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Archive-name: clarinet/faq

Q: How can I reply to a story, send corrections or ask questions of a
reporter?

A: Items from Newsbytes, as well as ClariNet generated information
can be replied to directly via E-mail.  Items from UPI, UPI-Radio
and the syndicates can't be replied to in this fashion.

If you wish to write to a syndicated columnist, we have addresses for
the syndicates on file.   The address for UPI is:
	
	United Press International
	1400 Eye St. N.W.
	Washington, DC 20005

If you wish to write to the editors at ClariNet, mail to clarinet@clarinet.com.
If you wish to write an "open letter" to address issues in a public
forum, post to clari.net.talk.  This newsgroup is unmoderated.

Q: Why did a story about XXX get posted to group YYY?

A: Our first line of coding comes from UPI.  Unfortunately, they use a
very error-prone coding scheme, with fairly non-mnemonic triads of letters
being used for codes.  A slight typo can cause a major miscoding.  We
try to fix these when we encounter them, and if you note one and mail
us, we can fix it.

Q: Can I repost stories from ClariNet?

A: You need to ask permission before doing this.  We will sometimes
grant permission, but only on a one-time basis.  Please do not ask for
blanket permission to act as a clipping service and forward appropriate
articles as they come to a mailing list or newsgroup.

If your site has a site licence, then you can repost to local mailing lists
and local newsgroups without asking permission, but stories must always
be fully attributed.

Of course, you can always quote small snippets of any news story.  This is
the fair use doctrine of copyright law.  It allows you to take small
excerpts of material for the purpose of review and comment.  You must always
fully attribute the material to the wire and ClariNet, and keep the quote
short -- never repost an entire article.

Q: Can I save copies of ClariNet stories?

A: Yes, you can save stories for your own personal use, as you could clip
your newspaper.  However, you can't give copies from the archive to other
people, or make it generally available.

Q: Can I get general stock quotes?

A: Not at this time.  What you see in clari.tw.stocks is all we output.
Q: How can I deal with the large number of stories you put out?

A: Some groups may simply have too many stories for you.  The
classifications used on the stories can help you trim the
number of stories to a more reasonable number.

You can use the _Kill_ file facilities of newsreaders like
RN, or a NewsClip filter program.  The latter can do far
more, but requires some programming skill.

The first thing you might do is filter out stories of lower
priority.  For example, in some groups, stories with daily
priority are forwarded.  Filter those out, if desired.

Many of the technical groups include regional stories
(stories with an ACategory of regional.  You might decide to
filter those out, or only those not from your own region.

If you don't already read the "top" groups, such as
clari.news.top, you can go even further, and filter out all
stories with the regular priority as well.  Then you'll only
get breaking and major stories.  This is a good filter to
apply in the U.S.  government groups, for example.

After this, you can filter based on the classifications.
Sometimes several different keywords result in an article
being posted to a group.  Watch the keywords, and see if any
identify stories of no interest to you.

	"Keywords"

For example, clari.tw.nuclear takes stories on nuclear
weapons, nuclear energy, nuclear incidents and nuclear
waste.  You may decide to read only some of these, and/or
only the higher priority versions of those you selected.

With NewsClip, it is also possible to filter based on
multiple classifications.  Using the above example, to see
only articles about accidents at nuclear power plants, you
would choose only articles with both the keywords nuclear
power and nuclear incidents.

Observe the keywords on various stories as they go by, and
determine which best fit your reading patterns.  Then filter
accordingly.  You can both reject the presence of other
keywords or insist upon them.  You can use the newsgroups
(which are generated from the keywords) or the keywords
themselves.

Almost all keywords come in pairs.  For example, a space
story usually has the general keyword science and the
specific keyword space.  Use either one to guide your
selection.

You can check for the presence of an international interest
by looking for the international keyword.  This can still
appear on U.S.  stories if they have a non-U.S.  aspect.

On international and regional stories, and some others, you
can also filter based on the location of a story.

In the sports groups (and some others, and to a limited
extent) you can use the Format:  header to filter stories.
You might decide to only see game story format articles
about your team, but still track general stories about all
teams.  Summaries, briefs and linescores can also be spotted
in this way.

It may take some time, but observation of the patterns in
each group will soon allow you to identify the stories that
are of interest to you.  You will then be able to reduce the
set of news you are offered to a set that closely matches
your own interests -- your own personal electronic
newspaper.