Mark Baum's Tagline Collection FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated April 26, 1996 (c) Mark Baum

Contents of this FAQ:
* - Indicates New or Updated information

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specific section of the FAQ  by simply searching for the section number.  For
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search for "[3.2]".
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     [0] - About the FAQ:
          [0.1]* Latest changes & additions
          [0.2]  FAQ layout
          [0.3]  The scope of this FAQ

     [1] - About Mark Baum's Tagline Collection:
          [1.1]  What is the MBTC?
          [1.2]  Tagline order
          [1.3]  Tagline screening
          [1.4]  Tagline sources

     [2] - About the tagline acquisition/compilation tools:
          [2.1]  The MBTC archive generator
          [2.2]  Other utilities used.
          [2.3]  Companion programs
               [2.3.1]  OLXTAGS.BAS
          [2.4]  Future projects

     [3] - Distribution notes:
          [3.1]  Contents of the MBTC archive
          [3.2]  Distribution sites
          [3.3]* Contacting the Collector

     [4] - Flotsam & jetsam:
          [4.1]  Recommended programs
               [4.1.1]  QuikSort
               [4.1.2]  Norton Editor
          [4.2]  Special thanks

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[0] - About This FAQ

[0.1]* Latest changes and additions

     Things  get  weirder  and  weirder  here  at  the  home  of  the Tagline
Collection.

     I have  been using an Internet  provider via a  _real_ free local number
for the last two  months with a gratis PPP connection.   This means that I am
now hopelessly addicted to the Internet.

     Yes, I know.  The "Information Superhighway".

     Yeah, right.

     First off, if it were to  be a highway it would be a turnpike.  I pay my
monthly $20 for full unlimited access to the Internet.  My toll, so to speak.

     And where does the  "super" come in?  Even at  28.8k it does tend to lag
now and  then.   Are they  referring to  the vast  amount of  information out
there, Sculley?

     Must be.

     That vast  warehouse of  information is at  my fingertips  and I've been
searching  it  to no  ends  for  thing  which may  have  no  relevance  to me
or...well, how can I fit fractals into a seventy-two character tagline?

     There is a lot  to explore out there!  Trust  me on that.  The Internet,
which  encompasses our  little blue  ball of  muck and  water, offers  such a
diversity of content  unrivaled by any otehr  known medium out there...and if
you have the computer, software, modem and number you can access it.  And, if
you have  everything set up right,  you can get all  of this without shelling
out extra money to Ma Bell.

     The point?

     Simple!  Pretty  soon the MBTC will be  available via FTP from a variety
of sites...hopefully by the  next month for the six-month anniversary edition
of the MBTC.  That means _anyone_ who is wired into the Internet will be able
to grasp this huge compedium of taglines.

     Speaking of  huge, there will come  a time where the  MBTC may break the
1.44MB barrier in its compressed  state.  On the average, the compressed size
of the MBTC grows by about  200K each month.  So that gives me a month or two
to create an installer.

     I originally guessed that this Tagline Collection wouldn't be as popular
as it  is right  now.   As usual, I  have guessed  incorrectly.   I took this
project as a joke.   I've automated the collection process to the point I can
compile this  collection literally  in my  sleep.   But I'll  admit, the dupe
checking and filtering I use  uses a lot of processing time.  Well, maybe not
much.   But  the  randomization  phase, which    scrambles he  order  of this
Collection relies heavily on my hard drive, really slows down the process.  I
could just  sort the  Tagline Collection alphabetically...but  what fun would
that be?  Everyone else sorts theirs...why should I?

     I'm  the black  sheep  in  the Tagline  Collection  community.   I  am a
collector  who   has  managed  to  create   the  ultimate  tagline  maintance
utility...but can't release it to  the general public because I would have to
code some  sort of a "User  Interface" and some  routine to "Idiot-Proof" the
software.   I am a black  sheep because I decided  to purposely randomize the
order of  the resulting  Tagline Collection instead  of sorting, categorizing
and whatever  else to make it  look presentable in the  eyes of those "other"
collectors.  I dare to something different...and hence, I'm the black sheep.

     Believe me,  I do what I  can to make the  MBTC _more_ than presentable.
There are  no dupes, there  aren't many  taglines (?) which  _may_ offend any
high-strung  thin-skinned individual...yet  for all  my  work, I'm  the black
sheep.

     I am ranting.   I admit that.  And raving  too!  Black sheep do that all
the time.   If you don't  understand by now  why I decided to  veer off in an
entirely different  direction, here is one  reason why I rant  and rave.  The
things I do just to "standardize" the MBTC.

     From misc items such as HTML code and other items which are removed (for
example,  people  who use  tons  of  "}" or  "{"  characters  surrounding the
taglines), there  is a  lot which  is done  to make  these taglines  the best
possible.

     Face it.  If you're  reading this FAQ right now, you were wise enough to
download/FTP the  very best.   However, be  prepared if  this Collection gets
bigger than  1.44MB.  You'll  have to FTP  a ton of  360K-sized archives.  By
then I'll probably rewrite everything, including this FAQ.

     Stay tuned!
     
[0.2]  FAQ layout

     The debut MBTC-FAQ.TXT (from now on, all references to this file will be
referred to as FAQ) was  hastily assembled with no clear order whatsoever due
to last minute  bugs in the MBTC  Generator (see [2.1]).   It was basically a
"down to Earth" Q&A  file.  However I've changed that.   There is now a table
of contents which will allow  you to quickly find information pertaining to a
specific topic.  As well,  by simply glancing at the table of contents you'll
quickly find which parts were updated and which were not.

     Speaking of  updated information, I  have greatly expanded  the scope of
this  FAQ as  well as  expanded (or,  in this  case, expounded  upon) several
topics.   So this  FAQ will  be approximately two  times larger  than the FAQ
included with the  debut release of the MBTC.   So most of the information in
this FAQ has been updated accordingly.

     Also, the previous release of  the FAQ was composed in record time using
Norton Editor instead of a  word processor.  This meant that the previous FAQ
may have been  plagued by spelling mistakes or  other formatting errors.  All
of this means the FAQ will have a more professional appearance.

     I hope you  enjoy reading this "new and improved"  FAQ as much as I have
in writing it.   Hopefully it will answer some  of the questions you may have
regarding my Tagline Collection.

[0.3]  The Scope of this FAQ

     This FAQ will cover any  questions you may have about the MBTC.  Also, I
set aside  some space  in the  FAQ to cover  my recommendations  for the best
software I ever used in my tagline collection activities.

     Questions about  running BASIC,  A86, Norton Editor,  QuikSort and other
programs which  are not packaged with  the MBTC are beyond  the scope of this
FAQ.

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[1] - About Mark Baum's Tagline Collection

[1.1]  What is the MBTC?

     Mark Baum's Tagline Collection (this will be referred to as MBTC for the
remainder of this FAQ) is  a collection of taglines for use with offline mail
readers.   It is published  monthly featuring  the best taglines  which I may
have run across.

     Unlike  many  other  tagline lists  out  there  this  list  presents the
taglines in a  unique fashion.  Instead  of being sorted I've  gone out of my
way  to randomize  the order  (refer to  [1.2])  as well  as filter  out most
"risque" taglines and duplicates (see  [1.3]).  This gives this file a unique
look and  feel as well  as instilling the  user who obtains  it with the full
knowledge that he  is getting a quality tagline  list which won't get him/her
booted off of a network.

[1.2]  Tagline order

     This  tagline file  has not  been sorted.   That  doesn't mean  that the
taglines contained  within the  MBTC are  in the  order they  were submitted.
I've gone out of my  way to do something completely different to this Tagline
Collection.

     All tagline  files which  I have  seen released  are always  sorted.  So
instead  of me  sorting  the file  after  it had  most  of the  duplicate and
possibly vulgar taglines  removed I created a  small subprogram which will go
through  the  file  and "shuffle"  the  taglines  one  by  one  until anarchy
resulted.
     As an  unforeseen benefit, if you  decided to use the  MBTC as your main
tagline file and want a completely random tagline appended to the end of your
message, just change your  tagline function to sequential mode.  This ensures
that you won't  get the occasional duplicate  tagline which happens with some
offline mail readers' "Random Tagline" functions.

[1.3]  Tagline screening.

     As  this collection  grows in  size  the possibility  of near-duplicates
being found increases.   Also I do my best  to screen out any vulgar taglines
where  possible...but  I won't  say  that  100% of  such  taglines  have been
removed.

     This tagline collection is scrutinized by a program I've written to help
clean up the  file by removing such taglines  where possible and it is always
in a  constant state  of improvement  (see [2.1]).   Yes, all  exact and some
near-duplicate taglines are removed  and most but not all vulgar taglines are
removed.

     All submitted taglines get screened and/or modified to "standardize" the
Collection.    This  involves  standardizing  display  codes  (ex: converting
pseudo-ANSI  strings  to  real  ANSI  strings),  removal  of  tagline manager
specific codes  (ex: the leading  "... " strings)  as well as  filter out any
duplicate or "network offensive" taglines.

     Fortunately, the only human intervention on my part is to simply prepare
any newly-acquired  taglines for importing  into the master  list of taglines
and to run the software which handles all of this dirty work before uploading
the resulting archive to the BBSes I call (see [3.2]).

[1.4]  Tagline sources

     Most of the taglines  in this Collection have been routinely stolen from
various BBSes, networks  and the Internet.  Some  have even been submitted by
other tagline thieves who wish to further the expansion of this Collection.

     These sources  include the Taglines conference  on Wildnet, the Taglines
conference  on   FidoNet,  various  joke/humor   conferences  (networked  and
otherwise),  various tagline  files and  any  taglines I  can gleam  from the
Internet.

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[2] - About the tagline acquisition/compilation tools:

[2.1]  The MBTC archive generator

     This whole Tagline Collection archive is generated using QuickBASIC v4.5
(with some portions  hand-tuned in A86) in which  I wrote the software  which
handles all of the mundane aspects of its creation...and for a good reason.

     It  all comes  down  to whether  human  intervention is  feasible.   For
example, me sitting down and  reading each individual tagline.  With the size
of this file,  that task would be rather inefficient.   By using a program to
automate the process of removing  such taglines it saves plenty of time on my
part and allows for each release to seem more consistent.

     But the computer isn't human.   You have to tell it exactly what to look
for.  And  I mean exactly.   I don't have the  time to create a context-based
tagline filtering system.   But by looking for  small phrases and words which
may sound a little suggestive it can help reduce the risk.

     As  for  some  near-duplicate   tags  which  are  different  because  of
misspellings  I pray  to the  gawds  to find  a  spell checker  which doesn't
require human intervention.   I'm sure that  there may be a  few out there by
now so time will only tell until I implement such a program.
     As for the MBTC Generator itself I do not plan on making it available to
any individual...or the  public for that matter.  It  is always in a state of
flux  and I'm  always  adding something  new  to it  to  either make  it more
efficient or to just do a better job at keeping the MBTC clean.

[2.2]  Other utilities used

     In order for the duplicate  removal routines to be very successful I had
to resort  to using  a very  fast file sorting  program which  is indeed very
flexible but has  an interface which would scare  many users to death because
A) it  is a  DOS program  and B) it  has a  command line  parameter set which
actually REQUIRES you to read the accompanying manual.

     This program is  called "QuikSort" which was  designed and released as a
shareware program by a small company by the name of "Omniware" (see [4.1.1]).

     The reason that I chose  to use this program is because it can sort very
quickly and  can handle any proprietary  database format as  long as you know
how the  fields are  organized.   And, with  the size  of the  temporary file
generated with the  MBTC generator in the  duplicate deletion phase, I didn't
have time to code anything nearly as fast or as optimized as QuikSort.

     Since the generator  relies on this program  during that phase, it would
be  rather foolish  of me  to  release the  MBTC  generator requiring  such a
program.

[2.3]  Companion programs

[2.3.1]  OLXTAGS.BAS

     Included with  this tagline  collection is  a small  BASIC program which
goes  through a  tagline file  and  extracts taglines  which  are 57  or less
characters long from my Tagline Collection.

     To run  this program load  a BASIC interpreter  (common ones are BASICA,
GWBASIC and QBASIC).  Load "OLXTAGS.BAS" into memory and RUN the program.

     The program  will display a  small file list  showing what "*.LST" files
are in the current directory.  Enter in the name of the tagline file you wish
to extract the taglines from (make sure you include the ".LST" extension) and
the program will go through  the file searching for the taglines and add what
it finds to "TAGLINES.OLX".  When completed it will exit to DOS.

     Be patient!  The program  isn't the fastest in the world under QBASIC or
GWBASIC but it does get the job done.

     For  users of  SLMR,  rename the  newly  generated TAGLINES.OLX  file to
TAGLINES.MR.

[2.4]  Future projects

     Now and  then during the  process of  maintaining the MBTC  and the MBTC
generator I  tend to code something  which could prove to  be useful to other
users or just because someone requested it.

     Also, if I feel that the MBTC Generator is near-perfection I may just go
back  to working  on  my  other pet  project  known  as FlexText.    It  is a
collection  of  routines  for   QuickBASIC  which  allow  for  efficient  and
professional-looking text-based screen  handling.  So far  it can draw boxes,
create windows,  save portions  of the screen  as string  variables plus some
other useful functions.  Plus, and I have tested this, because they write and
read  directly  from screen  memory,  they  are much  faster  than  the tools
QuickBASIC provides.  It even includes BIOS and Windows compatibility modes.

     You don't even want to  see how much code I packed into FlexText for the
three years it has been residing on my hard drive.

     Since  I  compiled the  MBTC  I  was  inspired by  how  nicely  the MBTC
Generator's Search&Replace function worked.   So inspired to the point that I
decided to copy that routine  into a new program to maybe "flesh it out" some
more.   Which  led to  me  starting and  not finishing  (?)  a project  for a
multiple-query  Search&Replace engine.    Already  the latest  code  for this
engine  features  case-matching, case  sensitive/insensitive  and  whole word
matching.  It  is already impressive in its  current form...but I'm always in
the mood to improve it.

     Anyhow, like  most of  this software I'm  writing, time  could only tell
when I might release  them.  Since I am now  working two jobs time to work on
these projects I really don't have as much Free Time(tm) to work on them.

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[3] - Distribution notes:

[3.1]  Contents of the MBTC archive

     Here  is a  list  of  all the  files  which comprise  the  complete MBTC
archive:

     DESC.SDI     - Short BBS description of this release.
     FILE_ID.DIZ  - Long BBS description of this release.
     MBTCyymm.LST - Mark Baum's Tagline Collection (where "yy" and "mm"
                    indicates the year and month of release respectively)
     MBTC-FAQ.TXT - The FAQ file your are reading right now.
     OLXTAGS.BAS  - A small BASIC program which extracts the taglines which
                    are 57 or less characters long and creates a TAGLINES.OLX
                    file for use with SLMR or OLX.

     Any other files which aren't mentioned on this list are not officially a
part of this release.  Therefore, you can safely delete them.

[3.2]  Distribution sites

     You may download my latest Tagline Collection from the following BBSes:

     Metropitt BBS                (412) 487-9223 28.8k
     JABS BBS (Node 1)            (412) 226-9549 28.8k
     JABS BBS (Node 2)            (412) 226-3505 28.8k
     Software Creations BBS       (508) 368-4137 28.8k
     The Dead Leeeeeeeech Society (614) 899-7839 14.4k
     Dave's Place                 (614) 258-0151 28.8k
     Brinkman's Hollow            (717) 689-3123 28.8k

     The magic filename is "MBTCyymm.ZIP"...where "yy" and "mm" indicates the
release year  and month of  the tagline file.   The latest  version is always
uploaded a  few days  before the first  of the  next month to  these BBSes to
allow for the new release to be downloaded and spread to other BBSes.

     Please note that  I have no say  as to how these  BBSes operate.  If you
are  a new  user to  any of  these BBSes  please make  a note  as to  what is
required for access.  Read the rules and bulletins which these BBSes supply.

[3.3]  Contacting the Collector

     If you have any questions,  comments or taglines to share, you may leave
me a  private message on  any of the  BBSes above or  send Internet E-mail or
Fido NetMail to the following addresses (both addresses are case sensitive):

     Internet: mark.baum@metropit.com
         Fido: Mark Baum (1:208/324)
     
     Make sure that you have the Subject of the message as "Taglines" so that
it catches my eye.

     Also, you  may participate  in the  WildNet Taglines  conference which I
have the honour of moderating.   To find the nearest BBS which offers WildNet
please call Brinkman's Hollow and  download the WildNet nodelist.  As of this
writing, Brinkman's  no longer  carries WildNet  but they  still have  an old
archive containing he neccessary information about WildNet.  STAY TUNED!

     IMPORTANT NOTICE 1: Please note that I will NOT UUENCODE the MBTC due to
the sheer size of the Collection.

     IMPORTANT NOTICE 2:  The previous address, "tag.guru@ix.netcom.com" will
be disconnected  soon as I  change Internet  providers once again.   So don't
send  any mail  to that  address or  it will  be bounced.   All  pending mail
delivered to that address by the 25th of February will not be acknowledged.

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[4] - Flotsam & jetsam

[4.1]  Recommended programs

     This is  the official  "plug" section  of the  FAQ.   For those  who are
looking for utilities that can  enhance their tagline lists, I'll offer a few
suggestions.   If  I  run  across something  useful,  I'll upload  it  to the
official MBTC  distribution sites  (see [3.2]).   And  likewise, if  you find
something useful, let me  know!  I may use it  and if it is truly useful I'll
devote some space for it.

[4.1.1]  QuikSort

     For those who wish to  sort this Tagline Collection or any other tagline
file, I must give the nod to Omniware's QuikSort program.  This is _the_ file
sorting  program to  have.    It requires  a  minimum  of 64K  of  memory, is
extremely fast  and can  sort files  of UNLIMITED length.   Also,  it has the
ability to sort Btrieve and dBase files.

     In fact, if you compare  how fast "QuikSort" sorts this file to the sort
function in OLX, you'll  swear off using OLX's tagline sort function FOREVER!
If the file is big enough, OLX will take about a few hours to sort it.

     What  I   hope  is   that  the  authors   of  QuikSort   hear  my  pleas
somehow...wherever they may be.   I would LOVE to register their program but,
since I feel they decided  to stop supporting that wonderful program, I don't
think that would be possible.

     If you like,  you can post this  part of the FAQ  concerning my lust for
this  EXCELLENT  five-star  file  sorting  software  to  as  MANY newsgroups,
conferences and or BBSes as  you like.  Believe me I tried.  Their CompuServe
ID no longer works.  What happened?

     Tell them  that "mark.baum@metropit.com"  sent you.   I'll  take all the
flak on this one, folks.

[4.1.2]  Norton Editor

     For text editors I simply love Norton Editor.  It may not be as fancy as
any other text editor but it  has all the features any user may need.  It too
can  handle  unlimited  file sizes,  allows  customized  tab  stops  and line
length...including word wrap,  and also has a  simple split-screen mode which
allows you to  work on two files  at once and a  Spartan set of help screens.
Unfortunately, since this  an OLD program, its  display mode is hard-coded in
25 lines by 80 columns.

     Since this  program was  distributed with an  old version  of the Norton
Utilities I don't  know whether it is now  officially in the public domain or
still  considered  as  commercial  software  not  intended  for  unauthorized
duplication except  for backup and/or  archival purposes.   All I  do know is
that it hasn't been distributed with Norton Utilities v4.5x and up.

     If you find this program,  grab it immediately!  Even for an old program
it  beats the  pants off  of Microsoft's  version of  EDIT, MSI's  OLXED, OLX
v1.x's internal  editor...or any other  editor that  I know of  and have used
before getting hooked to Norton Editor.
     
[4.2]  Special Thanks

     I would  like to take  this opportunity to  thank a few  people who have
been there  behind the scenes  and out in  front center who  helped make this
small project a reality...as well as those who always have been there:

     Marlyn Bumpus  & Lori  Smith: The two  major driving  forces that helped
make the WildNet Taglines conference a reality.

     Patrick  Long: The  esteemed  moderator  of WildNet  Groaners  and self-
confessed tagline thief.

     Jim Powers  & Jimm  Crawford: Two  of the best  sysops I  have ever met.
Thanks Jim  for putting me  back in my  place numerous times  and to Jimm for
letting me "steal" his tagline file.

     Jon Porter: The first confirmed tagline junkie that I'm aware of who has
downloaded this list.

     Slave Pit  Inc.: Mike Bonner,  Dave Brockie, Mike  Derks, Don Drakulich,
Bob  Gorman, Ethan  Isenberg,  Hunter Jackson,  Scott  Krahl, Pete  Lee, Matt
McGuire, Dave  Musel, Charlie  O'Donovan, Casey  Orr, Brad  Roberts, Danielle
Stampe  & Chuck  Varga.   Thanks for  the photo  opportunities and  for doing
unspeakable things to me backstage as a form of payment for such a privilege.

[END OF FAQ]
