver (although both capital letters and punctuation are completely optional for "longest sentence" entrants – see B.8 :). You might see the letters "A" and "E" cApitAlisEd in odd ways sometimes, but that just because they are rEAlly cool letters of the alphabet. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Some people (maya for example) also use capitalisation in their names to show something specific (maya has a small "m" because maya is small :).

C.4: Do Netravers take drugs?

That all depends on your definitions :-). If we limit the question to "do Netravers take illegal drugs", then the answer is: "some of them do". Most of the Netraver tribe have very open minds regarding drugs and the recreational use of drugs. Often, drug usage and (inter)national drug policies are discussed and debated. Some people choose to share their drug experiences with other people on the list.

It needs to be stressed that not all Netravers take illegal drugs – the only prerequisite to being a Netraver is to be subscribed to the Netraver list. That said, if you think that open-minded discussion of drugs might offend you, then you probably shouldn't subscribe to the list.

C.5: How do I find out what rave events are happening? If you are a Netraver subscriber, watch the list for announcements and discussion of upcoming events. A number of Netravers are involved in the organisation of raves and rave events, so the information is usually quite reliable.

Alternatively, visit the following web sites for information on South African rave events:

• The RaveSafe South African Events page: http://www.ravesafe.org.za/events/events.htm. This site has comprehensive and regularly updated information on rave events in Cape Town and Gauteng. Despite this page's claim, the information for Durban was out-of-date when this version of the Netraver FAQ was released. Oh – remember to watch out for the upper link to the Gauteng events page – it is broken. The lower one (next to the dancing fairies) works fine though.
• Rudi's Rave Reminders: http://www.nis.za/~pretcom/rrr1.htm. This site has previews of upcoming events in the Gauteng area and is kept right up to date.
• If you have a reasonably fast Internet connection or lots of patience, you might also want to take a look at the graphics-heavy http://www.intertainment.co.za site. It tracks all kinds of events, including (if you click long-enough) rave events.

C.6: Where else can I go to Netrave?

Even if there aren't any specific events happening, there are still plenty of clubs catering to ravers of all types. For more information on rave clubs around the country, take a look at:

• The Gauteng clubs page: http://www.ravesafe.org.za/events/gp/clubs.html. (This is part of the RaveSafe Events site.)
• The Rave Diary Club listing: http://www.hardrive.co.za/ravediary/clublist.htm. This is a very comprehensive list of clubs throughout South Africa.

Both of these sites claim to have taken the information from print version of The Vibe magazine. For some reason, however, The Vibe web site (http://www.vibe.co.za) doesn't seem to include a club list. Go figure!

In Johannesburg, ESP is the most regular place for Netraver gatherings with late Sunday mornings/early afternoons the time when the most Netravers can be found raving (yes, during the day ;).

C.7: What are "S&C", "Soft and Cumfy" and "Essency"?

The Soft and Cumfy (or S&C for short) and Essency events are trance parties that take place in Gauteng and Cape Town respectively. Both events are non-commercial in the sense that they rely on word of mouth (or forwarded email!) to reach potential party-goers. Essency takes its name from the S&C abbreviation for Soft and Cumfy, but is organised independently.

C.8: How do I get a Netraver email address?

If you would like a Netraver email address alias (name@netraver.org.za), send anthony@netraver.org.za an email message with the alias you'd like (i.e. what you'd like the "name" part of the address to be) and your current email address. Don't forget to ask nicely :-). These addresses are simply aliases to existing mailboxes. Mail sent to name@netraver.org.za will be automatically forwarded to your@email.address.

D: Netraver events

D.1: What was the M&M party?

The Mutant and Muppet festival (or M&M) was the first ever major Netraver get together. It took place on Saturday, August 22, 1997 and was a truly momentous occasion. The story of the event (adapted from the M&M web site at http://venus.pcb.co.za/netraver/mnm1) is as follows:

It all started out with Laz suggesting we "roll our own" (after we had been Mothered once too often). Cuddlefish gave it a name, FrankE created a logo, ShadowWolf found a venue in Mpumalanga and Cuddlefish (again ;) made a map. GrooveBird hauled a sound system, Anthony rented a candy-blaster and lots of others helped. On the appointed day, 132 PLURsters arrived, an assortment of gifted DJs (Steven, FrankE, Nexus 8, Pierre, Jacque, Mikey and Glenn) did their thang and Mpumalanga grooved J. As an added plus, about R2000 was raised for RaveSafe.

D.2: And M&MII?

The second M&M party (formally titled "M&M Chapter II: Sanctifying Gaia") took place on December 6 December, 1997. It took place at the Tswaing meteor crater, some 90 minutes north of Johannesburg. Once again, a very interesting time was had by all (especially Wibble, if his report back was anything to go by ;). The M&M2 web site (http://venus.pcb.co.za/netraver/mm2) was set up to facilitate the organisation of the party and unfortunately doesn't contain any report-backs from the event. It does have some funky pictures of the Tswaing crater though :-).

D.3: How about an M&MIII?

There aren't any firm plans for a third M&M party at the moment. Bruce, the person-who-made-sure-everything-happened for parts I and II has expressed a strong desire to pass on the M&M torch to someone else. If you think you are capable of organising a third M&M party, and you have the desire to do so, either get in touch with Bruce (cygnux@milkyway.co.za) or suggest it on the list itself. Be warned – you will be expected to out-do the previous two momentous parties. (No pressure >:->)

D.4: Picnics

Apart from hard-core parties, Netravers also seem partial to weekend picnics. Picnics have taken place in both Kirstenbosch, Cape Town and Emmerentia, Johannesburg, and it is quite likely that there will be more of them. Keep an eye out on the list for news of future picnics.

D.5: Other events

Many other sorts of Netraver get-togethers have also taken place (varying from theatre visits to the celebration of Chinese New Year). Such events are regularly discussed and organised on the list. As with Netraver picnics, the best (only?) way to keep track of these get-togethers is to keep reading the list.

E: Recurring topics

E.1: Lists

Lists can sometimes make up a significant portion of the traffic on Netraver. Lists fall into two main categories, but the principle is the same for all lists: if you want to and it seems appropriate, reply to the latest version of the list and add your details or your name. The listserver sometimes takes a while to deliver one message to all of the Netravers, so you might need to check back over the last few additions on the mailing list, to make sure that you don't miss anyone out.

The two types of lists are:

• Event lists: These are attendance lists for upcoming events or club visits. There are usually separate lists for events in different locations (e.g. Gauteng and Cape Town).
• Surveys: Surveys are general calls for everyone on the list to rate something or give some piece of information about themselves. Past surveys have included people's ages, weights, astrological signs, general statistics, belief systems, weirdness factors, ICQ numbers (lots of times) and occupations (also several times now). Surveys are usually triggered by someone having a particularly boring week <>grin>.

E.2: Drugs